Madness

Carefully I drag Darren into the Great Hall. He is thinner than he was before, and his lack of movement makes it easy to handle him.

When I reenter I find Ana clutching her bow tightly to her chest, and Solution seems to have been talking to her. About what, I am not concerned with right now.

“Aether, who is that?” Solution asks when she sees me. “He looks…mangled.”

“Solution, this is Darren.” I say after laying him on the ground in front of her.

“What?” Solution says, she gasps and drops to her knees beside him.

“Solution, this is Darren.” I repeat.

Tears come to her eyes. “Oh my god. Oh Darren, what happened to you?”

Suddenly, Darren’s eyes open and he bolts upward.

Solution’s face is overcome with joy and she leaps forward to embrace him, but then he pushes her away and crawls backward, jumping up to his feet once away from us.

“This...this is…this is your fault too, Solution!” He yells, breath ragged.

“What are you talking about?” She says.

“Darren, calm down.” I order gently.

“No!” He screams with his breath ragged. He staggers over to the stockpile of weapons and picks up a knife. He whirls around and brandishes the small piece of iron at us. “This is on all of you! You’ll pay, I swear!”

“Darren, it’s alright, you’re safe now.” Solution says. She has her hands raised to help calm him. But Darren lunges at her with the knife; she sidesteps and grabs his wrists, taking the knife from him and pinning his arms to his back.

“Get off me!” He yells. “Stay away!”

“Darren, whatever happened came at the hands of Erebus. Be angry at him, not us.” I say.

Darren rips his arms away from Solution. “No! This is all your fault! Everything that’s happening is on you, Aether!” He positions himself to lunge at me, but suddenly crumples.

Ana is standing behind him, the bow she used broken into two pieces.

“I figured he needed to sleep.” She says, dropping the bow. “Did I hurt him?”

I go over to Darren and hoist him up, leaning him against my shoulder. “No, thank you Ana, you have done well.” Ana smiles, but then her face drops.

“What’s gonna happen to him?” She asks.

“I don’t know,” Solution answers, “But leaving him able to move freely is not a good idea.”

“Are you suggesting we tie him up?” I ask.

“I’m suggesting I chain him up.” She answers, taking Darren from me. She struggles under his weight, but bears it. I do not object, since Darren seems to be angrier at me than anyone else. “He’s a lot lighter than he used to be.” She says sadly.

“What are we gonna do, Aether?” Ana asks me.

“Darren is going to present an issue. In his current condition he is a potential danger to anyone he comes across. Eventually we are going to have to find out what happened to him. For now, though, I think it would be best for us to continue on as we were.”

“We were planning a way to save Darren.” Solution reminds me. “This development renders that moot.”

“Point taken. Perhaps for now we should simply continue life as is normal.”

“How’s that?” Ana asks, “I dunno what I wanna do.”

“I think you should practice archery, and I am going to help you do it.”

“But you said you don’t know anything about it.” Ana reminds me, and I chuckle.

“Perhaps not,” I say, trying to find another bow. “But Darren is not going to wake up for a while, and until he does we have nothing to do.”

“Aether.” Solution says, regaining my attention, “What do you think is going to happen?”

“I have no idea.” I answer honestly. Solution nods and starts half-carrying, half-dragging Darren away.

I go back to the weapons stockpile and find another bow. This one is wooden, stronger than the last and beautifully carved. I present it to Ana and she holds it as if it were a pet, admiring it lovingly. I go over to the targets and remove the arrows she has already fired, not only were they all bulls-eyes, they all went in deep.

“Alright, Ana, just do as you did before.” I step out of the way this time, but nothing happens. I face Ana and see her standing still.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Darren. Aren’t you worried about him?”

“Of course I am. But I fear that my presence will only anger him. So I think it is best if I wait until he is calm to go see him.”

“Okay.” Ana says.

“Now, try again.”

Ana and I continue practicing archery for a while. Technically, she does and I watch, but still. She performs splendidly, rarely missing a shot.

After she makes her fiftieth bulls-eye, Ana lowers her arms and whimpers. “I’m really tired,” She drops the bow and falls down to her knees. She looks up at me, smiling. “How did I do?”

“Fantastically.” I answer. “But archery will only get you so far in a battle. Eventually you will have to fight face-to-face.”

“You want me to practice fighting now?” She whines.

“Perhaps not now. But eventually you should.”

“Okay, later then.” She falls over and rests her head on her arm, seemingly to sleep where she lays.

 

ɂɂɂ

 

Four days go by with little activity. Ana practices archery in the Great Hall while I and occasionally Zayin watch. When she stops to rest I find Resistance members to spar with. Sometimes Solution will come and join me, or we discuss our fears. I think…I think we are all just biding time until something bad happens again.

There was a light here for a while, but it has gone out, leaving the Resistance dark and grim. At the back of our minds is Darren. Most of his time he is chained to a chair, sleeping. When we manage to wake him, he screams and curses at us for letting him go through whatever it was that happened.

The worst comes when I go to see him. As I feared, my very presence is enough to drive him wild. It quickly gets to the point where he nearly breaks the chains binding him down, and we have no choice but to knock him unconscious.

Unfortunately, he will not tell us what has happened to him. Solution is endlessly fretful about him, the scars alone tell a horrible tale of the last few weeks. I lay in fear of what he will tell us. As does everyone else.

Four days; I muse as I walk from the garage to the Great Hall. Four minutes. Darren is being kept in the garage. Special binds were made by Zayin to keep him immobile without the threat of self-harm. Darren was awake this time. As soon as I walked in, he started screaming louder than ever before. An actual crack was formed in his bindings as he thrashed around.

I sigh loudly and close my eyes as I walk. I see light behind my eyes, and in my mind’s eye I see a large expanse of clear blue water. A beautiful sight I nearly lose myself in before I hear a voice calling loudly.

“Aether!” I sigh again, this time in derision. As expected, I see Maria when I turn to the voice.

“Any news?” She asks.

“Just as before.” I answer.

“Oh.” She says. She clasps her hands together and turns toward the direction of the garage, “I’m so worried about him! To think of what happened to him makes me shiver!”

She continues talking, but I stop listening and turn away to resume my ponderings.

“Hey, wait!” Maria calls after me.

“What is it?” I ask.

“Zayin didn’t know where you were, so he gave me this to give to you.” From behind her she pulls out my staff.

I take it from her and study it closely. It is still made of wood, but it has been smoothed to perfection and stained white. No, it is not entirely wooden; the ends are polished silver, as is the middle of it, making a handle. I swing it around to find that the weight has become evenly distributed, making the weapon perfectly balanced.

“Thank you.” I tell Maria as I turn, holstering the staff on my back.

“Let me know if anything happens to Darren!” She calls out. I shake my head but raise up my hand in a non-committal wave.

I stop in front of the Great Hall entrance and look at the Fox-Hole in its entirety. I was starting to feel a sense of peace. This place has become home to me. A smile spreads across my face and I close my eyes. Home. Have I felt this feeling before? In several thousand years I could have at some point, but did I? A sense of foreboding comes over me suddenly, and the smile falls. Something bad is going to happen soon. I am sure of it.

I turn around and open the Great Hall to an unpleasant sight. Solution is sitting at the table, her head in her hands. It almost looks like she is crying. On the other end of the Great Hall, sitting on the floor next to an archery target, is Ana. She looks upset as well.

Ana and Solution do not get along well in the slightest. Ana is obviously afraid of Solution, and Solution is just bitter towards Ana. I am not certain of why. Compared to how she was at my arrival, Solution has become a friendly and sociable girl. She did seem a bit upset when she saw me twirling Ana around in my arms. But I cannot imagine why she would care. Well, I can imagine why, but it seems preposterous.

I consider speaking with Solution, but I came here to train and that need takes me to where Ana sits, clutching her bow tightly.

I crouch next to her and fake a yawn. “I am really bored. With all that has been happening as of late, I could definitely use some fun.” She does not look up. “You have been getting better and better at archery. If I were you, I would find myself bored of something that no longer offered a challenge. What say you to the idea of beginning combat training?”

She looks up at me, frowning. “Combat training?” She repeats.

I smile again, “Yes, I think it is time. Also, I am bored and I think some sparring would be fun.”

“Your idea of fun is really weird.” Ana says, a small smile forming.

“Because I am very weird. Come.” I get to my feet and hold my hand out to her. She takes it and I lift her up. “Before anything. You need to choose your weapon.”

“What should I use?” She asks.

“Most archers also carry knives for when they are forced into short range battle.” I explain, going to the armory wall. “So I think for you, something small and light is necessary. Like…” I start perusing the various knives and daggers before coming across a beautifully crafted knife, about a foot of gleaming silver with a slight curve on the belly.

I lift this blade up to the light, admiring it. It is actually quite ordinary, yet stunning in its simplicity. I swing the blade through the air in small arcs in front of me, testing its weight. It is light, and swift, as it should be. I turn to Ana and present her with the weapon.

“I don’t know how to fight, Aether.” She tells me.

“Not to worry, that it is what training is for. Observe how I do it.” I walk over to where various dummies are set up. When I am in the center of a ring of them, I lower myself into a combat stance and level my own weapon.

I thrust the staff into the belly of the dummy behind me. I then lunge forward and stab it into the helmet of the dummy before me, denting it. Next I swing the weapon around me in a circle and swipe straight through two more. Finally I turn and face the one to my left and stab through its chest. In seconds, white light envelopes it and when it fades, there is a white-charred crater where the dummy used to be. Finished, I swing the staff around my body and then holster it on my back. I hold up my arm and a white orb glows at my fingertips. I smile to myself and close my hand, extinguishing the light. I am gaining control.

“That was amazing, Aether!” Ana comments.

“Thank you. Now it is your turn.”

“Hey guys!” Lucas calls out.

I look over and see him coming towards Ana and I.

“Lucas.” I say. Ana says nothing.

“Practicing combat.” He observes, “Scared of what he’ll think, are we Ana?”

She narrows her eyes and glares at him. Her angered face is cute, but surprisingly threatening.

“What do you want?” I ask him.

“Darren was spouting some stuff about you.” He informs me.

“What sort of stuff?”

“Hard to tell, I couldn’t see it clearly enough.” ‘See’? See what?

“Anyway I just wanted to let you know that…that’s interesting.” He turns to face Ana again, “Oh, that’s so cute! A little crush!”

“Go away!” She says weakly.

Lucas steps closer to her, leaning down until they are nose to nose. “Can’t handle it? See, that’s why people don’t like me, I know everything they don’t want anyone to know about. Shall we discuss more about you? What’s going on in that cute little head of yours right now? How’s about I take a look?”

I put my hand on his shoulder, and when he looks up at me I introduce his stomach to my armored fist. I knock the breath out of him and he bends over my arm, gasping. I shove him away and he stumbles before falling on his back.

“Like she said.” I tell him, “Go away.”

Lucas rubs his stomach and glares at me. “Still nothing.” He gets up and walks away.

“I hate him.” Ana says, clutching my arm.

“As do I.” I agree, “He behaves like he can read minds.”

“He can.” She tells me.

“What?”

“He can read minds.”

“Really?”

“Not yours though, no one knows why.”

Granted that explains a lot, but reading minds? What could have developed that ability? I shake it from my mind and turn back to Ana.

“Now it is your turn to practice in the dummy ring.”

“I don’t think I can do that.” She says.

“Nonsense.”

Her lip trembles as she steps into the circle of dummies. She lowers herself into a stance similar to the one I took, with the knife out behind her. “How’s my stance?” she asks.

“You look uneasy and you have yourself too low.” I observe. “Straighten out a little and try to steady your nerves.”

She does as I say and her stance improves, if only a little. A look of focus comes over her face and she takes a wide-arced swing at the dummy before her. It goes through the neck, bringing a shower of straw with it. She turns slowly and does the same thing to another dummy, with the same result.

I shake my head and hold up my hand. “Hold for a moment.” I say, “You’ve missed something.”

 “What do you mean?” She asks, dropping her arms to her side.

I go over to her, “You seem to be fighting as if you are a large person, which you are not. You are small and lithe, built for speed. Bend your knees a little less, and arch your back a bit. When you strike, make the cut and back away, then strike again. In addition, most of the people you fight are likely going to be taller than you, aiming for the neck is a good way to get yourself beaten.”

“I thought strength was key.” She says.

“A common misconception, but speed is a far greater ally to people like you and I. Swing at me like you did to the dummies before.”

“Why?”

“So I can prove a point.”

She swings at me and I grab her wrist, avoiding the blade and stopping her. I feign a punch to her stomach, yielding as soon as I make contact.

“Easily blocked and countered.” I tell her as I let go. “Try again, but like I suggested.”

She nods and takes a step back. She flips the dagger around in her hand and lunges forward, taking a swing for my stomach, moving so quickly that I do not have time to block and instead stumble backward. She keeps coming and nearly stabs me in the stomach. She turns the blade mid-swipe and swings it upward, towards my face. She stops the blade at my neck. If I move an inch my throat will be slit.

“I meant for you to try on the dummies.” I blink several times and a smile comes to my face. “Well done.”

Ana steps back and smiles. “Did I catch you off guard?”

“You did indeed.”

I am about to suggest another go, but then I see Solution walking towards us. She looks as though she has been crying, heavily.

“Ana,” Solution says, “would you excuse us for a moment?” Odd, normally Solution would have just told Ana to leave. It may have something to do with Darren, so I tell Ana to go over to the firing range to practice archery. She obliges, but slowly, as though she wants to hear it too.

“Aether,” Solution says, holding her arms around herself, “I finally got the story from Darren.” I try to respond, but cannot and so lead Solution to the table.

“Tell me everything.” I say, regaining my voice.

“This is really bad, Aether.” She warns, “What happened to Darren is beyond horrific.”

“As we feared it would be.” I encourage, “Go on.”

She takes a shuddering breath before beginning, “It started the night after that first battle you had with the Dark God, you had been asleep for a few hours and after a long conversation, we just couldn’t make sense of what you said had happened. There is no way even the most well-trained person could stand against Erebus for very long. Yet you, you survived a fight against him for several minutes. You were beaten sure, but you should’ve suffered way worse than you did. We were lost and Darren needed some air. We were frustrated, nothing about you made any sense. So he went outside and was walking for a couple hours when some of the Dark God’s people jumped him. He tried to fight, but then he saw the Dark God himself and next thing he knew, he was chained up. The Dark God tried to get information out of him, but Darren wouldn’t tell him anything. So he began…he began torturing him.”

“Torture?” I repeat and Solution nods.

“It was every kind of torture one can be inflicted with.” She continues, “Every trick and tactic developed throughout human history. Darren should have died within the first few hours, but that evil, sadistic b*****d wouldn’t let him die. I guess he has that kind of power. So the torture continued, for weeks upon weeks he endured worse and worse pain, every new technique should have brought death, but he couldn’t die, it was just the pain. For so long, just pain and suffering. Soon Darren’s psyche was at the brink, and that’s when the Dark God told Darren the truth about him, about us.”

“What truth?”

“He told Darren that he…that he…He’s our father.”

The words hit me as though they have physical force, and I am thrown back in my chair. I almost fall over, but regain my composure enough to lean forward again. I am not sure if I can recover from a blow like this, I cannot even imagine how Solution and especially Darren must feel. “But, how is that even possible?”

“Seventeen years ago, he found the goddess Athena and…and he raped her. Oh god, that monster is my father!” Tears start to roll down her face, both shocking and saddening me.

“How can we be sure that Erebus told the truth?” I ask.

“He showed Darren proof.” She says, “He took up his knife and showed Darren his own blood. In the Dark God’s hands, the blood turned black as ink.”

“What if that was a trick?”

“It wasn’t.” She says.

“How do you know?”

“Because Darren’s blood is still black, and when I got near him, my blood turned black as well. No one else’s did.”

“Then we have our proof.” I concede. I try again to sense the godly blood in Solution, but as before pain flares in my head. I fight against it and now I can sense what I had for a fleeting moment before. The power of Erebus, within Solution’s body. There is something else, though, some other power. Before I can figure out what it is, Solution distracts me by talking.

“He told Darren other things,” She says, “but he wouldn’t tell me what they were. All I know is that they were mostly about you. Afterwards, he decided to do something permanent. So he gave one of his servants a knife and had him carve a Glasgow smile into Darren’s face. The b*****d wouldn’t even do it himself. When the smile was carved, the servant kicked Darren to make him scream, but Darren was beyond pain at that point, beyond feeling. It was all so much that Darren couldn’t even feel the servant’s kicks. That was when Darren finally snapped. He grabbed the knife from the servant, slit his throat, and was about to go after the Dark God, but then thought better of it. In his pained stupor the only thing Darren could think to do was jump out the window.

“The fall should’ve killed him, but apparently he still couldn’t die. The fall did knock him out, and when he came to all he could do was crawl away. He made it a long way on just his belly. Eventually he came to a river, with all of his strength gone, he just fell into it. The second he hit the water he hallucinated seeing a bull with a man’s head. It spoke to him, but he couldn’t understand what it said. After it finished speaking, Darren’s wounds started to heal.”

“That is good, is it not?” I say.

“It sounds like a good thing, I know, but as he healed, Darren relived the torture. As each wound was healed, Darren felt it as though he were getting it all over again. Three weeks’ worth of unending pain. When he was finally healed he crawled to the bank of the river and passed out. Upon waking, he looked at his reflection and was completely disgusted by what he saw, so he used the knife to carve a mask out of a tree next to him. Then he made his way here.”

We sit in silence for several moments while I digest the story. For my friend to go through something like that…

“No.” I say decidedly.

“What?” Solution responds.

“I cannot accept this. I cannot accept that Erebus could be this cruel.”

“Aether…”

“I know, I know. But I know what I am saying, I do not know how, but I just know that there is no way that Erebus is that evil. It is unlike him. So if this is true, and I believe it is, then we are really and truly doomed.” I feel tears dripping down my face, but do nothing about them. Through the tears I see that Solution starts crying as well, and that is just wrong.

What sort of world is this anyway? How could it possibly be this horrible? I refuse to accept this as reality. I dry my tears and get to my feet. Solution looks up at me, tears streaming down her beautiful face. “I promise you, and I promise Darren, I will make Erebus suffer for everything he has done.”

I put my hand on her shoulder as I pass her. As I walk I hear footsteps getting close to me.

“So what happened?” Ana asks.

“Something I would much rather you not know.”

“Oh, okay.” She quiets down and continues walking next to me in silence.

It is not right for Solution to be crying, at all. So I vow to make Erebus suffer. I will make him suffer more than any man or god could possibly handle. He will wish that he was never created. But first, I need to see Darren. Just what did Erebus tell him about me?

 

ɂɂɂ

 

“Has anything changed?” I ask, on my way back to the garage.

“In an hour? No.” Lucas answers. Sammy is on my left, wringing his huge hands.

Ana is also with us, walking behind me. I tried to stop her from coming, but she refuses to let me go alone. A sweet notion, but potentially dangerous for her, given how Darren has been behaving.

“Well,” Sammy begins slowly, “his situation is virtually unchanged, with the exception of his angry conversation with Solution and I. He’s been pretty calm since you left, though.”

“We don’t want you to go cause you’re gonna make him freak out again.” Lucas says.

“I believe that that is worth the risk. I need to speak to him.” I say, annoyed by their worry.

“Why do you have to talk to him, Aether? I’m sorry, but he needs rest.”

I slow down and just look at Sammy. He looks back at me, confused. “Sammy,” I begin, “kindly refrain from asking stupid questions if you can.” I continue walking and Sammy stands open-mouthed.

“How is that a stupid question?” He yells behind me.

I come upon the door to the garage corridor and place my hand to the plate, opening it. As soon as I walk through, the path is illuminated. I start walking again until Sammy stops me and gives me a serious look.

“Darren has been around Erebus for the last three weeks. He is bound to know something.”

“How can that be your only thought?” Lucas asks, horrified.

I stop walking altogether and look at the ceiling. Then I whirl around and yell, “That is not a reason at all! For the last three weeks, my best friend has been enduring unimaginable pain and suffering at the hand of my greatest enemy! He should have died every single hour! Now, he is finally back and not yelling anymore! So I would like to see him.”

Sammy looks at the ground and mumbles an apology. Lucas glares at me, staring deep into my eyes. My eyes go wide, then I narrow them and hear a crunch in my head. Lucas’ eyes widen, and he falls to the ground.

“Reading my mind” I say, “is just rude.” I turn and continue down the corridor. Sammy and Ana occasionally glance at me with fear in their eyes. I do not like this; I do not want them to fear me.

“Lucas will be okay, Sammy.” I say, “I am unsure of what exactly I did, but I know that he endured no harm. And I apologize for getting so angry.”

“I understand Aether; it’s okay.”

“What do you think of me, Sammy?” I am unsure why I ask.

“Well, you kinda freaked me out for a while.”

“Really?” I ask.

“I think you’re great!” Ana says. I glance back at her to see a bright smile on her face, her eyes closed as she follows closely.

“Yeah, with the way you showed up, falling from the Dark Tower without a scratch? That was crazy. The way I couldn’t look into you, and how you’re so powerful but so clumsy. But then I found out how nice you are, how committed you are. And how much you care about Solution…”

“Wait, what does she have to do with this?”

“What does she have to do with this?” Ana asks.

Sammy smiles slightly, evidently pleased to have struck a chord, “She’s like my big sister, I’ve known her since before I can remember, even when she was pissed at everyone, including Darren, she would always at least let me hang around. She was always so nice to me. So she’s really important to me, and I hate to see her upset. And when you showed up, she started getting really confused, which is weird for her.”

“I did?”

“Yeah, you can do things that just aren’t possible. And your morals are so different from ours, but so easy to defend, that she got unsure of herself.”

“And that is a good thing?”

“I dunno. That isn’t the point. You know how smart she is. For some guy to make her question anything is amazing. Also the fact that you obviously like her.”

“It was obvious?” I ask.

“Wait, what?” Ana practically shrieks. What is with her?

“You couldn’t make it less obvious if you tried.”

“Damn.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it.” He says.

“Why?”

“I’m just a kid, so I don’t really get this dating crap. War is less confusing.”

“I agree with that whole-heartedly.”

“But from what I can tell, Solution likes you.”

Ana makes an odd little squeal, and looking at her I can tell she is upset. However, a wave of relief washes over me, but is quickly replaced by confusion. “Wait, so what do I do now?”

“How the heck should I know? I’m ten!”

“Ana, what do you think I should do?”

That was idiotic. Even Sammy winces. Ana looks at me for a moment, then turns and walks away.

“Wait, Ana.” I try to call her, but she continues walking. “S**t. That was…beyond idiotic.”

“Think so?” Sammy says sarcastically.

“What should I do about her?”

“Once again, I don’t know. I’m ten! But whatever you should do will have to wait for later.”

I face forward and see the entrance to the garage. Then I take a deep breath and prepare myself for what may come.

 

ɂɂɂ

 

When I enter the room, Darren looks up at the door and, upon seeing me, he whispers at a near-growl, “How could you let this happen to me?”

Once again I face the struggle of bringing myself to look at his scarred face. The smile carved into his cheeks stretches, becoming a real one. I cringe at the sight of it, sorrow overcoming me. “Darren, I assure you that I could not have saved you.”

He chuckles without any humor, “You don’t know s**t do you? You’re light! You may be mortal right now, but you still have the ability to defeat my father. You could have saved me. You chose not to.”

“Please Darren.” Sammy says.

“You stay out of this!” Sammy backs down, pain in his eyes.

“What could I have done?” I implore him, “Even if I did have the power to save you, I do not have the knowledge of how to use it.”

His real smile drops, leaving the scarred one. “I’m so disappointed in you. How far the mighty has fallen.”

“Darren.” I say with compassion in my voice.

“Don’t feel sorry for me!” He screams, “You don’t deserve to. In fact, I’m starting to wonder if you deserve anything.”

“Darren, calm down.” I order forcefully.

“Don’t tell me to do anything!”

 With that, Darren starts struggling, trying to free himself. He is staring at me the whole time, his eyes growing darker, until they are completely blacked out. When his eyes go entirely black, his binds break, and he leaps at me.

I step to the side, but Darren clotheslines me, knocking me to the ground. He jumps on me and holds me pinned. Despite everything, he holds me down against my struggling with an inhuman strength. Sammy tries to pull him off of me, but Darren jumps up and punches him square in the chest. Sammy goes flying through the open doorway. Once he is out, Darren motions with his hand and the door closes and locks itself. His head turns in my direction, and when he sees my surprised expression, laughter erupts from him.

“Oh yeah, I didn’t tell you. I found out that Daddy gave me some gifts. Children of the gods get such nice things, don’t you think?” Darren’s hand rises up, and he starts punching me, again and again, without pausing. When I can feel my consciousness slipping away, Darren’s hand turns as black as his eyes. No, not exactly black, more like it is absorbing light. Pain explodes and reverberates throughout my entire body. Pure unfiltered power flows through me from Darren’s hand, ripping apart my very being.

He gets to his feet and looks down on me as I writhe in agony. “I wish I cared enough to make you feel the same pain I felt, sadly I just don’t. I think this is close enough, though.”

My vision starts to go black as the darkness sinks down through my body. I can feel my strength, my thoughts, my very life slipping away. A white light shimmers in front of me, appearing at the end of a tunnel made of curling black tendrils. What a pretty light. I reach out for it in the hopes of holding it close to me.

An explosive pain shakes me out of my stupor, causing the tunnel and light to disappear, replaced with Solution’s face. She is a welcome sight, except for the pain now radiating throughout the whole of my head.

“What happened?” She asks.

“I am unsure.” I say, sitting up. The sound of groaning catches my ear and I turn to see Darren on the ground, clutching his chest. A black liquid oozes from his side in a small puddle. On the floor next to me is a xiphos, Solution’s, dripping the same black liquid.

“You…struck him?” I ask her.

“It looked like you were dying.”

“So I take precedence over him?”

“You do when he’s the one doing the killing.”

“You…b***h.” Darren growls, clutching his side as he stands. He straightens out and the blood stops oozing. “Quick healing.” He notes, his smile again becoming real. “Cool.”

He stalks toward us like a creature does its pray. As he does, Solution gets to her feet. “Darren, I need you to steady yourself. You aren’t thinking straight, remember our goal, remember what it is we dream of.”

“Oh I’m actually more lucid than I’ve ever been.” He replies. “My goals are well implanted in my mind.” He brings his fist down on Solution, and she raises her arm and counters with a punch into his side.

“My first goal is to kill Aether.” He continues. His fist shoots forward faster than my eyes can follow it, into Solution’s stomach. She inhales sharply and bends forward, blood spurting from her mouth. She falls down to her knees and Darren turns to me, his real smile stretching so far as to make the scarred one indistinguishable from it. I all but pounce on the xiphos and swing it around towards Darren, who simply catches it with his hand. The blade should slice it straight off, but stops midway.

Darren pulls his hand back and shrieks. “You b*****d!” Black blood cascades down his arm. He clenches his fist and the bleeding stops. He glares at me and raises himself to his full height, just barely above mine. Suddenly he is falling, and I have to take a step back to avoid having him fall on me.

Solution pins Darren down as I hold the xiphos to his throat. Barely noticeable black tendrils snake their way from his body, slithering across the floor.

“Darren,” She pleads, “Please stop this. We need our leader back, we can get revenge for you, just stop this.”

“No!” Darren screams, “I don’t need your pity! I don’t need this damned Resistance, I don’t need our father, and I don’t need you, Solution!”

Solution’s face twists in anger. “If that’s how you feel I could kill you now.”

“Try it and you’ll feel something worse than death.” He threatens.

“I have the upper hand here.” She responds.

“Are you so sure?” The tendrils rise up from the floor and wrap around Solution’s wrists and ankles. I prepare to strike, but the tendrils sweep my feet out from under me. The xiphos flies from my hand and clatters to the ground I cannot tell where. When I hit the ground my breath is knocked from me. I lay there gasping, also trying to look up and see what is going on. When I can finally raise my head, Darren has Solution pinned to the floor with the black tendrils wrapped around her.

“What do you say we let these pierce your skin and enter your bloodstream?” Darren says, “I wonder what’ll happen when they reach your heart.” The tendrils tighten themselves and Solution winces in pain.

Deciding that I have had enough of this, I gain control of my breathing and focus on my inner power. Once I feel it coursing through me, aching to be unleashed, I raise myself up onto my shoulders and twist my body. I roll onto my arm and with my other I unsheathe my staff and then land on my feet. I spring towards Darren and as I land I bring my weapon to meet his right temple. The silver tip crashes into his head and I can feel a bone crack. As it does the blackness leaves his eyes and they roll up into his head and he falls off of Solution.

The tendrils vanish and when they do small incisions start to bleed on Solution’s wrists. She ignores this and jumps on Darren, shaking him. No clear response is seen as Darren’s wound also starts to bleed. The blood is still black, and courses swiftly down his face. Solution tries shaking him more, but eventually gives up.

“Is he dead?” She asks me.

I look up as I drop my staff and when I do a shadow shimmers into existence above Darren. It is vaguely feminine and looks somewhat mangled and hunched over.

“Still not allowed.” It shrieks in a raspy voice. The hunched figure looks up, and then points a wrinkled finger at me. “Soon.”

When it says this a shudder rattles me to my bones.

“What are you?” I ask it.

“What is what?” Solution asks, but I ignore her.

“I am death, violence and pestilence and plague.” The creature wheezes. “Of my siblings I am called a Kakoi, an evil.”

“Why are you here?”

“An act of murder is certainly an evil.” I look at Darren, the blood still flowing.

“I killed him?”

“Yes, but we are still forbidden from taking him.”

“Forbidden how?”

“No matter, his death is ending.” The creature says as it fades away before disappearing completely.

When it vanishes Darren’s eyes open, now green again. He inhales sharply and his eyes refocus.

“Solution.” He whispers.

“Are you better now?” She asks.

“Much.” He responds weakly. “I think I needed that.”

He gets to his feet with Solution’s help. Once he steadies he comes over to me and puts a hand on my shoulder.

“Don’t worry.” He says, his lips forming themselves back into his familiar grin. I find relief in this until I see blackness spreading throughout his green eyes. “It’ll all be better soon.”

I gasp and start to back away from him, when a sudden pain explodes in my abdomen. I look down and see Darren’s arm in my stomach. He pulls it out, and with it comes a torrent of my blood. I fall to my knees, clutching my belly. Darren turns back to Solution and raises his now black hand to her. A pure light erupts in my vision, bathing everything in white. I jump to my feet toward Darren, clotheslining him. I continue on my small path to Solution, wrapping her in my arms. Then everything vanishes completely.

 

Reviews

[David Ung]

Damn! This chapter was intense. The relationship and the interaction between Aether and Ana is kind off cute and I like the fighting lesson a lot. Darren is kind of cool at first but I hate him now. So yeah good job on changing my perspective on Darren. Lol. The ending is good but Death was kind of random for me. Everything was well thought out in here. :)