Heart of Darkness

Chapter 62

Careful and quiet steps brought Lina to the table, and the two Mazoku watched warily as she reached out and took the gemstone into both hands, carefully cradling it as she brought it close to her heart. To Jedah’s amazement, it began to glow from within, answered by the gem at her throat. “Is that…?”

Crimson eyes lifted from the larger stone and Lina turned to look to the clear blue eyes. “It is. This stone at my neck is what he gave you to bring to me. They’re connected…”

“Heart of Darkness,” Xellos whispered softly, eyes open and clear as he regarded the glittering gems, sensing the breadth of power within them. “Cassandra did this to him. She managed to break him.”

“I was too kind,” Jedah said bitterly, the emotion closing his throat, making him turn away from the image of the frail redhead cradling the gemstone that he somehow knew was Zelgadis’ heart. He understood so much now, how without this part of himself, Zelgadis was bound to fail at understanding. What was she trying to do? Take it for herself? Take his power through this? He didn’t have those answers, and because he had erased Cassandra from the Four Worlds, he never would have them.

A sound made Jedah turn, and he saw Lina crumple, saw her fold around the gemstone and sink to the floor. Wracking sobs overtook her, and he sensed Xellos drawing back, uncertain what he ought to do.

With bitter pain in his own heart, Jedah moved to Lina, knelt beside her and took her into his arms. He could feel her pain, feel her anguish, but it was also his own, as if they were sharing the same linked sensations. Tears threatened his own eyes, and he felt like tearing the building down, felt like indulging in rampant and pointless destruction.

But that wouldn’t bring any of this to a close, wouldn’t bring Zelgadis back, wouldn’t replace the emptiness that he knew had taken over the place that had been the other’s heart. “Lina…” Jedah whispered, his voice breaking with the strain of trying not to fall apart himself. “I promise you… we’ll get him back. Whatever it takes, however I have to. I’ll help you.” He could feel Xellos’ incredulous gaze settle on him, and he lifted his head to look at Xellos.

Part of this is my fault, Xellos. I should have seen this long ago. I had the chance to fix what I broke and I let it be, foolishly thinking that it would work out for the best. Oh, how bitter did the truth taste! He could start to understand why Xellos preferred to avoid cut and dry whenever possible.

Xellos frowned, ill at ease with the situation. Jedah was acting too human, too contaminated, too… he understood with frightening clarity. Lina was cradling the Heart, and Jedah was touching Lina. The Heart drew on the darkness within those close to it, emphasizing it and turning it into an echo of its own pain from being separated from Zelgadis. But how could he… a flicker of his magic subtly shifted the foundations of the building, and he was rewarded with an ominous rumble. “It isn’t safe here. We should move on…” He put his hand out to Jedah, quietly hoping that the bait would be easily taken.

“Yes…” Jedah reached out, pausing for a moment as Lina hiccupped, and then he took Xellos’ hand, pulling himself to his feet, leaving Lina seated on the floor to collect herself

With his free hand, Xellos offered Lina a small cloth to wrap the gem into. “Here, use this to protect the Heart.” He watched as she wrapped the stone in the purple silk, and nodded faintly to Jedah as he saw the realization cascade over the blue eyes. That stone is dangerous. And without it, Zelgadis is even more dangerous.

“I want to go back,” Lina’s voice was quiet, though there was no mistaking it as anything other than the order that it was. “Take me back to Saillune, Jedah.” She looked up at Jedah, a frail and pale figure with wild hair and a tearstained face. She hardly looked anything akin to the woman who had faced him down not too long ago.

“As you will it, Lina,” Jedah murmured, offering her his hand again, just as he had in Saillune. But this time, she resisted his embrace, a coldness settling over her as they moved through the shifting of planes back to the Palace.

The little group was still in the hallway near the room where they had watched Lina vanish with Jedah, and so they were there to see him bring her back, were witness to Lina turn to him, lean up to whisper something into his ear and kiss his cheek. They watched her walk past him, moving towards the staircase that would lead her to the upper floor where her own room was. They saw the strange glowing gem nestled in purple silk in her hands; they saw the tearstains and the careful way in which she moved.

Naga turned back in time to see Xellos fade into existence behind Jedah, watched him pull Jedah backwards into the shadows, and watched them both vanish. When she turned back, she saw that the others had moved to follow Lina. She ran to catch up, ran to find out what Lina was carrying.

He was tired. Cepheid, he was tired… though that didn’t come close to expressing how soul-deep it went. Backwards he floated, drawing a blanket of Astral about him and simply existing there for a moment, reduced to his true form of pure energy.

What do we do now? Asked the other who was there with him, equally tired, though perhaps not as deeply.

We wait. We wait for her to make her choice.

Lina’s last words had been whispered so softly.

“I need time, Jedah.”

And though he was loathe to admit it, he did too.