Heart of Darkness

Chapter 8

He was standing in that old city ruin, staring out over the destruction that he had wrought upon the inhabitants within. It startled him to find himself there. Why was he back? He’d accepted the Mazoku Aspect, accepted the abilities and the past that came along with it, so what had drawn him once more to this fragment of memory?

He turned, looking this way and that, seeking the Mazoku, yet not finding him. Of course. His aspects of Self had merged, hadn’t they? The Mazoku was himself.

A flicker of red hair in the distance caught his attention, and he ran after what could only be Lina.

She waited, watching, knowing that it was only a matter of time before he relinquished all will to the baser emotions, opening the path for her to twist him into doing her desires. She was patient; she could wait for the precise moment.

The door to the room opened, and she glared over to the intruder. “What?” She snapped, golden eyes narrowing. “I left specific instructions for no-one to bother me.”

The silver-haired woman knelt, lowering her head and allowing her hair to fall over her face. “My Lady, I come with urgent news.”

“Spit. It. Out.” She hissed, furious that she should be interrupted. Timing was crucial, and she didn’t dare mess this up. One slip, one mis-step and the chance to twist his soul beyond anything recognizable to Inverse would be forever lost.

“Xellos Metallium was seen outside, my Lady. He has been in the company of Lina Inverse, and he is fully capable of sensing anyone within our compound. If he has sensed the presence of your… guest…”

She hissed in unbridled anger, golden eyes flashing with a hot glittery glow. “Go. Find that miserable Mazoku and report back to me where he has gone. I will seek out Zelas and see what can be done before that General-Priest can make himself even more of a nuisance than he already is. Oh, by Shabranigdo, sometimes I wish I understood Beastmaster.”

The silver-haired woman bowed her head even lower, and vanished from sight.

So. Metallium was working with that Greywords brat. Not that he needed any help from anyone, but it was very interesting to note that little… inconvenience.

“Your friends must think that they can just come get you at will, but you and I know better, don’t we?” She purred at Zelgadis, watching his eyes darken as his natures threatened to split and turn on each other in war. Oh, she knew what held him together, knew that what unified could also be used to drive apart… and the driving apart would rend his spirit and free the darker power within him. After that, control would be a simple matter. And once she had control, all of his power would be hers.

“Let… me… go!” He rasped, his voice a harsh thing of stone against stone, a dry scrape of syllables forming sounds that barely passed as words. His voice was alien to himself, and he fought all the harder to break free of the restraints.

She frowned; he was stronger than she had accounted for. A wave of her hand, and the Lina in his mind danced back into being, promises of endless dreams trailing along with her in the cityscape that she had created.

He fought the illusion for a long moment, and then fell prey to it once again as her spells wove thicker and thicker about his mind, falling still on the raised platform, his eyes dulled and distant as she smiled thinly and continued to orchestrate the dream by which she would gain control of his soul.

Naga was tired of the cat-and-mouse games, and with a soft pat to Lina’s head, rose from the edge of the bed. Luckily for her, Jedah didn’t know the eldest Princess of Saillune well enough to recognize the sweetness in her voice as the dangerous venom that it truly was. “Jedah… could I speak to you outside for a moment, please?” Had Amelia been in the room, she certainly would have gone pale at the promise of destruction in that honeyed voice.

Jedah amiably followed Naga out into the hallway, and the moment that the door closed behind them, she rounded on him. “What else do you know, Jedah? What was Xellos coming to tell you? You know where he is, so spill it.”

Confronted with the full force of Naga’s well-endowed chest (which, even though modestly concealed by a shirt, still bounced abundantly in his face as she spoke,) Jedah found that he could only stand and blink owlishly at her. It was easier than stammering and attempting to hold the illusion of innocence.

“Well, I asked him to do some checking around for me.” Jedah said, considering his words carefully. “He can go places that we can’t, you see…”

Naga snorted. “Hardly. You and I both know that Xellos doesn’t ever do anything without wanting something in return. I want to know what he wanted.”

Lina lifted her head and looked at the closed door for a moment, but only fell back onto the bed, staring dully up at the ceiling. All she truly wanted to do was to open her eyes and be back in that little hotel, curled up in the warm bed, wearing Zelgadis’ shirt and hearing his breathing next to her.

She’d even trade what little she had managed to translate in that cave to be back with him.

The cave! She sat upright, a jolt of energy flashing through her. All of this had happened right after she’d started the translations in that room of the cave! It couldn’t possibly be a coincidence. It just had to be related.

Lina stood, moving across the room and yanked the door open in time to hear Naga challenge Jedah. “Forget what he wanted, Naga. I want to know where he is. I know something that might be of interest to that purple-haired pest.”