Chapter forty-nine—Criminals to Accomplices
It was a miracle that we reached Fiona’s cottage in a matter of ten or fifteen minutes. Natalia was sitting on the doorstep, while Abby was pacing.
“Are you people insane?” Sophia exclaimed. “Why aren’t you inside with Fiona?”
Abby turned, and her face was evidently relieved to see us, but she still held a glimmer in her eyes that told us to stop and shut up. “Abby, what’s wrong?” I asked cautiously and slowly, my eyes narrowing.
“Because, it’s not just Fiona that’s in there.” Abby replied neutrally. “We’re in some deep shiz, guys.”
“What are you talking about?” Nikki’s voice wavered. “Has something happened to Fiona?”
“No, no…” Abby snarled, and I was surprised at her tone. She wasn’t usually this anger prone. Natalia, however, sat on the step with no emotion on her face.
“Then what’s going on?” I asked, now irritated. “Why can’t we go inside?”
“Yes, Mary.” I stiffened, feeling my blood rush to my feet. This can’t be real. “Why don’t you come inside?”
I looked up slowly, connecting eyes with Sierra, who held the door open. Her lips were pursed, but her eyes showed nothing. Behind her was Alia, Ronan (who must have got them here somehow), and a familiar looking guy with tan skin and greenish brown hair. What hurt me most of all, however, was Fiona’s hurt, betrayed face, staring right at me in the birthday chair I had sat in this morning. “Fiona, I-“
“You never told me you were all fugitives.”
My voice stuck in my throat. Nikki saved me, however. “We aren’t, we were framed-“
“We know.” Alia replied solemnly. “Come inside, we have a lot to explain.”
“You… Know?” I raised my eyebrow as we carefully walked into the cottage. Nobody spoke, and we just stood there, being stared at by the crowd of people, as if we were being interrogated. I barely noticed Xena, who I hadn’t seen in so long, fly over my head. I opened my mouth to say something, but closed it.
“We came here without the Enforcement knowing.” Sierra explained. “This is how the Queen doesn’t know.”
“T-the Queen?” Fiona gasped, and she put her head in her hands, whimpering. “I was housing criminals of the Queen of Marleybone.”
Natalia came and sat down next to Fiona, putting her gentle head on Fiona’s shoulder, as if Fiona was her mother. She did not speak.
“The Queen is not the kind of person to attack people like you, especially after all you’ve done.” Alia explained. “However, you were not the kind of people to attack the Royal Court , either, as they had said you had done.”
“We had, but only to defend ourselves.” Sophia protested. We explained the whole situation of what had happened that night, while they sat quietly and listened.
“Well, that’s a whole different point of view.” Sierra frowned. “But we believe you. The Queen has definitely not been… Good, lately. We think she may be an ally to Malistaire.”
“She was scared of him, though.” I sighed. “On the night of the attack, she saw him and she freaked.”
“She didn’t expect him to come, most likely.” The boy’s voice was a sneaky, deep voice. I didn’t like him. “Malistaire probably sent somebody to talk to her for him, not in person. She could have been working for him, but never was given the chance to see him face to face.”
“That makes sense.” Abby spoke up, but she was staring strangely at the boy. “Who are you?”
“Juan Firestone, at your service.” He looked like he was trying to do a smolder, but failed.
“Alright, then.” Sophia replied, awkwardly. Was I the only one who thought Juan was creepy?
“So, why are you here and how did you find us?” I asked, crossing my arms. Xena squawked, and flew over to my chair, and sat near me like a bird.
“You left immediately; therefore you left a lot of stuff behind. We managed to take some things before they took away all your stuff for evidence.” Alia explained. She took out two objects in my bag, and I gasped. She held my mother’s letter, which was in an envelope, and the music box. “We used them to make a tracking potion. Later, we found Ronan, who happened to own a ship and personally know you. So, we took the ship and reached the portal in the middle of the Demetrius Ocean
“Uh, okay.” I took the objects away harshly, and Alia frowned. “What made you take these objects?”
“I took the objects that seemed most important to you.” Sierra spoke cautiously. “What’s wrong?”
“Did you… Read anything?” Abby asked slowly, as if you would say it a certain way, it would unlock the box that held the goodness. (In this case, a no.)
“I… No?” Sierra seemed confused. “Is there something I should have done?”
“No!” I replied quickly, stuffing the objects behind me. “You did fine.”
“Are you hid-“Alia started, but I already knew what she was going to say. I cut her off with the question that’s been nagging me since I saw them in Fiona’s cottage.
“Did Caspian come with you?” I can’t believe I just asked that. They stared at me, and I just shrugged. “What? I want to know.”
“No, he disappeared as well, soon after you left.” Sierra replied neutrally. “We don’t know where he went.”
“Oh?” Abby spoke quietly. I felt bad for her, considering that it was her brother.
Ronan spoke up, finally, which made me realize that Fiona and Natalia had still not said anything yet. Fiona was actually staring intently at Ronan, while Natalia looked exhausted. “We are here because we know you are innocent, and we think Marleybone is failing. By failing, I mean becoming under control by Malistaire. We decided to help you, on whatever you’re doing.”
“Uhh…” Sophia started, but Nikki elbowed her. We couldn’t say anything about the S.A.
“Well, this has been a crazy day.” I sighed, standing up. “But I think it’s time to-“
In a flash, it was total darkness. I didn’t even feel faint, or like I’ve been hit in the head. It was as though I just fell asleep, but well aware and alert. I couldn’t feel myself standing, or if I had collapsed on the floor. It was as though I just got sucked into one of my nightmares, or prophecies, but in the middle of being awake and alert?
I felt my lungs squeeze up, and I gasped. The scenery of pure darkness changed, and I was somewhere else.
The sky was swirling, black and red. I was in a castle-like area, with marble the colors of dark blues, maroons, and browns, with dragon details on every piece of masonry.
He stood in the center of an amphitheatre kind of area, his arms raised, one of them grasping the hair of a young boy, as if he was going to take flight into the starless sky. His mouth was open, and if he was finding pleasure somewhere, he smiled my smile, and groaned. The floor cracked, and a black, scaled hand reached out from the cracks. I heard him laugh while the boy cried in fear as a blackened and tattered cloaked figure rose above the ground, with horrendous scaled hands and yellow cat eyes that poked out from its hood.
In the moonlight, I saw it grow; now realizing that its face was a skull, and every bit of it was a skeleton under its silk, ripped cloak. I felt myself choke.
“Titan mortis! Tenebrarum rex! Da tuis dimittere volo!” Malistaire’s cloak whipped around him like black magic, and black smoke seemed to be forming around him. The monsterous thing lifted its hands, and a black sphere grew from its dead hands.
“Titan tenebrarum, succumberet me!” Malistaire spoke, as if in a ritual. This was a spell... I tried to move, to stop it, but I couldn’t move my feet. This vision was only for me to see, to listen, but not to act.
“Dimittam vos liberaverit, volo obediet. Nocte resurgent, restituo statera arbitrio fata!” I couldn’t understand anything, but I felt a certain darkness growing in my gut. I didn’t like this. I didn’t like this at all. This is bad... Real bad. It was almost too much for me to handle, but of course, he continued with that rich, chocolate like voice of his, speaking his last verse of his spell. “Interfice me lumen et frenis!” He threw the boy at the monster, and it grasped the boy in its arms, as if hugging the boy. The boy’s screams were muffled, and I couldn’t see the boy through its tattered robes.
I screamed, because there was a sudden sharp pain in my head. It was quick, but it felt as though my brain had exploded in a a matter of two or three seconds, and then fixed. The dead thing threw the orb into the sky, and I could see lightning flash, and thunder roar its might growls.
Five things came flying down from the sky, while the dead thing sunk back in the ground with the boy, a slight tremor through the broken rubble. The things in the sky had no wings, so I knew they would crash into the ground.
Please let them die. Dont let them live. Whatever they are, they dont belong! I prayed, but when they hit the ground, they landed on their feet with grace. They were like shadows, with no faces. They were so dark that I couldn’t see through them, but they were not solid.
“Go, my precious demons.” Malistaire laughed. “Falsarium-Noctis, find your hosts!”
They disappeared in seperate directions, and I felt myself shaking. I was shaking hard, my head rocking.
“Mary-!”
I fell to the ground, being shaked. It was hurting my head. “Stop!” I screamed.
“Mary, wake up!” I heard somebody shout, and I opened my eyes, relieved to find reality. I realized that I was crying, holding on to somebody’s arms, my knees buckling and almost to the ground. I was sobbing, shaking my head, knowing exactly what had happened.
Fiona and Natalia were pale, holding on to each other in worry, while the others had been trying to wake me up. Juan, however, sat in a chair, calmly observing me.
“What are you looking at?” I snarled. He raised his eyebrow.
“Mary,” Sophia cupped my reddened face gently. “What happened?”
I grabbed her wrist, tears still falling. “He needed a diversion. He’s going to come back, and when he does, they are going to be with him.”
“Who, Mary? Whose ‘them?’” Abby asked, her voice shaking.
I stared, glancing at everybody in the room, my eyes stinging. I felt my voice waver when I answered. “Malistaire is preparing for war, and he has people like us. They’re going to find hosts.”
“What do you mean?” Ronan spoke up from the shadows, his voice dark, but with slight fear. He didn’t know about the Angels.
“Falsarium-Noctis.” I cried out, shaking my head. “He summoned them.”
“What the hell are we talking about?” Sierra exclaimed, frustrated.
Natalia shook her little head. “I don’t like this!” She ran out of the room, surprisingly chaotic for such a calm person.
“Wow, this ‘Falsarium-Noctis’ must be real bad.” Abby muttered. “We dont even know what it is, and she finds it scary.”
“Forget this.” Sierra growled, picking up her luggage to move into a different room. “Nobody ever tells me crap, and this ain’t helping.”
“Sierra, wait!” Alia followed Sierra empathetically, while Juan and Ronan stood there awkwardly.
“Should I follow?” Ronan raised his eyebrow, his brown eyes staring at the doorway.
“No,” Fiona replied quietly. “I have some extra room in the attic. Its not so dusty, and Juan and…”
“Ronan.” I corrected, knowing she didn’t know anybody here.
“You and Juan can stay up in the attic.” Fiona decided.
“Thanks.” Ronan took his bags, and made his way up the stairs. Juan followed him, but not before checking out Abby, whom flipped her black hair and turned, looking at me. Juan, the creep, followed Ronan upstairs. (Thank the Fates, because he’s a weirdo.)
“Fiona, I…” I stammered.
Fiona waved her hand, accepting with grace. “It’s alright… I just need time to think. Goodnight, girls.”
I fell back into a chair, my hand on my forward. “I wonder whats wrong with me.”
“Mary… You know nothing is wrong with you.” Nikki protested kindly.
“Your nice, so of course you would say that.” I sighed, turning my head towards her. “I’m officially physic, or something. I can’t say that I’m not a tiny bit freaked.”
“Yeah, one moment you were talking, and the next-“ Abby spoke.
“You were in my arms, passing out.” Sophia finished for her. “What did you see, Mary?”
I shut my eyes tight. “I saw Malistaire, in an amphitheatre kind of place. The sky was all black and red, and there was lots of wind.” I told them the rest, about the dead thing, about the shadows, and about the spell. I remembered every part of it vididly, even the spell itself.
“Wait a second.” Nikki gasped. “I heard about this ‘dead thing’ before.” She closed her eyes, nodded, and spoke: “This ‘dead thing’ you are talking about is called a Wraith. It’s a symbol for the Titan of Death, which is currently locked up in the Underworld with the other Titans, unless its released. As legend has it, if you release the Death Titan, it will grant you a single wish, and will go back down to its prison if you offer it a sacrifice.”
“Wow, you really do have permenant memory.” Abby’s eyes widened. Nikki grimaced.
“Malistaire had a boy with him.” I spoke with dread. “He gave it to the Wraith.”
“Titan of Death.” Sophia’s voice trembled.
“Malistaire evidently asked for Demons, opposite of the Seraphina-Alleyen, which may be the Falsarium-Noctis.” Nikki continued. “The Titan of Death, however, only takes and gives souls, not bodies. Therefore, hence the “host” part of the vision, they must find a body of their own, most likely the closest body that is near the ritual that had been cast. Concerning the amount of Demons, I’d say there are as many Demons as there are of the S.A..”
“Well, hell.” Abby crossed her arms. “We’re fighting Malistaire and six Demons?”
“Five,” I corrected. “I saw five.”
“But there are six of the Seraphina-Alleyen, total.” Sophia looked confused.
“But Abby is only half-Seraphina Alleyen.” I responded. “But what I dont understand is why the Fates could let this happen? I mean, they created us for a reason, and that was to restore the Scales of Good and Evil, or the Scales of Life. Letting these Demons roam free will just tip the scales before we even had the chance to fix it.”
“Maybe we were too good.” Nikki pondered, her chin in her hand. “We have been quite charitable.”
I did a long groan. “Well, we all know something.”
“And what is that?” Abby asked.
“That Malistaire is starting a war.” I answered. “And I think he’s going to be using the undead.”
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