Chapter Twenty-Three:

Cadillac’s Role; Power of a Master Mage

 

          The misfit group walked toward the edge of town, a surprisingly calm atmosphere surrounding them. The people of Burmingham gathered on the sides of the street as the group passed. Word had gone around that the town was housing some very important people, and Marium and Altaire now had a rather large going away party.

          A little boy darted out of his mother’s grip and ran out to Marium, his eyes shining. “Wow! She’s so purdie!”

          Marium blushed and smiled at the boy. He was young, maybe 5 if he was lucky. “Ah, I’m not that pretty! But thanks anyways, little guy! You’re not that bad yourself!”

          She tweaked the kid’s nose, and made his face turn bright red from happiness. He scampered back to his angry mom, and watched her continue down the road.

          Altaire was smiling at her, his eyes dancing behind his bangs as he admired her enthusiasm. She was a remarkable woman. To think, just an hour ago she was frightened out of her mind at what she had to do. Altaire was completely enchanted by everything that made his fiancée unique.

          “Altaire? What’s up? You’re not listening are you?” Marium put on a glowering frown that brought the priest back to his senses. It was replaced immediately by a warm smile when she saw that he was listening again. “Are you scared?”

          “Scared? Should I be?” he appeared confused. This seemed like any other day, only today they were going to destroy Faede’s corrupt father.

          Marium’s irritation was apparent by her new frown. “Well, I’m not worried as long as I’m near you. So… no, you shouldn’t be.”

          All Altaire could understand from that statement was the obvious affection that was almost always in Marium’s voice when she spoke to him. His hand emerged out of his cloak and he nudged hers. They shared a smile as their hands clasped together while exiting the town.

 

          “Alright. Now, if I’m good for one thing, it’s casting light spells. The teleportation spell is of the light attribute AND only magi of the guru level are allowed to learn it!” Cadillac boasted once they were outside of Burmingham. Faede rolled his eyes.

          “Really. The sorcerer’s have a teleportation spell too, guru. We know how this works. You can only teleport those shrouded by the light magic.” Faede spoke, making Cadillac fume out the ears.

          “C’mon Faede. I don’t think Cad would suggest this plan if it wouldn’t work. I trust him, don’t you?” she inquired, silencing the shifty mage at once. Altaire didn’t like how quiet Faede was being so far.

          It’s probably just the medicine still in his blood stream. He thought, and gave his attention to Cadillac, who was speaking again.

          His droopy, pointed ears were still red at the tips, but his face was its normal pallor as Cadillac began to explain his plan. “I’ll teleport us all to the nearest town by Castle Ragnarok, the sorcery guild’s base. Then it will probably be an hour’s walk to get to the castle.”

          Altaire nodded, pleased with the idea of not having to walk so much. “We’ll have to sneak in from there.”

          “That’s where Faede comes in.” Marium added her comment to the bunch, her voice a little too happy for the occasion. “You know ALL the secret passages in the castle, right mage?”

          He gestured an affirmative and continued his deep thinking. All eyes turned to Cad once more. Jonah’s voice split the morning air. “Ready Cad?”

          Placid bit his lip, but spoke his mind as well. “Guru Cadillac, if you don’t mind me asking… doesn’t this particular spell take up a lot of magical energy?”

          Cadillac grinned, his tail swishing in the air. “I can only do it once in a day. That’s how strong it is. So I’m certain it’ll work. Now… anymore questions?”

          Marium’s hand shook a bit from inside Altaire’s bigger one, and his responded with a gentle, slight squeeze to reassure her. Without knowing it, Marium’s hand gripped his firmer, for support, just as Cadillac went into his spell-prayer.

          “Dog fo thgil, raeh ym reyarp dna rewsna ti htiw ruoy gnisselb,” Cadillac started in a strong, commanding voice. “Ekil a rehtaef ni eht dniw, ediug su ot ruo noitanitsed, thgiarts dna eurt.”

          A bright illumination surrounded Cadillac’s small body, and wrapped its way around everyone that stood by him. A rush of emotions and senses flowed into Marium’s mind, leaving her open to anything. An image blared across her psyche. A memory…?

          She saw a black silhouette showing upon a darker background. A closer look revealed it to be Faede, his jet black hair flowing free of the bondage of his usual ponytail. It whipped everywhere in the violent wind. When his head turned so that he could look at her, his eyes were the same, slanted, purple irises and cat slit pupils that Marium felt herself drawn into every time she stared at them.

          Faede’s skin was porcelain as ever, pure albino. He wore a strange, silver tiara-ish band around his forehead, and he was dressed in some sort of old… tunic. From his slim waist hung a rapier of sorts.

          “What is this..? Faede, what’s going on?” Marium could hear the disturbance in her own voice.

          Suddenly, a snake took the place of where Faede had once stood. It was a fearsome looking creature, its fangs were bared and its head was reared, ready to strike. From the looks of it, Marium deduced that it was a king cobra.

          The strange animal sprang at her and wrapped her upper body in its coils. But before it could do her any harm, it once again reverted into the shape of the remarkably beautiful Faede.

          He had his arms around her in the same place the snake had been, protecting her, shielding her. “A… a snake?”

          Strands of hair slid into Faede’s eyes, making Marium look into them again. The look that resided within made her curious. He looked lost, and terribly afraid. Of… losing her? Marium couldn’t tell, but it seemed logical by the way he was holding on to her so dearly.

          The last thing that happened was this striking man… Faede… began to speak. His lips started to move… “Goddess, I refuse to let you go back to Pallas for such a futile quest. There is someone here that loves you as much as that God does.”

          Then, his face faded to black, leaving Marium in darkness. She could tell the memory was far from over, she just couldn’t recollect anything else. The darkness gradually shifted to light, and Marium opened her eyes.

 

          At first she saw only blurry shapes. She blinked twice, groggily, and then she saw faces leaning over her. Cadillac… Altaire… Placid… and Jonah. “Ugh, Cadilac, I had the strangest vision…”

          Marium sat up, rubbing her head wearily. Then she saw Faede motionless on the ground close by. It almost wrenched her heart to see that no one was bent over him, trying to see if he was alright.

          Slowly, she stood up and went over to where he lay. With a finger, she poked him in the ribs. He stirred, but didn’t awaken. Marium jabbed him harder, and his eyes fluttered open. Once he saw it was her, his expression transformed. For a moment, he resembled the lost, scared Faede perfectly. Then that look was gone, only to be replaced by a stony glare.

          “F-Faede? Are you alright?” she stumbled over the words, her tongue filling her mouth. With a rude snort as his only answer, Faede stood up, wobbling as he did. “If that’s the way it is, fine.”

          Marium’s voice had been barely audible to even Faede, so no one knew of her worry. She strode passed him and toward Cadillac, nose in the air. “Cad, what did you do?”

          “Well, Marium…” he began, slowly, not sure of how to explain the phenomena. “It seems that you and Faede are connected to the attribute of darkness more than I first thought. You guys almost were lost in the abyss, if it hadn’t have been for that weird…”

          Placid’s voice was high and excited. “A man! With dark, black feathered angel wings, Marium! He was magnificent! After he brought you and Faede back from the portal, he just dissipated, like mist!”

          “Angel wings?” Marium repeated, shaken. “Cadillac, I saw something… it was some kind of memory.”

          “Oh?” Cad asked, genuinely curious. At once, Marium snatched him by the cape and dragged him toward a pair of trees. Her whispers were so low that not even Altaire, with his extremely keen sense of hearing, could make anything out of their conversation.

          As quickly as she could, Marium related the entire memory to the guru. He listened intently, nodding his head every once in awhile. Finally, she let out a deep breath, and Cad knew she was done. “Well, it does sound like a memory. I’m thinking it’s from the Goddess Yin’s life. When she lived in the heavens with her knights. Make sense?”

          “Not really. Why would Faede have been in the heavens with her?”

          “Not Faede, exactly. It was probably Faede’s former life as a…” before Cadillac could finish his thought, Jonah called out to them.

          “We can’t wait here forever, Cad! Let’s go! Castle Ragnarok is waiting for us!” he exclaimed, causing Marium and Cadillac to glance at each other and sigh.

          “We’ll talk later, alright?” Cadillac inquired, then they went back to the group.

 

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