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.