Chapter Twenty-Five:
Head Sorcerer Mortimer
The
women came back in a few hours later, and brought Marium to the throne room.
She didn’t see any way to escape, so she let them led her there. They passed
hall after hall of shadows and finally entered a brightly lit room with two
golden seats, a big one and a smaller one.
Faede
sat upon the smaller one, his royal mage outfit on. Marium remembered it from
the first day they’d met. She’d tried to beat him in a magic duel. Now she knew
he’d been only giving it a small effort. If he had meant to hurt her during
that match, he most certainly could have.
“Bow
down, show respect to the young master!” All the magi in the room dropped to
their hands and knees in reverence. Marium remained standing. Faede smirked.
“Of
course I don’t expect you to bow, Marium. We are both gods, aren’t we? You’re
the goddess of darkness… and I’m your knight, god of the fire snake.” His smile
was both charming and irritating. Marium stared, face blank.
“Sir,
we have brought the other prisoners as instructed.” A soldier stated, then
Marium’s friends were marched in, wearing ropes around their wrists and magic
wards to seal their powers.
“Altaire…”
her voice was weak, as were her knees. They’d allowed him to keep his staff.
They were fools, she thought. To just throw prisoners in a dungeon with their
weapons still with them. “You guys…”
She
started to move toward them, but a guard roughly grabbed her by her arm, and
jerked her back to her place across the room from them. Faede immediately cast
a fire ball at the magi, burning him to a skinless corpse. “Now, I still
haven’t made myself clear, have I? Do not touch the girl. Next person that
disobeys me will have it much worse than that.”
Altaire
turned and glanced at Faede. The young mage was sternly serious, and all those
in the room knew it. But what was his goal in keeping them away from Marium?
Altaire! Altaire, I’m so sorry, I was so afraid,
and I was alone… Marium sent her
thoughts to Altaire on a wave of her energy. Faede felt it, and frowned.
“Now
now, that would be cheating.” With a wave of his hand, Faede severed the mental
link between the two embodiments of the god and goddess. Now Marium felt truly
alone. “Until I can find a permanent solution to that problem, this will have
to do.”
“Head
Sorcerer Mortimer has arrived.” A magi announced, and immediately, everyone
dropped to the ground. The soldiers forced the prisoners to bow as well. Except
for Marium, everyone, even Faede, was bowing low.
“I
see we have a juvenile delinquent in our midst. My future daughter-in-law is
already off to a bad start.” The Head Sorcerer’s voice was cold, hard, and
flowed with power. He was walking from shadow to shadow, Marium could not see
his face.
Her
warning growl was low, and she meant it. The growl was an animal instinct that
resided deep within every human, since humans were still animals too.
The
sorcerer chuckled heartily. “Bad girl, don’t attack me yet. I haven’t even
spoken to you regarding your Goddess.”
“Humph.
If Yin was a true and just Goddess, she would have struck you down as a baby.”
Marium mouthed off, getting a snicker of approval from Cadillac. He was
immediately kicked by a nearby guard.
“Such
vulgarity from the High Priestess. It must be those girls from another world.
All bark and no bite.”
“Hehe.
Faede can probably argue with that.” She shot back. Faede frowned, rubbing his
hand in remembrance. Cadillac suppressed the urge to giggle again.
“Hm.
She has spunk, I’ll give her that. But no manners, or respect. Even to the father
of the two men you love most on Pallas. Shame.” Mortimer spoke, stepping out of
the shadows to sit on the larger throne.
His
hair was long, but at that moment it was tied into an ebony bun at the top of
his head. He looked ageless, not even a wrinkle creased his albino skin. His
eyes were the only feature that didn’t remind Marium of Faede. They were an
almost heavenly shade of green.
Faede
seemed confused, as did Marium. “Father, you are speaking in riddles.”
“Oh,
I never told you, Faede my boy? You have a brother. An older one that’s been
kept hidden from me by your wretched mother.” The Head Sorcerer smirked
callously. “Can you guess who it is, or shall I just tell you?”
“A-Altaire…?”
Marium stammered, glancing from Faede to Altaire in disbelief. Now that she
thought about it, they did look a lot alike, in some way. They had the same
shape of eyes. And their ears were the same.
Altaire
shook his head. “I am an orphan, born in the heavens, Marium. It is not
possible.”
Cadillac
gasped. He knew Faede’s mother. She had brought Altaire to him years before she
brought Faede, saying that he was an orphan. It fit together…
“It’s
a lie! I won’t believe it!” Faede’s sudden outburst caught everyone by
surprise. He was paler than humanly possible.
His
father grinned. “Ah, yes. Your rival in everything, from magic to combat, and
yes, even LOVE…” the sorcerer glanced at Marium meaningfully. “Is your older
brother. Altaire Zephyr. Zephyr, what a joke. That was your mother’s maiden
name.”
“Enough!
This is so ruthlessly stupid! Torturing these two is something that I will not
forgive! I’ll fight you alone if I have to! I’m not afraid to destroy you by
myself any longer! It must be done!” Marium exclaimed, blushing from anger. She
didn’t CARE about her premonition! She would crush this idiot…
“You
think you have a chance, girl? How interesting.” Mortimer pondered this a
moment, then stepped back. “Why not? I haven’t had a good fight in awhile.”
“Marium!”
Placid called out, surprised at her carelessness. Altaire was struggling
frantically to escape from the guards, and all the magi in the room were
leaving to avoid the ruckus.
Marium
came forward, glaring intently at her target. “You first, by all means.”
The
sorcerer’s generosity wasn’t convincing. Marium slowly raised her undamaged
hand to the round, blue jewel encrusted into her breastplate. “Summon… blue…”
The
mist dragon erupted from her jewel, causing instant chaos. It roared, shaking
the castle furiously, then turned toward the group of magi left in the room
that were guarding Marium’s friends. They were all dead within seconds.
“Blue!
Distract that bastard as long as you can!”
“Priestess,
I will need help.” The dragon spoke, calmly. Marium bit her lip, then put her
hand on the red jewel that was set in her breastplate. “SUMMON RED!”
The
giant red dragon of fire stood next to his sister dragon. “Hold him off while I
untie my friends!”
“Leave
it to us, Priestess!” Red boomed, a dragonish grin splitting his face. Marium
ran to her friends.
“Okay,
um…” Marium patted Altaire down, searching for a knife. He squirmed from her
touch. Suddenly, from behind her, Faede appeared.
“Marium,
watch out!” Jonah yelled in warning. It was too late, Faede was bringing the
dagger down, hard…
Altaire
was free from the ropes very quickly. Marium was still cowering from the
thought of the dagger slicing through her flesh again. Faede glanced at her,
shook his head sadly, than moved on to Cadillac’s ropes.
Marium
resisted the urge to embrace Altaire, and instead, turned to check on her
dragons. At that moment, Blue and Red both fell under a giant blast of energy.
They stayed down.
“Oh
no! Blue, Red! Get up, he’s gonna kill you!” Marium ran toward her elemental
dragons, and stopped. Mortimer was aiming his fingers at her. They glowed with
an unholy black light, so bright that Marium shielded her eyes from it. It was
a fatal mistake.
The
darkness arrow flashed forth from the sorcerer’s fingertips, and darted toward
the blinded priestess… and hit Altaire.
The
priest had dived in front of her, making the arrow hit him. He dropped to the
ground, lifeless, a satisfied smile on his lips. Marium shook her head,
whispering strange words that no one understood. “… no no no…”
She
covered her ears with her hands and shut her eyes tight. “What is she doing?”
“I
don’t know, Placid!” Cadillac cried, jumping up to cast a spell. He quickly
cast a barrier around Marium and Altaire. All he knew was that Marium was
somehow gathering spiritual energy from somewhere. For what, he had no idea.
Faede
glared at his father, then turned his gaze to Marium, who was still shaking her
head in shock. To think… he’d almost hurt her like that… it made his blood
boil. “Flaming fang!”
Fire
in the shape of a giant cobra erupted from Faede’s hands, chasing toward his
father. It bounced off him, harmlessly. “That… was my most powerful attack.”
“What??”
Jonah demanded, shocked. “I can’t believe this! Fine mess you’ve gotten us
into, Faede! Now how do we get out of it alive?”
Placid
ran to where Altaire was, and began applying medicine. Finally, he used
smelling salts to wake him up. The priest sat up, groggy. Marium was done
charging up for whatever she was going to do.
“Goddess
of the earth and night, bless me with unholy light, destroy everything within
my sight…” her voice was loud, commanding. Her eyes opened and she looked
directly at Mortimer. Her aura was seething around her, surrounding her for
about five feet around. “Final resort.”
The
energy within and surrounding Marium condensed in front of her, and formed a
huge ball. It raced close to the ground, straight at the sorcerer. He tried to
dodge it, but it was too late.
Altaire
had seen it all, and he knew… that Mortimer could not be defeated. He was just
too strong at the moment. They had to retreat… but there was not way. Not
without sacrifice.
The
dust cleared and Mortimer was still standing, barely bruised. Marium’s breath
escaped her body in a loud ‘puff’, and she collapsed. Faede caught her before
she could hit the ground. “Marium… c’mon, you’ll be okay… Don’t die…”
A
wicked, cruel laugh cut off Faede’s whispers as he clutched Marium close to his
chest. “Is that ALL? She should have known that evil cannot hurt evil! Unless,
of course, it’s more powerful than the other. Like me.”
Faede
continued to hold Marium protectively, but glanced up to send the worst death
glare he’d ever made to his father. “You’re a monster. Marium is on the brink
of death, and it’s because she wanted to kill you. To save us.”
“She
is a strange character, indeed. I do not think you are worthy to become her
husband. It will take a man that can keep her in line.” His hint wasn’t taken
lightly by either Altaire or Faede. “She, perhaps, would bear decent sons.”
“Shut
your mouth!” Cadillac screamed, enraged by the idea. “The only one she’ll do
that for is Altair- Uh…”
Altaire
was standing up, shakily, and shot a glance at Cadillac to make him be quiet.
The guru turned a shade of red and snapped his mouth shut. “Faede. Come here,
bring Marium.”
Faede
wasn’t used to listening to what Altaire told him to do, but he tried to. He
walked over to him with Marium in his arms. “We both know that we won’t all get
out of here alive. Some one has to stay behind to distract him.”
“I
know. I’ll do it.” Faede was determined to repay his folly to the priestess in
his arms. “I want to be worth something to her again.”
Altaire
smiled thinly. “Your magic would be no help. As the old man said, evil begets
evil. We both know who must stay.”
Jonah
came up from behind Altaire and laid a hand on his shoulder. “You’ve grown so
much since those years ago when Cad and I began to train you. Don’t worry. You
won’t go alone.”
“Thank
you, dear friend.” Altaire stated, a little more comfortable at the idea. “You
know you’re giving up your life to stay with me, correct?”
“Of
course I know. Or I wouldn’t have suggested.” Jonah finished, then turned to
Cadillac. “Hey, you have enough energy left to teleport again?”
Cadillac
nibbled on his lip, nervously. “I might. But what about you two? How am I
supposed to just leave you against him?”
“Cadillac,
you’re the only one that can pull off the teleport spell. Remember, Faede isn’t
a guru yet.” Altaire commented to convince the little squirrelf. “Besides…
Marium will need you.”
His
smile was heartbroken, as he turned his gaze to rest on the priestess in
Faede’s arms. “She’ll be less trouble if she didn’t know until later.”
At
that moment, as if she knew that something was happening, Marium’s eyes
fluttered open. “Ow… what happened? Altaire, you’re alright, thank god.”
She
tried to stand out of Faede’s arm, but collapsed again almost at once. Altaire
caught her this time. She suddenly realized that everyone was looking at them
with tears in their eyes. “W-what’s going on?”
Then
she also noted that Altaire was avoiding her eyes. “Someone, please tell me…”
Cadillac
cleared his throat. “Altaire’s staying behind with Jonah to fight Mortimer,
while we…”
“RUN
AWAY?! And leave Altaire and Jonah to die?” she demanded, fuming with apparent
rage. “This has to be a joke, right Altaire? We’ll fight him together, okay? I
won’t leave you..”
“Do
as your told for once, Marium. You’ll be of more use to the world than I will
now.” This fact sent Marium reeling.
“Who
cares? You know that I won’t let you go on without me.” She said. There was a
blast against the barrier Faede had put around the group.
“Marium,
I…” he paused, then sighed. “I don’t WANT you here with me! Go with Cadillac,
at least then you’ll be of some help! You’ll just get in the way!!”
“W-what?”
Marium questioned her own hearing.
“You’ve
always been a burden for me! I have to watch over you, protect you, and for
what? For the Goddess Yin’s sake, if nothing else!” Altaire snapped again.
“Irresponsible, little, weakling that doesn’t know what’s more important, her
heart or the hearts of those around her!”
“I
don’t care what you say, I’m not going!!” Marium yelled, red in the face from
all the insults. “Because even though you’re yelling at me, it’s just words,
and what do words mean when I can tell what you’re thinking, Altaire?”
“I
told Faede that I wouldn’t tolerate him risking his own life for me, and I
won’t tolerate it from you, either.” Marium finished, uncrossing her arms, she
grabbed onto his cloak with her hands. Altaire glanced at Faede and they shared
an unspoken thought.
“Eltneg
peels- WIND.” Faede spoke, and a sparkling silver breeze swept passed Marium,
making her eyelids droop sleepily.
Altaire
caught her as she slumped into his arms. He was visibly shaken, more so than
when he’d been shot by Mortimer. Her words were true, though. “Alright,
Cadillac. Get ready to teleport away.”
Marium. I’m doing this because I love you. Just as
Faede used the last of his power to make the canceling ring for you. He loved
you as well. You can’t always stand on your own, Marium. Some times you have to
let others protect you. Altaire sent into her
mind. She took a deep breath and cuddled closer into his arms. We’ll be together again, one day. Always remember
that Cadillac will be there for you.
Her
eyebrows pulled together in dismay, even while she was sleeping. Altaire bent
his head down to whisper in her ear. “Marium. This isn’t my destiny that fate
has chosen. I chose this path now so that you may live tomorrow. It’s my
choice. You taught me that I have a choice. For that and much more, I love you
with all my heart.”
Then
he pulled up and gazed at her sleeping face. She looked so innocent and
helpless right then. Finally, Cadillac called out to him that he was ready.
Altaire brought her over to where Cad and the other were. LW bounded out from
the shadows he’d been hiding in. After all, he was just an animal, and animals
get scared easily.
Altaire
leaned down and softly kissed her lips, it was such a startlingly chaste kiss
that the pure intensity of it woke Marium up. She blinked from underneath
Altaire’s lips, confused. Her lips were responding instinctively, although she
could not move any part of her body. Faede’s spell was strong.
“Good
bye for now, Marium.”
Then
her beloved priest turned away from her and strode toward the battlefield, his
companion by his side. “No…”
The
tears that spilt from Marium’s eyes were very real. They rolled down her cheeks
and splashed onto the cold ground. Her body was shaking again. Faede moved from
his spot and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly.
“Faede.
Take care of her.” Altaire’s voice floated back to them. Faede nodded, even
though Altaire could see him.
Cadillac
spoke the teleportation phrase and Marium was once again thrown into darkness
with Faede’s arms as her only support.
End of Part One ^_~ Whew! Intermission, people! Get a drink; go to the
bathroom!