United Against Hate: Chapter 15

Xye.

Silva read about the country in her professors’ book but she had never fully grasped how different the country was than her own. For one there was so much more water. Rivers, ponds, streams, and more. It was like Izarious but so much more. The bubbling of the water was something that took a few days to get used to just to be able to sleep.

Her first day had been strange, to say the least. The air was different. Hot and wet, it messed with her sinuses and her hair. She had never sweat so much before. The ground was different. But it went beyond being in a different place. The magic was different. She could feel it when she cast her first spell since stepping through that portal. It was weaker than even in Arkoria. She was a long way from Reditus.

In the tall rice stalks and deep water, she stood now. Her pants legs were rolled up and her arms were flat at her side. She looked at the sky and watched a star streak past. It was a strange kind of beautiful to see it up there. She wiggled her toes slightly and felt the soil beneath.

  She wondered if Sofia and Sefirin were safe. Wondered if they were still together in Arkoria or if they had gone back home. Part of her hoped that they were back home. Back home they were safer. She could see her sister’s frozen face and her brother’s bleeding body. She looked away trying to forget that sight. She looked at the water and took a deep breath to calm herself.

But it was hard.

Water splashed behind her and her ears quirked. She sniffed the air, scales passing over her face for a moment. She knew that scent, it was Miles. Miles and Invictus. The demon inside him was a smell that layered over his own like a perfume or stink. It varied by each demon and guardian combination.

The splashing stopped when he finally stood beside her albeit a little behind. He didn’t say anything though. Having talked to him since she’d walked through that portal with them, she learned he was a lot like Sofie. Shy, a little quiet, probably harmless. An odd pair given how violent his demon was.

Silva turned slowly, “Hello Miles.”

Miles jumped slightly his eyes widened. That reaction made her chuckle, “Hey. Silva. Figured you were out here. Just. Wanted to see how you were doing.”

“As good as can be expected given the situation.”

“Oh,” he looked away. “Are you getting used to the place? It took all of us a while to get used to Xye. It’s not like Noria. For one there’s no water. Not like this. And it’s a lot cooler. Drier too. We don’t think rice can even grow in Noria.”

“I’ve had rice before,” Silva said pushing one of the stalks with her finger. “It’s bland but the sauces here make it different. A lot better.”

“Fish too,” Miles smiled. “Never had so many types of fish back home. Cooked or raw.”

She nodded back to him. “I’ve had it once or twice from Izarius. But not like they do it here.”

Miles nodded and then stared down at the waters. “We wanted to apologize Silva.”

“What for?” she turned back to him finally looking at him with the same blue eyes.

He shook his head back and forth quickly trying to find his words. “For pulling you out of your cell. For getting you wrapped up with us.” he motioned behind him.

It was a small cabin, almost like a shack. There was a lit light within it and she could see Julie moving around within. It wasn’t that great of a location and it was definitely a far cry from the castle in Agrentum. But as she looked at Miles, she shook her head.

“I chose to come here to save my little sister. You had nothing to do with it,” she said colder than she intended.

He recoiled but nodded, “Right. Can we ask you something?”

“You just did.” That flustered him again and she laughed, “Ask away.”

“Your eyes. They change colors. Whys that?”

“It’s my blood. I’m a faerie. A race steeped in magic that doesn’t exist here. Our emotions appear in our eyes,” she looked toward him letting the green show, then red, and then forced back to blue. “Green is unease. Red is anger. Blue is me when I’m calm.”

“But your eyes are almost always blue.” Miles said and she just blinked. “Wow. We can’t imagine doing that. Or having the willpower to do that. We’re. Not that strong. What other colors are there?”

She glanced at him and didn’t mind telling him more, “Yellow is fear. Pink is love. Black is death. Etcetera.”

“So many ways to express yourself. Or at least each other. We wish we had something like that. Would make things easier for us to talk to the others.”

“Why do you talk like that?” Silva tilted her head to the side. “Julie does it too. Talking like multiple people.”

“It’s because of what’s inside of us.”

Silva glanced at him and sighed softly. “I don’t understand. You are all from Noria right? This is a long way away from home. I wasn’t there long but they didn’t interact or talk like that.”

Miles sighed looking a bit older, “We’re all from Noria but we weren’t raised there. We were. Bartered away when we were kids over time.”

“Bartered?” Silva turned to face him fully and shook her head. “What are you saying? You were sold?”

Miles nodded and looked down, “We were the cult’s first experiments. The ones that survived. The proof of concept.” He touched his chest and closed his eyes thinking of the sleeping demon inside of him. “Some of us have monsters. Some of us have partners.” He motioned toward the shack at Julie. And then there’s Roxanne.”

“Who’s Roxanne?”

“She was one of the first that went through this stuff. She went through the worst of it. She lost her sister to it. You’ll meet her soon,” he scratched his head.

“But that doesn’t explain how you got involved with Daze.”

“Who do you think was leading the experiments?”

Silva shuddered at the thought and nodded, “So he handpicked you all then?”

“Something like that.” Miles grimaced. “There’s more bu-“

“Hey, you two!”

Julie stepped out of the cabin and waved them both over. Silva and Miles worked their way over to her and stepped back onto the dryer grass. “What is it Julie?”

“Badou and Roxanne are back. Time to go.”

“Go? Go where?”

“To bring the gang together.”

Julie pulled out her pocket watch and tapped it twice. The black portal opened again and Julie tilted her head toward it before walking through. Silva stared at the swirling darkness of the portal and the thought of running away entered her mind. But she chased that away and walked through the portal as well. It sent a chill down her spine as she stepped through it. Like something about it wasn’t right.

As she stepped through the portal and came out the other side she was sure she was in Xye still. The air and the sky had the same unfamiliarity. What she did realize was that she was at a temple. Or at least the base of one. There were red pillars with faded paint and chipped stone lining the sides of the stairs. The ceiling above their head was gone entirely, the stars open to them.

As they came to the top, there was a small structure that she figured was the temple proper and the area they were in was the temple itself. And the area she was in was just the courtyard. She saw the residual energy of a portal dissipate and watched two strangers walk forward.

A man who looked not much older than her but had the heir of age and a woman who had herself wrapped around his arm tightly. She seemed to have feline features, down to brown fur on her exposed body and Silva was sure she could hear purring.

Shuddering she took a step back almost like she was readying for a fight but she felt Miles behind him. She looked at him and he offered her a reassuring smile. The best he could at least. Julie walked past them up the steps and spread her arms. “About time you got here your majesty! You know how long it’s been?”

Badou turned to look at her and laughed, “Sorry we’ve been gone so long. We’ve just been very busy.”

“Busy doing what huh? Each other? That’s not appropriate at all,” Julie put her hands on her hips.

“So what if we were Julie?” Roxanne asked not relinquishing her hold on Badou. “Got something to say about it?”

“You know we have several things to say about it,” Julie said smirking. “Don’t you ever get tired of the arm weight your majesty?”

Roxanne hissed and Badou put his hand on her own shaking his head. “Come on Roxie be nice.”

“This is us being nice,” she replied and glared at Julie. “But she’s testing us.”

Julie grinned and stuck her tongue out at her. “You make it so easy Roxie.”

She snapped at her then bared her fangs and that made Julie laugh even louder. Miles made a face at them but bowed his head. “Welcome back your majesty. We’re glad that you’re back in one piece.”

“Good to be back,” he said grasping one of Miles’s arms.

From out of his shadow Silva watched Frost walk forward. She didn’t know how she didn’t notice him at first. He looked at her and he looked just as rough as she saw him last. But it was his eyes that unsettled her still, “And we’re all here together. Feels like it been ages.”

“You again,” Silva growled.

“What are you doing here?” Frost asked staring at her. “Actually, don’t tell me. Can’t be because you want to be.”

“This is our new recruit,” Julie said jerking her thumb back at her.  “Names Silva.”

Frost raised his eyebrow, “I stand corrected.”

Badou and Roxanne both looked at her and she had to fight to keep her eyes blank and down away from them. Badou walked toward her slowly as Roxanne trailed behind him but stopped at Miles and Julie. Slowing down he looked at her and frowned. “We know that Julie says new recruit but we more than anything know what that really means. We won’t ask why you’re on our side. We can see that it’s not something you did willingly. So, we’re sorry for that.”

She looked at him surprised to hear Mile’s words repeated. And she believed him. It was some mix of the kindness in his eye to the tone that he used with her. Everything about him made her want to believe that he meant what he said. Despite what she had seen and the situation they were in. So she just glanced away saying, “Thank you.”

Roxanne took a step away from Badou and looked at Frost. He stood up straighter under her gaze and she sniffed. “You look terrible Frosty.”

“I feel terrible Rox. But good job seeing the obvious.”

“Our King needs a reliable queen,” she gave him a snarky smirk but then her features softened. “When we’re done you can sleep with us. We’ll make sure you have no nightmares at least for tonight.”

He looked at her for a long moment and his shoulders sagged. When he looked at her his eyes looked less like stars and more like regular brown ones, “Thanks Rox. Maybe my King has good taste after all.” She hit his back hard and he winced. “I take it back. Dumb cat.”

They walked forward and another black portal opened up and the man himself came out. Daze looked refreshed, younger, and more powerful than when she’d last seen him. Whatever damage had been done in Isal had been repaired and he was ready to continue whatever deranged plans he had. But Badou saw him and immediately scowled.

“What are you going to do with them Daze?” Badou asked sharply.

The mage looked at him calmly and shook his head, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know damn well what we mean,” Badou growled and a light began to glow behind the eyepatch. A different power radiated inside of Badou as he spoke. Badou grabbed him by the front of his clothes as another tone and voice layered over his own.

“We saw the circle. We saw the runes. We could smell it. You’re going to sacrifice them.”

“What do you think you’re doing Badou?” Daze asked slowly.

“After what happened to Regina, we said no more sacrifices,” he growled. “No more!”

“Regina volunteered her fate. Yet you still hold that grudge. And what will you do now? Will you leave? And abandon your guardians? Your country?”

“We’ll do what we should have done years ago.” Badou drew back his hand the metal coating his arm immediately.

A carved stone object with grooves filled with red light appeared above Daze’s shoulder. A black substance encroached and surrounded it beginning to block out the red light. Badou let out a strangled cry and sank to his knees eyes bulging. He leaned back as Daze stood over him.

“My King!” Frost shouted.

 “You forget your place,” Daze said and Badou let out a scream of pain.

“Badou!” Roxanne started forward but Frost held her back. Silva looked at all of them and saw fear raw on their faces but they forced themselves to look down and stay as they were. 

Eventually his screams relented and he slumped forward barely staying up. Daze glared down at him and kicked him aside, “Don’t forget your place here. You may be the next ruler of Noria but in my presence, you are nothing but a pawn to be commanded. Is that understood, your majesty?”

Shuddering through the pain he nodded slowly and forced himself to try to stand but could only get to his knees. Daze walked past him slowly and Badou made no effort to try anything. He just lay against the ground shuddering.

As Daze left them behind, they all ran to his side. Roxanne slid across the ground taking him and wrapping her arms around his head lifting it up slowly while everyone else gathered around him. “Badou! Please Badou. Are you okay?”

“We’re. We’re fine Roxie” He reached up slowly and touched her cheek, giving her a small smile, before forcing himself to his feet. It wasn’t pretty or dignified but he was standing again. Roxanne held onto him tightly and turned to face Daze. The mask started to appear on her face without her realization, as did the others.

“No!” Badou shouted. “Stop. We’ve been over this.”

“We can’t let him keep getting away with this your majesty,” Julie growled.

“You can and you will,” Badou told her. “We can’t let ourselves get carried away.”

Scowling Frost felt his eyes burning with light and struggled to stay still, “As much as I want to rain comets down onto his head, and trust me I want to, we can’t while has all the cards.”

“Retribution is reserved for those in power. And you have none of that,” Daze said walking toward Silva. “It’s time to fulfill your duty child.”

She looked at him fear panging her but she stamped it down, digging her fingers into her palm. She looked past him and to the other five. She saw their masks disappear slowly but she still saw the frustration. All of them except Badou. Badou was looking at her like he was scared. But not of Daze. It was all for her.

Taking a calming breath her eyes remained ice blue as she walked with him to the temple itself. Inside of the temple, it was sparse. It was dark with polished stone floors and a few sparse torches in the corners. She could smell flavorful smoke from the candles. But then she saw two people against the far wall. One was older, her parent’s age, and the other maybe a little older than her. Both looked hurt, faces bruised, and arms restrained.

Her bare feet passed over something and she looked at the ground seeing a white circle that had been drawn in some kind of powder. But as she stepped over it the powder swirled back into place.

Daze walked to the center of the temple and the sword appeared. The seven grooves were filled with light while three near the top were empty. There were five near the bottom were filled with blackened oil. One above them was gold, another beyond that was pitch black. Unlike the liquid of the oil ones this was a smooth stone that almost looked like a void.

Daze turned around, the sword keening with the movements. “Come. Kneel.” He said looking at her and meeting his eyes she felt paralyzed. But she saw her sister’s face in her mind and nodded slowly. She took a step and then another until she stood in front of him fist clenched.

Though he held his sword in one hand it was the other hand that she watched. The one covered in the blackened oil like a prosthetic. Daze spread his fingers and a black sphere appeared in his palm. Even in the darkness of where they were, it felt like this thing was sucking all the light out of the area.

That scared her more than anything else Daze could have shown her. She took a step back but suddenly she was in front of him like the ground shifted under her feet and pulled her forward. Her eyes never left that orb even as the sword moved.

Then he stabbed her.

The sword went straight through her and she didn’t feel it. She looked down at the sword buried deep in her chest and it was like it was an illusion. She met Daze’s eyes and then his hand was over her face.

The moment his hand touched her face was when she screamed. The pain was sudden as it raced through her body from the top of her forehead to the tip of her toes. Like something inside her was being ripped out one agonizing inch at a time. Just when she thought the pain couldn’t get worse, a new pain would start.

Was it minutes? Hours? She didn’t know. All that she could measure was the eb and flow of the pain. When it relaxed and breathing was no longer a chore. To when it peaked so high that she hoped she could pass out. But her eyes remained open and she remained conscious.

And then it was over. The darkness in her eyes had faded and the sword was gone. Her legs failed her and she fell to the ground in a heap. Keeping her eyes open and breathing was all that she could focus on. All that she could process. She felt hollow, like she’d been scraped clean. Something was wrong but she didn’t know what. It all hurt too much.

But what she was able to see, able to focus on was that Daze’s sword had changed. Near the tip, one of the orbs had been filled in. A white gemstone was now resting comfortably within it and she had to question if it hadn’t always been there this entire time.

Daze stared at the new orb in the sword and took a slow breath. Turning on his heal he motioned with his hand and suddenly one of the captured men was in front of him. He stood glaring at Daze and spat at his feet. “It’s been a long time since I’ve been face to face with a Zodiac. Pisces right?”

“And this is the first time I’ve hated someone the first time I’ve met them. You must be Daze. The one who corrupted my brother.”

“If you mean Cancer, I did nothing of the sort,” he smirked. “Cancer made his own choices. I just broadened his horizons.”

“You caused a war in my home,” he growled.

Daze cracked a smile as he looked at the Zodiac and nodded. “That is what happened. And it’s paved the way for me to continue with my own goals. It led me here to you.”

“You’ve brought us here. Why?” he glared then jerked his eyes bulging and all words dying in his throat.

Silva watched with muted shock as Daze skewered Pisces through the chest with his sword. There was no orb this time. Just the blade diving deep through the man’s chest. His eyes began to glow like the stars in the night sky and some started to appear around him like he was his own constellation. But within his body, black veins started to sprout and travel up his skin as he shook against the sword.

“Dad!” the other captured boy stood up and the pain in his voice hit Silva personally.

Daze rested his hand on the shoulder of the Zodiac as he drove the sword deeper into his chest. He met the Zodiac’s glowing eyes and watched as the light began to fade. The stars disappeared one by one until they were all extinguished. Pisces went still and as Daze slid the sword free, he fell to the ground in a heap.

Staring at his sword another orb was filled just above the white gem. It was a clear one that glinted with starlight. Pulled from the sky and immortalized in the sword. He breathed slowly and there was a clearness in his breath that he hadn’t felt in decades. He stepped over Pisces, the air tearing open and he disappeared through it.

When Daze was gone the other boy stood up and ran to the edge of his chain as he screamed tears in his eyes. “Dad? Come on dad get up! Dad! Dad!”

Silva heard his screams like an echo in a long cave. Her vision swam with black on the edges. She saw the empty eyes of the man in front of her, the Zodiac that she’d left her home to protect and help. She saw his empty dark eyes and then her own vision finally went black as well.

“One star dies. And another rises in its place. Go to sleep little faerie. I’ll give you exactly what you want and you’ll give me what I want. We’re going to do many things together.”