Chapter
3: Alone
When Mina came
to, a dull stiffness ran through her body.
Rubbing her sore bottom, she allowed a small groan to escape her lips
before sitting up and rubbing her eyes. When
her surroundings came into focus, she saw that she was sitting in an alcove
underneath the crystalline tower, which loomed over her, like an icy mountain. Various plants, from flowers to weeds, all
grew in carefully tended patches around her, while a flight of stone stairs
behind her led up to the crystalline tower’s front door. Glancing to her right, Mina saw a stone
archway that was in front of a bottomless black chasm. A sudden gust of steam ruffled her hair and
cloak, drawing her eyes to an open doorway at the base of the large tower.
“Ugh…what
happened?” Mina grunted, “I remember falling and-” Stopping mid sentence,
Mina’s eyes grew wide. “Celi! Daryl!” she cried, jumping to her feet and
glancing around the deserted area.
“Where are you?!”
When no one
answered, Mina put a hand to her chest, trying in vain to quiet the rapid
thumping of her heart. “I’m…alone,” she
whispered, her breaths growing more ragged with each passing moment. “I’m all alone again…”
Her legs began
to tremble as a tremor shook the ground beneath her. A sudden jolt unbalanced her and Mina fell
onto her back. For a moment, she lay
still, her heart thumping in her ears.
Glancing skyward, Mina saw a crescent moon adorn the night sky and
several stars were peaking out of the clouds above her. The clouds themselves, however, were passing over
her with surprising speed.
Stumbling to
her feet, Mina glanced out towards the edge of the landmass and could see the
Keval mountain range and the forest she, Celine, and Daryl had escaped from
growing smaller with each passing moment.
“A-are we…moving?!” Mina said, calm her haggard breathing. “B-but how is that possible?!”
Minutes ticked
by gradually for Mina, who sat on the ground in a trance at the sight of her
home fading into the distance. When the
Keval mountain range finally disappeared from sight, Mina wrapped her arms
around her legs like a frightened child, and buried her face in her knees. “Celi…Daryl…” Mina sobbed, “We’re never going
to get home…are we?”
Fighting back
tears, Mina closed her eyes and sat perfectly still. While she was sitting, the only sounds that
reached her were the sputtering of steam from the nearby passage and the wind
whispering in her ears. In the back of
her mind, she heard a voice scolding her.
“Are you just gonna sit there and cry?”
Lifting her head, Mina wiped a tear out of her eye and looked down at
her knees. “I know it hurts,” the voice
in her ear murmured, as the wind wafted over her, “But if you just plop down on
the grass and give up, you’ll never get anywhere!”
“Momma,” Mina sniffled, tightening her grip on
her legs. “Yo-you’re right,” she rubbed
her eyes and clambered back onto her feet, “This time, I won’t just sit here
and cry.”
Lurching over
to the wall of the crystalline tower, Mina used it as a brace to hold herself
up. “I need to find Celi and Daryl,” she
panted, “Let’s see…we got separated when the floor collapsed, but if I’m still
on the island then they probably are too.
And they’re probably out looking for me.
I should do the same.”
Turning her gaze
towards the passageway in front of her, Mina took a deep breath. “Well, I suppose this is as good a place as
any to start my search,” she mumbled aloud before heading into the passage.
Metal pipes
lined the stone walls of the passageway, twisting in every direction before
disappearing into the walls, ceiling and floor.
Mina tried to use them to maintain her balance, but when she touched one,
the pipe was so hot that she had to jerk her hand away immediately. Periodically, steam would leak out of the
pipes, filling the hallway with stiflingly hot mist. As she made her way through the passageway,
Mina began to sweat copiously. Shrugging
off her cloak, she pushed further into the corridor, coughing and wheezing as
her throat grew dry and scratchy.
A light at the
end of the passage attracted Mina’s attention and she stumbled towards it. Covered in sweat and panting hard, Mina
dropped to her hands and knees and crawled away from the steam filled passageway
as fast as she could. Flopping onto her
back, Mina glanced up and saw that she was inside a large antechamber,
dominated by a huge translucent bubble-like dome.
The sound of
flowing water reached Mina’s ears and she smacked her lips. Wiping her brow, she climbed back to her feet
and warily approached the dome. When she
peered inside, she saw a giant, red skinned man stretched out on a mountain of
pillows, facing away from her. The man
had long black nails and was bald save for a pony tail of jet black hair. Instead of legs below his waist, there was a
black mist that seemed to waft into the sides of the bubble and disappear. Strewn about on the sandy floor were half
eaten bits of meat, apocra bones, and empty wine casks. A fountain of clear water was situated right
in front of Mina, just beyond the dome.
After letting
out a quick cough, Mina put her hand to her throat. Gazing over at the fountain, she tentatively
poked her finger through the bubble. It
slid in and out with ease. Looking down
at the water again, Mina cupped her hands together, reached inside the dome,
and scooped some out. The cool clear
water rippled in her shaking hands and Mina slurped it down greedily.
“A thief, eh?”
Tilting her head up, Mina jumped back just before the red man’s giant hand shot
out of the bubble and groped around the area where she had just been
standing. Clamping her wet hand over her
mouth, Mina fell flat to the ground and resisted the urge to scream.
Looking over
his shoulder, the man blinked for a moment, before pulling his hand back inside
the bubble. “A kid?” he mumbled, “Heh…it’s
not like Aeon to leave me live entertainment.”
Swallowing
hard, Mina lowered her hands and stepped forward. “H-hello.
M-my name is Minava Gren. I…appear to be lost and…ummm…” she stammered,
trying to remember her manners. “I
apologize for taking your water without permission,” she bowed, “Please,
forgive me.”
“Forget it,”
the man said, turning over to reveal that he was quite muscular and had a
goatee of black hair under his chin, despite several wrinkles adorning his
face. “It’s just water after all.” Looking Mina over, the man smirked at her and
said, “Tell me, child, do you know where you are?”
Mina shook her
head, her breathing slowly returning to normal.
The man let
out a raucous laugh and slapped his side.
“Oh, this is rich! Hehe, so you
really don’t know? What are you, an
idiot?!”
Balling her
hands into fists, Mina took a deep breath and lowered her eyes. “Fo-forgive my ignorance, sir. It was cold last night and I required
shelter. This place was all I could
find.”
“Well, well…”
the man drew close to the edge of the dome, smiling broadly at Mina, “A child
who remembers her manners. How
refreshing.” Leaning back, the man
reclined on his pillows. “Forgive me for
my earlier rudeness, Miss Gren. And for
not introducing myself. I am Raschid
al-Maddab, formerly a great wind djinni of the Aridian desert, but now, just a
humble prisoner, forced to power this island,” the red man said, courteously
bowing his head to Mina.
For a moment,
Mina was completely silent. When Raschid
raised a curious eyebrow to her, however, she snapped out of her stupor and did
a curtsey with her leather dress.
“I-It’s an honor, sir.”
“Hmmhmm…so, did
you see the battle outside?” the djinni chuckled.
When she
remembered all that she had seen just a few hours ago, Mina began to tremble
uncontrollably. Dropping to one knee,
she gulped in air and placed her hand over her heart, which had skipped a few
beats.
“Are you well,
Miss Gren?” Raschid murmured.
“I-I’m fine,”
Mina mumbled, slowly rising back to her feet, “I’m just…hungry is all. I haven’t eaten since morning.”
“Ah, so that’s
it…” the man said, rubbing his black goatee.
“This could be interesting after all,” he mused aloud, sizing Mina up
with big, golden eyes.
Grabbing a
wine cask from a stack that was next to the bubble-like dome, he cracked it
open and downed it all in one gulp before letting out a satisfied sigh. The force of his breath was nearly enough to
knock Mina off her feet while the fetid stench made her cup her hands over her
nose.
“Sir,” Mina
mumbled, trying not to gag, “I-I was just outside and…it seems like we’re
moving.”
“We are,”
Raschid retorted, “Aeon never stays in one place for very long. Which is a pain for me, since I’m the one
responsible for lifting the island.”
“Wh-what do you mean,” Mina coughed, wiping
tears from her eyes, “you lift the island?”
“Hehe, see my
smoke?” he pointed to the sable mist that came out of his waist, which was
being absorbed into the bubble. “I am an
apocra with great power over wind. This
bubble absorbs my essence and uses it to keep the island aloft. It also converts my smoke into steam for use
by Aeon and his vassals.”
Mina gave the
djinni a blank stare while her eyes grew round and her heart skipped a
beat. “So…we’re flying?” she stammered.
“You saw the
clouds passing by overhead, yes?” Raschid muttered, grabbing a hunk of meat off
the floor and tearing it from the bone.
“Should that not have been a hint that we are in the air? Because of me, this is the only fortress in
Serano that can fly,” he jutted a dirty thumb towards his chest.
“Ju-just where
am I?” Mina stammered.
“Aeon calls it
Acacia,” Raschid replied, “An island composed of lands from all over Serano
that he’s…acquired.”
“Acacia…” Mina
repeated. Shaking her head, she looked
back up at Raschid and steeled her gaze.
“Is there any way off this island?”
“Not without
Aeon’s permission,” Raschid muttered.
“Then…” Mina
stammered. “Then can you tell me if any
girls my age have come through here?”
Raising an
eyebrow, Raschid smirked and shook his head.
“I haven’t seen anyone. Truth be
told, I was sleeping until just a few moments ago, when the bubble was
activated.”
“I…see,” Mina
mumbled, trying to hide her disappointment.
Looking back up at Raschid, she bowed to him and said, “T-thank you. You’ve been a great help.” She turned around and prepared to leave the
antechamber through the steam filled passage.
“Interesting…”
Raschid mused, stroking his beard. “I
have spoken of the lord of this place many times. Yet, you seem uninterested in Aeon. Why is that, I wonder…?”
“I care little
for his name,” Mina growled, balling her hands into fists. “I already know what he is. And what he will do if he finds me. Now, farewell, Raschid,” she added, stepping
into the steam filled passage.
“Hold a
moment!” Raschid called. Mina stopped in
place and turned around to face the djinni.
“These other girls…just what are they to you?”
“They’re my
friends. My closest friends…” Mina
replied, rubbing her arm anxiously. “I’ve
known one since I was eight years old…and the other one is like a sister to
me. I have to find them. So, forgive me, but I can’t stick around to
chat.”
“Hmhmmm,”
Raschid chuckled softly. “I know how you
can find them.”
Mina’s eyes
widened and she looked back at the smirking djinni with some suspicion. “H-How?” she mumbled, walking back over to
the dome that kept Raschid prisoner.
Stroking his
chin, Raschid mused, “You might come face to face with the master of this place
if you heed my words. Still interested?”
A shudder ran
down Mina’s spine, but she nodded. “I-I
understand the risks. Please, tell me.”
“Very well,”
Raschid sighed, blowing a gust of wind out of the side of his mouth which
parted a set of red curtains to the left of his bubble, revealing a tall
archway leading out of the antechamber.
“Follow the path I just opened all the way to a big, open, crystalline
hall. From there you should be able to
find a spiral staircase heading up. Climb
the stairs to the top level of the tower and look for a set of large wooden
doors. That’s the master’s
laboratory. He has a crystal in the very
back that allows him to look over every speck of this island. He can find intruders with a thought or guide
lost friends home with a word. With
that, you could find your friends with ease.”
Looking through the path that Raschid had opened up, Mina
turned back and cocked her eye at him.
“Why are you helping me? I’m an
intruder here, aren’t I?”
Downing another
cask of wine, Raschid smirked at her and said, “Perhaps. But I’m curious. Will you find your way off this island…or
will Aeon turn you into one of his lab rats,” the djinni laughed. “Entertain me, human.”
Another shudder ran through Mina, but she maintained her
composure and bowed politely to Raschid.
“Th-thank you for your help,” she said, before passing through the open
curtains.
Looking back
at him for a moment, Mina narrowed her eyes at the djinni, while he picked at
the meat in his bubble and downed another cask of wine. Putting her hand over her heart, she let out
a sigh and headed through the elegant marble hallway beyond Raschid’s
antechamber.
Heading up a flight of stairs, Mina followed a
carpeted path from the stairwell until she entered a spacious grand hall. Stopping in her tracks, Mina’s mouth dropped
open. The hall was made of blue crystal
and pristine white marble that radiated with an otherworldly light. From
where Mina stood, however, the walls and floor appeared to be crafted of ice
and snow. Occasionally, a ray of
moonlight would creep in through one of the tower’s windows and when it struck
the crystals, silvery light scattered everywhere, as if it were snowing within
the hall. A chill of excitement ran down
Mina’s spine and she craned her neck upwards, unable to see just how tall the
impressive spire was.
“Beautiful…” Mina
whispered, momentarily lost in thought.
When she spied the long, winding, circular staircase which led up the
tower, she returned to reality. “Head to
the top via the staircase, huh? Well,
better get moving,” she mumbled, grasping the dank handrail before stepping
onto the first glassy stair.
The stairs
were firm and solid underneath Mina’s feet and she moved up the stairs as if
possessed by some otherworldly force.
She continued for what seemed like hours, however the stairs refused to
deposit her on the top floor.
Eventually, Mina stopped to catch her breath and leaned over the
handrail, glancing up towards the top of the spire. The ceiling was nowhere in sight and the
stairs seemed to continue upwards indefinitely.
Gritting her
teeth, Mina stamped her foot against the crystal stairs. “I don’t have time for this! I need to find Daryl and Celi!” as if in
response to her cries, the staircase came to life, carrying Mina upwards at a
rapid pace. As the stairs bore Mina
towards the top, she heard the familiar sounds of clanking and whirring made by
the trapdoor that had separated her from her friends.
Gazing in
wonder at the moving staircase, a small smile crept onto Mina’s lips. “This place is amazing! I…I wish Daryl and Celi could see it too,” she
murmured, lowering her eyes and rubbing her arm.
Eventually,
the stairs deposited her on the top floor, in the middle of a long, circular
walkway. On the far ends of the walkway
were two sets of doors. One was made of
wood, while the other seemed to be little more than solid ice, with no way to
enter. Still holding onto the railing,
Mina followed it to the wooden doors and put her hand against the
hardwood. The door was bitterly cold and
she had to pull back almost immediately, breathing on her hand to warm it.
“I guess this
is the master’s laboratory,” she muttered to herself. “Well, whoever he is, this Aeon can’t be
worse than...” she stopped mid sentence and shuddered. “Than the Molten Zombie.”
Planting her
shoulder against one of the doors, Mina pushed as hard as she could, even
though her feet kept sliding on the cold, crystalline, floor. Eventually, she managed to force the door
open just wide enough for her to squeeze through.
Sticking her
head inside first, Mina saw that the lab was covered with ice and snow. Even the floors were frozen solid. Candles lined the wall, flickering with blue
flames and casting sinister shadows all along the laboratory’s walls. Curios and potions of every variety, covered in
ice and labeled with a spidery handwriting that was almost completely illegible
to Mina’s eyes, lined the many shelves within the laboratory.
Taking a deep
breath, Mina clenched one hand into a fist and placed the other hand to her
heart. “Celi, Daryl, please wait for
me. I’m coming,” she whispered before
ducking into the lab.
Mina’s breath
was visible in front of her as she trudged through the laboratory, careful not
to slip on the frozen floors. Gradually,
the light grew better and the shadows cast by the carefully bottled oddities
became less frightening. At the very
back of the lab, Mina saw a work bench and a table with what looked like the
corpse of a naked woman on top of it.
Quickening her
pace with her heart thumping in her ears, Mina climbed onto the work bench and
leaned over the table. The woman in
front of her seemed very well muscled and voluptuous, with long golden hair and
breasts of a fair size. Color rose to
Mina’s cheeks upon surveying the body and she put her arm across her own
chest. Leaning closer to the woman, Mina
couldn’t resist touching the beautiful woman’s cheek. To her surprise, the cheek caved inward and
was slimy to the touch.
Jerking her
hand back, Mina rubbing her fingers together and saw bits of clay fall from her
fingertips. Reaching into the caved in
cheek, Mina pinched a piece of the skin and pulled it back out, however, she
pulled it too far and it stuck above the rest of the body. “What in Serano…” she whispered, her heart threatening
to burst from her chest. “This…it’s not
a human?”
Backing away
from the woman, Mina glanced to the left and saw the final portion of the laboratory
blocked off by a black curtain. “This
must be where the crystal is kept,” she mumbled to herself, running her fingers
along the curtain before pulling it aside.
However, there was nothing behind the curtain save for a large pool of
translucent green slime that seemed to pulse in time with her own heartbeat.
Looking into
the slime, Mina saw a woman of advanced age laid at the bottom with her hands
clasped on her chest. She was naked from
head to toe and covered in wrinkles, however, despite her age, Mina could still
see muscle on her body. Though her
breasts sagged and her face was well lined, her hair shone like molten gold
beneath the layer of green slime.
Mina’s heartbeat
quickened and her eyes widened as she glanced from the woman in the pool to the
woman on the workbench. “Goddess…what is
that lich doing here?!” she hissed.
Kneeling down to take a closer look, Mina held out her hand over the
slime. However, the slime rose up and
tried to grab hold of her fingers. “Ah!”
she gasped, scooting a few steps backwards.
The slime groped for her nearby, but was unable to find Mina and returned
to the pool after a moment. “What’s with
this place?!” Mina panted, holding her hand to her heart while she quickly
backed away from the pool.
Careful to avoid the slime, Mina examined
several of the curios lining the shelves near the back of the laboratory. She found what looked like a live sapling in
one, a pickled hand in another, and the corpse of a tiny apocra in yet
another. Feeling her stomach begin to
churn, Mina plopped down on the workbench and took one last glance around.
“There’s no crystal here,” she sighed.
“I knew something was off about that djinni. It was too easy. Well,
at least I know they’re not in the tower.
Maybe I’ll have better luck outside.”
Carelessly
trudging back through the lab, Mina nearly slipped several times before
reaching the door, but instead of ducking through the opening she had made, she
froze. Voices were coming from
outside. Her heartbeat quickened and she
pressed her ear against the door to listen in on their conversation.
“Are you
certain?” a raspy, soft spoken voice murmured.
“Yes,” a more
amiable, but somewhat somber voice replied.
“Neri found the purple haired girl wandering through her valley. I sent my familiars to check on them and I’m
certain. She’s one of the three girls we
saw in the forest.”
“What of the
other two?”
Calming her
rapidly beating heart, Mina slid over to the small opening and peered out at
the speakers. Her blood ran cold when
she saw them.
The lich she
had seen outside the forest floated in mid air with his bony hands calmly
folded behind his back, looking down on the pale teythen named Vincent, who
still wore a bandana over his silvery hair. He had stripped out of his black cloak since
leaving the forest and was garbed in a black and red doublet with matching
trousers.
“The tan girl is with Dakon and Echidna. Apparently, she helped Yuka out of a tree, but
then became very bitter towards her. The
two got into a fight, so Dakon and Echidna had to step in to sort things out. Neither she nor Yuka were hurt, though.”
“Good,” the lich nodded, stroking the jawbone
of his skull. “Vincent, I want you to
send a message to Nerise and Dakon. Have
them bring our guests to Gadius’s hollow.
We can meet up there.”
“What about
the third girl?” Vincent mumbled as several of his rodent-like familiars with
leathery wings melted out of his flesh, leaving a small hole in his shoulder. “We can’t just leave her wandering around the
island.”
“Agreed. I shall divine her location and join you after
I have found her,” the lich replied, “Tell that to our guests if they prove
uncooperative.” The teythen nodded and
his body dispersed into a multitude of the winged, rodent-like familiars before
flying out of a large, open window in the roof of the tower.
Holding her
hand over her mouth, Mina stepped back from the door, wide eyed. Shaking her head and fighting back tears, she
retraced her steps until she was close to the back of the lab once again. When she heard the heavy wooden door creak
open, Mina frantically looked around for a place to hide. Spying the work table, she dove under it and
tried to keep from uttering a sound.
Minutes ticked
by like days for her, until she could see the bottom of the lich’s spine hovering
over the table. An unbearably cold wind
emanated from his body, biting into Mina’s flesh and bringing more tears to her
eyes. However, she remained completely
silent. Rubbing her hands together for
warmth, Mina saw the lich rest the bottom of his spine on the hard wood bench.
Though she
could see the bottom of his body, the lich did not make a sound. Instead, Mina could hear a low grinding, as
if he were rubbing two pieces of rock together, followed by the clatter of
glass on glass and liquid being sloshed into a bowl. For a moment, the sounds ceased and Mina
thought she heard the lich’s soft spoken voice grunt, “Hmm?”
The lich’s
spine lifted itself off the work bench and Mina craned her neck from her hiding
place to get a look at what he was doing.
She saw him hold out his skeletal hand before the work bench flew backwards,
leaving her completely exposed. The lich
lowered himself to the floor and spotted her in an instant. Eyes wide with terror, Mina could only shiver
at the monstrous creature that had fixed his empty eye sockets on her.
To her
surprise, the cold wind vanished immediately and the lich held out his hand to
her. “Come out. I have no desire to hurt you,” his voice
said, without any hint of concern or emotion.
Shaking her
head, Mina opened her mouth, as if she were about to say something to the lich,
however nothing but a terrified squeal came out. Pressing her body against the stone wall behind
the work table, Mina lay perfectly still, almost as if she were dead. The only signs of life she gave off were her
ragged breathing and the furious thumping of her heart.
With a sigh,
the lich held out his hand once again, pointed a finger at Mina then jerked it
backwards. Mina felt herself pulled out
from under the table by an impossibly strong gale. For a moment, she hung in mid air, face to
face with the lich. She gazed into his empty,
lifeless skull in abject terror, too frightened to even cry out.
Tilting his
head to the side, the lich rubbed his chin before letting his hand fall. Mina floated down to the ground as gentle as
a leaf from a tree in the height of autumn. When her feet touched the cold
stone floor, they immediately gave out from under her and she fell backwards
onto the ice.
“Come with
me,” the lich muttered, holding out his hand in her direction once again. “Your friends are safe. I will take you to them.”
“I…I don’t
believe you!” Mina retorted, edging away from him.
“I can see that,”
the lich said, floating forward.
“Nevertheless, you have nothing to fear from me, child. I saved you before, did I not?”
For a moment,
Mina’s eyes widened and her mouth dropped open in shock, but following that she
violently shook her head. “No! Y-you’re a lich! You’re nothing but a soulless monster!”
The skeletal
figure made no move to rebuke her. He
merely floated in the air, watching her inquisitively. After a few moments of awkward silence, green
flames flickered to life in his eye sockets and he drew nearer to Mina. “What do you know of liches? Or for that matter, me?” his voice contained
no scorn, but rather a note of sadness intermixed with curiosity.
“I know that
your kind took everything from me!” Mina yelped, staggering to her feet. “I know that you’re evil! I know-” she mumbled, taking another step
back.
“Wait!” the
eye sockets of the lich suddenly erupted with green flames. “You…you’ve revealed Lucia?!” he called,
looking past her. “Please, you have to
step away from there!” the lich floated forward, reaching out his hand to grab
Mina. “You must not-”
Before he
could finish, Mina took another step backwards in fear and both she and the
lich froze. Looking down at her leg,
Mina saw the green slime she had uncovered wriggle out of the pool and wrap
around her foot.
“Agh!” she
screamed, as it pulled her leg out from under her and began dragging her into
the pool.
“Dammit!” the
lich yelled, zooming over to Mina’s side and grabbing her hand. “Hold on to me! I won’t let you-”
“D-don’t touch
me!” Mina screamed. Tears sprouted in
her eyes and she batted away the lich’s hand.
“No, you
fool!” the lich cried when more tendrils of slime shot out of the pool and
latched onto Mina, slowly dragging her back into it. “That fluid is designed to entrap and
preserve bodies and souls! If you don’t
get out, yours will be trapped alongside Lucia’s!”
With eyes as
round as dinner plates, Mina took one final look back and saw a giant surge of
slime leap out, engulfing her entirely.
She tried to scream, but the slime forced its way into every one of her
orifices. Mina could even feel it
seeping in through her ears and eyes. It
felt as though a thousand voices were swimming within Mina’s head and pressure
was being forced onto her from all sides.
Hot vomit rose in her throat, but it was pushed back by the slime, which
crept deeper and deeper into her body.
Before she
could be dragged down into the pool, however, the flames in the lich’s eyes
flashed and a burst of frigid air escaped from his mouth. The slime began to slow and parts of it froze
solid. Reaching in after her, Mina saw
the lich’s hand right in front of her and he mouthed the words, “Trust me.”
With her heart
threatening to explode and her vision blurring, Mina scrunched her eyes shut and
took hold of the lich’s hand. A blinding
cold poured over her and when she opened her eyes, she was cradled in the
lich’s arms, covered in the green mess.
The voices and the pressure on her body had not ceased, however.
Coughing up
green slime, Mina opened her mouth and weakly whimpered, “I…I don’t want to
die…Celi…Daryl…I…”
“I won’t let
you die, do you hear me?!” the lich called, gently shaking her. Looking up at the skeletal figure, Mina saw
the lich’s body start to glow with all the colors of the rainbow. “Stay with me,” he grunted.
Fighting the
pain that now raged in every cell of her being, Mina tried to nod her assent,
but before she could move, the entire world seemed to flicker around her. The cold, snowy laboratory disappeared and
was replaced with the inside of a hollowed out tree, decorated with furniture
carved out of the tree itself and made to look like a house.
“Well, speak
of the-” Mina weakly looked up to see the bare-chested man with the orange-gold
hair standing in front of her, his mouth agape and his eyes wide. “Aeon, what’s happened?!” he murmured, trying
to keep his voice steady.
Clearing off a
table, they laid Mina down upon it.
“She’s come into contact with the soul sacthern in my laboratory. Having been separated from the main body, it
will try to trap what memories it contains within this girl,” the lich named
Aeon replied. Though he spoke quickly,
he never lost his composure. “I will
need to operate on her. Fetch me some
powdered mandrake, forget-me-not stems, lavender, and the petals of a rafflesia
titan. Then fetch Dakon and tell him
I’ll need a lamias egg, a cu sith tongue, and the umbilical cord of a baby
chimera. He should be able to account
for those. Now be quick! If we fail, her body and soul may begin to
reject each other!”
Grabbing a
tray, the bare-chested man laid it down next to Mina and handed a few bottles
and dried plants to Aeon. “These should
help ease her convulsions until I get back.
By the way, her friends are outside.
Should we-”
“Do not tell them. We cannot afford to waste any time,” Aeon
muttered, using one hand to sprinkle a foul smelling powder over the parts of
Mina that were covered in slime while putting his other hand to her chest. It slid through her clothes and skin as if
they were made of water and Mina felt the crushing pressure on her heart ease
up slightly. “After we have stabilized her,
you can tell the others.”
Nodding, the
bare-chested man rushed outside. Lifting
her head slightly, Mina saw that Aeon was running a hand over her that was
brimming with radiant white light, while picking bits of slime off her skin.
“Don’t…understand…”
she coughed up more slime that Aeon immediately scooped up and tossed into the
tray behind him. “You’re…a lich…”
“Do not speak,”
Aeon murmured, gingerly rubbing her hair in an almost fatherly manner. Picking up a sprig of dried lavender, he
stuck it under Mina’s nose. “You need to
rest for now. Just close your eyes and
let this all fade from your memory.”
“Trust him,” a
voice in her ear whispered, above all the others. “Atron will protect you.”
“Wh-who’s
there?” Mina grunted, as her eyes grew heavy, “Who…said…that…?” her voice
slowly trailed off and she laid her head down on the wooden table. Closing her eyes, Mina found herself unable
to speak, unable to move, and unable to feel.
All that she could do was listen to the voices raging through her skull.
The thousands
of voices that rang through her head just moments before solidified into one voice
that whispered to her in a kindly, yet somber, female voice. “I’m sorry,” the voice called out. “But you can trust him. Please, remember that.”
Mina tried to
respond, but the voice drifted into the back of her mind and disappeared. Left in utter silence, Mina’s mind went blank
and she slipped into unconsciousness.
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