45
Chapter I
-Replica-
"Wake up, now! That's it, that's it, open your eyes… no, no, open them! Lazy, aren't you? You are just fine, now get up!"
A groan. Light flooding in all around. Color turning into, strange, hazy shapes. It disappeared in a moment as she snapped her eyes shut again due to the painful throbbing in her head.
"Now, now, look at me," the voice continued, "I know the light seems a little bright at first. But you cannot simply lay here, do you understand me? Come here."
Two arms slid underneath her and lifted her up. She gasped, jerking her eyes open and grasped the coat of the man cradling her. Instantly his face became clear: it was a thin face, with two large green eyes staring back at her. His long, blond hair dangled just above her.
"Ah, here we are!" he sighed, "You look healthy- that's good, very good- and… can you speak?" He paused for a moment, then sighed again, "I suppose not… I can teach you, though. Have no fear! After all, you're new, aren't you? Of course you would need to learn these things." She glanced around the room, then back at him, confused.
"Oh, haven't introduced myself, have I? I do apologize!" he exclaimed, "I am Vexen. Well, actually, I am the 44th replica of the great researcher, Vexen. And so, you may call me Replixen. And I suppose you don't even know your own name, now do you?" She frowned, narrowing her eyes.
"I didn't think so," he said with a smile, "You, girl, are the 45th replica of Vexen. Your name is Eve. That is because Vexen's real name is Even. Your name is very similar to that. You are also his first- and as it turns out, his only- female replica. There are 43 replicas besides you and I. A few live in this castle, including ourselves. But that does not mean that you can go wandering off by yourself, do you understand? There is a witch that lives here, so it is dangerous to go off on you own!" Eve gripped his coat tighter, her eyes wide in fear.
"It is alright, child, I suppose you will understand what I'm talking about soon enough… But the witch, Maleficient, is to be avoided, and-" Replixen stopped, "…nevermind. I need to teach you how to walk, talk, etc., etc. So, here."
He carefully put her down on her feet. Eve began to wobble back and forth, and let out a shriek as she fell forward. Replixen easily caught her with one arm, and laughed.
"It isn't easy, is it? he said, "You will learn. Let's try again, shall we?"
He stood her upright again and slowly let go.
"Balance… keep your balance, that's right…" he said softly, "Yes, that's it, that's it!" She held her arms out as she trembled.
"Try to put you arms down, Eve," Replixen directed. She did, quickly losing her balance and falling onto his arm again.
"Ha, you've almost got it! You just need to-"
Determined to get it right, Eve pushed away, forcing herself up. But it proved to be too hard- and she toppled over backward with a thud before he could catch her. Her throat suddenly felt thick; and it stung. She gasped as her eyes filled with water, which overflowed. Letting out a long moan, she tried to wipe the hot, salty water off with her arm.
"You must be more careful and patient," Replixen said gently, as he picked her up. She buried her face into his shoulder, soaking it with tears.
"You will be alright, you only fell. It hurt your pride more than anything else. There, now, stop crying," he said, walking to a nearby bed and placing her on it.
With a smile, he said, "How about I teach you to speak, now?"
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Snaking across the castle at breakneck speed, a dusk, followed by several others, returned with the information that she wanted. They weaved around the girl like cats, whispering things to her that only she- and a few others- could understand.
"There are others?" she questioned, "Are they with Maleficient?" More hissing. "Then who are they?" A pause, then the dusks all began at once.
"One at a time, one at a time! I can't understand all of you at once! You! Tell me what you saw." Gliding by her head, it whispered what it had seen.
"Vexen…? No, Vexen is gone. Are you sure? And… there's a… a girl with him? What does she look-" A dusk interrupted with a loud hiss.
"She is another clone? Number 45? Then the Vexen that you saw must be another replica. Is Maleficient currently in the Dark City? Yes? Good. We'll go check these two out. Give them a 'warm welcome', got it memorized?" With a smile, she pulled her hood down lower over her eyes, and opened a dark portal, stepping through. The dusks hurried away, and the room was left in silence.
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"Can you say 'father'? Well… no, I suppose that's too complicated, isn't it? You need to start with something small. Then what about 'dada'?"
Eve cocked her head to one side, pointing to him. "Eh…?"
Oh, no,no,no! Replixen exclaimed, "I am not your father! Vexen is! Well, I do mean to say, that yes, I do look exactly like him… But I… I am not! I am more like your… brother, I suppose. Can you say 'brother'? No, probably not…"
He thought hard for a moment, then with a snap of his fingers, he exclaimed, "I have it! Can you say-" He was interrupted by a shriek from Eve.
"What is the matter?" he asked, following her frightened gaze. Behind him danced several dusks. He gasped, instinctively snatching up the girl, holding her head so that she leaned against his shoulder.
"What-" he began, but as the dusks advanced toward them, Replixen bolted out of the room, Eve screaming in his ear.
Skidding to halt, he quickly turned a corner and waited for the dusks to pass. "Hush, hush…" he whispered to the girl, sobbing into his coat, "Maleficient cannot control the nobodies… So I suppose some other threat has arrived! We must get to the Dark City… Although, I suppose you don't even know what that means right now, do you?" Down to a whimper now, Eve lifted her head, revealing two, swollen, grass-green eyes.
He smiled as encouragingly as he could. "Now, now, we'll be alright. But we absolutely must be as silent as possible," he said softly, raising a finger to his lips, "Then perhaps the dusks will not find us. And so… close your eyes and cover your ears, like this."
He pressed her head against his shoulder once again, covering one ear with his hand. She closed her eyes, and upon opening them, she could see that the entire environment had changed! Eve gasped in amazement. They were standing in an apartment overlooking a city at night. The Dark City.
"Ha!" Replixen shouted as he sat Eve down on a nearby chair, "See? That was quite simple, wasn't it? From here to there in a flash; the dark corridors are extremely convenient! But you see," he knelt down in front of her, "I had to keep you from seeing or hearing it, because we needed to be silent. I did not want to frighten you. Do you understand?" receiving a blank stare from her, he sighed, "Of course not…" He stood and turned away, beginning to walk to the window.
"Re…"
He paused.
"Repli…"
The man turned to stare at her. "What…?"
Eve stared back at him intently; concentrating.
"Replixen."
-Finally! I've been meaning to finish typing out this chapter for a while now! Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! By the way, you might be thinking that Eve's only a toddler or so in this, right? Well, actually, she's about 13 or 14, physically (I haven't decided yet). She just doesn't really know how to function, yet. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon!- TwilightFairy928