Part Two: Orlando

Chapter Six: Darkness

Orlando closed his eyes, liked Ariel had instructed him to do. Her fingers turned cool against his skin, where they had previously been hot to touch. He felt relaxed under the touch.

"I don't understand what you're doing," Orlando complained, a slight whine to his voice.

"I want to see your greatest dream," Ariel answered him, her voice a soft lilt.

His eyes opened immediately upon hearing those words. He felt strange, as if he wasn't really there. A strange feeling crawled inside of his head, his body. He wanted to shake the feeling out, but he was immobile beneath the vixen's touch. Her fingers continued to hold his head tightly, tighter…

"Oh…God!"

He moved his eyes over to the figure of Evangelina. She was a tall girl, very skinny, very proud. Her hair was long, a mixture of pale blond and a pale brown. Her eyes were wide, the dark blue intense as she watched them.

"Ariel," Evangelina said in her sweet voice," look. Oh, please, look."

Orlando heard the tremble in her voice. Ariel had let go of his head now. She moved around to the front of the chair that he was sitting in, staring hard into his eyes. Evangelina touched her arm, a terrified look in her face.

"Vange," Ariel said sharply, "Go get Gissele."

"Ariel…"

"Go!"

"Ariel," Orlando whispered. "What is wrong?"

"You, Orlando. You are what is wrong."

The answer surprised him. What had he done now? The look she was giving him wasn't one full of fear, like he was used to in his home, but one of distance. That was what confused him. She wasn't afraid.

"What is my greatest dream, Ariel?" His voice was soft as he asked because he already knew.

"To plunge the world into darkness…" She shook her head, taking a step back from him. "What are you?"

He stood. She took another step. "I was born at a terrible time. My mother almost died giving birth to me. The king, my father, didn't know what to do, so he sent for a sorceress. The sorceress, however, would not save my mother. She refused to. She wanted to kill me as well. She said that I had a power that could allow a great evil to rule the world."

"Do you want to help this evil?"

"No. I am not evil, Ariel!"

"We are all evil," she whispered.

"You believe that you are evil?"

"I now that I am." She disappeared into a shadow, giving him a final look of despair as she did so.

Orlando stood there, wondering what had just transpired between them. A noise knocked him from the trance, and he turned to see who was in the room with him now. Tiberius smiled at him from his place against the wall. Orlando implored him with his to help him understand this all, what was going on now.

"You don't need to worry about Ariel. After all, we all have our demons to plague us," Tiberius explained.

"Even you?"

The smile remained on his face, as if he were amused by all this. "War leaves dark demons in everyone. I've known Ariel for almost two years now, when Pandora sent me to the future, too. She was terrible then, that kid. Through me and Gissele has she begun to share her battles and tears. Be gentle with her. Her wars still rage on, forcing more demons on her by the day."

"Does it have to do with her parents?" Orlando asked.

"Very much so." The smile slipped from his face and his smile turned icy. "Those two have hurt their child beyond any normal comprehension. Some days, she's just fine, and some days she just wants to succumb to that side she's tried so hard to fight."

"Where did she go?" Orlando felt an overwhelming sense that he needed to protect his charge now. He wanted to find Ariel and bring her back, even if she didn't want to be around him because of what he was.

"I'll take you."

Tiberius led him out to his car, a beat up Toyota. Orlando closed his eyes, leaning his head back against the seat as the car started.

Others had been afraid of the prince in the past. Especially the people in his father's court, later to be his own. But Ariel, she saw his power, and he saw no fear in her eyes. It was like she understood. She also had to battle against her inner nature. Like him.

"Ariel," he whispered softly.

Next Up: The sweetest persuasion of all is an ex-boyfriend, especially one with such powerful ties, as Ariel is soon to find out. But can she fight the lure of the Infidi to seek an even darker power, one that might just belong to her?