Me: Whoa. I just realized I was behind in updating some of my stories!
Bahamut: Well you are currently working on a lot you know.
Mewtwo: And there's your wife and kingdom in Slumberland as well.
Poupoko: Chao.
Me: GASP! You're right, Poupoko! I do need a vacation with Camille! I'm off on a summer hibernation, be sure to update my stories for me! (Runs off.)
Mewtwo: He's gone for the entire summer...
Bahamut: Are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Poupoko: Chaaaao!
Muses: PARTY TIME! A/N: CALEB IS FROM THE COMICS. NOT THE CARTOON.
DISCLAIMER: SEE FIRST CHAPTER.
B.E.A.S.T.
By Corvus no Genmu the Prince of Slumberland
Chapter One: The Monsters Within
Part Ten: The Fourth Release
The Congregation would soon find out the truth; the Oracle knew this for a fact. Though Jörmungandr had wiped the memories of his reemergence on Earth from all the mundane humans, excluding the Guardians of the Veil and the select few that were now Huanglong and Fenrir respectively. The Five Beasts of Rakardnak were soon going to return in full and there would be nothing that the Oracle could do to stop the Congregation from finding out and, more than likely, capturing the Beasts in their human forms.
Not that the Oracle believed that either the Beasts or the Guardians would allow this without a fight.
The Oracle frowned and calmly floated upwards in the large meditation chamber that was his particular favorite amongst the vast numbers that were built in the great castle of Kandrakar. The walls of the chamber were decorated with many different pieces of art. This art was, in fact, stone pictures to what has been, what is, and what will be. It was the ancient markings that depicted the will-be that held the Oracle's interest. His clairvoyance had all but disappeared when concerning the future and it worried him to no end. He needed to know what was going to happen just so that he could take steps in preventing whatever darkness that was fighting for control.
When he had reached the level that he wanted, the Oracle was surprised to find that few of the stone tablets showed anything more than what he already knew. There were designs of all five Beasts before and after their human wards fully accepted and joined with them. The Beasts' chosen Guardians were even depicted on the great walls of the chamber but beyond that, further upwards past where even the Oracle had traveled, the walls were completely blank. For a moment, the Oracle thought that maybe, just maybe, these tablets had yet to be filled or that there wasn't anything else to see in this particular chamber. No matter how much he wished otherwise the Oracle knew the cold, unrelenting truth.
There was no future.
There was only Nothing.
Cornelia Hale was what some could call stuck-up and manipulative. Her love of clothes, styles, and popularity rivaled only her love of winning ice-skating competitions is what some would say. Unless they truly knew her, few could say they knew everything there was to know about the girl named Cornelia Hale. To her close friends she was everything that others have said and more. She is protective of her beliefs and of those that she calls her friends, even those who no longer think themselves as her friend.
But more than that, Cornelia Hale is a romantic whose heart and soul had been entwined with a boy before she had even met him on the physical plane. For most of her life, Cornelia had dreams of a young man whom had dreams of her for just as long. When they both met each other face-to-face, Cornelia felt as though she could soar to the moon and back again. Her love for Caleb shined brighter than the sun and burned just as hot in her soul.
Her despair over his death was like a black hole, a constant threat towards her well-being and happiness.
The Guardians never knew the ultimate truth behind Caleb. That he was nothing more than a golem that Phobos had created years ago. In fact, Caleb was his first golem and because of Phobos' inexperience in creating such a being, Caleb gained something that many golems have dreamed of for their entire lives.
Freedom.
However, this freedom only stretched so far and that limit was tied to Caleb's creator. For without his stolen power, Phobos was nothing more than a mere creature of Meridian. A lowly human whose power rested only in his ability to absorb other creatures' own. Without the power he had collected for near twenty years, Phobos had no power left in him to give life to his Whisperers, his most favored of golems.
Nor could he give life to his first golem, Caleb.
Caleb's death struck a blow to many people. For Eloyn, it was like losing a friend, for the now former rebels, they not only lost a leader, but someone that any one of them could call family. For the Guardians of the Veil, it was like losing a piece of the complex puzzle that made up their mystical lives. For Cornelia Hale, it was like her soul had been ripped in two. Her pain was something that no one would ever wish upon even the darkest of monsters.
Her pain was so great that, for a time, Cornelia's friends were afraid to leave her alone each silently fearing that the broken-hearted Guardian of Earth would do something dangerously drastic. Their fears could be justified only to a certain point for though her heart was deep in pain, Cornelia could never bring herself to pick up a blade let alone do the act that would end her time on the Middle Plane.
Something deep inside kept holding her back. That something could be called her conscience, maybe even the Heart of Kandrakar itself, but that would be denial on Cornelia's part. For whenever she gave thought to death, Cornelia would hear her beloved's voice echoing through her soul, telling her that nothing, not even the Veil, would separate them, just like he had promised her back when they first met.
However, there was one tiny fact that no one but the writer of Phobos' spell book and the Oracle knew about. The spells that Phobos used to create his golems required the essence of the creator so that the golem would be obedient. Unwilling to take a dangerous risk with his life on the first try, Phobos chose instead to take a large portion of another being's essence. So when Caleb the golem had died, the essence that gave him his freedom as well as his 'soul' flew back to whom it had originated from.
Whether the originator shared the memories of his golem remained for all to see.
Two days after the Third Release…
Cornelia sighed to herself for what seemed like the thousandth time in the past hour alone. She saw what was happening around her; she wasn't totally blinded by her despair. She knew of the love the poured between Bastian and Will, especially when they shared 'secret' kisses together. She saw the way that Eduardo looked at Taranee whenever he believed that she wasn't looking and the same looks that Taranee shot towards him. She heard the laughs and smiles shared between Axel and Irma as they told stories and jokes. If this inane pattern kept up, sooner or later Hay Lin would be experiencing similar effects, but worst yet, Cornelia herself would be 'partnered up' with a Beast as well.
Cornelia did not want anything of the sort. She knew where her heart and soul belonged, even if she did have a few doubts back when their relationship was just starting to form in the material plane. This conviction would remain firm in her heart until time itself was no more.
"Class, your attention please." Mr. Elric, their science teacher, tapped his desk with his right hand. "Before we cover the ingredients of the human body, I'd like to introduce a new student that'll be joining our class for the rest of the year." Mr. Elric turned his amber eyes towards the door of the room. A boy not much taller than Eduardo or Bastian stepped through the open door, his brown trench coat giving him a rather impressing image to most of the females in the room. For the Guardians, Cornelia especially, it was like a cold bucket of water had been thrown in their faces.
"Please join me in welcoming Samuel Caleb."
Cornelia stared at him throughout class and continued to stare at him at every available opportunity, not caring that anyone would easily notice her strange behavior. Even during lunch, Cornelia was more focused on Samuel than her food, much to her stomach's dismay.
"Corny, earth to Corny come in Corny." Cornelia bristled and turned heated eyes towards Irma.
"I told you not to call me that!"
"Well at least some of her priorities are still in control." Irma muttered.
"Are you okay, Cornelia?" asked Axel, a small frown on his pale face. "Your breathing is kind of… erratic."
"Oh come on! Don't tell me you girls haven't noticed!" Cornelia exclaimed loudly. The girls shuffled uncomfortably and exchanged concerned looks.
"We noticed…" Will hesitantly spoke. "But Cornelia… he can't be Caleb…"
"Actually, he can." Eduardo's grin widened. "Dat's 'is name ya know."
"No Eduardo, we mean it's not Caleb the golem." Taranee whispered to the accented boy.
"Golem?" Axel muttered. "But those couldn't possible exist. … Could they?"
"The same could be said about all of us," said Bastian. "But back to the topic at hand here; Cornelia even if he does look like this Caleb guy, that couldn't mean that this Caleb is the same one. You said he had tattoos on his face right? Where are they on this guy?" Cornelia frowned and glared angrily at the ground, which trembled slightly.
"I don't care; this is too much of a coincidence. He must have some sort of connection with the Caleb we knew. He must!"
"De Nile ain't jus' a riva ya know." Eduardo quipped, earning himself a heated glare from the blonde Earth Guardian.
"Fine! I'll prove it!" Cornelia stood up and marched her way towards Samuel. The boy was more engrossed in his nap amidst the branches of the tree than the blonde girl rapidly approaching him.
"Cornelia? What are you doing? Cornelia!" Said girl ignored her friends and approached the tree Samuel had chosen to rest in and froze both mentally and physically. He really did look like Caleb, minus the tattoos, and Cornelia could not help but feel a stronger sense of heartbreak. This boy, this Samuel, was a living reminder of who she had lost and though she spoke with confidence towards her friends, Cornelia had no such thing at the moment.
"Um… excuse me…" Cornelia mentally smacked herself. 'What the heck was that? I squeaked!'
Samuel lazily opened a single eye and gazed down at her for but a second before closing it. "Yeah? Something ya want to apologize about Corn-Head?" Cornelia blinked once, twice, before glaring quite heatedly at the slightly taller boy.
"What did you call me!" she shrieked, her spark returning if for just a moment.
"Apologize. Ya know…" Samuel yawned and stretched his arms out to the side, so much like Caleb had done. "It's the act of asking for forgiveness for a wrong and all that jazz."
"Apologize?" Cornelia chose to ignore Samuel's obvious ignorance towards her ire. "For what?"
"Staring at me."
Cornelia's face flushed red faster than Will's own and she stuttered, "You knew?"
Samuel raised an eyebrow and shot her a what-do-you-think look. "Duh. I know my award-winning smile makes all kinds of girls wobbly in the knees but I never had one stare at the back of my head for as long as you have."
This wasn't Caleb, at least not the Caleb she knew and loved, Cornelia realized with a slow sense of coldness entering her heart. "You don't know me at all… do you…?"
"Nope, can't say that I do." Samuel shrugged and jumped down to land before her. Brushing stray twigs from his trench coat, he began to walk away. "See ya later Corn-Head."
Cornelia watched Samuel walk away, too in depth in her own pain to notice the slow hesitant steps he made as he walked away from her. Had he any awareness of the sad frown that found its way on his face, Samuel gave no heed to it and focused instead on getting as far away from the girl that gave him a sense of déjà vu unlike anything he had ever felt in the past few weeks since he had awoken.
Unbeknownst to either of the two teenagers, a pair of golden eyes was watching them with gleaming fangs dripping of saliva in anticipation of the upcoming hunt.
For the next few days, Cornelia followed Samuel wherever he went, trying vainly to find something, anything, that would link him to the Caleb she knew. However, most of her attempts were cut to the point thanks to either her friends disrupting her or Samuel discovering her. The later occurred more often than the former much to Cornelia's ire and dismay. How could she find out if he was Caleb reincarnated if he kept pushing her away?
So Cornelia tried another tactic; if he wouldn't let her follow him, she'd just make him follow her. Unfortunately, even with her face looking as beautiful as ever, Cornelia could not get Samuel alone long enough for her to interrogate him. Though she was pleased by the way he reacted whenever she touched him, it wasn't enough. She needed the truth and she needed it now!
So it was that Cornelia found herself standing before one of Heatherfield's homeless shelters. Imagine her surprise at finding Mr. Tough-As-Nails was in fact a big softy at heart and was one of the shelter's biggest helpers, frequently dropping in to help with the distribution of food and clothes among the needy. Silently speaking a quick prayer, Cornelia stepped forward and entered the shelter, Caleb's first gift to her.
This gift was, to be specific, first made by Cornelia herself. Back when they first met, and departed, Cornelia had shed a tear in sadness at having lost the love she had gained just hours earlier. Caleb, however, merely smiled through her sadness. He merely took her tear gently from her face. He asked her if she knew what it was and she answered by saying it was a tear, though her voice held her confusion. Caleb had merely shook his head and whispered that it wasn't a tear; it was a promise that not even the Veil would separate them. Using powers that Cornelia didn't know he had, Caleb had altered her tear into a crystalline flower and gave to her as a sign of that promise.
Even now, after his death, the flower remained pure in form and beauty.
Shuffling past the homeless patrons of the shelter, Cornelia quickly headed towards where she knew Samuel was cataloguing the recent income of canned food that had recently been delivered to them. Slowly opening the door, Cornelia was glad to see that Samuel was alone in the large room that was filled near to the brim with boxes of donations. The door quickly ruined her chance of getting close to Samuel with its loud squeaking that emanated from its rusty hinges. Samuel's head shot up and he glared past the large beams of sunlight that shone through the room's large windows.
"You again? What do I have to get you to leave me alone? A restraining order?"
"Listen. I know that I've been nothing short of annoying to you—"
"Annoying? Corn-Head, you went past annoying the day you started following me around the city! Don't ya have a boyfriend or something?" Cornelia flinched and stared down at the dusty floor.
"Look, I just want to know the truth."
"What truth?" asked Samuel, exasperated despite himself. "Look, I don't know you okay? Get that through your blonde—" Cornelia shoved her hands forward, displaying her crystalline flower. "What—?"
"Do you know what this is?" she questioned him. "Please tell me the truth!" Samuel stared at her weeping face before turning chocolate brown eyes towards the transparent flower resting in her hands. Samuel sighed and hesitantly raised his hand and touched the crystallized tear for just a brief second before stepping away from it and Cornelia, gasping for breath.
"Jeez!" Samuel stumbled backwards and held his forehead in both hands. "It couldn't be!"
"You recognize this don't you? You know me don't you?" Cornelia stepped forward even as Samuel stumbled back, away from her advancing form. "Do you remember me at all, Caleb? Our dreams? Our kisses? Our love? Any of it?" Samuel's back met with the concrete wall and with the stockpile of boxes on either side of him he had no means of escape.
Eyes wide, Samuel prayed for some means of escape from this situation that he had somehow found himself in when the window across from shattered into minute pieces. A large metallic arrow had burst through the glass and was heading straight towards his heart. Time seemed to slow down as Samuel watched the darkly shining bolt of steel make its way closer and closer to him. The arrow would have most likely killed Samuel had Cornelia not turned about and let it pierce her own heart instead. Samuel's face blanched even as Cornelia's lifeless form fell to the ground in a nerveless heap. Her crystal flower, her gift from her soul mate, fell to the hard floor and shattered away into dust as its creator breathed out her last breath.
"BRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
To Be Continued...