Ah, finally. An update after more than four months. Sorry for the long absence. I've never intended to go on hiatus this long. Well, I better stop blabbering and let you enjoy (I hope) the update. As usual, not Beta-Ed and was thought of mostly when I was bored in meetings so please excuse my lack of 'whateverness', idea, etc…Oh and please R&R….
Disclaimer: I will neither own the deliciousness of Wolfram nor the honor of owning the fab KKM.
Chapter Thirteen: The Final Confrontation: The Survival the Fittest.
"Stop it! Stop it! What are you going to do to him? Let him go! Let him go…," a woman's frantic cry could be heard piercing the silent procession. But no matter how much she screamed and how much she pleaded, the procession went on without any indication of stopping. The crowd completely ignored the woman's plight without even a pinch of sympathy. To them, she was dead. To them, she meant nothing. Her appearance at the moment only heightened their disgust towards her. Her long white robe was now dirty and torn, although she didn't care for any of that. What mattered to her the most was the life of her loved one.
"Where are you taking him?" she said, all the while holding tightly, very tightly in fact, to the sleeves of one of the crowd.
The man looked disgusted. "Let me go, sister. Do you wish to be punished as well, after all Mother had done for your sake just to save your neck?" the man turned, jerking his sleeves out of the woman's clutches, making the poor creature lost her footing.
"Please, Orwyn, help me stop this madness. You know he didn't do anything. Please, I'm begging you," Corintha fell to her knees, sweeping the dirt at the hem of her long robe.
Orwyn looked unsympathetically at his younger sister, whose face now was wet with tears and streaked with dirt. Gone were the regal bearing of the daughter of Wercott's current ruler. At that moment, his sister looked even more pathetic than the lowliest peasant. "Get up, Corinth. Even if you beg like this, the sentence won't change. Besides, the charges were brought in by one of the royal family members. Who would want to believe an obscure noble over a royal-blood? It's the word of the Queen's niece against the word of somebody with a shady past," Orwyn grasped his sister's arm to haul her up but the young woman was adamant not to move. Or rather she was too stunned to move even a muscle.
"Ayreyn did?" Corintha was beyond shocked. Why would her cousin say such a thing about Queur? Ayreyn knew exactly who he was, and he was not as what they'd said about him. They successfully made him looked like a horrible monsterThe black-haired beauty looked up questioningly at her big brother.
"You didn't know that Ayreyn was the accuser?" Orwyn returned the look to his sister. How was that even possible? Everybody in Wercott's knew that Ayreyn also harbored strong feelings towards that creep, except the creep himself which was not that mysterious given his devoted love towards his sister. 'Maybe she knows, but pretends not to know.' Corintha was always a good-natured child, an obedient daughter, a kind-hearted princess and a loving partner. All the essential ingredients in becoming a mighty ruler. And the most important thing of all, he was proud of her. People might not believe him, but Orwyn never did envy her sister for inheriting the kingdom because he was sure that no matter what she become, she would always love and care for him. Secretly, Orwyn was grateful for the fact that the responsibility to run the country was not dumped on him. 'If not, I have to be somebody that I am not.' The ancient rule of Wercott, dated back from their original planet, stated that no man shall rule the kingdom or a big catastrophe would befall them all. And coincidentally, every ruler would always carry a female heir. And never once did the Wermoth family had to relinquish the throne because of the failure to conceive the desirable sex. He doubted that that was a miracle; the higher power just wanted to ensure that the throne never change hand, a sign that their family was indeed being blessed. But now, the look on his sister's suggested otherwise.
"No," Corintha answered feebly. That answer was still the truth even if it was only a partial truth. She could tell that Ayreyn had some feeling that to her resembled lust, but never in her wildest imagination that she ever thought Ayreyn would be back-stabbing her. Although her mind told her to believe it, her heart was telling her not to. How can it be possible? The two of them were inseparable since birth. They were even born in the same week, two days separating each other. And all of that came to a stop because both of them fell in love with the same man. 'Just because of a man.' Weakly, she looked at her brother, her voice quivering slightly, "Who would want to hear a Queen's niece over the future Queen herself?" she asked brokenly. She hated appearing weak but now everything she ever thought was perfect turned out to be a mere mirage.
Orwyn had to look away when Corintha said that, his sharp ears twitching nervously. Now, did he finally understand why Ayreyn was adamant to not wanting them to conduct a thorough investigation on Queur, claiming that if Queur knew, then he would unleash something horrible upon them to exact revenge. Only now, when he put two and two together did he finally realize the disgusting truth behind it all. Ayreyn was the one who created a lot of untrue stories about Corintha, making her look like a cheap whore and an unfit ruler. She spread rumours that Corintha was the first one to use forbidden spells to bewitched Queur and then taught him how to do the immortality spell. Orwyn always wondered how such untrue stories about Corintha managed to spread like a contained fire; spreading wildly but always containable. Corintha never knew about the stories nor did he for that matter, not until a few days ago when the sentence upon Queur was read in front of them as the royal family.
"Not when the future Queen has some undesirable stories about her. Corinth, give up, please. Why would you want to sacrifice yourself over a man who is not even compatible with you?" Orwyn had to say the only thing that could hurt his sister in order to save her life. The people were willing to overlook the accusation against Corintha when the Queen herself had guaranteed her innocence. But there were still many non-believers. And when they saw how Corintha pleaded for Queur's life like a filthy beggar, they would only assume that Corintha was indeed in league with that condemned man.
"Why wouldn't I? I love him, Orwyn. Can't you understand at least that? And because of that love, I would gladly give my life if that meant I could save him." Corintha stood up, brushing the dirt away with her trembling hands. Love was something the La Una weren't familiar with. Love was like a curse. Love made people do insane things. Love required sacrifices to appease the cruel fate that awaited those who were unlucky enough to be on its bad side. Love knew no boundary. Love was blind.
"Why are you so keen on saving him? He could not be saved, damnit. His fate was sealed the moment he was brought to the court. Nobody would believe the two of you. Not when there are a lot of people dying. This country needs an escape goat to control the people and Queur came at the right moment."
Corintha couldn't believe her ears. How could her brother be so cold and selfish? They were dealing with another being's life not an unanimated object. "I've never thought that you were incapable of feeling. Don't you feel in that stone-cold heart of yours even a little bit of empathy towards him? He's just like us. He's one of us. How could you so easily judge him like that? You don't even know him."
Orwyn shot his sister a look that could turn her into stone. "It is because I don't know him that I was willing to let him die. If his death means chaos could be contained and peace could be reinstated, then so be it. If his death could ensure my sister's, my own flesh and blood's survival, then I wouldn't mind being called a murderer."
Silence reigned, allowing the poor woman to absorb the fact that was lying in front of her, naked. Slowly but surely, the cold, hard truth finally sank in. "You're not going to lend me your help no matter how much I begged and pleaded, are you? You're not going to lift even a finger, are you?" Corintha backed away from her brother. She had never felt this lonely in her life. She had never felt more betrayed that she was right now. The feeling of helplessness combined with her anger towards her people lacked of feelings made her nauseous. Her heart was aching for some comfort which nobody could possible provide. Everybody was out there to save their own pretty necks, leaving Queur to die in their places instead.
"Fine then, dear brother. If you refuse to help me, then I'll figure out something myself. And when I've decided, please know that nothing could sway me from the path I've chosen. And bear in mind, whatever happens, the responsibility and the burden lie on everyone's shoulders."
Orwyn, who was starting to feel guilty when he saw how broken-hearted his sister was, looked unbelievingly at Corintha, his eyes bulging dangerously. "What does that even mean, Corinth? Are you threatening me?"
But Corintha had already started to walk away, leaving her one and only brother behind trying to figure out what she had just said. At that moment, she'd already decided what she wanted to do. 'If an immortal they want, then an immortal they shall get.'
####
-Present time-
Yuuri would replay that moment when he saw Wolfram fell down over and over again in the course of his long life, all the while wishing somehow he could change the history.
"Wolfram!" Yuuri rushed towards the fallen blonde. His scream echoed through the cave, alerting Corintha of the newcomers.
"Hmm, more players in the house. Good. More to torture and more to kill," she said gleefully. She had fully recovered from the pain Wolfram inflicted upon her a while ago. 'What a waste of power.' She brushed the dust that had managed to accumulate at the hem of her skirt, actually savoring the moment. After fully satisfied with her physical appearance, she stood back and addressed her new audience with a lusty drawl.
"Are you guys here to save my prince?" she started, her voice sounded mocking to the ears of those who were listening.
"Your prince?" Yuuri looked at Corintha eyes unblinking. 'Now she claims Wolfram is hers? What the hell is going on here?' "Forgive me for sounding stupid, but what do you mean by 'your prince'?" Yuuri asked back heatedly. Wolfram was his and his forever. He questioningly looked at the blonde prince who was being helped by his brothers. The jealousy he never knew he had started to flame his anger.
Wolfram winced, not from the pain, but from the look Yuuri was giving him. 'Was that jealousy I just saw in Yuuri's eyes? Should I be happy?'
Corintha sneered at Yuuri. Why was this young man so adamant in wanting to know why she said that? She then turned around to see Wolfram. The prince was staring at the black-haired idiot with a look that resembled something she knew by heart. 'He is looking at him with eyes full of - love!' She couldn't believe her eyes. Her prince was betraying her, with that no good, low-life, ape-like species? Her heart, or what was left of it, was beating very fast, so fast she couldn't count the beat anymore. The last strain of patience she had tried so hard to maintain melted in that one unforgettable second. 10,000 years ago, her people betrayed her. Now, the person she loved the most in this whole wide world to the point where she was willing to sacrifice her own happiness was doing the same thing to her. The anger she felt at the moment started to weaken her control over her power and it was leaking out of her uncontrollably.
Shinou was the first one to feel the immense power from Corintha. The power-overdose that he was experiencing was making his head spin out of control. 'Bakana -. Who could possibly control this ridiculous amount of power?' As much as he hated to admit it, he was actually feeling scared. Corintha was truly a very powerful being, more powerful than anything he could ever imagine. How could they possibly destroy something as powerful as that? 'The answer is… we can't.'
The Great Sage also shared Shinou's concerns. Eventhough his maryoku was not as powerful as Shinou was, he could feel the humongous energy vibrating all over the place. The buzzing in his ears was starting to affect his sense of direction and was clouding his judgment. In fact, everybody there except Conrart and Yozak could feel the power; even those two felt something was squeezing the breath out of them. Wolfram already had the dry heaves, making him feel sicker even more.
"So what are we supposed to do here, Shinou Heika?" Conrart asked alarmingly while lending his hands to the ashen-faced Gwendal. At that moment, Yozak was busy thanking the higher power for not making him a full blooded Mazoku, one of the few times that he was extremely glad for not being one.
Shinou looked at the bright-haired man dazedly. 'The color of his hair is making me dizzy,' Shinou had to scrunch his eyes tightly to block the sight. "Uhmmm….. I cannot answer you at this moment. I'm busy preventing myself from puking out the last lunch I had 4000 years ago." The blonde king answered cynically while trying to hide the growing fear in the pit of his stomach. It was not because of the sickness that he couldn't answer; it was because for once in his life, he didn't actually have the answer. "So, go bother someone else with your question."
Upon hearing Shinou's answer, Murata couldn't help but smile albeit the seriousness of the situation. He seldom saw Shinou fell ill that badly, so bad that his face was literally turning to a shade darker than a lilac. He even looked quite funny and if Murata wasn't really thinking about the dire situation, he would definitely laugh his butt off. 'Who would've thought that a mighty Shinou could fall sick, well apart from his last day when Shoushu poisoned his body?'
"But I know one thing for sure, if we stay here any longer, we might be swallowed by her intense power," Shinou pointed to the middle of the cave where Corintha was writhing in agony trying to regain control over her power. 'How much power could she possibly possess?' The blonde man shivered at the thought of being obliterated into nothing if Coritha decided to suddenly release her energy.
The rest of them tried to ignore the power struggle that was taking place not far from them. All they wanted to do was to escape this wretched cave and if possible continue with their lives as if nothing ever happened. They all know for a fact that some of them might not be able to come out of this ordeal alive and if they were indeed spared; the wounds inflicted would be too deep for them to completely forget about it. The scars could never fade even if forever was to repeat itself.
Corintha, meanwhile, was struggling to keep her sanity, or what was left of it, from being controlled by the immense power within her. She knew the moment she lost herself to it, there was no possible way for her to regain her consciousness. She would become this one mindless entity whose sole existence was to kill in order to feed itself and that was the last thing that she wanted to become. 'I cannot become that thing or it will be 10,000 years for nothing.' 10,000 years of actually regretting her action of killing her people, 10,000 years of actually wishing that she would be able to turn back the hands of time.
####
Corintha was eerily silent the moment the first fire-lit torch was thrown into the pyre. Her eyes bore no emotion at all; dull and lifeless. Every muscle in her body was stiff, unmoving, as if she was a statue that harbored no soul at all. Even when Queur started screaming as the fire started licking his nude body, Corintha remained motionless. Orwyn, although grateful he was at Corintha's failure to create any scene, looked at his sister as if she had just sprouted an extra arm.
"Corinth, are you alright?" The young man couldn't stop himself from asking although he knew how stupid his enquiry was. He knew from the look that Corintha was conveying that his sister was far from being alright, nor was she right in the mind. But he just had to ask, for the sake of his own sanity. He hadn't slept since last night after that fiasco, after what Corintha ha d said before she walked away. And when he finally had found the strength to move again, he turned the palace upside down trying to find his sister but she was nowhere to be found. His first instinct was the black-haired beauty had committed suicide.
"Yes, I'm fine, Brother," was Corintha's only response. Her eyes never left the platform where the current amusement was taking place. The more people reacted to the painful screaming, the more she withdrew from reality when finally what was left was only a hollow shell of a person without a soul. Her dark eyes just stared ahead; past the blazing inferno, past the cheering crowd, past her own time. Her face registered no emotion at all; her heart was officially dead.
Three hours later, when everything had been turned into ash, she finally got up and started to walk towards the pile of dust. 'Figures eh? Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.' Silently, she picked up a handful of the soot and placed it into a tiny jar in her trembling hands. There was no tear left for her to shed. All that was left now was her broken heart and her desire to exact revenge.
"Corinth?" Orwyn came to her side and put her strong hand on his sister's shoulder. "Let's go home."
"Hmm….let's."
####
Corintha was drowning in her own agony; every time she breathed, she felt like a million knife were stabbing her at the same moment. She could almost feel her body being mutilated beyond recognition, leaving a pile of bloody meat on the cave's floor. 'Control Corintha, control is the answer!' Lifting her head up, she could literally see yellow sparks emanating from her body. 'Shit, if this continues….' Struggling, she got up to her knees and tried to regain her control over the sparks that was accumulating around her. With hands that were trembling madly, she tried calling back the power, but the moment her body started to absorb the leakage, pain too severe that no word could possibly ever describe jolted Corintha's entire lithe body. The ancient being collapsed under her own weight. The leaking power just wouldn't let itself being controlled by the weaken Corintha. It wanted to be free; it wanted to have life of its own. It wanted blood and chaos!
Wolfram saw how Corintha was struggling to regain control over her power and how each time she failed miserably. Something inside Wolfram ached to aid the monster, but the other part of him just wanted her to die in the most gruesome death any human or Mazoku could ever imagine. Let her taste the pain she inflicted upon others; let her feel the hotness of her own blood gushing out of her; let her live through her last moment on this world knowing that no one would cry over her death.
"Wolfram?" A soft hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality. "Are you OK?" Wolfram snapped his head up and stared into a pair of beautiful eyes. Yuuri was looking at him with worried swimming in them. The pain that he was experiencing at that moment seemed to melt away the instance he looked into those bottomless orbs. That and the fact that he had already pumped half of his healing maryoku into his wound.
"Yeah, wimp. I'm alright. Now help me up!" Wolfram looked around and saw Conrart looking at him with murder in his eyes. "What?"
"You little conniving, sneaking, spoiled brat!" Conrart seethed. "What makes you think by running away like that you could solve all your problems?" But a second later all the madness just escaped him; the relief to see his brother literally unscathed was enough to neutralize the raging anger inside of him. Conrart offered his arms as a support for Wolfram. As soon as Wolfram was on his feet, Conrart hugged his baby brother with the biggest and warmest embrace he had ever given to anybody else.
"I'm glad you're still alive…..," Wolfram winced when Conrart's tight embrace made his shirt cling to his wound. The soldier grimaced at the obvious display of pain from his brother and added, "….considering."
Shinou, who had barely managed to keep himself from passing out, cleared his throat in the most pompous way. "Well, I apologize for breaking up this happy party-cum-reunion," he gestured dramatically at the vast cave with body parts strewn all over, "but we need to get out of here before she regain her control and started attacking us….or worse, explode and obliterate us all," he finished quietly.
Just as Shinou finished uttering the last word, at that precise moment, there was a shrill scream coming from the middle of the cave. A second later, a heat wave could be felt coming from the source of the scream, followed by a cold draught, a gusty wind and the rumbling of the earth consecutively. The evidence that the loud cry had come from Corintha; she was a wielder of all elements courtesy of those whose power she absorbed. Shinou and the Great Sage looked at each other alarmingly; as if asking each other 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking?'
"Run," Shinou's voice was almost emotionless, but something in his voice relayed the unspeakable urgency of his simple order.
####
It was raining blood that night. Nobody knew what actually attacked them; nobody could see the thing, but one by one, they were killed. It was like a celebration; a celebration for a successful massacre. The thing was stealthy, cunning, and most importantly, merciless. Bodies were thrown from balconies onto the pavement, often indistinguishable from a mound of meat. Terror reigned. Cries were everywhere. Mothers were busy trying to save their children, husbands frantically searched for their wives. And Corintha stood on top of the highest tower, observing the spreading panic gleefully.
While she was busy being a happy observant, the door behind her opened with a slammed, turning her triumphant grin into a sneer.
"Corinth?" Orwyn was beyond shocked at his discovery. "I got reports saying that the person who is responsible for all these is hiding here. Are you…?" the older man couldn't bring himself to finish the question. It was enough that he couldn't save his sister's heart from being broken; he was not going to add the sin of accusing her of doing the unspeakable act to his already growing guilt.
Corinth saw the uneasiness dancing in her sibling's eyes. "What? What are you going to ask? Hmmm, let me guess, 'Are you the one responsible?' right? Is that right, dear brother?"She smiled sweetly, showing her even white teeth with fangs adorning the each side of her mouth. Her eyes seemed to be saying, 'The answer is 'Yes', brother. So what are you going to do about it?'
Orwyn could only gape at his beloved sister while awaiting her answer. His mind just couldn't accept that his sister was the one responsible. 'No….this must be some kind of a cruel joke. Corinth can never be that heartless, ruthless. She is the perfect embodiment of what a ruler should be. My sister…..' "Don't tell me just because of a man, you're going to kill your own people, your own blood?" Orwyn asked, his voice trembling slightly.
"You're so naïve, Orwyn. I'm not going to kill our people or our blood, as you put it….," she answered with that mesmerizing voice of her, and Orwyn started to breathe normally. But before Orwyn had the chance to open his mouth to congratulate her for making him a worrywart, she ruined everything by adding. "I already did."
The casual way Corintha answered the question made Orwyn backed away a few steps. It was as if killing those innocent people down there meant nothing to her; like swatting thousands of annoying flies buzzing around. What should he do now? Escape was the best choice he had, but to where? And he could never leave all those innocent people behind. They didn't deserve this.
"Hmm….I wouldn't use the word 'innocent', brother, because none of you were. Remember what you did to revoke you of that title? Or do you want me to jog your memory?"
Orwyn's jaw dropped. What exactly was he dealing with? "You can read m-m-mind?" he asked, feeling a little bit stupid for asking an obviously rhetorical question, and then felt like a fool for actually thinking that he was a little bit stupid.
Corintha had to smile when she read her brother's thought. "Aikawarazu dana….Onii-sama. Always the thoughtful one," she softly murmured. "But I wonder, how thoughtful would you be of others' life if I offered to spare yours at the expense of their souls?"
If his jaws could drop to the ground, Orwyn was sure that it would have done so. 'Their souls? What did she mean by that? What does Corinth want with their souls?' His head spun wildly in search for answers he knew he would never find nor understand.
"You're right, you will never understand the reason why because if you could, you would've helped me save Queur," the eyes of the sister he knew all his life were no longer the same; not the one he used to stare whenever he wanted comfort. The eyes were lacking something; something that used to tell others that they belong to a human, not a merciless monster. The eyes lacked compassion. And Orwyn, when he saw that, finally gave up. There was no way he could persuade the 'thing' in front of him to spare his life, let alone spare the others. As soon as he finished thinking that thoughts he sure Corintha could hear and was laughing maniacally behind his back, he felt something smacked his head, not hard, but still…. 'Moron, you still have to fight for their lives, you good for nothing bum,' suddenly he heard a voice so loud inside his head.
'What?'
'Don't think. Just listen. Or she'll hear you,' the voice's invisible hands smacked him again behind his head.
Orwyn closed his eyes to prevent himself from his itchiness to yell 'Ouch' and from thinking what a pain in the ass the voice was.
'Good, now listen here, BUM,' the voice stressed out the last syllable deliberately, which Orwyn suspected the voice might be enjoying judging from how frequent the voice used that word. 'It's up to you whether you want to believe me or not, but I think I'm the very last person you want to see….or rather…hear.'
'…'
'I'm Queur….the person you were so bent on sacrificing.'
Orwyn sucked his next breath so sharply, he half-expected to see blood coming from the corner of his mouth.
'I said 'Don't think. Just listen',' Queur landed his hand on top of Orwyn's forehead a little too hard when he felt the brother of his most beloved person started to form some thoughts. 'She'll rip you apart if she found out I was here.'
Rubbing his forehead, as it was actually painful, Orwyn stared ahead trying to clear his mind of any thoughts but actually failed miserably. However, fearing his forehead might actually swell as large as his head, he quickly changed his strategy and thought of something else; some amoral, censored, erotic, illicit and equally taboo in their society. And it worked.
"Wow, you disgust me, brother," Corintha had to wrinkle her nose a bit when Orwyn's thought reached her mind. Who had thought a person as pious as Orwyn would have dirty thoughts like that? "Guess all men ever want from a women is that thing, huh?'"
'Yee…aaa…hhhh,' Queur drawled. 'I think I have to agree with Corinth in this thing. But anyhow, listen to what I'm going to tell you because sooner or later, the more she killed, the more powerful she'll become. And when she's that powerful, even the slightest hint of my presence will alert her and that'll be the end of you and….ME!'
Orwyn's hand shook as if he was the epicenter for a small earthquake. He still couldn't accept the fact that his sister was responsible for all those macabre and horrendous things.
'You better believe it, BUM, 'cause even if you don't, you're still going to die. Now listen,' Queur stopped for a while, maybe trying to find his breath, if he still had any.
'I want you to take a knife and slice up your wrist a little,' Queur said it so casually, Orwyn had no choice but to choke and scream. "Are you mad? What the hell were you thinking?" His voice sounded like thunder to the ears of those who were listening; to both Corintha and Queur. Corintha just continued looking at her brother, thinking that maybe all the events that had been raveling in front of him, the bitter reality of it, were finally driving him crazy. She still hadn't realized Queur's presence yet, mostly because the latter tried very hard to keep it that way and partly, Orwyn was actually thinking of how painful it must've been for someone to mutilate his own flesh.
Queur, however, was far from being impressed by Orwyn's public display of his emotions. 'That's it, bum, you've asked for it,' and smacked the royal's head for the umpteenth time that day. 'Why not just scream at the top of your lungs and announce to your sister that I am here with you, that I'm trying to put an end to this absurdity. Why not put up a sign that says 'Queur's here and you're welcome to kill him if you want to'?'
Orwyn rubbed his painful forehead and could almost swear that he felt a small bump forming. He felt quiet embarrassed for putting Queur's existence in jeopardy. "Sorry," before he could stop himself from saying the word, it had already slipped past his mouth and that in turn earned him another smack from Queur and a very troubled and confused look from Corintha.
Orwyn hung his head, feeling like a small child unable to control his mouth and he actually felt bad about it. As if he understood Orwyn's emotional ride, Queur said softly, 'I guess it was out of line for me to say that huh? I'm sorry,' and actually sounded so sincere. 'But I still have to ask you to do it. The both of us now do not have the power to stop her. At this moment, nobody can't. I fear you'll all die. Unfortunately, she'll live and she'll continue living as long as she has her life force; the human souls.!'
Orwyn stifled the urge to vomit there and then. 'No chance at all to survive?' he didn't even want to stop himself from asking that question. He didn't care anymore if Corintha heard it or not. But since it was only a statement of devastation uttered by someone who had just lost his last hope of survival, the latter just dismissed it as trivial. Normal in fact for someone who had just seen his entire life flew by in front of his eyes.
'Almost none at all,' Queur answered softly. He hated the way Orwyn's quivered when the question was uttered. He hated the screams adorning the background music. But most of all he hated himself for being the reason of that hideous display of vengeance. 'But you, Orwyn, at least you have a small chance of survival if you do what I just asked of you. Anyway, it's just a little cut so that I could transfer some of my power to you.' A lengthy pause. Confusion marred the prince's face, but this time he stifled any remarks and continued displaying the image of devastation in front of him in his mind to stop himself from thinking about what Queur had just said.
A long sigh and the handsome spirit continued, hesitation lacing his deep voice. 'I was never a black magic practitioner and I think you already know that. But none of you know is that I'm blessed, or rather was blessed with a special ability; ability to manipulate the energy around me. The ability to practice magic. But what makes us, my clan that is; different from the black magic user is that we do not need to submit ourselves as slaves to the other beings from which their powers are drawn. We just need to open ourselves to the elements around us and we can draw the abundant energy and mould it into anything we want,' Queur had to stop, not only because he had ran out of breath (as if he still had any), but also the face that Orwyn bore right now did not bode well.
And his intuition was right. The black-haired prince turned to his sister and before Queur could do anything, popped out the question. "So, Corinth, you're a black magic user, huh? So what kind of demons are you in league with?" the question was asked quite frankly that it hit Corintha like cold splash of winter stream. Of all the list of questions Corintha had anticipated coming out of her brother's mouth, that was never made it into the cut. "Hmm, good question, bro. No, let me rephrase that. Bull's eye, bro. You're right. I am a black magic user. So now you know, what are you going to do about it? You know really well the reason why I submitted myself to all of this. Shame on you, Orwyn," Corintha clicked her tongue dramatically, all the while shooting her brother accusing, dirty looks.
Orwyn had to shut his eyes tightly. He admitted his lack of compassion pushed Corintha over the point of no return, but he could not be blamed for all these. Everybody was responsible for their own actions. He chose to ignore Corintha's pleas for help and now he was paying for it in the form of his life. But it was thoroughly unfair for the evil bitch to pin everything onto his shoulder.
"That's a cheap shot, Corinth, to wash clean the blood off your hands and then poured them onto me. Everybody's responsible for what they've done. I have to bear what I did, the neverending guilt of it. Now you want me to shoulder yours? That's a joke!" Orwyn screamed the last words, surprising both Corintha and Queur. Corintha stood unmoving for a while, something actually didn't seem right to her. how could Orwyn knew about black magic? He hated that stuff and Orwyn never wanted to know something that he hated. Something was there to guiding her brother. Something that she could not see or feel. Something incorporeal and ethereal. And she could almost feel it.
Queur gasped. 'I think we're in deep shit, Orwyn. She sensed me just now,' the dead noble swallowed hard. He could actually feel something ran through him, as if checking whether he was actually there or not. And, he suspected, no, without any doubt know that it was Corintha's conscience checking her surroundings. 'What a pain in the ass,' he gritted out to no one in particular. 'Orwyn, you have to do it now. She knows I'm here.' He bellowed in the prince's head.
That actually brought Orwyn back to reality, quenching his anger at the same moment. 'No!'
"What is the 'No' for, brother?" Corintha asked mischievously. Something was there with her brother and she knew it. But who? She needed more information and then decided that she had to let her brother continue the game if she was to find the answer she was seeking.
'Orwyn, now, please!' Queur was frantically pleading at the prince. Corintha's power suddenly was increasing rapidly, her tentacles of power brushing the surrounding. Queur was sure if those wretched things him, some unwanted reaction would happen. Something he would not dare to imagine. But despite his growing fear, the sight of the unmoving Orwyn irked him more, surpassing his terror. 'Orwyn, please!'
Still the prince didn't move and the tentacles were drawing near. Another few minutes and he could no longer escape at all. All would be in vain. 'Orwyn….'
The tentacles grew closer. Orwyn just stood there, eyes blinking stupidly. Corintha was smiling wider. And there was nothing he could do.
'Orwyn!'
To be continued…
A/N: Arghh…this is the longest I've gone without any update and also the longest chapter, I believe. I apologized sincerely for the lack of progress but please do not worry, I have no intention to abandon my baby. I hope I can get the next update within a month but I cannot promise. I wish I have 48 hours/day. Please do not stop supporting me, a'rite? Next chapter: The Final Confrontation: [Still Unknown]…well that's the first. Maybe it'll be the last chapter, maybe not…..A lot of maybes…
P/S: Please bear with me about the Orwyn/Queur and the power transfer theory for a while OK? I'll explain e'thing in the next chappy. I would be glad to answer any question though….