WARNING! BEFORE YOU READ THIS CHAPTER, PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU'VE READ THE PREVIOUS ONE. Something was wrong the last time I uploaded and didn't send out notices to my subscribers. Sorry about that.
So, without further ado…
King Sloan
By: Illusion of the Mirror
Once upon a time there was a young prince. He lived in an old castle with his many loyal servants and his father, the king. The king was not a wicked man, but he ruled his country with an iron fist and didn't tolerate those that disobeyed his laws. The prince grew up learning from his father's strength and vowed to one day be just as good a king.
But on the day of the prince's twelfth birthday, the king grew deathly ill. He called in all of the healers throughout the land to save his father, but everyone that came could do nothing to help the king. Distraught and aggrieved, the price went to visit the king on his deathbed.
"I leave this country to you, son. Rule it well," the king said and then breathed his last breath.
There was a huge funeral for the king and even the peasants were allowed to show their respects by coming to see his body. There were many tears, for the king was greatly loved.
But even though the king had meant for his son to take over the throne once he was dead, there were many that thought the prince could not handle the job. They plotted together and found ways to raise public suspicion of the prince in order to discredit his name. Then the king's advisors had the king's brother and his wife and son move into the castle, deciding that a grown man was better fit to rule the country than an adolescent prince.
The prince, however, was enraged. Not only were the advisors ignoring his father's dying wish by crowning the prince's uncle as the new king, but now his cousin was next in line and the young prince was cut out from the line to the throne entirely.
But the more the prince objected, the more the advisors saw him as an inadequate leader. The prince soon began to hate his uncle and cousin for taking his kingdom and his throne and as he grew older, his hate only grew stronger.
Seeing this, the new king sent the prince into the wars to lead the battle, hoping that he would die on the front lines. And when the prince didn't return with the rest of the army, the new king announced the prince dead.
However, the prince was not dead. He had been captured by the enemy and was thrown into their prison to die. But while he was there in the dark dungeon of the enemy's castle, he became friends with an old man who claimed to be a sorcerer with amazing powers. Filled with hate for his uncle and cousin and the kingdom that so foolishly disowned him the prince asked the man to help him learn the dark arts in exchange for helping the old man escape.
Day after day the price studied under the old sorcerer and his knowledge grew with each passing month. One night, there was a terrible storm that rocked the castle on the mountaintop and during the calamity, the prince and the old man escaped. Together, they traveled back to the prince's home country, gathering support from exiled sorcerers and mercenaries along the way.
On the night he returned, the prince snuck into the castle and smothered his uncle and the queen in the night. He left evidence that it was his cousin who had done the heinous deed and when they were found in the morning, the advisors apprehended the prince's cousin, throwing him in the dungeon under charge of murder.
It was then that the prince announced his return. Now the age of twenty, the prince seemed much more able to handle the kingdom in the advisors' eyes. They were so glad to have an heir that they promptly made arrangements to crown him the new king.
The prince's first act as king was to have his cousin put to death. His second, was to have his advisors executed for their disloyalty so long ago. Now, with no one standing in his way, the prince, now the king, could do as he pleased with his kingdom. Making the old sorcerer his head advisor, the king sought out any others that knew the dark arts. His plans were to take over the neighboring countries and hammer them into submission to his laws.
With his sorcerers at his side, the king led assault after assault on the kingdoms opposing him, gaining momentum as time went on. But as the king grew more hungry for power, he forgot about caring for his people and when they revolted, he became so angry that he ordered his men to ravage the countryside. Content that this act would stifle the rebellion, the king focused on finding a way to protect himself from further insurrections.
It was then that the old sorcerer, the head advisor to the king presented an evil plan. He knew of a monster deep in the forests that was very powerful. He proposed that the king find the demon, and vow to serve it in exchange for unsurpassed power and might. The king sent out his best fighters to find the demon, but only one returned.
"Did you find him?" The king asked angrily.
The man grinned wickedly and then transformed into a huge black monster. Terrified, the king fell on his knees, pledging his loyalty to the demon. But the demon was not interested in the king's loyalty and agreed to give the king power in exchange for something else; blood. The king consented immediately and allowed himself to become possessed by the evil spirit.
As time went on, the king not only ruled his country mercilessly, but he also raided the countryside, searching out young maidens that he sacrificed to feed the demon's appetite for blood. The people lived in terror until a group of knights that were loyal to the king's father rose up. Under the name of the Resistance, they convened in houses, churches, and pubs, gathering those brave enough to fight to their cause. There were many plans to assassinate the king, but all failed. No one could get close enough.
At about that time, a neighboring king that didn't want his country to be wiped out made an alliance with the king. To show his loyalty, he offered his daughter to the king. The Resistance saw this as their chance and contacted the new queen.
Though she was frightened of the king, she saw the devastation of the people and her heart went out to them, for she was a kind woman. She agreed to help the Resistance end the king's reign even though she risked coming to harm herself.
-- O –--
Tifa stared across the brightly lit room at Catherine Stratford, her arms crossed over chest uncomfortably. "Yeah, I've heard this fairy tale. The old lady in town used to tell us kids all kinds of old yarns. But…are you saying that the rebelling peasants in that story are…" She stopped and glanced at Emily Bordeaux, who sat next to her on the cream upholstered love-seat.
Catherine set down her china teacup and saucer, folding her hands in her lap. "Even the most far-fetched folklore and urban myths often have a seed of truth hidden behind their embellishments. In the case of this story, there is more truth than legend." The middle-aged professor smoothed her gray pencil skirt and adjusted her reading glasses. "Although there are many different endings that have been told for this story, there is only one truth."
"But you didn't finish," Emily added; those being the first words she had spoken since she and Tifa had been invited into Catherine's living quarters.
Professor Stratford nodded. "When the lead members of the Resistance approached the new queen, she was reluctant at first. But after a few weeks of living with the king, she saw that he truly held no love for her, let alone his people."
"Using the many hours she spent alone in the castle to pour over the books and records in the library, as well as the king's office, she discovered the secret to her husband's power. She became frightened, but she also grew all the more determined to find a way to help the people of the kingdom."
"Though the king had never trusted a single human soul other than his chief advisor, he did not expect his own queen's betrayal. In the night, she helped the Resistance break into the castle and they overpowered the king's sorcerers by use of protective spells but when the king tried to escape, he was shot down by an archer."
"Wait," Tifa interrupted. "I heard that he was thrown into jail. They found his sorcerers dead in the morning with their hearts torn out. All that was left was his crown and the bloodstone was glowing."
Catherine was taken aback for a moment but then smiled kindly. "The leaders felt that it would have been better to tell the subjects that the king had escaped from the cell, rather than from his bed."
Tifa unfolded her arms and sat forward in her chair. "But I thought you said he was killed."
"He was." The professor's smile faded. "The spirit, weakened from the spells used by the Resistance in their offensive, used the king's body to escape during the next day. It's true about the king's sorcerers, but the king was never imprisoned in the first place. He had been shot in the heart with an arrow, after all."
Tifa let that sink in as she absently surveyed the immaculate shelves of books along the walls. "So…the demon killed the sorcerers to gain power?"
"Consumed is more the word. And when the Resistance discovered that the king's body was gone, they began frantically searching for him. The queen, however, began to go back through all the king's research and discovered a way to imprison the demon and nullify its powers. Taking the blood red ruby from the king's crown, she had the goldsmith make the talisman and place the stone in the center. She then personally carved the incantation that would trap the monster within the stone into the gold."
"The Resistance searched tirelessly for the demon. It was easy to follow its trail of bloodshed throughout the countryside. Obviously, it had no inclination that the humans could defeat it, for it felt no need to cover its tracks. When they finally caught up to the monstrosity, it had long since abandoned the body of the king. There was a great battle and many lives were lost. It had no intention of allowing them to capture it."
"But in the end, it was the queen herself that shouted the incantation and pulled the demon from this realm and into the bloodstone even though she was critically wounded by it." Catherine picked up a porcelain teapot from the coffee table and poured herself another cup of hot tea. "The talisman was then hidden away so that the dark being could never be released."
Emily took the teapot from Catherine and poured herself another cup as well. She offered some to Tifa, but Tifa declined. "No thanks." She addressed the professor. "It's obvious that the talisman didn't stay hidden. What happened?"
There was a loud clink as Emily set the teapot back down on the glass top of the coffee table a little too harshly. "What happened?" She asked indignantly. "The people forgot. As time wore on, they started to remember less and less until it was all just a bedtime story."
Catherine nodded. "Yes. But the ancestors of the king's sorcerers never forgot. Their deep seeded hatred for the Resistance was passed down through the generations until a malevolent man named Sebastian created a political party named The King's Men. Under the banner of change, Sebastian gained support with the working class and soon the middle and upper classes as well. But what the public didn't know, was that he was a direct descendant of one of King Sloan's sorcerers and was slowly, but surely, finding the members of the Resistance and executing them."
"That's why the Resistance set up the village in the mountains, Sráidbhaile. I read about that in Marie's journal," Tifa offered.
"And then Sebastian's son, Kale, led the massacre at the village in an attempt to find the talisman and the one with the Gift," Emily added.
Tifa scoffed. "More like the Curse."
"Actually," Professor Stratford interjected. "You're more right than you know. It's surmised that "the Gift" is in fact a mental or spiritual scar, if you will, that has been passed down the bloodline of the ancient queen. She acquired it when she was injured by the demon so long ago and now her daughters are connected to it as well."
"Connected?"
"The memories that you experience is a playback of what the demon has experienced from its resting place in the talisman."
Tifa frowned. "It really is a curse then." Suddenly, a disturbing thought flashed into Tifa's mind.
"Marie said something about Sebastian wanting to wield the bloodstone. Do you suppose that's what Darknation wants to do now?"
"Yes," Catherine answered gravely. "In fact, we're positive that's what they plan to do."
"Which is why we absolutely need to find their hiding place now!" Emily stood up from her seat and began pacing. "All this waiting is wasting time!"
Tifa looked back and forth between the two of them. She could definitely relate to how Emily was feeling. How Catherine could sip her tea so calmly was beyond her.
"Patience, Emily," Stratford said evenly. "All in due time."
Unable to calmly sit down any longer, Tifa pushed herself up off the love-seat. "What about the others? Why haven't you told any of them this? I mean, Darknation is planning to awaken an evil demon. That's kind of-"
"They are being informed as we speak." Catherine uncrossed her legs and stood as well, still holding her teacup. "The council isn't going to as much detail in the past, but I figured you'd want to know."
Tifa looked toward the door. "So now what?"
"Now," the professor smiled wanly. "We wait."
-- O --
Discouraged could not even begin to describe how Tifa was feeling as Emily, Aiden, and a few other members of the Resistance suited up to go on an expedition to find Darknation's base of operations. Convincing the council to send out a team hadn't been all that difficult now that Darknation possessed the talisman. Tifa still wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but she knew it wasn't a good thing.
Actually, it was a bad thing.
Tifa was drawn away from her thoughts when she felt a small hand slip into her own. Looking down, she saw Denzel staring about with wide eyes. She knew he didn't know the gravity of the situation they were in, but she also knew he was smart enough to figure out that something was awry.
"Tifa," he began quietly. "Aren't you going with them?"
Tifa sighed. "No, Denzel. I'm staying here."
"But Barret, Vincent, Cid, Yuffie, and Red are going."
She noticed that he left Cloud's name out of the list. "Well, they're not injured like you and me." She pointed to her freshly wrapped forehead. "And these bandages don't come in camouflage. I can't hide very well with a bright white beacon on my face."
Denzel laughed half-heartedly. "I guess not." Tifa gave his hand a squeeze and he looked up at her with misty eyes.
"Hey, you," she said as she knelt down to his height. "You're strong, not to mention very brave. Don't beat yourself up over something you can't control." The boy nodded, but Tifa could tell her words would do little to ease his self-torture. I wonder where he learned that. She sighed and hugged him to her.
As Tifa released the boy from her embrace, she could hear boot steps approaching and turned around to see Vincent looking down at her with his typical emotionless stare.
"Denzel," he said with only a quick glance at the boy, "You had better say goodbye to the others. They'll be leaving soon." Denzel nodded and hobbled off with the help of the nurse who had taken care of him since he arrived, never leaving his side.
Tifa looked down, avoiding Vincent's eyes. "So, I guess you'll be going now too."
"Yes, I will." He reached out and lifted her chin until she had no choice but to meet his gaze. It seemed to bore right through her.
"But I will come back for you."
Tifa melted. She hadn't intended to, but it had been so long since someone had actually told her that…and meant it. She fell against Vincent's warm chest and wrapped her arms desperately around him. "You had better," she mumbled into his shirt.
Vincent folded his own arms around her form and stroked the back head with gentle fingertips, placing his chin on the top of her head. She didn't see the way that he closed his eyes and slightly smiled as she clung to him, but the pair of cold blue eyes across the room caught every second of their interaction.
When the last call for all the members of the search party was called out, Tifa slowly dropped her arms as Vincent backed away. She didn't want him to go, but she knew that was selfish of her. He was a valuable addition the task force, and she had no business asking him to stay and hold her as she fell asleep in his arms.
Reaching down and taking her hand in his, Vincent slowly lifted her fingertips to his lips. Slowly and with purpose, he lightly kissed each of her knuckles. Then, with one last intense look into her eyes, he turned and followed the others to the vehicles they would be departing in. Tifa instantly felt cold.
-- O --
Greetings! I realize this chapter is shorter than my last few, but I figure with the last chapter being so freaking long…you guys needed a break. nn
So thank you all for being so patient with me, and I hope you enjoy these new developments. Fair warning: there will probably be more romance to come seeing as I've recently gotten a new inspiration.
Thank you to all of my faithful readers and newcomers alike. I'm thrilled that this story is getting such good ratings. Shoot me a review if you have and questions or concerns. Your opinion matters to me! Rawr!
Fight the power!
-- Illusion of the Mirror --
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