This chapter gets pretty close to M in the ninth and tenth paragraphs.
Something about tonight felt distinctly different, and Rose didn't like it one bit.
She'd been to Castle Diocese before, of course, and with Dezel and her daggers at her side, it had been remarkably easy to sneak in—but she couldn't shake the feeling that she was venturing dangerously deep into forbidden territory. And it didn't help that she'd recently discovered that something more than mere malevolence had wrapped around her heart like a pendulum, and it hadn't let her go.
It had been like this at least since Lamorak Cave, come to think of it; but it had begun as a nameless, nervous tension provoked by Rose's inadvertent offense… and assuaged only by the prospects of forgiveness. And, ever since Dezel's reassurance, it had dissolved into a restless fluttering in her gut like a second heartbeat, proving itself a distraction at best—an electric sort of excitement, tempered by what felt like frigid and febrile fear.
Yet it wasn't altogether unpleasant; in fact, for one reason or another, Rose's spirits had rarely been higher overall. How could that be, in an atmosphere like this? That uncertainty only served to agitate her further; no such intangible sensation had ever put her on edge like this before. It did seem somehow familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on how or why; if she'd experienced it before, it must have been some time ago.
Regardless, this didn't feel like malevolence, so it was best just to focus on the here and now. If this stupid cocktail of confusion would let Rose concentrate long enough to find her family, anyway; but she was on the right track, if the sharp chill of malevolence was anything to go by. Unless…
"Dezel," she hissed as she examined the already broken padlock, her heart freezing in her chest at a new and terrifying realization. "What if they're—?" The last word stuck in her throat, and she almost retched; she'd been so focused on whether her family was alive or dead that she hadn't even considered the possibility of corruption.
"Hellions?" finished Dezel swiftly, his voice low, and shook his head. "They're not. I can tell this is coming from a single source, and we both know who it is." He peered keenly at her from the shadows, and she shivered at his inquisitive breeze. "Calm down and remember your training. Neither we nor they can afford to waste any more time."
"I… I understand," whispered Rose, nodding once as resolutely as possible, and pushed past the door to the dungeons. Nothing screamed 'trap' like an unlocked door to an ordinarily high-security area; as they descended the spiral staircase, she steeled herself for any number of unpleasant scenes, apprehension hastening her movements. This couldn't be good.
Unfortunately, Rose was absolutely right. She may have earned herself a strong stomach over years of work as an assassin, but she still swallowed queasily as they came to an abrupt halt at the bottom of the stairs. Countless Platinum Knights, half-burned, or half-eaten, lay sprawled haphazardly in the aisle between the rows of cells… in which slumped the inmates, likewise horrifically mutilated. She could hardly see the floor for all the corpses.
"Lunarre," muttered Rose, her voice cracking, as she took in the carnage with wide eyes. He hadn't left a single survivor; the world was deathly still around her, but for Dezel's grimace at her side as he jabbed a finger at smears of blood on the wall, jerking his head away in disgust: HURRY UP BOSS I'M HUNGRY.
"N-no," Rose choked out; as the last word echoed down the hall, the torches blazed briefly blue, and she stiffened as they extinguished themselves altogether: he hadn't left yet. "They're not here, Rose," murmured Dezel, resting a hand on his shoulder as if to tell her they could always leave… but she shrugged it off, shuddering in the aftermath of his lightning touch.
This ended now. Lunarre had hurt enough innocents in her name—and he would tell her where her family was, she told herself fiercely, forcing herself to move forward despite the darkness. Trap or not, this interrogation was one step on the path to closure… so she had to take it.
Doing her best to avoid treading on the burnt and broken bodies as well as several severed limbs, Rose cautiously started feeling her way along the corridor, but stumbled to a stop as Dezel's gale rushed past her; there was no reason to put herself in danger when he could read the wind. "In the cell at the end," he growled.
Even as he spoke, two of the torches by the last room sputtered back to life, casting their eerie cerulean glow over the sinister scene. (He'd always had a flair for drama, thought Rose, far too troubled to smile at the observation.) Lunarre leered at them from the final cell; puzzlingly, judging by the ring of keys lying in a pool of blood on the floor, he'd locked himself in.
"You came," he greeted them, grasping the iron bars of his cell door; his pale eyes focused on Rose's face—pupils dilated in anticipation, so much so that they almost looked round again. The intensity of his concentration on her reaction stirred Rose to convert her fear into fury, and she narrowed her eyes, resting her hands on the hilts of her knives to steady herself. "I didn't want to be here, but now I'm thinking I just might enjoy this."
"You've got a lot of nerve showing your foxy face around here after everything you've done," snarled Rose, drawing her daggers as she hurried her pace; Dezel strode alongside her until they stood only a few feet away, ready to defend themselves and each other if he put up a fight. "It's time to finish this!"
"Oh, this is only the beginning," Lunarre assured them, so softly that Rose couldn't bring herself to strike first, lest she miss his next words. "I'm the last hope you have of finding your fellow Scattered Bones, after all," he continued, smirking slyly, and made no move to attack. "Do you really want to kill me before you rescue them?"
Gods damn it; she should have known he'd make things difficult. "What have you done?" demanded Rose, shifting her grip on her knives more uncertainly; as if reading her thoughts, Dezel made a resigned noise in the back of his throat, but did not stand down.
"Wouldn't you like to know," snickered Lunarre, baring his teeth in a disquieting grin, and Rose narrowed her eyes. What did he want? "Surrender, and I'll spare your last remaining comrades. You have my word," he added, somewhat more impatiently, when neither Rose nor Dezel looked at all convinced.
…As though that would change anything. "The word of a hellion is worth nothing," snapped Dezel angrily, summarizing Rose's thoughts exactly; she nodded once in his direction, glaring at Lunarre.
"Are you sure? It's quite a bargain," insisted Lunarre, turning his golden gaze on Dezel instead. "So many lives in exchange for one. And there are plenty of other vessels you could use, seraph—like the other Squire," he added, licking his lips and salivating: Rose curled her lip in disgust. "Everyone knows the boss here is too hot to handle," giggled Lunarre, "but the princess is so sweet and succulent. Give another girl a taste for once!"
"Don't you dare talk about Alisha like she's some sort of—of dessert!" ordered Rose through grit teeth, even as Dezel opened his mouth furiously. "She's a living, breathing human just like me! Just like you used to be," she added as an afterthought, her voice almost breaking, and swallowed convulsively. It would do her no good to consider his metamorphosis now.
Lunarre's eyes flashed in her direction again. "Oh, Alisha," he laughed, raising a mocking hand to his forehead as if swooning. "Let me tell you a little secret, boss," he added, crossing his arms as his expression hardened. "If you taste enough blood, you'll understand: humans, seraphim, hellions—all of us are the same." He gestured vaguely between the three of them, and Rose found herself powerless to look away from his flinty eyes. "There are no races. There are only the strong… and the dead."
"You're right," growled Dezel, jerking his head sharply up and to the side as if to look down on Lunarre, and Rose finally blinked in astonishment. "There are the strong, and there are the dead. But there are also a few cowardly weaklings like you," he added, his every muscle tense with loathing. "The ones who drink strong blood because they think it makes a difference."
"Oh, but it does," hissed Lunarre, lunging forward to grip the bars; Rose took a step back to solidify her stance, her heart skipping a beat. "Try it and see. If the boss will let you take a bite, that is," he cackled, and Rose winced as a half-physical pain throbbed through the scar on her neck. (But maybe that was just the intensity of her guilt.) "I doubt it."
"N-nobody's eating anybody," shot back Rose, before Dezel could respond, and resented her voice for shaking. She could feel her seraph's attention lingering on her mark; he'd never asked about it before, but what if he turned against her now? She couldn't possibly let him think she'd just let it happen.
"Shows what you know," retorted Lunarre scornfully, crossing his arms. "If you're not the predator, you're the prey. Now," he continued, his voice taking a darker and still more dangerous turn, "back to business. Do we have a deal, or do I get to roast a few sparrows for dinner?"
"What have you done to the Scattered Bones?" repeated Rose, scowling as ferociously as she could.
"They're a little tied up at the moment," chortled Lunarre, narrowing his eyes in cruel amusement. "Cooperate, and I'll let them go; resist, and I kill them all. And since you're so fond of limited-time offers, I thought I'd personalize one for you," he jeered. "Better think fast; supplies won't last!"
"You bastard!" spat Dezel, firing a warning shot through the bars: Lunarre swayed to the side so that it missed him by an inch, tossing him a sharp-fanged smile. But Rose's mind had snagged on an insane idea—the most perilous plan she could possibly conceive. As long as Lunarre took her straight to the Scattered Bones, with no detours…
"Watch it, seraph," he told Dezel, arching an eyebrow as he broke into Rose's thoughts. "I might kill them anyway at this rate. It's really quite simple," he sneered, standing on one hip. "If the boss comes with me alone, the Scattered Bones are guaranteed to live. If either of you fight back, they die immediately. Which will you choose, I wonder?"
"Rose," Dezel began, bowing his head in Rose's peripheral vision, and she turned her head to gaze at him in dull astonishment: he did not meet her eyes, opting instead to adjust his hat. "You can't sacrifice yourself for them. You have to survive… at any cost."
"Oh, how the leash tightens!" exclaimed Lunarre, giving a growling laugh as he licked his lips hungrily, leaning his forehead against the bars. "Isn't that touching," he grinned. "He's willing to let the world burn, as long as you're alive." And Rose was grateful for it; really—as long as he didn't try to control her… She bit her lip and shook her head; she had little choice at this point. This course of action would at least would offer a chance of survival for them all, not just herself and Dezel; she couldn't leave her family to die, however inadvisable it may be to try and save them.
"Enough," murmured Rose, stepping forward to face Lunarre, and sheathed her knives as she stared him down. Gods, she could feel his breath on her face, hot and shallow; even as she recognized it, he stuck his tongue out to lick her nose, snickering unpleasantly as she recoiled. "I-if you promise to take me straight to them," she added hesitantly, mopping her face and taking a step back, "I'll go with you."
"No," interrupted Dezel, shaking his head vigorously, and took a couple steps forward, though seemed at a loss for what to do with his hands. "No, you can't. Rose, listen to me for once!" he added, with a passion she had seldom heard before. "If you die, Lafarga's sacrifice will have been for nothing—my life will be for nothing!"
"Dezel," responded Rose, turning to look at him earnestly; how could she convey her plan without blowing her own cover? "Lunarre is right. You should find another vessel; I mean, you can't even live inside me." She put as much delicate emphasis on the last few words as she dared, willing him to understand her plan, and she thought she saw his eyes widen in comprehension. "Let me go with him. He'll take me to the Scattered Bones, and that's all I want right now."
"But…" began Dezel, shaking his head, though his protest seemed less vehement; Rose took an impulsive step forward to rest her fingers on his lips, gazing intently up at him, and he stiffened under her touch. They stood like that for a moment of breathless silence—as long as it took Rose to think Dezel got it. Eventually, he sighed and bowed his head, shaking it slightly—but she could feel a smile tug subtly at his lips for a fraction of a second. Good; he understood after all.
"You're either really brave or really stupid," he mumbled, grasping her hand to move it away from his mouth, and glanced over at Lunarre without letting go of her fingers. From the outside, that probably looked like a gesture of desperation; but Rose could feel resigned encouragement and reassurance in his pulse instead. "There," he added; unless Rose was much mistaken, there was actually a note of pride or perhaps even triumph in his voice. "Saved you the trouble of saying it yourself."
"She'll be so proud," he smiled, his eyes fixed on their intertwined hands with no small amount of interest; Dezel dropped Rose's fingers immediately, his expression darkening at the vague mention of his rival seraph. "If you're serious, then let me out," continued Lunarre, addressing Rose alone.
Obeying reluctantly after a brief hesitation, she stooped to pick up the ring of keys, doing her level best to ignore the blood seeping into her skin. As she straightened up, Rose offered Dezel a covert smile of gratitude for his compliance; pulling off a stunt like this would be difficult enough without his resistance. She'd have to find some way of thanking him once all this was over; it said a lot that Dezel trusted Rose enough to let her try something like that.
It took a few moments of fumbling to find the right key, but she finally turned it in the lock: the door swung open, and she stepped back warily as Lunarre stepped forward. Grinning smugly over at Dezel, he jerked his head towards the cell as if indicating that he should get in: Rose nodded slowly, careful to keep her eyes wide and serious. For one reason or another, iron bars meant little to a wind seraph; but there was no need for his so-called captor to know that.
Dezel sighed, striding into the cage in clear resentment; Lunarre shut the door, swinging the key ring around his finger—perhaps in place of his missing jewelry. His attention remained fixed half-lasciviously on Rose; she shuddered, resting her hands on the hilts of her knives, as she thought that he seemed to be staring straight through her, ogling her soul as much as her body.
"I forgot to mention, I have permission to kill you now," remarked Lunarre conversationally; Rose rested her hand automatically on the hilt of the knife as he took a single, menacing step towards her. "But only after I take you to your family." His sinister smile widened along with Rose's eyes. "I gave you my word I'd spare your life. Do you trust me to keep it?"
"No," shot back Rose, drawing her daggers. She had no intention of cutting and running at this point, nor of jeopardizing her family's situation; but she definitely wasn't going to go quietly if he had plans to hurt her before he even let her see them. "Of course not."
"Good," growled Lunarre approvingly, lunging for her suddenly. Though Rose raised her knives to defend herself, such was his inhuman speed that she only registered his raised palm a split second before he struck her backhanded across the face. Rose's name on Dezel's lips rang in her ears as her blades clattered to the ground, and she didn't even have time to offer him a prayer that their plan would work before darkness swallowed her whole.
*holds head* I almost feel bad for posting this often, but when I'm fleeing real life to the extent that this is all I do with whatever free time I have (and some time that isn't supposed to be free), I guess this is to be expected. Not to get all dramatic on you or anything! I just hope you all enjoy reading this as much as I love writing it, that's all.
In slightly more lighthearted news, it's about time Lunarre showed up again! Maybe I should put up another chapter in the sidefic collection about what he was doing for his little twelve-chapter vacation from the plot…
N: Snowcone… I like it! If I had to guess, I'd say the shift is a direct result of traveling alone with Rose. I hope it's not too jarring, given that I've been trying to build this up for some time now. *crosses fingers*