Chapter Twenty-Nine
Slidell spun in the ether, looking around himself to see who it was who had spoken. All he could see was shadow, darkness stretching off into near-infinity, a cloying and heavy blanket of blackness deeper than pitch. "Who are you? I don't see anyone." He called out with the voice of bravado that doesn't know any better than to flaunt its meager ability.
Jedaikun. The reply came from the shadows, and though it took a moment, Slidell realized that the speaker wasn't hiding within the shadows darkness. He was the shadow, the night that had fallen across him in this moment of Between. There was a moment of breathtaking reversed light, and then a man stood there in place of the shadow.
He was of average height, with black hair that fell past his shoulders, brilliant blue eyes piercing out from under the long black bangs. He was clad in darkness, a black shirt and pants tucked into boots. He moved with a strange grace that betrayed the appearance of humanity, for no human could move with such effortless grace.
"Jedaikun? Is that supposed to frighten me?" Slidell snorted, shaking his head. He was so completely convinced in his pathetic powers that he missed the obvious and spoke carelessly. "You're Mazoku, I catch on quick."
"No, I don't think you do. At least, not quite. You see… your Pactholder hasn't bothered to teach you anything, has she?" The man came to a stop a foot or so away, simply standing there and looking at Slidell. "I am the Twilight's Shadow, he who holds sway over life and death. I am Hellmaster Jedaikun."
Hellmaster.
The impact of that designation was missing from Slidell's face, and Hellmaster reached out with his hand, catching Slidell off guard and yanking a neck chain off of the pathetic creature by the stone pendant. Calmly shielding the outraged volley of spells that Slidell started throwing at him, Hellmaster examined the Pledgestone. "You really are an idiot. What in the name of our Dark Lord was Madroka thinking?"
Hellmaster lifted his gaze to Slidell in time to see another blast of something fire off towards him, and he waved it off with a thought, not even bothering to lift his hand against it. "Tell me, Slidell. Why steal the child? Were you trying to start a war that you couldn't possibly win? Because, let me tell you something: Erina isn't your child. She's mine, and you are messing with forces that you can't imagine."
Slidell's answer was a blast of something dark, and Hellmaster sighed as he simply absorbed it and tilted his head. "You have no intentions of making this easy, do you?" Clenching his hand around the Pledgestone, he murmured a single word, his will reaching out and forcing its desire on the one named. "Madroka."
The creature who was called forth was in human guise, her green eyes widening in surprise before she fell to her knees before Hellmaster. "Get on your knees, idiot!" She hissed to Slidell, a warning that was long past due, but ineffective as Slidell sent another wave of power towards Hellmaster, who rolled his eyes and let it wash past him.
"Oh, I'm afraid it's too late for that, Madroka." He waved the Pledgestone at her, his dark smile twistedly cheerful. "He's forfeit. I just haven't gotten around to it yet." Hellmaster walked across the nothingness that separated them and crouched down in front of Madroka, reaching out to touch her chin and lift her face to see her green eyes. "What it's not too late for is to keep me from destroying you as well. So tell me what I want to know."
"I didn't know it was you, my Lord. I knew it was a presence in Saillune, but it felt like a lesser Mazoku, one that I might have swayed to my side in the resultant shift of power. To be able to hold Saillune, the White Capital…" would have been the proverbial feather in Madroka's hat.
"Instead, you found a stronghold that you didn't dream of finding." Hellmaster replied, finally reaching out with his magic to hold Slidell and stop the useless barrage of spells thrown at him, ignoring the ineffectual thrashing and yelling. "So just tell me one more thing, Madroka. I only have one question, a trivial thing, truly. Was it your order to steal the child?"
"Child?" All sense of power drained from Madroka and she dared to turn her head, dared to take her gaze from Hellmaster and stare at the human who had proven himself nothing more than the most useless of babbling idiots. "What child did you take, you babbling fool?"
"My child," came the velvet-soft voice, Hellmaster whispering it quietly across the ether with a chilled finality. "But I can see that you weren't aware of her, let alone being the one responsible for endangering her." He nodded to Madroka, offering his hand to her, helping her to her feet. "It occurs to me that I am hungry. Have you eaten?"
She was wary, he could tell, but her reply was a negative, and with a simple thought from Hellmaster, Slidell burst into brilliant flames, his terror and pain washing out to both Hellmaster and Madroka. "Consider this simply the appetizer, Madroka. I'm sure we can settle on something a bit more… exotic for the main course." His grin was dark, the points of his teeth visible in the brilliant flare of the magical fire.
Beside Hellmaster, Madroka felt relief that it wasn't she in the burning flames, a relief that was sweeter still when a howl of pain washed into them and she felt the emotions torn raw, felt the emotion spill into her with a heady rush, drawing her own teeth pointed and her eyes to glittering with heated desire.
Hellmaster turned slightly, sensing her reaction, and smiled with a perverse pleasure. Whether or not she knew it, Madroka had just become his, a puppet dancing on the strings that he held within his casual grasp. She'd never escape him either, and he was going to enjoy it immensely when she realized what he'd done. For now, however, he'd let her think that she was free. It would make dessert all the sweeter.
