Chapter 36

Any hope Arados might have had that his agoraphobia had left him disappeared the second he thought about leaving the Southern Palace. As much as he'd wanted to go with False to confront Ni, the fit of hyperventilation it had sent him into pretty much made it impossible. The second False left, the level of fear and panic Arados was feeling increased to the point where Jo had to help him back to his room. Once there she began examining his arm in pretty much the same way Kisara had, making him even more uncomfortable as he wished she would just leave him alone.

'Do you know what it is?' Jo shot him a curious look as she backed off a little.

'False called it Blue Ice,' he shrugged, wishing she would just leave him alone. 'Apparently it's something all Calicaccu's inherit from the Desmitus who start their lines, although most people go through their whole lives with it in a dormant state. When active it allows the possessor to breed with pretty much anyone they like and, apparently, it's how the gay Silkoneons of the past reproduced.'

'I see,' she nodded thoughtfully. 'So how come yours has been activated? I'm assuming you didn't do that yourself, unless this False character is…'

'Shut up Jo,' he cut her off, 'I barely know him. And anyway this had been activated long before he showed up. As for how it became active, you tell me Jo,' he glared, 'I'm sure you know.'

'I don't keep strictly tight tabs on you Ara.'

'No, because that would distract you too much from Crovell, I'm sure,' his lips curled with disgust.

'You'll go out of your way to refuse acceptance of me and Crovell, won't you?'

'You disgust me Jo and that's never going to change.'

'If I disgust you so much, then why did you try to save me?'

'Just because I hate you in every single possible way doesn't mean I want to see you…' he stopped, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of even that much. 'I mean, I didn't want that monster in Dad's place succeeding in his twisted little plan. He's already gotten a substantial amount of my light.'

'That's why we need to stop him.'

'You stop him Jo. I…'

'If I told you I could cure your agoraphobia, would you accept me and Crovell.'

'Never.'

'Not even in a trade?'

'You will not blackmail or trick me into accepting you Jo.'

'I…'

'Oh leave and go after the Teen will you.'

'I can't take him on by myself.'

'Then take your… Crovell with you.'

'I can't.'

'Why not?'

'Because he's lost his Chaos,' her face filled with a serious look, 'and he's nothing without it.'

'Ni,' False growled, the second he came across Nichee, 'I knew you couldn't be trusted.'

'Couldn't be trusted?' Nichee cocked an eyebrow at him. 'What makes you think that you can't trust me False?'

'Because you are the devil.'

'And you're not?'

'You forced that demon weapon on me, didn't you? To make me look bad.'

'Why would I try to make you look bad False?'

'I don't care how many people you try to trick into believing I'm some kind of Hateling, you'll never convince me that it's true.'

'And why's that?'

'Because I know that I'm a Vii Sen.'

'And Hateling can't become Vii Sen?'

'I was born on Earth and even though my father might have been a… He was not a demon. Nor was my mother, you won't convince me of that.'

'What kind of power would you say you used False?'

'Reama, there was Standing magic in my father's line.'

'Are you sure?'

'What else could it be?'

'Did it never strike you as odd that your so called Reama powers were an ever so off colour? Or that it was so cold you could almost swear it was…'

'It wasn't Sli,' he shook his head, 'else I would have been part Odraian and had one of those silly little outfits.'

'Not if you were part demon and your Sli powers came from your demonic blood,' Nichee remained calm.

'Both of my parents were mortal.'

'Are you sure about that?'

'Yes.'

'I hate to tell you that you're wrong False,' Nichee pulled himself closer, meeting his gaze with a look like none False had ever seen before, 'but you are wrong. I know with absolute certainty that you are in fact a Hateling.'

'You would say that,' False backed away from him, 'it would be convenient for you to have me believe I was part demon, because that would make me so much easier for you to control, wouldn't it?'

'You're right, it would make you a lot more compliant if I could convince you, you were part demon. But if that were the case why didn't I just tell you from the start? Why would I have given you an opportunity to mistrust me?'

'Obviously because you didn't want me spilling the truth to your little girlfriend.'

'You mean H H?'

'Oh great,' he rolled his eyes, 'now you're going to tell me she's another one of your recruits.'

'Not that she's aware of,' Nichee's mouth spread into a sadistic smile, 'as far as she's concerned I'm nothing more than an enigma she'll spend her whole existence trying to unravel.'

'And what is she to you? Someone you can manipulate easily?'

At that Nichee instantly began laughing, in a thickly dark way. He then met False's gaze with an amused kind of clarity.

'You really don't get this, do you?'

'Get what?'

'H H is in love with me.'

'And…?' Suddenly False's eyes went wide with realisation. 'That's what you've been aiming for. You want her to be in love with you so that you… you…'

'You think your precious Dee is the only one to have been unfaithful in this relationship?' Nichee laughed. 'Oh yes, don't think I'm not aware of that line she's tried so desperately to keep hidden from everyone. Or that I haven't been aware of every lover she's shared a bed with. Just because she's gotten away with only spawning one bastard, does not mean she's as clever as she thinks she is.'

'And you plan to make Helen your latest in a long line of lovers?'

'Unlike my wife, I like spawning bastards as proof of my conquests,' his eyes narrowed proudly in on False, 'and you, my son, are one of them.'

'No,' he spat, 'I don't believe you. I'm not your son, you're just trying to twist things.'

'You mother was a married woman. Married women are always like putty in my hands,' he taunted. 'She was led so easily astray.'

'No,' he shook his head, 'you're not going to get me to believe…'

'Her husband smashed your brains out because he knew you weren't his,' Nichee cut him off. 'He knew you weren't his, because he could see you were mine. Because I made sure he knew it.'

'Why?'

'Because I wanted you dead False,' a strangely dark chuckle rolled out of him. 'I wanted you dead, because I wanted you for this.'