Chapter 38-Part 2-The Sorrowful and the Sacrificial
"Feeling like I'm breathing my last breath. Feeling like I'm walking my last steps. Look at all of these tears I've wept. Look at all the promises that I've kept." ~Excerpt from Purpose, Justin Bieber
A/N: Hey, it's Darky! I'm sorry that the last chapter didn't show much, but I'm going to try to make this one count. I'm going to aim for a much higher word count and make it, like, less than 3000 words but more than 2,700 just because. Thank you lovely readers, and I hope you're excited for the ADWD series. It is currently in the process of creation! It's going to be based off ADWD, not a continuation. The continuation is the sequel ADWM (A Dance With Magic), which will be (hopefully) released in the summer!
Internet hugs for all!
Okay, I'll shut up. On the A/N, I mean. Enjoy. ;)
If you asked Raiden if he wanted to see something utterly grotesque that send him over the edge a month ago, he'd cockily answer 'nothing scares me.' As of now... not so much. You see, Raiden was strong and could handle himself in pretty much any situation. But family..? Family was something he had never made his peace with yet. Of course, it was hardly Raiden's fault.
He was raised a certain way, and no one can begrudge him of that.
But as he watched in undisguised horror as a mermaid pressed a dagger against the tender flesh of his mother's neck, he just wanted to choke the life out of the mermaid who had done it. She had dark eyes, but Raiden did not recognize her. But somehow, he felt that he had heard of her before. Caesar was by Persephone, frozen in fear. If he did something, Persephone could be slaughtered right then and there. If he didn't, Persephone could still be slaughtered. There was no way out of this situation. The outcome would still be bad, not unless Caesar had a secret ace up his sleeve.
And even then it would be shaky.
And even if some thought of Raiden as this invincible hero—which he was, most of the time—he was still deeply vulnerable to the things that mattered most to him: his family, his brother, his friends, and his comrades. If something happened to any one of them, he would be completely and utterly destroyed—as unbelievable as that prospect sounded.
Raiden noticed his brother's clenched fists. Erik's face was slightly red. It was at that point when Raiden realized how horrible—how much more horrible—this was for him. After all, it had been Erik who had found Persephone's and Caesar's... d-dead bodies. Anguish screamed at Raiden, and he choked on his own thoughts. Rage nearly tore him apart, and Raiden collapsed in an uncontrollably shaking ball.
"Raiden," came his brother's quiet voice.
Raiden peered at him. "I don't want to watch," he said in a flat, shaky voice.
"Me, either," Erik said in a small voice. "But it's far worse not knowing."
Raiden stared, aghast. "I can't."
But with a bit of Erik's reassuring murmurs that reminded Raiden all too well of his mother reassuring him when he was afraid, Raiden forced himself to look up. He had previously tuned out the voices, but Erik was right: it was worse not knowing, no matter how horrible the truth was. And Raiden didn't need his brother to repeat the horrors just because Raiden wasn't man enough to see what had happened.
Raiden took a deep breath, letting himself into the grotesque surroundings. Persephone's blue eyes were wide with fear, but it didn't seem that the fear was for herself. The fear was for Caesar, not her. But somewhere in those azure optics was the purest sort of rage that Raiden had ever known. In his life, he had never seen his mother quite so angry.
"I can't believe you!" Persephone yelled, but a bead of blood appeared on her throat.
"Please, don't talk," Caesar whispered, voice ragged.
The dark-eyed mermaid gazed at Persephone, a ragged smile twisted on her face. It seemed so unnatural that Raiden almost turned away. It was the face of a monster, he realized. The mermaid herself wasn't... didn't look that horrible. But her beauty was twisted in that evil, sadistic way. It was utterly chilling. "Oh, Persephone," the mermaid hissed, "if only you were smarter... Perhaps Kiki was right."
"What did you do to her?!"
"Nothing," the mermaid said, smirk widening. "Yet. Of course, don't you know that the more you struggle, the easier this will be for me? I have waited a long time for this—and now, I even have proof and a viable reason." She stabbed a finger in Caesar's direction. The merman looked bewildered. "Him. You brought filth into the sacred pool of the moon. Of course, perhaps it is better to let him suffer."
"You monster!" Persephone gasped.
"Monster? Hmmm..." the mermaid mused. "I have been called many things, so why not monster?"
Caesar scowled. "Let her go." He raised his arm, causing ice to form and swirl dangerously towards the mermaid whose name Raiden couldn't quite recall. And it didn't exactly help that his parents weren't speaking the name. But the ice disappeared in a small poof, inches away from the mermaid. The mermaid laughed, a twisted sound that made Raiden's skin crawl.
Raiden closed his eyes as the mermaid raised her weapon at Persephone. He heard the blade whistling through the air, and he heard the audible thwack! as it hit Persephone's flesh. Persephone screamed. Raiden knew when his mother was in pain and when she was just worried. And this was definitely the first. The way she had screamed. And when Persephone did, Caesar did, too.
Raiden cried out. "Mom!"
And he opened his eyes to see a bloody mess, and a dagger sinking in the water. The mermaid was nowhere in sight. But Persephone... Persephone was covered in blood. Blood trailed down from her throat, and lacerations raked on her arms. Blood—Persephone's blood—colored the waters crimson. Caesar was pleading, and Raiden couldn't understand the words.
All Raiden could feel were the hot tears that blurred his vision and streamed down his cheeks, mingling with the sea water.
Close your eyes and breathe, Mimmi.
Mimmi inhaled, talking Rita's advice. She had been meditating regularly, but it still felt awkward. She wanted the mermaid's soothing voice to lull her into that fantastical world—the world that made Mimmi feel as if she was flying. Like... like flying without ever feeling that she would fall. She could soar for miles, drinking in her surroundings and letting herself believe that everything was okay. Just okay.
"Mimmi..? Are you... meditating?"
Mimmi's eyes flew open as she heard the familiar voice. She glared hard at Zac, whose quizzical expression caused a mix of emotions to rise in Mimmi's chest. She took a deep breath and counted to ten. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten. Then, she turned back to Zac. "Umm... would it be weird if I said yes?"
"Yes!" He took a seat by her. "But I'm curious. So amuse me."
"I'm not your bitch."
He laughed. "Fair enough."
Mimmi got up, groaning. "Well, you just ruined my meditating session. I'm going to find Rita." She paused at his quizzical look. "It's to release my trauma. Rita's been helping me. But she wants me to be able to do it without her help. So far..." Mimmi trailed off, feeling awkward, and took a few steps forward, stumbling slightly. "Not really working."
"Then I'll help you!" Zac said brightly.
Mimmi wrinkled her nose. "No offense, but you're the last person I'd ask. Why don't you go bother your girlfriend?"
A small smile curled onto Zac's lips. "She's with her triumvirate, trying to control that ragtag group." His face was swelling with pride, and Mimmi held back a laugh. Only a slight smile on Mimmi's lips revealed her current mood. Zac laughed, showing extremely white teeth, and once again, Mimmi felt that awkwardness of their one-sided sibling moment. One-sided because he didn't know that they were related.
"Triumvirate..." Mimmi echoed.
"Yeah?"
"Never mind," Mimmi said. Then, she added, "Hey, since you have nothing to do, want to help me find Rita?"
Zac shrugged. "She's probably in her study. I'll walk you there."
Mimmi grinned. "Always so gallant, my brother." She froze. It had slipped out before she could stop herself—Mimmi mentally hit herself on the head. How could she even consider telling him that right now? It was only a few days until the full moon. There was no one she could mess up now. Mimmi was the second most bewildered person in the room at her words. The first, of course, was Zac Blakely himself.
"Brother?" Zac echoed.
"A figure of speech," Mimmi said quickly, looking away.
Zac frowned. "I—alright..." He didn't seem entirely convinced, though.
Mimmi took a deep breath. "Okay. Let's go to Rita's." As they walked in an uncomfortable silence, Mimmi felt her heart tug violently in her chest, as if it wanted to break free from her vise-like grip. Mimmi didn't realized that she was holding her breath half the time as she walked. (I actually don't realize that I hold my breath when I write sometimes, and then, I have to kind of force myself to breath; is that weird?) She bowed her head low, letting her dark hair form a curtain over her face.
She knocked on Rita's door. No answer.
Why was Mimmi not surprised? Mimmi waited for about two seconds before using her powers of telekinesis (I'm not sure if that's the power, but oh well) to force open the door. She saw Rita Santos, sitting opposite of two figures. One of them caused a wave of fondness to flow through her heart. But the other... it caused a blinding wave of black hatred to soar through her soul.
Raiden Dell'oceano was sitting very still. His brown hair with golden streaks was lit up to all its brilliance as a patch of sunlight hit him, and his lids were stretched tightly over his violet orbs. His mouth was twisted in a grimace, and his fists were curled. Erik's blonde hair looked so pale and platinum in the pale dim of the light hitting him, and his eyes were closed, too. His long lashes cast shadows along his face, and a scowl seemed permanently ingrained into his face.
"Rita?!" Mimmi called.
Rita's concentration snapped—Mimmi saw it—and the older mermaid looked furious for a heartbeat. The Dell'oceano brothers' eyes opened, and concern tugged at Mimmi's heart as she saw horror—unmistakable horror—in the younger Dell'oceano's eyes. Rita took a deep breath. "Sorry, Raiden, Erik." What the hell? Why was Rita apologizing to that monster of a merman?! Mimmi meant Erik, of course, not Raiden.
Raiden got up and raced out of the room. Mimmi thought that she heard him sob.
Erik scowled and ran out after his brother, calling, "Wait, Raiden!"
"What happened?" Mimmi said quietly.
"He saw..." Rita bit her lip. "He saw Persephone die..."
"T-that's not—" Mimmi spluttered. "You said that his mother was alive."
"I'm not saying she died... fully." Rita shook her head sadly. "He was at the part where Caesar was... was promising." Rita shuddered. "It's utterly gruesome."
"Who did this to her?!"
"Veridia," Rita said, mouth hardening. "She came back to Mako to finish the job."
QotD: Who knew that it was Veridia?! #IWasSoObviousOnItThough
2nd QotD: Who's a Zimmi fan?
A/N: Review your answer to the QotD! Yup, shocking, right? Well, maybe shocking isn't the right word. Maybe... atrocious is the right word. I don't know. My brain isn't working right now. Anywho, the last part 'The Recovering and the Remorseful' will explain a whole lot more. And I think that the quote I used for this was actually... I don't know... concerning the story.
I actually like the song Purpose by Justin Bieber, but I'm no Belieber. I will never be a Belieber. Maybe it's because I'm biased.
Now, I must work on the ADWD series.
Well, thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated (criticism and praise) though not necessary. But what writer doesn't like reviews? ;)
~Darkwind