**IMPORTANT::: this chapter doesnt have a lot of description because I didn't want to give anything away about anyone's plans, if ya know what i mean. :X Also, when there is conversation, it kind of goes quickly back and forth, like banter.
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE:
The Mistress's Differences
"I don't see why you just can't find another witch to do your 'evil bidding'," Dani said, but she knew that it wouldn't make it any better if they had a different witch at their disposal. It would be much more difficult to monitor what the evil ones were doing if she wasn't in their vicinity. Dani bent back down over the mangled herbs spread across the table in front of her and rustled through the leaves, ground stone, and nature's fruit, all part of a bigger picture that now looked more like something spit out of a lawnmower. The wooden table in front of her was covered with things: tools for grinding up herbs, the useless pieces of vital plants, carcasses of needed apples and other fruits, seeds, animal teeth, claws, torn off wolf paws—everything was crucible to making the spells she cast come to life. In the moment, she was busy squishing up bone dust for a special elixir. She used a small wooden bowl that fit into her palm and a heavy-handled wooden spool that fit perfectly into the shape of the bowl to grind against the bone. It needed to be dust for the rest of this spell to work.
Kaos, disguised as a middle aged man with high cheekbones, shortly cropped curly blonde hair, and dark eyes, paced around the perimeter of the table with his arms clasped behind his back. Danielle used her elbow grease to dig deeper against the skid-bone that was stuck in the bowl. It was hard to tear through the bone of an animal, regardless if it had already been crushed pretty well in the first place. She bit into her lip as she moved back and forth with her body to continue breaking up the bones. "I mean—" she said, voice deep with strain, "don't you have any other magical powers to help you do your dirty work?'
An intolerant smile spread thinly across Kaos's lips. He moved around the side of the table to observe over her shoulder, poking away at what she was doing with his eyes. His slight golden stubble spread across his chin scratched against her cheek as he leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Well, love, I'd think that since you were the one who recreated the Bizarro, there wouldn't be any reasonable doubt to go fetch me another witch. They're a hard species to find, you know. I'd rather save myself the trouble and just keep the one I have."
Dani took a deep breath and continued to abuse the bone inside of the bowl, mashing it harshly together with her hand. She turned the grinder every which way to break apart this persistent piece of bone that just wouldn't break in vain. She apparently wasn't even strong enough to defeat a piece of bone. Danielle expressed a loud grunt of frustration before returning to pounding away at the unbreakable substance.
No, she wasn't afraid to be here. In fact, she was hardly affected at all; finding herself wrapped into Kaos's web of power was more difficult than she had fathomed. She looked down at what little dignity she had left as being the one part of her that could still hold on to what she knew was right, and that, beyond anything else, would always be Kyon. Her son didn't have a clue that she was making all these mistakes, right and left falling into the same bubble of lies that Caroline had. Somehow, even though Danielle hated her sister for making the wrong choices, she found herself stepping on the same stones Care had. As for the robot that Julien had reconstructed, her corpse was probably elsewhere, being used for spare parts or something. She had disproved greatly of her father doing this over and over to Carolyne—it wasn't fair. It had been a generous take that she'd broken apart that robot. Maybe the feeling in her stomach was regret—she didn't know. It felt like she was betraying her father when she turned away the last thing he'd ever built as if Carolyne had been nothing. But the only thing that made her father fix Carolyne into a robot had been his weakening inability to let his favorite daughter go. Danielle knew what was best for her twin, and that was peace, death that was not reprovided from the pits of immortal hell. It was better that way.
"I recreated the Bizarro because that was what you wanted," said Dani. She stopped her punching against the unendurable slice of bone that couldn't be tamed.
"Oh, but it was your idea," Kaos said, his Pythor-like accent lisping in her ear. She kept her eyes on the things in front of her rather than falling into that web he was weaving around her. If she didn't get out of it now, she'd be stuck and choked to death by the bloodthirsty spider waiting to handle her end. "I do recall you being the one to suggest it."
Dani shook. Maybe that was true, but—
The door to the white-walled small space was thrown open. It clashed against the wall with a thud. "I'm bored." Dani peered over her shoulder at the high-heeled, skinny-jeaned Original waltzing into the room. Her long red hair was again rendered emasculated by a curling iron, and her eyes were bathed in black makeup. Her low-collared shirt toyed with the men she had walked past to get in here. Dani rolled her eyes at the sluttish way that Maya conveyed herself in Pandemonium Bastion.
She hadn't wanted to bring the vampire back here. This was not Maya's place to roam free; Maya had very well represented that she was not on Kaos's side, yet he still demanded that she come with Danielle back to the Bastion. It was highly irritating to have someone so petulant in her wake. Her castle. Danielle's face twisted grim, turning back to the things she had in front of her, the context of Maya pushed aside.
Maya stopped behind Danielle. The witch sensed the curled grimace she gave at the sight of Kaos's form. "Who the hell are you supposed to be?" she asked, rolling her pretty little black eyes. Dani wanted to vomit.
Kaos flashed that skinned smile again. He nodded slowly. "His name was Nicholas. I haven't seen him since I tore out his throat all those years ago using my bare hands." He sighed dreamily. "I presume he's dead."
"Well aren't you the ripper." Maya didn't sound impressed. She dallied up to Dani's hardworking side, examining the table with pursed lips. Her heavy-lashed eyes roved over the display before grabbing a carving tool and picking it into her hands. "What's this?" she asked.
Danielle snatched it from her. "Paws off, Kiko."
Maya's lips turned downwards, her eyebrows raised, in an awestruck face at the other girl's force. "Me-yow," she purred, and turned away.
Kaos, taking the form of Nicholas, watched Maya move. It disgusted Danielle. "So I understand," he breathed, "that you're not supportive of my side of things." It wasn't a question. Maya didn't look like she was that surprised to hear that question come up. She continued to walk around the table like Kaos had, fingering the things laying atop it.
"Not really," Maya said ruthlessly. "I'm not into your end of the stick."
"So you would much rather suffer being on the losing end of it."
Maya smiled, her comeback quick. "The losing end just so happens to be the pointy end. If you're not careful with it, you're bound to get stabbed. I might be crazy, but I'm not stupid. I know who will win this."
"Although you seem to be the diabolical type, it looks like your opinion of things must be a little wrong. You seem to have the pointy end confused." Kaos's gaze was pointed directly on Maya, who didn't look intimidated. "You see, to have you on my side would be a privilege—"
"Yeesh. Now you're trying to reel me in with your flattery? Classy till the end, Kaos." Maya rolled her eyes. Her expression quickly turned serious. "Look, as much as I can't stand that little princess doppelganger of mine, they have a point."
"Who has a point?" Dani asked without looking up.
Maya swung her face in Dani's direction, giving her a tight smile that was not amused. It must've had something to do with Danielle's façade with the Ninja. "Don't play stupid, witchy-poo. I'd much rather live in a world where there is no Underworld Apocalypse."
"Ahhhhh," Dani nodded, "to do with your serious laws of self-preservation. I get it. Yeah, well, you're stepping into the wrong boat there." She returned to grinding away at the bone.
Maya tilted her head to the side. "It's funny, considering what a help you are to your son. Tell me, are you just that cruel or did you get bored with him already?"
Dani's head snapped up. "No son of mine will be so pure. It's impossible."
"So is that foreshadowing that you're going to kill him?"
Instead of answering, Dani turned her head to the listening Kaos. He was smiling, entertained. "Why isn't she locked up?" she snapped. "Why are you letting her walk free around Pandemonium Bastion?"
"Just a little Southern hospitality, love." Kaos replied.
"I guess it wouldn't be that hard for you to kill your own son," Maya said thoughtfully. It sounded like she was speaking to herself, but Danielle knew better. "You did it once before, didn't you?"
She's trying to get in my head, thought the witch. She clenched her jaw together. "It's ironic that you're speaking that way to the daughter of the Original witch," she said through gritted teeth. "Considering my mother is the one who killed all of your family—including your own child."
Maya's face flattened out. There, Danielle had struck a raw cord, just waiting to be attacked. "But technically," she said loudly, making a point, "you aren't the daughter of the Original witch. The real daughter is lying under a milestone somewhere deep in a graveyard, six feet under. You're just a robotic reconstruction. Am I right?"
Dani finally crushed the piece of bone underneath the wooden mallet, finding the crunch deafening. Her jaw remained tightly clasped. "Not for long," she hissed. She added the bone powder to the bowl sitting in front of her. She started stirring it in with the rest of the small herbs and powders she'd spend forever disintegrating. "Lepide senescere, per virtutem naturae nascuntur vivos." She continued to whisper this Latin in low tones, holding her hand directly above the bowl, watching a slow ring of fire start to grow around the rim of the bowl. A slow warmth rose against her hand. "Reverto ad munscerem." She'd never casted this spell before. doing it upon herself was just a test run of the real product that it would be used on later, but for now, Danielle was intent on making it happen. She clenched her fist and turned it upwards. She repeated the first Latin statement twice. This was the finale…"Finis!"
Dani gasped at the flames. They jumped towards her, prowling across her clothing, consuming her. She let out a scream of pain—the metal, the metal was melting—
…
Jace skipped down the painted white corridors against that awfully white linoleum, the soles of his shoes clapping generously across the whiteness. White, white, white. That was all this place was. Just a buncha white crap hanging all over the place. In his hands he held the bag that also held the masquerade mask he'd bought especially for the Mistress; he knew that maybe this could've been a bad time, but he had no other spare moments like this one to hand it off to her. She ought to be in her room, like Ash said she'd be—of course she would. She was always in there.
He found the white door, seventy-four feet from the beginning of the hallway, and stopped at the sound of silence inside. He rapped his hands three times against the wood. Hopefully, she'd like it; she seemed to be genuinely interested in him, although he had a bad sense of intuition that he'd inherited from that bratty Jay. He didn't know if his senses were trustable or not. He listened for her. "Uh, Mistress?" he called against the door. There was no answer. "It's Jace. I was wondering…"
The door was thrown open, but not by a physical hand. It was the magic. He smiled to himself—she was always the sophisticated one, always using her magic to invite him in rather than her voice. She was probably convex over her table, working on some sort of little brew that would smell disgusting but really work when tested. That's normally what she did—when she was here, anyway. A lot of times, she was gone. But when she returned, Jace always had a few moments of her to himself… except normally romance was off-limits with this woman. He stepped inside.
"Mistress?" he asked. He was cut short when he saw Kaos standing cross-armed by the end of the long table full of the Mistress's things. Then, he saw that redheaded annoying vampire girl that Kaos had told them to let run free, even when it was obvious she couldn't be trusted for as far as she could be thrown. He'd been sure to steer clear of her. Why were they both in the Mistress's workshop? "Where is—?" He began.
She was lying on the floor, smoking, broken. Jace gasped and collapsed to his feet. "MISTRESS!" He yelled, grabbing at the dead, smoldering corpse, pulling her blackened face close to his. "DANIELLE! LOOK AT ME! MISTRESS!" Oh, no, no no no, no, please no!
"Hello, Jace."
He froze. Her voice…
She stood behind him, tall and grown, but she wasn't the young girl he'd held in his arms. Instead, she was a woman in her thirties, with more veins visible in her hands and her face a little less perfect. Her blue eyes weren't as bright, and her hair wasn't as golden. She was definitely not seventeen anymore. Her body was not as small. Her stomach looked like it had borne the child she'd given, rather than returning back to perfect skinniness. Jace stared in shock. But how could he hold her in his arms while an older version of her stood above him? Had she created a potion to turn her older?
"That mechanical piece of junk is what hid my soul after I died," explained the woman above him, putting a hand on her hip. She wore a simple white T-shirt and white pants, very similar to the color of this stupid white room. Her high heels, though, were black. "It does that with all the robots. It's sickening, but it keeps them there. Now that I've done a spell that releases the soul from capture"—she lifted up her arms and let them drop back to her side, smiling gently—"I've allowed myself to become human again with the body I created out of the bone and burnt child's flesh." She gestured to something on the table. "I've come at the age I would've been if I didn't die."
So much older than me. Jace deflated. "W-well done, Mistress," he said quietly, but felt defeated inside. So much for winning her heart…
The vampire girl raised an eyebrow. "Congrats. Now you're an old hag. What're you going to tell Lloyd when you sneak back in? You got plastic surgery?"
Danielle shook her head. "No," she said. "I will tell Kyon what I did to myself."
Jace opened his mouth, but a voice came over the invisible intercom. It was Ash's. "Kaos, Elomne has returned," he said, "with the Shadow Map."
"ELOMNE!" Danielle smiled. "My husband! Oh, I must go see him! He'll be so happy!"
Husband?! Jace thought. Kaos gave him a knowing look. His cheeks heated. "Well," he said as Danielle wove past Jace, leaving him with her old body and his useless present for her, "won't this be exciting?" He winked at the Bizarro. "Don't look too low down, mate. Red isn't a good color on you."
fillie chapper. XD Nah, just kidding. Its a filler chappie. XD
So now you know who the Mistress is. *GASP!* Bet ya didn't see that one coming!
Go have an awesome day/night!
~Kairi
