Remember
Episode Eight: Proof of Existence
Chapter One
"Where are you going, brother?"
Aldrik spun around, surprised to find Basile standing a few paces behind him. He backed away from the wall he'd been pressed against, putting on his most inconspicuous expression.
"I wanted to talk to Father about something."
Basile's head tilted to the side as he blinked, one eyebrow raised slightly. "Father's asleep. And so should you be."
"Well, shouldn't you be sleeping, too?"
"No," Basile smirked. "I'm old enough to go to bed whenever I want. And I'm not tired yet. But it's past your bedtime, little brother."
Aldrik wanted to comply. But just as he stepped toward his brother, a sudden pain afflicted his head.
"Get rid of him. You should not have allowed yourself to be seen, child."
He startled, still not used to the presence of The Voice. Basile, taking notice of this, knelt down next to his brother and drew him into his arms. "What's wrong, Ali? Did you have a nightmare before? Father's probably fast asleep, but you can tell me about it if you want."
With a half-restrained whimper, Aldrik wrapped his arms around his older brother, squeezing his eyes shut as The Voice repeated, "Get rid of him!"
"Come on, let's go to my room," Basile offered. He lifted Aldrik off of the ground and carried him away from his father's chambers, and the Dark Prognosticus. The Voice thrashed about more violently the further away they got.
"Wait!" Aldrik gasped, "Stop, Basile. I have to go back. I have to talk to Father!"
"He'll be angry if you wake him up," Basile warned, but his words faded out as The Voice raged once more.
"Find the book, you foolish child! Get rid of this boy and go!"
"No!" Aldrik wailed, his voice echoing off the empty black halls of the castle. "I don't want to!"
The Voice rattled through the chambers of his mind, expanding until his head felt as though it might burst. He pressed his hands over his ears as it spoke again. "You will obey me."His vision faded, and the next thing he knew, he was sobbing, cradled in Basile's lap as the older boy sat against the hallway's wall.
"Ali? Are you okay?" Basile's concerned voice washed over him, helping to smooth out his panicked breaths. "You passed out. You scared me"
Aldrik curled inward, burying his face in his brother's chest. Though six years separated them, Aldrik felt closest to his oldest brother, and he was grateful for his presence now. The Voice, it seemed, had returned to wherever it lived when it wasn't speaking to him.
"I'm...okay," Aldrik said, his voice still quivering with sobs.
"Do you mind telling me what that was all about? All of that screaming?"
Clutching a fistful of Basile's shirt, Aldrik hesitated. He'd never told anyone about The Voice before. It never let him. But it was gone now…
"There's a—a voice," he said, a mere whisper that floated past his lips. "It talks to me. It told me to—" he hiccuped, sniffling back more tears— "to get rid of you."
"What?" Basile shifted, bringing a hand up to stroke Aldrik's hair. "What voice? What do you mean?"
Aldrik took in a few deep breaths, each one failing to reach its full capacity before it was sputtered back out again. "I think it's the...the Dark Prognosticus."
Silence fell like a suffocating blanket over the hallway. The Voice's presence seeped back into Aldrik's mind, but it too stayed silent, as if waiting to see Basile's response.
"You think the Dark Prognosticus is speaking to you?" The words came out incredulous and harsh, causing Aldrik to flinch. "That's impossible. It hasn't spoken to anyone since Henri died, and I'm the one who gets to be king now that he's dead. If anything, it should be speaking to me!"
"I'm sorry." The apology crept its way out of Aldrik's mouth. "I-I don't want it to talk to me. It just does."
"That's not fair!" Basile pushed Aldrik away from his chest, just hard enough that Aldrik stumbled onto the cold tile floor. "What did you do to deserve the Dark Prognosticus' power?"
Aldrik opened his mouth to speak, but The Voice flooded his senses, demanding, "Get up, child, and do as I show you."
And then, to Aldrik's horror, his limbs moved of their own accord. He stood, stepping over to where Basile sat. His arms lifted, hands reaching for Basile's head. His thumbs pressed over his brother's temples as he watched with wide eyes.
"What are you—?"
Aldrik's arms jerked as a spell pulsed out of his fingertips, directly into Basile's skull. His voice choked mid-sentence and ended in a scream.
Basile's memories flashed through Aldrik's mind. The entirety of the past three minutes played in reverse, each moment bubbling away as it passed, leaving Aldrik staring through his brother's eyes at his own figure leaning against the wall outside their father's room. Then his vision went dark and his hands broke free from Basile's temples as the spell ended. He blinked until he could see through his own eyes again. The Voice's hold on his muscles relaxed.
Once he regained control, Aldrik scrambled backward, landing with a gasp on his backside. He peered up at Basile. The older boy groaned as if waking from sleep, rubbing at his eyes. Blinking in confusion, Basile met Aldrik's gaze and frowned. "Ali? What are you doing awake? It's past your bedtime."
Aldrik launched himself to his feet, staring at Basile for only a moment before he spun on his heel and ran.
With every ounce of strength he had left, Dimentio thrashed and writhed to free himself from the hands imprisoning him. One clamped tightly over his mouth, preventing any noise from escaping and restricting his breathing. The other wrapped snug around his middle, pressing him back into what could only be his father's chest.
His foot struck Aldrik's leg and the hands finally let go and tossed him onto the ground. The impact knocked his breath away.
He recognized the room as Basile's. It was much larger than Aldrik's room but had the same octagonal shape. A cluttered desk to his left and a neatly-made bed to his right were among the only pieces of furniture. Why his father had brought him here instead of his own chambers, Dimentio couldn't guess, but it did appear as though they were alone for the time being.
"You will not move an inch, do you hear me?" Aldrik hissed. "Hide yourself. Now. Basile can't see you yet."
"You took my magic," Dimentio reminded him. "I can't turn invisible. I can't do anything ."
Aldrik spat out a curse, his eyes searching frantically for an alternative. They landed directly behind Dimentio: on Basile's wardrobe.
"In here." He threw the door open and grabbed Dimentio by the arm, dragging him inside the wooden closet. There was just enough space for him to curl up among the clothing inside. "Don't make a sound," Aldrik said. Then, the door shut, encasing Dimentio in complete darkness. Memories of meals alone in the pitch black of his father's wardrobe swarmed his mind. His breath quickened. At least then, he'd been able to hover away from the floor and the walls and pretend he was floating anywhere else.
The sound of a struggle outside the wardrobe reached his ears.
"Let go of me...let—let go !" Timpani's voice pitched higher, ending in a pained gasp.
"Why did you bring the human? Where is Blumiere?"
"He'll come for her. I know he will."
Aldrik's frustrated growl made Dimentio's heart pound. "Well? Where did you intend to keep her?"
"When did you intend to tell me there were Ancients living in the humans' town?"
Scuffling noises followed by a cry of pain from Basile wafted through the wardrobe's door. Dimentio shifted slightly during the clamor, hoping the sound would mask any sign of his movement. Pressing his ear against the wood, he strained to hear more clearly.
"Wretch!" spat Basile, and Timpani let out another gasp. The tips of Dimentio's fingers pulsed, and though he had no magic to use at the moment, his blood still longed to create a spell.
A frantic knocking broke up whatever fight was happening on the other side of the wardrobe door, and Dimentio heard a new voice, one he recognized as his aunt Lucienne's.
"King Basile! Come quickly! There's someone just outside, and I think...I think he may be an Ancient!"
Silence pounded through the room, pressing in on Dimentio and making the darkness of the wardrobe sink darker. An Ancient? Did she mean Merletoph? Had he come to save them? Dread squeezed his stomach. As much as he wanted to see his grandfather again, he knew what grave danger the sage was in, just stepping foot on the Tribe's property. He longed to warn Merletoph, but Basile spoke something in such a whisper that Dimentio couldn't quite hear it, and he was drawn back to the moment at hand.
His muscles ached as he held his position, every ounce of energy dedicated to hearing the conversation. His father's muted words barely reached his ears.
"Stay. I will earn my position as king."
Clothing rustled, followed by a muffled noise from Timpani further left than she'd been before. The bedroom door opened.
"Peace, Lucienne. I will protect the Tribe."
Lucienne's gasp rang clear in Dimentio's ears. "Aldrik? What are you doing here? Why—"
The door closed, cutting off the conversation.
Dimentio closed his eyes and thought of Merletoph. His grandfather's soul signature answered from right outside the castle, burning bright yellow.
Blumiere followed Kathleen through the dark tunnel, one hand on the wall for guidance. Mimi held his other hand, abnormally subdued. Her feet dragged in the loose sand. She looked up at Blumiere from time to time as if to ask him a question, but nothing ever made it past her lips.
After a bit of travel, a blue glow ghosted the tunnel. A small, circular room came into view. On the opposite wall was an arched doorway with two magnificent doors. Intricate designs traced the metal of the doors, accompanied by an inscription in a language long forgotten. The blue glow bounced about the stone walls as if the whole room were submerged underwater.
"This is it," Kathleen said.
"It's a room," Mimi said, tugging on Blumiere's arm to get a closer look. "What's back there?"
"The Gateway." Kathleen slumped to sit against the rock wall. "It's not really a room. Tha' door leads to another dimension."
"Will we go in once Papa gets back?" Mimi asked.
Kathleen shared a glance with Blumiere. "Once we 'ave everyone back, yes. We all 'ave teh go in at th' same time."
"Or someone might get left behind," Ronan said.
Blumiere's mind drifted once again to Timpani. I won't leave her behind, he thought. His hands fidgeted restlessly.
Kathleen tilted her head in Blumiere's direction. "'Ow are yeh feelin'?"
He answered with a frown.
"I mean—with your teleportin' and the like. 'Ow soon 'til yeh'll be able teh go?"
Blumiere took a deep breath. "Soon." In all honesty, he didn't know how well he could manage one teleport right now, let alone two.
"I hope Papa's okay," Mimi said. She twirled a bit of hair with her finger, her face scrunched with uncertainty.
Regretting his decision to go along with Merletoph's plan more and more, Blumiere bit his lip. "I hope so, too," he said.
"'E's real strong," Ronan said. "I'm sure 'e'll make it back."
He needs to make it back, Blumiere realized. Too many of us are relying on him. We can't make this journey without him.
Pushing away from the wall, Blumiere stood as steadily as he could manage and said, "I'm ready."
"Yeh're sure?" Kathleen raised her eyebrows in concern.
"Yes. I can't afford to wait any longer." Blumiere pressed a hand over his heart, getting a feel for the strength behind its beat. It will have to be enough. "It won't take me long. I'll go in, and as soon as I find them, I'll bring us right back."
"What about Papa?"
Blumiere held back a grimace. "He said he would know when to return. Try not to worry, Mimi." Not the most encouraging words he could offer, but Blumiere lacked courage himself at the moment.
"Stay safe," Kathleen said. Her words did not betray the fear present in her eyes.
With a single nod, Blumiere mustered the strength he needed for his first teleport.
Merletoph's forehead creased as he observed the carnage outside the tribe's castle. The humans who attacked the Tribe of Darkness had failed. He hadn't expected them to win, but the sight of their mangled bodies solidified just how outmatched they'd been. White bone jutted out of blackened flesh, creating unrecognizable, foul-smelling corpses. With a hand stretched out toward the nearest mound, he closed his eyes and muttered a prayer to the stars and the beings who lived beyond them.
A pillar of fire centered on the body rose to the sky, blazing a sun-fuelled yellow. A similar spout of flame erupted from the next corpse, and the next, until a semi-circular wall of fire surrounded the entrance to the castle. It was far from a proper burial, but it was better than leaving them to rot at the top of the hill.
Now, would it be enough to draw the tribe members out of the castle?
Movement in one of the barred windows caught his eye. A hint of black hair whisked out of sight. Inhaling slowly, Merletoph set his stance and waited. He released his breath in methodical intervals, searching outward for any signs of soul signatures. Dimentio's signature remained hidden from him. Timpani's soul was out of range. The only presence Merletoph could sense belonged to the Dark Prognosticus.
When his breath ran out, he waited five seconds before drawing another, using the stronger beats of his oxygen-starved heart to spread a glowing shield over his skin.
It took longer than he expected for the tribe to send their combatant. Merletoph further steadied his breathing as he locked eyes with the man his daughter had fallen in love with. He considered the possibility that Aldrik had never loved Sha'i, let the anger rise, and drew it away to be used later.
"You finally decided to come out of hiding?" Aldrik strode away from the castle's doors, planting himself in the middle of the clearing on top of the hill. "Do you really think you stand a chance against me?"
Merletoph set his gaze, meeting Aldrik's proud sunrise-stare with indifference. "If this was a battle I thought I could win, I would have come a long time ago. But you have taken someone very important to me, against his will. And his life is more important than mine."
"Dimentio's life is nothing more than a tool for the Dark Prognosticus' power. He is fit to be a vessel, nothing more."
"You have never given him the chance to live!" Merletoph flung his arms out to the sides, summoning two more columns of flame, one on each side of Aldrik. They pressed closer, but never touched his skin.
"He doesn't need to live. He doesn't even need to exist." Aldrik stepped directly through one of the fiery pillars. It glanced off of him, spiraling away in a purple mist. "You shouldn't be living either, old sage. Haven't you overstayed your welcome on this stars-forsaken world?"
"I was just leaving," Merletoph spat, tapping into the anger that ebbed and flowed through him. "And I will be taking my grandson with me!" With a wave of his hand, Merletoph summoned a magical cube, similar to the barrier that protected his house. The cube encased Aldrik, dimming his image behind a yellow shimmer. Merletoph pursed his fingers and snapped them, but from the smug look on Aldrik's face, he knew the spell wouldn't harm him.
As explosions of fire filled the cube, Aldrik braced himself against the glassy walls, basking in the flames before teleporting on top of the glassy box.
"Impressive. Is this what you Ancients are capable of?" He stepped off of the cube and dropped down to hover a few inches above the ground, robes billowing around his feet. "I expected your sacred stars would give you more power than that."
With a sharp breath, Merletoph teleported out of the way of a barrage of black orbs. He used the height of the cube to his advantage and reappeared above Aldrik's head. A projectile flew from his hand and cut through empty air.
"It's no wonder your Tribe was destroyed."
A kick to the back of his knees sent Merletoph hurtling over the edge of the box. He landed on his stomach. The breath stored in his lungs escaped on a gasp, taking with it the preparations for his next spell. Above him, the crystal box faded.
Merletoph pushed up with his forearms, then grunted as an orb struck the back of his skull. His protective spell prevented it from penetrating his skin, but the force knocked his head into the dirt.
"It's about time you joined them."
A claw-like hand hoisted Merletoph up by the back of his robes. Merletoph grabbed the hand with one of his own, heating the tips of his fingers with a warm exhale. Aldrik's grip did not falter.
Merletoph teleported himself behind Aldrik the moment his feet touched the ground and sent another pillar of flame into the sky. If nothing else, at least the flames would block Aldrik's vision while Merletoph put more distance between them with another teleport. After the strain of yet another trip through the white void, Merletoph landed on unsteady feet. In the time it took for him to regain his balance, Aldrik appeared directly in front of him. A night-colored fist connected with Merletoph's jaw, jostling him sideways. Aldrik followed up with a knee to Merletoph's sternum, sending him to the ground in a crumpled heap.
As Merletoph coughed out a breath, Aldrik strode out of his line of sight. The shimmering barrier protecting Merletoph's skin flickered, on the verge of uselessness. He needed to move, to do something, even if that only meant surviving long enough for Dimentio and Timpani to escape.
Having regained control of his breathing, Merletoph forced himself to sit up. Next to the charred remains of a body nearby, Aldrik stooped to retrieve a long, metal pole from the ground. Merletoph recognized it as one of the torches from Tiede's summer festival. In the hands of a warrior, it functioned as a weapon.
Merletoph breathed a wave of calm over his anticipation as he stood. He'd prepared himself to die, but the prospect of being beaten to death brought about an icy shiver. Aldrik shifted the pole in his hands as if getting a feel for its weight. His red eyes bored a hole right through Merletoph as he grinned.
Aldrik disappeared. Merletoph teleported five steps backward and watched as Aldrik swung the metal rod through the space he'd just been. Merletoph initiated another teleport and then another, moving about from place to place in an attempt to throw Aldrik off. Each jump drained a little more energy from Merletoph's soul. Aldrik diligently followed one step behind, hot on his trail.
Lungs aching, Merletoph spent just a second too long in between teleports. Aldrik landed next to Merletoph like a chain chomp pouncing on its prey, the blow that struck Merletoph akin to a massive body crushing him from above. Merletoph fell hard, the impact relieving his lungs of any remaining air. Aldrik swung again, striking Merletoph's right shoulder. He rolled to the side, hoping to lessen the blow, but the metal pole pounded right against the bone of his shoulder. He splayed out, unmoving, unable to avoid the next impact. As the pole struck his spine, so too did his protective barrier shatter.
Aldrik released a simpering bout of laughter. With one foot, he rolled Merletoph onto his back again. Merletoph crossed his arms over his face in order to bare his heart, a silent plea for a merciful kill.
The final blow did not come. Instead, Aldrik grabbed one of Merletoph's elbows and wrested it away from his face. Merletoph lashed out, pushing away with his hands and pressing searing fingers into any flesh he could touch. Against his will, he jerked into a sitting position, his face close enough to Aldrik's to feel the warmth of the man's breath.
"I thought killing you would be the best way to remove you from my path," Aldrik said, "but I've just thought of something even better."
A sluggish cold seeped into Merletoph's veins from a vulnerable point on his wrist. It locked up his muscles, rapidly spreading from his arms to his toes. Only his eyes were still able to move. He kept them trained on Aldrik.
Slowly, Aldrik raised his hands to either side of Merletoph's skull, placing one thumb over each temple. A grin broke through his lips as he said, "It would be a shame if you forgot all about your grandson, wouldn't it? About your daughter, and your precious stars? Merlumio once asked you to join the Tribe of Darkness, did he not? Perhaps, if you were to be asked the question a second time, you would give the right answer." His thumbs dug in deep. "In fact, I'm sure of it."
And then, a terrible agony ripped through Merletoph's skull, as if his very soul was being excavated piece by piece.