Chapter XII
*****
Even, as I breathe
comes an angel to their keep.
Surely, if this is
promises are mine to give you.
mine to give...
Angeles, by Enya
*****
He watched her collapse into the Guardian's arms. He terminated the link with her mind. I think I've given you enough pain, for now, Morgan. Causing others pain, emotional or physical, gave him a rush, a sense of power.
Your time is growing short... Arren laughed softly to himself. Should I wait until she is awake to begin my task? He pondered the thought for a moment. Yes, I think I will... I will first take her friends so she can watch, then her membership in the Guild will be ended.
Smiling, the one known as the Raven darted away to once again to become one with the dark, to bide his time.
*****
[Morgan.]
She woke up with a start and looked around. Though it was in the afternoon, her room was empty. "Who's there?"
[I know you can hear me.] The voice echoed in the deepest and darkest reaches of her soul, filling her head.
"Who are you?," Morgan cried out, fear clutching at her mind with cold talons.
[You know who I am.] The voice sounded eerily familiar.
"You're the one who has been causing all the pain, twisting my mind."
[Yes, and do you know why?]
Morgan spoke quietly. "You... you were sent here by the Guild."
[Correct. I'm glad to see that all that discomfort I caused you hasn't corrupted your processor.]
"Quit with the talk," she said coldly. "Where are you?"
[Get dressed,] the voice commanded. [Then come to the front of the Principal Office. I will guide you from there.]
"Wait, who are you?!," she cried out. But the voice was gone. With a weary sigh, Morgan got dressed, gathered her weapons, and called up her invisibility command. Then she headed outside.
*****
"Bob!"
The Guardian stood up from a booth he was sharing with his wife as Enzo burst into the Diner. Dot regarded her brother with concern.
"What? What's going on?," Bob asked.
In his panic, the young Guardian began to stammer, reminding Dot of the young child he once had been. "It- it's Morgan! She's missing from her room, an- and Cursor can't locate her!"
"Are her things gone, too?," Dot asked.
Enzo looked at her strangely. "How did you know?"
His sister shook her head. "Just figured she took them."
Bob seemed to focus on something far in the distance. After a moment he spoke. "I can't seem to locate her, either."
Enzo anxiously combed a hand through his unruly hair. "Should we organize a search party?"
Bob nodded. "I'll get the others." He quickly kissed Dot goodbye, and turned to head out the door, closely followed by Enzo.
Suddenly, a Vidwindow popped up in front of Dot, framing Phong's anxious face. "Dot! Where are Bob and... Enzo?"
The two Guardians ran back over to the booth.
"Right here," said Dot. "What's wrong?" Bob and Enzo leaned over, the latter fearing the worst.
"Reports have been coming in from Buadway! A standoff seems to have started between two sprites." Sighing heavily, Phong looked at Enzo, then continued. "One of them fits Morgan's description."
Bob and Enzo looked at each other. "This is bad," Bob said.
"Very bad," the younger Guardian agreed gravely.
*****
"Come forth, you sniveling bastard of a web creature!," Morgan called out.
She stood in the middle of Buadway, ignoring looks from nearby pedestrians. They stayed a safe distance away, upon seeing her drawn sword. One zero binome came up to her and started ask her something, but Morgan turned to him with a hateful snarl and the binome quickly backed away.
"You have led me here, so show yourself!"
A flash of light momentarily brightened the street. When Morgan could open her eyes again, she saw a tall male sprite standing several meters away, studying her, an amused expression upon his face. His skin was a pale red, like that of a faded rose. His shoulder length hair was totally white except for a purple streak in the middle. The stranger's features were pointed and gaunt. But what frightened Morgan was his eyes: they were the same blue, yet, darker, distant, and colder than hers could ever be. A jagged scar ran from the corner of his mouth and disappeared beneath his hair; causing his mouth to be frozen in a permanent smirk. There also was a strange device attached to his throat.
"So we finally meet face to face, my dear." His voice was smooth and pleasant, yet it had a peculiar mechanical undertone; it sounded as if more than one individual was speaking. "I am Arren." He bowed low, with all the grace of a courtier.
He noticed her eyeing the peculiar mechanism at his neck. "Oh, you're wondering about this?" He gestured to the others. "Got it when one of our 'colleagues' slashed out my throat." Arren idly examined his neatly trimmed nails. "Of course, I repaid him in full."
"Shut up so we can get this over with," Morgan said angrily, growing irritated with his discourse.
"Oh, you don't want to talk?" He smiled; it only furthered Morgan's disgust. "Brother to sister?"
"What are you talking about?," she demanded, positioning her sword protectively in front of her. This... Arren was really starting to frighten her.
Arren walked closer. His red cloak rippled in the breeze. "Don't you know, my sweet?"
Morgan could now see his bare arms were crisscrossed with numerous silver scars. They almost looked... self-inflicted. "Don't call me that," she said icily, warily stepping back.
He came nearer. "Oh, I see that you don't remember. Perhaps the Guild Council simply decided you didn't need to know."
"Quit with the prattle and tell me what you're talking about!"
Arren came so closer still. Morgan wanted to shudder and leap back, but she found herself frozen in place. He carefully moved her sword aside.
"You sense it, don't you?," he said, bringing his face so close to hers, she could his breath hot against her skin. "Look into my eyes. They're the same as yours, aren't they?"
Morgan mentally trembled. His was right. Their eyes were the same, yet his held an evil far worse than she had ever encountered.
Arren's gaze fell to the pendant around her neck. He took it in his hand, looking over it carefully. After a nano, he snorted and dropped it back into place. "Mother always liked you better," he said, shaking his head. "Though I could never understand why..."
He brought his gaze back up to her face. So unlike is own, yet so different...
"You really don't know what I talking about, do you?" Arren stared at her a moment. "No, of course you wouldn't. You took that nasty bump on the back of your head." He placed his hands at the sides of her head. She wanted so badly to flinch away. Arren sensed it and smiled. "Let me show you..."
*****
She played happily in front of their home, chasing her brother, bouncing the ball back and forth as their mother watched idly from the house. The sun shone overhead, and the smiles on their faces were equal in brightness. Childish laughter filled the air.
All at once, the clear sky above darkened. But this wasn't a game. This was something much, much worse. Their father appeared at the door and ushered his family inside. They ran to the ran to the secret room; the room that was always locked and she had never been in before.
"Daddy, what's happening?"
"Nothing for you to worry about." He ushered them in front of a large ring standing upright in the center of the room. "We're just going to send you and your brother somewhere special." Their father turned to a keypad in the wall and began to type in a code.
"Where are we going, Daddy?"
"A place called the Supercomputer."
Her brother turned to their mother, who was closely monitoring some readings. "Will you and Daddy be there?"
"We'll join you soon enough," she answered without turning around.
Their father turned to their mother. "We're almost out of time. We must send them now."
She looked at him. "Are you sure we only have enough power to send two at a time?"
He nodded.
She knelt down so that she was eye to eye with her daughter. "Morgan, I want you to have this." She undid the clasp of her necklace. On it hung a tear-shaped blue pendant. Morgan's sapphire eyes shown as her mother placed it over her head and put the clasp back together. "Will you promise Mommy you'll never take this off?" Morgan nodded. Her mother tightly hugged her. "I love you, Morgan."
"I love you too, Mommy."
Their mother turned to her son and placed her hands on his small shoulders. "Arren, I want to you take care of Morgan. You must never leave her." She took Morgan's hand, so small in her own, and placed it in Arren's. "Understand?" Arren nodded. She embraced him in a warm hug. "I love you. You remember that, okay?"
"Yes, Mommy."
Their mother stood up and took her place next to a switch on the wall. Their father stood by a similar switch. They looked at each other and nodded. Their father spoke to his children. "When we pull this switches, we want to turn around and jump through the ring. Okay?"
Morgan and Arren nodded.
They pulled the switches. A portal, much like a circle of silver water, opened in the ring. Arren turned around to step through. Morgan glanced back at her parents once more, then disappeared as her brother pulled her through. The portal snapped shut.
The parents held each other tightly. She began to sob softly, and he kissed her on the top of her head.
The building shook as a huge explosion rocked everything in the vicinity. They both fell to the floor. They closed their eyes for one last kiss and prepared for the end.
They were totally obliterated, along with everything and everyone else in the Twin City.
Somewhere, in a remote system, two young children tumbled out of a portal. Not into the Supercomputer, but somewhere different. Much different. Something had gone terribly wrong.
Arren sat up and looked to his sister. Morgan was lying still on the ground. There was a cut on the back of her head, but he could tell she was still alive.
He turned as he saw something dart out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in front of him, tall and menacing. More and more came into view, as out of thin air. They formed a circle around the two children, drawing tighter. Arren whimpered quietly.