Will's eyes suddenly flew open as a wave of nausea gripped his body. Kirjava! The door opened, and Metatron, in his bright searing glory, entered holding a flailing Kirjava roughly in his arms.
"Put her down!" Will gasped, glaring at the monstrosity before him.
Metatron only smiled maliciously.
"There's something I want you to do for me," he calmly informed Will, stroking Kirjava's bristling fur tauntingly, sending another wave of dizziness through him.
"Put her down," Will repeated coldly, trying to appear calm while choking back the sickness that was about to overwhelm him.
Metatron gazed at this weak little mortal with fierce eyes before him, and smiled with amusement.
"Of course," Metatron replied with mock courtesy, and proceeded to place Kirjava on the cold stone floor.
Will immediately felt less smothered, but still remained nauseated as Metatron's heavy hand on Kirjava's back prevented her from returning to Will. Metatron sickeningly caressed Will's daemon, and looked searchingly into Will's eyes. Will glared back unflinchingly, though he felt exposed and vulnerable. Metatron's searching of Will's soul found fierce courage, undying loyalty, many layers of hurt and worry, and a great love for someone: Lyra. Metatron's smile widened. Yes, this was the one to do the job.
"Will, you're going to help me kill Lyra," Metatron informed him candidly.
Will's eyes widened with shock at the absurdity of that simple statement. He thought of Lyra, her bravery, her stubbornness, her golden hair, her mouth…all that they had been through…fighting that first time, rescuing her from the cave, traveling to the underworld and back, the dust, the little red fruit and the kiss… His heart swelled with love for her, and worry with the thought of her being alone in that field, probably upset and wondering where they went. There was no way that he was going to kill her. Then Will broke all of the tension that he'd been holding inside when he burst out laughing at the impossibility.
"You've chosen the wrong person," Will shook his head, still chuckling with bitter mirth. "When you looked into my soul, you saw that I was a murderer. This is true, yes, but you didn't understand. I have never wanted to kill anyone. And I will never ever ever even dream of hurting Lyra. Lyra is the last person on this earth that I'd ever kill…I'd even kill myself before I could kill her."
"Yes, I know," Metatron replied with satisfaction. "But it is you who has misunderstood, not I. I have looked into your soul and I have seen all that you are telling me now. And that is exactly why I've chosen you to do the task."
Will stopped short, worried now. There hadn't been a misunderstanding. Metatron actually does think that he could use him to kill Lyra. Will was worried about Lyra's safety, being left all alone in the plains with a powerful murderous being seeking to destroy her while he was chained up and unable to protect her…but the fact remained the same. There was no way he would hurt Lyra. Ever. But he didn't know what tricks Metatron had planned. He had better get out of these shackles as soon as possible and escape before Metatron tried anything unexpected… As Will calmly considered possible ways to trick Metatron into letting him go, Metatron continued his explanation with exaggerated patience.
"…And I know that you wouldn't want to kill Lyra. But the reason that I'm choosing you is because you are the last person that Lyra wants to be killed by as well. It would hurt her terribly." Metatron smirked, waiting for Will's reaction.
Will violently wanted to kill this horrible thing that wanted to hurt Lyra so badly. He wanted to release all his anger and hate at him until he was gone and turned to dust. But Will saw that Metatron was waiting, goading him for a reaction, and he knew that he was quite incapable of doing anything in his currently fettered state, and thought it wise to control himself. But Will couldn't help that his eyes smoldered with helpless hate, or that his body tensed visibly with anger. Will spoke forcefully and evenly through clenched teeth, annunciating each word in order to make his meaning abundantly clear to Metatron.
"I told you. I'm not going to kill her."
"Of course not, child," Metatron agreed soothingly, his voice dripping with acid honey. "That's why I have this!"
Metatron abruptly stopped petting the growling Kirjava and sprung up to Will and jerked his head back, forcing a vial of frothing fiery liquid down his throat before he even had time to react. Kirjava immediately sprung up and sunk her teeth into Metatron's back and slashed furiously with her claws. Will, likewise, was putting up a spectacular fight, especially for someone who did not have full use of his limbs. He tried to jerk his head away and thrashed and tried to kick; anything to not swallow that vile potion that did God-knows-what. Metatron once again smiled in amusement at this fierce little mortal and his futile thrashing and kicking. Metatron had already managed to force down a swallow of the potion when he initially surprised Will, and that mouthful was already starting to take its effect, even as Will and Kirjava passionately fought on. After several minutes and a good struggle, Will and Kirjava both lay still, their eyes glazed over and uncomprehending.
The potion, of course, has a negative effect on people. It takes away their will and made them zombie-like…not unlike the people with their daemons cut away, or people attacked by specters. The potion makes the drinker obey the will of whoever administers it. But it wears off after one day. But Metatron wasn't worried. He had sent that witch out to meet Lyra, and he knew that Lyra would be here before the potion wore off. Metatron scooped up a limp Kirjava, and placed her back into the cage next to the one containing Pantalaimon, who was pacing around agitatedly. Then, he went back to Will and freed him from his chains. Will did not stand up or make a rush for the door. He fell back against the floor and hit his head with a sharp crack, but continued to smile indifferently at the ceiling.
"Stand up Will," Metatron ordered. Will automatically stood up wordlessly. "You bear the knife, do you not?" Will nodded dumbly. "Excellent. You have your weapon already. You're going to go out now, and walk south. You will meet Lyra by a rocky ravine. You will kill her." Will nodded again. Metatron turned away for a moment and retrieved something. He placed a cloak around Will's stiff shoulders. "Here is a cloak so that you won't freeze to death before you find her. Go now. Seek her out and kill her." Metatron smiled again with anticipation as Will blankly shuffled outside, waiting to kill Lyra.
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pleaseeeee! Tell me what you think! Absolute crap? Worth continuing? Tell me tell me tell me! even flames and one-liners are better than nothing!! I live for reviews! :P