"Remember me?" a childish voice asked. Yuri whirled around, expecting to see Fox-Face.
"What do you wa…hey! Who the hell are you?" he snarled at the small girl. She played nervously with one of her braids and looked at him with reproachful eyes and trembling bottom lip. This look, coupled with her yellow sundress, made her look like the epitome of a child. Yuri was instantly suspicious.
"Don't you remember me?" she asked tearfully. Yuri shook his head warily. "Why not?!" she demanded her face twisting. Yuri stepped backwards in surprise. She stepped forward, closing the distance. Yuri thought hysterically of the absurdity of being intimidated by a small child and fought back the urge to laugh aloud.
"Alex and Yuri went out to play, over the hills and far away. When the sky goes from blue to black, little Alex won't come back," she sang.
"Who's Alex?" he asked finally.
"Sasha died so you replaced him with Alex," she screamed, face contorting with rage. Yuri's response was to blink in confusion.
"Look little girl, I haven't a clue what you're going on about. Who's this Alex or Sasha person you're ranting about?" he replied mildly.
"Alex is that magician you befriended," she spat. Yuri's eyes widened as realisation dawned. He opened his mouth to correct the girl about Alec's name when he was shaken vigorously.
"What was that for?" he complained, pouting. Alec looked unimpressed.
"You've slept for almost twelve hours," Alec replied tonelessly. That probably explained why it was almost sunset. "Now I want some answers. Who was she?"
"Who was who?" Yuri replied in confusion. Alec sighed in frustration.
"That person who possessed the corpse. Who was she?" Yuri shook his head.
"I don't know," he replied.
"Her name was Clara," Death Emperor supplied.
"Clara?" Yuri asked. "I don't know a Clara."
"You did. Clara and Sasha were childhood friends of yours," Death Emperor replied. Yuri shook his head in denial.
"Clara was a Soul Well that went mad," Death Emperor continued relentlessly. "She died when the souls overwhelmed her. And do you know why they were there?" Yuri shook his head again.
"Because you were," Death Emperor whispered.
"Yuri, who is Clara?" Alec demanded.
"Was," Yuri corrected absently. The significance of that correction was not lost on Alec.
"She's dead. Then how? How's she doing this? Murdering whole villages? Seems pretty spry for a corpse."
"Her powers as a Soul Well matured at twelve," Death Emperor explained. Yuri dutifully relayed the information to Alec.
"And a Soul Well is?" he asked, motioning for Yuri to continue.
"Someone with empathy for the dead," Yuri replied absently, eyes unfocused. "Can do all sorts of weird things. Eats dispossessed human souls."
"Yuri," Alec said slowly. "How do you know all this?" Yuri blinked and his eyes focused on Alec.
"Know what?" Yuri asked, genuinely confused.
"You just rattled off some stuff about a talent that, until today, I'd never even heard of," Alec replied.
"I told Alec, through you. I seem to be doing it a lot. Tell him that you read it in that book of yours," Death Emperor suggested.
"Must have read it somewhere. Probably that book I keep dragging around. It's certainly big enough," Yuri complained.
"Can I see it?" Alec asked. Yuri pulled a tome out of his bag and handed it silently to him. Alec opened the book and grimaced.
"Russian, urk!" He waved his hand. "French," he said in tones of great satisfaction. "Much better."
"Actually the book has a spell on it. He just had to close it and open it again and the contents get re-written into a language that he could understand," Death Emperor commented in amusement.
"You can read French?" Yuri asked in tones of great surprise. He ignored Death Emperor's comments with the ease of long practise.
"Better than Russian," Alec replied, looking up from the book and grinning. "Now shut up or go away. I'm reading." Yuri took that as a subtle hint to go somewhere else for a while.
Muttering to himself, Yuri slouched away from their temporary campsite. Hearing the faint sound of running water, he headed toward it. He slumped down by the side of the creek and trailed his fingers in the water.
"Death Emperor?' Yuri asked suddenly. "Who, or what is the Avatar of the Night?" Death Emperor was strangely silent. "Alright then. Why is Clara still alive - sort of?"
"You can't kill a Soul Well. You contain them," Death Emperor replied heavily.
"How?" Yuri demanded.
"Like I'd know. It's only ever been done once before." Pause. "Before you ask, no I wasn't there, not were any of my line."
"Then how do you know it's been done before?"
"Because I have seen the container. So have you," Death Emperor replied finally. Yuri thought frantically of magical places that he and Death Emperor had seen.
"The Graveyard," Yuri said tonelessly.
"Well done!" Death Emperor said patronising.
"And the Avatar of the Night?" Yuri continued.
"A Soul Well," Death Emperor replied. Yuri counted to ten and found that it was lacking in numbers. He clenched his fists, barely noticing as his fingernails cut into his skin.
"How long have you known?" he asked, voice deceptively quiet. Death Emperor didn't answer. "How long?!" he shouted.
"A long time," Death Emperor answered. Yuri gritted his teeth and stared at the setting sun. Falling into a trance, he was startled as a scream rang through the air.
"When the sky turns from blue to black, little Alex won't come back!" he exclaimed, then swore. Ignoring Death Emperor's admonishments for his use of language, he ran the short distance back to their campsite.
An animated corpse had Alec around the head, hands positioned to break his neck. Alec's eyes were wide, red and swollen and he kept mouthing something at Yuri.
"Let him go, Clara!" Yuri yelled. The corpse giggled and let Alec go.
"You remember me now?" the corpse rasped. Yuri repressed a shiver.
"Yes Clara. I remember you. And I will marry you," Yuri began. His brain finally worked out what Alec was trying to say.
"But I've got to kiss you first," Yuri continued. The corpse's eyes widened in surprise and Alec shuddered in revulsion. The corpse shuffled gracelessly toward Yuri, who swallowed audibly.
"Do I make you sick?" the corpse rasped. Yuri shook his head.
"No, no, Clara. Just nervous," he replied. The corpse stopped in front of him. He leaned forward and kissed it.
He tried not to flinch as the smelt rotting flesh. He tried not to whimper as the corpse's face grew closer and he fought the urge to scream as cold, rancid flesh made contact with his own.
When he felt Alec's hand on his shoulder, Yuri closed his eyes and threw the three of them into the Graveyard.
*
Yuri opened his eyes to Alec screaming. He pulled out one of his claws, sliced his arm open and forced the blood to flow into Alec's mouth. Alec swallowed convulsively and stopped screaming immediately. He looked at Yuri in bewilderment. Yuri removed his hand from Alec's mouth.
"Death Emperor said something about protections in blood, so I thought it was worth a shot," Yuri explained depreciatingly. He pulled a Thera root out of his pocket and chewed it grimly. "Chewy," he commented. The cut on his arm closed, leaving only the bloodstains to show that it had ever existed.
"Did you ever read that book you lent me?" Alec demanded. Yuri shook his head, then brightened.
"I read part of it!"
"The parts that contained sex or gratuitous violence," pointed out Death Emperor.
"I meant all of it. Seriously, there is some fascinating stuff in there…" Alec shook his head in amazement. "Anyway, there was a chapter on Soul Wells. Supposedly they are a variant of harmonixer, but that's not important. There was a spell to create a container for an insane Soul Well."
"Cool," Yuri commented. "What's the catch?"
"It's a very powerful spell, involving both of us. We've got to paint some sigils onto ourselves with the other's blood, recite a chant and hope we live through it," Alec replied sombrely. "And we've got to decide soon. Clara will be able to tear the Graveyard apart eventually, and I have no idea what that'll do to you."
"Is it really that bad?" Yuri asked. Alec's expression was sufficient. "I take that as a yes. Alright I'm for it."
Five minutes later, Yuri wrinkled his nose as Alec daubed some of his blood across the bridge of his nose. Alec glared at him and Yuri relaxed the muscles in his face. Alec moved a finger down the length of his nose, then removed his hand from Yuri's face.
"Right, we're done," Alec said cheerfully, his manner contrasting with the slightly maniacal look the blood-runes gave him. He paused for a moment, looking at Yuri pensively. Yuri smiled uneasily, then waved a hand in front of Alec's face.
"We should start now," Yuri said reluctantly. Alec studied him, then looked down, letting his hair fall over his face, obscuring his expression. Still looking down, he reached out blindly and grabbed Yuri's hands.
Yuri would be hard pressed later to describe what they chanted. All he remembered was his blood burning under his skin and his wellspring slipping in and out of his fingers. Hearing a scream, he forced open eyes that he didn't realise he had closed and almost broke free from the circle when he saw that Alec was becoming translucent. Alec's hands tightened painfully on his own, forcing him to keep the circle intact.
He felt a wrench inside himself, as if something was trying to rip his magic from him. He gasped as his magic disappeared into a void. The size of the emptiness to be filled dismayed him and he nearly cried. Neither he nor Alec had enough magic to fill it on their own.
A young red haired psychic and her son stood as if transfixed in the alleyways of London….
A young Swiss girl looked into starlight and was lost in the light….
An Adept shoved his hand into a fire, breathing "It's his son,"…
An adolescent girl threw herself into the river…
An aristocratic man was buried alive under rubble….
A small boy fell into a dark chasm….
Yuri gasped as a wave of magic swept through him, rushing to fill the void. Dimly he noticed that Alec wasn't screaming any more. He couldn't feel Alec's hands either, but couldn't work up the energy to care. He closed his eyes and felt himself fall.
Unfortunately for Yuri, his unconsciousness was short lived. Someone was shaking him violently, screaming out his name. He opened his eyes slowly.
"Don't you dare die on me yet!" a blurry figure shouted. With extreme effort, Yuri focused his eyes and blinked dazedly at an androgynous, luminescent figure. Clothed in white, wearing a uniquely beautiful face, all that was missing was the huge wings.
"Who're you?" he demanded hoarsely. The figure laughed.
"I'm hurt! Don't you recognise me? You've only known me for about six years," it teased.
"Death Emperor?" Yuri breathed.
"You were expecting someone else?" Death Emperor replied.
"Where's Alec?" Death Emperor looked away.
"I'll tell you later. Get out of here!" Death Emperor ordered. Yuri sketched a salute and disappeared. Five other beings came up behind Death Emperor, capturing his arms and legs. Death Emperor made no effort to resist.
"Death Emperor, soul of loathing, you are hereby banished to your gravestone until a hearing can be arranged."
*
Yuri opened his eyes and shuddered. He was extremely grateful that the corpse wasn't there any more. He looked around and found Alec lying, pale and still, on the ground.
"We did it," Yuri croaked. Alec didn't stir. Yuri's exhausted brain assembled some facts; that he was out of the graveyard, Alec was not and neither was Death Emperor. Slightly anxious, Yuri crawled over and felt for Alec's pulse. There was none. A breeze rustled some pages in Yuri's book and he glanced down. By co-incidence, it opened on the section on Soul Wells, in particular, their containment. Yuri stared in shock at the following lines; 'Should this be successful, the sacrifice offered by the Chimera class will be accepted.'
"Yuri?" a small voice asked. "It's Sasha." Yuri passed out.
Authors Note: Don't hurt me! Alec's death has been planned for quite some time. It did happen for a reason, sort of. It's hard to explain in a note, and will be explained in detail next chapter. Maybe. If the Death Emperor and the seven magi sacrifices plot lines don't take over. The Alec/Alex thing came about because I kept mixing the two up, and decided that Clara would have the same problem.
Also, I have inserted myself into the story. Who am I? I can be any gender or age, so take a guess!
And I do apologise for the cliffhanger. I will update!