"And what's behind..DOOR NUMBER 3..hundred and twenty-two...?" Erutis threw the doors open only to find another empty room. 'I don't understand why a single castle with two people...well actually four now...needs to have so many rooms..' She continued on her way, passing many more deserted rooms along the way, in her search for the elusive Chris. He had missed practice..again..She didn't even know why she bothered with the bumbling idiot. Clenching her fists she secretly swore she'd send him to the stratosphere once she got her hands on the foolhardy cleric. On and on she searched, the marble columns slowly passing her by..silent giants that supported the gigantic castle with no name. With probing eyes alert, Erutis looked over to see the first droplets of rain begin to fall down. 'Finally...The clouds have been here for days. There are even more of them forming on the horizon...I can't believe it took this long for rain to fall...' She strode on..absent-mindedly singing a song she had heard her mother sing a long, long time ago..
Eclipse ignored the massive storm outside as he diligently worked on the task at hand. He was a sight for sore eyes if there ever was a need for one. His usually straight, flowing hair was in disarray, covered in a fine layer of flour. Eclipse's pale, handsome face now looked like it belonged to a kitchen maid because of the soot and ashes. He frantically rushed from one place to another making sure each of his delightful concoctions was not burning or overcooking. He had to make sure this feast was absolutely perfect. (Sigh). He knew it was a lame attempt but he had to do something. The gears inside his adroit mind had already promised that he would try to get things to be back to normal. That would mean being less harsh to Lord Raenef as well as being a little more tolerant towards the mortals...(emphasis on little). During the small lull in his activities, a new sound slowly floated into the kitchen that caught him by surprise. He immediately knew it was the Erutis, the loud-mouthed, temperamental but protective swordmaster. Despite his cold demeanor towards the girl, he secretly appreciated that she had Lord Raenef's best interests in her heart, despite that she had tried to destroy him the very first time they met. The surprise was in the fact that she could sing (XD). Before he could return to the task at hand, the singing grew consistently louder...
You are my everything
The wonder in my life
If I could live forever
You'd always be by my side...
I never did know why
I was living a life to rue
Until the angels blessed me
With the miracle that is you...
For some odd reason, the words seemed to be talking to Eclipse. Images of Lord Raenef laughing, smiling, playing...being himself...kept flashing before his eyes. Everything faded away; the rain beating against the kitchen window, the titillating scents of the food, the crackling of the fire...At the moment, Eclipse's world was comprised of the angelic melody and Master Raenef...
If you would ask for a pearl
I would give you the moon...
If you would ask me for a ruby
I'd give you the sun at noon...
Ask me for anything that I could give
I'll give it but for a smile
You are the wonder in my life
Every moment, all the while...
You are the laughter of my soul
The siren that sings my song...
The light that shines forever
The only right to my wrong...
I never did understand
Why I was living such a lie
Until the angels blessed me
With a love I couldn't deny...
If you would ask for a blade of grass
I would give you the world so wide
If you would ask for a hand to hold
I would give you myself in which to hide...
You are the wonder of my life
The night that holds the sparkling stars...
The wind that whispers sweet nothings
I love all the things that you are...
I never could comprehend
What living was all about...
Until the angels blessed me with you
The thing I couldn't live without...
"HEYYYYYYYYYYYYY, Eclipse." Eclipse snapped to attention and back to reality as he noticed Erutis peeping through the doors and staring at him intensely while trying to fight off fits of laughter. "What's with that look on your face?..Actually what's with you? You're covered in flour and soot!!" Unable to resist the temptation, she allowed the floodgates to open as bursts of laughter shook the room.
"Nothing that would concern you, human." He fixed her an evil glare that was much more venomous than normal.
Ceasing her laughter and raising an eyebrow, Erutis continued gazing at the ragged Eclipse, with a look of question in her eyes. Feeling slightly uncomfortable with the unwanted scrutiny, Eclipse resumed to check on the progress of the feast he was working on. The swordmaster rolled her eyes, realizing he wasn't about to spill any information, and changed the topic. "Mmmmmmm, that smells delicious. What's all this food for?"
Knowing she wouldn't give up until he responded, Eclipse sighed and then quickly thought of a reply that wouldn't give away his real intent. "Master Raenef has been looking under the weather lately..and much thinner as well. It is my duty to make sure his is properly fed and looked after."
"Ohh...Is that all...And here I thought you had something else in mind." Her sharp eyes had noticed the slight pause before Eclipse had answered. Of course they missed the miniscule wince after her previous comment. "Well at least it sounds like you care. After that last dismal dinner, this will be a change of pace..." After a while and without a reply, Erutis spoke. "I'll go now and let you get back to your cooking." Eclipse muttered something incomprehensible with a grim face as she left. After making sure the swordmaster was clear of his premises, he let out an audible sigh and slipped back into reminiscing about the more joyous times he had shared with his current master. 'I hope things will be like that again...This had better work.'
Meanwhile...
'This had better work...I've just got to get better for Eclipse...Hopefully things will be back to normal soon enough...' However, immediately after that thought, Raenef's world went black as he collapsed on the floor.
Eclipse smirked. 'I must say...I've really outdone myself this time.' The entire dinner table was lined with every possible type of food. A myriad of meats and vegetables composed a scrumptious sight for whoever was lucky enough to be dining that night. Warmth radiated from the table as the smells wafted and filled every corner of the room. Eclipse sat himself at one end of the table. Now all he had to do was wait for Master Raenef to show up...along with the perpetually annoying humans. However, tonight he would try to tolerate them as much as possible, for Master Raenef's sake. So he waited. And he waited. And he waited for so long, he fell asleep in his chair. In his slumber, he didn't notice a solitary figure sneak into the dining room and steal away several plates of food.
DING. DANG. DONG. DING. DANG. DONG. DING. DANG. DONG. DING. DANG. DONG. The ringing of the grandfather clock echoed through the cavern-like room. The sound resounded off the wall and shook everything not bolted down..including the snoring (..XD..) demon.
His eyes fluttering, his throat emitting small grumbles, Eclipse slowly awoke from his state of rest. He lazily glanced around and noticed the candles were all burned out and the feast remained untouched and cold. His eyes grew wide. 'Where is Master Raenef? He usually always shows up on time for dinner. If he hasn't touched the food...then...then...I've got to find him...' In his haste, Eclipse did not notice the missing plates of food or bother to think about the other two souls inhabiting the castle. Ignoring the food, he whispered "Go" and was whisked off to Master Raenef's room. Once he arrived, he glanced around the room only to find it empty and desolate. The eerie silence disturbed his train of thought as Eclipse fought to decipher this mystery. 'Where could he possibly be?!...Although he hasn't been his normal, nothing was too out of the ordinary. Could he possibly have been kidnapped?..No..don't even think about it..The castle is vast, I just need to search it all.' With that final conjecture, he started off on his quest. The castle was built in the fashion of a circle so Eclipse decided it would make more sense to go around and search each room by door instead of teleporting. That way he could keep track of which room he had or had not been through. Hours passed as he inspected the seemingly endless number of rooms. 'Why in Hell's name do we have this many rooms?..It's not like anybody uses them.' The search was progressing much faster than he had predicted though. Most of the rooms had their doors swung wide open. Erutis had not bothered to close them after ransacking each one to see if Chris was hidden among one of them. Of course, that didn't mean Eclipse didn't have to peer in each one just to be sure Master Raenef wasn't there. Exhausted from his fruitless examinations, an idea finally popped into his head. 'Maybe I should ask those two wretched humans if they know anything...At this time of night, they possibly couldn't be practicing in the garden...so that must mean they're in their rooms.'
"Go." He arrived in Erutis's room with his eyes closed. Just because he despised the girl didn't mean he wanted to invade her privacy (Isn't he a gentleman XD..). "Erutis..?" Gradually opening his eyes, he scanned the room to find that it was as empty as Lord Raenef's. 'Where could that sword-wielding brat be?!' Sighing, he teleported himself to Chris's room...only to land flat on his butt outside the door. 'Why aren't I inside?' He approached the door and hestitantly grabbed the door knob, but an unknown force shot him backwards into the column behind him.
'What is going on tonight?!..Why can't I enter that room? Aarggh...and why is my entire body on fi--' Before he could finish the thought, he dodged out of the way as a dagger embedded itself into the granite column. Eclipse ripped off the note attached to the weapon and read it. Going over it again and again, he couldn't help but release a gasp at the message...
"If you know what's good for Raenef, do not approach this room...It's about time we finished what we intended to do a long time ago..."
Chris and Erutis: (Nods approvingly)
Final Note: That's it for now. Summer is here and it's time for a change. Before you know it, Raenef and Eclipse will be happy once again..But not before I torture them a bit (don't worry XD). Stay tuned and please review. It'd make my day..a lot..lol..XD..and I'm sorry it wasn't as long as my previous chapters.