Chapter Seven
Everyone, even the warriors who had been attempting to take Mai away, stopped and stared at Alister with disbelief and perhaps a bit of apprehension. His gray eyes were flickering with red once again and the image of the Seal of Orichalcos was starting to appear on his forehead, but now he was so angry that he did not even take notice. Violently he twisted his enemy's arm around and then sent him crashing to the floor. Ignoring his victim's cry of pain, Alister stepped forward, eyes burning, and met the next of Valon's attackers head-on, punching him in the stomach as he gave a wicked sneer.
"It makes you feel good to attack someone like Valon, doesn't it," he said darkly, the smirk never leaving his face. Raphael, Valon, and Mai (who had managed to break free of her captors when they had gotten distracted) were all highly disturbed. Alister looked insane with delight as he tormented each of the Doom Reborn warriors. "After all, he's younger than you, and most certainly a much better person, so naturally you have to harm him. Unfortunately for you, I enjoy dealing out justice to your type." Upon seeing that the fourth one was lunging at him with a knife, he kicked out, knocking the weapon away, and then pinned the hapless man to the floor. Carefully and precisely Alister's fingers wrapped around the throat. "You deserve whatever I do to you," he hissed.
Valon struggled to sit up. "Alister, cut it out!" he choked, reaching desperately for his friend with a shaking hand. He could not stand to watch this any longer. When Alister was in control of himself, he never behaved in this way! But now, having witnessed the attack on his friend, he was obviously losing more of his mind to the Orichalcos's darkness. His eyes were wild and his expression was sadistic.
Weakly Valon leaped on the older man's back, trying to pull him away. In response, Alister let go of the intruder's throat to instead try to shove Valon off. Due to Valon's dazed condition from the fight (and Alister's added physical strength from the Orichalcos's power), Alister succeeded in his effort and the brunette toppled back to the floor with a hiss of pain. "Get off me," the redhead growled. "You're in my way."
Now Raphael moved forward, reaching down firmly and grabbing Alister under his arms. "Just a minute ago you were fighting in Valon's defense," he pointed out, "and now you couldn't care less about him? Snap out of it!" He gave his friend a rough shake, swallowing a lump in his throat as he did so. He could hardly stand to watch Alister descending into madness. This entire experience was insane. Alister should never have been forced to suffer like this!
Initially Alister was too stunned to do anything, but then he struggled to get out of Raphael's grasp. The blonde retaliated by wrapping his strong arms firmly around the slender man's waist, preventing him from getting away. "Look at yourself, Alister!" he cried harshly. "You're letting it corrupt your heart and mind. You have to get control of yourself now, before someone gets seriously hurt!"
"That's right!" Valon cried, shuddering as he knelt on the floor beside his friends. "Come on, Alister! You can't let us down!" He glared coldly at the redhead, but he could only keep that up for a moment before his immense worry shined through and his blue eyes glistened with unshed tears. He's one of my two best friends . . . and all we can do is stand around and watch him suffer and lose his marbles! Again he felt a burst of hatred for the one responsible.
Alister struggled again, letting out an almost inhuman scream before breathing heavily and slumping in Raphael's arms, in defeat. Slowly the Orichalcos symbol faded once again and his eyes returned to their normal gray luster. He looked up at Raphael and then over at Valon, feeling his heart twist many times over. "That . . . that wasn't supposed to happen," he whispered, obviously shaken as he remembered what he had done. It had all started as righteous indignation for the way Valon had been being treated, but it had quickly developed into an anger and a hatred that the Orichalcos could easily manipulate. Alister's entire mental vision had been clouded and suddenly, for a brief moment, he had not cared who he had attacked—or whether the person was foe or friend. It haunted him now, as he realized that he had even been violent with Valon, whom he had wanted to protect. A sick look came over his countenance.
"I know, chum," Valon replied weakly as he gripped Alister's shoulder, "I know. But I'm okay. And at least for now, you are, too." He tried to smile, but his eyes reflected his concern that this would only continue to happen, and that it would grow worse each time. He had seen how, just over the course of less than twenty-four hours, Alister was losing his grip on sanity and reality. He did not want to see any more, and he could see that Raphael felt the same. This was too horrible to witness—or to suffer.
Mai was simply staring, completely disturbed by the display she had seen in the past five minutes. "I thought all of us had decided that the Orichalcos wasn't a friend," she exclaimed. She frowned somewhat suspiciously at Alister as she recalled what Valon had told her. He's worse off than I even thought! During Doom, Alister had always been the most quiet of the three and the least willing to give his opinion on what he thought of Mai, whereas Valon and Raphael had both been more than willing. He really is completely losing it, just as Valon told me. . . . And I guess I actually feel sorry for him. No one deserves what he's going through.
While they were all conversing, one of the Doom Reborn warriors had wandered into a corner and was contacting Hans on his cellphone. After explaining the way the current situation was going, he asked if they were still supposed to retrieve Mai Valentine. "This guy you infected went crazy on us," he emphasized. "I dunno that it'd be wise for us to even try to do anything more right now. Besides," he sneered, "him going nuts is a worse thing for him and his friends to suffer. And we've already got one hostage."
Hans listened quietly, contemplating on their options. It seemed as though things were going even better than he had imagined. Alister was losing himself more every minute to the darkness. And indeed, he knew Raphael must be just about ready to go mad himself. Raphael had to struggle so very hard to keep both of his friends under control and to protect them. He had to be strong while everyone around him was in some form of agony. How does it feel, Raphael, Hans mused to himself, to see one that you care about to be at the point of betraying you? It won't be much longer now and he'll be completely consumed by the darkness that the Orichalcos is bringing out. Then neither you or that stupid Aussie will be able to save him! He'll be gone forever, lost to his own insanity! And he congratulated himself on his wicked plan. That was sufficient vengeance for what he felt was an unforgivable crime on Raphael's part.
"Go ahead and leave," he said at last. "You may think the attack was a failure, but I believe it went better than if you had actually gotten the woman." He then cut off the connection, leaving his associates to ponder over his statement. The Orichalcos glowed brightly on his own forehead. His own goodness was completely locked away.
With their assailants gone and Alister safely restored to his right mind, Raphael insisted on examining Valon to see how badly he'd been injured during the fight. The brunette protested, as was to be expected, but Raphael was firm. Mai then showed them to the unoccupied and mostly unfurnished guest room in order for Raphael to check the boy over.
Alister followed them silently into the room, closing the door behind him and then clenching his fists tightly in vexation and despair. He knew the problem was only getting worse. What if he had actually choked the man he had pinned down? What if he had seriously hurt Valon? . . . What if I still will? He felt sickened just by the thought. I had wanted to help him. . . . Instead I went out of my mind, and I could have injured him if Raphael hadn't grabbed me. . . .
As Raphael began to examine Valon to make certain that the boy had not sustained any serious damage, he insisted on the removal of Valon's shirt. This, then, revealed to Alister the harsh scars of the past that still adorned the Australian's back. The redhead narrowed his eyes, outraged as he saw what had been done to the teenager by his own parents. Still, he knew he had to control his anger, if he did not want to see a repeat of his earlier actions. "How old were you?" he asked quietly, confident that Valon would understand what he meant.
The brunette shut his eyes tightly. "I don't know exactly," he answered, grabbing for his shirt again once Raphael decided that he was relatively alright. "Four or five, I guess. . . ." His voice was strained. He hated remembering what had happened to him. And it seemed hard to him, to talk to Alister right now as if nothing had happened a moment before. He knew the redhead was trying his very best, but apparently that was not going to be good enough against the Orichalcos. The boy shuddered, recalling their harrowing experiences on the night when Alister had been falsely accused of murder. Valon had been somewhat afraid to be around him then, as well, as Alister had cornered him at one point with a knife—though Valon knew that Alister had not known what he had been doing. This time it was much more frightening, as Alister had known what he was doing—and he just had not been able to stop himself.
"They deserve to suffer for what they did to you," Alister said darkly, unable to refrain from revealing his feelings of utter disgust and revulsion. Those who would deliberately and cruelly hurt children were, in Alister's eyes, the lowest of the low. Even when he was completely in his right mind, he had a longing to make people such as the Paltridges pay dearly for their crimes. It took a great deal of self-control for him to hold back. And the Orichalcos wants to break my self-control down, he knew, until there's nothing left but madness.
Valon whirled around, his blue eyes flashing. Even Raphael was startled by the younger man's expression, but when Valon spoke, it all made sense. "Well, don't you be thinking of making it happen!" he scolded. "Alister, you lost your marbles out there! You can't go making a ruckus like that again. If you do . . . well . . . we might not get you back." The last part of his sentence came out choked and broken. "And . . . we can't have that, now, can we?" It's the last thing I want! I don't want my past avenged . . . only to lose a friend in the process.
Alister watched him quietly. "No," he agreed, "but it won't happen. You don't have to worry, Valon." He turned to the door. "If you're alright, we should see about getting Hilda back before anything else goes wrong. It's already after nine o'clock." The Orichalcos was snaking through his veins, causing him to shudder as he tried to hold it back. But then his gray eyes narrowed and a new determination welled up within his soul. He would prevent it from getting loose. No matter what it took, he had to. Valon was right—he truly had "lost his marbles." And he did not want it to happen again. What if he could not regain control another time? He did not want to say anything, but the truth was, it had been extremely hard for him to push the Orichalcos's power back this time. It seemed almost a miracle that he had managed it. The same miracle might not happen a second time.
Valon glared at him. "No one said I was worried," he retorted, following him out into the hall. "I just . . . hate the thought of you goin' nuts, is all. I mean . . . Alister, you're actually scary when you're crazy!" He swallowed hard. "It's like . . . like you don't care about anyone or anything . . . only gettin' your vengeance. And you don't care who gets hurt in the way." The memory surfaced of Alister shoving him to the floor and the Australian clenched a fist. He knew that Alister had not meant to hurt him, but still, that did not change that it did hurt, especially emotionally. What if we can't save him? What if he can't save himself? What if . . . he really does die, like he said?
Alister looked ahead stonily and did not answer, but he knew Valon was right. It alarmed him. The Orichalcos had brought out his vengeful side during Doom, as well, eventually causing him to go temporarily out of his mind. Alister hated remembering that time. He did not want to see it get repeated.
Raphael simply shook his head and sighed as he walked with them. "You're just lucky that you weren't hurt seriously," he said to the Australian, who shrugged, "and you're lucky that you didn't hurt anyone seriously, Alister." He looked to the redhead, but Alister gave no indication of responding. And so the blonde simply sighed once again and wondered if they would be able to rescue Hilda. He doubted that Hilda would even be very grateful, judging by how things usually went when he was around her. She did not like him—at least not anymore—nor did she like Valon or Alister. She was probably blaming all of them for the fact that she was involved in this mess in the first place.
Mai was waiting for them when they wandered back into the living room. "So," she said slowly, "I guess you're alright, then, Valon?" She looked at him, feeling slightly uncomfortable. If Valon had gotten badly hurt, she would have felt quite guilty indeed, since he had been staying there to protect her. But he was walking, albeit with a bit of a limp, and he gave a weak grin when he saw her.
"Sure," he said, though Mai somehow was not completely convinced. "I'm doin' fine. They didn't rough me up much." Even as he said this, however, he was subconsciously wincing from the pain creeping up his back. Being hit with a golf club hurt, but Valon was grateful that he had been able to block some of the attacks and that Raphael and Alister had come before too many direct hits had been achieved. "Now we've gotta go on another rescue mission, though." He sighed inwardly. He also knew Hilda was not likely to even be grateful, but still, he knew Raphael would never leave the woman in Doom Reborn's hands. And, Valon admitted to himself, that organization was likely to do things that not even Hilda deserved.
Raphael looked at the woman with his piercing blue-eyed gaze. "I suppose you figure the danger has passed now," he said flatly. And he supposed that was so, though it did seem strange that eight Doom Reborn warriors would have been scared away by Alister's behavior. He had to wonder if there was not, perhaps, something more sinister afoot. He had been wracking his mind, trying to come up with some idea, but it seemed that all was a blank. Logically, there was not much reason for Doom Reborn to not have tried again to get Mai, if they truly wanted her. The warriors had outnumbered the others.
Though . . . he could not help remembering the young man who had brought this grief upon them in the first place. He had acted almost shattered when he had talked of how Raphael had left the original Doom organization. Raphael started to wonder if that man was behind some of the other recent events, including what had happened here.
Mai crossed her arms. "You saw them run with their tails between their legs," she smirked. "I don't think they'll be back." And even if she thought they might return, she would not have said so aloud. She did not want to depend on anyone for help, and especially not Valon, when he was already hurt. "You three should just go on along now." Though, Valon would probably wind up hurt again, Mai thought to herself with a sigh. But she was certain that he would not leave his friends to attempt saving Hilda by themselves. Valon would probably struggle to the very death to help them—or her.
Raphael had been thinking thoughts along the same lines. "Actually, maybe you should stay behind, Valon," he frowned. "It's true that you could've been hurt much worse, but you are hurt. And you're limping." The boy was likely quite sore and bruised, but Raphael also knew that it would be almost impossible to keep him away. Valon was stubborn like that, and he had become a loyal friend in spite of his initial insistence that he looked out only for himself. All three of them had grown and changed for the better since they had met.
"Aw, come on, Raph!" came the immediate protest. "I'm fine." Valon smirked slightly as he headed for the door. "'Sides, I could do with a good fight, one that has better odds than the last one did." If he thought Mai was still in danger, he would most certainly want to stay behind with her, but he believed as Raphael did—that something very strange was going on and that Doom Reborn was not going to return here. So he was eager to follow his friends on this new quest and to try finding some answers to the puzzling questions that had been cropping up.
Alister laid his hand on the doorknob, turning it slowly. "I think we all can agree that the last thing we need is for you to come looking for a fight," he remarked calmly. "I also think we can agree that most likely the odds will be even worse." Again he sounded like the Alister that Raphael and Valon knew—cool and collected and in complete control of his emotions. Both were relieved by this, but still they wondered how long it would last.
"Well, I can hope, anyway," Valon shrugged, pausing to look deep into Mai's violet eyes before turning to follow Raphael, who was following close behind Alister. He would never ask her to come along, considering what they were going to do, and he doubted that she would even be interested anyway. During Doom, she had never shown much concern when they had gone out on dangerous missions. Of course, she had been deeply under the Orichalcos's spell at that time, but he felt that even if she had not been, she would not have been very interested.
"Valon?"
Curiously the boy turned back. "What is it, Mai?" he asked softly. He understood that Mai did not love him romantically, but that did not mean that he thought she loathed him—even though he knew she did not like either Raphael or Alister.
"Be careful," she told him now, her voice equally as soft, "and . . . thanks."
Valon smiled, though it was a somewhat sad, wistful smile. "No worries," he replied, leaving Mai to ponder over her thoughts and feelings.
The trio followed the beacon of the Orichalcos out to the docks, where indeed, there were many warehouses. So that's what he meant when he said we wouldn't have trouble finding it, Raphael thought dryly to himself as they quickly located the glowing building. It sticks out like a sore thumb. Idly he wondered why curious passers-by never seemed to come to investigate when the bright green glow filled up the sky.
"Alright," he growled softly as they all parked their motorcycles, "remember the way we're going to do this." He looked from Valon to Alister as they removed their helmets. Valon's fluffy hair made a soft rustling sound as it settled back into its normal, star-shaped formation. Raphael had to shake his head slightly in amusement at that.
Valon blinked up at him. "I remember," he replied, "and I remember somethin' else, too. Wasn't that Vivalene mixed up in the group that took me a while back?" He shuddered, not liking the memories any more than Raphael did. She really got the drop on me! he thought angrily, recalling how she had fooled him into thinking that she was a kind, considerate friend. Then she had repeatedly tried to kill Raphael and Alister behind Valon's back and eventually had tried to have him killed himself. Oh yeah, she was a real friend! Who needs enemies with her around to be a friend?
"She was," Alister said, placing his sunglasses over his eyes. "Are you thinking that she could be involved with Doom Reborn now?" Of course Vivalene would not have any interest in "purifying" the world. If she had joined, it would have only been for the power that she hoped to gain. She was the most greedy, selfish, compulsive liar that Alister had ever met, and definitely not a lady.
"Well, it's possible," Valon said as they walked toward the warehouse. "Or maybe she'd know some stuff about it. Not that she'd ever tell us if she did, though." He imagined that if someone found and approached her with the right price, she might divulge whatever secrets she knew of. But she probably still wanted the same information that Doom Reborn now wanted, and that would only put them all right back where they started.
"Let's talk about it later," Raphael grunted, hushing them.
As they neared the door, they were only slightly surprised not to see any guards in sight. The organization was naturally expecting them, and probably any sentries were waiting just inside, where they would also be ready to nab any unexpected party. But still there was another problem—they discovered that the barrier of the Orichalcos was all around the entire building, and not just on the roof, as they had initially thought. How would they even be able to penetrate through it?
"I don't suppose there's a stray Orichalcos stone layin' around," Valon remarked, narrowing his blue eyes before abruptly losing his temper. "How the heck do they expect us to get in!" he yelled indignantly. He tapped at the essence and then drew back quickly as a prickle of electricity went through his hand.
Raphael growled irritably. "Maybe they're just trying our patience and they'll release the barrier in a minute," he suggested. "I'm sure they know we're out here." But after they wandered around the perimeter of the warehouse and there was still no sign of the Orichalcos being lifted, he started to wonder if that was so. He did not doubt that they were being watched, but maybe Doom Reborn had no intention of letting them in, at least not for a while.
Alister frowned, getting more annoyed every passing moment with this bizarre delay. As his vexation increased, he abruptly found his dizziness coming on and he stumbled, slamming right into the barrier. It glowed even brighter as soon as he did and the redhead gasped, feeling as though the evil power was completely enveloping him in its embrace. His gray eyes widened and he started frantically trying to pull away, but instead, he only found himself falling into—no, through—the light. You are part of me, a voice from the light seemed to say within Alister's mind, and you cannot escape it. It is your destiny now! His heart leaped into his throat as he realized that the Orichalcos was reacting to the poison within his body. Because he was infused with the evil force, he was going to pass through the barrier.
"Hey!" Valon yelped. "It's pulling him in!" He was not sure at first whether to try to pull him out or to grab on and hope that they would then be taken through the substance as well, but when he and Raphael grabbed Alister's flailing hand, they found that they did not have much of a say in the matter. As soon as they had a firm grip, all three of them plunged through, crashing on the ground in a confused heap.
Raphael, who had landed on top, quickly got up and then immediately found that he was dizzy. A hand flew up to his forehead. "Ugh," he growled, wondering what had happened, exactly. How had Alister managed to phase through a barrier that was normally as thick as a wall for anyone who attempted it? It did not make sense!
"Crikey," Valon moaned, getting up as well. "How did you do that, Alister? You got us through the Seal of Orichalcos, and as a bonus you gave me a killer headache!" He took a step, stumbled, and bumped into Raphael. That was not an experience he wanted to repeat. He had felt as though he was passing through a barrier consisting of the very essence of evil itself. His entire being felt chilled.
Alister shuddered, pulling himself into a sitting position. Strange, he thought, but I don't have a headache. I don't feel much of anything at all, actually. "The Orichalcos," he muttered then, looking up at his friends. "It sensed that I was poisoned by it. That's why it dragged me in. I suppose that the only reason the two of you were able to come along was because you grabbed onto me." He supposed that it was also possible that it was because they had all been infected with the evil force at one point, but if that was truly the case, then why had Valon been unable to pass through the barrier when he tried to earlier? And why did he and Raphael have headaches while Alister did not? The lanky man had a very bad feeling about what would be the eventual result of this experience.
Slowly he rose as well. "Let's look for the nearest entrance," he said, examining the approximate yard-length of ground that was also in the Orichalcos's grasp.
Valon frowned. "It sounds like you might have another problem on your hands, chum," he announced, highly troubled by what Alister had said. When he looked at Raphael, he could see that the blonde man felt the same way. This would not bring about anything good for their poor friend.
Alister shook his head. "Let's worry about it later," he said grouchily, finding an open doorway. "We have other things we need to do right now, don't you agree?" He did not bother to look back and see if his friends were following. Instead he simply wandered right inside the building, leaving his friends to catch up.
Raphael grunted, his blue eyes narrowing. "Yeah," he said darkly, "'other things.'" He clenched a fist. "Come on," he told Valon. "He shouldn't get too far ahead of us." He's probably gonna be a whole lot worse before we can even get out of here! Raphael felt horrified at the thought, especially since Alister had already had a breakdown earlier in the evening. What would so much contact with this Orichalcos force do to him when he had already been poisoned? The blue-eyed man felt his stomach knot as he became certain that they would find out.
Valon was already storming off purposely, heading in the direction in which Alister had gone. "Don't worry, Raph," he called back. "I don't have any intentions of letting him get out of our sight." We're gonna find a way to help you, Alister. I swear it! Even if I havta die trying, we'll find a way!