Vallye came striding up behind him, wearing the same expression. The sight of the two of them together like that brought back to my mind all the torment they forced me to endure throughout my childhood. To remember those things even now was like living through all of it again and again. Sometimes I can still feel the welts and bruises on my arms and back that they had given me as well as the scar they had marked across the back of my shoulder with a knife. I still remember exactly how I'd gotten that scar, too. I'd refused to steal an imperial gun for them. I had only been twelve then, but it had not mattered to them.
"Well, well, well, little brother. It looks like we've finally got you again," Vallye
said sardonically. A quiet chuckle escaped from her lips. "It'll be just like old times. Only better."
"What do you want with me?" I demanded, all my old fears resurfacing once more.
"Ah-ah, Lyude. That's a surprise," my brother chided, snatching me from the man's grasp and leading me away down a deserted street. "You'll find out soon enough."
What evil plan did they have for me this time? I wondered. Tears of anger began forming in my eyes and all my pain from years past would not release me. "Why?" I croaked. "Why do you do these things to me?"
" 'Why,' you ask? Why do we do these things?" Vallye said. "Why do you think, brother? Hove we not told you before? You are nothing but a worm, scum, filth. You don't deserve to be loved."
Her last words pierced me like a sword and took all breath from me. Those were the same words I'd heard her spirit say back on the Phantom Goldoba! Skeed had said them, too. I did not doubt that he was thinking the same now. Oh why? I thought to myself. I tried…I tried…
"I wish you both had died when those beasts of Cor Hydrae had been here," I said bitterly without realizing what I was saying. "I wish you were both dead."
Outraged, Skeed spun round and hit me hard in the stomach with the butt of his gun. I doubled over, clutching my stomach in agony, choking and gasping for breath. He then let go of my arm and let me fall to my hands and knees. "Don't you ever say that again, or you'll wish that you were the one that was dead!" he barked and kicked me in the side so that my hands slipped and I facedown on the street.
"Now get up!" he demanded harshly, but I could only lie still.
"I said, 'Get up!'" he repeated and I felt his hand seize the back of my collar and pull me up, choking me as if I were being hung. I clawed desperately at my throat, but he would not let go.
"That's right, Lyude," my sister said as she moved to stand before me. "If you don't behave yourself, things like this will happen to you. Do you understand?"
I nodded.
"Good," she said and a wicked smile formed on her lips. "Now let him go, Skeed."
I felt air rush into my lungs once more as Skeed released his grip. I wanted so badly to hurt him back right then and give him a taste of what he had been giving me for so many years. And yet, I knew I couldn't do it, not because I was afraid, but because although he had been torturing me endlessly ever since I was a child, he was still my brother. For some reason, I found that I still loved him—and my sister as well. They were, after all, all that I had left of my family.
I wondered briefly if they'd ever change.
"Come on, runt," said Vallye, shoving me forward so that I tripped and fell once more. "This way."
Suddenly, I felt the weight of her footsteps as she walked across my back and stepped off my shoulder, giving me a bruise that would last for weeks. Skeed also stepped on my hand as he passed, crushing it beneath his boot. I winced in pain and he just laughed amusedly to himself. He'd done it on purpose, not to be spiteful, I realized. He'd known I could only fire my gun with that hand and now that it was broken, I could do nothing.
I got weakly to my feet, gently cradling my broken hand with the other, and followed after them. There was nothing else I could do.
They led me down the street towards the other edge of Mintaka, speaking to each other in hushed voices. Every once in a while, they glanced over their shoulders to see if I was still there.
Once we had reached the road that led out of the city, they stopped and waited for me. "Alright, Lyude," said my brother as I stood in front of them. "Do you want to know what our little surprise for you is? Well, once we've traveled some way out of the city, we'll tell you. But you must promise us one thing."
I sighed in resignation. "What is that?" As if I did not already know.
"You must promise us that you'll cooperate with us. And just to make sure," said Skeed as he pulled a magnus from out of his pocket. There was a bright flash and then I saw the length of rope he held in his hands. "We'll bind your hands and lead you from here on, not that you can do anything with your hands now…"
He handed the rope to Vallye and she bound my hands behind my back with it, tying it especially tight round my broken hand. I flinched and felt tears of pain welling up in my eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, Lyude. Does that hurt?" she said, cinching the knot even tighter, causing me to cry out in agony.
Skeed then took Vallye's place behind me, laughing at me while I bit my lip hard as the throbbing in my hand increased. "There, there, Lyude," he said, taking hold of my arm. "It doesn't hurt that bad, does it?"
I made no answer. I wanted to tell him that I hated him. I wanted to turn around and scream it in his face. But I couldn't. I hung my head low.
"Did you hear me?" Skeed snarled. "I asked you a question!" He then hit my hand with his gun as hard as he could.
The pain that shot through me was so great, I thought I would lose consciousness. It felt as if he'd dropped a large boulder on it. Once the pain subsided some, I nodded before he hit me again.
"Good," he replied. "It should hurt. And since you can't use that hand anymore, you won't be needing this!"
He then snatched my gun from off of my belt and tossed it over to Vallye.
"My gun!" I protested, but they ignored me.
"Now let's move," said Skeed.
Vallye nodded and led the way onto a path leading off the main road. Skeed followed behind, dragging me along by the arm.
We continued down the road until we came to a stop at the top of a great, black half-dome of rock just past Azha. "Alright, Lyude," said my sister, walking back towards Skeed and me. "Now that we're here, I suppose we should tell you what we're going to do."
The smile that emerged on her face made me dread even more what was about to come. "You see, Lyude, while you were off saving the world from Malpercio, Skeed and I took a trip to Anuenue and went to the library. Do you know what we found, dear brother?"
I shook my head slightly.
"We found a book that told of another god, one even more wicked and powerful than Malpercio. Now, no one knows about this god because no one's spoken of him for many an age. And you know what else? Malpercio was simply one of his puppets created simply so that everyone would forget that he even existed until the time was right. Now that Malpercio's gone, the time has come to awaken him and reintroduce him into the world. And this time, my dear, sweet brother, you and your friends won't be able to defeat him."
I was astounded. A god more wicked than Malpercio? I seemed impossible, especially considering that everyone had seemed to have forgotten him, one who was supposedly so powerful. And what did this have to do with me?
"You're probably wondering what this has to do with you," said Skeed. "Well, you see, to awaken this god, someone has to sing a certain song. But not anyone can sing, no. It will only work for the one who can sing with perfect pitch in a voice as clears as that of crystal wine glasses being played upon. We all know that neither Vallye nor I can sing like that, just you. For that is the one thing you have that we do not. How fortunate that Almarde made you take all those voice lessons, although they never did seem to do your speaking voice any good…"
"At any rate, now here you are. Now is your chance to put all those lessons to use!
"Vallye! The song!"
"No! You can't make me do this!" I pleaded in terror as Vallye unfolded a piece of worn paper and held it fluttering in the wind before my eyes.
"If you don't do it," Skeed threatened, taking my gun from Vallye, "it will be your life!"
Suddenly, I felt the barrel of my own gun being pressed against the back of my head.
"Now sing!" Vallye shouted.
I looked at the paper she held before me and began reading the music that was on it.
"Louder!" Skeed cried, pushing the gun harder against my skull.
"I obeyed and sang as strong and clear as I could the loathsome words written on the page:
Oh come to me, blessed Child of ShadowCome, make your presence know to the City of Golden Streets
I beseech thee, O Bringer of Despair
O god of power and might,
Whose dark minions shall inherit the earthIt was a fell song to sing, written in D minor, the saddest, it is said, of all keys. Its very melody rent my heart and my soul. Never before had I felt such grief.
"Keep singing!" commanded Vallye, watching the rocks below.
The wind started howling madly.
And I kept singing though I thought I would be overcome by such woe. Skeed and Vallye had always tormented me, but I never thought that it would come to something like this. I could feel hot tears streaking my face, which must have matched now the color of my hair. Such was my sorrow and pain, and yet, I found that I could not stop singing.
"Yes! It's working! It's working!" I heard Skeed shout in glee.
Down below, I saw a wide, dark abyss open up and out of it stepped a creature more terrifying that anything I could imagine. It was as massive as the fortress outside of Mintaka and was as black as the deepest part of night. Its mere presence would have brought even the strongest of men to his knees. Malpercio himself would have fled from it, had it not been his master.
"At last! At last!" Vallye shouted madly. "Now everyone will bow down to the will of their new god!"
At those words, the creature spread its dark wings and leapt into the sky. The world became dark as if the sun had fallen from the sky and a fell wind stirred the air. I looked over my shoulder towards Mintaka, which only moments before had been shining golden in the sun. Now all had been turned to silver ash.
And this was my fault. If I had not existed, would Skeed and Vallye have been able to find someone to awaken the god for them?
They left me and ran back towards the city where I saw thee god alight with its great wings unfurled.
I fell to my knees and wept, wept for this world that now seemed lost beyond all hope. In that moment, I realized that what once was may never be again. Skeed and Vallye were right. Kalas, Xelha, Gibari, Mizuti, Savyna, and I, we could not save the world. Not this time.
And it was all because of me.
A/N: Sorry I had to leave ya with a cliffhanger there, but I thought it would be better that way. That and I didn't know where else to go after that. Major writer's block. If you want me to finish the story and you have some suggestions, I'd be more than happy to see them and I'll see what I can do. Also, just in case you're wondering, the reason Vallye and Skeed wanted to awaken the god is because he can grant them their inmost desires if they give up their souls to him and swear to be his servants forever. Also, after the fall of the Alfard Empire, they wanted something to replace it, something stronger and more powerful (and not to mention more threatening). I didn't explain that in the fic because I didn't know where to put it exactly without interrupting the flow of the story. So, I suppose that's all…for now…
