Chapter 20 - Careless Talk Costs Souls

I must stay strong, I must stay strong, I must stay strong... she repeated to herself, her newfound mantra of peace. As long as she kept thinking that, she wouldn't be thinking of what he did to her... the pain, the revulsion, the horror... she tried to lock that away, knowing it would consume her totally if released... She sat in a corner, curled up into a tight, protective ball, her head nestling between her knees. Slowly she rocked back and forth, trying to keep hold of the illusion of safety she was in.

Her head snapped towards the door as she heard it open, her pupils dilating with fear.

"Only me my dear, come to check up on our prisoner," Gaspar commented jovially.

She gave a mental sigh, her mind at ease with Gaspar in her company. It had been over a week she guessed since... the incident and she had only seen Spekkio a few times afterwards, but he was keeping a poker face despite his obvious disappointment that she had given up no secrets. She half expected him to come back night after night but so far he hadn't, but she knew it was only a matter of time...

"What do you want?" she spat out at the old man.

"Merely to talk, merely to talk."

"And where is your red freak today?"

"I didn't know you cared..." Gaspar frowned as he saw her flinch when he said that. "Spekkio is away at the moment, but he'll be back soon enough." She flinched again, completely unaware she was doing it. Gaspar was troubled. What's going on here? It isn't like Alyssa to be like this...

"So what did you want to talk about?"

"A few minor matters, for instance... what is Operation Zeitgeist for instance?"

"You think I'm going to tell you?"

"Why not? What do you stand to gain by not telling me? Unless," he said, drawing out the sibilant ending as he thought. "Unless there is a flaw in the plan you don't want to alert me to..." The flash in her eyes told him that he was correct so he carried on pressing in.

"Well, I'll tell you what I know so far, alright? I know that the little girl from Arris Dome was deliberately spared. I know that you've killed your son, Janus and destroyed Prometheus. I know there is a rogue element in the Hand of Kronos called the Black Wind. I know that the Black Wind is responsible for everything I said earlier and I know that you are a member of the Black Wind. What I don't know however, is a far more extensive list. I don't know who or why that girl was spared. I don't know how you survived after being defeated on the Black Omen. I don't know why you killed Janus and destroyed Prometheus. I don't know why the Black Wind has done anything except that it's somehow wound up with Lavos. So tell me, what is Operation Zeitgeist?"

"No," was the simple reply.

"Dammit Alyssa, tell me! I have to know!" he shouted, slamming his palm against the wall, inches away from her head.

"Oh my... getting a little tetchy are we Guru Gaspar?" she said, adding an unnecessary inflection on his title.

Gaspar's moustache twitched as his anger slowly grew in intensity. "Time is of the essence. I need to know this information and if you're unwilling to talk, well... I'm sure me and Spekkio can think of something to loosen you tongue a little." Now it was Alyssa's turn to flinch but this time, she couldn't stop. Her arm was spasming beyond her control though her face betrayed nothing. Concern crossed his face as he stared down at it.

"What's wrong? What are you looking at?" she asked, perplexed by the look on Gaspar's face. She followed his gaze and saw her arm flinging itself about by her side as if it had a mind of its own. "Stop it, STOP IT!" she hissed at it to no avail. Finally, she grabbed hold of it with her other hand and held it close to her side. Even then, the fingers were still convulsing, twitching away to their own twisted little beat.

"What happened to you? What's wrong?" Gaspar asked as he crouched down, looking deep into her eyes but it was too late. Both of her arms hung loose and her shoulders slumped as she went catatonic. Her mouth hung open with drool starting to run from her lips as her eyes stared vacantly into space. Gaspar sighed and stood up, his old knees clicking as they straightened out. What the hell just happened to her?


The cold bitter embrace of nothingness coursed around her, stretching its long limbs about her, trying to embrace her but it couldn't touch her. If only she could touch it, then everything would be fine. She reached out towards it but it warped away from her questing fingers as if it didn't want to hold her. She walked towards it but it continued to move away, drawing her further and further away from where she started. Picking up her pace, she started running towards it, not once looking behind her to see what she ran from, seeing only what she would get if she kept going...


It reached into the world once more, sensing one of its children nearing mental destitution, nearing a point where it could be completely controlled...


She stopped. Something had changed. Fear swallowed her and she turned around, sprinting away from the dark. Looking over her shoulder, she saw it rush towards her, forming waves that crashed into each other, slowly gaining on her until it finally engulfed her...


Gaspar, unable to think of what to do at the moment turned to leave, walking towards the door. As he reached for the handle, he sensed a shift in the room's atmosphere. Turning around, he saw Queen Zeal slowly rise to her feet, her movements jerky as if never done before.

"Alyssa? Are you alright?" He rushed over towards her, but stopped when he saw her eyes. The irises and the aqueous humour had all turned pitch black like oil. Looking at him, her head cocked to the side as she studied the elderly man. Thrusting an arm out, she hit him square in the chest, knocking him flying into a wall where he slumped down, coughing out blood. She staggered forwards until she reached the door, upon which she started hitting it.


Its frustration mounted as it realised how frail the body it was controlling was. Hitting the old human had taken a lot out of it and now it couldn't smash down a simple door. Instead, it reached out again, mustering what little powers it had...


He coughed, blood spluttering out from his lips, a few drops clinging to his moustache. Wearily, he raised his head to see Alyssa beating at the door. Stopping, she took three steps backwards and stopped still, staring at it. Out of nowhere, a small vortex appeared in the middle of the door, the steel warping as it struggled against the negative forces. As the vortex expanded, it swallowed the steel door, the energy sphere pulling in the frame and the floor with it and closed again, leaving nothing where it had been. Alyssa walked through the gap and out into the world.

A gate... a gate just appeared! But who... or what made it?