The two young men stood. The taller, a teen with chocolate skin and curly black hair had a slight smirk on his face. The other, a younger tanned boy with blue eyes and dark brown wavy locks had a scowl on his face.
"This is quite a predicament isn't it." Damien said, but he wasn't talking to Faris, his eyes were on a woman, clean shaven and wearing a dark robe, her face, a pleasant pretty enough one, was twisted in hatred and anguish as she struggled against what appeared to be a chain of interlocking bones wrapped around her and keeping her from moving.
"Shut your mouths, what did you do to turn them against me?!"
Faris shook his head, "I merely did what you wouldn't, I promised to help resolve any lingering regrets they may have." He turned to the former black hand mages, in his mind and due to they're single minded vendetta before they were little more than skeletons, charred and broken, held together by cloth straps. I gave them the opportunity to understand me."
"You opened them to your memories?!" Anya gasped.
"You make it sound as if you wouldn't have done that." Damien chuckles. "Also, you've been keeping some nasty secrets, like how you know who hired Uglauw, and why the 24 men under him that I killed lost their important ones, and how they were groomed into the psychopaths they are now."
"That, doesn't change what they did." Faris continued. "But I'm in prison now because of it, and I'm sure by now you also realize the truth."
Anya was silent, the chains merely restrained her, as opposed to killing her.
Damien smiled, and continued, "Jahat, she has an enchantment around her, she took hold of your mind, made you forget your oaths to those you cared about."
"Shut up!" Anya's body burst into flames, taking a demonic visage not unlike what she did as she burnt down Venka's home.
"You shut up." Damien muttered, the fire snuffed out almost immediately, "This isn't your mind, you just want to die, you want to destroy and kill, and rage against the world you were born in until someone kills you, because you were used by your mother, by your father, by the man you thought you loved. Then Galbatorix used you, then now Jahat was using you, and you died, never free to make your choices on your own, made a monster in order to survive and cope, and killed by simple children blessed with the freedom to live peaceful happy lives."
"…And you felt jealous." Faris shook his head, looking at Damien, who solemnly nodded. "You felt jealous, why should they get to be happy."
"So instead of just taking Venka and leaving, you wanted to make her suffer first. That was the first free choice you had been given in a long time, and you chose to continue to be a monster Anya."
"Fuck you! So, you have my memories?! You know my excuses?! I know all of your memories! All your weaknesses as well!"
"Exactly." Faris chuckled, "And that's why you know you can't beat us." The music of his mind increased, combining the complex mix of Damien's somber life and Faris's exciting thrills with the experiences and life of each of the ones he had taken into himself, the room expanded, but became darker, colder, crueler, until strong links of light flowed out. Each light, held a happy memory, a promise kept, family togetherness, a first love. Even the bitter sweetness of their loss kept those flames going. The collection of memories that called herself ANYA looked on in bitterness and awe.
"You have your own memories to rely on, why don't you?" Faris turned to her.
"I… No!" Anya turned away angrily. "Why don't you despise me?!"
"I do despise you." Faris said simply.
"That's why we want to understand you." Damien continued. "Either way though, our time is up for now, we're about to wake up."
"They put me to sleep magically right?" Faris said, the memories of the people he killed washing over him like a wave, the conglomerate of their thoughts and feelings left him feeling a varying plethora of things, guilt, self-hate, anger, fear, paranoia, pain, anguish, apathy, and in some cases even compassion. Even as the mental world he set for himself broke apart as he was being forced awake, an overriding emotion was within him.
"Acceptance."
Faris woke up, cheeks stained wet with his tears as he looked around, he was on a bed with a thin but soft mattress, pillow propping up his head, he was in a clean looking room, pictures of pleasant outdoor scenery layered the walls. The room was maybe 10 feet by 15 feet, and in one corner was a simple wooden table and chair, on the table was a book and several charcoal pencils and ink and quill sets. Faris walked up to it, opening it he found it to be empty, shrugging he sat down and began to draw and write on it. The first thing he wrote was a collection of his favorite tongue twisters, followed by drawings and sketches of the prisoners and the guards and the warden. Then he drew each of the men he had killed, who's memories he had in his mind, and ingrained into his identity now. He glanced to his right, seeing a mirror he went over to touch it, it was covered by something.
"Dramr Kopa!"
The mirror did not activate, something in this room either blocked magic, or scrying was impossible. He pointed at one of the pencils.
"Rïsa"
The pencil did not immediately rise to his hand. He frowned, walking forward, he concentrated on the pencil, it still did not move. He eventually lowered his hand, and tried a wordless spell. To his surprise the pencil lifted off the floor, ending the magic, he let it drop. He could surmise two reasons why the ancient language wasn't working. Either he or the objects in the room were enchanted to not respond to magic, and the magic user assuming all magic utilized the ancient language didn't ward against wordless incantations. Or by some terrible way, someone had discovered the true name of the ancient language. He fervently hoped it was the former. The door began to open, he turned to face it, martial stance at the ready. He relaxed somewhat as a young woman, appearing to be a nurse stumbled in, she nervously nodded to him, smiling as she brought in a tray of food. She gently moved his sketchbook out of the way.
"I'm sure you must be really hungry! Here!" She smiled expectantly.
Faris stared at her, "Umm, where am I?"
"Oh! You are in a hospital! The head doctor will see you shortly! I'm really sorry! I can't tell you more!" Before Faris could offer a retort or exclamation the woman quickly left.
"Okay…" Faris sat at the table, even if he knew that spells could be cast wordlessly, there was still a level of impetus needed to connect his mind to cast the spell, and something as complex as poison and disease detection, at least to him, could not be simply done haphazardly. And his mind was racing too much to concentrate. He took a bite of the food tentatively, there appeared to be nothing wrong with it, so he continued to eat. In fact, to him the food was delicious. It was a simple meal, bread and stew, but the stew had a hearty amount of meat and vegetables, and it had a decent mix of salt and spices. The bread was sweet and soft, a little too soft on the outside for his liking but passable, whoever made these was a good cook. He finished his meal, letting out a hearty burp before catching himself self-consciously. Gulping down the water provided for him he took stock of his situation. The last thing he remembered happening was falling asleep in solitary confinement, Solembum had told him that his friends where devising a way to set him free, and he still had faith they would complete it. "But, just where is this place." He looked around, for any clue or telling mark. Eventually he peered under the bed, to his surprise he discovered a picture, it was crude and cartoonish, likely scrawled by a child, it depicted 8 children, each one had light skin and white colored hair, with eyes of different extremely bright colors, one had red, another a deep blue, another with orange, another with violet, and again another with grey or silver, and another with green, he wondered who they were supposed to be. They certainly all looked similar. There was writing above each name, but time had messed it up except for two names, Eli, and Twine. Faris hear the knob begin to turn, placing the pictures back in the secret space he found he sat on his bed as a middle-aged man with large brown eyes and even larger spectacles walked in, he had straight brown hair and a soft face.
"Oh! That is good, you ate your meal. It is nice to meet you Faris, my name is Dr. Mandel."
Faris looked at the man suspiciously, "Can we please drop the pretenses, I don't trust you, but I'm also not stupid enough to try anything, I feel being honest would be for the best."
Dr. Mandel smiled, "Well if you insist, yes, I'm sure you remember you were last left rotting in Rembrant's jail cells?"
"Yes, I remember, what, did he accidentally almost kill me again?"
"No no!" The man laughed, "You've been a thorn in our sides for a while now Faris Ser." He turned around, "Follow me please"
Faris stood silently.
"I thought you stated you weren't stupid."
Faris sighed in annoyance and followed after the doctor. The hallway they were in was empty except for a simple picture of Urûbaen, at least it matched what Urûbaen probably used to look like under Galbatorix's rule, the general structure of the city was still there, but the main castle was different.
"So," Faris began, "I take it you are a member of the black hand?"
"Former member of Galbatorix's research team actually, I was one of the lucky ones. I have a new more fun master now, and that's where you come in." They made their way to a pair of double doors. The man opened them and beckoned Faris in. Inside were 7 kids, the youngest barely older than Marla, and the oldest, a tall boy with short cropped hair and unnaturally blue eyes. They appraised Faris coolly, who traded their stares with equal calmness. Despite his façade he felt a large amount of discomfort, and guilt. But he could not fully trace the emotions. "These children are very important and special to our cause."
"Our?" Faris turned to the doctor confused.
"Well yes! Now that you're here, you're a part of it too, you should be honored, not everyone is selected to be amongst the first to attain godhood."
Faris felt a sinking feeling, "No thanks, godhood sounds overrated, I'd rather be fine with being normal and happy with myself."
"Aren't you tired of your weak body and weaker magical ability?" The doctor smiled, "I have devised a way to make humans on par with the elves and riders. Aren't you at all interested in the power it brings? This blessing was shared amongst the children and I'm willing to give it to you as well."
"I'd rather not have_"
"Forgive me doctor." One of the kids interrupted, it was a girl with shoulder length hair in a bob haircut. Her eyes were a deep maroon color, and slightly glowing. Faris's first thought was shade, but her white hair and lack of razor-sharp teeth dashed that idea. The girl looked at him haughtily, "I'm certain someone like him would be a useless addition to our group, you'd be better off finding an ignorant country yokel."
"I'd have to agree with Alpha sir," The oldest of the group, a boy with Indigo eyes spoke, "Not on his power, your procedure will take care of that, but his attitude, someone who already has magical training is normally a bit more difficult to control after the transformation, Delta is a perfect example of such a thing." He looked at a girl with lime green eyes, who stuck her tongue at him.
"I'll take your views into consideration, for now keep an eye on Faris, I need to complete my analyzation of his blood."
"Ummm, I said I'd rather not. And besides," He grabbed the doctor quickly bringing his hand to the doctor's neck while holding his arm in a hold. "I am a stage mage in training, that makes us enemies, now, you are going to release me an_" was all he managed to get out before crashing into the wall. The girl referred to as Alpha had him pinned against the wall, he struggled against her but was severely outmatched, she felt stronger than Seya had been when he fought her, and she was so casual about her hold on him, her body not even moving despite his kicks and scratches he attempted to put on her flawless skin.
"That's quite enough Alpha." The doctor got up, still smiling. "The fact he has such spirit is a good thing no?" He smiled at Faris, "As you see you are no match for the children. Think of the power you could hold. Unless, you'd rather face them all."
Faris's answer came with Alpha's surprised face as an explosion of air and flame appeared behind her, her grip was loosened slightly, just enough for Faris to get in a good punch to her lower jaw. She dropped him, disoriented, immediately Faris began to attack her mentally, she was surprised by his skill and unable to fight back against his superior hand to hand skills, quick and heavy jabs were the name of the game. In a matter of second Alpha collapsed, broken bones all over. Before she could fall Faris propped her up to block the incoming blows from the other kids. He winced as he felt her body crack more from the first blow, the children held off their onslaught as he held their leader hostage.
"Now, you better release the enchantment keeping me from using the ancient language, or I'll kill her."
The children merely looked at him, the way one looked at a small and ineffectual angry animal. He hated that look. Anya used to give him the same glance.
"Wow… so you can use wordless magic too?" He collapsed under a great weight, in a panic he concentrated hard on escaped, forcing his body to shift to the side away from the weight, he felt surprise that the effort didn't drain him completely, pushing that thought to the side he sidestepped the eldest boy who barreled past him and broke through the wall. "You're actually not complete trash." Faris coughed out bile and blood as he looked at a gaping wound in his stomach, created by someone's fist. He turned to see it was Alpha, she smiled at him, all traces of his attacks gone. "Immortal godhood, here, I'll let you have one more try." Faris glared at her angrily, back arching as she pulled out her hand, flicking his blood on the floor. He turned to look at her, then looked at all the other kids, they were observing him, much more relaxed, but with various expressions on their faces.
I… I'm losing conciousness fast, wait… is, is that? He stuck his hand out, gathering as much magic as he could without killing himself, he began to gather the oxygen in the room towards a singular area. The doors were open so air flowed in from other corridors, meaning this place was well ventilated, from what he could tell the complex was too big for it to not have many connections to the surface, and he wouldn't be feeling what he did if it wasn't the case. Gather the air, then, control it in a spiral, that makes it easier to condense, the vortex will suck in its own air, and it can be controlled if I start it small. Soon after the vortex of air began to form, like a tornado wrapped within itself spinning within another tornado, within a glass orb, the storm continued to rage within, wind picking up enough that even the children in the back could feel the pressure drop in the room.
Alpha's face was lit with joy. "Hit me with your best!"
"hmmm…. That's more magical ability than I was informed of." Dr. Mendel folded his arms. "Alpha! Don't let him complete his magic!"
But it was too late, the condensed orb of air flew from his fingers, into a tiny crack he had begun to form at the ceiling. "Fire" Faris said, collapsing as the ceiling broke open, even as the room exploded, he sighed in relief, the children's wards seemed to expand on relation to the level of damage being leveled their way, as long as he was on the other side of their invincible wall, the explosion would not harm him. Even as he stopped his bleeding he stared at the cracked open ceiling, he could see the stars of night, imprinting them in his mind he turned his eyes to what he had sensed.
Ventus had followed the carriage with the man with a tattoo on his neck for two reasons, he had smelled a large amount of no feathers-two-leg blood from him, more than anyone else in the city, even more than his master, and he recognized the marking. One of his master's nestmates had been attacked by a group bearing this mark, they were master's enemy, so his enemy. He hadn't fully understood what was going on but master hadn't returned to his nest, and the others were sad. The week before they had gone into a large two-leg-nest, and returned by their nature. Then the girl had left, he had flown looking for her, but by the time he had given up and returned exhausted, she had returned. He patrolled the streets, looking for any trace of his master, but to no avail, today, today he may have luck. He followed the carriage out of the city, through the twisting paths and brambles of the forest. He had learned that most two-legs paid him no heed as long as he kept far away from them. Eventually, he found a simple looking two-leg-nest, he fluttered around it for a bit, but could find no way to enter, he had planned on leaving when a huge rumble and an explosion of silvery flames lit up the ground. He watched in awe as the ground swallowed itself, and dived as he saw his master, hurt, and surrounded by two-legs who reeked of blood. He was about to deliver the swift punishment of his talons and beak when his master bid him to run, he would have ignored it, as a proud hunter, yet the urgency of his master's plea made him reconsider, he was told, told….
Go get help, we can't handle this alone… Faris's conciousness faded.
.
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Afterword:
Not much to say... Happy new year!