Chapter 13: Move over Freddy, Bhaal is the new nightmare master!

Anni had so far spent two whole days locked in her room with Edwin, leaving only when necessary and then she made sure not to run into the others. She was still too scared to face her friends, and Edwin had no complaints about staying in the room with her what-so-ever. At the moment she was laying in bed with his arms around her waist, he was snoring softly, his breath tickling the back of her neck.

She enjoyed waking up like this, she liked even more when he woke up first as he had his own way of greeting the morning. She especially liked how he would complain over her choice in sleep wear, since unlike him she preferred to wear something to sleep. Of course, Edwin Odesseiron had a perfect body and did not need to cover himself like a common simian. This remark had caused a small fight which did end very nicely.

She wasn't a morning person, everyone was always awake before she was, so why was she up now? Something had woken her up, but what? The room was blisteringly hot, which was odd since Athkatla never was that hot. She opened her eyes slowly and swallowed a scream at the sight that greeted her.

She was home.

Not at Candlekeep though, no that would have been pleasant. This place she had awakened in was her mother's home. She turned to wake Edwin but he was no longer there, she was alone. The room still looked as the last time she had seen it, drawings of dragons littered the wall and the few books they had were stacked neatly against the wall. The bed she laid in was the same that she had shared with Sarevok many years ago.

Though Anni was back in this place the thing that bugged her the most was the fact she was still small enough to fit in the bed. She stood and walked the length of the room, going to the one thing that was out of place. The Sword of Chaos was propped against the wall, she picked it up, the familiar weight was a comfort to her.

She could hear footsteps nearing the room and watched as the door opened.

"No...no not you!" She whispered in horror. The woman who stood in the doorway was beautiful. The woman had dark-brown hair that fell to her shoulders, her amber eyes held nothing but contempt for the girl. She was graceful as she walked towards her, the women's purple and black robes seemed to float around her. Anni forgot for a moment that she was twenty years older than the last time she had seen this woman.

Alianna was beautiful, so beautiful it made Anni mad, she would never have her mother's or Sarevok's bronzed skin, or their light eyes. Alianna's beauty hid her the ugliness of her character, Anni supposed that only women as evil as her could be that beautiful.

"Still a disrespectful little bitch, I see." Her hand shot out and grabbed Anni by her hair and started out of the room dragging her along. Alianna cruelly pulled her daughter along, not once hesitating at the chance to drag her when she lost her footing. She pulled her through the house until they reached her private altar. Anni was thrown at the base of the altar, which was still wet with fresh blood. "The time is ripe, and you are no longer needed to live. So long I have waited for this, to watch your blood grace HIS alter."

"No, no please don't hurt me anymore, I promise I'll be good." Anni's terror of her mother had regressed her mind back to that of a child's.
"You can beg you foul creature, it will only make your death all the more sweeter." Alianna laughed as the girl screamed for her brother. "He can't hear you where he is. He will not stop me this time!" She raised her sacrificial dagger, intending for it to find a home in Anni's heart but was surprised when another blade found its way into her own stomach.

"No! Not this time. Never again will you terrorize me Alianna." Anni screamed at the woman, pushing the sword deeper into her. Anni felt so happy at the look on her mother's face. She laughed with pure happiness but it soon caught in her throat as the world seemed to melt and reform. She was no longer in the house but a field and with horror the person impaled on the blade was no longer Alianna but one sage.

"My child, what have you done?"

"No, daddy, I'm sorry, I-" She pulled the sword out of Gorion, catching him as he fell. "Daddy I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"My blood is on your hands, my child. My death is your fault." She lowered him to the ground, trying to call on her powers from Lathander to heal him but she couldn't feel them anymore.

"No it's not my fault! You won't die." She placed her hands over the wound and drew it into herself. It fascinated her every time she used this power that came from her divine blood. She watched as the wound closed, knowing after the skin closed that inside of him everything was also fixed. She backed away hating what came next. Each time she had been forced to use this power, she hoped that this next part would not come but it always did and it hurt.

She screamed as an identical wound to the one Gorion just had, ripped itself open on her body. Her insides burned as infection set in first, the wound oozed yellowish green pus and blood dripped from her mouth when she coughed. The pain increased as her body's organs started to shut down on her, soon she could no longer breath and she fell to her back to stare at the night's sky.

She did not die though, that would defeat the whole purposed, she suffered through what Gorion would have suffered if he had never been treated for the wound and yet kept alive to suffer. It was over within a few minutes though to her it last a lifetime. The wound on her stomach was now closed and the only sign it had been there was the blood and other fluids on her clothes. She felt weak as she pushed herself up when she was on her feet the whole sifted again. This time she was inside Bhaal's temple, the one she had fought Sarevok in.

"Now what?" She whispered.

"So, you have come at last." Sitting on a throne was a man in armor with spikes protruding from it.

"Sarevok?"

"Close, but no." The voice was slightly deeper than Sarevok's, in fact the armor was different too, somehow it was more... ugly.

"Bhaal."

"Ah, it is so refreshing to have at least one bright child. You have no idea how many children are quite ignorant, must have something to do with their mothers." He walked towards her, moving as if the armor weight nothing.

"I take it this whole event has been your creation? What was the point of all this?"

"You suffer needlessly, my poor daughter. All the pain you suffer can end if you only accept yourself and me."

"I won't, you would lie and twist everything to have your own way."

"And yet you have listened to me in the past. You are my child, no matter what you tell yourself and as such you need my guidance." Bhaal said in almost a caring tone.

"The only thing I need for you to do is to fuc-" She didn't get to finish her sentence as his hand connected with her face. She didn't have the strength to get up from the floor and just stared up at him.

"There will come a day, daughter that you will need me. One day that weakling Lathander will turn his back on you and the powers gifted from your mother will fail you. There will only be I left. You will learn." Bhaal's voice grated her nerves as she stared up at him. Why did he have to sound like he cared? Why couldn't he rage at her?! It would make things so much simpler for her.

"Don't listen to him." Anni turned her head to see the speaker. Sarevok stood a few feet away. He was covered with blood and sweat, the armor he wore was ill fitted on him and his head was covered with stubble. "He will abandon you when you believe to need him, strip away all your intelligence until you only thoughts are his and you are nothing but a mindless drone, slave to his ambition."

"The ambition was your own, Sarevok. I merely fed your hunger for power. The rest of the blame lies on you." Bhaal's voice gave the impression that he was smirking inside the armor.

"That I know, and I pay for it in even now in the Abyss. I will not allow you to sentence my sister there. As you live inside of her so do I. You made a mistake by creating both of us from the same woman. We are connected, apart of me will always travel with her and her with me." When Sarevok offered her his hand, she took it allowing him to bring her to her feet. "As long as I am here, you will not have her." Bhaal let out a growl before the shadows took him from her sight.

"Sarrey I -"

"It's ok Anna. I'll keep him away as long as it takes. Find a way to free us, little one. I know you can do it." He kissed her forehead. "Now wake up. Your wizard is getting worried."

---

Anni shot up in bed once she was freed from the dream, only to have her head collid with Edwin's, who had been leaning over her. As soon as the shock of hitting his head wore off she threw her arms around him and started to cry again. Edwin held her in his arms, murmuring soft words of comfort to her in his own language as he stroked her hair. Though Anni couldn't understand the all words he spoke, she was learning, among them she knew he called her his heart. After a while she finally calmed down and was able to raise her eyes to look at Edwin.

"Was it is Irenicus again?" He asked softly. She shook her head and told him in hushed tones about the dream, never raising her voice above a whisper as if she was afraid to speak louder would cause it to happen again. Afterwards he held her in his arms, kissing her tears away.

"Edwin, would you still love me if I lost all my magic?" Anni hit him with a pillow when he had the nerve to actually think about it. He caught her wrists before she could hit him again and pressed a kiss against her lips until she yielded to him.

"Whether or not you have power is of little consequence to me, I have enough power for the both of us. (Yes and soon even more with the help of my Nether Scroll)." She rewarded him with a smile before throwing her arms around him and kissing him. After a few minutes he pulled away and spoke. "Anni, you are wearing by far too many clothes. (This would be much simpler if she just listened to me)."

"Oh?" She smiled as she slowly, very slowly started to undo the laces on her night gown.

"You're taking too long." Was all the warning she got before he cast a spell, a spell that, much to her amusement and annoyance, sliced through her gown which fell off her in pieces.

"Edwin, that was my only night gown!" She tried to sound stern but failed at the look in his eyes. He laced his hands through her hair and pulled her against himself. She sighed his name as his lips trailed down her neck. He didn't get far before he heard a familiar and all too annoying noise. There was a dimension door opening across the room before the person could step out, Edwin pulled the blankets up to cover himself and Anni.

"The practice of magic without a license is forbidden in the city of Athkatla. You sh- Not you two again!" A very annoyed Cowled Wizard appeared through the dimension door. "This is the twelfth time in two days that you two have used magic, can't you people knock it off." Anni pressed her face against Edwin's neck as she blushed but mainly to keep from laughing. "That's it! I've had enough of you two. I'll give you a damned license so I don't have to come out here anymore. Names!" Edwin was also having trouble trying not to laugh but managed to give his name. "And you girl?"

"Anni."

"Last name?"

"Um... I don't have one." The Cowled Wizard sighed with disgust.

"Fine. I'll just write down Odesseiron as your last name."

"But we're not married or anything."

"The two of you do it enough to be." Were the wizard's last words before leaving. Anni and Edwin looked at each other before falling helpless to laughter.