Chapter 10
Alec and I were spinning in gold powder and silver droplets. I was back in the wormhole.
I couldn't close my eyes, it only made me dizzier. Alec's eyes were wide open, in surprise. I still hand Alec's hand in mine, I tried to let go, but he gripped me tighter. I heard his thoughts. Don't let go, I might get stuck here or something.
I talked to him out loud. I figured if I could breathe and not get gold powder in my mouth, I could open it and not choke on the powder. It surprised me I could breathe. Though Alec didn't know we could, he was holding his breath. "Breathe Alec, it's okay. You won't choke." I said, squeezing his hand.
Alec took my advice and took a deep breath. He at first had a surprised look on his face, and then he grinned at me. I smiled back, and then I told him, "Shush for a moment okay? I need to focus on where were going." He nodded before I closed my eyes.
I thought of the destination I wanted to go to. Wherever Calithea was. Moments later, the vortex opened up to a street. I looked at Alec, "Ready?"
Alec nodded, and squeezed my hand as a sign of reassurance. Though I didn't need reassuring, maybe he did. I then willed the vortex to spit us out.
We luckily landed not face flat on the ground—thank the gods—but standing in front of another café. It was the same café we met Calithea in, hours ago. I looked at where we sat before. There, Calithea was reading a Vogue fashion magazine.
She looked up. "Finally," she said exasperatedly.
I gave the bag to her, "Here."
"Yay!" She checked the contents, "Everything's in here…Good!"
I demanded, "The Mirror?"
She pouted at me, "You know it's not nice to talk to goddesses like that?"
"You know—"
Alec clamped his hand over my mouth. He seemed to know what I was going to say. Nothing too pretty for a goddess of beauty. I heard his thoughts; I'll take my hand off as long as you won't say a smartass reply to her. And apologize.
I rolled my eyes, fine, I told him telepathically.
"I'm sorry," my voice dripped with sarcasm.
Calithea apparently didn't get it and said, "Now, here's the mirror." She fished the mirror from her bag and handed it to me.
"Thank you," I said.
She waved her hands around, "Now go shoo! I need to read my magazine in silence!"
I turned around without a goodbye. Miraculously, Alec did the same. Without even a word uttered out of his mouth as goodbye for Calithea.
Instead he asked, "Where are we going now?"
I held the Mirror protectively in my hand. I kept walking, looking for a spot to summon another vortex. I went into a space between two brown buildings. "We are going to…the Head's palace."
"Where's that?"
"You'll see," I said worriedly. I didn't want to go back to the Head's palace. I summoned another vortex. It appeared quickly than the other times I've summoned it.
"After you," Alec said. He swept his hand, gesturing me to step into the vortex first.
. . .
"Puh-lease," I said as I laughed. I pushed him into the vortex. I meant to step in after him, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me in after him.
We arrived back in the gold room. Standing before us was the Head Magi. I bowed down, Alec followed.
"Je vois que vous êtes de retour," the Head said. I see you're back.
"Oui," I replied.
"Vous avez le miroir?" The Head Magi asked, his voice filling with curiosity. You have the mirror?
"Oui," I replied.
The Head Magi had a surprised look in his face, and then he turned his face back into a mask. He held his hands out; I walked up and placed the mirror in his hands. He then handed the mirror to one of his attendants.
The Head Magi then turned his head towards Alec.
"Et qui êtes-vous?" His voice spoke softly in my head and Alec's head too. And who are you?
"Alec," he replied defiantly. I could tell he was nervous, but he stood proud and tall, his green eyes crackling.
"What is your last name?" Inquired the Head, he had switched into English.
I saw beads of sweat fall down Alec's brow, as he scrunched up his face in concentration.
"Alec…" I warned.
The Magus with orange eyes said, "Let him try."
Alec collapsed on the floor and began breathing shallow breaths.
"Alec!" I kneeled over him and helped him up.
"I don't know," he managed to gasp out.
The Magi around me exchanged shocked looks, but the Head looked interested.
"Hmm," he said thoughtfully, "Does the name Bane ring a bell?"
A look of realization crossed over Alec's face, and was then replace by a dark look. "Yes…it does."
The Magi around me suddenly looked very fearful, and backed away slowly. I myself was trying to figure out why I recognized the name Bane. Bane, I thought. Bane, Bane, Bane…Alaric! Alaric Bane!
"Very good," murmured the head Magi.
"Do you mean…" I said, backing away from Alec, "That he… he's…Alaric Bane's…"
"Yes," the Head replied.
Alec looked confused. "Who's Alaric Bane?" he asked.
"I can see there is a block in your mind…Let me break it, and show you," said the head Magi.
He snapped his fingers, and Alec and I blacked out...
. . .
The world was a heavy black that was weighing on my chest like an elephant. I was inside Alec's mind, but this time, instead of just reading it, I was living it. Is this what he felt like every day? It felt terrible.
A loud bang sounded, and small golden shards flew around me. Some even went right through me, but I couldn't feel a thing. The sudden weight lifted, and the darkness left. The head Magi had broken the barrier in Alec's mind.
A whirl of colors rushed towards me, and all of a sudden I was spinning around at a sickening speed. I landed on the ground with a hard thump. I was in a ballroom of what looked like a large castle. People were wearing masks all around me, and dancing with each other. Is this what formal dances looked like a long time ago?
A tall, middle aged man with an eagle mask on walked towards me. He wore a finely tailored blue suit and a slightly smug expression on his face. He seemed to be looking right into my eyes. I panicked, and tried to find a spot to hide. There was nothing. I stood there as the man came up to me, and I waited for him to speak. As he got closer, I kept expecting him to stop, but he just kept on walking and walking. Then he passed right through me. It felt like I had just been plunged in a bucket of ice water.
I gasped and turned around. A sudden urge for me to follow him had appeared. He was walking out into the gardens. The gardens…Wow. They were rows upon rows of tall, dark green hedges. Whoever owned this place had some money.
I ran out the French doors, trying to keep up with the man's fast pace. I felt what would have been a cool breeze pass through the maze of hedges, but I couldn't feel the temperature of it. It was weird how only some things I could feel, and others I couldn't.
The man walked through the maze without hesitation. He must come here a lot. I followed him, even having to run at times just so I wouldn't lose sight of him. He turned a final corner, and so did I. We came out into a clearing, which was probably the center of the maze. Here, a large statue of an eagle stood, and blue and white flowers sprung up everywhere. There was even a small fountain, with a weird hunchback statue on it.
The statue suddenly moved, and I gasped out loud. It wasn't a statue, it was a man.
"Good evening Bane," said the hunchback.
I gasped again even louder as the man I had been following took off his eagle mask. It was Alaric Bane, the most evil god of all time. He had graying hair, and striking green eyes. He looked more normal than I would have thought the god of evil could be.
"Good evening Zorack. Any news?" Bane asked in an ice-cold voice. I had a feeling he talked like this to everyone.
"No. Nice place you have here," said the hunchback, Zorack. He patted the marble side of the fountain he was sitting on.
That meant that Bane owned this place…How had he kept such a large castle hidden away from everybody else? We had been searching for him for some time.
It had all started a while ago, during the creation of the gods. The gods all had been given birth to by Calithea, at the Eiffel tower. Each one was meant to have their own section of the world to look after. Calithea and her husband, Ariston, had been getting too busy trying to look over the world, and fight the demons, so they had decided to have children to end the struggle.
Calithea then gave birth to the four main gods, who could then go on to have their own children. Valdus was the eldest. He looked after the sky and controlled the winds. Pelagios was the second born. He looked over the water. Narcan was born third. He controlled the ground. Then, Anan was born fourth. Anan was Alaric's original name. Anan was meant to control, or look after the fire in the world.
The problem was, the three eldest brothers did their jobs too well. Valdus made sure there were no storms, hurricanes, or tornados. He made it rain enough for crops, but not so much that there was flooding. Pelagios controlled the water. The water was safe for drinking, and it was always there for those who needed it. Narcan prevented earthquakes. He also provided fertile land for everyone, and created plants or any other feature of the earth if it was needed. Because of all this, there were no fires. Valdus blew the fires away before Anan could maintain it. Pelagios doused the fires in water before Anan could reach them. Narcan had the earth open up and swallow the fire before Anan could control it.
Anan grew mad, and then created his own fire. It was the largest and most destructive fire of all, and it killed thousands of people. It was as fast as an eagle, and knew exactly where to target, so it could hit all of Anan's brother's weak spots.
Valdus, Pelagios, and Narcan grew mad that Anan had killed so many people and disrupted the peace of the world, so they tried to banish him to the depths of the earth. When they came for him, Anan threw them a cheerful grin, and exploded into flames. His brothers gagged on and were blinded by smoke, and when they could finally see and breath, Anan was gone.
They thought he had killed himself. They were wrong. Anan had somehow disappeared altogether. He got rumors started about where he was hiding, and he let it be known of his new and evil name, Alaric Bane. Nobody knew what he was planning. Nobody still does.
I exhaled fast. Bane was right here, plotting his unknown revenge. I could figure it out! I could—
"There is nothing new, Bane," said Zorack suddenly.
Bane sighed in disappointment. "You mean they still haven't found me?" he asked.
"No," answered Zorack.
Alaric protested, "But I put myself in the most obvious spot! There is no way they could not find me and Alec!"
Alec…this was the first time Bane had mentioned him.
"Ah," said Zorack. "Sometimes the best hiding spots are the ones where you are most likely to be found."
"But I need them to find Alec! I didn't waste my time on a son for nothing! Once a god has a son, they cannot be banished!"
My jaw dropped. Bane had only had a son, just so he couldn't be banished. He was a lot smarter than I had credited him for.
Somebody else seemed to figure this out too, for the hedges next to Bane began to rustle. A boy with blonde hair and green eyes jumped out of them. He wore a fine black suit, and looked more dressed up than I could have imagined.
"Alec!" gasped Zorack.
"Yes Alec, who did you think my son was?" asked Bane.
"No, Alec. He's behind you!"
Bane turned around, and Alec was there, staring at him with the most hatred I had ever seen in somebody. His eyes crackled, fire had erupted in his green eyes.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked shakily.
"What—" started Bane.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Alec repeated, shouting this time.
"Alec…I was going to, but I just needed you to—"
"To protect yourself!" Alec shouted. "All you needed me for was to save your own sorry ass. You're a coward…I should've realized that before. You're a coward!"
"Alec, I—"
"You are a coward. And you know it."
Bane got quiet suddenly. "Yes. I am," he admitted. "That is why I had you."
"No, that isn't!" Argued Alec, "You only wanted a son for the protection of having one! You don't even like me! I don't even know who my mother is!" Alec cried out, "I don't even want to be evil, like you!"
"That's it," Bane said, his face turning red with anger. "I don't need you for my protection." He masked his face into a cool and even emotion. "You can leave. Right here. Right now. And I will be fine."
"Fine!" shouted Alec.
"Good-bye Alec," Bane said with a strange look in his eye.
A streak of fire flew out of his palm and hit Alec in the forehead. A strange blank looked fell over Alec's face. The mind block. Bane snapped his fingers, and Alec disappeared, presumably he was on the bus now, where he met me.
Bane turned to Zorack shakily. "Do you think it is ok? Alec not knowing who his mother is, I mean?"
Zorack looked at him with an odd look on his face. "You are a coward," Zorack replied.
With that, Zorack stood up, and stomped on the ground. A ripple went out beneath his foot, and it knocked Bane off of his feet. He lay on the ground, breathing hard.
"You see," Zorack said, "That even if you're hiding where hardly anyone can find you, there's always somebody who's willing to tell the gods where you are."
Bane looked up at Zorack eminently. "You will not," he said forcefully.
"No, I will not," said Zorack with a small smile. "I'm on your side. I just wanted to show you that others have power too."
. . .
The coldness of the ground startled me, and I came back out of the memory.
"Welcome Alec," said the head Magi, "Son of Bane."
…
Ooh! None of you saw that coming did you?
Chapter 10 got done fast!
It's because ArianaWeasly prewritten the bottom part.
Credits to her!
Chapter 11 is coming!
Give me a week?
~Kat
…