Chapter Eight –
La Mer
"Don't walk away from me!" Sedaytion screamed, the tone of desperation was in her breaking voice. She swung her arm in anger, almost hitting the cold hallway wall. She took a step foreword; her father was walking away from her.
The hallway was dark, and it was late into the night. People would be resting, but Sedaytion knew from her yelling that they would soon be getting up to find out what the commotion was. For a week she had kept in those thoughts of her mother being murdered by her father, and she couldn't contain them. There was so much the poor girl had to contain throughout her life and she just let it out, struggling to only yell and not harm her father.
"I said don't walk away!" Sedaytion yelled again, making her hand touch the cold floor. In seconds her yellow and orange energy shot out of her arms, and raced over to meet her father. They spun between his legs, and stopped in front of him. The beams reached up and clung to the ceiling: blocking her father's way through the hall.
He slowly stopped walking, and looked at the bright lightning-like beams of energy that were holding him back. The hallway was lit up from her powers, and he looked over his shoulder to see his daughter. A firm look of anger was on her face, mixed with intense determination. The energy wasn't attached to her hand, but it was still glowing: showing how she was keeping the energy veil up.
"Jem, stop this stupid behaviour right now!" he yelled, turning fully around. "Do you know where we are? You can't go using your powers when you wish!"
"Stop calling me Jem!" Sedaytion yelled. "I'm not Jem anymore."
"Oh that's right …" her father said, taking a step foreword. A large, evil grin was on his face. "Ever since that incident."
A look of horror went on Sedaytion's face and she began to tremble. Her father laughed, seeing her daughter looking so frightened.
"You can't call me a monster for what I did," he said. Sedaytion firmly shook her head.
"I can," she said. "It was an accident, but you just killed her. You just killed mom!"
"I can't believe it took you this long …" he said, taking another step closer to her. "Oh well, at least that woman got to have some pain …"
"But why did you do it?" Sedaytion asked.
Her father turned around and took a few steps closer to the electric veil Sedaytion was still keeping up. A large smirk went across his face, and he put his hand to the energy. He could feel the heat from her powers; he could sense the strength of her. He exhaled deeply.
"I have created …" he said. "Such magnificent power …"
Gold tendrils began to swirl out of the veil as Sedaytion made her power stronger. Her father smiled and laughed evilly.
"You're planning to kill me," he whispered. "Can you really deal with another set of blood on your hands?"
"I'll only have your blood," Sedaytion said. "Because the first person was an accident."
She began to make the energy larger, and it began to get closer to her father. The heat from her power was getting stronger, yet her father didn't move.
"You're not going to run?" she asked him.
"I've made my mark," he said. "And that is you. You were made to create destruction and death. You can't help it – even now you're dying to kill me. Your blood is boiling, and you heart is begging to destroy me."
"You're lying …" she whispered.
"You love when you dive into the simulator," he said. "You love to watch them die."
"Shut up!" Sedaytion yelled. Her hand began to glow brightly, and her hands were trembling from anger.
"It's a good thing Albedo can't die, isn't it?" her father said. "You two will have so much fun when he turns crazy. When he craves for death, like you."
"Shut up! You're talking nonsense!" Sedaytion screamed.
"When he called himself a monster," he said. "He should've called you one too. You're a monster."
Sedaytion took a few steps back. She tried to stop her power from working, yet she couldn't. She had gotten it to stop growing, yet she couldn't stop using it all together – it refused to listen to Sedaytion, instead it wanted to hurt her father. "Stop it …" Sedaytion said.
Her father began to laugh. "You monster. Just let it go Sedaytion: let it go."
"Sedaytion!" a voice called. Sedaytion turned her head, and running up to her was Nigredo. He was staring at her with wide eyes, and then he ran up to her.
He firmly took her left arm, trying to pull her away from her father. "You'll kill him if you don't go away."
"She wants to kill me," her father said. "You can't stop her. No one can stop her."
"Sedaytion, stop it," Nigredo said, looking at her in the eyes. Her eyes desperately looked back at him, but then she shook her head.
"I … can't …" she whispered.
"You can," he said assuring. "Just breathe."
Sedaytion breathed in, and then tried to pull the energy back. She breathed out and then breathed deeply in again. Her heart began to hurt, and her arm was beginning to ache. But it was working; her energy grew weaker and weaker, until there were a few bits of static electricity hanging in the air. Nigredo took her hand and squeezed it.
"You did it," he said.
Suddenly, her father began to laugh evilly. "It's not over yet."
Sedaytion turned around and looked at him. In his hand was a pistol, and immediately she thought he was going to shoot her but then he brought the gun to his head.
"I was going to die either way," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "But I guess now you can't have the pleasure of killing me yourself."
There was a sudden bang, and Sedaytion fell backwards at the sight. Nigredo caught her before she could hit the floor and she began to cry, and she held her hand to her mouth to try and she held back the urge to vomit at the horrific sight.
"Here's a cup of hot chocolate, darling," Helen said, placing the steamy white mug on the wooden table in front of Sedaytion.
Sat opposite the memorized girl was Rubedo, and by him was Nigredo. Albedo was sat close to Sedaytion. He had her hands on her shoulders and was rubbing them gently. He kept giving her a small kiss on her cheek every five minutes, which made her turn red.
"Am I still going to live here?" Sedaytion asked, looking at Helen with hopeful eyes.
"Of course darling," she said, smiling. "Robert wasn't your legal guardian anyway. He hasn't been for the past three years."
"Three years?" Sedaytion repeated. "I've been here for three years?"
"Yes," she said. Helen lightly laughed. "It seems everything has happened over the last few months though."
"Yeah …" Sedaytion said, returning her eyes to the un-appealing drink. She didn't feel like drinking and she didn't feel like eating. She had the strange urge to go home, but she was home. It was peculiar, and she wouldn't let her mind dawdle on it. She hated thinking deeply about things.
"Why did you go after him?" Rubedo asked, looking at her with slightly angry eyes.
"Rubedo!" Albedo snapped, giving his brother an evil look. "She has her reasons."
"What? To almost kill someone?" Rubedo asked.
"She has her reasons!" Albedo repeated, still unsure of whether Sedaytion wanted to let anyone know what happened in the simulator. "Don't snap at her like that! You're more evil then she ever could be so don't accuse her of anything!"
"Stop it!" Sedaytion yelled. She stood up quickly, knocking the drink onto the floor. The mug smashed and the hot liquid ran across the kitchen floor.
"Just stop arguing because you're making the situation so much worse!" she yelled, clenching her fists. "So unless you want to fight and prove that we are monsters, I suggest you all just shut your mouths and leave it!"
As she lifted her hand and swung it back down in anger, a large beam of gold electricity left her hand uncontrollably. The beam hit the floor between her chair and Albedo's; almost hitting him. Everyone froze and Sedaytion stared down where her power had disappeared. A tear streamed down her face and then she quickly ran away, kicking her chair over as she did so.
"Sedaytion!" Albedo called, standing up. He looked down at his brother. "Her father killed her mother – we saw her die in the Simulator."
"Her father …" Nigredo began. "Kept calling her a monster. He said that he made her to be a monster. That her only purpose was to be destruction."
"What?" Albedo said, looking down at Nigredo. "He called her a monster?"
"Yeah," Nigredo said. "He was talking as if she was slowly becoming attached to death."
"This is crazy," Rubedo said, shaking his head. "You cant' change someone so much."
"Sedaytion is Sedaytion," Albedo said, closing his eyes. "No matter what he tries to do, she'll always be herself."
Quickly, he moved her chair that was on the floor out of the way and left the kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Rubedo called.
"To find her!" Albedo replied.
"I'll help you clear up," Albedo heard Nigredo sheepishly say. His words made him slightly sick in his stomach and he frowned at his kindness.
The park was dark, and walking into the forest area was much eerier then usual, yet it didn't frighten Albedo. He walked in the silent forest, keeping his eye out for Sedaytion. Then his eyes met her. She was leaning her back against a large tree; her knees pulled tight up against her chest. They were being held there by her thing arms. Her red hair covered most of her body, and her head rested on her knees. He could hear her breathing deeply, trying to contain her tears.
"I'm sick of this," her muffled voice said. Albedo looked down at her, and took a step closer to her. "I'm sick of going through so much pain … I'm sick of the death …"
She lifted up her head and looked up at Albedo. "But I can't help liking it all." Tears suddenly streamed down her face as if someone switched on a tap. In seconds Albedo was at her side, resting her head on his chest like a child. He soothed her, putting his hand over her eyes.
"Don't cry, ma rouge calmant," he said, using some of the French she had taught him. "Hush now."
"I'm sorry," she said, sniffing. Albedo held her closely and Sedaytion smiled at his warmth.
"Ignore your father," he said. "He's the monster not you."
Later that night Albedo stayed with Sedaytion, and rested in her bed with her. She sighed deeply, her eyes stared up at the black ceiling. She felt much calmer then she had a few hours ago, all thanks to Albedo. She smiled.
"We should go to the sea once day," he randomly whispered in the darkness. "What is the French word for sea?"
"La mer," Sedaytion answered.
"It'd be the perfect day," Albedo said. Sedaytion smirked.
Sedaytion breathed in deeply, and then began to sing in a whispery, yet beautiful voice.
"La mer,
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs,
A des reflets d'argent,
La mer,
Des reflets changeants,
Sous la pluie"
She took a break and looked up at Albedo who was greatly intrigued by her singings. She laughed and sat up properly. "I used to sing that as a kid. It goes on, but I don't suppose you want to hear it."
"I do!" Albedo insisted, sitting up properly. Sedaytion rested her back against the wall and looked at him, trying to see if he was lying or not. "I'll even sing with you."
"You don't know the song," Sedaytion laughed. Albedo smirked.
"I'm a good learner," he said, winking.
Sedaytion rolled her eyes, keeping her smile on her face. She reached over to her lamp and turned it on. She opened the draw and searched through all the letters, and then came across a yellow, old piece of paper. Wrote on it were the lyrics to her song, written in French with the English meaning underneath in a different colour.
She moved over by Albedo, and put the piece of paper in between them. She looked at him expectantly and waited patiently for him to finish reading it. He nodded, not letting his eyes leave the paper and Sedaytion drew in a deep breath.
"La mer," she began, she looked at Albedo who started a moment after her. She smiled. "Qu'on voit danser voit danser le long des golfers clairs."
As they sung, his eyes wouldn't leave the paper. Sedaytion smiled. He was singing with her, even though he was quieter then her. After the first stanza she stopped.
"You're doing really well," she said. He smiled. "Ready?" he nodded, still looking at the paper.
"La mer
Qu'on voit danser le long des golfes clairs
A des reflets d'argent
La mer
Des reflets changeants
Sous la pluie
La mer
Au ciel d'été confond
Ses blancs moutons
Avec les anges si purs
La mer bergère d'azur
Infinie
Voyez
Près des étangs
Ces grands roseaux mouillés
Voyez
Ces oiseaux blancs
Et ces maisons rouillées
La mer
Les a bercés
Le long des golfes clairs
Et d'une chanson d'amour
La mer
A bercé mon coeur pour la vie"
Sedaytion laughed when they had done. She looked at Albedo and smiled. For a moment they stayed like that: just smiling at each other. Still nervous, Sedaytion broke the contact by placing the piece of paper on the table.
"Hey, Sedaytion?" Albedo called.
"Yeah?" Sedaytion asked, turning her head.
Before she knew it Albedo was kissing her. He flicked up her chin with his finger, and put a hand on her thigh. Sedaytion felt her heart beat quickly, and her face turned bright red. She was frozen for a few seconds, feeling completely stunned by his move and completely stupid. When he had finished kissing her, he smirked at her red face. He put a finger on her lip and grinned, a little flash of evil shone in his eyes.
"Je vous aime, ma rouge calmant," he seductively whispered. Sedaytion bit her lip, unsure of whether she should smile from his words, or move away because of his tone.
He was about to kiss her again, but Sedaytion acted quickly by putting the pillow in front of her face, which shocked him a little. She leaned back as she did so, and his head hit the soft material.
"What are you doing?" he asked with his usual confused tone. He moved the pillow out of his way, throwing it on the other side of the bed. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," Sedaytion said, giving him a quick smile. She forced herself to yawn and then she reached to switch off the light so the pair of them were in darkness. "I'm tired. Let's go to sleep."
Sedaytion suddenly woke up a few hours later. The room was still dark; the sun was still not out. She felt a cold sweat on her forehead, and her breathing had increased. She was lying on Albedo, her head on his chest to hear his heartbeat. When she had woken up, so had he and he was looking down at her, starting to stroke her hair.
"You okay?" he asked. "Bad dream?"
"Yeah …" she whispered. After a moment of blinking to clear her head, she looked up at him. "You won't go back on our promise, will you?"
"Never," he promised. "Never ever: I'll always stay with you."
"Thanks …" she whispered.