Chapter 16
OMGOMG! It's been so long! I'm SOOOOOoooo sorry! You are permitted to fume and seethe in anger at me, but I was only trying to reorganize my thoughts about all my stories. Also, Happy late Halloween, Christmas and New Year as well. I feel so bad for not uploading sooner. That's one of my New Year's resolutions, To write at least once a week or maybe every two weeks, but writing more is definitely on my list. Anyhow, good reading to everyone of my story followers and if you feel up to it, leave me a comment on my writing thus far. Read, review(if you wish) and love the story. Enjoy!
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He couldn't believe his ears. After having known his brother for so long, he could practically guess what he'd say even before he'd say it, but this? He never expected this from his closest and most trusted friend-no. Not friend. They had surpassed that term a long time ago. They were brothers, now and forever-to even say something like that in casual conversation.
He looked at his brother, a nervous feeling slowly itching its way in his chest. "What do you mean? I know how you died, I held you in my arms when you..." He lowered his voice, he slowly turned his gaze to something else, most likely the floor, but his gaze was drawn back by his brothers eyes. "...when you passed away." Steve attempted to look away again, but his brothers clear blue eyes wouldn't let him. His brother sighed; it was soft, almost unheard and it gave Steve the creeps. That nervous feeling was rising steadily, almost enough to suffocate him.
"Avoiding the subject won't help, Steve." He pressed, looking down at his plate on the table but not touching anything, not even his fork. He tried a different approach. "Do you remember that song we performed a little while ago? The one everybody loved right off the bat?"
"Yeah, I remember. We called that one Demons. It was a fun experience to see people singing along one last time." Steve sighed, using the fork to play with the food on his plate. He remembered that day perfectly. They had sang out their most popular songs on stage, with the added bonus of a new song no one had heard before. Steve had only heard Casroth sing bits and pieces of it a few times in his room and had even participated when Cas had asked him to join him play the song with him, telling him how great it was going to be and how it would be a special surprise for everyone.
"That wasn't its intended purpose, you know." Cas broke through Steve's thoughts and gave a small smile. "That song, the one about the demons, was meant to warn people."
Steve stopped playing with his food and looked up at his brother. "Warn them? Against who, the king?" He said a little sarcastically, hoping the mood would lighten a little. His brother, sitting across from him, nodded slowly and Steve was taken aback. He didn't expect it to be an actual answer.
"Precisely. I was trying to give them clues about the kings plan." He cast a quick glance at Steve, then turned his attention to the food on his plate, picking up his utensils and cutting off a piece of steak, chomping down on it, but without any appetite.
"If that's what you intended, then I don't think it worked too well; I doubt anyone even took the time to study the lyrics carefully, or even cared for that matter. I didn't even know until now." Steve protested. But he couldn't help thinking. What if someone cared enough, though? What would happen to them? Would they even understand what the words meant?
Cas chuckled lightly, but without any real laughter. It was forced, as if he was trying to lighten the mood without really meaning or trying to. "It's more than that, Steve." He stuffed another piece of steak in his mouth and chewed on it, but still without any appetite.
He continued after swallowing his steak, his blue eyes settling on Steve's violet ones. "No, some people actually took the time to look at the lyrics carefully, but not all of them understand what they mean. There are actually more meanings in that song than I could probably count, but I do know there are two main ones."
"So, you're trying to say that they get the general idea, but can't link it to the king's plan 'cause they don't know, right?" His brother smiled sadly and nodded.
"Yes, more or less. Most of the population doesn't know about the kings plan, which is why they don't get the message. We just count for a very small percentage of the whole that actually knows." Cas said. He began cutting into the other half of his steak. "But..."
"But?" Steve urged. He knew Cas was going to add something, but he didn't like the suspense. It was almost suffocating him as much as his stress and developing anxiety was.
"But..." He continued, lifting his fork to examine the piece of steak he had impaled. "There's only one person that I've found other than you who'd figured it out and kept her mouth shut about it."
One person came to mind about it, but Steve discarded it immediately. It had been forever since he last saw her. The last time was probably just before Cas' tragic departure. He didn't remember the exact words they'd said to each other, but he still remembered her face. Clear and reflective as a still pool of water and just as beautiful as a winter rose, which is said to be extremely beautiful in the winter biomes these flowers bloomed in.
Cas chuckled lightly, drawing Steve's attention back to him as he shook his head. "No, Steve, it's not the princess either. She's another miner like you. She doesn't stick around town much, but she's heard enough from the rumors running around all the kingdoms that she's already figured out a good portion of what's going to go down. She even extended her mining work in order to find He-, who the king's looking for."
"What's her name? I don't think I've met her on any of my outings." He asked curiously, twisting the fork in his hand and looking up to his brother, blushing. Almost in a shy manner.
"You don't have to be shy about it." Cas pointed out. He then moved on. "Her name's Alex. She doesn't stick around any town much as I've said before, but I've seen her wandering around the gates of our kingdom lately." He said the word in a sour way, displaying his hate for a moment. This behaviour surprised Steve, as he's never really seen Cas get angry at anything before. "She's trying to find a way in and spy on the king, maybe even kill him. I'm not entirely sure, yet." He paused, looking at Steve to see his expression.
"Hmm." He mused. "Are you suggesting something? I doubt she would be able to pull it off on her own."
Cas smiled. "Well, she managed to kill a few of the guards that stood at the gates. Technically, it was more than a few. She's smart, Steve. She killed rookies, sergeants, colonels, even commanders. She drew them out, one at a time. She's cunning. Ruthless, even. She weakened the kingdoms defenses, weakened the army. She planned out her actions and even the enemies moves. She could very well kill the king if she got anywhere near him."
"So...?" Steve urged, spinning his fork around to show his confusion as to where Cas was going with this conversation, hoping for some clarification.
"Don't be impatient, brother." Cas heaved a small sigh, chewing on his eggs. After he swallowed he continued. "When you meet her, you have to be prepared. I'll guide you to her, but I can't speak for you. You have to somehow convince her that she can trust you. It would be quite the act if you managed to get in the castle and somehow murdered the king. I hope that if you did this, you might be able to stop his crazed Highness from murdering a legend. An immortal legend, not to mention that you still have no idea where he might be."
"What do you mean? Whoa. Whoa. Hold on." Steve put his fingers to his temple and rested his elbows on the table, thinking, reflecting. 'Where he might be? Does that mean that Cas knows where he is? Who is he? Then again, it seems like he knows where this 'Alex' is too. He seems to know a lot about the outside world even though he's, well, not really a part of it anymore.' He felt bad for saying that last part, but he had to face the truth. He had to get over it somehow. Maybe visiting his Standing Stone again would clear his head.
When he looked over at Cas again, he noticed that he looked sad, lightly shaking his head. Then he got up and made walked over until he was an arm's length away from his brother. Steve looked guilty of something, and even though Cas knew why, he didn't question it.
"If that's what you think might be good then I won't keep you here any longer." Cas said, his eyes flashing a very light shade of white for a split second as he placed his hand on Steve's head. "But, there is one thing I would like for you to do something. Don't worry, it's pretty simple." He clarified. He then took a deep breath and then softened his expressions enough to weave a gentle smile on his facial features. "I would like it if you took the pendant from the stone you made for me."
"Looky here." Cas mused, his eyes flashing white for a second time. "I think your friends want you back now. I said everything that will help you... for now. Remember, take my pendant from the stone. I'm pretty sure it will help you in the long run. And Steve?"
"Yeah?" Steve mumbled hesitantly. Everything was starting to get confusing, but he decided to roll with it and find out. Honestly, he wanted sooner than later, but it was evident later was the better option in this case.
"Whatever happens don't forget me. Please?"
"Steve? Helloooooooo? You awake yet?" A familiar voice whispered, somewhere close to his ears.
"Let him sleep, Solana. It's not like he can hear you." A tired, almost annoyed male sounding voice he didn't recognize replied.
"Shut up, horse man! Look with your human eyes for once, he's moving!" The girl snapped sarcastically, but it seemed to be shot more in defense than for the hell of it, unless it was both.
"I'm just saying. Besides, why does his Endermen bodyguard have to breathe down my neck twenty four-seven? I don't remember having done anything to piss him off today. Hell, ever since he's been here he's been staring at me in a way that tells me 'move and I'll have a reason to kill you.' Seriously, if you can do anything, make him stop! It's creepy!" The man kept rambling nonsense about Steve's Endermen friend and he forced his eyes open a little, just to see the scene for himself.
"Then stop looking at him! How can you be that stupid? If I'm not mistaken, you said that you thought he was eying you to give you some sort of secret message that told you he'd kill you if you moved, now I'm pretty sure he's going to murder you with all that flailing and complaining you're doing." The girl, Solana, said, almost crying out in frustration and intense annoyance. Something was shuffled, then everything was silence, except the soft, almost whining-like noise that ran continuously, until it stopped right beside him.
"Vlurp?"
Steve fully opened his eyes and smiled lightly as Greenscale pushed his face closer to his own, almost obscuring Steve's vision in a show of concern. He saw a man huffing in his peripheral vision, but in less than a second Greenscale had whirled on him and was hissing furiously, his eyes lighting up and some sort of black cloud was slowly forming around him.
"Greenscale! Whoa! Whoa..." Instantly, Steve sprang out of bed to try and resolve whatever problem had arisen when he was out of it for god knows how long and tried to break up the dispute. But as soon as he was standing his vision swam and his legs were wobbly, barely holding up his weight. He would've fallen face first into the floor if it weren't for Greenscale's fast reaction and long arms.
"Vlurp, vlurp?" He asked, looking down at me with concerned emerald green eyes. He seemed to want to know why Steve had fallen, and just as he was thinking this, he heard his voice in his head. 'Are you alright? Why have you fallen? Are you injured?'
Feeling obliged to answer, Steve smiled, feeling all eyes suddenly land on him. "Nah, I'm fine. I just stood up too fast. Besides, why were you angry at that man? Whoever he is..." The man, who was standing behind Greenscale, scoffed and walked over somewhat cautiously to Solana's side, which Steve only just noticed was sitting behind him in a chair, her face laced with worry. Greenscale then helped Steve back onto the bed, wrapping an arm over him protectively as the man passed by them.
"Are you sure? You were out for a little while there." She said, slowly standing up and creeping forward, cautious of the Endermen no doubt. But when Steve looked back at his friend, he noticed that he wasn't getting agitated at Solana, (which was hard to do as her eyes were watering) he just seemed to be uncomfortable and he kept glancing at the other man with a dangerous glint in his eye.
'What is with you and that man?' Steve thought, but before Greenscale could respond, Solana wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug and stuffed her face between his shoulder and neck, her chest heaving in uncontrollable sobs as she kept murmuring incomprehensible words he had trouble making out until he actually focused on them.
"Ithoughtyouweredead... Ithoughtyouweredead...Theytoldmeyouweredead... HEtoldmeyouweredead... I'msoglad... I'm so glad..." She gasped out the last part in a more controlled and understandable manner and he wondered what in the nether was happening. Unsure how to respond, he just hugged her back. It was good to see an old friend again, but why was he feeling tingly? Oh, well. Might be a thunder storm tonight.
"I'm glad to see you too." He said, tightening his own hug around his childhood friend. He really did miss her in the years he had left the kingdom. He rested his head on her own, looking out one of the many windows of his house. As he stared out the window, he could see the wind blowing, brushing the grass and whistling between the branches of the trees that surrounded his little house. As he looked out, he thought he saw a figure in the underbrush, but when he blinked it was gone.
'What is wrong, Steve?' Greenscale asked, looking intently at Steve. He seemed to have noticed Steve's intense staring and sudden stiffness, but Steve brushed it off by leaning deeper into the cuddle. 'You look like you have seen a ghost, which is unlikely, but still possible.'
Steve looked at his friend, eyes narrowed in slight confusion, trying to suppress a laugh. "What is that supposed to mean? You said it was unlikely but then you contradicted yourself by saying it was actually a possibility? I don't see how that works." He then chuckled a little, trying to ease the tension in the air, Solana soon following, giving half-hearted chuckles and snorts. "But, nah. I'm fine. Just my eyes playing tricks on me. Don't worry, I'm fine."
Right when he was about to say something to the new guy, who was strangely wearing a large caramel coloured trench coat, he felt a tingling sensation somewhere inside him and when he looked out the window, the faded person he had seen before was back, but they were right next to the window, staring right at him. And it seemed like no one else could see it- or him.
Don't forget, Steve. Please.
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I hope I did a good job on this chapter. And just a heads up to all my readers, I am thinking of either extending this story to try to add more detail on the character development, cause I feel like the story is a bit rushed on the development of the characters and maybe the story line, so I'll really need everyone's opinion on that. It would help me a lot if I knew what could be added and what could be changed to make the story better.
Anyways, thanks. Toodles!
-NilakantaDragonQueen619, the one and only.