Chapter Sixteen: Killer

I just realized how OOC this is. I understand if you want me to stop, just say so.

***

Stan felt dirty. He gazed down at the prone form of Rosalyn, her yellow eyes closed and the gasp she had been holding in escaped. Then, she went limp.

He had killed her…

Killer. Murderer.

That wasn't new for the King, but killing Rosalyn…

He let the sword vanish, kneeling down beside her. He took her hand, so cold in his own grip.

"I'm sorry, Rosalyn. I wish it could have been different."

Behind him, footsteps.

Stan turned around, frozen in shock.

Ari and the rest were with him. Ari was staring at Stan, unable to understand what was happening.

"Stan…did you…"

"No!" squeaked Marlene.

"Sister!" Big Bull moaned.

"No, it cannot be…tell me this isn't what I see!" Epros said.

"This is impossible; there is no conceivable fact that you may possibly have brought Rosalyn down!" Kisling grabbed his head, eyes wide.

"Wait, Slave-"Stan began. Ari blinked back tears, and actually shouted,

"She trusted you! We trusted you!"

"What were we thinking?" growled Big Bull.

Coracinus suddenly spiraled down in bird form, transforming into his true appearance. He looked menacing now, teeth bared, the dark wisps lifting up, reflecting his anger.

"You don't deserve to live!" The Shapeshifter growled; wings wide.

Stan stepped back. "Let me explain!"

Ari ran forward, sword outstretched, already in Overdrive mode. He attacked directly, and Stan, too tired to dodge, took the blow to his arm.

"Slave, Ari, wait!"

"We should hear him out." Marlene said suddenly.

"Why?" Ari said, reluctant to ignore Marlene.

"If he has a good reason, we might be able to…explanation…" She sounded unsure herself, her words trailing off.

"Never mind. Let's kill him!" Big Bull roared, charging toward Stan, who knelt down, feeling each and every wound Rosalyn had inflicted, and the one Ari had left.

Ari sighed, tripping Big Bull, who collapsed on the ground.

"Go ahead, Stan." His green eyes narrowed in some emotion Stan didn't recognize.

"We needed someone on the other side. We needed to be able to contact not a Ghost, but a Spirit, who can help us gain control of it. And they had to die in a special way." Stan hurriedly explained.

"We could have found another way! Why Rosalyn, anyway?" Ari snapped. Stan knew his slave rarely ever lost his temper.

"It had to be someone we were close to!" Stan growled in return. "So I played up to Addonexus, and he 'assigned' me to Melas. He's too sure of himself to think I would betray him. I learned from Melas about what the Spiritus can do, and how you need a Spirit to answer you. We have Rosalyn's parasol, and that will work to talk to her. I needed to learn some things, and I got what I needed."

"We could have-"

"No, we couldn't, Kisling. One of us would have died anyway, and I think the Hero woman would have volunteered…" Stan said, picking up the parasol like it was some kind of religious object.

"Prove it." Big Bull demanded.

"I will. Once we get to the World Library."

"Where's Linda?" Ari asked.

"Melas has her." Stan sighed. He never used to be this way before, he remembered. Before the bottle, he could kill off hundreds of people and not care. But this one, single, necessary murder was bothering him.

Suddenly, Epros's cards were in a whirlwind around him, and the magician's eyes narrowed.

"What?! Stanley, we just freed her, we cannot go the same way anymore…"

"The same way to free her, I bet it won't work. He'll be expecting us." Coracinus added, turning into a crow and perching on Ari's shoulders. His feathers were ruffled in annoyance.

"You risked everything, Linda and Rosalyn are now both gone!" Ari glared at Stan. The wind howled, bringing with it the distinct scent of smoke and the faint rumbling of the Rising Rain clouds.

"Sorry…it was the only way." Stan said, surprisingly meekly. He crossed his arms, refusing eye contact with anyone, staring at a rock on the ground.

Epros looked like he wanted to murder him, but the friends followed Ari as he began to head for the World Library.

Coracinus said bitterly, "I should have intervened."

"They would have killed you!" Ari replied. He was probably thinking he should have gone with Rosalyn when she left him at the cliff bottom.

"So, you were that bird that Rosalyn saw." Stan said.

"I was. I was showing the others where you were, but then I dropped down soon after getting accidentally shot, I had to haul Kisling back to his feet, he lost his grip."

"It's my fault." Kisling muttered.

"No, it's one hundred percent Stan's." Big Bull mumbled.

"Time to meet Father." Marlene said sarcastically, cutting across them. She was obviously trying to stop them from blaming themselves. Her red eyes were pointedly not looking at anyone in particular.

"Look!" Coracinus shouted, earning their attention. They all turned around to see gold sparkles envelope Rosalyn's body before vanishing into the sky.

"It worked. She should hear us now. See, she isn't dead." Stan said smugly, and then paled as everyone turned their glares at him.

Ari hadn't wanted to leave her there anyway, so maybe the sparkles were a good thing. The boy knew they wouldn't have the time to properly bury her anyway…He hesitated, every noticed, looking at where Rosalyn used to be. After a moment he waved his hand to gather their attention and set off once more.

***

The World Library was eerily quiet, the mist that floated everywhere obscuring a good view of their feet. The doors were open, some almost off their hinges, but no dust touched even one book.

A stony silence existed. Everyone was giving Stan killer looks, even Ari, who just seemed more hurt than angry at the Evil King.

The unspoken statement hung in the air.

"How could you?"

Ari was wondering the same thing. He thought the two had been doing well, ("well" for them anyway), and he thought their love-hate relationship was rather amusing.

But now…Backstab. That's what it felt like. It felt like someone had backstabbed him.

Rosalyn was gone? Impossible.

Couldn't be. The Hero always got back to her feet, rebounded like a ball, you couldn't stop her.

"What…happened?" Big Bull asked Stan as they wandered the maze of books, looking for the familiar door that Beiloune usually stayed behind.

"She would have won." He growled. "She got me good, actually. It was difficult just looking at her, the Light…" He paused, and then sighed. "She could have killed me, but she didn't. I saw the hesitation in her eyes, she was trying to, but her conscious wouldn't let her."

"The Infectus couldn't even taint her sufficiently to get her to kill you." Kisling said.

"Not even with the clouds." Stan pointed up. "Their mere influence, if you're bitten or not, can contaminate your thoughts…"

"I know." Kisling said. "I figured that out a while ago, but it lacked importance, I thought. There's hardly anything we can do the cease their function."

Ari sighed, nodding in agreement. That explained the weird thoughts he had occasionally. It appeared he wasn't immune to that particular branch of magic.

Their footsteps echoed loudly, but it was missing two things.

It was missing Linda's lighter, quicker footsteps, and Rosalyn's faster paced, heavier steps…

"Where's James?" Ari asked, just to break the terrible, crackling silence that settled into everything.

"Here. There. Everywhere." The Evil King threw his hands in the air. "Beats me. I call for him and he doesn't come."

"Was he thrown into the negative state?" Inquired Kisling.

"Eh, I doubt it. Just ignoring me, like usual." Stan sighed again.

Ari was good at reading people. Very good, in fact. So he decided to survey his friends.

Stan was…fidgety. He kept clasping his hands and unclasping them, his eyes downcast, and his tone was devoid of his usual smugness. He was…guilty? Sad, even?

Disgusted with…himself?

Kisling kept purposely eyeing every single book, his face downcast, devoid of his usual eccentric smile, his eyes half closed. He was obviously miserable, but made an attempt at small talk.

Big Bull was barely lifting his feet, the grin gone from his face, making him look very odd, since the grin just seemed to be a part of him.

Marlene…

Ari took her hand, gently, not sure how she would react. She just simply smiled at him, but her red eyes strayed back to the floor, one of the rare instances where she didn't walk proudly. He had always admired how she could walk like that, like nothing bothered her, but it appeared something did.

Epros didn't walk, he floated, and the barely audible whish in the air was the only sound he made. His eyes kept moving to Stan, then to the ceiling, and every once in a while a card floated around him, as he toyed with it in an idle way.

Coracinus was just in crow form, perched on his shoulder, head tucked beneath a wing as if hiding from the world.

Upon reaching the grand door, still intact, Ari smiled weakly at the memory of James breaking the door down for them the first time. He cleared his throat. "Beiloune is in here still?"

"The Watcher said so, therefore, he must be." Kisling said, but his tone lacked enthusiasm.

The long, circular room was empty, not a single object moved in its depths. Ari hesitated, and then turned around, as the door closed behind them.

Ari sighed. Oh no.

There was a flash of light, and then Beiloune appeared, smoothing down his grey hair. His eyes roved over the others, his expression sardonic, and then he simply said, "What brings you back to my domain?"

Marlene stepped out from behind Big Bull. "Father, I have to ask, do you know about something called the Spiritus?"

Beiloune took in a breath of air that escaped as a hiss. "What?"

"Do you, or do you not?" She asked persistently.

"Who put those ridiculous-"He cut himself off, and then continued in a calmer tone. "What makes you ask that?" He eyes stared at his daughter, not looking at anyone else.

"We have no time for this!" Stan growled. "Listen, old man, where's the Spiritus? We know you have it! If you don't help us out, the world is doomed! How am I supposed to conquer the world if someone blows up the dang thing?"

Beiloune laughed coldly. "By your own fault, Stanley. While I governed the world, we were safe. Now, why should I not let you reap what you sow?"

"Because, that would put your darling Marlene in danger," snapped Stan in return.

"Oh no, I have enough power to keep us both safe." He smirked.

"Father, I must insist you help us! There is no reason behind just letting the world…" She trailed off, her big red eyes shining with tears.

Beiloune grimaced, obviously not immune to his daughter's tricks. "Say I would help you; do you know how to operate it?"

"All I know is that we need someone on the Otherside to help us contact the powerful Spirits that control the Spiritus, and then we should have enough energy to hopefully combat Addonexus." Stan growled. Beiloune laughed.

"Who will have this power? You?"

"Of course!" Stan said smugly. Everyone glared at him.

"No way!" Big Bull snorted. "You're not getting any power, Brother!"

"Who else can take that much demonic energy?" Stan countered.

"I can."

Everyone paused, looking at Ari, who was staring at the floor like it was the most interesting thing.

"What, Slave?" The Evil King looked at the usually timid boy.

"I said I can." Ari said in a louder voice. "If I can deal with an Evil King in my shadow, then I think I can deal with…" He trailed off, flinching under Stan's hard glare. However, Epros spoke up.

"This I actually believe, let's do something quick, so we can leave."

After some bickering and discussion, Ari was surprised when the others finally agreed to let him get the energy.

Beiloune had watched this with an amused look on his face, then said, "However, this can have some serious side effects…Especially since the deviant was never even in the Diablerie, and thus not even having been exposed to the effects of that environment, it could be even worse. There is another way…"

"What? Spit it out!" Stan raged.

"You can all split the power, equally gaining a piece, and thus reducing the side effects to minimum. However, if one of you should fall, the chances of you actually beating Addonexus only slim down…"

"Will you help us?" Marlene asked.

"I'm afraid I cannot. I have absorbed many of the energies in the Spiritus, and taking in anymore could…have disastrous effects. However…there is a catch to this."

"Oh really? What?" Kisling said thoughtfully.

"To activate the Spiritus to serve a new user, one must have someone close to contact on the Otherside, and…you need to use the relic on Wap Wap, where it can absorb the energies from the Stone Circles."

"Not all of them are active." Said Ari.

Beiloune's face twisted into a smirk. "Then you may need to find whatever activates them."

"Can another source be used? Time runs out, like fire burning a fuse." Epros murmured uneasily.

"I do not know." Beiloune paused, thinking clearly, then shook his head. "I can give you an item that will warp you back to the World Library here; it's an edited Guidance Stone." He gave Ari a strange, flat green rock. It shone dully. "I can open a portal for you to Wap Wap directly, once you activate all the Circles, come back."

Marlene thanked her father, and then turned to face everyone. "We do this for Rosalyn." She said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Now…what if one Stone Circle is broken?" Stan asked.

"Does not matter, as long as its Wap Wap counterpart is active."

"Let's do this, then." Ari said, clenching his fist.