Disclaimer: I do not own The Riddles of Epsilon.
Note: HAPPY NEW YEARS!!! I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I enjoyed writing it, especially because it is ALL about James. Thank you to my reviewers: Haldir-Freak1, Sakura Hitsugaya, Colleen (I'm not totally sure, but it's not going to end anytime soon), ANONYMOUS, and Brandi-Martina. I know it's been a long time, sorry!!!
Matthias managed a confused look. "I don't understand, brother. What could I possibly be up to?" His face darkened. "Or did you forget that this is my prison?"
"How could I forget?" James growled. "Or did you forget that it's because of you I was imprisoned as well?"
"You still believe that was my fault?" Matthias was angry.
"It was your fault! You got me involved and then turned me in when the Light Ones offered you a deal!" James shouted.
"Oh, come on. You were too easy a target. My naïve little brother, so weak, so easily influenced. I never would have hurt her. It would have ruined everything. It's your fault she's dead." Matthias had started to loosely circle James as he spoke.
"Don't even think about her, you-"
"Ooh, name calling. That hurts." The older brother rolled his eyes. "Yet despite what I did, here you are, entering my domain of your own free will. Have you been released?"
At this, a bitter grin twisted the lips of the youngest. "Not yet. But you'll be helping me with that. Our good friend Epsilon offered me a deal this time."
Matthias frowned. "Oh?"
"Yes, brother. And now, I will be free and you will be destroyed." Everything about him radiated smugness and determination.
Matthias tried to cover his worry with degrading fury. "Please, Athaniel. You don't have the stomach for even aiding in murder. You already proved that. You are nothing but a theif, and that is the extent of your courage."
James stared for a moment, then slowly nodded his head. "That was true, then. But a couple hundred years in prison will change a person."
The following stare-off was interrupted by James' final words to his brother. "Leave Jess alone, if you want to live. If not, well, I'll be waiting."
Then he was gone.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
James opened his eyes and felt his shoulders droop. His head hung and his fists unclenched. Entering Matthias' dream realm had taken a good amount of enery from him, and being as out of practice as he was, he became sore and immensely tired. He wished for nothing more than to lie down and sleep, but he didn't dare to rest in the ruins.
He sat there, still as the stone that surrounded him, for some time. Only when the darkness cloaked him thouroughly did he pull himself to his feet and begin stumbling out of the remains of the tower. His last thought before he collapsed was of how he shouldn't have spent so much time chatting.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
James winced as he rubbed the back of his head, trying to enter the house quietly. His dreams had not been pleasant, and he still felt exhausted. His only plan was to slip into his room and sleep all day. That plan, however, was shattered by the deathly calm voice of someone he was seriously hoping to avoid.
"Where were you?"
James turned hesitantly to look at Epsilon, considering his choices. He could ignore the Light One and go on his way, or he could stay and be interrogated. However, James was not quite ready to die, so he slowly walked to a kitchen chair and sat down, leaning it back on two legs. "Out," he grunted.
"All night I could not find you. Where. Were. You."
James looked up and noted the fury in his eyes, and then shrugged halfheartedly. "I needed a break from your suffocating shadow, so I went where you dare not follow. You make me feel crowded. Tell me, are you this overprotective of all your charges, or am I just special?" he said with a sarcastic grin. James nearly smacked himself. His tired mind was letting his mouth get sloppy.
Epsilon's eyes narrowed. "I know I need not remind you of your… precarious position, Athaniel."
James' eyes fell into slits as well. "It's James to this world."
"Yes. But you'd do well to remember that we are not from this world, and our laws are very different." The threat behind the words could not have been more clear.
"Yes, sir." He was too tired for this. He was not thinking clearly, and a mistake at this stage could cost him his life. "As you so kindly pointed out, I was out all night, and I find I am not suited to sleeping outdoors in such a place. Kindly allow me a few hours undisturbed rest and then I would be totally at your disposal."
The stiff, manner-riddled words seemed to do their job. Epsilon nodded once, his mouth a thin line, and then disappeared from view.
o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o
He did not wake himself. He did not wish to wake up. He was pretty sure it had only been two hours since he had fallen asleep, and now he was wondering what wretched noise had taken him from his slumber.
Beep.
There! He lifted his head and shoulders from his pillow and looked lazily around the room. His eyes focused on the small, blinking, beeping screen on his computer and he let himself fall back onto his bed. He wondered if he should ignore it, but as it was definitely from Jess, he figured he shouldn't get himself into more trouble than he was already in. He closed his eyes for another breif moment before sitting up and stretching his arms out. He got to his feet and headed toward the laptop on the other side of the room, careful to avoid his discarded shirt that was lying in the middle of the floor. He barely sat down before he was on his feet again, grabbing that same shirt and shoving one of his arms into a sleeve as he made a bee-line for the door. Once outside, he ran as fast as his legs would carry him. For about two minutes. It was then he remembered he could just… He vanished and reappeared in a bush outside Jess' home. He ran to the door and knocked hurriedly. An astonished mother answered his calls and barely had time to register the disheveled young man with the open button-up shirt and dirty jeans that flew past her and up the stairs. Shaking off her shock, she shut the door and followed after him.
James couldn't have cared less about the woman. The instant message had said only four words.
Please come. I'm scared.