"Hmm…" Nefarious went deep into thought. He tried to remember all the things he had learned about Necromancers in his time at the Academy of Evil when he was a kid. He already knew that they were evil. That was a fact that could not be denied. He knew that they were 'masters' of the undead. Also true. He then remembered something Madame Amberly said once in class.
"Never underestimate a Necromancer. It will be the last thing you ever do. You must…" His thoughts were cut off as something licked the side of his face. It smelled as if something had died, and it felt too sticky to be average dog drool. That… and Dr. Cortex does not own a dog. He forced himself to look at what had snuck up on him.
It was either an undead animal, or just the most gruesome thing he had seen yet. Half of the skin –or fur—on its face was gone, allowing you to see the skull underneath. The skull itself was marked with what he recognized as the Circle of Solomon. It had no eyes in either socket, making you wonder exactly what it was looking at. All of its teeth were sharp and bloodstained. Its face resembled that of a dog, only hideously deformed. Most of its body had no fur on it. The skeleton just hung out, dripping blood and gore from its open places.
Nefarious let out a scream and jumped away from the horrid creature. It looked at him playfully, as if he were playing a game, and decided to chase him around the room. Mariana watched this in amusement for a minute, and then got a closer look at Nefarious' horror-ridden expression.
She commanded the beast to halt in the same language as the book that Dr. Cortex gave to her was written in, but it did not stop. She then waved her arm in front of her, facing the beast. It froze.
"What in the bloody hell…" Nefarious was dumbfounded once again. He knew what she had just done… she froze not the beast, but time around it.
She drew her outstretched arm back towards herself slowly, and the beast began moving in reverse. She was rewinding time, as well! When the beast was at her feet, she dropped her arms, and it could move freely again. But instead of letting it run on its own again, she chanted in the book's language, and it disappeared.
"Mariana, that was… uh-oh!" Nefarious ran forward and caught her as she fell over from exhaustion. "What's wrong?" You could tell that he was worried, and amazed at the same time. He brushed away the bangs from her face. She looked back up to him.
"Don't worry about it." She gave him a faint smile. "I haven't twisted time in too long, that's all."
Nefarious could not believe what he was hearing. Or what he had just seen. He never thought it possible for there to be more than one Master of Time. Especially not one who does not have any of the technology he does. He instantly realized that she was better than him at twisting time. And this made him jealous.
All he has ever had for all of his life. He thought that he was the one and only Master of Time. He thought only he had the right tools and technology. It made him feel special… even if it did make him the 'tall blue freak'. He cared no longer. He found a new goal for himself in that split second of looking into the tired, ruby-like eyes of the beautiful, deathly, and immortal Necromancer before him.
He was going to best her at time twisting. He was determined to do so… even if it killed him. And hanging around with a Necromancer probably would do just that. But, it did not matter. Then, a memory struck him.
It was of just last night when he had first met Mariana. Before she came to sit with him, he had cried because of how things had turned out for him. And now… now that he knew her secrets, it made that moment of emotional breakdown nothing more than a memory. It is there… but it will eventually be forgotten.
Without another word, he laid her down gently on the sofa, stood up, and began to walk away.
"Where are you headed to?" She asked him in a tired voice.
He paused for a moment to think. Where am I going? He wiped his face, realizing that the dog… or something's slobber was still there. "Shower." He said shortly, and shut the door behind him.
As he walked down the corridors of the castle, he felt an anger and hatred he knew well burning inside of him. He personally did not like that feeling, but it was always there; locked away in the back of his mind. The only problem was, he did not mind hating Crash Bandicoot, for he was his enemy, but he did not want to feel that way about Mariana, not one bit.
I have to do this quickly. He thought. I have to best her before this feeling sinks in too far, but how? She needs no technology. I don't do magic. …I could always learn… But who would teach me?
After completely undressing, he started the shower and let the warm water soothe his burns, bruises and cuts from his fight yesterday. Soap and shampoo seeped into his cuts, burning him a little, but he was used to the pain. He wondered how many times he had felt the same pain. Once for every time he fought Crash… needless to say, that is a countless number.
When he turned off the shower, he realized that he had forgotten his towel. It was still six in the morning; he was sure that Dr. Cortex had gone back to bed and that no one else was awake… no one but Mariana. Maybe, if she has not already passed out from the overuse of her time twisting abilities. He felt like annoying her for no reason in particular. He also knew how Necromancers can sense a calling from the other side. He wondered if it worked on mortals, too.
He focused his thoughts on her, and in his mind said, "Mariana, I need a towel!" He knew she would hear him if it worked on mortals, but he would not be able to hear her answer. For that, he would have to practice Necromancy himself.
After a few seconds, he heard a knock on the door.
"Dr. Tropy?" It was she. "I brought your towel." She slowly opened the door. Luckily, Nefarious was still in the shower stall. "Where should I set it?"
"Um… on the counter. Thanks." Nefarious was lost searching for words again. There was silence between them. He got an idea. "Um… Mariana?"
"Yes?" It sounded as if she knew what he wanted to ask her.
He gathered his courage and asked her the one thing that would kill his pride. "Will you… teach me Necromancy?" That hurt.
There was a pause as she considered his request. Then she said, "You can start by reading the Necronomicon… wait, no. No, no, no… don't do that…" She scratched her head, messing up her hair a little. "Why?"
Nefarious was hoping that she wouldn't ask him that. But, hey, he was asking her to teach him something that could kill him on his first attempt. From what he had studied at the Academy of Evil, he learned much of how dangerous Necromancy was. By saying one wrong thing, just one, you could accidentally summon something gruesome… the Cthulhu, for example.
"Well…" he had no clue why he was being so honest with a girl he just met yesterday. "I like the way you can twist time without machinery, and using your powers. I wanted to learn that from you, but considering the fact that you're a Necromancer… why not learn Necromancy as well?" Nope. No clue why he was speaking honestly. He felt like a fool. No one has ever made him feel that way before. It was somewhat painful inside.
Everything he had ever said and done to everyone he had met in his life… it was all a lie. He was lying to himself the whole time, as well. Why does he realize this only now? Nothing made sense at this point. He wanted to break down and cry, but he could not… not with Mariana there.
Suddenly, he felt all his pain lifted from him as a cold hand was laid on his shoulder blade. He looked behind him… without opening the curtain; Mariana had put her hand on his shoulder blade. She was trying to comfort him. He did not know how, but she knew what he was thinking and feeling. He reached over and grabbed her hand gently.
"Thank you." He muttered.
"Of course… now," she paused again to consider things. She sighed. "Alright. I'll teach you. Just DON'T do anything that I don't tell you to do, okay? I would hate to see you die so young."
Nefarious smiled. "Thank you again."
She sighed again. "You have no idea what you're in for, but… it'll be fine. Yes, you'll be alright." It was as if she was talking to herself now.
Author's Note…Hope you all are enjoying this so far! Now, the part from:
"Well…" he had no clue why he was being so honest with a girl he just met yesterday.
To the end was inspired by "Blurry" by Puddle of Mud. Try reading it while listening to the song. It made me cry!
Anyway, I will try to update sooner.
