"I... can't believe it." Mariana whispered. She traced what was on his back with one cold finger. First a circle... then one... two... three... four... five lines, in the shape of a star. From what Nefarious could feel, and from what he knew, it was a pentagram. Just like the pendant and ear rings she was wearing.
He began to wonder why his future self in his dream would burn a pentagram onto his back. Maybe it was not just a dream... perhaps it was a vision of the future, more or less. Or not just a vision, truly a warning. He did not want to believe it. None of his other nightmares were true, but then again, he was after all dealing with serious black magic. He began to feel afraid as Mariana just stood there with his shirt lifted up with one hand, the other hand flat against his back in the middle of the pentagram. Then, she did the most unexpected thing... she hugged him tightly from behind.
"What? What's wrong, Mariana?" He was more concerned than ever. She was shaking like she was crying, but she was actually laughing. His concern turned into confusion.
"You... you were meant to do this..." she whispered, almost too quietly for him to hear. "Nefarious, do you know what this means?"
"Um, no?" His heart gave another hard squeeze as she said his name. He looked down at her arms which were so tightly wrapped around his diaphragm, he had trouble breathing. This meant it could either be really good, or really bad. He decided to think optimistically and say to himself that it was a good thing.
Mariana inhaled deeply. "You are cursed..." She finally said. She said it in such a flat tone, it seemed like a joke, but he knew she was serious.
"How cursed?" He asked cautiously, holding onto her wrists.
"There is no level of curses, this is not a video game." She sighed, resting her head against his back. "You will just turn out like me."
"Oh. Then, I see nothing wrong with it." He was only trying to cheer her up, but he then swore he heard a crack. No... he felt it, too. It took a second, but the pain finally reached him when he realized that one of his ribs had been broken by her. "What was that for?" He exclaimed. She jumped back, and he turned to face her, holding his ribcage in pain. He was shocked by her appearance. She was halfway into the Necromancer's state, but still halfway human. One eye was black, the other was half green and half red.
"It's all my fault, Nefarious!" She screamed. "First Ella, now... you..." She dropped onto her knees, crying. "I LET HER DIE!" She then fell over onto her back, her tears running down the sides of her face. "I let her die, Nefarious... even though I warned her... I told her what it would do... she knew... but she said..."
Nefarious dropped onto his knees beside her and scooped her up, hugging her tightly. He rubbed her head and her back, trying to comfort her, but he was making no progress. "What did she say, Mariana?" He whispered in her ear. He was convinced that, after seeing his nightmare, he knew the answer, but he thought it would be better to ask, just in case.
"It's... worth... it, Mariana..." She said sadly. Her voice was not her own now, but some other female's. "It's worth it, Mariana." She repeated in a stronger voice that was now her own, and it was angry.
Nefarious held tighter to her. He had been right. "Tell me what happened." He said firmly.
"I was nearing fifty years after death," she explained calmly. "My group, or cult if you will, of Necromancers were holding a ritual one night, and I headed to the altar to meet them. My friend, Ellen..." Her voice cracked when she said her friends name. "She was onto me about being a Necromancer, and decided to follow me. She caught us performing the ritual, and got a hold on my robes when I was leaving the altar... literally." She paused to catch her breath. "I knew that I had to kill her for knowing our secret, but I just couldn't. So... I..." Another tear flowed down her face. Nefarious wiped it away. "I promised to teach her our ways in exchange for keeping quiet."
"Basically you said you'd teach her Necromancy, right?" Nefarious asked.
"Yes... We began like I did with you. With meditation. But, she had a nightmare... and woke up with the pentagram on her back... just...like...you..." Nefarious kissed her forehead, she clung to him as if hoping for some kind of support. He was not sure if he was, or even could give that to her.
"Go on. I'm here. You're not alone, and you never will be as long as I'm here." He said. It was no lie, he meant those words straight from his heart.
"Thank you." She clung tighter. "I didn't know what it meant, so we continued. And... she did something stupid without me there."
"What's that?"
"She... tried to summon... Cthulhu..." She clung even tighter now, so he held her as tight as he could with a broken rib. "When I found her... she was on her deathbed... and I blamed myself, just like I am doing now. I sat there with her, trying to figure out any way to keep her alive, but she wanted the immortality. And she told me... It's worth it, Mariana... and she died. No afterlife. No immortality. Just cold nothingness..."
She broke out crying again. "I can't let that happen to you, Nefarious... I just can't..."
Nefarious just now realized how much he hated seeing her like this. He pulled her into another kiss, all the while not letting his grip on her loosen. She desperately held on to him, like she herself was going to die.
"I'll never hurt you like that, Mariana." He said after letting up from their kiss. "And never think that I would... I... I love you too much..."
"What?" She was not expecting that.
"Um, I mean I love you like a best friend, and I never want to see you like this again!" He said quickly. What the hell was that? He thought. "Just remember, I'm not interested in immortality or eternity or that great power, I just want to know everything I can about it... like a hobby."
"D-don't lie to me, Nefarious."
"I wouldn't."
They were silent for a moment, just sitting there on the cold stone floor, holding on to each other with all their strength. Nefarious decided to break the silence.
"And another thing I want you to always keep in mind." He felt her nod. "You'll never be alone. If you need me, I'll be right there with you." He kissed her again.
"Thank you." She said with a small sad smile. "I just have one question."
"What's that?"
"Why do you kiss me if you say you only love me like a best friend?" That was a seriously good question. Nefarious had never thought about that, and he had no answer, so he decided to answer that with another question.
"Well, why do you kiss me back?"
Mariana chuckled once. "I can't answer that just yet."
"I can't answer your question just yet, either."
"Fair enough." She hugged him tightly again, burying her face in his chest. He held her, unwilling to let go. Right now, there was nothing else in the world that he wanted but her. This was also a new feeling. He was just wondering about why he had said he loved her. It made no sense. Right now, she felt like the only real thing in his life. He had no confidence that he could carry on without her there. That made him wonder how he had ever made it twenty-six years alone.
"Aww, how adorable!" It was Dr. Cortex's voice. The two looked in the direction of the infirmary door, and sure enough, Dr. Cortex was standing there with a grin on his face.
Nefarious began to pull away from Mariana, and she pushed away from him. The result being; they both ended up flat on their backs on the stone floor.
"Oh, come on! Don't tell me I scared you that much! Especially not a Necromancer of your level, Mariana!"
"How long were you there?" Nefarious asked sharply.
Dr. Cortex chuckled. "Since you told her you'll be right there if she needed you. That's so cute!" He sighed dreamily. "You've become a man. I'm proud of you."
Oh, shit. That means he saw us kiss, doesn't it? He thought dreadfully. He then turned to Mariana. "Do you need me right now?" He asked, a little more force in his voice than intended.
She shook her head. "Thank you, Nefarious." She smiled at him. A full fledged smile. It made his heart throb.
"Don't mention it." He smiled back as best as he could, then got up and rushed out of the room. He felt as if he were going to be sick. He ran down the stairs and through the corridors until he reached the kitchen. To his surprise, N. Gin and the Banshee were sitting there making conversation.
"So, what's it like being an omen of death?" N. Gin asked curiously.
"It issss quite fassssscinating." The Banshee replied. She must have caught Nefarious' scent. She turned to face him, and hissed. With the most demonic look on her face and without taking her eyes off of him, she disappeared.
"Damn, you're freaky." Nefarious said to the air.
"Me?" N. Gin wondered.
"No, the Banshee."
"Oh."
Nefarious took a seat next to him. He knew how N. Gin must feel about Coco, so he decided to ask him something. "N. Gin, I feel like I've gotten too close to Mariana too soon."
"There's never a too soon, only a too late." He replied. "I was almost too late."
"Hmm..." Nefarious pondered this for a minute. "But, I feel like I'm taking advantage of her, Gin."
N. Gin gave him a blank look. "Dude..." he began in a flat tone. "You're not taking advantage of her." He slapped a hand on his shoulder. "You're in love with her, man."
Nefarious could not believe what he was hearing.
"Me, in love? Preposterous!" He stood up and looked away from N. Gin. "Do I honestly look like the kind of person who would really fall in love with someone? I mean, seriously! I..." He stopped in mid-sentence. Mariana was standing there in the doorway to the kitchen. She said nothing and walked away. "Damn it..." He had no strength to chase after her or say anything better.
"She'll come around." N. Gin said, pulling him down into his seat. "But, she won't until you accept the fact that: YOU. LOVE. HER. If you don't, that's when it's too late."
That was all Nefarious could take. He stood back up and ran down the corridor after Mariana at full speed. He caught up with her and pulled her in to an embrace.
"Mariana... I'm sorry..." He apologized. "I just never thought it would be true. You make me feel like a human, you make me feel alive, you lift me from all my pains, you're everything that I could have ever wanted or needed in this hell of a life, and I can't believe I found someone like you. I can't believe I realized this after only a short period with you, it seems unreal. You seem unreal. Like you're a dream, yet here you are... in my arms... right now. Ah, hell, Mariana... I think Gin is right... I think I really do love you. Wow, I said I think... I only wished I had experience of these feelings so I could tell you if I really did or not. But, I really think I love you. I don't want to let you go. So, I'll just say it... Mariana, I love you."
She turned around in his arms to look at him. She was crying again. "That's what I wanted to say earlier, Nefarious. I... I love you. I just thought it would be too soon to say something."
Once again, he couldn't believe what he was hearing, but he decided to. This time it was her who pulled him into a kiss. He was happier than he had ever been in his life, and he was sure that she was, too.
Okay, from the beginning to where Dr. Cortex stepped in was inspired by "Whispers in the Dark" and "Comatose" both by Skillet. And, from where Nefarious took a seat next to N. Gin until the end was inspired by "Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem.
