Hello again, everybody! Thanks for being so patient with me, it means a lot. This chapter here is where things start getting dark, FYI, so brace yourself for that.

Read, review, and enjoy, please!

The Shining Seventh

Chapter Two: Crashing Down

I was throwing up.

Okay, I'm sorry, I wish there was some better way to phrase this, but I'd really rather not sugarcoat it or anything. It was what it was. I was literally on my knees in front of the toilet, and it just kept coming, one wave after another. Dark spots danced around my vision, because I was so out of breath from running and I couldn't breathe because, well, y'know.

Eventually, it mostly just became bile, and from there it petered out shortly after. When I was finally able to stop retching, I could faintly hear shouting out in the hall. I guess I was causing quite the commotion. Rising weakly to my feet, I staggered slowly out into the hall and was met by a few servants running up and fussing over me. I was still too distracted to make out anything they were saying, so I simply allowed myself to be herded by them back to my room. In a fog, I dressed myself and slipped into my bedsheets, and alone in the dark I allowed my thoughts to run wild.

I felt like a husk with nothing inside. Why? Why did Demio have to be the one doing this? What happened to him? Did those other bastards drag him into this? How? I remember hearing Demio say that they came together for, and I quote, "release from their stressful lives." Was Demio really so stressed that he had to resort to this?

Damn it, why didn't he talk to anyone? Why didn't he talk to me? I would've listened, really. Maybe I don't understand a lot about what he does, but I still could have tried to help. I could have shown him that I care about him.

Why did this have to happen? Why...?

It's not fair...

Hours later, I finally cried myself to sleep.

Everything was dim when I woke up. I barely registered the light shining in my eyes, just as it always did. The colors in my room were muted, more black and grey than any actual hues. Even the ambient sounds of nature coming through my window were no more than a low, toneless buzzing. My brain was running on safe mode; putting out enough power to function but no more than necessary. I lumbered like the undead into the bathroom and washed my face, brushed my teeth, and generally prepared for the day on autopilot.

My brain, meanwhile, was trying futilely to make my fragments of thought connect into images. Snippets of memories and thoughts were floating randomly in my mind, vague images and sequences that refused to fit with each other; Demio with the other four members of the group, the glowing seal of conjuring, Zazz forming swirls of air and laughing like a maniac, and so many more. Every so often two thoughts would come close, only to violently reject one another and fly apart.

I wandered back into my bedroom and sat down upon my bed, staring blankly at my hands. I felt... lost. Completely lost. I'd always felt like I'd been able to count on Demio whenever I didn't know what to do, but what was I supposed to do now? I couldn't go to Demio about this, and I couldn't tell anyone else either. People were loyal to the laws of the nation, and if I told anyone at all, I may as well have signed the death warrants of Demio and the others. I wasn't particularly fond of any of the other Altheumans, but even so I didn't want to be responsible for turning them into Zeti. That was a fate I couldn't wish on anyone.

Which meant I had to keep this all to myself. It was the only way. But damn it, I hated that idea. I didn't even like keeping harmless secrets, and this was not harmless. I could have had to keep it to myself for years, maybe even my entire life. I didn't want that, it'd destroy me. But if I told anyone, Demio could get in trouble. But I had to keep this secret. But I... I... I...

A despairing cry escaped my lips, and I collapsed backward fully onto my bed. This wasn't fair. I know, I know, it's childish, but it's true. I shouldn't have had to deal with this, no one should. Where was I supposed to go from here? What was I supposed to do about Demio?

Wait a minute...

…

Demio... Demio...

This was his fault.

He was the one wholied to me. He was the one who decided to pull crap like this. HE was the one doing the wrong thing here! I didn't do anything! Why should I have to deal with this?! He needs to face what he's done!

Yeah, that's it... I'll tell him. I'll tell him I saw what he did, how he betrayed his people, betrayed the law, betrayed me. I'll look him straight in the eyes as he stares at me in horror and begs me not to tell anyone. And I won't, but I'll tell him that if he ever pulls something like this again, I won't hesitate to throw him under the bus.

That's exactly what I'll do!

With that, everything finally came into focus. The colors and sounds around me intensified, and I could feel a flash flood of adrenaline surge through my brain. I could do this. I would do this. I leaped to my feet and strode down the hallways to the kitchen, no longer a lost child but now a man with an ironclad purpose.

I was going to make my brother pay for his sins.

But in the end I never got the chance.

As I was storming down the hall with vengeful thoughts brewing in my head, I could hear a loud ruckus coming from the kitchen. It was too far away for me to make anything out, but I was certain I could make out multiple voices, all of them shouting, and it was growing fainter by the second. Worried, I increased my stride to a brisk jog, then further into an all-out run. Bounding down the stairs, I took a hard right and burst into the kitchen.

It looked as though there had been a fight here, just recently. Pots, pans and other things had been flung all over the place, and laid bent and broken around the kitchen. A window had been shattered, letting the warm breeze blow in and rake my fur. But what chilled me the most were the burn marks all over the wreckage. Some of them were still smoldering – I made sure to stamp them out so they wouldn't spread further. I recognized a few of them as Demio's; they were wider and more ashen. But there were others, and I recognized them as well. They were much thinner than the ones Demio had created, too thin to come from fire magic, and whereas fire magic usually left behind ashes or smolders, these burns had no such things. Rather, it was as though the burned areas themselves had become blacker. I could think of only one kind of magic that left marks such as this.

Shadow magic. And I knew very well one person who possessed such power.

My sense of dread growing larger by the second, I shot out of the kitchen and down another hall. I knew the person who had left behind those black marks very well. I had to know what he did to Demio.

His name was Ledale, Mr. Ledale to Demio and I. He didn't technically work here as an employee of this estate, but he was required to come by here four times a week to tutor me and Demio in magic. He was a powerful mage, bending shadow magic to his will like a potter molds clay. He was a younger man, somewhere in his late thirties as far as I could guess, with the pitch black fur associated with shadow magic. I'd always liked Mr. Ledale; he had a calming, friendly personality that made me feel good just being around him, and he was always there to help Demio and I with problems we were having. At the same time, he was a skilled teacher, and Demio and I could both say that we learned an immense amount of skill from him. I trusted him immensely, and normally I wouldn't be so rash as to confront him like this. Then again, this was anything but a normal situation.

Knowing Mr. Ledale enjoyed walking outside on the grounds of our house, I was eventually able to catch him in the courtyard behind the house. He was sitting on the lip of a tall fountain that spewed water straight into the air for it to gush down like a waterfall. I enjoyed the fountain, also; I liked to see if I could see rainbows in the raining water.

He smiled widely as he saw me stroll up. "Why hello, Alken. I see you thought this would be a nice day for a walk, too."

"Where's Demio?" I replied harshly.

Mr. Ledale's eyes widened. "I'm sorry, Alken?"

"Where the hell is Demio?!"

"Alken, calm down!" Mr. Ledale growled reproachfully. "If you have something to ask me, take a deep breath and calm down first."

"...Fine," I growled. Closing my eyes, I inhaled deeply and counted to five before opening them once more. To my annoyance, it worked quite well. "All right, I was in the kitchen and I saw some burn marks all over the place. They had to have come from both fire and shadow magic, and since you're the only shadow mage in the house and Demio's the only one here who can use fire magic with that level of skill, it had to be the two of you.

"So once again, what happened?"

Mr. Ledale stared at me briefly, then let out a sad sigh. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You were always a good student. I just wish you didn't have to find out so soon."

I looked at him with anxious confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"...You should probably sit down for this, Alken," Mr. Ledale replied, patting the edge of the fountain next to himself. Slowly, I brought myself over and sat down, as he instructed. "Yesterday, I was running some errands in the city, because I'd heard that you and Demio would both be out of the house for the day. Just before noon, I saw you standing around in front of Demio's workplace. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but when I came back a couple of hours later and saw that you were still there, I suspected that something was going on.

"I'll admit that I should have come up to you and spoken to you then, but for some reason I felt it wasn't important enough, so I went on with my business. But when I went by one last time in the early evening and saw you were still there, I realized that I couldn't just walk by again. So when you started tailing Demio..." He then trailed off, head bowed low.

For a moment I was confused, but then in one horrible moment, the twisted puzzle fit together before me.

"You followed me," I whispered in horror.

He nodded remorsefully. "For a little while I figured you were just trying to catch up to him, but then he started walking every which way around the city and you kept following him."

"So you saw-"

"Yes," he replied, eyes full of sorrow and pity. "I was in the cave, invisible – you know I've always been good at keeping myself from being sensed. I saw what your brother and the other four were doing. I watched the way you ran away when it became too much to bear.

"But I want you to know that I don't blame you in the slightest. Nothing that happened was your fault, so don't blame yourself for any of it, all right?"

My brain was not working. "You... you... you..."

"Yes," He nodded shamefully. "Earlier this morning I confronted him in the kitchen. I told him what I'd seen and how he'd disgraced his family and religion. I... I was angry, I won't deny that. But even so, I went too far. Way, way too far.

"Anyway, after I told all of that he attacked me, screaming about how he wasn't going to let me turn him in and get him turned into a Zeti. I didn't even want to turn him in, I swear, but he was desperate, and I didn't have any choice but to defend myself. Eventually I was able to knock him out, and then a bunch of men in black suits came in, shoved me out of the way, and dragged Demio away. I think one of the servants overheard us and contacted the authorities, I don't know.

"But I swear, Alken, I never wanted this to happen," Mr. Ledale's voice slowly became more and more pleading. "And I know I have no right to ask anything of you after what's happened, but I need to know that you hold no ill will towards me. I know it's selfish, but if you have any compassion left for me, I beg you to please show it to me now. Please, Alken. Please forgive me."

At last, something in my mind clicked. Those words, 'forgive me'… forgive him? Forgive him?!

No! Absolutely not! I didn't care who he was, or how sorry he felt. He lied to us, me and Demio! Demio was found out because of him! Demio was going to be made a Zeti because of him! And he wanted me to forgive him?!

The idea itself was absolutely repulsive. The more I thought about it, the more I could feel the anger, hatred, and despair grow inside me. I didn't want to forgive him. I wanted to make him pay.

My body began to glow white as I instinctively called upon my light magic. I could feel my hatred pervert the holy power granted to me more and more by the second, and I reveled in it. A fire ignited behind my closed eyes as I brought my arms up, two blazing spheres of light gathering in them like miniature suns. I had my power at my fingertips, and I had a target before me.

"Forgive you..." I growled hollowly. "You want me to forgive you. My brother, the man who's protected me my whole life, who's looked out for me since I was born, is going to become a Zeti because of you... and you want me to FORGIVE YOU!" I exploded. There was no other word for it. "Then take it! Take my forgiveness! Burn in it! Just BURN, YOU DAMN-"

And then I opened my eyes again. And I saw Mr. Ledale. I'd expected him to be on his feet, magic ready. I'd been expecting a battle, a long, intense fight at the end of which either I'd be dead or he would be.

But he wasn't on his feet, and he wasn't about to fight back. He was on the ground before me, looking up at me from on his knees. And he was crying. Crying as though he'd just killed a man. Maybe to him he actually had. Tears were pouring down his face in waterfalls as he stared up at me. He wasn't about to attack me. He was waiting for me to kill him.

And it all went away. All of my anger and hate that I had hoped to strike him down with were gone, like they'd never even been there to begin with. Oh Gods, what was I doing? I was going to kill him. He was my friend, and I wanted to kill him.

I collapsed to the ground before him as my strength disappeared completely. Resting on my hands and knees, I began to tremble, my entire body shaking furiously. I began to sob, softly at first, then harder. Soon I crying even harder than Mr. Ledale was. Suddenly, I could feel a strong pair of arms wrap around my body, and then my face was buried in Mr. Ledale's thick, black chest fur. His tears dropped down onto my already wet fur, soaking it even further.

"Alken, I'm sorry. I didn't want this, I swear. I didn't want this," He choked out the words, voice thick with despair and guilt. "This is all my fault... please forgive me, Alken, please... oh Gods, I'm so, so sorry..."

I dug my fingers into his muscular back, but I didn't say anything. There was nothing I could say, nothing. All I could do was kneel there, holding onto him like he was the only thing keeping me alive, and listen to him whimpering over and over for forgiveness...

And that's all she wrote. Keep hanging on for the third chapter, 'cause it's coming, I promise. See you soon.

Tomorrow's Hero, signing out.