La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

C is for Conspiracy

Part Three

Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.

Hamilton Wright Mabie

In Caleb's mind, it had become painfully clear in the last five minutes that Will and Hay Lin could potentially be the worst guardians in the history of the veil. After almost a half an hour of coaxing, Hay Lin had finally made it off the top of the restaurant – not that it made any difference. The minute she set foot on the ground and saw her Grandfather up close – she burst into tears and was flying through the air with the greatest of ease. She landed in a nearby tree.

Yan Lin hadn't been able to coax her down from that one.

Will, seemed fascinated by the dead things around her. "So ... the afterlife is another dimension. Just like Meridian." She bent to touch something – Caleb couldn't neither see nor understand what she was talking about and truly, had lost the patience to inquire.

What he did see, several minutes into this catastrophe; were the girls. Four of them, Caleb counted, all remarkable spectacles wandering dazedly in the middle of the deserted street. The sun had just begun a slow descent into the arms of the hills behind them and as such, the town was coated in an eerie orange glow. It danced along these girls' arms and faces, making the low moans slipping from their lips seem that more gruesome.

He had seen these creatures before, half-dead, half living, they were unable to control anything but their insatiable hunger. Phobos had created some of these years ago with the corpses of fallen soldiers and then set them upon their families.

In his gut, he knew this was no different.

Beside him, Will had finally taken notice as well. He would have to work on her attention span. The inability to see one's opponent before they spotted you was not one many lived to recount.

"That's them." She muttered. He watched her swallow and then bite down on her bottom lip. "They're ... children."

"Hardly," he replied, "they're dead. They're puppets of a master who has lost interest in their purpose."

He pulled a dagger from the waistband of his trousers. The blade caught the light of the setting sun on its face grinned with malicious intent – so bold it almost seemed beautiful. Caleb looked at the girl beside him. She looked older now; indeed she was taller although her face hadn't lost its nymph like quality. There was hesitance in those brown eyes that betrayed her maturity. Something moved inside of his own chest, although he pushed it away.

"This is your first lesson." He said, and she didn't respond. "The size, strength or power of the weapon matters little in a fight. In the end, it all comes down to the talent of the warrior."

She watched the dagger in his fist, her eyes lingered on the bruises that still blemished the skin there, "I won't fight these girls."

"You don't have a choice. You're a guardian and ..."

"I never asked to do any of this!"

Caleb felt his interest waning. He couldn't deal with theatrics. "Your blade is an extension of yourself. Think of it as your own arm, your own flesh. Watch me. I'll go after the yellow haired one first. She has been dead the longest and is the most dangerous. That is lesson number two. Know your enemy."

The next time he looked into those brown eyes he would see only steely resolution – before the hilt of the Blade of Kandrakar came slamming onto his skull. There was a brief moment where he staggered, his vision blurred by stars and lights. The witch moved to hit him again but he surprised her by grabbing her around her waist and tackling her to the ground. He was rewarded for his efforts with a well aimed kick to the groin.

His breath left his lungs as he toppled over onto his back, seeing stars of an entirely different colour now. The bitch moved like lightning. She snatched his dagger from the street beside him and held her own sword in her other hand. Caleb watched as she ran towards the oncoming girls ... apparently she intended to converse with them.

He bit back another groan of pain, "women."

"Lydia!" It was difficult to make out who was real and who was not in the blur that had become her reality. People were everywhere, dead, half-dead ... but she recognized the mop of lank, curly hair that belonged to Lydia. She stood still in the midst of the confusion; her arms were stretched out before her as though she were reaching for something that she could have. Her eyes were cold and lifeless. Those chilled Will to her very core.

Will dropped the sword and Caleb's dagger onto the ground. She would approach this peacefully. The girls had done nothing wrong.

Even though it had only been a few hours since Will had been in her house, Lydia's condition seemed to have worsened immensely. Now, chunks of flesh were missing from her face, the tendons in her arms were completely visible – her mouth was covered in blood.

"Lydia!" Will held onto those ice cold arms, searching with everything that she was worth for even a single iota of humanity in those hallow eyes, "Listen to me! You need to fight this! You have a mother who loves you very ..."

It was all she managed before those hands clasped around her neck. Lydia was stronger than she looked. Stronger than she should have been. Will gasped for breath even as the grip grew stronger.

What seemed like hours later, Caleb arrived at her side. With one well aimed slash of his dagger Lydia's head slipped onto its side before finally tumbling onto the ground. The grip around her neck slackened before the entire corpse finally melted away into a mountain of ash.

Now, she had Caleb's grip on her arm to deal with, "You could have died!"

"I didn't though."

"Consider yourself lucky that I've decided to overlook your insolence!"

"Oh ... shut up!" She watched the pile of ash behind him mournfully. "You shouldn't have killed her."

He let her go after that. "Lesson three; don't ever let your guard down. Lesson four. Don't leave your weapons in the middle of the street." He pointed to the Blade of Kandrakar, which Will hurriedly picked up when she noticed.

There was a throbbing at the back of Caleb's skull that told him it was a damn good thing he hadn't been raised to strike women. If not, well, the veil would have right now, been short of one keeper of the heart.

The three remaining girls really weren't much competition. Even with Will refusing to participate and HayLin trapped in a tree ... YanLin and Caleb were capable of making quick work of the approaching zombies.

If anything, the two new guardians provided more distraction than anything else. Will would scream obscenities from the sidelines, often throwing rocks at Caleb or YanLin – once even cheering on the zombies when they got a got punch in. HayLin had unintentionally whipped up a miniscule tornado that had so far pulled down two lamp posts and was in the process of uprooting an oak tree.

Yan Lin, unperturbed, moved seamlessly. For her, this could be the steps of a long memorized dance. One, two, three; she reached into her pockets and retrieved a vial of salt. One, two; hard, wizened fingers rubbed over the grains and dashed them on the street. One, two; the salt surrounded her like a barrier at the same time those fingers turned through the pages of a small black book.

"Pater noster, qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum."

These girls would die if she didn't do something. Will had been ordered to sit on the sidewalk by YanLin. Both she and Caleb wanted her only as a witness to this massacre. In her trembling hand the hilt of the heavy sword grew warmer, drawing her attention away from the battle and towards a more optimistic option.

"Can I save them?" She didn't know what she was doing – what had told her that the piece of metal in her hand could understand her words – she felt it throb in response – growing warmer.

Yes.

"Tell me," It was more a prayer than a command, it held more helplessness than conviction – "Tell me who do this! Show me!" Sweat trickled off her forehead while all around her the wind maintained its chaos, whipping at her hair and tearing at her lungs.

She could feel the blade growing warmer in her palm, it had heard her. It was responding.

Yes.

Her right arm jerked suddenly to the side, all of her body's energy seemed to have converged there – it shivered as though she were holding onto a lightning rod in the middle of a hurricane – so much power.

Here.

This was the answer. Trembling, Will rose to her feet. The sword was pointing directly across the street to an old wooden house with paper fans in the garden. That wasn't it though. The answer was beyond this world. She needed to go back to Meridian.

Swallowing, she looked for the others out of the corner of her eye. Yan Lin stood in the centre of the chaos muttering spells which apparently held the girls at bay. Caleb had taken a more physical approach and had thrown one girl over his shoulder whilst another one gnawed at his leg. Hay Lin, she couldn't see, but the winds attacking her limbs told her that she must have found herself, again, on a rooftop somewhere.

"Take me there!" Will yelled over the sounds of her thundering pulse and the rampaging gusts. And then, just like that, she was gone.

"I'm going to kill her!" The storm had passed, just as quickly as it had come. There was salt on her skin, both from perspiration and from her ministrations – proof of her victory. Hay Lin had returned to her normal form, looking more dishevelled than accomplished. She sat looking completely windswept with her knees curled up under her chin on the steps to the restaurant, jumping and shivering with every sudden sound.

"I knew this would happen!" And he had. From the first instant he had laid his eyes on that little witch he had known in his gut that she would be nothing but trouble. She was too headstrong, too vile and belligerent for a woman! For a child! What she needed was a man to force obedience into her head, although, he'd be damned if that man would be him. "I told you she could never be a guardian!"

The wound on his head thudded with every word he spoke.

"The blade wouldn't listen to her if she weren't!" This was trouble. The zombie-girls had been taken care of. That had been almost painfully simple. They weren't her first set of zombies and they certainly wouldn't be her last. Her knees cramped uncomfortably while she stood. Damn arthritis. It would have gone a lot smoother had Wilhelmina just listened.

Yan Lin reached into her coat pocket and pulled out her compass, the needle inside reflected the chaos in her mind. It danced around the circle rapidly, stopping frequently, never once making sense. "Dammit!" She breathed, and the overwhelming sense of foreboding held her again. Keepers of the Heart of Kandrakar were not as disposable as she would have liked to think. Wilhelmina's safety was just as important as the blade.

"We cannot afford for anything to happen to her."

"Tell her that," grunted Caleb.

"We need to go to Meridian." Yan Lin concluded, "to get her back. The question is, how."

"Lucia."

Will wasn't in Meridian.

Where ever she was – it was nothing like the dark, hopeless place she'd seen the night before. This place was bright – indescribably so. That was just the beginning of comparisons. There was a feeling of foreboding and hopelessness that filled the soul in Meridian. That didn't exist in this place. The strange people and customs and accents were missing as well. As far as Will could tell, it was just her in this endless hall of mirrors. That's what it was essentially – an endless white chasm of mirrors, with a ceiling that went as high as the heavens – and no way out. A beautiful prison, as far as she could tell.

There was only one similarity between this place and Meridian: she didn't feel safe here either.

"Hello?" Her voice rumbled uncertainly over her lips, echoing over the reflections that stared, confused, right back at her.

Realising that she was kneeling, Will got to her feet, a moment's distraction that caused her to notice another reflection besides her own. Slowly, Will faced the dark haired woman. In her hand, the sword's blade grew as hot as coals but Will held on. "Who are you?" She whispered.

"I am," her lips were chapped, her skin loose and soft atop of delicate, beautiful bones. She had bright amber eyes, devoid of light and emotion. Long black hair hid tattered robes and an emaciated frame from sight. Will started to back away before remembering that she was trapped.

"I am you." The old woman spoke carefully, as though her speech was something she had forgotten she owned. "You are me. We are the same. I suppose."

"Where am I?"

The old woman grinned, revealing yellow, pointed teeth. "Mount Thanos. My home." Her smile faded. "Do you like it?"

Will swallowed, this woman was dangerous, she could feel it ... and she was moving closer. Feeling helpless, Will pointed the sword towards the woman, who stilled but smiled all the same. "Stay back!" She hoped she looked as threatening as she wanted to, "I'll ..."

"You'll what exactly?" Another step, "You can't even hurt those dead girls on earth. You'll hurt me – a living, breathing thing?"

"W-Who are you?" The blade was shaking in her hands. It was burning even hotter now, begging to be released. Will couldn't let go.

"I am you."

"What's your name!"

"Nerissa." She said pleasantly. "I haven't been called that in a long while though."

"I-I know you ..." The conversation with Yan Lin came rushing back to her. He blood, if possible, ran colder. "Why am I here?"

"I brought you here."

"How?"

She didn't bother to answer, "You have something that belongs to me." She indicated towards the sword, which grew hotter in response.

"It's not yours."

"Isn't it?" She laughed, "It still obeys me." Then, to prove her point he beckoned the weapon closer, using two fingers.

Will gasped as she realised she was being tugged towards the woman. "T-This ... it's not yours!"

"I know what it feels like," she whispered seductively, "what it feels like to finally have some importance. A purpose in life ... after being alone for so long. I know."

"No!"

"Children shouldn't have such power."

"It's not yours!"

"You don't know what to do with it."

"It's not yours!" She was a mere foot away from Nerissa's grasp when the sword's hilt finally stopped burning. "It's mine!" She pressed, and just like that, the force on the other side of the blade evaporated, and the metal fell with a heavy clang against the mirrored floor.

Nerissa seemed genuinely shocked. "No, this cannot be."

"I am the wielder of this sword ..."

"You will not take this away from me!" She tried to lunge towards Will, her golden eyes glinting with malicious intent. However, it was too late. Will had already clutched the sword close to her heart and concentrated with every fibre of her being on the disgusting basement inside of YanLin's restaurant. She could smell the potions, see the frog legs, the snail jar, the shelves of books and metal instruments - in a flash of light ... she was gone.

"And there she is." Lucia couldn't help but sound smug as Will suddenly appeared in a flicker of white light. "I told you she would return."

Lucia was cloaked today, her face and body were concealed with a dark green hooded robe, although her voice was unmistakable. "Really YanLin, the next time you cry wolf – let me at least see some fangs."

"You!" YanLin screamed, "I should have your head for that stunt you just pulled!"

"I-I saw her ..." Will crumbled to her knees, fighting the urge to fall into a ball and wait for this nausea to pass.

"You know, I don't have time to waste training annoying little know it alls." Caleb drawled from the back.

"I saw Nerissa!" Will blurted, met then only with silence.

"What do you mean child?" Lucia pushed forward to stand by Will's side, trying then to force her weakened limbs to stand. "What do you mean!"

"She called me ... I dunno ... I ..."

"Nerissa is locked up in Mount ..."

"Thanos." YanLin's expression hardened, "I know ... I saw it. In a hall of mirrors." Will looked at HayLin who was still dishevelled from earlier. "She wants to hurt me and HayLin ... She wants us dead, I could feel it."

"No!" Yan Lin rushed to stand in front of Will, "For God's sake Wilhelmina! You had better be lying!"

"Why would she lie, YanLin!" Lucia tightened the grip on Will's arm, her exotic eyes met Will's, "How did you get there?"

"I wanted to go to Meridian ... I thought I could find whoever created the zombies and stop them." As usual, in Lucia's presence, the truth slipped out freely. "I asked the blade to take me to the person. I ... I thought it would listen to me."

"But it didn't ..." HayLin whispered. She looked terrified. "Nana, why wouldn't it listen to Will?"

YanLin's face seemed to have aged twenty years in the last minute, she replied, "Because it's answering to another Master. Nerissa is still the wielder of the blade."

"But you got home Will," Lucia prodded.

"Yes ... I thought about coming home. Just like YanLin told me ... and I did it ..."

"Good girl." She pressed two fingers against the red head's flushed neck. Will fell asleep in the next second. The sword fell heavily onto the concrete floor.

"Here," Lucia pushed Will into YanLin's unwelcoming arms, "I'll go to the Oracle right away."

"Why should you go? He hates you."

"It doesn't matter. This ... is ..." she shook her head, "An unnecessary complication."

"Nana ... I don't understand."

Lucia was gone in a blaze of light and smoke before she could be questioned any further. HayLin refused to be ignored, "Nana! Tell me what's going on! Where did Will go?"

YanLin clicked her tongue before sadly shaking her head, "someplace we'd all best hope she never has to see again."

Author: Hooray! An update! I'd written pieces of this so long ago! Just had to piece together an ending, although I had no idea it would take so long to do so. Yes, so Nerissa is here as well. Muhahahahaha. Fun, fun. Continue to comment and review. I do love the support I get from you guys, so thank you! Hopefully, Will has learnt her lesson about running off.

Next segment! D is for Discipline!

Reviews are always welcome!