La Dolce Vita
By Seniya
M is for Monster
Part One
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. If you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you.
Friedrich Nietzsche
The night winds howled angrily in the cemetery, harassing the trees and the night creatures until they also cried out. The smell of fear was strong in the breeze. Even the light of the stoic moon seemed to wane in panic.
"Will?" Irma gasped, she took a tentative step forward, as though she could reach for her missing companion, but stopped herself mid-step. She was gone. The portal had closed a scant two seconds after the red head had gone through.
"She can't be serious." Cornelia said, her voice reverberated across the empty night, almost rattling those who had found peace within the silence of the earth. "She shut the portal!"
Taranee's brow furrowed, "that doesn't make sense. Why would Will want to go on a suicide mission by herself?"
"Taranee's right," Hay Lin sounded frantic, "Will didn't want to go by herself. She was training with all of us … and she went out of her way to get Taranee to come along."
"Emotionally blackmailed me is more like it." Taranee sounded grim, but in fact, her dark eyes had not left the spot where the blue light had stood like a beacon just scant seconds before. "Something is not right."
"Something isn't right with her!" Cornelia snapped. "I cannot be the only one questioning the motives of that red headed control freak who just so happens to have a hero complex!"
"All right Corny!" Irma replied, the frustration in her words drew each of the girls' gazes to her face. "Look, I don't know what's up. But even if Will shut the portal. She's in shit street. So can we stop the monologue and actually get some help?"
There was only one person to turn to. Hay Lin sighed, "Nana's gonna kill us."
Will's first thought had been to create another portal, one that would take her right back home. Why had the last one shut? Just like that? But naturally, based on the theories associated with Murphy's Law – everything that could go wrong would go wrong – and the Blade of Kandrakar wouldn't work.
Her blood was pumping a terrible chorus in her ears, filled with major lifts and edgy sopranos, her heart was screaming out in fear. She was lost. Will knew that. The pages of maps (the ones Hay Lin had volunteered to carry for safe keeping) were nothing more than muddle in her memories. She wasn't where she had been trying to go and what was worse, she certainly didn't know how to get to her preferred starting point.
Hiding seemed like the best course of action, especially when she heard the first rumble of deep voices from within the belly of the castle. Will figured she was on one of the lower floors of the building, way below where Elyon would be. The walls were slick, damp and cold. The torches that burned above her, near to the roof, were suffocating in the heavy air.
The shadows were currently her only refuge, she pressed her back against the ice cold walls and moved as quietly as she could away from the noises. "Think Will," she whispered, because even now she couldn't find foolish words of comfort. This was a mess. Simply put. And if she couldn't find her way out of it, she'd be lizard meat. No questions asked.
The South entrance had been near to the dungeons. Yes, that was right. That would explain the voices, those belonged to the prisoners or the guards. Presently neither option gave her any comfort. The rebels despised her, as did Phobos' men. However, at the very least, she knew the dungeons were separated from the outside by a single wall. She could use her powers to break through the side and escape. It was a feeble plan, but it was all she had.
Will scarcely remembered the route, even though she and Hay Lin had traced it a few times as they'd run potential strategies. "Concentrate," she mumbled, and then she thought could see it … left, right, right – another left – maybe not. Shit.
The air was slowly getting thicker, heavier with the smell of waste and blood. It was so dark now that she could scarcely see, but Will didn't dare do anything that would illuminate the space around her.
She startled slightly when her fingers first touched metal. Joy, if that was what you could call the ease in her blood pressure, exploded in her gut. Quietly, she turned around to face the cell, and, unfortunately, its occupant.
"Lucia?" Will gasped, she couldn't help herself. She'd sworn the woman was dead. In fact, even face to face with the figure, she still wasn't sure that she wasn't dead. Her once dark skin was more than a few shades paler, her beautiful eyes were hollow and bleak and her once lustrous dark hair clung to her skeletal frame in a few thick clumps.
"Lucia!" Will's heart was thumping again, maybe it was a trick of the shadows but she swore that the body had just shifted in response. Moving quickly, Will shoved her sword under her arm and rubbed her fingers together, as rapidly as she could. The effect was instantaneous – bright blue sparks illuminated the space about her hands. Will used that energy to remove the iron bolts holding the gate together and then jumped out of the way before it crashed to the ground.
The noise it made echoed endlessly, and Will knew someone, somewhere must have heard it. She darted inside the cell, stopping only when she touched the chains tethering Lucia to the wall. This time, she had to rub her hands together to create enough friction to remove those bolts, but in a matter of seconds, Will had the woman freed.
"Lucia?" It seemed like a shame to have to touch such a fragile creature. Will sought within her foul robes and did manage to locate a pulse. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of here."
The cells were tiny, low roofed and decrepit, with crumbling limestone walls and filthy floors. But, there was one positive in the design. A tiny, square window, located near to the top of the roof. It was more of an air vent than anything else, seeing as it was far too small for anything larger than a rat to crawl through. Presently, it was more than enough.
"Will," Lucia's voice sounded like it has gone through a concrete mixer, it was stronger than a whisper, but so hoarse that the words were all jumbled together. "Wait, you need to get out of here."
"It's ok," Will sounded so convincing, she almost believed herself.
"The heart ..."
Will wasn't listening any more. Instead, she clutched the Blade of Kandrakar within her sweaty palms, close to her chest, while whispering assertions to herself. It was working, she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck standing up. The pulse of energy escaping her body left her dazed and weak, but it had been more than enough the widen the air vent so that Lucia could slip outside.
"C-Come on," Will slurred. Around her, the atmosphere was quickly becoming chaotic. The other prisoners had heard the commotion and undoubtedly, the guards were on their way. It took all of Will's remaining strength to peel Lucia from the floor and shove her outside. She wasn't certain if she could have slipped outside as well. She didn't feel as though she had enough strength left in her system to blink, much less climb.
That was what she had been thinking when the darkness crowded her mind.
"I should kill you." Yan Lin growled, and for a second, standing there in her heavy rubber apron and brandishing a spatula in the Silver Dragon's kitchen – she actually looked like Leatherface's bastard sister. She hadn't taken the news of the Guardians rescue plan and Will's subsequent disappearance well, to say the least.
"We knew it was a bad idea, but we didn't have a choice," Hay Lin tried to explain. The others gave no vocal support but they seemed to agree.
"Can you put us in the naughty corner later Yan Lin?" Irma rolled her eyes, "Will is gone and we can't get to her."
"I heard! God damn it to the fucking god damn fuck!"
"Wow." Cornelia mouthed.
"The Blade of Kandrakar!" the older woman hissed. "She's in Meridian with that all by herself? And you think this is coincidence?"
Yan Lin didn't elaborate. Instead, with the speed of a woman half of her age, she pulled a cauldron from out of one of the lower cupboards and began tossing ingredients inside of it.
"You think someone closed the portal?" Taranee wasn't about to let the matter drop.
"Isn't it obvious." She disappeared out of the room and returned with three massive spell books. "Hay Lin, go downstairs and get the Grand Grimoire, volumes six and ten."
Her granddaughter scampered off immediately.
"But who would do something like that?" Taranee asked, even though in her heart, she suspected that she already knew. She just needed to hear it.
The older woman's next words were no consolation. "You've been tricked. All of you. This is all a part of some fucked up power struggle that no one gives a shit about."
"Yan Lin," Irma snapped, "you're freaking me out."
"Good! Because maybe next time, you'll listen!" Suddenly, she kicked the heavy cauldron with her right foot, it must her hurt her because she grimaced although she didn't say anything. Her next words were terribly calm. "Taranee, why were you separated from the Guardians? Why did Halinor train you herself?"
"Wait, what?" Cornelia looked confused. "What does that have to do with anything ..."
Taranee shook her head, her face grew resolute. "You know I can't tell you."
"They'll kill her, Taranee! I've seen them try this shit before!"
Irma looked at Cornelia, who shrugged. They were both lost beneath the subtext.
"Will's been hearing Nerissa. I told you that." Yan Lin spat, "and I know you must have told them. And what did they say?"
"I'm not dealing with this." Taranee turned on her heel and stomped against the linoleum floor. She seemed destined for the exit but the old woman's next words stopped her cold. "You're better than this, Taranee."
"You're banished. You'll get us all banished for saying those things."
"So what? You think the banishment is the worst thing that has happened to me? My best friend was murdered, my other friend killed her. Kadma's been missing for years and I can't speak to the only person who might understand because she's got her head so far up her ass!"
"The Oracle can't control who the Blade chooses as its keeper." Taranee blurted out. "He was once able to at least give an opinion. But now he can't. He chooses who controls our elements but he can't manage quintessence."
There was silence for a while as everyone tried to fit the pieces of the dialogue together. "Why is that an issue?" Cornelia asked.
"Because if he can't choose then the Blade picks people like Nerissa." Yan Lin's voice was dry when she added, "or people like Will."
"What's wrong with people like Will?" Hay Lin had returned, the spell book dangled from her fingers.
"They're too powerful."
Cornelia snorted, "Will is too powerful? That's not accurate. Like, at all."
"He has a cap on her powers. That's why she's weaker than the rest of us." Taranee mumbled. "It's some sort of spell. It was a precaution … they said."
"And more importantly, that's not who he would have picked." As Yan Lin spoke, her dark eyes bored holes into Taranee's face. "He would have picked you. Am I right?"
Taranee nodded. "That's what I've been training for. But I never knew it would be like this! I didn't expect them to exterminate her!"
"Hold the phone!" Irma interjected and Cornelia followed suit with a sharp, "exterminate?"
"There was some kind of plan," Taranee seemed on the brink of tears, the situation was so highly charged that Irma actually put a hand around her shoulders. "I never knew what it was."
Yan Lin simply shook her head. "That explains why they never cared if Will was hearing Nerissa or not. Probably were hoping the old bitch would do her in. Just like she did with Cassidy."
"They told me I was the true keeper of the heart. Just like Cassidy was … because the forces that pick the keeper aren't always pure. I didn't want them to hurt Will. I don't even want the stupid sword."
There was silence after that.
"So this has all happened before," Cornelia muttered. She was still shell shocked by the news.
"He tried it before. But it backfired. When I was a guardian, Nerissa was as powerful as a God. She was obsessed with the Heart of Kandrakar. It was everything to her. The Oracle eventually became afraid of what she could do, or so I assume. He held a council meeting and they took the sword away and gave it to Cassidy. Nerissa killed her and took it back shortly after that and she was locked away."
"That's when you got banished?" Hay Lin asked.
"No. I was banished after I told him he planned the whole thing. He doesn't want there to be guardians. He wants us to kill each other out … to prove a point … I think ...I don't know. I never had any proof." She sighed.
"We've gotta help Will." Hay Lin squeaked. She was terrified for her friend's sake.
"If the Oracle wants to take the Blade away from her. I'm not certain what we can do to stop it from happening." Yan Lin made a feeble gesture with her hands.
"My head, Yan Lin," five pairs of eyes turned at once to meet the intruder. Halinor. "Is not that far up my ass."
It took every last ounce of strength within Lucia's fragile body to pull herself away from the semi-ruined dungeons. She remembered seeing Will, the poor child, taken away by Cedric's guards, but there was nothing she could do to help her.
Once outside she took in the wonderful smell of freedom. The bitingly cold air, the rich, muddy earth and the bright glistening moons. Those, gave her just enough power to cast her next spell.
"Ehwaz," Lucia whispered, and she thought, home.
"By the Gods!"
The Executive Council of the rebellion was growing quite tired of having their meetings interrupted by females. However, none of the guardians had quite managed to crash a discussion like Lucia, who quite frankly, appeared a few metres above their table and crashed, literally, onto the piles of plans and miniatures.
The men struggled to their feet, all shouting at once. No doubt, they'd all considered the witch dead. She'd been missing for almost a year, and no one survived Phobos' treatment for more than a day.
"The whore lives." One man whispered, but dared not to touch her. She was covered in blood and in filth. They crept away into the corners, trying to escape the horrific smell.
Only Caleb dropped to his knees beside her, pressing his palms onto her cold, thin face. "Lucia," he spoke in a voice roughened with emotion, 'Lucia, can you hear me."
There was no reply.
"Water!" he screamed to the men cowering behind him, and to his surprise, all of them rushed to obey. "You will survive this Lucia. Thank the Gods you are safe."
"Caleb," she whispered, and Caleb almost smiled. It was a relief to hear her voice. But the joy faded in a second. "Will."
"Will?" the reaction just the thought of her could have on him was absolutely jarring. His pulse was already racing, his mouth had gone dry. "What about her?"
"In ..." Lucia swallowed and then coughed, "the castle. Help her."
Will couldn't be here. He had told her … Caleb closed his eyes. When had she ever listened? Curse the fates. Would she not rest until she got herself killed?
When the men returned he told them to take Lucia to the nurses. She'd need weeks of treatment to survive this. He'd already seen the signs of starvation and brutality written across her once imposing figure.
"Where are you going Caleb?"
He had silently hoped that he could slip away without notice. He didn't want to have to explain his actions to anyone, much less himself. "To the castle." He tried to appear as impassive as possible.
"Why such a foolish mission?" Another asked, and Caleb bristled. His heart wouldn't allow him to stay. "One of the guardians was caught rescuing Lucia. I must retrieve her."
To his surprise, the men laughed. "Those women are nothing but trouble. Best you let Phobos finish her off and have them out of our hair."
"I cannot. Not when they would risk their own lives for me. Such a thing is a matter of honour." And he was pleased with that explanation.
"You may not take our troops of this silly quest, Caleb. And in your journey for honour I pray you remember that your men are preparing a surprise attack."
"I will not need them." Caleb snapped, at once, his eyes flickered outside his bedroom window, where the twin moons – Phobos and Deimos – were both full and as such, took up more than their share of the empty sky. "I will be back in time to lead our men to victory. Do nothing rash until my return."
Author: This didn't go as I had planned. I initially wrote this action packed thing that was pure kicks, fights, bams booms, and ended up with more talk. Womp. Well, for sure the action will be in part 2 of Monster. There were just a few things I decided to change last minute and felt maybe now is a good time to explain what the Oracle has been plotting.
All through out WITCH I've been obsessed with the theory that the Oracle is evil as phuck. I love the idea that he set up Nerissa to fail. I love it. This story has always been about Nerissa and how she will get her revenge on him. The Phobos arc was just kind of a set up. Hopefully I can put everything I'm planning into one more chapter. If not, Monster will be 3 parts long. After Monster is N is for Nerissa and then the fun starts.
I love my little Will and Caleb. I feel like writing a cutesy fic for them but alas. I've aged and have forgotten how to do cutesy. All I Know now is angst and pain.