La Dolce Vita

By Seniya

M is for Monster

Part 2

Monsters are real. Ghosts are real too. They live inside of us and sometimes they win.

Stephen King

Cedric knew precious little about the Wielder of the Blade of Kandrakar – only what his Master had told him, and that information had been sullied with paranoia and delusions. In fact, all he could be certain of was that the weapon clutched in human girl's grasp was potentially the most valuable tool in the Universe.

She'd been thrown at his feet a mere moments ago by a group of guards who had gone to investigate a disturbance in the Dungeons. They'd found the black witch gone, half the cell wall destroyed and her – motionless among the rubble.

She was insignificant, Cedric thought, nothing more than a wisp of red – the only thing spectacular about her was the sword she possessed and perhaps the low hum of energy that pulsed with her blood. He'd seen her before, when he'd gone to Earth to find the King's sister. Back then, the urge to kill her had been unbearable, but now, it was muted.

"What should we do with her?" One of the guards, a stocky red skinned northerner called Flib, asked. He had a gluttonous look about him – no doubt what he wanted to do with the human.

Cedric's stomach turned. He slithered from behind his desk, slowly, relishing the feel of the cool stones against his stomach. This room was his war room and he had decorated it to his taste – with the mangled, skeletal remains of his conquests. The sight usually gave him a fleeting sense of power – not true power of course, only his Master had that.

Well, perhaps not any more.

"We will s-s-see what the King decides-s-s."

For the first time in a terribly long time, Phobos felt something. He could only describe it as something, because after feeling nothing for so long, he knew very little about feelings. The moons were high in the sky and within mere hours, they would meet, providing just enough energy for the spell that would save his life.

It was a pity that his good mood could not extend to his health. This morning, he'd arisen with a terrible bout of coughing, his lungs had struggled within his chest and before he'd known it, his entire night dress had been coated in blood and phlegm. He had not been able to leave his chambers since, although the alchemist, Vladimir, had come to stand vigil by his bedside.

"My King, in your condition – you may not be strong enough for the spell." Vladimir had stood by many a death bed – his father's, his brother's, his mother's – he was a blasted bad omen. Phobos would have had him killed years ago, had he not been so useful.

"I cannot wait."

The old man sniffled, "indeed, you cannot."

There was an air of finality about his words. He was a dead man anyway, the old alchemist seemed to suggest. Phobos frowned, he'd been hearing that for decades.

"Has my sister been prepared?"

"Not yet, my King." For the first time today Vladimir moved away from Phobos' bedside to the instruments arranged in the corner. There were only a few measly jars and cauldrons – but to Phobos, they were his lifeline. "I shall have my assistant do it now. If all goes well, you will have a strong, healthy body by the fall of the second moon."

"Yes, I shall." He didn't dare hope, the word itself seemed too delicate.

"The transference process is fragile but not long. Also my liege, I trust you know that it will be terribly excruciating for the girl."

He knew, but after a lifetime of suffering, empathy was not something he was familiar with. Fleetingly, he thought of her bright blue eyes – like his mother's – then, he said, "Prepare her. It is almost time."

Perhaps it was loyalty – learned behaviour – or something similar that Cedric had never thought of himself. He wasn't fond of thinking, of course. However, there was probably a concrete reason behind why Cedric had decided to tote the Keeper of the Heart of Kandrakar and her precious sword, up the winding castle staircase that led to the King's chambers. He was willing to hand over the girl and, more importantly, her sword to Phobos – if only, yes he could admit it, for that very distant promise of praise.

Somehow, he felt as though that was the most important thing in his world: the look of gratitude on his Master's face.

Elyon hadn't left her chambers in days. It was a rarity for her, who had delighted at first in her new found identity and freedom. There had been so much to learn and see, and she had been hungry for it all. But now, she couldn't deny it – there was an emptiness growing inside of Elyon's heart that could not be filled.

The gowns, jewellery, books were just things, Elyon found. What she lacked was human intimacy. Her brother had been by her side at the start but she hadn't seen him in weeks. Her mother was dead, and God help her but she missed the endless cluck of her tongue and even worse, her only true friend, Cornelia, had abandoned her.

Abandonment seemed to be the only fitting word for what Elyon felt. What else could it be? Wasn't Cornelia being torn apart by the same soul tearing emptiness that came from being utterly and completely alone?

Of course not, a voice said bitterly in her mind, Cornelia was Cornelia and was naturally adored by all. She probably hadn't even noticed she was gone.

Those were the thoughts which moved like spades to dig the hole in her heart even deeper – but there was something else, something beneath the bitterness and self-pity. That something felt like a thousand fluttering butterflies, flapping incessantly beneath her skin.

"Princess," The low voice snapped Elyon out of her reverie. She didn't have to look at the door to know it was her brother, truly, he was her only visitor. However, when she did look, she almost reeled from shock. He was thinner, paler. Phobos' one lustrous white blonde hair was rank and matted against his skull. Worst of all, there was a steady trickle of red oozing from the side of his mouth.

"B-Brother!" Compassion won the war against disgust in her mind and Elyon tumbled from beneath her bedclothes, staggering forward to embrace her only kin. Her brother took two unsteady steps before collapsing in her arms, gasping for breath.

"Help Sister," he groaned in a voice almost too weak to truly be heard. Elyon, too small to carry even the slightest weight, bent forward until she was sitting on the floor with her brother's head in her lap. "Stay here P-Phobos … I-I can g-get h-help."

"No," he groaned and tried to sit up – he was still stronger than he looked it seemed. He looked at her, grasping her face with ice cold hands and staring at her with an expression that bordered on manic – "Come with me. You must."

"A-Are we being a-attacked?" She'd overheard conversations about the power hungry rebels. "D-Did someone do this to you?"

Rather than answer, her brother grew even more insistent. "I will explain later. You must come. Now."

It was the urgency in his voice that made her move, that, and the foundation of naiveté that still existing in her mind, telling her that her own brother, who'd rescued her from Earth, would certainly never lie to her.

Using every bit of her strength, Elyon positioned her brother's body against her own, allowing him to use her as a crutch. "W-Where are we g-going?"

"To my Wing," he mumbled, "hurry."

She nodded, and braced herself for the long walk ahead.

They'd truly only gone a matter of metres along the winding Castle corridors before they were stopped. It was Cedric, slithering slowly along the narrowly hallways at an almost leisurely pace, carrying what looked like a child, cradled in his arms.

Beside her, Phobos groaned.

"C-Cedric … p-please you h-have t-to help us."

But Cedric ignored her. "My King," he hissed, focusing his large yellow eyes on the despondent ruler, who was now pressed up against the Castle wall, gasping for breath. "I have found the Blade of Kandrakar. I have the Keeper in my arms." And slowly, he presented the small form to Phobos.

What Elyon had first thought was a child, was actually something far worse. "Will?"

The girl did not respond. It seemed as though she couldn't. There was a gash on her forehead and she was covered in dirt. The manner in which she was being held could not be helping her situation – Cedric help her haphazardly in his arms, with little care for the fact that her head had lolled onto one side and blood was leaking out of the cut like a fountain. Elyon's initial response was to demand that her classmate be bathed and sent to a healer, but that changed when she noticed a few discrepancies with this Will. She was bigger– older somehow – even her hair was longer. And her clothes – Will certainly wasn't known for her taste but not even she could have managed to style the tacky purple and green spandex ensemble she had on.

"Wh-What's s-she doing h-here? Wh-Why is s-she dressed li-like th-that?"

Cedric continued to ignore her. She would have asked again had it not been for the sudden shift of pressure at her side. Phobos! She'd almost forgotten!

"Cedric," the King's voice was like ice, "move."

There was a moment when all she could hear was the howl of the wind caught beneath the castle roof. "My King, I know of your desire for the Blade and the girl. She is here now. Your plans ..."

"You know nothing of my plans!" With a sudden strength that Elyon was shocked to see that he possessed, he brushed her aside and took two brisk steps forward to look his minion dead in the eye. "I have new plans now. I wanted this girl months ago. Your failure to retrieve her and her friends forced me to find other solutions and those are already under way."

Elyon watched as Cedric's serpentine face hardened.

"Move from my sight. I am tired of your ineptitude."

When Phobos returned his attentions to her, his face had changed. So much so that she scarcely recognised it. "B-Brother?" she mumbled, trying to resist the sudden urge to turn on her heels and run.

Cedric hissed, a low, hideous sound that was more reptile than man.

Her sibling froze in his path mere seconds later. He'd heard something she hadn't apparently and as a result, his expression had changed to something like disgust mixed with shock. "What did you say?" Phobos turned to Cedric. "What?"

"I s-said ..." Cedric blinked, apparently gathering courage before he stretched his long body to its full size – only then, when Phobos was nothing more than a quivering David before his Goliath did he hiss, "No!" Immediately after, with nothing more than a grunt, he lashed his master with his heavy tail, pushing the golden haired king off of his feet and onto a crumpled heap against the castle wall.

Elyon was not too surprised to scream.

Halinor's reception by her former team mate was less than warm. Yan Lin, dressed in her cheap silks, rubber apron and tattered house slippers possessed not even an ounce of the grace that Halinor's ethereal figure, clad entirely in white chiffon, embodied. She stood out like a sore thumb in the dark dining room, where she seemed to radiate confidence, power and wisdom. However, this all seemed lost on the former Guardian of Air who simply sneered at the blonde, "what? Did you come to gloat?"

Halinor paid her little mind. "I don't have time. I only have the briefest moment before he realises that I am gone."

Yan Lin was about to launch into another diatribe when the intruder snapped her fingers and a portal appeared by her side. Somewhere in the corner, Hay Lin breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Now, we can go get Will back!" she chirped.

But Yan Lin shook her head. "Don't trust her."

Now, it was Halinor's turn to look frustrated. "Why on earth would I risk my life to trick you Lin? Gods! Get your decrepit ass into the portal and the find the damned girl before Nerissa does!"

"Nerissa?" someone whispered, "seriously?"

"I've said too much." Halinor now looked skittish, as though she'd been caught with her hand in the proverbial cookie jar. "Just hurry up." She turned to Taranee, and with a voice that bordered on concern, she whispered, "be careful."

And as quickly as she had come, she vanished.

"Can we believe her?" Cornelia demanded, although no one seemed willing to answer.

"I do." Taranee said finally. "Halinor wouldn't lie to me."

Yan Lin seemed more disgruntled than upset. "We'll go ..." She grabbed an eager Cornelia, who had already taken three steps towards the portal. "I will lead. Now, I'm not Will. You will all listen to me. Stick together or I will bust a cap in somebody's ass."

"Sounds fun," Irma said sarcastically, but Yan Lin was already through, and one by one, the girls followed suit.

"Fuck."

That was as good a word as any to describe Will's current predicament. Wherever she was, and from the horrible smell and burning floors, she assumed it was hell – it seemed like some place she truly shouldn't be. Also, her head hurt. It throbbed painfully at the front – so much so that she dared not open her eyes or stand up.

"Where?"

"W-Will?" There was a sudden rush of motion beside her and very quickly she was being moved into an upright position. Too dizzy and nauseous to do anything more than moan her discontent, Will struggled to keep the bile down in her throat as she forced one blood caked eye open. "Elyon?"

The dirty, tear streaked face before her nodded eagerly. "I-It's me! I-I thought you were d-dead." And then her lip quivered and Will thought for certain that she'd cry again. From what Will could see, they were in a dungeon similar to the one Lucia had been held in. It was warmer though, and the heat made the rank smell of mould, sick and blood increase one thousandfold. There were rusty chains on the walls, Will could see the metal glinting maliciously in the light that squeezed through the tiny window at the top of the room.

Thoroughly uncomfortable with tears, Will repeated her earlier question, "where am I?"

"Y-You're in o-our ca-castle." Elyon began to blurt out all that had transpired over the last few hours, which seemed to be limited to her brother being betrayed by his snake friend and the two of them being locked away in this putrid room.

Will couldn't say she felt sorry for Phobos but having Cedric in charge of the kingdom was no relief. Her heart dropped, "my sword?"

"Cedric t-took i-it."

Now that was definitely a problem. At least a thousand people had told her over the tenure as Keeper of the Blade of Kandrakar the importance of never losing it. Having it taken by a demented snake seemed infinitely worse than it being lost.

"I have to get ..." At that moment she tried to stand, Elyon did her best to stop her by placing her ice cold hands on her shoulders and pushing her down to the floor. "N-No," the blonde whispered, "y-you're h-hurt."

"You don't," Will swallowed; her mouth was indescribably dry, "he can't have that sword. He'll destroy everything."

Elyon nodded, swallowed and then burst into tears. Will wanted to move away from the scene, but for all intents and purposes, she was stuck.

"Th-This is all m-my f-fault." In her current state, her stutter made her words an incoherent babble. "I-I j-just st-stood th-there."

"I'm sure you tried." Will managed to say.

"N-No!" Elyon screamed, and Will noticed for the first time that when she did that, the walls shook. "I d-didn't! I just st-stood th-there!" She pounded her fists against the putrid flood, disturbing the rest of several mice when the floor rattled somehow.

Great. Of course Elyon would have psycho powers like her brother, Will thought. Her mind was too foggy to decipher a good way to diffuse the situation. So she ran with the first thing that popped into her mind.

"Your brother was a fucktard anyway. Didn't he kidnap you so he could kill you and be the rightful ruler of Meridian?"

Elyon stopped crying. "N-No? He missed me. H-He knew I-I was un-happy o-on E-Earth so h-he came for m-me."

"You're brother's a socio path." Will mumbled, too dazed to see the hurt growing behind Elyon's baby blue eyes. "He's the most selfish King there ever was. All of his people are suffering and dying because he lets Cedric do whatever he wants."

"Th-That's n-not t-true."

But then she remembered how his face had hardened and his eyes had glinted like cold steel before Cedric had taken him down.

"Of course it is." Will groaned, too tired now to say anything else. She could feel the consciousness deserting her as more warm, sticky blood oozed along her face. "He doesn't care about anyone but himself."

Will dozed off a second later, leaving Elyon to brood in her own thoughts, which had suddenly grown infinitely darker. "H-He u-used m-me?"

And around her the dungeon walls began to rattle.

Author: Well, I've had this chapter done for a while. I was trying to add more onto it because I didn't want Monster to be a three part thing but alas. Monster will be a three part thing. I've had writer's block for the longest while and all the story ideas aren't translating so well. The most random thing is that chapter N is done -_-.

All of the action, and I do mean all, will be in part three.

Thank you again guys for your constant support and patience. I will finish this story. I will!

Reviews are always appreciated.