We quickly relocated to a more private area (The Sun Knights' quarters) after the arrival of the three devils. The rooms were the same as when I was a child, despite years of neglect. Dust didn't cling to a single surface, making me certain that the room continued to be cleaned. By who, I didn't know. It was still dreary out, nobody even bothering to open a window. There was no light outside to be let in. Instead several Holy Lamps were lit, illuminating the room brightly. Pink and the Aunt didn't seem happy, but they didn't complain.
Actually, speaking of them… Two Necromancers snuck into the Holy Temple. Undetected. That's just… Sigh.
"No!" Kadence snapped, half-hiding behind me and glaring at Grisia. It had been like this for at least ten minutes now. She was refusing to cooperate, which was understandable. In his hands Grisia was holding an amulet that was emitting faint bursts of Unholy energy, brief lapses of black flickering over its' otherwise red surface.
"Stop being so difficult," Grisia growled, losing patience with his student. She remained stubborn, shaking her head and sending golden hair swinging from side to side. Her bright blue eyes were defiant and angry.
"I don't trust you, baldy!" She said loudly, moving to stand further behind me.
Are you seriously using me as a shield?
"Ha!" Pink laughed. She was sitting on the table and swinging her legs happily, "Baldy!"
"Shut up, Corpse," He snapped dangerously, his eyes impatient as he glared back at Kadence, "Just take it, Damn it!"
"No, you bully!" She stuck her tongue out at him. I swear his eyes just about popped out of his head. I sighed softly, wondering why every generation of Sun Knight's I had met were so annoyingly stubborn.
"Kadence," I said patiently, stepping to the side so she was no longer hiding behind me and trying to speak in a reasonable tone, "Why don't you want to? You don't have to do anything, just take the amulet."
"I don't trust them," She mumbled, crossing her arms and pouting.
I suppose that's normal. I wouldn't trust them either.
"You don't have to trust them," I said quietly, "But do you trust me?"
She froze, frowning for a few moments before sighing sharply, "That's blackmail."
"I wonder who taught me that," I replied wryly.
She still looked unsure, frowning at Grisia and the other with distrustful eyes. But she nodded silently, holding her hand out to take the amulet. She hesitated at the last minute, snatching back her hand and biting her lip. I braced myself for another argument, but instead she grabbed my sleeve and snapped, "You better stay here."
I nodded and she snatched the amulet, flinching when it was in her hand. When nothing happened she looked confused, as did I. The devil trio looked utterly calm, not a flicker of uncertainty on their faces.
I looked from the amulet to them slowly, wondering why they were so calm even though nothing was happening.
Maybe it's one of those things that you can't see? In a second she'll probably turn around and start talking like Caelan again-
She dropped like a sack of potatoes, hitting the ground with a thud and dragging my arm down with her. The others still looked calm, which did almost nothing to alleviate my panic.
"This isn't the way you said it would work!" I snapped angrily, glaring at Grisia accusingly.
He shrugged carelessly, but his eyes were tight as he said, "Easier to ask forgiveness than permission."
"Forgiveness for what?" I asked suspiciously as he picked her up, dragging me along with them. Her hand is like a vice…
And so, with my sleeve still stuck in her hand, he set her on the bed. I sat on the edge, trying to pry her fingers off to no avail.
Creepy strong.
"Invasion of privacy," Pink said happily, all but skipping over to the bedside. When she was there she poked Kadence's cheek, grinning wickedly to herself.
"Which means…?" I flicked her hand away, not trusting her one bit.
"Psychic magic is complicated," The strange-accented voice of her aunt said. She sat next to Kadences head, patting it with a caramel hand as she continued, "This one in particular. The first block she had on her memories was good," She sounded determined, "Her parents were good mages. But this one is incomparably stronger."
"What?" Pink said innocently as I glared at her, "She didn't specify how strong she wanted it, so I assumed…"
"It needs to be removed manually," Grisia interrupted, sounding impatient again, "Simply put; Somebody will need to go… in? I suppose that's how you would put it. It's dangerous though. And there's no avoiding a bit of memory clash."
"And who will do it?" I said, looking between them all skeptically. There's really no winning. I don't trust Pink at all though. I can picture her doing stupid things in there… The Aunt? Eh. I don't really trust her with anything, at this stage. Grisia?
It's a grim day when the fate of the Holy Temple rests on his shoulders again.
I might be a bit bias, though.
"I will," The Aunt said seriously, frowning.
"I don't think so!" Pink said, sounding huffy, "That would be boring!"
…
I definitely don't trust Pink.
"Little Judgment should do it," Grisia said, shooting me a pointed look.
"Why me?" I asked indignantly.
"She's your Sun Knight," He shrugged, turning away and sitting down with a yawn. In an almost inaudible voice he mumbled, "If I do it this way I can save some time off of the 'friendship' training…"
… In the end you're just being lazy, right?
Pink looked thoughtful, her hand poised under her chin as she nodded, "That would be funny…"
Oh stuff it. I'm never trusting any of these idiots. Does irresponsibility affect all necromancers like this?!
"Fine," I snapped, glaring at Grisia's back, "What now?"
"Don't fail," Was all he said before I heard the sharp splintering of a chair, accompanied by a sudden pain in my head.
Will everybody stop hitting me, damn it?!
I opened my eyes, ready to get angry. Instead I was met by black. I held out my hands cautiously, not feeling any walls around me as I looked around, feeling nervous. Despite the darkness I could see myself clearly, still clad in my black Judgment robes.
"Grisia?" I called out, still looking around myself. Everything was quiet and the darkness hung like a mantle, silent and unmoving. I breathed slowly, frowning and trying to stay calm.
I've seen worse than this. Darkness is nothing. Calm down.
I heard a soft sound to my right, almost inaudible. I couldn't place the strange sound, not any kind of animal I had ever heard before. I took another look around, determining that there was nothing else in this desolate area. So I began to walk to the sound, placing one foot carefully in front of the other and trying to quell the fear of falling. My feet didn't make any sound, but the sound ahead of me was growing louder. Eventually I saw a dim light, make of reds and orange. Unable to stop myself I began to run, feeling the darkness on my heels like a hound.
"Who-?!" I stopped, looking at the sight in front of me in confusion. In the blackness, seemingly suspended by thin air, stood a white window. It was shining softly, still the same orange-red's of earlier. I approached it cautiously, feeling slightly relieved at the sight of it. It wasn't darkness, making me feel slightly more at ease.
That was, of course, until I got close enough to see inside of it.
Inside the window was a house. I could see its' homely living room, with chairs and a large rug. Pictures hung on the wall of a happy family. And all around the room, illuminating harshly, was raging fire. It licked at the walls, peeling back the paint and making the pictures smolder. On the rug two people lay, breathing labored and blood glistening even brighter in the light of the fire. I watched, frozen, as a small child walked into the room. Her hair was golden, even in the red light of the fire, and her blue eyes were wide in fear.
The two people on the floor sat up, shaking and obviously pained by the action. In the girl's eyes blood was reflected clearly, blue and red clashing horribly. Her bottom lip trembled and, in a shaking voice, she asked, "What-"
I wrapped my first in my robe, stepping backwards and digging my heels into the ground. With a deep breath I punched forward, hitting the glass squarely. It didn't budge, or even make a sound. I continued to punch it, feeling panic grow when it didn't budge an inch.
Seeing it was futile I moved closer to the glass, trying to yell out a warning. The fire kept raging inside, drawing closer to the family.
"Get out!" I shouted, banging on the glass, "Can you hear me?!"
It seemed they couldn't as they pulled the girl closer, tears running freely down their face. I could see the fire singeing the girl, running up her hair.
"We love you," They whispered.
The image disappeared, leaving me alone in the blackness again.
"Hey!" I yelled, looking around in panic, "What-"
"What happened?" A voice that was both mine and not mine asked. I looked around in confusion, still not seeing anybody. I began to walk, holding my hands in front of myself and frowning.
Darkness is nothing. Stop being such a coward.
"Anybody?" I yelled, still not receiving any sort of reply.
I squinted, catching a glimpse of something other than black in front of me. I began to walk quicker, almost breaking out into a run again. When I came closer I could see it was a child, clothes and hair singed terribly. Welts were rising on his arms and legs, red and furious. He didn't seem to notice, stumbling ahead without a word.
"Hey!" I called out, catching up and looking down at him, "Who are-"
I froze. The child didn't react, but I could tell who it was at a glance. It was the child from the window, her blue eyes blank and face emotionless. There was ash stuck to her face and hair, smudges of the stuff all over her face.
"You," I frowned in worry, dropping to one knee and trying to elicit a reaction, "What happened? Where are we?"
She didn't reply, but I saw tears begin to well in her eyes.
I'm an ass.
"Sorry," I said quickly, holding my hands up passively and smiling a little, "Don't be scared! I won't hurt you!"
She didn't reply, sniffing miserably and balling up her fists.
"What's-"
"What's wrong?" I asked without asking. My eyes widened and I turned to look in front of the girl. Kneeling there, eyes filled with worry and looking extremely young, was me.
What the-
"Don't cry," The little boy said, taking one of her hands and patting her head softly, "There there."
She began to wail, face scrunching up. He didn't seem to know how to reply, quietly continuing to pat her head until she became silent, only sniffing occasionally.
"What's your name?" He asked cautiously, trying to smile and failing.
She opened her mouth, squeaking quietly. He seemed shocked, frowning and putting a hand on her forehead, "Are you sick?"
She shook her head, body shaking as she took a big breath. He bit his lower lip, looking around and sighing before turning back to her. In a soft voice he asked, "Do you not have a name?"
She began to cry again, and he grew increasingly flustered. Seeming to resolve himself he smiled widely, shaking his head and saying, "That's okay! Names aren't that important! I don't have one either."
Ah. That's the way it was, wasn't it?
I stared at the two with sad eyes, remembering the pain of being nameless. It was a familiar phrase.
"Names aren't that important!"
She seemed shock, her eyes wide and pitiful. Raising one small, shaking white hand she placed it on her throat, frowning severely and trying to speak again. When nothing came out she began to shake, lip trembling sadly.
"You wait here," He said comfortingly, patting her head, "I've got some food we can share, so just stay here."
She didn't reply, looking at him silently as he turned and began to sprint away. He was engulfed by the darkness, but she didn't seem surprised. Instead she frowned harder, opening her mouth slightly and whispering, "Caelan."
And then it was black again.