A/N: Chapter six... Wow... So this is unofficial beginning of the second part of three... This is the beginning of The Descent (the movie of the same name is creepy). This took longer than I thought it would because of the planning and also because of Darkar's scene near the end! And I'm trying to figure out the ending to this story; I have two ideas – both rapidly different from the other. Just debating on which would be best overall...
PierceTheVeil: I'm glad you liked it. They're not the best brothers in the world. LOL! No, Gabriel wasn't in love with Rosario, he was just her best friend but he feels guilty about not being able to stop her death because he's psychic, he feels like he should have been able to. And he also feels guilty about something else that's to be revealed.
I can't reveal that yet. Yeah, I don't like their perfect relationship from the TV show so for their relationship to work here, there has to be some compromise between the two of them. I've managed to get most of my stories up – I still haven't planned my Dark!Tecna though. Why are you not sure if you should publish it?
They didn't fit for this chapter but I know I'm definitely going to use 'Dance with the Devil', I may end up using your other suggestions as well. I remember Spirit – haven't seen it in ages though.
TheWanderingOutsider: Have you remembered your questions?
Does anyone think that Jaime Campbell-Bower would be a good Sky? ...If he didn't look so moody and brooding all the time. And I have recently finished reading Carrie (after watching the recent remake) so there may be parts in later chapters that are reminiscent of it.
There are lockers in Alfea because there are some in the ps2 game. A side comment; can't wait for the Vampire Academy movie! The trailers look awesome. But we don't get it until April over here! :(
(Edit: We never got it AT ALL! Even though they filmed, at least, the academy parts over here... Just wondering if there are enough funds for Frostbite)
Other fanfictions; I'm still considering a Vampire Diaries fanfiction about Zach Salvatore...
Speaking of, there are a few things in this chapter that have been influenced by the early episodes of Vampire Diaries ('The Night of the comet' and 'Friday Night Bites' specifically) because a) I'm rewatching season 1 so there is some influence anyway, b) Damon's early personality is very similar to how Darkar's is in this and it helps me shape the portrayal? I'm not sure if that makes that much sense, tbh.
I really don't like the flat one dimensional villains, the moustache twirlers (as I've said before) so I'm 'expanding' his personality for lack of a better word.
Also trying to implicate some form of magic lore into the series because it seems to be able to everything. So magic can't bring back the dead (to be fair, Daphne's spirit was still alive and Oritel and Marion weren't actually dead) and nothing can be created out of thin air (the energy can be changed and shaped but not created or destroyed... Testing my knowledge of basic physics there – from year 9 so that was a while back – or things can be transported).
If you guys like Darkar and Dark Bloom fanfictions (well, you are reading this), I'd like to recommend 'The Return of Darkar' by Laylacat11 – only the first chapter's up so far but I think it's going to be good!
The greater good mention is a Harry Potter reference – I love Dark!Harry/Dark!Ginny fanfictions.
Also Lampads are nymphs of the underworld in Greek mythology, Tartarus is the deep abyss in the Underworld that is used as a dungeon of torment and suffering for the wicked in Greek mythology. Erinyes is another name for the Furies or Kindly Ones, who the torturers in the Underworld in Greek Mythology.
I kinda figured that to most people in the Magix universe, Shadowhaunt would the equivalent of Hell. The spell Darkar uses is a mix of Greek and Latin for 'open mind'. Bloom's feelings towards Darkar; back when she was two sides, the light side of her harboured some sort of crush on him while her dark side openly had feelings for him so it's all combined now - hence her feelings. I will cover why Gabriel and Christian need blood for power and why no-one else does in the next chapter. TheWanderingOutsider brought up a question (how can Bloom still be princess of Sparx and a duchess of Shadowhaunt) which I will also answer next chapter.
'And I can picture it after all these days,
And I know it's long gone.
And that magic's not here no more,
And I might be okay but I'm not fine at all.'
All Too Well by Taylor Swift
'I sung of Chaos and eternal Night
Taught by the heav'nly Muse to venture down
The dark descent, and up to reascend...'
From Paradise Lost by John Milton
Daphne stared at Bloom.
"What do you mean?" The nymph managed to choke out.
"I think you know what I mean." Bloom replied. "Why didn't you tell me about Rosario? The woman that Oritel kicked out of the temple, the one you found praying."
"Bloom..." Daphne appeared to falter for a moment. "I was told that that woman and her husband had died under unknown circumstances that were being investigated and in their will, they asked for you to go to mom and dad."
Bloom stared at her sister's ethereal form, her translucent form was teary. She was telling the truth.
"Well whoever told you that lied. I went through my early memories and found out the truth. They were murdered and Oritel and Marion put the murderers onto them. They basically killed my parents, Daphne. Who told you that?"
"F-Faragonda." She replied, golden incorporeal tears sliding down her face. And Bloom's eyes peeled open, morning light greeted her as the image of her crying sister burned itself into her brain. She swallowed.
The grey dorm door seemed to say 'get out' to Bloom as she hesitated. After a moment or two of weighing up the options, she decided and knocked on the door. It opened immediately, Sky looked incredibly grouchy.
"Hey." He greeted her.
"Hi." She sighed, rubbing her calf with the front of her black Chuck Taylors in nervousness. "C-can we talk?"
"Yeah, sure." Sky replied, letting her into the miniature dorm room. She closed the door behind her and Sky sat down on the bed, motioning for her to do the same. She perched herself on the messy covers and lumpy mattresses that was his bed.
"You know why I'm here, I'm guessing?" She asked.
"Yesterday." He answered and she nodded.
"Before we go onto that, I want to know. Who told you?"
"About you and Darkar feeding you this blood? Chatta."
"Chatta?" She raised an eyebrow.
"She was scared, and worried." He replied. "She also said that once you got control of yourself, you ran out of the campus in floods of tears. Everybody was frantic, we couldn't find you anywhere."
"I was with a friend." She told him.
"A friend?" Sky questioned.
"Yes." She emphasised. "A friend. Gabriel. Which brings us to yesterday."
"I didn't mean it." He informed her, his eyes desperate.
"That doesn't matter. You still said them, you still thought them – you still meant them but you never thought about saying like if you didn't say them, they would go away." She asserted.
"That's not true." He argued. "I was just angry at you... I just want to protect you."
She scowled. "I don't want or need to be protected. I don't need to be sheltered like you imagine I do. You didn't have to live through waking up and seeing other people's blood on your hands. You can't protect me, I've already been through too much anyway. You can't protect me, especially considering that there's nothing to protect me from." She exclaimed, desperately trying to suppress her temper.
Sky paused. "Was that worse than drinking it?" He asked with a grave expression. She sighed, gathering her knees up to her chest and resting her forehead on her arms.
"Yes... B-because Darkar never made me drink it. I-I was still chained up at that point and he didn't force it down my throat, I could have just stayed there for hours and hours and not have done it... It was willing and that's what scares me." She answered, peeking up at him through her red curls. He looked terrified. She would have been too, in his position. "He also told me that we could have used the ultimate power to bring my parents back."
Although, now that she thought about it... Had he meant Oritel and Marion or had he meant Rosario and Ibraham?
"He was lying." Sky said. "He was trying to manipulate you into doing what he wanted."
"That's the thing." She countered, looking at him. "I don't think he was, I could see it in his eyes."
"Darkar doesn't have eyes." He stated.
Shit.
"Yes, he does... What you guys see is an illusion because of his title. I've seen what he actually looks like." She confessed. "I-I was freaking out about how nobody else was seeing what I did... I went to the library and that's what it told me."
There was one truth... Should she bring up Rosario and Faragonda? She'd have to tell him eventually but – no. She wouldn't tell him, he wouldn't believe her. He's never done what she has – he's never questioned what the teachers have told him. He seemed to be the school's poster boy, their perfect brain-washed solider at times. At that moment, Bloom wondered if this is how Andy felt when he was considering dumping her. That awkward moment when people question where their relationship is going. And where was her relationship with Sky going? For a moment, Bloom allowed herself to imagine but nothing came. It felt like in the future they would be going round in circles, dodging Disapro's tricks and trying to make Sky's parents accept her... Bloom wondered if she could ever do that. Could she see herself doing that, being with Sky for the rest of her life?
Honestly, she had no idea.
The library smelled of old books – a fusty, dusty smell mixed with the smell of paper. The smell reminded Bloom of the library in Gardenia where she had spent hours and hours for years.
She scanned over the titles: 'History of Alfea', 'The Company of Light' and 'A Beginners Guide to Runes' – there was absolutely nothing on Shadowhaunt or dark realms. She felt like screaming in frustration. How could they have zero information on Shadowhaunt? This was a school for crying out loud! But they had nothing.
Rune syllabries, standard spell-books, potions and elixir recipe books. Nothing. She sighed and headed over to the golden podium in the middle of the vast room. Looks like she had no choice – although she'd bet that this would report anything she searched for to Faragonda; just in case of any ... unfavourable behaviour. How else would Faragonda have known about her searching for information on Daphne? She appeared too quickly for Barbatea to have alerted her to the situation.
She pressed her palm against the cool, gleaming metal. Hesitating, she bit her bottom lip. Wasn't there somewhere else she could get this sort of information? Bloom shook her head. Let's get this over with.
"Shadowhaunt." She requested. The familiar sensation came over her – the one everyone got when they used the podium – as the magic skimmed through the library. Nothing happened.
She frowned. "Rosario Candelaria."
Still nothing.
"Hey. What you up to?" Stella's voice met her ears. She sounded cheerful and bright. She wished she could feel like that right now.
"Research." She replied vaguely.
"On what?" The blonde pressed, grumpily crossing her hands over her chest.
"Promise not to tell?" Bloom asked.
"Best friend swear." Stella answered, holding her hand up like a girl scout.
"I'm looking for anything on Shadowhaunt. There's some things that I have to figure out."
"Did you request it?"
"Yeah." She sighed. "I've checked all of the books myself as well. There's fuck all."
Stella didn't react to her language choice but she was glad Barbatea never heard her.
"Nothing on Sparx either... Or any of the realms." She added.
"Seriously? There were loads in my first year." Stella told her.
"I wasn't here in your-" She stopped abruptly, cutting herself off. Of course! How could she be so stupid?!
It made sense! Faragonda would have taken them all out as soon as she figured out who she was so she could tell her whatever she wanted. That's what she had been doing in the library that day.
"Think we'd be allowed to go to the library in Magix?" Bloom asked her blonde friend.
"I don't know." Stella sighed in reply, her voice adopting a mournful tone as she twirled a strand of blonde hair around her finger. "All of the teachers are freaking out, especially Griselda, they're all jumpy and freaking out because they're waiting for an attack from the Trix!"
But she knew Lord Darkar in ways the teachers didn't. He would have plans, back up plans and back up back up plan; the thrived on creating terror and fear – he told her as much.
"I don't think there's going to be one." She confessed, grabbing her ratty, old backpack and throwing it over her shoulder.
"Why?" Stella asked as they headed to the library exit. Bloom knew she couldn't tell her, not yet anyway.
"I don't know." She lied. "It just feels like there won't be one. Besides, I went to Red Fountain alright earlier. There's no rules or curfew. Yet."
"Okay, let's go." Stella said.
"Where is everyone?" She asked.
"Flora's on a date with Helia, Musa's on the phone with her dad. Tecna's having an all-out geek fest with Timmy and Layla's... Well, no idea. She mentioned something about her parents but there was this weird article about how orange is the new black. I was like 'nu-huh', no way is orange is the new black, over my dead body." Stella rambled on as they passed first year Ninfa Mompoint, a scrawny girl who had a round face with small, angular facial features, large blue eyes and long, pale brown hair that she wore in a ponytail. She had pale, pasty skin and a red birthmark on her neck, near the lapis-lazuli pendant she always wore. Flinching as every person passed her, her posture was incredibly bad; her shoulders constantly hunched in on themselves and walking with her head down.
Her small, skinny hands (her lapis-lazuli ring gleaming in the corridor lights) gripped at her bag strap so tightly, her knuckles were bone-white. Her blue eyes shone with tears. She flinched as they passed. Bloom paused.
"Are you okay?" She asked in concern. Ninfa nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground. "You sure?"
The sixteen year old nodded again, turning to the lockers on the wall.
"You look pretty upset." She said.
"I'm fine." Ninfa told her. Her voice was scratchy, barely audible and rough as though she barely used it but still managing to sound quite sweet.
"Maybe we should tell Faragonda." Stella suggested.
"NO!" Ninfa suddenly screamed and looking like she was going to be sick as the lockers burst open.
"Come on." Stella grabbed Bloom's hand and dragged her away despite her protests.
Bloom ran a finger over the spine of the hardbacks in the Magix Library, a double of the library at Alfea if it wasn't for the colossal size of it; it was probably quadruple the size of the school one and filled with almost ceiling high narrow bookshelves for what seemed to be miles. One particular title caught her attention, 'A guide to the magical dimension'. She snatched it and turned to run back to Stella who was searching, using the podium search engine. She walked straight into something tall and solid, falling to the ground in an ungraceful fashion. She looked up to see Christian Darkar's piercing ice-blue eyes peering out of his jet black hair, holding out a hand to help her up.
"You alright?" He asked as she took his hand and he pulled her up.
"Yeah, yeah." She replied, picking up the book off of the floor. "What are you doing at a public library? If I recall correctly, you have a massive one."
"I was bored, feeling trapped and I don't do bored or trapped; I tend to do things I later regret and I do have some diabolical master plans that I have to attend to." He grinned. "What are you doing here?"
"Research." She replied, holding the book up. "... What are they?"
He smirked at her. "You see if I told it wouldn't be very diabolical, would it?"
"Well then, I think you're lying." She countered.
"I'm not fond of liars, I like killing them. They have interesting tasting blood." He informed her.
Bloom looked away from him as she checked for anyone listening in. Nobody.
"You're right, actually." Darkar said. "I knew you would be here. I actually came to give you something I think you'll need."
He held out his palm. In the middle was a thin band of silver that was wrapped around a circle of crystal no bigger than a pea. The crystal was partially see-through and partially covered by thick black.
"It's tourmalated quartz, the combination of white and black are believed to create a perfect polarity of energies, like a manifestation of light and dark forces united together. It seemed appropriate." He said.
"Why do you two wear those rings? There has to be purpose or you wouldn't be giving me one." She questioned him as she took it and slid it onto her finger.
"They mask dark energy, stop it from being noticed or tracked by anyone with any form of tracking device – even technology." He explained. She nodded, admiring the way the crystal glinted in the harsh light of the library. "I'm just wondering but you are fine with us speaking, right?"
"Yes, of course." Bloom replied, unwilling to let him know how fine she was with it and trying to mask the blush that was threatening to creep into her cheeks.
He grinned. "How's your boyfriend? Ray? He is still your boyfriend, I'm assuming."
"His name is Sky and it's complicated." She answered.
"So what research-" Darkar began to ask when Stella came running over.
"I think I've found something." She said before noticing Darkar, she smiled. "Hi." She greeted him.
"Hello." He said politely. "You must be Stella. Bloom's told me quite a bit about you."
"All good, I hope."
"It was. I'm sorry but I was just leaving." He told her before turning to Bloom. "See you round."
"Bye." She said, trying to suppress the sadness she was feeling as he turned towards the exit. She shouldn't be feeling like that with him!
"Come on." Stella ordered, grabbing her arm and dragging her to one of the many podiums.
"Stop dragging me. You're going to pull my arm out of my socket one of these days." Bloom snapped at her best friend who ignored her.
"Look." The blonde ordered, pointing to a paragraph in the middle of the page on one of the books. "Right there."
The paragraph was about the history of the Magix planet. It detailed how the planet used to be split into two sides; one was Magix, the other was Shadowhaunt. But then the dark side got greedy and tried to take over so most of the Shadowhaunt population was killed and the rest were banished into the locked realm, the caves.
"What's a locked realm?" Bloom asked, re-reading the paragraph as her mind struggling to catch up with what she was reading.
"It's a realm that you can only enter by actually entering it; it's not a realm that you can transport into." Stella replied.
"Did you find anything else?" She asked. The sun fairy shuffled the books around, pulling another book to the forefront. It was some form of report.
Shadowhaunt Duchess and Duke assassinated.
Article by Joanne Smith, Special Correspondent
The dead bodies of Shadowhaunt Duchess Rosario Candelaria and her husband, Ibraham Candelaria (an engineer) were found in their home at ten am this morning. The bodies were badly mutilated, some of their organs cut to ribbons. It is suspected that they were killed by their own allies as the ways in which dark magic corrupts and twists the psyche is well-documented. However, the killer is still at large and people are asked to be cautious.
The Duchess's newborn daughter is missing, presumed dead by many. The two are to be buried in the Mormara Temple in Shadowhaunt.
The article was tiny, showing how much attention this side showed to their deaths. It didn't matter whose side they were on, they were still dead. People should show their respects. Anger boiled in her blood and she had to take ten, deep calming breaths to stop herself from setting the article alight.
"Holy..." Stella breathed as she read the article. "I wonder who killed them." She said it more to herself than to Bloom.
"No clue." She lied. She would never believe her, not yet any way.
"Do you think the daughter's still alive? If she's missing, she might be." She continued. Bloom looked at her beaten up sneakers before grabbing the folded up notepad out of her back pocket, wishing she could her best friend the truth.
You're speaking to her.
She pulled her pen out of her other pocket and scribbled down the paragraph about old Magix.
Bloom knocked once on Gabriel's door. He answered immediately, a surprised expression on his face as he downed two of the white pills in his other hand.
"What were those?" She asked curiously as she entered the apartment. Nothing had changed... Apart from a vaguely person shaped crack in the far wall.
"Pain-killers." He answered simply as he closed the door. "Drink?"
"No, thanks. I'm good... Why do you need pain-killers?"
"Well, let's just say that I had a visitor last night." He answered, not looking her in the eyes as he grabbed a can out of his fridge and popped it open. Wild images ran through her head – the Trix attacking him or one of the heads of the schools, Faragonda at the forefront of her mind.
"Faragonda?" She asked, unable to keep the fear from her voice.
"No, it wasn't her. It's nothing you need to worry about, okay?"
"What's wrong with your back, then?" She would get answers out of him.
"It's just bruised." He informed her.
"Must be really bad if you have to take painkillers for it. Would you mind if I had a look?"
He cast her an impatient look before he sighed and turned around, taking his grey, zip up hoodie off revealing a dark blue top that he raised up. A small rose was tattooed onto his shoulder but that wasn't what caught Bloom's attention. Gabriel's back was a dark mixture of deep blue, purple and grey – one huge bruise. Her eyes gravitated towards the cracks in the wall.
"Is that what happened?" She asked, motioning to it as he pulled his top down and shrugged his hoodie back on.
"Yeah." He replied, looking down.
"Your back's pretty messed up." She informed him. "Is there anything I could do? The Dragon Fire has healing powers."
Gabriel smiled sadly at her. "Thanks but they won't work on me because of the fire's natural light affiliation. There's only one thing I could do and I don't want to do that because I've refrained from doing that for fourteen years."
Bloom nodded before gathering up the courage to ask her question. "... Do you have a way to contact Christian?"
"No." He replied simply, his lips tightening around the edges.
"Okay... Do you need anything for your back?"
"No, seriously it's fine."
She nodded again before pulling the well-worn notepad out of her back pocket. "I found a paragraph in a textbook. I was hoping you could explain."
He shrugged as they made their way over to the sofa and sat down. "Do my best."
"It says that Magix used to be split into two; Magix and Shadowhaunt. But then the rulers of Shadowhaunt got... Desirous." She read from the notepad in a lame tone of voice and looked up at him, waiting for an explanation.
"Propaganda." He told her simply. "It was actually Magix that tried to take over, that was the beginning of the corruption. The government started the whole stereotypes things and managed to inspire an army. They started the whole war and won which is why Shadowhaunt is now in the caves, why there is so much stereotypical shit and why the whole light and dark magic appears to be so clearly defined. Centuries of propaganda, bullshit, fear and corruption."
It was getting dark when she set off from Gabriel's, 10:15 to be exact, as she pulled out her phone to check. The small screen lit up her pale face as her fingers pressed the dull glowing keys to discover that she had ten texts from Stella. She opened the first one.
Hey, where'd you disappeared to?
Then they slowly got more and more frantic as Bloom pictured Stella freaking out in a over the top drama queen style until she opened the final text that was sent five minutes ago.
If you don't get back to me in fifteen minutes, I'm telling Sky and Faragonda! Where are you?! I'm worried! Does Darkar have you?! Is he still alive? Text me! HURRY UP!
She sent a quick reply about how she had been with Gabriel as another text came through. She imagined the tall, blonde fairy pacing up and down her dorm room with a frantic expression, clutching her phone in her hands as she vented her worries to the others. It wasn't from Stella; the words 'Unknown Number' glowed back at her, the black letters beginning to blur into each other she was staring at them for so long. She opened it.
You wanted to speak to me? ;) – D
Christian. She pressed a few keys, saving his number and putting his name in as Christian Reaves, remembering the fake last name that Gabriel went under. She sent back a simple 'yes' before locking her phone and waiting for a reply for Stella or Lord Darkar.
A thick dark shadow appeared and blossomed before her eyes. It morphed into a humanoid shape as it faded away.
"So what did you want to talk about?" Darkar asked, as though popping out of the shadows was no big deal. "And I thought you would be at the fairy institute for brain-washing – Sorry, I mean Alfea." He grinned.
"I've being reading some articles that I found in the library. They mention my parents grave." She told him.
"Grab my arm." He told her simply.
For a second, she thought she had misheard him. "Your arm?"
He nodded and took hold of his leather jacket, becoming enveloped in thick shadows for a split-second. When the shadows evaporated, a beautiful sight laid in front of her eyes. A moody, gothic version of Stone Henge was decorated a huge willow tree in its centre, beautiful jewel-coloured flowers were all over the bright green grass that stopped at the stones. Next to the willow tree was a single grey gravestone.
"What is this place?" She breathed in awe.
"Mormara." He replied.
"The temple? ... Who looks after this place? I'm pretty sure I've never seen a tree grow in a cave before." She told him.
"That would be the Lampads. Nymphs." He added at her confused expression as he walked over to the gravestone and motioned for her to join him. As she got closer, she began to make out the names.
Rosario Helena Candelaria. Mother and wife, you will be truly missed.
Ibraham Merek Candelaria. Father and husband, you will be truly missed.
Hope Asteria Candelaria, who had barely began to live. May you have a happier life with the Dragon.
"Rosario called you 'Hope' because you were her hope. She had been told that she could never bare a child when she became pregnant with you. She loved you more than anything." He told her. Bloom was struggling to breath; she collapsed onto her knees in front of the grave as hot tears blurred her vision. She sobbed and sobbed. A deep, hollow pain welled up in her chest. Warm arms wrapped around her and she leant into his chest, soaking his black top with her tears as she heard his steady heart pulse in a strangely comforting way.
She had no idea how long she cried for, how long they stayed like that but she eventually cried herself out, her throat felt dry but there was still a dull ache in her chest. She could never bring them back... No magic can bring back the dead. She stretched out and ran a finger over her mother's name.
"I want to get them a new headstone." She stated.
"Of course." He said as something on top of the stone slab glowed into existence. She reached over and grabbed it. It was made of seemingly expensive parchment; the black ink on the front was beautifully calligraphy. The letter was addressed to one person, 'Hope Candelaria'.
"How d-" She started to ask as Darkar explained.
"It was probably charmed so you could get it once you visit. Maybe she had some clue to her fate or to yours. I don't know."
"I want to open it later." She decided.
"Okay. Would you like to go back to your dorm?"
"Yeah, thanks." Bloom answered. He muttered some words in a harsh sounding, ancient language as she felt a tug in her stomach, as though somebody had tied a rope around her and given it a good yank. When the shadows around her disappeared, she was back in room and the bed looked pretty comfortable right about now. She laid down on her unmade comforter and stared at the unopened letter in her hands, contemplating.
The young girl from yesterday night wandered up to him as he checked his phone; wasn't that late despite how dark it was. He should stop coming into the town so often, somebody might start remembering what he looked like.
"I-I know you." Were the girl's first words to him (screaming didn't count). He studied her; she looked ill, her hair was a mess and there was huge, blindingly white bandage on the connection between her neck and shoulder where he had cut her and then ripped the wound open with his fingertips.
"That's unfortunate for you." He told her, realising his brother hadn't managed to do anything about what had happened. Must be in too much pain. He grabbed the young girl; his hand wrapped around her mouth, and transported the two of them on top of a six floor building in down town Magix. The girl began to scream and cry when he took his hand away.
"No! No! Please!" She cried, tears streaming down her face.
"You really should stop screaming." He told her.
"Stop." She told him, attempting to back up in the tiny space. "D-don't hurt me, don't hurt me."
"Shh..." Darkar crooned. "It's okay. I've got you."
She began to cry even more, even louder.
"Would you like-" He started not getting his sentence out as she cut him off.
"No!" She screamed as he grabbed her wrist, forced her forward so half of her dangled off of the rooftop. "No, please don't."
"I've got you." He told her. "Don't worry, I won't drop you."
Then Gabriel appeared, of course. The saint and saving grace that he was. Didn't his little brother ever learn?
"Let her go." Gabriel ordered as he stepped closer.
"Really?" Christian questioned his brother, looking down at the drop and dangling her further over it. "Okay."
"No! NO!" The young girl screeched.
"No, no, no." Gabriel said quickly. Shrugged, Christian pushed her backwards so she landed weakly at Gabriel's boots as tears streamed down her sickly face. Gabriel bent down towards her, attempting to wrap his arms around her in some form of comforting hug but she screamed, flailing her arms about so it was impossible.
"Relax." He told them both.
"What's happening?" The young girl questioned, Gabriel stood up as his brother stepped closer. She cried harder.
"I don't need her to be dead but you might." He said.
"What did you put into her head?" His little brother questioned angrily.
He smirked at Gabriel. "If you attempt any mind magic on your friend here, she'll remember you as the attacker."
Moments passed, filled with only the girl's terrified sobs before Christian looked at the girl on the ground. "What attacked you the other night?" He questioned. "Who did this to you?"
"You did." She screamed, trying to back away from him.
"Wrong, and you know it." He told her, waiting for the back-up spell to kick in.
"Don't." Gabriel pleaded with him.
"It was Gabriel. Gabriel Reaves."
"Don't, don't do this."
Christian helped the young girl up, forcing her to look directly into his eyes as he thought the spell 'animichtó' to open her mind up to his control.
"Gabriel Reaves did this to you. He's a monster, the youngest son of the old king of Shadowhaunt, the brother of the current king." He told her and she repeated it all back to him in a day-dream-y, zombie like voice.
"Please, Christian." Gabriel pleaded with him. "Please don't do this."
He let the power go and the spell ended. "You couldn't fix this little problem earlier. I don't know what you're going to do now especially considering how weak your powers are after so little ... sustenance. You know those potions don't do all that much." He turned his gaze from his brother to the sobbing girl, he moved her hair out of the way and grabbed the bandage. He violently ripped off, savouring the sound of the plaster ripping the microscope hairs from her skin and her scream. As the girl continued to sob and sob, he threw her at Gabriel. He caught her as Christian threw the bloodied piece of material back at him.
"Your lifestyle choice has made you incredibly weak, nothing compared to the power that you could have. That you now need." He added as his brother glared at him. His blue eyes glinted sinisterly as the smell of blood forced Gabriel to drop the weeping girl.
"There are two choices right now. You can drink from her and make her forget everything that I just told her or you can let her run off, screaming about you to Faragonda and her so-called Company of Light."
"That's what this was about? You want to expose me to them?" He asked, panting as he tried to not smell the blood.
"No." Christian sighed. That would get rid of the whole you helping Bloom part of the plan. "I want you to remember who you are. Who we are!"
"Why?" Gabriel growled. "So I'll kill people? So I'll torture them?! So I'll remember what it's like to be brothers again? You know what. Let her go, let her tell everyone that you're still alive and who I am. Let Faragonda torture me in that little prison of hers until I die because that way, I'll get away from you."
Christian chuckled at the angry snarl on his brother's face. "Oh, is that why you play your game of I'm a good civilized person on the 'light' side? Please. We both know that the closest you or me could ever get to being light is when we rip open one of their pathetic throats and drink... Wow." He added at Gabriel's furious face, as he made his way over to the still-sobbing young girl. "Come here, sweetheart."
"No." She said, attempting to get out of his grasp. She sobbed as he lifted her up. "No."
"It's okay." He crooned, aware of Gabriel's eyes on him. "It's okay."
'Animichtó' He thought as he placed his lips right next to her ear and whispered "You're going to forget all about me and my brother. You were attacked by an animal. It was dark, you had no idea what it was and you were sleep-walking because of the pain-killers they gave you at the hospital. You accidently ripped your stitches open and woke up when you fell."
Her sobbing slowly subsided as Christian turned to Gabriel.
"What are you up to?" His little brother asked.
"Well, that's for me to know and for to dot, dot, dot." He grinned.
Lord Christian Darkar raised the glass tumbler to his lips and swallowed the whiskey, savouring the burn in his throat as he remembered his last meeting with Saint Gabriel. Shaking his head, he placed the glass down on the side and stepped out of the throne room, heading down a black stone hallway. The faint whispering of the servants stopped, a ringing silence sweeping through the corridor as they registered his presence.
He pushed an unmarked dark marble door open and immediately closed it behind him when he stepped; the delicious sound of ragged screams met his ears. God, it sounded like music to him. If Shadowhaunt was hell, then this room was Tartarus.
The room was so blood-stained; nothing would ever be able to remove the crimson from the dark stone. There were some days when he simply took pleasure in observing, watching as they screamed in agony and begged and whimpered for him to be merciful. But Christian Darkar was not a merciful man. These people hated him as much the 'light side' hated him – he was a monster in their eyes. Why not? He was a monster in his own, he just simply didn't care.
His eyes feel onto the person closest to the door; a young woman. He couldn't remember why she'd been sentenced here but he could feel the fear rolling off her as she was bound to a chair and her bare stomach was carved into, the shadowy predatory reflex almost kicked into over-drive. Close to feeding off of her and allowing the Shadows to creep into the room to feast, he cleared his head by moving calmly onto the next victim.
This one he remembered, a young man tortured due to his dealing with both sides, selling information to him and Faragonda about each other. He was crying, sobbing – his eyes dark and red-raw from crying for days on end. A sharp crack as another of his fingers was broken and blunt, ragged blades were dragged down his back, around his side. Thick crimson welled up and poured out of the wound. Blunt knives tended to tear, not cut – it was more painful and judging by the man's screams, he felt the same way.
Darkar approached the man, pulling out his blade and placing it on his neck and cut through the flesh barrier, straight into the muscle before pulling the knife back out. He screamed so bad his voice began to break before he began to sob once more.
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry." The man cried, his voice a whisper; it was so hoarse.
"I believe you." Darkar told him. "Which is why I'm almost sorry."
Without giving the man a chance to reply, he put his hands on either side of the victim's head and give it a quick, hard turn, feeling very satisfied with the crack his neck made as it broke. The erinyes opened their leathery wings and flew through the room to find another victim. He smiled as he saw the newer inmates, trying to either bargain their way out or simply beg for it. Sorry, wasn't happening. He laid his eyes on the older victims huddled in a foetal position in the corner, no longer able to cry but instead simply trembling and muttering to themselves. One was scratching their wrists open with their dirty, cracked nails and drinking their own blood once they managed. What had they been in here for? He couldn't remember.
He sent a bolt of dark energy at the young woman who had scratched her wrist open, mumbled to herself as she drank her own blood; she was flung against a wall and knocked unconscious. He made a motion to the closest erinye, who nodded her skeletal face and pulled out a dagger. She killed the young woman, a definite mercy. The enrinye, Alecto he believed her name was, looked at him with fiery eyes. He knew what she was asking and pointed to a crying nineteen year old, tattoos criss-crossed over her arms and stomach that read things like 'bad daughter', 'murderer', 'liar' and 'homicidal', before he listening to the screams and whimpers once last time. He exited the room, the torture chamber (hence the unmarked door) and continued down the hallway towards the library for a meeting with the Trix.
He was still so hungry after his entrapment in Realix, still needing nothing more than to drown his never-ending thirst in a sea of blood. He'd bleed that young woman dry, watching the fear in her eyes as she realised that she was going to die and nothing she could do would change that, the growing sense of hopelessness as he drank every last drop. He'd watch the light of life fade from her dark eyes but he'd definitely make sure that she would witness the pleasure he had received from her blood. When his victims realise that there is no hope for survival, fear flashes in their eyes as their pupils shrink in terror like a deer in headlights. It was nearly orgasmic for him...
His favourite one had been Vasthy, a servant in the castle and his first feeding after returning for Realix. He'd taken great pleasure in draining her.
Darkar checked his phone. He had a couple of messages. The spies in the schools had nothing new – or at least interesting – to report. The spies in Magix reported how the town was in a state of panic as they tried to recover from the Trix's last attack as quickly as possible. His spy in the city prison had no new information, although he was quickly informed of Griffin visiting the cloud spirit – or Ben as he was choosing to call himself now, the other week. So Faragonda had wiped Griffin and Saladin's memories of the incident. He expected that but confirmation is always nice.
The moment he pushed the library doors open, Icy was immediately on his back. Her question was annoyingly predictable.
"Are we attacking Alfea yet?"
"Not yet." He sighed, rubbing his tired eyelids. "We already failed once. We can't fail again."
"Why is there blood on you?" Darcy asked curiously, pointing out a few blood stains on his shirt – or as they would see it, his spinal cord.
"I got bored." He shrugged in reply.
Faragonda stared at the information on her computer screen, most of her wasn't surprised but there was a small part of her that had hoped Bloom would give up when she found no books in the library. Stella's involvement was completely unsurprising, she loved her best friend and would help her with anything, even if she didn't know what it is or why.
Things were getting dangerous. She couldn't afford it to be. She couldn't afford a slip up anywhere. It would be devastating to the greater good of the magical universe. There is a balance that must be kept at any cost, her balance. She closed the notification, opening another window and staring at the graph. The elderly headmistress sighed and stood up from her chair, staring out onto the night-darkened quad.
It wasn't supposed to go like this. Darkar was supposed to be put into an eternal sleep until Valtor would appear next year that would give Bloom the information that would create a push for her to begin her search for Oritel and Marion. But she was straying from Faragonda's planned path!
She contemplated the action she would have to take to stop Bloom from straying any further. How far would she have to go for the greater good?