With that, he turned on his heel and stomped away. The heroes and Lania
(and of course Rhine) just stared in startled silence as Luminous walked down
the hall, just finding a place of solitude. Phantom who had his hands in the
air let his hands fall limply at his sides. Mercedes straightened her back and
sighed, and Aran shook her head in despair. Lania felt Evan sigh and strode
back to Mir, who was watching in interest. Lania turned her head to watch her father’s
distressed form strut down the hall.
“See? This is your fault,” Lania mumbled to Phantom, which grunted and
yanked his hat into his eyes, then turned and walked away, not standing to be
directed the blame. Mercedes shook her head and told them she had a headache,
then went to sit down for rest. Aran said nothing as she sat onto the floor and
appeared to stare into space. Lania focused her gaze on the end of the hall
where her father disappeared around the corner and ran after him, ignoring
shouts of warning. Her father was upset, and she was going to be there for him.
She found her father sitting by the edge of the temple, dangling his
legs over the edge. She approached him slowly, not knowing what to expect, but
when she realized the red eye was NOT glowing, she relaxed. She came up and sat
next to him, dangling her legs over the edge. She leaned across to see her
father’s distraught expression. Seeing him this upset really tugged at her
heartstrings and she patted him gently on the back. He lifted his gaze and
smiled wearily at her.
“Daddy?” she asked, using the word she
sometimes used for addressing Luminous. “Are you alright?”
“Yes,” he said, and sighed. He hugged his knees to his chest and
clutched at his head, his expression pained. “I….I’m sorry. I snapped. The
darkness...” he trailed off and rested his head on his knees. Lania had never
seen her father look this horrible, and without a second thought, flung her
arms around him and hugged him. After awhile, Lania felt herself being hugged
back. They weren’t like that long before Luminous pushed her away. He held her
at arm’s length and smiled briefly at her. “You’ve grown up to be a beautiful
girl, Lania, and you will grow up to be an amazing woman.”
“But….” Lania stammered nervously. “What about you?”
Luminous’s smile vanished. He took his hands off the girl’s shoulders
and stared into the beyond. Lania rested her head on his shoulder. She didn’t
want her father to snap; she didn’t want the darkness to have its way. She
wanted him to be with her, every step of the way. How can the world be so unfair,
forcing her father away from her? She snuggled closer to him, and Luminous
rested a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. Her father’s touch
was warm and gentle; she loved it so much. Loved HIM so much…..and nothing
would change between them, even if her father became a maniac.
“Well! I hope I didn’t RUIN the
moment,” Phantom called out behind them.
Luminous groaned. “What do you want now, Phantom?” he asked, and the
thief approached the two, his violet eyes losing their usual bravado. He slid
out of Luminous’s unruly gaze and peered over the edge of the Temple. The
temple, being in the sky, drifted high above the clouds, washing the world
below in fog from their high perspective. Phantom sighed like he wanted to say
something, but just couldn’t get the words out.
“Look, I…” Phantom swallowed, then
started over. “I’m sorry for being an ass.”
“Oh, are you?” Luminous cocked an
eyebrow, slightly surprised.
“Stop ruining my mood, Luminous,”
Phantom growled, sitting next to the mage.
Luminous sighed and stroked
Lania’s blonde hair. Other than Phantom’s sudden appearance, Lania couldn’t
have asked for a better moment; she was with her father in the Temple of Time,
a place where she longed to go to last time, with the heroes, people she
thought last time hopelessly that she would NEVER get to meet. She could die
happy. She snuggled closer to her father, enjoying his warmth. Being so high up
in the clouds, it felt a bit chilly. She was glad for Luminous’s warm hand
around her.
“I suppose I should apologize as well,” Luminous said softly, and
Phantom nodded slightly. From behind them they could hear Mercedes shouting
something to the other two heroes and sighed. Mercedes could be the leader of
their group, for all they knew. She was just so BOSSY.
“So, where’s the book?” Phantom asked
tactlessly.
“Book?” Luminous asked, baffled.
“Should I be carrying a book?”
“Yeah, you should, shouldn’t you?” Lania said, catching on. She
remembered Angela, still waiting in the library for the ápeiri̱ vivlío,
the book of Infinity and whatnot. She shifted back to sitting position and
peered at her father’s confused face. It seemed he didn’t have the faintest
idea what they were talking about. Phantom’s eyebrows twisted into an annoyed
expression and asked again: “You know….short gal, white hair….in a library?
Where you killed that Michael guy and took the…..ah….ahpie…..oh, forget it. The
book?”
Luminous seemed horrified. “I…I killed
someone?”
“You don’t remember?” Lania asked, bewildered. Her father had no memory of
his doings in the dark? It seemed that way. Luminous seemed extremely baffled.
And horrified. Apparently, it seemed that Luminous couldn’t even kill BLACK
WINGS, let alone handle the fact a killed an unarmed little boy. He only
thought nothing of killing the Black Mage, which he hated with all his heart.
Phantom straightened out his back and asked, the annoyance creeping into his
voice: “Oh, c’mon, Luminous! You should at least know where you put the damn
book! Get your brain to do something useful! Where’s the book?”
“I…I don’t….know,” Luminous stammered.
“Oh, brother!” Phantom sounded exasperated. He turned to Lania and
growled: “Well? Get your father to say where he put the thing, then!!” Lania
jolted up and peered at her father’s face. He seemed to be struggling to be
reviving a memory the darkness had surely made him forget. She didn’t see what
use it would be to press her father for the book; he seemed to have genuinely
NO MEMORY of what he did when he was in darkness. Turning to the fuming
Phantom, she explained to him – delicately, since Phantom seemed quite stormy –
that Luminous had probably had NO IDEA where he put the book as the darkness
wouldn’t what him to remember that.
As Phantom opened his mouth to complain, a voice spoke out of the darkness:
“My, oh my, has he forgotten where he placed the holy book? Such filthy hands
are NOT to touch the book anyway, and double-crossing vermin like YOU deserve
NOT the luxury of LIVING.”
Before Lania could even place her finger on who it was, a white blur
rushed past her, followed by a long stretch of black. Her hair ruffled as
whoever it was rushed past her with speed faster enough to surprise a racecar.
Before anyone was even AWARE of the presence, a deep gash suddenly appeared on Luminous’s
shoulder, startling so much he couldn’t even cry out. Blood oozed from his huge
wound as he hit the floor, his blood staining the pure white marble.
“LUMINOUS!” Lania shrieked and rushed to his side. Phantom reached out
for his cards but before he could do it, the blur rushed past him and stabbed
him in the side. It seemed the attacker didn’t know his own speed, and
therefore rushed past Phantom so quickly the blade he was holding only grazed
him, but that was enough to bring down the thief, which had never truly
believed in physical strength, instead relying on wits. Phantom sunk to his
knees, trying to keep the blood flow small.
Luminous struggled to get up, holding his wound in agony. The darkness
inside of him did what they could on heal the vicious wound but not succeeding.
Blood dripped from the wound into rapidly growing pools on the floor, staining
the vicinity around him dark crimson. Phantom was holding onto his side, blood
leaking from between his fingers. The blur stopped in front of Lania and
Luminous, and Lania got a close look on their attacker. Her eyes grew wide at
the sight of Angela, the Zathura in her hand, its glossy black surface now
stained with blood from her earlier victims. On her face was a smug smile which
one wished to PUSH DOWN HER THROAT when she had single-handedly injured her
father greatly.
“Angela!!” Mercedes gasped in shock, peering over the corner to greet
the grisly sight before her; both the boys were in agony, and the vicious
machete was clutched in the girl’s hands. Mercedes was relieved to see Lania
was alright, but it was only a matter of time before someone lost a life. Mercedes
rushed to the girl and grabbed her wrist before she did anything foolish.
Angela tried to pull away but Mercedes was quite strong compared to her and won
with strength easily. She growled and narrowed her eyes on the elfin woman.
“LET ME GO,” Angela growled, fiddling
with her weapon to try and stab the lady.
“Angela, what are you DOING?” Mercedes
asked slowly.
“You will NEVER understand,” Angela tossed her head. “ALL OF YOU are
traitors; I saw it all; you are in LEAGUE with him.” She fiddled with the sword
to point to Luminous, close to fainting on the ground. “My brother was a good
person….and I will avenge his death anyway I can, even if it means MY LIFE.”
“Would your brother believe in
KILLING?” Mercedes asked, and Angela froze.
“Maybe not,” Angela stammered, than returned to her imposing position.
“But that doesn’t mean I DON’T.” With that, she tried to rip her hand from
Mercedes’s grasp, but Mercedes tightened her grasp to the point of pain. Angela
yelped and the sword fell out of her hands, clattering against the Temple
floor. She glared at Mercedes, her once faded green eyes now clear and bright,
seeking vengeance against the group.
“You’re brother would be so disappointed in you, believe me,” Mercedes
said, her voice level and steady. Angela stopped squirming for a moment to
listen to what she had to say. Luminous’s darkness had healed his ugly wound,
and now the two (and Phantom, as his cut wasn’t that deep) gazed at Mercedes as
well. Lania envied her imposing and regal stance, but she expected nothing more
from the ruler of the elves.
“I had a brother too, Angela. He was a good ruler; confident in
EVERYTHING he did. He was strong, but he was gentle when he wanted to be. He
was kind and treated everyone fairly….but now, he’s gone. I have to say I am
still reeling from his death,” Mercedes explained, and Angela’s body relaxed,
simply listening to the woman and her unfavorable past.
“But I decided to move ahead. My brother wouldn’t like it if I became
unhappy because of him, and therefore, I moved on, covered the hole his death
busted into my heart. Believe me; it is painful to see a sibling you love
dearly die in front of your eyes. But if your brother saw you now….would he be
happy the way you’ve become?”
“No….”
“Precisely,” Mercedes smiled, and let go of the girl’s hand. It flopped
limply back to her side, the Zathura forgotten. “That is why….live your life,
and don’t let his death be your downfall; be happy with life as it comes.”
Angela’s downcast eyes slid back to meet Mercedes’s, and her cold demeanor from
last time faded into the air. Her eyes watered, and she smiled a teary smile.
“Thank yo-”
That was all she managed to say before
the laser pierced through her heart.
*****
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