Lania - Path to Light (Part 8)

     Lania slammed her palms on the coffee table that rested in front of her, and Phantom smiled, amused, as if that had been what he expected her to do. “Th...That’s impossible!!” Lania fumed, and Evan tugged nervously at her sleeve and told her to calm down. But Lania didn’t even notice Evan. She fought so sustain the tears that stung in her eyes. Luminous was a good person…..he wasn’t a traitor; he wasn’t a disgrace; he was her father. And if ANYONE knew Luminous, it was her. He DEFINITELY wasn’t the sort to attack innocent people – well, sort of innocent people – in the darkness of night. That wasn’t him AT ALL. Phantom must be imagining things; his attacker might have set some spell on him to think it was Luminous. That’s what she told him, but he frowned and shook his head.

     “No. Sorry, little girl, I know how you love your ‘papa’,” Phantom smirked a bit as he said that, giving Lania the urge to bash his face in. “But unfortunately, it WAS him; no doubt about it.” Phantom winced as his voice cracked and he cleared it a bit before continuing: “And….he was sadistic. He was mad; he flew at me from all directions and bashed me mercilessly,” Phantom winced at the memory. “If it weren’t for the fact that he wanted to fight me again when I was stronger, he would’ve killed me right then.”          

     Lania’s head spun with bewilderment and her vision fogged up with tears and anger. How DARE he say such wicked things about him!? Lania took a step forward, but Mercedes stood in front of her, probably expecting her to be angry and stopping her before she does something stupid and drastic. Lania forced down the urge to shove her away, and Mercedes stood firmly planted between them. Evan grabbed her hand and led her away from Phantom, directing her to a couch.

     “According to your explanation, Phantom,” Mercedes said, her face expressionless. “I would think that the darkness inside of him took over him the time you went into the forest, and made him….a bit mad. Is that possible?” Phantom scratched his chin, and Lania looked up in hope. Phantom sighed and nodded. “Yeah, that’s possible. In fact, I think it’s true. When he bashed me, I got a close look at him; the girl was right about the single red eye, and that time it….seemed like it was glowing. Yes, I think that’s the truth.”

   Lania felt relieved. Good, her father hadn’t snapped. But she still didn’t like the fact dark energy was working its way inside him. It made her insides squirm. Evan stood up and asked: “But how do we get rid of it? Surely, he’d be a nuisance if that darkness remains in him.” Mercedes nodded, and Phantom said that was true, but he needed to rest now, so that was all the information they were getting from him. He lay back down and fell asleep.

     Mercedes pursed her lips in disapproval but did not say anything. Aran AGAIN was talking to thin air, and that, for some reason, ticked Lania off. If she wanted to talk to her IMAGINARY friend, that why won’t she do it SOMEWHERE ELSE??? And now was not the time to TALK TO INVISIBLE PEOPLE. Lania got up from her seat and huffed: “If you want to talk to NOTHING, can you please go somewhere else??” Aran stopped and looked up at Lania, her eyes startled but otherwise uncaring. Mercedes looked over at Lania and smiled, saying: “Lania, she’s NOT talking to nothing, she’s talking to the soul of her axe, Maha.”

“Soul of her-what?” Lania asked, bewildered.

     “Soul of her axe,” Mercedes gestured to the giant axe leaning against the sofa. “If Evan didn’t explain this to you, the Blacksmith who created Maha put a soul in it, as well, to make it special and powerful. Aran IS the warrior hero, after all.” Mercedes nodded, and Lania flushed, apologized to Aran (who said: “No biggie. No one other than me can see ‘im, anyway.”) and returned to her seat, shuffling uncomfortably as the seat she sat on was already half occupied by the snoozing Phantom, who seemed to like kicking in his sleep.

   “Um, excuse me?” Evan said, taking a step forward to be noticed by the group. Mercedes cocked an eyebrow at him and he said: “Well, shouldn’t we be focusing on the objective, here? I mean, we really should think about a plan to get rid of that darkness, right?” Lania looked up at Evan  and her eyes slid over the room to see Mercedes’s reaction. She was nodding slowly, her mind already half occupied by a thought.

     Lania was thinking of something, too; she was thinking about where her father could be. Where could he be? If he had snapped out of ‘psycho mode’, where would he go? Lania pondered over this for a moment when she realized the absurdity of the situation; here she was, sitting in a HERO’S house with the HEROES searching for her father, a HERO. And a HERO (Phantom) was sleeping beside her. She wondered if she could die happy now.

      The sky clouded over and in a second it was pouring outside, sleets of rain hammering down on the house’s roof slates. Evan winced and muttered something about a restroom break, then quickly ran towards the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Mercedes stood up and said they would continue this conversation later, then walked towards the huge window beside her and peeked through the curtains, her fingers brushing against the smooth window pane. Aran shrugged and lay back on the sofa, falling asleep in ten seconds flat.

       Lania stood up and headed up the stairs, her head swimming with thoughts about everything. She pushed open the door to the room she slept in and walked in. The wooden planked floor in the vicinity of the window was soaked wet, and she realized someone didn’t close the window properly. As she reached out to close it, another hand – a fair skinned, slender hand – reached it first and pushed it shut. Lania screamed and leapt back, toppling onto the mattress behind her, getting tangled in the sheets.

     A beautiful lady floated – yes, FLOATED – slightly off the ground, her long blonde hair whipping in the non-existing wind. Her skin could only be described as perfect, and her long, white gown swam around her, making it look like she was floating underwater. In her hands she grasped a giant hour glass, the sand falling gently. A gold circlet was wrapped around her head, and her eyes were closed, making it look like she – whoever she was – was walking in her sleep.

     Evan crashed into the room a moment later, freaked out by Lania’s scream. Evan got as far as a “Lania, what’s wro-” before his eyes rested on the lady and he freaked out too, backing into the wall. Mercedes appeared in the doorway moments later, and she examined the lady with her blue eyes.

“Rhine,” Mercedes said, smiling briefly at the lady. “What are you doing here?”   

      “Ah, Mercedes,” Rhine replied, smiling back at her, somehow able to sense Mercedes’s presence underneath her closed eyelids. The sand from the hour glass fell indefinitely, without stopping. Mercedes walked  towards her, and Rhine nodded when Mercedes explained who the  children were, and explained what had happened not too long ago. Rhine seemed worried about Phantom’s condition, but didn’t dwell on it too much. She seemed to have serious matters to discuss.

     “But I suppose, I’ll have to introduce myself to the children,” Rhine said in her gentle, unnecessary sweet voice, and as she floated in front of Evan, Lania could see him blush slightly and look away, and  Lania did her best to hide a smirk. Rhine brushed her palm on Evan’s cheek, smiling at him. “The dragon master Evan….the successor of Freud….it is nice to meet you,” Evan nodded, his hands fretting over their position. Rhine smiled shyly because Evan was so nervous he looked like something itched.

       “And you, Lania of Ellinia,” Rhine said, turning to her, and she instinctively swallowed hard, her breath caught in her throat. Rhine extended her arm out to her and they shook, Rhine’s skin sending tingles up one’s arm. After that was settled, Rhine floated up so high Lania thought she was going to hit the ceiling. She placed a hand on her chest, the other still wrapped around the giant hourglass. “My name is Rhine, and I am the goddess of time. I’m not sure if you have heard about it, but I reside in my temple, the Temple of Time, which is now - unfortunately – under the control of one of the Black Mage’s subordinates, Pink Bean.”

Lania’s jaw fell open. A goddess? Right in front of her?

    Out of the corner of her eye Lania saw Mercedes straighten out her back, then cleared out her throat, and asked Rhine the question that was burning on her lips: “Rhine, what are you doing here?”

    Rhine’s smile fell away. “Its…it’s Luminous,” she sighed, twirling a lock of hair with her fingers. “He might be going mad.”

                            *******

     Later that day, Mercedes had awoken Phantom and bundled everyone in the living room to listen to Rhine speak. She told them while she was at the Temple of Time; it had been the same as any ordinary day. That is, until Luminous came bounding over to her. As a hero, the two had met before, and Rhine was delighted to see Luminous again. However, he didn’t seem like himself. Rhine had explained that he was much more pale that usual (nobody thought that was POSSIBLE, as Luminous was naturally quite pale to begin with) and he seemed really nervous.

     As he came up to Rhine, he told her that he needed to run, ANYWHERE. Rhine had seemed partially concerned about him, as he seemed like he was just MOMENTS away from a TOTAL MELTDOWN. But Rhine had met him before, and the last time they had met had convinced Rhine that he could handle even the most HORRIBLE things on his own, and therefore did not care TOO MUCH (Much to Lania’s distress). When Rhine had asked him gently what was going on, he got as far as an: “I” before his expression changed entirely. He smiled (Phantom cringed) and told Rhine that “No, nothing was wrong,” and skipped – yes, he SKIPPED (Phantom cringed) – away.

      Lania and Evan exchanged glances. That didn’t seem like the sadistic maniac Phantom had informed them about; that seemed like a mental hospital escapee, and that just made it all worse, for Lania. So, now he was MAD? It took her everything not to flee from the room and throw up her lunch (The heroes had lunch earlier on, now it is noon, ‘kay? No questions). Aran seemed briefly amused by Luminous’s behavior – even though she tried to be serious and told herself it was NOT NICE TO LAUGH AT OTHER PEOPLE’S INSANITY – and Phantom seemed very close to throwing up. Obviously, Rhine’s story had disgusted him to NO END.

     Mercedes seemed to be the only one not really affected by Rhine’s story. She sat there on the couch, scratching her chin thoughtfully, and asked Rhine where he could be. Rhine admitted regretfully that she did not know; the darkness inside of him had made tracking him hard; almost as hard as tracking the Black Mage. She had feared that the darkness inside of him was meddling with his sanity, but Rhine did not really know whether he WAS half corrupted by darkness, so she took a trip to Evan’s house. Now, Mercedes’s explanation on what happened had only confirmed her suspicions.

       Lania felt faint. It hadn’t even been a WEEK since she left her house in search of her photograph, but yet in such a short time she had discovered so many horrific things about her father. He was frozen in ice for hundreds of years, half corrupted by the most infamous mage in THE ENTIRE WORLD, and now she was being told he was ON THE BRINK OF INSANITY. She wished she had just given up on the photo the first time so she would now be tucked in her bed, taking an afternoon nap other than listen to this GODDESS blurt out HORRIFIC truths.

       “Rhine, is there ANY WAY to get rid of the darkness?” Mercedes asked, flashing a glare at Phantom who was pretending – noisily – to throw up. Rhine’s hair drifted in the wind and her robe spun around her, the wind from the cloudy atmosphere outside washing through the ajar window, which Evan shut hastily. Rhine sighed and admitted: “No. Not yet, anyway” and Lania’s hopes dissolved into nothingness. She buried her head in her hands and wished someone would poke her awake and tell her this was just a dream.

      “Well, you can’t just leave him to go INSANE!!” Lania spoke up, and the goddess turned her head to her direction, her face softening. Phantom had momentarily stopped his annoying ‘vomiting’ to glance up at Lania, who was fighting back tears. Rhine patted her gently on the back, and Lania wiped her tears on the back of her hand. Rhine was telling her something, but Lania didn’t want to hear it. She just wanted to see her father again, safe and sound and knowing nothing will happen to him. Why couldn’t she just have that?

       “My dear,” Rhine said, smoothening out the tangles in Lania’s hair, which hadn’t been combed in awhile. Lania winced slightly as the goddess’s fingers raked through the tangles and knots, smoothening them gently out. “I was never going to leave him. We will find a way out of this, I’m sure, and you’re father will be safe and sound, alright?” Lania nodded, finding it comforting that, other than Evan, Rhine was the only one that called Luminous her father without a funny edge to her voice, like the others – especially Phantom – did.

     “Hey, Rhine,” Aran said, perking up. Rhine took her gaze off the girl to rest it on the snow-haired woman, who seemed for the first time serious about something. Rhine nodded her head to gesture she was listening, and Aran said: “Can you bring us to the temple of time? I have something to investigate there.”