An angel’s road to hell

15. Of apologies, enemies and a little bit of alliances

Cassandra Pendragon

Before I could start asking questions, a knock on my door interrupted us: “Cassy, are you there? Come on, we need to talk.” Slightly panicked I looked at Mephisto but he only grinned and disappeared back into the emblem. I quickly strode over to the window and pocketed the small disk. The letter and box I hid on my bed, underneath the cushion I had used to shut Mephisto up and answered: “Come in.” Mordred opened the door, bringing with him the smell of weapon-oil, sweat and something else I didn’t recognise. I hadn’t seen him since my birthday and he seemed on edge. Dark circles marred his stormy eyes and they looked dull, tired. He convulsively held on to the heft of his sword and I could see traces of dust and dirt on his black cloths. His gaze quickly travelled through my room. There wasn’t much to see, a small desk, a rather large cupboard and a ginormous bed with lots of pillows. I had a chandelier hanging from my ceiling and a floor-deep window took up most of the southern wall. His face turned into a smile when he saw me standing in front of the bed. “You’re up!” He quickly closed the distance and hugged me tightly, even his three tails curl around me. Usually he wasn’t that affectionate but I wouldn’t complain. I held onto and some of the built up tension slowly evaporated. He probably hadn’t heard a thing. “I’m up and I’m fine, what did you expect? I’m not your usual seven year old after all.” He chuckled quietly. “No. No you are not. But that wasn’t your run of the mill fighter either. And to be honest you scared the crap out of us. You went head to toe with a friggin demon, excuse me for being a tad worried.”

“It wasn’t a demon, otherwise we wouldn’t be having this conversion. It was just a shade, a vessel filled with some demonic power.”

“Well, that makes it perfectly harmless than, I’m sure! You should have told us before so we could have just gone on with the party and ignored your blood splattering all around.”

“Since when have you become sarcastic? Where is my always-so-stern brother and what have you done to him?” I asked, taking a step back to look him in the eyes. He didn’t react quite like I had anticipated. A faint blush rose in his cheeks and he couldn’t meet my gaze.

“Hum, I… well, the thing is…” I didn’t interrupt his stammering and just watched him closely. Something was seriously bothering him and it wasn’t just me getting hurt. That happened, not that gravely usually, but being taught by Greta had some minor setbacks. Also, I loved to sneak off into the forest if I had the chance and when I would get back, I usually looked bad enough to scare off little children. An injury he would have laughed off after he was sure that I would be fine. This was something else.

“You…, would you mind going for a walk? Are you up to it yet?” “Sure, but am I even allowed to leave the palace? I don’t know exactly what’s going on, but from what mother told me, I guess it wouldn’t be the best idea to just leave.”

“We can stay on the palace-grounds, I wouldn’t take you past the wall anyway. That shouldn’t be a problem, we can go to the small meditation grove, you know the one with the overgrown statue.” “I’ll write a note. Gimme a sec.” I shooed him out of the room, I wanted to take the emblem with me and hide the letter. Afterwards I wrote a note to mom, put on shoes and quickly brushed my hair. 20 seconds later I stepped out into the corridor and motioned for Mordred to follow me. I wanted to check on Ahri once again. Her room was just across the hall and I could smell Greta’s scent, overlaid with herbs and alcohol, when I got close to the door. I knocked once and heard Greta shuffling to the door. After a short wait she opened and sniffed the air. I got a quick glance inside. Ahri’s room was pretty similar to mine. Her bed was smaller and her cupboard larger. I could also see part of her weapon collection mounted on a wall. I could see her form on the bed and it seemed like she was sleeping peacefully. Two empty bottles stood on her nightstand and a bowl with water and floating herbs was beside.

“Ah. Little princess. I was about to check on you. How are you feeling?”

“Much better, thanks to your care. From what I heard I owe you more than usual. You kept me alive and healed my body.” I bowed deeply “Thank you so much.”

“Get up. You don’t have to bow to me. It was nothing. I couldn’t let anything happen to the first kitsune who visits me on a regular basis in the last 50 years now, can I?” I was surprised to say the least.

“There was someone besides me who would visit you? Who? What happened? Did you accidentally kill him?” I was about to straighten when she smacked my head.

“That’s more like it. If you have your sorry excuse for a sense of humour back, you should be mostly recovered.” She groped around -blindly- for a second, one of her hands came to rest on my forehead and one on my abdomen. “Headaches? Dizziness? Any problems with your energy?” I knew she asked rhetorically as warmth was spreading from her hands. I could see the small golden locket around her neck glowing slightly. Some time ago she had enchanted a drop of my blood to function as a permanent focus so she wouldn’t have to find ways around my immunity to magic all the time. After a couple of seconds the glow faded and she stepped back.

“You seem healthy enough, I would advise against any taxing activities in the next few days though. And refrain from using any energy before I tell you. Better yet, try to restrict yourself to eating and sleeping for some time.”

“I can’t promise you that, but I’ll be careful. Anyways, how is Ahri doing?”

“Same as you, except she completely drained her astral power. She should wake up later today, maybe tomorrow morning.” When my face creased she added: “don’t fret, it’s normal. You never experienced it but she’ll be fine as soon as her astral body regenerates. Give her a couple of hours. You can start worrying if she doesn’t come by by tomorrow.” I would visit her family the first chance I got. They deserved to know how she was.

“Thanks, will you stay at the palace?” “I’ll stay here for the night, why you want me to cuddle with you?” I had to smile. “Nah, you’re not my type. But could you tell me if something changes around here?” “And what would you do about it? Never mind, I’ll tell you… and do come by again later, we missed out on two of our lessons, after all. There are some things we should talk about.” Her head turned in Mordred’s direction and back towards where I had hidden the emblem in my shirt. I guessed she didn’t want to talk in front of him. If I interpreted her gesture correctly, I could wholeheartedly agree.

“I will. And thanks again.” I gave her another small bow, don’t ask me how she could see the movement, but probably the same way she could throw discusses at me, and turned around. The door clicked quietly behind me. Mordred had hung back but I could see a glint of curiosity in his eyes and also… guilt? “What was that all about?” He asked.

“Me making sure the gal who risked her life for me is fine?”

“No, not that part… never mind. Shall we get going?” I nodded and together we took the  stairways down. We passed through the atrium of the first floor which was decorated with moonstones, grey silk and paintings of stars and moons. I heard rustling form the kitchen and could smell the delicious scent of lunch. Eva had become our cook ever since we took her in and now her little son, Adam, was helping out from time to time. We didn’t have many servants in the royal wing. Ahri, my mom’s personal maid, Clara, two manservants for Mordred and my father, two guards and now Eva and Adam. I was tempted to say hi, but Mordred purposefully strode towards the staircase to the ground floor, which was decorated with small busts of my ancestors. Only the dead ones were depicted, and only the ones in the direct line, excluding spouses and their ancestors. My grandfather’s visage was the newest one. His wife, my grandmother on my father’s side had left long before I had been born but from what I gathered all clairvoyance magic suggested she was still alive. My mom’s parents had left with Arthur. There were seven busts in total and every time I took the stairs I felt like our esteemed monarchs were sternly judging my every move. I bet the artist had taken extra money for the effect, it was quite intimidating especially if you stood on the bottom and looked up towards the first floor. We didn’t leave through the main gates, but through a small door under the stairs which led us directly onto the branch behind the palace. The deck had been removed as well as the sorry remains of Boseiju’s crown. I could see a group a kitsune in the canopy, repairing a small part of the damage to the tree. We didn’t head in their direction though but turned left and took a small side branch with a meditation grove where it fanned out. A small pond with a statute of Ao, god of wisdom and knowledge in kitsune lore were the only artificial things. The floor consisted of the fanned out branch, its growth had been manipulated with magic to form a living basis for weeds and herbs. Ao’s statute resembled a scholarly small kitsune with nine tails and golden fur and was placed in the middle of the living platform. Midnight roses grew all over the edifice. From the tip of its tails, a constant stream of water nourished the plants around.

We took a seat on opposite sides of the grove and enjoyed the tranquil atmosphere for a minute.

“I am sorry.” He said after a while. I thought he was referring to the challenge and that he hadn’t intervened.

“There’s no need. You couldn’t have done a thing. And even if you did, we would only have to members of our family on trial now,” I answered with a crooked smile. “Nothing desirable in that outcome.”

“No, that’s not… well it’s about the challenge but not what you think. It’s… I… It’s my fault. This whole flea-ridden situation is my fault. I… I used you and I’m sorry, terribly sorry.” I was taken aback for a second, that would at least explain his behaviour. But…

“What do you mean? You didn’t challenge me, did you? And you didn’t channel a demon to kill off my friend. How’s any of that your fault?” He flinched and I could smell his tension. He was really on edge. What had he done?!

“No, but I instigated the challenge. Let me explain…” The next 30 minutes I listened quietly with more and more anxiety and at the end of his story my mouth hung open. I couldn’t believe it. My brother had spun a fantastic tail about his travels and an ancient evil form across the world he had supposedly met somewhere on a deserted island far to the west. This “emperor”, he claimed, was depraved beyond reason and had become interested in me after he had read my brother’s memories. He had marked Mordred’s soul to ensure his loyalty and sent him back. The debacle with Edmund Furglow had been Mordred’s attempt at rebellion. And this was where the whole story had gotten convoluted. Well, even more convoluted than before.

Mordred had claimed the emperor was in cahoots with a demon, Amazeroth. That made sense, considering what I had read on Eddie’s skin. So my brilliant brother had decided to steal some of ‘ Amazeroth’s power to firstly save his soul from the emperor and secondly cut off the emperor’s connection to our little coroner of the world for good. He hadn’t been able to confide in anyone up until then, fear for his soul had paralysed him. So he had used the emperor’s own design to get his hands on me, to siphon off a small part of Amazeroth. I was ready to call him a liar right then and there but he simply removed his hand form the hilt of his sword and turned it towards me.

Where the blackened blade and ebony handle met, a large black diamond glittered on the cross guard. In its depth a small spark glimmered. I didn’t have to look closer, I could feel what it was. I had even smelled it before I had known it was there. There, right before me, was a small speck of a demon’s core.

I didn’t touch it, I could feel the power resonating within the crystal.

“I don’t know if I should be impressed, pissed or plainly frightened. Why did you tell me? To lighten your conscience?”

“I would have left you in the dark if I had a choice. It’s my mess and I want to fix it, but I need your help. Will you help me, despite what has happened?” I hesitated, longer than I wanted to admit.

“No, I will help you because of what has happened. If I leave you to your own devices you have proven without a doubt that you mess up, royally. I don’t know if Ahri or me can survive another one of your plans.” I added with a wry smile.

“Seriously, just like that?”

“Sure. And thank you. You might disagree but I feel pretty honoured that you would go to such length to keep me save, even if the outcome was … suboptimal. I think you did well. Much better than I would have done. There is just one thing, why didn’t you ask me for a part of my core before? You do know what I am, don’t you?” He nodded.

“I couldn’t. I never knew when I was under surveillance or what the emperor would gain from scanning my soul. My only chance was to distract him and get rid of the mark, all in one go. I am lucky that I know a spell to hide my thoughts, unfortunately that doesn’t work for memories. It’s much harder to change or hide things you remember and actually lived through than random thoughts fluttering through your mind. I didn’t see any other way… I am sorry.”

“Don’t be, the more you talk the more I realise how well you actually managed. Just… next time, leave my friends out of it if you can.” He smiled slightly. “If I can, I will.” “Good enough. So, what’s happening now?” He hesitated slightly before continuing: “right know, I am hidden from the emperor’s direct view but he still has some influence within the second palace. Ok, to be honest, he has massive influence inside the second palace. I need to cleanse it, but I don’t know how and then I have to close a gate which is older than our records. All the while I have to stop or outmanoeuvre an ancient wizard and his demon who are likely orchestrating your exile as well as pursuing a dozen other plans I’m not aware of. So what’s happening now is me asking if you would help me. And don’t answer so fast. I need you Cassy, I need your power and I need your judgement. You are the only one I know who might have any clue about the demon and who might be able to use Amazeroth’s energy to close the portal. I used it briefly to cut the mark off of my soul, but it nearly killed me. I can’t channel enough to manipulate anything on the scale of the gate. It’s going to become unbelievably dangerous. So I ask again: Will you help me, knowing what we are up against?”

“Thanks for the compliments, but I don’t know, of how much use I can actually be, but I think I know someone. He might be able to shed some light on what’s going on.”