Severed Connections

"Our suspicions were right." Rowan reported to Lex with a heavy sigh. "This is all Tvar's doing."

 "The entire palace has been engulfed by shadows." Amrit added while he gave dirty glances to the immortals that were panicking senselessly. "Although it doesn't seem to be harming anyone as of right now, there's no way to get in or out."

 "Not even your henchmen can pierce through it." He gestured towards a corner of the room, where Nox and a few other shadow creatures made attempts to penetrate the wall with no favorable results. 

 "I'm almost certain this is Tvar... but it's not reacting like I thought it would." Lex blurted, waving his hands through the large lump that flowed through the glass exterior of the palace. "Shadows don't mix well with water."

 The two Roseabelles silently watched Lex interact with the mysterious barrier, witnessing how it seemed attracted to his hand at first before quickly repelling.

Lex tried to grab hold of it, but it swiftly evaded, dividing into multiple entities before merging back together.

 "I'm sure I can break though this but, that would cost this entire palace." Lex stated while he rubbed his temples, deep in thought. "Although I don't think the owner will be very pleased with that."

 "Well, we got to figure out a way to calm the masses first before we even think of doing anything else." Rowen warned, looking over to the large group of noblemen that were still wreaking havoc on the other side of the ball. 

"I could cast a spell to make them fall unconscious, but it will only last a few hours at best. To make matters worse, most magic types aren't really as effective on the Toyahans, and I'm not confident that mine will be an exception."

 Hm, I could care less with what you do with that insolent bunch." Lex waved the wide-eyed Rowen off, uninterested in handling that particular part of the situation. "Just make them stop with all that squealing before I obliterate them into tiny bits and pieces and feed it to our underwater companions outside."

 "... Easier said than done." Rowen answered, glancing over to Amrit before heading off to do his duties.

 A bright flash of red light erupted from the side of the ballroom before a loud thud could be heard.

The room suddenly went dead quiet and when Lex and Amrit looked back to investigate, the entire crowd had gone unconscious, including Rowen. 

"Ugh, not this again, Rowen." Amrit groaned in defeat when he realized that Rowen had overexerted himself, yet again. "I'm never going to hear the end of this from Nevra."

 Lex was ultimately left with his own thoughts when Amrit left his side to tend to the limp but still breathing Kaxarene that was Rowen. 

 "Where the hell is Arius when you need him?" Lex queried, noticing that more than a few familiar faces missing.

 "No idea." Amrit replied with a deadpan look, clearly sick of the entire situation. "He left in a rush after he told me stop the fight between Varen and one of the guests."

 "And where did that psycho run off to now?" Lex asked himself, getting a bad feeling in his stomach when Amrit mentioned Varen.

 "Nox." Lex called over the giant shadow creature, knowing that it was the fastest way to get ahold of his sister.

 Without hesitation, the creature made its way towards Lex, its head respectfully lowered before its master.

 "Figure out Zeya's whereabouts." 

 "... We can't, Your Highness." Nox replied weakly after a moment of quiet.

 "What?" Lex furrowed his eyebrows, unable to comprehend what Nox had said. 

 "We cannot see her whereabouts... " It tried to search for her again, but its vision was severed as soon as it reached the surface, where Nox had last seen her with Varen. "She... she is gone."

=================

The walk back to the ballroom was oddly tranquil, compared to what was going on inside Varen's mind. 

Unlike his usual sharp self, Varen failed to notice the veil that Tvar had placed over the entire palace as he made his way back to the ballroom.

 He had hoped that Zeya would deny his accusations, that she would call him an idiot for even considering such a thought in the midst of their pursuit of Tvar.

However, his suspicions were unfortunately right all along.

 Zeya had been planning to escape yet again, using the monster as an excuse and this time, she intended to stay hidden for as long as she possibly could.

 "Where is she?" A voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts, making Varen stop dead in his tracks.

 "Oh my, it was just you, Arius." Varen faked a welcoming smile as he turned around to face the grim-faced minister. " I almost mistook you for an intruder! I was so close to bashing your head in against the wall."

 The minister remained cold towards Varen's attempts at cracking jokes, his glare particularly menacing this time around.

 "Answer my question." Arius demanded, unfazed by Varen's casual threat. "Where did you lock her up in this time?"

 "Your words are quite harsh, Arius." Varen exclaimed dramatically, though his expression held no sense of humor whatsoever. " Hating me is one thing but, don't you think it's rude to accuse an emperor of such heinous crimes?"

 "Did you hurt her?" Arius grew increasingly impatient when Varen continued to dodge his questions, fearing the worst to have happened to Zeya. "I swear if you did Varen-"

 "You'll what? Kill me?" Varen finished Arius' sentence for him. "Well, I'd like to see you try, minister."

 "... I'll gladly take up that offer." Arius smirked, unbothered by the anger that swirled in Varen's manic eyes. "However, that can wait until I find out where you imprisoned my empress."

 "Hah!" Varen spat out a harsh laugh before combing his hands through his hair as an attempt to calm himself. 

 "You know, I've always thought this but, you and I aren't so different after all."

Varen chuckled some more, enjoying the twisted look on Arius' face. 

"We're both selfish, obnoxious pricks obsessed with the idea of being that poor girl's savior. Hoping, just hoping she'd look our way, even if it was for a mere second." 

 "But, do you know the one thing that sets us apart? The one difference that makes me better than you?" Varen spoke calmly as he held Arius's glare.

Varen's demeanor was oddly relaxed despite his growing urge to hurt him.

"I've already repented my sins but you... you continue to be oblivious to yours."

 "... What are you talking about?" Arius furrowed his brows, noticing his heartbeat growing faster and faster.

 "Still feigning innocence, minister?" Varen's smile grew larger, much to Arius' disdain. "Why don't I do the honors and refresh your memories then?"

 "That day when Zeya's mother was murdered by that good-for-nothing human, you were there with her, weren't you?"

 Arius visibly froze at Varen's claims, the expression he wore failing to conceal his anger. 

 "Oh my... did I hit a soft spot already?" Varen smirked, visibly pleased by the torment he was causing Arius. "I haven't even gotten to the best part yet."

 "You watched her get interrogated for days for her own mother's death, not uttering a word throughout the process. You were there to witness everything, and yet, you still chose to stay quiet, and let Zeya take all the blame."

 "If anything, you abandoned her when she needed you the most. Am I wrong?"

 "I wonder what Baron would've said if he knew this was your true facade before he died, hm?"

 "Don't you dare group me with the likes of a monster like you! I-I did it to protect her. If it weren't for what I did, Zeya would've been next in line on their hitlist!"

 "Oh, please. Just who are you trying to fool, Arius?" 

 "You claim you did it to protect her, but at the end of the day, you decided to save yourself instead." Varen basked in the sight of Arius breaking down. "So, who's the monster now, I wonder?"

 "H... How did you find out?" Arius appeared so dejected, the tone of his voice weaker than before.

 "I have my ways... but that should be the least of your worries." Varen said with a sweet smile. "What matters now is how you're going to make me keep this secret, Arius."

 "... You can't utter a word of this to her, Varen Edevane." Arius warned, despite his voice audibly shaking. "She'll... She'll never speak to me again if she finds out."

"I'll think about it." Varen replied half-heartedly. "However, if you vow to answer my questions truthfully from now on, I might just consider it."

 Silence followed Varen's offer, but it wasn't long until Arius finally gave in and accepted.

 "You... You have my word."