The Laboratory
Meanwhile, Maedus had arrived at his sanctuary - his laboratory. He shut the door with a deep breath. The latch called out into the silent darkness with a crisp echo, but the silence, as even the rain stopped, set in motion a tempest within him that quickly barrelled out of control. He had barely stepped a foot away from the door before he began groaning and complaining to the shadows.
"How dare she... how dare she??" he growled. "How DARE that harlot die and send her pathetic whelp to me?? I should slit his throat tonight, and be done with it!"
Maedus was pacing about as his mind reeled on memories that he was only tortured with in his sleep. Aesus had grown into a living reminder of what he had once been, and what he had traded for his immortality... or rather, what had been robbed of him for his ambition and true calling of pursuit. He whirled around towards his desk.
"But, it would be such a waste..." he whispered, letting his hands glide to the book, gently caressing the open page. "To kill this worm in anger would only spoil what he is, and despite how grotesque and weak a thing he is, that purity need remain intact for only a while longer..."
The affirmation laid before him in his brewing plot only served to set his frustration aside, and a laugh took him - uncontrollably deep and manic laughter that seized any joy to be had from such an expression. He simply continued the sinister chuckle as he huddled over his desk, braced by outstretched arms, gazing into the pages below. It was often a soothing pleasure to simply look at the words, to be near them and let their meaning permeate his mind, and speak to him as only they could; the book whispered to him always, filling him with a deep hate, and a desire for the fruition of what his study will lead him.
Chalea could have cared less about her master's moment of peace as her feet flew across the marble floors. She burst through the door of Maedus' laboratory furiously, slamming the door shut and pressing her body against it, as though that would stop him from escaping her minute wrath. Where this brazen attitude came from, she did not know, but the adrenaline coursed through her like venom, and there was no stopping it.
"What do you want with him?" she snapped, bracing herself for the enraged blow she knew would come.
It was something that even Maedus did not expect from her, and her sudden appearance did no less than set him back on the spiral of fury. Could he not receive but a moment of quiet this evening, he thought to himself, as he let his laughter die down after Chalea's abrupt announcement. He let the silence choke the room before straightening his posture, back still to the door.
"What do we all want?" he asked coldly, turning around with painful slowness. His tone was sinister, as if to imply he knew the true nature of her question. What did she want back?
He walked slowly towards the door, with a blank expression; even his eyes seemed to swallow the light. He glared at her with a pause.
Chalea swallowed. No, not the silence, anything but the silence! It swelled around her, the only comfort to her trepidation being the furious hammering of the rain against the shattered window as she stared, wide-eyed and filled with terror, at Maedus' back. He slowly moved and focused his gaze onto her face, and she attempted to reach for the door handle, realizing only too late that she had locked herself in. The empty voids that served as his eyes pierced her skin like a thousand needles as he approached her, looming over her as though she were nothing more than an insignificant insect meant to be trampled under his wrath.
There was only a moment's reprieve, during which Chalea must have shrunk two feet as his face hardened. He searched her, his soul lapping up the fear that moved behind her eyes in its grotesque dance, and she found that she could not look away from his face, nor could she speak, or breathe.
"What did I take from you?!" he shouted with unbridled fury before swinging his right hand across her face in a powerful backhand that sent her to the ground in a heap. Chalea fell to the side in a flurry of hair and cloth, having neither the energy nor the reflexes to catch herself before her head collided with the ground. She attempted to drag herself out of his reach, but he was faster, lunging for her throat before she was able to react. He hadn't so much as let the pain of the blow sink in before he was upon her again; with a firm grip, he placed his hand beneath her jawline and lifted her back to her feet. Pressing her against the door, he leaned in and brought his voice down.
"Tell me Chalea, how did it feel when I drained the essence of your soul from your living body and distilled it down into a tiny insignificant vial?"
How did it feel? How did it feel to be dragged through a cold castle to this very room, wearing nothing but a thin bed sheet and her skin? How did it feel to be slammed onto a table, having her wrists and ankles bound by straps of black leather, to know that no amount of apologetic screaming could stop the process about to begin? How did it feel, watching her soul being ripped out by a strange contraption, and feeling as though her innards were being destroyed by a fire much hotter than any earthly flame? How did it feel, knowing that the single man, the harbinger of destruction, was a mission that she had failed to carry out, and that he was the one that would forever hold her heart in his pale, slender fingers, and her soul in a darkened place where she would never be able to retrieve it?
His intent was to hurt her, to cause excruciating pain to her mind and body. What agonizing delight it brought him watching her will bend beneath him! He grinned, staring into Chalea's eyes, looking - craving - the fear within.
Chalea's legs dangled above the ground as she attempted to breath through her compressed windpipe, and she allowed the tears to flow freely for the first time in many days. She cried for Aesus, she cried for his mother. She cried for Maedus, for his soul, for all those previously corrupted by the book. She cried and cried for everyone but herself, because she knew that no amount of tears would ever save her.
"You needn't worry about our guest..." Maedus said quietly and calmly, slowly releasing the pressure on her throat before continuing like his assault were some casual gesture. "Enjoy his company if you like, but I wouldn't get used to his pitiful graces; I've no intent on suffering my sister's mistakes for long. His welcome already grows thin, yet he and his misfortune presents a most advantageous opportunity for my latest project. You'll see - this will change everything!"
Chalea's hopelessness was palpable. She could do naught but listen to his crazy ramblings, and wonder how he could have become like this despite her efforts to intertwine her soul with his. He released her, and she crumpled to the ground, slowly picking herself up as the feeling returned to her face. Maedus finally took a few steps back. His face burned with a twisted grin, a contorted and evil form of the what had resounded as a healthy curiosity in his nephew.
"I will unmake the world, and rebuild it anew!" he proclaimed, oblivious to the dangerous hubris in his words.
Chalea shook her head. "How could you do this!?" she screamed, her voice strong despite the fact that she was at her wits end. Maedus could barely believe what he was hearing. She was still remaining openly defiant?
"He is innocent and good!" she continued through broken sobs. "How dare you attempt to corrupt him as you did me!?" She righted herself on shaky legs, and the accusing finger she pointed at him was weak as spots bloomed across her vision. "He deserves me much more than you do! He can be saved!! You don't deserve a second chance!! You're a monster, and I hate you!! I HATE YOU!!!!"
Maedus fumed with jealousy and hatred, and might've lost himself to beat her to within an inch of her life. But he resisted as a fate worse than death began to pluck at the drawstrings of his warped mind, a devious plan that would set events in motion that were sure to torment his dreams for years to come.
Chalea regretted the words from the moment that she said them, knowing that they had struck a poignant chord somewhere within the dark corners of Maedus' blackened soul. But she didn't care. She was completely aware that she was stating a fact that was already well-known, namely that every cell in her body hated him with a passion equaling the one with which she had loved him, but that made no demands on her attention. She knew that what she had said about Aesus was much more insulting than saying that she hated Maedus, and that fact terrified her immensely.
"Who said I wanted a second chance!?" Maedus shrieked in response. Chalea had barely shouted the spiteful final word, before he had snatched her outstretched hand by the wrist and yanked her into his rigid, steely embrace. His cheek brushed hers lightly as he moved to whisper in her ear.
"If hate is all you feel for me..." he replied, his breath passing softly over her earlobe, "then you will know only my fury."
"The fact that you don't want one only proves your internal corruption," she hissed malevolently, not thinking about what could happen next. She grit her teeth as he tightened his arms around her, nearly suffocating her in his embrace, if it could be called that. Oh, that familiar scent that he carried about him, that scent which she had come to loathe as it saturated the entirety of the castle!
Maedus could feel her trembling in his arms. Pathetic, so frail and helpless. He could barely stomach it, this frail thing in his arms. She wasn't worthy of his affection. She was the one who deserved no grace or civility, so without out so much as another glance at her, he then proceeded to guide her by the arm to the door, open it, and push Chalea into the hall.
"What will you do with him?" she hissed, balling her fists at her side. Her tear-stained cheeks glistened in the moonlight that shone between the tapestries on the wall, and Maedus offered her a malignant grin.
"I will do what I must, my dear! And I ask only that you don't stand in my way," he said looming over her from the doorframe. He was calm, and collected; finally seeing clear as a newborn vigor to continue his work took him. He'd need no rest now, for the fire set in his veins. He shook his head, almost as though he pitied her resolve, and shut the door to his study. The crisp hollow echo of his door lock engaging echoed soon after, and Chalea was alone in the dark again.
She was forced to walk in the darkness to her room. Her stare remained icy as she passed Aesus' quarters, her white dress trailing behind her and making her appear quite ghost-like indeed. The tears that she had let flow in the study had dried on her skin, leaving naught but a pair of sticky trails as she took the long journey up the stairs.
Maedus remained motionless at the door, face only inches from the polished wood for minutes that felt like an eternity. He could almost see her standing there, biting back tears in the cold darkness, regretting her life, regretting him. It bothered him, and yet it also filled him with a sick sort of glee knowing that she saw her own existence as a punishment.
Yes, he enjoyed knowing she felt pain. After all, she deserved it.
He heard the pitter-pat of her feet as she departed, and sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment before he turned and approached his desk. He looked down at the book, squinting as he skimmed over the contents, passages he'd read earlier but had not yet committed to memory - but his focus was raw and wavering, concentration gone.
He tore his gaze from the book with a sweep of frustration, and he paced back and forth before finally settling on an easy chair nestled near the fireplace. He collapsed into its plush comfort as a rush of fatigue finally made its move to seize his withered body, and took heavy, labored breaths before his eyes could no longer handle their own weight.
It wasn't long before he fell into a deep, impacting sleep. In her room, Chalea noticed this immediately.
As she drifted into her room, her weary body barely making it to the top, she saw that her fire had been warming up her little tower room quite nicely. Drawing her quilt from her dirty mattress, she forced herself in front of the fire, placed her tired face onto the warm stone, closed her eyes, and drifted off into her own, fitful version of sleep.
[Many Years Ago...]
...wake -- wake -- Wake!
Maedus' eyes shot open to see a dagger - his ceremonial dagger - aimed at his heart. The wielder, his beloved, bare-breasted and tears streaming down her face, as she moved to thrust the weapon into his chest.
Maedus reached up and grasped her wrists as time seemed to slow to a crawl.
"What are you doing!?" he asked in a heated panic. His heart was pounding as he heard the Grimoire calling out to him, begging him to save it. So that's what it was. His Darling, his precious love, meant to destroy the book that had shown him the secrets of all of creation - and with it, destroy his very life as well.
He barely understood what overtook him in that moment. His blood rushed to his head, pounding so loudly amidst the struggle of subjugating the vile creature who dared interfere with his life's work. It was but a moment and he'd dragged her over the threshold into his laboratory, where his next act was to violently strap her down onto a worktable that he'd cleared off with a manic sweep of his bare arm.
"No!! What are you doing!?" he heard her scream, as he rummaged around for the stone he needed. It had arrived only the day before, and now he was going to use it on the source of the agony coursing through his veins. Her pleas did nothing but fuel the rage he was feeling, the pain and confusion.
She called his name, begged him to reconsider, saying he was corrupted and she meant to save them both from destruction. But he did not believe her words.
How could she do this to him? How could she betray everything he ever believed in??
He found the stone, and held it in his hand. A smooth, majestic blue stone, shaped like a slender seed. He ran a finger over the surface; it was cool to the touch. He made no delay in bringing the stone over to Chalea's restrained and protesting body, placing gently on her chest, between her and an elaborate metal arm that was extended over the table. There was small crystal affixed to the bottom of the arm, several inches away from her clammy, twitching skin.
Maedus made sure he was confident in the placement before leaning over and making eye-contact with her. She met his gaze, and he watched the love she once held slowly transform into terror.
"Don't worry, my darling..." he said, his tone soothing but his eyes hollow and icy. "...I'll make you believe in me again, I promise."