Chapter 10 The Silence

'Casmir'

His name pulsed in Melchior's mind with every beat of his rapidly racing heart. 

'Casmir' his heart said.

'My Casmir' his heart whispered.

"Melchior" Casmir whispered, though Melchior did not hear it. He only saw the shape of his name on Casmir's lips, and he knew that somehow Casmir was answering to the call Melchior's heart made for him.

'Did he do it?, did Sal actually do it?'

Melchior walked forward, his legs moving of their own volition, responding not to his brain but to the sharp and urgent tug of his heartstrings. 

Casmir moved as well, his eyes nearly hidden by his hair, his hands clenched into tight, nervous fists. 

Before Melchior knew it there was no space between them. 

'This is actually happening' Melchior thought.

Their bodies were inches apart, nothing but warmth filled the small space between them.

Warmth.

Melchior remembered every moment he'd spent with Casmir, training, talking, laughing, and he had never felt such heat, such warmth.

But he could feel it now.

And he found that he could not resist it.

He grabbed Casmir by the shoulders, stifling a gasp as he felt that warmth again, along with the slight bulge of muscles beneath his armour, and pulled him into a slow, careful hug.

Casmir responded, but not slowly, desperately, enclosing Melchior in his arms and holding him tightly, so tight that Melchior could feel every inch of him, from the rise and fall of his chest to the pounding of his heartbeat against his ribcage, a rhythm and a beat Melchior had never heard before, a rhythm and a beat Melchior hoped to hear for the rest of his life, in dark corners and in open fields. 

"Casmir" Melchior breathed. "I have missed you so much, all the powers that be know how much I have missed you" 

Casmir chuckled, his breath — his breath, warm and foreign and yet welcome — tickled the scales on Melchior's neck. 

"As have I, Melchior" Casmir said. "As have I"

They separated, and Melchior couldn't help looking up at Casmir and pushing away his curtain of dark silky hair, hoping to see those silvery depths once again, but it was not silver eyes that met Melchior's gaze. Casmir's eyes were now a very dark blue, the exact colour of trenches and the coral that grew in the forgotten rooms of Atlantis, blue like azure skies and sapphires, they looked down at Melchior uncertainly, with anxiety and quiet curiosity. 

"Your eyes…" Melchior said. 

"I'm alive now, Mel, I'm no longer cursed" Casmir said. 

Melchior smiled sadly.

Casmir, his Casmir, cursed?

"Dear old friend, you were never cursed" Melchior said, and then he said something he'd never had the courage to tell Casmir before. "Nevertheless, your eyes are like precious stones, Casmir" 

Casmir smiled and Melchior felt his heart jump and sigh with contentment, the way it never had with Trystan, the way it always would with Casmir.

"Commander" came a high, familiar voice.

Melchior turned, startled by the sound of his subordinate's voice. He'd forgotten where he was, hells he'd forgotten who he was for a minute. 

"Yes, Fyonna" Melchior said, contorting his features so he wasn't all bright eyed and smiling. 

Fyonna, a black haired, green skinned elf, Melchior's second-in-command and Trystan's replacement, stepped forward, a question in her black, pupiless eyes as she looked at the group behind Melchior.

"Accoding to the Queen's orders all intruders must be taken in immediately" She said, then realizing herself, quickly added, "Sir" 

Melchior nodded, and turned back to his friends. He'd missed them all dearly, and his heart was about to explode with excitement from seeing Casmir again, but he had to suppress it for now, now he was the Commander of the Fey Land Forces.

"Of course, but there will be no shackles" He said, folding his hands behind his back. "These four are friends of Fey Land, and we do not shackle friends"

***

"Why red though?" Lester wondered under his breath.

He was standing in front of Katarina's house in broad daylight for the first time, looking at the uniquely painted walls and the very glossy black roof that sat on the house, shining like polished leather.

The last time he was here it was already dark, the sun set and the house shrouded in darkness so he hadn't noticed it before, not to mention he'd just appeared on her front porch after walking through a wormhole of fire. 

But why paint your house red?, he couldn't understand it.

He found he couldn't understand a lot of things about the Other World. 

Why would you travel through fire to get to your destination when there were taxis and Uber?

Why were there shedim running around at night, attacking and possessing mortals when they knew they were just going to be exorcised anyway?

Why was he, a newly Changed Shaded being who had no idea what he was, babysitting a powerful, possibly hundred year old Phantom who had no idea who she was?

It just didn't make any sense.

"And yet" he muttered. "Here I am" 

He sighed with resolution and took careful steps up the front porch, balancing the pizza and boardgame boxes in his arms carefully. He fumbled with the doorknob, hoping they hadn't locked it before leaving. He didn't have a key and it would be really bad if Sal and the rest came back from their mission and found him asleep on the floor with boardgames open before him and empty boxes of pizza blocking the doorway. 

Thankfully the front door was open and Lester pushed himself into the house. 

It was painfully dim inside compared to the glaring sun outside, the fireplace was cold and the candles in the chandelier above were without their sputtering tongues of flame. The only light in the room was from sunlight peeking through the half closed curtains. It was also silent, aside from Lester's own breaths he could hear no other sound, which made him a bit nervous considering there was supposed to be someone else here, someone he was supposed to be keeping company. 

"Hello?" he called into the house, it was like yelling into something deep and hollow and used till abandonment. 

There was no answer.

"Just great" Lester murmured.

He walked to the coffee table and placed the boxes on it carefully. He took out his phone from the pocket of his trousers, and it was then he noticed how hot it was in the house. 

Drops of sweat coated his arm and dribbled down to the floor in beads of perspiration. 

It was hot this time of year, but definitely not this hot. 

He took off his baseball cap, his hair fell over his eyes in hazel curls and he pushed them to the back of his head, tossing his baseball cap on one of the chairs as he called Sal's number. 

Three calls later it was still going to voicemail. 

"It's Sal, call later if you're a friend, don't if you know i'll be pissed" 

"Just fuckng great"

Lester sighed, racking his brain for a solution then his eyes landed on the stairs leading higher into the house. 

He considered it, his brain telling him not to, that it was an invasion of privacy, though he had been given access to the house, and he was inside already, and he did need to find Julika. 

It didn't matter what his head was telling him though, his body was already moving forward.

He moved to the stairs without thinking, climbing up despite all the reservations his mind was putting up. He turned into the first floor where rooms were lined on either side of the corridor, a window at the end letting in yellow streams of light. 

He thought about what Sal would do and then turned to the first room on his left. 

Sal was left-handed and loved it like he loved peanut butter.

Sure enough as Lester came to the door he set his eyes on a name carved into the wood. 

"JULIKA" it read, in Sal's flawless cursive handwriting —how was that even possible?— shining with a faint blue sheen. 

'Magic' Lester thought. He hadn't gotten used to the realness of that word just yet. 

He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. 

Ten seconds passed and there was no answer. 

"Seriously?" 

Lester took another deep breath, silently praying he wouldn't see some forbidden thing he wasn't supposed to as he turned the knob and walked into the room. 

Goosebumps climbed up his neck and arms as he stepped in and stood stunned at the doorway.

The room was empty.

And cold.

He took another step inside and closed the door behind him, both thankful and terrified by the unusual temperature inside the room. He could hear the shower running from behind the other door in the room, which explained where Julika was. What he couldn't explain though was the unnatural cold. 

'Maybe it's magic?' Lester thought. Of course that wasn't the answer to every question, he still wondered if Sal somehow made the room more comfortable for Julika by cooling it down?, was that even possible?

There seemed to be no other plausible explanation so Lester stuck with it, mostly because he was worried about figuring out another, possibly scarier, reason for whatever was happening here. 

He stuck his hands in his pockets and surveyed the room. 

It was plain and simple, white walls and plain sheets, which was unlike all the female bedrooms Lester had been in. He was only partly surprised, the girl had been asleep for almost as long as Lester's own motionless condition. Decorating may not have come first on the agenda. 

Plus it was Sal taking care of her, the boy knew no other colours except black, white and gray, and apparently purple, but that was only recently. 

The bed was riddled with creases, the white sheets so rumpled it made miniature dunes swerve on the surface, there was a plastic cup on the bedside table, the inner walls stained with what looked like left over chunks of smoothie. On the other side of the room there was a bookshelf right beside the vanity table and a mirror reflecting Lester's face back at him.

He creased his brows at his reflection, he couldn't believe that was him. That hair, those eyes, that glow on his skin, and where was that stubborn pimple that never used to go away?

He tore his eyes from the reflection and moved to the bookshelf. 

Numerous books were lined on the shelves, stories ranging from ancient myths to urban legends, Roman, Greek, Norse, even books from famous religions, the Torah, the Quran, the Bible, novels and textbooks, fiction and fact. 

Without knowing why Lester took a careful step back from the bookshelf, shivers running up his arms. Perhaps the idea that there was some truth to all things considered untrue was starting to settle in. It was nerve-wracking.

At that point he figured it was time to go, and so was about to turn and leave the room when something sleek and red caught his eyes.

It was a small pocketbook just lying on the vanity, the word "THOUGHTS" inscribed on the front with gold glitter. 

Lester, too curious for his own good, picked it up, fascinated by the colours and the inscription itself. This was definitely the kind of gift Sal would get, thoughtful, different, like him. 

Lester opened the book, despite his conscience pounding with protest, he listened to his brain pulsing with curiosity.

DAY 1, it read. The handwriting was in scribbles that were barely legible and the entire entry was a sentence. Nothing more than a few words, but it covered the entire page. 

I AM AWAKE NOW AND I AM HAPPY. I DO NOT REMEMBER MUCH AND I AM NOT SURE OF MANY THINGS BUT I AM SURE I HAVE NO MEMORY OF A FEELING SUCH AS THIS. 

Lester smiled and turned the page, this handwriting was much smaller, more legible, and had the curves and waves of a fluid writer. 

DAY 2

Sal has told me he is leaving for an expedition of some sorts and I want to go with him. I want to see all the worlds, but he will not let me, he insists I spend my time reading up on the fictions of this world, which in my opinion is very boring. I still haven't told him of the dreams I have sometimes, the flashes of memory Nelly spoke of, I keep seeing a red eyed man with a kind smile, and a woman in a land of dust. I have so many questions but I am scared Sal may not have the answers. 

Unable to control himself Lester turned to the next page which had the most recent entry, the one from this morning. Unlike the others this one had a refined handwriting, the writing of an educated person. 

DAY 3

I woke up from a disturbing dream and with an unfathomable aching in my bones. I think I have destroyed things, places...people, I think I am dangerous. I heard their screams, I reveled in their pleas, and still I did not stop pushing, I could not stop hurting them. Their blood was everywhere, red, black, gold, white, a rainbow of colours laid out in pools before me, their realms, their cities, their homes, were up in crimson fire, a fire I know I started with a thought. Their lands were desecrated and blackened with ash, ash I know I caused to fall from the sky. I do not know who I am, that I cannot even begin to decipher, but I think I'm starting to understand what I am. 

"What do you think you're doing?" 

"Fucking hell!" Lester swore.

He jumped and the book went flying, flipping end over end before landing face down on the floor.

He looked up, and saw a girl standing in front of him. She was basically half naked, with nothing but a towel wrapped around her, drops of water fell from her body and unto the floor, and he could feel rather than see her eyes on him. He braved her gaze, and when their eyes met he saw that they were red. 

Red like blood.

Red like fire.

A fire I know I started with a thought. 

Lester took a step back as he felt apprehension race through him instantly. He could feel evil, despite the girl's blanked out expression, he could sense it in the air around the girl before him, but it was masked, layered with so many other things, invisible beneath dozens of cloaks. There was evil, yes, but there was good.

"I know you" said Julika, because it couldn't be anyone else. "I've seen you before, you're in my dreams" 

"I get that a lot" Lester said with a smirk. 

His voice trembled slightly but she didn't seem to notice though, she was looking at him, through him, scanning him from head to toe, and then her gaze fell on the book on the floor. 

First there was instant fury, and then the room grew colder. 

She looked up and it was blazing eyes that met Lester's gaze. Lester felt himself rise into the air and before he could say a thing he sailed through the air and collided with the wall. He heard his spine crack and only felt the pain when he landed on the floor with a thud. 

"You weren't supposed to read that!" Julika screamed. 

Lester raised his head despite the throbbing in his back and saw Julika, one hand clutching her towel and the other stretched out and curling with unnatural fire, fire the exact colour of blood.

Crimson fire. 

He struggled to his feet, his head pounding, his wrists burning. Julika's hair was flying now, and her eyes were unnatural orbs of red light. There was so much rage, reckless and destructive, but Lester could almost see that it was only that way because he could not control it, she had no way to. All she needed was a way.

"I'm not going to hurt you" Lester said. 

He took a step forward, hand stretched out, but it was too soon. A wave of force pushed him back so hard that he found himself straining against the pressure, his sneakers screeching against the tiles as he moved further backward. 

Fuck that, she was beyond his reach, but what could he do?, he was new to all this, only an infant of the Other World. 

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.

'What the hell was that?'

He couldn't answer though. 

His wrists burned hotter.

He looked down at them and saw that there were bright symbols encircling his wrist like a band. Somehow he could understand what they said, could feel the meaning racing deep in his bones. Sacred and holy, pulsing with something he couldn't fully understand yet. 

Their appearance was like burning coals of fire, it read, and like the appearance of lamps: it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright, and out of the fire went forth lightning.

He looked up at Julika, fire and lightning darting before his eyes. 

And then it came. 

It was just as it had been before, the plasmic energy he'd seen that night, the heat he'd felt baking the walls in that narrow alley, the gold and white light, all of it filled the room, brightening everything, burning everything, consuming everything. 

He felt it not only on his skin but also in his veins, like he had somehow become the fire and was now spread out everywhere. He had suddenly become white hot flame, he'd evolved to bright golden light. 

But even in his midst, there was a point of red, rapidly growing in size, until there was a bright flash of fiery orange, and then a loud boom that sent the room up in a flash of fireworks.

Lester fell to his knees, his eyes burning from the sudden explosion of colour, for a minute the world was all white and gold and red and orange, and then slowly it began to settle as he gradually opened his eyes.

There was nothing too see though, there was nothing left, nothing but ash blackened walls and little bits of cinder that littered the floor, nothing but Julika lying still among the ashes in her towel, the red book held protectively in her arms. 

"Fuck" Lester swore, scrambling to his feet. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" 

He raced to Julika's side and quickly knelt by her, raising her head and letting her rest on his bent knees. Her eyes were closed and her silver hair was threads of light against the floor now scorched beyond recognition. She didn't look burnt though, she didn't have any black marks on her fair skin to indicate contact with ash, she didn't even smell like fire, she smelt like shampoo and soap, like lavender and aloe vera. 

She looked okay, but her eyes were closed and Lester couldn't help but panic. This was bad, how was he going to explain this to Sal?

Then he saw her stir, her eyes slowly opening and looking up at him, innocent and no longer burning with fury. 

"Oh thank God you're okay" Lester explained.

She had this slight look of confusion on her face, like she'd been expecting this but not in this exact way. 

"You're okay, right?" Lester asked. 

She looked him in the eye and nodded, and Lester sighed as he felt the knot of worry in his stomach loosen. 

"That's good, very good, look I'm sorry about that, I don't now what happened, I just…"

"You shot fire from your eyes" said Julika. 

Lester chuckled.

"I did?, damn, um, I wasn't expecting that" 

"You're Nephilim" she said as she launched off his knees and stood to her feet. "I've known people like you before"

"I also go by Lester" he said wondering where she had gotten the strength. He stood up and looked at the room that was now nothing but ruins. "Why don't we get you some clothes and figure out how to explain this to Sal and the others huh?"

"You destroyed my clothes" she said as she looked around in complete bewilderment. "And all my books" 

"It was a collective effort, okay, I think we can both take credit for it" 

She shook her head and held her towel closer to her body. He noticed she was avoiding eye contact with him, which was totally expected, she was basically naked, and he was a boy, and he had just blown up her room.

'So much for a first impression' 

"Look um, it's a big house, I'm sure there's some spare clothes somewhere around here, I'll find some, and then when you're done getting dressed you can come downstairs and have something to eat, maybe then we can start over, what do you say?" 

She didn't say anything, just held the book tightly in her grasp and started storming to the bathroom door which somehow remained intact. 

"Sal told me you like burgers and smoothies" 

She stopped.

"I brought some cheeseburgers and I make a mean strawberry smoothie, would you be up for that?" 

Silence. 

Then.

"Only ketchup, no mustard" 

***

To Sal's surprise the ice didn't crack as they traversed it's glassy surface. It stayed faithful under the weight of the Fey's thundering feet and that of he and his friends. The surface was like literal glass though, reflecive and transparent. He couldn't see any creatures beneath, just water and the plant life brave enough to skim the ice. 

"It is warmer deeper underwater" Melchior said. "The mers and sirens rarely come to the surface anymore, the weather up here is too cold" 

"And how do you survive?" Sal asked. 

"I am both remember, higher tolerance for temperatures like this, though I am not nearly foolish enough to travel a desert" 

He chuckled, and the scales on his neck sparkled as he shook, like the colours in a kaleidescope.

"How did you manage it?" Melchior asked, looking back at Casmir who was holding on to Katarina for dear life as they walked side by side. He'd been strugglng with the ice, even when Katarna had repeated multiple times that it was frozen solid. "I believed you when you said you would try and bring him back but I had little faith that you would succeed" 

"Performing necromancy wasn't easy, I had to take the spells from Percival right before he died, it was absolutely awful digging into his head, feeling all his pain and suffering, it's hard to imagine him as just evil now, especially after seeing everything I saw" Sal shuddered at the memory of Percival's screams, both mental and vocal. "After that I had to be patient, Katarina had gone off with the hunt and I needed her blood, Antony was just adjusting to the Mortal World and I couldn't ask him for Casmir's ashes right away, plus there were a lot of mortal stuff I had to take care of" 

"And what about Julika?" Melchior asked. 

"Awake now, fully conscious and learning about the worlds" Sal chuckled. "Funny how my life was so boring before and now there's just so much happening" 

"So is the nature of change" Melchior said. "Nevertheless, I am happy for this change at least, thank you" 

He looked back at Casmir with a smile. Casmir looked up and their eyes met, and Sal finally saw what he hadn't before. He chuckled and patted Melchior's shoulders. 

"No problem, Mel" Sal said. "There's actually a lot I want to say to you guys" 

"We too have news, but rest assured all that needs to be said will be said" 

"Commander" called Fyonna from behind them "We have arrived" 

Sal looked up from Melchior at the Capital, he hadn't heard the usual bustling of Fey activity like had before, and he soon discovered why. 

The streets were empty.

"What in Hera's name happened here?" Casmir asked. "It's so quiet, it's not supposed to be quiet it's the Fey Land Capital" 

"We are in mourning" Melchior said as he surveyed the barren city. "Much has happened since you last visited, come, the Queen awaits" 

Sal walked forward, and the others followed him, but he could tell from every step they took they were getting closer to something, something he couldn't quite describe or put to words, something he could feel was big. 

It made him afraid.