by Darkbringer
“Vetoed,” Crystal said, as she flicked me across the nose.
“Vetoed?”
“Yep. I veto that idea. It’s not going to happen.”
“Hey now! Who said you get to veto my ideas?” I asked.
“I did,” she answered calmly. “Is that a problem, My Lord?” She was staring at me as if daring me to say that it was.
“Umm… Aren’t you my servant?” I whispered quietly, so no one else could hear.
“Absolutely,” Crystal confirmed, “and I’m serving by vetoing the idea. Now that we’ve settled that issue, tell me how you’re going to remove the taint and heal yourself.”
“I don’t know if I want to now,” I muttered, pouting.
“Doesn’t matter.” Crystal shrugged and grinned evilly at me. “You’ll do it whether you want to or not.”
“And why’s that?” I had to ask since she sounded so certain of herself.
“Because I asked you to, and I’ll be worried and sad if you don’t. You don’t want me to be sad, do you?” She fluttered her eyelashes and rocked her chest left and right slightly, making her breasts sway slowly and hypnotically from side to side.
“That’s just mean. And manipulative.” Even knowing what she was doing, I couldn’t help but stare, enthralled by her shameless behavior and her pure beauty.
“It is,” Crystal agreed readily. “It’s also effective.”
“Fine!” I couldn’t help but laugh – she truly was one unusual woman! And, it’s not like I’d honestly given the idea more than a passing thought. Perhaps if it was Dino who was tainted, I’d allow the corruption to alter him so we could divine its purpose. Myself, though? I was afraid if I truly lost control, there wouldn’t be anyone here who could currently stop me. The temptation was there to see what the taint would do, what it wanted, but so was the danger that if it grew too strong, I’d lose trying to exorcise it.
Glancing around, the others were all busy doing their own things, and no one was paying us any real attention. Mongo and Skeet were polishing weapons and cleaning their armor so they’d be prepared for whenever Jess finally gave the ‘all clear’ on leaving. As for Jess, she was in the other room again with Dino, tending to the two sick girls.
If it wasn’t for Crystal being with me, I would’ve been sitting in the corner all alone. I give Dino heck over all the girls and such that hang all over him and toss themselves at him, but in the long run, maybe he was the one who’d found a better way to live. Heck, I hadn’t even managed to find Crystal on my own; it was Le’Nara who purchased her and sent her to watch over me. Was I really that hopeless, forlorn, and anti-social?
For several moments, we sat in silence while I brooded to myself. It wasn’t until I realized that I was starting to feel envious of Dino that I burst out laughing. Pulling my robe wide open, exposing my bare self underneath, I grabbed ahold of Crystal and tugged her into my lap. Pulling her in tight, I kissed her passionately --- and repeatedly! Moving my hands down, I tugged her up and lifted her skirt from where she half sat on it, before gently sitting her bare hips back down on top of mine.
“My Lord!” She looked shocked but didn’t try and pull away. “Are you wanting me here?”
“I’m wanting to feel you here,” I told her seriously. “Is there a problem with that? When I started trying to think about ways to remove the corruption’s grip, it started trying to make me feel alone, isolated, and worthless.”
“No problem, My Lord.” Crystal smiled lightly, then leaned forward and kissed me passionately. “No problem if you wish to feel, or if you wish even more. I was simply shocked at the sudden change.”
“Sorry,” I blushed slightly. “I suppose it was simply my way of showing the corruption that I wasn’t alone. I didn’t mean to do anything to embarrass you.” Mongo and Skeet were now staring in our direction and whispering to each other, assumedly about us.
Snorting slightly, Crystal flicked her hair behind back over her shoulder with one free hand, and then slowly stood up. Without taking her gaze off mine, she unfastened her skirt, stepped out of it, and then tossed it over her shoulder towards Mongo and Skeet. It didn’t make it all the way to them, but she didn’t seem to notice at all. Slowly and calmly, while still staring deep into my eyes, she straddled my lap and then lowered herself down onto it.
“I said I was surprised by My Lord’s actions,” Crystal reiterated. “I never said I objected to them, was embarrassed by them, or disliked them. My Lord should feel free to feel me anytime he so desires. If others find it objectionable, then they can simply get over it.” Leaning forward, she kissed me passionately several more times, before finally nuzzling forward to rest her body up against mine and hug me tightly.
“You truly are a lovely woman,” I told her honestly, as I pulled her head over slightly and nibbled on her ear gently a few times.
“I try to be,” Crystal replied quietly, as she relaxed and let herself rest gently against me.
I didn’t feel there was anything else that needed saying, so I gently pulled my robe closed around us both and held and rocked her gently while thinking over the problem before us. Of all the things to corrupt, Life and Death were two of my weakest talents. When I’d created Heartblade, it was only by replicating what I’d already felt from the stone around us.
It was sheer power, willpower, and tenacity to replicate the results so her sword matched the metal surrounding the graveyard that had allowed me to tear a chunk from my soul. I really had almost no understanding of what I’d did, and I certainly didn’t have any understanding of how to undo it.
Honestly, I didn’t think it’d even be possible to undo what I’d did. Even if one rips a chunk out of their arm, they simply can’t glue it back in place a week later and expect it to go back to normal. The piece of spirit I’d used had become part of Heartblade, and it wasn’t my own anymore. There was no “undoing” it, and I had no clue on how to “heal” it.
Several hours came and passed, with Crystal simply relaxing and nuzzled tightly against me, while I mulled over various possible solutions. Jess came back in from tending the girls and thumped Dino to keep him from saying anything, or bothering us. Skeet and Mongo sat together with the two of them and they all whispered while staring in the corner we were in, looking concerned. I’m not certain exactly how we looked, or what they were thinking, but they seemed worried about Crystal and me.
“Eureka!” I yelled and Crystal half fell backward out of my lap. Somehow, worrying about what the others were thinking had made my mind make one of those unfathomable leaps to an answer. “I’ve got it!” Looking down at Crystal, as she lay sprawled and enticingly in front of me, I laughed exuberantly and smiled while holding out a hand towards her.
“Marry me?” I asked, waiting for her to reach out and take my hand.
I do. You do. We all do?
“…..” Crystal just stared blankly as she slowly took my hand and I pulled her back up into my lap.
“I guess that’s one way to take my hand in marriage,” I joked lightly. Everyone was quiet and staring at me like I’d went crazy or something. To be honest, it was making me smile once again, for some odd reason. Such simple words; such pure bewilderment.
“I.. I don’t think I can marry you, My Lord.” Crystal stammered.
“Ha! Rejected!” Dino hopped up and pumped his arm in the air as if he was celebrating some odd sort of victory. Much to my amusement, it was Jess who lightly popped him upside the head this time. Good for her! It looks like she’s been watching and learning some interesting things from Mongo.
“Maybe not in proper terms,” I replied, leaning forward to brush the loose strands of hair out of her face, “but in a deeper, more powerful way, it’s something we can do. And it’s something I think I might be needing. If you’re willing to listen, I’ll explain the whole thing to you. To all of you, since you’re already listening. Gather in close,” I demanded.
Crystal didn’t say anything; she simply nodded as the others g
ot up and came over to sit closer to us. Jess flopped herself back down in Dino’s lap, and Mongo and Skeet sat off to the other side of Crystal and me. “All of you realize there’s one hell of powerful and dark corruption down in these tunnels, and all around us. Right?” I asked.
“Ya.” Skeet agreed, and the rest simply nodded.
“What’s that got to do with marriage?” Crystal asked, quietly.
“I’m getting there. I’m getting there.” I couldn’t help but laugh slightly. It’s kind of exhilarating being the center of everyone’s attention. “The thing is, I think I’ve figured out how this corruption works. What it feeds on. Taints.”
“What’s that?” Jess asked, curious for her patient’s sake.
“Souls,” I replied, flatly. “The corruption here isn’t something that sickens the flesh. Jess will probably never be able to cure those girls. It’s a sickness of the spirit. Their soul is getting corrupted, and the longer we stay here, the worse they’ll become until it’s too late.” Turning to stare Jess directly in the eyes, I warned her, “We’re going to have to put them down if you keep us in quarantine and down here surrounded by this darkness all the time. Crystal’s sword helps resist the corruption, but it’s not enough on its own.”
“Then what do you suggest?” Jess said, starting to chew on the ends of her hair. “I don’t think they’re strong enough to survive if we try and move them. Are you suggesting we just kill or abandon them? I can’t do that.”
“I’d never expect a healer to abandon her patients,” I told her honestly. The fact that she refused to, even knowing that her own soul might be in danger, raised my opinion of her quite a bit. Jess had originally been a little troublesome to deal with, but I was really beginning to value her more and more as a teammate all the time. She wasn’t for me, but she suited Dino nicely.
“What I think we can do is a marriage of sorts.” I couldn’t help but smile once again as I said it and everyone just blinked at me like I was stupid.
“Fine! Fine!” I shrugged my shoulders slightly. “If you guys don’t want to call it a ‘marriage’, we can call it a sort of spiritual transfusion. Sometimes healers will take blood from one patient to give to another to help them get better. Right?”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing,” Jess informed me. “Mixing blood makes people sick and can lead to death. I can’t imagine any real healer would ever do such a reckless thing. If it’s done, it’s probably done in some of those backward, uneducated tribes of barbarians and wild men.” Her nose was wrinkled, and it was obvious that she didn’t like the analogy.
I guess that just goes to show how little I’ve ever really been interested in healing in this world. I should’ve known blood transfusions wasn’t something they’d do normally. With no way to check blood types, no way to store the blood, and with a wiggle of magic to make it unnecessary, it’s no wonder it wasn’t something they knew about.
Sighing, all I could do is hang my head at my blunder and try to explain differently. “It’s something I read about once,” I lied. “Some of the ancient races could detect which blood was compatible with each other, and then they’d take the blood of someone who had recovered from a sickness and share it with someone compatible who had the sickness. From what I’ve read, it’s how they fought off some serious plagues in the past, elsewhere.” I hated to blatantly lie to them, but I had to try and say something that sounded plausible to cover my blunder.
“I’d like to see those books some time,” Jess said, still looking skeptical.
“When we get out of here, I’ll see if I can find you a copy of them later,” I lied. “But for now, what I propose is something similar. The corruption has spread to my soul, much like I suspect it has the two girls, and if Crystal is willing, I’d like to remove a piece of her soul, and swap it for a piece of mine. She’s been strong enough that the taint hasn’t been able to affect her yet, and that added strength of her spirit should help cleanse and purify mine.
“At least that’s what I hope,” I clarified. “There’s always the off chance that by directing the taint into her spirit, it’ll take root and we both end up sick, instead of getting better.”
“I… I don’t think I like this method of trying to heal,” Jess said, chewing the ends of her hair until it began to frazzle and split.
“I’ll do it,” Crystal said, unhesitantly. “If there’s even a chance that I can help you, I’ll take the risk. There’s no need to say anymore.” She stared intently into my eyes, unblinkingly resolute in her conviction.
“Well, tough.” Laughing, I leaned forward and kissed her slightly on the nose. “I’d feel bad if I didn’t share everything before you agreed to such a thing. There're several things that I need to point out before you, or anyone else for that matter, says anything else.
“First, I want to say that I’m not one hundred percent certain about any of this. I’m simply making an educated guess and going on the best of my limited knowledge. Keep that in mind.
“Second, from my experience with creating the sword you’re carrying, I’d have to warn you that I expect the experience to hurt like hell. Cutting of the soul is not something that a person experiences. We build up no tolerance to it. I imagine it’ll be the most painful thing that can happen to a person. You have to know what you’re signing up for when you sign up for it.
“Third, also from what I’ve learned with Heartblade, I imagine that it’ll end up creating a permanent, unbreakable connection between the two people. My life and soul were used to help create that blade,” I nodded my head to the one which Crystal always kept close to her side, “and all one has to do is wrap their hands around the hilt to feel it.
“You can feel my heartbeat, my anger, or my passion, all by simply holding the hilt. There’ll always be a connection between me and that blade. Just by holding it, you can tell when I’m far or near, and which direction I’m in.
“I imagine; though as I said before, I can’t be certain; that it’ll create some sort of permanent bond between whoever were to share spirits. You may not call it ‘marriage’, but in many ways, it’d be something even deeper. Most marriage is ‘till death do us part’. I don’t know how strongly such a transfusion would connect two spirits. It could be that they might share a bond even after death; for all eternity.”
I waited several moments for my words to sink in, and for everyone to have a chance to digest them. Silence descended all around, with only the constant scraping of the dead at the doors to be heard. Finally, I kissed Crystal slightly on the nose and asked, “So? What do you say? Still willing to marry me? To share your soul with me?”
“I am,” Crystal replied, smiling brightly. “But are you certain you want to? As a wizard with your power, you’ll probably live hundreds or thousands of years. I won't be around anywhere near that long. Have you thought about what it might do to your lifespan?” She asked, worriedly.
“I’ll just have to cross that bridge when the time comes,” I answered. “I figure it’s better to live a short time if that’s going to be my fate, and then die myself, rather than live forever, and have my very soul corrupted by evil. Besides,” I laughed, smiling slightly, “my soul might be strong enough to grow in you and help you grow magic, or live longer. We just don’t know what the long term results will end up being at the moment.”
“I’m still willing,” Crystal said, returning my smile.
“I am too,” Mongo said, slowly. “No to you,” he clarified, “but for Tiffany. I promised her that I’d watch over her and protect her as leader, if she joined my group. I’m willing to take the chance if there’s even the slightest possibility that she’d get better. For Megan too, if I can.”
“I don’t think that’d be possible at all, Mongo.” Slowly, I shook my head from side to side. “Too much taint from two sick ones, for one healthy one to try and resist it. I think the risk is too great. You’d simply be taking too large a chance of catching the sickness, without sharing the cure. I wouldn�
��t be willing to even try it.”
“’ell wif it then! I’ll do it.” Skeet spat on the ground and began to clean his fingers with the tip of his dagger. “Tis ta best chance a bum like me ‘ill evah have, to get in good wif a woman like dat. Give ‘er me soul, and I kin ‘joy ta gratitude af’er.”
“That seems kind of devious, Skeet!” I couldn’t help but laugh lightly. I really was learning to understand his rough way of talking much better over time. “Give her your soul, and enjoy the gratitude forever after. Are you certain you won’t regret something like that later?”
“Nah.” He shrugged his shoulders slightly. “What ta ‘ell do I need ah soul fer? I can’t eat it. It don’t earn mah coin. T’aint no use ta me. If’n it can gets me a wizard woman’s gratitude, then it’ll be doing more fer me than ‘tis now.”
“Then I guess that just leaves Dino and Jess, if they want to do it,” I said, smirking at Dino.
“Hell no!” Dino half hopped up, causing Jess to stumble and fall out of his lap. “She’s not tainted. I’m not tainted. There’s no reason why we need to try something so crazy!”
Jess glared up at him, rubbing her hip slightly where she’d been dumped on it, and didn’t say a word. If looks could kill, though, I’d imagine that Dino would probably lose a few years from his lifespan from the expression she was currently giving him.
“Then I guess it’s settled,” I said, trying not to laugh. “Three ‘Spirit Transfusion Marriages’ coming up soon.”
“May the Gods have mercy on you all,” Dino muttered gloomily. I couldn’t help it; laughter burst out from me in a gush. If the Gods needed to have mercy on anyone, I couldn’t help but think that it might be him who needed it the most, with the way Jess was acting.
The First Sacrifice
Since I had two guinea pigs in Mongo and Skeet, I decided not to wait for anyone to change their minds before I could try my “spirit transfusion”. Honestly, I thought it was probably something which I needed to help me with the idiot taint that I’d been affected with from where I’d wounded my spirit creating Heartblade, but I was hesitant to just rush in blindly and risk myself or Crystal any more than was necessary. I was shocked when Mongo and then Skeet volunteered for the process, but I wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth. If they were willing to volunteer for the procedure, I was more than willing to try it out on them first.
