“We don’t have much time. They’ll be back around to check on him soon.” The little boy said, coming back into view. He placed a small, cold hand onto Sky’s head and closed his eyes briefly. “He’s conscious and his mind is somewhat clear right now.”
“No, this isn’t something we can rush through, it’ll take time.”
“Fine.” Soul sounded irritated, “Turn it back up, I’ll bring you back tonight.”
Sky felt a cold rush into his arm and a wave of fog passed through his brain. Seriously! He was just getting his mind put back together. In one last attempt to move, he wrenched his head to the side before the blackness could reclaim him.
And there they were.
Con sat casually at the end of his bed with Soul and the boy standing behind him. Could that little thing be the Seth they were always mentioning?
Con smiled warmly with a tilt of his head, “See ya tonight, eh.”
Obscurity overran his mind once again and he was dragged back down into a dreamless sleep. A voice here, a poke there, but nothing that called him back into the conscious world. It may have been hours or it may have been days, but finally he felt the pull of the living world.
It was only glimpses at first – carefully drawn symbols mixed with unfamiliar words, a calm voice slowly explaining which each black line meant. The symbols appeared again and again and again. Soon he felt his mouth moving, as if it was trying to mimic the sounds he was hearing. Every time he was threatened by the inside of his eyelids a gentle nudge would pull him back into his blurry, semi-conscious state of mind.
A flash of blond caught his eye. He was pretty sure it was Con that was sitting there beside his bed training his subconscious mind.
The calm voice led his attention back to the bright white of the papers the dark marks were drawn on. “Tutus.” He would say, or “Contego.” Or, “Abeo.” It went on and on. Repeating over and over, and then a new one would come and break the pattern.
Finally, after what seemed like days; but could have been weeks, but was most likely was just hours, of seeing the symbols, and hearing the words, it stopped.
There was a subtle ringing in his ears and a soft pounding in his head that slowly drew his muddled mind out of its fog and into the dimly lit room on board the Regan Fortuna.
“…and never even saw it coming.” Con was saying. He had situated himself on the floor with his back against the bed. “You’re lucky though, eh. You’ve got the same stubborn streak in you that Soul’s got.”
“What’s going on?” He could hardly believe he was able to form words. They came out slurred and mumbled, but they were words.
Con lifted his chin with a smile, “Morning’ sunshine.”
“What did you do to me?” He asked, wriggling around a bit. His intention was to sit up, but it seemed his body thought otherwise.
“I wouldn’t try to move. I turned your dosage down, but it’s still a pretty good amount that you’re getting.” Con hoisted himself up to a standing position and ambled over to the IV stand. “I can lower it a bit more if you want.”
Sky could only watch as Con fiddled with the knobs and dials that controlled the steady stream of narcotics that raged through his body. “Why-” A flare of panic went through him. Soul had said, if Con ever approached him and Soul wasn’t there…but no, Soul was the one who had brought him there, right?
“Don’t talk kiddo, just listen.” Con held up a hand, “I don’t have a lot of time before you guys land.” Con plopped down onto the bed with a shake of his shaggy head. “You should be good to go now with the Fury. When Zar comes a callin’ your mind should be able to defend against him automatically. But,” He stood up and placed his hands on his narrow hips, “if he ever does come through like that again, just lock yourself away, he can only hang on strongly for a little bit, and if no one else is around he’ll just get bored and leave anyway. Got it?”
“How come you know so much about it?” He didn’t know if he should thank him or not being that him and Soul were technically the cause of his predicament.
“What, you don’t trust me?” Con shrugged, and never answered his question. “Even Soul admits now that Zar might not have been the right choice for this, but, you’ll get used to each other I’m sure. And later on, when you’re stronger, you can just kill him if you want.” He talked so casually about it, like it was the weather, “But, really, he just thinks your weak right now and that’s why he’s picking on you.” Con leaned over him and stared him straight in the face, “You just got to show him who’s the boss – you are a Creature of Snow, a Prince of Chaos, so prove it to him.”
“Why can’t we just seal the mark? Problem solved.” It was probably giving away too much. The only thing he remembered before they locked him away was his dad and Zeph arguing over having Rinten seal the mark. Honestly, it sounded like the more obvious answer to their situation rather then memorizing symbols.
The look on Con face sent a chill down Sky’s spine. It was a subtle blend of horror and worry. “That’s not what they’re planning to do to you is it?”
“Why?” The desperation that leaked into his simple word told the whole story.
“Don’t let them seal it.” Con stood up, his demeanor turning serious, “They don’t understand what their dealing with.”
“We’re going to see the Iko Rinten. He’s an expert at seals and stuff, I’m sure if there’s a danger-”
Con started blankly for a beat, his black eyes steady on the floor. When his face became animated once again he looked distracted and distant, “Soul’s coming for me, sorry, but I’ve got to cut this short.” He backed away from the bed, his head snapping towards the door, “Sounds like you’re about to have company anyway.”
“Wait-”
“Don’t let them seal the mark.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black band. “Here,” Con tossed it onto the bed beside Sky, “Put that around your wrist. If you need help, just think about us and we’ll find you.”
There was a quick clanking at the door as the latches were undone that deflected his eyes for a moment, and by the time he looked back, Con was gone.
His dad strode in with a stiff and proper Roland in tow. With a grit of his teeth he was able to command his right hand through the band Con had tossed. Luckily it was an elastic material and slid right on.
“Something’s not right.” Roland perked up like a strix catching wind of its prey. “The energy in here is all wrong.”
Both sets of eyes turned to Sky who had forgotten he was supposed to be sedated.
“You’re awake?” His dad’s voice rang with anxiety.
Roland quickly crossed the room and began fiddling with his IV stand. “Who did this? Who was here?”
Roland’s condescending tone was beginning to start a fire in his belly.
“The air in here reeks of deceit. Soul was here again, wasn’t he?” Roland twisted the dials on the machine and the cold rush of fluid rushed into his veins.
“Are you kidding me?” His dad shouted. “Are we seriously not safe anywhere?!” He was at Sky’s side in an instant with a hand on his forehead, “Are you okay? What happened? Turn that stuff off, he can’t even focus.” The fuzzy outline of his dad looked like he was pulling at the needle in his arm.
“Stop that.” Roland demanded, “I turned it back down, stop contaminating it.”
“Sky, can you hear me?” There was a gentle slapping on his face as his dad pulled him back up into an alert state of mind. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Nothing’s wrong.” He slurred out his words, swimming back up to the surface through the haze.
Roland paced around the room, searching with his beady little eyes every surface in every corner. “No, this isn’t Soul’s pattern.” He shook his slowly, pushing up his glasses with a thin finger, “I see a trace over there, but this weight in the air…this was Con.” Roland’s face turned to an even paler shade of white as his eyes searched frantically around the ro
om, “Con was here.” His gaze landed upon Sky, “He’s not still here, is he?” His voice reflected the fear.
“No one’s here, calm down.” His dad furrowed his brow with a disapproving glance in Roland’s direction. When his focus shifted back towards Sky, his face was a mess with worry, “Was someone here?”
“Hard to tell what’s real and what’s not.” He was only half lying.
“That boy is a monster.” Roland stormed his way over to the bed, “His ability probably can’t affect you fully, but his power over persuasion can’t be taken lightly.”
His dad thankfully held out an arm and stopped Roland from coming any closer, “I said calm down, boy wonder.”
“You don’t understand, Captain. We don’t know who Con obeys anymore…he could have killed us.”
Sky choked out a laugh, it was just the way Roland had said it so dramatically.
Roland leaned over the Captain as much as he was allowed, “He’s an abomination. He wiped out an entire army base once, by himself.”
His dad gently shoved Roland back, “I’m all for fairy tales kid, but this really isn’t the time.”
Roland straightened to his full height. “He is one of you, you know.” He looked almost disgusted as he spat out his words, “He’s an Iko.”
“What?” Sky found himself speaking in unison with his dad.
“I said that mainly for the shock value, because, in all honest, he isn’t like you at all,” He gestured with a long hand at his dad, “he is literally an abomination just as I said – an Iko born in the land of the Living. His powers were perverted by this realm so he can not only control the Craze, but can amplify it.” Roland seemed to be enjoying their captivated attention, “With just his will alone he can control a persons mind and actions. Like I said before, he’s wiped out entire battalions before – he generally likes to have his victims kill themselves, or each other. Never get’s his hands dirty, you see.”
Sky’s dad turned towards him, concern etching its way into every aspect of his expression, “What did he want with you?”
An abomination. Those words alone sent a riot of anger into the cells of his body. He realized it wasn’t his resentment that was burning its way to the surface. He closed his eyes, feeling his blood pressure rising, and then, a flash into his mind.
Tutus.
His mind and body calmed, and just like that he was fine. “He taught me.” Sky breathed, unclenching his jaw, feeling his body relax back down, “He taught me how to control the Fury.”
Maybe he had said it wrong, maybe those weren’t the right words to use judging by the looks of disbelief and horror on both his dad’s and Roland’s faces.
“I don’t want Rinten to seal it.” He spoke slowly and directly to his dad. “I can control it - you don’t have to be afraid anymore.” They had to believe him.
There was a fleeting moment where he thought they understood – where their looks of worry melted into kindness. Then, obeying the faint gesture from his dad, Roland moved from his position.
“Don’t!” He cried and tried in vain to sit up, to reach out, to stop Roland from crossing the small distance to the IV stand.
The rush struck him harder and faster then ever before and the dreaded waves of oblivion washed over him.
And then there was just darkness.
Slowly, so slowly, his mind came back. A mind finally aware of feeling and senses – so much so that he could hardly bear it. The lights were too bright, the slab of metal they called a bed was too hard. The smell of stale, sterile air was enough to choke the breath from his lungs.
He blinked hard and stretched out his jaw. He wanted to talk, but his throat was so dry it didn’t seem possible.
“Just relax, kiddo. Rinten’s on his way.”
“We’re here?” He managed - his voice too loud to his sensitive ears.
“Yup. We landed a bit ago.” His dad came in and out of focus, he was standing too close.
“Please, don’t do this.” He pleaded, although, he couldn’t remember why exactly.
“It’ll all be over soon. Right as rain.”
The hand that smoothed over his hair was infuriating rather than comforting. The words of encouragement that fell out of his father’s mouth fell on deaf ears as Sky pulled up on the restraints, testing their strength.
“Are these too tight?” His dad must have noticed his struggle. “I can take them off.”
“Stop.” Sara’s voice cut through the air. “It’s better if you leave those on for now.”
Why was she there?
Rinten swooped in out of nowhere, flashing a light into his eyes, poking at his neck, pulling at his ears. He hadn’t seen Rintin in almost three years, and he didn’t even say hello.
His big, blue eyes, still covered in spectacles they didn’t need, studied him in a scholarly fashion. “Let’s begin, Captain, if you would stand outside please, we will call you in if you are needed.” Rinten’s sharp voice was always to the point.
He forced his eyes to focus on the room. Sara stood next to Rinten with a small, brown book cradled in her arms.
“Skyden, I’ve asked Sara here to help me since her people have a history in dealing with the Furies.” Rinten spoke as if addressing a class of mindful students. “It’s Sara, correct? Please prepare him, and I will set things up.”
With a strong stride Sara walked towards him. He tensed, and tried to lean back further into the metal.
What could have been mistaken for kindness and concern graced her features as she gently sat down beside him. “Hey,” She softly touched his shoulder reassuringly. “We made it. We’re on Haigon.” A genuine smile crossed her lips, “It’s beautiful here. I’ve never seen so much green in all my life.” She spoke lightly, her eyes steady on his.
“Don’t do this, Sara, please...” He didn’t want to scare her away, he wanted her to stay there beside him, but mostly, he wanted her to listen to him.
Rinten hovered on the opposite side of the room quickly looking through books and rifling through papers. “Are we almost ready over there?” He asked without stopping his reading.
She pushed the hair out of his eyes, “Don’t be scared.”
His eyes closed and he tried to block out the steady hum of electricity that was overpowering his senses. It was no use to fight it. They would never listen to his plea.
“Trust in your friends. This will all be over soon.”
“Right.” He closed his eyes once again, feeling nauseous.
“You’ll be fine.” Sara leaned over him, giving him a strange look that he wanted to interpret as reassuring, but he was kidding himself. That look in her eyes was pure fear. It’s how everyone looked at him now.
Con was wrong. He had to be. This was what he needed to do if he wanted to regain any sort of normality again.
“Let’s get started.” Rinten finally said crossing the room with an armful of books that he dropped heavily beside Sky.
He stood over Sky with a confident look that faded with a shake of his head. “I have no idea where to start.”
“Are you serious?!” Sara pushed him aside, her true brass finally breaking through. She grabbed the thick leather straps that tied him down, reinforced by burnt in seals. “First, we make sure these are secure.” She looked only at Rinten in order to avoid the sudden panic that was overcoming Sky. “Then, we draw the Fury out.”
“Good,” Rinten agreed and helped Sara with the restraints, “Once its power is drawn out I’ll be able to see where the mark originates.”
Sky’s heart was beating so hard against his chest he thought it might break through his bindings
“What is the fastest way to bring it to the surface?” Rinten began flipping through one of his books.
Sara walked over to a tray of medical instruments that was towards the back of the room. Sky lifted his head and craned his neck, trying see what she was grabbing.
“A Fury will protect their marked bodies, no matter what.” She made her w
ay back to Sky with a fierce look in her eye. “Rinten, sir, are you ready?”
Rinten bobbed his head with a stance of determination. She didn’t ask Sky if he was ready, because she could probably tell that the answer was a resounding no. A glint of metal flashed before his eyes, then came the small sting as the scalpel she held sliced a long gash down his arm.
“Ow.” Sky cried out, a bit of anger flashing through him, Abeo his mind involuntarily responded.
Sara and Rinten stared at him for far too long.
“How long does this take?” Rinten asked after a few more minutes of waiting.
The cut on Sky’s arm was nearly healed. “This isn’t going to work. I memorized a whole bunch of seals to hold him back automatically. You can’t draw him out.” Since pleading obviously didn’t work, reasoning was worth a shot. “Let me go.” He demanded.
Sara blinked a few times, focused on the ground. “We can’t.” Her voice was shaking as her hand began tightening around the scalpel in her hand. “The Fury is weak right now because of the full possession and the sedatives. If it’s true that your mind can block us from him on these smaller attacks, then...”
Suddenly, the wind was knocked out of him as she drove the small blade into his chest. She didn’t stop her forward momentum until he heard a crack from somewhere inside of him.
Her bloody hand pulled back slowly. “Come on out, you bastard.” She hissed.
“Sara!” Rinten grabbed her arm and pulled her back. “Sky!” Rinten’s wide, dark face filled his vision.
Sara was able to pull him back out of the way before Sky could spit in his face.
“You’re new. I don’t think we’ve met.” Sky was thankful that the transition had been painless, save for the scalpel to the heart.
“Astonishing.” Rinten breathed out the word
Sara was right that Zar had been weakened, he could feel the Fury straining to stay in the forefront, and he had left Sky with some physical control.
“I missed you Sara,” He heard himself saying to her. “I was thinking about you this whole time.” He knew the satisfaction in her mortification wasn’t his own.
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