The Dark Materials

by Amanda Churi

  “Then I have no choice!” he bellowed angrily, and within a second, Typo began his onslaught, showing no mercy against the traitor.

  ***

  There was nothing in the room that Mabel and I had been subject to waiting in. It simply looked and felt like an empty prison cell: no bars, no beds, no anything but ourselves. The iron door remained bolted shut to deny us the opportunity to leave; there was not even a hand reader on the inside. I guess that meant that if you were stupid enough to get locked in, it was your own fault, and boredom would be your death.

  Immediately after our little stunt in the training room, Virgil and Seek rushed Mabel and I into this cell. They were frantic, terrified about the breach in their network, and they made sure to hide us before things got worse.

  Mabel sighed, scratching behind her ear as we continued to wait for something. She still would not directly speak to me unless she had to. Last night aside, ever since we learned of our heavy debt to the people of the future, it was a rare occasion for either of us to simply converse or goof off. Slowly, I knew we were becoming lost to not only each other but ourselves. Our war, our fate, our veiled identities, they were destroying us bit by bit…

  “Can you please talk to me?” I pleaded.

  Mabel’s head remained fixed.

  I stared at her for a minute longer before groaning aloud and slamming my hands to my head, running my nails through my golden hair. I leaned back against the wall, wanting to kill myself. It didn’t matter how strong our friendship was; someone who always seemed to screw up even the easiest of tasks and someone who could easily be angered did not make such a great pairing in the end.

  “…So, does this mean that you have to cut a hole in every pair of pants that you own?” Mabel asked quietly, her eyes flat as she watched my tail twitch against the wall.

  Her conversation starter made me feel a bit better. “I guess,” I admitted through a small, relieved chuckle, leaning down and grabbing my tail with one hand, spinning it like a lasso. “But I’m a bit surprised that this happened… Is this the end of my transformation?”

  “I hope so,” she grumbled. “You look like enough of a freak as it is.”

  I frowned, letting my tail drop to the floor when her tone did not lighten. “Mabel…?”

  “Hm?”

  “…I’m sorry…” I paused, noticing that her expression did not shift. “Again…”

  She rolled her eyes. “Eero… Look, let’s just forget about it. I know you didn’t mean to. Just…” She cast a wary glance at my tail once more. “Let’s hope you start acting normal now… I want the old you back.”

  I smiled. Seek said that she would never forget the attack, but as long as she was able to push it aside and stuff it away into the deepest slots of her memory bank, that was fine with me. “Well, you’ve got me,” I answered, flashing her a witty smile.

  She scoffed, looking away.

  Silence betook us once more—silence that I did not need. Treading the lands of my mind was one of the most dangerous journeys that I could ever embark upon, and just like I expected, I quickly found my worries getting the best of me again.

  “Mabel?”

  “What?”

  “…Do you really think that the Lord of this world… Gannon Revere… That his last name is just a coincidence?”

  Her stern face finally caved in, her lips and eyes falling. She didn’t have the courage to answer me.

  I exhaled in despair, letting my mind drift away. Calla told me that I left Desmond alive. We were almost a thousand years into the future; generations upon generations of people had both come into this world and left. Through all of the grief and misery brought upon the people, from wars and battles to manipulation, slavery, and starvation, the odds of many family trees surviving were slim to none, and slim just left town. But maybe being in power, in a chain of wealth, made his chance of survival that much higher. No matter how much I did not want to admit it, I knew deep in my heart that Fate had played its trump card again and decided to make this fight all the more challenging for me than it was already going to be.

  “Hey, he doesn’t know you,” Mabel tried to assured me.

  “I highly doubt that,” I admitted weakly. “If the Encryption remembers who we are, what makes you think the Lord of this disguised Hell wouldn’t?”

  She breathed deeply, slowly, trying to ignore what I said. “It doesn’t matter,” she said gently. “We’re going to make it out of this alive; you know that. What wounds us temporarily eventually heals, and we cannot be hurt by it ever again. That makes us stronger.”

  “When did you become so wise?” I mused playfully.

  She couldn’t help but smile. “Trust me, I’m not. I’m just trying to think of the goblet as half full.”

  “Oh, so you’re calling me a pessimist?” I joked.

  Mabel shrugged. “Well, you can be. But you are also the person who has kept all of us together, no matter how rough it’s been or how you’ve had to do it… And that is really amazing.” She sighed, her head falling once more. “But you’re messing up now… Big time.”

  I winced, physically feeling the stab she took at my heart. “…Hey… Look, you’re right… I know that I have been lately… But I’ll get back on track. I promise. Because no matter what happens, we’re still together until the skies…”

  Her eyes pulsed with recognition, recalling our commitment that we made so long ago. Her silence became prolonged, unrest rising in my gut. “Right…?” I pressured.

  She opened her mouth to speak. Her sight veered to the floor, and to my utter, heart-shattering dismay, a tear fell from her eye. “I’m… I… I don’t know…” she whispered. “You’ve changed, and… I need time.”

  Gravity was something that was believed to exist throughout the entire universe, however far and wide that may have been. It kept us grounded and held to Earth, but I wished then that it didn’t exist. Hardly able to breathe, hardly able to move, function, or think I nearly collapsed as my leg ordered me to take a pace back, distancing myself from her. I could almost feel my feet lifting up from the ground as all of my purposes were tested, once again leaving me to question just why I was here. I wanted the absence of gravity to intensify; I wanted it to vanish completely and carry me away, and I really don’t think that I would have grabbed onto anything. I yearned to float away right there… For the walls and ceiling to collapse around me and just let me drift away through the skies, taking me away forever.

  So long… I had been pushing for too long, and she had been the one who kept me striving to be something great. Now, though… Was there a point?

  “Everything alright in here?”

  Her voice was muffled in my ears, my eyes hardly able to turn to look at her as I felt depression nibbling away at every vein in my body, leaving me frozen and hollow.

  Seek stood in the doorway, concern smothering her face. She had on a semi-transparent white shirt with a gray tank underneath and a pair of long black slacks covering her emaciated legs. Her hair was braided into a long, elegant fishtail, two radiant white feathers hanging from her bangs by a leather strap, almost giving her the aura of a native. She was dressed up much more than usual, but the expression on her wrung face nulled any happiness previously present.

  “Yeah, we’re fine,” Mabel answered, her voice hardly reaching a decibel as she tried to ignore our impending downfall. “What’s up?”

  Seek frowned. She knew what was going on; she could tell like always. Through a forlorn sigh, she chose to respect our wishes. “Well, alright… You guys ready?”

  “For?” Mabel asked doubtfully.

  Seek motioned towards the exit. “Well, before you can fight, you need to first be recognized as an Encryptor yourself. Come on, everyone is waiting.” With that, she disappeared, thankfully keeping the door open.

  Mabel did not look back at me, but I knew she wasn’t trying to be rude; she just didn’t want to put herself in a position that would leave me to hurt her more than I
already had. She parted from the claustrophobic room first, her head down and hands fiddling with one another as she turned the corner, leaving me alone.

  I wanted to cry… I wanted to give up… Lie down and not continue on…

  People ridicule others for falling apart at the hands of a significant other when things go wrong, saying they should be strong enough to stand by themselves: “You shouldn’t need to find your other half; you should be a person all on your own.”

  That was complete bullcrap all around. My mother raised me to be a science experiment; my father neglected me; my brothers were taken from me; Calla cursed me; everyone broke me…

  Sighing, knowing that for now I couldn’t wallow, I sluggishly followed the teammate of my complicated relationship, who bit by bit was severing the strings because of circumstances that I could not control.

  The iron door shut behind me as the three of us made our way through a long, dark hallway of stone. Seek stayed far ahead, her aura acting as a flashlight. Mabel kept close to her, though Seek continuously glanced over her shoulder every so often to make sure I did not linger too far behind.

  After a little bit of walking, I recognized where we were heading. The flaming white tiles in the shape of a dome, along with the roar of voices belonging to those of all backgrounds encroached upon my senses, and before I knew it, the three of us were making our way through the center of the Encryption base—the very location where we had originally been condemned to death.

  The environment and ambiance were the complete opposite of our arrival. Despite the obvious unrest amongst her prophets, Seek held her head high, her shoulders pushed back and eyes shining fiercely with accomplishment as she escorted us through the crowd of uncountable Glitches, who this time did not chant for our blood but rather approved of our presence. They were fairly relaxed and content with both themselves and the situation, many smiling and giving us the light bow of a head as we passed by. Of course, not all felt this way, but it was a big change from the past week, and I couldn’t be more relieved.

  Seek led us towards the metallic stage in the center of the open, underground enclosure. Queen Pinion stood at the base of the stairs, her hands properly folded in front of her stomach as she waited for us to approach.

  She radiated a fairly satisfied, friendly vibe at the moment, her stunning appearance matching this marvelous occasion, while Mabel and I still wore our tattered training clothes. Her white hair was spun in tight, royal curls, her face painted in the same fashion as always. A pair of golden sword earrings hung beside her acute cheekbones to match her gold tiara, the blue gem nestled into her forehead pulsing gently as her crystal-like eyes acknowledged our presence. She wore a black, strapless dress that was trimmed with silver threading, the bottom pooling around her like a forest of petals, while a heavy black cloak completed her wardrobe.

  The queen lightly dipped her head as the three of us passed by, allowing us to climb the steps before her. As much as I didn’t mind the respect we received, it bothered me—this whole scenario did… But I wasn’t one hundred percent sure why.

  We finished our climb, Mabel and me pausing beside one another the moment our eyes took in the sight.

  “Eero! Mabel!” Sybil squeaked in excitement, flying towards us and colliding face first with our barely touching shoulders. She squealed with glee, turning her head up as her miniature arms stretched from my left breast to Mabel’s right. A smile dominated her face, her purple eyes bustling with a million emotions, ranging from joy to a persistent, undying fire that burned for adventure. “I’m so happy you’re ok!”

  I wasn’t trying to be rude, but I hardly acknowledged her, as did Mabel, though she did give Sybil a small squeeze with her arm and a smile. Me? I couldn’t smile; I could only stare ahead in sheer astonishment at he who stood beside Embry, Justus, and Virgil in the back.

  “G-Griffin?!” I choked, pulling away from the girls. I shuffled towards him, the disbelief on my face towards his altered appearance bouncing right back at me as he took in my own transformation. I stopped dead in front of him, unable to speak.

  His face was the same, though, in his poise, I could sense something I never saw before—purpose. He smiled after recovering from his shock, raising his arms and pulling me into a tight hug.

  I couldn’t move. I just stood there as he displayed his affection, staring at his left arm—an arm he no longer had claim to after the final battle against the Nobles. Yet there it was, just not a human one. His prosthetic arm was constructed out of metal rods of all assortments—some small, some large, some iron, some gold, some bronze. Wires weaved in and out of his open frame, live currents of electricity flowing through small, clear pipes, causing his arm to light up in hues that covered the entire spectrum. His hand was a solid chunk of bronze, automatized hinges located where each joint would be, allowing him to have the ability to grab things and perform the same movements that a real hand could.

  We stepped away from each other, my jaw unable to be brought back to my face. “You look good, Eero!” Griffin joked, giving me a light slap on my shoulder with his forged arm. There was so much strength behind such a simple gesture that I slightly stumbled to my side, hardly expecting such a strong display of force.

  “Ey, sorry about that,” Justus apologized, his eyes beaming as he stared at his apprentice. “He’s not used to it yet—just finished it today.”

  I chuckled dryly as I rubbed my shoulder, smiling. “It’s ok. And Griffin… So do you! You look… Wow.”

  His smile took up half of his face—a real smile. I was really happy for him; he definitely deserved something like that—something that set him apart from the rest in a strong, powerful way. He was no longer just the troublesome brother of a godly sorcerer; he was now a soldier himself.

  “Whoa!” Mabel exclaimed, bouncing Sybil in her arms like a baby as she sauntered up beside me. “Look at you, Griffin! You look so cool!”

  Griffin’s face flushed with embarrassment. “Thanks.”

  While Mabel and Griffin took to making small talk, the same rock of discontent originally taking to my gut appeared once more. I turned my back to them, looking around the stage and scanning the crowd with my sharp eyes until I finally realized why this did not feel right.

  “Where’s Laelia?” I asked aloud, the words hardly able to surface from my mouth.

  Silence made its grand entrance, forcing the mouths of my friends shut and causing their eyes to wander as they digested my observation. Sybil whimpered upon registering just what I said, her bond to Laelia still appearing to hold true due to the sorrow which quickly flocked her heart and caused her ears to plummet beside her head. She leaped into the air with a strained grunt, flapping her minuscule wings as she levitated above our heads, looking about to try and find her missing mother.

  Kaitlyn made it clear her survival was far from guaranteed after such a brutal attack, but Laelia was Laelia… A persistent, bull-headed fighter who stomped anyone who challenged her worth; I guess that was the only quality that the two of us shared. A sickness—a demon made purely of shadows and nightmares… That couldn’t be the end of someone like her. There was no way it was possible.

  Sybil looked down at us, black slime beginning to secrete from her eyes in the form of tears. “Where is she…?” she sobbed lightly.

  “Hey, don’t start yet!”

  Our eyes shot to the steps of the platform. Pinion resembled a pole as she stood off to the side, looking over the rail with a resolute gaze as the unidentified person rushed to the stage.

  She did not look like a defeated peasant for once. Her black hair was pinned up in a neat bun, the purple streak in her locks hanging beside her face and twinkling with every movement made. A scarf, this time brown, was wrapped around her neck as always, a simple, mid-length, dark green dress hugging her thin yet mildly curvy figure. Her attention seemed elsewhere as she heaved a deep breath at the top of the stairs. She briefly looked at us, smiling before looking back into the main foyer and ex
tending her hand. “Come on, you’re ready.”

  A ghostly white hand grabbed Flye’s. Flye slowly walked towards us, prompting the unseen person along with a gentle tug.

  Her once beautiful, lush blonde hair was now black—a shade so deep that it almost seemed midnight-blue in certain patches, especially at her roots. Rich, gray fog consumed her eyes where a lush forest used to grow. Her frame was much thinner, the majority of her curves having withered away, while a skeleton decided to make her skin its home instead. Her lips were flat and pale, flushed of life and courage, as was her whole body. Her old, golden bracelet from Rome was secured tightly around her wrist, but it was now purple; strands of violet-black mist swirled within the confinements, almost as though trying to break free.

  I forced myself to blink, wondering if perhaps I was hallucinating. When I took another good look at her, though, specifically when she continued to approach us, I knew this was reality. She overcame her epidemic, but she wasn’t the same in any way.

  “LAELIA!” Sybil screamed pitifully, crashing down from the sky and falling into her arms. Laelia smiled, tears welling in her eyes as she stared at her precious friend, crushing her against her chest. Crying, she looked up, her lips trembling as she weakly smiled at Mabel and me before her eyes traveled to Griffin.

  He did not proceed towards her. He remained where he was, taking a deep breath and swallowing nervously. I was surprised by the way he looked at her. He almost seemed hurt… Which made sense considering what had become of her, but it was a different kind of pain; it almost came off to me as regret.

  Still holding Sybil tightly, she slowly walked up to Griffin, pausing a heartbeat away from him. She stared into his eyes, and to my utter disbelief, Griffin did not hug her. He allowed his eyes to search her body from head to toe, but he could not bring himself closer.