by Arantes
She was blinded by love; she ignored the danger she might face. She could not watch the man she loved be locked away, ready for execution.
***
The King knew what Jarvis had in mind when he saw him coming towards Albedo, but with all this wind it was going to be impossible for him to get close enough. Even if Jarvis used his Elder he would still not be strong enough to get close to Albedo. The King was physically stronger, so that enabled him to get closer, but right now Albedo was producing a wind three times more powerful.
“Angelione,” said the king “Master Jarvis has a plan, and we’re going to help him. But if his plan fails, we must be ready.” Master Jarvis is too old for this type of stuff.
The King’s right hand once again had the black-light gravity around his hand, the last time he used it to increase his punch, this time he had a different approach. He pointed his right hand towards Albedo, this time the black-light left his hand, the same way the fireballs leave Albedo’s hand. When it left his hand it was a circle of black light, and it moved fast as it penetrated the wind. The gravity somehow pushed through the wind as it made its way to Albedo. The black-light hit Albedo and instantaneously pinned him to the ground. The bridge shook a little as its massive magnitude of gravity continued to pull Albedo down. The bridge was thick, but with this powerful ability it could destroy it easily.
The wind Albedo was producing was now gone. His body was surrounded by Victor’s black-light-gravity. The King alongside Angelione finally caught up to Albedo, so did Jarvis.
“Hurry Victor, undo your gravity before you destroy this bridge!” said Jarvis.
The King touched Albedo’s body and the black-light-gravity pulling him disappeared, leaving a huge hole on the bridge.
Jarvis wasted no time placing his hand on Albedo’s body, observing his energy to stop the Reawakening. The energy Albedo possessed was vast. Jarvis had never encountered anything like it. So much energy, I fear I might not be strong enough to observe all of them. His body was old and could crack anytime soon.
Angelione wondered how much more the old man could take.
“Master Jarvis, that’s enough! If you continue to drain then you will die!” said King Victor.
“Nonsense, young man,” Jarvis could now hear a crack from the bridge; the King’s gravity had been too much for its structure.
Jarvis realized he had to stop when his ability had stopped working. He had take in too much energy and felt lightheaded. As soon as he stopped, Albedo’s Reawakening once again took over. His wind increased, pushing Angelione and the King back with fierce-force. Angelione was knocked unconscious, his head hit the concrete. Jarvis however was holding on to Albedo.
The King saw all their efforts were futile; he was going to have to use his gravity once more. “Master Jarvis, let go of him! I’m going to use my---“
“No, you will do no such thing! If you do that then this bridge will fall apart! Listen to me, Victor, your father was a good King, and so are you!” he continued to struggled, “I did many things for this Kingdom, so my final wish for my service is for you to find a way to help this lad become what he’s destined to be! ”
The King looked at him in bafflement, “What are you saying!”
Jarvis put his hand on Albedo face, staring into his eyes. “Albedo, listen to me; you and your friends are the future of this world! There’s a lot of good inside of you, and I’m not going to let this darkness control you! Don’t be like the others, be you, be the lad you were met to be.”
Albedo placed his hand on Jarvis’ chest, and released multiple shots of fireballs. The explosions were so severe that it separated the two, sending each the opposite side of each other. Thanks to the explosion, the bridge was no longer able to sustain itself as the middle part crumbled and fell in the whirlpool underneath.
“Master!” The King quickly jumped in mid-air over Albedo, to the other side of the bridge as he saw Jarvis was unconscious and was about to plunge to his death.
Albedo saw Angelione on the ground and approached him. His nails were as deadly as a sword, aiming for Angelione’s vitals. He launched for his heart.
“Albedo, no!”
Albedo stopped to hear a sorrowful cry for him to stop. He looked ahead of him, towards the castle to see Sonia and the others on the other side. Sonia’s voice had reached him deep within.
When Albedo finally came to his senses, he looked around and wondered if he was the cause of it all. He was so exhausted and perplexed, his head felt like it wanted to explode as everything around him spun in a circle. What’s going on, did I do all thi— he felt the lightning and went down unconscious.
Angelione woke up thanks to Sonia’s voice. Albedo had put his guard down just in time for him to use his lightning on him. He looked behind him to see that the middle of the bridge was gone. The King was on the other side, standing by the edge, looking at the whirlpool spinning. It didn’t take long for him to figure out. Master Jarvis. He looked behind the King to see Cecelia and Dragan coming, and behind Albedo were Sonia and the others also. Angelione jumped to the other side, there he saw his old master since he left the Organization.
“Master Dragan, Cecelia.” He looked at his king to see him on the verge of rage, but the King somehow got up and got himself together. On the other side Sonia and the others were tending to Albedo.
“Angelione, don’t you know the meaning of visiting?”
He looked at his old master. It wasn’t that Angelione didn’t want to go visit, he didn’t want to disturb the life that they had started with Albedo. He was afraid that his presence might remind them of the life they left behind. He looked over at Cecelia to see her tending to the King.
“Forgive me, Master Dragan, I had thought-“
“Exactly, but you didn’t think. When you came to this organization as a child I raised you and taught you everything you know, I was practically a father to you, and yet you couldn’t even come and visit me.”
Dragan had a smile on his face; then Angelione realized he wasn’t really upset.
“Jarvis, you will be missed,” said Cecilia.
“Yes he will be,” said Dragon.
“What is your plan now for Albedo?” asked Angelione.
“Jarvis’ last wish was for me to find a way to help him… after devoting his life to this kingdom I ought to honor his final wish.” The King took a deep breath, and wondered how exactly he was going to help Albedo. “I’m putting Albedo back in the dungeon… until I can figure out a way to help.”
Chapter 33
Forbidden alliance
The seal in Dragan’s and Cecelia’s body slowly vanished. They were now sure Jarvis was dead; there was nothing more that could be done. Two days had passed and Dragan and his wife were ordered by the King to leave. He felt it would be better for them; they wouldn’t have to worry so much. He promised them he would find a way to help Albedo. Jarvis had fallen to the bottom of the abyss as he plunged in the whirlpool to his death. The force of the water was strong enough to crush an old fragile man like him. Albedo was put back in his cell; nothing more Victor could do to help him. He had heard Sonia was doing much better. In the afternoon the King paid her a visit.
“Sonia, I’m glad to see you’re doing much better, I…” he stopped.
Sonia’s eyes were focusing out the window, she was wondering how Albedo was doing. Finally she said quietly with a slight hateful tone, “This is your fault, if only you left it alone.”
“This would have happened eventually. Albedo’s power can be controlled, Aleister found a way to. So I had hoped he could… but how wrong was I, I was a fool to think he could master such a power. Maybe I was too eager, maybe he just wasn’t ready yet.”
Sonia had remembered when she met Albedo, how everything was easier then. How much things had changed in such a short amount of time.
“I’m putting you on suspension; you went against my orders and freed him.” His face looked firm now. “Be grateful that’s the onl
y punishment I’ve given you; you put my Kingdom in danger, danger for your selfish needs.” Sonia said nothing. He got up and left after wishing her well.
***
After the King left Sonia’s room, a few minutes passed and Axil came to visit her. He told her Natalia wished her well, and brought her sweets that Magi had made for her. He also replaced the flowers in her room with fresh ones.
“How are you feeling today?”
“I’m fine,” she responded, “I’m healing up pretty fast. Victor put me on suspension.”
“For doing what your heart told you to?” Axil responded. Of course he also wanted to say you should be grateful for this minor punishment. Going against a High King is almost a punishment by prison sentences.
“Sometimes, I feel like me and you are the only two who truly understand what Albedo’s going through. Dante and Angelione, they choose to follow their King no matter what the order is,” said Sonia. She had sworn an oath to follow her King, but her heart had sworn an oath deeper than that for Albedo, so deep that it made her go against his warning.
“Well I guess that’s because you and I are rebels in a way,” said Axil.
Sonia smiled for the first time in a long time, even laughed a bit. “I guess you’re right.”
“How do you think the King is going to help him?”
She looked at him. “He can’t.”
In the middle of the night, Sonia woke up out of the hospital room and headed for her room. There she packed her bags and had on her black cloak and her red mask. She could sleep and she desperately wanted to see Albedo. She took the secret passage and ended up back at the cell in the dungeon. When she opened the cell, the guards quickly surrounded her. She had no plan on fighting them, just to see Albedo.
After shouting at the guards to let her threw, she heard a voice saying let her see him. “What are you doing here, Sonia? If you’re thinking of freeing him again, then I’ll have
no choice but to eliminate you,” said Angelione with no hesitation.
Dante was next to him.
Sonia has known him for too long, this was no idle threat. “So it comes to this,” she smiled. “Look at the two of you, you chose to follow a King instead of your heart.” She walked closer to Albedo’s cell.
“I’m warning you, Sonia!” Angelione took out his sword. This was the worst feeling, fighting someone so close to him. Don’t do this Sonia, I’m begging you.
She looked back at him, “You’ve got it wrong Angelione. I’m not here to free him again. I’m here to say goodbye to him, won’t you allow me at least that?”
“Leaving?” said Angelione surprisingly. He eased up on his grip of the sword.
Sonia walked closer to his cell, “Goodbye, Albedo.” She looked aside. “I’m leaving this place.”
“Is that it!?” said Dante angrily. “I thought we were going to find a way to help him. Are you just giving up on him now?”
“This is goodbye, my heart can no longer watch.” She looked at them and left.
Sonia walked by the gate of the city and looked back; this castle was truly beautiful to look at during the night. The light was bright as ever, enlarging its beauty even more.
“Are you ready?” She looked by the gate to see Axil with his bag waiting for her.
“So, you decided to come after all.”
“What’s this all about? I got your letter that said to meet you here, that you know a way of helping him,” Axil wondered what she was planning.
“Come on, I’ll tell you when we get to the woods. Did you get the horses ready?” There were too many royal guards around and she didn’t want to reveal her plan to him around them.
“Yeah, they’re waiting for us there,” said Axil.
The guards opened the gate for them and they made their way to the woods. Sonia made sure she was deep within the woods, away from the castle. King Victor had spies who hid in the woods to warn him if there’s an unexpected foreign attack. Her notes had specifically said for him to get the horses ready and make sure they had enough distance away from the castle. It was a good thing that Axil followed orders well, he was going to be a fine Reaper one day; that is if the King doesn’t throw him in prison after he hears about Sonia’s crazy plan.
“I searched around the woods twice, if there’s any spy around then they must be really skillful,” said Axil.
“Come on, let’s keep moving.”
“Wait, I think it’s time for you to tell me about this crazy plan of yours,” demanded Axil.
It wasn’t until they left the woods that Sonia finally told Axil about her plan. “We’re going to find Aleister,” a straightforward answer from her.
Axil looked at her as if she was crazy.
“Well don’t look at me like that. If you want to go back you can, but I will tell the King that this was your idea,” said Sonia.
“Sonia, are you hearing what you saying?” After a few seconds he realized that she said he was going to blame him for this. “And what do you mean blaming me?”
“Look Axil, Aleister is the only one who can help him. We can’t, the King can’t, and Jarvis couldn’t, may he rest in peace.”
Axil took a deep breath. “Well, I can’t say I wasn’t thinking about the same thing really. After hearing about Aleister, he might be the only one who can help him. But what I’m afraid of is that he might also try to bring back his memories.”
Sonia hated this idea, falling to the mercy of Aleister. But she had no other choice.
They made it to King Henry’s castle after a long journey, his guards had doubled since.
“How are we going to get in, security is very tight following the queen’s death?” asked Axil.
“We’re going to walk through the front gate.” She walked in front of the gate and hundreds of guards had their arrows pointed at them. She took her mask off, “My name is Sonia, and I request an audience with your King!”
When they realized who she was they were skeptical to let her in. They had received no invitation from King Henry. After one of the men went and talked to the king, he told him to let them in. The gate was open for her and Axil to enter and they made their way to the castle.
Axil had never met King Henry before. On the way there, Sonia explained how wicked and devious he was. When they made it inside his throne room, King Henry looked delighted to see them.
“Sonia, what a surprise that you’re here!” said King Henry blissfully.
Sonia wondered why he was extra happy today. Maybe it was because his kingdom had become more powerful. She didn’t bother bowing down to him as she stood firm and said, “I’m not here to see you Henry; I’m here to see the one you made an alliance with!”
Henry understood whom she meant and immediately ordered all in the room to leave. “I don’t know what you mean, the only one here is you, your friend, and me,” This time his tone was mellow.
“I know you’re here, Aleister! I know the two of you are allies!” she said.
Henry got off his throne and walked up to her. He circled around them with an intense look. “I could kill the two of you right now.”
“Henry! That’s enough.”
They all looked by the window, to see Aleister had teleported himself in the room.
Aleister, Axil examined him. This was the first time he met Aleister. Just like everyone he had heard rumors only about him. Axil saw that he was just a bit taller than him. He was not intimidated by his presence; he had fought criminals as tough and deviant as Aleister.
Aleister walked closer to Sonia, “How brave of you, coming all the way here to see me. Most people choose to stay away from me, but you are different, very persistent aren’t you?” He was dazed by her bravery, it wasn’t too long ago she was afraid of him. He had put fear into her eyes but Albedo had taken it out of her with his courage. He looked at the king and said, “Henry, leave us now, I have unfinished business with them that does not concern you.”
King Henry left the room with resen
tment. The idea of Aleister giving him orders sickened him.
“I’m not most people, Aleister; you no longer put fear in my eyes,” said Sonia.
Aleister looked at Axil, and then back at Sonia, with a slight smile on his face, “Oh really now? Now, I wonder what brings you here. You’re not still chasing after me now are you?” His eyes were fixed on hers, but she was firmer than ever.
“It’s Albedo; he needs your help… His power is becoming unstable.”
He circled around her. Axil kept his eyes on him.
Aleister smirked, “Now do you see why he belongs with me? And yes, I am aware of his power causing havoc; it was only a matter of time. This power cannot be controlled by a weak mind, without his memory, it will be difficult.”
“So will you help us or not?” asked Axil unexpectedly.
Sonia saw the bravery in Axil’s eyes, not even flinching in Aleister’s presence. She fed on his courage as she did from Albedo. He wasn’t a least bit of terrified of Aleister.
Aleister looked at Axil who had showed no fear towards him; this one is strong and brave. “This power took a hundred years for each and every one of us to fully control and comprehend it, physically and mentally.” He looked at her. “As you can tell, I don’t have a hundred years to teach him,” he said sarcastically. “Albedo has never felt a power like this before. It’s overwhelming him, without the proper training or his memory, the power will take over his mind, that’s why he needs me to keep him safe.” Something is coming, and Albedo must be ready for it, he must be by my side. I fear the ones who freed us will eventually come out of the shadows and continue what they started. Aleister sat on Henry’s throne now. “Have you ever wondered why Albedo loves to stare at the moon so much? Well, it’s because we and the moon are connected.”
The Kings of the moon, thought Sonia. Sonia now understood the way Albedo saw the moon. For others, it was only a moon, for them it was something different.