by Natalie Erin
“Why have you come before us today?” Nicodemus asked. He had a look on his face that showed his annoyance with the boy.
Keota took a deep breath. “I have come to ask you to reconsider the fate of Luciana Morris. She was sentenced to separation a month ago, but I have proved that the crime she was convicted of was not her fault.”
“And how have you done this?” The head of the Council leaned back in his chair and picked at a fingernail, bored.
“I did some research on Luciana’s family. Her mother had a case of mental illness that could be passed on from generation to generation,” Keota said. “If Luciana’s mother had the illness, then so could Luciana. It would explain the way she behaved. She had never been violent before the incident.” Keota paused, looking up.
“If she is ill, it still gives no excuse for her actions. She nearly killed that poor boy,” Nicodemus said, leaning forward. “And how did you come by this information?”
“Luciana’s mother was a resident of an asylum until she died a few years ago,” he replied quickly. “I got the information from the hospital directly.”
Nicodemus leaned back, tapping his chin. “Give us one hour to consult, and then return when you are called.”
Keota nodded and walked out of the room, to leave the Council to deliberate. The following hour was the longest hour of his life. He paced back and forth across the small waiting room, while Ionan watched, flicking his tail. After what seemed like days, the Accompany at the desk instructed him to go back in.
As he approached, he noticed a slight change in Nicodemus’s face. Rather than looking annoyed, he appeared pleased, gleeful even. “Well done, Keota Morimoti. You have saved your friend.” Nicodemus clapped his hands together once and then looked down at the boy. “We shall hand you the papers necessary to get both her and her Changer back home. However, if anything else like this happens again, the punishment will be the same and you will be unable to save her. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir, I do.” Keota couldn’t help but smile. He’d done it! Luciana was saved!
“Then go and get Miss Luciana. I don’t expect to see or hear you ever again.” Nicodemus waved his hand, dismissing him.
Keota ran off quickly, obtaining the papers from the Accompany at the desk outside. He bolted into the sunshine of Nesting’s Haven, hardly able to control himself.
“Ionan, you get Rex and I’ll go get Luce,” he commanded, handing the papers to his Changer.
“I can do that. We’ll meet back at your parents’ house, correct?” Ionan asked as he took the papers in his mouth.
“Yep, that’s the plan.” Keota smiled and ran off in the direction of Azazael, the large prison that housed the worst of Nesting’s Haven.
The building was ten stories high and located far outside of the city, but most of the cells were underground. The high walls surrounding the prison were dark, and the brick was covered in vines that grew up all four sides of the prison. The building was old and crumbling, exactly the kind of place that looked scarier than it should have. He walked slowly to the front gate, his heart beating twice its normal rate.
“Stop right there, son.” A strong guard in a full suit of armor held out his hand, stopping the boy. “No one enters here.”
“I’m here to get my friend. The Council said she could be released,” he stammered.
“Do you have all the legal documents?” the guard asked him.
“I have them right here.” Keota handed the papers to the guard, feeling nervous.
The guard’s eyebrows raised. “Luciana Morris huh?” The guard huffed in disbelief. “Good luck getting her out of there.”
“What do you mean?” Keota stared at the guard, confused.
“Every time someone goes near that girl they lose a finger, or in some cases, an arm.” The guard's face was completely serious. “She hasn’t been out of her cell since they brought her here.”
Keota gulped. “Well, we’re best friends. I’m sure she won’t hurt me.”
“Good luck to you, kid.” The guard handed him back the papers and sent him inside. Keota crept slowly to the front desk, shivering. The inside was cold, dank, and dripping with moisture, twice as scary as the outside. He kept glancing around him nervously.
“Hello. Can I help you?” The Accompany at the front desk asked the question in a sickly sweet voice, out of character for such a terrible place. Her Changer, a jolly little hedgehog, waddled from side to side on her desk.
“I’m here to get my friend, Luciana Morris,” he told her, pulling out the papers.
“Of course. Let me see the release forms.”
He handed them to her and she peered at them oddly, as if she couldn’t believe who was being released. “Wait here. I’ll go get a guard to take you to her cell.”
She rose from her seat and disappeared through a door behind her. She returned with an Accompany that was even larger than the one outside, whose Changer was a monstrous bear that took up the width of the hallway.
The guard leaned down by the boy’s ear. “I’ll take you to the cell, but I won’t be going in. That girl’s crazy.” His voice was rough and cruel, but at the mention of Luciana, it shook slightly in fear.
“Okay,” Keota nodded. The terror inside him grew as the large Accompany led him through the halls. They walked down two flights of stairs and retrieved a lantern before heading down one final flight. Keota was led down a dark hallway lined with cells made of iron bars, none of which had light. Screams and moans echoed down the cavern, and arms reached out at him from between the bars, craving the touch of someone from the outside world.
The guard stopped at the end of the hallway in front of a cell from which no noise emitted. He pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. “Here you go.” He backed up warily after placing the lantern on a hook on the wall.
“Thank you.” Keota peered into the cell, and his stomach twisted as he witnessed the most horrifying sight he would ever see.
Luciana sat in the corner of the small cell, encircled by little chunks of bone and skin that were discarded on the floor. Apparently, the first guard had been correct. She’d been taking off fingers. A decaying, gnarled limb lied in a corner, chunks of flesh torn off as if by mouth. He’d thought they were exaggerating about the arm, but no one exaggerated in Azazael. Lies were useless in a place where the worst had already happened to you.
The walls were covered in blood. At first, he thought it was merely splatters, and then he realized that the blood spelled REX hundreds upon hundreds of times upon the stone.
Luciana sat in her small corner. Her long hair was knotted in huge clumps and filled with dirt, and her prison clothes, a simple gray sack, was torn. She had lost weight due to lack of sunlight, and the bones of her face were easily seen through her pale skin. She rocked back and forth, her eyes glazed, staring at nothing.
The reason why Nicodemus and the Council was willing to let Luciana go hit him fully, searing away all sense of hope. The loss of her Changer had driven Luciana mad. There was no more punishment to give, nothing more to take. They’d already done the worst to her, and now that the job was done, the Council was willing to toss the girl aside as if she were nothing but a nuisance.
He approached her slowly. She hissed, pushing herself father back into the corner.
“Come on, Luce. It’s me, Keota.” He took another step forward.
“Don’t come any closer to me,” she growled.
“Luce, I’m here to get you out. I’m going to help you find Rex again.”
Her eyes lit up at the sound of her Changer’s name. “Rex,” she whispered.
“Yeah, Rex,” he repeated. “You just have to come with me.”
“I can’t walk. My legs don’t work,” she told him. She looked down at the floor in despair.
“I can carry you, if you’ll let me.” He walked to her, and she put her arms up slowly. He picked her up and cradled her against his chest, carrying her out of the cell.
“I’m ready to go back up now,” he told the guard, who stared at him in awe.
“How did you do that?” the man asked.
“Do what?” Keota asked in return.
“Touch her without losing something,” the guard gasped.
Keota glared cruelly back at the guard. “I’m only treating her as she deserves to be treated, not like she’s something to be thrown away.”
When they had reached the city streets, it was dark. Keota’s arms hurt from carrying Luciana up all those steps, but he didn’t complain or put her down. “Are you ready to go, Luce?” he asked her.
“Rex,” she said softly to herself. “I want to find Rex.”
“We’re going to see Rex and no one is ever going to take you away from him again.”
Ionan wasn’t at the house when Keota arrived. Luciana clung to Keota’s shirt, refusing to allow him to set her down.
“Come on, Luciana, let go of Keota and come sit down,” Mrs. Morimoti told her in a gentle, loving voice.
“I want Rex right now!” she demanded, slamming her fist into Keota’s chest. “I don’t care about anything else! I will not let go until I get what he promised me!”
Keota looked towards his mother with a pained expression. “I think she just bruised me. I hope Ionan gets here soon.”
Just as he said it, a loud roar shook the house. “Come on you fool, Luciana is right inside that house! You just need to cooperate!” Ionan was outside, and he wasn’t happy.
“Release me this instant, you horrid pest! Luciana’s gone! Now leave me alone!” Rex wailed.
Luciana’s head perked up at the sound of her Changer’s voice. She jumped out of Keota’s arms and stumbled awkwardly to the door, suddenly able to walk. She pulled it open and fell to her knees just outside. Rex stood before her, fighting Ionan angrily. His fur was clumped, with bones that were easily visible underneath, eyes bloodshot. If he were in his normal condition he would have torn Ionan to pieces by now, but in his weakened state, he could only struggle.
As his eyes fell upon Luciana, he calmed instantly. Ionan released the Changer and backed away. Luciana collapsed onto Rex’s back, wrapping her arms tightly around his thick neck. She buried her face into the soft, black fur, and he purred as she stroked his throat. Ionan took the form of a falcon and landed on his Accompany’s shoulder, rubbing his head against Keota’s. It was hard to watch the scene without being close to your bonded partner.
Mrs. Morimoti came out of the house to witness the reunion. “Why don’t you both come inside?” She approached Rex and Luce quickly, with no sense of caution. Rex growled lowly, and she slowly backed away. “Or not.”
“Just give them some space, Mom. They’ll be back to normal soon.” Keota had all the confidence in the world as he stated this, and Ionan nodded to confirm his words.
But things didn’t go back to normal. Rex’s relationship with Vera had been severed permanently, as he was infuriated with her for doing nothing to free him while he was in the camps. Luciana stopped attending school and used the small amount of money she had left from her mother’s inheritance to purchase a house in the worst part of town, removed from the rest of the world. Keota went to her house to check on her and Rex every day. At first she let him in, then she stopped answering the door and he had to let himself in using the spare key. A few months later, the key vanished, and she locked all the doors and windows. Keota would stand outside for hours banging loudly on the door, begging she let him in, but no one ever came. The world slowly began to forget all about Luciana Morris. It wasn’t long until no one knew she existed. The house became covered in vines, falling into disrepair. Sometimes you could hear her cry, but the world was convinced it was the ghost of Luciana’s deceased mother, weeping for the child that had faded away without tasting death. No one believed Keota when he told them about her. Ionan knew of his troubles, but no one else did. At graduation, he walked alone. Life had stolen Luciana away from him, without giving him any say in the matter. His best friend was gone forever.
“Are you okay, Dad? You’re crying.”
Keota touched his eyes gently as he emerged from his memories, gazing at the tears that had gathered on his fingers. Allie and Kennu were there, and seemed disturbed that they’d found him in a field of flowers, weeping.
“I guess I am crying.” He laughed softly, trying to break the tension. “Sorry to worry you, Kennu. I’m fine. Really.” He stood up, ruffling his son’s hair.
“If you say so,” Kennu said slowly. “Mom sent me to tell you that she needs your help with dinner.” Kennu reached up and fixed his now-messy locks with a flat expression.
“Kennu, can we go? It’s starting to get cold out here, and I don’t have much on.” A girl came into view at the edge of the flower-filled clearing, appearing impatient.
“Sorry Reagan!” Kennu called back. “We can go in a minute.”
“You’re quick to jump at her requests. I say we just let her freeze,” Allie growled, glaring back at the teenager.
“That’s not very nice, Allie,” Kennu scolded.
“Who is this?” Keota asked. His eyes bulged out of his head as he looked over the girl disapprovingly, his eyes hovering on her outfit.
“This is Reagan. Reagan, this is my dad, Keota,” Kennu said. “Reagan’s a...a fairy. She just came here from really far away.”
“Really. Where are from Reagan?”
“Uh...Michigan,” Reagan responded.
“Michigan?” Keota gave her a confused look.
“Yeah, it’s in America,” Reagan said snottily. “Haven’t you heard of it?”
“No. I haven’t,” Keota told her in a tone that suggested she was lying. “But you learn new things every day.”
He turned toward his son. “Let’s get home before your mother starts to worry. You know how she gets.”
“Yeah, I know.” Kennu frowned. “I really don’t feel like being squeezed to death again.”
Keota lingered before following. His mind was still filled with the horrible last memory of his best friend.
Chapter Eight
The Second Prophecy
Allie changed into a tiny bluebird on their way back to the forest. She landed on Kennu’s shoulder, casting a backward glance at Reagan as if to say, Back off sister, he’s mine.
“You can keep him, honey,” Reagan growled underneath her breath, obviously freezing in her bikini. Kennu’s dad walked slowly next to her, looking at her every so often as if he knew that there was something about her he didn’t trust.
She hurried to Kennu’s side. “I think he knows,” she whispered.
“Don’t be silly. He’s not that smart,” Kennu put in.
“Okay, not to be rude or anything, but your dad is creeping me out,” she said in a very rude tone. “He’s keeps staring at me with this dumb expression.”
“That’s how my Dad looks at everyone. You’ll see.”
After walking for a long time, the hut came into view. Kia came out of the house carrying a vegetarian dish. She placed it on a long table, which had been brought out from inside. Luciana sat at the table with Rex, who balanced on her belly as a squirrel.
Reagan looked at the food and asked, “Where’s the meat? There’s not enough food for everyone here.”
“Accompanies and Changers don’t eat. We get our energy from sunlight,” Allie sniped. “The fairies are the only ones eating. But you knew that already, didn’t you?”
“We only eat plants,” Kennu informed Reagan under his breath, so his family wouldn’t hear. “It would be wasteful to kill something when we don’t need to. And besides, what if what you’re eating is a friend?”
“Everything I eat doesn’t talk back.” Reagan cast steely eyes at Allie.
At this instant, Ionan came into the clearing. Reagan took some terrified steps backward, gasping in surprise. “It’s a dragon,” she said, choked. “I can’t believe it.”
Ionan heard her, and tilted his head. “Who is this?” he aske
d, putting his giant nose to the girl’s head and sniffing. His hot breath blew her hair back, and she whimpered. His pupils narrowed but he said nothing, changing instantly into a sorrel horse.
“This is Reagan, Ionan. She’s a new friend,” Kennu said.
“We’re more of acquaintances, actually.” Reagan attempted to catch her bearings, but still appeared shaken.
Rex hopped off of Luciana, changing into a panther as he went. “Well, well. It seems the past has finally come full circle.”
“Rex,” Ionan said in surprise, noticing him for the first time. “I thought you and Luciana were dead.”
“Of course you did. You forgot us, just like everyone else. Why should you remember?”
Ionan stomped his hoof. “You should be more appreciative. Don’t you remember how we used to be friends? I helped Keota get you both out of prison, you know.”
“I haven’t forgotten,” Rex said. “But how can I be grateful to someone who caused my sister’s death?”
Ionan reared at this, baring his teeth as he came crashing back down to earth. “Wyntier killed Vera, not I! I did everything in my power to save her!”
“I don’t believe you. Vera and I hadn’t spoken since my imprisonment, but that doesn’t change the fact I still cared about her.” Rex prowled forward, showing his fangs as he approached the Changer.
“And may it be…” Ionan blew fiercely out of his nose, “That if you had come to help us instead of hiding alone in your little hole, she would still be alive today.”
Rex gave a wild scream and plunged towards the Changer. Ionan spun out of the way, and the panther missed, spiraling through the air. Luciana stood up and said, “Rex, come here now! That’s an order!”
The panther slunk back to his place. Ionan shook his mane and said, “Lady Luciana. I am glad you are well.”
“Thank you,” she nodded. “It’s nice to see you too.”
Ionan and Rex glared at each other one last time before Ionan took his place beside Keota.
Completely lost, Reagan leaned over and asked Kennu, “What was that about?”