Creatures of the Ice

Eighteenth Ice

Eighteenth IceCreatures of the Mist

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##### Eighteenth Ice #####

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I look at you in the mirror

And wondering why that stranger

Looks a lot like me.

To be waking up with the same face

I wonder why the world keeps repeating itself

Like a timer that always keeps everything back to the start.

Like Alice in Wonderland

I am trapped in this time spin off

Looking for a way out but never finds any.

The clock that keeps ticking

My heart beats faster by the second

But locked in this doll that does not move

Only smiles while the inside is screaming for freedom.

Just like when they did it with Link and Carvel, the guests also place their bets on who is going to win between Artro and Link. Sadly, the match has been a tie ever since the first move. They have been fighting for almost an hour right now. Judging from their heavy breathing, they are tired, of course. But not so out of energy to stop lashing at one and the other.

It is a battle of shadows.

Artro summons his black lightning from the sky by making his usual signature above, pointing his index finger and middle finger up from one while, with the rest of his fingers crossing at that same hand. The black lightning flashes down from the sky and into his body. He uses his other hand to deliver the lightning by pointing it to his target with the same signature, sending the lightning to Link’s direction.

Link dodges it ductilely, of course, without breaking a sweat or even considering how harmful it will be if the lightning did strike him. His body will become numb at first, until he cannot move at all to the point of collapsing on the ground. And then in turn, he creates five flying black swords from thin air, points them all at Artro, and then fires them.

Artro jumps back a couple of meters to avoid the flying swords, letting them stab the earth where he stood before. But one sword manages to get a scratch on his left leg, leaving his face in ire.

“I see how this is gonna be played. Well then,” he raises his hand up in the air once again, this time with a hand signature that indicates him holding to something I know quite well ─ a shotgun ─ and points it at Link openly, “I don’t think I need to hold back any longer.”

Link gulps, knowing that Artro is going to be serious from now on with that weapon in his hand. But then suddenly a light flickers in his black eyes as well. A determination. He is going to really give his best in this fight as well.

The tension is getting thicker as the dark shadows that surround them increase by the numbers. But just before I can watch the break out of the two sides, my sight suddenly becomes clouded by purple smoke that comes out of nowhere, leaving me frozen on my spot as it teleports me somewhere else.

I am far away from home. That is for sure.

But one look at the design around me and I already know where I am teleported to. With lots of mirrors from any side, black and white tiles, and a table in the middle of the room, it is impossible to mistake this place.

I am inside one of the Court Palace’s rooms. And to be precise, the room that I first woke up after getting my consciousness back from a doll shell.

If I am here without my concern, then it must be him who called for my presence.

When I hear footsteps, I turn around and give my respectful bow.

“Your Majesty,” I address him politely while lowering the half top of my body.

He does not speak right away, but wait for a moment to part his lips.

“I’ve been watching you through channels.” His voice is cold and distant, signs that he is disappointed at what I had done.

“My decision was the best I could take, Your Majesty,” I simply reply.

“Yes, I know.... But the deal with The Devil? Just to free your parents from his grasp? Not to mention about him almost owning your soul if he had been able to kill you. If the ancient wizard of silver had not turned back to give you a hand, you would not be standing here.... but instead, at his side....”

His tenor voice turns to a melancholy one this time.

I take this turn to raise myself and look at him in the eyes. It really has been a while since the last time I look into those violet eyes, hidden behind those dark and thick eyelashes. The last time I saw him was at that ball he held at his own castle. We had danced. He had let go of my hand. And he had let me chase the only wizard I know will be the only one that can ever make me truly find happiness ─ Valline Blancort. His light has brighten my world and pulled me out of the darkness of misery.

I had feared love, more than death. But now I know that death is much worse. Because then I will not be able to love anymore.

As I have changed, so does Lelouch Sullivan. He is no longer just the prince of wizard ─ the prince from all royalties. His position is not just higher than mine. He has changed from the inside as well. He is not just a figure, but also a movement. An irreplaceable icon.

His careless or playful self is no longer seen. Instead, stands a more mature wizard that takes his place.

Yet as I look at him, I realize how plaintive he has become.

It is almost as if the one that is standing in front of me.... is not him at all.

“Lelouch, are you alright?” I ask, dropping the formality as I try to get closer to him. But not even a few minor steps and my vision already starting to get hazy.

W-what is.... going on...?

Suddenly, my sight splits into two. Scars from claws scratch their way through the room, revealing the birthday I have in the back of my garden. Light is born from there, like a complete different place than here. I am torn between the two places. Must be because I am not really at the Court Palace. This is just a meeting between Lelouch and me with no one else.

Without even realizing it, my eyes are already staring into the ground. So I look up to Lelouch. But everything spins when I try to take a look at his face. It seems as if there is a dark void that is blocking me from seeing his features. This moment takes me back to when a portal was opened before, inside the garden of the wizard’s palace. A similar thing also happened when I tried to catch up with Valline, but ended up hearing my parents’ conversation with The Devil himself.

The Devil had no face that my eyes can refer. No matter at any side it took to look at him, I still could not look past the dark void. It was as if he had no face at all in the first place. That all the solid features I had ever seen on him are just replicas; fakes that were borrowed from someone else’s.

That very similar feeling is really giving me this déjà vu sensation, as if it is repeating itself in front of my eyes. And furthermore, my gut is telling me that it might be right.

I try to grasp at the aura around me by using my powers. The result: I can still feel that royal air around Lelouch. Nevertheless, my gut feeling is telling me that it is not him. That what I am seeing is not the truth. That my vision is clouding my mind.

So for that, I close my eyes and let my other senses prove the real truth.

And like a rolling, falling ball from a field, the answer comes out to the surface instantly, revealing everything with no stealth.

“You are not Lelouch, aren’t you?” I state softly, even though my gut is feeling uneasy.

The figure in front of me stands still, but I can see a peculiar smile creeping from that void face. I can tell how maniac it must look like, and feel relieved that I cannot really see it, but just know about it.

How can I still act calmly, though, while knowing that the one I am speaking to is not my childhood friend, but The Devil.

“Is there something you want to talk about to me? Hopefully it is not about making another deal, because I already quit. And if you try to trick my parents again into becoming your slaves and possessions, I will not give them a hand for a second time. I think that a thousand demons are equal enough to forcing me into this point of life. And I plan to let this stay this way, no matter what,” I say.

I hear an evil chuckles coming from his unseen mouth.

“Oh, you know why I called you here. And it is not like you can escape. No one even realized that your consciousness has left your body. You will be here as long as I wish you to be. Therefore, you cannot escape like the last time,” he says, his tone whispering nefariousness to my skin.

“I did not escape. I simply rejected your offer,” I correct him, spitting the word ‘offer’ because it is the most disgusting word I have to refer to what he said to me at my previous mission.

He wanted me to be his mistress? Why did he think I would even accept it?

If he is looking for a better breed, he should know that there are still other female creatures that are qualified.

“And if you will not disappear until I agree, then I guess I have no other choice,” I sigh. I cannot let this kind of thing keep happening.

“Really? What can you do, then?” The Devil asks in amusement.

“This.”

I hold my hand in the air and write a series of Noirmelns’ ancient language. The words solidified in black fog and circles around us in front of me. This is the same kind of seal that was used on me when I was younger to control my true powers, by locking them away in separate dimensions in able to prevent me from bursting out.

And now, I am going to use that very same force to prevent The Devil from ever encountering me again.

Heavy storm of shadows comes from every direction possible. The pressure in the air is so strong that it feels ten times heavier just to stand by a few seconds.

“Nukada bati prisutan ispred menelt opet! (Never be present in front of me again!)”

The ancient words that are uttered from my lips come out alive, circling the seal in making like a swiveling tornado. But since this is The Devil that I am up against, of course that is not enough. I have to use all of my powers to legalize the seal if I want it to work. I can feel a part of myself being sucked into the swirl as well as I use all of the energy I have in me to create this seal.

After a while, I can finally see the end of the center of the tornado, slowly but surely is getting ready. I can finally consider myself lucky when The Devil does nothing but just stand there while the seal is bestowing itself on him, preventing him from getting closer or even farther from me. Perhaps he is underestimating me, thinking that I am going to fail.

Surely enough, it took a group of elders to seal my powers away. But that only means that my true potential is hidden within my soul. I can still pull more energy out for this seal. The mellower this seal I am making is, the more I feel myself getting dizzier.

The center of the tornado is making a strong pull as well, like a black hole ready to suck the two of us and trap us inside of it. Nevertheless, I stand my ground and keep availing all the powers I can channel through my body.

It is hard, but I have to stay awake.

One last push, a wave of dizziness washes over my brain, making my body numb, before I can finish the seal.

The circle glows with darkness vertically in the air, floating in front of The Devil. All of ancient words have enriched it, surrounding the seal with power that is no match against the ordinary.

It is done.