The Severaine

Chapter Twelve The Parasite Research-3

He stood simply watching her, enjoying the warmth of her presence, and noticing that within her aura small wisps of his own magic intermingled with her own, supporting her, lending her strength and they acted like a dressing to bridge the damage to her own essence. He felt himself unmistakably drawn towards her, yet he stood firm, happy to simply watch.

Zo felt herself startle as she noticed Seiken's reflection in the stream. She had been unaware of his approach, unaware of how long he had stood observing her. The cat had said she still possessed her Hectarian abilities, but having felt so little since her arrival she had started to doubt him. He moved as if to join her, her warm smile beckoning him closer when he seemed hesitant to approach.

“I'm glad you've woken. I'm sorry I was asleep.” He smiled gently. She felt the heat rise to her face and her cheeks flushed with colour as their eyes met and she recalled their final moments together. She turned away coyly, touching her lips as she grew a deeper shade of red.

“From what I hear, you have sat beside me for weeks.” It was his turn to blush now, but his embarrassment quickly passed. “I know what happened, the cat I met explained it all, but, I don't really understand.” Hoping Seiken had the answer she sought she looked to him desperately letting the question leave her lips. “How are they, how's Daniel?” Seiken looked away from her. This was not the first question he had expected her to ask. There was such concern and worry held within her blue eyes he knew he had no choice but to answer.

“Truthfully?” She nodded. “I haven't seen much of Acha and Eiji, but Daniel… it is as if he has been touched by The Maniae. He feigns his sanity well for those who do not yet realise it is an act. He is having problems distinguishing reality from fantasy. It's all too apparent when you see his dreams and it's becoming clearer now when he's awake. I'm uncertain he even knows where the boundary between the two lie anymore. I'm sure his friends will see it soon.”

“Can I see him?”

“No,” Seiken answered firmly.

“But you saw me,” she protested, recalling all the times Seiken had watched her from this world.

“You can't cross the boundaries, or even look through them, without first learning our secrets.” He looked to her sympathetically. “I will teach you, but until then—”

“Does it work on the same principal as my magic?” She forced all her strength into her hand as she waved it across the stream. For but a second she saw an image flash upon its surface. It vanished so quickly it had been impossible to tell what it may have been, if she had to guess, she would say it had looked like a mess of blankets.

Seiken stared at her in disbelief as she fought for breath. None of his race had ever succeeded in such a thing on their first attempt, even with the knowledge of their predecessor. Then again none had her already existing talent, or her potential.

“Yeah, I guess so,” he chuckled, unable to hide his amazement.

“Tiring though,” she panted, breathing against the familiar pain exertion seemed to cause. She felt the imaginary bands tighten around her restricting every breath. Seiken cracked open a piece of fruit from his pocket, encouraging her to eat its tiny segments. When the pain receded, she spoke again. “What is that stuff?” she whispered between laboured breaths.

“It's a pomberry, a fruit of this land. Come on, I will show you around our home, and when you are ready you can accompany me to the surface.” He extended his hand to help her to her feet. It was a few moments after she stood before he finally managed to release her. Since she was now one of them, it was meant to be less complicated to allow himself to feel what he had from the first time he had seen her. But even now he still found himself withholding so much, how could he not when something as simple as a single touch from her threatened to consume him, stirring feelings so deep he feared to embrace them would be to lose himself, or her.

* * *

Whilst Daniel and his friends travelled to his home in Crowley, Blackwood had plans of his own for the Severaine's power. He had already taken steps to ensure their attempts would meet with failure. In order for his plan to work the Severaine had to remain free.

“So are you going to explain why you requested us?” Elly demanded. She was losing her patience with him. They had already been in his 'throne room' for what seemed like hours in his company. The room itself possessed a raised area which housed his jewel and gold adorned throne. It was upon this he now sat, looking down upon them as they stood before him in a room that, other than the table, was seemingly empty. An hour had almost past, time that could never be reclaimed, and still he had failed to provide any insight into his apparently 'great plan'. A plan Elly knew she would no doubt have to rework in order to make it even plausible.

“Of course,” he stated. Another silence descended over them as he stared vacantly towards one of the many weavings on the wall behind them. Elly cleared her throat as if to remind him once more of their presence. “Oh… yes. I trust you are both familiar with the legend of the Spiritwest?” Marise shook her head and, as always when there was something she didn't understand, she turned to Elly for answers.

“The Spiritwest is a legend preceding the time of the ancients. The only evidence of this tale was located carved in stone. It was copied into the Tome of Imletrial and kept safe in Collateral to ensure its contents remained preserved.

“As you know there are but a few deities who remain from the birth of time. The Severaine is almost as old as they are. The first Gods summoned this force into existence to protect Gaea from Mankind. But as they started to draw on Gaea's energy, she began to lose her ability to control it, and so the Gods created the Spiritwest, a means to control this power.

“When the Severaine was sealed so too was the Spiritwest, however, when the Throne of Eternity was claimed by another the Severaine was released. Fearing the power that had been unleashed Gaea attempted to reclaim the Spiritwest, only to discover the sepulchre it had been sealed within could only be opened by a very specific key, one that could no longer be forged. As the land altered over the cycles, all evidence of its location was lost, along with the hope of retrieving it.” Elly looked to Blackwood, who smiled manically.

“Until now,” he announced, his grin somehow widening further. “The planet has shifted and changed for millions of years and now, now with the premature release of the Severaine, the location of the Spiritwest has once more been revealed.” He paused for effect, but Marise and Elly were unimpressed by his outburst. They stood watching him with impatient cynicism until he continued. “I plan to make it mine with the help of my special ones, and of course my guards.”

“Guards, you mean those things?” Marise scoffed. “Why take them when you have me?” The insult within her tone was clear. She had but one use in mind for the monstrosities he spoke of, and that was seeing how long they would fare against her blade. “You don't need them,” she snorted. “I am perfectly capable of handling anything thrown at us.”

“I do not doubt that, but my dear Marise.” He walked slowly down from his throne to place a hand around her shoulder. “You are not expendable, who knows what we will find, and who better to test our safety?”

“What of their free will, last I heard they still had that?” she questioned snidely.

“The parasite took care of everything,” he bragged as he puffed out his chest proudly. Marise shook her head, noticing as she did so that Elly was very carefully examining the material he had spread across his table.

“Then, won't your special ones be affected also.”

“The last gift from that flower boy Michael was an analysis of the chemicals in the earth and body. Thanks to him we now know exactly which inhibit them from waking and have even designed a compound to successfully suppress this for a set length of time, allowing us to temporarily wake them in those who take the potion.”

“You did all that by yourself?” Elly questioned in disbelief. “I am impressed.”

“Mostly.” He smiled, although by the word 'mostly' he actually meant the exact opposite. He had received tremendous help in the form of Michael's missing research and failed experiments.

Michael had been a great asset. If Marise's original persona had one purpose it was bringing him into his employ. He still thought of Michael as the flower boy, it was a name that, despite his achievements, he had never shaken.

Living in this locale, just past the circle of volcanoes known to most as Phoenix Landing, saw their environment practically barren, although there was greenery, Blackwood's mansion was the only place where flowers would grow. Michael would try to infiltrate his land and some steal flowers for his mother's grave. Then, the one night he finally succeeded, he found Blackwood's most precious flower, the one who would become Marise Shi.

They became best friends. Blackwood allowed this indiscretion, knowing he could use this boy to his advantage. He knew Zo would trade her happiness for his, and she did. The agreement was simple in the end, Zoella would cooperate with his wishes. She would never see Michael again and, in return, he would not only be allowed to live but permitted to work for Blackwood at The Courts, which had long been his dream.

When the tests had first begun, Michael's research had found a way to wake the parasite the inhabitants of this area required in order to live. He had been appalled at first at the thought of testing such things on any living creature, especially humans. But Blackwood had explained that these people had chosen to participate rather than face the long, slow, agonising death sentence The Courts were famous for. Those who survived this voluntary procedure would be given a full pardon for their crimes. Of course, what Michael did not realise was that the slow agonising death sentence, and this form of testing, were really one and the same.

The parasites would be inserted into the host and given a few days for recovery purposes. On the third day Michael would enter the padded cell and approach the bed where their patient was restrained, with the help of his colleagues they would administer the concoction. Initially the reactions had been violent. The patients would convulse and vomit until death met them. There was no opportunity to issue a single command as the reaction to the compound never allowed the parasite a chance to obey.

Michael had never been proud of what he had done but took some comfort in knowing the people he was sent were those from outside the Ring of Fire who had committed unthinkable acts of murder and destroyed families for their own sick pleasure. He thought perhaps this was the best way for them to redeem themselves. The suffering they faced at his hand would be a way to erase their sins.

He had hoped, as well as achieving Blackwood's desire, that by studying the parasites in both the land and the body he could unlock the earth's secrets and find a way to restore barren land to its former glory. Blackwood allowed him this side project, it served as a useful means to keep him focused.

As time passed, and the concoctions changed, the reactions became less severe until finally the host suffered but a few seconds of distress. At least that was what they thought. But as he watched his subjects over the next few hours, the damage they had done became apparent. The chemicals were still imperfect. They still caused as much pain as the one they first developed, but the addition of acacia rigidula, seemed to have the effect of stopping the body of the subject responding instantly to the pain. It merely delayed the reaction. As the parasite awoke, the host was in pure agony to the point where the host's brain became inflamed. Prolonged exposure, or increased dosage, saw massive internal bleeding as their organs began to rupture.

If the exposure time was minimal, when they awoke they had no recollection of the pain they felt, or of the time under the parasite's control. For this effect the dosage was in such a small amount the parasite would be awake for but one minute. This timescale was the only length possible to ensure the host would not die. But the damage was cumulative. For unknown reasons the parasite remained unaffected by this concoction, but as was the case with any symbiotic relationship, when the host died, so too did it. For this reason, he ensured that only old parasites, already close to death, were used in the experiments.

As soon as the results were realised the chemical experimentation stopped. But this was the point when he made an even bigger discovery. As he assisted with the insertion of a parasite, he noticed it had been slightly different in appearance to the others. It bore a subtle marking, barely noticeable, a fleck where the others remained uniform. It was this tiny freckle that made it different. Soon after discovering this, he began his successful study on sound waves. Realising there were two different parasites led him to new fields of investigations.

Just as his new experiments, based on the cry of the Hikoriti began to bear fruit, his colleagues began to vanish. Their bodies were recovered days later, clearly displaying the torture and mutilation they had been exposed to before being granted release. In each of these instances their parasite had been removed. In his panic Michael made a fatal mistake, he entrusted his research, including the failed chemical tests, to Blackwood.

Although Blackwood possessed the papers, he could not understand the complexities of Michael's work, but knew he had everything he needed. He found a form of persuasion that ensured Michael would cooperate with his demands, teach him what he had learnt. When he knew everything he desired, both Michael and his younger brother were dealt with accordingly.

“So when do we leave, now?” Marise questioned, bringing his thoughts back from Michael.

“No, we're not quite ready yet. Everything has to be just right,” Blackwood answered, unable to hide his pleasure at her eagerness. He had always known she would return to him.

“So what is your business with us?” Elly questioned, folding her arms. She knew this was leading to something, but how she wished he would conclude their business.

“Yes, well, the tome you brought me says I need a few items in order to access the sepulchre. The Star of Arshad, the Sceptre of the moon Goddess, oh and the Light of Lavender.”

“That is an enormous task.” Elly mused, unable to hide the slight smile at the thought of the awaiting adventure. “None of these items have place outside of legend.”

“Is it me or is there a pattern forming here?” Marise questioned with a sigh.

“An enormous task indeed, come now,” he said, clapping his hands as if to spur them along. “You're wasting time.” Elly and Marise stared at Blackwood in disbelief before exchanging unamused glances. The tension in the air became palpable with their annoyance, he shrunk away from the pressure giving an audible sigh as they left the room.

“So any ideas?” Marise questioned as Elly turned to look in the direction they had come from.

“A few. It is clear he wants us out of the way for a while. No doubt while he finds an alchemist with enough skills to mix the formulae on the paper he was attempting to hide. To this day he never has found one, I warned him about killing that boy, he was the only one left with the alchemical skill to craft it.”

“Michael's potion?” Marise questioned curiously.

“The one he used to wake the parasites. The fact the work ended in Blackwood's possession is no coincidence.”

“Why not just use their cries again?”

“They seem to have had some complications with that line of study.”