Sensing how impatient Rexikat was, I joked with her about having a hot date. It made me a bit nervous however...to see how uneasy her response was. It only told me for certain...that she was indeed expecting a visitor. However, as she shoved me off...I decided not to openly pry on this matter. Perhaps I would look into it...secretly.
We headed back to Castle Oblivion...and I debated as to whether I should report to the Leader myself...or wait for Triskix to return.
I really hate that guy...I thought seriously. "Triskix it is." I consented, out loud.
"Triskix?" Rexikat queried. "What about him?"
"Oh, nothing..." I smiled...I hated when I spoke openly by mistake. It made everyone think I was off in the head.... "Well then, thanks for all your hard work guys. No need to worry about the report. I'll deliver it personally. So I guess...you're all free to do as you wish. Get some rest."
The group dispersed...Rexikat giving me one last questionable glance before she departed. I was sure she suspected I knew the secret she was obviously hiding. I merely smiled at her...with the best unreadable poker face I had in me. There'd be no way she could see through it. For I had absolute control over my expressions. I could appear kind one moment...then turn cold as ice the next.
I went into the castle's kitchen and raided the refrigerator. Grabbing something to drink, I portaled to an abandoned balcony, high up on the South Tower. I set my meal down on the table there, and took a seat. Slowly, I glanced up at the ruined heart of a moon. It was always night here...and that moon...was always glaring down at me. As if pricking me constantly with the same reminder of the past...
"Where is MY heart...." I heard echo around me...Closing my eyes...I clenched my fists.
This wasn't good...the more the past started to seep into me...the farther back I began to remember. And now...my memories stung with the familiar name of "Ari." All thanks to Triskix once again bringing that name to the forefront of my mind. How I hated her now...though to be honest...it had not always been so. At one time, I pitied her...and even avenged her. My mind drifted back to her hard times....
Ari was born into poverty. Her family didn't have much...yet she was born with several brothers and sisters. She was the youngest child. In the pit of poverty...during their very worst time...Ari's parents sold her off into slavery. She was only 3 years old. That is when her Hell began. She was branded and whipped...and chained. Every night, she slept with shackles binding her hands and legs. No matter how she cried...none ever came to save her. For Two full years she endured the torture. Yet her tiny body couldn't take the strain. In her pit of sorrow...she cried out to the darkness...and this time...there WAS an answer. I Answered...
We became separate entities...and I freed her of her bonds. I killed them all...all who had bound her in slavery and suffering. And then I left that place...never to see Ari again. I appeared in the Dark City...one devoid of all signs of life and light...a place suitable for a lost child such as I. And bathed in blood as I was that night...I rested in the streets...ready to become one with the shadows...
And then...he appeared...A man bathed in light, at least before my eyes he was. He came to me, bringing with him the sweet scent of roses. That's all I remember...next I woke...I was within the Castle walls. Safe and warm...resting in a bed...in a place I would call home. For quite some time...
My fork clanged to the stone floor...snapping me back into reality. I growled and grabbed my head. Sometimes it felt like such a burden...all the memories replaying over and over. Yet...these memories determined my reactions...and helped to form my personality. Didn't they? Picking my fork up...I cleaned it off. But instead of eating...I set it down. Suddenly I wasn't very hungry.
I stared off in thought once more. On a different matter entirely. I would once again put that out of my head again...hopefully for a long while. Just remembering the torture Ari went through bound in those chains...made me angrier when I thought of the chains now binding Triskix and Verex. No...now my mind turned to Rexikat. She'd been deliberating something very seriously. She hadn't been like that when last we spoke. Right before....THE ATTACK!!
My finger went up to my lips reflexively as I began to think. What would take such deliberation?? Had she known her opponent as I did? Did he offer her information...or some sort of item?? A past score to settle??It could be any of these things. I didn't have enough information. Still...it worried me for some reason.
"I'll speak with Triskix. Perhaps our 'Leader' has divulged something of use...or maybe this mission he'd departed on himself had found something more than I had." I spoke out loud. "Either way...I have to report to him. He better hurry up and get back here."
Yet this brought me back to him. The Leader hadn't said a word about Verex...nothing. Triskix had protected my secret after all... I knew he had. That stubbornness within him was fighting his collar. I smiled...
"One day Triskix...one day you'll be free again..." I mumbled, now gleaming up at that horrid moon.
~RaXi
