Cruelty, Malice, and Freedom

Chapter 20: Challenge

Floritta

I gingerly opened my eyes, blinking as my surroundings come into relative focus. I felt warm sheets around me; white shone everywhere. I winced as the bright light increased my headache. I needed some tea for that. Where was Gavin? Or any of the others? Why did I ache all over? Was it battle class yesterday? I still had a sense of imminent danger.

In a flash I remembered. The Chaos! That wolf! What happened? I must be with the Nymphs again. I groaned, remembering the fight. Ouch.

I had to find the others. Had they all survived?

A chill ran through me when I found myself alone in a room of four other beds. Then I looked up and relaxed as Janizza, with Belladonna, came through a doorway.

The room we were in was completely, dazzlingly white. There were two arched doorways, and holes (or windows) that led to other rooms. Sunlight filtered through a glass ceiling, turning white on the way down. White stone tables stood in two corners of the room, while one white shelf hung on the wall. The tables had some herbs, some bandages, and some bottles of medicines on them, as did the shelf. The shelf also contained a few books that were most likely about healing.

I was still groggy and realized that I hadn't been Healed of my Chaos cuts completely. Janizza sat down on my bed, a tired look in her eyes. She touched my hand while holding her pendant, and I felt my grogginess dissipate. I smiled in thanks, and she gave a wan smile back.

Suddenly I heard a growl, and looked up and saw…Gavin?

"Shut it, Rael," Belladonna snapped. Then I saw it.

"A wolf! What's it doing here? And why is it growling?" I asked, shrinking back from the silver creature. Then I sensed its power. I frowned in confusion, and switched to a type of vision that helped to see powers and spirits. I was surprised to see that while Belladonna, Janizza, and Gavin were now just shapes of color and light, the wolf had retained its shape. I couldn't help cringing from it, but still examined the creature.

There seemed to be a line of energy connecting the animal to…Belladonna? I switched to normal vision and stared, most of my fear forgotten.

"An animal made of Spiritual magic? Connected to you?" Realization dawned and I sat up with a start. "A Spirit Beast?"

Belladonna regarded me gravely for a few moments. She turned to Gavin and Janizza.

"How is it," began Belladonna, "that she can know about something that we've never heard of?"

Janizza grinned. The Beast, which had followed Gavin closer to the bed, whuffed in amusement. I was surprised I could sense the emotion. I smiled mischievously.

"It's all a part of my master plan," I joked. "Seriously though, how'd you get it?"

The wolf shook itself and turned its glowing red eyes on me. 'Excuse me; I do have a gender, thanks. I'm Rael. I came with the help of the portal in her armband.'

The voice, which held hints of a howl to my Spiritual hearing, was decidedly male. My eyes turned to Belladonna's silver wolf armband. The eyes were glowing red. Belladonna grinned.

"Okay," I said slowly. "So what's our master plan now? The Chaos still roams."

Belladonna regarded me with raised eyebrows. "Floritta! I'm impressed! I had expected you to scream your head off at the sight of him!"

I bristled defensively. "I know what he is, you know! Anyway, I like canines," I said, smiling.

Rael grunted in approval. 'That's the right kind of human.'

Belladonna snorted in disbelief. She was probably going to make some other snide comment when Seldani hovered in. Janizza gave her a welcoming smile. Seldani returned it with a tense half-smile.

"What's wrong?" Janizza asked in concern. I also wondered, but then I felt it: a dark shadow at the edge of my senses. I'm not skilled at all with my Natural powers, but I'm quite strong Spiritually.

"Chaos comes!" warned Seldani, her breathing growing heavier and more panicked. I, too, couldn't help it as my heart beat faster. Panic would set in soon, my body warned me. I took several calming breaths, and scowled blackly.

"No, Rael!" I yelled at the source of my anger. "That bed and the sheets are of very good quality!"

Belladonna snorted. Seldani looked on with sorrow as the welcome distraction ended up destroying what must have been some good bed material. I noticed that Janizza and Gavin were both trying to hide their own amused reactions. I sighed, disgruntled.

No one understands the value of such material things! …Okay, that was kind of hypocritical, but it's true! I thought to myself. I glared at Rael. "That wasn't funny," I admonished. He bared his teeth in what could have been a grin, but didn't otherwise reply.

"Now that we are all slightly more relaxed, perhaps we can broach again the subject of Chaos?" suggested Janizza.

"The Nymphs protect this place," I said immediately. It was true. The walls fairly buzzed with power. "It might hold against the Chaos for a time."

I saw Seldani shake her head. "We are neutral. We can not let you stay here while Chaos hungers after you."

"Well, you'd better be quick about kicking us out, because the Chaos is coming quickly!" Belladonna snapped. Janizza shook her head.

"We are still tired. We have only rested a few hours. We may not be able to face it again."

"It's too late," Gavin said, his eyes on something beyond the walls. "The Chaos has come already. We'll have to go fight."

Belladonna nodded. "I don't want to waste time and energy running away again," she said, her eyes hardening.

I squeezed my eyes tightly and considered. My father was dead. I'd never cared for him, but he was dead. With a jolt I realized that I had no one to look after me but Gavin, and he was just a former servant, close to my own age. No one would bother to take me in, and if I walked away now (though I wasn't quite sure I could), I would have nowhere to go. Maybe the Headmaster of the Island School would take me back, but that wasn’t going to last. I had nothing left in any place but here.

Opening my eyes, I nodded grimly. "If we're going die, then at least we're going die with glory."

Belladonna quirked an eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit melodramatic?" I was about to snap angrily at her, but she quickly held up her hands in a placating gesture. "I was only kidding! Jeez."

Janizza then added her own words. "I suppose this is it. Where our whole journey took us. We must hope that this won't be where it ends."

"I doubt it," considered Belladonna. "We'll have to go out there to face it." I rolled my eyes. Gavin sighed.

'Well then,' Rael barked, cutting in on our melancholy mood, 'why are we just standing here? Let's go get the Chaos!' He eagerly raced out, and we followed.

We followed Rael to a section of a wall that surrounded HavenTree. Dark blobs battered at the wall, but to no avail. The squirming blackness seemed to sense us; it formed a mouth and began to speak.

"LOWER NEUTRAL CREATURES! HOW DARE YOU PROTECT THEM FROM ME? YOU OVERSTEP YOUR BOUNDARIES!"

It was a terrible noise, and all creatures in the vicinity cried out in pain. The dark Chaos chuckled maliciously.

"It doesn't matter. I'll take what I want, to a place you can't follow."

It reached a dark tentacle over the wall, met with a barrier, somehow slipped through the barrier, and snaked the black tendril toward us. I let out a strangled scream of terror and ran away as fast as possible. Behind me I heard the pattering of other feet, accompanied by other screams and yells.

The black thing snaked first towards me, and I tried to summon some Order to destroy it. However, in my extreme terror I couldn't muster the clarity needed, and it wrapped itself around me. I struggled, but it was oblivious. And suddenly, the world went black. I blinked, but I hadn't fainted.

What…? Then an icy cold consumed me, and I couldn't even move. I had the hazy feeling that I was--was--I just was not. Not really like I didn't exist, but like I didn't exist in the normal sense anymore. Inside the cold darkness, I shivered. Inside, I felt nothing; saw nothing, I didn't even breathe. And yet, I still lived.

I was abruptly pulled out of this state of existence, and into a ghastly kind of place.

It was filled with gray and black spots/shadows everywhere. There was no real floor or ground, and I realized with a start of horror that I floated. However, there was a black haze below my reach that could have been solid. That was it. No other clear forms. Only spots, shadows, and haze existed. It seemed wet, but it was also dry. And the air around me shifted, becoming sometimes hot and sometimes cold. I shivered with terror. Suddenly I froze, noticing another figure approaching me.

Who could it be? What could it be? How--? Then I saw it was Gavin, and relaxed.

"Gavin!" I called in a hoarse whisper. I didn't know why I whispered, but it was instinctive, and I felt fear if I spoke too loudly.

"Floritta?" he whispered. He must have felt it too.

"Over here!" I created a light spirit to catch his attention. Once I did, I felt that I had caught something else's attention. Something around the both of us shifted, and we fell onto a black tiled floor. I heard other muffled groans, and was distinctly relieved to see that Janizza and Belladonna were also with us. Gingerly I got up, trying to ignore the bruises from the fall. Somehow I felt that this was the last of our transitions.

"Where are we?" I whispered fearfully. The four of us stood in a huge black room. Well, I thought it was huge, but it was so dark that it was hard to tell. And yet I could still see the others quite clearly. I let out a small scream as the same Chaos voice we'd heard at HavenTree boomed out through the walls of the room, echoing around us.

"Welcome, humans, to the Chaos Realm. I challenge you to individual battle."

"What does it mean? We're supposed to fight it together!" I cried softly.

Belladonna shook her head. "That's probably why it's doing this. It wants to separate us to win. And we are stronger together."

"What can we do?" wondered Janizza mournfully.

"That's easy," said Belladonna. "We accept."

"What!" Janizza and I both hissed in alarm.

"But what if we don't win?" I continued.

Belladonna scowled, but Gavin answered for her. "We're going to have to. We're weaker apart, but so is the Chaos."

I nodded. I'd already agreed to this. All I had to do now was calm my pounding heart and shivering nerves. I was both hot and cold at once, fearful yet resolute. And also, I was tired.

"So you accept. I still have a condition for these challenges. You will each have to wager something. Perhaps your life, imprisonment, that sort. And if you win, the part of me you faced will die or be imprisoned, depending on your own wager. Conversely, should you lose," and here we all shivered at the relish in the voice, "you will either be destroyed or imprisoned, whatever you wagered. Are we in agreement?"

"Yes," replied Belladonna with determination. I only nodded, afraid to trust my own voice to remain strong.

Two other 'yes's echoed belladonna's, though perhaps not as strongly voiced. I took a shuddering breath, and winced as a malicious chuckle flooded the room.

"Good."

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A/N: Advice is required for the next stage of this story. Please voice your opinions of who should win or lose, why, and how (the wager). Maybe I should kill someone...though that seems a bit too much for these guys to handle. There will be, after this chapter, another chapter, then an epilogue.