The Eye
Magus whirled around, trying to find a way out, but he was completely surrounded. Meanwhile, the cloaked figures were all lowering their hoods. He counted about a dozen of them, all men with long, black hair except for one, a woman with pure white hair and no eyes, just gaping sockets that seemed to lead on forever into darkness.
�Hello Janus,� the first man who had lowered his hood said again, a little louder as though he thought maybe Magus hadn�t heard.
�How did you know my name?� Magus asked, too surprised to even correct him that it wasn�t his name anymore.
The man nodded to the woman, who stepped over to stand beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder. �We have been sent to find you, to bring you to speak with our master. I am Raine and this is Lilith, we are the leaders of the London based society of vampires.� He indicated the other cloaked men. �You are to come with us.� He held out his hand.
�And if I refuse?� Magus asked, keeping his hands firmly at his sides.
Raine snapped his fingers and the vampires took a collective step forward, some baring their teeth. The woman smiled as though at a joke that only she understood, and even though she had no eyes, Magus had a sneaking suspicion that she could see him.
�Understood,� Magus said, shaking Raine�s hand. �Call me Magus.�
Raine seemed to consider this for a moment before nodding. �All right, Magus.� He turned around and gestured for the others to follow him. Cloaked figures drifted past Magus, some giving him strange looks and whispering something to each other in a foreign language. Magus shrugged and followed them.
Lilith drifted back to walk with him, the empty sockets where her eyes should have been fixing Magus with a stare that made him shiver involuntarily. �You are not of this world,� she said, in the tone of one stating the obvious.
�Yes,� Magus said hesitantly, �how did you know?�
�It is one of my gifts,� she said. �Surely you must wonder why I have no eyes.�
Magus nodded, then mentally kicked himself because she couldn�t see him. However she smiled as though she had, and continued.
�It is a price I paid,� she explained, �in order to receive the Eye. Most will never know what it is to have the Eye, because they are so preoccupied with what they see before their mortal eyes. The Eye allows one to see the unseen, to hear the unspoken word. I cannot see your face, but I know your mind�and your soul.�
Magus shuddered again and could almost feel her probing his mind, reading his thoughts. He couldn�t speak, feeling as though she would know what he was going to say before even he did.
�You are afraid, like so many others,� she said quietly, �yet you have no reason to be. I see the Eye in you, fighting to be free. It is an uncommon gift to be born with the Eye, to be able to see all, whether it be seen or unseen. Why do you run from it? Why do you deny who you are?�
�Because Janus is gone,� he growled, his patience wearing thin. �He�s dead, he doesn�t exist anymore.�
�No, you only tell yourself that,� she said, the smile vanishing from her face. �I cannot see why you run from your identity.�
Magus snapped and grabbed her arm. �Don�t you dare try to tell me who I am,� he hissed. In his anger, he was radiating energy and Lilith let out a whimper of pain, but when she looked up again, she was smiling.
�That�s it,� she whispered. �Use your anger, tap into the power. It is your birthright.�
Magus took a deep breath, prying his hand from her arm and trying to calm down. �I don�t know what you�re talking about.�
�Oh, but you do,� she said. �The Eye is not my only connection. I know of your sister from my master. He can help you.�
Magus was saved from answering as Raine stopped and turned around. �We will rest here for the day.� He indicated a series of large caves in the side of a steep cliff. �Two to a cave, be ready to set off again at sunset.� Lilith drifted forward and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and she came back to stand by Magus.
�We will take this cave,� she said, pointing to the nearest one. He knew there was no arguing, so he just followed her into the cave.
Magus had a feeling the vampires had stopped here before. The cave seemed to be just big enough for two people to sleep in comfortably without being too close together. Lilith went immediately to the left side of the cave and sat down on the ground, smoothing her robes out around her. Magus took the hint and went to sit on the other side. He could only just see her outline in the darkness.
�Get some sleep,� Lilith said, not making a move to lie down herself.
�What about you?� Magus asked suspiciously.
�I don�t sleep,� Lilith said, �and I can see that you don�t very often, but you need to. Your unconscious thoughts need an outlet, or you�ll never be able to use the Eye properly.�
�Then why don�t you have to sleep?� Magus asked.
�Because I have no unconscious thoughts,� she said. �I am at peace with who I am, and I have released all human emotions. I no longer have problems facing my past. But I can see that you do not trust me, so I will help you.� She put a hand to her chest, right below her throat, and began to chant very quickly.
�What language is that?� Magus asked.
�Romanian,� Lilith said and continued to chant. Magus had no idea what �Romanian� was, but it didn�t seem to matter. He could feel himself becoming very sleepy, his eyelids closing even as he fought to keep them open. He barely had time to realize that Lilith had done some sort of spell before he fell asleep.
He was back in the sea of nothingness, an alternate world where nothing is as it seems. Schala came to him faster this time, the expression on her face that of one who doesn�t have much time. Once again, she stopped about half a foot from him. She seized his arm, but this time her skin was searing instead of icy. She put his hand on her stomach and spoke urgently.
�His name, though once a joke, is that of fear,� she said, her eyes boring into Magus�, not allowing him to turn away. �He carries the seed of destruction, his heir will be the doom of us all. He needs only one more Eye to destroy the one who defies him, to clear the way for his heir.� She faded away and Magus awakened immediately.
�I know of what you dream,� Lilith�s voice said from across the cave, making him jump. �It is only a manifestation of your fears, you should not let it dictate your actions.�
Magus, however, wasn�t listening to her words, but instead was looking at her face, illuminated by a faint blue light shining from a pendent that hung around her neck. �Where did you get that necklace?� he demanded.
She closed a hand over it and glared at him through her empty sockets. �My master gave it to me when I received the Eye,� she said defensively. �He said it meant that I would be the one to carry his heir. Why?�
�That�s my sister�s pendent,� he said. �She had it her entire life, she swore she�d never part with it.�
�It must be a similar one,� Lilith hissed, though Magus could tell that she knew this wasn�t so. She turned her head toward the entrance of the cave and said a single word. �Sunset.�
Magus looked up just in time to see the sun disappear below the horizon. Before he could say another word, Lilith stood and left the cave, seeming to glide across the ground rather than walk. He sighed and followed.
The other vampires were also coming out of their caves, some stretching and yawning while others simply stood as though waiting for instruction. When Raine came out of his cave, all hints of conversation died down as all eyes turned to face him.
�We made good time yesterday,� he said, pulling his hood up over his face as he spoke. �If all goes well we should be within three miles of the location by sunrise.�
After he was finished speaking, Lilith went up and whispered something in his ear. He nodded and she came back to stand with Magus and they started off. All the while, Magus had a sneaking suspicion that she�d been talking to Raine about him, and that she was keeping an eye, or more precisely the Eye, on him.
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Author's note: Ooohh, creepy, isn't it? Short, I know, but creepy. This is great, a whole new cast of characters to play around with. By the way, the Eye is something I added in, it's not something from the Chrono Trigger video game. Oh, and before anyone asks, the name "Lilith" being similar to "Lily" is just a coincidence. If you're interested in the tranlations of the names of the vampires, Lilith means "of the night" and Raine means "wise ruler." I'll try to hurry with the next chapter.
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