Mending a Shattered Heart
Inside of the castle with no name, everything had become utterly quiet; devoid of laughter, empty of happiness, and nothing but a heavy, oppressive veil of saturnine remained over even the tallest spires of the castle. The halls were filled with dust and darkness for no torch had been lit since Raenef had left. Dust had gathered on the shoulders of statues while cobwebs had crept into the empty core of the suits of armor. All of the rooms were filled with an oppressive dreariness, especially Raenef's room which was filled with cobwebs. A few mice had taken up residence inside the practically dead castle, but besides them, little else had survived the lack of Raenef's presence.
The courtyard flowers had withered and the trees reached to the sky with bare fingers. The pond, which was in the very middle of the courtyard, had become a green swamp devoid of the fishes that had once floated through its clear waters. A few birds lurked longingly on the bare branches in hopes that some life would take hold of the trees, but their waiting was in vain.
The demon Eclipse walked through one of the northeast corridors with a couple books tucked under his arm. His deep black eyes were dull onyx stones in need of a bad polish job; they lacked the luster that had crept inside of their depths when they had fallen on Master Raenef, the silly, ditzy blonde haired boy who had brought so much life and fulfillment to the castle. Even Eclipse bore the signs of death, his skin paler then ever and his face never once shifting with a new expression.
The demon's gaze was focused on the floor beneath him; he watched his robe flutter as he took another long step forward. His black bangs hung over his pale forehead. The journey he was making through the northeast wing had become somewhat of a daily routine as he reread through the library volumes to pass time. He had no purpose staying there, but he had little else to go back to. No home, no master, nothing and he refused to try to take up residence with Krayon. Eclipse, as stubborn as he was, was sure that if Master Raenef was destined to be a demon lord -and if he wanted to be one as well-, he'd return to the castle on his own accord.
As Eclipse slipped into the library, he sensed another being there. Lifting his dull gaze, he found the Lord of the Egae sitting at one of the tables in the middle of the library. The dark haired demon couldn't help but frown ever so faintly as he noticed that had been the place Raenef had so often day dreamed as Eclipse had tried so hard to drill lesson after lesson into the ditzy demon's head. After a week of his master's absence, Eclipse was beginning to miss the pesky little boy's presence, yet he couldn't bring himself to admit that he had been wrong. He was stuck firmly with the thought that if Master Raenef truly was supposed to be a demon lord, he would come back on his own.
"What do you want, Krayon?" Eclipse inquired frostily as he began putting his books back into their appropriate places.
The Lord of the Egae chuckled as he leaned forward, his chin resting on his elbow, "I would think it was obvious, Eclipse."
Looking back over his shoulder, Eclipse glared at Krayon from the corner of his eye, "Really, Krayon? If you've come to ask me to be your servant, I must... regretfully... decline."
With amusement, the other demon raised his eyebrows, "It seems you are... how should I put it? Unemployed. Where has your precious master run off to, Eclipse?" he mused to himself as he looked up at the ceiling, "Oh, yes," he said before meeting Eclipse's stoic gaze, "If I heard correctly from the seer woman, he ran back off to his thief guild."
"I am not interested in your offer, Krayon," Eclipse, ignoring the last comment, replied coolly as he walked over to a different section of the bookcase and browsed through the books. He ran a long, glassy fingernail over the titles of the books until he found one that interested him. Pulling it out of the shelf, the demon walked over to the table where Krayon had seated himself and sat across from the demon lord. Casually, Eclipse flipped the book open and began to read through it as though Krayon wasn't sitting across from him.
Twitching with annoyance, Krayon shifted positions by folding his right leg over the left as he waited to be noticed. Eclipse lifted his gaze slowly and stared coolly at the demon lord. Shutting the book, Eclipse inquired, "Are you in need of something, Krayon?"
"Eclipse, come now," Krayon said while trying to keep his voice nonchalant, "Raenef is never coming back."
Eclipse's pupils narrowed sharply, "And how would you know?"
"I know one thing. He's in love, and it's not with you," Krayon stated simply. "He is happy where he is. He doesn't want to come back."
"Liar. Master Raenef will come back when he is ready to become a demon lord," Eclipse said despite the fact that he knew that Krayon was probably not pulling his strings.
"You think so? Maybe you should go see for yourself," Krayon said before simply whispering 'Go'. The demon vanished and there was nothing but a faint presence left in the chair across from Eclipse.
Eclipse stared at the spot where the Lord of the Egae had been sitting and silently cursed the golden haired demon. However, regardless of what had just been said, Eclipse opened up the book which he had been reading. No matter how he tried, however, he couldn't keep himself focused on the book. His focus kept getting blurry and his thoughts were beginning to wander onto Raenef.
Why do I care about you so much, Master Raenef? Even though you angered me to the point of no return that day, I want you back. Nothing is the same. Eclipse thought as he leaned back into his chair and stared at the blue sky through the window. No, if you really want to be a demon lord, you'll come back. You will come back... eventually.
"Eclipse!" Erutis yelled. Eclipse tensed as he looked for the source of Erutis' voice. She had been nothing but a nag and an annoying nuisance ever since Raenef had left. Minute after minute, hour after hour, and day after day, she had pestered him about going to get Raenef. No matter what she saw or what had been said, Erutis would bring up Raenef and nudge into Eclipse's side with her elbow. If he hadn't been thinking about Raenef, he would have set her on fire.
Chris, on the other hand, had been completely out of sight. Perhaps the high cleric was still ticked off about him not going after Raenef, or he didn't want to be set on fire. Whatever the reason, the only time Eclipse saw him was during dinner, and even then, the high cleric didn't stay long nor did he say anything much. As he said, he was "too busy studying". With that said, he would swallow the last of his meal before hurrying back to his room.
"What do you want, mortal?" Eclipse scowled as she popped up from underneath a table and hurried over to him.
"We have to go get Raenef! Now!" Erutis whispered, her hand reaching out and grabbing his.
They both looked at the contact that had been made before they both jerked away. Erutis wiped her hand on her pants. Eclipse watched her lazily as he closed his book and pushed it away.
"And why is that, sword master?" he asked calmly.
Her face seemed to redden with frustration as she said, "Because we can't just let Raenef stay there! We have to bring him home!"
"As I said, if Raenef wants to be a demon..." Erutis interrupted him, "He doesn't want to be a demon lord! Don't you get it Eclipse? Can't you see why he really wants to be here?"
Eclipse, who was, of course, blind to all of Raenef's admiring glances and flushed cheeked smiles, arched his eyebrow at her. She squealed before shouting, "He loved you! And you hurt him! Of course he doesn't want to come back, you tin head! If he's found someone else, then why would he even think about coming back?"
"Master Raenef does not love me, woman," Eclipse corrected. "He is a boy and-"
Erutis' shocked face stopped the demon in mid-sentence. Their gazes locked for several minutes before she whispered, her tone dead serious for the first time, "Look, Eclipse, if you want to lose him forever, fine, but I don't. And Chris doesn't either. He may be the village idiot, but he cares about Raenef. If you don't want to go, fine, but we are. And..." she trailed off before giving a heavy sigh. "I hate to give you the bad news, but Chris won't talk to you. We won't come back... if Raenef doesn't come back."
Eclipse, in all his demon arrogance and detachment, rose and walked away. Stopping at the library doors, he looked back at her and said, "Then... go."
Erutis stared, dumbstruck, at the closed doors before running her fingers through her hair. Shaking her head, she rose and, walking over to the last table in the row, kicked underneath it.
"OW," Chris whined as he rubbed his rump. "You know, I didn't appreciate being called the village idiot, you shapeless woman you."
Growling, she kicked him again, "Don't start with me, Chris! Or I'll tell everyone your secret fetish."
The high cleric jumped up and slapped his hand over her mouth. As she gave him a smug look, he glared at her before submitting, "Okay, okay. So... I guess we're going alone, eh? After that ditz head? Are you sure he's even alive?"
Erutis shrugged and sighed, "I never thought Eclipse could be so hard set in his place. I thought... he cared about Raenef. He was always so protective of him before."
Chris looked at the closed library doors as he fell into thought. Rubbing the back of his head, the high cleric tried to explain as best as he could, "I guess... Eclipse won't admit how much he cares about Raenef. As Raenef's servant, Eclipse is just supposed to be a protector, he's not supposed to care. A demon lord doesn't need someone looking over his shoulder all the time to make sure he didn't give himself a boo-boo."
"Geez, when did you get so smart? Just a few minutes ago..." Chris lunged at Erutis before she could finish her sentence. The sword master easily dodged him and, sticking her foot out, sent him tumbling across the floor and into the bookcase. The high cleric groaned before trying to get up. However, an avalanche of books fell on top of him and pinned him down to the tiled floor. A few, barely audible mumbles escaped the pile of books as the Chris fought to get out of them.
Erutis, giggling uncontrollably, walked over to the mumbling pile of books and helped Chris out. If he hadn't been so dizzy, the high cleric would have "shown her a thing or two", or so he said.
"C'mon, we gotta get going! It'll take about a whole day to get there on foot!" Erutis said, tugging at Chris' arm. The super genius merely mumbled a few inaudible words as he followed her out of the library and down the closest flight of stairs.
***
Eclipse, with his arms folded firmly over his chest, watched as Erutis and Chris walked through the courtyard. Their loud voices were carried on the wind which swept up towards the open window where Eclipse was standing. The breeze played with his long, black bangs before carefully letting them fall over his dark eyes, which flickered with faint emotion. He bowed his head and sighed heavily for his heart was heavy with doubt, though he would never admit it if he had been questioned about his emotions.
Running his long fingers through his hair, he clenched his teeth slightly as he fought inside of himself. Closing his eyes, he thought silently, Master Raenef... how could you possibly love me? Erutis doesn't know what she's talking about. You could never love me. You're not supposed to love me; I am only your servant. I want to go after you, but... would you be angry to see me? After all I've said and done. You saw me at my worst. I know you can't be a demon lord. I promise not to make you try and be one anymore... Master Raenef, Eclipse promised himself.
Lifting his head, he watched as Erutis and Chris vanished over one of the many hills which were between the castle with no name and Aderu. Their silhouettes stood out on the horizon for a brief moment before they vanished and were lost in the darkness of the night. Eclipse stared out into the darkness from the spire he stood in as night blanketed the castle. For the rest of the night, he did not move for he was lost in his internal battle.
Part four |
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