Chronicles of the West

Hey guys! Thanks for all the great reviews. Yes I am writing this as I go along, strange how once you start it kinda writes itself. I hope you like and will review.

Chapter Twenty One

Ippiku screwed up his little powder blue face, not entirely sure that this was a good idea. But between the risk of Toga and the beast, he supposed he'd take the beast. After all, he could hide from it, there was nowhere to hide from the irritated inu.

Focusing his energies he sent a stream of water into the lock, freezing it instantly. Carefully, Toga turned the fragile ice key. After a tense moment of indelicate scraping, the lock sprang and dropped to the ground. Before anyone could utter a word, the outline of a door took shape and fashioned itself in the thick bole of the tree.

Kurama raised an eyebrow at this but said nothing. Toga pushed the door open slowly, wary of traps or large hairy winged things that liked to fight. Ippiku poked his long nose over the shoulder guard of his armor. "Glutton for punishment" he griped, "That's what you are".

Toga ignored him and moved inside the chamber hidden within the tree. It was larger on the inside that it looked and they were all able to fit inside, the door swinging shut behind them. "Well I suppose that means we have to figure our way out of here" Shippo quipped.

"Ryu what was the next line of the riddle?" Kurama asked softly. Ryu was staring at a large seal fixed to the opposite wall. It had several raised characters carved around it and a face in the center. "The truth cannot be seen" he said, "That's the last of it".

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Alastair looked up from his desk as the door opened. "Victor" he greeted the newcomer, "How fares our lovely guest?". Victor eyed him carefully, "I wouldn't know. I haven't gone to see her". Alastair clucked his tongue, "You really should. It's only polite to get to know your victim after all". The other man looked away and left the room. Alastair pondered his companion's odd behavior but returned to his writing.

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Victor opened the door slowly, unsure of what to expect. He stood in the doorway for long minutes, staring at the sight before him. There was demon in this room, that much he knew. However the face that looked back at him was far from being frightening.

"May I come in?" he asked softly. Silvana eyed the newcomer with distrust, "I am the captive, what should I care?" she asked waspishly. He sighed and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. He studied her for several minutes more, taking in the snowy hair, the luminous skin, the depth of her eyes.

"You are quite extraordinary" he said at last. Silvana grunted, like she hadn’t heard that before. He tried again, "My name is Victor". She refused to look at him, though her senses told her where he was and what he was doing. "Are you hungry? I can have something brought for you".
"Just what is your game?" she demanded hotly, tired of mortal company. Victor was taken aback, "I know that you are unhappy here and if there was anyway to change that I would" he whispered. She sensed no lie in his scent, only sadness and the lingering fragrance of Alastair.

"You smell like him. His scent is on you…. in you" she whispered. He hung his head and sat beside her on the wide bed. "You get very close human, I could tear you to pieces". He lifted his eyes to her, warm brown like doe's eyes. "Somehow I think if that was your intention, you'd have done it by now" he told her, "Not that I wouldn't deserve it"

Silvana studied the human closely. "You do not seem cruel or power hungry. Why have I been brought here?" she asked. Victor's shoulders slumped, "Because you are as close to a god as we can get." he told her. She blinked, "I am not a god, I am a demon".

Victor smiled, a sad thing it was. "Not fully. You are but half demon, and half elemental. It is said that the powers of the elementals are needed to forge the link of power." Silvana shook her head, "I don't understand what you mean". The human shrugged, "It's simple really. The link of power cements the powers of an alchemist, allowing anything to be created. With your blood Alastair will create an army and rule the world…forever."

Silvana felt her blood run cold, "Alchemy? But how did you know I would be near?". Victor sighed, "We didn't. You were a lucky find. You see we have, for the longest time been trying to break the known laws. Because we couldn't capture one, we set out to create one. Alastair has the power to lead, while I have the power to transmute most successfully."

"You're mad" she said baldly. Victor shook his head, his long wine red hair cascading down his back. "I wish that I were, but no. I remain sane and Alastair, drunk on power slips deeper and deeper into that darkness. I cannot reach him any longer". Silvana looked at him closely, "Why have you stayed then? If he couldn't do it without you"

Victor met her gaze fully, "It's hard to walk away from the devil when you love him with your whole being". Silvana blinked. So that was the connection, confirmed for her. They were lovers. "He wasn't always this way" Victor told her, "He was a very different man then. Until the night he tried to create the elemental within himself"

"My most successful endeavor so far wouldn’t you agree?" Alastair's cold modulated voice rang from the doorway, "I see that you are quite cozy with the demoness Victor. I hope you don't get attached to her, you are the one who will take her life after all. Fusing her soul and her power to this amulet and then into my body". He held a small pendant aloft.

Victor looked at his lover and felt his heart break a little more. This was not his Alastair, this was more beast than man. The last effort stripping so much of his humanity away that Victor had been forced to repair his face and body with the flesh of others. It had been a horrific task, but he loved him and so he'd done it.

Alastair glanced at Silvana, "Your friends are close now. If you cried out, they might even hear you" he told her, "No matter. My menagerie of creations will greet them and tear them apart. Adding a few demons to the mix won't hurt when they are transmuted with my known animals. I'll have the perfect fighting force, lethal, loyal, immortal and inhuman".

Looking back to Victor, he smiled almost indulgently, "Come love, we have much to do in preparation". Silvana watched them leave her alone in the sealed room. She reached out with her youki trying to sense her companions, her own power echoing coldly back at her. Dropping to the bed, she fisted her hands in the sheets, "Oh Ryu, please be ok" she whispered.

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Ryu's ear flickered, his head snapping up. Kurama noticed the sharp motion and asked after it, "Ryu are you ok?". Ryu's ears swiveled around, "I thought I heard my name. Faintly but I thought I heard it". The others shared a look. "I heard something but I imagine it's the wind in the branches" Shippo said softly. Ryu nodded, "Yeah. Maybe".

"So how do we get out of here, because this tree, nice as it is, is creeping me out" Ippiku blurted out. "Quiet" Toga rumbled at him. They had been considering the next step for several hours now. Hours inside of a tree, useless when Silvana needed help.

"Truth cannot be seen, truth cannot be seen" Ryu muttered over and over again. Mentally searching for possible hints, other meanings, anything! Kurama sighed and leaned against the wall, "Cannot be seen" he shut his eyes feeling around with his youki. "What are you doing?" Shippo asked, when he felt the nudge of power. "Feeling" Kurama told him. Toga stood straighter, "Feeling!"

Ryu glanced over at him, "What are you doing?" he asked. Toga was kneeling before the carved face, his eyes closed. "It cannot be seen. Aislin cannot see, this is how she learns a face remember?" he pointed out. Shippo looked doubtful. "You got any better ideas?" Ippiku asked coolly.

Shippo shook his head as Toga's hands flitted over the face. "Hey look!" Ippiku exclaimed, "The face is glowing!". The others looked closely and sure enough the face was shining, carved stone eyes opened to stare at Toga. He ducked without a second to spare as dart flew from those eyes at his head.

The stone seal crumbled away and vanished, revealing a rough stone corridor. Ryu grinned, "Well now we are getting somewhere". Ippiku cradled his forehead in his hand, "We are so going to die" he moaned. Toga poked him inside his armor once more and pressed onward.

The scent of ozone was strong here and he was struggling to recall where he had caught that scent before. He knew it. He still couldn't place it however and that nagged at him almost as much as the need to retake Silvana from her captors. He refused to believe that she was anything other than alive and well. She had to be.

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Alastair looked over his 'lab' with a knowing eye. Everything was ready and all they needed to do was bring the demon here, latch her to the blooding table and start the transmutation. The process itself would take several hours and he expected she'd fight all she could to retain her power and her life. Too bad she'd be sealed when the time came.

He looked over at Victor, his completely human lover carefully inscribing the transmutation circles around the equipment. He loved his science. His holy, profane science. He believed that the world could be so much better through it's use. He was correct of course, for Alastair intended to fashion the world as he saw fit.

The time for monsters and demons was long since past. The only ones that would remain would belong to him and be under his complete control. When that time came, he would need someone strong at his side. Victor would never do. He was too soft, carrying emotion like a prize. Alastair had few uses for him anymore. His skill in the alchemic arts and the bedchamber summed it up nicely. Alastair would allow him to do this last thing for him and then he'd leave him behind.. maybe even alive.

Victor rose from the floor, wiping the chalk from his hands, "Finished. Now we just need to wait on the others to arrive." Alastair nodded, yes, he wanted the blood and bodies of her odd companions. They would be his first born soldiers. He smiled at Victor, "You have done so well" he whispered, pulling the thinner man closer to his body.

Victor let his eyes close as Alastair's lips closed over his own. He moaned softly and opened his mouth to his lover. Alastair growled against him and ravaged his mouth. Pulling back he stared into the face that at one time had meant the world to him, "Come, I have a need for you" he whispered hoarsely, pulling the other toward their chambers.

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Aislin woke hard, her heart pounding. She couldn't recall what had upset her so. She had cried out and the door opened to admit Kaisin. The fox having heard her cry from across the hall stormed into the room to keep her safe from harm.

The mortal girl jumped at the slam of the door and whimpered. "It's Kaisin my lady" he soothed, sitting on the bed beside her. She reached for him and he enfolded her in his warm embrace. He stroked her hair softly, "I was so afraid" she whispered. The fox rumbled faintly to her, calming her as Toga often had.

"Tell me about it" he commanded softly. She shook her head, "I don't remember, but it was very cold". He continued to hold her when two silent guards peered into the room. He met their eyes and shook his head, signaling that they were not needed.

"He isn't coming back is he?" she asked faintly, "They never do. I am a burden and too difficult to care for". Her hot tears leaked onto his shoulder and he pressed his cheek to the crown of her hair. "You must not say such things Aislin. Toga will come back for your, it is a matter of honor and there is none more honorable than the those of the western lands. You must have faith in him, for a little longer"

She sighed against him, "It's been months now hasn't it?" she asked him. He told her it had but remained firm that she was being unkind to assume the worst of Toga. She wanted to scream at the gentle fox for his surety. The hours away from her lord were painful to her, as though someone had carved out half of her heart and expected her to live that way. She had nothing to offer her lord, nothing. Only years of trouble because of her eyes.

He would never love her as she loved him. Despite his vague words and his searing kisses. She would always be his ward. His helpless, useless blind ward. Kaisin said nothing as she wept. If only the inu lord had confided in the woman, her fears would not be so great now. Not that he didn't understand the reasons, he did.