Wings and flames

Chapter 56

Viri : You can talk Aeck.

Aeck and Viri had left the house a little while ago. Viri didn't want to spend any time in the sick dungeon and Aeck wasn't fan of the place either. They'd walked without any conversation for a while, Aeck had all kind of thoughts floating in his mind.

Aeck : I'm just...I have so many questions

Viri : Ask

Aeck tried to frame questions as politely as possible.

Aeck : Why this village?

Viri : My mother was from here.

Aeck : Did you visit the shrine as a child?

Viri : Yes. He'd made me go the shrine and get the gemstone for him. I didn't remember the way to it though, until recently.

Aeck : How did he...how did he control you?

Viri looked back at him at that. Aeck tried to find any trace of emotion in her eyes....none.

Viri : The same way they control you.

Aeck : I imagine it's different for you, you're the strongest of the gods.

Viri : Well. The gemstones, as you know, can only be taken by the gods from the shrine. Once I gave it to my father, I couldn't use my powers on him. I couldn't scare him, not even a little. So he faced a child, whenever he'd come looking for answers - he'd be dealing with a harmless child.

Aeck : They work the same then.

Viri : Yes.

Aeck : How did he die?

Viri : I killed him.

Aeck ( the most important question) : How?

Viri didn't look at Aeck. She didn't speak for a while either. From the look in her eyes, it seemed like she was reliving the moment and there was no hurt. Her eyes lit up, and the smile that came would have made Aeck draw his sword. She smile was pure evil, someone who knew what they'd done and had been extremely proud of it.

Her face changed and for the first time since meeting her, Aeck saw the God of Fear.
With a face that wouldn't let you look anywhere else and with eyes that could carry you gently in and out of your personal nightmares while that smile guarded your soul in place for the show. Aeck's heart may have gone weak at the sight of it but he knew freedom. He knew how important that was and how one could turn into anything for even just a little but of it. Maybe it was because he knew pain too.

He didn't know what happened but when Viri looked at him, he couldn't take his eyes off.

Viri : I can show you.

They were standing on an empty street. It was evening and you could hear the distant noise from the merchants meeting happening at the centre of the village. A little bit of a walk from here. Viri had decided to show Aeck how she escaped. It felt overwhelmingly intimate but he wanted it, he wanted to know.

Aeck closed his eyes hinting his submission. Viri started to show him. It started as short clips. They didn't make sense at first... until it did.

Viridian...or rather the younger version of her was sitting on the chair. She was in pain. Aeck felt it even in memories. He winced lightly. There were broken ribs, a pelvic fracture that had gone unnoticed and her left leg was sore, from what, Aeck didn't want to know. She was sitting on the chair. Unable to get up.

Her eyes, those perfect green eyes that Aeck had grown so used to now lifted up. She could hear footsteps, arrogant footsteps dancing over her head.

And then as more clips came in, Aeck realised what she was trying to show him. Her father would keep the jade stone hanging around his neck. At all times. Never taking a risk. Little did he know.

Viri kept following her father's presence across the village. She had never been allowed to step out, so she learned the place and the people through him. She couldn't use her power on him, but she could use it on everyone around. Her range...was limitless. Aeck opened his eyes in shock.

Viri had been gently caressing his fingers to keep him from slipping away. While Aeck desperately wanted to feel it, his hands had gone very cold...he was feeling too many things at once.

Viri : That's the thing about the gemstones... They think they're the ones using it.

(She let out a laugh, something about it drew Aeck in, he didn't want to ponder why, he closed his eyes again)

Viri did this for two years. She hadn't planned like a child. No child plans for death or revenge like that. She'd thought as the ancient god she was.

During the time, she'd learned of her father's closest circle, she'd watched him interact with General black once in a while, his old friends he shared a drink with, the two women he'd share his bed with and ofcourse, the one man he'd travel hours to meet and make love to.

Viri's voice cut through "That one took longer...he'd kept him far away from me."

Aeck (didn't open his eyes) : The man he loved?

Viri only smiled in return. But Aeck didn't have to open his eyes to see it, he felt it, around him, a cold blanket of satisfaction, threatening to choke him.

The vision continued. Her father, two weeks after he'd hit her with spikes yelling "Where are the others? Find them now." Aeck's fingers slowly closed over Viri's at the sight of her trembling younger self. He felt rage like he'd never felt before. It was... relatable but so much worse.

And then, on a perfectly ordinary day, Viri's father witnessed his nightmare wake up slowly. He'd only returned after a drink from the inn, a small laugh still dancing on his lips when he heard the footsteps. Five people, walked towards them. He squinted to look at them. And then he watched the numbers grow. Ten, twenty, fifty...the people of the village came towards him. He tried to close the door but they pushed through. He'd started to sweat, he had no idea what was happening and that's when he made his first mistake.

Viridian knew, children were smart that way. Her father knew he wasn't right. He knew what he subjected her to, was wrong. Deep down, he knew. But it didn't terrify him, morality meant nothing in the face of power. Until the people believed him to be good, that's all he'd need to get by.

The second he recognized the scorn in his cloest friend's eye, the one that had always looked at him with admiration and pride, he slipped. And the thing about fear is, it crawls up on you. And she did. He opened the door to the basement with shaking hands. His body had turned cold, as it does, in preparation of death.

Viri watched her father walk down to her chair with a new look in his eyes. He'd never been scared. He had no reason to. He'd been in power, in this equation. He'd been scared this one time someone had stolen his wallet but the timing hadn't been right then but it's when she'd learned the loophole. Today the gemstone hung on his neck as he pulled the chains off her.

Aeck voice came out roughly.

"The gemstone didn't let you scare him. But once he felt fear on his own, it rendered useless?"

Viri's spoke with a smile on her face.

"The gemstone recognizes it's master. It simply... gave in."