Code of Shadows

Chapter 15: Time

The man in front of us had peppered dark brown hair. The silver interspersed with the brown was the only feature that showed his age. He moved with an athlete's grace and had defined muscles. For someone as old as him, he was in amazing shape.

He turned around the instant he heard Aala's voice.  

"Aasimah," he sighed with happy relief. "It-" he swallowed the lump in his throat.

"Yeah, it has been too long, but that doesn't matter right now. I found a fantasy. I am sorry that it took so long, we ran into some complications. The government discovered her before we did." Aala ran a hand through her hair. "This will be a much harder than last time. They are watching her constantly."

"What?" I asked incredulously. There was definitely something I was missing here.

Aala glanced back at me, but didn't bother to answer my question.

Aala's father's face turned serious and stony in an instant.  

I looked up at Aala, she was completely serious.

"Hey, Aala? What are you talking about? What don't I know? What do you mean the government found me first?" I had so many questions running through my head, what the hell was going on?

Aala looked back at me, she wore a guarded expression. "You have to trust me when I tell you this," Aala tugged at the edge of her shirt, smoothing out a few wrinkles. "The government is not what you think it is." I narrowed my eyes at Aala. "The current Prime Justice has twisted it enough to make them hunt Fantasies to power the Prime Justice's immortality stable."

My eyes widened. "Immortality?" I stammered.

Aala's Father grimaced. "The current Prime Justice has been alive for around 200 years." I gasped. He hadn't looked a day over 35 the last time I saw him. "He has been harvesting the powers of Fantasies to keep himself alive. Harvesting, however, requires him to slowly pull the magic out of the Fantasies body which results in a slow and painful death." He stated bleakly. "Thank goodness he has only been successful with one Fantasy." 

I took a moment to digest what he had said. This was completely absurd, but it totally made sense. The public never knew the name of the current Prime Justice nor did they often see pictures of him. When I had met with the Prime Justice, Jamison had said his name, but for the life of me I couldn't remember it, nor could I even think of one other Prime Justice's name. Everything added up to what they were telling me, but it was so-so out there.

"That is where we come in," Aala stated. "Both me and my father work for SUFIOP. It stands for secret undercover fantasy institution of protection. We are trying to protect the Fantasies from people like him and from turning into a Malacri." I choked. 

"Wait. Fantasies can be turned into Malacri?" I shuttered, pulling my arms around myself tighter.

"Yes," Aala admitted. "There are two ways of becoming a Malacri, forcefully stealing magic, or when a Fantasy lets their negative emotions take control of them. 

"I played along with the government's plan to sap your power, and even told you the lies they wanted me too. I hate that I had to do that. If I didn't, the government would have realized I was part of SUFIOP." Aala looked away from me. "Do you believe me?"

I stared at Aala for a few seconds before looking at Aala's father, then Ariana, who I had forgotten was there for a few minutes. From what I could tell, she was telling the truth, but I had thought she was telling the truth when she told me all the 'governments lies.' Why then did I feel like she was telling the truth?

Aala is telling the truth. I jumped in fright. I still wasn't use to Belle randomly deciding to comment when she felt like it. SUFIOP has been around for quite some time now, and Almosa has been deceiving people for quite some time now. 

Here, let me show you. Those words sent shivers down my spine.

I felt Belle something and as soon as she grabbed it, it felt like a dam had been broken in my head. I saw memory after memory of hers as she passed from host to host every generation. I felt her connection to each and every one of them as they passed. They were stronger than I could ever imagine as they made me stop breathing for a few seconds.

But it wasn't over, as soon as the happy memories finished I was flooded with guilt and sorrow as I watched Belle loose each and every one of them. I felt the pain of every death, every wound she had ever caused anyone. It flashed in front of my eyes so quickly I thought I was going to throw up.

Then it was all over. The images stopped, and I gasped as I finally was able to take in a full and deep breath. Belle had just shown me her life. Everything she had ever done. Her adventures, her bravery, her character, everything.

"Yes, I trust you, but I want to know what you lied about," I demanded.

"I will tell you later, but right now we need to focus on other things," Aala still wasn't looking at me.

"I don't care about those other things right now! They can wait until I know the truth!" I don't know where my anger came from, but it flooded my senses for several seconds before I was able to take control of it.  

Aala turned and looked at me, anger blazing in her eyes.

"Right now, you are in danger, and right now, I am trying to get you out of that danger. All you seem to want to do is get yourself in more trouble. Just sit down, be quiet and listen." Aala's words shocked me into silence and my anger faded quicker than it had come. She had never yelled at me before. It pulled my head back onto my shoulders after everything that had just happened.

Aala turned to her father. "The government has moved to stage two now, they are teaching her to use magic."

"Already?" he asked gravely.

Aala simply nodded. "She is mastering it quicker than most, and if she stays for much longer, stages 3, 4, and 5 will pass before our eyes, and we all know where that will end.

The old man kneaded his forehead, then pulled at a few strands of hair. He glanced at Aala, then back at me, then quickly flicked his eyes to Ariana. Then, all at once, he ran over to one of the numerous bookshelves around the room, and started grabbing books, scrolls, and random objects.

..................................

The old man's rush of movement only took a few minutes. In those minutes, he had set up what looked like a feast--of books. They were organized neatly into piles and scrolls were all pilled up together, he pulled four chairs around the table, then motioned for everyone to sit.

"Hello Cait. I am Papi Pudro. Allow me to take your hands," he reached over the piles of books, and held out his hands. I slowly pulled mine up to meet his. I frowned. How did he know my name? I don't think anyone had said it... Immediately, his eyes clouded and swirled into completely white orbs. I shrieked, and tried to pull my hands back, but Papi's grip was too strong for me to break.

I froze as I suddenly felt a massive mental force heading my way. I scrambled to pull up defenses against the rising tide, but it did no good. It was too strong, and the force crashed over my walls with little effort. I wanted to scream out, but my body wasn't responding to me. 

It is okay Cait, it is only me, Papi. I jumped at the words in my head. Take a deep breath and I will get out of your head as quickly as I can, he told me. The next thing Papi said was incomprehensible, but the effects were immediate. I felt my mind's control over myself completely slip. I couldn't do anything at all, not even say a word back to Papi. I wanted to scream, I wanted to get out of this. I wanted Papi out of my head. I wanted everything that had happened in the past few weeks to have never happened.