Balance of Light

Schemes and Shades

   When Nyxium emerged in the rink five minutes later annoyed, but very much unharmed, Lithium was overjoyed. He couldn't put his happiness to see his friend okay to words, but it overpowered his fear of certain death.

   Because he hugged Nyxium. Yes, you read that right, he hugged Nyxium. Actually ran up to him and wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug, smiling.

   "You're alive!" Lithium practically squealed. Nyxium quickly pushed the grinning primordial off of him and looked away. For a second, it almost looked like Nyxium was blushing. But Lithium brushed that off as heat. Nyxium only felt emotion towards art, not any mortal matters.

    "I'm immortal. Like she could've done anything." He replied, standing stiffly as Karine walked over to a car that looked like it belonged to a football star in stepped in.

    "Knowing her, she burn every individual molecule in your body. She'd find a way if you made her mad enough."

"Stop overreacting, we have bigger problems."

"What was that about about?" Lithium asked. Nyxium raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"What we're you guys talking about back in there? I seriously doubt you two were discussing the weather over scones."

"It's nothing. What is something is Karine's plan. I need you to see what Richards father does while I-"

"Easy!" Lithium laughed, whipping out his smartphone. Within a few moments, he had everything they needed.  "Jonathan Drachma. He owns The Drachma Center. It- holy shit."

   "What is it?"

   "The Drachma Center is a company for manufacturing weapons." Lithium gasped. "We are in deep shit with Karine if she's married to the CEO."

   "Jonathan started it?"

   "It's a family business. Been running since the 1900s. So, a long time."

   "Nice heirloom."

   "Yeah. It's been passed down through generations." Lithium looked like someone was aiming a gun at his dog; filled with terror mixed with empathy and sadness. "Nyxium, from what Richards saying, it sounds like Karine is whispering to Jonathan."

Whispering was the term they used when discussing Karine's ability to whisper (hence the name) into people's mind and plant ideas in their heads.

"It's seems like that." Nyxium responded, thinking.

"If Karine's making business decisions for a person like that... The affects would be disastrous. This company is international, and if Karine wanted to, she could give the wrong people weapons. There's a lot of things she can do here. And almost all are catastrophic."

"I think that's why she married him." Nyxium sighed. "It's not like it was 'love at first sight'."

"Should I go update Fleur on this?"

"Nooo," Nyxium replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. "We leave her in the dark about a demoness with direct access to a weapons manufacturing company. Sounds like a great strategy to me."

"Okay, Mister Sarcasm, geez. I just asked a question. So I need to explain to Fleur that we're all screwed. Anything else?"

Nyxium leaned up against the wall and sighed, deep in thought. His mind was racing with possible strategies, and all of them had a common denominator.

"We need to make sure Karine doesn't make a move to get rid of Richard."

"Get rid of her?" Lithium sputtered. "You think Karine's going to kill a teenager?"