Holy War: Two Worlds and an In- Between

Chapter 44: Who Do You Think

"Who's Diana?" I asked trying to act as though it wasn't my name.

His whole demeanor seemed to change. His smile was no longer comforting and warm. Instead, it was sick and condescending. He seemed to be daring me to step out of place or say something to out myself.

"Let's dance," he suggested taking hold of my hand with one of his and placing the other on my waist.

I had barely held onto his shoulder before he swung me around the room. We moved quickly turning and twisting about almost aggressively. My heart was racing, and my palms were sweating as he smiled at me with that same sick smile.

"Who are you?" I whispered almost inaudibly as we spun past the stage for a second time.

He laughed lowly, "Wouldn't you like to know," he said in between chuckles.

"In fact, I do," I said quietly.

I didn't understand why he was making me dance. It seemed like such a strange thing to force someone to do. I would even try to pull my hand away to escape, but I couldn't even get an inch out of his hands.

As we spun, I would catch glimpses of Allioni and Jack standing on the stage. Most people gathered to stare at them. Allioni stood there emotionlessly as Jack swayed to the music. They both seemed out of tune with reality, but then again so did I.

Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that Allioni was up to something. I could never really tell with Allioni, but he would usually be indifferent, not emotionless. That night he was nothing short of an emotionless robot staring at nicely dressed humans.

"Diana, you can't help them," the guy muttered as we kept moving, "look at all of this mess."

I looked up at him with furrowed brows, "That's not true," I shook my head angrily and ground my teeth together.

"Do you not see this? Those boys will be executed in less than five minutes, and you're here dancing with me," he laughed.

"Well, maybe if you let me go I could help," I responded not knowing his angle. He seemed to know my intentions, but I couldn't be sure.

"No," he smiled shaking his head, "I think I'll keep you here. Even though I'm ninety-nine percent sure you can't stop me, I can't risk that one percent."

I sucked in a breath and continued to twirl. I glimpsed at the clock and saw that I only had four more minutes. Panic took over my body as I realized how much of a mess I was in.

"Listen, I don't think you understand what I'm doing here," I said in a hushed tone, "I don't think that you understand the situation that I'm in."

"Well, of course, I do," he responded as though I was ridiculous, "I put you in this situation."

I looked up at him with furrowed brows, "What do you mean?"

He sighed as though I was inconveniencing him, "Who do you think made you come through the wardrobe?" He asked with a smug look on his face "Who do you think set up the fighting festival? Who do you think made it so that Arlow would find the flier? Who do you think made sure that you got so close to the truth that you could feel it but never truly find it?"

"I'm guessing you," I shrugged trying to appear calm when I was really confused. He seemed to have transformed into a different person almost instantly.

"That's right, yet you still don't get it," he responded.

It was then that I noticed the bag still draped over my shoulder. I was sure that he hadn't noticed what was in it. I was sure that if I could get the prism to Allioni that he could do something. I just had to be freed.

"What don't I get?" I asked as we neared the stage.

"You'll never get it. At least not now," he sighed.

I began to focus on the timing of when I'd get the bag to Allioni, "Why did you do it?" I asked.

"Revenge," he whispered almost as though he weren't talking to me, "Ya know Diana, it was so easy to make those boys turn on themselves that I barely even tried," he chuckled a little.

"You're wrong," I whispered.

"Oh, really? I didn't even have to bring Arlow out of your precious Jack. All I had to do is give him a chance to show who he really is. You see, that's the thing. I happen to know for a fact that you see Jack and Arlow as two separate entities when in actuality they're the same person," he smiled as I continued to try and find an opening in his tight grip where I could escape.

I knew that I may have never gotten an answer, but I had to try again, "Who are you," I asked more strongly than before.

He laughed, "If there's one thing that I learned from my father its that there's power in withholding a name."

We wound up back in front of the stage, and I saw my opportunity to act. In one swift move, I let the bag fall off my shoulder to the hand I had on his shoulder. I quickly pelted the bag over to Allioni as I was pulled away in an instant.

Almost as soon as he had realized that I moved, he stopped turning me. His eyes blazed with confusion and concern as he stared angrily at me. He looked as though he was ready to actually fight me.

"What did you do?" He seethed. I couldn't answer before the king climbed aboard the stage.

"Oh no," I thought to myself, "I'm too late."

The king stood on stage with Sir Itachi beside him. The proud knight held a sword in his hand as Jack was placed in front of him. I couldn't help but notice the small smile creeping up on his face. I was sick to my stomach just looking at him.

"It doesn't matter anyway," the guy muttered with a small smile, "you're too late."

I rushed past the crowd as I heard the King announcing to us, "On this night justice is served for Spring and many others like her. On this night, we bring a murderer to his knees and show that we will not stand for it. On this night, we take a life for a life."

The crowd clapped as I rushed to get to the front of the crowd as Sir Itachi raised his sword into the air. He prepared to lower it in order to effectively destroy Jack for his alleged crimes. I couldn't see him as he was brought to his knees before all of those people.

"No!" I cried as I saw Itachi raise his blade then drop it to Jack's neck.