Ruin Maketh Me

24 - He Remembers (III)

Ralphus

The sweet, honeyed voice of Lily Zweo haunts the air.
     "Lily wants to talk to you."
The boy's facial muscles tense immediately, but he takes another step up the stares towards. Ralphus's eyes move from the small girl to the boy, they're acquainted but how? Although the boy is indeed impressive, but Lily Zweo is another thing, she's a weapon, famous even in Mal.
"Lily can tell you lots of things," the girl stares up at Cynder Delphus, blank eyes suddenly gleaming, "Lily can tell you mor about your Uhyls."
The boy's feet stick to the floor, eyes spasming as if the girl just hit him straight in the heart with an arrow. Ralphus inclines forwards, Uhyls? Can there be something or someone so important they're like the ever present sun and moon? He doesn't believe it, but even Julius seems to lean ever so slightly forward in his seat.
"Fallen Luchus, don't worry too much," Lily Zweo rises to her tiptoes, almost touching the boy, "it'll take a few months time yet."
The youth's face is rigid, a mask of something mixed with rage, but this time it's a different a expression to the one he had yesterday. There's a hint of familiar restraint in it. The fervour boiling in Ralphus cools, is that how he looks everytime the Kades crawl up upon him? The boy lowers his head to the floor, and a faint vibration passes through the air. Ralphus's eyes sift through the room, where is that sound coming from? Cynder Delphus steps up onto another step, and the girl follows his trail like dog waiting for reward.
"Uhyls knows that Uhyls is dying."
Upon the girl's words, that persistent sound grows louder and louder still. Zus shifts in his seat restlessly, and Lutra's hands tighten a fraction around the armrest. Interesting... Ralphus's fingers tap against his thigh, the vibrations are rhythmic and increasing in frequency. The lucid curl of energy from the indigo haired woman is also becoming brighter and brighter, and Lionel has his hand by his hip, the faint outline of a sword hilt half in and out of his Space. Ralphus's brows press downwards, even the humans can hear it, so where?
The boy presses on, and Ralphus's gaze travel across the stone hard face, can he not hear it?
"So strange," The girl whispers, putting a small finger to her lip, "Uhyls went to visit you yesterday."
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Ralphus almost doesn't register the girl's words, but if it was yesterday... Is this 'Uhyls' the reason the boy was so agitated yesterday? The non-stop, growing thump penetrates his mind and jumbles his thoughts like a tangled coil of wire. Just where is this sound coming from?
Thump, THump, THUmp, THUMp, THUMP, constant, strong, like a war drum beating, like a heart... His eyes widen and wander to the boy. Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump— it is a heartbeat. It's that boy's heartbeat.
The boy head dips even lower, all energy emanating from him disappears into a null like he's fallen into a void, then he turns to the girl. Her eyes widen until her pupils are surrounded from all sides by white, and the stench of fear rolls off her in rising waves. Marselle Delclard's magic spikes like a spear head, but from the boy's feet unravels a strange shadow. Shivers jerk up Ralphus's spine. The dark thing twists into a form with gangly limbs, flows towards Marselle and leers. Though he's never seen a mouthless shadow sneer before, that's what it did, and only one thought flows into mind: dangerous.
     The tendrils of indigo magic flatten and draw back into Marselle.
     "Lily, come here." The woman's voice rings through the vacuum of silence.
Her voice is stable and composed like the lull of the tide, but Ralphus saw enough from the fluctuation of her energy that it was all a farce.
Lily Zweo's limb sieze up and after a wide eyed stare at the Thing, she sprints down the stairs into the arms of the woman. The boy remains still and absolutely silent where he is, and the shadow drags a struggling, slick patch of darkness that reeks of fear up to his feet. He seems to acknowledge it for a second, and then both the shadow and the fear disappear as if they had never existed in the first place.
A shudder passes through Ralphus, what is he? A human? He was absolutely sure that the boy's a human, but now uncertainty rocks his mind. The boy smells and looks like a human and even when that Thing appeared, he did not detect any strong magic undulations. But. But that shadow, it's like the darkness chained in his chest and in Julius, and in Zus, and in Lutra, and in Set, and in all demons.
Yet the boy could not be a demon.
The boy steps onto their level, and his strong scent wafts into Ralphus's nose: fresh dew, clouds, sweat but none of that smoke filled sharpness unique to demons.
He bows, "Master Kade."
"Cynder," Julius's voice is full and soft with pleasant surprise, as if the person before him has surpassed his every expectation. Had he not known?
"Do take a seat by Sir Ralphus."
The warmth, the scent, the fire in his eyes, now this shadow, a loosening takes over Ralphus. What in all Mal was he thinking? How can he let a human boy control his feelings like the passing of night and day. What is the purpose of calling him here?
"What are you doing here?" His voice comes out interrogative and strained, and Ralphus winces inwardly.
Something too quick to catch flashes over the boy's face, "Master Kade ordered me to be here."
A sense of exasperation passes over Ralphus, of course, what else is he expecting anyway?
     "So who's this Uhyls, cleaner?" Lutra probes.
     "My previous master." The boy's silvery voice says lightly.
     What? A jolt shoots through Ralphus's heart, another master? The boy is only sixteen or seventeen at most.
     But that would explain his maturity, a small part of him whispers.
"Who?" His voice rings in his ears.
The others turn towards him with a sort of incredulity written on their face. Ralphus's throat dries, he's done it again, all because of this boy.
     The boy gives an easy shrug, "What does it matter?"
     "What does it matter?" Lutra laughs, "The girl said he went to visit you didn't she? Does he go to the Academy as well? Hmmm? Your body's quite rigid today, did you have wild sex all night long?"
     Ralphus finds his eyes turning towards his side unconsciously again. Lutra's sloppy tongue, thick, pulsing thing and pain tingles through his body. Sex? He had not thought about it like that, and simple logic told him that it was more than very unlikely. But he cannot, somehow, unsee it.
     "Lutra." Julius calls as light as a feather, turning in his seat towards the boy.
In the corner of Ralphus's eye, he's sees their eyes meet, and a vivid spark passes between them. It's as if they have something in common that no one else has. Something that eludes him.
"I heard the Inquisition passed its judgement on you," Julius continues, "There's some sort of punishment involved. Who's administering it?"
      Ralphus clutches his knee, he has to be rational about things concerning this boy, this stranger, because truthfully that's all he is: a human stranger employed by the Kades to do Uhyls knows what.
     "I do not know the man."
His thoughts spiral into somewhere both light and murky. How many men were there even on the Academy board? Desmond Marx, Eugene Selii, Hark Noiese.... The Lilith of the Helm, all mean characters worthy of note. Ralphus closes his eyes wearily and when they flicker open again, the boy's fine face is somehow before him once more.
     There must be something malfunctioning in him.
     Cynder Delphus shoots him a glare of annoyance and confusion, and Ralphus shies away. He's just as confused as the boy, even more so. He could never quite understand humans, and now, it seems, he can't quite understand himself either. What is it that he wants? Peace, yes. To get away from the Kades, yes. To kill the Kades, yes. And the boy, what about the boy?
Bam!

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AN: For those wanting to read what's going to happen next to Cynder, congratulation! I've finished Ralphus's POV for now. Hope you all got a better understanding of Ralphus.