Twinkle's Story: Chapter 67

*just in case anyone needs it- warnings for blood and violence*

FAUNA

One breath. Two breaths. Three breaths. 

Zero breaths.

Where is air? Why is it so hard for me to breathe? 

Then his voice. I open my eyes.

"Face it, Fauna. You and your kind can't win. Justice will not let anyone with supernatural abilities to survive," he says as he looks up at me with his bright orange eyes.

No, no, no. You can't win. You can't take all of us. There's too many of us. We exist across two realities. 

Suddenly, I'm able to breathe in air again. I glare down at him.

"Eternal," I spit, "I have a question for you. What justice is there in wanting to exterminate anyone who is different?" 

He grins up at me. "Silly girl, we are going to exterminate you along with the rest of them because your so called differences are a threat to the Jamaa civilization." 

Eternal, you are no angel. You don't belong here in heaven. I once thought you were a good father because you didn't abuse Duke. Now I know the truth. Calliah isn't the evil parent. You are.

"I'd rather be blind, so I won't be able to look at your ugly face again," I snarl. 

He steps closer to the chains.

I'm a chained-up angel. Set me free. I know you'll return again.

"Oh, so you want your blindness back? I think that I can make that arranged," he says, making sure that I see his fangs. 

"Than see you again? I'm all up for it," I reply. I grin when he reacts to my unexpected words. 

He steps even closer. His fingertips brush the side of the shackle that holds down my right ankle. The chain above it seems to almost flow down his wrist. 

"Allow me to explain some things about myself and my family," he begins. "I worked as a high-ranking official in the fox government. I could have even became leader since my ranking was so high up. I never trusted my wife to know about my real job. For Duke, however, I felt like he was too young to understand and appreciate my job. My job made me so busy that I didn't have time to take care of Duke when I got custody of him after my unofficial divorce with Calliah. I believe it was two or three years ago when I found out that in a nearby central-territory district, we had family living there. So what did I do? I sent him away to live with his cousin, Sparkle, and her parents. For most of my life, I loved my son. I wanted the best for him. I was a good father."

What does this have to do with anything? 

"Not too long before my death, I have finally learned why I didn't trust Calliah. After all these years, I found out why I disliked her. It wasn't because of her cruel behavior. It was because of this secret she kept from me. I give her credit though. It would be tragic for me to have found out about her secret sooner." 

What are you trying to tell me? 

"Fauna, as you are well aware of, I am radically anti-phantom. Those evil creatures are terrorists, and what do they do? They terrorize the community. They increase in size, and then they are terrorizing the entirety of Jamaa. I work for the fox government, and in doing so, I work to protect the lives of our citizens from harm. You should know how dangerous phantoms are. Especially given the fact that a phantom floating by caused your death in what should have been a simple dispute between fox and arctic wolf territories. And if that doesn't paint a good enough reason for you to hate phantoms, then think about how a phantom attack nearly got your sister killed two times." 

He pauses. Probably to catch his breath. I glare at him. 

When I get out of here, I'll remove your ability to breathe in air. Let's see how much you would like that.

"The secret Calliah had been keeping from me for so long was that she and Duke had phantom blood. What does that exactly mean, you ask? It means that if you dig into them deep enough, their normal red blood would run out and be followed with black and purple blood. This has given me speculations about people with phantom blood. Calliah and Duke could very well possibly have twice the amount of total blood in their bodies as compared to a normal person. Which then in turn means it would be harder to kill them."

You're here. I sense your spiritual presence. Eternal calls me one with supernatural and magical powers. But compared to you, I have none. 

"If that hadn't upset me enough, I found out more about Duke. I discovered that he was the reincarnation of Fierdan. Calliah had been keeping the secret of us being the parents of a new Fierdan from me. Perhaps Fierdan had somehow met with Calliah to discuss some things. Like how Calliah would give birth to a boy with a hidden identity of being the new Fierdan. I had been tricked into being the father of a mentally corrupt individual who tortured and killed hundreds of people."

Luckily, Eternal doesn't know that he's right here with us. Fierdan is here.

I see Fierdan- in his dark spirit form- sitting in the lotus position in mid-air. His appearance is nearly transparent. The only way I can figure out he's here is the difference in the light and air density. It's darker and denser where he is. I'm the only one who can see and hear him when he comes up to visit me in heaven. Ever since he trapped Soulless, he would visit me. We would usually talk about the foggy barrier, Jamaa Mist, located above heaven. However, I get the feeling that he didn't come here for us to talk about humanity and that world, which is on the other side of the misty barrier. 

"If Calliah did not murder me, then I would have been able to kill Duke. If I stayed alive a little bit longer, then Duke would be dead. That would have meant no more threat of Fierdan, of the three flames, of phantoms, of violence. The Night of the Black Flames was the night when Duke got connected to Fierdan, learning he is the same as him. It was the night Duke obtained his ability to use black fire, the same fire that Fierdan had used to kill people. Ever since then, Duke had a brain that shared both his memories and Fierdan's. That was just the start of Duke's concealed violent nature. Perhaps Duke could be even more violent than Fierdan ever was. I didn't want this to ever happen, so I planned on killing him before that day. Since Calliah killed me in her most defiant act of protecting Duke, I wasn't able to end his life." 

I watch Fierdan shift his focus from the chains to Eternal. 

Eternal moves a little away from me. When he is walking, he continues to talk. He sure has a lot to say.

"I like to think of myself as Zios. I'm doing good for the world. Our wives kept deep secrets about themselves from us. Their identities were bad and not tolerable in our societies. I also believe I look similar to Zios himself, haha." 

"You're similar to Zios because just like how he betrayed me, you committed the ultimate betrayal to your son," I hear Fierdan say resentfully. 

Our eyes meet, and we slightly nod at each in the shortest moment. 

Fierdan moves toward Eternal, who of course, is unaware that he's the third person in the room. 

And that's when it starts becoming interesting. 

"You dare call yourself the equivalent of Zios, you old reynard?" Fierdan snarls as he walks around Eternal in mid-air. "You sure do look proud of yourself. Let me guess a fact about you. You admire Zios as a god and hero. You think Zios was a good man who treated people well and did good for the world."

Fierdan holds up a thin index finger with a long black claw and holds it less than an inch from Eternal's lips. 

"There's no need for you to say a word. You can't hear me, and I already know I'm right. Shh, shh. It's alright, you freaking idiot. Stupid people of course aren't aware of how terrible Zios, my own father, was. Not many know that he killed lots of people, and that he abused and neglected his children."

Then I watch Fierdan move his paw, so Eternal's mouth is covered. 

"Not many know that Zios psychologically and physically left hundreds of scars on his children. My father messed me up real bad. He nearly killed me by sending me to Jamaa. And what do you say? That you nearly killed your son, Duke? Haha wow, talk about the coincidences. Unfortunately, I can not let people that remind me of Zios go without paying a price. And now, Eternal, it's your time to pay." 

I don't say anything as I watch Eternal get a surprise attack from Fierdan. 

 Fierdan has one of his elbows digging into Eternal's chest, a knee into his stomach, and his left paw wrapped around the front of his neck as his right paw continues to cover his mouth when he turns his head in a way that makes my own neck hurt. Our eyes meet again. 

A few minutes later, Fierdan steps away from Eternal. To outsiders, Eternal looks like he mysteriously got a few bruises and started choking out of nowhere. 

How does it feel to not be able to breathe, you sick excuse of an angel? 

Then Fierdan holds the chains at each side of me. The metal chain links dig into his palms. After squeezing a little bit harder on the pieces of the chains in his paws, they both snap in half. 

After taking off the shackles from my ankles and wrists, I'm able to escape. 

Even though Fierdan is more spirit in this state, he takes me away from the chains before I can do so myself. I'm in his arms when he opens the door and exits the room. 

For a guy who just harmed someone, his touch is gentle. 

TAUREL

I look down at my left paw that is covered in blood. 

I look at the knife in my right paw. 

Things that serve no purpose deserve to get eliminated. My broken paw serves no legitimate purpose to me now. 

I look at the blood all around my wrist. 

Unfortunately, a knife can not cut through bone. 

When I join Risak and the wolf leader in the Tall Tower, I'll finish the job. 

What's wrong with giving one of the contraptions a test run on myself before using it on Duke? 

I have to get there. 

I run, creating a trail of blood with me. 

The next time I take a pause from running is when I can spot the Tall Tower. 

I smile.

Perfect timing.