The Weight of Blood - Part 2/2

She stood still. She hadn't jumped - and that terrified her.

That's when she heard the laughter. She heard Javier stand up behind her and Celeste opened her eyes, not wanting to see what she feared she would.

The King stood, arms wide apart, his eyes staring daggers into Celeste. And he was laughing.

“You thought I'd let you get away that easily?” He said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. Celeste said nothing, her lips pinched together, not understanding.

“You've heard the stories of the Devotees of Vaemir.” He said, gesturing to the crowd of hopeful chanting Devotees. “Their beliefs are one of legend, and sacrifice. Immortality and salvation.”

The Devotees of Vaemir held the belief that the one true messiah would come to the world as a teleporter, and save it.

Their warped version of saving the world however involved killing their own messiah, cutting out and eating their heart. Which would give any who partook immortality. To sacrifice their messiah, a teleporter, someone with immense and indescribable power in an otherwise powerless world was deemed as the biggest sacrifice of all.

Only the righteous can have immortality, leading to a world where only the righteous live. It was a depraved and twisted world view that could only end poorly for all involved, specifically the teleporter.

The King of the Eastern Lands, and the current leader of the Devotee's only used the religion as a platform to reach his current high standing. He also didn't share in the belief, he had other goals in mind.

“You're powerless here, teleporter, oh great messiah.” At the word, every man, woman and child who sat on the pews raised their hands and leant forward bowing from their seated position, some even crawled to the floor to touch their head to the cold stone, hands outstretched in front of them. Their chanting continued.

The King tilted his head slightly, shifting his gaze off of Celeste. “It's good to see you again, brother.”

Celeste's breath caught. Javier didn't react.

“I wondered how long you'd stay dead.” the King said.

“Not as long as I'd hoped.” Javier replied.

The King smiled again, no fondness to be found.

“You always did prefer the shadows.”

“And you always wanted power.” Javier said.

“And look where it's brought us.” The King said, arms wide, turning slightly as if embracing the world around him. To which Javier had no response.

Celeste felt something inside her, her heart lurching, skipping a beat. What was this feeling she felt? Anger? Dismay? Betrayal.

Javier was the King's brother. The King. The actual King's brother, now Celeste understood why she thought she recognised him. As soon as he'd said the word ‘brother’, the resemblance was uncanny.

Celeste knew there was a part of her that understood his reasoning for not saying anything. But still, she couldn't get out of her head that feeling of betrayal.

The King clapped once, “Right, that's enough catching up.”

Celeste felt it then, a pressure, light a physical weight on her shoulders pressing her down.

“You feel it?” The King said, almost kindly. “That's the Sanctuary, the reason you came here, it called to you in your moment of need. Brought you home.”

“You don't need to do this. Brother…”

“You will address me as KING.” The King erupted. His brief anger replaced almost instantly, and had the word not still been echoing around the halls, Celeste could've convinced herself that the anger was never there.

Confused as she was, her feeling of betrayal was dissipating, the immediate emotion slowly being overtaken by her need of survival. Javier may have kept the secret, but he was also currently her only safety.

She was, however, at a loss at the King's words.

Brought you home.

What had he meant by that? Her home was back in Holshall, her friends, the tavern, her safe house, her family. That was her home. Not some church in the Capital.

“You haven't told her the truth.” Not for the first time, Celeste's breath caught at the King's words, and he could tell from her tense reaction that she didn't know what he was talking about.

She looked to her mentor who looked solemn and wouldn't meet her eyes. “Haven't told me what?” She said, the revelation of Javier being the King's brother already felt like a lot to handle, she wasn't sure how she would take another bombshell.

Javier sighed, “I never told you who your parents were.” Celeste actually took a step back in shock. Javier had never told her where she'd come from, and now he apparently knew who her parents were? He looked down at the floor, whether in embarrassment, shame or something else, she wasn't sure.

“Your mother,” he said, almost wistfully - his eyes still not meeting hers. “she died when you were too young to remember, killed by bandits while on the road.” He took several deep breaths. “Your father…” he stopped, Celeste could tell from his expression how much he didn't want to say what he needed to.

The King however was enjoying the interaction, smiling and looking between them, eager.

“...is me.” Said the King, finishing Javier's drawn out sentence.

Celeste whirled around to look at the man before her on his long green cloak and ridiculous five pointed crown. She looked back at Javier, who was still unable to look her in the eye, he looked crestfallen, ashamed… beaten.

“It's me,” the King said with a laugh. “You've come home.” Devout of emotion and any tone of kindness in his voice, it was more like he'd found a long lost possession.

Celeste sneered at the King, “it can't be true.” She then looked towards Javier, who hadn't once met her eyes since failing to leave the church.

A quiet, sullen, “I'm sorry.” is all she got from him as his head fell even further.

“Guards. Remove the dead weight.” The King proclaimed, ruthlessly calm. He wouldn't have needed to be staring straight at Javier for the Kingsguard to know who the dead weight was as the Kingsguard moved as one, metal boots scraping on stone.

Without another word said, and without a single move to defend himself, Celeste turned to a grunt of pain, and the picture she took in would remain with her until the day she died.

The eight pikes held in the Kingsguards' metal gauntlets were the only things keeping Javier still standing. They'd moved with a speed quicker than what should have been possible, and each speared him from a different direction.

Celeste screamed, the Kingsguard all removing their pikes simultaneously, as if they were one entity receiving an order. He fell to the floor in a heap, blood pooled beneath him, spreading fast across the stone. His eyes - wide open - fluttered as he saw Celeste drop to her knees and felt her hands cradle his face.

For Javier, everything faded, first the noise around him, then the pain receded, and finally, slowly, the lights dimmed to black.

For Celeste, her heart broke, her world changed, her being manifested, her time had begun. She yelled in anger, wanting to scream words, willing a torrent of abuse to come out. But no sound that escaped her lips resembled words. Pure and unadulterated rage tore through her.

That's when she felt it.

Something… Different.

A demon had awoken inside of her. And now it had been released, there was no putting it back. She snapped her gaze upon the King, “should you survive this day, I WILL kill you.”

His smile had receded at her words, but not disappeared completely. Instead, he curled one side of his lip up to snarl at his now only living relative. “If only you'd be so lucky as to get the chance, girl.” Spitting the word out as if he couldn't stand to say it for any longer than he needed to. “Cuff her.”

Like a trapped wild boar in a hunt, she darted her eyes between each of her surrounding enemies. The boiling point of her rage teetering on its edge of destruction, she roared an incoherent sound made of nothing but noises, and held tight to the body of her mentor.

The cuffs getting closer, she recognised that burning flame inside of her and drew power from it, a kindle being sparked, a fire being stoked, a soul being reshaped.

She closed her eyes, laid across the broken body of her mentor, keeping her right knee close, and extending her left out, she focused on that power inside, drew upon it and released.

She didn't jump. She knew that would have been impossible. But what she did instead, was just as, if not more impossible. She anchored herself - and tore the world loose instead.

An open field of green grass, with a forest off in one direction, and hills in the other greeted her arrival. Any other day, she may have stopped to take in the view, but today she had no such thoughts.

Agony.

Absolute agony.

Emotional pain she never thought she'd feel accompanied by physical pain she wasn't expecting. Looking down at her extended left leg, it was obvious why.

Just below her knee was nothing at all.

In moving the world around them, she had left a part of herself behind. Underneath her, very still - too still to still be alive - Javier, her uncle, lay.

Beside her, on the grass, still twitching, was a pair of hands grasped onto an open pair of handcuffs.

Celeste wept, and wept, and wept. Repeating the last two words Javier had said to her, back to him over and over and over again.

“I'm sorry."

Until some time later, exhausted, and alone, she passed out with her head resting on his chest.