Chapter XXXVIII: Shadows

Adelia stood, eyes fixed upon the pulsing waves of blue that hurled light across the room and illuminated the small chamber. Her skin seemed a darker tint of blue now that she stood near the gateway, its ripples hissing with the screams of the terrors that lurked within the shadows upon the other side. The others stood behind her, waiting for her to make a move, but she made no motion at all.

Even Blackheart dared not speak, for there was something wrong about Adelia now, something that he could not quite understand. They had scaled the mountain with barely any resistance, the beasts that he could see only as shadows through the whistling snow shying away from them, but more truthfully, away from Adelia. They had moved through the caves with ease, finding their way down to the black portal, which shifted to deep blue as Adelia entereed the room. Now she stood frozen, not the kind of motionless that people are when something dangerous appears, a motionless that seems as if it could be sustained forever.

Adelia continued to stare into the rippling waves of blue, which to all others appeared as nothing more than an odd water that hung vertically between the steel rings. This was not normal for a gateway, Thyrus had said, but he had to concede that Zeo was a strange world and could be affecting it in a million ways. Some were beginning to think it was Zeo that was affecting Adelia, but this was untrue.

Step through….do you dare? Feel the shadows crossing all around the other side….all who come are lost…

“We cannot go through,” Adelia said at last, her voice echoing throughout the chamber. “The shadows will destroy all magic, they will hunt out ways to become corporate entities. We cannot go through.”

West stepped forward, never one to give in. “Now see here, Baen went through after the last piece. That means that he is ahead of us. We must go through. I don’t care what you feel is waiting for us on the other side, but at least some of us can go through.” He adjusted his uniform, “I don’t deal with magic, so I can go.”

Thyrus fixed his staff and stepped forward, “I may be a wizard, but I’m a wizard of technology. Therefore, I am the opposite of magic. I shall go.”

Blackheart tightened his sword and stepped forward, Gobudo and Kiki following, “We won’t desert you either.”

Samden glanced over at the remaining figures, “Eza and I are magical beings, Laura is too. And what of Adelia?”

Adelia swallowed, “I shall go. If Blackheart does.”

Blackheart shook his head, “No chance of it. You know damn well that you’re gifted with powers that can only be granted someone thaumaturgically inclined!”

“And you wear a magical amulet!”

Blackheart glanced down at it, “Then I won’t go.” He glanced down and the amulet began to glow. “It doesn’t want me to.”

Adelia sighed, “I’m still going. This is my battle. You do not understand, but you must let me.”

“That’s not going to…” Blackheart was cut off by Gobudo, who stood in front of Blackheart, holding his hand out to silence him. Blackheart stared up at the mammoth Vasu who shook his head ‘no.’ Adelia was just as surprised by Gobudo’s turn of character. “What are you doing, Gobudo!?” Blackheart stared up in confusion, waiting for a reply. Gobudo shook his head and waved him off. Blackheart sighed, “Fine.” He marched back and sat down with the other three.

“We’ll return within the hour,” Adelia said, turning and stepping through the portal first, the three others following. And then there was a snap and they were gone, leaving Samden and Eza to step back outside and watch the world spinning out of control.

“What the hell is Gobudo thinking?” Blackheart kicked a small rock and sat, dejected.

“He has your best interests in mind, I’m sure,” Laura said, sitting down next to him. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” Blackheart said at last. “It’s just, they’ve always hated each other. For Gobudo to help her is something totally uncharacteristic. I don’t know what’s going on anymore…who to trust, who to keep in the dark.”

“Do you trust me?”

Blackheart glanced up at her and into her eyes, “Yes. I trust you. Though Adelia thinks otherwise.”

Laura nodded solemnly, “Adelia sees me as a threat to you.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s quite obvious…she has a crush on you.”

“That’s impossible,” Blackheart dismissed.

“Impossible no, true…yes.” Laura’s eyes didn’t flicker as Blackheart stared into them…she was sure.

“Well, she’ll just have to get over me. I don’t feel the same for her. She and I are partners, nothing more,” Blackheart said. There was a little too much chill to his voice for his own liking. “It’s not that I don’t like her,” he rallied, “It’s just, she’s a Seph! I’m a human.”

“Who knows, Blackheart. One day the world may be saved by the love of a Seph girl and a human man.”

“That day isn’t today,” Blackheart said. “I cannot love her.” Blackheart stirred the ground for a moment with his foot, then looked up. “Have you ever felt a strange feeling wash over you. A feeling that says, ‘bam,’ that’s it. That must be and can only be the true one for you?”

“Several times,” Laura said with mirth.

Blackheart nodded, “Funny. I don’t doubt that one gets the feeling all the time, but when you don’t have that feeling hit you, you realize just how much that the people who do hit you mean, ya know? That feeling may not mean that you’ve discovered your fated lover, but it means that that’s the kind of person who you wish would be. I never felt that with Adelia.”

“But she obviously felt it for you.”

Blackheart looked down, “Yeah. It’s funny, I’ve felt that feeling before and been so angry when the person didn’t feel the same….but…. now I’m beginning to think I was wrong. You can’t force someone to love you or force yourself to love someone.”

Laura slid slightly further away, “I suppose.”

Blackheart could feel the hesitation in her voice. “Yes. And you can’t force yourself to stay away from someone you do love. You can’t stop loving someone just because you think they won’t love you.” He looked up at Laura who was looking away. He sighed and turned back to the portal. “I wonder how long they’ll be.”