Chapter Twenty Six: Marwenna, The Traitor

The room was spinning, sweeping and rippling as Marwen tried her hardest not to panic. She knew what was going on here, she had seen this power before and knew who must be commanding it.

Vitriss.

Although Marwen couldn't see the Goddess she was positive that she was here, hiding somewhere in the grey world that lay in front of her. So close in look to her own and yet at the same time it might as well have been miles away.

“Can you hear me, Marwenna?”

The voice called out again and Marwen felt her stomach flip at the sound. It was so beautiful, clear and pure like the water on an underground stream, but sharp enough to cut through the air with but a whisper.

Marwen gritted her teeth as she tried to move, but found herself unable too. It was if her very body was locked in syrup, so thick that even the slightest movement pushed her to the edge of exhaustion. She wondered subtly what the Goddess wanted, what she was doing here? It had been over four hundred years since their last correspondence. She said that she would leave them alone, she said it would be over once Corus died.

“Yes, I did promise that but sometimes those little things are made to be broken. Unfortunately, I made another promise, this one I must keep. Lest it cost more than I can pay.”

'She can read minds, damn! I had forgotten' Marwen thought to herself angrily and immediately began to chastise herself for allowing the thought to gather in the first place.

Marwen owed a lot to Vitriss and her revelation. It had allowed her to see Corus for the man he truly was, a monster to be feared and hated. A manipulator who warps the world to fit his own twisted point of view. But she hadn't forgotten what The Church had done. It had taken her a long time to forgive Valant for his part in the wars that were raged, the atrocities that were committed. If she was being truly honest with herself she hadn't even reached the point of forgiving him completely. Behind the madness of the church, behind the hatred of Gorvo Nali for Corus, was Vitriss. She was the example, the standard, upon which every one of the faithful based themselves. Even to this day she remains a potent force in Vita with her monks moving through the countries and spreading their filth. Marwen thanked her, but she did not trust her. That would have been ridiculous. Just because a snake tells the truth once it does not mean that it will stop lying.

“You call me a snake now? I suppose that would be appropriate. I have done terrible things, Marwenna. Horrible things that would make you shudder in disgust. I have done good, or have tried, but I don't think it will ever make up for what I've had to do. I know you understand. I know of the things you did in his service. I know the hold he still has over you. That is why I'm here.”

Suddenly the grey world exploded into colour. A swirling cacophony of light that moved through the throne room and painted everything a different unique colour. The brightest was almost too much for Marwen to look at. This light was gold and stood at the room's centre, glowing like the sun. The Elven Queen could feel mana radiating off of it like a beacon and all she could do was close her eyes and begin the slow process of trying to raise her hands to cover her face.

Just as suddenly, the light show ended and the world returned to the grey it had once been, allowing Marwen to open her eyes and look outwards towards the spot where the golden light had appeared.

In it's place was a girl. Unlike the grey world around her, including the forms of Jawa and Valant, she was fully in colour and the sight was almost enough to take Marwen's breath away.

The woman that now stood before her was both familiar and foreign. Marwen had met Vitriss before when the Goddess had told her of Corus but that encounter was brief and highly emotional. Now Marwen appreciated the full scope of Vitriss' divinity.

Her skin seemed to be made of liquid moonlight and her hair flowed gently behind her as if it were stuck in water, the pale blonde catching the natural light she exuded and throwing it around the room in a show of beauty. The white dress fell delicately over her shoulders and her eyes seemed to simmer with power. Those eyes promised kindness, but there was something deeper, something hidden within the walls that no one had been able to penetrate and Marwen felt herself almost lose herself within their simmering surface.

Vitriss let out a giggle and hopped forwards, floating through the air with a grace that defied logic. Every time she landed on her approach the grey floor would send a ripple of colour outwards that quickly faded soon afterwards. It wasn't long before the Goddess had made it onto the dais, stopping mere feet away from where Marwen still sat, unable to move. The Queen was surprised yet again by how young the Goddess looked and the aroma of flowers that washed over her as she came to a stop.

“Forgive me for restraining you Marwenna, but what I have to tell you is... delicate? Is that the word? I'm sorry, it has been some time since I have spoken to another person. I don't count Corus. That one is... different.” Her smile never left her mouth as she spoke but as she mentioned the name of The Rebel King her eyes wondered off into the distance as if she was distracted.

Marwen on the other hand felt her heart begin to constrict within her chest.

'Delicate? What is this? You spoke with Corus? What's going on?'

Her panic was showing through even within her own head and the Goddess immediately took notice, her smile faded slightly as she began to look slightly concerned.

“I'm sorry, Marwenna, perhaps I was a little bit too harsh on the restraints.” The Goddess waved her hand and a burst of mana blazed out of her for a mere second. Marwen immediately felt her mouth become her own again.

“Vitriss... What are you doing here? I thought I would never see you again, that was our agreement. You promised that you would leave all of us alone, that you would let us live in peace.” Marwen said immediately, the panic had faded slightly now that she could use her voice but she was still completely unable to move and it was making her uneasy.

The Goddess clapped her hands “I know you don't like getting held against your will like this, Marwenna, but there is a very, very high likelihood that you will attack me after I have said my piece and I can't allow that. Holding this spell is already taking a lot out of me and walking in Vita does not allow me to draw the mana I can in my home, making things even harder. I don't have the control I usually have and there is a good chance I'd accidentally kill you if you did attack. Which would strain my relationship with him even more.”

Marwen silently strained against her invisible bonds while looking at the Goddess with a slightly bewildered expression “Who are you talking about? What relationship?”

Vitriss sighed and clicked her fingers. As the sound finished echoing through the vast room a bright white chair appeared behind her and she gracefully took a seat, smoothing out her dress as she did, before aiming her gaze once again at the Queen of the Elves.

“He is a very curious creature, your Rebel King. I thought that he would fall for my control, but that did not work, he seems to be immune to me which should be impossible. So I had to tell him... a version of the truth. Accurate enough that I was not directly lying, but far enough away that he didn't try and kill me where I stood. He knew I was hiding things of course, but he agreed anyway. To save you. To save his family. He is intelligent, strong, charismatic. I can see why you would follow such a man all your life.”

The Goddess watched Marwen curiously for a moment, she could feel the elves heartbeat. It was moving so fast that she was sightly concerned that it would jump out of her chest.

“Corus...? You spoke with him? When? How?” Marwen tone of voice was approaching desperate now as thoughts whirled around inside her head of all the scenarios that would involve Vitriss and Corus meeting. For some inexplicable reason, the image of Corus and Vitriss naked jumped to the forefront of her mind, his hands touching her, caressing her body, kissing her. Despite knowing it was just a thought, jealously and disgust at herself welled up inside the Knight, a feeling which she tried to push back down but couldn't completely.

Vitriss suddenly laughed as she read Marwen's thoughts “No! We never did anything like that. But I have to say, I wouldn't have said no. He's a rather attractive man. Even more so now.”

Marwen's eyes burned into the Goddess, her skin began to crawl as she grasped at every scrap of mana she could, she was intent on releasing herself and blasting Vitriss into oblivion for what she had done-

“Wait. You said even more so now. What does that mean?” The Queen whispered, the mana she had began to draw fading away as her eyes found the Goddess' own. “What does that mean?!”

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Vitriss' laughter faded and her lips slipped into a single pursed line, sadness and shame appeared in her eyes as she returned Marwen's gaze.

“Like I said Marwenna. I've done terrible things. Things that would make you shudder. I did one such thing to you, something that I promised I would reveal.” Vitriss' fingers fiddled with each other as she looked down into her lap.

Marwen was shaking now, not with rage, but with trepidation.

“I lied to you. To you and Valant both, although he did not require much convincing. Corus never used magic to manipulate you and the other Knight's. He did not deserve to die as he did. I was the manipulator. I changed your minds and showed you false images, things that never happened, things that would never happen.”

Marwen felt a sickness begin to grow inside her stomach even as her thoughts screamed denial. 'Vitriss is being controlled by Corus somehow, he is the one behind this, he has turned the Goddess into his puppet!'

The woman shook her head “It is true, I'm afraid. Even now you resist the truth, because that is what I wanted. I never wanted you to question it, only do as instructed. I got what I wanted, Corus was mine to do with as I pleased. I planted the seed in your head and now you can't even consider the possibility that he is innocent.”

“Because he's not! He's a monster, a deceiver, he used me and the others! He turned Cinder into a murderer! I won't let you tell me different because there is no other way it could've happened!” Marwen screamed, her head was pounding and she tasted copper as blood ran out of her nose. She ignored the pain and continued to sneer at the Goddess in disgust.

“The seed is deep, but I can remove it, which is what I intend. It will hurt, Marwenna.” Vitriss said as she lifted one of her pale palms and aimed it towards Marwen, who began to pull at her bonds.

“What are you doing?! Stop this Vitriss, nothing you do will convince me, nothing!” The Elven Queen roared and renewed her efforts to free herself even as more blood began to stream down from both her nostrils, her lips pulled back as she snarled at the Goddess.

Vitriss' face not change but Marwen felt the air charge as she began to draw in mana, first a trickle and then a storm. It swirled around the Goddess causing colour to once again return to the grey world. Vitriss' hand began to glow, blazing and righteous, it's light burning Marwen as it touched her skin, causing the Elven Queen to scream in agony.

“I free you, Queen of the Elves, from the control I placed. I free you and, with this, my word is kept.” She said, her voice remaining the same in tone but somehow loud enough to shake Marwen to her very core.

Vitriss plunged forwards, throwing herself off her seat and slamming the palm of her hand into Marwen's forehead.

The Queen screamed as her aura turned to fire, blood began to pour from her ears and eyes as she felt the flames of Vitriss rip through her entire body. It felt like she was being slowly burned alive, the pain so great that it was almost soothing. Marwen wailed against the bonds, trying desperately to move but to no avail, she could no longer draw mana, it was as if the Goddess had somehow removed her connection to her own power All she could do was weep and rage, unable to stop the True Flame from destroying her body.

Then, as suddenly as it had began, it was over and Marwen felt the chains that held her fade away, causing her to fall off her throne and collapse onto the floor.

Her body tingled all over, the agony had dulled but it still felt like she was being stabbed by a thousand knives simultaneously. If she moved even an inch, then the pain would intensify, causing her to merely lay there and weep, even her tears burned their way down her cheeks.

Vitriss had fallen backwards into her seat, her face even paler than usual and a layer of cold sweat had developed upon her brow. Her breaths were long and shaking, one could clearly see the slight tremble that now plagued her hands as her glazed over eyes tried hard to focus on something.

“It is done, Corus. I did as you asked. I hope you will make the right choice, when the time comes.” The words were clearly not intended for Marwen, but the Goddess said them anyway, slowly recovering from what she had just done to the Elven Queen. She brought her gaze to rest upon the diminutive figure that lay at her feet.

“Now you see, Marwenna of the Rebel Court. It was I who did this to you. I needed Corus, I need Corus. He may be the only one capable of stopping what is coming. But he does not trust me, even now I am sure he tries to conceive a way to kill me instead of focusing on the true enemy and searching for Arcana!” Vitriss hissed as she leaned backwards in her chair. For a second both women were silent, although Marwen couldn't speak even if she wanted to. “I don't blame Corus, I did a terrible thing to him. I thought he would do as I asked, no questions. Because that is what I am used to. I never intended to keep the promise that I made.” Vitriss continued, her eyes closed as she took a moment to rest from the ordeal she had just went through.

“He discovered that I did not tell you the truth and any semblance of partnership between us ended. I need to get things back on track. So I thought I would kill two birds with one stone. Free you of my control and make you carry my words to him, to put him back on the proper path. For some reason I can't get near him... Something is protecting him, or isolating him, but it is something I do not know or recognise. It is frustrating!” Vitriss laughed, her hand moving up to rest under her chin as her eyes looked into the distance.

“Wheels within wheels, games within games.”

Marwen stirred and Vitriss' eyes were brought back to attention, curiously angling down to look at the fallen Queen. Marwenna was pushing herself to her feet, slowly but surely, her long hair covering her face as she tried to stand fully and of her own accord.

Vitriss watched with curiosity in her eyes for but a second before they widened slightly as a hint of panic entered into those beautiful iris'.

“Now, Marwenna-” Vitriss began but did not finish before the chair she was sitting on exploded into a shower of splinters. While the attack was not a threat to someone as powerful as Vitriss, the speed and precision of the Air Manipulation spell, and in a captured moment of time, was very impressive.

Vitriss landed near the middle of the large hall, her bare feet touching down delicately as she successfully evaded the clever attack. Marwen still did not move. She was standing now, her shoulders shaking as she desperately drew in breath. Her face covered in blood and hidden from Vitriss behind a veil of hair.

“Marwenna, I knew that you would be angry, but you must understand that this is bigger than you or Corus. This is about the future of-”

“ANGELIS!” Marwenna's roar echoed throughout the hall as mana began to radiate off of her in waves.

She swung out her right hand as the air around it began to vibrate and tremble, as if something was pushing through the barriers that surrounded Vitriss' locked off time zone. Then, with the sound of shattering glass, the ancient blade materialised out of thin air, the silver glowing with ethereal light.

Marwenna was silent as she left her dais and blasted forwards, activating Aspect of Air as she travelled, increasing her speed, causing her to arrive at the Goddess' position in less than a second.

Despite the explosive burst of movement, Vitriss did not look worried, in fact she merely looked at the Elven Queen with pity in her eyes.

Marwen began to attack, her body moving through the forms of combat that Corus had taught her so very long ago as she aggressively and desperately tried to cut the Goddess into bloody pieces. But no matter how hard she swung or how fast she moved, she was unable to even scratch the woman, Vitriss slipped around every attack as if Marwen was moving in water.

Marwen changed her tact and threw a kick outwards towards the Goddess' kneecap, hoping to cave in the bone and give her time to remove the beautiful woman's head. But she overshot and Vitriss slipped through her guard, throwing a light punch that connected with Marwenna's ribs almost gracefully. The slight touch caused Marwen's bones to break, shards breaking off and piercing many of her internal organs even as she flew backwards through the air.

The Elven Queen was airborne for a few seconds that felt like eternity, before she crashed down onto the floor with a wet splat, her legs and arms breaking under the impact.

Vitriss sighed before beginning a slow walk towards the shattered form of the Queen, who even now, broken and bloody, tried to push herself to her crippled feet, causing her injuries to become all the more severe.

“I'm sorry. I told you that I have very little control of my power on your world. I tried to be as light as possible, but alas I can barely contain it while I have such a small supply of mana.”

Marwenna spluttered, blood leaving her lips as her eyes bore into the Goddess with a hatred so vast that even Vitriss felt a shiver run down her spine. Marwen's mouth moving silently as she tried to find the strength to speak, but it continued to escape her.

“Have no fear, Marwenna. You will not die this day. Like I said, I need your help.” Vitriss leaned forwards and touched Marwen with a finger, causing most of the damage within her to heal instantly. Vitriss left the broken arms and legs though, they weren't life threatening and she didn't have the power left to restrain The Queen like she had when she first arrived.

“I... Everything... I did. I did because... I believed he was a traitor. I loved him!” Marwen's cry of pain penetrated into the very soul of the Goddess, but she didn't show it. “I swear... I will kill you, Even if it takes me a thousand lifetimes. I'll end your fucking life!”

Vitriss gave Marwen a little smile. “Perhaps one day you will. But now I need you to find Corus. He should be with Cinder, in The Red Citadel.”

At the words, Marwen's eyes opened wide and she stared at the Goddess. “He's here... on Vita?”

Vitriss nodded at Marwen's words and the elf's eyes once again filled with pain as she cried. She cried for the lost opportunities. She cried for not saying the things she wish she had. She cried because she was the traitor she had feared the man she had once loved had always been.

“Tell him he will find Arcana in Omara. I don't know where, but it should lie in the north.”

Marwen didn't reply, her gaze was a thousand miles and four hundreds years away. Back to the day she had taken his head. Back to the day that had set her on the path that had led her to where she is now.

Vitriss jumped to her feet and backed away from the girl, heading towards the centre of the room once again.

“Do not forget, Marwenna. He must know this, it is the only way to stop what is coming.”

Then, in a burst of golden light, similar to what had happened when the woman had appeared, she was gone and Marwen felt the world jump back into colour again.

She heard the screams of her husband as he ran towards her.

She heard the roar of the guard as they created a defensive circle around her body and she saw Jawa standing nearby, shock etched onto his face at the condition of her body.

All those things and more assaulted her senses but it was nothing, her mind was focused on only one thing. His face, which slipped away from her, like she couldn't remember it properly. She would have cried again if she had any tears left to give, but she was without them. She merely stared into space as she realised what was done to her. She saw everything clearly for the first time in Four Hundred years and she hated herself for it.

'Corus, forgive me.'