Below me was a horrid throng, a mass of things that had only one thing in common. Each and every one of the things was like a shadow and were tearing at each other. They were all varied in shape and forms to a wild extent. Some looked like objects, some animals, some plants, and some shapeless blobs. Yet, of that endless sea of carnage something else stood out. A number merely watched from above, hoving there in place. Most notable was a group standing in a circle.

There were three things with them that were blatantly contrasting. Two forms that appeared like blank white humans. One of the human forms was larger than any man should; the other almost non-descript in it's common shape. The other odd one out was the most horrific. It was like a minotaur in shape. The bare chest of the creature was scarred with all manners of shapes, some leaking out gouts of flame. It held a humanoid shadow by the neck as it roared out, "Fool! You have ruined so much! You are a waste!"

The shadow struggled futilely, shouting back, "Fuck you! If it wasn't for that bitch, I'd have had him fully!"

The minotaur growled out a response that echoed loudly, "Idiot! Lura'mi was to die! Did you even manage to kill anyone?!"

It continued to kick the fiery monster as it hissed back, "Yes!"

The average looking white form said, in a dull and bored tone, "No. The girl still yet lives. Somewhat lesser in the looks, but alive still. I do think it was a miscalculation to use hate. I did warn you he'd fly off the handle."

The minotaur shot a glare at the form and shouted, "Criminal, you dare question me?"

The form shrugged and said, "Yes. Till my work is done, you can't end me. You might be angry, but you aren't as stupid as our little failure here. The question is, though, if any of this is salvageable."

One of the other dark forms, which appeared to be some manner of wrything glass, somehow said, "They'll purge the rest from him now. Too late. No hidden trace will be allowed. Too risky to try. That awful lifeless hag will make sure of it. Too bad."

Suddenly the large white form looked directly to where I was and grunted. Slowly the minotaur looked at him and then swung his head to where I was. The sight of those eyes sent a pure, undiluted dread through me. Unlike any of the other strange beings I'd met, that glare was one that spoke only of a pure blood thirst. The great beast turned fully and shouted, "Oh, for fuck's sake! You! I see you!"

He waved the form in his hand at me, leaving me with a vague wonder if he had intent to launch it at me. The red bull-like monster sneered and suddenly leapt forward into the air. I couldn't move as it came right up to me and leaned in, its glowing eyes burning like the fires of hell. With a quiet voice, it said, "Listen here, hound of sorrow. Perhaps this can be a productive talk for the both of us."

Slowly the minotaur carefully waved the black form, which screeched profanities at me. The thing, still kicking in the grasp, said, "Fuck you! You're weak! You are at fault not me!"

The red bull's face changed to a spiteful grin as it said, "I am someone you should be happy to see. This little demon babbles constantly about how he hates the world and wants to take revenge on it. Seeing as it's yours, perhaps you'd like to serve me instead of that awful woman. You see, my dear criminal, I am the god of punishment. You are a smart one, my boy, so I don't even need to explain to you why the world must suffer, right?"

My first instinct was to try and run, yet I was held in place by a force I couldn't even discern in any fashion. I tried to speak next, yet the words did not come from my mouth at all. The minotaur huffed and grinned, saying, "Don't worry. You don't need to answer right away, little deviant. Just do something for me. When the time comes and you are with the rest of your little gang? Just ring the bell for me. You'll get to make the world suffer for its crimes. Now?"

It's face turned to utter rage and he tilted his head to the demon in it's grip. "Now? I am going to cut you loose so you can go back."

The shadowy being cursed wildly as the god took both hands and began to squeeze the neck of the shadow. It sputtered and gurgled till the head was separated from the body. With that, stunned into utter silence within even my own mind, my vision slowly blurred. The last sight I saw of that place was the fire bleeding monster dropping the shadow into the throng, which ripped it apart in a frenzy.

I found myself once more awakening to the inability to move. This time, though, I was met eye to lightly glowing eye with Lady Lura'mi. She held my head in her hand with that stone like stare that always adorned her face. I didn't even bother to struggle against her as she turned my view away and then down to the floor.

At Least this time I was upright and the room was pitch black, mostly due to the blue glow of the massive circle of lines and runes that adorned the stone surfaces of the place. I was more or less crucified against a great wooden set of beams with great bands of metal etched as the rest of the surfaces. The clothes I wore was still that I had been in from before. Though, I realized that there was a fair few more holes than I recalled in the shirt.

The cold elven woman turned my face back to hers, but I couldn't bring myself to even look at her. I didn't even have any anger at that moment. Only a horrible feeling of guilt. She said, calm as ever, "Ah. So you are back now. A poor excuse of a reawakening, I suppose. Still, I'm sure you must have your questions."

I asked, my throat parched, "Did...I...?"

Lura'mi cut me off by saying, "Ah, right. I suppose water is needed."

She waved her hand and I saw the old butler from before step forward with a pitcher. I recoiled from it a moment, but the lady forced my mouth open. I looked at the man, who had a solemn look on his face. I couldn't quite parse the reason. He gently poured some of the water in. An idle wonder if it was poisoned came to me as I held it there for a moment, and then decided to just swallow it. It wouldn't matter if it was anyways. It wasn't cold, but that didn't matter really.

Once more I began to ask, "Did...Did I kill...?"

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Salvester shook his head before stepping away. Lura'mi robotically patted me on the head as she said, "A fair luck has seen my daughter live. As for the act? Considering your lack of understanding of such things, I should apologize for my failure to catch the problem."

I frowned and said, "Don't apologize to me."

She stopped her hand and said, "I am sure you've caught onto my oddity. I am incapable of such required notions to fully comprehend the issues which plagued you. More or less, due to your strong and long lasting emotions, you lost control of yourself to beings who feed off such things."

Slowly I let myself be held by nothing but the bindings and turned my eyes to the floor. I nodded slowly, realizing just how calm my mind was now. Lady Lura'mi continued, "If I had caught it, we could have purged you of it sooner. Still, what is done is done. Till she is healed and ready, I'll be taking up your lessons. For now, I do think perhaps you should be given some rest."

I considered for a moment if I should tell her what I had seen in that place. They had some intent on her life apparently, for one. Yet I still feared the very notion of telling her what I knew. I said, cautiously choosing my words, "I saw something...when I was dead. There was...a lot of black things. They wanted you dead."

She leaned forward ever so slightly and asked, "Is that so? There were those who talked and did so to each other?"

I nodded as I considered the other three that I had seen. I said, "There were two white figures and a great minotaur like being covered in scars that spit out fire. I-"

My voice faltered as I began to cough, causing the elf to back up a bit. Salvester stepped forward with the pitcher and brought it up so that I could drink;an act that I did with greed. Lura'mi stood there for a moment, crossed her arms, turned on the spot, and said, "No more for the moment. You've need to rest and I need to see to some matters. The purging of the demons is a harsh act to take on, even if death is no matter."

Quickly, the old butler moved away and sat the pitcher on a small table. As he walked back over, Lady Lura'mi moved to one of the many glowing symbols and turned her attention back to me. As soon as Salvester was close enough, she ran her hand over it, releasing and dropping me at the same moment. I barely managed with help to not tumble down onto the floor. She said, "Do see him back to his room and then find his personal guard. Also, if you see him, remind Baron Montiquen that birds are not allowed in the building. If I catch one of them, I'll boil it alive."

As Salvester half carried me back to my room, I said, "H-hey. About Misana."

I heard the man let out a sigh as he said, a sad tone in his voice, "I admit I am unhappy with the idea of you being near her again."

Looking at him, his face held a deep frown. He never looked to me as he said, "Yet, when she awoke she begged me to convey her deepest apologies. I can't really claim to understand it, personally. The young lady cried wildly about how she wanted you to forgive her. She was going on and on about it. Talking about how if she knew, she'd have never caused you such problems."

My heart sank as we moved. The old man continued, "I know you are not really at fault, Master Moores. I don't know what she said to you when you were possessed, but she seems certain it was the cause of something. Still, she is like a daughter to me. I won't allow you to hurt her ever again."

I tried to apologize but the words didn't form. Instead I said, "I don't get what is happening with her particularly. Please, just tell me so I can understand."

Salvester stopped us and took a deep breath. He said, "Elves are well known for their extreme emotions. Yet the Young Lady is only half elven in nature. Such a child being born is unheard of."

I frowned as we reached my room. Anna stood there staring with a raised eyebrow, but said nothing as she opened up the large metal door. Once I was seated on the bed, I asked, "I still don't quite understand."

The old man shook his head and motioned for the door to close. After a few seconds, waiting for the clear sound of the click, he continued, "Misana's life has always been hard. Such a child even being concieved is unknown. Still yet her mother is one of the so called champions. The poor girl was never going to have a good life."

Knitting my eyebrows, I stared at the man. There was a sort of odd feeling I got about the statement. The way he stood was without the usual professional ways he had before. I said, almost cautious of some unseen trap in the conversation, "I don't know if you should tell me anything."

He shook his head and said, "I heard what you yelled that day from the library. Given the situations, I feel for her safety I must."

His wrinkled face was down turned as he looked me directly in the face. I couldn't keep looking at that expression. It was a new sort of pain to me. It hurt more to see him look at me like that than all the disgusted stares I had ever gotten. I realized he didn't hate me or view me as some sort of monster. Salvester said, "I know not if it is her mother's doing or from the unnatural mixture of her blood, but Misana can feel other people's emotions."

My eyes widened in shock as the statement. Looking back to his face, I couldn't find any signs that he was lying. With that knowledge, my mind wandered back to the way she acted the few times I had been around her. I nodded and whispered, "Damn it all."

Salvester returned to his proper stance and said, "On a brighter note, Master Moores, Lady Lura'mi took the time to help you with your possession problem. Still, I know that won't cure you of the dark emotions that caused the issue. While you may be a guest here against your will, I promise that we'll do our best to sooth them. It is to our benefit after all."

I watched him as he walked back over to the door. Upon opening, I saw my personal guard still outside, clearly eyeing me as the old butler left. She held it for a moment and said, "Hey, You want food now or later?"

I shook my head and lay down on the bed fully, saying, "Later."

Anna asked, almost bluntly enough to be absurd, "Change your damn shirt. Captain Zent will throw a fit if you don't."

Slowly I rolled my head to look at her for a moment before getting up. She stood there watching yet again as I moved over the wardrobe. I asked, "Why would he care?"

She huffed and said, "I wish I knew. I have no idea what his problem is, but he will. Just do it."

Once I had a clean shirt on I turned, stared Anna directly in the eye, walked back over to the bed, and dropped myself back down on it. I said, "Now let me sleep."

For a moment I looked at her more as she was closing the door, wondering what was going through her head. I asked suddenly, not particularly meaning to, "Were you forced to keep being my prison guard?"

The guard stopped, stood there for a long while saying something. Calmly, with a measured tone, asked, "Why?"

I leaned back and stared back up at the ceiling once more and said, "If you are, I can try to get you reassigned at least. I'd rather not have someone who is supposed to be around me constantly that hates me."

Anna said nothing as the door slowly closed and I heard the lock fall into place. I let out a sigh, wondering if she would try to kill me at some point. It felt strange for my mind to be so calm. I wasn't growing scared or angry as I sat there thinking about the possibility. In truth, I probably would let her kill me. At that point, it had set in heavily that I would not stay dead. Even further, the missing rage and thoughts left me quiet.

With eyes closed, I considered the words of Cathurnalt and the tasks he gave me. Slowly my thoughts shifted to Veline. Even without the demons in my mind, I had only one desire in that moment still. I didn't particularly care about the plans of that cabal in that dark place. It may have been that I really did only just want that one person I could fully trust around. Perhaps it was just that I had felt some deeper connection. Perhap it was that pact between me and Veline more than anything else that made me feel her absence. I hadn't known her for even a month at that point. Whatever the cause didn't change what was.

So, laying there, I resolved myself once more. It occured to me that I didn't even know what lengths I'd go. Would I be willing to kill? I was certainly willing to put myself through all manners of hell. I had no idea how many times Lady Lura'mi had killed me in that room during the purging. Should they put any trust in me? I had already caused a horrible event, but all I could think about was Veline. Still, there were those three things I was told to do.

"Root out the sickness at your core. Learn the ways to bend the basic concepts. Develop your character," I muttered as I lay there, "Root out the sickness. The demons maybe? But maybe not. What even did he mean by basic concepts?"

I rolled over and ran my hand along the top of the bed, having not even moved to get under them. I let out a sigh, saying, "What would that even mean to someone like him? Sentence syntax? Spelling?"

I got up, flung the covers back and decided I was too tired to actually manage the bizarre sudo-philosophic concept. Going about with whatever plan Lady Lura'mi had was really my only option, so I'd just have to bide my time and give it thought later. I suspected I'd have plenty of time to figure it out. Given I'd die for good if I didn't get it right was also a reason enough to be cautious.