Chapter 9

Can't or Won't?

I roll to my stomach and look up at the biggest creature I've ever seen. They're bigger than Brook, and bigger than even the Blood Demon. Stars and galaxies cover their body in as many colors as the rainbow barrier had, and eight golden earrings hang from an ear. Seven are golden rings, and one has a dangling diamond that catches and scatters light that I want to chase. A black mane of fur tinged with every color runs down their whole spine. They stand on four legs and look like a wolf.

"You're a giant!" I say, jaw dropping as I crane my neck back. My wings flutter with excitement.

"I suppose I am to you," they reply softly.

"Are you ever gonna blink?" I ask when we stare at each other for a long time and they never close their eyes.

The creature shakes their head. "No, I cannot."

I frown. "Why not? That doesn't sound like fun."

"I'm the Midnight Wolf," they say.

I jump to my paws and gasp. "Are you Arcane?"

He nods. "Yes, I am Arcane."

"Ky said you could help him! You have to help him. He's dead, but not really, but maybe he is? I don't know. And Ky needs your help so he can be alive again. I don't know if he met Lucius, but he's not alive. Or at least he isn't breathing and he's not moving and living things move. It's confusing. But you gotta help him, Arcane! You can do it. Ky said you could. He's nice. At least, I think he is. But come on, he's over here. His brother said he's gonna find you so you can help Ky. He said he'd make you and he's scary when he's angry. He can hurt you. He has fire, and it's so loud... but if you help Ky I don't think he'll hurt you!" I trail off, thinking for a moment, and then look up at Arcane. "You can help Ky, right?"

Arcane's ears draw back, and he sits down, curling his red tail around his paws. The swan on his foreleg flaps its wings. "I cannot. I'm sorry."

My ears fall, and my wings droop. "Why not? Ky said you could. He said so before the Blood Demon got here. You have to help him."

Arcane shakes his head. "I cannot."

"Why? Is it because you killed Freedom?"

Arcane flinches when I say her name, and he rises to his paws and backs up a few steps. "Y-." Arcane's voice cracks. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I killed her," Arcane whispers. "I killed Freedom, and look what happened."

Tears well up in his eyes when he looks at me. Arcane ducks his head to be at my level, but he still towers over me.

"She's my mom," I tell him in an attempt to make him feel better by sharing something I like. "Well, one of my moms. I have two. Isn't that awesome?"

Arcane takes another step back.

"You... you're Freedom's child. I-I'm sorry." Arcane stares straight through me, before he backs up another step. "I'm so sorry. I-I-I can't."

Arcane scrambles back several paces and trips over his paws, falling back until he rolls to his side. He regains his balance and stands up.

Arcane turns around and runs off. His red tail waves behind him as he bounds away. He disappears behind a pile of rocks. I watch him, and Arcane is gone.

Brook canters up to me, slowing down until she stops before me. "Who were you talking to?"

"Arcane," I say, looking over my shoulder. I can smell where he went.

"Where did he go?" Brook looks past me, nose twitching as she scents the air. Her ears swivel in every direction.

"I told him Freedom is one of my moms, and then he ran away."

"What else did you talk about?"

"I told him he should help Ky, but he said no. He said he couldn't."

Brook hums. "Phoenix isn't going to be happy about that."

"No?"

"Phoenix loves his brother more than anything. Hopefully Arcane will change his mind. I'd like to meet him, though."

"He went that way." I lean to the side to see a little further past the boulder. I can still smell the path Arcane took.

xxxx

Grey, Alex, and Phoenix show up shortly after Brook had reached me. Sweat drips down Grey's face, and he scans everywhere, turning in a full circle with Ky still in his arms to see his surroundings.

"Hey," Alex says, "where's Arcane? Did'ja find him? We —well, Phoenix— heard a commotion, so we came over."

"Astra did," Brook replies.

"So... where is he?" Phoenix asks. He narrows his eyes and curls his lips. He flattens his neck, flicking his tail.

"He left," I say. "He ran away after I told him Freedom was my mom. Is my mom?"

"Fucking coward. Lucky for him, he reeks of power. Won't be hard to find him. Honestly surprised you can't smell it, Alex. You too, Grey. Human noses." Phoenix shakes his head.

Alex huffs. "What does power even smell like? How can an idea even have a smell?"

Phoenix takes a step to the side, claws digging into the rock of Ragdon Volcano. He draws his ears back. "It clings to your nose. Makes you want to sneeze. Takes over your senses until it's hard to scent anything else. Power smells dark. It smells looming. It smells like a monster coaxing a child into the night with a gentle hand and soft words, only to leave the child in the middle of a dark forest with no one in sight. Power smells like your worst nightmare."

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

"You have nightmares?" I ask.

Phoenix snorts. "Everyone does. If they say they don't, they're liars. Everyone's scared of something."

"What are you scared of?"

Phoenix goes very still as the flames on his body flatten out and he takes a deep breath, then looks at me with an angry expression. "Don't ask that question, Astra. Anyway, Arcane went this way, and he still needs to bring Ky back from wherever he is currently."

Phoenix jerks his muzzle in the same direction I watched Arcane run off in, and we set off. Brook offers to take Ky, but Grey declines.

"I mean," Alex says, "it's not like there's really all that many places Arcane could be. He's pretty big, right?"

I scamper a few steps, bouncing on my paws. "He was really huge. He was bigger than the Blood Demon, and the Blood Demon was ginormous."

We don't have to walk long to find Arcane. He's too big to miss, and he didn't go far.

Arcane sits with his back to us, hunched over and staring out down the slopes of Ragdon Volcano.

Grey gasps at the sight of the Midnight Wolf, and Alex copies the sound. I look up at Brook, and she pins her ears and stops walking. Phoenix stalks forward.

"Arcane," he growls.

"Hello," Arcane replies. He doesn't move.

"You're going to heal my brother."

Arcane lifts his head but keeps his back to Phoenix.

Grey gently sets Ky down. I watch how Ky's fluffy fur shifts and then goes still, only moving when ruffled by a breeze. There are no trees to block the wind. Ky doesn't even twitch.

"I'm very sorry to tell you that will not be happening." Arcane shifts but remains sitting and gazing down the side of Ragdon Volcano.

What is he looking at?

Phoenix stalks up to Arcane, flames blazing on his fur. He glows.

"Heal Ky. Heal my brother. He said you can help him, so help him." There's no question in Phoenix's voice. It's an order.

"I..." Arcane ticks his head to the side. His voice shakes. "I cannot."

Fire explodes on Phoenix's body. It pours off him in waves.

"I didn't fucking ask. I'm telling you to heal my brother. He said you can help him, so I am telling you to fucking help my brother."

Phoenix takes another few steps closer. He looks like he's hunting, but he only reaches barely halfway up Arcane's foreleg.

Arcane suddenly stands. He takes a step, rocking back and forth, before he shakes and braces his legs as he twists his whole body. The mane running down his spine flops back and forth. He yawns after he stops, turning around finally.

"You tired?" Phoenix jeers.

Arcane shakes his head. "No. I haven't been around this many beings in sixty years."

"Is it stressful?" Phoenix bites out in a sing-song voice that sounds too playful for him.

I don't know what to make of it.

"Phoenix-," Grey starts, but the black cat cuts him off.

"Don't even try to tell me what to do. If Arcane's stressed, I couldn't care less. But right now my own brother is laying all but dead. So Arcane will be healing Ky. I know you've got the Aquarius constellation, Arcane, so don't even try lying to me."

"Do you know what happened the last time I used the Aquarius constellation?" Arcane asks.

"You killed Freedom," Brook says before Phoenix can speak. She holds her head high, and her mane and tail wave in the breeze.

Arcane lowers his gaze to his paws. I watch the tears wobble in his eyes. He still doesn't blink, and it creeps me out.

"I did," Arcane says, voice breaking. "I killed Freedom. That's why I will not heal Ky. I can't help your brother, Phoenix. I'm sorry. I truly am."

"Can't or won't?" Grey asks. He studies Arcane.

Arcane draws his ears back and slumps back down, sitting on his haunches. "Does it really matter?"

"Yes, it matters. I don't care if you're scared. Well, too damn bad. Everyone's scared. But what you don't get to do is sit around and mope. You've had sixty years to do that. Now get up, and heal my fucking brother, Arcane. I'd do it myself, but I'm not the one who's the Midnight Wolf, now am I?" Phoenix bares his teeth.

Arcane watches Phoenix for a few moments before shaking his head. "No."

Phoenix bristles and stares back before fire bursts from his fur and covers him completely to the point that I cannot see him. I jump back in surprise. Arcane doesn't flinch.

"You know that fire cannot hurt me. If you know Aquarius allows me to heal, then you also must know far more about Midnight Wolves." Arcane's voice is flat.

Phoenix snarls. "You're just being a coward, ain't ya? Just a dumb fucking coward hiding behind the fact that you made one kill sixty goddamn years ago! You killed one being by a complete fucking mistake, and now you ain't gonna help my brother? Ky needs you. He believed in you. I never gave a shit. I thought you were dead. I didn't care until my brother sacrificed himself when he didn't have to and you, Arcane, are the only shot I have at getting my brother back. The only chance I've got at getting back my family. We came here, Arcane. And now you are being a goddamn pansy about it and won't even try. I know you can do it. I know you still have that Aquarius constellation no matter how much you try to claw it off your body. I know Aquarius never goes away and you can't separate it from yourself, no matter how hard you try. I know that you know that the only way you get rid of Aquarius is you die yourself. And I know that you know that you will never die until you shed the Midnight Tear, because you will live for an eternal eternity until that moment.

"You know what you're being right now, Arcane? You know? You're behaving an awful lot like a cream puff."

Arcane flinches this time, eyes narrowing but not closing.

"You're right that Aquarius goes away. I've tried too many times. I cannot claw the constellation from my flesh." Arcane sighs. "I'd close my eyes and shed the Midnight Tear so it all goes away and I can make things right. There's only one reason I'm still alive, and some days it doesn't feel like it's enough. I'm immortal, but what does that really mean? I won't die until I blink, but am I really alive right now? You just told me you thought me dead a moment ago, Phoenix. I don't doubt that many feel the same way. Am I really still alive if most believe I am dead?"

"You might be all but dead," Phoenix spits, "with you just living up here all alone and rotting for eternity. So tell me, Arcane, are you gonna be such a coward that you won't take up a stance against the cream puff? Are you too scared, even when everyone thinks you're dead?"

Arcane turns his attention to Ky's body. He does look scared, and light flashes on the earrings hanging from his left ear as he shrinks back. His purple claws dig into the ground, and he looks like he's about to run.

"It's easier to just let everyone think I'm gone. Even if they acknowledge the inconsistency that there is no new Midnight Wolf, it's easier. And what use could I be against the King? I've already helped him. I took out his biggest competition. I killed Freedom. She was so powerful, and she used her magic to alter everyone's emotions just enough that they couldn't fall for the King's commands. Maybe it was manipulative, but she at least fought for a good cause. So how could I help when I've already helped the King?"

"You'd be bringing back someone who didn't fucking deserve to be cornered into fucking summoning the Blood Demon," Phoenix snarls. His flames explode and blaze.

Arcane raises his eyebrows and pricks his ears. "Ky summoned the Blood Demon?"

Alex frowns, and so do Brook and Grey. Alex looks surprised.

Phoenix glowers. "What does it mean to you?"

"I didn't realize that's what Ky had done. He's an illusionist, right?"

Phoenix nods. "Is an illusionist. You're gonna help him."

"He must be quite a powerful one, then, if he could summon the Blood Demon."

"Ky is quite powerful. You're gonna help him."

"I can't," Arcane pleads, taking a step back.

"You will." Phoenix takes a step forward.

"I can't." Arcane takes another step back.

"You will." Phoenix takes another step forward.

Phoenix is shorter than Brook, and Arcane towers over my stepmother. But Arcane still backs up when Phoenix walks forward.

"Please," Arcane says, "don't make me. You know what happened with Freedom. I'll just kill your brother."

"But you won't."

"Why? Freedom is dead. The spot where she died is right down there." Arcane whips his head to the side.

I follow his line of sight to about halfway down the side of Ragdon Volcano. I can see a few deep lines carved into the stone and dirt, but it otherwise looks like any other part of the Volcano I've seen. Where Arcane's looking doesn't seem like the place Freedom died.

How did she die? How did my mom die when Arcane didn't mean to? If he didn't want to hurt her, why did she have to die? Why did Lucius have to take her?

Arcane takes several deep breaths, and I pause, returning my attention to him. Maybe he can now heal Ky and make him better.

"Ok," Arcane says. "You really want me to try?"

"Not try. I want you to do. Heal Ky. It's not that hard."

"I-I..."

"Do it, Arcane."

"Please, Arcane," Grey says.

"I-if you..." Arcane trails off. "If you solve a riddle, I'll consider it."

Phoenix scowls.

A riddle?