Chapter Text
“Take me away, Elyon! You are the only one I have left… only you…”
Later, Cedric would tell himself the pitiful words that slipped out of his mouth were all part of his plan of controlling Elyon and making her faith in him unshakable. He was a master of manipulation and knew that some signs of vulnerability would draw sympathy from her weak human heart. She was young, confused, and angry about the way her life had changed. Their bond would grow stronger if she thought she mattered to him, that he needed her.
But these goals were the furthest thing from his mind when they arrived on the other side of the Veil and the small opening she’d torn into it with her powers closed behind them with sparkles of magic. There was no strength left in his body. For a moment he couldn’t even think about getting up from the cold stone floor.
“Cedric? Are you okay?”
Elyon was still holding him in her arms. She was so petite next to him, but he felt that he was drowning in her presence.
“I’m fine. Don’t worry about me,” he said, and though his was a tongue used to telling lies, every word took tremendous effort to get out.
“You can’t be,” Elyon said, the concern in her eyes never fading. “The rebels almost killed you! You almost gave your life to keep the portal open! Why, Cedric? Without you, I’d be all alone!”
Opening the portal in the bookshop and letting the desperate inhabitants of Metamoor pour out into the human world, weakening the Veil and tearing further holes into it had been their most carefully orchestrated plot yet. Vathek had played his part perfectly. Elyon had had her fun toying with Will. Victory had been so close. It had been infuriating to watch the Guardians ruin everything once again, and in that moment Cedric had wanted nothing more than to stop them, even at the greatest cost to himself.
Because this scheme had been woven by Prince Phobos personally. Cedric had promised him he wouldn’t fail him again. A harsh punishment was certain, but even more importantly, he hadn’t wanted to disappoint the man he’d sworn to serve. He hardly remembered a time in his life when his only purpose hadn’t been to earn his place among the prince’s loyal Murmurers.
He was brought back from his thoughts by sudden weight on his chest. Elyon had slumped against him, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs. She was clinging to him with all her strength.
“I don’t understand what’s going on anymore. Why did you think you had to die to stop them from closing the portal? It’s not that important! Why did Vathek betray us? Why do my friends have to be my enemies? And when Will saved you, why did you -”
“Elyon,” Cedric said softly, hoping to distract her from these questions until he could give her answers that’d nip the doubt growing within her in the bud. “It’s been a long day. We can talk tomorrow.”
She lifted her face to look at him, and her cheeks were red and wet from crying. She looked so ugly in that moment that any other time, Cedric would have had to fight against laughter at the thought that this was their long-lost queen whose return was the only ray of hope in the dark lives of Metamoor’s inhabitants.
But this wasn’t like any other time. She’d cried when he’d told her the truth about her origins, when she’d angrily ordered him to have her adoptive parents arrested, when she’d regretted everything about how she’d handled the Fire Guardian’s captivity. Cedric had comforted her each time, patting her back and muttering quiet words to soothe her, but he’d felt nothing but mild disgust at the role he had to play.
No, this was nothing like that. She was making this face because she was terrified after watching him almost die. Cedric couldn’t remember another time when anyone had shed tears for him. Nobody had ever been worried that he might not be there anymore.
Not sure what to do about the unfamiliar ache that Elyon’s concern had caused, he said nothing as he let her keep crying against him. There were many words he could have chosen, but he worried some of them might have been true this time.
Indeed, perhaps even his heart wasn’t entirely immune to the appeal of being important to someone.
***
After Elyon had calmed down and he’d sent her to her chambers for the night, Cedric had plenty to think about and not a lot of time to do it. He would have to report their failure to Phobos and find a way to twist things to his favor - as much as that was even possible after what had happened.
It wasn’t just that another portal had been closed. They’d lost Vathek to the rebels, and he would certainly give them all the information he had on their plans. It wasn’t a lot, and thankfully a bonehead like Vathek wouldn’t understand the value of some of the knowledge he had. He’d been useful as muscle and not much else.
But he had also been Cedric’s sole companion for most of his life. They’d grown up together and sworn to carve their path to a better life side by side. Serving Phobos was the only way to achieve that ever since Kandrakar had shrouded Metamoor in the Veil. Their time passed slower than in the other worlds of the universe, making them prisoners in more ways than one. The nearly fourteen years that Elyon had lived on Earth had been much longer for everyone else.
All those years of companionship and shared struggles to get where they were, and Vathek threw everything away after spending a handful of weeks with the rebels. It made no sense, and Cedric hated when he didn’t understand something. The scholar in him needed to know why Vathek would rather crawl in Meridian’s underbelly with the wretched rabble than stay by his side. What had they offered him? What had he seen while undercover?
It ate at him that he couldn’t follow Vathek’s line of thought. It added another unpredictable element to what had been, at least until the recent events at his bookstore, a straightforward situation. For surely it couldn’t be that Vathek had found something worthier of pursuing than the rewards Prince Phobos had promised them.
Never mind. He was tormenting himself for no reason. Vathek was a lowlier creature than he’d ever realized and had simply found his kind. That was all the explanation Cedric needed, and he pushed the matter aside.
It was good Vathek had betrayed him. He was better off alone than with friends who held even a shred of sympathy for those who opposed Prince Phobos.
These days, the sky over Metamoor was forever covered in thick, ashy clouds. Cedric hadn’t seen their moons since childhood, but he kept count of the days and knew the larger one was full tonight. Phobos never slept on nights like this, so Cedric stayed up as well, wandering around the parts of the castle that he had access to, waiting.
He’d never been to the castle when the queen and her husband had been alive, so he couldn’t compare its current state to the past, but it wasn’t hard to imagine it must have been vastly different. The hallways were deserted and dim, partly illuminated by the cold light of magical crystals that were embedded in the walls. Almost all the doors were locked. There’d been no servants in years, but some had been brought in recently to attend to Elyon’s needs and make her not question why the castle felt so haunted.
There was one door in particular that Cedric yearned to open. The royal library contained thousands of ancient tomes on magic, history, alchemy and other subjects that he wanted to study. Phobos held no interest in knowledge that didn’t directly help him gain more power, but he was paranoid about letting anyone else have it. Cedric had never dared to ask for access to the library, worried that the prince might burn the books in a fit of rage the way he’d destroyed all paintings and sculptures depicting him.
He’d given Elyon some subtle hints that she should show interest in the library in the hope that he might be allowed to accompany her, but she’d made an annoyed face at him and said she wasn’t much of a reader.
“I would have never set foot in that bookstore of yours if you hadn’t invited me there,” she’d told him.
“Then what if I ask you to meet me at the library?”
“No, thanks,” she’d said and given him a hesitant smile. “I can already see you every day, can’t I?”
At the time, he’d been annoyed that she hadn’t realized it was the library he was interested in, not spending time with her. That had been early on, and he realized now that it had been the first time she’d smiled at him since she’d learned the truth about her heritage and the people she’d loved as her parents.
There was no denying that he’d become fond of her. He’d thought of her as nothing but an annoying little girl at first, someone easy to manipulate because she was insecure about herself. Below average at school, not the prettiest face, less popular than her friends. The arrival of Will and Taranee and how they’d hit it off with Elyon’s group had made her very receptive to his stories of how she was special and how she should betray her friends before they learned who she was and did it to her.
But she’d already grown beyond that, and if given enough time and support, there was no limit to what she could achieve. She was a natural at using magic, and if she ever rose to her throne, her power would be endless. She could bring back life to the husk that their world had become under Phobos’s rule.
That wasn’t why he was charmed by her, though. Cedric had long since given up on Metamoor ever recovering. What mattered to him was being among the chosen few who got to reap the rewards when Phobos broke through the Veil and began to conquer other worlds. That was why he’d worked so hard and given up so much.
No, what drew him to Elyon was the glimpse of trickery he’d seen in her. All the twisted ways of tormenting her friends had been her ideas. He’d given her the push by convincing her they were enemies, but after that, all he’d had to do was watch. Honestly, it had taken him by surprise to realize how wicked she could be, but she was Phobos’s sister, after all.
She had so much potential, and Cedric was going to offer her on a platter to her brother to consume. As he imagined the look of betrayal in her eyes, the shadows in the castle seemed like they’d grab a hold of the hem of his robes and never let go.
He tried to laugh at himself but couldn’t get the sound out of his throat.
There was quiet shuffling behind him, and he turned around to face the Murmurer who’d appeared. The long, slender limbs and expressionless face gave the creature an otherworldly aura that made Cedric nervous no matter how many times he stood before its kind. As a shapeshifter, it shouldn’t have bothered him, but the Murmurers got under his skin. They weren’t natural-born. It was even more unsettling to see them wander around the castle like this, rather than laze on large flowers and leaves.
Phobos had promised to turn him into one so he could live in the garden and leave behind the miserable filth that was the rest of Metamoor. There was no greater honor. Cedric had been overjoyed when he’d heard the offer, the opportunity to make something out of his life giving him a goal to strive towards.
He’d ruined countless lives and crushed others under his scales to prove himself to Phobos. Remorse was a feeling he’d long since forgotten. Perhaps that was why Elyon’s death haunted his thoughts. It was the return of a wound that he’d believed closed.
“I’ll be there,” he said to the Murmurer who was staring at him with its large eyes, not letting out a sound.
Stepping into Phobos’s garden was always an overwhelming experience. The air hung hot and humid like a thick blanket. The scent of the massive plants and flowers was an assault that made his eyes water and breath hitch until he got used to it. And every step of the way, he could feel the stares of the Murmurers, their whispered words closing in on him.
failed again
death
unworthy
never one of us
death death
undeserving
punish him
devour him
Cedric knelt on the ground and bowed his head. “I have responded to your summons, oh, faithful court of Murmurers.”
There was no response at first, only dissatisfied hissing and faint sounds in the back that he assumed were gurgled laughter. Then, the Murmurers grew quiet, and the tension thickened. Cedric swallowed in anticipation but kept his eyes on the ground.
“Another portal has been closed. I can sense our connection to outside weakening.”
Prince Phobos spoke in a low, quiet voice that nevertheless carried immense power. He was the rumble of distant thunder, the promise of heavy rain. He didn’t normally show himself to even his most loyal servants, but Cedric had known he’d have to face him tonight. The prince would want to know why a plan he had prepared had ended in failure.
“My apologies, Your Highness. The plan was perfect, but there were unforeseen events that -”
“The Guardians? How many times have they defeated you already? How can their interference take you by surprise anymore?” Phobos’s tone was casual, but the anger behind the words made Cedric press his head further down, right to the ground.
“I can offer no excuses. I failed to keep the portal open and let the rebel masses pour into the human world. I did everything in my power, but -”
“Clearly it wasn’t enough. I am disappointed, Cedric.”
He knew to expect the pain that struck him to his very core, making it feel like his skin was peeling off and his bones splintering, but no matter how many times he’d been through it, it never got easier. Phobos’s powers crackled around him like lightning, and underneath that and his screams of agony, he could hear the delighted hisses of the Murmurers watching them.
And throughout it all, there was one thought on Cedric’s mind, but he didn’t have the courage to voice it.
I was ready to give my life for this plan to work. What more do you want?
He couldn’t tell how long it lasted, but when it finally ended, he collapsed in a heap on the ground, his entire body shaking, throat burning, and tears in his eyes. Ashamed, he blinked them away before raising his head to look at the prince.
Phobos was magnificent. That was what he’d thought when he’d first laid his eyes upon him years ago. There was both power and delicate beauty in him. The garden where he spent his time had been built in his image; every plant overwhelmed the senses and was lethal if you got too close. Cedric didn’t belong there, but the promise of being allowed to become part of it had been his obsession for so long.
“It’d be pointless to try the same plan again soon. Make sure you come up with something else,” Phobos said casually, like he hadn’t just watched Cedric scream and writhe on the ground.
“O-of course, Your Highness.”
“I grow tired of waiting. My sister’s powers are growing, but even if I were to absorb them, it wouldn’t be enough to break free if the Veil isn’t weakened. You know the cycle. We’re running out of time.”
“I won’t disappoint you again.”
“Make sure of it! Don’t forget, Cedric, that you’re expendable. I have a line of others willing to serve me, many of them just as capable as you. If you don’t start providing me with results, I will have no choice but to relieve you of your position. And you know what that means.”
Cedric bowed his head and said nothing. Of course there’d be death awaiting him if Phobos decided he was unworthy to serve him. The thought filled him with dread. Not just because he didn’t want to die but because it’d mean all his effort had been for nothing. The only path he could see ahead of himself was serving Phobos, and if that was cut off, he had nothing left.
Phobos withdrew into the depths of his garden. With him, gone were the Murmurers. The garden felt even more threatening when he was alone, so Cedric hurried up from the ground and returned inside the castle. After the suffocating atmosphere among the plants, the cold stone walls and hallways came as a comfort he didn’t normally appreciate, being reptilian.
It wasn’t the first time he felt Phobos’s dissatisfaction in his very core, but he was now left more shaken than usual. Even after he’d made it to his chambers and returned to his true form to feel more at ease, the heavy feeling inside him wouldn’t fade.
It was anger, he realized, and with that thought it blossomed until he was trembling anew, consumed by fury.
He’d done everything asked of him.
He’d been ready to give up his life for his prince.
He’d groveled in dirt and begged for mercy.
Cedric deserved to be treated better than that. He was loyal. He was capable. He was…
…a coward who lacked the power to stand up for himself. As much as he was burning with rage, his tail twitching anxiously, there was nothing he could do but take Phobos’s lashes. He’d built his own prison.