Twisted Souls

Chapter 18

The silence was stretched for so long that I'm beginning to think he didn't hear me properly. I'm about to speak up but he beats me to it.
"What do mean turning to stone?"
"It's literally turning to stone, along with a necklace of mine. I don't know why though."
The silence returns but only for a heartbeat.
"Show me."
"I- I don't have it on me right now..." I explain.
He gets up and begins to make his way towards the horses.
"Then take me to it."
"Now?" I ask dubiously. But my question is already answered once Xalale mounts Atlas. I have no choice but to follow.
I can't pinpoint why, but I'm really nervous about showing him the ring. It's all I can think about on the ride back. Even with the cool night air breezing past me as we rode, the hairs on my neck wouldn't stay down.
It feels like in a blink of an eye that we're standing in front of my door. I rummage around in the drawer and pull out the metamorphic ring and necklace. The object feels surprisingly heavier than before as I hand him the ring.
Inspecting it he doesn't say a word to me, I can't read his expression but I know it can't be good. After a few minutes roll by he finally addresses me.
"Thank you for showing me this. I'll have to examine it further to figure out the problem." Judging from how ridged his body and how stiff his voice sounds, it appears he already knows the cause of this problem.
"I will see you in the morning." And like that, he's gone. Out the room and into the darkened halls shrouded in shadows.
I don't know what I think at this point. The news is bad, but exactly how bad I don't know. With these thoughts persisting in my mind, I peel off my dress, put away my necklace, and finally crawl into bed. But worry and fear naw at me constantly.
"Relax and just drift off, relax and just drift off..." After awhile the chant and my thoughts merge together, letting me slip into a restless sleep.

I wake up the next morning with a tired feeling deep in my bones. I didn't sleep soundly; all the stress and pressure and anxiety were finally catching up to me. My body was taking a beating.
Looking out the window, I realize it's still fairly dark outside.
"Great. Woke up too early." There was no point in trying to fall back into a restless sleep, I get up and get ready.
My thoughts just can't seem to shut up. Every little thing wants to be spoken all at once. It's like a hundred different voices at different volumes trying to all vie for my attention at once. I wish they would all just be silent, leaving me to think things through properly.
"I need to do something. Something productive." As I rack through my mind trying to think of what could count as productive, a thought springs to the forefront of my mind. "I got it!"
Hurrying out of my room, I travel the halls- still dark from it not being dawn yet, but somehow lighter than last night. These halls are getting easier to navigate the more I use them. Its hard locating Xalale's room since I had my eyes closed the time he took me to it, but I figure it must be on this floor since I don't remember walking up steps to get there. Through trial and error I finally find his room.
Every nerve in me is twitching and trembling, but I know I have to do this. Taking a deep breath I step into his room, using the upmost amount of caution, and make my way towards his bed.
His back is towards me, shoulders bare and showing from under the covers. Unintentionally my cheeks flare up with heat as I recall the first time I'd seen him bare.
"Focus!" I scold myself.
I don't really know how to go about this. He seems like a pretty calm person when he wakes up, but that could've been a one time thing. Some people thrash and punch if they're woken up by surprise. I decide to take the most indirect, safe route.
"Xalale. Xalale."
He doesn't stir. "Come on. Different tactic."
"Xalale!" It's slightly louder then my first attempt, but still he doesn't wake up. There's only one option left to take.
It was a quick shove, but harder than I intended to do. It works though and he begins to wake up.
"Xalale?"
"What?" He groans sitting up.
"I said I was going to help you and I always keep my word, so get up, we have work to do."
He glares at me. "It's not even light yet."
"Yeah I know." I reply coolly walking towards the door. "Get up, get dressed, and meet me in the throne room."
I feels strange for me to be giving orders, but I guess it must be more uncommon for him to take orders from someone else.

Pacing back and forth in the throne room, my mind races as I wait for Xalale to arrive. I would have taken the time to visit Elle and Coxen, but it was too early in the morning and would raise suspicion- which is the last thing I want to do.
My head turns at the sound of the door being open. Xalale is still wearing a scowl on his face, but it doesn't deter me. For some reason, I'm feeling more determined then ever to fix everything, no matter how hard the struggle is.
"I have rules for this." He says, his tone as hard as the look in his eyes. "If I can't continue then I can stop whenever I want. Secondly, don't press me. Lastly, stay out of my way."
"Fine." I shrug casually. This was his way of staying in control as he was about to start losing control."Just show me what you can do."
"I can't do anything." He's already on the defensive side and we haven't even done anything yet.
I sigh. "This is going to be fun."
"Just focus all of your attention and concentration on letting it manifest."
"Using focus doesn't work for me."
"Jesus!"
"If you can't do anything how do you know?"
"Because I know what I'm capable of."
"Ok." I exhale and rack my brain of what to do next. "Try using your emotions to control it. Just feel one emotion the strongest and use that."
He shoots me daggers with his eyes, but does so anyway. I can tell he's trying, but nothing appears to be happening.
"That doesn't work either." He scowls.
"Trial and error." I explain patiently. "Maybe think of what you want to happen. Envision it in your mind until it becomes real."
But again, nothing.
"What now?" I try to recall certain movies and books that described how to use powers. The characters would always either use emotions, focus, or envisioning to summon their powers. "Good use those sources are for me now."
Just about as I'm almost ready to admit I have not a clue what to do, an idea suddenly emerges.
"What about memories?"
He gives me a doubtful look. "How would memories help me?"
I shrug. "Honestly, I don't know, but your abilities maybe triggered by a past event in you life. It's at least worth a shot."
Reluctantly he tries it. I wait while he concentrate on delving into his memories. I wait and wait, but nothing happens.
"This doesn't work either." He was becoming frustrated too easily, but things don't always come on the first try.
"Maybe you're not using the right memories. Maybe you need to go back to a significant time in your life. A moment that you'll never forget because it stays fresh in your mind." I coax him to try it one more time. "Remember how you felt that day, the way it affected you."
I could recall a significant time in my life if I had to. It was during the time I joined a soccer team (biggest mistake in my life, I don't know what possessed me to do that). I was nine and bubbling over with excitement about shooting a goal, for the first time, until I realized I earned a point for the other team. My team never recovered from that and we lost the game. I felt terrible about it, but my parents cheered me up by planning a day trip to the lack where we fished and swum until the sun went down and I forgot everything that happened. I never felt so grateful in my entire-
A burst of negative energy surging through the room brought me back to the present. Dark shadows cover the room, suffocating the room in negativity. As abruptly as it begun, it died down. I face Xalale with a surprised expression. Clearly the memory burning in his mind wasn't a pleasant one.
"That was...that was something." I say, still a little stunned by the force of the energy.
"I'm not doing that again." He sounds out of breath and in some pain. "That's not how I want to control it."
"What's wrong? What did you think of?"
He shakes his head and turns away from me.
"Look, just calm down." I say calmly, trying to pacify the situation. "It works if you think of memories, now we need to control how much force you use."
He's still not responding to me and is pacing like a caged tiger.
"Come on and try thinking of that memory again-"
"No. No, I don't want to remember that memory anymore."
I gently grab his wrist to make him stop pacing. He's still not meeting my gaze, but I continue anyway.
"So from what I can tell, that memory is painful to you. But if you want to learn to control your abilities then it's not going to be easy and you're going to need to experience hard things. Try recalling that moment from your past and think of it differently. Try to gain the upper hand and overcome those bad experiences."
After a minute of silence he pulls free from my grip and shoots me another cold look, but tries again.
"Just relax and don't let those bad moments get the better of you."
I hold my breath and wait, praying this works.
"Learn to control all the negative tha-"
The impact of the wave of darkness sends me to my knees and knocks the wind out of me. Xalale staggers and falls to the floor. I recover quicker and race over to his to help him up, but he pushes me away.
"I'm done."
"You're just disappointed, we can try again." I say encouraging him.
"No, Mallory. We're done here, leave me alone."
"We haven't even begun! You can't just give up when it gets tough!" Frustration was beginning to build in me and I wasn't watching my tone. "This is going to take practice."
"You don't understand what I'm going through. I need time." His defenses were up and if I was going to get anywhere, I needed knock down those walls.
"You're right. I don't understand," I begin losing my frustrated tone. "But I want to help you and if you're not going to try then these powers will always control you. I can lift your head, but I can't turn your eyes to freedom, that's something you have to do."
He's still on the floor breathing hard. I can't tell what's going through his mind, but I hope he's considering what I'm saying. Finally he pushes himself off the ground and glares at me.
"I'll try it again, but don't push me."
"I won't." I reply firmly.
So he attempts again to control the surge. I don't say a word, but in my mind I'm praying that this'll work. All we need is one spark or form of control and he'll try harder- and that'll start making a path for me to fix my mistakes and go home.
That same familiar energy of negativity comes, but instead of the full on force of it, it only last for a quick second- weaker than it usually is.
I'm not sure how to take this, so I give him a questioning look.
"Well?"
"It worked." There was no surprise or excitement in his voice, only the faint traces of tiredness.
"That means we're getting somewhere. I guess you if practice enough it won't be as painful."
"Hopefully."
Silence fills the room like a familiar barrier. I happen to glance out the windows and manage to catch a glimpse of the approaching sunrise. Before I can help it a smile spreads across my face and I rush to the window to watch the sky fill with color.
I never get to see the sunrise expect for those miserable school mornings in winter where the sun would rise while I was in my first class. I couldn't admire it to the full content seeing how I was still exhausted and in a class I despised. Now, staring out at the horizon while the pale, pastel colors warm the sky, I can appreciate the natural phenomenon.
At some point Xalale comes and stands behind me.
"You act like you've never seen a sunrise before."
I continue to smile despite my better judgment. "Yeah well, I don't usually get to appreciate the sunrise all the time."
The pale light begins to bathe the room. All the shadows retreat- to a certain extent- to the corners of the room where the light can't reach them. Morning has arrived.
I turn away from the window and make my way to the doors.
"Where are you going?" Xalale's voice stops me.
"My room." I say this like it's obvious. "I'll be down for breakfast."
I breeze out of the room and make my way back to my room and back under the warm covers of the sheets.

Opening my eyes, my mind is still groggy. Thoughts flood my mind but none of them make any sense until I glance at the window.
"Morning...practice...sunrise, breakfast? Breakfast!?" My brain was finally piecing it together.
Like a whirlwind, I roll out of bed and smooth myself out. This almost feels like those school days where I'm racing to catch the bus that comes at 7:15 and I'm waking up at 7:09- there's no way it's happening.
I'm out of the room and flying down the halls to the dining room, hoping I'm not too late. But I guess my luck meter ran dry for the month due to its use this morning. Some servant girls are already clearing the table of dishes.
"The king already left, miss." One of the girls replies when I question her.
I faceplam myself before thanking them and heading out into the halls. I'm on my way to the throne room when I'm stopped by a voice calling me.
"Uh, miss!"
Turning in the direction, I spot the young guard from yesterday who I sent on a mission. He hurries down the hall to meet me.
"I've found your guest, the young woman named Sephora. She is waiting for you on the garden balcony. I shall lead you to her."
"Really!?" I light up. "Thank you! Thank you so much!"
He smiles, proud of himself, and leads me to the balcony overlooking the valley beyond. As promised, there staring out into the view is the familiar, fuchsia haired Sephora. She notices my arrival and greets me with a relived look.
"Mallory. I have some important news to share with you, but you called for me so there must be something happening with you."
I don't think she was expecting a hug from me, but I was so overjoyed to see her that I couldn't help myself. After our quick embrace I get down to business.
"Yeah, there's been some...troubling things occurring."
"Like what?" Her eyes carried genuine concern in them as she stared at me.
"Have you ever heard of things turning to stone?"
She looks at me wearily. "Yes...why?"
"Well, you see, I have a problem on my hands with that. Let me go get it to explain better." Without wasting any time, I flee to my room and retrieve the necklace. Once I return handing her the cheap jewelry, I wait for the assessment.
Not responding right away, Sephora inspects the necklace before letting out a small sigh and looking up at me.
"How long has this been occurring?" Her tone is not as panicky as I thought it would be, so it gives me the slightest bit of hope.
"Uh, probably since the time I last saw you if I remember correctly."
"Ah..."
"But that wasn't the object that got my attention at first."
Her furrows burrow in confusion. "Explain."
"Well, I found a ring- that turned out to be Xalale's- and that was when I first noticed that the ring was turning to stone. Slowly at first, but then the process seemed to progress rapidly. Both of them, the ring and the necklace, seem to be changing at the same rate. Xalale has the ring now."
Me and my big mouth. The concern and panic I was expecting her to exhibit at first was now appearing the moment I finished speaking. The hope that was accumulating in me had all but faded and evaporated at this point.
"The ring? The king's ring is-" She began to pace back and forth, running her hands through her bright hair. "Oh no, oh no. In the name of the fates."
"Uh...Sephora? Sephora?" I reach out and stop her with a touch on the shoulder. Her hands cover her face. "What's wrong? What does this mean?"
"It means- it means that we are all truly doomed now to a unfortunate fate."
"What!?"
"Oh God, tell me this isn't happening."
She lifts her head up from her hands, devastation written on her face.
"The ring is a hourglass, a hourglass that shows how much longer the king has to live."
"Oh." Is all I can say.
"The necklace is how much longer you have to save the king, and Mallory, you must save the king. This involves the important information I had to share with you."
My mind was reeling. She knows I'm not on board with the whole kissing the king, my true love thing, and she wasn't too sure about it either. What's changed?
As if to answer my question she replies next. "The kingdom is falling into darkness and chaos."
"I know this." I say confused.
"No, no, but what you don't understand is that by the time the darkness has arrived and is on the brink of destroying the entire kingdom, it will be the eve of the king's twentieth birthday. The day he turns to stone. The day the only one who can rein in this darkness is going to be powerless to stop it."
I'm not sure how either of us are still standing seeing how it feels the rug got pulled from under me in one fell swoop. I felt like I was finally hitting rock bottom and the full force of the impact was ricocheting through me. There wasn't anything I could say but,
"Shit."