The Metaphorical Key Book II- Forge the Path

XXI

YEAH TWO CHAPTERS IN ONE DAY.
MAYBE THREE IF I'M FAST ENOUGH.

The Ravens entered a large, square room. Aiden glanced around, lips pursed and brows furrowed. He'd never seen this room before - the entire thing was made of wood panels, and he could almost hear the echo or every breath and whisper around him.

Prosper strode into the centre of the room, hands folded behind his hand and fingers entwined. His chin was tilted up, eyes downcast. Holier than thou, Aiden thought. Ten seconds in and this guy was already irritating him.

There was no microphone, but Aiden could hear his every word as clearly as though the older man was standing right beside him.

"Alright, so, allow me to give the lot of you a history of the Catago."

The room groaned. This was the huge announcement? A history lecture?

"Hey!" Prosper snapped. "There's payoff!"

Aiden doubted it - the guy probably just liked the sound of his own voice - but he stayed silent.

"When the Catago first formed," he started. "They weren't evil. Not even morally wrong or so much as grey, they were just a group of friends, hardly out of college - this was obviously back when that still existed. They were all heirs, princes and princesses and primes. None of the places they were heirs to were anything special - some of them weren't even on maps. One day, they were hanging out by a lagoon - Se'a Lagoon in Chodel, I think it was? Anyway, this... thing comes up and out of the water, scares the living daylights out of these guys. The descriptions I heard say that it had snake skin, humanoid arms, the stinger of a stingray in place of legs, massive, glowing yellow eyes, kelp like hair, visible veins, and huge fins in place of fear. Terrifying. It could breathe both above water and underwater, if I remember correctly."

He took a deep breath before continuing, rubbing the back of his neck and rocking back and forth on his heels.

"It introduced itself as the "Kap of the Lagoon." The friends thought that was funny - hat of the lagoon. The creature told them that Kap was also a word for water demon."

A hush fell over the room.

"So, this water demon - she doesn't tell them her name, if she even had one. She asks if they'd like control over more than just their backwater little towns. They jump at the chance - no bad intentions yet. She tells them that all they have to do is do some things for her, not even very tough things, and she'll make them into kings, queens, monarchs, gods. It starts with them bringing her pretty rocks and jewelry and this and that, lavish items and little trinkets."

He paused.

"But it escalates. The tasks get worse and worse, harder, more intense, more morally wrong, more..." He sucked in a breath. "Evil."

He left the word hanging in the air for a moment before continuing. "Eventually they were lying, cheating, stealing, hurting others, killing. Eventually, this gang - no longer just a group of rag-tag friends with a dream - decides that they need a name. The Kap tells them that she'll be very, very impressed if they can name themselves after her. They go with The Kaps of the Lagoon. The Kap thinks it's uninspired, but lets them get away with it. Eventually, they decide that it's a bit of a mouthful and also sounds a bit childish. They go through a few more variations before The Kap takes pity on them and introduces them to the language of her people - bukk. The language is used both in casual conversation and -" his voice softened and dropped an octave. "To bend others to your will."

A collective gasp rippled throughout the room as they realized the same thing at the same time.
"Yes. Anyway, they took... damn, I forgot the name they had picked out - oh! Kapago! They take Kapago and translate into bukk and get Chatagr. It's sort of alphabet soup, so they combine the two and get Catago."

"So what's the huge announcement?" Somebody shouted from the back of the room. "Or is that all you've got?"

Prosper sent them an icy glare.

"The creature the Catago met with also met with your previous leader's father. There was never anything special about that guy," he said, pointing directly at Aiden. "It was all a ruse, made by the Catago to dissuade anybody else from seeking out the stones - after all, if they believed that only one person could use them, why would they? It's all been a lie - all of it. The stones are real, their powers are real, but the idea that there are only two people in the world who can use them? Bull. Shit."

He pointed at Aiden once more.

"And that guy? The one who killed your friend? His whole spiel about the two people who could use the stones being able to temporarily transfer their power to other people? Improvised hogwash. Why on earth would something like that just be revealed? Wouldn't it have been better for you to go on not knowing that? Not the smartest choice, but hey, thinking on your feet is hard."

Prosper stopped and sighed.

"And now I must go."

"What?" Aiden shrieked. "You can't just say something like that and then leave!"

Prosper smiled, his eyes watering.

"The Kap kills anybody who lets the secret out without her permission. Helps limit how many people know. I don't have long. The Catago - they've done so much for her, she's - she's nigh unstoppable." He stared off at something in the distance, eyes unfocused and glassy.
"And she's almost here."

He doubled over, spitting blood onto the floor. He held his hands up to his mouth as he coughed and coughed, hacking violently.

He pulled his bloody hands away from his face and collapsed, unmoving.

And the world went to hell.