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Energy Pulse
"Well? Did you find him?" Kai asked with mounting impatience as he eyed Erasumus' solemn expression. His patience turned to dread when he caught the slightest change in the mage's face.
The glow of the crystal ball cast an otherworldly light across his face that somehow made him look even more handsome, his violet eyes glowing mystically. And it made it easier for Kai to catch it. It was barely noticeable; someone who wasn't paying attention might have missed the subtle shift entirely.
Erasmus blanched just the smallest degree, and his eyes widened just the smallest bit.
A tiny ray of hope dissipated the darkness that had filled Kai's mind with all sorts of horrific thoughts.
He found him.
Kai stopped breathing. "What is it? Did you find Hakan? You found him, didn't you? Tell me!"
Erasmus covered the glowing crystal ball with a dark silk cloth, concealing its soft light. The room was once again engulfed in a semi-darkness, save for the light coming from a jellyfish chandelier glowing dimly above their heads, seemingly ready to 'expire'.
"My Prince," Erasmus met his eyes and began.
Kai shot to his feet and regretted doing so immediately; the castle started spinning. Suddenly there wasn't enough oxygen in the castle to fill his lungs.
God, no, please God, no. Anyone but him. He repeated the words in his head, chanting them with the urgency of a prayer.
Kai said to Erasmus, "Tell me he's alright." There was barely-concealed plea in the prince's shaking words.
A bead of sweat rolled down Erasmus' face. "I cannot."
Kai dropped back down into the wooden chair he'd dragged and placed in front of the magical crystal ball hovering in the air, now covered by the silk. His legs were no longer strong enough to support him.
"He's... dead?" A violent tremor shook Kai and he dropped his head to hide the onslaught of tears with his hair.
Guilt assaulted him with a vengeance. This was his fault. This was all his fault. He'd involved his best friend in the magical lunacy that was his life and he'd paid the price for it with his life. What was he going to tell Aunt Gönül? How was he going to explain to Hakan's widowed mother that he'd gotten her son and the sole provider of the family killed?
"I... I... Hakan..."
"No."
Kai looked up, surprised. "He's... not dead? Then..."
Erasmus the Fabled as Ryodan had once called him started fidgeting, his gaze darting away nervously.
Kai exploded in hot fury, "WOULD YOU JUST SPIT IT OUT?!" Was Erasmus purposely toying with his overwrought nerves?
"Fine! He's in Nostraza!"
"Nostraza...? Why would he be there-?!"
"Marius has him. I assume he caught him mid-teleportation and redirected his trajectory, sending him to the Black Palace."
Kai closed his eyes and exhaled. "Fuck."
The crystal ball shattered into a million pieces.
****
Kai knew that Marius was strong, but for him to do something like this... Not even the Spirit of the Sea had seen it coming, nor did it notice nor predict the route redirection somehow.
You and everyone else keeps telling me you're all-powerful. How can you let something like this happen? Kai reproached, not in the mood to spare the Spirit's feelings. He'd already let Erasmus have it a second time, so the Spirit shouldn't receive different treatment.
For the first time, the Spirit had nothing to see. Kai sensed that he was at a loss for words.
You're all useless.
Indeed, there is only so much we can do for you. Some things you must do yourself. We must begin your training.
Fine, fine, but after-
No. Now.
Kai stopped walking. He had been headed for the room his mother and Ryodan were cooped up in.
He inhaled and then exhaled, forcing his heart rate to calm down before he had a stroke or a heart attack.
Perhaps he should heed the Spirit's demand this once. Freeing Hakan would definitely pose an extraordinary challenge, and would require an equally extraordinary feat to achieve it. If there was ever a time and a reason to grow stronger and to master his inherited powers, this was it.
Now was the time.
Okay.
Hmm?
Teach me how to master you.
****
Erasmus picked up the crystal ball pieces with the silk cloth he used to cover it, careful not to prick or scratch himself on the sharp glass. He especially didn't want to be pricked by something that had received a pulse of energy from the Spirit, instantly cracking it like an egg. He figured it would break him too.
He picked up a shard and stared at it, narrowing his gaze to see what could not be seen with the untrained, ungifted eye. A malevolent purple-colored aura was rising out of the shard like toxic fumes.
The Spirit's wrath. Kai's raging anger.
And His Highness did not even realize that he was the one who'd shattered the crystal ball simply with his rage.
*~~~~~~~~~~~~~*
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