Inside the Beast's Castle

Chapter 35--How the Mighty Will Fall

"What's a mob to a king? What's a king to a god? What's a god to a nonbeliever?" --Death Note
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Vadik

The palace was strangely silent.

There were no maids busily running up and down about the halls. There were no knights in their armor clanking to the door of the throne room.

Everyone was in their rooms, either asleep or enjoying the small bit of time they had to themselves until the next morning.

That is, all but one.

The man strode through the castle briskly, moving down the halls with a purpose. His dark hair was tied back in a knot at the nape of his neck. He wore the uniform of a guard-- burgundy chest plate, black boots that muffled footsteps, a golden scabbard that hung loosely at his side--but held himself in an entirely different manner.

He had told himself it was for disguise.

Old leather slipped through sweaty palms, the material covered a book given in the woods. Thoughts of the girl who gave it kept running through his head.

At that moment, she was his anchor. His rock. He'd lose his nerve if she didn't keep speaking in his mind.

But Zara wasn't truly there. It was old memories, not the magic she possessed nor the magic he was about to have. Old conversations and old ideas before they knew of each other's worlds.

Vadik entered a room to his left, a room where the door was slightly ajar, thanks to the obedience of the servants and their fear of his father's wrath if he were to report them.

He'd seen what happened to those who did not listen. Never again would he inflict that type of pain unto an innocent. It was his vow-- a vow taken ten years before. A vow taken as smoke of the dead rose into the air and the screams of a child floated through the kingdom.

More than his innocence died that day. His father, his father who was once an influence on his life, became to him what the rest of the world saw.

A monster.

A beast.

And he was the son of such a creature.

As Vadik entered the room, a faint, sour odor stung his nostrils. He'd never been much of a chemist--unless sleeping through his tudor's classes when he was younger counted--but for once, all the instructions were falling into place as beautifully as fresh snow blanketing the ground.

Glass tubes, some shattered, sat up against the wall; the liquid in each shimmered with potential.

With magic.

Although, not exactly so. According to Zara's book, it was energy in a liquid form. When put into the body, the engery reacted in such a way to give the person powers.

He also knew of its side effects.

He knew what it said, word for word. It was one of the few books he'd read multiple times.

He had to. With the book came hope. With hope came the possibility his father could be stopped and his friend could come home.

The desk the precious tubes sat on rattled dangerously as he tugged on the drawer below. When it finally came undone, it screamed with such a force the castle should have been awoken.

It was as if God was telling him no.

In all his years of planning, Vadik had never known such a steep consequence of an action. What he was about to do went against all "good" feelings he had, all parts of what believed to be right. To seek such power meant a heavy price would be paid.