Guardian: Darkness Rising (6 page)

Akilah smiled at Luke, reassuring
him a little. “This was bound to happen sooner or later, Lucas,”
she said. “Please, don’t blame yourself for everything that has
happened. For now, we should worry about the Master.” Her
expression darkened. “He has pulled someone from your world,
someone you know. And the Master’s going to use her against
you.”

*

Earlier that day

It was deep in the night, and now
eighteen-year-old Mari was trying to fall asleep, but without such
luck. And as she finally started to drift off, something woke her
up.

“
So... Marilyn Belluci. The girl
I’ve heard so much about.”

Mari opened her eyes at the sound
of a deep voice saying her name. She didn’t see anything but
darkness at first, before noticing two glowing red eyes staring at
her.

“
Who... are you?” Mari said; as
she looked around, she noticed she was no longer in her bed in her
safe hideout – the mysterious figure in front of her had taken her
outside.

“
You could consider me... an old
friend of your father’s,” the mysterious figure said; Mari wasn’t
sure whether it was just too dark to see or he didn’t have a face
at all. “What are you doing out here all alone,
Marilyn?”

“
...I don’t know,” Mari said,
slightly hesitant. “I should be asking you. Why’d you bring me out
here?”

The dark figure in front of Mari let out a
deep chuckle. “Amusing,” he said. “Don’t you remember me, child?
The face in your dreams? The voice that called you out
here?”

Mari’s eyes filled with confusion
at first, but then the realisation hit her. When she listened
closely, she indeed recognized his voice. The voice in her dreams
had been a tad younger, friendlier too, maybe – but it was
him.

“
...Then you can answer my
question,” Mari said. “You said it yourself four years ago. You
said that there was more out there. And I still haven’t found what
you told me to look for!” She finally decided to get up from the
ground to face the figure in front of her. “Now, tell me, what did
I leave my home for four years ago, break my parents’ hearts for,
leave my best friends behind for?”

Something of smugness appeared in
the figure’s eyes. “Why, Mari,” he said, “for
me
, of course.”

Mari frowned in confusion,
defensively taking a few steps backward. “...
What
?”

“
If you come
with me, I can explain everything to you,” the figure said.
“There’s a magical world, a world I once was proud to call my
home.” The figure lowered its glowing eyes. “But my brothers and
sisters... they turned on me, and banished me. Took everything from
me.” Anger hinted about in that last sentence. “They used innocent
humans to clean up their mess.” He paused for a second, and the
expression in his red eyes darkened. “And you know what, Mari? One
of those humans was your father. And now they’ve taken him to clean
up their mess
again
.”

“
What?” Mari said. “Who took my
father?”

“
Oh,” the figure said, completely
ignoring Mari’s question. “I forgot to mention. They took that
precious friend of yours, too. ...Lucas is his name, isn’t
it?”

Mari’s eyes widened. “How do you
know all of this?” she whispered. “I haven’t seen my family or any
of my friends in four years. So how would
you
know who and where they are, if
even
I
don’t?”

“
Do you want proof?” the figure
said. “Then come with me, and I’ll take you to them. You can be
happily reunited... if you help me with something.

“
You’ll get everything I promised
you so many years ago, Marilyn. That’s an oath.”

Mari noticed that the figure stuck
out a hand at her; he was made completely of shadows... but then...
more like a
solid
shadow. “Now, will you join me?”

“
Uh...” Mari said, hesitatingly,
but took the figure’s hand eventually. “Yes, I will,” she said.
“Sir...”

“
Oh, please,” the figure laughed.
“Call me Asura. Or Master... whichever you prefer.”

*

“
That scumbag
had the nerve to capture my
daughter
!?”

The Spirits of Light had tried to carefully
share the news with the Guardians, by telling them who the Master
had taken to Lunaria to help him with his dirty little plan – and
Antonio didn’t take it well.

His friends tried to calm him down
as he rose up from his chair, yelling profanities that referred to
the Master; the five children, who sat opposite their parents,
watched silently, too afraid to utter a single word.

“
Antonio,” Akilah’s voice bellowed
over his anger, strict and strong. “Please behave yourself. We will
do whatever it takes to save Mari; no harm will come to her, as
long as you follow my plan.”

“
Well, you better tell me what
that oh-so-glorious plan is then, before I grab a sword and go kill
that guy myself,” Antonio grunted as he sank back down into his
chair.

“
As much as we appreciate your
enthusiasm, you know you can’t do that, Antonio,” the fifth Spirit,
who surprisingly hadn’t spoken a single word since James had
entered the room. She had long, black hair with colourful streaks
running through it, and bright blue eyes. “My name is Aine, Spirit
of Joy, by the way,” she said quickly, as if it didn’t really
matter. And, in the current situation it probably didn’t, but it
was important for the teenagers to know her name – it made asking
questions and starting conversation so much easier if you knew each
other’s name.

“
We can secure Mari’s safety only
if we get her away from Asura,” Akilah said. “That’s why we’ve been
preparing something.”

“
We know that Asura, or, as you
probably remember him, the Master, will be trying to invade the
castle,” Ince said, as he rose from his chair. “But he can’t do it
himself; the light that fills this Realm would instantly kill him
in his current form. But, if he were to become a full-fledged
Spirit or repossessed his body, he would be able to withstand the
light – at least for a certain amount of time, and probably long
enough to take over again if we don’t do anything about him.” He
paused, just to make sure everyone was still following his story.
“Now, we decided to lure him – or, at least, Mari – out, by hosting
a masquerade ball in honour of your arrival.”

Confused and worried looks were exchanged at
the other side of the table, and intelligible murmurs came from the
teenagers.

“
Ah,” Aoife chuckled amusedly.
“Don’t be afraid; we’ll help you prepare for it. We’re just hoping
that Asura will send Marilyn to the ball, so she can find his body
and take it to him – and then we can step in and save her, and find
out what the Master is planning. There won’t be anything serious
about it, we promise.”

“
If you say so,” Luke mumbled
worriedly; the same worry was reflecting in the eyes of the two
boys that were sitting next to him. None of the three could dance,
which meant that a ball where they’d probably have to dance in
front of a whole lot of people was likely to become a total
disaster. They could hear the girls snickering beside them, and
Luke the boys threw them a withering look in unison.

*

Of course, the Master hadn’t
missed the announcement about the masquerade ball that would take
place that night. It was actually the
reason
he’d contacted Mari on Earth
to get her to Lunaria that day; this ball was the ultimate
opportunity for him to reunite with his body.

Mari could easily blend in with the crowd, and
make her way to the chamber where the Master’s body was kept, if
she kept a low profile.

The Master had led Mari to a chamber in his
castle – for some reason, the Spirits hadn’t bothered to break it
down in the past twenty-five years. Perhaps they hadn’t considered
the Master truly a threat until recently.

Mari was caught by surprised when
she entered the room the Master had sent her to; the room was
looking surprisingly friendly compared to the darkness that
surrounded and filled the other rooms of the castle. The bed looked
comfortable, with a dark oak frame and dark blue satin sheets. And
on top of the satin sheets lay...

A dress, but not just any dress; it was a
gorgeous, cobalt blue ball gown.

“
What’s that?” Mari asked,
instinctively knowing the Master was still following her as she
approached the bed and gently stroked the dress. She allowed the
soft fabric to glide past her hands as she made notes of every
detail in her head. “Is this mine?” she said.

“
There are more dresses in the
wardrobe,” the Master said, pointing a foggy hand at the wardrobe
that stood opposite the door. “...Less formal, of course, but this
one’s for a special occasion.”

Mari turned around in surprise.
“For what special occasion?” she said.

“
The Spirits are throwing a
masquerade ball tonight,” the Master said; if he would’ve had a
mouth, it would’ve shown a dangerous smirk right now. “I thought
it’d be beneficial for the both of us if you went there... after
all, you wouldn’t want to miss out on a chance to reunite with your
loved ones, now would you?”

Mari blinked her eyes in
confusion. “...My parents will be there, too?” she said, slowly and
bewilderedly. “But...
how
?” Then, she remembered their
conversation from earlier that night. “...Will Luke be there,
too?”

The Master nodded slowly –
although it was hardly noticeable. “Yes. He will be
there.”

Mari lowered an eyebrow, causing one of her
eyes to squint in suspicion. “There’s something you want me to do
at that ball, isn’t there?” she said. The Master laughed in
response. “You’re learning quickly, young one,” he laughed. “I’m
impressed.” He continued chuckling for a short moment before
continuing. “Now let me reassure you that this won’t be a very
difficult task,” he said. “All you’ve got to do, is take this stone
to my body and place it on the brooch that was designed for it, and
you’re free to go.”

The Master reached out a black
hand, containing a tear-shaped red stone. Its surface was smooth,
and the stone itself had a soft, red glow at its core.

“
Go on,” the Master pushed Mari,
“take it. It won’t hurt you.”

Slightly hesitatingly, Mari took
the stone from the master, without giving it or the hand she took
it with another look. She quickly slipped the stone into her
pockets, disregarding it from there.

“
Very well,” the Master said, as
he left the room. “There will be a carriage waiting for you outside
at sunset. Make sure you’re ready by then.”

The door clicked and locked as
Mari looked around the room; there were no possible escape routes.
The only window was very small and barred; aside from that, she was
up too high to jump out, which meant she’d have to tie clothes and
sheets together to make a rope – and there was no way she’d have
enough to reach close enough to the ground. She was left with one
option; get dressed and do as she was told – until she’d find a way
out.

Masquerade
Ball

Mari needed only a few moments to get dressed;
it didn’t take long for her to put on the dress and to make sure it
fit okay. She then brushed and pinned back her hair, to make it
look half-way decent.

She hadn’t noticed anything strange, until she
glanced at her hand – the hand she’d held the Master’s stone
with.

It happened when she took the
stone out of the pocket of her jeans to put it into a small purse
that she’d found in the wardrobe – the veins of her hand, which
were usually a vague blue underneath her skin, were now a deep
black colour.

It was for sure that the stone had caused it;
in an attempt to prevent the black from spreading – and scaring
people at the masquerade ball, of course – she put on the gloves
that came with the dress. She hadn’t been planning on wearing at
first glance, but considering her current situation, she decided to
put on the gloves anyway.

All Mari wanted was to go that
ball and find her father and Luke. They needed to know that she was
okay – and
she
had to make sure that
they
were okay.

The Master guided Mari all the way from her
room to the carriage that was waiting for her outside – he probably
still didn’t fully trust her, and he was right not to.

As they walked toward the carriage, the Master
went through everything he expected Mari to do while she was in the
castle, but refused to explain why he needed to get that stone back
to his body.

When Mari tried to bring it up, the Master
angrily brushed it off and said that Mari would just have to do as
she was told, so she went on her way to the castle.

When she arrived there, there were many other
creatures arriving and entering the gats to the castle. There were
guards at the gate, but they didn’t seem too serious; they knew who
to let in and who not, and that was their only mission – aside from
telling guests to put on their masks after they’d entered the
gate.