Chapter 25: Beneath The Surface

Chapter 25: Beneath The Surface Aramith smiled nervously as they arrived at the lux doors. They were made of crystal that had the same effect as frosted glass. The corners and edges had gold vines that seemed to grow from the door itself, crawling across till they arrived at the carefully designed handles made of gold. He stopped short and Lia looked at him, noticing the beads of sweat on his forehead. He clenched his fists and swallowed. "You’re not going to believe this Lia, but I’m nervous," he smiled at her. It wasn’t genuine and Lia easily saw through that. "What’s wrong with you?" she walked up to him and wiped his forehead with a white handkerchief. Aramith hardly behaved as such so why was he so nervous? "You can’t show up to such a major event like that," she nagged. "Okay, but-" "Ugh, you’re hopeless. Here, hold my hand." She grabbed his hand before he could argue. "What?" "I’m nervous too, so...whatever let’s hold hands," she commanded rather asking. She tucked the handkerchief away and held his hand, dragging him to the door. "Hey, do you think this will go well?" she asked him. Aramith looked at her but froze in place as his heart started to beat faster. This wasn’t Lia, he thought as the person before him started to change in appearance. Her cheek was swollen, and bruises started to appear on her face. Aramith came to his senses when she tightened her grip and it all disappeared. "What in the..." He wiped his face and shook his head. "What’s wrong?" Lia asked him, knowing something was wrong. "It’s just...I had this weird dream...more like a night-" "Then you should go rest up," Lia suggested "No, I’m going with you. what if..." he trailed off again "And you’re acting like this? It might be better if you don’t come at all." "It’s nothing. I’m just nervous since there will be so many people." "Don’t worry about them. I’ll go in first like we talked about. Then you come in later." Though she knew it was a lie. Aramith wasn’t going to enter. He couldn’t. Beyond the grand doors, far from the glow of the chandeliers and murmurs of the crowd, the night filled someone with unease. No one noticed... In the garden she stood still, breathing heavily with her eyes on the moon, but her mind somewhere else. With every breath, a blue line would pulse from the nape of her neck downwards. She controlled her breathing as she had done many times, trying to hold it in. The simple act made her feel better, but she could feel that it wasn’t enough for her to fully calm herself. Maybe she should have taken the medicine the maid brought to the room but she knew why she refused. Her condition wasn’t very stable and even though Aiden always seemed to try helping her, she hated the fact that he had to threaten her with her father’s name. The medicines she took were temporary. If she didn’t force herself to control her state of mind, it would be easy to lose control once again. The breathing remedy wasn’t working and the transformation was starting to appear. She gritted her teeth as fangs poked out and her nails shifted into claws. Blue scales rippled across her skin, and even though it was frightening, it had some beauty. They painfully came out of her skin, one after the other, spreading an uncomfortable itch all over her body. Her eyes were slitted. "AAAAH!!!" She suddenly screamed and started slashing at the plants in the garden, shredding most of those around her so effortlessly. She screamed as she unleashed her ’anger’ on the plants. This was Mozrael, but this wasn’t Mozrael. She was losing control of herself to the inner being she possessed. In that state, she looked inhuman and if anyone were to get close to her, she might kill the person without even knowing it. This was why she hated herself most of the time. This was what she didn’t want people to see, especially Aramith. She fell to the floor as if someone had struck her hard. On her knees, she started to hit the floor with her fists, breaking the marble floor to pieces and kicking up dust from where she was. She fell to her back, clutching her head and screaming. She was wailing. ’Stop!!!, just stop!. Leave me alone!!!!" Her voice was breaking and the pain she felt was unbearable. It was like her whole being was set on fire and she fell on her side, hugging herself as she rolled up into a ball, crying. The blue light pulsed brighter and faster with her heartbeat. Let me take control and all your pain would disappear, the voice flowed sweetly in her mind like honey Blood splattered on the floor as she coughed convulsively. The coughs lasted shortly and she was gasping for air, her consciousness was leaving her. Through the haze of pain, she heard it—light, deliberate footsteps. Someone was there. She pressed her trembling hands against the ground, struggling to focus as her vision blurred, the world slipping in and out of darkness. Then— "You are one miserable person, you know," a voice came from behind her. She willed herself to turn and see who it was but only got herself another fit of coughs. Her senses felt numb and she couldn’t see clearly, even after the person came to squat before her. She only saw the color green and instinctively slashed at him, but he caught her arm halfway toward his face. She looked like an animal, though a rather beautiful one. "I would save my energy if I were you," he said as he dropped her arm and reached a hand towards her neck. She felt fear and energy rush into her body as she sprang up and kicked the person in the chest. At least that’s what she believed. The person grunted, but that one kick seemed to be all she had left in her and she dropped to the floor once again. She wasn’t fully unconscious, but her body wouldn’t move no matter how much she willed it. She could only see faintly as the person walked up to her once again and reached a hand toward her neck. She prepared for the worst, but this person just placed two fingers on her neck to check her pulse. "You just like trouble, don’t you?" The person said and turned around to pick something up. It was a man, but who? Her senses weren’t making sense of the situation. He raised Mozrael’s head and slipped something into her mouth. It dissolved quickly and spread into her blood. Intense pain coursed through her body and her senses were slowly coming back to her. "How many times do I have to tell you to always keep your medicine with you at all times?" He said. Aiden? That was something the healer always said to her. When her senses fully returned, she saw him clearly, It was Aiden. When it came to people, she hated Aiden for no particular reason. She just found him uncomfortable to be with and that turned into hate. "She’s good now, you don’t have to inform the king about this," Aiden told a guard waiting behind him. The guard hesitated, unsure whether he should keep quiet or not. "I said you should leave." The guard bowed and left. He sat down beside her, quietly staring at the sky. "you can’t hide this forever, you know. One day you’ll have to accept it and also give the people around you the chance to accept you." She said nothing, quietly controlling her breathing. "You might think you’re doing the right thing but let me tell you this. You’re acting very stupid." She didn’t mind at all. She wasn’t even annoyed at the insult. What he said held some truth. "Here, take them." He reached out to give her two glass vials. One contained her pills, and the other was opaque, so she didn’t know what it was for. "The pills are yours, but give the other one to Aramith. I have some matters to attend to, so I’ll be taking my leave then. If you’re wondering, the event is starting so if you want to support Lia, you could do so. But I suggest you stay away until everything is over." She was still breathing in gasps. "Have you reconciled with Lia?" The question irritated her. "I see. So that’s the reason why you’re like this? She’s devastated, you know. It took a lot of effort from your mother before she was able to come out with a smile." He paused, observing her reaction. "Aramith is also there to support her, but looking at the kind of history you and him had with the crowd, I don’t think he’ll be attending." "Lies," she suddenly spoke. Aiden smiled. "Guess you can talk now. I’ll be leaving then." He left without another word Mozrael got up after some time and went to sit on a bench. She made up her mind to wait till everything was over before going to find the other two. She wanted to calm herself down first. It would be terrible if she went there and suddenly lashed out. Worse still, if Aramith saw her like that. She decided to forgive Lia. At least Aramith was happy.