Chapter 38: Blood Magic

"You've been really quiet," Clover stared up at Ace's face.

Ace's hand was in Clover's. He was waiting to be healed.

"When you go quiet I start to worry what you're up to," Clover smirked. They yanked Ace in closer and whispered into his ear:

"Especially when you disappear after making such tall promises,"

Ace's face reddened. He pulled back and averted his eyes.

"I'll keep those promises,"

"When? You haven't come to see me since that day. It's been almost a week,"

"When I'm ready," Ace said in a low voice.

"What does that mean?" Clover smiled placidly.

Ace didn't answer. He glanced back at Clover and then looked away. Clover shook their head with a laugh. They started to cast the healing magic. As soon as it was done, Ace withdrew his hand hastily. He could feel the longer he was under their gaze, the harder it was to trust himself.

He turned and stepped down from the throne. As he did, he passed Michael. The sight of his smug grin made Ace's blood boil. He met with Bird and they proceeded back to his room.

Ace went over to the wardrobe and pulled out the book from the hidden compartment.

"I found the spell in this book," Ace explained, " do you think it will work?" He handed it to Bird.

Bird inspected the page. He glanced up at Ace.

"This book..." he said slowly.

Ace nodded gravely, "I think it belonged to the empress of Rotan,"

"What's it doing here?" Bird frowned. He turned the book over to its cover. It was a dark skin like binding. It had no words written on it.

"I don't want to know. I didn't ask," Ace sighed.

"Well this spell looks legitimate but I've never seen magic like this. It's chaotic and dark. I can't be certain what it will do. We have to be careful," Bird hesitated.

"What do you mean?" Ace questioned, "I've always used dark magic without a problem,"

Bird observed him quietly, " I've heard many stories that using dark magic can cause a person to lose their mind,"

"I think that's already the case," Ace laughed drily, "I've been seeing things lately. I can't concentrate and Michael..."

"Don't let him provoke you," Bird warned.

"I don't even know if it's him," Ace confessed, "I think it's me. I just..."

"Is it about Clover?" Bird questioned in a small voice.

"I'm sorry," Ace paused, "We don't have to talk about that."

Bird remained quiet for a moment.

"Do you really need to go this far?" Bird stared up at Ace.

"What do you mean?" Ace asked, confused.

"I just don't get why you would go so far to keep the necklace from Clover if they want it so badly," Bird said flatly. "Now that we know what Michael said was a lie, shouldn't we just give the necklace back to the Empire? They might forgive us for our involvement,"

"If we give the necklace back to the Empire, Clover will die," Ace stared at Bird apprehensively.

"Ah, of course. You're right," Bird let out a nervous laugh, "I don't know why I said that. Let's just do the spell,"

"Are you sure you want to do this, Bird?" Ace hesitated. "You don't have to if you..."

"Yes! Yes, I do. I do," Bird protested eagerly.

He quickly set the book on the floor and knelt down beside it. "Do you have the paper?"

Ace handed Bird the scrolls of paper he had borrowed from Clover. Bird began to inscribe the symbols from the book. When he had finished he lay the book down.

"Okay, then now we'll need to combine our magic to do the spell,"

Ace knelt down beside him. Bird took Ace's hands. They closed their eyes and began the incantation.

Bird's magic resembled the feeling of the sun against one's face. Ace felt warm. In the midst of the dark behind his eyes, he began to make out sand shifting faintly across a desert plain.

It wasn't like the desolate waste of the demon world, dry and cold. It was warm. The sand was almost blindingly white. Ace turned to see two boys arguing. They both had dark skin and white markings along their arms. The elder of the two pulled away violently causing the small boy to fall back.

The small child's brown eyes looked up full of tears. He had the same light blonde curly hair as Bird. Ace's eyes widened with comprehension. Was he seeing Bird's memories?

"I ain't coming back here so don't look for me no more," the oldest said.

"Don't listen to the others! " protested the smaller boy, "What do they know?"

The elder boy looked down coldly, " They're right, Bird. I don't belong here. This place is too small for me,"

"How is it small?" Bird protested, "look how great the desert is! We can go somewhere else!"

"Little brother, the world is a bigger place than this desert. I'm leaving to go see the real world, the place beyond these dunes, beyond this sand. Far away from this hot, ugly place,"

"You always say you're going to leave and then you come back," Bird argued, "This is why the other's make fun of you,"

"Not this time, little brother." the eldest declared, "This time you'll never see me again!"

"Fine! Then go!" Bird exclaimed.

Ace opened his eyes. Bird glanced up timidly.

"Are you ready?" Bird asked.

Ace nodded. He turned back to the book to finish the last of the spell. He would have to do this part alone. He held out his hand. He could still feel Bird's magic swirling through his body. He felt ready. He could do this.

With the incantation read, Ace inhaled deeply. His magic always felt emotionally draining, but this time, he felt worse than usual. The darkness was almost too much. Ace gritted his teeth trying to resist the force of turmoil. His body convulsed.

"Ace?" Bird grabbed hold of him. "Maybe you should stop,"

"Not...yet," Ace breathed uneasily.

Ace endured another wave of intense pain. Resisting only made it worse. The voices in his head were close to unbearable.

'Why did you let me die?'

'I don't want to love you'

'Will you let them die too?'

Ace was thrown back by the force of emotion. His body was out of his control. Bird leapt up in surprise.

"I think you should stop!" Bird cried. "Stop the spell!"

"I...I..can't," Ace faltered.

The darkness fell over him. Suddenly everything went black again. This time Ace found himself walking along a dark hallway. The white marble floors shone against a white moon hanging above in a starless sky. Ace glanced up. Where was he?

He kept walking. The sky dipped under the dark ceiling. It looked like one of the temples he had seen in the north. He kept going into the inner chamber. The white steps lead down into a strange garden enclosed by the temple's pillars. Above the garden, the sky once more came into view.

The moon seemed closer than Ace had ever seen it. He walked through the trees until he came to an opening. Standing in the midst of the wild thicket, a woman was standing surrounded by white roses.

She turned to receive Ace with a smile. Her long crimson hair tumbled down her black silk robe. Her skin was an eerie white like Ace had never seen; Completely without colour except for her imposing green eyes.

She picked a rose from the shrubbery and handed it to Ace with a smile. Ace took the rose and stared at its white petals. For a flower, it felt heavy.

"Where am I?" he asked.

"This is my temple," the woman answered.

"And who are you?"Ace questioned.

"I have many names. This one is Lucia,"

Ace blinked in confusion. Where had he heard that name before?

"That's my gift to you," the woman gestured to the rose.

Ace glanced down at it once more.

"Thank you?" he said, uncertain.

"I have been waiting to speak to you, but I suppose it will have to wait," she smiled.

"Why can't we speak now, Lucia?"

The woman held a hand to Ace's cheek. Ordinarily, he would have pulled away but he felt a sense of comfort under her mournful eyes.

"You are better than I imagined," she smiled, "but as you are now, your soul cannot bear the weight of my presence. You must leave before the darkness overtakes you. "

"I feel fine..." Ace began. However the moment he said the words, he felt a blinding pain in his chest. He gripped it breathlessly, falling to his knees.

"Be careful, Ace. If you keep looking into the darkness, the darkness will look back at you,"

Ace's eyes shot up. How did she know his name? However, the moment he did, Ace found himself back in his room. The weight on his chest was instantly releaved. Bird was staring down apprehensively. As soon Ace met his eyes, Bird threw his arms around him.

"Oh thank the gods!" Bird blurted out. "You were really scaring me. You weren't answering. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Ace answered automatically. However, inside he was pushing down a strange feeling of foreboding.

"What is that?" Bird questioned.

Ace blinked slowly. His eyes panned down. He had the strange sensation that the rose was still in his hand, but hadn't it just been a dream? To Ace's surprise, in his hand, instead of a rose, there was a little dark box.

Bird turned to see it as well.

"It has such a dark energy," he flinched.

"I don't know," Ace confessed. "I thought the spell was just an illusion spell,"

"I don't have experience with dark magic but this certainly isn't the spell that was written here," Bird examined the box.

Ace sighed, "Maybe I did something wrong,"

"This thing is strange. I can't open it," Bird turned the box over and back with a frustrated grunt. He handed it back to Ace.

Ace stared down at the box for a moment wondering what was inside. Without trying, the box popped open.

"What just happened?" Bird asked excitedly. "Let me see it again,"

The moment Ace handed it back, the box slammed shut.

"Ohh!" Bird exclaimed, "This might be better than any illusion spell,"

"What do you mean?" Ace questioned.

"This," Bird put it in Ace's hand and watched it open once more,

"This is blood magic."