Chapter 81

~Javall~

No one else in the world got under his skin more than Kamari. She thought her darker nature could compare to his. She had no idea of the environment he was raised in, in secret. His brother may have had the throne and the way of light, but Javall had a taste of black magic and could never escape it since. He relaxed now, which might have been the reason he lost Calea. It was the one thing he regretted, but he just couldn't take seeing her wrapped around that damn reptilian serpent's finger! Javall slams his fists on the table and throws the golden goblet of blood he used to get inside Kamari's head. His breath came in ragged and shuddered, and he had never felt so inclined to harm someone in his whole life. 

Kamari is the bane of his existence.

Javall paces back and forth in this throne room, trying to figure out why his hex didn't work correctly. He found a way to bind it even though Aneth was a defense against magic, but Javall could only do it once, costing him half a soul. Someone else, of course; Javall wouldn't dare use his on such smaller means. But he sensed Kamari's power; it had grown from the last time he had encountered her, which raised problems for him. "A mother's wrath." Javall spits out the words as if it's a joke. "Oh please, there have been better threats." He marches out of his throne room, his head spiraling with his next attack. There had to be something he missed, something he wasn't unaware of, and Javall needed eyes where he could see. Javall walked his pristine kingdom; the flawless features were the root of hidden control. Javall even made the things his people wore to hold them in obedience. 

The people he passed bowed instantly. They did not say his name but acknowledged his presence in silence. The little boy beside them did not bow, and Javall stood before him. "Hanson! Bow boy!" The little boy's father gripped the boy's arm; he winced and bowed his head. Javall looked to the father, "Teach your young one proper manners."

"Yes." The father looked to the ground; Javall could see the glise of sweat on his brow. "It won't happen again." Javall turns on his heels and continues down the path that takes him out of the kingdom. Paldania was too clean for the thoughts whirling around in his head, but he knew just the place to go. The Sepha Temple was one only a few knew about; not even his own family knew about this temple. Only the loyal joined the dark magic convent. An unsettling gloom shrouds the forest; dark magic has twisted the natural order. The trees that used to bloom vibrant with comforting colors now stood like contorted figures, their bark pale, bare, and drained of life. The branches reach the twilight skies as if the heavens could save them; the forest floor is no better. Thorny vines and toxic flora gave off an evil glow, and the silence was natural, too loud. Animals do not dare to come near it; they know it's a death sentence, yet Javall calls it home. It was the only home he had ever felt he belonged.

Being the second child, he felt his elder brother was groomed and boasted about while he lay in the background. People around him also asked why he wasn't more like his brother. Javall tried to be; he just couldn't. Nothing about the giddiness of light called to him like it did his brother, and that's where his life twisted. He figured out early in life that the lighter side of magic was dying out, and the dark magic was taking over. And once his brother was murdered, the Dark magic swarmed Paldania. 

Farther into this Morrow Forest, the Sepha Temple, made of black stone, seems to absorb all light. Replaces by an ominous glow with intricate runes pulsing like veins. The entrance resembles a black void ready to swallow you whole. Javall spies Ursula walking out of the shadows of the temple. "Have you come to pay homage, Javall?"

 Ursula walks down the steps, holding the skirt of her dark blue dress. Ursula was around the same age as Calea, but their magic wasn't the same. Ursula became the priestess through power, but she didn't surpass Javall. His time in Nivillia had been to avenge his brother–at least at first. But no matter how different they were, he was still family and probably the only one who didn't treat Javall like he was beneath him. When he saw Calea, it changed, and obsession seeped in.

"No, in fact, I require a spy of sorts. Someone or something to be my eyes in the inside of Nivillia." Javall walks up the steps with Ursula in toe. "Well, perhaps I can be of assistance?" As they walk, Ursula gets closer to him, almost shoulder to shoulder. "I missed you today. You didn't come to praise." Javall smiles meekly; he felt Ursula thought they were more than friends for some reason. He had never been intimate with her, although some practices in this kind of magic can be "engaging." He walks into an empty temple; the echoes vibrate off the walls as if the place hadn't heard the sound of footsteps in ages. Everyone was gone. "Huh, so you're here by yourself?" he crosses his arms, coming to a halt and ignoring Ursula's first question. "I suppose I knew you would come."

Javall locked eyes with Ursula. "Would you wait for someone else like this, Ursula?" Her eyes held the look he had wanted to see from Calea—the adoration, the way Ursula looked at him as if he were the god she praised. It stirred something within him. "No, I wouldn't. But you're different. I've always admired you, your strength, and this aura you have is almost addictive to me." The slight blush on her cheeks looks like she's come to life. Javall wondered if he could fall for someone like Ursula, but his heart knew better. "While I appreciate your devotion, you don't need to wait for me. If fact, I would ask that you don't." Javall walks towards the golden bowl of ash—the burned sacrifice of mythical creatures. He chants an ancient language that tingles his tongue and throws the smoke into the air, and the smoke becomes a book of sorts; he waves his hand, going page after page to find what he's looking for. 

"I apologize." Ursula says, "May I help in any way?"

"I would like to be alone. Thank you." Javall says without looking at her. He knows she's left when he hears the echo of her footsteps fade out. He scrolled through pages for a while because perfection ate at him. Nothing but perfection would satisfy him. Thinking perfection is everything got burned into his brain at an early age. When hours go by with nothing gained but a massive headache, Javall sits on one of them, rubbing his temples. For once in his life, he felt stuck for some reason. He hated to think that Calea's death was affecting him, but it was. He never thought she would rather take her own life than be with him. It did something to his soul.

While deep in his thoughts, the falling of a tree gets his attention. He shoots up and strides out into the entrance of the temple. He scans the area, and he double-takes when he sees a bare, naked woman with the brightest blue eyes he's ever seen; her hair cascades down her back like a pure black waterfall. Her eyes were wide, and she was intensely curious, scanning her surroundings. Javall found himself stopping to watch her. She moved with a fluid grace, each step soft and silent, more attuned to animal than human; there was a primal aura about her. Upon seeing him, the woman tilted her head slightly. Javall hesitates at first; there are so many supernatural creatures on this earth, and this woman could be one of many.

"Are you alright?" he asked cautiously, ready to use his magic. Those eyes seemed to hold him in place–prey caught in a predator's gaze. Her nostrils flared slightly. She looked at one of the trees, touching its pale bark. "I am…searching," she replied. Her voice was melodic, but it carried an edge, something untamed. And it made Javall unsettled. "What are you, woman?" Her attention snaps back on him, and she steps closer; Javall finds himself stepping back. He raises his hand, and the woman stalls, looking at his hand than him. She mimics him. Javall scoffs, "Oh, very assuming, but seriously, you're in my domain. So I would leave."

The woman stays put, his brows furrow, "Don't test me. You wouldn't like the pain I'd inflict on you." And part of him didn't want to hurt something so ethereal and so goddamn beautiful. It seemed like a crime. Javall rolls his eyes, then turns his back on her, returning his focus to the task at hand.

"You are Javall?" He freezes mid-step as he hears the woman say his name; he turns quickly on his heels and almost stumbles backward at how close she has gotten without him hearing her. This time, he conjures his magic, raising his hand to his chest.

"You better explain yourself real quick, sweetheart." His heart pounded; who was this woman?! 

The woman smiles a contradictory smile that lights up her face. "I am Ignis." She says as she walks into his hand. Her demeanor switches like the snap of a finger, and her innocence is gone. "And you," her face darkens, the inner predator seeping through, "are now my new plaything."