Betrayal (Malefice Pt. 4)

The cookie was on the floor, the bite taken in my mouth. I couldn't believe what I had just done, but I couldn't feel an immediate change. What did she say the power was?

"Omnipresence." It was a large courtyard, the willows whispering back and forth, but I could still hear her. It was a woman, wearing a cyan cape. She seemed stout, but also frail, an oxymoron embodied in a human.

"What the Malefice is omnipresence?" When the voice came out of me, it seemed different somehow. Far away. That was when I realized it, the person standing next to her. It was me. But that wasn't possible, wasn't it?

The lady pushed the me with both hands, sending her cascading back into me. It was jarring, feeling the me absorbed. It was icy water getting dumped all over you.

"Consul Rand, have you not educated Lariona on our lore? I expected more of you, my girl." Her voice was condescending and reserved.

"Excuse me, but who are you? I thought Ayn was in charge!" The laugh that escaped her mouth seemed so odd that I could almost see it coming out of her mouth.

"My child, Ayn has been alive for as long as I've started drinking tea! Forgive me, you don't seem to understand. My name is Duchess Mira Caplan, High Empress of the SRE." My jaw dropped into the depths of my stomach, not willing to come back up.

"Wait, you're the person in the thing? The founder of the SRE?"

"And your ancestor, yes. My royal blood is why you have such a high ability. No, keep the mouth shut, I'm going to explain if you wait a second." She was a little snappy, but that was what all relatives were like.

"Yes, I'm related to you, no, I'm not a ghost, yes, that has something to do with my abilities. I received the second and third-rarest abilities, reality-altering and mind powers." So that was why she'd answered my thoughts. Weird. That kinda made me want to claw my brain out, or at least imprison it in metal.

She continued, not even giving me a chance to rest. The willows seemed to be laughing at me.

"You received Omnipresence, the rarest good spectrum gift. Yeah, yeah, I know 'What is it'. It basically means you can be everywhere at once or nowhere at once, which is why you were next to me and over there." Wait, what? She needed to learn to slow down.

"What do you mean, good spectrum?" There was like waaaaaaaaaaaay too much stuff going on, and the other members seemed to be laughing at me. That was when the Duchess took off her hood.

She looked almost exactly like my mom. The uncanny resemblance kept making me hear "Lariona, come down, customers are coming." The tips of her hair had red tints, but the rest was stark-white. She had to be at least three hundred years old, but she didn't look a day over seventy.

"Lariona, I am not allowed to wield my powers against others, due to my immense age. I can only use them passively. This is why I wish to pass them on to you." Her face looked pained as she said it, like she'd swallowed a cup of lemon juice.

"Wait, don't you have like three? And don't I need to eat a cookie?" Again, laughter from all the hooded members.

"No, child, that is one way to receive it. You can also receive it through the willing sacrifice of another." Part of me wanted to call her Grammy. Grammy looked stressed, exasperated, a little flatulent. Then again, who wouldn't?

"The only trouble is that I don't have them."

"Well, where are they then?" She seemed to have all the answers, so I didn't expect the moment's pause.

"In the Demogor's vaults."

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"Hurry, child, we must be quick." The black cloak with the serpent weighed down on my shoulders, its hood humid and smelly. I didn't know who had the cloak before me, but I didn't want to know.

The lady with me, Moonbyul Solar, had been helping me through the Demogor stronghold for weeks. Apparently she was pretty high up here, and Grammy kept telling me we were lucky to have her as a contact. She gave me the heebie-jeebies, though, even as she led me down the thin hallway, the only light coming from her watch.

Suddenly, Moonbyul stopped. I couldn't see well enough, but I could tell there was a door. It came into focus, slowly easing into my eyesight, and I could see it in full. The door was an onyx door, carved with gold, a large ruby in the center. It was probably the most beautiful door I'd ever seen.

"Quickly, now." Moonbyul's arms were strong and rough, and they ushered me in as a bodyguard would.

"What am I supposed to look for?" The room the door led to was dark, a skylight beaming in from the ceiling, with ornate furnishings. I never thought that evil could be that beautiful.

"I don't know. The Empress told me to lead you here and wait."

"For what?"

"For them to come." Suddenly it dawned on me. I remembered what Ayn had said when she told me the story of Grammy. "She founded both the Demogor and the SRE." What if she had never been faithful to the SRE? What if the SRE was her puppet, her body to leech the blood out of?

"I have to get out of here." I started to run for the door, tried to jiggle the handle, but I couldn't open it. I turned back to Moonbyul.

"Help me!" I pleaded with my eyes, but she turned on me.

Smoke began to pour from her wrists, solidifying around her in a shawl of some sort. As soon as it settled, I let out a shriek. It was me. She had turned into me.

"No... No!!!!" I ran around, pounded against the door with all my might, but it was no use. Footsteps were cascading down the hallway, coming for me.

Please, please please please help me. I begged to my supposed power, my Omnipresence. I imagined the courtyard, the judgmental willows.

"Get me out of here!"