"A king without subjects, is he not still a king?"
There was once a beautiful queen who conceived twins, one a son of darkness and the other a son of light. Close to their birth the two raged war inside the womb of the queen. The son of darkness desired to be king but his brother, the son of light, would be born before him, thus deeming him heir to the throne by birth right. The son of light, however, sympathized with his brother and told the son of darkness to consume him and they'd both become king...
"So, Reason and Logic are two little girls?" Jackie teased as the group now made their way toward Maurich's village.
"Um, yeah, what of it? You aren't jealous are you?" Nic teased.
"Which one are you again? Logic?" Jackie continued to tease completely ignoring, Nic's response.
"Well, according to you humans, my sister, Nic, would actually be called Reason. I am Logic, though we prefer to be addressed by our actual names, Nic and Celeste." Celeste spoke up quietly, just loud enough to be heard.
"Just give up on her you two. She never addresses people by their proper name or title. It's hopeless." Maurich now stopping turned to say.
"Ah, but me and Celeste both know that your haven't told the duchess your real name. Isn't that right, "Dark Knight"? Nic said now teasing Maurich.
"I lost my kingdom and the rights to that name a long time ago." Maurich responded quietly
"Wait, what?" Jackie now confused asked.
Celeste walked up to the knight simultaneously transfiguring into the form of that of a young woman. By the time she had made it to the knight's side she now stood a few inches taller than Jackie, her head just below Maurich's shoulder. Jackie stood mouth gaped wide open as Nic had exhibited the very same transformation as Celeste right before her very own eyes. Nic just stood smiling back at the now dumbfounded Jackie. Celeste stared out into the distance momentarily before speaking softly to the knight.
"Tu sabes lo que se dicen sobre los caballeros oscuros, verdad?" she spoke just loud enough for only Maurich to hear.
Maurich closed his eyes and immediately knew the answer. "Yeah I know," he responded while turning around and walking ahead of them.
"They don't exist."
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"They don't exist? What? Explain yourself, Malevolence. I thought you said that the black hole's magic could turn any being into a dark entity. Theoretically, Maurich is a dark knight and his privileges to the throne are automatically forfeited." came Mischief's voice from out of the darkness that seemed to imprison the fortress at the edge of insecurities.
"No, the black hole was not a perfect incantation by far," Malevolence began, "In fact, there is no such thing as a perfect incantation for darkness, or light or anything for that matter. It either is or it isn't. There is no in between. There is only either darkness or light, and our little knight can never be a dark knight because he consumed all darkness in the womb of his mother."
"Wait, you're not telling me something, are you brother?"came Mischief's voice, as she slowly approached Malevolence from the shadows. She was a beautiful woman with long flowing hair, slender figure, soft brown skin, and eyes that could make the sun weep. She had returned to report the successful capture of the sage of space, who was being brought back by, Havoc.
"You've heard the tale about the kingdom of darkness and light haven't you?"Malevolence asked.
"That's said to be nothing more than a fable, isn't it? Even if it were true, didn't it happen over..."
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"...over seven hundred years ago?" Jackie now puzzled inquired from both Celeste and Nic.
"Seven hundred and seventy seven to be more exact." Celeste said correcting Jackie.
"Even so, it's just a fable, right?" Jackie replied a bit perplexed by the entire situation. She was having difficulty trying to absorb everything she was hearing. She looked over at Maurich who was still sound asleep. No one in town had greeted the knight when they arrived. In fact, even Maurich looked distraught upon his return, as if he were trying to remember something that no longer existed the way it used to. Their group had checked into one of the inns as Maurich's home was currently occupied by someone else. Jackie remembered how the knight hung his head and humbly retreated at the sound of the news of his home's occupancy.
"It... can't be, can it?" she asked herself.
"I'll admit that the story has become a bit exaggerated over the years," Nic began, "and perhaps a bit too focused on the knight and the princess' affair."
"But, there is more." Celeste now chimed in.
"There is the war, that Maurich left Karina to fight, but more importantly..."Celeste started
"The curse." Nic finished.
The twins leaned in and spoke clearly so that Jackie would not misunderstand a single detail, "There can be NO darkness, without light." They both said.
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"No darkness without light? But that's impossible, Malevolence! Were we not born of darkness?" Mischief inquired.
"Yes sister, that is true but it much more complicated than it seems. Let me explain the knight first, then maybe you'll understand." Malevolence started, momentarily taking a deep breath then walking a bit ahead of his sister down the dark corridor of the fortress.
"You see," he began again, "There were two sons of the kingdom of light and darkness. Inside the womb of the their mother, the son of darkness asked the son of light if he could be heir to the throne. The son of light humbled himself and told his brother that if he would consume him, then they'd both become king, but what hope does darkness ever have to consume light? At birth, a son of light and darkness was born, for the son of darkness did consume the son of light; however, unbeknownst to either of them was the result that in actuality is the truth of all things dark and light."
Malevolence paused briefly, stopped and turned to face his sister, Mischief. His gaze grew cold as ice and his voice was grim and otherworldly distant when he spoke again.
"Darkness be naught but a shadow, feverishly chasing after the brilliance of light, ever beating at its back."
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"Darkness will forever be the shadow creeping ever so closely at light's back."Celeste continued, "The son of light had unknowingly consumed his brother upon birth and the sun of darkness became the shadow to the body of the sun of light. A dangerous group known as the brotherhood of darkness, which was lead by the last known heir to eternal darkness, conspired to keep the the son of light from ever claiming the throne. Their fear of a king that would rule over all, both the dark and the light, led them to devise a curse that would turn the son of light into an entity of darkness."
"Too bad there is no such thing," Nic now taking over the explanation said,"yet, using the sadness that crept into the son of light's heart before birth they place the black hole's curse on the boy blinding him from the truth. The truth being that what had occurred was in fact the truth of all things both light and dark."
"What sadness could creep into the heart of a newborn?" Jackie asked, interrupting Nic's explanation.
"One greater than the separation of a newborn from their mother at birth, you mean?" Nic shot back at her.
"The loss of a sibling." Celeste said quietly, "You are never too young to comprehend the loss of something that was once apart of you."
"They say that the son of light shed tears for three months none stop for the loss of his brother." Nic spoke up out of the brief silence that had invaded their conversation.
"Don't all babies cry, though?" Jackie asked herself out loud.
"Yeah, but not in their sleep." Nic replied.
The three of them grew quiet around the dinner table that they had all seated around. Jackie turned and looked over at the knight who was still sound asleep in the room across from them. Fire crackled in the fireplace as cinder and graceful flames flickered, swiftly dancing through the air before extinguishing. She took another sip from her cup of the tonic Celeste had made her for the healing of her internal wounds. Moving at the speeds she had don in her last battle was still very strenuous on her body. The tonic had started off bitter but now it turned into something sort of delightful. If she hadn't known better she could have sworn that she was drinking some sort of alcohol beverage. Nic was on her fifth cup already and Celeste had just started on her second bottle. Even Maurich had finished half a bottle that still set on floor by the bed in the next room.
Jackie took another sip and broke the silence once more with a question,"So, what does all of this mean?" she asked.
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"The curse...it was weakened tremendously when Mauricio Laluz experienced a trauma worse than that of losing his brother." Malevolence began still with his gaze as cold as ice, " All because he left his heart with the princess when he went back to war."
"Wait a sec," Mischief interrupted, "First off how is it even possible for a mortal to give up their heart and secondly...
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"...Just who the hell is this "Mauricio Laluz" guy anyway?" Jackie asked the twins once again interrupting their explanation.
"We kind of thought that it would be obvious," Nic interjected, "We've only been talking about the same person this entire time.The heir to the throne of light and darkness, The guy with the gaping hole in his chest, that son of light fellow we mentioned earlier. They're all the same person. Maurich, our dead as a log when he sleeps, drunken, dark knight over there in bed." Nic finished. She then got up and walked over to the bed to where Maurich was sleeping, pointed at him with her now seventh cup of "kyprtonic" as they had now deemed the drink worthy of a name. "This guy, right here." she said while looking back at Jackie.
"Only his name isn't Maurich," Celeste joining in said, third bottle of the soon to be infamous drink in one hand, "and, he isn't a dark knight either. In fact, Mauricio Laluz fought and led his kingdom to victory in one of the most gruesome wars ever. The black hole curse has a terrible side effect that up until the war laid dormant inside Mauricio Laluz's heart. There is a part in the story of the knight and the princess where Maurich suddenly just falls unconscious for seven years and wakes up to a world of devastation."
"Yeah, I remember my grandma telling me that a sorcerer had placed a spell on the knight, causing him to fall into a deep sleep while he ran off with the princess."
**** spoke up, "Sorry that's the tonic talking...I think. Anyways, that's not completely true."Nic continued, "When Mauricio left his heart with the princess, the darkness that had accumulated over time in his heart, stayed with the body, immediately changing the knight into something truly terrible.
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"Mauricio Eloscuro" Malevolence finished.
"Wait you couldn't possibly mean?" Mischief started.
"Yes, it is exactly as you have deducted, Mischief, my dear sister." Malevolence said before Mischief could finish her last sentence.
"What was once thought only to be a mere shadow had now come into possession of a body, with naught but the ruin and complete and utter destruction of a certain kingdom of light and darkness at the center of its focus."
To be continued....
By: Darrell Maurice Hubbard
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