Potent

“Come in.”

Gemini took a deep breath upon hearing Valentine’s voice. She opened the door and nearly sighed at the state his office was in again. Do I just clean it up so he can get it messy again? “What are you doing up so late? Nightmares?”

She snapped her focus to Valentine, who was bent over his desk, writing something. He seemed to be amused enough to mock her.

“I came to give you your book back,” she said, as calmly as she could. She hoped that she wasn’t shaking.

“As I said: Nightmares? It’s not the most pleasant book,” Valentine drawled. “Otherwise you wouldn’t have returned it so soon.”

“Lord Valentine.” She set the book on his desk and stepped back. “I know I have no right to ask you for this--”

“True.”

“But I need to know if my family is still alive.” Gemini hoped she didn’t sound too close to tears as she actually was.

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Valentine’s dry humor made her want to slap him.

“Because of the demons and beasts roaming around the Finsternis Stürtzen. What is protecting my family from them?”

Valentine finally looked up and cocked his head at her.

“Nothing.”

“Then I must know!” Gemini exclaimed. “You’re the only person who can find out.”

He pursed his lips and stared at her.

“No.”

She felt her ears ring.

“Why not?”

Valentine set down his quill and straightened to his full height. “My lord, please. If you had the chance to save your family, would you have taken it?”

His hand curled into a fist. Gemini was thrown back against the wall, where her body was pinned there by his magic. Slowly, he walked towards her.

“If you say anything more about my past, I will make sure your family is dead. Am I clear?”

“Y-yes, my lord,” Gemini whispered, instantly.

Valentine leaned in closer. “I was eight. I was too young to do anything to stop my family from dying. Even if I tried to save them, the Elite would have stopped me because they were more powerful than me at the time.”

She wanted to turn away but she couldn’t move. All she could do was breathe, blink, and move her face. “If your family is dead, what can you do? Hmm? All you can do is mourn. Is that going to make you feel any better than you do now?”

“But they could be alive,” she choked out.

“Perhaps. But a day later, they could be dead. What would be the point of knowing then?”

“Then please, protect them. I… I’ll stay here for the rest of my life. I swear.”

Valentine seemed to be perplexed at her proposal. Gemini knew that it was a dangerous gamble. But either way, she didn’t care what happened to her.

“You would sacrifice your own happiness for them to live?” Valentine questioned, narrowing his eyes as if he didn’t believe her.

“Of course I would! They’re my family.” She couldn’t believe he would ask that.

“But you would never see them again.”

Gemini tried to decipher whether or not he sounded sorry for her.

“Yes, I know, my lord. But they would be alive and well, would they not? That’s enough for me,” Gemini explained. She shut her eyes in an effort to keep herself from crying. A moment of silence passed.

“Very well. I accept your offer.” Valentine pulled away and her body was released from the wall. He walked back to his desk, sat down, folded his hands, and closed his eyes.

“My lord--”

“I’m trying to see if your family is alive. Don’t interrupt.”

Gemini quickly closed her mouth, pursing her lips, waiting. He sat there with eyes closed, his eyebrows moving faintly. She told herself not to stare but it was like not looking at a piece of artwork. At first, she had glossed over the fact that he was striking. No sane person would deny it…

Evil is disguised as beauty. Don’t be fooled, Gemini, She chided herself.

Valentine opened his eyes and blinked. He said nothing. She bit her lip in an effort not to say anything. He waved his hand and they were both surrounded in black smoke.

When the smoke vanished, they were inside a kitchen. Her family’s kitchen.

“Mama? Papa?” Gemini called. No response. She turned to Valentine, fearfully. “Where are they?”

“In there.” He nodded towards the door to the dining hall, his face stone. She instantly moved to open the door but Valentine grabbed her arm, pulling her back and shoving her against the wall.

“What are you doing? Let me go!” She pleaded.

“You’re not going in there.”

“What? My family’s in there!” Gemini struggled but Valentine was unfairly stronger than her. And he was taller than her, so pinned her down was too easy. “Please! Let go of me!”

“Do you want to go in there are die too?” He snapped.

She froze.

“They’re dead?” She murmured.

Valentine chewed his lip, starting her down.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“Demons.”

Gemini unfroze but he stopped her fist before she got to move it a few meters. So she wiggled and shoved at his immovable body, trying to break free.

“You knew! You bastard, you knew!” Gemini screamed. “You knew they were dead!”

Valentine didn’t reply. He simply kept his face slightly deadpanned and calm as he effortlessly blocked her violent punches and kicks. Eventually, she couldn’t move her arms, legs, or shoulders. “You bastard… you knew.” Her tears started welling up.

“What would you have liked me to do about it?”

“Help them! You could have saved them!”

“Gemini,” He said in a warning tone. “It was too late. They’ve been dead for days.”

Her throat closed up with sobs. She had gasp for breathe now. She squeezed her eyes shut in pain, causing two fat tears to roll down each cheek. “Are you down fighting?”

She made herself jerk her head up and down. Valentine slowly took his arms away and stepped back, holding his hands up to show he wasn’t going to try anything. “Now don’t move while I check if it’s safe.”

Valentine watched her while he turned the door handle, slowly cracking the door open. When he peeked inside, Gemini covered face, trying to hide her tears and her rising sobs. After a moment he said, “It’s safe” and he opened the door wider.

She forced herself to walk, telling herself that she owed it to her family to see them.

They both came into the room.

Each of her family members were laying on the floor, motionless and pale. Gemini slowly stepped forward. “How did the demons do this?” Valentine knelt next to her father, taking his pulse.

“In simple terms? They attacked. Demons consume souls and once they do, the human body is dead. Been like this for… two days perhaps.”

More tears were already falling on her face. She felt lightheaded.

No… they can’t be gone…

Suddenly, he stood, determination etched on his face. “Stay close to me.”

“What?”

“I said, stay close to me.” His tone was urgent and his words were not a suggestion.

Gemini faltered toward him, not thinking twice before she grabbed his arm. She turned her head to see what he was looking at.

Shadows and silhouettes of crooked bodies and people appeared around the room. Demons.

Gemini clung to Valentine tighter, fear being her reason for doing so.

“I-I thought y-you said it w-was safe.” Her voice was barely audible.

“Lord Valentine…” hissed an unearthly voice. “Give us this one so that we can finish what we started…”

Valentine delicately put an arm around her. Gemini’s heart was pounding in her head.

“Who makes demands? Me or you lowly creatures?” He snapped.

“You do…” the demons echoed, driven obviously by fear.

“What happens to those who make demands of me?”

There was no answer. Valentine thrust out his other hand and a beam of light shone throughout the room. Hisses and cries of pain started.

“Nooooo! Lord Valentine… we make no demands of you! None!” a demon screamed.

He pulled his hand back and the beam of light disappeared.

“Then you will fulfill a demand of mine.” Cruelness and ferocity colored Valentine’s voice.

“Anything, Lord Valentine…” A chorus of murmurs and eager agreement rippled throughout the room. Gemini was on the brink of fainting out of pure fear and horror. She felt something brush against her ear.

“You’ll thank me later.”

Everything disappeared and darkness replaced it.

Valentine looked down at Gemini, who was still unconscious. Her blonde hair heaped around her head, her eyes closed, her features soft and no longer afraid.

Valentine knelt next to her. He remembered how tightly she clung to him even though she feared and hated him. Then again, Valentine still hadn’t decided if he wanted her to hate him or not.

Shaking those thoughts away, Valentine waved his hand over her eyes and she slowly opened them. Gemini instantly sat up and looked around.

“The demons…they’re gone… ”

He nodded. “My family--”

“I thought that I could possibly revive their souls. But the demons had fully consumed them. They’re truly dead.”

Her eyes glossed over… as if she were in a daze… as if she was having trouble comprehending what he said.

“No… there must be something you can do--”

“Last I checked, there wasn’t a way to bring someone back to life,” he said sarcastically. He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets.

“There has to be something,” she insisted, standing as well.

“Believe me, I’ve already tried. There isn’t. Do I need to repeat it again?”

“You’re the Mastermind of Magic! How can you not do something?”

“Despite what the public opinion is, I can’t do everything. Death is the one line magic cannot cross. I am the Mastermind of Magic because I know how magic works and what rules it has. One of which being that I cannot change death.”

“Please stop saying ‘death.’” Gemini started shaking. She couldn’t hold her tears back.

“Why not face reality? It’ll hurt you either way.”

“My lord--please--just stop.”

Gemini rested her forehead on a wall. He could tell she was trying not to sob in front of him. But she seemed to give in and cried as if letting loose her own soul.

Valentine said nothing but leaned against the wall too. She let out another sob. “Why cause me to faint? Why not force me to ‘face reality’ then?”

He smiled arrogantly.

“You were going to faint from fright anyway. I spared you some misery and got the demons to leave.”

Gemini looked down and squeezed her eyes shut. She was shocked. She was still taking in the loss of her family. Presently, Valentine saw something on her face that he recognized…

The horror and pain of losing everyone you love. Surprisingly, seeing it made him pity her. “Shall we return back to Nebel Manor?”

The hollow look in her eyes stayed.

“I need to bury them.”

“My guards will do that. Now, come. Let’s leave this place.”

Gemini continued to cry as she shook her head, staring at her family’s’ bodies.

It was unfortunate that Valentine knew exactly what she was thinking and going through. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Staying here won’t bring them back, Gemini. It will only make it harder for you to leave and you’ll feel even worse because of it.”

She cried harder and a little louder. “I--I can’t. I s--sent them to--to their--deaths!”

“That was your father’s fault, not yours. Would you rather have lived in prison without your father for the rest of your life?”

“At least the--the rest of th--them would be alive!”

It was getting harder to reason with her.

“There’s still nothing you or I could have done. Now let’s leave.”

Valentine hauled her to her feet. She flinched and hesitated, like she wanted to struggle--

But she knew she couldn’t and shouldn’t. So she let her tears fall again.

Valentine turned her away from her family’s bodies.

Gemini eyed him as if suspicious of how kind he was being. But she looked back at her family one last time. Valentine flicked his hand anyway and they vanished in a puff of black smoke.