chapters

blood red moon
~ a Shadow of Destiny fanfiction

Chapter Nine

 

“Wake up.”

It was difficult, not unlike being broken out of the Stone, waking in the midst of a maelstrom - except Homunculus couldn’t remember what had happened before, how he had come to be here, and he /hurt/.

“Eike?”

“Not yet, I’m afraid.  I am getting tired of waiting, though.”

He would have shivered, had his body been made for it, the unexpected voice an icy bath against his skin.  Instead, the smirking purr just made him tense, eyes snapping open.  He already knew who he was going to see.

Dopple raised a hand, waving slightly with her head tipped cutely, her smile a child’s - bright and clear.

“Good morning.”

“What do you-”  Homunculus was on his feet instantly, already shuffling through spells in his mind, though he desperately wished for the strength to wring that pale neck with his own hands.  He didn’t notice the lines on the floor until it was too late, the rest of his words lost in a pained cry.  Crossing the magic was like stepping on a live wire, and it lashed out at him in a fury.  Homunculus stumbled back gasping, staring down in frustration, anger - not surprise.  He should have expected as much.

“A pentagram.  Quite original.”  Sarcasm was one of the only good things humans had come up with, and he’d certainly found his reasons to appreciate it.

“Well now, I wouldn’t want my bait leaving before the trap was sprung, would I?”

It was easy enough to guess what she meant, but the tone in her voice made him pause, the way she gloated at the edge of the pentagram with slow and playful steps.  Dopple had the poise and bearing of a woman now, but there was still the impression of a child’s careless violence.  Odd, though, it didn’t seem to be a clean mesh, as if there really were more than one life inside the single body -

“Who are you?”

Ruby eyes widened in a familiar delight - but a cruel intelligence shone in the crimson too.

“It shouldn’t seem so puzzling, little djinn.  Dopple wants to destroy you as much as I do - I just hate you more.”

If Homunculus actually kept himself by a code, or believed in any rules that could not be somehow manipulated, bent if not broken, he would never have believed it could be her.  As it was, the conclusion seemed rather obvious.  He hadn’t ever given Eike the specifics, but out of all the forces that might line up against him, he certainly knew which ones would be more eager than most.

“Atropos.”

“In a manner of speaking.”  Pale hands swept along the sides of her body, she was posing, preening, and enjoying herself immensely.  “Lovely, isn’t it?”

An obvious conclusion, but it still left him stunned - these were not small laws she had chosen to disobey, even for her power.  He could not imagine something like this would go without notice.  He let all those thoughts pass without a flicker across his face.  No matter what the situation, it was always safer to pretend he didn’t care.

“Ironic, I think, that you’d become what you hate simply to rid yourself of me.”

Dopple laughed, this time it was not a girl’s laugh at all.

“It isn’t exactly like that... and this creature is certainly not like you, is she?”  The smile dripped with blood and smug superiority.  “How /does/ it feel to be trapped again, you useless creature?”

      “It will make destroying you later much more amusing.” 

He refused to falter, though the words seemed terribly empty.  He had already glanced around, nothing in this space but the pentagram and a few shattered fragments of time long past, just as in his realm, columns and pillars and the remains of old, old times that stubbornly refused to disappear entirely from existence.

      Dopple tossed her hair back, laughing again - this time the schoolgirl giggle.  It was difficult to tell from moment to moment, how much there was of one or the other, what was Dopple and what had become something much more dangerous.

      “Atropos will destroy you, you know.”  Dopple blinked curiously, eyes like glass candy.  Homunculus continued, wondering to himself just what good he thought this would do.  “If she wins, you’ll die.  You don’t belong in time any more than she thinks I do, she’ll never allow you to stay, to exist.”

      “It wasn’t created with a will to live.”  Atropos, he could nearly see the change, red eyes darkening as she continued watching him.  “Dopple exists only to destroy, she has no other purpose.  You can keep talking if you’d like, though, just to pass the time.”

“What are you waiting for, then?”

“Your wayward master, of course.”

Homunculus remembered what she had said about ‘bait,’ and this time the meaning actually sunk in, the extent of her plans.

He couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed so hard, vaguely afraid he might break something inside his fragile form.  The longer Dopple stared at him, perplexed - Atropos was equally puzzled, he could see the shift between them - the harder it was to stop.  The djinn laughed until it hurt, breathing hard, as if he had cast a thousand spells.

“I’m going to enjoy hearing why this is so amusing.”  Dopple had her arms crossed, but it was Atropos speaking, one eyebrow raised in an insulted way that nearly set him off again.  Homunculus took a deep breath, staring up at her with eyes that flashed, flickering where tears of laughter might have pooled, had he been human.

“He’s not coming, you fool.”  It was better to laugh, better to think as little as possible now - it hurt much less.  Dopple, or rather Atropos, recovered with a smirk.

“No?  You don’t think so?”

The words were not as easy as they should have been, even with his bitter cynicism, and he dropped his eyes so that she wouldn’t see, hating himself for it.

“He has no need of me.  He never really did.  You might as well kill me now.  He’s not coming.”

If only he could be who he had been only a short time ago, this would be the moment to start manipulating her, this would be the time to salvage everything.  He could tell her to go after Margarete, or Dana, or hell, even Hugo, that those were the people Eike would care for enough to save. 

The djinn knew his own fate meant nothing to the blond, that of all the creatures in the world Eike had every right to celebrate his destruction.  After all, wasn’t that how all of this had started?  A broken man from the distant future, determined to wreak vengeance on him piece by piece, not realizing he’d hurt the djinn most of all by existing in the first place.

//Tell her, then.  Tell her about all the people Eike cares for that aren’t you.//

Homunculus couldn’t do it.  He just couldn’t take the sensible path that had always seemed the only option before now.  The best he could do was laugh, and maybe it would be better if Dopple or Atropos just destroyed him now, destroyed him so that Eike wouldn’t even get the chance.  It was a pathetic thought, he hated himself for it, hated that he was out of options.

“I thought he meant a great deal to you, djinn.  Dopple seems to think so, at least.”  He would have given just about anything to slap the smirk off her face.

“You know damn well that doesn’t work both ways.”

“Silly me.”  Her carnivore’s smile was much more irritating than threatening.  Remembering Eike, and how many traps upon traps he’d fallen in through while trying to be clever had left his mood irretrievably sour, not even she could change that.  “Forgive me if I’m not quite familiar with your little customs, djinn.”

Homunculus smirked back, toeing the edge of the magical circle, watching it spark and shimmer across his boot - garishly overzealous, in his opinion.

“You’ve went through a lot of trouble just to kill me, and a human, and to take such a fragile body as a handica-”

Dopple slapped him, hard, the curves and lines of the pentagram flaring up at her presence as her arm snaked out like a striking snake.  The sound of marble striking marble fell flat in the air, gone even before she pulled her hand away.  Carefully, Homunculus raised a hand to his stinging cheek, expecting to find cracks, or feel pieces of stone fall on his fingers like mosaic tile.  He traced the smooth curve more than once, even as he lifted his eyes back up to meet hers.

Dopple’s hand should have broken, a few fingers shattered at the very least - but she was whole and flawless, lifting one shoulder in a graceful shrug.

“Actually, no.  I make her body much stronger, stronger than yours, maybe even stronger than your master’s.  I’m surprised, really, how well this all worked out.  In this body, I have many more options than in my other form.  The possibilities are rather limitless.”

He watched her very carefully, Atropos had always preferred dramatics, one of many irritating qualities, but now her words were soft, and there was a strange new hardness in her eyes.

“It isn’t just about Eike, is it?  You’re not just interested in killing him, or me, are you?”

“Dopple is.”  Pale lips quirked, as if the creature were hovering over Atropos’ shoulder, letting her amusement be known.  “I was allowed in, she wanted me here as long as we could kill Eike first.  I’ve managed to focus her on this particular Eike as well, the first you managed to save.  Hopefully, murdering you soon after will take care of the ‘suffering’ clause in her contract.  I think destroying the rest of your pathetic race will work out as something like a bonus.”

“Destroying the djinni.  You’re talking about a war.”

“Or a fox hunt, if you prefer.  A war implies your kind has any chance of victory.”

Homunculus snarled, a grin filled with fangs.

“We won’t scatter so.  We enjoy keeping to our own company, but that doesn’t mean we’re stupid.  We will fight back.  You don’t have the power.”

Atropos laughed, glaring back with an equal ferocity.  “I beg to differ, child.  Your master did an exceptional job creating this creature.  I believe you are already familiar with the extent of its abilities.”  As if to prove the point, a pale hand darted up, as if plucking an invisible mote of dust from the air - but Homunculus cringed inside, feeling a thread of time snap.  Atropos had all of Dopple’s power, then, and a keen mind on top of that, equally sharp ambitions ready to put such ability to use.

“It won’t work, you wouldn’t win even if you could start such a battle.  You’re not alone, not the only one who can see the consequences - they won’t let you go through with this.”

“I assume you mean my sisters.”  Atropos sighed, hands swaying together in a way that was vaguely magical - he saw the dagger appear, slim and silver with a filigree handle.  The kind of weapon used as an assist; to end a duel quickly, if not honorably.  “You’re likely right, I admit.  Clothos is painfully naïve, and Lachesis never even /thinks/ about change, never dreams of power or potential, how much things could be improved if only the right sacrifices were made.” One pale fingertip slid along the dagger’s edge.  “I wonder what might have to be done about that.” 

“You can’t do this.”  Homunculus barely believed he was having this conversation, trying to dissuade a creature who believed in her path with a near religious fervor, how had this ever -

He gasped, heard the crackle of energy as he dropped to his knees, the pain crippling - the pentagram was hers to do with as she wished, and it was obvious she wished for him to beg.

“Stop.  Please stop.”  The words came out before he could hold them back, but the djinn kept his head down, hissed them beneath clenched teeth and knew she didn’t hear.  The self-righteous fool could take her power and choke on it, he refused to give her his pride.

The djinn was left shaking when she finally relented, too weak to even lift his head, but Homunculus knew she was still in front of him, pacing, staring down on him with a contented smile.

“You would tell me what to do?  You?  Powers leashed tight by one master, imprisoned by another, and /you/ think you can tell me what I can and cannot do?” 

The words stung, but he could ignore them for the moment, too busy trying to work strength back into a body sapped of power, senses gone numb from the spell still crackling softly underneath his pale hands.

“You’ve gone mad.” 

Homunculus smirked, slowly and carefully rising to his feet, trying not to think about the cold pit the words opened up inside.  Atropos had been a dangerous enough enemy when she had been bound by rules, determined to destroy him for not fitting into her plan.  He had mocked her before because he had never thought it could come to this.  She was unchanging in time, always too slow, too conservative to match him, let alone defeat him.

//Atropos could never be a real threat, and Eike was a convenient tool for your use, and you had everything worked out.  Nothing like this could ever happen to someone as smart as you.//

Funny, he had never thought himself to have that much of an ego.

“I prefer to think of it as an improvement in perspective.  Unfortunately, it is true, she can be a little impatient.”  He saw the flash of Dopple in her eyes, Atropos looking distracted.  “Where is that master of yours?”

“I told you, he’s not coming.  I don’t know how you expect him to get here even if he could - Dopple was in charge of this plan, wasn’t she?”

Her pale face scowled, he smiled, knew he was right.

“He wouldn’t come anyway.  He’ll run, he’s probably running now.  You’ll have to chase him if you really want to kill him.”  The whole idea - what would happen after this - made him tired, vaguely but profoundly disappointed in himself.  “I am of no use, I mean nothing to-”

The last word died on his lips, as a flash of light made Dopple turn.  Homunculus knew what it was, even if he couldn’t believe it, as Eike stepped out to face them.

“Let him go.”

-----------------------
     
      It took Atropos a moment to start laughing, and Homunculus had to admit he could understand why.  Eike looked nearly as bad off as he had when the djinn had left him, maybe even worse, hair down and hanging haphazardly in front of his eyes, clothes still a wrinkled, tattered mess.  A cast had been put on his broken arm, the ends of his fingers clutching the Digipad.  His other hand held what at first glance might have been a sword - Homunculus watched the light curve around it as Eike took a step forward, too wide an arc for a sword - it was a baseball bat, brushed aluminum.

      “Well, it’s not exactly pulling swords from stones, but all things considered, I think it suits you.”  It certainly wasn’t a compliment, though Atropos looked much more bemused than she been while torturing the djinn, laughing at Eike silently behind her ruby eyes.

      “You’d be surprised how hard it is to find a good sword these days.”

      “Indeed.”

      Homunculus was startled to see Eike’s gaze shift, over Dopple’s shoulder, staring at him.  The question in the green eyes was clear, whether he chose to believe it or not - Eike was /worried/ about him.

      //He came here for you.// 

The ‘how’ didn’t matter, impossible as it might seem the ‘why’ was easily the harder question.  Everything he’d told Dopple had been true, or at least Homunculus had thought so. Eike had absolutely no reason to be here, certainly not to be staring at him, seemingly relieved that he was mostly unharmed.

      “You do realize what you’ve done?”  Atropos was still quite amused at it all, shifting where she stood, just watching.  “She’s going to kill you.”

      Eike didn’t move, eyes narrowing at the strange words.  “You’re not Dopple, are you?”

      “Only some of the time.”

      “So... I’m here, if she wants to try and kill me.”  The blond man shifted his grip on the bat, still hanging ready at his side.  “You want me dead, you’ve got me.  Let Homunculus go.”

      Atropos chuckled again.  “I only said some of the time, human.  Dopple wants you to die.  The djinn is mine to deal with.”

      Homunculus felt a sharp prickle, something like fear - but he never felt fear - on the back of his spine as the girl paused.  He wanted to tell Eike to run, though he knew the man wouldn’t listen, and he wasn’t supposed to care to begin with.  It was a useless, circular argument.  He could only hate Eike when he wasn’t around, wasn’t standing in front of one of the primal forces of the universe with a broken arm and a baseball bat, trying to protect a creature he had every right to despise.

      “You don’t know, do you?” Atropos’ voice was candy coated poison.  “Dopple tried to show you, but he took it away.  It might have killed you then, but the foolish creature wouldn’t allow you to see.”

      //No.// 

      “Run, Eike!”  The words tore out of him before he could reconsider, he saw the blond man startle, staring at him in surprise even as Atropos waved a distracted hand in his direction, the pentagram flaring beneath his feet, sending him back to the ground in a wash of agony. 

      Eike took a step forward, but Atropos stopped him, lifting her own blade with a slow, sweet smile.  Dopple lurked in the corners of her eyes, hungry, waiting.

      “I can show you what he was too afraid to.  Did you think this was all coincidence?  All happening to you merely by chance or accident?  Do you honestly believe I hate his kind merely to give myself something to do?”

      Homunculus could see Eike swallow nervously, frightened tension creeping into his body with every word she spoke.  It must have taken a great deal of courage for him to come here, no matter what his plan.

      //You’re assuming he has one.//  The djinn nearly smiled, despite the pain.  It would be just like Eike to do something so impossibly selfless, and mind-bendingly foolish at the same time.  

      “His kind are a curse, human.  A curse on time, a curse on existence, and you are the first I have ever, /ever/ seen who have somehow been led to believe otherwise.  I did not think that even reducing a creature to its base nature could allow it to ignore such evil.”

      Eike frowned.  “He’s not evil, not anymore than you are.”

      Atropos laughed again, louder this time.  “Incredible.  What an incredible thing to think, especially for /you/ - it was his fault your life was destroyed, he took your past and future both - and he is the reason you have to die.”

      “Leave him alone!”  Homunculus couldn’t hold his tongue, knowing what she was going to do, pathetically small, weak hands clenching into fists, straining for blocked power, a strength that he was not allowed.  The pale girl ignored him, her voice lowering almost seductively.

      “I couldn’t have overlooked you, even before you did what you did - will do.  You know what I’m talking about, don’t you?  He took the memories, but he can’t erase that feeling you have, that you’ve always had... the truth about what you are capable of.”

      “Just say it.”  Eike was pale, the words trembled even though he was expressionless.  “Whatever it is, just-”

      “You made this body.  You created Dopple, as your escape and your vengeance, both.  It took you a very, very long time.  All alone.  In the end, all that mattered to you was destroying Homunculus.  In the end, it was the only thought that remained.”

      “You’re lying.”  The words were soft, though.  Eike knew better.

      “I don’t have to lie.  The truth is damning enough.  You should see what you had to do, to accomplish such a feat.  Do you want to see why you have to die?”

      “No!”  Atropos looked back as Homunculus yelled, smiling almost gently, the pentagram’s spell tightening on him like turning screws.

“You, you-” 

The next few words were in the djinns own language, epithets that burned hot and vicious enough to melt steel.  Homunculus could see the binding spell, it was so strong now, arcs of white energy leaping over his hands and feet, but he barely felt it.  He didn’t want to look, but he couldn’t turn away, as Atropos easily tore away the boundaries that separated what was from what was to come, and fed Eike ten-thousand years of future history.  The dark, empty path that he would walk and what waited for him at the end.

      The blond wasn’t looking at her anymore, though.  Eike was now staring at him, green eyes wide and terrifyingly empty, hollowed out by what he was being forced to witness.  Homunculus swore he could hear the questions Eike was too stunned to scream, pale and shaking accusations, of all the djinn had done to try and save himself, all the selfish things that seemed so foolish, when they hadn’t ended up saving anyone.

      He dropped to his knees, pale as a corpse, and though he still held the bat it was obvious he lacked the strength to wield it, to do more than sit before the creature he would create, staring blankly, and wait for her to fulfill her purpose.

      “Eike?!”  Atropos had let loose her hold on his prison, correct in assuming the shock would be more than enough to keep him from moving.  It wasn’t panic, wasn’t anything the djinn could think to name, but it was crippling nonetheless.  “Eike?!”

No answer, the man didn’t look in his direction, didn’t even blink.

      “Oh dear.”  Atropos simpered.  “It looks as if I may have broken him.  No matter, really, I suppose it’s time to end this.”  The change was easy enough to see, even as she turned, the slow woman’s walk shifting into a schoolgirl’s bouncy jaunt, Dopple twisting the knife so that it lay flat against the inside of her arm. 

      //I’m going to watch him die, again.// 

No, it was already too late for that, the flat blank look in Eike’s eyes said it all - he was gone, Dopple was just cleaning up what remained.  Homunculus counted the steps she took, the seconds it would take to end this, amazed at how time moved when he was within it, how it slowed down even without his direction, Dopple’s arm coming out in a fierce and yet playful downward swipe, light glinting off the blade -

      Homunculus gasped, as his eyes tracked down, where the splash of blood ought to have been, swerving back as he realized there was no blood - //no blood?//

      Eike had dodged the blow, leaned back and sideways, bringing the bat up with both hands, slamming the wide end into Dopple’s stomach.  Homunculus felt a disbelieving grin snap across his face as Dopple spun toward him with the force of the blow, eyes wide with incredulity before she stumbled sideways, tumbling to the ground. 

Eike was moving before the girl hit the floor, sprinting toward him.  Homunculus had only the barest moment to consider his intent before the blond crossed the pentagram, throwing an arm across his chest and scooping him up without slowing down. 

The spell crackled and snapped beneath them, Homunculus heard Eike grunt softly as a few tendrils sparked viciously around his legs, trying to reach the djinn.  The pentagram hadn’t been created to prevent rescue from the outside, though, and Eike’s momentum easily carried them past the outer circle, the spell quickly crumbling away to nothing in their wake.

“I really hope you have a plan.”  Eike muttered, Homunculus looked up from his position at the man’s chest, gratitude that the man was still alive mixing with embarrassment at being carried so.

A sound made Eike turn, Homunculus strained to see Dopple behind them, dagger in hand, swiftly closing the gap.

“I’m not kidding, Homunculus.  I didn’t really expect to make it this far.  I’m almost out of ideas.”

Before the djinn could ask what exactly he had left, Eike reached into his jacket pocket, roughly tearing open a paper bag and tossing the contents behind them.  Homunculus twisted, turning just enough to see them land, red and sparkling sharp against the dark floor - just like fragments of the Philosopher’s Stone.

Dopple shrieked in terror, backpedaling away from the crushed gems. Homunculus could hear as Atropos tried to take back control of her body, easily recognizing the ploy for what it was.

“Fakes!  They’re fakes, you stupid creature!”

“If you’re going to do something, now would be just /fine/!”

Eike’s voice was a panicked gasp, Homunculus turned back to see they were nearing a field of pillars and the remains of statues, much like that of his haven, and they would soon be out of easy running room.

His haven was easy enough to find, even in the endless borders of time, appearing as soon as he called it forth, eternity receding from its borders with only the barest sigh of regret.  It had stood too long to disappear so quickly.  As long as he willed it to be there, it would stand.

A scream came from behind them like a storm.  Eike turned at a sudden blast of wind - Homunculus heard him shout something but couldn’t make out the words as the blond lifted his arms up, shielding the djinn with his own body.  The pale man heard Eike gasp in pain, his grip tightening - a scattering of pebbles hit the floor in front of them, the false stones - and Atropos was gaining, Homunculus could feel her presence swooping down on them, some power or another eager to destroy them both.

//I don’t think so.//

It was remarkably satisfying to hear her cry of rage, as they vanished into time, and safety.

======================
Author’s Notes -

1.  I do realize this story is veering right off into an alternate universe bizarre little nothing.  Sorry, it refuses to listen to reason and do anything at all sensible.

2.  I dislike immediately ascribing any female figure of power and age to a position of villainy (a la Disney’s “Little Mermaid”) and this goes double for those involved in ending life as part of a greater pattern.  Again, the characters just decided not to listen to me. 

Of course, from the right perspective Atropos and Dopple are still the heroes of all of this.

3.  Soundtrack for this thing is definitely “The Princess and the Warrior” soundtrack and Aqualung’s “Strange and Beautiful.”  Thanks for introducing me to it, Flidget.  Marvelous.

4.  More props to Flidget, the best beta reader on either side of the Atlantic.