Chapter 38 - Follow The Madness

As Kita stumbled her way through the dark halls of the Aubade Palace, using the wall to guide her through the areas that sconces and lamps couldn't keep bright enough, she struggled to remember the path. She managed to get back to the fourth floor.

She couldn't get the recent fright out of her head, or the thought that she may still be a target for a vicious and vengeful demon leader.

Turning the next corner revealed a set of familiar double doors at the end of the long hallway. The guard outside of it was asleep, slumped against the wall. Kita could still find glitches in her vision, whether it was blurry spots or silhouettes in her peripheral view. She couldn't tell if it was fear warping her senses, or something malicious returning to torment her mind, just as it had before she left Sybilius.

"Corelia, please be in here," Kita whispered. "Or something that will tell me where to go."

Ignoring the sleeping guard, Kita crept into the study. Unfortunately, it was empty, and the domed glass roof made her feel vulnerable; something could spot her easily, and they could pounce without warning.

"Dammit," Kita hissed.

Initially, she thought about interrogating the guard, but then she stopped.

Her eyes landed on the back wall, and more specifically, the four-flamed emblem standing out against other diagrams. The longer she stared, the more negative feelings rose within her. A cocktail of fear, dread, guilt, and most prominently of all, anger.

Soon, in her vision, the wall and space around her blackened to nothing, and the emblem ignited with blue flames.

"Why..."

Kita clenched her fists, storming across the room. She grabbed the page, breaking her hallucination immediately, and tore it down.

"Why are you doing this to me?" Kita growled. "Why can't I get you out of my head?!"

She went to tear the page, but her hands froze. It suddenly felt like steel in her hands, and she couldn't do anything but stare. She barely managed to throw it down in anger.

After she sucked in a deep breath, Kita's eyes landed on the desk. Its surface was still a mess of documents. Normally, she would ignore the chaos, but now she was desperate and morbidly curious.

"You have to know more," Kita muttered. "Show me..."

As she rifled through the papers, she kept an eye out for anything that could be useful. Still, in the initial layers, all she found was political nonsense with terms she didn't recognize.

However, after digging deep enough, she turned up a new page.

A map, depicting Sybilius and some of its surrounding territories. There were markers scattered all along it, which she slowly came to understand. Red markers were centered around the area with the Blood Forest, so they had to be Zyreans. Orange markers, along the western edge, made no sense until she saw a note labeled 'Kaen Demons.' There were more notes and color-coded markers to describe enemies from beasts to rogue elves.

It seemed insignificant until one note, attached to a black marker, made her stop.

'Unknown'

Kita stopped for a moment, then looked closer. All along the borders of Sybilius, there were almost more black markers than any other color.

"Unknown?" Kita mumbled. "What could..."

She trailed off when she remembered one thing.

The disfigured monster that attacked her in the Silent Meadow, and the bone-chilling description offered by Thundur. Tied in with the ominous rumors about a 'new threat' and rising danger. In her head, she could hear Scorch's words.

"'Even Sybilius, a land so secure that it wouldn't have even known these existed, is starting to see them more often.'"

A new thought started to grow in her head, but this one almost incited panic. Kita desperately searched the pages again. Within just a few seconds, she gave up and searched the drawers of the desk. In the top one, she found a very thick journal. There were some tabs with vague labels, very few of which she could recognize.

One stood out, though. The Extinction Battle.

Kita opened the book to that page. The handwritten words were very old and faded, like the withered pages they were presented on, but she could still make out enough to get an understanding. Just a few lines indicated something was wrong.

Kita murmured as she read, "'He brought this on himself. That fool had the gall to stand over the thousand corpses beneath us, ignore the obvious fact that he had been bested, and still raise his blade to me. After all this death, after all the pain he has been put through, he still craves more. Why can he not see the futility? I will defend Sybilius from any threat, that I have already sworn as I brace to take the crown. And that vile miscreation will rot in a shallow grave before I let him come to rule anything.'"

Kita flipped ahead, confusion seeping into her mixed emotions. This didn't sound like the Corelia she knew.

She stopped at another page; "'Is this man a cockroach? He won't die, he won't submit, and he's training the six survivors to be just as annoyingly stubborn. This can't happen. The Extinction Battle was supposed to be the end of this mess. Yet here, I still have my old enemy preaching to me. There's even a new beta, Thundur's been recognized as a spirit-walker, and they're making plans. Do they think they still stand a chance in this fight? Well, I've had enough, and I'm not listening anymore. Forget how or why we got here, I only vow to see this problematic clan become a distant memory. I solemnly swear, I will find a way to kill these remaining demons for good. I will make the kingdom of Demona Haven, and the Zyrean tribe, nothing but a memory. A memory that will fade until it is held by me alone, before I finally decide it can be purged. This must happen by any means necessary.'"

The emphasis on that last phrase sent chills down Kita's spine. It was like the turning point in a scary story, but as hard as it was to believe, this was real. This was her queen's own words; a personal record of her leadership in this conflict.

As her chest tightened, Kita took a rigid breath. "What was the timeframe mentioned in Kodin's first journal?"

She skipped ahead by many pages. As she did, she spotted more bits of these many encounters. Even though she did glean some deeper thoughts being relayed in this personal story, more to do with Corelia's own suffering and the deaths among her army, she also gleaned much more violence. Deep into the book, she stopped at a label she couldn't read due to a heavy -almost intentional- smear.

"''I do not know why Kodin is experiencing this. He has spent his life running from home, all over Sybilius, but he was never anywhere close to witnessing this conflict. Yet now, I have him yelling about his nightmares of the Zyrean Emblem. He even stole my records to learn more. At this point, I must come to terms. If I cannot stop him, maybe I can turn this into an advantage.'"

Kita felt herself go pale, a sickness growing in her stomach as she read the next paragraph.

"'Since he'll likely wind up leaving either way, I will send him into the Blood Forest. It is dangerous, and I do fear he'll be hurt, but he is fast and good with bartering. I strongly believe that will keep him alive. I've never tried this tactic before, so I am hoping it's the right one. One sylph, one mission, and in turn, possibly the answer to ending this war.'"

Kita gritted her teeth in silent anger. She refused to follow this any further, tearing ahead in the book. All she could picture was Corelia sending Kodin away, despite knowing the danger it involved, followed by the crime scene. Dead at the stream, abandoned like roadkill.

"What is this?" Kita growled. "Was she just lying to me, the whole time?"

She found the more recent entries, within the frame of last year.

She read, "'The monsters are making everything worse, taking up time and energy my soldiers cannot spare. I do not know what they are, nor where they come from, only that they are not something from nature. Their threat level has not escalated beyond a moderate concern, but more people are becoming hostile because of this, and the Zyreans remain an unrelenting thorn in my side, costing time and resources I don't have. If I want to be ready for a catastrophe, I need to start thinning out our enemies, and it'd be great to start with the worst of them. I'm searching out new tactics now. Everything from our strategy, to the magic we're using on our blades. I swear on the Erxina name, the demon king will fall, and so will the rest of that wretched clan. The end of Zyra's bloodline is long overdue.'"

Kita gasped as she thought, Whoever the twins were talking to in the cavern. He said it looked like Corelia was trying to gain magical items. This lines up, and so does...

She thought back to another moment; when she found the lone mutant in the meadow, and Thundur said something that seemed minor at the time, but now resonated as prophetic.

"'We're just waiting for the moment your ignorant queen gets it wrong and makes a detrimental move that screws with us just as much.'"

"She was..." Kita anxiously covered her mouth. "Was she right?"

Kita skipped ahead to the latest entry, but hesitated to continue. Until a very bitter thought whipped her into action.

I just sold out two people. I took them from their real family and became the target of a very angry demon leader, and already, I almost died as a result. I have to know.

With that, Kita read the final passage.

"'The Zyreans are in a very temporary calm, but now Kita is coming to me in a miserable state, with stories of sickness including hallucinations. Of course I wanted to help, but with her symptoms being connected to that damn emblem, it became a complex matter. I'm trying to be gentle with her and avoid repeating Kodin's story, so I told her the gist and sent her away for now. I have theories about why this may be happening, but truth be told, I have no evidence.'"

The next entry continued, "Curse you, Leiytning. You've taken Kita and hypnotized her. You've warped her brain to see me as the enemy. But two can play that game, and we both know you're hiding something even her innocent eyes couldn't see past. Once she does, you'll be exposed, and I'll be ready to protect her. Good luck trying to manipulate her then."

Kita slammed the journal shut, taking a sharp breath.

"Corelia..."

In her head, she ran through every line again. She remembered all the clues she had gathered, and for the first time, they were connecting.

But the image they created wasn't a pretty one.

"Oh my gods," Kita whispered. "Corelia lied to me. She never cared about ending things peacefully. She never cared about history, or giving the demons a chance. Even if Leiytning is a bad person, she isn't separating him from the others. She wants them all dead, period. She was so desperate that when Kodin came to her, she was the one who sent him away. Seyber told me he wasn't trained; he wasn't ready, he couldn't protect himself, but she didn't care..."

She looked down at the journal with fury building in her core.

"Now, the rise of mutants is making her even more violent. Worst of all, it's not to end the war and bring peace, or to stop a pair of corrupt twins. She just thought she would get rid of an inconvenience. She doesn't care at all!"

She sneered, tearing the entry about her out.

"And she talks about me like a child, or even a mental patient..."

"What are you doing?"

Kita gasped, dropping the journal.

As she looked toward the room's entrance, she quickly recognized Surei as he stepped inside, although he now seemed very confused.

"Surei..." Kita forced the words from her tightened throat. "Where is Corelia?"

Surei dropped off some papers at the desk. "I don't know, probably busy. Now, I know you've been given a lot of permissions that normal sylphs wouldn't, but I can guarantee that being here isn't one of them."

Kita failed to respond and looked down. Following her gaze, Surei picked up the journal and closed it. The thick, aged cover was taunting her to say something.

"Do you know what's in there?" Asked Kita.

"No..." Surei returned the journal to the drawer. "Listen, I won't tell her you were in here, alright? But you need to get out of here, and stop poking around."

In an unexpected burst of anger, Kita argued, "Why? Because I dare to ask questions about a war I've been dragged into? Do you have a problem with that?"

To her surprise, Surei shook his head.

"No. I get why you would ask questions. I would too, if I wasn't in even more of a stranglehold than you. But, if you couldn't tell from me saying that, many people who live in the palace do have a problem with that."

Kita calmed down; the anger she had felt gave way to anxiety, surrounding whatever that warning meant.

"Now please, leave," Surei insisted.

Without another word, Kita begrudgingly turned and walked through the looming doors. Since the guard on the other side was still asleep, she wasn't hesitant to let her irritation show.

Once out of earshot, Kita growled under her breath, "If Corelia lied about all of that, then what else? The war's origins? Could..." Kita slowed down, her words almost catching in her throat. "Could she have lied about caring about me? Not just in this situation, but even back then..."

Kita let out a weak laugh, her fists clenching.

"Why did I not think of that? The queen of Sybilius, powerless against one old hunter. And I could never ask the question because I was always too enchanted. That's all it is, isn't it? Enchantment. A disguise..."

She lashed out, punching the wall as hard as she could, then pressed on until she made it to the stairwell. After descending to the next floor, she stopped at the bottom step -a slab of ivory stone, like the landing it was connected to. She leaned against the dark wooden railing, staring down the rest of the stairwell.

It felt like her skull was burning from the inside out, and a weight was gradually increasing on her chest. She didn't know what to do or where to go, nor what to believe. Not anymore.

"But Corelia..." Just as fast, she shook her head. "Grow up, Kita, she's not your mother. You have no family, you were just used to break up someone else's."

Kita barely kept herself from crying. The mental images of the leaders she had followed, and all the people she had met along the way, were shifting and contorting, changing what she thought she knew about them. No one deserved her trust or faith anymore, and Corelia herself was hardly recognizable.

Was I right to help Corelia, or right to try and reverse her plan? I thought I was right by trusting Leiytning, but then he attacked me. Could she be no different...

She sighed heavily as she narrowly choked down a sob, as she wiped her watery eyes. Her heart felt tangled in bounds of razor wire; digging in, puncturing, and constricting in her chest. Even though she had already been deemed of sound health, thanks to the local medic, she felt more pain than she thought possible.

However, then she felt something out of place.

It was like eyes were boring into her, as the temperature suddenly dropped to a frigid degree. She sniffled and wiped her eyes again, then slowly stood up and looked around.

Silhouetted at the bottom of the next flight of stairs, a shadowy person was barely visible. There was nothing defining about it, apart from the fact that it may have been wearing a cloak or a hood.

It took just a couple of steps away before it disappeared like a burst of mist.

As soon as it was gone, a surge came from Kita's head. The brutal migraine made her grimace and brought an indescribable feeling of distress. She could hear the words in her head, yet no voice behind them.

"'Follow. I will guide you once more.'"

Kita gasped, "You again."

The sensation faded. Kita still felt uneasy, but she knew what she had to do.

"Following the madness worked once..."

She set off in the direction of the silhouette, down the stairs. She only caught glimpses before it disappeared, but it was just enough for her to catch the direction and continue.

It led her all the way to the first floor, then north, to the hallway along the back of the palace. She passed the exit to the greenhouse, and the gates to the elaborate gardens, realizing by now that the area was getting more secure. She had barely managed to slip past the eyes of two patrolling guards by hiding in a closet space.

The elusive figure disappeared for good once she was in a dim room. There were empty racks along the stone walls, and at the back, a descending set of winding stairs led down into an even darker, even more mysterious section of the ancient building.

At the top of the stairs, Kita noticed girthy iron hinges, which made her think a security gate was to be installed soon. Something unusual for a typical palace room.

With a feeling like she was completely lost, Kita took one more deep breath, then descended into the dark.