“Demon Prince” a voice said. It was Siasma.
The prince glanced up at the accent and hissed, retreating with the hostage into the shadows, his mismatched pupils glittering. “Demon Prince. It seems you exceed your duty,” Siasma noted.“What is your marvelous tactic to drive the angels to insanity? Or is it your own insanity?
“Would you like to find out?” Carris retorted.
“I would. I bet you would do a better job than my husband by my side” Siasma replied.
“I know of no good Mother who treats her own son with such twisted desires!” Carris shrieked. Siasma smiled, watching for a moment, and then left the scene. Her plans for him were much darker than the disturbing attempts he already suffered. Trixie was quietly and suddenly very aware that the paradox of their stressful existences while too young happened to be quite similar. Little did she know everything was about to change in an incredibly rapid way.
Trixie and Carris exchanged glances uncomfortably. Trixie’s moment of attempting to inspire him had been immediately replaced. The cold weight of his own family’s shadow chained him to a space of humiliation in front of her. Unfortunately, Trixie understood this space all too well, even if the way they were both anchored to it was different. The utter disintegration of hope within their chests was the same consequence, to them both. The anger on his face flared, and Trixie became painstakingly aware of her lack of resources. She only knew she had decided not to die, for as long as she could. There was no reason ahead to live, from what reality looked like right now. There were no advantages given to her, or him, coming from any direction. If she made it past this point, she would have to figure out how to survive, learn what she was actually capable of contributing, and where…if anywhere was left.
The wheels turned in her head for solutions, and Carris became irritated that this girl had gone off into her own mind right in front of him. He grumbled and glanced back at the doorway. Something was going from bad to worse with Siasma and Ijin, and that was his priority to address. This girl could not save him. What a strange moment to cause him weakness, over nothing! How bizarre that she suggested that he could have a normal life, why had he let that even cause him to feel anything? Carris left her and ran faster and faster, out of the forest and into the castle. As soon as Carris turned away from Trixie, her eyes followed him, her face unreadable.
* * * * *
Up and down as many floors he was able to climb, Dr. Jen searched for his daughter, finally aware that she had been gone for too long. From the back of the interface he could hear calm wineglass steps advancing. “Can’t recover her?” the mellifluous voice asked. The doctor turned to see Siasma in her white gown with dark eyes. She had emerged from behind a silver and gray wall. He found himself misplaced for words, her presence outshining the glistening ransoms and pearl rods set overhead. “This whole castle is aimed for hell anyway.. the same with every one in it..including you, and likely your child” She breathed softly, creating an air of pity seeking even while delivering the news that involved more than her own losses. “No one gives me what I want even to the end. I deserved the power.” She had definitely just seen Trixie, but unbeknownst to him, she could care less. She had been unable to gain control of her son, and slowly seeing him fight back enraged her. He was not supposed to be a mind of his own, it was never supposed to happen. This vexed her, and it was written all over her face.
“Queen Siasma, how do you know this is the outcome?” Dr. Jen asked, “What about the half-demon, can he be --”
Siasma cut him off instantly, “There’s no hope for anyone anymore,” she hissed, “The Demon Prince spoke back to me today, rather than yielding to me. That brat was my last card. I can only promise you that you and your daughter, being Angels like myself, will still have bliss in the hereafter.”
Even after she’d moved, Dr. Jen chased after her,“Isn’t this beast you speak of your son! Is there nothing you can do?” Siasma gazed down on him considerately.. The long corridor was filled with an echoic stillness, the halls beautiful and empty in the same way.
“When you came here, you seemed unaware you even had a daughter. Why does it matter now? Is that because you are worried about Ijin using angel blood? You are overconfident. Ijin will have many angels to choose from, he does not need her. I never needed my son. He is the consequence of two realms who spurn and loathe one another, and unintentionally collaborated. He by some mysterious reasoning became real, a curse to us, a nightmare! And now, an even more enormous loss to me by choosing to have his own feelings! Many lives are taken here, all the time. It is useless to mourn over every soul when mine was supposed to be the most important!” Siasma bellowed, and then stormed out of the room. Dr. Jen had not expected such selfishness from their Queen at all, but he knew the losses of the Angels were great, and he knew his awareness of his own daughter was indeed low. He desired Siasma, she was so much more efficient to him than Trine had ever been. Trine was so dunce that she hadn’t even been aware of how many times Dr. Jen had affairs in her face. To him, Trine and his daughter had become not much more than dead weight.
Heading down the balcony on the route to the courtyard, Dr. Jen found himself cut short midway. He was in the mirror colored hallway now, with glass stairs reflecting the glass ceiling. At the crest of the hallway Ijin loomed, segments of his skin beginning to bubble. Craze filled Ijin’s features. “It seems you’ve broken the rules and departed your quarters,” Ijin said. Dr. Jen stepped up the winding stairs, “Don’t bother though, I’ve found the Tai.. I only needed this, your lives were never of any value” with that Ijin swung his arm.
Dr Jen dodged but the hit was too soon. He heard spewing inside his head. He wasn’t ready. He staggered back from the monstrous blow. He could feel the blood spurting, could see two silent figures of the Emperor and a scarlet haired girl standing by him. The woman stepped toward him and looked down, foreshortened, a long beautiful length of a blurry red with a linen gold tube top and styled silk Jasmine white pants. There was a prudent towering look in her velvet ruby eyes, a tiara encasing her long ponytail of scarlet red strands. Her lips were somewhat puffed out, a deep harsh glow of heavy red with glittery eyeliner. His blurring gaze focused on her navel. Darkness grew from there and spread out to encompass everything, blacking out the Emperor that hovered over.
“Damn you, Trixie” he cursed, his last words. Dr. Jen had beaten Trixie frequently, to try to stop his daughter from acting up or causing them trouble. Physical attacks only made her dissociate, yet to this day failed to change her drive. Here Trixie was, wandering around at the worst possible time as always. In the end, Dr. Jen believed he was dying from his sabotaged efforts of trying to save Cyber. His daughter was nothing more than an inconvenient piece that could be used against the planet, to him in his mind, even at that last moment.