The Hatter is Mad: An Urban Fantasy Novel (The Lillim Callina Chronicles Book 2) (16 page)

“Brother, after her death, you didn’t even get out of bed until Warthor came up with this crazy scheme to bring her back to life,” Mitsoumi said with a shrug. “I just don’t want you to get your hopes up. No one’s ever been brought back from the dead.”

Blue lightning exploded through the horizon painting the Nether’s skies indigo, and I jumped. In the distance, streaming balls of light scoured the horizon.

“The red brick road is supposed to lead us to the Prince,” Masataka said as he knelt down and stared off into fog so thick that I couldn’t see through it. “I can feel he is close. We just need to go a little farther, brother.”

“This… this seems very bad,” Mitsoumi said, taking a step forward.

I was inclined to agree. The fog was warm and sticky on my skin. It was like someone was perpetually licking me. It was unnerving, and not just in the normal way, but in the make the hairs on the back of your neck sort of way.

In the distance, a figure largely obscured by fog and shadow swept closer. Great arcs of lightning split the fog in front of him, throwing up great plumes of pinkish smoke where they struck gravel-hewn rock.

He was well over six-feet-tall and long flowing black hair swept off his head like there was a spring breeze. His deep blue eyes twinkled like twin stars, and the air around him sparkled. He bowed, swinging one arm behind his back as he did so. “I cannot imagine why you would travel to this place. However, you must be most tired, allow me to accommodate you while you are here,” he said.

“That would be wonderful, but we are kind of on a limited time table. We have come seeking the Blue Prince.” Masataka’s voice was gentle, yet firm. How could he be so calm in the face of this stranger?

The man paused before speaking as if adjusting himself to a familiar yet undesirable taste. “I can take you to him. You may call me Raul.”

“Okay, but how do we know we can trust you?” Mitsoumi asked, tilting his head carefully, drinking in Raul’s visage.

“I wouldn’t trust me if I were you,” Raul said and his cheeks reddened. “I’m not what you’d call ‘trustworthy,’” he added, making air quotes with his fingers.

“We really are in a hurry. We must find the Blue Prince. He’s the only one who can help us,” Masataka said, staring hard at the man in front of him, studying him like a complex math equation.

“And what would you ask of the Blue Prince? I happen to know he isn’t fond of helping people. He’s a little crazy, as they say. Aren’t you afraid he’ll just take you over and wear your body like a little meat puppet?” Raul asked and his grin was so large that it very nearly encompassed his entire face as he made a walking motion with the fingers on his left hand.

Masataka shut his eyes and rubbed his temples very slowly. “It doesn’t matter,” he said finally.

“It doesn’t matter?” inquired Raul.

“Correct,” Masataka affirmed. “I must find the Prince so that I can retrieve the Revenant’s Diadem. Only one of the Lords of Death can give it to us, and only he is crazy enough to do it. I’m willing to suffer to get it. I’m willing to do almost anything to get it.”

“It would seem so,” Raul agreed.

I did not like Raul at all, not even the tiniest bit, and the more he spoke, the more it grated on my brain like nails on a chalkboard. Masataka offering to do almost anything was crazy, but telling it to this guy? That was crazier.

Raul turned, sweeping his arm into the distance. “I will gladly take you to the Blue Prince if the matter is as urgent as you say. I just don’t think it’s going to matter much. Into the spider’s web we go…”

Mitsoumi scratched his head. I could tell he was thinking, could see thoughts flashing through his eyes. Unfortunately, his brother was already following along after Raul. Mitsoumi moved next to his younger brother and elbowed him, trying to get his attention. “Psst,” he said.

Raul turned abruptly, casting a sharp glance at Mitsoumi. “Are you coming?” he asked. “The tea will be getting cold.”

“You’re the Blue Prince, aren’t you?” Mitsoumi blurted out.

The scene froze so abruptly, Mitsoumi very nearly walked into his brother because Masataka was as frozen as the dust particles their feet kicked up. Raul held his hand up and smiled.

This must have been how the Blue Prince looked back then. Apparently, he’d been wearing the body of this Raul person. Part of me felt bad because I knew Raul’s body had long since been burned up and been discarded. I swallowed, if I didn’t save my father soon, he was likely to share a similar fate.

“I’m torn between asking ‘how you knew’ and ‘what took you so long.’ No matter though, because I’ll know soon enough,” Raul said, turning and walking around Mitsoumi, circling him in a way that reminded me of a wolf circling prey.

“What just happened?” Mitsoumi asked. He looked like one of those display animals at a meat auction.

“I stopped time,” Raul said, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture. “Alright, level with me. Tell me why you are looking for me?” Raul’s voice slurped over the words as if caressing them with his tongue.

“It’s a long story. My brother could explain it better,” Mitsoumi said.

“No, that won’t do. He is much too attached. I can feel the emotion dripping off him. You however… you don’t really care, do you? You just care about him,” Raul said, sidling up next to Mitsoumi and jerking his thumb at Masataka.

“That’s not true. I care,” Mitsoumi grumbled and it sounded immature… even to me.

Raul regarded him carefully. “I wonder if that’s true. I
could
absorb all your memories and then, in turn, learn why you are after me, specifically. Oh, I do wonder, I do, I do… I think that we should perhaps test this out. Yes, we simply must, it would be bad if we didn’t when such a thing most certainly needs testing.”

“Or I could just tell you,” Mitsoumi squawked.

“Or you could just tell me,” Raul agreed. “In fact, I’m counting on it. It’s either that or our time together is going to be ever so delicious. Now then… less threaty and more talky.”

Chapter 26

“So you really are out here to get the Revenant’s Diadem to resurrect one insignificant speck of a girl? I am half-inclined to give it to you, Mitsoumi, just to see what happens. However, it won’t work. Even if you get it, it won’t work. There isn’t enough power in the universe to activate it.” Raul smiled and sat back on his haunches. His eyes were filled with curiosity. It was the same look a man watching a mouse circle a sleeping snake might have. It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

“It has to work. If it doesn’t we’re all just wasting our time. If, after everything, it doesn’t work, Masataka will be crushed. Even now, Masataka is barely hanging on. Masataka might recover from Dirge’s death in time. But now, after this hope has been dangled in front of him, he might not recover from having it dashed away.” Mitsoumi paused and looked at the Blue Prince so hard that I wished I could hear the thoughts bubbling through his mind.

Was the Blue Prince really this instrumental in my return? Did my reincarnation hinge solely on Mitsoumi convincing the Blue Prince to help him? I ground my teeth together. Was this the reason the Blue Prince was screwing with me in a very direct way? Did he feel… responsible?

“Warthor must have a way, otherwise he wouldn’t try.” The words tumbled out of Mitsoumi’s mouth in a rush.

The silliness of Mitsoumi’s words hit me like a dagger. Here was the Blue Prince, one of The Lords of Death, telling him that their plan would fail, and yet, Mitsoumi was betting Warthor was right?

I was alive after all, and I’ve long since learned not to bet against Warthor Ein… but seriously? Was there something the Blue Prince was missing? Or was Mitsoumi just seizing on an unrealistic hope? I mean, I was alive, but he would have no way of knowing they would actually succeed.

I swallowed and shook my head, falling to my knees as the breath went out of me. Mitsoumi didn’t even come here for me. By that, I don’t mean the Dirge-me either. Mitsoumi Mawara, heir to the Dioscuri throne, came for his brother, Masataka. He came here and bargained with the Blue Prince so that Dirge would come back to life only so that his brother wouldn’t be sad.

Is this why Mitsoumi protected me from his brother in the years since Masataka tried to cut out my heart? Did he feel responsible for me, too?

“Oh, Warthor has a way,” Raul said with a smile. “You won’t like it. Not one bit. If this whole universe was his plan, your approval of it would amount to less than the tiniest grain of sand. He does have a plan. I can smell it in the air. It might just work. There will be pain though. So much pain, it will be rather unlike the grain of sand you previously occupied in this plan. Is that something you’re willing to endure?” Raul smirked, his face inquisitive, his eyes so cheery that Mitsoumi trembled.

“I’ll endure it if it brings my brother back,” Mitsoumi said. “But this is for Masataka, shouldn’t you be asking him?”

“You would think that, wouldn’t you? You people always think things like that,” Raul said with a smirk. “You are wrong. I am asking you. In your heart, is this thing you are asking worth it to you?”

“If it was for Dirge Meilan, I would tell you no. Unequivocally. She wasn’t special to me. She was strong, sure. She died doing a thing that probably needed to be done… but bring her back? I don’t really care. My brother, on the other hand, it means everything to me. This is the first time he’s ventured out of the house since she died three weeks ago. To restore him, I would do nearly anything. Bringing her back should do that,” Mitsoumi said as he glanced past Raul and stared at his brother. “It has to.”

“So you would think, wouldn’t you?” Raul leapt forward and grabbed Mitsoumi’s face in his hands. He twisted them until they were eye to eye and pushed his forehead into Mitsoumi’s until the Dioscuri was off balance. Mitsoumi’s arms waved frantically in the air for balance, but the only thing that kept him from flopping backward was the Blue Prince’s grip. “You would be so very wrong to assume that. It would astound you. Unfortunately, I cannot do this thing you ask of me. I do not think you can withstand the pain it would cause you to tread down this path.
I
do not think it wise.”

Raul released him, and Mitsoumi toppled to the ground. He struck hard on his elbow and pain flashed across his face. He tried to roll onto his hands and knees. The Blue Prince’s boot smashed into Mitsoumi’s chest, and he flopped onto his back. One of Mitsoumi’s hands instinctively went to cover his face while the other reached for his sword. Warm blood trickled through Mitsoumi’s fingers, hot and slick as that very same boot placed itself on his throat.

“If you want the Revenant’s Diadem, reach out and take it.” Raul said and held something in his outstretched hand. It glittered like a miniature sun. The golden light of it was so bright that I couldn’t look at it without practically closing my eyes. Even still, I could feel it pulsing like a heart, throbbing with energy, thrumming in the air.

Mitsoumi moved to grab the object, and the heat of it threatened to sear the flesh from his bones. It was so close that he could nearly touch it. His fingertips brushed against its polished golden surface. It was like watching someone try to grab fire. Mitsoumi gritted his teeth and struggled to ignore the flame that rushed down his arm. A cry burst from his lips.

Raul pulled the Diadem away, and the fire receded. Mitsoumi’s arm dropped limply to his side. The skin of his hand was blackened. The smell of burning meat hung in the air, the acrid stench filling my nostrils and turning my stomach. Mitsoumi pried his eyes away from his burned hand, trying his best to ignore the sight of his own flesh flaking away.

I can’t imagine what it must have been like to be trapped beneath the boot of the Blue Prince with your only chance of survival being to grab something made of fire. Part of me wanted to go to him, to knock the Blue Prince away and pull Mitsoumi to his feet. To tell them to run and not bother to bring me back, to tell them I wasn’t worth all this effort on their part.

But this was a vision of the past. It wasn’t real, and I couldn’t interfere anyway. Still, there was a teeny, tiny part of me that knew Mitsoumi would keep trying until he was dead. Mitsoumi had too much honor, too much pride… and he loved his brother too much.

Mitsoumi reached up again. Flames exploded down his arm. His stomach flexed as he struggled to pull in a breath. His hand started to smolder. It reminded me of a time when I was younger and unthinkingly reached into the fire to move a burning log. Once more, Raul pulled the Diadem out of his reach.

“If you really, really want it, take it. Take the Diadem from me. Know that it will send your entire world into a tailspin. You will risk everything for one girl,” the Raul meat-suit said. The Diadem glittered in his hand. It throbbed with energy, casting harsh pink light across his face. Mitsoumi turned his head from the glare, and images of ants bursting into flames beneath a magnifying glass leapt through my mind. “And it won’t even matter.”

Raul bent close and held the Diadem inches from Mitsoumi’s nose. The heat of it licked the moisture from Mitsoumi’s mouth. His lips cracked, and his skin blistered. He was supposed to grab this object? He was supposed to take this thing? Could he really do it?

Mitsoumi struggled, trying vainly to dislodge the boot from his neck. “Masataka would take the object. Masataka was made to sacrifice, to put others before himself.” Raul’s voice was barely a whisper. “Can you not do this one little thing for him, Mitsoumi?”

Realization blossomed across Mitsoumi’s face, and in that moment, I knew the truth. Mitsoumi couldn’t do it. For all his love… Mitsoumi didn’t have it in him to take the Diadem from the Blue Prince.

“You are not made that way, Mitsoumi,” Raul continued. “You are selfish and motivated by your own actions.” Raul sighed and shook his head. “Deep down, you know you are really doing this for yourself. You are doing this because your brother’s sadness hurts you. You are doing this so your own pain will stop. Do not fool yourself into thinking you are doing this for Masataka.” That horrible grin spread across Raul’s face once again, and Mitsoumi shuddered and looked away. “I bet you knew that superficially before, but now you know it to be certain.” A shiver ran down Mitsoumi’s spine. Above him, Raul straightened and removed his boot from Mitsoumi’s neck.