Morph
37. Sacrifice

Its a hard choice to make, as easy as Libra makes it it is hard I mean the entire fate of a world rests on me and I can’t drop it for some happily ever after that isn’t promised. I think about him the entire time.

I think about him now, as Satchel, Blaze and Pauline stand before me and Gemini ready, ready for a war. We have alerted every ruler, every king and queen of the corners presence to replace out they they already know of them, that the corners have been tormenting them beyond imagination and that some of them have sided with them that meaning, there are entire species that are now against us, against me.

Pauline is Aisha’s cousin, who would have thought battle ran in their bloodline? I’ve told her how sorry I am for what I did but she thought nothing of it, saying as Aisha fell doing what she loved she fell in honor, who knew humbleness ran in their bloodline?

We’re at the volcano now, there was no time to plan it out, only time to go, to do. I haven’t slept in days and my body drags because of it, my stomach stiff with hunger but I am a worrier by mind and soul and battle comes first, this battle.

Am I ready to lose my identity?

Am I ready to be a ‘human’ all over again?

No, I’ve only just found my identity I’m not ready to lose it but sometimes preparation isn’t key, and wants fall below needs. “They should be here any minute, say nothing when they come.” It was hard for me to leave some of my bravest morphers in the manor for bait after lifting the rings from around all the corners, but it had to be done and they were willing to do it, for this they have all my respect. “Satchel, you know the chant and Blaze you know the plan, you all do.” They nod.

Maybe I need an army, one thousand behind me I mean it could be a war and that’s what wars require right? No. These people, these people that I have come to know and trust are all I need for this stage, I don’t need one thousand, I need stability and support and strong minds that can be found in two, Satchel and Gemini, that I’m beginning to replace in another, Blaze and that a spirit like Aisha’s, Pauline can offer.

“You call the plan off whenever you want and I’ll have you out of here in seconds.” Satchel grabs my hand, his voice serious and his frost blue eyes all he same, a friend, he’s been the most beautiful of friends to me and for that I thank him. I’m not ready to leave my father, to give my life and so I hope for the best from this. I hope that this will go as planned and all that is at the hands of being lost is my identity. That I can live without, I can always replace it again but there would be no life in death and something tells me that with one wrong move that’s exactly where I’ll be headed.

“I won’t.” I offer him a sure smile. “I thank you so much for everything, most of all for your friendship.” I nod, pulling him into a hug which he returns in full force.

“I thank you, gorgeous.” He whispers in my hair, holding me like a brother. “When all this is over that’s still who you are, okay?” He pulls away, sincerity in his eyes and I nod, moving on to Gemini.

“I”m ready, thank you for letting me be ready.” I stare up at him, the man who started this all, my father’s mentor with the cold black eyes. Those same black eyes hold something foreign now as they flicker to my eyes.

“Its always your choice, Serenity.” Gemini says. “The world can be a ratchet place if you let it-”

“It can also be as beautiful as I if I morph it.” I mumble the twist of his first words to me, captivated by the strong black depths that shine at me, stare into my soul.

“Morph it Serenity, what beautiful place would you like the world to be?” It feels just like day one, I smile at the thought as he grabs a hold of my hand and squeezes it. Satchel starts chanting which is odd to me, so I attempt to turn toward him but I can’t I’m frozen in place and my eyes are stuck to Gemini’s. “Remember that the world is what you want it to be.” He says, never looking away from me, and as darkness fills my eyesight and chanting fills my ears its just like day one all over again.

This time however, I don’t smile at the thought, I yell at Gemini as I feel my non-functioning body being halted from my feet, Satchel stops chanting and I hear Blaze whisper a sorry to me. Sorry? “This isn’t your battle.” Gemini whispers, carrying me away but he fails to realize that he taught me this game. More importantly he taught me how to win it, so I think of the area around Ecladen’s Volcano in attempt to unlock myself from his depths but I can’t.

It feels like a block to my mental to where I can’t think straight, I can’t morph. “Calm down.” Gemini tells me. “The chant Satchel did denies you the ability to unlock it, you’ll only hurt yourself.” They trapped me. Its all I can’t think, they trapped me.

They trapped me so I wouldn’t be able to go through with it. “This isn’t your battle, we won’t sacrifice you.” No, no this is my battle. I need to do something, anything. The thought grows as I hear Daelortoze’s voice boom. I need to free myself, they need to free me.

“So you all think this is funny, yes?” The corner growls, his angered state not sounding well at all. “A game? You think its a game?” The fury in his voice is enough to kill us all on the spot. “I tried so hard to be nice.”

Silence.

Complete and utter silence that silences straight through me.

And then screaming. I know these screams too, its the screams of the animations. Parts of my soul and I feel them, they’re warm. They are scolding hot they-

I try and yell for them but I can’t, I hear Satchel start to chant again as the animations scream, Wannel’s scream stick out from the crowd, because he screams for me, for his queen and as many animations scream for the same behind him a piece of me breaks. They kept me from escaping, they haven’t blocked me from other things, a cage, yes a cage.

The last cage was impossible for anyone or anything to get in or out of, but I can’t see them and they can be scattered anywhere. It feels like I’m laying down on something and after all they are somehow part of me, so I search my mind for an image of all of them and when I replace one, I think of what beautiful place I’d like the world to be.

I think of them altogether like in the picture and as Delaware shouts, “Our queen is here.” Silencing the others I realize its working, and from their I imagine a cage of fire around them all. Delaware shoots my mind a thank you, and I reply to him, asking whats going on.

“Every corner is here.” He says. “They’re here and they are angry, my queen.”

“Why can’t I hear them?” Other than Delaware’s voice booming in my head everything has gone dead silent.

“They have some kind of chant on everything, the lord Satchel is in a corner chanting. I can feel him since he is a friend of you.” He explains. “Its for your protection, as the lord Gemini put it when we were first captured, he doesn’t want you to hear the chaos and stress you but it is in chaos, my queen.”

“Chaos?”

“They are,” he gulps nervously, “they have morphers hanging over the Volcano just enough so that they wont loose their identities.” His words nearly make my heart stop. “They wanted to throw us in,” he shudders, “they wanted to sacrifice us and now they’re angry at you because they don’t have enough-”

Boom!

Its loud and racks my ears as finally I can hear again. I’m raised from the place wherever Gemini sat me. Then in mid air, as my heart drops and I still see only black, I’m pulled and Gemini yells in protest, Satchel chants in protest and I here the sharp swipes of Pauline’s arrow, she’s not a talker, like Aisha. I feel the burn of fire as Blaze mutters something to Gemini, my backside burns, I’m above the volcano. “Look at precious Queen Serenity.” Analexania snarls, its the only time I don’t here her giggle. “A queen that won’t get to rule.” She says, I tremble internally as I imagine what the inside of the volcano probably looks like.

“Enough talking sister.” Daelortoze slithers. The others growl in agreement.

“Let her down.” Gemini voices.

“Oh we plan to, depth.” Repoeine tells him. “In exchange something wondrous will come up, and if not, well there’s always plan b of course. Thank you, by the way for trapping her, saved us the hassle.” I don’t have to ask around to know what plan b consists of, an entire species being emptied into a volcano. I look at the darkness, searching it, remembering Gemini’s words, what beautiful place would I like the world to be?

I am a morpher, it can be whatever I wish it to be. And it will, it will, a new idea one I’ve never tried before etches into my mind and its based on Gemini and I’s first interaction. Home. I wanted to be home and there I was.

Home. I think of it, the manila walls, the cool grey floors, my father, that’s where home was, where home still is but I’ve grown to have replace another home, the manor.

Home. Pitch black walls, sleek black marble floors and dark furniture fresh out of an old England movie, Libra. I want to be home, and I block out every other thing as I think of it, one room in particular, the one that holds Libra.

I hear the shrieks and ’impossible″s of the corners and everyone else, I feel them trying to lower me but I’m stronger and soon, I hear the gasp of Libra and his hands slap against the air of the fire ring. I lift it off of him, only to feel his warm familiar hands encase me soon after. He mutters a string of curses, picking me into his hands and even though I can only see darkness, his hands calm me in it. “How’d you get here?” He asks, his voice in shock. “You’re in a depth, just think of the manor and you’ll be unlocked, morphers can do that, I know you hear me love.” Yes, if only it were that simple I would have done it long ago. I have no way to speak to him, so I rack my brain for solutions. “Do it, love, I need to know what happened.”

I call the entire lot of the animations and their cage as well, lifting the cage and commanding Delaware to send the animations back, and I feel him obey before I request he speak to Libra for me. “Dark lord, I have come to speak on behalf of the queen.” And he does.

“Satchel did a chant that let Gemini trap her without a way to morph herself out of his depths, she can’t figure out how to get out, she needs you.” Delaware explains for me. I feel Libra sit down with me, sucking in a breath.

“What happened?”

“The corners are angry, they tried to put her in Ecladen’s volcano as sacrifice to ‘raise something else’ .. she guesses it to be their father.”

“They tried to what?!” His voice is a growl that vibrates through me as I’m laid down next to him. “Why is she trapped in a depth?”

“Gemini and the others placed her in it in order to stop her from her original plan, she needs you to help her out of it.” Delaware tells him slowly. “The corners are angered more so now as well as confused that she escaped how she did, she can morph a scenery.” Even Delaware is shocked as he says this, takes in this new information for himself.

“The ability to morph a scenery is rare.” I hear the smile in Libra’s voice. “They can morph out of a depth, yes, but only about six in history have ever been able to morph a scene, you’re really special in so many ways, love.” He strokes my hair and I smile internally, my heart fluttering at his words. “But if Satchel did it,” his tone drops to a dreadful one, “Satchel has to undo it, no pixen can override a chant placed by the lord.” So if we don’t get to Satchel, I’ll just be inside my own head, inside Gemini’s depths.

I let Delaware know to fetch the others when I transfer him to them, he lets Libra know, and then he vanishes and I’m left without a voice, for hours but in those hours I use my head and place a film of wind around the entire manor so that no corner can enter, only releasing it for a slight second as the others return with trembling morphers. I feel them, their fear and uneasiness and I long to comfort them, my people, my brave, brave people.