Say it Back - [ironstrange]

18: Purpose pt 2

May 20th

The time for worry was nonexistent, there was only 'run'. It was like Stephen forgot why he was fleeing when he was distracted by all of the folding matter trying to swallow him whole, or something of that nature.

Time and time again he would be yanked in the other direction by the much more focused and determined carpet flapping about. It had its own life, and also continued saving Stephen's.

"How the hell do I get out of here?" Stephen asked the cloak once he spotted he was running down Times Square but seeing not a single person. If it didn't look like he was tripping his balls off on acid then he'd revel in the sight of empty Times Square in the lovely light of horrible commercial billboards.

The cloak flapped as if it was angry Stephen thought it had all the answers... and even if it did it wouldn't be able to tell him, would it?

Seconds later he was met with a hole which lead to another place entirely, the edges sparked and out of it stepped Kaecilius. Stephen backed away, once again making his hand gestures to create disk-like shields on his hands.

"Those who don't join me are relieved of their head," Kaecilius spoke, still sounding as calm as ever. Stephen wasn't faced by the words but in which nature they were used.

"I'd rather have no head than whatever you got on your face." On purpose he grimaced as if half his face was sliced off, when in reality he simply had a weird red mark in his forehead. And also those strange eyes. "Why do you want to live forever? I'm sure it isn't for the purpose of seeing humanity evolve or to help. Why is it so important to you?"

"Kids ask too many questions." Despite having the Rings of Raggadorr to protect him Stephen wasn't ready when Kaecilius hurled one of those razor sharp glass needles Stephen's way. It was about to hit him when an Eldritch whip grabbed it and made it crash into the ground. All this happened while the environment kept folding and moving in the back. Both looked to the left of Stephen and there stood the Ancient One, with the same mark on her forehead as Kaecilius.

Stephen's concentration crumbled and the shields faded. Ancient One was shaking with nerves and it was something he had never seen, neither had Kaecilius. It wasn't because she was worried he'd hurt her or Stephen, she knew he wasn't powerful enough to kill either of them, but because the mark could be seen in the mirror dimension and Stephen would know she did the same thing as the bad guy did.

"Are you going to ask her the same question?" Kaecilius asked Stephen and pointed at his former teacher. "Why does she want to live forever?"

"If you ever come near my child again I won't show you any mercy," Ancient One said with a shaky voice but still it had calmness and some confidence. It hurt Stephen's core to hear her say that while being faced with the fact that his mother was a traitor and a hypocrite. But she called him her child, that wasn't something Stephen would take lightly since he never really had parents other than her. And she was his guardian, not his mother... until now when she called him her child.

What on earth was he supposed to feel? His mother being a traitor. Did he want to know her reason? Did he feel like she deserved to explain it to him? How would she justify this? She was using an illegal spell and was doing the same thing the villain was doing...

Kaecilius just smirked on the other hand and with one last unsolicited comment he made a portal and left us in the folding dimension; "And now you've lost him."

She immediately turned to Stephen to see his face, to see if she could see some type of understanding in his eyes or if it was worth asking for his forgiveness or to give an explanation. Her chances were slim. Her child's eyebrows were furrowed in a look of confusion, his eyes conveyed disbelief and his mouth showed disgust. Many expressions all in one. In his shade changing eyes she saw a darker blue than she'd ever seen.