How The Soothsaying Started

Death to this boy

"I've decided," Adam said the next morning, "I'm going to accompany you on your little trip. It'll be far more interesting than dog-sitting Ceberus, in any case." He continued, laughing. "Who drives?"Everyone was silent. Charles always drove. "I'll do it," Snow said quietly. "I can see the spirit trail." They all piled into the caravan, not speaking for a while."Okay, I know it's sad." Admin said. "Charles was my best friend, and we went through a lot together, but we need to focus. Charles would have been humiliated to see us like this. We need to continue. We need to save Rose. We need to be happy.""Wow." Said Lily. They were all surprised a little by Admin's speech, but he was right. The group was quiet for awhile, until Snow said, "Do any of you know any good songs?" Kaza whipped her head up and whispered, "I can play 'Come Back' on my flute, do you know the words?""Yes, of course! It's my favorite!" She gasped. "Let's do it!" Not caring that the others were staring, Kaza played a slow melody, and Snow sang;

Come back to me, I wait for youCome back to me, I wish for youOr come not yet, for it is thenAnd long it is, before you come again.

Snow's voice was joined by Lily's, and they sung together in harmony.

While, when you come not, what do I do?Thinking, 'now when he comes', my sweetest, 'when'

The two girls were joined by Admin, to everyone's surprise.

For you are my world in this world of menThis wide world holds, oh this wide world holdsEven though to see you,My heart feels the deepest pang,Because the pain of parting comes so soon.Come back to me

Finally, Nicklaus and a reluctant Adam joined in.

My hope hangs, waning, waxing, like a moonAnd now, where are the songs I sang,When life was sweet, oh you, my sweet

Come back to me, I wait for you, Come back to me, I wish for youMy love, my sweet,Come back.

"Well, that was fun!" Adam said,  propping his feet on the bench."How are you such a ray of sunshine all the time?" Admin asked grumpily, he had after all experienced his friend's death."If you saw the things I did, son of Satan, then every day up here would be as if welcomed to the golden gates of Heaven." Adam's brown eyes seemed to be distant looking, as if reliving the literal Hell he went through."Wait, what!?" Admin sputtered."How do you know about us? Are you some kind of freak?!" Kaza obviously didn't like the clairvoyance going on."Let me explain, sit back, have a glass." Adam took a goblet from under the bench he was lounging on, and with a flick of his hand, water from the air pooled inside it. "What the Hell is this guy." Nicklaus whispered appreciatively. "It was hardly the beginning of the 10th Century when I died. I was a young kid who grew up with resentment to the others  around me, it felt like I hid too much, and they always wanted to know what I had under my skin. It was an avalanche that killed me. When in Hell, listen closely because this is what you're friend is going through, you are judged by your actions and thoughts. You are then placed in Purgatory, or sentenced to eternal punishment.""I thought Purgatory was the waiting place.""Oh it is my lovely Liliana, but there are...exceptions. Hell needs an army, and who else to get it from making demons out of the waiting. I swear, on any deity, the things I saw would break anyone into submission." Adam shivered and rubbed the black rings on his wrists." "How did you get those rings, Adam?" Snow asked. "Do you really want to know?" Adam didn't seem very enthusiastic to tell them anything. The group still said they wanted to know how he got them, Snow's announcement of "we're stopping in a while" further pushed him to telling them how. The cart stopped in a scraggly clearing away from the road, hidden by the tall grasses that made up this part of the forest. "Are you guys still sure?" Adam asked one last time. The group sighed and nodded their heads in exasperation."Okay then, I'm going to do this before we start though." Adam made a hand sign, outside the tent, they heard an audible POP! An exact copy of Adam waved his hand through the back of the tent and began to patrol around the caravan."Okay, that's practically imposs-.""With your magic, yes it is nearly impossible, but let's just say I cheat. And yes, Lily, I do cut off people a lot." Adam sat crossed-legged in the middle of the floor, he appeared to make a meditative position. Unfortunately everyone had the pleasure to see his ankles and feet turn into tendrils that grabbed everyone else's feet.  "You mentioned a girl named... Rose earlier didn't you?" Adam asked with a genuine curiosity. The others were more than slightly confused by his question. "Yes, she was with us until just recently..." Admin trailed off. "Her full name wouldn't happen to be Mila Rose Aries Magnus would it?" Adam asked with a bit of a laugh."I'm not too sure about the Aries, but her name is definitely Mila Rose Magnus. Why does it matter?" Lily questioned. A wide smile stretched across Adam's face."This should be an interesting journey, that much I can assure you." His smile only grew wider."What's that supposed to mean?" Snow asked, almost staring at his intentions through his skin. "Oh I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise! What's the fun in that? Let's just say if you want your friend you'll have to go faster.""I could try to summon my dragon," Lily said. "Drakon adskogo ognya prikhodyat!" An enormous golden dragon appeared, and grabbed the caravan in its claws."Now, before you get hellbent on finding Rose, do you still want to learn how I got these rings?" Adam asked. "YES!" The group was done waiting. The shadow tendril things got blacker, as well as the groups' vision. It seemed the harder Adam concentrated, the less this world seemed to be. "Memory Link." Adam punctuated. The world fell into a large room. Its walls were marble, and stained with blood as well as...feces. "Where the Hell are we!?" Kaza demanded, and then she noticed what everyone was staring at. Adam was laid across an altar looking pedestal. His hands and feet bound by leather straps that dug into his skin, it seemed the only thing keeping him awake. His body was covered in cuts, and to his left lie a workbench with various knives. "You think you are strong, Quincet?"The torturer, or what rather resembled a dog-like hybrid with thick muscle, dug his knife further into Adam's ankle. "I'm sorry! Please! I'm weak, I'm pathetic! Ple- AGH!" Adam begged before the knife sliced through his ankle, and the torturer did some kind of humorous growling. "Uwer. Cut off his limbs. Make sure he can't..attack an elder ever again.""Please! No! You can't d- F*CK!" Adam was crying, so strange to see tears from someone who seemed so strong. The group watched as the limbs rolled off Adam's body, blood poured from the wounds and was collected into vials. The dog simply ate the remaining limbs and left the bleeding Adam to cry hopelessly into the walls. The scene changed, while this was happening, Snow was hugging Adam tightly. He just buried his face into her neck and mumbled incoherently. Adam shuddered slightly and grasped her more. "It's okay, you don't have to apologise." Snow whispered.This new scene showed Adam training, with his signature weapon, the spear. If it weren't for the fact that this was only a memory, the group would've been terrified by his ability to use all aspects of the stick. It basically was a stick with a sharp point, rather than stabbing, Adam took the more disarming technique. His limbs were shadowed, and his skin covered in black scars. His brown eyes were sunken and dark as he stayed focused on his movements. The world flashed and everybody was back in the caravan again. "Adam, I'm so sorry, I didn't know you went through..that." Kaza rubbed her wrist nervously."Don't be sorry, Kaza. Pain is natural and should be allowed to happen. It makes us better people in the end." Adam smiled and gave some motivation to his tone. She looked away, confused at what she had seen in his eyes. The rest of the group was absolutely horrified at what they just saw, and nobody dare share what they thought Charles was going through. How they were horribly wrong.