Juliet's Tryst

Chapter 44: Scream

Another realization. Juliet knew nothing of Dee's wellbeing. While the liaison had softened something, they quickly fell back into the routine of being apart.

She dreamt of the scars. In her dreams, she peeled back Dee's suit and snaked her palm into the opening at the neck. The fabric would peel downwards in long sheets that felt like touching a butterfly's wings. Slashes from an unknown weapon created dark and angry lines. Her fingers followed each one from top to bottom, gentleness against violence, pain.

Dee's head rested on her shoulder, folded into Juliet, becoming smaller. Then, she would awake to reality with the room being mostly empty. Sometimes, Dee would be gently snoring in the bed. Quietly, she got dressed and left for breakfast. That was it.

She wanted to yell at Dee, to cajole her for keeping so many things from her. Juliet wanted Dee to understand her pain, the pain of being pushed away. She might have started it, but Dee continued it staunchly. It became hard to continue the quarrel inside her head. There was so much pain and Juliet wanted to help.

One day, after many hours of pointless study, she walked up to an Archivist. He pretended she was not there. They all did. She was no more than a human pet to many of them.

She cleared her throat, rearranging her features to glare at him. "Tell me where Eros is."

The Archivist ignored her.

"Bring me Eros," she repeated.

"I am not a servant." His features shifted into annoyance, an imitation of it.

"Yet, everything you do here is in service to the Ruler so bring me Eros."

"Human-"

"I would be very careful with what you say next." Her voice contained a malice that threatened to lash out. "What would the Ruler do if you disrespected her alara?"

The panel blinked close. Eros appeared out of the wall within seconds with a look of haggardness. His uniform was not tightened up correctly. He had bags under his eyes that were a comical shade of purple. The human disguise that they wore could only keep up with an abstract representation of Kyrion emotion. They would never look perfectly human because some things were just impossible to translate.

"You alright?" Juliet asked.

"Yes, thank you." Cold and aloof. He had been punished. She wondered how and then had to stop because it made her angry. "What does the alara want?"

The old Eros back.

"I want to know if there are any stores of Kulon within the palace."

The Archivist who summoned Eros did not even try to disguise the fact that he was listening. His head snapped over to Juliet, rapt. "How do you know what Kulon is?" His tone irked her. The one that presumed she was nothing but a womb, nothing but a plaything.

"I hardly think it is any of your business." Her smile stretched the skin taught over her skull.

"Yes there are Kulon stores here." He said then before he could turn away, Juliet held his arm.

She could be a Kyrion too, she had been among them long enough.

"I did not dismiss you." Eros looked down at her in shock. This was incredibly tiring.

"Do not speak to me that way," he snarled back.

"Oh no? You want me to treat you like a friend? Like you have been treating me recently? Stay here before Dee hears of your insolence."

This was the way to get things done. Eros stopped trying to turn away.

"Where is the Kulon," she asked with no civility. He looked at her like she was the cause of all pain in his life, as if it was her fault that everything was the way it was.

"Again, what is your purpose? Kulon is not to be meddled with."

"What could I, a lowly little human, do to your precious Kulon? Be for real. Now, for the last fucking time, tell me where it is."

It was the Archivist standing by who gave her the directions while pulling Eros away. He wanted to hit her. She wished he did.

It was underground through many unused passageways. The ceiling lit up as it sensed her movement, a bouncing ball of light. A sense of unsettling eeriness rose within Juliet. She could sense that the abyss wished her harm. There was something deeply wrong, but what could that be? What was happening?

Finally, she halted as she came to a room. It was astonishingly small compared to the rest of the castle. No more than the size of a human sized basement really. In the middle of it stood a clear vat with a white liquid inside that was still. The walls were dark without a trace of technology inside them. The Kulon was luminescent, so much so, that it lit up the room.

Her necklace was cold without any ounce of warmth, buzzing, or messages.

What am I supposed to do?

There was nothing where there had once been something. Filled with fear and tenderness, she reached out her hand to the glass. A surge formed inside the liquid and hit the side of the container so hard that she was thrown down onto the floor. She might have thrown herself.

There was a metallic clink as something hit the floor. The necklace. Shattered. Juliet screamed.

Edited by the lovely -MissElle