The Onyx Prince

File 2

March - 18 - 1979
Heidenskee, Eldora.

Alexander's attempted Apertio ritual on the night of Juliund's reawakening, a recollection from the memories of Alexander.


File begins:

"Come forth."

A dark shadow emerged from the dusty pages of the book Alex had laid open across the table. It leaked out like blood from a wound, and surged into the furious figure of a man with ragged hair.

It looked around the room.

"Who dares summon Kuroni?" it demanded in a raspy voice.

Alex waved. "Hey."

The room roared to life as a mysterious wind ripped through it. Except, Alex only felt the sensation of the wind.

The shadow, however, had his hair blown back, drawing Alex's attention to his sunken eyes that reminded him of a skeleton. As the shadow lingered, he gained color. His eyes were a curious orange, and his hair was streaked grey and silver. Alex noticed the rune tattooed to his forehead immediately.

Draw three lines. Pull the middle line up so it hovered beside the rest. Dot above this line. It was Futeram, the rune of immortality.

"What is this? A child? Come forward."

Alex scrunched his nose. "Are you asking me if I can, or are you telling me what to do?"

The shadow laughed heartily. "I take it you don't like being ordered around!"

Alex stepped closer and out from the shadows so it could see him.

"Not at all."

He grinned. "You and I both. If I may ask you boy, what is your name?"

"Alex. Yours?"

The room swelled. "I AM KURONI, THE IMMORTAL MAN, DIMINISHER OF DEATH."

Alex took a step back.

"That's great. I saw Futeram on your forehead."

He scratched his chin thoughtfully.

"I suppose you did. But I won't hold that against you."

Why he ever would, Alex did not know.

"In the end, boy, it is already far too late for you."

Alex took a big step back.

"And why is that?"

"In order to summon me, one must read from the pages of the Prison Tome. Since we are alone in this room, I have deducted that it was you who read the pages. And therefore, you who has committed a grave error. Do not feel too bad, you simply lack experience. Kuroni has lived hundreds of your lifetimes. He knew someone must read from the Prison Tome someday. Finally, that day has been realized! Kuroni will possess you Alex, and steal from you the very thing you value most. Your soul! We are Kuroni!"

Alex stood gaping at the shadow before his instincts kicked in. He slipped something from his pocket and moved in quickly.

"Wait! Put that knife down, fool!"

Kuroni pulled himself as far back as he could while being tethered to the book.

"We'll both die if you kill me now!"

Alex paused.

"But you just threatened to possess me."

"Yes! And by all accounts, I already should have. What trick did you play on me, little brat!"

"I don't know. But I'm safe?"

Kuroni sneered.

"I wouldn't say that. Around me, no one is safe. I am Kuroni!"

Alex brandished his knife.

"S-stop that." he snapped. Then he continued in a different tone. "If my bastard of a son hadn't betrayed me, this book would be immortal too. But in my current state, that knife would kill me if you plunged it all the way through the middle and out the back and held it there for at least three seconds. That would be the end for Kuroni..."

Alex just stared.

Kuroni stared back.

"What?"

"Why would you tell me that?"

He froze.

"Tell you what now?"

"About your weakness. I'm going to stab the book."

"How could you possibly know that! Ah, forget it."

Kuroni bowed his head in shame.

"The secret flaw of immortality is living so long. I am an immortal man, but just a man. My mind has slipped over the years. How embarrassing."

He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.

"Kuroni is so embarrassed."

Alex had enough. This was ruining his birthday.

"I only summoned you so that you can teach me Apertio."

Kuroni froze again, and ever so slowly, a wild grin creeped across his face.

"Ha...ha...hahahaha!"

He roared with laughter. His posture changed and he was back to his confident self from a minute ago.

"I like you boy. Say what now?"

"Teach me Apertio."

"That's rich, for a young boy to speak that word with such confidence. Your bravery is breaking the chains of my experience! I feel invigorated. I feel so alive, I could say it! A- Aper-"

He fell silent.

"I feel like prey."

He shook his head.

"I'll leave angering the gods to today's youth. You've got quite the personality. Kuroni is pleased! He loves you, little boy!"

Alex cringed.

"So Kuroni, can you teach me Apertio?"

He scratched his chin.

"Am I that evil? That indifferent to the safety of this child? That truly removed from the weight of my experience?"

It swelled and Alex even thought it might have jumped a little. If shadowy apparitions can jump.

"Yes! Kuroni will teach you! This will be the most exciting thing I have witnessed in hundreds of years."

Alex smiled rather crooked.

"I was hoping you'd say that. Someone's coming to check on me in an hour. Shall we begin?"

*******************************************************************************************

Ten minutes later, intricate ruins were etched in an enormous circle on the floor of the room. It would have taken a long time if not for Kuroni enchanting a stick of chalk from beyond the pages. Alex was alarmed when he did it at first, after all, how much more could he do?

But for some reason, Kuroni's wild rants and horrible memory made him much less threatening. After all, he took to Alex strongly.

"Now, why does a boy like you know a word like A- Aper- you know. The art!"

Alex kept etching runes.

"You must harbor a hunger for knowledge that rivals even mine! They say knowledge is power, but it's more than that. Power is nothing without knowledge. Without the knowledge of the most basic things, one is powerless. So knowledge must rule power. Hurry up with those runes."

Alex gritted his teeth. "I have one hand for writing and I don't know any of these runes."

"Ok?"

Kuroni was not impressed. Alex glared at the animated stick of chalk directly ahead of him, scribbling twice as fast as he could.

"Make more of those."

Kuroni laughed. "Of course. How obvious! But curse you little brat, you can't tell me to make more of a damn thing."

The knife felt heavy in his pocket, but Alex managed to keep a straight face.

"Next, you'll step inside the circle. Once you do, don't ever step out. Stop drawing and look at me, Alexander."

Alex jerked back like he was burned and his gaze shot up to Kuroni. His face was frozen in a state of mild horror.

"Once the ritual begins, if you step outside of that circle, your life is over. You become the plaything of fate. Nothing can save you, and from the bottom of my heart, I promise I'll kill you right then and there. I've grown to like you too much."

It was intense for a brief moment before Kuroni's orange eyes lost their luster and his lips curled slightly.

"But first you need to hurry up with those runes."

He paused.

"Aha! I have just the thing for that."

With a wave of his hand, every stick of chalk in the small library came to life.

It seemed to be over as quickly as it had started. The entirety of the circle was finished. Kuroni looked on approvingly.

"Good job, boy."

The pages of the Prison Tome began flipping over themselves at Kuroni's command, coming to a stop at a page that was stained black with ink and etched through so that the letters were negative space. It was only readable when pressed against the white of the blank page behind it. Alex had never seen anything like it.

"Once you start the ritual, you'll find the art is extraordinarily complex. You must follow my every word, do you understand?"

Alex shook his head in agreement.

"There are many, many ways one might fail the art. Those who perform this cursed art on themselves are desperate, greedy, or worst of all, have gone completely crazy."

"I'm impatient."