Rogue Adventures - A Tale from Neverbeen Universe

32

While the Reapers hauled Raphael in and Phobos and Ayumu left for the gardens, Gene, Rhagkal and Rhaleigh remained. The two Daemons were the least favourable company Gene could think of. Yet he was so exhausted, mentally and physically, that he just dropped into the swing chair on the terrace for a while and tried to ignore the uncomfortable feeling. He didn't dare close his eyes as he still didn't trust the two men.

Rhaleigh made himself comfortable on the hammock, whereas Rhagkal sat across from Gene and poured himself some tea, which Ayumu had been kind enough to serve before Phobos dragged her off. He looked as long at Gene as it took to make Gene feel utterly unsettled.

He was still devastated that Raphael had become their enemy, that he... had given up on Gene and everything between them so easily. Gene just couldn't wrap his head around the fact that Raphael had abandoned him and even threatened to kill him. For the first time in months he missed home, missed a place where he could hole up, huddle beneath his blanket and cry. Because he wanted to, once he had enough of a reprieve.

Yet he couldn't; he was worlds away from Earth and forced to be in the same place as two of his enemies, who strangely had become his allies and who had saved his life more than once from the lover who had become his bitter enemy. This was so wrong on so many levels. Gene groaned and rubbed his face.

"Even after this battle you still can't fully accept the truth," Rhagkal observed. Which was true. Gene just refused to believe Raphael really had gone from loving him to hating him and wanting him dead all of a sudden, or at all for that matter. The thought alone hurt so much in ways he didn't deem possible. He felt he was close to tears again. During the fight there had been no time to ponder, no time to think everything through. But now, when everything was over, the doubts returned and haunted him.

"Yet it is the truth. Open your eyes. You have seen how he fought us, you have seen the damage he's done, you have heard his words," Rhagkal continued. Gene bit his lip, didn't want to cry in front of him again. But the Daemon made him actively relive the battle, confirm Raphael's reactions telepathically. Gene's heart broke again; he hugged himself and moved the swing chair so it rocked him gently.

"You have two ways to cope with that situation. Either you bring it back or you start anew," the Daemon told him. He was right, of course. Just like he had been right about Raphael. But what could Gene do? He had come to this world because of Raphael, had left everything behind for his lover to be with him whatever the odds. This was just how much Raphael meant to him. He couldn't go back to Earth, and he couldn't just start a new life in this world all on his own. Besides...

"I want him back," Gene confessed weakly, "I want the Raphael back who I got to know, the one who would give his soul to save me. It has been only two months. How did he get from that attitude to wanting to destroy everything... to destroy me, too?"

Rhagkal nodded thoughtfully. "I can only guess at what changed his mind," he said and sipped on his tea. "Raphael has always been driven by his dreams, prophetic dreams I mean. I know he's had them for centuries, and he's always tried to prevent them from happening... and failed every single time. Now my theory is that Raphael has had such a nightmare that he decided he didn't want to live in a world anymore in which this nightmare came true." He paused. "Or... he's been tricked into believing what he was doing was going to prevent that dream."

Gene blinked. "How could he have been tricked? We've been together all this time and none else was there."

"By the powers sealed within him," Rhagkal answered. "The five artifacts held a portion of the very same power which was sealed inside him. And this power wanted to be released, so it could destroy everything. In my opinion this very power found a way to influence Raphael's dreams somehow and made him believe what he was doing was right."

Gene rubbed at his eyes. "How?" breathed he.

Rhagkal sighed. "To understand that you must know about the nature of that power. You see, the Lord of Time once had a mighty enemy — an enemy to everything that existed. He defeated that enemy, but could not fully destroy him. So he imprisoned him, tore a large amount of his powers away and created five artifacts to seal this power. But the artifacts were not strong enough; only a fraction of that power could be contained." He sipped on his tea before he continued.

"The Lord of Time needed a living vessel, and he needed it to be observed and maintained lest this power broke free and caused destruction. Because unleashed it could obliterate worlds and help this enemy rise again. We call this vessel the experiment because we don't know how much his body and soul can withstand of that power."

Gene nodded, already anticipated where this was leading.

And Rhagkal confirmed his suspicion: "This vessel became my son, Raphael. And the Lord of Time requested me, Thanatos Vulture, his brother Morpheus, and my clan members Rhaleigh Raven and Rhaíth Raven to take care of him. Thanatos somehow became Raphael's friend, which was useful to our cause. Rhaíth and Rhaleigh observed him from afar while Morpheus took care of his sleep. And I... I made it my task to test Raphael time and again, to find his limits and go beyond. To make sure his seals could withstand the worst that could happen to him." He grinned grimly.

"Of course, Raphael wasn't allowed to know about all of this. But maybe he did know in the end. Because how would he know about the artifacts otherwise? Maybe this Kaye somehow contacted him without revealing herself to you. Maybe it was her who convinced him of destroying Neverbeen Universe. She seemed to be an ally of the Lord of Time's enemy. Anyway, she escaped, and we don't know her plans. She might try to free her master once again."

Gene nodded. "Then we need to stop her before that happens," he concluded and rubbed the last tears away.

"Agreed," Rhagkal said. "But for now we don't know where she is; and we still have to take care of the mess Raphael created."

Gene sighed. He needed time to wrap his head around all of this new information, and think about what he wanted to do. Somehow he still hoped this was but one long fucked up nightmare and he would wake up and Raphael still loved him. And if it wasn't he would have to remind Raphael of his feelings.