At the Crossroads. Book 1

Chapter 12 (2)

Wolf's Castle, Wales

It's dark. The Black Emperor's huge boots thud against the tiles. The sunset plays in the stained glass window above the white marble stairs.

"Where's Lars?" You look around.

The Black Emperor waves for you to follow him into the next room. A smaller, cosy one with rugs and wooden decor. Logs crackle in the large fireplace, it almost takes half of the wall.

"Your little friend?" The Black Emperor points at the sofa by the fire. "So his name is Lars. Oh, well, you did say so before."

You rise on your tiptoes and crane your neck to see over the sofa's back. And sure thing – Lars is curled in the corner.

You wobble across the room and slump next to him. The cushion sinks under your weight, and Lars stirs.

"World?" he mumbles and smiles. His short hair sticks out in a total mess, and he doesn't actually open his eyes. "You're okay." He turns his head, but his eyes are still half-closed. Lars spots the Black Emperor. "Thank you." And he nudges against your side, settles his head on your leg and sniffles back to sleep.

You look up, and the Black Emperor hurriedly turns his back to you. He pokes the logs and runs his hand through his short black hair.

Well. Lars's just said it, and you gave yourself away with that portal. It's so warm in here. You watch the fire licking the logs and slowly eating them away. Still hasn't decided whether telling others which card you're is a good thing or not.

"And I'm the World."

The Black Emperor tosses off his boots and sits in the armchair to the right. It's closer to the fire, and he stretches out his legs. He smiles with the right corner of his lips. Or maybe both, it's really weird how the black half-mask covers the left side of his face. Completely, it even has the left part of his mouth moulded into it. The only cutting is for the eye. His eyes glow a faint but deep blue in the semi-darkness.

"Gleb Kubitschek. Bet you know who I am." He pulls off his bulky black gloves and drops those to his lap. "Funny thing, I've been gone for so long but turns out some still remember about me."

"Uh..."

The Black Emperor sighs, shakes his head and mutters, "Mda, I've gone so soft..." It's hardly a whisper, you're nowhere sure you've heard him right. "Mah." He waves whatever off, unbuckles the cape and sinks into the armchair. "Look. Let me tell you a story."

The black cape pools on the floor with a clatter as the shoulder plates hit the wooden planks. You glance at Lars.

"He'll be okay," says the Black Emperor. "Don't worry."

You blink. You want to believe him, as simple as that. Maybe not trust, but believe for now. Or perhaps you're too exhausted to panic. Those words still thud in your ears from time to time. A dull pain at the back of your head. Your hands and knees slowly heal. Replaceable. Huh.

"Look." The Black Emperor snaps his fingers, and you jerk your head up. A black sparkle smoulders at the tips, but he rubs them together and puts it out. "I once knew a boy– well, a man– anyway, I knew him long enough, that's for sure. We first met in Pentacles. He was a pentacle."

A log cracks in half, and you shiver. A faint smell of smoke fills the room. But this is... cosy? Not the acrid mix of gunpowder and blood.

"We would run into each other now and then. Almost inseparable." The Black Emperor chuckles and looks down. He tosses one leg over the other and locks his fingers together on his lap. "He was convinced I'm always planning something," he says softly. "Destroy some parallels, sink dimensions or even take over a realm. He was, to give him his due, always out there to stop me. To fight me. Challenge the evil and snap my snares of doom as he proclaimed it. And kill me."

You... stare. Or better not? A-a-ah – your eyes dart around the room. The Black Emperor doesn't really look your way, but who knows.

This is officially the weirdest conversation you've ever had.

"Yes..." He looks somewhat lost in thought. "I did try to kill him too, it that was the rule of our game after all. So many times, and so many times both of us failed. I travelled the parallels and found numerous variations of him. They all had the same face." He turns and looks into the crackling fire. Taps the mask over his cheek. A chuckle escapes his lips. "He had blond hair so long it should be a crime, they draped over his backside when braided. Can you imagine it?"

Actually, you can. The King of Wands and Swords happens to have a rather long braid too.

"Never seen him let it loose... and those eyes. Amber." The Black Emperor... smiles? Kinda. Not that it and his glowing eyes, which have just flashed a brighter blue, scare the shit out of you.

"I wanted to destroy them, all variations of him." The Black Emperor snaps his fingers and tosses the spark into the fire. It hisses. "I didn't do it in the end, they were not him. Looked like him, sure, behaved similarly and yet they were not him." He shakes his head and slumps back into the armchair. "The mannerisms. The tiniest difference in the angle as he rolled back his head when annoyed. The flick of the wrist."

Ugh. You cover your face. Might curl into a ball and hide, but Lars sniffles so peacefully against your leg.

"You... saw that." Disposable. So easy it is to replace you and nobody will notice–

"Yes. Sorry." The Black Emperor stands up.

You don't look, just hear his footsteps. He crouches next to the sofa and takes your wrists. Waits. You do nothing. He pulls your hands from your face and secures them in his.

"But look, the point is," you try to yank your hands away, but he holds them firmly, "no matter how many of you-s are out there, there still will be people who will care only for you." He squeezes your hands. "Because you're a tiny bit different. Because that little tiny bit is what makes you – you. Sure, not everyone will, but those who will... are worth keeping in your life no matter what."

The Black Emperor shakes his head, lets go and jumps to his feet. "Mah, I've gone so-o soft..." he mutters and strides to the fireplace. Pokes the logs. The shadows play along the straight lines engraved in his metal mask. "I... I haven't seen him around since I've got out. Had the misfortune of falling into Limbo, you know, wandered about a hundred years... And he... I wonder if he's even still around."

...

You stare at his back. The Black Emperor hangs his head, lets it drop more so. He really does look a half smaller without his cape, huh. The way he talked about that guy... Worth keeping no matter what.

Oh.

Oh.

"Did you love him or something?"

The Black Emperor freezes. Not tenses, or relaxes, or get angry. Just, well, freezes the way he was and doesn't breathe judging by how his chest doesn't move. And you hold yours and clutch your hand over your mouth.

The fire crackles.

Lars snores.

...

...

Finally, the Black Emperor sighs and covers the right half of his face. He knocks the poker against the floor once and leans onto it. "That obvious, huh."

* * *

❤︎ ♡