COMPLETE DUOLOGY - Philip is an impetuous young wizard who is born to save the world from destruction. The Klaus warlock that helps the inquisitors imprison wizards, wants to master the world of the living and that of the dead. Klaus becomes immorta...
Phillip's nemesis and prisoner of the past was still furious. In addition to the fact that he had lost the Book of Souls, he also felt totally ruined due to the absence of his vicious copy that used to do all the dirty job for him, the Doppelgänger, who he had named Fratello, meaning his brother, his twin soul.
After slaughtering the coven of warlocks that served him, known as the Absents, by poisoning them all, Klaus was now a solitary knight. Deprived of relatives who had banished him from their lives, with no counterparts, and persecuted by the inquisitors, Klaus was studying if there was a way to create another copy of him. Someone that would follow his orders unquestionably, always ready to assist him on the iniquities that he planned with so much artfulness, aiming only to gather more power and more wealth.
Besides, Klaus also needed to find a new place to live, since Phillip not only managed to find a way to escape from him, but also destroyed his Castle. He headed to a city in Tuscany known as Siena. He used the money he earned from working to the inquisitors to buy a grand medieval castle where he settled his headquarters.
As soon as he closed the deal to buy the castle using a false identity, after all, there was a price on his head all over Europe, Klaus decided to use black magic to recreate his twin. He bought a mirror from the local market and put it the bedroom he had chosen to be his among the many rooms available for use in the castle.
An icy wind in the frosty night blew on his wrinkled face. He walked towards the wood window and stared at the full Moon, the one that was appropriate to the magic rite of creation. He conjured a spell that turned the mirror black, and brought up to its lustrous surface the reflex of his full body. Candles had been carefully placed in candlesticks in front of him. Bowls of myrrh scented the place. After he said the magical words that could never be spoken by someone of good nature, he saw an oily spot that emanated a stench that contrasted with the myrrh scent. The spot crossed his clothes and went straight to the black surface.
"From occult darkness, from the darkest underworld where the man's son has never visited, may the copy of evil emerge. I now order you to emerge from the depth, and be accomplice to my wishes!"
A puff of wind whistled through the window slit and made the candle flames go out. Darkness spread out all over the main hall, and the windows closed in an abrupt bang.
In the main hall, the clock stroke midnight. Klaus' eyes opened wide. Would there be someone else in the castle?
Before Klaus went out to check if someone else was inside the castle, something moved on the mirror's surface. Two red spots seemed to be getting near, both coming from somewhere in the deepest part of the mirror.
Klaus heard some words, and immediately began to decipher them, even though they seemed to belong to an ancient idiom.
"Who has summoned me from the depths of hell? The reason for that must be of utmost importance. Otherwise, you shall pay a very high price..." said the creature.
"Be calm. Can't you see that we are both alike? I have summoned you to assist me on the task of finding that damned wizard that destroyed everything I had before you came."
"In that case, I may be of great value."
"I am Klaus. I belong to the ancient Basnet clan. There must be a few Basnet survivors, but I want to wipe them all out from Earth's surface, so that you and I are the only ones in this world."
A black slime flowed from the mirror's glassy surface straight to the floor. Then it began to elevate and shape into a man's body. Klaus realized that he was before his Doppelgänger again. Only this time the creature's eyes were different.
They were red with feline pupils that pierced Klaus' eyes as if they could recognize the warlock's evil soul. The wandering spirit seemed to enjoy it. With a horrendous voice, he murmured in the warlock's ear: "Tell me, when we begin to chase that damned wizard that killed my brother?" After he made the question, he shaped into a horrid creature with wrinkled skin. He wore a hood that matched his black clothes. His claws were upward.
"I'm not sure how long will it take to catch him; years, decades, centuries? But time is on our side 'cause we are immortals."
After saying those words, the warlock laughed in celebration of his advantage over death. The creature mimicked him. They both laughed together, and their laughs not only rejoiced in the delight of producing iniquities, but also echoed all over the castle.
Suddenly, the hooded creature went to the windows, and with a smooth wave of his hands, opened them slowly. He stared at the Moon for a few seconds, and then said to the warlock: "Where I come from, much is said about the Phantom Man. Many believe that he can annihilate any spirit, no matter how strong it is. Also, he becomes stronger by the day."
"His name is Phillip. He killed your brother, and he crossed my way. I would have him destroyed; had he not been helped by that old wizard. I shall find Phillip, and he will not escape me this time. I will absorb all his power, and then rule over Humankind's world once for all."
"I'll be by your side to assist you."
Klaus nodded and then went to his chamber to get some rest.
His new place was an old fortification made of stone, sand, and wood, with eight parallel towers, and surrounded by a moat. In the upper floor there was a dark, humid, vast hall. Small breaches between the rustic bricks' injunctions allowed beams of light get through the walls.
The warlock invited a servant, who had already worked for him, to live in the castle in order to administrate the cooking, the animals, and the wine.
His name was Luca. He was a young man that met Klaus when the warlock saved him from the inquisitors' hands. Klaus just did it because he wanted someone cheap to work for him.
Sometimes Luca was paid with a few coins, and he was grateful for that. He was aware of Klaus' cunning evil plans as well as that his master was persecuted by the Inquisition. Luca slept in one of the towers, and administrated the food and the wine storage in the ground floor. The castle was fully supplied with flour to make bread, salted meat, cheese, and other goods.
While Klaus slept on a bed with leather slat support and feather mattress, Luca Saviotti had the floor covered with a few old clothes to sleep on.
As to the Doppelganger, he returned to the black mirror, and vanished in the shadows. There he would wait, awaken for all eternity, for his master's call.
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