Disgraced: Twins of the Zodiac

Unworthy...Crescent Falls

    The unworldly eyes, exotic colored hair, and the beauty that was beyond compare. But even more than that, the power that came along with it.

    The images repeated themselves in Kane’s mind over and over. This all repeatedly ran through his head as he looked at his, nigh to death, comatose sorcerer-king lie there.

    Muñyirah, she was his daughter! And in turn, the other that sacrificed herself as well seemed to be his granddaughter. While this all was a surprising turn of events even still, since Kane first finding out, he could not get much farther than this taxing bit of information. Always being pushed back from his master’s memories by that luminous and powerful darkness before he could gather the full information about what truly and fully happened that night.

    This angered Kane profusely; feeling as though whoever or whatever it was that was powerful enough to push him out of Christoph’s memories, ensconced him with a feeling of being unworthy to see them further.

    He absolutely needed to get past that point of the memory! He needed to understand; the fact that he not yet couldn’t was beginning to enrage him to no end. Kane knew that he would not gain such a feat of understanding until he broke through the barrier of this God-like power that seemed adamant on keeping him in the dark.

    “God-like!” He uttered to himself in realization. Maybe that was what it was that was hindering him so.

    As far as Kane was concerned, it was about the only thing that made any kind of sense to him. Lord, Christoph was beholden of a power so close to that of a God in the first place-almost as if he was spawned from the sun and earth itself; and, in turn, possessing all of its power combined.

    There was no other that came close to being Sorcerer Christoph’s equal. Well, except one; Abigail of the Gemini. An enigma within and of herself.

    However, even the infamous Abigail Valentine of the Gemini could not stand against Christoph alone. 

    As Kane stood there, thinking about such an inane and off-topic thought, another unanswered inquiry came to mind, concerning his master’s past.

    Christoph had always been a secretive leader when it came to approaching the subject of his past; and those that chose to try and delve deeper than what they were allowed, would almost always regret it.

    This fact, in particular, was the reason behind why Kane, himself, thought that his master never took to a woman permanently within the Zodiac or even bothered to start a family. Though, it was now evident that he had already had a family; and one that probably no other that he created could compare to. That, in itself, was enough of a reason not to bother with finding another love.

    Again, though, as Kane thought about his master’s brush ins with the rare few women that he did find an attachment to, his mind forced him to recognize that he left out one that even Christoph felt was different from the rest. Abigail. Kane couldn’t help feeling that if anyone stood a chance of Christoph finding them worthy of mating, it was her.

    Kane never understood why Abigail Valentine possessed such allure about her that seemed to weaken a man. Naturally, she was an astonishing beauty and her undeniable power made her even more unattainably attractive. Even Kane felt an attraction toward the young Abigail that he could not explain or even deny. And though it was not something that he was particularly proud of, it continued after she fell in love and co-mingled their species and tainted their bloodline with a mutt.

    He could only imagine how beautiful that daughter of hers came to be. “Too bad that she is an abomination as well.” He thought aloud to himself, his gaze suddenly distant as they fell on his master.

    It was at that moment that he realized his thoughts, once again, wandered over to the unforgettable Abigail Valentine.

     Kane suddenly felt a sense of shame when he realized that he had allowed his thoughts to veer off of the problem at hand. In him trying to piece together puzzles of recent past concerning sorcerer Christoph, he allowed his mind to wander aimlessly, lingering in such reckless subjects in the first place.

    He took in an exasperated sigh. “What have you gotten yourself into, my, liege?” He muttered to himself and indirectly to his master, though rhetorically.

    “Hello, grandfather.”

    His head only turned slightly, to acknowledge his granddaughter. “Hello, my dear Sasha.” Kane greeted in return, though, his attention stayed on a comatose Christoph.

    “How is he?” She asked as she approached the slumbering King of the Zodiac.

    “The same.” Kane begrudgingly answered as he’d hoped that by now, he’d have found a way to awaken him. “His memory has been locked away-or at least the parts that can potentially assist me in finding the answers that I need to wake him.”

    “I still cannot believe that this has happened to him,” Sasha said as she looked at the Lord of the Zodiac Coven. “That no one in our coven survived.” She just couldn’t seem to grasp such logic.

    Kane’s gaze stayed on his granddaughter a moment before he returned his eyes to Christoph. “Had you seen what I saw...felt what I felt…” His voice trailed off as he involuntarily started to reminisce. “The power…” He turned his gaze back to his granddaughter. “You would understand.”

    Sasha saw the unease in her grandfather’s eyes as he spoke, this granting her pause as he always was known to be the most powerful Elder of the Zodiac. She then turned her gaze to the slumbering king. It made sense, her grandfather’s anxiety and seeming fear, when seeing the most omnipotent being that they’d ever known lying there in a coma. 

    She stood there and admired the sorcerer Christoph, before she reluctantly spoke again, this time with a suggestion. 

    “May I try? Maybe see if I can find something?”

    Kane turned his attention up at her for a prolonged moment. He had to take into consideration first, that Sasha’s power was different from his, despite her being a Taurus Zodiac as well. She specialized in the inner workings of the mind.

    While Kane was immensely strong in his own right, and while he was Sasha’s grandfather, their abilities did not altogether work the same way in terms of the anatomy of the mind.

    “By all means.” Kane finally replied, curious as to what she would find.

    Sasha nodded and stood over the head of Christoph before placing her petite hands on each side of his temple.

    After positioning herself in a comfortable enough state for her powers to work, Sasha closed her eyes and spoke in a near whisper some sort of enchantment.

    Kane knew that it was of some variation of the magic that he used when he arrived at Blue Ridge, to look into the memory of the abandoned fortress. It was slightly different in dialect, however.

    “Valím Q’átri.” She said in a whisper before her eyes shot open in a glowing light of darkness; one similar to that of the one that he would see when trying to go through and search the master’s memories.

    “Sasha?” He called to her, but she did not answer. “Sasha?” He called once more, but again, there was no answer. “Sasha! What is happening? What do you see?”

    As soon as Kane spoke those words, Sasha’s gaze slowly turned over to him, a stoic look upon her fair and attractive features.

    “Sasha?” He found himself nearing his granddaughter, drawn to the empty and yet alluring gaze. “What is it? Do you see anything? Can you talk to me? What are you seeing?” He rushed with questions-each one, giving her a moment to answer but she never did.

    His granddaughter, then tipped her head towards him slightly, a small smirk of what seemed like harsh amusement upon her features before she spoke. “You, Elder Kane of the Zodiac.” The power emanating from her voice was frightening. “You are not worthy to look any further.”

    This threw Kane aback in surprise; and before he could recover, Sasha’s body was suddenly pushed back and hit against the wall, knocking the wind from her body.

    Kane rushed Sasha and helped her up from the floor. Her hands along with her whole body were shaking violently. Kane was floored with shock at what he had just witnessed, but he still needed to find out what had just happened.

    “What happened to you, Sasha? What did you see in there?” He asked, all the while wondering if he should have ever allowed her to go in such a powerful being's mind at such a young age anyway.

    Sasha couldn’t even speak at first, having to gather her mental bearing before recovering enough to say something half-intelligible. “I-I don’t-I”

    “Who was it?” Kane pushed further as he realized that there was a presence speaking through her when it happened. “How dare they say that I am unworthy!?” He spat in frustration, thinking about what was said. He then turned his attention back to his recovering granddaughter. “Who? Who was it, Sasha?”

    “Power.” That was the first word that came to her mind. “Omnipotence.” She added. “Something far more than our master, grandfather.” She dared say. “It...was G-God-like...or maybe Goddess-is the only way that I can describe it.” Her distant gaze then turned to her grandfather. “There’s a Goddess blocking him from you...from me.” She shook her head. “And you or anyone will never be able to penetrate the barrier that she has cast, unless, she, herself, allows it.”

    Kane cursed under his breath, gradually coming to the realization that the methods that he had been working on were a lost cause. What was he going to do now? 

    “Back to square one.” He spat in indignation.

    “I-I did get one thing from his mind, though, grandfather.” Sasha finally said, struggling still to gather her thoughts enough to tell him, after what happened with her just a moment ago. “Something that could probably h-help us find another way to awaken him again.”

    Kane turned around quickly. “What?” He grabbed his granddaughter’s shoulders, suddenly forgetting that she was still trying to recover from being possessed by a goddess. “What is it?” He unintentionally shook her in his haste to get the answers that he needed.

    “A-a word..” She said before further clarifying. “No. A place.” She said. “Crescent. Crescent Falls.”

    Kane looked at his granddaughter, wide-eyed, realizing what she was talking about-what place she was talking about. And he knew that the trip would more than likely be quite unpleasant for those that stepped through the borders of that place. That wouldn’t stop him, however; he knew what needed to be done.

    “Then there is where we will find the next piece of our puzzle.”

    Kane started for the exit of the room, to prepare a few of his strongest to make the trip to Crescent Falls.

    “There is...there is one more thing, grandfather,” Sasha said before he made his exit. “The reason that I came in the first place.” She added to assure him that it wasn’t about their slumbering King of the Zodiac. Though, something that she knew he’d find just as important. "However, something that I think you'll found of some priority though none as high as our sire."

    “What? What is it?” Kane inquired, disinterestedly as the only thing on his mind at the moment was getting closer to the goal of waking Christoph.

    “It’s about the Gemini Twins.” She paused. “We need to talk.”

    Kane turned around, his attention, once again, aroused; especially, when seeing the concern on Sasha’s face. “What news do you have?”

    “Not good news,” Sasha answered. “We may have a problem.”