LUCEM
LXXII Chapter

It doesn't take me time to do that. I have returned to standing a few steps before Magenta. Straightest.

"What are you going to do," he said, nodding his head an inch to the left, "if I ask you to throw yourself down there?"

I turned around, following Magenta's index finger. I peeked at the green undercarriage. We're at least five hundred feet up, but that distance doesn't scare me. I can make that jump easily, without injury.

I looked back at Magenta. "I'll do it with pleasure."

Magenta took a step closer. “What if I ask you to do it without using your powers? What if it's just my wish for you to just throw yourself down there?"

I want to answer agree. However, a sudden burning heat wave moved over me, a blistering sensation. My hands don't move. I couldn't open my own mouth against that terrible attack. Magenta must be trying to test me.

He must have been trying to trap me into a moment of disobedience. It means I have to prove myself.

It took a tremendous amount of my own strength to fight the invisible force that shut my mouth, but I succeeded. And when I could finally speak, I said,

"I'll do it with pleasure, Magenta."

Magenta took one step closer, his eyes glistening over something. Something completely new. Something similar to wondering.

"really?" said gently.

"Yes." Yeah."

“Will you do whatever I ask? Anything?"

"Yes." Yeah."

Magenta was still looking into my eyes as he again raised his wrist to his mouth and said softly. "Come here."

He dropped his hand.

My heart started to thump. Magenta refused to turn away from me, his eyes getting blue and bright every second. It seemed like he knew that his eyes alone were enough to upset my balance. And then, without warning, he grabbed my wrist. I realized too late that he checked my pulse.

"So fast" he said softly. “Like a small bird. Tell me, Mars. Are you scared?"

"No."

"Are you excited?"

“I—I don't know.”

The fog faded, Magenta dropped my wrist. For the first time in minutes, Magenta turned his back on me, finally breaking off the painful, invisible relationship between us. My body slackened in relief.

A man stood watching us.

Venusian. He looks unsure.

"Mars" said Magenta, smiling meaningfully at Venus.

I turned to face Venus.

Venus said nothing. His face without ripples.

“I won't need Venus services anymore,” Magenta said as he glanced at me.

Pale venus. Even from where I stood, I could see his body start to shake.

"Magenta?" i said, confused.

"Isn't it clear?" magenta. "I want you to throw it away."

I'm nodding.

When I looked towards Venus, she shouted. It was a sharp and terrible sound that disturbed my ears. He ran away and I spun quickly, extending my hand to stop him. I pulled him strong, his body slammed with a soft groan, to the ground.

I opened my palm. He yelled.

My power surges.Filling my blood with fire. That feeling is intoxicating. Delightful.

I raised my hand and Venus' body lifted off the ground, she held her back head in pain, her body pierced by an invisible stick. He kept shouting and his voice filled my ears, flooding my body with endorphins. My skin hummed with his energy. I closed my eyes.

Then I closed my fist.

A fresh scream pierced through the silence, echoing in the vast land. I felt a smile on my lips and I lost myself in that feeling, in the freedom of my own strength. There was excitement, using my power so freely, finally.

My eyes were wide open but I felt drugged as I watched his restrained body start to twitch. Blood spurted from his nose, bubbling within his open mouth and gasping for breath. He choked. Nearly dead. And I just started—

The fire leaving my body so suddenly made me stagger back.

Venus fell, with a loud bang, to the ground.

A desperate void burned me, making me feel like I was about to faint. I raised my hand as if I was praying, trying to figure out what was going on, suddenly feeling almost crying. I'm spinning, trying to understand—

Magenta raised his hand towards me.

I slowly lowered my hand.

The surging power flowed over me once more and I took a deep breath, a feeling of relief flooded my senses, replenishing my veins. I blinked a few times, trying to clear my head, but it was Venus's miserable whimper that brought me back to this moment. I stared at his broken body, a shallow pool of blood on the ground. I was vaguely annoyed.

I turned.

Magenta looked at me with indescribable astonishment. “Excellent,” said again. “It's amazing.”

I looked at him, unsure.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

“Kecewa.” I replied short.

Eyebrows converge. “Why disappointed?”

I glanced at Venus. “Because he's alive. I didn't finish the task.”

Magenta smiled so widely that his face was trembling. He looks young. He looks good. He looks amazing. Well-favoured.

"Geez," he said softly. "You're perfect."

I'm looking down inside. My tears welled up as the fog thickened making Magenta the only one I could feel his presence.

We walked through a winding road. Magenta's footsteps are so regular on footpaths and rocky. Every now and then, an overly bright light casts a striking shadow in a strange form. I felt my skin being pierced.

Mind wanders.

Flashes of Venus' weak body flared in my mind, carrying a sharp sting wrapped around my stomach. I resisted the urge to vomit, even as I felt my lunch coming out of my throat slightly. With great difficulty, I forced her back, spicy and bitter. The sweat beads on my forehead, running all the way to the back of my neck.

My body screamed to stop moving. My lungs wanted to expand, gathering air. I don't allow both.

I forced myself to keep going.

I erased the images, removing Venus from my mind. My turbulent stomach started to slow down, but after that my skin felt a damp sensation. Something is wrong with my stomach. I have a fever. I blinked.

I blinked again, but this time it was too long and I saw a flash of blood, bubbling inside the open mouth of Venus. Nausea returned at a speed that scared me. I took a breath, my fingers trembled, desperate to squeeze my stomach. Somehow, I'm staying stable. I kept opening my eyes, widening them to the point of pain. My heart started to thump. I tried desperately to maintain control over my swirling mind, my skin started to creep. I clenched my fists. No one helped. No one helped. Nothing, I think.

there aren't.

I started counting my fingers.. I counted my breath. I counted my footsteps, measuring the strength of each footstep that rumbled at my feet, echoing around my hips.

I remember that Venus was alive. Venus is fine, with Marbella. Clutched under a big tree.

Magenta was just testing me, I realized. Tested me, once again, to make sure that I was able to obey him and only him.

I took a deep breath and strengthened.

I focused on Magenta who kept stepping in front of me. For reasons I can't explain, looking at her steadied me. Slowed my pulse. Calm my stomach. And from this point of view, I can't help but admire the way he moves. He has an impressive body, broad shoulders, narrow waist, strong legs and maybe I really admire the way he carries himself. He has a confident pace. He runs high, with smooth and easy efficiency. As I watched her, a familiar feeling flowed within me. It gathered in my stomach, triggering a faint heat that sent a brief shock to my heart.

I'm not fighting him.

There's something about him. Something about his face. I found myself moving subconsciously closer to her, watching her almost too closely. I noticed she wasn't wearing any jewelry, even her earlobes were empty. Hair, there was a silver silhouette, which was only visible from up close. His eyes were turquoise blue from the shallow turquoise waters. Unusual. Aquamarines.

I realized I was starting to like it. Trust her almost like I trust Marbella.

Suddenly, Magenta stopped.

I felt my own wrist shake. I looked down, surprised, at the blue light that pierced through the skin in my pulse.

It felt like someone was calling me. It's freaky.

Magenta stood right beside me. I looked at him with a questioning look.

He turned his head, his eyebrows raised as if saying— Yes? And something that felt like relief developed into life within me.

I raised my wrist to show her. He frowned.

He stepped closer towards me, taking my arm in his hand. The tip of his finger pressed against my skin as he gently bent his joints, his eyes narrowed as he studied it. I was unnaturally silent. He let out an annoyed voice and exhaled, his breath blowing on my skin.

A sensation moved through me.

He was still holding my arm when he spoke to his own wrist. “Stop, Maya" Hissed.

I gasped in silence.

Maya's?

Unknowingly her fingers wrapped around my wrist. I was shocked, and he turned around, our eyes met, clashing.

Magenta.

Her pleasant aroma filled my head and I inhaled it almost by accident. Being this close to him is hard. Bizarrely. My head was swimming in confusion.

Broken images flooded my mind, flashes of golden hair, fingers touching naked skin and then nausea. Dizziness.

It almost knocked me out.

I looked away as Magenta pulled my arm up, towards the air squinting for a better look. Our bodies were about to touch, and I was suddenly so close that I could see a line, dark and curved, creeping at the edge of his collarbone.