Necropolis

Crumbling ruins, lost in the sands of time
Shelter not this silent intruder as he lies in wait
For that which destroyed you lurks in his mind
His love turned unto evil, which shall open the Gate
His darkened will draws tortured souls from its depth
For his blackened heart's pulse is wrought with pain
His tainted body reeks only of death
His fate only holds despair; destined to fall in vain

So embrace this twisted man; ye tortured spirits know him well
For all that waits this fading soul are the dreaded Circles of Hell


But can Hell's prison hold that which has defied such fate?
My sin is broken by my own hand, my destiny unfurled
With heresy brandished, I shall tear down this Gate
Now, I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds




The sun, coloured deep red, sinks beyond the distant dunes until its life fades; swallowed by the horizon. So then the omniscient shadow of night claims the vacant remains of once magnificent Xerxes, who vanished in a single night. But amidst the darkened ruins of death's lingering gloom, its disciple lied in silent wait.
This wayward soul rested patiently on a weathered slab of decrepit stone which once made the foundation of a grand monument. Clothed in black and obscured by darkness, the pale face man stared silently into dusk's eternity with dark crimson eyes. Such was the spectre that haunted Necropolis, the lost city of death., as he waited for that innocent soul, which he was to reap.

Lying. Oh dear Ishvalla, Shula hated lying, and yet, more and more it seemed that that was all she was meant to do. Hiding her engagement from two bases and the public eye and her family, hiding the details of her sudden health from those who knew her, hiding the secrets of the forbidden information she'd been compiling for months from everyone else and most notably from Raistlin... As she climbed in rank and took on more responsibility, it seemed that you became corrupt whether you intended to or not simply out of necessity. There was so much the Chancellor and the public couldn't know for their own safety. Shula was quiet as she drove, the stars gleaming above her in the velvet sky, the vintage bug's stereo silent as her mind raced, uneasy.

Shula had seen firsthand how dangerous it was to omit details whether intentional or out of carelessness, especially when it involved her side work as it were. Not telling Spade she was going on a "field trip" had nearly cost her her life, and even though she'd been steadily turning in work at regular cycles, communication had been somewhat minimal. So when she'd been given the message that Raistlin wished to meet with her again, Shula could only assume that he'd been busy lately and only now found time or had something to discuss with her. All the way out in Xerxes. Because meeting at the damned Best Western just wouldn't do. But here she was, again hiding the truth from everyone, including Spade of all people. A little less for him since she'd promised to keep tabs and tell him when she left South anymore, but... Spade had told her to tell Raistlin she could give him what he wanted, and he was just requesting to talk to her in person. But they weren't ready to use Spade's plan! And the request from Raistlin came so suddenly that she didn't have time to gather herself or meet with Spade and make it work. Spade's plan needed them to be in Aerugo, not out in the desert. But it was just to talk, she'd been told. He wanted to ask about her recent findings and get an update. She'd had these before. They'd been fairly harmless, if only annoying to give up her own coded notes and break them down for the one who owned her.

The sky-blue bug plodded along quietly, barely disturbing the desert night. Shula had always wanted to come out here, see the ruins, and maybe go say hello to her mother's family out in the settlements. Nobody knew or cared who she was when she'd filled up in Xenotime at sunset, and now it was late; the road through the desert was empty and the sky lit brightly by desert stars that weren't hindered by city lights anywhere nearby. Truly it was beautiful, but only made her feel so much smaller in the world. For all her rank and all she'd done, none of it mattered. The only thing she really wanted to do was to get this late night meeting done with quickly and drive back into Amestris and straight to Central and into Spade's apartment. Home was where her fiance was and where it was safe, and where arms wrapped around her all night chased away the nightmares that preyed on her mind. She glanced at the file folders in the seat next to her, organized so precisely and already decoded, all of it pertaining to human transmutation though none of it would lead to a perfect one. Shula was sure of that. No, no, that research was finished and hidden, not even written anywhere for fear of it slipping somewhere dangerous. Even Spade wasn't allowed to see the forbidden fruits of Shula's dedication, even though he knew damned well what she was doing and what it meant.

The light from her hi-beams cast oblong and zig-zagged shadows as the ruins grew nearer, the lessening distance forming a cold knot in the Ishvallan's stomach until finally she stopped the car and shut it off. It was just a check-up, and she was bringing fresh material with her. Shula would be home in the morning. She glanced to her phone that she'd left off since she left Xenotime. She couldn't afford to be tracked, and as much as she wished Spade were with her, Shula knew that that was a quick way to end both their lives. "You are not his and you never will be. ...Have you forgotten...what I am capable of? Spade's words echoed in her mind, his resolve clinging to each syllable, determined that he could save her. No, I haven't forgotten, my Sāthina... But I haven't forgotten what he is capable of, either. Her phone, still off and with the card removed so that she couldn't be tracked, sat between the seats. She'd sent out one final message in Xenotime, simply telling Spade goodnight and that she loved him. With any luck, this would be short and she could be back in Central by morning or lunch tomorrow.

In a swift motion Shula scooped up the files and climbed out, her free hand moving the smooth out the wrinkles from the beaded kurta that hung to her knees. The whole trip was one of quiet, and even her clothes were quiet, the only jewelry on her glinting from her forehead, dark henna staining the tops of her hands and wrists. Xerxes was dark and silent as the grave, and with her car shut off the only light came from the silent stars above. "Hello?" Even calling out, Shula's soft voice seemed to be swallowed by the darkness, making her grip the files in her hand tighter. "Are you here?" She looked around but saw no movement in the shadows and no sounds from the open mausoleum that would hint that she were anything but alone with the ghosts from so long ago.

And so does the thrall return obediently to it's master, though the pale spectre who lied in the shadows of the crumbling remains of ancient edifices. Callous red eyes watched in utter stillness as the pastel blue Amestrian car pulled up to the perimeter of the remnants of the monument which marked the outskirts of the city's ruins. The car's engine was cut, and dead silence reigned supreme once again.

Enter the insect, unto the web so carefully spun before her with invisible threads sewn with her name upon them. Every footfall upon the fallen sand made by the prey was seen and felt by the silent reaper that observed her from the gloom of night.

"Hello?" rang out the voice of the Ishvallan girl, her voice faint with the fear that hung above her head like a shadow
"Are you here?"

"I needn't ask if you've come alone, do I?" replied Raistlin, his voice tinged with what one could only guess to be his strange sense of humour, should he even have one.
"And so I assume that I needn't ask you to give me what I've asked for"
Raistlin emerged from the darkness cast by the pillar he had been waiting next to, and into the faint glow of the stars and moon of the open desert sky. With icy red eyes focused on Shula, he slowly approached her, his hand outstretched and expectant of the folders in her arms.

With haste absent from his movements, Raistlin took the beige file folder and emptied its contents into his hands, upon where he read them carefully, momentarily ignoring Shula's existence in the wold. Slowly he shifted through each paper, neatly shuffling one behind the other as he studied the contents of her report. No sign of emotion escaped from his pale mask of a face. No tell of delight nor disappointment. When he had finished with what their was to see, he slid the papers back into the pocket of their folder, and finally turned his gaze back unto their presenter.
"It would appear that you've done as I've asked up until now" stated Raistlin cooly, with an even and calm voice that, despite all its mildness, carried a chill upon its words.
He paused in silent though, which his eyes served as no window to which to read them. Seconds of silence passed as he looked over the girl before him with enigmatic intention.
Finally, his posture became ever so slightly more lax, and his expression was subtly resigned.
"You've nearly earned your freedom, Shula Brighton." remarked the Aerugese man calmly. His left hand reached to his right and disrobed it of its back glove, unveiling his pale hand and the array surgically etched into the skin of its palm.
"I shall uphold my part of our contract. I shall remove your inner array from your body. After this, once you finish your task, I will leave your life be, free to live and die however you so please"
Whether his words were true or not, no shiver in his voice would give away the answer. With such absolution in his tone and speech, any statement uttered from his murky venom-tipped tongue could be said without falter, no matter how ridiculous.
Cold crimson eyes stared down upon the timid Ishvallan girl with silent expectancy. His offer to free her from the mark her left upon her was no invitation. It was an order.

The shadows stirred, the darkness amidst the ruins seeming to produce Raistlin like wax melting and forming something new. Shula froze in her steps, watching as he emerged, for the life of her not able to fully hide that small pang of fear that chilled her stomach and heart when it came to her dark master. "I needn't ask if you've come alone, do I?" Even not seeing him fully, Shula heard him, unless the darkness of Xerxes itself had a voice like his and a macabre sense of humour. As much as she wanted to not be alone, Shula knew very well what happened to witnesses. "And so I assume that I needn't ask you to give me what I've asked for" The desert's night air was chilly, but something about Raistlin just appearing from the shadows in what used to be a thriving area to collect notes on forbidden knowledge just made the air drop twenty degrees.

Without needing to be told, Shula held out the file as he moved to take it, the tall man silently dumping out the papers and looking them over carefully. The starlight was bright enough to read by, she supposed, but seeing how little time he wasted in going over that set of papers was something uncomfortable. The research in that stack was very much real, carefully studied and decoded and annotated with her own notes. All of it pertained to creating a stone and bypassing the laws of alchemy and of nature itself. But even though there was nothing boldly outlining it, the fact was that everything in there only came close but led to a dead end.

The silence dripped down, cold and austere as the starlight above. Shula didn't dare speak and interrupt. Instead, her arms folded across her chest and held onto each other, chilly in the breezy cotton tunic. Even with the shirt under her kurta, the night chill was more than it was in South's humidity. She looked up and around at the ruins that stood the test of time and left only historians to piece together where the Xerxian people had gone to in a single night and left no survivors. It was sad, and yet, such a familiar story that hit far too close to home for Shula. Even though she'd helped South to rebuild and become something wonderful, she herself had come so close to vanishing with everyone else, saved only by her train being late. Finally Raistlin looked back to her, his face as unreadable as always, leaving Shula to only guess what the man was thinking. Was she good, could she leave?

"It would appear that you've done as I've asked up until now," he stated. There seemed to be no malice or anger in his voice, but something about it made that knot inside of the little Ishvallan just grow heavier. Or did he always have that effect on her? Still quiet, she nodded, trying her best to not outwardly show her fear toward the man. There was a long pause once more, Raistlin seeming to study her, making Shula sympathize entirely with the rats and guinea pigs in the labs. Oh, could she please leave? Speed off back to Spade's apartment where it was warm and safe? Slowly Raistlin's posture seemed to relax a little. "You've nearly earned your freedom, Shula Brighton." OHGODWAITREPEATTHAT. She blinked, her timidness starting to move aside just enough to allow a small smile to warm her face. She.... she was almost free? The file was closed and set aside, his glove removed as Shula's heart began to race. "I shall uphold my part of our contract. I shall remove your inner array from your body. After this, once you finish your task, I will leave your life be, free to live and die however you so please"

She could live... freely, as she pleased. It took dedicated amounts of effort to push away the thoughts of a life with Spade that illuminated her mind and her eyes. All she had to do was finish and she was free forever. The gravity of that thought hadn't entirely settled in, her mind buzzing with the joy of knowing she was nearly free and could go have her life, she could get married and have children of her own without fear... Raistlin's glove was off, and he'd remove the collar that had kept her bound so dutifully to him. Mehndi-covered hands still holding onto her arms and with far less hesitation than she'd approached with before, Shula stepped closer to Raistlin and was within arm's reach. Maybe tonight really would just be a short meeting and going home. "I'll be sure to finish quickly." She'd been quiet, but since Raistlin hadn't asked her anything directly Shula hadn't felt the need to risk speaking and annoying him. But she was almost free. The words danced in her mind as she stopped just in front of Raistlin, timid still but now holding onto hope, and obedient as ever.