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"The battle had been lost, but the war was far from over." -Back From the
Grave (TCG)
* * *
Darigan awoke in the hospital. He seemed to be in relatively
good condition for what had happened to him.
"You're finally awake, sir?" asked a voice.
"Don't call me 'sir,'" he mumbled, half asleep.
"Sorry. General Kass told me to."
Suddenly he was wide awake. "General?!?
How long have I been out?"
The voice's owner, a young Kyrii, looked at him
worriedly. "A month… You hit the ground pretty hard!"
Darigan looked around, shocked. "Wow… so, besides
Kass being a general, what else has happened?"
"The orb-thing, that you defeated Demona with
is now are most precious possession, 'cause you beat her with it! And, Master
Vex is the warden!"
Ridella walked in.
"General Ridella!" The Kyrii hurried away.
Darigan was getting a headache, but when he saw
the green Peophin, he tried to smile. "Anything else I should know? Like we're
being occupied by evil gnomes or something?"
Ridella somberly took his hand with her hooves.
His smile faded. "We aren't, are we?"
"No, Darigan. Lord Darigan."
He tried to sound calm, and failed miserably.
"What?!?!"
"After the battle ended, Lord Garwin took the
orb that you used, and put it in the center of his garden. Then, he sat down
by it, and refused to move. He was healthy enough…he was eating and drinking…but
three days later…he died…"
I'll haunt you… Darigan gasped, horror-struck.
"Demona."
"She's dead; she couldn't have killed him, if
that's what you're thinking."
I'll never truly leave… Demona's orb.
Was it possible that she was alive through it?
"You can't get rid of the orb!" yelled Ridella,
as though she could read his mind. "It hasn't done anything! The people would
rebel. It defeated Demona, who would've killed us all!"
Darigan nodded numbly.
"Come on. Galgarrath appointed himself Regent,
but we need you!"
On their way to the castle, Ridella asked, "Darigan,
what ever happened to your mother?"
"Her name was Alyssa. She died when I was five.
She had some kind of rare disease. We were quarantined. Around when she died,
she almost already looked dead." It was suddenly too much, and he started to
cry. "I never told anyone before, not even Vex. It was too painful."
Ridella looked even sadder than when she had
told him the news about his father.
"She was the nicest Neopet there ever was. My
father was constantly getting aggravated, because she would take in the poor
and the homeless all the time. She tried to treat everyone fairly, no matter
what. That's why I tried to be Kass's friend despite all his oddities, because
she would have."
"Why don't my parents ever talk about the Lady
Alyssa?"
"I think it's the same reason that I never told
anyone until now. Everyone loved her, and everyone missed her. Especially me.
Especially now."
Looking very melancholy, they entered the castle,
and went to the throne room. Everybody was already there; ready to make Darigan
their lord officially.
"Why do you look so sad?" asked a raspy voice
from the corner.
Turning, Darigan saw Kass, who did not look well
at all. His feathers were no where near as shiny as they had once been, his
face looked pained and gaunt, and he looked generally ill, both physically and
mentally. The Three had taken their toll on him.
"Are you sure I was only out a month?" he whispered
to Ridella.
"A single second can change a lifetime," said
Tara, who was sitting next to Kass.
Ridella started pulling him along. "You can talk
after the ceremony!"
Darigan suddenly realized that he didn't know
what he was supposed to do. As he frantically thought back to lessons with his
father that he hadn't paid attention too, he began to consider running out of
the room.
It must have shown on his face, because Ridella
whispered, "Don't worry. Galgarrath will be up there to help you. I'd recommend
starting by talking about Lord Garwin; they'll like that.
As they reached the front of the room, she patted
him on the shoulder and went to sit by Vex and Haskol.
Galgarrath smiled at him.
"Uh," he began, unable to form any sort of speech.
Then, Vex gave him a thumbs up to reassure him, and he felt a little better.
"I'd like to say that my father, Lord Garwin, was a wonderful Korbat and a great
leader."
His mouth was dry, but his audience was smiling,
so he slowly calmed down. Then, he continued without too much difficulty.
Maybe this wouldn't be so terrible after all.
* * *
After the ceremony, someone started playing a
cheery song with a fast tempo, and Tara jumped up and started dancing.
She had acquired a golden circlet somewhere,
Darigan noticed. That made him think of the orb and The Three, which reminded
him not to look directly at her. It most likely wasn't the Tara he knew.
"Did you hear?" cried Vex, running up to him.
"I'm a warden now! And they call me Master Vex! I'm so happy you're back!
And you're lord too! Sorry about your old man; he was nice. Hey-"
"Hey, slow down!" laughed Darigan. "One thing
at a time. What happened to the old warden?"
"She retired. The few prisoners there were had
a party when I came!"
"Why, was she mean?"
He shivered. "Darigan, do you know who she was?
She's-" He yelped and ran behind the throne. "Right there!"
The menacing Moehog that stalked towards him
wore her thick brown cloak, even though she was indoors. She glided across the
floor soundlessly, and when she reached Darigan, her face broke into what was
meant to be a reassuring grin, although it looked more like a scowl.
"H-Hello Morguss," greeted Darigan, all too aware
that she was somehow tied into the plots devised by Demona and The Three.
With a cackle, she muttered, "Everyone knows
the name of Morguss, yes, yes they do. A doctor and warden with a reputation
I am, yes."
"Oh? What kind of doctor are you?" he asked,
trying to sound interested, although he really wanted her to go away.
"Voodoo."
Darigan smiled nervously. Morguss was definitely
creepy.
"If you have any questions, you can ask me, yes
you can. Any questions now?"
Yes, he wanted to ask, how come nuts
like you aren't locked up? Instead, he politely told her no, and she left.
Vex came back out. "I feel sorry for Tara. She
was adopted. By her."
"I didn't know so much could happen in a month,"
mumbled Darigan.
"A second can change a lifetime," he heard from
beside him, for the second time that day.
Tara, circling to his front, suddenly looked
very different. One second, she was the image of grace and beauty; the next,
her eyes seemed sunken, and she seemed very weary.
"He's fading," she croaked suddenly, almost to
herself, so quietly that only he could hear. "Being consumed; being driven mad.
I'm losing him… But I am fine. They won't make me join them. Nev-" As though
nothing had happened, she became distant and aloof once again, a stranger to
all, with the possible exception of Kass.
Darigan was confused. Had that been the real
Tara who had spoken? Was she saying that Kass was going crazy, and that she
would always fight The Three, or something else entirely? Or was it all just
a ruse; a red herring designed to blind him from their plans?
He was starting to see conspiracies everywhere.
That wasn't good.
Then Kass walked up and bowed. That was a very
un-Kass thing to do. Worse than that were his eyes, which were blank and cold.
Even at his meanest, they had always contained a tiny shred of compassion. Now,
they seemed more suited for a corpse, although life was still visible in them.
"Hi Kass," he said, smiling hopefully.
"Come Tara," was all he said, before walking
away, with the Aisha following.
Vex started laughing. "Darigan, you look like
a deflated balloon!"
"I think I liked the high and mighty Kass better
than the zombified General Kass."
"Galgarrath! Haskol! Ridella!" cried Vex. "Come
over here!"
They all looked up and came over.
"Is 'zombified General Kass' one of the names
we've heard?"
"No."
"It is now." Seeing Darigan's bewildered expression,
he explained, "We've been writing down every name we hear for those two. When
two friends go into a trance, you gotta somehow make light of it."
Smiling, Darigan listened as they shared some
of the names. Then, Haskol told him proudly that he and Galgarrath were guards
in the dungeon.
Galgarrath frowned. "You know, Vex always
wins Cellblock!"
"When you make a game like that, it's hard to
not be good at it," said Vex, smiling. "You should try it."
The Grarrl muttered something about not having
enough time.
"That means he can't do it," declared Ridella,
earning herself a playful whack. Changing the subject deliberately, she began
talking about being a general. "When they told me, I was so shocked that I just
blinked stupidly at them. Then, at the ceremony, I got another surprise when
I saw Kass. I was expecting him to be acting all arrogant, but instead he was
very quiet. I think he's gone wacko!"
"He always was wacko," muttered Galgarrath.
Shaking his head, and laughing slightly, Darigan
grinned at his grumpy friend. He was one of a kind. They all were.
There was no point in dragging his friends into
the mess with The Three and Demona. They were great friends, and didn't deserve
being pulled into danger.
But Demona, for one, was determined to ruin his
life. And later, he would wish he had told them.
To be continued…
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