SIDEKICK
CHAPTER THREE

"We have to find King Herod's crown, don't we?"

It was like those few words had changed Caliban's mood instantly. His furrowed brows vanished and his folded arms were by his side as he hurried to reach Dahlia's pace. Even after thousands of years, men were still the same, Dahlia thought. It was so easy to make them happy and have them wrapped around your finger, without them even knowing.

Caliban led Dahlia down the hall and opened a door on the left, welcoming her into a large room with red sofas. Similar to all the other rooms, there was a clear theme of red. A symbol for blood, anger, sex, and hell. The ceiling was high, as per usual, and red curtains draped over the foggy windows that showed the Sea of Sorrows from afar.

The tall boy sat down immediately upon entering the room, but it took a moment for Dahlia to adjust to her surroundings... to take everything in. Slowly, she walked toward a window. With her face only inches away from the stained glass, she gaped at the word outside it. All her life, she was aware of the horrors that existed outside the world of Djinn's and a Djinn bottle, but never had she ever thought she'd be able to see it. It was an entire world of terror and destruction... she didn't want to know what kind of a person Caliban was to want to lead such a place. All she knew was that she wanted to finish her work here as soon as possible, so she could finally be free of him... free of her bottle.

"How does this work?" Caliban's voice broke Dahlia from her thoughts and she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

Slowly, she turned around and walked toward him. "I'm a bit out of practice..." she started, her voice quiet. "... But uh, you have to think of your darkest desire... and I'll help you find it." Caliban's lips curled upwards at Dahlia's words, and she took it as a cue to walk closer to him. "You need to have seen it before... or a picture of it. You need to be able to visualize it. And most importantly, it has to be your deepest, genuine desire because otherwise, I won't be able to find it."

"Trust me, Dahlia. There is nothing I want more."

"I believe it." Caliban's selfishness was clear to her, and it wasn't hard to believe that winning this competition was all he cared about. She inhaled deeply before sitting down beside him, leaving a large space between that was filled with an air of tension and distrust. She held her hand out and watched him as he looked between her eyes and the palm of her hand, piecing together that this was part of the ritual. "Close your eyes." She waited for him to close his eyes before closing her own.

Truthfully, Dahlia was nervous, and she was worried that her hands would reflect the shakiness going on in the rest of her body. Her heart was pounding and a million thoughts were distracting her from saying the spell. She didn't even know why she was so anxious. Her powers had been unused for thousands of years, so naturally, she was nervous about using them again. But subconsciously, part of her was terrified of what would happen if she really helped Caliban do this. Terrified of the things she would see, like the mortifying members of the Infernal Court, and terrified of what Caliban would do to people– like Sabrina even– if he was in power. Dahlia didn't know Caliban. She didn't trust him. She didn't trust anyone really, after the horrors of what she had been through.

Shakily, Dahlia began to speak. "With our souls hand-in-hand, darkness falls across this land. His darkest desire, I shall provide, with all powers and emotions tied... King Herod's crown is where it lies." As she repeated the chant over and over, Dahlia felt her fingers tingle like sparks of power that were trying to release from the pores of her skin. She almost smiled at the oh-so-familiar feeling of magic and power, that for so long she hadn't felt. "With our souls hand-in-hand, darkness falls across this land. His darkest desire, I shall provide, with all my powers and emotions tied... King Herod's crown is where it lies," she repeated, voice stronger and firmer.

The more power Dahlia felt radiating off of her's and Caliban's joined hands, the more she lost all sense of what was around her. The tingling that started at the tip of her fingers spread up her arms, to her shoulders and chest, and to the rest of her body, making Dahlia feel like she was floating in the air, carried by her magic.

It was only until the fourth time Dahlia chanted the mantra that she recognized something different about the way her powers were working now compared to before. She felt the tingling in her toes, she felt an ache in her head. Her words began to slur as black spots started to cloud her eyes under her eyelids.

And within seconds, it all vanished. The tingling in her body, the magic that was beginning to work, everything– it was gone. She opened her eyes, her eyelids heavy and vision slightly blurred. Caliban's eyebrows were furrowed and he stared at her, almost concerned.

The brunette stared at her hands, trying to understand why it hadn't worked, why she had felt so fatigued. "I think I'm just rusty," she mumbled, slumping back against the seat and staring at her hands in disappointment.

Caliban nodded in understanding, which took Dahlia by surprise, but she said nothing. "How long do you need?" he asked.

"No time at all," she said confidently, sitting up again. "It'll work this time."

"Do you even know how pale you look right now?"

"Oh, don't act like you care," Dahlia scoffed.

"You're right, I don't," Caliban said simply. "What I do care about, however, is my sidekick not being able to help me because she's dead."

Dahlia's face twisted at the word and she shook her head. "Don't call me your sidekick."

"Servant?"

"Not funny, Caliban."

"Sidekick it is, then." Caliban laughed and began to stand up. "I'll collect you from your chamber in an hour or so. Sound good?"

"I would say no, but I don't really think it would matter to you," Dahlia retorted with an eye roll. She waited for the sound of Caliban's footsteps to vanish before she slumped back in her seat, finally allowing her eyes to close. In reality, she felt far from okay. Her head still hurt like someone was hammering it with rocks and she could hardly keep her eyes open. But the last thing she wanted was for her time as Caliban's slave to last even longer– for her journey to freedom to be put on hold.

Sighing, Dahlia stood from her spot on the sofa and played with the braid in her hair as she began her slow, tiring journey to her cold chamber to rest before she'd put her powers to use once more. She hoped that all she needed was that failed trial as a practice to be able to work her magic properly again.

✭

Dahlia's heart almost stopped at the loud banging that awoke her from her brief slumber. She shot up from her lying position under the covers of her bed, eyes flung open. She calmed at the realization that it had just been Caliban knocking on her door, though her heart continued to beat at a rapid rate. It had been hard enough for her to fall asleep in the first place, her mind continuously wandering to different things; her powers, Caliban, Hell, her freedom. Everything.

The door began to open, revealing Caliban as he stepped foot into the room. "Dream about me, did we?" He grinned, chuckling at the scowl Dahlia sent him as she wiped the sleep out of her eyes with her fists. "I mean, say the word and I'm yours."

"Wouldn't be professional to sleep with your sidekick, would it?" Dahlia retorted, pulling the comforter off her body and standing up from the bed.

"Ah, so you admit you're my sidekick."

"No, because that would imply that you're doing the main work," Dahlia began, holding her hand to her chin to exaggerate her thinking process as she continued to speak, "which isn't exactly true, considering that I'm carrying this whole thing on my back."

The man chuckled. "Except... your powers don't work."

Dahlia raised her eyebrows and held her palm out. "We'll see about that." He placed his large hand on hers, and they both closed their eyes.

Inhaling deeply, she prayed mentally that it would work this time, for the sake of finally getting closer to her freedom, but also to a high extent because of what Caliban had said. She was more nervous now than before that her powers wouldn't work, intent on proving Caliban wrong and stripping him of any way to further tease her, but also fearful for what would happen if her hallucinogenic powers didn't work at all. How could she call herself a Djinn and carry her heritage if her powers didn't even work?

"With our souls hand-in-hand, darkness falls across this land..."  Dahlia started off in barely even a whisper, not even realizing the shaky tone of her voice. "His darkest desire, I shall provide with all powers and emotions tied... King Herod's crown is where it lies."

The darkness under her eyelids began to light up in reflection to her irises that were circled with a shimmery purple ring. As she repeated the words, she felt the glowing in her eyes brightening, her palms tingling like needles, and then her eyes flung open.

Flashes of gold and purple filled her vision, separating her from the world she was in. Her brain tried to comprehend all the images playing behind her eyes, and slowly, she began to make out bits and pieces. Focussed, Dahlia watched as the scenes unfolded before her. Lights, smiling people.

"What do you see?" Caliban's voice disrupted her concentration.

"Shut up," she hissed, forcing her mind back into her visions. "Lights..." she whispered, narrowing her eyes as though trying to further her concentration. "People... young people." Dahlia paused her speech and furrowed her eyebrows, trying to pin her attention to the left corner of the scene playing in her head– something so familiar. Blonde hair, with a black headband. "Sabrina. With a boy."

"She already has it," Caliban muttered under his breath. Before Caliban could say anything else, Dahlia's eyelids fluttered and her eyes rolled to the back of her head.

Dahlia was left immobilized when suddenly a woman appeared in her vision, faces only inches away from Dahlia's. As though physically glued to Dahlia's eyes, the image of the woman refused to leave her sight and everyone and everything else that Dahlia once saw shattered into pieces of glass and dissolved away. Sabrina, the other smiling people, the lights, the food– it was all gone, leaving Dahlia only an abyss with a woman whom she had never seen before.

Dahlia felt trapped. Her heart began to beat abnormally fast and tears pricked her eyes that she still failed to regain control of. She felt her breath catch in her throat and a fire burning in the scar on her back. It was as though this woman had paralyzed Dahlia, trapping her in her own vision and stripped her of her powers.

Quickly, Caliban pulled his hand away from hers, pulling her out of her trance. Instantly, the purple glow in her eyes vanished and Caliban watched cautiously as the brunette fell into a fit of coughs and tried to catch her breath.

Hey eyes, clouded by tears, searched the room for a bin before hurriedly rushing toward it with shaky knees, bending over and coughing up the contents of her stomach. The acidic smell filled the room, but Caliban was unbothered as he walked toward her and sat on the floor opposite her in some form of consolation. It was all he felt comfortable to do at this stage, and he doubted Dahlia would have been okay with him doing any more either. He watched her patiently as she wiped her teary eyes with the back of her hands and settled on the floor, resting her elbows on her thighs and burying her head in her hands as she attempted to catch her breath.

Dahlia couldn't find the words to describe how she was feeling; they were unimaginable. She felt nauseous, yes, but the complete paralysis of her brain and body and powers were things she had never experienced before. She had felt so helpless and trapped, but even worse was the fact that being paralyzed and trapped in her vision weren't what caused her shaky legs or rapidly beating heart. Something about the women who invaded her vision had left Dahlia in a state of complete terror for reasons Dahlia wasn't even certain of. The woman had had some sort of power... a power over Dahlia... and that was what kept her mind racing and her hands shivering.

"What did you see?" Caliban finally spoke, but Dahlia, face still buried in her hands, didn't utter a word. "Dahlia, what did you see?"

"I don't know," she replied, voice hoarse. "A woman. She wasn't normal."

"What do you mean, she wasn't normal?"

"I don't know!" She spat in frustration. The pressure of all of the questions Caliban was throwing at her wasn't helping the disturbing weight that was building on her chest.

Though tempted to snap back at her, Caliban silenced at Dahlia's sudden outburst, taking in her distraught appearance. He bitterly stood from his seated position on the floor and folded his arms over his chest impatiently as he watched Dahlia lean forward and bury her face in her hands, elbows propped up on her legs. Her breaths were short and fast still, almost like she was hyperventilating, but he dared not say or do anything to frustrate her anymore.

"I don't know about the woman but... There was a blonde girl with a headband. I could only see her from behind but I think it was that girl you challenged. She was with a boy and... and there were decorations and lights... food..." Dahlia paused her sentence every few seconds as she recalled her vision.

"That's all? That's all you saw?" Caliban's voice was heavy with irritation as he raked a hand through his hair.

"If I'd seen more don't you think I'd say so?" Dahlia retorted, standing from her spot. "Do you not know what her plans were for today?"

"No, but why don't I call her and ask her right now since we're best friends and all?" Caliban mocked. "Of I don't know her plans. But from the incredibly vague details you gave, it sounds like maybe she's at the carnival." The word was almost unfamiliar to Dahlia. When it had left Caliban's mouth, she almost had to think twice to remember what a Carnival was. Something so fun and bright and joyous was foreign to her, not having been to a carnival for what felt like forever. Her village was small, but the wonderful people in it made it a requirement to bring excitement into it whether it be in the form of carnivals or something else. Her memories of them were almost faded by now, though.

"Dahlia." Dahlia was pulled out of her thoughts when she saw Caliban waving his big hand in front of her face. She gently slapped it away, grunting at his disrespect for her personal space. "I said do you think what you saw could have been a carnival?"

"Yeah, it could be." She nodded.

"Alright, let's go." Caliban held his hand out to Dahlia who reluctantly took it. She closed her eyes, waiting for the churning feeling that would fill her stomach once the red smoke surrounded them and Caliban teleported them out of Hell.

Despite the dread and uncertainty that settled deep down in her gut, Dahlia couldn't deny the slight buildup of excitement that filled her stomach at the thought of going to a carnival, even if it was just for a few moments.

_____ ♔_____

→ note

i can't say i love the quality of my writing in this chapter, but nevertheless, i hope you enjoyed!
i can promise that my writing and the overall story are going to get better in the next few chapters as the plot progresses, so stay tuned!
leave a vote and comment with what you thought of the chapter!

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