"Why can't you see what we had  

Let the fire burn the ice

Where's the love we once had

Is it all a lie?"

- "Fire and Ice", Within Tempation

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Soundtrack of the chapter: Fire and Ice by Within Temption ( PLS PLAY PLS PLAY PLS PLAY IT!)

Media: I see this pic of Erza and can't help thinking of Cady in this chapter ( red hair and tears :'))

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Chapter Thirty-Two: Dilemma

Zoroth was dozing in Cady's mind when she summoned his energies. In a flash, the familiar pain of his claws emerging from her finger tips and his wings expanding from her back hit her. She soared over the seas and toward the little hut nestled within the Darkling Woods. Cady couldn't believe it, she just...couldn't. Jasper would never harm another person, especially not Eli. The dark look on his face had made her reel, a cold fist closing around her heart, rendering her breathless from shock.

However, she still did not trust the judgment of the Oracles. She needed to see evidence with her own eyes before she would believe Jasper's betrayal.

Hot tears came to her eyes which she rubbed them out, angrily. Was she just a ploy? A piece of chess in Jasper's game so he could gain whatever he wanted?

But I love him, she sobbed in her heart. I love him so much.

She couldn't shake his touch from her head, the perfect imperfectness which made Jasper as her other half. The cold sting of his necklace was still on her fingers, and the way his lips had made their way down her neck to her breasts made her shudder. His passion and tolerance for her and her kind was out of the world. He was the only person who could understand her, someone whom she could be herself with. But why, all of the sudden, she felt like she didn't even know who Jasper was?

Her wings folded behind her back as she landed on the familiar patch of grass. She looked around, taking in the large slab of rock jutting out to the river-the place where she and Jasper would always train on. Used tea lights littered the roots of a great oak tree by the rushing waters. She closed a hand around her mouth, holding back another sob.

She prayed that whatever she was looking for wasn't there. Jasper, please, do not betray my trust. If you do, there would be nothing left inside me. I could never trust another ever again.

She had left her Celestial Blade back at her dorm, and there were no Celeslights in the hut, being abandoned for a few months since Jasper moved into the Hall of Spirits as Master Physician. Cady then remembered Jasper stored candles in a chest by the kitchen, having taken out a few during one of Eli's seizures.

Groping her way through the darkness, she walked twice into the table and once into the wall, earning a good throbbing lump on her forehead. Complaining, her hands finally found the smooth surface of the chest. Sliding the lock open, she lifted it and rummaged through the contents for the slippery feel of candles.

Bundles of cloth slithered through her fingers. Some of them came loose. It felt slippery enough to be candles, but far too large. She drew them out and placed them aside before she found the candles. Hastily lighting one, she lifted it where it cast a flickering light on the loose bundles.

A stab of pain entered her heart. Lying right before her, bare, were the carcasses of used Mandrakes. Their twisted bodies lay on the ground, like ugly faces leering back at her in the shifting shadows. One of them still had that shriveled hole where Jasper had run an athame through. Cady tipped the entire crate over. Mandrakes, fresh and old tumbled out, the dull thuds acting like arrows, shooting her.

Jasper, how could you?

Her knees gave way. Falling onto her behind, Cady gathered herself into a ball, sobbing into her arms. What had the world come to? Why did everyone she cared and loved would eventually pull out the traitor's card? First Isadora, then Jasper. His name brought back a thousand needles through her heart, choking her. She loved him, she loved him so much. Why would he try to wipe out the Oracles?

What would Eli do in such a situation?

In the Great War, request for help arrived at the Hall of Games far too late. When the troops finally arrived, an entire civilization was wiped out. History seemed fond of repeating itself, dragging everything away from order to chaos.

Why are you helping the Oracles, Cady? A little voice snagged. They're your enemies, let them be destroyed.

Then another massacre would happen, she replied. Too much conflict has happened for all the wrong reasons.

You're a traitor to your kind, the voice spat. A real Walker would seek revenge. You're a coward, seeking solace with the very people who would flay the skin from you when they discover who you really are.

Cady squished the voice in her head, suffocating it so it would not sound again. She was in no mood for lectures. It died down, but she was certain it would soon rise to sway her again. Somehow, she knew the voice was right, although it yanked at her consciousness to do so. Where did her loyalties lie-with the Oracles or with the Walkers?

Either way, she would be a traitor. To side the Oracles, she would be betraying her own blood. To side with the Walkers, she would be breaking Eli's trust. She kicked at a bird which squawked at her, probably a swear word in seagull. Cady decided to go with the former, for thousands of lives were at stake.

There should still be some remaining Blood flowers back in the apocathery. She had gathered enough in her last mission to last the Hall for a year with some to spare. If Jasper had been merciful (or cruel enough) to leave a handful for them, they might actually have a fighting chance.

When the Hall of Spirits drew to sight, she folded her wings and dived into the gardens, somewhere which no one would go but the Healers and the Physicians. But since all but Eli had died out, the place was secluded. The petrifying shrieks of the Mandrakes could be heard even from her distance. She shook her head, trying to force out the drowning pitches. She had been under its thrall once, and she was not excited for the next.

As predicted, Eli was in the Healing chambers, tearing books from racks and sprawling them in front of him. He exuded the strength a High Priest should have, but his fear and anxiety had made him clumsy. Vials were scattered and broken all over the floors, where their contents oozed peculiar smells across the room.

A small bundle of Blood flower lay before him on the table, its blooms gray and drooping.

"Eli, we need to send a message to Firaun, immediately," she said.

He nodded without even looking up. "I've already dispatched several Feorhs to the Hall of Games. I don't know what situation this is, but I smell a war."

"Eli, Jasper did this." Cady felt her heart crack at the mention of Jasper and his betrayal. Eli raised his head, his eyes scornful. "I already knew. From the moment he stood up to my grandfather, I knew something was wrong. When he left, all Mandrakes sprang to life. Whatever he is planning, it can't be good. Half of the Hall has gone crazy, screaming from invisible threats. If we want to defend ourselves from whatever is to come, we must first fight the Mandrakes."

Eli slammed down a piece of paper on the table with so much force he almost split the table into two halves. "He's playing a clever game," he said angrily. "He had everything laid out, mocking us. He wants us to go against him."

Cady knew how furious Jasper was at the Hall of Spirits. But she never guessed that he would ever stretch to such radical means. If she guessed correctly, war was coming.

Eli seemed to read her thoughts, for he replied: "I fear the same thing too, Cady. I've asked the Hall of Games for reinforcement troops in case of any attacks. Grandfather has gone into shock, I'm in charge now."

"But this is rather absurd, where would Jasper get troops if he were to attack?"

Her question bought a conversation she had with Jasper months ago bounding back, like a taut elastic band released after being stretched for too long.

"Whoa, dead people don't reanimate," Cady had said.

And Jasper had replied: "only once, when Yana called forth an entire army of the dead with the Iambicum Trimetrum."

"Shit." Cady slapped a hand to her forehead. "We're so dead."

"I hope you're not thinking what I'm thinking," Eli said.

"The Iambicum Trimetrum," they said at the same time.

Eli sat down, a dark shadow descending upon his features.

"But the Iambicum Trimetrum belonged to Yana. Only he or a Walker can use his powers."

Cady's stomach dropped to her knees. Weak, she sagged into a chair.

Jasper...was he a Walker?

Relief, betrayal, hope and anger came roaring to her. She scrunched up her fists and punched the wall, releasing all her fury into the stone. She imagined it to be Jasper's face. It hurt her to hit him, and seeing him in her mind aggravated the flames in her heart. Screaming, she battered the wall with all her might, pouring out that beast chained within.

If her theories were true, then she was not alone, she was not the last of her kind. Another Walker had gone to gather an army for revenge.

Death shall reap the person who started it all.

Jasper had played with the strings of fate, plotting out a dark scheme ever since he step foot in the Hall of Spirits, possibly even before that. Cady realized everything she ever knew about Jasper could be a lie.

"Cady!" Eli's voice struck her, and a strong hand seized her arms. He spun her to face him, his eyes burning. "Don't! We have to focus on our energy on defeating the Mandrakes first. There is absolutely no time for us to make a trip to the Hall of Shadows for Blood flowers. We will have to make do. Firaun should have gotten our message by now."

"What is there to do? If Jasper was really a Walker, and if he really had the relic, we're all done for."

"Have a little faith with the Hall of Games. The Hall of Warriors would dispatch their best troops if it ever came to a battle."

"A battle with the undead, Eli," Cady said. "Do you think we stand a chance against them?"

Eli ran his hands over Cady's, transferring a bit of his Celestial Energy to her, skimming over her bloodied knuckles. "We won the Great War. If Raphine could find such a powerful stronghold of Oracles, I am sure I can too."

"And where did Raphine get his troops?" she asked.

"We have an Oracle army, trained to harness their Affinities for battle."

"I haven't seen any army or soldiers ever since I step foot into this place, Eli."

"They should be..." he started, but shock crossed his brows. "Sweet Nala, we're really done for."

Eli slammed a fist onto the table. "Once every four years, the Oracle army leaves for the Hall of Warriors for training." Cady didn't need him to finish his sentence. Again, Jasper chose this moment to strike, when the Oracles were at their weakest. Needless to say, the Oracle warriors were far away on an island, oblivious to whatever that was happening at their home.

Eli gave his head a firm shake. He pressed the remaining Blood flowers into the mortar and started pounding them, grinding them into pulp. "You know how to brew the concoction?" Cady asked, looking at him work, wishing there was something she could do to help.

He gritted his teeth. "Jasper taught me, a few weeks ago. I think it is his way of making sure there are still living Oracles left for him to torture."

"Is there anything I help with?" she asked. Eli gestured at the door. "You can make sure that no one is attempting suicide. I remember Jasper giving you a dose of Blood flower before, I think you'll be protected against the Mandrakes as of now. Their effects last for months."

Cady remembered it well. Eli was reluctant to try the potion. To prove that Jasper would never do anything to harm Eli, she had swallowed a whole vial of it. The bitter tang of the potion still lingered at the back of her throat. She wondered if it was a way Jasper devised so she would be safe from this attack.

Biting down a scream, she left the room. Instead of heading down to check on the other Oracles, she found herself walking into Jasper's chamber. She had only been there once, when Jasper asked her to pick up a book. Cady slid into his bed, pulling the sheets over her. She snuggled deep into the soft covers, burying her head into the blankets, inhaling the familiar sweet scent of Jasper.

Stars Alive, why do I miss him even when he betrayed us all?

Her eyelids fluttered shut. She tuned out everything around her-the soft wails of the Mandrakes, the sound of heavy curtains flapping around the windowsill. Everything was soon gone but the memories she wanted to preserve. For a little while, she allowed herself some reprieve, basking in pain to take away pain.

"Zoroth, what should I do now?"

"Hush, little one," he replied. "Don't think about anything else. You deserve to rest."

"My mind tells me to run, to flee from Jasper, but my heart tells me otherwise."

Zoroth brushed a kiss against her mind. "Sometimes, when the heart and mind are in war, listen to your soul."

Her soul. She wasn't even sure hers was intact. Not after it was taken from her body by Jasper, thrown up to heaven before it crashed down into a pit of thorns, piercing her over and over again.

She sank into her mind, burying her face into Zoroth's chest, feeling his familiar warmth, the rise and fall of his chest. He wrapped his wings around her, one black and one white: a blight in perfect harmony. Zoroth whispered the songs of Decanates to her, untying the knots in her heart one by one, until she felt drowsy. She fell asleep in a tangle of sheets, dreaming of Jasper.

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A/N

This chapter is rather unedited, been busy. I apologize for any mistakes.

Cady cannot deny the truth. Jasper is the one behind everything. But yet, she misses him. What are your thoughts on their relationship?

ps: I have been chosen to join the wattpad block party! *throws confetti* If you have any suggestions on what I should post on the party book ( character interviews etc), comment down here and let me know!

Steamboat,
Stef