DEAREST

PART 6: SECRET HEART, Ch. 4

4

My heart skips a beat when I see the unexpected turn of events in the Castle Hall. A snarl escapes Luciana's lips, and I ask her to put me down.

What we see in the hall is not a pretty image.

Spread around the room are the remains of the Astrologer. I can't help looking at Luciana for answers, but even she looks more worried and confused than me. The honesty in her face makes it clear to me that it wasn't her doing.

Unlike the cold, wet air that we breathed a few minutes ago, I find again the heavy, warm and stagnant air of this part of the dimension. After having met Adelheid, now I'm sure that this isn't how this place should look and feel.

"Luciana..."

But her eyes are fixed on the image of her father.

The Inquisitor is on his knees, hugging the scepter, with his reddish eyes lost in the distance. I think he has also discovered that the Lightning Scepter isn't a wish-granting device.

His desolation even reaches me. I wonder what kind of wish he had. Did he want to kill his daughter? Control the dimension? Return to his human state?

His lips parted to say something, but all we heard was a small unintelligible babble.

Even if it's a demon, with ulterior motives, I have always thought that Luciana is incapable of seeing him as such. Now that she approaches calmly, and kneels next to him, I can verify that thought.

"I don't... I have no glory," he mumbles. "He said... I could have it. Who did he think he was? Lock me? He was supposed to kill both of you."

His tone is harsh, but it reflects the anguish of someone who has nothing left to lose.

He turns his face towards Luciana. He contemplates her in silence for a moment, trying to make sense of her features and expression. But, he can't really see her, I can see it in his eyes. In them there is a creepy emptiness.

Suddenly, he reaches out and pushes Luciana violently, pushing her away from him.

"AAAAAHH! YOU!"

Luciana, on the other hand, can barely react to the sudden rage attack. Perplexed and humiliated, she can only observe her father at a distance.

"Father... Why... why... do you hate me so much? I... I didn't kill mom," she says this with a thin voice. I think that, if she lost consciousness of reality, if she forgot everything, even her most recent memories, even so, this is the only thing that would stay with her later.

I don't know what kind of agreement the two demons had, but there was something true: the Astrologer could have lied gloriously to Luciana's father all this time. His only intention seemed to be finding Rosier's reincarnation, and the rest didn't matter. What for? I have no idea. What is also true is that the Inquisitor can't be the one to end his daughter's life. It doesn't fit his identity. How could he be the villain in his own story? He's the innocent, the hero, and Luciana is the curse that ruined his life. He can't be the villain, oh, no, because he is too narcissistic to think of himself as such.

The Inquisitor stands up, takes the Lightning Scepter, and tries to pounce on Luciana, but, guessing his intention, I stand between them. I struggle with the Inquisitor for a moment, until I can kick him in the belly to get him away from Luciana. However, when standing up, he points us alternately with the scepter. Even if the Lightning Scepter still has some power, I can't tell, and that is why I prefer to shield Luciana myself.

"Do you really think that she killed her mother?"

For the Inquisitor, this fact must make all the sense in the world. I think even Luciana can understand it. On the other hand, for me, even saying these words gives me a sense of alienation, of something ridiculous and impossible, just as if I were talking about flying cows.