Potent

“Gemini?”

“Yes?” Gemini answered, startled to hear Mira’s voice. Mira stood in the doorway of her room.

“Lord Valentine wants to speak with you.” Mira looked worried, most likely for her.

“Thank you for letting me know, Mira.” Gemini managed to smile at her.

Moments later, she made her way to Lord Valentine’s office only to find it empty. She decided that it would be best to wait until he came.

While she waited, she looked around the room, hoping to glean any information. Books and papers were scattered about everywhere. His harp was abandoned by the window. She picked up one of the papers. It had lines of messy and crossed out music written on it…

He writes music? Harp music? That was a surprise to her. She set the paper back on the ground. She hoped that Valentine wouldn’t notice that it had been moved.

Gemini noticed some curious items on bookshelf behind his desk along with other miscellaneous items. They looked like urns or jars with lids. She carefully made her way over to them, trying to avoid breaking or tearing anything. There were six of them, all in a row, they were all the same deathly pale color. Except each one had a word written on it. She picked up the first one:

CORNELIUS

It had her father’s name on it. Horrified, she nearly dropped it. Without wasting any time, she inspected the other ones:

NORMA

ORION

ANDROMEDA

CARINA

VELA

She didn’t realized how fast her heartbeat was until she could hear it in her ears. Tears rushed to her eyes and her throat started filling up with sobs. Carefully, she set the jar back on the shelf. Why did Valentine have jars with her family’s’ names on it? What was in them? Gemini picked up her father’s jar again and gripped the lid.

“I wouldn’t open that.”

She jumped and let out a gasp, almost causing her to drop the jar again.

Valentine leaned over his desk, supporting himself with his hands. His face was expressionless as usual.

“Why not?” Gemini suddenly felt a knot form in her stomach.

“Because it has your father’s soul in it,” he answered as he came over, took the jar from her hands, and placed it back.

She stiffened.

Everything seemed to freeze. A jolt of panic and shock raced through her body. In that moment of her life, she had never felt such disbelief and fear.

She didn’t speak for a full minute.

She stared at him.

Finally, Gemini mustered the will to say one word.

“What.”

Valentine smirked at her. She wanted to slap him. How could he? How could he stand there are smirking after telling her such news? “You lie. They’re dead, you said so yourself!” Her voice rose with every word.

“And you said it yourself, Gemini: I lie. And I do it masterfully.” His arrogance in his voice was so nauseating, she almost felt sick. She gripped the sides on the shelf for support.

“How?” She choked out. “How did you bring my family, who were as dead as a door handle, back to life?”

He smiled coldly. He was enjoying this.

“They had no souls but only because the demons had devoured them. It’s like when you eat something. It’s still inside of you. I only had to force their souls out of the demons,” he explained.

“So they vomited my family’s souls back up?”

“Yes.”

Gemini managed to hold herself together. “But how did you know to do that?”

“I didn’t.” Valentine smirked again at the shocked look on her face. “You see, magic is not something you memorize. It’s creative. The only limit is your imagination. And how much magic you can store.”

“Store… where?” Why was she asking him this? Gemini didn’t even know anymore. She was too shell-shocked to think straight.

“Inside yourself. Much like a bucket. You fill it with water but some buckets are bigger than others. Mine being the largest as of now.”

“That’s why you’re the Mastermind of Magic…”

“Precisely.”

She felt dazed, like she was walking through a ghostly dream. Her family was alive… technically speaking.

“How did you know they were dead? And if you already knew, why did you trick me into thinking that they were?” Gemini felt her fury starting to rise.

“I’m the Mastermind of Magic, I have ways of finding out information. And I thought it would be obvious why I tricked you. Thrice.”

“What do you mean?” Gemini furrowed her eyebrows.

“Why do you think I let you read that book?” Valentine asked, cocking his head.

She blinked. Suddenly she realized everything.

“You set this all up… you planned it…”

He scoffed, grinning.

“Finally she realizes it.” He leaned against his desk. “Yes, I left that book open so you would want to read it. I let you have it so that you would question your family’s safety. I agreed to find out if they were alive so you would find out that their souls were eaten. I took their souls and let you believe that they were dead.”

“Why? Why would you do all this?” Gemini asked, her eyes wide.

“You don’t know?” Valentine feigned suspicion and surprise. Gemini could see that much.

She was about to shake her head when she had a thought come to her.

“You want something from me.”

“I want six things from you. Six deals within a deal.”

“In exchange for my family’s souls.”

“In exchange for properly returning your family’s souls. If I just gave them to you, they’d do you no good. In order to return their souls back, you need magic, which you don’t have. I will personally and properly return them to your family’s bodies,” Valentine corrected.

“You set this all up so that you could make me trade something for their lives,” She hissed.

“Yes.” He didn’t even deny it. He was enjoying this too much.

Gemini tried to slap him but he caught her hand. She instantly fought him. Screaming and cursing him all the while.

“You--heartless--cruel--lying--bastard!”

She tried hitting, kicking, struggling, scratching but was unable to hurt him. He was far too good at stopping her. Before she could think of any other ways to hurt him, he pinned her to a wall, his arm to her throat, his hand imprisoning both of hers, and one of his legs pressing hers to the wall. Gemini could barely move an inch or breathe well.

Valentine stared down at her, impassive, and hardly winded. Did anything affect him?

“I hope this helps remind you that you can’t win a physical struggle with me,” he murmured to her, so gently. She shivered. The sickly sweetness she first remembered hearing colored his voice. He pushed harder against her throat. Gemini tried to cry out but couldn’t. “The more you struggle, the more likely it will be that your family will never live again. And the more likely you’ll be even more miserable.”

She wanted to prove him wrong. She wanted to fight him with last her breath. But he was right. He so frustratingly right. She nodded quickly and the pressure on her neck lessened.

“Fine,” She gasped.

“Good girl.” He released her with a fraction of a smile and went over to his desk. “Now, which soul do you want to bargain for first?” She rubbed her neck and took a deep breath, thinking.

“My father.”

“I thought so.” Valentine picked up Cornelius’ jar.

“What do you want for his soul?” Gemini asked, flatly.

“Just a few tears,” he said as he also got a tiny glass.

“A few tears?” She was incredulous. “You could ask for my firstborn child and you want a few tears?”

“Are you complaining, Gemini?” He glanced at her, sternly.

“No… I just--”

“Good. Now can you give me some tears?” He held up the glass.

Frankly, Gemini didn’t want to cry in front of him. She didn’t feel like it. “Think of something sad. If you can’t, I can make you cry.”

“Don’t you dare.”

Valentine smirked.

“Stop stalling. Cry.”

She gritted her teeth and thought of this whole situation with her family. They were probably still laying on the floor of her house as they had been for weeks… She thought of Quinn and the horrible death he died… She thought of her village being burnt to the ground…

Tears flowed. Valentine pressed the glass against her cheeks to catch all the tears. His lingering smirk told her that he was enjoying this. Finally, he pulled the glass away. “Thank you, that’ll be all the tears needed.”

He poured the tears into another dark liquid in a small bottle and capped it. Gemini wiped her eyes.

“Now will you--”

“Yes, I know. Goodness, so impatient,” He interrupted, annoyed. He picked up Cornelius’ jar again and waved his hand.

The black smoke surrounded them and they appeared back in her family’s estate.

Valentine went over to her father’s body. Gemini trailed behind him, hugging herself, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t trick her again. He took the lid off the jar and a ghostly combination of a smoke and liquid flowed out.

He grasped the air and the liquid smoke stopped. He moved his hand and it followed him, with Valentine leading it back to her father. He opened his hand and curled his fingers as if holding a sphere. It draped itself over her father, as if soaking into him.

Moments later, Cornelius opened his eyes as if waking up. He flinched when he saw them.

“Mastermind Valentine…” He looked at her. “Gemini!”

Cornelius started to get up but Valentine held his hand up and her father stopped. “What’s going on? Let me speak to my--”

“We were only here to return your soul to you, Cornelius. This is not a visit,” Valentine interrupted. He rose to his feet.

Gemini’s father looked around him and paled at the scene.

“What happened to them? What did you do?”

Valentine ignored him.

“We will hopefully be back to return the rest of their souls, however, that depends on Gemini. Farewell.”

Gemini had been too shocked to speak but quickly shook herself out of her daze.

“Papa, take care of them!” She cried, just before Valentine waved his hand and they left in a puff of smoke.

They were back in Nebel Manor in his office. As if nothing had happened, Valentine tucked Cornelius’ jar away out of sight since it no longer held anything.

“I thought you were finally starting to show the shred of kindness that was in you…” Gemini whispered, finally letting out her tears. “Then you betray my trust, deceive me, and taunt me with my family’s lives…” She tried to put as much hurt and anger in her voice but she couldn’t stop the grief and sadness she felt.

Valentine smiled ever so coldly at her.

“Poor, innocent, little Gemini. Didn’t you know that I never wanted your trust? You were so desperate for someone to care about you that you didn’t see who I really was and how much I wanted to see you break. You actually thought someone besides your ever-forgiving family would care?”

“I thought you were being kind to me last night,” She said, hollowly.

“Oh, don’t try to make me feel guilty. I’m not. And that wasn’t kindness, that was… entertainment.” Valentine’s twisted smile made her want to slap him and scream at him.

But she could do any of that. She turned away from him trying to hide her tears. He would not see her hurting because of him. She was not going to give him that power or satisfaction. “Aw, are you sad because I betrayed you?”

“No. I’m angry because I let myself think that you were good. I was wrong.”

Gemini faced him. She let him see her tears. “You’re evil. No wonder you live in the Dark Lands. You’re just like the creatures and demons that live here. You’re one of them.”

“Am I supposed to be sorry?”

It was in that moment that Gemini realized something terrible.

Valentine liked being cruel. He liked who he was. He had no shame.

With no more strength or wit or willpower left, Gemini fled the room feeling as if Valentine had just put a knife in her back, twisted it violently, and laughed at her pain.