Page 20

The Puppet Master

W e remained hidden as Garmr stepped inside and it was strange, like we held our breath at the same time.

But it soon became apparent that Garmr was far too preoccupied to notice that he wasn’t as alone as he thought he was.

Hastily, he walked toward his mirror, as if it held so much more than that of his image.

As for the mirror, just like the rest of the room, it was an exact replica of our own. Although admittedly, not long ago ours had been shattered in pieces but that was before Anástasi had fixed it.

She had become frustrated, as clearly, she wasn’t used to dealing with a mountain of curly hair, nor did she quite know what to do with it. But then I remembered the vision I’d had of her when back in the temple with Lerna.

Her hair had been straight as a pin, so it was no wonder she didn’t know how to tame my mad hair. Honestly, it made me want to chuckle every time she huffed about it or stamped her foot in frustration. In the end, I took mercy on her and told her how to tie it up.

Which meant that the majority of it was currently pulled back from our face, with only the shorter curls that would escape. Curls she pushed back now so as not to hinder our view.

Garmr was about to use this mirror for something other than doing his own hair. And I was right, because the same green swirls of smoke that could flow from our own hands, started to seep from all around him.

Then once most of his body was consumed in this green mist, he lifted a hand toward the mirror. He waved his palm in front of it and started to mutter words neither of us could hear but whatever it was, it seemed to channel the mist.

The result of which meant that it was soon being gathered together, making it more concentrated.

Doing so until it became a swirl of green smoke, flowing with the direction of his hand.

It continued to grow in thickness, making it seem more tangible.

A palpable creature he could control, making it coil around the mirror in the direction he wanted it to go.

This ended with the continuous circling of summoning power, making it now look like a snake eating its own tail.

And we didn’t have to question why for long, as suddenly, at the center, an image started to appear.

However, from this angle I couldn’t quite make out who it was, but it was clear it was a man. Then Garmr spoke a word neither of us recognized, just before a second voice filled the room.

“Faeir, I am here.”

“Nier… right where you need to be. Now tell me of your progress,” the voice said, making me wonder what those foreign words meant.

“The rest of the army is on their way with the remains you sent. They should be arriving within the hour,” Garmr informed him, the eagerness in his tone easy to hear.

“Good, then our plan is nearing its fruition and with it, the end of our enemies.”

We saw Garmr bow his head, making me realize who this was… this was the real Puppet Master. The one who had been pulling the strings all along.

“When will you arrive?” Garmr asked, instantly giving me a bad feeling. Because it was one thing having Garmr to deal with, but an enemy of unknown power… was bad… very, very bad.

“When I can link to my kin, then I will be strong enough to make a portal, for this is one battle I do not wish to miss,” he replied.

“And one we will not have to retreat from this time,” Garmr added with an edge of bitterness.

“No, but I trust it was necessary like you believed it was, for you needed more of a reason to present to the girl to bring her to heel.”

I felt my counterpart practically tense every muscle we possessed as they began to speak about her.

“Anástasi has done well, for her powers grow daily,” Garmr praised, making Anástasi clench our teeth.

“You sound like a proud father,” the unknown being commented with a scoff.

“I am proud, for we could not have done this without her, you know that” Garmr argued, prompting an amused chuckle from the other side.

“Don’t worry, I will recognize her status and connection to you once our goals have been accomplished. Have patience, for you will soon be able to claim her fully like you have always wished… along with the feel of her cunt upon your shaft.”

Anástasi had to cover her mouth as she gasped. Whereas I just felt like shouting BING-FUCKING-O! Because there it was. What I had been waiting for. For Garmr to damn himself and, thankfully for me, he only continued to do so.

“This is not just about rutting her!” Garmr argued, making whoever it was laugh.

“No? Then I am curious, how does she feel about waiting and knowing the reasons why you can’t claim her yet? That it would strip you of your control?”

I felt tears fill her eyes as the vision of the man she loved turned blurry.

“I have my ways, so do not question my ability to control her, for she believes what I want her to. I need not remind you of our deal, for she will be my Queen, Faeir,” Garmr threatened, and for a moment Anástasi turned her head away and closed her eyes, causing more tears to fall.

“Yes, yes, you will have a taste of her and for real this time, for I do not care how much you plunder her cunt after I have all the realms under my control.”

“And they will be, except this one, for the Underworld will be mine!” Garmr vowed in a sinister tone.

“And you may have it just as we planned. For it is your right, your heritage deems it so, Nier. And what’s more, we will keep it, for even Lucifer himself could not stop us, not when we have Fenrir leading the way.”

“He will only listen to you, remember that” Garmr said as if needing to remind him of this fact.

“And I will be there to control the beast, have no worry. You just get your little summoner to do her part and I will do the rest.”

Garmr nodded.

“We are near, Nier, and will soon be rewarded for eons of patience, for soon the Gods will fear us once more, when they kneel and bleed at our feet.”

A shudder ran through both of us at this, which meant that it was most definitely sinking in with Anástasi as to what this truly was. That I was right… we were nothing more than a weapon.

“Fear us, they will,” Garmr replied as way of goodbye, and with a slash of his hand, the green snake was broken before it evaporated completely.

As for Anástasi, she was visibly shaking, making me say,

“Come on, just keep it together for a little longer, be strong, honey.’ ” Because I couldn’t help but feel bad for her, feeling her devastation for myself. The way our fists clenched and every muscle tensed with her lip quivering. Because now she knew.

It had all been a lie.

A lie Garmr could no longer deny. And as for me, I had achieved my goal, but I couldn’t help but ask myself… at what cost?

But then something strange happened because instead of celebrating in what was soon to be his victory, Garmr sat on the bed and lowered his head into his hands, as if grief stricken.

It was such a strange reaction that I couldn’t help but think it humanized him.

It was if he was at war with himself and it confused the hell out of me.

Especially when he pulled back and looked down at his hands, like he was looking at all the blood he was about to spill dripping from them.

But then the moment was shattered when there came a knock at the door, making him sigh before standing.

“What is it?!” he snapped, his frustration easy to hear in his sharp tone.

“My Lord, the convoy has been spotted, along with the army.”

Again, he sighed before making his way to the door. But when he paused long enough to look directly our way, my heart would have stopped had I been in control of it. He even made a step toward where we were hidden, but paused when the voice behind the door asked,

“My Lord?”

This was enough to jar him back into action, and he shook his head. No doubt believing whatever he felt or heard was nothing. He finally left the room, and I felt our body deflate back against the stone wall as all the air left us.

I started to get worried when Anástasi didn’t move or speak, telling me that she was trying to process all that she had just witnessed. But I knew I had to try and get her to act.

“We need to leave here.”

I felt her shaking her head, her emotions overwhelming her.

“Come on, honey, we need to get back to our room, at least before we are discovered missing,” I told her.

“It meant nothing… I meant nothing,” she replied in a heartbroken tone.

I couldn’t help but feel bad for her, whereas before I might have reveled in this realization. But now, I couldn’t help but share in her pain. So I made the decision to trust myself to do what was right.

“I think it’s clear someone else is pulling the strings here, and as for Garmr, he is doing all of this with the promise he gets to keep you.”

“Why do you defend him, after all, isn’t this what you wanted?” she asked, her voice near breaking as her tears fell.

“I am not defending him, his actions, nor his lies. But I think his motivation isn’t as clear cut as using you to take over the realms. You’re just his prize for doing so.”

“He is using me just like he always has,” she replied, making me sigh.

“And now you know the truth, so it’s time to ask yourself, what are you going to do about it, Anástasi?”

Her head snapped up and I felt the rush of anger rise from her as she gained her feet.

“I will tell you what I am going to do… I am going to destroy all he made me build,” she said in a dark tone, making me quickly say,

“Whoa, okay let’s not get all kill crazy here. We need to think about this,” I told her as she started walking toward the mirror, and the sight of her determination reflected back. The hurt in our eyes morphed into hatred, soon making them glow a sinister green.

“There is nothing to think about. He has used me as a weapon, just like you said he did. He controlled every element of my life for his gain. All his lies of loving me, of doing this for me, to keep me safe, it was all just a way to manipulate me to win his war,” she said, facing herself as hot, fat tears ran down her cheeks.

“What are you going to do?” I asked in a fearful tone, hoping I hadn’t made a mistake here.

“I am going to end this… going to end this Puppet Master,” she said, flicking out her fingers and smashing the glass on the mirror, before turning away from the broken shards.

After this, we left and instead of walking back to our room, she started to make her way toward where the balcony was.

The one Garmr had forced me onto the day before I regained my powers.

The one that showcased his army of Hellhounds and demons alike.

An army that, by now, I knew had grown exceptionally.

“Okay, we need to take a minute here, because we don’t know what he is capable of, Anástasi,” I argued, trying to reason with her.

“He cannot beat me,” she stated in a hard tone.

“Maybe not, but we have never had to fight him, so you don’t know that for sure.”

“There is only one way to find out,” she snapped, making me start to panic.

“Please, Anástasi, let’s not be hasty, we need to plan what our next move is.” Because I was sure it wasn’t this.

What was she going to do here, snap his neck and toss him to his army below the battlements?

“My next move is to destroy what he loves the most,” she vowed, and I had to admit, her deadly tone was really starting to worry me.

“No, what we need to do is play this smart. Because if we show our hand too soon it could backfire.”

When she didn’t respond but just kept walking to where we knew he would be, I continued to plead with her.

“Listen to me, Anástasi, he forced me to take hold of that book, he had the power over me in that throne room, so what if he holds that same power over you?” I asked, trying to get her to see what I really didn’t want to say. But hoping she got there on her own.

Garmr had made one thing about their relationship very clear, and I knew it was the part she would struggle with the most, just as I had but for very different reasons.

“He doesn’t,” she argued, and I wanted to scream in frustration. Something I might have done if I didn’t think it would send her over the edge.

“But we don’t know that! What if he can force you to do whatever it is this bad guy needs you to do…? We will have given up our one and only chance at escaping,” I tried again, but it was no use.

“Escape, I have no wish to escape!” she argued, making me inwardly wince.

“But we have to! We have to get back to Jared and help them fight this war, they will lose if we don’t!” I told her, my own tone desperate and pleading.

“There will be no war, not when he has no army to fight, an army I will soon take from him,” she said with so much venom, I could feel the power pulsating beneath our skin. Which was when I knew I had no other choice left. I had one last card to play, and I knew it would be the most painful yet.

‘Please, oh god, please, Anástasi, I implore you, don’t do anything rash here, this could be our only chance… he can obviously control us, think about it, think about what he has made you believe has happened between you, when it hasn’t.”

At this she finally took pause, and a hand reached out to the wall to steady herself. Because it was clear that she had blocked this part of the conversation out until I had just reminded her.

“He… he controlled my mind… made me believe he had… that he had made love to me.”

I felt our eyes close as more tears fell. Because she wasn’t wrong… he had done that. There was no other way to spin it, not after the conversation we heard.

It was obvious now that he couldn’t have sex with her.

Not unless he wanted to lose his control over her.

But as their relationship progressed, how could he tell her that?

How could he tell her that he couldn’t be intimate with her because it would take away the one thing he needed from her the most…

the guarantee of his ownership over her power.

So, he had obviously found another way… to make her believe that they had made love.

Despite how bad I felt for her, I couldn’t say that I wasn’t elated.

Because this was what I had struggled with the most. The idea that my body wasn’t my own and it was being touched by the enemy.

As if I was being willingly raped, but with half of my mind giving him consent.

But now, to know that my body was still my own in this way, was like a gift and eased my own heartache.

It soothed my battered soul and centered it once more.

Yet I knew that ultimately…

It came at a cost…

Anástasi’s heartbreak.