Chapter 81: Damn, I really hate these ’gods’
This part of the mansion felt a little creepy, especially after what he had overheard in the main hall.
"My Lord? Can we speak about what we just overheard?" Sam whispered as Cass continued a brisque gait towards the temple. Cass frowned, and shook his head.
"No, Sam. We’ll save it for when we are behind closed doors. Like them, we do not know who is listening in on us." Cass told him carefully, and Sam gulped.
"Y-You are right. Of course you are right. Sorry my Lord. I just...that was a lot to take in." Sam mumbled, and Cass grew worried. Sam didn’t normally get like this, but Byron stepped in to comfort him.
"Sam, don’t let what they said get to you. It is clear that Lord Vespertine is against whatever Lady Ava has planned, and I do believe that he was speaking the truth when he said he could take everything from her if she went down the wrong path." Byron whispered and Cass couldn’t look back at them to see what Sam’s expression was.
He could, however, hear Sam’s breathy exhale.
"But...she is supposed to be the one who takes over. She is supposed to be a beacon of light and hope. If she goes through...he said purity, Byron. People I care about could be in danger. You could be in danger." Cass was sure that Byron loved that Cass considered him in the same group of people he cared about.
"And do you truly think our Lord would let anything happen to any of us if it ever came to that? Our Lord is a caring and kind person to those who are loyal to him. You and I both know this. He would gladly stand in the way if something like what you are worried about came to be. What is the temple compared to the Blackburn family?" Wow Byron.
Really throw Cass to the wolves, why don’t you?
The Lord Blackburn they were familiar with wasn’t the same as the Cass they were growing familiar with, but it appeared that Byron’s words did appear to comfort Sam, and by the time that they made it to the entrance into the temple from the mansion, Sam had regained his composure, and Cass had pushed all useless thoughts to the back of his mind.
He was curious about this ’god’ that was speaking to Lady Ava though.
When Cass pushed open the door to the temple, he felt his legs quake. He wasn’t sure why he suddenly felt a little weaker, but he didn’t pay it any mind as he realised no one else was inside the temple at this time. Moving quickly, he headed towards those damn statues near the front of the temple, Byron and Sam following behind.
"My Lord? Shall we hang back?" Sam asked and Cass shrugged.
"Just stay within sight of me." Cass told him as he sat down on the damn pew and clasped his hands together. He didn’t exactly remember how he had done this last time.
He heard Sam and Byron shuffle away, speaking softly to each other. So quiet that Cass couldn’t hear them, which was somewhat surprising to him. He had generally been able to hear everything that others had said around him.
Thinking about that, that was a little strange, wasn’t it? He shouldn’t have been able to hear everything as clearly as he had, especially when it came to people whispering around him. Hell, when Vespertine had leaned in and threatened Lady Ava, he shouldn’t have been able to hear that as clearly as he had.
He hadn’t had hearing like this in his other body. He’d also been practically blind, but Lord Blackburn had damn near perfect eyesight. Maybe even better than perfect. He wouldn’t know. He’d needed glasses before.
Cass sighed, clenching his hands tightly together as he bowed his head. He felt like the ’gods’ were laughing at him as he sat here, and he wondered what was the right move. His hands were clasped, he was bent over, should he ask them if they were there? He did that last time, and it might have worked?
It wouldn’t hurt, would it?
Hello? Is anyone there?
Cass felt like an idiot, and waited a beat for an answer. He’d done this last time, but he still wasn’t sure if this was proper procedure. What he didn’t do this time was wait to open his eyes until he thought he was going to lose his mind from rage.
He already had that burning inside of him, so he didn’t need to wait.
Cass opened his eyes, and found that he wasn’t in the temple anymore.
"Oh, you did not embarrass yourself this time. How tragic. I was looking forward to you struggling." The voice that greeted him sent a shiver down his spine, and Cass glanced around, his eyes aching at the endless black that greeted him.
Yup. This was the fucking ’god’ realm or whatever the hell anyone would call this. Probably some uptight priests of the religion these idiots founded.
"I plan to only do that once, thank you." Cass shot back, and laughter filled the space around him. He hated it, since it wasn’t like how an echo was supposed to sound like. "Anyway, I’m here to ask you some serious questions." Cass started, wanting to make this as quick as possible.
"The assumption is that you would never come here to ask unserious questions, Caspian Spencer, but ask away." Cass felt a shiver run through his very core at the reminder of who he was. It was...it was probably a good thing, honestly, but there was an ache in his chest he hadn’t anticipated. Was he getting close to the people of this world, enough that he had absorbed some characteristics of Lord Blackburn?
Maybe. Possibly. That was probably where the rage was coming from.
"I am having an issue." Cass started. "And I had a feeling that you, or whoever else is there, would be able to answer it." Cass sighed. "Is Lord Blackburn stuck in this body? Is he dead? Where is he?" Cass asked and a breeze brushed past him. This was supposed to be a void, so he wondered where the hell that had come from.
He’d noticed it last time, but for a void it was strangely...not void-like. It didn’t feel like a living space, but it was...unusual. He’d never been in a void before, but he’d had several described to him before. Did they like...put a tarp over an area and call it a void or something?
Cheap fuckers.
Silence reigned for a long, long moment before a different voice spoke. Cass wasn’t sure how he knew it was different, it was just a knowing that came over him. It was clear they weren’t playing games like they had the first time they had switched between others.
"What? He is still there? There is no way that is possible. We made a deal. He was supposed to leave." The ’god’ was pissed. Cass didn’t need to be able to tell who or what was speaking to know. The energy in the void shifted, until Cass didn’t feel like he was safe.
"Well, don’t get mad at me! You are the ones who fucked this up by not making sure the vessel you gave me was empty! I feel like an asshole! Is there a way to check if this is fully Lord Blackburn, or if this is a fragment of him? If it’s a fragment, I’ll need help figuring out the rest of his memories since they are hidden from me, but if this is the real Lord Blackburn, I don’t know if I can continue this. He keeps coming to the forefront sometimes, speaking for me, and I’m not so much upset about that, but I am more upset about the fact that I’m basically a parasite that took over his damn body!" Cass knew he sounded slightly hysterical.
He was hysterical. There was no slight about it.
He hadn’t been able to speak his concerns out loud in fear someone else would hear him, but here he could. They knew damn well what was going on, and Cass was freaking the fuck out. It was a panic inducing situation. Anyone would consider so.
He did not want to be someone or something that hurt others like this. Who actually took over someone else’s body, without their consent, and spoke for them. This was his worst fear. He’d had his ability to choose as a child taken away, and even his sister had sometimes taken it away. He hated it. He liked being able to choose. It was different when he was acting like Lord Blackburn, because he had to do that.
But it was a different story if Lord Blackburn was basically watching Cass act like him, only able to speak in moments of great emotion. Cass knew he was an asshole, but he wasn’t a fucking monster. Not like that.
"Caspian, you are not a parasite. It appears that an error occurred when your soul was placed into his body. You are not at fault here. It just might mean we will need to look into this further. Boring you with the finer details of soul merging is not something that should interest you, nor something you should be wasting your time hearing. With that being said, your worries are valid. Give us a few moments, and we shall peer into your interior structure. We won’t poke around, we just want to see what is going on inside." Cass didn’t like the sound of that.
"What the hell does that mean? Do I have to consent to this? Explain this clearly so I understand what you are doing. I do not want to consent to something I do not have basic knowledge in." Cass protested and more of the eerie laughter filled the air.
"You do not need to consent, Caspian. Now, stand still, or we will tie you up with the chains again."