Diabolical - Chapter 21 (Patreon)

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There was a moment of silence as the witch processed his question. It seemed she thought his words up until now were nonsense, not meant to be taken seriously. After all, who would chat up an intruder with questionable intentions? More likely, he was trying to misdirect her or stall for time, yet she couldn’t help but reconsider.

“…you wish to parley with me?”

There was a note of suspicion in her tone.

Arthur had to fight the urge to rub his temples. Needless to say, his social situation was a novel one. He had precious little experience interacting with witches—that is to say, none at all.

“Yes.”

He decided to go with the flow. It wasn’t like he could make his real motivations known.

The woman’s face remained blank, but her confusion and disbelief were palpable.

“I’ll boil some water. Mr. Nelson should have a gas stove.”

Without giving her a chance to refuse, he turned and directly headed out the door, leaving the tense and embarrassing atmosphere behind. When he reached the stairway, he sighed quietly to himself.

‘I’ve made some bad decisions, but this one may just take the cake.’

Not only was having her around dangerous to his health, but she seemed to think he was someone else! The more time he spent around her, the higher the possibility she’d figure out something was off. Who knew how she would react, then?

After imperceptibly shaking his head, he headed downstairs.

It turned out that Kent did indeed have a gas stove, shoved into the corner of his modest kitchen. Arthur found some matches nearby and lit it with familiarity. While he busied himself with their tea, he couldn’t help but think of Jane.

‘I wonder if she’s alright…’

It seemed a foolhardy wish, given he hadn’t a clue what happened to her after passing out, but there was something giving him hope—the maid. Ms. Squint looked after Jane since her youth, so it wasn’t unreasonable to rely on her.

It was important to note that Arthur was still ignorant regarding the estate’s destruction. Having lost consciousness before the explosion, he awakened inside the pyramid after some time had passed. 

He’d hoped to find out the details from Kent, but that wasn’t possible right now. Left with no other choice, he could only leave the issue until after the man woke up.

‘The witch might know, but can I trust her?’

The answer was a resounding ‘no’. He didn’t know who she was or what her motivations were. Asking for help regarding his personal matters seemed, well… not very smart. He doubted it would be productive, either.

‘Honestly, I don’t even feel that worried. Am I a bad person?’

While he was concerned about his mother, it was more of a mental than emotional thing. He felt… pretty calm.

Having no other recourse, he decided to shelve the issue. Even if he could teleport back to the Grimm estate, he didn’t know how. Also, despite his newfound power, he wasn’t confident he could liberate Jane on his own.

After sighing for what felt like the hundredth time, he poured the boiled water into a teapot. When he’d set two cups, coffee, tea, milk and sugar on a tray, he headed toward the living room.

‘Mr. Nelson shouldn’t have a problem with me doing this, right?’

Technically, he was just showing hospitality to their ‘guest’, so raiding the kitchen shouldn’t be a big deal.

The moment Arthur stepped into the living room, he noticed the witch looming behind the sofa, like a shadowy specter.

“I couldn’t find anything other than tea and coffee. I hope you don’t mind.”

Trying his best to appear nonchalant, he walked over to the low table in the middle of the room before putting the tray down. Then, he took a seat on the sofa’s corner.

“…you expect me to drink this mortal swill?”

Speaking in a flat tone, she stared at Arthur from behind the couch. If the youth wanted to make eye-contact with her, he’d have to look over his shoulder.

“That isn’t very polite, you know? If you don’t like tea or coffee, the proper refusal would be ‘I’m not thirsty’ or something similar.”

He purposefully tried to sound lighthearted, not wanting her to think he was stirring up trouble.

While she mulled over his words, he made himself a cup of java. It wasn’t freeze-dried like that commonly available during the 21st century, but actual beans that had to be crushed and filtered. Fortunately, he was familiar with the process.

“Won’t you sit down?”

When he’d prepared his drink, he addressed the silent witch. Her incessant glowering was fraying his already taut nerves.

Surprisingly, she heeded his request. However, instead of claiming the opposite couch, she sat beside him. There was about a cushion’s space separating them, but it was close enough that he could smell her perfume.

That, combined with the sight of her low-cut dress made his pants feel uncomfortably small, despite them not being his size. He surreptitiously shifted in his seat, hoping she wouldn’t notice.

With a casual hand-motion, the witch conjured a crystal decanter, filled with a dark-red liquid. After pouring a small amount into a similarly conjured glass, she raised it to her pale, blue lips.

“What do you wish to discuss?”

While taking a sip, her inky eyes gazed frostily at Arthur.

The boy felt somewhat embarrassed. After all, he didn’t really want to negotiate with her. His motivations were more… impure.

“Firstly, I’d like to know your name. I already told you mine, so an exchange would be fair.”

The witch narrowed her eyes. It was difficult to say why, but it was clear his question provoked her to some extent.

At first, it seemed she wasn’t going to reply, but after a few moments of consideration, she obliged his request.

“…my true name belongs only to me. In the past, another has known it, but he no longer lives. Still, those of the present day know me as Diana of Themiscyra, so I suppose you may address me as such.”

When she revealed her name and origin, Arthur was immediately shocked into silence. His eyes were without iris or pupil, but the lazily-drifting currents of quicksilver suddenly jolted, evidencing his distress.

‘No. Fucking. Way!’

Disbelief struck him like a physical wave to the point were he actually felt lightheaded. How could it possibly be her?

‘She appears and acts incredibly strange. Something is seriously wrong here!’

He wanted to deny it, but the more he looked at her, the more he realized she distinctly resembled to the most iconic female DC superhero. Her curly, black hair, her heroic facial features, like a Greek sculpture and her athletic figure—they substantiated her unbelievable claim.

‘Is this some evil, alternate version of her or is this the doing of a villain?’

Arthur wracked his brain, but he couldn’t come up with any conjectures. In the first place, he knew next to nothing about wonder woman’s roster of villains, aside from Cheetah. However, this kind of thing was distinctly not her style or expertise.

“That name means something to you.”

‘Diana’s’ tone was both curious and suspicious.

Before, Arthur had literally been caught with his pants down, but now it happened in a figurative sense. His mouth opened and closed as he realized his predicament—his face had given it away! 

He wanted to deny her claim, but it would be an obvious lie. In the end, he could only tell the truth, unless he wanted to risk souring their already tenuous relationship.

“That is… true.”

His reply was hesitant. He didn’t want to say too much, but too little could also be dangerous.

The witch slowly sampled her wine while staring at him with a piercing gaze. One of her black, manicured nails tapped steadily against her glass.

“’Diana’ and ‘Arthur’ have never met, yet you know of me. Does my reputation precede me, or is there another reason?”

The question was spoken casually, but there was no room for his dismissal. She was demanding an answer.

Arthur was really in a bind. He didn’t want to confess his origins, so he could only admit to the former. However, while he did know the normal ‘Diana’ by reputation, he didn’t know anything about this one.

“I know a little about ‘Diana of Themiscyra’, but I don’t really know anything about you.”

His answer was a cryptic nothing-burger, but it wasn’t untrue. Primarily, it was meant to buy him time to think, in case she pressed him for more information.

“Is that so…”

Their inhuman eyes gazes were locked together. Hers was piercing, meant to pressure him into revealing his hand. His was open and honest, an attempt to showcase his sincerity.

She either decided to let the matter rest or, more likely, she wasn’t that interested in the first place, because she soon changed the topic.

“State your intentions so we may advance this discourse. I cannot remain here indefinitely.”

A trace of impatience appeared in her voice. The youth wasn’t surprised, since she didn’t seem the type to just sit and chat.

Sighing, he took a long sip of his coffee. It didn’t seem he’d be able to keep her, which was both relieving and frustrating.

“You seemed familiar, so I wanted to talk to you. It’s a shame if you need to leave, but you’re a busy woman, so I guess it can’t be helped.”

Inwardly, he felt a little ashamed because of the ‘you looked familiar’ comment—it was such a cliché pick-up line. However, in this case, he was actually telling the truth.

In response to his words, the witch seemed to realize something, but then she frowned imperceptibly.

“It is no great surprise that you know of me, but your desire for conversation is truly perplexing. You and I were never on speaking terms.”

Towards the end, her voice turned blatantly hostile. Also, the icy center of her eyes turned a sinister, violet color. Arthur was sure that, even if he scoured the world, he wouldn’t be able to find someone who rocked the ‘evil witch’ look as well as she did.

“I’ve said it before, but if you and I had some relationship previously, then I don’t remember it. Unfortunately, it looks like we weren’t exactly on the same side...”

Before he could finish his statement, Diana started laughing quietly. However, it was a dark, spine-chilling sound, completely devoid of humor.

“Ridiculous! Your charade is so blatant even a child would see through it, yet it is for that reason that it is difficult to dismiss…”

She spoke more to herself than to him. Then, without giving him a chance to interject, she continued immediately, sounding even more hostile than before.

“Whether or not you are ignorant makes no difference. Your past deeds cannot be erased. I may have stilled my hand, but even if I do not act, your other enemies will not let you rest.”

There was anticipation in her voice, like she couldn’t wait to see him ripped limb from limb.

Naturally, this wasn’t pleasant for Arthur to hear. His silvery lips curved into a frown.

On one hand, he didn’t want to be enemies with this woman. From what he’d seen, she was even stronger than her normal self. Not only were her physical qualities superhuman, but she also possessed magical abilities on the same level as Doctor Fate.

However, on the other, he couldn’t just say, ‘I’m sorry. Can we please be friends now?”. If they really did have some bad blood between them, then a verbal apology would be worthless. It would also be dishonest, because he didn’t know what he was apologizing for.

After gathering his thoughts, he spoke.

“I’ve already expressed my intentions. If you are unwilling to set aside past grudges, then I can only blame my bad luck.”

He didn’t try to hide the disappointment in his voice.

Diana raised an eyebrow.

“Suffering the consequences of one’s actions can hardly be attributed to ‘luck’.”

Her manner was like that of a cat toying with a mouse. Despite the fact that she’d declared herself as his enemy, she seemed utterly unconcerned about her own safety.

Arthur’s lips thinned into a line. All of this could be some kind of elaborate mind game on her part, but he doubted it. It wasn’t impossible that he did indeed have a past incarnation—even know, he had little to know knowledge of how he got here, or regarding the source of the tablet.

He thought about using his ‘amnesia’ as a defense, but it wouldn’t work. If he really did do some bad shit, him claiming ‘I lost my memories, so you have to forgive me.’ would only be counterproductive.

There was only one way for him to get out of this mess—he had to express his sincerity. The only reason he hadn’t done so was because he worried it would make him appear weak. 

However, taking a step back and making her an offer would cost him nothing. If worst came to worst, even if she didn’t accept it, he’d just end up back where he started.

“I may not have all my memories, but I do have some valuable knowledge. Much of it is precognitive.”

If the events of the future wasn’t able to entice her, then he didn’t know what would.

Diana looked steadily at him over the rim of her glass. Whether she believed him or not was unknown.

“If you truly knew me, you would never have made such an offer. The currents of fate are as open to me as the pages of a book.”

If she was telling the truth, then Arthur was in luck.

“Good. Then can confirm whether I’m lying or not.”

He drained the last of his coffee before opening his mouth. As far as the near future was concerned, it could be said that he knew quite a bit.

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