Those Three Kings - Chapter Three

The Soul Keeper unlocked the jewel encrusted lock, opened the heavy iron door, and closed it with a deep shutting noise. He quietly entered the library, straining to keep walking on the tips of his toes. When he was inside, he inhaled. His pale lips curled upwards in a relaxed smile.

“Well, children, I guess it’s just you guys and me,” the red clad man mumbled under his warm breath. He strode over to the tall bookshelves that towered over the man with excitement in his gait. The man pushed his thick purple hair out of his face for a few moments and ran two boney fingers across the dingy shelves. Though what occupied the shelves was something far from books.

Jars filled with chemicals and eyeballs sat idly on their shelves, just waiting for their owner to open up the jar’s lid and pop one into his mouth. The Soul Keeper picked a jar, gently took it off of the shelf, and unscrewed the lid. He skewered one of the now soft eyeballs onto one of his long claws and marveled at it, his mouth dripping with saliva.

“Oh, you’re about to make my stomach happy,” he cooed at the nonliving object. He opened his mouth very wide, exposing every single one of his jagged, uneven razors for teeth. The Soul Keeper put the claw with the eyeball into his mouth, scraping his claw on his tooth, which made the same screeching noise when you scratched a chalkboard.

The eyeball slid into his mouth effortlessly, though some vitreous got stuck on his claw, which the man sucked off and grinned. He gnashed his teeth down, chewing the eyeball into some sort of gelatinous mass and swallowed it with a satisfying gulp. The Soul Keeper hummed in happiness, rubbing his very flat stomach in an eerie delight.

Once he finished the entire jar, which held around twelve, he put the jar back onto the shelf, only for it to be refilled and used again until it cracked.

The tall man turned around to the other side of the library and stared at the much cleaner, nicer bookshelves. They too had jars on them, but they were filled with something much more important than a mere snack for the Soul Keeper.

They held the item that gave the man his name. They held the item that meant everything to him.They held all of the souls that he collected during his lifetime.

The Soul Keeper squealed and scurried over to the bookshelves, his smile growing wider and wider by the second. “Children!” he exclaimed, holding his arms out. He giggled and picked up one jar.

“Oh, I remember inhaling you. So sweet and delicious, though I decided to keep your memories trapped inside of your soul…” the Soul Keeper purred, rubbing the jar. He held it tightly to his chest and cradled it like it was a child. “Such great memories you have…a loving mother and father, siblings that simply adored you, a grandmother who thought the world of you…such a loss when you died, Mary.”

He carefully returned the soul’s jar back on the shelf. “I guess that I should go and talk to Skrap…” And with that, the Soul Keeper grabbed his stuffed toy and exited his library.

~

There Skrap sat in the dungeon, his boney back exposed to the bars, though his gigantic set of wings kept him warm. His shiny, long black and green hair contributed to keeping him warm, since he only had was a thin shirt and pair of pants. His exposed ribs flexed each time he breathed, which wasn’t quite accurate, since the air was thick and dusty down in the dungeon. Skrap pushed his glasses back on his nose and pressed two fingers on each temple. “Nothing yet,” he sighed, a puff of cold air coming out of his mouth.

Another thing that bothered him was that Shadows couldn’t be in the cold for long. Especially Forbidden Shadows like himself, though those horrible monsters that claimed to be understanding and compassionate people locked him down in the dungeon centuries ago.

Why was he treated this way? It was all because of that stupid brat, Fear. Such a snob.

Prince Fear, Master Xzanis called him. Prince. And… if anyone was a prince, it would be Skrap… but they would never see it.

Skrap pulled his tail made of bones around his bottom, and wrapped it around his thighs. They put Skrap down in the dungeon centuries ago, since he was too powerful, they called it. Skrap always thought that the reason was something to do with that Fear brat.

He suddenly heard a noise. Giggles.

Soul Keeper… Skrap thought. Good times, when we were kids. My…own… brother… My identical twin brother would keep me locked in this stupid dungeon? This…this is all his fault.

“Skrap!” Soul Keeper sang. “What are you up to?”

Skrap grunted and crossed his arms. “What do you want, Damien?”

He looked behind him and saw his twin brother, staring at him with a sweet smile. He had his hands tightly squeezed together, a habit he did when he wanted something. “Tell me. Tell me all of your visions.”

“What makes you think that I would tell you, the person who trapped me here hundreds of years ago, hm?” Skrap hissed, but he still tried to maintain a significant calmness. “I’ve wasted a good chunk of my life down here, for your information.”

“Because we’re brothers… And brothers love each other, and-“

“That’s a lie, Damien. I know you better than you know yourself.”

Soul Keeper was silent for a little while. In a sweet, almost childlike voice, he said, “I really do love you, Skrap. This is what is best for you. You’re just too powerful…and when you tried to bury me alive… I…”

“You deserved it, Damien. You were horrible to me. And you still are. I don’t know about what kind of wickedness grew into you... what tainted our friendship, our brotherly love… we were best friends, Damien,” Skrap was calm. “I don’t know if I can ever forgive you.”

Skrap felt Soul Keeper’s hand gently stroke one of his wings. “Tell me what you’ve saw.”

Silence fell. An eerie silence, at that.

“Come on in. Take a seat,” Skrap whispered, breaking the awkward silence.

After Soul Keeper was all settled in, sitting in front of his identical twin brother, markings that looked like weeds and tangles grew all over Skrap, and something was glowing behind his glasses. “There is a girl, Damien. A Shadow girl.”

The Soul Keeper’s mouth dropped wide open and he gasped. “Continue! Continue!”

Skrap looked around. “If you will take me to a clean room, and let me stay there, I will tell you anything that you want to know.”

Soul Keeper nodded in a frantic way, grabbing his brother’s hands, ripping the bars off of the cell, and ran up to the mansion. “Xzanis! Xzanis! Skrap has a vision!” Soul Keeper’s voice echoed throughout the entire palace.

A booming voice shouted in reply, “Don’t bring that filthy animal up here!”

Soul Keeper skipped up the spiral staircase, which led to Xzanis’s study. The Soul Keeper squeezed his brother’s clawed hand and yanked his arm. “Come on, slow poke!” Soul Keeper laughed in a shrill giggle. “You’re slow!”

Skrap extended his long legs into a sprint. His brother was extremely quick, especially when he was excited. “I don’t want to see Xzanis, Damien,” Skrap said with hatred. “I hate that man.”

“No, it’s Prince Fear that you hate,” Soul Keeper reminded his brother.

“I hate both of them. I despise that little brat, Fear,” Skrap said as he sprinted.

“We’re here,” Soul Keeper mumbled, coming to a halt. Two gigantic doors encrusted with jewels, diamonds, and precious stones stood in front of the two.

“I don’t want to go in,” Skrap stubbornly growled.

“A Shadow girl. That’s important. We need to slay it, as the Octaviax says,” the Soul Keeper said with a child’s enthusiasm, though a significant darkness lurked in the back of it.“And sever it while it’s still alive. Suck up her soul. Burn the remains. Chop up its brain and feed it to my souls. Drink the rich, syrupy blood in a silver chalice, you know? We must torture it. Fun times.”

“I don’t think that you understand that-“ And before Skrap could finish, his brother dragged him into the study.

There sat a man with electric blue hair, pale grey skin with scales, boney skeleton hands, iridescent yellow eyes with slits for pupils with a relaxed look glazed over them, curled white lips with an evil smirk smeared on them, sharp canines along with five snakes for tongues, a long unicorn horn on the top of his forehead, and slim feet with yellow claws. He tilted his head and smiled. He had the reflexes of a cat; quick and sly. A golden crown rested upon his head, and he wore a black suit. “What is this about a Shadow girl, Skrap?” he asked, a smile cracking on his white lips.

“The girl is ready…mature enough…at fourteen years.” Skrap looked down and shuffled his feet.

“Great!” Xzanis laughed. “When will the auction start?”

“Thirteen o’clock in the Octavius Realm,” Skrap replied.

“We better get going, then! Realm traveling does take quite a while!” Xzanis exclaimed. He clapped his hands twice. Two young women slowly walked out of the dark corners of the room.

Their skin was pale and as smooth as porcelain. Their hair was light, tied back in a ponytail, curled in corkscrew curls. Their lips seemed to be stitched together, and all of their joints had stitches and twine. They had dark makeup, which made their faces look even paler. They were dressed in Victorian-looking dresses, only shorter, and they had aprons. Cranks extended out of their back, like wind-up dolls.

“Girls,” Xzanis said, “please bathe and dress Mr. Skrap here appropriately. And ready the beasts. We are going to an auction, to pursue the Octaviax’s words.”

The two girls nodded, took Skrap by the arms, and led him into a powder room.