A Scale of Power- Chapter Eight

Tom's head swam with unanswered questions. Who were the Lords of Darkness? What was this so called prophecy? Most importantly though, who was the owner of that ominous voice? His grief and rage had fallen dormant at the sound of that voice, but they had both awoken from their slumber slightly. He tried to extend his power like he had done in the room before. But he could not extend his reach much further than the outer ring of Vienna. This is strange, he thought as he gazed at the golden painted city in front of him, how did I even do that? They could hear me as far away as Paris? But why can't I use that amount of power now? He fell silent for a moment as the cool evening air washed his consciousness. He heard footsteps coming towards him, and expected to see Catherine, laughing at how good her voice joke was. But even she wasn't that cruel. 

"What did you mean by prophecy and Lords of Darkness?" he asked the shadows. 

"Lords of Darkness and prophecies? What have you been doing up here?" replied another voice half-jokingly. Instead of Catherine or a stranger, Maria stepped out from the shadowy blanket that covered the rooftops. "My head hurts, thanks for that," 

"You're welcome" replied Tom meaningfully. "Sorry, there's a lot going through my head at the moment," 

"I think we realized that when you gave everyone this side of France a massive migraine," Maria continued disapprovingly. Tom then stared at her angrily. 

"Look, I've said I'm sorry, what more do you want? You're starting to sound like Catherine!" he snapped. 

"To see if you're okay, you really lost it back there," she replied. 

"What do you expect, I just saw my entire family be slaughtered...I'm- the last..." he stuttered as his voice failed him. A tear fell from his face as he tried his best to hide his emotions. 

"Stop trying to give me the impression that you're okay, because you're clearly not. Come back with me and we can all talk about this," ordered Maria. It seemed like the best idea, seeing as he hadn't eaten anything since earlier that afternoon. 

* * * 

Tom and Maria came and sat in the great library, where Tobias, Ian, and Catherine were talking amongst themselves. Ancient books slumbered silently on the tough oak bookcases, as with pretty much every room in the palace, great chandeliers hung from above, radiating golden light across the halls. Huge oil paintings of important people silently observed the scene from beyond the grave, as Tom crept silently into the room, not uttering even a whisper from his confused yet devastated mind. 

"Hey Tom," mumbled Ian with a hint of sympathy in his voice. Catherine glanced up from the table and smiled at him apologetically. Tobias turned round and threw a serious look at Tom as he approached. 

"It seems you have seriously hurt him, he was screaming as the broadcast stopped," he acknowledged. 

"Yes, well I'm sorry my so-called gifts don't come with an instruction manual!" Tom snapped in retaliation, "You've got a headache? Deal with it, you've got painkillers, you've still got your family all safe and sound, so stop complaining!" he boomed. As he shouted furiously at Tobias, the chandeliers began to quake, and a few books fell from their shelves. 

Calm down, Tom, you cannot control your power. 

The voice again. The very same voice Tom had heard on the rooftops. 

"Who are you, and what the hell do you know!" Tom accidentally shouted out loud at the ceiling. 

"What on Earth..." muttered Catherine. Tom slowly stared down at the marble floor, which reflected the emotional wreck he had suddenly become. 

"I need to talk to you all, privately. I'm sorry about all this," muttered Tom as he looked around at what his pure rage had done. 

"You do not need to trouble yourself about this," Tobias replied calmly, "tell us what you will, I shall see that no one enters or leaves here but us,". He nodded and a few agents stood just inside the doors, as Catherine used her power to close the grand old doors. They shut with a soft slam, closing a so far non apparent danger in with them.