The Sovereign's Curse

Victor's voice broke the suffocating silence, calm yet laced with an unsettling amusement. "Ah, you've met my spawn," he said, gesturing lazily toward the creature. "Don't bother running. It won't let you leave until I have what I need."

Xander's heart pounded in his chest. He wanted to believe this was all a bad dream, but the oppressive energy in the room told him otherwise. His knuckles whitened around the bat. "What... what is that?" he finally managed to ask, his voice shaking.

Victor chuckled softly, the sound devoid of warmth. "A shadow spawn, boy. And a more dangerous one at that." His eyes narrowed. "Now, I'll ask you again—where is Aeternis?"

Xander's mind raced. If Victor—or whoever this man truly was—controlled that thing, then this wasn't just about Aeternis anymore. The stakes were far greater than he'd imagined.

His hand instinctively twitched toward his pocket, where Aeternis had been before he hid it. He had to protect it. No matter what.

But the red-eyed figure suddenly took a step forward, the shadows around it growing thicker, the temperature in the room seeming to drop. Xander's muscles tensed as his breath came in shallow gasps.

He was trapped.

And for the first time in a long while, he truly didn't know what to do.

After a long silence, Xander finally found his voice. "I... I don't know what you're talking about," he said, though his trembling words betrayed his attempt at composure.

Victor's lips curled into a slow, unsettling smile. His eyes, cold and piercing, lingered on Xander for a moment too long. Then, without a word, he turned and walked toward the high-back chair that faced the window. His footsteps were deliberate, the sound echoing ominously in the room. He stopped beside the chair, resting a hand on its top.

The dim light from the desk lamp cast long, angular shadows across his face, amplifying the unnerving aura he exuded.

"You've never been a good liar, Xander," Victor said, his voice calm but carrying an unmistakable edge. He tapped his fingers lightly against the chair's fabric. "Do you think I don't know you've been snooping around? That you've found something?"

Xander swallowed hard, his mind racing. The red-eyed shadow creature still loomed at the doorway, silent but menacing, like a sentinel guarding against any escape. Victor's words, though measured, felt like a noose tightening around his neck.

"I don't know what you mean," Xander repeated, his voice firmer this time, but his pulse betrayed the growing panic within him. His gaze flickered back toward the creature at the door. What was it? And how was Victor controlling it?

Victor chuckled softly, a sound devoid of humor. "You're going to make this difficult, aren't you?" He leaned slightly on the chair, his eyes narrowing as they locked onto Xander. "You know, I tried to be patient with you. Tried to give you the benefit of the doubt. But now..." His voice grew colder. "I see you're determined to make things... complicated."

As Victor tapped his fingers on the top of the chair, Xander's eyes darted to a black box lying on the desk near the lamp. It hadn't been there before—he was certain of it. The sight of it stirred a sense of unease, but before he could dwell on it, Victor turned the chair around.

Xander's grip on the bat slackened instantly, the weapon slipping from his fingers and clattering to the floor. His breath caught in his throat.

Elaine.

She was slumped in the chair, her head tilted to the side, a gag tied tightly around her mouth. Her hands were bound to the armrests, the restraints cutting into her wrists. She wasn't moving. Panic surged in his chest as he strained to see if she was breathing. Was she unconscious? Worse?

"Recognize her?" Victor asked, his voice laced with mockery. "I thought this might get your attention."

Without a second thought, Xander charged at Victor, a furious roar tearing from his throat.

"You Bastard!, What have you done?!,"

Xander lunged forward, channeling his rage into raw power. His fist cut through the air, aimed at Victor's smirking face. But Victor moved like water, flowing around the strike as if he'd seen it coming minutes ago. His parry wasn't just a block - it redirected Xander's momentum, leaving him off-balance and exposed.

The counter-punch came like a sledgehammer. Victor's fist drove deep into Xander's gut, finding that sweet spot that turned muscles to jelly. The impact lifted Xander off his feet, stealing both his breath and dignity in one cruel moment. He dropped to the ground gasping for breath, but Victor wasn't done.

Cold and unrelenting, Victor closed the distance in an instant. He delivered a sharp blow to Xander's face, the impact sending everything into complete darkness. Xander crumpled to the floor unconscious.

---

Xander's consciousness returned in a haze, his face stinging with the sharp pain of repeated slaps. His vision swam for a moment before the world settled into focus. The first thing he noticed was the tightness in his wrists and ankles. He was bound to a chair, the coarse ropes digging into his skin.

Across the desk, Elaine sat similarly restrained, her hands tied to the chair's arms. She was awake now, her eyes meeting his with a mixture of fear and relief. A gag still silenced her, but when Xander asked softly, "Elaine, are you okay?" she nodded faintly. Though unharmed, her body was tense, and the restraints bit into her wrists.

"I'm so sorry for dragging you into this", He said to her. "Everything will be fine I promise you, okay?" He added.

Xander's gaze shifted, drawn to the looming presence of Victor, who stood a few feet away. His father—or at least the man he had called his father—watched him with an unsettling calm, his shadow stretching long under the harsh overhead light.

"Why are you doing this?" Xander demanded, his voice cracking as he fought to sound braver than he felt. Anger and confusion churned inside him, but the ache in his stomach and the ropes grounding him to the chair made him feel helpless.

Victor smiled faintly, though the expression didn't reach his eyes. "Why?" he echoed, his tone mocking. "That's the question you should have asked a long time ago, boy." He paced slowly towards the desk, his presence filling the room like a storm waiting to break.

Victor moved closer to the desk, his hand casually reaching for the black box Xander had noticed earlier. His movements were calm, deliberate, like a predator savoring the moment before the kill.

As he opened the box, his voice broke the silence. "I suppose it's time to drop the charade, isn't it? You should know by now, boy, that I'm not your father."

Xander's breath caught, his mind racing as Victor—or whoever this man was—continued. "The real Victor? I have no idea where he is. Maybe dead, maybe not. Doesn't matter, does it? Because I'm here now, and I've done a better job playing the role than you ever deserved."

He reached into the box and pulled out an object—a revolver. It was old-fashioned, its design reminiscent of another era, yet it gleamed as if brand new. The weight of it in his hand seemed to command the room as he methodically loaded the chambers with bullets, each click punctuating his words.

"They call me Lucian," he said, finally revealing his name. His voice carried a dark satisfaction, the truth he'd kept hidden now weaponized against them. "And I was sent for one purpose: to bring Aeternis back to where it belongs. Do you understand now, Xander? Everything—everything—has been leading to this moment."

Xander's heart pounded in his chest, his mind replaying the moments he had dismissed as paranoia: the sudden changes in Victor's demeanor, the strange encounters, the cryptic warnings from his mother's message.

"And do you know why it took this long?" Lucian continued, a cruel smile creeping across his face. "Because the only person who could activate Aeternis was you." He pointed the revolver at Xander, his tone turning sharp.

"You have ten seconds to tell me where the Key is or she dies"

Lucian said pointing the now loaded gun at Elaine.