FicWad

Julius glared at the pale woman in the closet. There was a strange expression on her face. Was it ... fear? If it was, it was gone in an instant. Usha cleared her throat and spoke.

"I come here to aid you."

Despite the tense, hate-filled mood, Julius couldn't help but laugh. "HA! You, help me? Why?" he asked, eyeing her closely. "Why would you want to help me?"

He noticed Usha tense up briefly. She answered, "Your lover's-"

"She's not my lover!!" Julius shouted, flushing.

Usha glared at him. "Fine, then. Your /friend/, her counterpart, Haliled, has ..." The demon began to tremble with anger. "...taken my spot along side my master."

Julius sniffed. "So that's it, then?" he asked, not trying to hide the disgust in his voice. "You want revenge? That's so low, I can't describe it. But fine. You want to help, I don't care about your reasons. So, what's your plan?"

At this, Usha's smile of triumph when Julius had agreed to help her vanished. Her shoulders sagged as she responded, "I don't have one."

Julius slouched down on Delilah's bed. His heart and hope had been crushed with those four words. He looked at the still figure lying under the covers. Delilah looked so different - in fact, Julius barely recognized her. Her skin was pale, like Usha's, but she was sweating. Her eyes gazed up at the ceiling, all the colour gone from them, they were completely grey. Her teeth where barely visible through the small opening between her lips. When she breathed, her chest barely moved. Julius could almost sense that inside, Delilah was fighting a desperate battle to escape her paralyzed prison. And she couldn't win it without his help.

La timinia ...

Julius sat up straight as the two words drifted into his mind. The Dark One had said those words before he had ... The memory brought tears to Julius' eyes. He brushed them away, and called to Usha.

"Hey, Queen!" It wasn't a term of respect, but he was mocking her. She turned around, her eyes blazing with anger. "Do you demon-types have your own language?"

Usha rolled her eyes, as if the answer was obvious. "Of course we do, fool! The Tongue of the Dead. Why?"

"Do the words la timinia mean anything in it?"

By the way Usha's eyes widened as the words were uttered, he knew that they meant something. The demon's voice was almost a whisper. "La timinia ... Yes, they mean something. In our tongue they mean ... they mean ..."

Julius was trembling with excitement. This could be the key to saving Delilah! "What is it?" he shouted. "What do they mean?"

Her voice was barely audible, but Julius heard her answer as if she had shouted at him:

"The Light."