Writers and the Muse

“So why won’t you tell me why I can’t leave?” Aliya was strapped into a chair by the wrists and ankles. Kazio and Chessa had lead her out of the room through the opening before leading her into a much smaller one. The room she was taken to still had the same black marble walls, but with no candles. Somehow the room gave formation to light without a source of any kind. She was placed at the far wall and had a black table between her and the hooded Kazio. A few yards away, there was another long table, seating the other three, all hidden by their hoods. “And I am very thirsty; can I please have some water?”

Kazio glanced back around his shoulder, eventually one of the hooded people rose up and confirmed, “I’ll go get it.” Replied Chessa before she left the room.

The other two just glared at Kazio and Aliya while Chessa walked away. Kazio then turned back to Aliya and started his questioning, “How old are you Aliya?”

“I told you, I’m sixteen.” Her arms folded up just under her chest’s curves.

Kazio’s hood fluttered as he nodded, “That’s right, you did. Where did you come from?”

“From my brother’s apartment. Can you take the hood off please? If I’m being terrorized and held hostage, I at least want to see your face.”

With a lax chuckle, Kazio lowered his hood. His deep rubicund orbs gleamed the brightest red Aliya had even seen. His jet black hair dropped down to is neck in loose and wavy strands. “Better for you?”

“Y-Yeah, that works. Thanks.”

“Why did you come to this library?”

“I practically live in libraries and book stores. I just moved here and the apartment is very close to the library. I’ve been here every day for the past week.”

“Very well, you mentioned you live with your brother, what’s his name?”

“Creed.”

“Creed?”

“Creed Shepard.”

“And that’s your last name as well?”

“Yes, Aliya Shepard. But he's not really my brother.. We grew up together in the orphanage and I took his name when he adopted me.”

At that point Chessa came back into the room and walked around the table. She set a deep black glass of water down in front of Kazio. After that, she walked back to her seat and sat down. The other two were busily shuffling through solid black slabs of paper, she quickly joined in.

Kazio gently slid the glass over to Aliya and continued, “Do you believe in god, Aliya?”

She gulped down a quick sip after which, she replied, “No, I don’t."

“Why not?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Answer the question.”

“I don’t believe one being created all life.”

The group behind Kazio seemed to shift in their seats when she gave her logic to her lack in faith. They all glared at her before continuing their mad shuffling. Kazio continued, “Understandable. What would you do if I told you I create life?” Once again the group behind Kazio shifted, this time aggressively.

Altair wasted no time protesting, “It is in your best interests to watch your words Kazio.”
Necoris instantly agreed with Altair, “This is already an over whelming risk, why are you jeopardizing it more?”

Even Chessa joined their outbreaks, “You better have a very good explanation for this.”

“And I do,” Kazio stepped from his chair and paced over to the three at the table before arching down to whisper to them, “there hasn't been a single life we have created that is alike. But each and every one of them had been scribed to instantly dismiss our existence. If this girl shows any sign of belief, that will instantly prove she has not been scribed by us, and maybe not scribed at all.” The three glanced between themselves before turning back to Kazio with a unified nodded. It wasn't hard for Kazio to have his way when he made perfect scene; he walked back to the table and sat back down, “Now, where were we?”

“You were asking me a stupid question.”

“Ah yes, would you believe us four, Chessa, Altair, Necoris, and myself created all of life?”

“How?”

“Do you really want to know Aliya?”

“Sure, I'm interested in your story, I'm stuff here. I might as well get a good laugh.”

Kazio leaned closer, “We are authors, we write books, like all your authors out there. In fact, in a way, WE wrote all the stories in your history. We wrote Dante's stories, Shakespeare's, Dickens, all of them.”

“Just because you wrote stories others wrote, doesn't mean you're a god.”

“You fail to get the picture my dear, we didn't write the stories. We wrote their lives. We wrote how they lives, their choices, their minds, their hobbies, their personalities, hell... we wrote how they were born, and how their parents were born, and their parents. All the way back to the very first humans. Adam and Eve... We wrote the ones that would write the bible, we are the ones that would lead humanity into believing in a god, in gods and goddesses, aliens, everything. We wrote the ones that would start wars, the millions that died by them, we wrote catastrophes and the ones that survived them. Every life that has every life that as ever lived, died, and still lives today; we wrote them out before they were even born.”

Aliya wasn't expecting anything like what she had heard. She had heard countless of stories of wanna-be gods. But she hadn't heard anything like that. She was completely taken by surprise, leaving her mumbling her words, “S-So... What about me? Did you write me out?”

The three cloaks in the back all stirred in their seats. Altair pushed his palms against the table as he rose to his feet, “You truly believe his prevarications?”

“I... I don't know, it sounds crazy and impossible, but I don't know... It sounds like it could happen.”

Chessa took a deep breath, dropping the black sheets of paper down on the stack of papers. “That proves it,” She stretched her arms over her head while her back reclined back into the chair, “She wasn't scribed by us.”

Necoris shook his head, “That isn't possible. We are the only Scribers to ever exist. No one else could have created her but us. One of us isn't telling the truth.”

“Or,” Kazio quickly stood to his feet and turned to the group, leaning on the table as he reasoned with Necoris, “maybe she was never scribed at all. Maybe she is different.”

“Maybe you are covering for your mistake Kazio!” Altair was getting irritated and he made it very clear with his sharp snap and a fist to the table, “You seem to be cling to an impossible phenomena too easily for my liking.”

“It's a possibility Altair.”

“We have done this well over thousands of years Kazio, never has something like this happened!”

“Maybe it has, maybe there are hundreds like her and we let the life count get away from us. Maybe you are too stupid to remember all the possibilities we left out of the question Altair.”

Altair flung his hand up and as his silk sleeve shattered into the paper from before. Kazio could do nothing to stop the black paper from wrapping around his torso and tightly clamping, slamming him to the wall right next to Aliya, and pinned him to the wall. Afterward Altair turned to Necoris and Chess, “You cannot argue that he has acted incredulous since this thing has arrived." He turned back to the struggling Kazio, "I believe he has something to do with this."

Necoris kept a calm composure as he stood, "Altair, take him, I will go with you. We both seem the same thing in this. Chessa... Get rid of the girl." With that, Necoris walked out of the room,
Altair followed him; Kazio was pulled through the air by the hardened paper that constricted him. A snake of the black paper slithered from Altair's cloak and held Kazio; it even wrapped around his mouth preventing any further blasphemy.

“W-Wait.. Why!?” Aliya sprang to her feet, “I didn't do jack shit to you guys!” Her eyes followed the men out, then quickly turned to Chessa, “Please! I didn't do anything! I won't tell anyone about you guys! I don't even believe what he said, I swear! Just let me go!”

“Shut up!” Chessa's hand aimed toward Aliya; the same black snake of paper simultaneously sprang with her arm. It coiled around Aliya's head, muffling her mouth. She watched Aliya desperately break from the paper while she screamed muffled words. After a considerably long time, Aliya stopped struggling, she was still standing, her hands were still tightly gripping the paper; but her screams and jerks had dwindled away to miserable tears and sniffles. Chessa let this go one for a while, letting Aliya cry her eyes out while her compressed lips begged to be spared, but only a choked plea was heard. After Chessa had enough, she glanced at the opening right before it closed up. Once it was completely shut, leaving the only the two of the in the room, Chessa walked around the table and dropped her arm; the snake released the whimpering girl, to her surprise.

Aliya didn't hesitate to stumble against the wall, away from Chessa, “Get away! I won't go easy!” Her voice was cracked and torn by the dehydration of crying.

“You won't go anywhere I don't tell you to.” Chessa gripped the tabled between them and yanked it easily out of the way. She watched Aliya push herself against the wall, a pathetic display. Once she cornered the poor girl, Chessa gripped Aliya's chin bluntly, then us
ed her palm to muzzle Aliya's trembling mouth, “You want to live?”

Aliya nodded, her trailing tears smudging her cheeks. Her breathing was uneven and her entire body vibrated, which Chessa felt through her hand.

“I'm glad you do... Because I want you to live too. And to do that, you will do exactly as I say without fail, understood?”

Once again Aliya nodded, with a higher level of eagerness in her nods.

“Good girl, I knew you were worth the wait...”

***

“I don't care if I stay here for another thousand years Kazio. I've been aggravating me for a long time now, and I have no problem making you wish I could kill you.”

“Try it Altair... You'll regret it.” Kazio stood slumped against the wall; chains of black hardened paper gripped his wrists tightly to hold him up.
“My my, your attitude isn't helping your cause Kazio. I am the one with the power here, and you are the one without a cloak now.”

Kazio's cloak hung behind Altiar on the wall. Kazio himself only had on his under clothes, consisting of a black layer of silk that clung to most of his body. “I don't need that thing to kill you.”

“What did you say!?” That was the highest insult to Altair. It was obvious he was in the better position to make threats, and even then, no matter how hard Kazio tried, he would never be able to kill Altair. And Altair would never be able to kill Kazio, it was simply impossible, a Scriber couldn't kill another Scriber. So for the chained down Scriber to threaten Altair, it was a snapping point. “You will pay for that you little!” A powerful fist crashed into Kazio's cheek, causing his head and torso to jerk with the force... Then Altair heard a trickle, “Huh?” Kazio slumped his head down and chuckled while Altair knelt down and examined the sound. His fingertips touched the wet floor and came back up; red liquid dripped down his fingers, “Blood? How?”