Gems

by Moheart7

Chapter 3: New Arrivals

It must have been at least 10AM by the time Twilight had come back from the Carousel Boutique the next morning, after 24 hours of non-stop sobbing, Rarity STILL refused to come out of her bedroom, not that any pony blamed her for she had every right to be upset… even though she may have been overdoing it just a little bit. With her boutique in Manehattan now nothing more than a pile of ashes, the poor unicorn’s dream of spreading her fabulous fashion ideas throughout Equestria have taken a massive blow, thankfully she still had the Canterlot Carousel and friends here in Ponyville who were more than willing to help cheer her up. After Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy were finally informed of the situation, they too tried their best to comfort her, unfortunately they too were having a bit of trouble coaxing the Unicorn out of her room, and thus the cycle continued with one of Rarity’s friends taking shifts at staying at the Carousel Boutique just too at least keep her company, of course none of them had made it past the bedroom door yet since Rarity still just wanted to be left alone. At this point in time Twilight had left to go home after waking up early and spending a couple of hours at Rarity’s place before Fluttershy took over, now she was just looking forward to having a small bit of breakfast.

“Hey, any luck with Rarity yet?” Spike asked as she entered the castle kitchen, earning a shake of the head from the Alicorn.

“No,” she replied with a heavy sigh. “She STILL won’t come out of her room.”

Spike looked to the floor with shame upon hearing that, it was no surprise that he felt bad for Rarity too, after all it wasn’t really much of a secret that he’s had a crush on the unicorn since they first met. In any case he wished that he could do something to cheer her up, but like everyone else the most he could do was try to talk to her through her bedroom door like her other friends, and like the others it was to no avail so he too took part in the shifts. Of course Starlight Glimmer would have helped out too but she felt it would have been better if this situation was dealt with by Rarity’s closest friends, and since she was technically still new to the group she felt that she wouldn’t be much help anyway.

“She really is that upset, huh?” she asked, taking a sip of tea as she sat down at the kitchen table.

Spike couldn’t help but growl at that.

“Are you kidding!?!” he snapped. “She put everything into setting up that boutique, and now it’s gone! Frankly I don’t blame her for being so upset!”

Despite being taken aback by the baby dragon’s sudden outburst, Starlight nodded with understanding, after all she wasn’t a stranger to acting out herself in an upsetting situation… though hopefully Rarity wouldn’t go a little overboard like she did back then. Not only that, but after being informed about the situation itself, it got Starlight thinking about that news article Trixie sent her along with the one Twilight brought back yesterday.

“Still, I can’t believe it was because of a bunch of those… things,” she admitted, thinking back to the photo of the creatures in question that was on the front page of the Equestria Daily.

“Yeah, and we STILL have no idea what they are,” Twilight replied, almost stopping her hoof out of pure frustration. “I’ve written to Princess Celestia about them, but she haven’t responded yet, it’s very strange.”

Spike couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that.

“Yeah, add THAT to the list of things that have been happening lately,” he commented, earning himself a small glare from the Alicorn.

Comments aside, nothing else said at this point could change the fact that Rarity was suffering all because of these creatures, and Twilight was struggling just as badly at the realisation that there was barely anything she could do about it. Thankfully Starlight was there to give her a few comforting words.

“I’m sure you’ll find something,” she said, walking over and placing a comforting hoof upon Twilight’s shoulder. “I mean, you ALWAYS do.”

At those words Twilight allowed herself to show a small smile.

“Thanks Starlight,” she said gratefully. “You really…”

Suddenly Twilight found herself being cut off mid-sentence as three loud knocked echoed through the halls and rang in everyone’s ears, knocks that were clearly originating from the front door. Upon hearing this, everyone raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“We expecting anyone?” Spike asked, earning a shrug from both mares.

Curious as she was, Twilight wasted no time in heading towards the door, the castle may have been big but it wasn’t really much in comparison to the palace in the Crystal Empire of the even the Castle in Canterlot, in fact you could say it was more along the size of a mansion that was triple in size, in any case it still wasn’t easy to navigate. Luckily Twilight knew her way enough to reach the front door with little ease and time and proceeded to open it, what she saw then, she certainly didn’t expect.

“Mom? Dad?” she gasped, her jaw hanging upon the two unicorns at her front door. “What are you doing here?”

Indeed it was her parents, her mother, Twilight Velvet, and her father, Night Light, both of whom were brilliant unicorns in their own right, but at this point in time both looked simply exhausted… and for some reason they also had luggage.

“Hey Twilight,” Night Light greeted, forcing a smile even though Twilight could easily tell that something was bothering both him and her mother. “Sorry to bother you, it’s that that your mom and I are in a bit of a pickle.”

Needless to say, that statement instantly gave the young Alicorn a nervous feeling.

“What are you…” she tried to asked, only to stop in mid-sentence once she took a peek of her father’s shoulder. “What the hay!?!”

To say that the sight before Twilight’s eyes was astounding would have been an understatement. As it turned out, not 10 minutes after she had come home from Rarity’s place, a train completely filled to the brim with ponies of different shapes and sizes, Twilight’s parents included, arrived at the station and thus Ponyville was now subject to a massive hoard of new ponies. Obviously Twilight wanted to know what was going on, though thankfully she didn’t really need to ask anything since her mother already began to explain the situation.

“For some reason, the whole of Canterlot is being evacuated” she said, making Twilight’s jaw drop even more.

“Evacuated?” she repeated, finding herself in disbelief. “I wasn’t told about anything like that.”

Night Light couldn’t help by sigh at that.

“Well it was all last minute in all honesty,” he said, though none the less confused about it himself.

At this point Twilight began to understand why her parents looked so tired, clearly both of them must have been woken up at the crack of dawn, if not sooner in what must have been a mandatory evacuation. Upon looking at the new ponies in further detail, that very well may have been the case since they all seemed to share the same tired look as both parents did.

“Every pony seems to be struggling just to find a place to stay,” Twilight Velvet continued, adding further explanation to the predicament. “Luckily many seemed to have friends who live here willing to help them out.”

“I don’t suppose you can put up with your folks for a while, could you?” Night Light added, practically pleading with his daughter to let them in. “At least until everyone’s aloud back into the city?”

Hearing this, Twilight couldn’t help but roll her eyes and smile, as much as she loved her parents, they always did have a poor method of asking for something.

“Of course, you don’t need to ask,” she said, earning herself a grateful smile from the pair. “Come on in.”

“Oh thank you sweetie,” Twilight Velvet sighed as she and Night light both picked up their bags and made their way inside the castle.

But as much as Twilight enjoyed the fact that here parents had come to her home, the circumstances of their arrival were far from pleasant. Why would Princess Celestia initiate an evacuation like this? Did this have something to do with what’s been going on in Manehattan? Did she know something everyone else didn’t? Whatever the case may be, Twilight didn’t like this situation one bit.

#

Of course, what Twilight didn’t realise at the time, was the fact that her confusion wasn’t just shared with the residents of Ponyville and Canterlot, but also a number of the Princesses themselves.

“A citywide evacuation!?!” Princess Luna exclaimed. “Isn’t this a little extreme?”

“I agree,” Princess Cadence added. “When you summoned me from the Crystal Empire last night, I must admit, I wasn’t expecting something like this.”

In all honesty no pony expected something of this scale, not even Luna and she was with Celestia the entire time when she announced the evacuation. Ever since Discord was delivered to the castle with a threatening message inked onto his back like a tattoo, Celestia must have been more scared than she had ever been, or at the very least allowed to show. Needless to say such a sudden act wasn’t really expected, even when they knew there was a threat just before Cadence’s wedding, they took precautions such as a magical force field, but never once did they evacuate. Something was definitely up, and both Luna and Cadence knew it had to be serious otherwise she wouldn’t have gathered all three of them in the throne room that morning.

“I’m afraid it’s necessary,” Celestia explained, feeing the need to finally shed some light. “We cannot allow innocent ponies to get caught up in the crossfire of what’s to come.”

“But what IS coming, Tia?” Luna asked worriedly. “Does it have something to do with what was written on Discord’s back?”

“Yeah, I’m still a little sketchy on those details myself,” Cadence added. “Discord was REALLY turned into a real pony? And who is Tak?”

Of course Cadence was informed on some of the detail beforehand before she arrived from the Crystal Empire a few hours ago, goodness knows how much sleep she had lost with the urgent letter added to the fact that she had an infant at home. But even so the details themselves were vague, and it seemed that it was only Celestia who knew more about it than even Luna did.

“Do you remember what I told you about the Year of Despair?” she asked, catching both Alicorns by surprise. “The one which had been wiped from all historical records because such terrible events would have been too devastating for the public to bear?”

Upon hearing the words, “Year of Despair” both Alicorns cringed with dread, for they did indeed remember the details even though neither of them were there to witness it, with Luna being banished to the moon as her evil counterpart, Nightmare Moon at the time, and Cadence certainly wasn’t even born yet. But regardless they had been told enough tales by Celestia herself, who actually did witness the events, to know that particular year wasn’t one they cared to bring up in any conversation.

“Yes?” Luna answered, fearing just where her elder sister was going with this.

After a moment of silence, Celestia finally let out a heavy sigh and explained in further detail.

“I’m afraid there was more to the story that I let on at first,” she said, giving shock to both Cadence and Luna’s minds.

“What do you mean?” Cadence asked, wanting to know more.

“After the crisis was over, a creature appeared from the ashes of what was left of our former castle,” Celestia continued, trying desperately to swallow the lump in her throat as she forced out the next few words. “A creature who serves… her.”

Upon hearing those words, both Luna and Cadence felt even worse, if they weren’t scared before they certainly were now. The one particular piece of the story Celestia told about the Year of Despair was the fact that it was brought about by a single individual, neither Alicorn could believe that any single creature could do such evil, but then again they have faced creatures like Tirek so it wasn’t impossible. In any case, to hear that this evil being had a servant was complete news to them, especially since they’re only now just hearing about him.

“I thought he was defeated for such a long time,” Celestia continued, almost grinding her teeth in anger upon recalling the horrid memory of him. “But now I’m afraid he has resurfaced.”

It was at this point that both Luna and Cadence began to understand what Celestia was referring to, after all the evidence was winking them in the face when a certain Draconequis was dumped on the castle’s doorstep.

“The message on Discord’s back?” Cadence queried.

“A message from the servant himself,” Celestia replied solemnly, another heavy sigh escaping her lips. “His name is Tak the Fuser, a gelatinous creature made from pure fusion magic, made by none other than the one who brought about that Year of Despair in the first place.”

Upon hearing the name, Cadence and Luna looked at each other with concern, whoever this Tak creature was, he certainly sounded like bad news.

“And you believe he has come to seek his revenge?” Cadence asked, earning herself a nod from the Sun Princess. “And that is why you evacuated the city?”

“Is he truly that dangerous?” Luna asked in addition, earning another solemn nod

“Worse,” Celestia replied bluntly. “As I’ve already mentioned, this creature is made of pure fusion magic, meaning that he not only has the ability to magically fuse and defuse any elements he sees fit… living or otherwise, thus twisting all life into his playthings in any sick game he wishes. Not only that, but for some reason no other magic can affect his body in any way, making him impervious to any direct assault.”

However judging from the look of dread etched across her sister’s face, Luna knew that there was more info that she didn’t really want to talk about.

“Go on,” Luna said, pushing Celestia to continue.

“Even worse than that,” she said, almost crying upon remembering this certain detail. “Unlike Tirek who only absorbed the Magic from ponies, Tak takes it too far and consumes the pony itself. Rumour has it that he even consumed a dragon at one point, I tell you, there is just no depths to which this creature wouldn’t sink to indulge his disgusting appetite.”

Upon hearing that both Luna and Cadence gasped in shock, if the tails of this creature’s master was bad enough, then Tak certainly came up to a close second of how truly despicable he was. And to think that such a demon was roaming free throughout Equestria at this very moment, doing who knows what to helpless innocents just for his own twisted enjoyment. However the more both princesses thought on the matter, the more another certain subject came to mind.

“Shouldn’t Twilight be informed of this too?” Cadence pointed out, speaking for both herself and Luna. “After all she’s a princess the same as the rest of us.”

Of course Celestia was expecting such a question, after all ever since Twilight had successfully graduated from being Celestia’s talented student to being the Princess of Friendship, then she has become more involved with certain royal duties such as summits and the like. And while Celestia would also admit that it was a mistake that she and the other princesses didn’t make sure that she and her friends were more involved with the incident with Lord Tirek, especially in the earlier stages of it, she also knew far more about the danger ahead than even Luna and Cadence did, so she felt no guilt whatsoever when she spoke her next sentence.

“That may be so, but she is still young, still getting used to being an Alicorn and all the responsibilities that come with it,” she explained, not trying to sound harsh but also making sure her tone was clear enough that Luna and Cadence understood her assertiveness in the matter. “I won’t have this burden placed upon her shoulders when it’s mine alone to bear, after all it was I who sealed Tak away in the first place.”

Luckily Celestia’s tone seemed to have worked since both Luna and Cadence picked up on her insistence in an instant, and while Cadence especially didn’t like keeping Twilight out of the loop, she also knew that Celestia must have had a good reason to do so.

“So what exactly do you want us to do?” she finally asked, wondering what the next stage was.

At this point, Celestia’s gaze hardened and she forced out any despair that may have lingered within her, if only for a moment, after all she cannot allow herself to break down at a time like this.

“You two must join in with the evacuation,” she instructed, surprising the both of them. “The ponies of Canterlot will be scared, and there’s only so much Twilight can do on her own since many of them will be heading to Ponyville.”

Hearing this both Princesses nodded with understanding, however there was one thing that Luna still wanted to know.

“What about you?” she asked, wondering what Celestia’s role was to be in this situation.

At first Celestia didn’t give an answer, instead she merely sighed and turned towards a nearby window, looking towards the vast landscape that reached beyond the walls of Canterlot as the thought of what was to come entered her mind like a horrifying nightmare.

“If it’s me that Tak wants, then it’s better for me to stay here while the city remains empty,” she finally said, solemnly at first but then regaining some form of confidence. “Fear not Sister, I defeated him once, and I shall do so again.”

Needless to say, hearing this came as yet another surprise for both Luna and Cadence, so much so that the Princess of Love wanted to protest the very idea of leaving Celestia behind. However before she could say anything, much her disbelief, Luna stuck a hoof in front of her and shook her head, silencing her in an instant.

“We understand, sister,” she said calmly. “Good luck.”

And with that, Luna turned away and led a reluctant Cadence out of the room, Leaving Celestia alone with her thoughts.

#

After a few minutes of walking down the corridor in silence, Cadence felt that what was on her mind desperately needed to be said, she may have been a bit more resistant to the urge before Luna had led out of the room, but finally she couldn’t take it anymore.

“I don’t think we should just be leaving like this,” she stated, her face painted with an agitated scowl. “I mean, you really think that Celestia is going to be okay?”

Obviously Cadence wanted to know just why Luna of all ponies was so quick as to just accept her big sister’s instructions, luckily Luna had a straight answer to give her.

“It is obvious that if this Tak is as dangerous as Tia says, then obviously I wouldn’t feel right leaving her like this,” she said with a heavy sigh, he gaze suddenly softening from a glare to a look of contentment. “But as much as I don’t like it, I have to trust in my sister, after all despite certain mistakes she has performed quite a few feats in her time. Besides she is right, the ponies will be scared, no doubt they are confused, so we must do whatever we can to help out in Ponyville.”

As much as she hated to admit it, Cadence knew Luna had a point, after all she did have more experience in matters like these, and in turn Celestia had more experience than HER, in which case Cadence had no choice but to just her judgement.

“You’re right,” she finally said with a heavy sigh. “Come on then, we better hurry up before the last train leaves.”

On that final word, Cadence then picked up the pace and led Luna further down the corridor, little knowing about the shadow upon the wall behind then as they turned a corner… a shadow that seems to be smirking all by itself.

#

Back in Ponyville, the continuing floods of new arrivals began to spread through town like wildfire amongst dry grass. After getting her parents settled into the castle, Twilight felt the need to go outside just to see just how many new arrival there actually were, with Spike tagging along to indulge his own curiosity.

“This is madness,” Twilight commented, after nearby bumping into the third pony that walked her away.

“You’re telling me,” Spiked added in agreement. “It looks like half the ponies in Canterlot are here.”

Little did Spike realise at the time, he was more than likely extremely accurate with that certain statement. It was common knowledge that compared to Canterlot, Ponyville was a pretty small town and as such even if only a fraction of Canterlot’s residents were to flood it all at once then Ponyville’s streets would have been absolutely filled with ponies, which in turn was exactly the case right here and now. After what felt like half an hour of weaving their way through numerous ponies, all of whom were completely clueless as to what exactly was going on, Twilight’s ears suddenly picked up two district voices having an argument just outside Sugarcube Corner.

“Father, please!” one of them stated in a Neighsian accent.

“No, I don’t care!” the second one retorted, this one baring the same accent. “They drag us out of our restaurant at the crack of dawn and stick us on a train without any explanation!?! I refuse to accept such disrespectful behaviour to us!”

Needless to say, the ponies’ frustration was completely understandable, in fact it was shared amongst pretty much everyone from both Canterlot AND Ponyville, the latter mostly due to the sudden incontinence of a bunch of newcomers invading their town all at once. However it was these two ponies in particular, that Spike found to be somewhat familiar.

“Hey, aren’t they the owners of the Tasty Treat?” he asked, recognising the garbs the ponies were wearing.

Now that Twilight thought about it, Spike’s observation was indeed accurate, for these two Unicorns WERE the owners of the Tasty Treat, a restaurant in Canterlot well known for making exotic cuisine, one of which her friends, Rarity and Pinkie Pie had the pleasure of visiting recently. Judging from their attire and their accents, this must have been Coriander Cumin and his Daughter Saffron Masala, after all Twilight had heard plenty of stories about their food to know in an instant.

“Guess it really IS the whole city being evacuated,” Twilight commented, not really knowing what else to say for the realisation was too much too take in all at once.

It certainly was a sight to behold, with ponies ranging from the upper-class aristocrats, to the simplest shop owner, the entirety of Canterlot must have been emptied out for some purpose, including two more faces that Twilight recognised as they both came running up towards her.

“Twilight!” one of them cried, her think glasses sliding down her muzzle as she came to a stop in front of the Alicorn.

“Moon Dancer? Minuette?” Twilight gasped upon seeing the two unicorns in front of her. “You too?”

Of course Twilight had friends before she moved to Ponyville that lived in Canterlot, two of which were the Unicorns that stood before her now with a suitcase each levitated in their individual magical aura. Minuette being the Unicorn with a light blue coat, an even lighter bluish grey mane and tail with darker blue streaks, and an hourglass cutie mark, and Moon Dancer being the Unicorn with a light yellowish coat, brilliant amaranth mane with purple and greyish violet streaks, brushy eyebrows wearing, and wearing a dark purple turtle-neck sweater. While these two unicorns may have varied in physical appearance, a common factor both of them shared at this moment was the look of distress plastered across their faces.

“I’m afraid so,” Minuette sighed in response to Twilight’s question. “We don’t know what is going on but the whole of Canterlot was being emptied since the crack of dawn this morning.”

“Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine are staying with Lyra and her friend, Bon Bon for the time being, but…” Moon Dancer added, almost hesitant in what she wanted to say next.

Needless to say, Twilight and Spike instantly picked up on where her friend was going with this, after all her parents came to her requesting the same thing, obviously it was no surprise that after being forced from their home, Moon Dancer and Minuette needed a place to stay, and given the fact that there was a strong chance that the local hotels were more than likely full by now AND Lyra’s place already began housing two more of her old Canterlot friends, then Twilight’s castle was the only option left.

“Hey don’t worry about it,” Twilight said reassuringly. “There’s plenty of room at the castle, I mean chances are I’m probably gonna have to let out a few rooms after all this anyway.”

At those words, both Unicorns couldn’t help but smile.

“We don’t really want to impose or anything…” Moon Dancer said, trying to be as humble as possible in the matter.

Twilight, of course, couldn’t help but giggle at her friend’s awkwardness.

“Nonsense, you girls are always welcome,” she replied before turning to the dragon next to her. “Spike, would you mind taking them back to the castle?”

“On it, Twilight!” he stated, giving a small salute in response. “Right this way ladies!”

And with that, both Unicorns followed the baby dragon towards Twilight’s castle, more than likely becoming the first of many to do so that day. After all three of them left, Twilight couldn’t help but let out yet another heavy sigh, just how bad was the situation that everybody had to be evacuated all at once? Deciding to investigate further, she then decided to carry on walking through the heavily busy streets, if she couldn’t contact Celestia then maybe she could at the very least ask one of the Canterlot arrivals what was happening. Unfortunately, no matter who she asked, Twilight received the same answer: “I don’t know anything”, needless to say with every conversation she had Twilight’s frustration only grew more and more. Finally she came across yet another familiar face, one of which she was glad to spot.

“Rainbow!” she cried out, running up towards the Pegasus.

Upon hearing her name, Rainbow Dashed turned away from the other Pegasus she was talking to and smiled, her Wonderbolt uniform clinging to her fur as she took a few steps towards the oncoming Alicorn.

“Hey Twilight,” she greeted, allowing th other Pegasus to join up with the crowd. “Pretty crazy huh?”

“Tell me about it,” Twilight deadpanned in response. “You have any idea what’s happening here?

Obviously twilight didn’t expect much of an answer, but at this point it became habit to ask.

“Afraid not,” Rainbow replied with a shake of her head, confirming Twilight’s scepticism. “If any of the other Wonderbolts know then they certainly aren’t telling me, we’re even helping ponies who are evacuating here from Manehattan! I tell ya, everyone’s spooked!”

As much as this answer came as yet another disappointment to Twilight, it did however explain why Rainbow Dash was in her Wonderbolt Uniform, not to mention the few others that the Alicorn had managed to spot every now and then on the way over plus the occasional Palace guard in their uniforms, of course Twilight asked every one of those she came across, only to have the same answer as all the other ponies she had asked. But despite this knowledge, that still didn’t stop Twilight from letting out her frustrations in a loud manner.

“Ugh, this is so infuriating!” she snapped, rubbing her temple. “JUST WHAT IS GOING ON!?!”

Ignoring the fact that her outburst was drawing the attention of a few bystanders, Rainbow Dash could easily understand her friend’s distress in the matter, in fact one could say that the only reason she wasn’t letting loose herself was the fact that she had to keep herself composed while in Uniform. Of course it was at this point that Twilight said something that Rainbow Dash didn’t expect to hear.

“That’s it!” she stated, turning away and stomping back the way she came. “If I can’t get a letter from Princess Celestia then I’m going up to Canterlot to talk to her myself!”

Rainbow couldn’t help but roll her eyes at that, and Twilight was supposed to be the smart one?

“Ha! Good luck with that,” she retorted. “All trains leaving Canterlot are still running, but all trains GOING to Canterlot are completely halted.”

However at those words, Twilight merely smirked, much to Rainbow Dash’s confusion.

“Who said anything about the train?” she asked, opening up her wings to emphasise her point.

It was only then that Rainbow caught on with what the Alicorn was referring too, she was actually planning on FLYING to Canterlot!?! Granted she managed to do it before, but given the current circumstances she didn’t feel right in letting her go, especially on her own. After a few moments of silently debating with herself with what she must do next, she finally let out a heavy sigh and spoke up, grabbing Twilight’s attention once again after she turned to walk away.

“Hang on Twi!” she said, quacking her pace to a trot to catch up with her. “I’m going with you!”

#

Meanwhile, back in the now-empty city of Canterlot, another lone Alicorn stood at the stain glass window of the throne room. It had been hours since Celestia had issued the compulsory evacuation in the city, and so far things seemed to be going as smoothly as she had hoped, not only have the regular citizens been completely cleared out, but also the palace staff, the aristocrats, not even the royal guards were here. Not only that but even a bed-ridden Discord was transferred to Ponyville at the personal request of Celestia herself, no doubt his dear friend Fluttershy would be greatly disheartened to discover the condition he was currently in, but even so it would probably be best if Discord was taken to someone he trusted given the circumstances. As she watched the last train out of Canterlot pull out of the station, believing that both Luna and Cadence were on board, Celestia couldn’t help but let out a heavy sigh.

“My sister,” she whispered. “Please be safe.”

However Celestia’s sense of solitude wouldn’t last for very long, for at that moment, she found herself no longer alone as a faint chuckle rang in her ears, a sly voice following after.

“How sweet,” it chuckled. “I simply love the way you care for those close to your heart, Princess.”

Upon hearing those cold words, Celestia snapped her head around, her eyes going wide with terror as they spotted a figure emerging from the darkened doorway of the throne room, a tall, blue figure with a snide grin as he bit down on the toothpick he was chewing.

“YOU!” Celestia growled, her eyes soon changing into a fierce glare as Tak the Fuser came within only a few feet of her, his voice slippery and dark as he uttered his next sentence.

“Did you miss me?”