The corner of Yang's mouth curled into a morbid grin.
"That village, they sure did raise such a polite young man. But you should cut the bullshit, you're not a very good liar you know. I can see it in your eyes."
Lauri walked further into the room, the room was mostly bare. Unlike Nama's room which was filled with books, Yang's office was empty. Sure it had shelves, but these shelves had nothing on them. Even Yang's desk had nothing, only a computer and two cups of steaming liquid.
The only thing residing within the room other than his desk and empty shelves was a small table with a strange device on it. A small grooved disc spun endlessly in circles, a small arm followed the ridges connected to a large brass horn. The device filled the room with a quaint tune.
"What makes you say that."
Lauri held his ground, doing his best not to falter as he held Yang's gaze.
Yang casually smiled as he answered.
"Your voice says one thing, but your eyes say you'd want no better than to shove your thumbs into my eye sockets and make me drown in my own blood… Anyway, come, sit. I prepared tea for you."
Yang's grin turned into something, softer as he gestured to the cup closest to Lauri.
Lauri remained where he was standing, the way Yang spoke shook Lauri. In the books, Lauri had been read by Granny to send him to sleep. The villains always spoke in certain ways. Their voices were as evil as their actions, they made threats, they held princesses prison in dark towers.
They didn't smile, and they certainly did not offer cups of tea.
Taking a few measured steps to Yang's desk, with one shaking hand, Lauri reached for the cup.
Picking up his cup, Yang gently blew on it, raising it with a smile.
"I hope you enjoy it, I specially prepared this cup of tea myself."
Picking the cup up, Lauri did not bring it to his lips.
"I know what you are."
Yang raised an eyebrow at Lauri's comment.
"What I am? Maybe people believe they know what I am… They've all been wrong so far. So please do go on. I'm ever so interested in hearing what you believe I am."
Lauri could see his own reflection in the cup of tea. His face was still pale, the pain dealt to his body still scratched at his body right down to the core. His expression was as stoic as he could make it.
"You are the type of person to honey people with your words. You speak niceties, and you put on a pretty smile. It's all a lie, one toxic lie you tell people who can't see you for what you are."
In one motion, Lauri flung the cup of tea in his hand at the closest wall. It shattered sending tea and ceramic shards raining onto the floor. Slamming his hands on the desk, Lauri looked into Yang's eyes.
"You are no better than the Fiends that hunt us."
Yang's smile darkened, looking at the mess Lauri had just made, he shook his head. Holding up one hand, Yang leant slightly closer. The shadow behind his eyes sent shivers through Lauri's body. Unlike the first time, Lauri was still unaccustomed to the primordial terror that ran through his body whenever he saw the thing hiding behind Yang's eyes. Staggering back, Lauri had to look away.
"I was trying to treat you with a measure of respect. After all, when you return from your trip into the Aether, we will be spending a lot of time together, but if you'd rather be treated with the motivation of a whip rather than being led by a carrot on a stick. I can more than happily comply with your wishes."
Yang snapped his fingers.
In the next moment, the shadows in the room came alive. The light began to dim in the room as the shadows hiding in dark corners stretched and moved towards Lauri. Hands appeared from out of the ground at first grabbing onto Lauri's ankles, his legs, all over his body, bringing him to his knees.
Getting up from his desk, Yang unbuttoned the cuffs of his shirt as he walked around it. Rolling up his sleeves, Yang leaned against his desk as he looked down at Lauri.
"I must say, you have been busy. I've been keeping tabs on the research you've been doing on that personal computer, you have made such great use of it and as well you have been very efficient with your time. Looking up facts of this world that must have been a mystery to you due to your… Unique background. Although I do question your desire to look up shitty webnovels."
Dropping to one knee, Yang grabbed Lauri's chin, forcing him to look Yang in the eyes. The shadow had begun to grow restless as if it knew what was about to happen.
"And your time with Nama, she is so dedicated, isn't she? Such a good teacher, wouldn't you say? Did you know she has a daughter? She's such a delicate little flower. I hope you get to meet her sometime, she's only a few years younger than you, maybe you can make friends, and speaking of friends!"
Lauri's eyes widened.
"Don't you dare bring her-"
Lauri was interrupted as Yang squeezed his jaw. Moving his face closer to Lauri, Yang hissed.
"Do not interrupt me when I am talking!"
Pulling back he cleared his throat.
"Now where was I, oh of course. Your friends, Ashley, yes? And Gareth, the silly little Evertide Legacy. I'm so happy you made friends, it really, really makes my job easier."
His voice turning into a small whisper, Yang smiled as he spoke.
"If you offer any kind of resistance to my attempt to dominate your soul. I won't even do something minor like dominating their souls, I will just kill them both, and I will make you watch as the life drains from their eyes and their souls whimper and fade away."
Letting go of Lauri's jaw, Yang stood up, flexing his right hand.
Resting his head on the desk, tears began to build up in Lauri's eyes as he stared at Yang from out of the corner of his eye. Lauri's voice was small and scared.
"You Bastard."
The shadows grew even darker as Yang activated his Innate Talent, the shadow within his body moved to his wrist. Yang's tanned skin began to grow darker and darker until it was hard to differentiate him from the darkness in the room.
An insidious chuckle escaped from Yang's lips.
"Just think Lauri, the only reason you suffered last time was due to that, amazing, resistance your soul holds. So if you just give in, your pain will be… Somewhat less. Try not to bite your tongue now!"
Lauri squeezed his eyes shut, balling his fists, he grit his teeth.
Yang's hand wrapped around Lauri's neck, the pain immediately followed.
Pain that made you wish you were dead, pain that felt as if every cell in your body was being torn apart as if your soul was being torn from your body.
Lauri's eyes fluttered, and he fell sideways onto a bed of fluffy grass.
It took a few moments for the pain to subside, Lauri could still feel it, but here he was safe. Raising his head, Lauri looked up to the magnificent light of the sun that was his soul.
'That's another thing that the internet taught me, that this place is usually called the Spirit Tree… But I don't have a tree, so I guess mine would be called… the Spirit Sun…'
Lauri fell silent.
The light of his Spirit Sun had grown dim, as Yang's influence had reached this place.
Lauri remained on the floor curled up into a ball.
He couldn't do anything, Yang had made his threat. If Lauri even tried to resist, Yang would start killing people. That was something Lauri could never allow, for more people to die because he was too weak to save them.
The shadow appeared in the clear blue sky, causing its bright blueness to darken.
It was like a giant hand made of shadow, it slowly descended from the sky, wrapping around Lauri's soul. Unlike last time the sun did not try and defend itself, there was no conflict, no shadows being banished by the light. The light submitted, allowing the shadow to spread like a disease, a harrowing infection.
And just as abruptly as it started, Yang's hand left the back of Lauri's neck.
The bright sun was now dimmed, its light tainted by a thick blanket of shadow cast across its surface. Lauri remained still, covering his eyes he wept, as his perception slowly drifted back to Yang's office.
The pain within Lauri's body stung, but it was not as bad compared to the first time Yang had attempted to subjugate his soul when the bright light of Lauri's soul had fought back against Yang's shadow.
The Director had returned to his seat. His eyes moved across the empty air ahead of him.
"You… Truly we're a fortunate find."
His lips were twisted into a large, sneering grin. Putting his hands together, he leaned over his desk so he could see Lauri lying in a crumpled heap on the floor.
"Oh, now Lauri what's with that expression? You should be happy since your soul is so weak my Innate Talent won't even let me take full control of your body just yet, although I'm sure you've noticed I can give your mind some small commands. Like not telling anyone about this… But just you wait. When you return from the Aether and your soul grows stronger. You will be a very, very valuable fourth shadow for my collection. I cannot wait for you to return..."
Yang's voice grew darker as he stared down at the broken boy.
"Then we can truly get acquainted."