Alexander was fighting the other two cultists and was guarding against their dagger attacks with his armguards. “Get to the kid I will take these two out myself,” Alexander said out loud as he grabbed the wrist of one of the cultists and swung them forward landing them on their back knocking the masked person out cold.
“What is going on what do they want with me,” William said out loud as he ran towards Sonya.
“Don’t worry kid we will get you out of here safe,” Sonya said as she held him close to her looking around and seeing the three cultists on the floor unconscious.
Alexander walked towards Sonya slowly and noticed the sky started to thunder and drops of rain started to pour door. He could feel fear set inside of him for some reason and felt like someone was watching him. “We are not done here at all,” Alexander said to Sonya Looking around them and seeing nothing but darkness. It was like they were in a ghost town and just the three of them were there. No one got out from their houses and there weren’t any cars that were driving down the street. “This does not make any sense where is everyone,” Alexander said as he crossed his arms.
“I don’t know it is con…,” Sonya said but before she could finish, she felt a sharp blade stick in her back and then out quickly. She did not feel it at first but then started to feel like something shocked her. She turned around slowly feeling herself heat up like she was in the sun for hours as she started to feel the pain and could taste some of her blood. She saw William with a knife in his hand. With tears in her eyes she tried to talk but could barely speak before she hit the floor trying to get back up but was in pain immense, she never felt before. It was more than the stabbing she thought, it was something more.
Alexander rushed to Sonya's aid and tried to pick her up and just looked at William in confusion. “Why did you do this to her, she wanted to help you?” Alexander said out loud as he tried to sit Sonya up.
William then took one of the masks from the floor and then put it on his face and stared at Alexander and Sonya. “William is not home. He hasn’t been for some time. No, you see he used to be home, but I am William now,” William said out loud as he cocked his head to one side.
“What do you mean, what happened to William?” Sonya said out loud as her voice started to crack with the sadness, she felt seeping inside of her. That she did not fully help William when she could and left him to fend for himself and now, he has been taken over and all she could feel was guilt for what happened to him.
“He suffered; he was afraid. They took him and then they bruised him and weakened his body and his hope for hours. He screamed and cried. He begged for mercy but in the end, he gave up and I was able to take him and use him as my vessel,” William said out loud as he crouched down and looked Sonya in her eyes.
“Why, why did you do that to him, who are you?” Sonya said out loud trying to get up as she held her hand on her back trying to stay conscious.
“Hold up Sonya we can’t do anything you are hurt, we have to go,” Alexander said out loud as he held her close to him trying to keep her up.
“Now I can’t tell you that can I? I am part of the yellow, and you know who he is,” William said out loud as he began to chuckle.
“The man in yellow is here and wants something, what is it,” Sonya said out loud as she pushed Alexander away to try and stand on her own.
William took off the mask and started smiling at Sonya. “You know you could have really helped William but now he is lost, and so will your friend be too. You see he wants to talk to your mage friend Lucuris,” William said as he slowly began to back away from Alexander and Sonya.
Before William could get away Sonya used all her strength and flung her whip in front of her with everything she had, it caught William with ease and wrapped itself around his neck. “What the hell do you want to do with Lucuris.Smiley already hurt him,” Sonya said out loud as she held her grip on her whip as tight as she could.
William untied the whip from around his neck and turned around slowly starring both Alexander and Sonya in their eyes. “The one you know as Smiley is long dead,” William said out loud as he started to laugh maniacally.
Alexander rushed towards William and grabbed him by his shirt and slowly lifted him off the ground. “What do you mean dead he isn’t supposed to be dead,” Alexander said out loud with each word he spoke getting louder and angrier than the last.
“Shouldn’t you be happy Shadow Spawn? The hero of your city who fought crime to help others unless it was Smiley. He killed while you were slow and took your time to catch him. No, I did not kill him not at all but the man in yellow he felt he had to get rid of him just to keep things balanced,” William said out loud
Alexander slowly lowered William down and could feel his fingers tense up trying to think of Smiley being no more. He felt robbed and felt he was not satisfied. He was after this killer for what felt like forever and wanted him to pay for his crimes, but instead he got the easy way out. “He deserved to answer for what he did for those lives he destroyed. You released him and let him go,” Alexander said out loud as anger inside of him began to rise with each passing moment.
“I think I did you all a favor,” A voice said from the shadows.
A tall slender man wearing a yellow suit with a yellow mask suddenly appeared from the shadows. “You did fine my boy. I will talk to you later,” The man said to William as he nodded at him and with that William disappeared in the shadows.
“So, you are The Man in Yellow,” Sonya said out loud as she stood up trying to catch her breathe.
“I suppose people call me that, but you can call me Hast,” Hast said out loud as he started to chuckle slowly walking toward Sonya and Alexander with arms wide open.
“What the hell do you want with us Hast,” Alexander said out loud getting into a defensive position preparing to attack this unknown person at any moment.
Sonya placed her hand on Alexander’s shoulder and moved in front of him staring at Hast. “If he wanted us dead, we would already be dead. Hell, the only reason he is wearing a mask is so we wouldn’t go mad by the sight of him, isn’t that right,” Sonya said out loud as blood continued to drip from her wound.
“Well aren’t we the observant one. How would you know about me might I ask,” Hast said out loud as they knelt down to pick up one of the masks the cultists were wearing.
“Your kind destroyed almost all my family. The one they call the master is the one I am after and I will destroy them. I trained all my life to search for a way to get rid of you all,” Sonya said as she got straight up in Hast’s face trying to provoke them.
Hast stood back a bit from Sonya and looked up into the sky. “Me and my brother never got along. I have been trying to end him for thousands of years. The difference between me and him is when I make people suffer, they are already ready to die. But I need him gone and that is why I want to talk to your friend Lucuris.
“You were the one who killed Smiley, why did you do it?” Alexander said out loud as he crossed his arms and just stared at the masked man.
“He had his use in everything. He followed what my brother wanted him to do but he was a mad man due to my brother. He would have killed your friend Lucuris,” Hast said out loud tapping both of their index fingers together as they thought about Lucuris and Smiley.
“He would have killed anyone though and Lucuris was just one of his victims,” Alexander said out loud as they wondered why Hast went out of his way to protect Lucuris.
“Not really he needed Lucuris, he was someone Smiley wanted all to himself,” Hast said out loud as he started to chuckle.
“Why did he need Lucuris though,” Sonya said out loud wondering what could be so special about Lucuris.She knew he was a Black Mage with abilities that she only remembered reading about but to her that was not enough to go after someone since Smiley was just a regular killer and only went after people when they wanted to kill them. Why would they go to all the trouble to get Lucuris and to torture him.
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br /> “Your friend is not from this world, not from this dimension even. He is a stranger in your universe and messed up the balance,” Hast said out loud as they stared at Sonya.
“Wait a minute. Lucuris doesn’t belong here and is from another dimension?” Sonya said out loud as she began staring at Alexander.
“Which means there is two different Lucuris’s in our world. A person who doesn’t have his abilities and is just a normal person,” Alexander said out loud looking as Hast with confusion on his face. He did not really know why it mattered if Lucuris came from another dimension, but he was curious why Smiley wanted him so bad.
“You can’t have two of the same people in the same dimension and expect for it to be fine. Lucuris came here when he was just a baby and lived on this planet in this plane for many years. He had a beautiful life with a family that loved him, a sister that adored him and recently friends that he considered to be part of his family,” Hast said out loud as they crossed their arms.
“Seems like he had a great time being here and Smiley wanted to kill him because he was jealous of his life somehow?” Sonya said out loud as she started to sit on the floor looking up at Hast with confusion on her face.
“He was jealous alright, and he had a reason. He was supposed to have Lucuris’s life, his family, and his friends. To him Lucuris stole his life from him because Smiley was Lucuris, but a twisted version of him. So, I took it upon myself to fix the little problem I thought this dimension would have had if not dealt with right away. I killed Smiley so Lucuris could stay,” Hast said looking down at Sonya.
“You can’t be serious,” Alexander said out loud as his eyes widen in shock thinking about there being two versions of Lucuris.One who was good and kind that wanted to help others and other that was evil and just wanted to kill.
“All you were doing was helping yourself, weren't you?” Sonya said out loud as she was swaying her body back and forth trying to stay awake and not to pass out.
“To get what I want and have been wanting I will do what it takes. Me and you and Lucuris want the same thing in the end, don’t we,” Hast said out loud as they offered their hand to Sonya to try and shake it in agreement.
Sonya could feel fear enter her body and anger rise inside of her at the same time. She felt disgusted with helping Hast out with their problem, but she knew that to get what she wanted that she would need to use him also. She did not know how to defeat the master but hoped that over time working with hast she would learn what needed to be done. “We will take you to Lucuris and we will all talk what to do next, but there is one thing I need you to do,” Sonya said out loud as she pushed away Hast’s hand and got up by herself.
“What would that be now? I can’t bring your family back alive,” Hast said out loud as he cocked his head to one side.
“William...your cultist harmed him and someone else is in his body. I want you to bring him back to himself. You do that and we will go talk to Lucuris and see if he would be willing to aid you,” Sonya said out loud as she crossed her arms.
“I can bring him back yes, but he won’t be the same not entirely,” Hast said out loud as he looked up into the sky trying to figure out how to word what he was going to say next to Sonya.
With anger in her eyes she went up to Hast, grabbed him on each side of his arms and pulled him towards her until her face was touching his mask. “What do you mean not the same entirely,” Sonya said out loud yelling in his face. She felt anger and upset about what happened to William. She wanted to help him more than anything but felt that she couldn’t protect him before they turned him, but she could not lie to herself. She knew that she could have protected him, but she chose to just leave him behind by himself.
“Now now let us not get angry. William cannot fully be free of the beast that is inside of him. I can put him in control again and cage the beast inside of him, but he has to keep it. If that monster was to ever leave William the boy would die almost instantly. Once it entered him it melded to him and is now a part of him,” Hast said out loud as he stood there looking at Sonya as tears ran down her face, but she said nothing she just stood there for a few minutes in anger and he allowed her to be angry. He knew what she must have felt the same way she felt during the moment his brother destroyed her family and her entire world. “You see with my brother he would have killed William, but let this teach you a lesson, a lesson you and those you know including your Mage friend. If you want to fight the Old ones, the ones who have been in the shadows for thousands of years you have to be willing to risk it all no matter what the cost,” Hast said out loud to Sonya as he stood there staring into the sky.
Chapter 10
Alexander, Sonya and Hast entered the house and saw Lucuris and Bailey both reading books in front of each other. “What is going on Lucuris,” Alexander said out loud as he took his cowl off and sat down next to him
“I’m trying to figure out this crystal. The yellow one that I am looking for and where it could be,” Lucuris said out loud as he buried his head into the book.
“The crystal of the sun or how my people call it the crystal of the gods.Some see it as yellow others oranges but its power is great and fantastic,” Hast said out loud as he stood in front of Lucuris examining the book with his eyes.
“Your friend in the mask, who is he?” Lucuris said out loud as he got up from looking at the book and looked at Hast from top to bottom. He did not know who this new person was or why he was covering his face with a mask, but just something about the person's aura just gave Lucuris the creeps.
“You may call me Hast.There are others who refer to me as the man in yellow, and other ridiculous names,” Hast said out loud as he reached his hand out in front of him offering Lucuris to shake it.
“What is it you want with me?” Lucuris said out loud as his eyes narrowed to Hast not letting his guard down for a second.
“Oh well right to the point then. I do like the way you work my boy. I have an opportunity for someone, and your friends here and at your home. It requires your abilities and it would aid me greatly personally,” Hast said out loud as he sat down on a chair close by to him placing his index fingers together wondering what Lucuris was going to say.
“You really think I would help you. I do not know you, but my people do. Seeing the memories, I saw when I became a Black Mage and one were the old ones. How my people would fear them and would tell stories about them. How some would make them go mad and have them do horrible things and their followers would kill and torture children, men and women all for the enjoyment of getting your blessings,” Lucuris said out loud as he started to yell louder and louder with each word, feeling himself grow angry just thinking of the people who were harmed. He may not have known them, but he knew their stories and that alone was enough for him to be upset.
“Your people are not all good. They honestly tried to hide what they did and tried to bury it,” Hast said out loud as he started to chuckle. He then leaned forward and stared at Lucuris. “The power of the Magi has a secret. Part of us are in those crystals, some are old, and others are young ones like a child. You expect me to feel sorry for your people when you do not even understand that they trapped some of my people in prisons?” With venom coming out of his mouth and then banging one of his fists on the table close to him while feeling anger and rage build inside of him.
“Joey never told me any of that. But why wouldn’t he,” Lucuris said in a small whisper as he took his purple crystal out from his pocket and began to examine it.
“It’s not something you want to go around telling people. How would they build their ranks if they told everyone the truth. Sure, a lot of my people deserve to be put in those prisons, but there are also many who just want to live peacefully in the shadows,” Hast said out loud as he started to lean back in the chair.
“But the old ones are evil,” Sonya said out loud with her arms crossed looking at Hast
“Not every old one wants to cause harm. Some want to help peopl
e, and some just want to do good,” Hast said out loud as he started to chuckle.
“I never thought of it that way. I always just saw evil as being evil. The first thing that comes to my mind when I fought the demons. When I fought Matius was to protect my friends and family,” Lucuris said out loud staring at the ceiling.
“Evil is in everything and everyone. You chose if you want to cross that line or not. Just like the old ones we each have our wants and we all follow what we feel is best for us. I know you Lucuris and I have seen you both grow similar lives but different events that changed the course of whether you would be good and he would be evil,” Hast said out loud as he started to drum is fingertips on the table near him.
“What are you talking about?” Lucuris said out loud looking at Hast in confusion.
“Smiley as you call him Lucuris, that is you. You come from an alternate dimension and when you came into this one you replace Smiley’s place in this world which led him in a different more sinister path,” Hast said out loud looking at Lucuris and Bailey who both looked shocked.
“He killed Smiley so you could stay here without issues, but that killer was really a version of you,” Alexander said out loud looking at Lucuris and nodding at him.
Lucuris sat back stunned at what he learned from Hast.He felt like he stole Smiley’s place in the world. He felt that if he stayed on his world in his dimension then Smiley would not even be the killer that he was. “So, it is all my fault that he was here in this town, and the killer he became,” Lucuris said out loud thinking of when Smiley was torturing and now knowing why he was so mad at him.
“It wasn’t your fault, we each have our own decisions no matter what,” Bailey said out loud as she got up with a book in her arms and glared at Hast.
The Shadow of the Magi Page 5