“Nick, we can still help you, whatever is taking over you please let us help you,” Abigail said out loud as she ran towards Nick leaving Zee trailing behind her. She did not want to give up on Nick, she couldn’t. She knew it was selfish of her, but she was so alone before him and having him she felt what love truly was. The thought of someone taking you in for who you are, laughing at your dumb jokes, striving you to keep aiming for your dreams. She knew they had their problems and arguments but to her the two of them always fought for each other and in her heart, she knew that if she was under the darkness Nick would walk through that darkness until he could find her.
Nick snapped his head towards Abigail before she could come any closer to him. He then pointed one of his handguns towards her and gave her a wicked smile. “I really wouldn’t go any further Abigail. You can’t help me, oh that time has long passed. The only way you can stop me is if you can kill me,” Nick said out loud taking the other handgun and pointing it at his head smiling.
“You took over the man I love. You took him away. Nick if you are truly gone, I am so sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when you needed me the most. Sweetie you must have been so afraid, and in so much pain. I can’t bring you back, but I can make sure the master does not damn you,” Abigail said out loud tears running down her cheeks, her fist closed tight with fury in her eyes. “Zee let's do this together. Lend me your scales my love,” Abigail said, and, in that moment, Zee swirled around her as flames started to engulf her whole.
Lucuris and Nick looked on in wonder and awe wondering what was happening. It had been a while since Lucuris was able to see his sister, he did not even think she had any new abilities. “Abigail is everything ok?” Lucuris said out loud holding his staff up trying to keep his balance as the fire and wind were slowly pushing him back slowly burning his Chaos outfit.
The flames stopped spinning and left nothing but a large amount of smoke covering the area and slowly revealing Abigail. She wore scaled dragon armor from head to toe. In both of her hands she held two crossbows both loaded with fire arrows as she held them to her sides. “I will burn you and send you to hell. You will remember me. You will remember Zee,” Abigail said looking down at her crossbows and smiling.
“You can try to kill me but remember you are outnumbered,” Nick said out loud taking both handguns and aiming them at Abigail.
At that moment demons from all sides began surrounding Lucuris and Abigail. It seemed to be hundreds of them of different shapes and sizes. Lucuris could feel his heart sped up as his nerves were starting to get the best of him. “What do we do, we can’t take on all of them by ourselves,” Lucuris said out loud holding out one of his hands preparing to send out an attack.
“I tried, but the demons just keep coming,” Jessica said out loud landing next to Lucuris with Odin by her side. She wore her Valkyrie armor and held her shield on one arm and was panting hard. She could feel her body feeling like it was going to collapse. But she took one look at Abigail and Nick and knew that she was needed. She pulled the strap tight on the arm holding the shield and held out her sword preparing for any demons that would head towards Lucuris and her.
“You look so tired, and my army of demons are endless. The human bodies that were not allowed into the greater beyond for sins that they did. Those that were punished to an endless hell, that would warp their senses and turn them into the beast that they all are today. But did you know at first the demons had names in hell and would hang around and have fun with each other like they did as people of this earth. But slowly they could tell that their lives were over, and nothing stood in front of them but decay, and death. So much of that for years and years twist and warp your being and then sooner or later you become a monster,” Nick said out loud as he continued to aim his handguns at Abigail.
Abigail lifted up both her cross bows and began shooting at Nick trying to put all her anger and sadness into each shot as she dashed towards him. “You can go to hell with them. I will make sure you get there, but first I have to free Nick,”
“You fool, Nick is gone. My demons attack the rest,” Nick said out loud dodging Abigail and back stepping out of her attacks avoiding them barely.
The demons swarmed around Lucuris and Jessica. Looking at them like they were a meal, ready to eat. “Lucuris we fight them and give Abigail enough time, as much as we can,” Jessica said out loud pointing her sword at the demons.
“Like hell you are doing this alone,” A voice said from above Lucuris and Jessica.
Lucuris looked up in awe and saw Mazikeen, Bailey, and Alexander falling towards them as black magic covered them helping them land smoothly on the ground next to Jessica.
“You guy, you came to us,” Lucuris said out loud looking happy to see them all and feeling grateful they came.
“We know you wanted to do this by yourself but after five minutes or so staying behind we knew we couldn’t let you fight with just three,” Bailey said out loud holding out a Bo Staff getting ready to attack.
“She is right Lucuris.You all were major idiots leaving us and trying to go with just three people. Don’t worry though we are the only backup that you need,” Mazikeen said out loud twirling her Black Mage staff in front of her and then getting into a defensive stance.
“We don’t do this alone, we do this together,” Alexander said out loud holding up his fist.
“I guess you are right, you all are. You hear that Abigail we do this together. We will take care of the demons; you just stop Nick. We all believe in you sister, especially me,” Lucuris said out loud as he and the rest of his friends charged into battle.
Chapter 22
Abigail walked around aiming her cross bows at Nick waiting for him to make the next move. “You see that Nick; you hear our friends. They are unstoppable and will stop the master,”
“You think your little group of losers can stop the master,” Nick said out loud aiming his handguns at Abigail smiling at her thinking about how much suffering the humans of the world will have to endure.
“We can try, as long as we try and don’t give up that’s a good start,” Abigail said out loud keeping her aim at Nick waiting for the right moment to attack.
“You can try but it won’t work. You walk this earth knowing one day you will die, when you can live as an immortal. Seeing humans die, and the master feast on their bones is quite a sight. He feasts on the old and the young, to gain power so he can break free,” Nick said out loud as he was starting to laugh thinking about all the mindless humans that were being eaten by the master.
“Fuck You,” Abigail said out loud yelling at Nick as she tackled him to the floor sitting on his chest and pinning his shoulders down with her hands.
“Oh, we getting a little four play right now aren’t we Abigail?” Nick said out loud smiling at Abigail.
Anger flooded her body, sadness seeped within her bones, and love burst within her heart. “You are ruining this, ruining everything that we all tried to protect Nick, why?” Abigail said out loud as she took her left hand, rolled it into a fist and swung it onto the face of the man she loved.
“I never ruined anything for anyone. I followed you all, and tried to do things your way, but all of it did not matter Abigail. Eventually the master would take over the world and there is nothing that can be done. I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die,” Nick said out loud as he spit out blood next to him as he laid there not fighting Abigail back and just looking at her as the darkness continued to consume him.
“I can’t Nick, I can’t let you continue to do this. The people of our world deserve better,” Abigail said out loud as she placed her forehead on his yelling and sobbing letting the pain, she was holding to exit her.
“Join us Abigail. We can all be together again, and you can stop worrying about the next day. Zee can even live, and it can just be us,” Nick said out loud smiling at Abigail as blood started to drip from his mouth.
“I would never do it Nick, why would I forget ev
eryone and my brother,” Abigail said out loud pinning Nick down looking him straight in the eyes.
“Please Abigail your brother is the one that will die the most. The master will beat him for days, he will skin him alive slowly as Lucuris cries in pain begging for mercy. He will eat him and share his feast with the demons as you all look on in horror. It would be quite beautiful,” Nick said out loud with a smirk on his face.
Abigail could not contain herself anymore. She punched Nick in the face over and over again as blood came off of him and splashed onto her fist. She picked him up with all her might and tossed him to the side of her. Before he could even get up all the way she went over picked up one of her crossbows and shot an arrow into his left and right leg. “You think this is fucking funny nick, you think messing with the ones I love is some kind of joke?” Abigail said out loud aiming her crossbow at Nick.
“You deserve it all, all of you deserve what is going to happen next,” Nick said out loud yelling at the top of his lungs.
Abigail saw Nick and saw him struggling to get back up to his feet. She looked at his face and only saw someone that was a stranger. The man that she loved for so long she felt that he was lost. She felt that no matter what she did that the smiling and bubbly person she used to know was gone.
“That’s enough,” a mysterious voice said out loud as they placed their crimson red glove on Abigail’s crossbow lowering it down.
“Took you long enough to get here Lucidian, now let's get this over with,” Nick said out loud smiling at the Blood Mage.
“I don’t think so Nick,” Lucidian said out loud lifting one hand up aiming his staff at Nick. At that moment red liquid shot out and wrapped itself around Nicks body and down his throat. He tried to struggle and shake it off of him, but the more he tried to get free the more it tightened.
Lucuris saw what was happening and left Jessica and everyone else to fight the demons as he dashed towards Lucidian.
“What do you think you are doing he is choking to death,” Abigail said out loud lifting up her crossbow and aiming it at Lucidian.
“He has a leech inside of him. It is attached to his heart and is corrupting him from the inside out,” Lucidian said out loud keeping his focus on Nick as his eyes turned crimson.
“Lucidian are you sure what you are doing is the best thing?” Lucuris said out loud walking towards the Blood Mage.
“Lucuris do you trust me?” Lucidian said out loud keeping his focus on Nick.
“I trust you like my father does,” Lucuris said out loud walking towards Abigail to make sure that she was okay.
At that moment Lucidians grasp got tighter and tighter on Nick. He tried to struggle to call out to Abigail and tears rolled down his face as he saw his friends stand there and watch him suffer. The red liquid wrapped around him tighter and tighter and he shook and turned and shook some more until eventually he stopped moving. Lucidian lowered Nicks body to the ground and stepped to the side.
“That’s it, you were just going to kill him, that’s all you were going to fucking do?” Abigail said out loud as she stood in front of Lucidian with anger on her face.
“Abigail, turn around and look at Nick,” Lucuris said out loud
Nick's body started to turn and twist as a thick, black, slimy leech started to crawl out of his mouth. It saw Lucidian and dashed towards the blood mage.
Before the leech could even come close to Lucidian an arrow was shot through it killing it instantly. “You took over Nick, now die and go back to the shadows you came from,” Abigail said out loud looking at the creature thinking about the horrible things that it made Nick do.
“It’s good to see again. I can’t remember what happened,” Nick said out loud coughing and turning his head to look at Abigail.
“Nick, that’s you it’s really you,” Abigail said out loud rushing to him kneeling down next to him and hugging him as hard as she could. Her heart sunk hearing his voice and knowing that it was truly him, that he came back to her, the one that she loved and not some monster.
“Hey, you guys finally heard me, you came for me,” Nick said out loud looking into Abigail’s eyes and letting out a small chuckle.
“We have to get you to the hospital sweetie. We have to go now,” Abigail said out loud trying to help Nick up.
Nick wailed in pain and laid down on the floor as blood continued to come out of his body. “I don’t think so Abby. Looks like my time is up. The regret I have for everything wrong. I saw what the other me did to harm everyone and I’m so sorry I wish I could take it back, that I could make it better,” Nick said out loud as he began to cry, while blood continued to run from out of his mouth.
“Lucuris do you have the fire crystal?” Lucidian said out loud looking at the young chaos mage stand close to him in shock.
“We do, Bailey has it though,” Lucuris said out loud keeping his eye on Nick.
“Get the crystal and get it to your friend Nick. If you want to save him that is the only way now,” Lucidian said out loud as he leaped into the air and dashed towards the demons that were attacking Jessica, Alexander, Bailey, and Mazikeen.
Lucuris ran towards Bailey dodging any demons that came his way. Some would claw and cut him on the way but to him it did not matter, he would go through hell for any one of his friends. “I need the fire crystal now Bailey,” Lucuris said out loud shooting sparks of chaos at the demons heading towards her.
She slammed one of the demons on the head with her Bo Staff, grabbed the crystal from her pocket, tossed it towards Lucuris and continued to fight off the horde of demons. “You better bring him back Lucuris, and tell him that he owes us one,” Bailey said with a smile on her face as she attacked demons to the right of her keeping them at bay as best she could.
Lucuris smile at her as he held the crystal in his fingers and darted back towards Abigail and Nick.
“Please hold on my love, please, please,” Abigail said out loud as she held Nick in her arms and rocked him back and forth whispering softly to him the different ways that she loved him, the happy moments that they had together.
“I got the crystal Abigail. You just stand back and let me take care of the rest,” Lucuris said out loud kneeling beside Nick and taking the fire crystal out.
“Hey buddy, long time no see. Man, I guess I really fucked up this time. I’m sorry Lucuris, I knew that you had stuff you needed to do in this town, and I guess I kind of messed it up for everybody. I hope you can forgive me man. I miss Amaterasu, is she doing okay?” Nick said out loud looking up into the sky trying to keep himself awake but it was hard for him to. He just wanted to sleep, it was so easy for him to just close his eyes to let the world slip away, he almost did he could feel himself starting to slip away.
“Don’t you die on me Nick, not now. You want to see your familiar again, you want to see your partner, the one who kept you safe when she could. You stay alive dammit. For Amaterasu, for Abigail, for all of us,” Lucuris said out loud placing the crystal within Nicks palm holding his hand tight to help Nick keep his hand closed.
The crystal started to heat up and began to make Nick glow a bright red, making him shine like a Christmas tree. He did not scream or toss in pain. To him the crystal felt like home, felt like a part of him. “That, felt really weird,” Nick said out loud as he slowly started to get up
“Nick, your wounds, they are gone, you are all better, how?” Abigail said out loud as she rushed towards Nick and wrapped her arms around him kissing him over and over again.
“I think I can help answer that Abigail,” Lucidian said out loud walking towards Nick.
“I don’t get it; I was about to die. I had blood everywhere, and it felt like something burst out of my chest,” Nick said out loud looking at one of his hands and wondering how the wounds disappear so quickly.
“The power of The Magi is what happened. The only way you could live was if you had taken the power of our people, and the fire crystal was all that you had. You may not look it Nick, bu
t now you are one of us and with that comes the Magic within that crystal. It is what helped heal you, and what is keeping you alive,” Lucidian said out loud placing one hand on Nicks shoulder.
“So, what happens if I don’t have the crystal, what happens if someone breaks or destroys it?” Nick said out loud looking at the fire crystal that he held and wondering what magic abilities that it held inside of it.
“You die Nick. You will slowly revert back to the stage that you were in when you were first dying and you go through the process of your final death,” Lucidian said out loud looking at Nick hold Abigail tightly.
Abigail turned towards Nick, and looked him in the eyes, holding his hands tightly. “I will not let that happen to you. I lost you once before Nick, and I’ll make damn sure I won’t lose you a second time,” Abigail said out loud as she began to smile at Nick trying to let him know that she could never live without him, because to her he was the beat of her heart.
“Wait what about the kid, and his parents, are they okay?” Nick said out loud looking to the left and right of him.
“Oh, great to have you back,yea we got the people they were trying to send it, Wasn’t that hard really since you went back to normal the demons just started to run away and disappear,” Jessica said out loud walking towards Nick as Alexander,Mazikeen,and Bailey walked behind her and Odin.
“So, what happens now, the master will already know that I am not under his control anymore,” Nick said out loud looking at Lucuris.
Lucuris stepped forward towards Abigail and Nick, he held out his staff and planted it into the ground. “The master will already know that Lucidian is with us also. We can’t allow him to continue to let his darkness into our world. Eventually he will come into our dimension and I don’t think we are enough to stop him,” Lucuris said out loud looking at Jessica.
The Shadow of the Magi Page 11