The Seventh Spirit

by Adam-Clay Webb

  “Is this otherworldly magic?” Star asked the strange man.

  “Come,” the voice of The Lantern bade from behind the portal.

  “Lex, wait! I’m getting the feeling a lot of bullshit is going on here!” Kyle warned.

  “Tell us, how will you get the demon from him anyway?” Star asked.

  “By death of course,” the man answered like it was a foolish question. “I joke. Fret not. There are extractors there. The boy will be fine.”

  Kyle sighed heavily, though still not trusting the man fully.

  “Come fast!” The Lantern hurried Lex, “Time is upon us!” The Lantern walked into the portal. Lex turned and looked at Star and Kyle. They nodded nervously.

  “I will return with them,” he promised, then entered through the cross-dimensional gateway. It vanished instantly.

  Lex and The Lantern appeared in what seemed to be an endless hallway of doors. “Where are we?” the boy asked, looking about nervously.

  “Follow closely,” the man answered, sounding slightly jittery. Lex could see that he was late, and that being late was of some consequence. His brisk walk soon turned into running. Lex ran behind him. Glancing left and right, he noticed that each door had some kind of code or something written on it, maybe a serial number or so. “This is it, room 345699753883htz,” The Lantern said, finally stopping by one of the doors. The man grabbed on to the gold knob on the door and squeezed it for a moment.

  “Dark Lantern,” what sounded like a computerized female voice came from the door, “please enter 120 decamites of dark matter.”

  “What?! Are you joking?! Are these prices a joke?!” He released the knob furiously. A little crystal ball came out through the door, looking to simply phase through it. It was fixed at the end of an extended metal rod. The man grabbed the orb and it turned black instantly. After a short moment, he released it and it went back into the door.

  “Welcome, Dark Lantern,” the same voice said. The man turned and looked at Lex.

  “What?” he asked, not knowing what to do.

  “Touch the door, boy.”

  “Right!” Lex grabbed on to the knob.

  “I.D 23745679234638739AAUBFL… Verifying… Lex Leo… Please submit sixty decamites of dark matter.” The same transparent orb reappeared.

  “So that’s how you reel in the first-timers, eh?” the businessman grumbled. Lex grabbed the sphere. His eyes flashed black for an instant and he felt a jolt though his body. The iron rod contracted again, bringing the crystal ball back through the door.

  “Welcome, Lex Leo. Thank you. Do come again.”

  The man looked at him intently. To release so much that easily. I can’t wait to get my hands on that darkness…

  “What now?” Lex asked.

  “Right. Come.” He grabbed Lex and stepped with him through the closed door. Lex shielded his face with his hand as he phased through the door.

  Lex looked around the strange room. Standing before them was a woman dressed in golden-brown robes. She looked to be in her early fifties or thereabout, and wore a dead-serious look on her face. She stood before a podium. There was a gold-coloured gavel rested on it.

  “Late as usual, Lantern,” the woman greeted, sounding like she was tired of seeing his tardy face around her courtroom.

  The man made a slight bow, smiling. “My apologies, my lady.”

  “And you,” she looked at Lex, “you poor soul, to be tied up in one such as he.”

  “Oh, please, your honour, don’t make me out to be such a terrible guy!” The Lantern defended, smiling a little.

  “Where are Clover and Zen?!” Lex asked without any more ado.

  “Oh, those two!” The woman seemed to have just remembered about them. The place looked like the courtrooms Lex used to see on court shows back home, except there were no benches in this one, only bland white walls, and a door to the left hand of the judge. Lex wondered – the door he had come through was no longer there. “Cliff, bring out the girls!” the woman called out. Lex turned his attention to the door near the judge as it was opened.

  Lex watched as a huge, muscular man, whose face was as grim as the judge’s, shoved something covered under a white sheath from out the room slowly. Lex shivered slightly. It was all strange and eerie to him.

  “Uncover them,” the woman said, and the man finally flung the sheath off. Lex stared shakingly at the two large containers, at the girls inside. Zen and Clover were each in a glass cylinder. Their eyes were closed. Their hair floated up and swam in the greenish liquid that filled the containers.

  “Release them!” the boy demanded, two spheres of ice quickly generated in his palms.

  “Relax, Lex,” the man told Lex in a calm, but not very calming voice. “The fluid they’re in keeps them alive.”

  “Get them outta there!”

  The Lantern laughed under his breath.

  “Lex, do put away the ice,” the woman said in a calm tone of warning and slight threat. “You wouldn’t want to know just how quickly I can erase your existence and that of your dear friends.”

  “She’s far from bluffing,” The Lantern’s subtle voice warned Lex.

  “Alright. Let’s end this commotion. Drain the cylinders,” the woman commanded.

  “Yes Ma’am,” the handyman answered, and went around to the back of the containers. In seconds, the level of the fluids fell below their necks. They began to breathe normally immediately. Lex just noticed the thin wires and tubes that ran from the containers back into the room they were pushed from.

  Probably just recollecting consciousness, Clover banged against the transparent cell, seeming to shout Lex’s name. Zen just stood in hers looking out at the boy.

  “What a relief it was when they started making these things sound proof,” the man who took Lex to court said under his breath, knowing how annoying the disturbance would have been.

  “Clover! Zen!” Lex made a sudden dash toward them. He had already powered down.

  “Fool!” The Lantern blasted, grabbing on to the hasty boy. Lex turned and delivered a heavy punch to the man’s face, shifting a few of his teeth.

  “Order! There will be order!” the judge commanded seriously as Lex made his way quickly to the girls. The annoyed woman grabbed up her gavel and pointed toward the boy who was insolently ignoring her command. She flashed the gavel abruptly. Instantly, Lex felt a painful force fling him backward through the air. He crashed into a wall and fell on his face, groaning in pain. The boy heard the stifling laughter of the man in the black hat. Lex struggled to his feet, looking up at the woman. “Another gimmick like that and you and your friends are not even history!” the woman threatened. Lex slowly walked back up to his post, glancing over at the crying girls. Clover was still throwing a tantrum in her cylindrical cell.

  “She means that quite literally,” the man said, rubbing his cheek. “She has the power to erase one’s existence entirely so they were not even born.”

  “Alright, so the females are property of The Dark Lantern,” the woman announced, skimming through some papers before her. Lex’s eyes flashed between Clover and Zen, then back at the judge.

  “Like what?! How can that be? Isn’t this some kinda high-level court system? What about human rights?!”

  “The relevant taxing has been done and these two currently belong to The Dark Lantern,” the woman said with a stern voice of annoyance and finality. The confused boy looked back over at the containers. Clover’s face was flooding with tears. Zen just stood there, her hands pressed lightly against the glass-like material with a lost look on her face. Lex wondered if she had finally run out of tears. “Focus, Mr. Leo!” the woman snapped, banging her gavel. Feeling a sharp and sudden pain, the boy jumped and fixed his eyes back on her.

  Just what on earth is this woman? Well nothing on earth I suppose.

  “Alright. This is The Lantern’s proposition,” she continued: “the females return from whence they were captured in exchange for the source of dark matter
inside you. The Lantern reserves the right to do whatever he wishes to the girls if you do not comply.” Lex looked over at them again anxiously.

  Maximo… What should I do now? If I lose you, my world is doomed… Who will stop your brothers?

  “Have something to say, Mr. Leo?” the judge permitted him to speak.

  “Y—Yes your honour… This ‘source of darkness’ as you people call it… it is a spirit. And I need it! His power is the only force that can face Trium, a trinity of demons that are coming to destroy earth!”

  “Listen, Mr. Leo. I know more than you can ever the background and context of this case. Simply, though, the prophecies you believe in are not even slightly relevant at the moment… Besides, how could such a relatively small power stand against the infamous Trium of the world of Zaga?” Lex couldn’t answer. “You don’t even know the greatness of this Trium you plan to fight, boy. He is known across millions of complexes, even across the far corners of the multiverse.”

  “Maximo…” the boy whispered.

  “Anyway, is that all? Do you have a counter-proposition for The Lantern or will you work with the one he has put forward? Remember, an attempt in any way to breach the system will result in instant death and full erasure of your existence.”

  Breach the system? Lex was now thinking up a whole new world of ideas.

  Tense minutes of thinking elapsed. “Your honour,” Lex finally said.

  “Made up your mind, young sir?”

  “If it is possible--”

  “With this gavel I possess, all things are possible, Mr. Leo,” the judge assured almost boastingly.

  “I have no doubt, your honour.” The woman smiled slightly.

  “What The Lantern wants is one life, the life of the demon I possess.”

  “That is correct,” the woman answered.

  “I think, to balance the equation, only one of my friends should be used as an object of trade…”

  “Hmmm…” The woman gave deep thought to this idea.

  “Your honour, that must be absurd!” The Lantern rebutted, “The case is already fairly set! Besides, these humans are nothing compared to the demon’s worth!”

  “One man’s trash, they say. It’s settled. I will free one of your friends.” Lex sighed, feeling a little closer to full victory.

  “Damn it, your honour!” he shouted in an indignant tone.

  “Quiet down! Order!”

  “… My apologies, Ma’am.”

  “So which of the girls will--”

  “I’m sure you won’t go as far as to let him, choose, my fair judge,” The Lantern said, sounding like he was facing a great injustice. The judge thought for a little.

  “Randomness seems in order.” She lifted her gavel and pointed it at Clover. A beam of light suddenly sped out from it. Lex closed his eyes quickly, saving his sight and probably Maximo from great damage. When he saw again, Clover was gone.

  “Is she safe now?”

  “Safe and sound,” the judge assured.

  “Please, your honour, let me have a word with the other before I decide what to do next.”

  “What is this?!” The Lantern blasted, getting the strong feeling that all these gimmicks were getting in the way of him getting his merchandise.

  “Go on ahead,” the judge granted with a slightly warm smile. She signalled to her assistant. He went around to the back of the cylinder and did his thing. The glass that trapped her disappeared.

  “Zen!” Lex called out, running to the collapsing girl. He reached up to her and grabbed her as she was falling in exhaustion and worry. He knelt and held her. The strange green liquid had soaked her clothes and was running off her face. She closed her eyes for a few seconds, then opened them barely. Lex brushed her soft cheeks with his hand. His mind suddenly went back to the mission on the hill, all the determination he had to rescue her, and the great deal he and his friends went through to get her home safely.

  “Lex….” The girl whispered, “Please… I beg you…”

  “Zen…”

  “Go… Let me die here… Go live with Clover and your friends. Save the world Lex… This is my destiny, my purpose… my duty… Let me fulfil it.”

  “You better not kill her, Lex,” The Lantern encouraged. “How could you live with yourself? Give me my power and all will be well…”

  “Lex… Don’t listen to that villain.”

  “Zen...”

  “You told me that this demon was the source of your life… We both know what giving it up means… If you die here, my life would have been meaningless… Why must you even consider this?”

  “Enough!” the boy gave out, frightening Zen. He looked down at her with fiery eyes. His eyes quickly turned soft and moist on seeing her tears roll down her cheeks. “Listen to me. Have them know you had no say in this… This isn’t your decision to make.”

  “No! Lex!” The girl stood firmly and hugged him tightly. “Please…. Please, Lex, just—”

  “Alright, that’s enough! I’m not paid by the hour here!” The judge sounded like she had really had enough of this. Zen still clung to Lex.

  “Please…” She beseeched. “Don’t do this,” she sobbed almost breathlessly. Lex pushed the girl off him and stepped away from her. She went after him.

  “Detain her!” the judge ordered. The judge’s assistant grabbed the girl harshly. Lex turned away from her, not wanting to see her tears, not wanting her to see his. She was too weak to even try to fight him off. She fell on her knees, crying still.

  “I’ve decided,” Lex finally said, looking up at the judge.

  “I see. What is your resolution then?” Lex looked over at The Lantern with eyes of hatred and disgust. The Lantern was nervous. Lex looked back up at the judge.

  “I accept the offer. I will give him my demon.” He heard the shady man snicker under his breath, and barely stopped himself from summoning up all the power he could find and attacking the troublesome man.

  “Come forward,” the judge told Lex with a grim face, and Lex went up to where she stood.

  “Re-read the proposal,” she advised, removing all the documents before her except the one relevant to Lex.

  “One thing,” Lex said.

  “What is it now?” the woman asked in annoyance, though she wasn’t half as annoyed as the man awaiting his treasure. “The first thing you must do after I sign the contract is release the girl. I must see her go before I give up this demon.”

  “That’s just fine with me, Ma’am!” The Lantern made clear from where he stood.

  “Alright. When you are ready, just lay your palm on the paper,” the woman instructed. Lex slammed his hand down on the piece of legal document. “Carry out the extractor!” the woman called out to the assistant quickly. He went back into the storeroom and returned pushing what looked to Lex like an electric chair – it might as well had been anyhow. The woman pointed her gavel at Zen. Lex closed his eyes as Zen was portalled back to safety by the judge’s power. The boy made a heavy sigh of relief. “Remember, Lex Leo, if you resist the extraction--”

  “I know, your honour,” Lex stopped her.

  “My darkness! I will finally hold on to you!” the now giddy man spouted. Lex turned and gave him a deathly and serious glare.

  “Never.”

  “Wh-- What?!”

  “Mr. Leo--”

  “Listen, both of you,” Lex said, “this darkness inside me… it’s not just a power source, it is the spring of my very existence!” Lex explained. “This demon died in my stead, and now my life and his are one. I am hence left with two options then… die giving you this power… or die protecting it.” Lex stared at the shaking man. He let go of his cane in fright, and his eyes went wild, like he was going mad. The judge knew Lex’s situation the whole time. “Maximo! Give me a final surge!” Lex commanded, opening wide his palms. Without even closing his eyes, a denser than usual darkness overtook them. Two massive shadowballs appeared in his palms.

  Without any hesitation,
Lex hurled one of the spheres at the still shaking man. Quick reaction and the will to survive had him use dark matter to teleport him out of death’s grasp. The place shook as the white wall, which was made of a material that made steel look like paper, was bashed open. A black mist rose from where the hole was forced. The Lantern reappeared behind the judge.

  “Stop this maniac! But please, don’t hurt my treasure!”

  The judge quickly grabbed up the gavel which granted terrible power, the power of a god, hardly arguably. Lex, though, couldn’t care any less if he tried about her power or position or any such thing. His fists and feet glowed with the power of darkness, the power of Maximo. He moved toward the judge with great speed, the dangerously dense shadowball in his hand.

  As the gavel was under a millimetre from hitting the pedestal to erase Lex’s very existence, the boy reached up to her with godlike speed. His eyes were blacker than any darkness the woman had ever seen. In the space of time too short to be measured by any device of any realm or age, the woman felt a chilling fear run through her as she saw his eyes. The Dark Lantern teleported once more, spending much more dark matter than he wanted to. The judge cried out as the sphere of dense elemental darkness tore through her torso. Her hand released the gavel before it hit the pedestal, so Lex still existed. Lex dragged his hand out of the holes he had just made, one in the corpse and the other in the hard wall behind. He flashed his darkly glowing eyes toward the Lantern. The air was already tense with power, and the floor was being ripped up.

  “You will not get away!” The Lantern blasted, and stretched out his left hand. A portal appeared instantly, and more of his precious dark matter was spent. “Hypno!” the man summoned. The mind-bending killer appeared through the portal and it vanished.

  “At your service,” he greeted his master.

  “Subdue the boy! Be careful not to kill him!” Lex looked around frantically as his surroundings were morphed into one of Hypno’s custom battlegrounds.

  What?! Hm. Before Lex was a most terrifying monster, a huge dragon at least a hundred times his size with massive, red iron scales and sharp teeth of steel. Lex stared up at the man who stood on the beast’s head.