“It’s not Jesse,” Lipton murmured, doing a double take to make sure that it wasn’t Jesse’s face inside the Ball.
“No, it’s not,” Maggie responded in a grave tone, the crinkles around her eyes deepening as she frowned. “That’s Rellie.”
“Who’s Rellie?” Ken finally asked, his voice hoarse and croaky. He kept his eyes trained on the Ball, trying to figure out who the woman inside the Ball was.
“Rellie is the Key of the Dark Pole,” Maggie explained, swiveling her head from Ken, and then to Lipton. “She’s the Key that locks dark magic contained inside the Dark Pole. If somebody gets hold of her and unlocks the Dark Pole, all hell will break loose. Darkness would invade the world with such ferocity that there would be no way to salvage it anymore. That is why Rellie is very important, and if Catan utilizes her for his malicious purposes, I don’t see a happy ending …”
“I don’t get it …,” Lipton began, doubts swirling inside his head. “The Great Darkness has spread, right? The Great Darkness comes from the Dark Pole?”
Maggie nodded her head. “Yes, everything dark and evil comes from the Dark Pole. The Great Darkness is derived from the Dark Pole.”
“So if the Great Darkness has already started spreading throughout the world like wildfire, does that mean that someone like Catan has already gotten his hands on Rellie and used her to unlock the Dark Pole?”
“Yes, if that’s the case, then it means that Catan has already gotten to Rellie. There is no way the Great Darkness can spread unless the Dark Pole is unlocked. It means that somebody has already unlocked the Dark Pole!”
Lipton gasped. Skepticism fired within his mind like cannonballs. Something just didn’t add up. How could Rellie have unlocked the Dark Pole? The memories rushed back to the crevices of his mind, and he recalled where he’d seen Rellie. He started to remember who Rellie was, and how this Enchantress named Dove had vowed to keep her safe from Catan. If Dove was working around the clock to protect Rellie from being found by Catan, how could she have been used by him to unlock the Dark Pole?
It didn’t make an iota of sense at all. The Great Darkness had already started spreading even before Catan had found Rellie.
As Lipton pieced the jigsaw puzzles together, he started to see things with much more clarity.
He gasped when the realization hit him like a hammer, pounding into his core.
“Oh no!” Lipton cried. “As much as I hate to say this … but I don’t think that Catan was the one who has unlocked the Dark Pole. It has to be … somebody else. There’s someone else who wants to become the Supreme Ruler.”
Maggie looked at Lipton as though he had lost his marbles. “What? Are you saying that there is somebody else who is dead set on becoming the Supreme Ruler of the world … other than Catan?”
“I know that it’s obvious that we’re all pinpointing Catan as the prime suspect here. But what is there’s someone else vying for the title of Supreme Ruler as well? Someone who’s craving for power, and who wants to be at the top of the food chain?”
“I can’t think of anyone else besides Catan! Catan’s the only person I know who has this intention to rule the world with an iron fist! He’s so evil that I can’t think of any other person who could be more evil than him!”
“But he didn’t unlock the Dark Pole!” Lipton cried with such harshness that both Maggie and Ken were stunned to momentary silence.
No one spoke for a moment of time. Lipton’s jarring words had pounded into their minds, and both Maggie and Ken were careful not to venture further as they didn’t want to provoke Lipton, who seemed extremely distressed with the sudden revelation.
Finally, Maggie decided to speak as the awkward silence was starting to fray on her nerves. “So if it isn’t Catan who has unlocked the Dark Pole, then who is it?”
Lipton wasn’t even sure where to begin. If Catan wasn’t responsible for unlocking the Dark Pole, then who was?
Lipton had more burning questions inside his head, and he needed them answered.
“I’m still confused,” Lipton said, his voice slightly edgy. “Let’s assume that the Dark Pole is already unlocked … then what would happen to the world? Does unlocking the Dark Pole mean that it would only unleash the Great Darkness? And how would one person use the Key to unlock the Dark Pole?”
“There are two ways to use the Key,” Maggie explained, her voice falling into a more graver tone than before. “The Key has to be destroyed in order to unlock the Pole …”
“You mean the Key has to be killed?” Lipton asked, feverish with unanswered questions in his head.
Maggie nodded, staring blankly into space. “Yes … if the Key is killed, then the Pole would be completely unlocked, releasing gargantuan amounts of dark magic, so much that it could kill the person who unlocked the Pole, if he or she is not supernaturally fit for to handle such vast amount of power.”
“But can the Dark Pole be accessed even without unlocking it?”
“Yes, it can be accessed, through the Key. Of course, without unlocking the Pole, it would be impossible to have full access to the concentrated amounts of dark power contained inside the Pole itself. Let’s say that if the person isn’t able to handle such vast amount of dark magic because he isn’t supernaturally fit for it, he wouldn’t want to risk unlocking the Dark Pole yet until he’s ready. So he wouldn’t unlock the Pole just yet, he would just tap onto some of its power. To tap onto its power partially, he has to be in the presence of the Key to do that. By tapping onto its power without fully accessing it, he’s able to channel some dark magic from the Dark Pole into the world … hence the Great Darkness. He’s able to unleash the Great Darkness into the world just by partially tapping onto the powers of the Dark Pole through the Key. It’s another way for him to become the Supreme Ruler he aims to be, by stripping everyone of their powers, so he could take over the food chain.”
“And if he kills the Key, then he’d have full access to the tremendous amounts of dark magic of the Universe?”
“Yes, he would, but I don’t think he’d do that because accessing such vast amount of power could instantly kill him. He won’t do that until he’s ready.”
“But under what circumstances would he not be ready? I mean, isn’t the main purpose of unlocking the Dark Pole is to gain full access to the dark powers of the Universe?”
“Those who are deemed to be supernaturally fit to handle such powers would be those who are evil and dark themselves. In most cases, such people would have no problem of completely unlocking the Dark Pole without killing themselves.”
Lipton felt a thud in his heart. The jigsaw pieces were whirling inside his head, trying to make the fit. He felt like he was getting somewhere with the piece of information Maggie had just divulged, but he still couldn’t quite reach there yet.
Lipton sprang to his feet again, as though he had a sudden revelation. “What if the person who wanted to access the Dark Pole wasn’t someone with dark powers … but good magic?”
Maggie gasped as if what Lipton had said offended her. “I-I … well … it’s not impossible … but why would someone with good magic do something like that? Are you talking about good beings trying tap onto the powers of darkness?”
“Well, good beings can turn evil too, right? What if that is the case? What if the person who is trying to tap onto the dark powers of the Dark Pole is someone who is bred of pure and good magic? Even those kind of beings can become evil. They can be blinded by greed, power, and choose to walk down the dark path, straying from the good path they have taken all along. What if … that person was an … Enchantress?”
19. Athena
Maggie bounced up from her seat, defensive fire burning in her eyes. “Are you saying that one of my kind is part of all this evil scheme? Are you accusing one of us? Are you accusing … me?”
Lipton marched toward Maggie, looking her straight in the face. Maggie looked so crushed by Lipton’s implicit accusations that she wanted to shove Lipton away
and shout expletives at him.
How dare he imagine that an Enchantress could be part of this? Enchantresses were bestowed with pure and sacred magic, untainted by darkness. No Enchantresses in their right mind would even venture to take the path of destruction to evil.
“I’m not accusing you, Maggie,” Lipton said. “But I just want your confirmation … that’s all. Is it possible for an Enchantress to turn to the side of darkness?”
Maggie paused for a second, trying to gather her thoughts. Lipton’s words had literally battered her insides, and she needed a second to breathe. She tried to pull up a wall of defense, but it seemed the bricks were fragile, slowly shattering away as she tried to control her emotions from clouding her judgment.
Heaving a sigh, she gave a bold gaze at Lipton. “Yes, it is possible … but it’s a rare incidence. In our long history, there has been one or two cases of Enchantresses trying to turn over to the dark side, and it didn’t end up well for them … well … most of them anyway. Because Enchantresses were bestowed with good magic, they are expected to carry out their duties with responsibility and wisdom. And when they choose the path of darkness, thinking that they could succeed … they always fail because they have no control over the darkness which they’ve given their souls to. Because they were born of light and good magic, Enchantresses are fragile and could be easily shattered by darkness. These Enchantresses who craved for power and bred evil intentions in their hearts had bad endings, because darkness was too overwhelming for them and it literally killed them. I’ve read about a few of those evil Enchantresses in the history books, and I could remember only a few of them. One of the most notorious ones whom I remembered was named Athena Havens. She was one of the most powerful Enchantresses of her time, and everyone was in awe of her. She lived about three generations before me, and made headline news every time she performed good deeds with her magic. She came from this little town called Savenah, about fifty miles from Wartwick. She saved children from burning buildings, she helped ensure constant land fertility for the great harvest, she helped thwart plans of evil criminals … she was always doing good things , and was awarded the title of the Good Enchantress by the the mayor of Savenah. However, as time progressed, Athena grew tired of being good. It was thrilling in the beginning to be recognized for her good deeds and to perform magic for the name of peace, but the fire of goodness seemed to gradually died down within her, and sooner or later, she wasn’t that excited about being good anymore. She wanted to experiment with something new, go on a different path than the one she took. There was something alluring about the dark side, and it compelled her to venture into that path she’d never taken before. Darkness mesmerized her at some point, and it gave her a sense of thrill and burning curiosity which suddenly lit up her dull life. She was tired of being a goody-two shoes, and she wanted more than what she had in her life. She wanted more power. Greed consumed her, and eventually, she sold her soul to the devil. She had this intention to rule over the world one day, and good magic alone wasn’t enough to help her achieve that goal. She needed dark magic as well, and in order to tap onto the elements of darkness, she had to become dark herself. She had to start doing bad deeds to adapt to the dark side. So Athena strayed away from good deeds, and started to do things that would eventually shocked the whole community …” Maggie paused for a moment, allowing herself for one deep breath before continuing.
Both Lipton and Ken were listening intently without uttering a single word, as though Maggie’s story of this Enchantress named Athena kept them spellbound.
“She started taking laws into her own hands. Instead of handing criminals to the authorities to be rightly dealt with, she killed them on the spot with her magic. It had never been in her nature to kill someone. But greed consumed her, and darkness blinded her, making her more rash in her actions. One afternoon, when a group of kids went swimming at the lake, one of them almost drowned when the current became too strong. Athena, who happened to be there at that time to look for some plants for her magical spells, saw what was happening but didn’t even lift a finger to help. Her heart turned cold, she used her magic to create a maelstrom in the lake, exacerbating the situation and causing all the kids to drown. Some people witnessed what had happened, and were utterly devastated to find out that the Good Enchantress had killed the kids, instead of trying to save them. The news about the Good Enchantress’ evil deeds quickly became widespread and sensationalized, causing furor among the citizens. Mayor Delfine, who had awarded Athena the title of the Good Enchantress, was disappointed with Athena and lost hope in her, knowing that she would never return to the path of light. So Mayor Delfine decided to strip Athena off her Good Enchantress title, and made a public declaration that Athena had gone to the dark side and was to be completely shunned at all cost. She demanded that Athena be arrested for her evil deeds, and she got the Savenah Police Department involved. However, Athena was a powerful Enchantress, who was good at eluding the police. She even killed some members of the SPD who were close to the point of capturing her, using magic. The more evil things Athena did, the more tainted her powers became. Mayor Delfine was cast in utter dejection, knowing that capturing this evil Enchantress was a futile attempt. So Mayor Delfine teamed up with the other good Enchantresses to find a way to nail her. They cracked their brains for days and weeks, trying to bring this elusive Enchantress to justice. The other Enchantresses tried to use the Tracking Spell to track Athena, but it was a futile attempt as Athena had used her powerful Concealment Spell to cloak herself from being tracked. How were they going to arrest Athena if they couldn’t find her? Then, one day, one of the Enchantresses had a lightbulb moment. Her name was Jenna Tames. Jenna brought up the subject about Athena’s greed for power, and that greed was a feature that they had all overlooked. At first, Mayor Delfine and the other Enchantresses couldn’t understand what Jenna was trying to say …”
Maggie paused for a second and cleared her throat. It was clear that thirst had gotten to her, but she wasn’t going to even take a sip if she didn’t get to the end of the story, so she continued, “So Jenna said, ‘Maybe we need to focus on what made Athena evil in the first place … it was her greed. Can’t you see? She craves for power, and she wants more of that, and I’m sure that she’s trying to continue her evil rampage until her powers are completely dark, just so she can tap onto all the greatest powers of darkness contained inside the Dark Pole … and when she does that, she’d so powerful that even the Universe will bow to her. None of us, even with all our powers combined, can even stop her. What I propose to do is to compel Athena to try tapping onto the powers of the Dark Pole, by making her think that if she does that, she would be so invincible that everyone will be fearful of her’. Everyone couldn’t believe what Jenna was proposing. It seemed like a ludicrous idea at that time.”
Ken scratched his head, trying to make sense of what Maggie had just said. He spoke up for almost the first time after keeping mum for quite some time. “But-but … why would Jenna propose that? Wouldn’t that make Athena the most feared Enchantress in the world and so invincible that the world would bow at her feet for the fear of aggravating her?”
“I know why,” Lipton chipped in, gazing deep into space, caved in his own thoughts. “Because by making Athena tap onto the tremendous powers of the Dark Pole, she would be … destroyed.”
“That’s right,” Maggie said, nodding her head. “You’re getting the whole point of this, Lipton. Athena would be instantly killed if she tried to access the complete powers of the Dark Pole, because she wasn’t supernaturally ready for it. You see, Athena was borne of good magic. Of course, by doing evil deeds, she had started infusing her aura with dark magic, partially tainting the good magic within her. In order to access the Dark Pole, you have to be dark and evil in the first place to be able to adapt to such vast amount of dark magic. Athena was partially tainted with darkness, but even that isn’t enough to help her contain the darkness inside the Dark Pole. Athena has to be complete
ly filled with darkness, devoid of even a single trace of good magic to be able to access the Dark Pole without being killed. But Athena wasn’t completely turned dark yet … she still had traces of good magic within her. Jenna was smart, knowing Athena’s Achilles’ heel. Athena craved for power, and she would go all her way to get what she wanted. Jenna knew that if Athena had access to the Dark Pole, she would no doubt try to unlock it to tap onto its power. Jenna also knew that Athena wasn’t ready to access such vast amount of dark magic, and it would kill her if she did. But Athena didn’t know that she wasn’t ready yet … because her heart and mind was filled with greed, clouding her judgment and making her irrational. Athena thought that she was ready to unlock the Dark Pole because she had carried out a host of evil deeds, but her complete transformation into darkness wasn’t complete yet. She had to do more dark deeds, but of course, Jenna knew that Athena didn’t have that patience in her. Jenna had to get Athena to unlock the Dark Pole before Athena completed the circle of darkness.
In order for access the Dark Pole, the Key was needed. During that time, the person who was assigned as the Key of the Dark Pole was Lysa Glymes, who happened to be an Enchantress. Jenna and some of the Enchantresses had always known that Lysa was the Key, but they kept had tight-lipped about it all those years. When Jenna proposed to use Lysa as a bait to lure Athena to her so she could use Lysa as the Key to unlock the Dark Pole, most of the Enchantresses were against it. They didn’t like the idea at all … not one single bit.”
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