by Elon Vidal
Lucy did a facepalm. “What part of letting me go don't you understand?”
Aeron stepped forward, and motioned for the shadow dwellers to part, making space for Ivar to land. Ivar turned his head to the side, seeking for Lucy's permission.
“Land,” Lucy said, narrowing her eyes at Aeron. What was he up to?
Ivar lowered himself gently. He stood on the tiles. His tail awkwardly rested to the side, to avoid hitting the water fountain behind him.
“Your bracelet...” Aeron said. “If you would let me put a spell on it, then you can leave —”
Ivar exhaled sharply. Lucy could tell he didn't agree either.
“What kind of spell?” she asked Aeron.
Aeron put out his left palm and a flicker of blue light hovered above his hand. “It's a connection to your energy. It will allow me to conduct switches now that I know the right way to do so. Keep in mind, I am Death. Death is the side effect of all my spells.”
Talk about unfair…
Lucy shook her head. “If the side effect is death, that’s unfair to me. We’ll have to renegotiate.”
Aeron gave a slight shrug and said, “That's the only way. And don't worry, another Lightbringer would carry on your good work after you're gone. It's part of the prophecy. It could even be your little air girl or dragon boy.”
Lucy could see Alina silently shaking her head from the corner of her eyes while Ivar gave low growls that echoed and vibrated across the space. As if to add to the tension, Lucy's injured leg sent sizzling pain through her bones. She flinched and gasped; it felt like her nerve endings were severed with the slightest movements. This was a good time to apply Madge's healing powers…
Was it true that she was replaceable? But she was the Chosen. Or was this just her part coming to an end? Death probably knew what some of the prophecy meant since he had been around for so long, and with all the other Lightbringers Lucy discovered… maybe Aeron was telling the truth. Maybe she wasn't the one to bring the end of days. Maybe she was the one to help bring the end of days.
“Well?” Aeron asked.
Lucy sighed. She couldn't believe she was trusting Aeron, or what she was about to do. “Alright. Do it.”
Alina gasped. Ivar was startled, accidentally hitting and breaking the fountain with his tail.
Aeron smirked while the blue light above his palm grew larger. “I knew you had some sense in you.”
Lucy stretched out her bracelet and braced herself for the impact. Would Aeron keep his promise of letting her friends go after she was dead? Wait, how would he access her powers if she died? She didn't think this through; she had so much she wanted to do before her death, like see her father again, visit the real world… fulfill the prophecy.
“Wait —” Lucy started to say, but before she could open her eyes, she felt a strong vibration and loud buzz on her bracelet, then she fell off Ivar and landed on the ground with a low thud but felt nothing. Grainlike black crystals crawled up her body and covered her skin in them. They crawled up her face, and that was the last thing she saw.
CHAPTER EIGHT
What the heart believes, none can fathom
The mind runs deep, an endless bottom
Excerpt from the Lumenary Prophetiae
Who knew death could be so itchy? Not as silent as expected, either. It sounded like some distant murmuring. It smelled good, though, like cotton candy. Lucy's stomach rumbled. Was she hungry? Was she supposed to be hungry in death?
“Dude, she's not responding.”
She recognized Ivar's voice. Hopefully it was Ivar, not Fivar. Wait, why could she hear Ivar? If he was also spelled with death, Lucy would so haunt Aeron for all eternity.
Lucy struggled to open her eyes. It felt like they were sealed shut with something crusty.
“Careful. Careful. I think she's trying to wake up. Her eyes are moving,” Ivar said.
“Add a bit more.” This time, it was Alina's small voice that she could hear. Add a bit more what?
Lucy felt a crackling sensation in her heavy eyelids, then the heaviness lifted and she opened her eyes. Ivar and Alina were staring her in the face, before being joined by a woman with bright amber eyes. She recognized Tesha, the vampire soul counter from the gates. She didn't look too happy, and Lucy wondered why.
“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty,” Ivar said with a relieved smile. “You had us worried for a while back there.”
Lucy rubbed her forehead and looked around. She was in a cave, sitting on the floor in what looked like black sparkly grains. Some were still rolling off her body, and the thick smell of cotton candy wafted in the air.
“What happened?” she asked the trio.
Alina tucked a lock of dark hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. “I still can't believe you made a deal with Death. Like, haven't you read or heard enough stories about people selling their souls?”
“Last time I checked, they had deals with the devil, not Death,” Ivar said, “and no, Lucy didn't sell her soul or anything. She's just going to become a walking energy reservoir for Aeron, which will slowly lead to her death… yeah, still bad.”
Lucy blinked twice. “Excuse me, what?”
So, she wasn't dead, but would slowly — Who made the rules again? That sucked big time.
Tesha scooped a handful of the crystalline black grains and let them slip through her pale long fingers.
“Your case is actually complicated,” she told Lucy. “You already had a part of a shadow dweller in you, and since you most especially didn't want to die, you were supposed to become a shadow dweller; stuck between life and death.”
“But?” Lucy prompted.
“But you're somehow still more alive than the shadow dwellers. You're undead, like the vampires and zombies.”
Lucy raised her eyebrows and tugged down her lips. “Okay… I'll just nod and pretend that what you said makes any sense whatsoever.”
“What she means is that you have become a part of Netherim, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're dead,” a deep male voice came from the other side of the cave. He wore a thick brown fur coat over gray slacks and a cream-colored sweater. His eyes were bright orange, and a long scar ran across his nose.
“When Aeron has gotten what he wants, then he'll let you die completely,” he continued. “Aeron wants control over Life and Death, and the switches will give him that power.”
“And… who are you?” Lucy asked, raising her head to the tall stranger.
“I'm Ranger,” he said. “I mean no harm. I remember you as the witch from the night Wolfe stole this from us.”
Ranger held up a small sack similar to the one Aeron had brought earlier, complete with the glowing cord used to tie it shut. Moon ashes. That should explain why the whole cave smelled like a cotton candy invasion.
Lucy wanted to correct him, that she wasn't a witch but a Lightbringer. That would be for another time. Werewolves seemed fear of witches, so maybe he'd accept her if he knew she was a Lightbringer? Unless he was also against Lightbringers and the prophecy. She had to tread carefully.
“Wait, did Wolfe steal moon ashes from your pack,” she asked. “Is that why you came after him that night?”
Ranger nodded once. “He stole this from the Moon Queen's temple. Moon ashes are very rare and treasured, because they can be used for so many things. I hear they helped you transmute a dweller’s soul. Their power is special indeed, and cannot be found elsewhere. Many try to get their hands on them because of that. I used them to melt the crystals that covered you in a spell. Otherwise, you’d be full undead by now.”
Lucy noticed Ranger and Tesha exchanged accusatory looks. She wondered what was going on between them. Had Tesha tried to steal the moon ashes before?
Alina got up from where she was kneeling and dusted her knees. “Well, the good thing is that we still have you with us, Lucy. What's the next step now?”
“I actually want to find a way to reverse Aeron's spell,” Lucy said, dusting the black gr
ains off her body.
“It's impossible,” Ranger flatly said.
“How so?” asked Ivar. “I don't think anything is impossible. We live in a world of magic.”
“I can help you reverse the spell,” Tesha offered, locking eyes with Lucy. “You have to visit the real world.”
Lucy's brow creased as she thought over Tesha's words. “But… how do I get there? We crossed over to Netherim with Aquarius's help, and, well he's not here at the moment.”
“Ah, the keeper of the gates,” Tesha said. “That's not a problem. We'll find a way to him.”
Ranger’s human ears perked up like a cat's. “I know the way to Aquarius. I visit the real world regularly.”
Tesha shot Ranger a glare. “I have connections in the real world, Lucy.”
“There's a pack that can help you with everything you'll need during your stay in the real world. Let me take you,” Ranger pushed.
Both beings stared at Lucy, silently asking her to pick one from the other. Lucy scratched her head, then grabbed Ivar's hand and turned away.
“One second,” she told them, holding up a finger.
When she and Ivar walked deeper into the cave, Lucy whispered, “What is up with them? They seem to be competing against each other.”
Ivar pulled his sweater sleeves over his fingers and lazily flopped them. “You see… that's the issue we'd been having since Ranger arrested Tesha.”
“What?”
Ivar nodded and continued. “Moon ashes were illegally in her possession. Ranger wanted to trade you for the moon ashes, but she refused. She let him come along with us because he blackmailed her with reporting her to the head of her organization. Something about being demoted and stuff.”
Lucy tilted her head side to side. Tesha must have been the guard who had come with Snack to help Lucy escape, taking the moon ashes with her.
But why did Tesha and Ranger want Lucy? Because she was the Chosen? Were they after her powers, too? After this, she didn’t think she could trust anyone who knew who she was…
Lucy looked back. Both vampire and werewolf were intently staring at her. She turned back to Ivar.
“What do you think they want with me?”
Ivar shrugged. “I mean, there's so much they could possibly want from you, you're the Chosen Lightbringer.”
“Who can also be replaced if she accidentally died,” Lucy added with a sad sigh and small pout.
Ivar scanned her face, then placed his hands on her shoulders. “Lucy, look at me.”
Lucy raised her eyes to his face and held his gaze for a second, before shifting to focus on the cave wall behind him.
“I won't let you die,” Ivar said in a low, serious voice. “We can beat this. We beat Greed together, right? Death is just another elemental power. Believe in the prophecy.”
“But Aeron said —”
Ivar shook his head. “It's not about what Aeron said. It's about what you believe in.”
Lucy bit her lip and looked down at her hands. How could Ivar be so confident they could do this? She was half-dead already!
But then Lucy remembered something. The prophecy wouldn't give her an obstacle she couldn't overcome. Everyone had said she would bring the end of days, which means she would make it to the end. She didn't have to believe Aeron's lies. She wouldn't.
“We can do this,” Lucy told Ivar with a smirk and a nod. “Let's show this Netherim era who's boss.”
A smile slowly bloomed on Ivar's face and he squeezed her shoulders before letting go. “That's the Chosen I believe in.”
When they walked back to the others, Tesha trained her eyes on Lucy's face.
“So, what now?”
Lucy stared at both vampire and werewolf, then placed her hands on her hips. “Both of you are coming with me.”
With that, she headed towards the mouth of the cave while the others followed, ignoring the glares Tesha and Ranger exchanged.
~
The walk back to Wolfe's place was a long one. Netherim had no transportation system, since all its inhabitants could teleport, had super speed, or both. Well, except for the visitors from the land of the living — Lucy and her group. Lucy had teleportation powers, but didn't know how to transport all the people she was with.
She felt much stronger now, and the injured leg had surprisingly healed while she was spelled. She wondered if the spell would give her features she didn't have before, like new powers. She for sure felt something was different, but couldn't pinpoint the exact addition. Could it have been her exposure to the witchpetal’s powers? Or perhaps that she was undead?
What a crazy feeling, to be undead. Neither here nor there. She didn’t feel a crave for brains and she wasn’t haunted by dreams… yet. She hoped for the best, and a way to revert this.
Ivar walked up to Wolfe's front door and opened it, walking in while the rest followed. Tesha lingered behind.
“Aren't you coming in?” Lucy asked.
Tesha rubbed her neck. “Can I come in?”
“Of course,” Lucy replied. “Come on in.”
The others had settled in the living room, where Didi and Molly sat on a couch in the middle of a discussion. As soon as Didi saw Lucy, she let out a squeal of pleasant surprise and jumped to her feet, tugging Lucy into a warm bear hug.
“We were so worried about you!” she cried.
“Apart from me,” Molly chipped in. “I knew you could handle whatever was going on wherever you were.”
“You were gone for so long!” Didi continued, increasing the pressure of the hug.
“Barely a blip in eternity,” Molly added as he focused more on examining his fingernails.
Lucy patted Didi on the shoulder in order to be released from the hug, but the phoenix only pulled her closer in a death grip.
“My precious ribs,” Lucy choked.
Didi finally let go, taking a step back to look at Lucy from head to toe as she ran a hand through her red and yellow hair.
Crick bounded down the stairs, followed by Madge and Phoebe. He raced towards Lucy and threw himself at her. Lucy caught her nature elemental friend, who was gradually growing bigger and heavier.
“Crick, I missed you,” she said as she hugged him. “Why didn't you come and look for me?”
“Can't teleport in Netherim,” Crick said in a small voice that blended in with his satisfied creaking as he buried his head in the crook of Lucy's neck.
“What happened? Wolfe only came back today, a couple hours before you showed up,” Phoebe told Lucy. “He said he was misled and then attacked and captured, that he didn't know where you were.”
Lucy narrowed her eyes and scanned the room. There was no sign of Wolfe. “Did he now? He took me to Aeron's place. You may know him as Death. He said Phoebe is his older sister.”
Phoebe muttered something inaudible under her breath.
“Did Aeron do anything to you?” Madge asked. “Anything at all?”
“Death spell or something,” Alina said in a small voice while crossing her fingers.
Silence took over the whole room, with only Crick's creaking pulling through once in a while.
“Does that mean you're gonna die?” Didi whispered to Lucy with wide gray eyes.
Lucy slowly shook her head. She couldn't even put her situation into words. She was told she was half-dead, but not quite, but she'd die at some point, if the spell wasn't reversed. Yeah, a bit too complicated, but Madge or Phoebe might help figure it out.
Madge put a hand on her forehead and the other on her waist. Phoebe folded her arms across her chest. Both women paced the living room in opposite directions.
“He's finally going for it,” Phoebe told Mother Nature. “We should have taken this more seriously and not let it go this far.”
“How do you know for sure that that is what he's up to?” Madge asked, taking off her suit jacket and hanging it on the back of a chair.
“What else would he put a spell on her for?” Phoebe hissed.
Madge sighed.
Lucy looked at both ladies, then held up a hand. “Whoa, what's going on here? What are you two talking about?”
Madge glanced at the rest in the room, then tugged Lucy by the shoulder. “Come with me.”
Lucy followed Madge and Phoebe into the hall, and as they walked, Lucy remembered her deeper thoughts about Madge. Was she really Fivar?
There was no reason that explained why Madge should be Fivar, but there was also no one else that could shape-shift into that and be close enough to Lucy. Unless Ivar had a doppelganger, then that was way different and… not good news for the weredragon.
