If she lied, the truth would eventually come out – and by then, matters would probably be worse than they were right now. And yet, somehow Mari still couldn’t bring herself to telling the truth.
“Marilyn...” Mari suddenly heard her father’s voice, strict and stern. She couldn’t lie.
“Well...” Mari then proceeded to slowly remove the glove from her right arm, revealing the black veins that had now spread to her shoulder.
While her friends and family let out surprised gasps of horror, the Spirits remained calm; Akilah beckoned Mari to come closer, so the Spirit could examine the veins on her arm.
“Oh dear,” Akilah said, worry finally reflected in her golden eyes. “This is bad.”
“What’s wrong?” Antonio said – if Akilah was worried, then that meant something truly bad was going on.
“She’s been – poisoned,” Akilah said, clearly unsure how to answer this particular question properly. “With Dark Magic.”
“What do you mean?” Luke suddenly spoke, not realising he stood up in a rather hostile position, despite the scepticism in his tone. “How can one get poisoned with Magic?”
“Luke, please sit down,” James said, but the teenager’s friends seemed to agree with him. They all spoke to each other, at the same time, all sounds and voices forming a noisy buzz together.
Mari hadn’t done anything but bite her lip as she watched her friends explode into a massive argument of incomprehension. It didn’t take long before the teenagers fell silent again, though; their parents’ judging looks were enough to do the trick.
“Oh – um- we beg your pardon,” Felicity said, feeling as if she had to take responsibility, as she was eldest of the five teenagers – despite the fact that Luke had basically ignited the fire that had led to this explosion of sound. Ince, and eventually, the other Spirits too, nodded approvingly, but the parents still seemed moderately frustrated with how their children behaved.
“We understand how frustrated you younglings must be,” Aoife said, as she paced around the table. She looked graceful, yet wise, as if she were the real Mother Nature – which was, in Lunaria, basically the role she fulfilled as the Guardian of Life. “There are so many questions, and those all need answering... but I’m afraid we don’t have all the answers that you seek. We are wise, but not omniscient.”
“But we just might do have some of them, although even we aren’t sure,” Aharnish said, suddenly stepping forward – he’d been silently discussing matters with Ince and Akilah by one of the columns not too far away from the table while Aoife spoke to the Guardians. It had been a rather short conversation, but Aharnish knew his youngest brother well enough to know his approximate plan of action.
“We should leave that stone alone,” he said. “It contains dangerous Magic, designed to leak out at the touch of human skin – and meant to destroy beings of Light Magic – like us.” He gestured at himself and his siblings as he spoke his last sentence.
“But...” a careful, high-pitched boy’s voice spoke. “What’s going on with Mari’s arm, then?” The boy in question was Tony, speaking for the first time since he’d arrived in Lunaria; he probably had been either too frightened or too confused to do so – or maybe he’d been both. Tony had never been that much of an outgoing boy – when he was young, he’d always rather hide behind either of his parents’ legs than say ‘hi’ whenever he was introduced to someone new. And right now, there were strangers surrounding him, who were, well... strange.
They weren’t human, and by the looks of it, extremely powerful, and Tony didn’t know what to expect of them. But as he watched his parents speak so comfortably around them and showing off at their son how much they trusted the Spirits (although not necessarily intentionally), Tony slowly started to ease up for a bit, but remained too nervous to speak for quite some time.
Until now, of course.
“Some of the Dark Magic that is trapped inside that stone has escaped and found itself a way into Mari’s bloodstream,” Aharnish carefully explained.
“Well... not exactly into the bloodstream,” Aine suddenly said, sounding surprisingly cold for someone who was supposed to take care of bringing joy to people.
“What?” Aharnish said, as he watched his youngest sister rise from the table, having a face like thunder – this was the most serious expression Aharnish had seen his sister pull in years.
“I know how this works,” Aine said slowly. “Asura was cocky enough to explain it to me, thinking I wouldn’t be able to understand. He so proudly told me of a weapon powerful enough to turn anyone that comes in contact with it into powerful, dark beings. He said it’d even be capable of resurrecting the dead with dark powers.” She fell silent; her bright blue eyes rested on the red stone that lay still on the table, still giving off a soft glow. “He wants to use it to resurrect himself. That’s why he sent Mari here; to put the stone back on Asura’s body, so he can enter through the stone’s power.”
“But that would mean he’d rise just as powerful as before,” Thomas said, clearly shocked. “How’s that even possible?”
Aine played with a lock of her own hair; it slowly shifted colours as the Spirit let it twirl around her finger. “Inside the body, this kind of magic can be compared to a spider’s web,” she said, her gaze still fixed on the stone and its mysterious glow. “It spreads across the body, forming a strong web of threads that sprout from the veins, coming together at two centres; head and heart.
Now the head centre is just the brain wrapped in threads of Dark Magic to ensure that the wielder can use it properly. The heart’s the core of the darkness.”
“And... what about Mari?” Tony said carefully, not wanting to offend Aine – he just didn’t get the point.
“I... don’t know,” Aine said. “I’m not sure whether the magic will spread any further or not. If it does, that could mean we might lose her.”
“...’Lose’ me?” Mari snapped. “What!?”
“We could lose you to the Dark Magic if it finds itself a way into your heart,” Ince said, rubbing his chin. “And we don’t know whether or not that’s going to happen yet.”
Mari’s eyes met her father’s; there was comfort in his eyes, yet also worry. “Don’t worry,” Mari said, without taking her eyes off him. “It won’t.”
“We admire your bravery, Mari,” Akilah said. “But for now, you shouldn’t worry about that. We must come up with a plan to trick the Master and defeat him.”
“May I suggest something?” James said, slowly rising from his chair. His sister grabbed his arm as he stood up; the two siblings looked at each other. James nodded at her. “It’s okay, Samira. I’m not going to do anything stupid.”
Samira smiled back at her brother. “I hope not,” she said.
“Akilah,” James said, “is the prison where the Master’s body is currently kept in Dark Magic-proof?”
“Well, it’s supposed to,” Akilah said. “It’s meant to keep all forms of Dark Magic out. That stone wouldn’t get in there. Plus, Asura wouldn’t last long inside this castle anyway – there’d be too much Light Magic for him to survive here.”
“So... it’d be safe to resurrect him inside this castle, because he’d be powerless for as long as he’s in here?” James said, sounding as if he was up to mischief.
“James...” the judging sound of Thomas’s voice sounded – he knew that his brother-in-law was up to no good. “What are you planning?”
James looked aside to reassure his friend – it didn’t quite help, though. It was probably a good idea to explain the full plan – if not the best idea. “
“Well, we can only banish him for good if we get rid of both him and his body – at the same time,” James said, his fingers nervously tapping the table. “So – I just thought – if we did it here, in the castle – we might have a shot at it?”
“ARE YOU NUTS, RIVERDALE!?” Antonio exploded, his hands meeting the table’s surface in a rather unfriendly fashion. He didn’t explode at Jame
s like this often – only at the rare occasion where Antonio believed James’s ideas went too far. And this was one of those moments. “You’ll be leading the enemy straight to us! If we were to use that stone to resurrect him, he’d be back at full power, ready to destroy us! What do you think our chances would possibly be then?”
James gave Antonio a small nod, directed toward the Spirits. “Look who we’ve got here with us, Tonio,” he said. “I don’t think the Master stands a chance.”
Antonio snorted, obviously unimpressed. He wanted to say something, but the chance to do so was taken from him by Akilah.
“Despite the fact that what you just said was very flattering, James,” Akilah said, “you shouldn’t think lightly of Asura. Our brother has beaten us before, and I am sure that he might succeed in doing so again.”
James had a sinking feeling as he watched the other Spirits nod, confirming what their sister had just told him. “But – it’s always worth a try,” he tried, hopeful to get a positive reaction to his plan this time, unwilling to give up.
“You’re being way too reckless, Dad,” Luke said. “It’s too dangerous.”
James looked at his son; he honestly didn’t know what to say. Yes, he knew he was being reckless and that it was a risky move to make – but was it truly that dangerous? Too dangerous for Luke, the mischief maker, to try out?
“I must admit that I agree with uncle James,” Tony said silently. “You don’t know whether it’ll work or not until you’ve tried. There must be some extra precautions we can take to make sure the Master won’t break loose, right?”
“Actually,” Marco said, patting Tony on the shoulder, “I agree with Tony, too. We can find a way to secure our own safety... I think we should give Mr Riverdale’s plan a shot.”
The Spirits exchanged looks with each other, looking genuinely surprised – but, at the same time, something in their expressions hinted at something that seemed to resemble either pride or intrigue.
“Alright, very well then,” Aharnish said, one eyebrow raised in mischief. “I believe we can arrange something – we can make special chains that keep him from using magic, for example. We’ll look into it.” His expression then turned stone cold, yet the mischief still didn’t fade from his mismatched blue and golden eyes. “But, in return, we expect you to lead the entire operation, James. You’ll be in charge and responsible.”
James swallowed. ‘Responsible’ was a word he still had to get used to, even after raising four kids. For how much of the operation would he be responsible? At first, he wanted to ask, but decided not to do so. He’d claim full responsibility, no matter what would happen.
*
Not much later, the ten Guardians and Mari were called by the Spirits. They’d been requested to join the Spirits in the dungeon – where any necessary changes to the way the Master’s body had been put away had been made.
The stone would temporarily be able to pass through the barrier that kept all Dark Magic inside the four stone walls of the cell, which meant James had to go first.
He was the one that carried the stone, and would be the one to place it on the Master’s brooch – exactly the way Mari had explained how to do it.
The Master’s instructions had been oddly specific – Mari hadn’t noticed how specific they actually were until she’d recited them to James. That stone must’ve been very important to the Master somehow.
James, however, was more worried about the consequences this would have; the Spirits reassured him that the Master would be powerless when he’d be resurrected – but now the time had come to do it, James felt as if he’d rushed his plan – he should’ve thought it through. Antonio was right; this was a bad idea – but there was no going back now.
James walked forward toward the Master’s now opened coffin, and placed the stone inside the small, silver mould on Master’s brooch that exactly matched the stone’s shape. The stone was now exactly above the Master’s heart – it’d only be a matter of time until he’d wake up; weak, chained, and ready to be killed.
But his awakening went different than anyone who was present in that cell would’ve expected. Dark fog seemed to float around the cell for a moment, and the stone got a bright red glow as it reacted to the newfound heartbeat.
As he sat up inside the coffin, the Master grinned a vampire smile at the redhead who’d just resurrected him. He spoke with the same spine-chilling voice as if he’d never stopped speaking
“Oh, James, you shouldn’t have done that.”
That was the only sentence to escape the Master’s lips before he did the same – with a single wave of his hand, the Master evaporated in black smoke – leaving James behind in the cell that had been designed to keep the Master detained, his face pale and his eyes shocked.
Whatever it Takes
“Mum?”
James had left three children behind. Bella had left behind one. Theo, Ian and Emma were missing a brother and a father – Mia was missing a brother and a mother.
As promised, the kids had spent time with each other during the days their parents were gone – although Jaqueline and Jacob, Daisy’s older sister and brother, couldn’t be there, as they were in college.
The four kids didn’t like to sit inside, but the weather had left them with no other option, as on the morning the Guardians had left it had begun raining, and the thick drops of water still hadn’t stopped falling.
And now, they were sitting in the living room of the Riverdale house, curled up on the couch and watching TV. For the first time in a day, Emma had finally opened her mouth.
“Yes, Emma?” Anna answered her daughter.
Emma looked up, directing her blue eyes at her mother. “What was it like when you were a teenager, when Dad ‘disappeared’ for the first time?”
Anna let out a small chuckle. She knew that question would come, but that still didn’t mean she knew how to answer it. “That’s... quite the question, Emma,” she said. “It was mostly... difficult.”
“Difficult as in how?” Ian asked. “Not knowing where he was?”
Anna nodded. “I did know where he was,” she told her son. “In fact, after aunt Samira, I was the first one your father told about his concerns. I was the one who made the suggestion of the fairytale being a reality.” She paused and let out a sad chuckle. “I never expected it to be true, though. It seemed impossible at the time.”
Ian and Theo looked at each other; their parents true were something special. Of course their parents hadn’t believed at first – but then, when they suddenly found themselves in neck-deep, they had to. A feeling similar to what the teenagers were feeling right now, and what Ian assumed Luke and the others were feeling as well.
“Your father was capable of communicating with Grandma through dreams,” Anna said, as if she suddenly remembered. “When he told me about it after he’d returned, it seemed as if he found comfort in hearing his mother’s voice and seeing her face.”
“Do you think Dad will be doing that this time, too, Mum?” Emma asked out of sheer curiosity. “Talk to Grandma in his dreams?”
Anna sighed. She proceeded to face away from her children as she lowered her eyes. “He didn’t have the heart to tell her,” she said. “And... I believe that that decision was up to your Dad to make – I just hope he contacts her when he’s not sure what to do.”
*
The plan had backfired. In a terrible way – the most disastrous way possible. And James was responsible. Not that anyone blamed him, though – even the Spirits were too astonished to say anything. How had he escaped the chains they’d made? That was impossible. Or – at least, it should have been.
James felt as if he was at the brink of having a mental breakdown – what had he done? This was his fault, and he wouldn’t let anyone tell him otherwise – simply because it was the truth.
He’d caused this, he’d come up with the plan – he hadn’t even thought it through. James knew how high the risks of his plan backfiring were, and yet, he�
�d made the foolish decision to just simply ignore every single reason why and every way how the plan could’ve backfired.
James menacingly pulled at his hair while pacing around in circles. He didn’t know what to do anymore; they didn’t know where the Master had gone or how to stop it. “The Ritual?” he blurted in desperation. “Could that work again?”
Akilah shook her head. “That’s only meant to restore the balance between Light and Dark,” she said. “It won’t destroy the Master.”
James grunted in despair.
“Aside from that, James,” Antonio said, “who would perform the Ritual? There are two Generations here!”
“I would,” James said decisively. “My soul became part of the Light when Akilah saved me back then – I believe that that means that I can control it without a problem now.”
Akilah moved uncomfortably, feeling slightly at unease by what James had said. There was something about the fact that James was now basically part of Lunaria’s light - the problem was that the Spirit hadn’t told anyone – and she wasn’t planning on doing so now that the Master had returned – it was impossible to tell whether he was listening to the Guardians’ and Spirits’ conversations.
And that was the reason why Akilah decided to keep her mouth shut for now, hoping that the Master didn’t know - and wouldn’t find out, either.
“You know we wouldn’t let you, even if you’re right about what you’re saying,” Thomas said. “James, this is insane.”
James looked at his friends. “We have to try something,” he said, the desperation almost literally dripping from his voice. “It’s my fault. I have to fix this.”
“James,” Samira said, “do you really think we blame you? We knew this was going to happen.”
James turned around. “Sorry?”
“Well - we knew he’d eventually break free, although we didn’t know exactly when,” Aharnish said, “so we placed a magical barrier around the Land of Light, in order to prevent any Dark Magic spreading to the other Realms.”
Guardian: Darkness Rising Page 6
