Scarlett Discord and anyone I've neglected: Bells of War

Nyx was in the driving seat. She's unimportant to this story, but it was her or Scarlett, and Scarlett can hardly see through his ruined glasses. Rabe was keeping Wilhelm motivated. Charles was asleep. Finally they pulled up at a strange building. It appeared to defy physics. Nyx smiled. "We're here."
The others slipped from the back of the truck.  A man stood at the door of the unusual building, holding a black cane with a silver raven tip. His hair was long, blonde and unbrushed. He was wearing all black, apart from a navy sweater under the big black jacket. And his pants probably weren't black either, but thankfully he had trousers on over the top, so no-one could tell he was wearing Muppets boxers.
"Pons." Charles greeted coldly, nodding to the man.
Pons nodded back, but didn't speak. He pushed the door, and it swung upwards. Wilhelm shuddered, pressing his back to the side of the van.
"I'll, uh, guard this..."
Rabe grabbed his arm and roughly forced him to the door, with Pons' help.

"These are my new friends. They're Irish, and they claim ownership to this building." Pons stated warmly, gesturing to a black man with no hair and a white man with long black hair tied with a mustard yellow ribbon. They both looked up and kept their faces cold and impassive. Charles raised his hand in greeting, but no-one else did anything. Pons continued. "His name is Jay, and his is Mort."
"And you smell like dead dolphins." Mort stated under his breath.
"It's not our place." Jay mumbled under his breath.
"We were, uh, referred here by a man named Bayside Absurdity."
Wilhelm looked like he was going to faint. "Why are you sitting on the ceiling?"
"We can't get down." Jay replied miserably. Rabe was giggling into her fist. Someone walked out of a cupboard and frowned at the newcomers.
"Uh..."
The German girl calmed down, keeping a smile on her face and tossing her purple hair over her shoulder. "Aurora Jane, right?"
Aurora nodded, looking confused. Rabe approached her, still smiling, and punched her in the face. Pons caught her as she stumbled ("I don't need catching!") and grimaced, providing a pitiful 'oooh'. Still smiling, the purple-haired girl turned, dusting off her hands, and announced to the two murderers on the ceiling "We need to send out an emergency contact signal with a beacon device in this weird building."
Mort shrugged. "I need to kill someone." He tilted his head back to glare at the newcomers, and Wilhelm whimpered. "Mevolent and co."
"Same here. Aaaaanyway, that beacon, anyone know where it is?"
Aurora raised her hand, glaring.
"Wonderful!"

-----

Austin sighed softly as he sat up, wringing some odd goop out of his hair. "Ronnie?" He asked tiredly, shaking his friend, who was face down in the sludge they lay in. A shudder passed through the blond Necromancer. "Gale?" he called, getting worried now.
"I'm alive!"
"Oh thank God...Daemon?"
"Aye?"
He leaned over and picked up some of the sludge he was standing in. "Where are we? What happened?"
"A sewer." Daemon said.
"Things went a little wrong." Gale said.
"I can't remember anything..." Austin moaned. "I can't even remember what magic type I use..."
"But you can remember me, Scaroe and Hadrian?"
"I can remember some things..."

-----

Fred Mould sat on one side of the table, eyes narrowed at the three men before him. Lelenny and Corey stared, eyes wide, both with stupid grins on their faces. Mr T was painting his nails. Fred eventually sighed. "Milschman?"
"Dead." Lelenny replied with a bored shrug. "Mirage?"
Fred nodded. Lelenny deflated. Riordan had been his best friend back in the day. Corey Superwaffle put his feet on the table and grinned.
"What we've got here is abandoned headquarters, perfect for our own personal...uses..." He frowned, looking at the door in the corner. It was small, and you would have to crawl through it to get to the tunnel beyond, and it looked basically like the door from Coraline that led to the Other Mother's world. There was a thick black dust billowing out from behind it, swirling into the room and forming a shape. Fred's face slowly formed an ecstatic grin. "Sandy!" He yelled, jumping to his feet. Before them floated a figure of a very young man, made entirely of particles of thick, black dust. Instead of legs, he had a veritable tornado keeping him in the air. He seemed unsteady, as if he hadn't used his unusual power for a long time. Eyes wide, he looked around, eyes drinking in the people before him before he too grinned. "No way!" He cried, the dust swirling madly once more as he solidified. He went over to the small door and tried to prise it open, only to find it was locked. He called through it to someone.
"May! I can't open the door! I think it's locked!"
Someone else called back a reply. "We need to get through ASAP!"
Sandy bit his lip and turned to the others in the room, flashing an apologetic smile. "Hey guys..." He frowned at Fred. "You're a zombie..."
"I know. I'd rather remain dead."

-----

Scarlett and Mihai had met before. The mission during the war had been on a hot day. Scarlett wore black, as usual, and Mihai had no top on, showing the armour across his belly. There were others on the mission as well. Three Necromancers: Zafira, Auron and Jalousie. They were very different and all three from different places with different accents. Jalousie hardly spoke English, unlike his dark-skinned companion, Jasmin. Dexter Vex was at the edge of the group, talking to a young redhead named Gale. The dark-haired energy thrower wiped sweat from his forehead and wished he wasn't carrying a heavy rucksack on his back. It wasn't very practical if they got jumped and added to the strain, and he wasn't a very strong man.

They were to set up camp and attack at dawn. Mihai had to sit away from the fire. The rest were gathered close to it. Scarl was asleep already. Gale was flirting with Zafira, who was doing her best to ignore him. The Frenchmen were on patrol duty. Vex and Tenebrae were grudgingly huddled close for warmth. Orage and Guepard disappeared from sight, and Viscol frowned, suspicious. He craned his neck, trying to see where the men had gone. After a few minutes there was a crash, a flash of light and they came running back to the camp, screaming. Scarl shifted in his sleep, but didn't get up until Zaf heaved him out of the way of a shot from the enemy. They quickly recognised they were outnumbered, as well as having a Child of the Spider at the front of their ranks. Someone yelled the order to retreat. Mihai thought it was Gale. Definitely one of the Irishmen. Scarlett ran for it, disorientated, and quickly found himself separated from the others. He ran until he reached the edge of a river. He couldn't swim, or turn back, and following the river didn't appear too safe. He stopped to think, when someone ran into him, knocking him over the edge.

Mihai pulled him to the surface of the water and listened pityingly to the coughing, spluttering and desperate gasps. He had lost his glasses in the current and once he had his breath back, he was using it to curse the Romanian Mage holding onto him. Mihai dragged him to shore and lay him on the ground, checking his vitals, being very careful with his claws. Naturally, the energy-thrower was shivering. The water had been freezing. Mihai helped him sit up, but he gave a hiss of pain. He was made to lie back down, and Mihai lifted the soggy black material away from his torso. The injury that sat there made it very unlikely Scarlett was going to survive here. He bit his lip. He couldn't tell Scarlett anything, as they didn't speak the same language. As far as he was concerned, Scarlett was a dead man. The guy had a hole in his chest, for God's sake.

Mihai's black eyes locked with Scarlett's grey ones. He had picked up the beacon signal all the way from Russia. Santa stepped in to translate for him. He spoke first, after the Romanian Grand Mage whispered something in his ear. "Uh...Grand Mage Viscol wishes to congratulate someone named Scarlett on surviving some kind of wound..."
Scarlett nodded. "During the war, yeah." It was just Scarlett and Rabe talking to them. The others had gone off to do something else, something to do with the twisted physics of the building. "Mi's a Grand mage now? Tell 'im we need his help with something...well, not his help in particular, but someone's help."

((...the massive block of italics almost became Vex/Tenebrae shipping...enjoy...))

Jasmin Orage: The Stranger In The Cell and Overused Recurring Title

What he had previously thought to be a bundle of clothes shifted beneath him in the sawdust as he almost stepped on it. It was in fact a boy. He didn't want to say man. He looked about 19 and was sleep-talking in Dutch. Jasmin worked more quietly, not wishing to disturb the boy. He just thought he might be on to something when the door opened on the other side of the cell. He leapt away from the wall in a fright. A girl was thrown in. Very small, smaller than abnormally tiny Jasmin. Her hair was short and pink, her skin darkish and covered in freckles, eyes bright green, and temper flaring. Her accent suggested she was from somewhere like Manhattan. She got up as the door swung shut and screamed obscenities at the guard. The French Grand Mage rolled his eyes and the Australian Elder, Elizabeth, emerged from the hay pile and bellowed for silence, as his kids were trying to sleep. The Dutch boy asleep against the wall shifted again and got up, groaning and holding his side. He hissed something in his own language and began clearing the sawdust from beneath him.

Elizabeth marched up to the new girl, picked her up by the scruff of her neck and clamped a hand over her mouth. The girl kicked and struggled.
"Young lady, you're not the only one who's had the...inconvenience of being captured."
"Inconvenience? It's more than a damn inconvenience!" She yelled through his palm.
"My name's Slyther. I work for the Australian Sanctuary. What's your name?" He look his hand away from her and she relaxed a little.
"Babs."
He put her on the floor. "Babs, may I introduce you to Grand Mage Orage, Sandy, Grand Mage Stridsoks, Circe and Conner." Babs glared at all of them in turn. Jasmin returned the glare and turned to the man named Sandy, who was tugging at something on the floor.
"Is that a trap door?" The French mage cried incredulously.
"Looks like it." Sandy replied with a nod. He held his hands above the door with fingers splayed, and what appeared to be black smoke billowed up through the cracks and made the door bulge outward. Jasmin arched an eyebrow and tugged at the lock keeping the door shut. There was a bit of clearance under the door thanks to Sandy and Jasmin could help push with the use of the air beneath. The door finally flung open and the dust that Jasmin had believed to be smoke suddenly moved to envelope the Dutch lad and pull him down. Shocked, the French Elder followed. A quick glance over his shoulder told him everyone else in the cell was following close behind. They could hear the noises of guards entering the cell above, and Axel insisted that he had tried to cover the door.

-----

Where he sat in the corner, playing a game with Kristian, Wilhelm could experience an entire drama. It was better than television. The French man with the white hair came storming into the room and stole the watching man's phone, dialling a number and proceeding to shout down the phone in his mother tongue. He seemed frantic, and the person he was calling was a mystery. His voice climbed volumes and octaves until the baby was set off crying and Rabe stormed in, giving him a good slap. They spoke in whispers in English and Wilhelm heard a few names being fired, including his own, Scarlett's, someone called Lelenny, Mr T and someone called Pons. He tried to listen closer for more information, but his sister turned to him and snapped at him to quiet down the baby. After that, she spoke up a little to be heard over Kristian's cries, and he could hear a bit more about what was being said. Rabe was now speaking about Drakon and Charles about a woman he knew, who Wilhelm did not catch the name of. Slowly they both turned to him. Suddenly he got the impression he was in danger. Scarlett and Narcissus came in, having an argument of their own, and this expanded to a four-way argument. There were noises from upstairs Wilhelm could only describe as sexual. The whole house was a drama scene and he was caught up like a braindead viewer. He shakily got to his feet and edged towards the kitchen, taking the baby with him. Once the door swung shut behind him, he let out a sigh of relief, feeling a little safer. He shushed Kristian and got out a banana, breaking a little bit off for his son and eating the rest himself. It wasn't very filling and he was rather hungry, but he decided he would be fine, especially when Rabe walked in and grabbed the scruff of his neck.
"Wilhelm?" She asked in as sweet a tone she could muster while that angry, "Can I ask a favour of you?"
"Uh...I'm a little busy here..."
"It involves Drakon and some murderers who are on our side and won't hurt you, and also..." She leaned in close and whispered in his ear, "Aurora Jane."
He scowled. "You always know exactly what to say and how to say it when you want me to do your bidding..."
"I'll debrief you in half an hour. Bring Kristian. This mission is safe, but I'm coming with." She cracked her knuckles. "I always like to meet people who get my baby brother in trouble."
Wilhelm winced at this. "I don't need you to babysit me."
"Yes. You do. If it wasn't for me, you would be in a cell in Mevolent's castle, nowhere near Mr Smelly-drooly thing here." She gestured to her nephew.
He narrowed his eyes. "I'm sorry, if I'm taking care of a child, I don't think I need you playing mother, sister and overprotective sibling."
"I think if I didn't, you'd be dead by now."
"I doubt it."
Rabe cleared her throat. "Fifty years ago, Hamburg."
"...Shut up."
She ruffled her little brother's hair and skipped out of the room. Wilhelm glared at her until his toddler vomited over his favourite shirt.

((...aaaaaand I haven't finished sorting through all these new things on this site or Deviantart or anywhere else...stupid week-long trips...bah. Have some random unplanned Wilhelm stuff.))

Mr T and Fred Mould: The Evilatining

"I pity the fool," A figure emerged from the darkness. "Who don't die quickly!"
 Kerish and Fartface looked around as the Necromancer advanced. F paled considerably and went to hide behind Kerish. The man had a rather threatening form, it had to be said. He was fairly tall and muscular...oh, and he was a self-claimed demi-titan-god. He also had his own gang down in Newport. Anyway, on with the story. "Anyway, this cake is great."
Kerish pulled out the cake this entire heist was for. "It is so delicious and moist." She agreed with a slight nod, sounding as though she was going into a trance.
Mr T arched an eyebrow. "You won't get away with stealing the Grande Cake. Your heist was pointless. It ends here, fool!" He said as he pulled his medallion free from his waves of chest hair. Shadows curled around the medallion and fired at Kerish as a piston of darkness. It hit her square in the chest, causing Mr T to notice her fantabulous cleavage, and threw both her and F backwards and into the side of the giant furnace. Kerish groaned as F pushed her off him and tried to crawl away, but the shadows snagged his ankle, dragging him back and holding him in the air.
"Please! Have mercy!"
Kerish pressed a button that was conveniently placed by the furnace and suddenly Mr T was surrounded by samurai and ninja cheerleaders. They pounced and the Necromancer was forced to throw F away and defend himself from the long phallic blades of the samurai and the annoying chants of the ninjas. A blade snicked his stomach and he attempted to punch the samurai, who jumped out of range with a wicked laugh. Mr T groaned as his fist accidentally hit a ninja. He was happy with that. He was ready to stab a bunch of samurai with shadows when a terrifying noise stopped him-out of curiosity rather than fear-and he saw the robot shuck the skin that used to be F, showing its true form as a giant battle robot. Now shit was getting serious. He stabbed some samurai and ninjas with his shadows and took off his jacket-shit was really getting serious-and swaggered towards the robot as it opened fire with some missiles. Mr T rolled out of the way, getting a little burnt. They weren't heat-seekers, so he was okay. The robot sent a barrage of potato batteries at him-luckily he jumped over them-and even threw a whale and a semi-truck. It was pure luck he survived this bit. When the whale hit him he was thrown back and ended up with broken ribs and arms and in a pile of dirty nappies. The semi-truck would have landed on him, but first it hit the whale, breaking all the windows and one of the doors off. Then it hit Mr T, but landed so that nothing hit him, as he was enveloped in the part where the door used to be. He looked up through his eyes, now with blood in them, and wondered how to continue. A glove box opened, and there was a conveniently placed self-destruct device for F the robot...also a candy cane, which he pocketed for later.

Mr T pulled out his Necromancer robes-a hoodie and some jeans-and walked down the narrow walkway between the chip shop and the burnt out gypsie hut. It was a dark and stormy night...okay, it was dark and there was a light smattering of rain and ninja ribcages, but the point still stands. Anyway, he walked at a leisurely pace, joined quickly by his resurrection companions Lenny and Superwaffle. Lenny spoke with a thick Russian accent and was married to a woman named Scarlett (no relation to Scarlett Discord, but she could hold twice the amount of vodka than any man), and Superwaffle was from Canada. They both knew a fair bit about resurrection, and hopefully together they could bring this guy back without having to resort to nasty bodies of decaying rot known as zombies. This man certainly wouldn't thank them for making him a zombie.

The site was a hill. Lenny was eating chips. Superwaffle was playing with some sticky stuff T believed to be tree sap. Mr T was working on the resurrection by himself, frowning at the lack of help from the others he was reluctant to call his friends. He had the mottled and mutilated body of the man they wanted to bring back-they had been a group of six in the war-and all was in place. Sandy wasn't going to turn up, that much was obvious. Lenny claimed that Sandy was dead anyway. Mr T wouldn't be surprised if the truth was that he had murdered him.

The body sat up and looked at its hands. "Oh fuckin' great!" He roared out in a strong Scottish accent. He had just finished helping that Dorado guy who looked like stupid Borealis. He looked up from his already rotten body and found those people he had fought alongside with Riordan Mirage and Sandy Milschman in the war..."I want to be dead again..." Fred Mould mumbled.

-----

Bayside wasn't happy to see them. "You vant me to give over the location and contact details to an old friend of mine?"
Mortis nodded. "Yes," he replied with an innocent smile, "Drakon."
"The answer is no."
"But-"
"Drakon is a secret-keeper, and I am his. I am a protector, and while all other protectors have died defending secrets and relics, I remain to protect this one...especially after that failure with the amethyst..." He gazed out the window, lost in thought. Ursa shook his head.
"We're on par with Hiro Phantasmagoria. He's a Protector, remember?"
"He was let go for his psychopathic tendencies."
"But you're friends!"
"Nein! I am friends with nobody!" He stormed through a door and the three killers followed. Mortis was whistling 'Be Back Soon' from Oliver. Bayside hated that song. So did Jayden, actually, but neither of them said anything. Jayden shook his head.
"You're as against the Faceless Ones as we are! Surely that's incentive enough to help us! We have the noblest of intentions!"
Mort snorted with laughter. Jayden shot him a look.
Absurdity shook his head. "Noble or otherwise, I do not spill my secrets. I am a Protector!"
Ursa rolled his eyes. "Nobody cares, Bosch. We're tryin' ta save the world here."
"I cannot assist you."
Mortis found a filing cabinet and proceeded to break into it. It was like picking locks of a box on the docks in odd socks. Not like taking candy from a baby though. Completely different prospect. Mort had taken candy from a baby before though. Much simpler to pick a lock. Or a rock. Or an embroidery off a sock.

Bayside's body was found by Geraint Mizzle. His short form had been crushed beneath his filing cabinet, which had a rabbit living in one of the drawers. Mortis had licked the lock as well as picking it, and taken Bayside's files on Drakon. Geraint swallowed. He had come to tell Bayside that Chrysander Ordinance was waking up. Geraint's boyfriend. And now, his doctor was leaking blood out of his ear holes...if he wasn't such a tiny midget of a man, he'd have survived...

((Ladies and mentlegen, this story was written with assistance of my brother, who owns Lelenny Manne and Mr T the Necromancer...Scarlett the Russian Woman doesn't belong to me either...also Geraint doesn't. Aaaaaanyway...oh God I've got a lot to read when I get back from these next few days away...))

Zafira Kerias: Freedom's Price (Part 4)

Justaria stood up grinning.

"I'm FREE AT LAST!!!" She screamed. She turned on Javier,

"She never lets me out oh no never me! I'm a true name! Well I am in control and I'll let HER SEE HOW IT IS BEING IN THE BACK OF A MIND FOR A FEW YEARS!!!" Justaria stormed off. Javier sighed and focused on Justaria and she screamed,

"Now give Zaf back or else." He threatened. Justaria easily gave Zafira back.

"She's petrified. She's a baby deep down inside." Zafira laughed. Javier picked her up and kissed her. Then took her into their room.

Javier held Zafira close. She was asleep. Nobody else would be but she was. Alexis played and Jayla and Jason did too. Javier's family was safe, as safe as they could get. Mevolent's control of America had receeded in the past few days the west was theirs again. 

Zafira woke up and smiled softly. This was it. This would be the day she dreamed of. No reports of attacks in America. Zafira hugged Javier,

"We did it! Mevolent is gone from the States!!!" She screamed and they hugged. Zafira kissed him and he kissed her. Alexis's scream pierced the room, Zafira ran and knelt beside her daughter.

"Alexis...oh my god." The child was dead. Zafira felt her necklace go cold. Javier wrapped his arms around her. 

"We'll save her. Zaf you can. The sigils." Zafira nodded and went to draw the sigils around Alexis. She poured her magic into them and she then collapsed due to exhaustion. Alexis was alive and curled up beside her mother.

"Momma?" She asked. Zafira didn't speak. Alexis got scared and hugged Zafira. Then she woke

"Hush I'm safe. We're all safe now." Zafira looked at Alexis smiling softly,

"Sympathy, tenderness warm as the summer, offer you their embrace, friendliness  gentleness, strangers to my life, they are there in this face, goodness and sweetness and kindness are found in this place." Zafira sang. Alexis smiled recgonizing the musical 

"Jekyll and Hyde." She said. Zafira nodded. Her phone beeped and a smile broke across her face,

"Mevolent has no supporters in the USA anymore! Last of them was rounded up. We're safe." Javier held his wife and daughter close. Then picked up the twins. For that moment in time they were a happy family, even if the war was elsewhere their country was safe. 

(Nope not over I have a Part 5...I'm a Minion of Derek, there is NEVER gonna be a happy ending)

Raeza/J.A.: Fog Rolls In/Water Under the Bridge

     Her escape to the other corridor appeared to go unnoticed, thanks to Avalyn running into the wall with a loud and dramatic thump. She continued on quickly, dragging along J.A., who had probably absorbed most of the impact. Raeza winced slightly at the thought. She still couldn't see how someone could do that, accept others' pain with her own, and act as if it was nothing. Raeza wasn't sure whether to pity or admire that.
     It didn't take her long to find the mechanism and figure out how it worked. Now to trigger it... She'd planned on pressing a key on her computer to trigger it, so there had to be a receiver for the signal. That was a place to start, anyway. Or if she could broadcast the signal again somehow... Raeza whipped out a phone and typed quickly, hacking into Mevolent's computer systems in a matter of seconds. Pity he didn't keep much there. The small red button in the corner of the touch screen would do it, she hoped. All she could do was wait and see.

*******

     Avalyn led them around several corners and opened a door. "Staircase," she explained when she saw J.A.'s questioning look. "I'm hoping to lose them on our way back so we can get in the corridor and seal it before they come close. Better not to take chances if we can avoid them."
     They hurried down the stairs, then around a few more corridors. No one appeared to be behind them, anymore, and they were almost there. Unfortunately, at that moment, a door in one of the corridors behind them opened.
     "Hurry!" Seth hissed, but it went without saying. The three of them hurtled forward faster than they thought they were capable of running, the man in the white coat on their heels.

*******

     Raeza heard the running footsteps and she let her finger hover over the red button. Avalyn, Seth and J.A. rushed towards her, past the point where the wall and ceiling would collapse. Raeza pressed the button, but nothing happened. She gasped, looking down at her screen, and saw a pop up asking for the administrator password. It took her a moment to remember it, it felt like so long since she'd had her computers, and in that moment, the man in white also reached the point where he would be sealed in with them.
     More footsteps from the other direction, and Raeza typed faster: j0-Sf3yT_1gHLk-7.qBi6Jh_R.a3 RETURN. She waited. It was loading, and claimed to have three minutes remaining. She didn't have three minutes, though, so she hoped that wasn't the case.
     The army rounded the corner, into view, and Raeza closed her eyes. There was a slight cracking noise, then thuds and crumbling as the ceiling fell and part of the wall caved in, sealing off the tunnel. Raeza sighed in relief, then gasped slightly. Her shirt felt wet suddenly, as if she'd been pranked by an Elemental, but it was sweat, presumably. And then she heard Avalyn scream behind her, and a man's grunt, and she opened her eyes, realizing that her shirt wasn't wet with sweat but blood.

*******

     J.A. slit the man's throat in one swift and deadly motion, but she was too slow. Raeza opened her eyes and stared dumbfoundedly at the sword that had pierced through her torso. Even if it had missed everything vital, she'd still probably die from the blood loss. There was no way to take her to a healer, and even if they could get out it would be too late. J.A. had long since made a decision, though, and now she spoke up. "You'll be alright, Raeza." She

     "No, J.A." Raeza smiled mirthlessly. "I know a death wound when I see one. You were right though," she whispered, gasping slightly as J.A. slowly pulled out the bloodstained blade. "I am human. And sometimes humans make stupid mistakes. And sometimes we die."

     "Raeza--" J.A. found herself choking up. She hadn't cried since who knows when, but she had a feeling she was about to start. "I can take your place, if you just let me draw the symbols."

     "No, J.A." Raeza smiled sadly, then grimaced in pain. "You can't."

     J.A. nodded grimly and took off her jacket, using it to stop the blood the best she could. "Aevil won't let you die."

     "Of course she won't. I'll be fine." Raeza's agreement seemed two enthusiastic to be true. She sighed at J.A.'s raised eyebrow. "She let both of my sisters die, there's no reason for her to do more for me, and I'm not certain..." She trailed off, but the rest of the sentence would definitely have been doubt that Aevil could hold her own against Mevolent in his own castle.

     J.A. looked at her friend, tilting her head slightly, then took a deep breath, reaching for her pen.

     "I can't let you do that, Jule." Seth pinned her arms back, and she struggled unsuccessfully.

     "But the prophecy..."

     "I bought you all some time, maybe that counted as a tide. Or maybe the words that ruined my life simply aren't true." Raeza paused. "I never wanted it, anyway."

     "Let me go," J.A. whispered. She'd intended to shout it, but it hadn't come out that way. Seth didn't respond, and she was about to elbow him very very hard when Raeza whispered again.

     "J.A.?" 

     "What is it?"

     "What are the initials short for? I've been wondering..."

     "Julianne." That came out in a whisper, too, and J.A. wondered if she was capable of speaking any louder. Probably not.

     "Beautiful name." Raeza smiled weakly.

     "Yeah, it is. It never really suited me, though."

     "It..." The rest of the sentence was lost. Raeza's eyes fluttered for a moment, then she opened them again. "How...?" She blinked slowly, then her tone turned from confusion to disgust. "Mother. I'm done being your pawn. You want a tide, you're going to have to turn it yourself." She exhaled loudly, her eyes fluttering again. "I finally did it, I... Don't let her do anything stupid."

     Raeza reached upwards, then her hand went limp, and for a moment, J.A. was frozen, tears she didn't know she had pouring down her cheeks. Seth was still holding her back, as if she'd try to take Raeza's place in death somehow. Her magic wouldn't stretch that far, and she wasn't sure she'd even be able to grip the pen.

     After several minutes of agonizing silence and stillness, Avalyn leaned over and closed Raeza's eyes. Raeza looked so much more frail now, not like the strong brave friend who'd led the plan for breaking them out of the jail. Maybe it was better, though, to pretend this was someone else. J.A. had known death before, sure, and it hadn't gotten to her like this. Not even when she'd thought Seth was dead. Just pretend that the body lying in front of her was a stranger. 

     J.A. finally shook off Seth's grip and whirled to face him. "Who do you think you are? Did you even try to do a thing for her?"

     "I couldn't--"

     "You could have saved her! You could have let me save her! You could have at least tried to slow the bleeding!"

     "J.A., I couldn't."

     "And don't try to tell me your powers aren't working, I saw you experiment in Aevil's castle, with the beetle."

     "She was ready to die, couldn't you see it on her face?"

     "Maybe the beetle was ready to die, too. Maybe I am!"

     "J.A., you're hysterical. That's understandable in these circumstances, but--"

     "If it had been me lying there,  covered in blood, would you have stood there like that? If it had been Avalyn?"

     Avalyn was off to the left, scooting backwards. Good for her, she could run away all she liked. That wouldn't help her in the end. 

     "Of course not, Jule! I... I..."

     "Seth, we both changed while you were gone. I'm not as strong as I once was, I'm not as friendly. But you... When did you become the kind of person who would sit there and watch someone die?"

     "J.A., I..."

     "When the time comes, and we unseal this corridor, you won't be coming with us."

     "So you're not mad at Avalyn?" 

     "She can't heal people with a glance. You can."

     "What do you want me to do? I can't raise the dead!

     J.A. shook her head sadly and turned to go as far away from him as she could with their limited space. Avalyn came behind her and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She, too, was crying. Then she frowned slightly.

     "Did you feel that?"

     "What?" 

     "A change in the energy. Like...I don't know, even. I don't usually sense things like this."

     J.A. frowned, concentrating for a moment. "I don't feel anything."

     "There's nothing now, it was like a bubble of power, making everything start to tingle, and then it popped or simethig, and everything stopped."

     J.A. swallowed. So much for the last hope she'd had of getting her friend back. "I think it was the duel, then," she said. "I think Aevil just lost."

     Avalyn nodded grimly.

((So this is it. The chapter I've been anticipating in excitement and dread. I'll probably regret this later.))

Molliana Dust - Why Must I Think Of Witty Chapter Names?

"Mevolent has Mara," Mollie hissed, "and I'm going to kill him."

Mollie was angry. Nobody hurt her friends. Especially ones as close to her as Maralie. The problem was, Mollie had no clue that Maralie was save and sound with Harry back at her house. Liberty was sent on a plane back to Cheshire, where she was being babysat by Harry's mum until Mollie came back. If Mollie came back.

Mollie had heard of where Mevolent's hideout was, so that's where she was headed on her motorbike. She felt safe on her bike, it was like part of her now. She couldn't live without it.

She revved the bike, gritting her teeth. She was going. To kill him.

~

Or, that had been the plan.

She was now dangling above a pit of acid, her hands tied above her. She said been caught by some guards who were not very nice. They had given her up to Mevo, who said she should be killed. After all, Molliana Dust was a rebel. An idiotic rebel, but a rebel nonetheless. And she had been wanted in a few countries. No biggie. Murder and stuff. But that was just self defence. She didn't kill purposely, she'd say.

Well, that was a lie.

Mollie killed because she had to. If anyone looked at Liberty, they'd have no eyes to look at anything anymore. Literally. She had gouged someone's eyes out before.

Mollie looked down at the bubbling pit of acid below her and started to think. Ashton kept coming into her mind. She sighed and looked up at the rope that secured her to the ceiling. Any wrong movements, and a button would be pressed, and Molliana Dust would be no more. Not for the first time, Mollie wondered what death was like. Probably hurt. And then she wondered; would she go to hell for killing?

Mollie wasn't a very religious person, but she had her beliefs. And she wasn't quite sure, at this given moment, if she believed in heaven and hell. Or more like, did she want to?

She sighed again. This idle thinking wasn't going to get her out of this mess. Plus she was starting to get rope burns on her wrist. Mollie glanced at the guard over at the Big Button, she liked to call it. If that Big Button was pressed... Bye bye Mollie.

The guard was facing away, talking to another guard. Guard #1, the Big Button one, wasn't paying any attention to Mollie. Guard #2 seemed to be taking quick glances up at her, almost seeming scared she'd escape.

That almost made Mollie laugh. Hah! One of Mevo's guards was scared of her. LOL, she thought to herself.

Mollie looked up at the rope. Her wrists were really sore by now. But at least she wasn't dead. Yet.

She looked around. If she cut the rope, she'd fall straight into the acid. But... she looked up at the ceiling. Aha! The rope was tied to a beam that ran across the whole ceiling. If she untied herself, and climbed up there...

But how? The question remained. It wasn't like she could cut through it. Her eyes widened and she would have facepalmed, only for her hands were tied up.

She would have to bite through it.

Mollie looked at the guards were. She frowned. Where were they? They couldn't have left...?!

She glanced at the Big Button warily - it could be a trap. But if it was, wouldn't someone be hiding close to the Big Button, or something? And she could definitely not see anyone.

Mollie started to chew.

It was exhausting work. She would have to lift her whole body up, chew for five seconds, then fall back down and dangle for a while, getting her energy back. It took a while, and she was sure her teeth were going to break apart into little pieces any second now, but she finally did it. The rope fell apart and, letting out a small yelp, Mollie grabbed the beam and watched the rope fall into the acid and burn.

Huh, Mollie thought. That could've been me.

Mollie looked and saw a sort of contraption that had a scissors and probably connected to the Big Button, right beside where the rope was.

"Ah," Mollie whispered, grinning. "Ya didn't get me this time, Mevo."

She started to crawl across the beam. It was quite thick, so it was easy for her to crawl on. She heard footsteps and froze, then listened.

"She's gone!" a gruff voice boomed. "I thought you were watching her?!"

"I-I'm sorry," a thin, reedy voice replied. "I just... w-went for a b-b-athroom break..."

"Marcel, dude, I know you're new, but come on!"

"I-I'm not m-meant to be a b-bodyguard," Marcel stammered, "I w-work in m-marketing..."

"I get that, mate, but if Mevo knows we lost her..." the gruff guy winced, and Mollie didn't think his personality was the same as his exterior.

"I-I'm s-sorry, Jacob, I-" Marcel was cut off by the gruff guy - Jacob - yelling. "Up there!"

And then he took a bloody machine gun out of his jacket.

Mollie took it back. Jacob was mean.

Jacob pointed the huge thing at her and started to shoot. Mollie stood up and started to sprint. She almost fell off a few times and still Jacob kept shooting, shooting, shooting at her and Mollie was losing her balance and her foot suddenly slipped and she fell down, down, down onto the cold hard ground with a smack.

Jacob and Marcel stood over her, Marcel trembling. Mollie's vision started to go black around the edges.

"Sayonara, Miss Dust," Jacob winked, and aimed the gun at her and the gun, the huge gun bucked in his hand and Mollie felt an impact in her chest, but no pain. She had a feeling the fall paralyzed her. Paralyzed. Maralie. Maralie and her light. Light. Li. Liberty. Her sister. Liberty...

And Molliana Dust was gone.

THIS WAS THE BEST THING EVER TO WRITE OMG
I cannot wait to end my plot, oh my Golden God c:
~ Mara xx
PS: Marcel;)

Aevil: The Duel Thing

      The entrance she decided on was underappreciated: a sudden flash of light and then she, Raeza, J.A., Seth and Avalyn we're standing in Mevolent's throne room. He didn't even blink. So much for dramatics, then.
     "Aevil. How are you on this fine morning?"
     "As well as can be expected. Do you want to die now or do this the old-fashioned way?" She raised an eyebrow.
     "Patience, my dear. What makes you think I'll agree to your idea of a fair fight?" Mevolent stood and gestured around him. Several doors stood open, and there were several hundred guards. How lovely. "We will still have our duel, one on one, and I will crush you. But your entourage will not be so lucky."
     J.A., Raeza, Seth and Avalyn each drew their knives, but there was honestly no way they could defend themselves from that many. Time for plan B. "Hold hands," Aevil commanded sharply, anRaeza obeyed without hesitation. It would benefit her to do that more often. A wave of her hand and they were gone. "So what was that you said about a one in one duel?"
     Mevolent smiled, as if he knew something she didn't.

     What Mevolent knew was that there was a shield. He'd set it up, made sure it would trigger at the same time as the guards. There was no teleporting out for Aevil now, and if she tried, she'd just end up in another part of the castle, with the rest of her party.
     
     The corridor they ended up in was empty for now, but J.A. doubted it would stay that way. Seth and Avalyn both looked at her with worried glances, Raeza looked at the ceiling.
     "What is it?" Avalyn asked hesitantly after a moment of silence. 
     "There's some sort of shield. No one can come or go, even magically." Raeza lowered her gaze to look at the others, and J.A. could see her gaze harden slightly. "I have an idea, come on."
     "Where are we going?" Seth demanded. "They'll be here any minute!"
     "Exactly, they'll be here but we won't. Part of the ceiling in a corridor in this wing is rigged so that it will collapse, sealing off the small section of hallway. The computer it was once connected to..." Raeza paused for a moment, then swallowed. "The computer is gone now, but I should be able to restart the mechanism. I just need to--" She pulled up short as she saw the row of Redhoods blocking their way. "Well, this complicates things."

     Aevil's pottery wheel spun faster as she created monster after monster from her base of infinite clay. They charged at Mevolent, but he only clicked his fingers and the water in the air made them turn to mush.
     "You're going to have to do better than that," he said, pushing at the air and sending her flying into the wall. A bit of fire reduced her pottery wheel to ashes and cracked bits of clay.
     As he strode towards her, a ball of fire in his hand, she snapped her fingers and his foot stuck in the wet sludge, tentacles of clay wrapping around it, holding it fast. He threw the fireball, and she hurled herself to the left, the ends of her hair catching fire and burning. Ah, that was dramatic. Aevil enjoyed being dramatic, but not at the price of her style. Besides, the flame would catch her skin eventually, even if her jacket was fire-resistant. She did a somersault, extinguishing the flame.
     Mevolent hurled more air at her, pinning her against the wall, and she switched to her other discipline. So much for the clay. Mevolent's foot became unstuck, and he advanced a bit, eyes locked on hers. The arc of energy she sent would have been enough to fry something. Something that was generally not meant to fry easily, something Aevil didn't really have the time or patience to come up with exactly. However, that something was definitely not Mevolent. He only took a step to his left, and the energy tore a hole in the wall instead. His focus on the air didn't lessen.

     Avalyn nodded. "Of course I know where I'm going!" If they hadn't been running, she might have stopped and given Seth an annoyed glare of some sort. As such, she barely had time to hope the others had a bit more faith in her than Seth did. Sure she'd never been here, but she'd studied the map over and over, and she hadn't forgotten.
     Their goal now was to come from the other side and hope they didn't get cornered or caught between multiple manifestations of Mevolent's force. Avalyn wasn't sure this would work considering the number of guards that ought to be stationed around a place like this, but so far they'd been pretty successful. Maybe all the guards had been summoned to make an appearance in front of Aevil. Even if that was the case, though, they'd still be here soon. And of course, there were the twenty or so Redhoods behind them. Rather hard to miss.
     "How far is it?" Raeza asked, "If my calculations are right..."
     "Just around that corner," Avalyn whispered, the a hallway to the right. But the rest of us will keep running and loop around to the end we were aiming for before, hopefully buying you some time to set up the mechanism."
     "Right. Make sure you get past the door marked 'solarium.' Then you'll be within the sealed off area."
     "Sounds good," J.A. said, and they split up, Raeza slipping into the shadows, then the side corridor, the other three vanishing down the hall, Redhoods behind them.
   

     ((Sorry if the teleportation shield inconveniences anyone. I'll be taking it down as soon as possible. Aevil and Mevolent fighting is funnnnnn, but I still haven't gotten to the awesome part where someone dies.))