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Mystic's Dark Form
Red. All she saw was red. Was it the blood splattered across her face, her hands, the ground? Was it the malevolent glow in Odysseus’ eyes as he swung the scythe, severing her daughter’s head? Or was it her own seething anger, her rage consuming her like a wildfire?
She couldn’t hear anything. The world was muted, time frozen. Where was she? What was she doing? Who was she? Why? Why was she crying? Why was she screaming? Why did her head throb with such unbearable pain? Who was calling her name?
Her vision began to clear, but all she saw was the lifeless body of the future she was meant to have. How long had she dreamed of this family? Did it always end here? Had she brought death to her daughter, just as she had brought death to her mother? Was she the harbinger of despair, of destruction, of… death?
Clark was dead, wasn’t he? Because she was the root of everyone’s demise, it only made sense that he was dead too. Her mother. Her grandmother. Her father. Her best friend and first love. Her daughter. Who else would she drag into the abyss?
Rena slowly rose to her feet. The world around her blurred into insignificance. She saw only red, the red that she was going to end. Odysseus.
Her hair turned black, shadowing her clouded eyes. Her clothes darkened, dusted with purple. Black and purple particles of magic began to swirl around her. She had no life, no light left in her. All she was, was darkness.
Odysseus watched her transform, his smile widening into a maniacal grin. He began to laugh, a chilling sound that echoed through the battlefield. “Yes. YES! THAT’S IT. SUCCUMB TO YOUR RAGE. TO YOUR FURY. BREAK. BREAK FOR ME, RENA. GIVE ME WHAT I WANT. GIVE ME VERSA. BREAK YOUR BOND.”
Rena began to float in the air, her body levitating as if lifted by an unseen force. Her eyes, once filled with warmth and love, were now void of any emotion, cold and empty. She gritted her teeth, a low growl escaping her lips. She raised her staff, and it began to spin with a menacing hum. “You’ll pay. It’s time to end this. I'm going to end you.”
The particles in the air began to coalesce in front of Rena, swirling and merging into a massive orb of dark energy. Her darkness. It pulsed with a malevolent power, growing larger and more intense with each passing second.
Versa’s astral form appeared, her ethereal presence flickering with desperation, as if she was a candle about to burn out. She turned to Aether, tears streaming down her translucent cheeks. “S-She’s lost. I-I can’t bring her back. Y-You have to do something. Please. Before she does something she’ll regret. Please… help her.”
A flash of red, a dome of blue, and an oversized sword zoomed past Aether, Blaine, and Versa. Just as her attack was charged Hawks appeared behind her and grabbed her arms, holding them back. “Don’t do it, Rena!” but he was just a millisecond too late.
Rena had released the blast and it was heading straight for Odysseus. Just before it was about to hit an oversized sword appeared and absorbed the magic.
Rena snarled “Let me go. Get out of the way. He needs to die.”
“No! You can’t!” Hawks yelled, holding her arms against her side.
“You don’t want to do this Miss Rena!” Asta said, moving his sword down.
“Shambles,” Law said as he switched Rena and Hawks position with his, putting him right in front of Sy. He glanced down and smirked. Then he glanced at Odysseus.
“You can’t save her. She’s gone past her breaking point. Versa will be forced out. I’ve won. Accept your defeat.” He smiled.
“No. I don’t think we will.” Law smirked.
“Let.. Me.. Go..” Rena growled, trying to break free of Hawks grasp.
“I can’t do that, Rena. Please… Please come back to us.” he pleaded.
“Whose Rena?” She snarled.
“Wha–” Hawks started, confused, his grip loosened and she used that to wiggle free, dashing towards Odysseus.
She almost made it before Blaine jumped in front of her, grabbing her, stopping her in her tracks.
“NO! LET ME GO!” she screamed, her voice raw and desperate, almost ripping her vocal cords. “HE NEEDS TO DIE! I’M GOING TO KILL HIM! I’M GOING TO END HIM!”
She struggled violently in Blaine’s arms, her body shaking with uncontrollable rage. “Calm down, Rena, you’re losing yourself to the darkness. Come back to the light before it’s too late,” he attempted to soothe her, but she was drifting too far into her despair.
“Fuck the light. I am the darkness. I lost her… I lost him… I lost everyone. I don’t deserve–” she cried, her voice breaking with anguish.
“Don’t. Don’t you DARE finish that sentence,” Blaine said, looking down at her with fierce determination. “You are not the darkness. You are–”
“They’re all DEAD… DEAD! Because of ME! I’M THE CENTER OF IT ALL.” She wailed, collapsing in his arms. “They’re all dead… because of me…” she whispered, her voice filled with unbearable sorrow.
“Yes. They are all dead, because of you. Succumb to your darkness, release your bond. Give her to me,” Odysseus said with venom in his voice, his eyes gleaming with malice.
Blaine snapped his head toward Odysseus, glaring daggers at him. “Ooo, is that the famous ‘Death Stare’? So scary,” Odysseus mocked, his laughter echoing through the air.
Feeling that Rena’s rage and grief had exhausted her, Blaine let her down softly as Aether and Alkwan ran up to take over. “What’s this? Did you grow your balls back with your emotions? Are you going to fight me this time? You didn’t seem to care at my trial. You even showed up late,” Odysseus taunted.
Blaine didn’t say a word as he slowly approached Odysseus. As he reached Law, he placed his hand on the surgeon’s shoulder. “I’ll take it from here.”
“You do know she’s not–” Law started to say.
“Yes. I know, but he doesn’t, nor does he need to know right now. We owe someone a serious apology after this. Hopefully, she will forgive us,” Blaine interrupted as he stepped in front of the surgeon, reaching Sy’s body.
He reached his hand out and called for his weapon, “Return,” and his scythe flew out of Odysseus’ hands and back to its owner.
“You’ve made three mistakes. Your first mistake, you should not have touched my scythe. Using it to kill a living soul, that’s the ultimate taboo. She will punish you for that.” Blaine started to smirk, making Odysseus flinch.
“Is that supposed to scare me? I’ve collected so many guardians. Taking their essence, I’m the ultimate power here. You should fear me.”
“Fear you? Ultimate power?” Blaine began to chuckle. “Your second mistake, dear boy… You should have taken my essence when you had the chance.”
Suddenly, the air around Blaine began to swirl violently, a tempest of energy that sent shivers down the spines of everyone present. The temperature plummeted, the once warm air now biting cold. The ground beneath them trembled, cracks spiderwebbing outwards as if the earth itself was recoiling in fear. Blaine twisted his neck back and forth, the sound of his joints popping echoing ominously. He fixed his gaze on Odysseus one last time, his eyes burning with a fierce determination, before he released his barrier.40Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBnVPShEdsv
The true power of Death erupted from him, an overwhelming force that crashed over the battlefield like a tidal wave. Wings of black and white essence unfurled from his back, their ethereal feathers shimmering with an otherworldly glow. Shadows of black and white essence poured out from him, swirling and coiling like living entities. The sheer magnitude of his power was so intense that it drove everyone to their knees, even Odysseus, who stared in wide-eyed terror.
“Wha-What is this?” Odysseus stammered, his voice quivering with panic. “How are you–”
Death began to approach him, each step causing the ground to rumble and quake. His essence radiated an aura of pure dread, shadows flickering and dancing around him. “Your third mistake… Letting me get my emotions back. I’m not sure how or why they came back, but your plan to expose my has backfired spectacularly. My power comes from my emotions. That’s why they took them away, instead of my memories. Taking my memories would have been running away. No. My punishment was living WITH the memories. They took my emotions to dull my power because they were afraid of me. They were afraid of DEATH.” His voice was a low, menacing growl, each word dripping with scorn.
Reaching Odysseus’ cowering form, Death raised his scythe, the blade gleaming ominously in the dim light. “You tried to force them to break their bond, but it is you who will break your bond. Your human host. You took him by force, didn’t you? You didn’t give him a choice, did you? Does he even know you took his body, or have you kept him buried deep inside his mind all this time?”
Odysseus was paralyzed with fear. He couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. Death’s power was overwhelming, suffocating, an all-consuming presence that left no room for resistance. This wasn’t in the visions he had seen. He had taken intuition’s essence, all of it, so how had he not foreseen this? How had he made such a catastrophic oversight? If there was a guardian more powerful than all, it was Death in his full form.
Death glared down at Odysseus, his own eyes glowing a fierce, hellish red. They bore into Odysseus like the flames of hell itself, searing his very soul.
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