A/N: Okay, I came up with this... and I had to write it. You don't even know. Thank you Fall Out Boy, listening to your song Phoenix gave me this idea! Anyway, this a my version of how the final battle might have gone. Enjoy!
Fire was everywhere.
It lit up the sky, burning through trees, the walls, the grass. Fighting past the moat and burning the school. The heat was unbearable, the ash choking, the screams horrifying.
Simon stood in the middle of it all, sword in hand, panting. His hair was peppered in ash and dirt. His clothes were ruined, burned, shredded.
Everything was in turmoil. Creatures made out of sand would pop up out of nowhere and then disappear. Watford was in flames but Simon knew they could fix it…. They would be able to fix almost everything if they won the battle.
Almost.
Merwolves, ogres, magicians, vampires, robots, and students all battled around him in a flurry of movement and noise. He saw Elspeth and Penelope battling fiercely with a bunch of vampires. He couldn't see Agatha, but he saw the dead bodies of Niall, Rhys, Justin, Ralph, and Lucinda's cat.
He wouldn't lose anyone else, he'd kill himself if he had to. The Humdrum had to be stopped.
A merwolf lunged at him, there was a flash of movement, and Baz was standing over it. His fangs were out, fire was still in one of his hands, and in the other, a wicked throwing knife. He was covered from head to toe in ash and dirt. His cape hung heavy from his shoulders, soaked in blood and sweat; Simon had taken his off long ago, using it to cover up the Mage.
Baz shot the fireball at a vampire and there was a scream.
"Snow," he said, stalking over and grabbing Simon by the collar of his shirt. "What are you doing just standing around!?"
"He's dead..." Simon breathed. "My father-"
"The Mage's power is still with us!" screamed Baz, shaking Simon fiercely. "Pull yourself together, Snow!"
"The last thing I did was yell at him-"
WHAM!
Simon stumbled backwards as Baz punched him, it was like getting hit by a rock. His jaw throbbed painfully and Simon stared up at Baz in shock.
"GET YOURSELF TOGETHER, SIMON! DAMMIT, WE HAVE A WAR TO WIN!" Simon's ears rang with the sound of Baz's shrill voice howling at him. The boy was shaking as he dragged Simon to his feet. "NOW GO KILL THE BLOODY BASTARD WHO MURDERED HIM!"
There was a scream in the distance, followed by two or three more.
Simon gripped his sword harder. Baz was right, it was time to fight. Later he could mourn... well either that or not. Depending on if he died.
He nodded and Baz whirled around to snap the neck of a feral magician. One of the ones who had joined the Humdrum. Simon still winced.
Baz shot another fireball and more flames erupted from where it landed. Simon knew that the fire was probably helping a little to confuse the enemy, but he still wanted to scowl in disapproval at Baz's deliberate fire starting.
Simon raised his sword and chopped off the head of a ogre. Greenish-red blood spurted out of the stump of its neck and Simon's stomach gave a jolt of disgust. He whirled around and darted into the battle.
A robot made a stab at him but Simon dodged and dove after a vampire that was lunging toward Penelope. He shoved it into the fire and it shrieked as its skin turned to dust.
And then he saw him.
He was just standing there calmly, a black cloak draped around his skinny frame. Hood up and shadowing his face. The Humdrum's head barely reached Simon's stomach but that didn't make him any less threatening. If anything, it made it worse, knowing such a little thing could literally suck the magic out of a magician.
Simon took a breath-this was it. It had to end now. He gripped his sword and rushed forward, toward the small form in front of him.
Sand creatures erupted from the ground a few feet away, spraying dirt and grit everywhere, they both lunged at him together but Simon dodged. He swung his sword at them, cutting through one's arm. The beast didn't seem fazed in any way and just continued to attack, but its arm, where Simon had stabbed, was dissolving. Even if it didn't seem to notice.
Simon slashed his sword at it again. At the same time, the second one hit him in the side. Simon grunted as he was flung away.
The creatures lumbered after him, their large, sand-filled maws open, revealing teeth that looked more like stones. For all Simon knew, they were stones, these things were made out of sand.
Simon grabbed his sword and lunged at the second one, plunging the blade deep into its chest. The monster still tried to fight but within moments, it had crumbled into a pile of sand, stones, and a few dried leaves.
Behind him, Simon heard the Humdrum laugh. It was soft and almost inaudible, but Simon heard it. Heard it and recognized it as his own.
He pushed that thought away-the Humdrum may have looked like him, but that didn't make them the same person-and swiped his blade at the second beast, the one with only one arm. It was easier to kill and he soon had that one in a pile as well.
Simon spun around and raised his sword. The Humdrum was facing away from him, his small, yet dark figure standing among the chaos around them as if he were used to it. As if none of this surprised him… as if this had been his goal all along.
Simon took a deep breath and raised his sword higher. He charged, covering the distance between him and the Humdrum within seconds, and started to bring his sword down.
At the last moment, the Humdrum turned and raised his hand. It was like having water squeezed back up your throat if you'd just had a drink. Simon choked and dropped to the ground. Heat surrounded him and he couldn't breath. His vision was going blurry.
"Fool," the Humdrum murmured. "You have too many conflicts within yourself... did you really think that, after one try, you'd be able to stop this one?"
He raised his arms again, motioning around them. Simon fell onto his side and started to gasp for air. It was like something was stepping on his chest, keeping him from breathing. The fire had spread even more and everything and everyone appeared to be fighting for their lives. It was painful to watch so Simon looked back at the Humdrum. He could breath, but just barely. The heat was crushing him and he had to fight in order to keep his eyes open.
"This is what magic does," the Humdrum growled. Simon couldn't see his face but he could hear the sneer in his voice. "Disgusting. You cause nothing but destruction. Everyone would be much safer without your precious magic mucking everything up."
"And what about you?" Simon choked out. "Aren't you made of magic?"
He cried out in pain as the Humdrum looked at him, Simon could have sworn he saw two glowing blue eyes in the depths of that dark hood.
"I am the opposite of magic," the Humdrum drawled out. "Magic is like my Basilton Pitch. We are enemies... but we get along so well when we're alone."
"Snow and I do not get along."
The Humdrum looked up, Baz was standing on the edge of the small hill where Simon and the Humdrum were standing. He had an enormous, blue fireball in one of his hands; his throwing knife was now tucked into his belt. Baz was surrounded by fire, the edges of his face glowing yellow and red while the rest of his front was more blue from the fireball in his hand. He was in real danger, being a vampire in all this fire, but if Baz was worried about it, he didn't let it show.
"And that was the worst way to use my name in a sentence ever." Baz threw the fireball forcefully at the Humdrum, it hurled towards them and Simon almost thought it may have worked.
Raising his hand, the Humdrum made the fireball disappear into thin air and Baz crumpled to the ground with a scream. It lifted some of the pain off of Simon but now something worse was happening to Baz.
"You are practically made of magic," the Humdrum hummed. "I could tear you apart like a child does an oreo cookie. They eat the inside first, right? Well..."
Baz sat bolt upright and screamed, his howl echoing around and seeming to fill the world.
"Stop!" Simon shouted. "Kill me instead! Just please leave him-"
The Humdrum threw his head back and laughed, the hood fell and revealed his face- Simon's face- Simon's eleven year-old face.
He dropped Baz for a moment. And continued to laugh. "Oh Simon," he cackled. "Brave little Simon Snow. Mage's heir. Chosen one... Begging on knees to save his little vampire friend. Willing to pay his life. How utterly, heart warmingly, disgustingly wonderful!"
"He... can't kill you," Baz coughed, getting onto his hands and knees. "Or he'll die, too."
"Smart," the Humdrum commented. "But I know there's a dangerous side in there, too... I'd like to meet him." He flicked his wrist and Baz howled again.
Simon scrabbled to his hands and knees and reached for his sword.
"Ah, ah, ah!" tutted the Humdrum. "Can't have you ruining the fun. If I do recall..." as Simon touched the sword it turned to dust in his hands and floated away in the breeze, swirling around the Humdrum, "...that little trinket is made of magic, too."
No...
Baz screamed again, and clutched at his head, Simon could see his fangs getting longer... if he didn't stop this Baz might not be able to change back.
Simon grabbed the first thing he saw, a rock about the size of his palm, and hurled it at the Humdrum.
When it hit him, he faltered-it hit him directly in the back and he yelped in pain. At the same time, a sharp bolt of agony hit Simon in the back and he let out a bark of surprise and hurt.
We feel the same pain!? He thought, panicking. Well, crap!
He looked past the Humdrum and saw that Baz wasn't far from being gone. Whether that meant dead or simply under the Humdrum's rule.
But the Humdrum had released him when Simon had hit him with the rock and he whirled around to glare at Simon.
"You'll pay for that," he snarled.
"You can't hurt me!" Simon snapped back.
The Humdrum grinned, and Simon knew he'd said the wrong thing.
"Wrong, Simon Snow. I can hurt you in so many, unbelievable ways... It's delicious."
He raised his hand. Simon looked at Baz and yelled at him to run. A shriek split the air, Simon realized that it wasn't Baz, he looked up, saw someone standing there, saw them get run through by a spear, saw them fall...
And saw it was Agatha.
Simon screamed something but he couldn't hear it. He tried to run to her but he couldn't stand. He saw Baz shout something but barely registered it. Then...
"AGATHA!" Simon's ears popped and he heard his own voice. "NO!"
The Humdrum was laughing so hard and loud it may as well have been thunder. Simon was so filled with despair he may as well have been dead. Everything was so wrong it may as well have been a dream.
Then Simon was hit in the side of the head so hard he was flung away about five feet. One of his ears weren't working, he couldn't hear out of it. Pain seared through the side of his face. The Humdrum was jumping up and down, holding onto the side of his head as if it hurt. And then there was Baz...
He was standing a few feet away, about where Simon had been before, holding the knife he'd had earlier, it was covered in blood.
He lunged at the Humdrum but was flung backwards and yelled in pain as he landed beside Simon. Eyes glazed over but still alive, he reached for Simon.
"Stop this... I can... now... please..." he breathed out and Simon shook his head, whimpering in pain and reached out to touch Baz. He didn't know what Baz was talking about... but one more touch... one last time-
Simon yelled as Baz grabbed his arm and sunk his teeth into Simon's wrist. The pain was sharp and it only got worse as Baz started to drink, a harsh sting zipping up Simon's arm... and then it started to get better, calmer, almost enjoyable.
"NO!" screamed the Humdrum and Baz wrenched himself away, shaking.
He grabbed his knife and unsteadily cut himself. The slice started to ooze blood and Baz thrust it toward Simon.
"Drink it!" he gasped. "Do it now, Snow!"
Simon blinked in surprise and reached out to grab Baz's arm.
And then the Humdrum was there. Baz wailed in pain and started writhing around on the ground as the Humdrum held his hand out as if using the Force. His blond hair was now covered in blood, dust, and ash as well. His blue eyes were narrowed to slits, and he grit his teeth.
"I'm going to turn you inside out and slowly tear you apart, piece by piece, as I feed you to the merwolves!" the Humdrum snarled. "And I'm going to keep you alive through the whole thing!"
Simon shakily, reached inside his pocket and found his wand, it was still broken in two and even if he fixed it... this was the Humdrum, but he was desperate.
"Save what has been lost," Simon whispered and the wand slowly fixed itself, Baz started to choke on something, possibly his own lungs, as the Humdrum started to keep his promise.
Simon stumbled to his feet and shakily raised his wand.
"Good fences make good neighbors!" Simon shouted, for a moment, the Humdrum stopped and Baz fell back, panting hard. He knew it was only a matter of time before the Humdrum just killed him so Simon quickly said: "Hold your horses." He had no idea if that would work but the Humdrum still seemed slightly surprised. Almost stunned.
Simon ran forward and crouched in front of Baz carefully. "Baz," he whispered. Baz's eyes flicked open and he feebly lifted his bleeding arm up.
"Please..."
Then it all clicked together.
"Gods, Baz. You're a genius!" Simon gasped and grabbed Baz's arm, pressing his mouth to the hot skin and licking up as much blood as possible.
"NO! STOP!" The Humdrum yanked Simon back and flung him to the side. Then he grabbed Baz's knife and stood in front of Baz, raising the weapon.
"BAZ!" Simon half screamed in pain as the vampire blood, mixed with the bite started to do it's job. The Humdrum cried out in pain, too, and drove the knife down. Simon leaped forward and they collided.
The heat was so intense that Simon thought he might have been on fire. His throat was parched, he couldn't breath, could barely walk.
And then, an explosion of strength sparked through him and he jumped up, and kicked the Humdrum as hard as he could.
The Humdrum screamed, clutching at himself, he had fangs, just like Simon. They were both standing there, their bodies pulsing with-
Magic.
The Humdrum stumbled backwards, into the fire, screaming, grabbing at his face with his hands as they burst into flames…
... and he exploded in a large pile of ashes.
Simon felt the vampirism get sucked out of him as the Humdrum's power pulled the magic away, destroying himself as well as the new vampire magic within Simon.
Simon fell to his knees, shaking so badly that he couldn't even stand, and blacked out.
# # #
Simon slowly opened his eyes. Light was streaming into the room. He was clearly in the hospital-the stone walls and floors were a welcome sight after last seeing ashes and fire everywhere.
He sighed, and that felt really good. Letting out that breath of air was like biting into a crouton that looked soft and realizing it was satisfyingly crunchy. Okay, that was a bad example...
"Morning, Applecheeks."
Simon smiled and turned his head to look at Baz, who was sitting next to his bed. A book was open in front of him, but he closed it as soon as Simon looked at him. His gray eyes were bright but he still looked paler than normal.
"Hey." Simon's mouth tasted horrible; it was clear that he hadn't spoken in a while. "You okay?"
"I'm fine," Baz said. "Ice Cream Sundae missed and ended up stabbing me in the shoulder instead of the chest, or wherever he was aiming for."
Simon noticed a long bandage going up the side of Baz's face and reached out to brush his fingers lightly against Baz's cheek. "What's that?"
Baz reached up and cupped Simon's hand with his own. "It's nothing. You should see yourself." When Simon gave him a confused look, Baz held up a small mirror and Simon stared.
One of his ears were missing! Sliced clean off, his head was wrapped up tight in bandages, and he could see a bunch of other cuts on his face.
"Sorry," said Baz. "But I needed to distract, Mr. Ice Cream... and I wasn't really sure how, other than-"
"It's okay," Simon murmured. "I mean, it's not like-"
Then his eyes focused on the mirror, like, really focused. And something slammed into him like a train.
"Agatha..." he whispered, and Baz looked down in grief.
"Yeah."
Simon felt tears building up behind his eyes but he fought them back, no way was he crying in front of Baz.
"I killed her-"
Baz slapped him across the face, though, softly. "You shut up, that wasn't you. It was the Humdrum."
"If I hadn't made him mad..."
Baz went silent.
"Oh yes," he said bitterly, pushing Simon's hand away. "If only you had just let me get torn apart. Agatha would be alive, everything would be better."
"Baz," Simon hurried. "That's not what I meant, and you know it. I only... there must have been another way."
"Yeah, well, it's too late now, isn't it." Baz stood and tugged his school jacket back into place. "You know what, I think I'd better go. Things to do."
"Wait, Baz!" Simon sat up and wished he hadn't when his head started spinning He slowly lowered his forehead into his hand and sighed.
When he looked up, Baz was gone.
# # #
It turned out that Simon had been in the hospital for about three days, and after two more days of staying there, he was allowed back into his room. But he was told to relax as much as possible.
Things were hard with the Mage dead. At the moment, most of the oldest teachers were in charge; that consisted of Professor Glyph, Professor Somnia, Professor Chilblains and a few others.
Simon still couldn't believe his father was dead, and that the last thing he had done was yell at him about why he'd given Simon up as a baby... he hadn't even gotten any straight answers out of the man.
He was lying on his bed, trying to read a book with Penelope sitting next to him. But his mind kept wandering and his heart wasn't in it.
Suddenly, Penny rested her hand on his shoulder. "Hey," she said softly. "Agatha wouldn't want you to blame yourself."
Simon shook his head. "I've ruined everything, Penny. Agatha's dead because of me, Baz is mad because of me-"
"Stop that," she snapped. "Baz is always mad about something…. He's just feeling a lot of emotions right now, give him time to calm down."
"I just wish I could make everything better…"
"Then start by forgiving yourself."
Suddenly, the door burst open and Baz stepped inside. He and Baz had hardly spoken since the hospital and Simon was surprised to see him.
"Out," Baz said to Penelope. "I need to talk to Snow... alone."
Simon and Penny exchanged a glance but Penelope got her books together and left the room, shooting Baz a warning glare on her way out.
"Um..." Simon swallowed nervously. "Listen, Baz. I'm sorry about-"
"No. It's alright. I was acting like a child. Agatha's dead and I should have been more sensitive to you... It's just, I get really bad tempered when I'm sad, I guess." Baz shuffled his feet. "So... are we good?"
Simon sat up straighter and pat the spot next to him. "Not yet."
After hesitating for a moment, Baz sighed and crossed the room, sitting down next to Simon and pulling his knees to his chest.
"What do you think is gonna happen?" Simon whispered. "The Mage is gone."
"Well... I know that my dad will certainly try to be the new Mage. But I also know that he's too selfish to actually become the Mage," Baz said.
Without thinking, Simon cuddled up close to Baz and rested his head on Baz's shoulder.
Baz stiffened, but didn't shrug him off. "Things'll be different without... all of them."
"Yeah. I'll miss them," Simon murmured.
"I can't believe you used a first year spell on the Humdrum," Baz laughed and Simon rolled his eyes.
"I was desperate!"
"You were crazy."
There was a moment of silence and Simon could almost feel himself starting to drift off.
"Simon?"
"Yeah, Baz?"
"Are we good now?"
Simon looked up at him and grinned as he nodded. "Yeah, I think we're good."
Baz smiled back and started to shift, as if he were about to get up.
"Hey, Baz?"
"Hmm?"
"Can you stay?"
Baz blinked once and gave one of those smiles where he only used half his mouth, before twisting around to wrap his arms around Simon so they could lean back comfortably.
"Sure."
A/N: I wasn't really sure about what to do at the end, but I think this works! Hope you liked it. Like I said, I just got this idea while listening to Fall Out Boy's Phoenix and needed to write it.
Now... I'm going to go curl up in the corner of a bathroom and whimper to myself about what a monster I am... killing Agatha and the Mage. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME!?
But before I do that, I hope you enjoyed! Tell me if you have any requested stories, whether they're Simon Snow, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson... and so on.
~ Magiwren