Chapter 2
Darcy backed into the portal and went half-flying, half-falling into time and space. Just when she had almost gotten used to the feeling and the psychadellic surroundings, it all faded to black, and she made a very undignified crash-landing on to a very hard marble floor. Her bookbag arrived a few seconds later, and landed on her head. She let out a small exclamation of pain, then looked up from where she was sprawled. She saw a man with long blue hair and sharply pointed ears, who looked rather pissed off.
"Shit, shit, SHIT!!!" He raved. "Is this some kind of sick cosmic joke? Is EVERYTHING I do destined to be fucked up?! How the HELL could I have summoned some stupid GIRL instead of Lavos?" He clenched his fists, and continued "I calculated the eruption time correctly! I KNOW IT! What went wrong?!" He continued to curse and wave at the air.
Against her better judgement, Darcy said "Um, excuse me Mister, uh, whoever you are, I see that you're a bit frustrated right now, but could you tell me where I am?"
The man gave her a look that could melt lead, and said "It's not a matter of where you are but when, girl!" He turned away from her, picked up a scythe that was lying nearby, and continued. "If you MUST know, this is the year 600. You may call me Magus."
"Huh...? Riiight...Really, where am I?" she said, not believing a word of it. "You can't possibly be Magus! He bit it good 1400 years ago, and besides, you don't look a THING like the pictures in my history books.." She would have continued, but the man named Magus was giving her and evil glare that shut her up immediately.
"Yessir! If you say it's so, then it must be!" Darcy replied, not really convinced. But she was smart enough not to dissagree with the angry guy in front of her. "But...uh, one more question, Mr. Magus. What is this, uh...Lavos that you were talking about? Cuz, if it was really..." said Darcy uncertainly.
"You talk alot girl. I don't like people who talk alot. Perhaps I should kill you now, and relieve us BOTH of this misery!" shouted Magus, holding the blade of his scythe so close to Darcy's throat she could feel the cold metal graze her skin.
Blood trickled down her neck.Darcy panicked. This man obviously didn't give a crap about her life. She wasn't very good at handling tense situations like these, so she did the only thing she could: She cried, hoping to stir some pity in Magus's heart. It was a last-digit attempt to save herself, so she put all the emotion she could into it. But as she did this, the unexpected happened again! The pendant around her neck started to glow, nearly as bright as the first time!
Magus dropped his scythe and stared at Darcy in amazement. "Y..your pendant, the glow...it...its Dreamstone, like Schala's!! How.."Darcy was just as surprised as he was, if not more, and she was unable to say anything. She just sat there, bathed in the brilliant red light.Magus, who obviously had a very short temper, picked up Darcy by the collar of her shirt and shook her while shouting "TELL ME!! I must know!! HOW?"
"I don't know!! Stop shaking me...!!" Darcy gasped. "...Can't tell you if I... can't... breathe.."
He dropped her on the floor, and said "You MUST know!!! How can you not?!"
Fearfully, Darcy said "...Look, the only...only t..time before this that this happened was about a minute ago b...before you brought me here..."
He paused for a moment to think, and then said to himself "That's it! I forcused on the wrong source of energy!" Magus was very excited, but he continued the questioning. "Tell me girl, where did you get this pendant? And tell me now, for I am not a patient man!"
That was an easy question. "I got it from my Granny, before she died. She s...said that it was handed down through the family." said Darcy nervously.
He grabbed her by the chin, and stared at her while chanting some sort of magic spell. Darcy felt like he was staring into her soul, her very being. And he clutched her face hard enough to cause pain. She felt rather uncomfortable. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, he released Darcy and said in disgust, "Damn! Not a drop of Schala's blood in her... they must have found it somewhere." He paused, regaining his composure. "Give it to me, girl! It's rightfully mine!"
"NO! Never!! Why should I? It's MINE! Where do you get off saying it's yours?!" answered Darcy.
He sighed, now quite annoyed, and said "It originally belonged to MY sister. Is THAT reason enough for you? NOW HAND IT OVER!!!"
Darcy said "Well, it's been more than 1400 years, and maybe more, so you've lost all right to it. I am NOT giving it up!!" and gave Magus a defiant look.
"Fine. You made your choice." he said, his voice much too calm for Darcy's liking. "Thus will I make mine." Then he began to chant the words to a spell, and a black energy began to gather around him. "If you won't give it to me, I'll simply kill you and take it!". Then he completed the incantion, and attacked her with DarkMatter.
Darcy screamed, and covered her face in a futile attempt to save defend herself. But yet again, the pendant reacted. It produced a force-field that protected her from Magus's assult. When it had ceased, nothing but the floor around Darcy was harmed.
Magus was both stunned and irritated. "That stupid pendant won't ALLOW me to kill you!" Clenching his fists, he said "I'll just do what I should have done in the begining!". Then he seized Darcy, and tried to rip the pendant off of her. It reacted a third time by creating a burst of energy that severly burned his right hand, ripping through the glove. Magus cried out and released Darcy, cursing violently all the way.
Darcy was about to save the poor guy all the trouble, and just give him the object of his desires, but a thought came to her. The pendant was the only hope to stay alive here. If she gave it way, there would be nothing to keep Magus from disposing of her. This WAS the screwball she read about in history class. That display of fireworks proved it. The evil leader of an army of monsters. An indiscriminate killer. Not a compassionate, kind man. She was silent for a bit, but finally said, out of politeness "I'm really sorry, Magus. I have no control over the pendant... Are you alright? I know first aid..."
"Fine! I'm fine! I don't need your help!" he snapped.
Darcy sighed. She knew other people who were like this. Too proud to admit when they needed help. "Have it your way." she told him. "It's your hand." Magus turned away from her, ripped off a piece of his cape, and used it as a bandage. "So..." she said cautiously. "You aren't going to send me back home, are you?"
He looked at her and said "Oh, sure, I'll send you back home! I'll even throw you a going-away party if you want! OF COURSE I'M NOT GOING TO SEND YOU BACK!!!" Darcy backed away from him by a few more feet after that outburst. He took a breath, gritted his teeth, and said "Besides, it would be a death sentence to do so. The power of Lavos is unimaginable, and as much as i despise you, no one, even YOU, deserves to experience it." He paused, apparently lost in his own thoughts. "You'll stay. Since you won't give me the pendant, and I can't kill you, I'll simply keep you here with me. I may need you later." he told her.
"You mean stay in this dump? Do I even have a choice?" asked Darcy.
"No." he said. Then with an evil smile "But if you insist, I can use you as the human sacrifice for my next summoning."
Wide eyed, she replied "I bet it's a nice place once you get used to it..." She sighed "Since I may be here a while, you should know my name. It's Darcy."
"Fine." Magus cleared his throat and bellowed "OZZIE! Get you lazy green ass in here!!!"
A fat reptile-like creature appeared from a blur of magic, bowed, and said "Yes, Sir Magus? What may I do for you?" He paused, looked at Darcy and said "Say, is THIS the mighty Lavos or some kind of mistake?"
"Neither you idiot! Ozzie I want you to show my guest," he paused, then spat out "Darcy, to a room." said Magus.
"As you wish, Sir Magus." said Ozzie, as he took Darcy roughly by the arm. Then they both vanished.
(A/N: This chapter is a bit longer than the first. I'm going to try to keep them at a good lenght.)
