"Oh, boy" Lena exclaimed. A muscle twitched involuntarily at the corner of her right eye. She reached up her hand to the back of her neck and brushed some of the sweat away. Her insides grew warm in an unpleasant way and her stomach writhed struggling with the last point she had sent down back in the pub.
"He's close." Bill said. He had them sneak into a warehouse he believed was Kryptos'. It smell of iron and salt, and it was poorly lit, its large windows covered by stacks of boxes that kept out the moonlight. "Be prepared, Blackstar. Just let me do the talking."
Lena didn't complain. In fact she wouldn't have complained if Bill volunteered to also do the fighting. She was already struggling against a loud voice in the back of her head that reminded her that there surely was a very good reason why humans are not encourage to interact with demons and that it might have something to do with the basics of survival. That voice, however, had to be muzzled as there was no way out for her other than going along with Bill's plan.
"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Bill mocked, trying to lighten the mood. Humans were so tiny. They usually froze with fear at the prospect of death. So silly. Didn't they know they had died a myriad of deaths before? Didn't they know that regardless of how much they struggled they were still, eventually going to die? Humans were so fleeting. So finite. So if you are going to kick the bucket anyway why not just enjoy what little time you have been given and do whatever pleases you instead of spending your time and resources in something as temporary as staying alive? Why having things like rules and laws and restrictions? But humans' fear of death had served his purpose well more often than not. People were so easy to manipulate when faced with mortality. Pitiful.
"I'm… okay." She lied as she pushed down a gush of acid that ran up her throat. "Are you sure he's close? This place seems empty and I can barely see a thing."
"Yes, he is. Can't you feel it?" Bill asked as he walked by a pile of empty plastic boxes with black serial numbers on them. Was Kryptos trading guns now? Classy. But why were they empty? Were they too late? Too early? Why were there no guards? Not that he actually needed them, but Bill supposed he would want them close by to fit his mob leader facade.
"Feel it?" Lena asked.
"Yes. You should be able to do things like that now." Bill explained. "Our deal has opened a door to a different world for your senses. The world behind the world. You can now feel it, hear it and see it as if you were one of us."
"Uhm… I haven't… you know… felt anything like that." She said timidly before stumbling onto a pile of bubble wrap and wood chunks. "Fuck! I'm so getting my tetanus shot after this."
Bill reached for Lena's arm and helped her up."Ugh… You people can't handle not even a tiny bit of darkness. Unbelievable." Lena blushed when Bill grabbed her hand to guide her through the rubble.
"I guess I have no other choice but to believe you when you say he's close... so… what do I do when we get to him?" Lena asked.
"Magic, of course. We fight fire with fire.. And chaos, destruction and madness, that is." He kept her hand in his, and urged her on. "You gotta move faster, Blackstar. So, let's get down to it, shall we? Tell me everything you think you know about magic so we can write that off and teach you the real stuff."
Lena felt embarrassed Bill assumed whatever knowledge she held on the topic was mistaken. She had dwelt in the occult and paranormal through her angry goth phase in high school, a phase she was not overtly proud of, but truth was all her "knowledge" came from sources as unreliable as a livejournal blog.
"I know nothing. Enlighten me."
"Even better. First lesson, and keep this well in mind, humans have no magic abilities per se. Zero, none, nada. But you know that humans can use magic. So, how do you think they can do that?" Bill asked.
Lena pondered on his question for a second. "Well… If humans have no magic but they use magic, it means they must be using someone else's, right?"
"Good girl." He congratulated with a grin. "To use magic, you need to 'ask' an entity that has magic in the first place to lend you some of its might. In this case you'll be calling upon me. And the way you 'ask' for this power is called a spell, as you might have already figured out."
"So far so good."
"But here's the fun part." Bill smiled "The incantation for a spell is a sequence of words or sentences that usually contain the name and attributes of the force the caster calls upon and the basic declaration of the sorcerer's intent. Those are call the words of chaos, because they bend the natural laws around the caster. These words are not set into stone. You have to figure them out by yourself. This means that two sorcerers invoking the same creature for the same intended effect could in fact come up with two very different incantations. And likewise, the same words of chaos uttered by different sorcerers could produce a radically different result."
Lena scratched the back of her head. "That sounds very aleatory."
Bill chuckled. "I know, isn't chaos a wonderful thing? And the effects can be even more random when you call upon yours truly, the Lord of Nightmares."
"Do you truly believe someone like you can still cling to that title?" A deep, icy voice growled.
Bill stopped cold causing Lena to bump against his back. A purple flame lit in the center of the room, it danced as it took the form of a tall, gray man. He had long hair and thin lips, and a pair of eyes, red and terrible, behind framed glasses. His face was filled with contempt.
"So, you finally decided to come out and play?" Bill replied, a tint of hatred in his tone. "Thanks for making things easier for me. Nice meat suit, is it yours or are you borrowing from a friend?"
"I came here because I have other more important business to attend and I want to be done with this as soon as possible. Do you like the place? I bought this warehouse just so that no one would bother us. I just had to circulate a rumor here and there and you came, like a moth to a flame" Kryptos explained. A dense purple glow emanated from him, making Lena's hair stand on end. She hid behind Bill's frame to shield from the light, grateful Kryptos wasn't paying any attention to her presence yet. "Although I did expect you to arrive twenty-three minutes earlier."
"Don't go all high and mighty with me" Blue flames engulfed Bill, his only eye taking glowing a shade of red to match Krypto's. "You are here because you are a vulture with no honor."
Kryptos nose wrinkled in disgust "Honor?! You were defeated by an OLD FART at the highest of your power and you lost what little dignity you had left when you called on the Axolotl to bring you back. You don't get to lecture anyone on honor. You are pathetic and the whole cosmos knows it. You are nothing Bill Cipher, you are a joke."
The atmosphere grew dense as the two demons argued, and it made Lena sick. She felt there was another battle, and unseen battle, taking place between the two of them, in a different plane.
What little color Lena still had drained from her face, her stomach twirling strongly. Her vision became blurry with shades of purple and blue plaguing her mind's eye. She gasped for air as a pulse of malice filled her insides, making her head numb, unsure who was the demon it was coming from. She felt she was about to faint, about to fall. She felt the pull of darkness over her.
"Blackstar!" Bill called, bringing her back. "Get yourself together, this is it. I'm done talking to this little shit."
"Blackstar?" Kryptos questioned with a baffled expression. His eyes went from Bill to a pair of weary brown eyes hiding behind him. He searched Lena curiously and she cursed the moment Bill decided against letting her go unnoticed. "Her? I heard you would be in the company of a human, but this is hilarious."
"None of your business." Bill replied coldly.
Kryptos gaze remained fixed on Lena. "Girl, I take you have made a deal with him already. Have you not?" Lena's heart raced in her chest, and instinctively touched her forearm. Kryptos eyes narrowed, his question answered. "I see. Making a deal with the Blackstar. I can't believe you are actually going down that road. Again. You are truly pathetic Bill."
"Again?" Lena asked, perplexed by Kryptos choice of words. "Bill, what does he mean by 'again'?"
"Nothing. Let's do what we came here to do." Bill growled.
"Oh! He hasn't tell you has he?" Kryptos lips curved into a crooked smile. "I would guess not. I won't spoil the surprise for you but, let me ask you something girl, for how long has Bill been calling you Blackstar?"
"Shut up! Lena, let's do it." Bill cried angrily.
She knew he meant serious business if he was calling her by her name, but Kryptos already caught her attention. "Since I met him" Bill turned around and looked at her as if she had betrayed him by answering Kryptos question, to which she replied with a shrug.
"Oh, and tell me, have you ever questioned this little nickname he has for you? Or has it come to you naturally?" Once again, Lena didn't have to answer the question. He could tell the answer by looking at the muscles on her face stiff beneath her skin. "I see… I think that's very strange, wouldn't you agree?"
She would.
"Enough talk" a ray of golden light left Bill's hand and blasted against the gray demon. Kryptos dismissed it with a swift wave of his right hand.
"You fool! you think you can harm me with your silly tricks? You no longer wield any power that could threaten me, Cipher!" He yelled. "I imagined you wouldn't go quietly into the dark, so let's dance! I'll tear you both apart." The dense light that surrounded him condensed even more around the edges and grew in size until it was turned to flesh, taking the form of a terrible beast, with feathered wings sprouting from its back. Its head was that of an eagle, but it was deformed, with chunks of bone protruding through the skin.
"You are right, I don't wield that power anymore" Bill replied. "But she does."
Lena's eyes widened as Bill's body turned into golden light. For a second she feared he was going to vanish, leaving her behind as cannon fodder for Kryptos, but the light twirled around her.
"This is it, do it now! Call upon my power!" A voice called. It came from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. It was speaking directly to her mind.
Lena's survival instinct kicked in and the heavy aura that surrounded her dissipated as the air was filled with electricity. Something was coming. She ran, hiding behind the myriad of boxes on the warehouse that made for a small labyrinth in the dark. Kryptos released a blast of energy that nearly missed her, singing the tips of her hair.
"Bill!" She yelled. "What do I do?!"
"You cast a spell and attack him. You know how to do it! Next time he won't miss."
"You are RIGHT here, can't you just lend me your powers?!" Lena cried.
"It doesn't work like that, you need to mean it! You need to set your intentions straight. You need to address my power properly." The voice echoed in her head.
Lena took a deep breath and concentrated, as much as anyone could with a murderous bird demon breathing down their neck. Against her better judgement, she decided to do as Bill commanded.
With her attention focused on the tip of her fingers, her mind went blank. She felt a pulse, a shy tug from a stream of power, running deep within her, making its presence known as it waited for her command.
She started chanting, her voice barely a whisper.
"King of Nightmares…"
She felt the shy tug strengthen, as if she had piqued the interest of the stream within her.
Lena chuckled. Flattery works.
"...Who shines like gold, upon a sea of chaos…"
The mark on her right forearm flared up with a bright light that quickly ran through her skin and covered her whole body. Her fingers burned with energy.
The tug on her mind turned into an intoxicating pull into a realm of strength and madness. Power was running through her veins. Lena smirked in satisfaction. If she wanted she could let herself sink. Sink in that power, in the golden current of madness, and be devoured by it. She wanted it. And all she had to do was let herself go.
Keep a cool head, Blackstar. Don't let it suck you in.
A voice called within, snapping her out of her trance. She couldn't let herself be dragged into that vortex.
Kryptos took flight and gained sight of Lena. The witch was casting a spell. He considered for a second the possibility of letting her finish her incantation, after all odds were in favour she wouldn't be able to complete it. He could just sit and wait until the very power she was trying to summon against him would turn on her and make her burn, just like it had consumed so many before her. It would certainly be fun to watch the shame on Bill's face as all his plans came down to nothing on a moment's notice. But he wouldn't take any chances. The wench could lose control of the spell any second now and after it consumed her Bill's magic could spread like wildfire. He wanted to get his job done as clean as possible. This was his chance to strike.
Kryptos produced a ray of purple energy on his hand, and hurled it Lena. As it sliced through thin air it scattered into several lances of light
Lena saw the attack coming directly towards her. A voice called from within, compelling her to stand her ground.
"Just stay focused and keep chanting. There's no way you will evade all those shots. You'll have to take a direct hit. Just trust me and keep chanting." Easier said than done, thought Lena, but she didn't have much of a choice other than to trust Bill. "I'll keep them off"
She feared sudden death as she felt the impact of the lances against her body, one after the other, creating a big explosion as they made contact. They stinged her muscles with burning pain, but to her relief they didn't pierce through her limbs.
As instructed, Lena continued chanting.
"...I hereby call thee! I hereby pledge myself to thee!..."
She felt the power condense between her hands. A circle of light manifested in front of them, and she rosed her hands to aim at Kryptos that was flying high near the roof.
Kryptos let out a screech of horror. It was a direct hit. By then her dismembered limbs should had been scattered all through the warehouse. How was she still alive? There was some sort of shield around her, protecting her as she casts her spell, but what was it? It had to be Bill, but how was he doing it?
The realization hit him quickly. The shield WAS Bill.
Kryptos grew tense and fearful, for the first time that night. And just as Bill had hopred, Kryptos became anxious.
He dived through the air straight at Lena, his arms morphed into terrible claws, aiming for her throat. An aura of golden light slowed him down.
"Hurry, Blackstar. I can't hold him on any longer."
Lena gasped at the sight of the beast coming after her, but she continued to chant.
"...and by our powers combined…" Lena pressed on. The magic circle morphed into a similar designed to the one on her forearm, with the one eyed triangle in the middle. The incantation was nearly finished. She envisioned the completed spell in her mind's eye. The shape it would take on the physical world.
He had tried to rip her apart, she would return the favor.
"...grant destruction upon the fools who dare to stand against us!" She declared, looking Kryptos straight into the eyes. The smirk on her face ignited the rage of the demon. He wouldn't have a human mock him. Kryptos condensed all the power he had left and released it in a burst of energy, rendering Bill's shield useless and rushed against Lena, but it was already too late.
"AUDCAL VONPHO" She heard herself utter, her tongue was moving on its own, and her mouth spoke those foreign words she didn't know, commanding her spell to take effect.
Her magic circled produced a myriad spears of golden light that materialized and impaled Kryptos on spot, with his claws a few inches away from Lena's skin. The demon screamed in pain as the lances of light dismembered him from the physical world to the astral plane. Just as they were tearing off his limbs, he felt his own soul being torn apart, each fragment scattered through dimensions, never to return. He agonized, but didn't have the parts necessary to scream anymore.
He saw Bill's face shining down on him, smiling, rejoicing; and then, Kryptos was no more.
Lena watched with blurry eyes as the spell she conjured ended Kryptos existence, content yet horrified. Then with one step backwards she crumpled like a puppet suddenly released of their strings. A pair of hands caught her, for the second time that day.
"That was superb." Bill whispered next to her ear, his warm breath reaching down to her neck. His relaxed tone reassured her she was safe. "Now give it a rest."
And with no strength left in her to object, she obeyed.