Warning: Mild violence and language.
Chapter 7
It had three days, but Darcy couldn't stop thinking about that night. She knew she couldn't trust Magus. That was all just part of some evil scheme, and he would kill her the moment the pendant came off, she knew. But she had felt something then. Was it love? She had never been kissed before, since all the guys that she knew thought she was a freak, so it may just have been a head rush. But, why couldn't she stop thinking about him?
But she had to put it out of her mind. She had to ignore all the funny feelings. Magus didn't mean anything that he did then. It was either a part of a plot to get her pendant, or he had been ripping drunk. The second was very possible, since he was putting away the wine like there was no tomorrow. Darcy had felt quite buzzed after her second glass, and Magus had managed to consume four or five! No matter, whatever the cause was, it wasn't really important in the scheme of things.
She had been avoiding Magus at all costs, to avoid any uncomfortable moments. She had decided instead to concentrate on doing her work around the castle, including extra jobs, to fill her time and mind. Besides, it gave her an opportunity to get to know Frik better. While all the other monsters here chose to ignore her or maker rude comments about her and Magus, he was friendly. And it gave her a chance to get first shot at the food. It may not have been as good as the stuff Magus had served her, but it was much better than it looked. Assuming you got it while it was still hot.
Unfortunately, since she was preoccupied with thoughts about You-Know-Who, Darcy hadn't been doing her work that well. She had taken then job of letter out some of Ozzie's clothes, and hadn't bothered to secure a few of the seams. So when the rather plump Ozzie bent over while wearing these, he had an embarrasing situation on his...er, hands. Also, when she cleaned Slash's room, she had missed dusting a few spots. This might not have been so bad, but Slash was a terrible neat freak. Don't mess with a neat freak with a sword and a bad attitude. Her most recent problem involved Flea, and the make-up he took from her. He had an alergic reaction, and developed a bright red rash all over his face. They had all pinpointed Darcy as the one responsible, and they all decided to teach her a lesson together.
Darcy was mopping the floor in the main hall of the castle when Ozzie, Flea, and Slash teleported in. She looked at them and said "Um, yes? What do you want?"
Slash, who was at the rea of the party, drew his sword and shouted at Darcy "BITCH! You left DUST in my room!!" and made a charge at her. However, the floor ws till wet, and he took a flying leap into Flea, who toppled into Ozzie. The confused pile gave Darcy a chance to escape. She dropped her mop, and ran like hell.
"Hey!" shouted Flea. "The little bitch is getting away!!" He separated himself from the other two, and ran after Darcy. Ozzie stood up, picked up Slash by the back of his collar, and followed Flea.
Darcy had managed to run quite far away considering the time she had. She reached for her neck to hold on to the pendant, a thing she did when she was nervous, but it wasn't there! Her mind immediately went into overdrive, trying to remember what she did with it. She had taken it off this morning to mend the chain that it hung on, but Lizz made her start her chores early. She had left it in her room, inside her bookbag! She said to herslef "Oh I don't believe this! This is like a nightmare, and I'm so ready to wake up!!" Darcy made a mad dash to her room, hoping that she would make it in time.
Magus was in his room, thinking about the events of three nights ago. He knew he had been plastered, and wasn't in control of his emotions, but no matter what he was doing, his thoughts always returned to Darcy. When he tried to concentrate on a spell, her face always appeared in his mind, derailing his train of thought. And the dreams... He dismissed it as lust. What else could it be? Love was an emotion for the weak. He was definitely NOT weak. And definitely not in love.
Suddenly, he heard a loud stomping in the hall. He opened the door to look out, and saw Darcy rush by. He caught himslef looking at her ass. "Lust. it's simply lust." he said to himself. About ten seconds later, he heard a louder stomping. He checked again. Flea dashed by, then Ozzie, with Slash lagging behind by a few feet. He watched them vanish from sight, and retreated to his room. "Hmmph. Darcy can take care of herself. They could all stand a little exercise." he mumbled to himself. He collapsed in a chair, and closed his eyes. He needed to rest. He had attempted to summon Lavos again last night, and failed. He couldn't stop thinking about her! If he could just hold his concentration...
Then, abruptly interupting his thoughts, Magus heard a scream. His eyes flew open.
Darcy!
Darcy had almost made it to her room, but Flea had caught up with her. He produced a blast of fire that knocked Darcy off her feet, and sent her skidding to the end of the hall. "Ha! Gotcha! That'll teach you to ruin my face!" shouted Flea in triumph. He let loose a bigger blast which pusshed her up against the wall.
But Darcy wouldn't give up that easily. She focused all her thoughts, screamed "Take this!!", and picked up Flea in a mini-tornado. She could have kept it up for quite a while, but Ozzie struck her with a bolt of lightning, which broke her concentration. He cackled evilly.
Flea fell on his butt, and yelled to Slash "Well, don't just stand there lookin' pretty! Slice her! Dice her! You know you want to!!"
Slash sneered and said "Don't tell ME what to do! Why do you think I have this sword?!" he charged at Darcy. Hacking away at her. He made several deep gashes across her back, arms, and sides, and made a fine cut on her left cheek, crossing her eye. Darcy shrieked in pain. Then Ozzie took another turn. He shot a blizzard of ice at her, which ripped into Darcy's flesh like bits of glass. She couldn't stand the pain any longer. She let out a faint cry, and blacked out.
Slash was about to run his sword through Darcy's heart, when a wave of dark magic covered them all. He dropped his weapon, and turned around in time to take the power of Magus's DarkMist head on. The fiends were knocked off their feet. Ozzie, Slash, and Flea, stumbling to stand, looking at Magus, who was glaring at them. He didn't say a single word, but they all knew they were in trouble by the evil look in his eyes.
"Um, just remembered, I have to go do my hair! Bye now!" said Flea, and he vanished in a puff of smoke.
Slash followed suit by saying "Uh..and I have to...er, polish my armor...rust and all, you know!" He also dissapeared.
Ozzie couldn't think of anything to say, but left too. He knew better than to mess with Magus when he was in a bad mood.
Magus walked over to Darcy. She was lying in a pool of her own blood, which was growing bigger by the second. Somthing inside him said that he should help her. That he should show compassion. but why should he? What had the pain in the ass ever done for him? Then he recalled...his hand. He picked her up. It was like holding a broken doll, her light body so near to falling apart. Swallowing his pride, he brought her to her room.
Darcy regained consciousness slowly. She awoke for a moment, and could make out a blurry form leaning over her. She tried to move, but the pain that caused sent her spinning back into the darkness.
Some time later, she came to again. She moaned, and felt a hand stroke her hair. She tried to see who it was, but her left eye was covered in a bandage, and her right eye was swollen shut. "Who...who're you...and where...?" Darcy muttered weakly.
"Shhh... don't talk." said the person. It was whispered, but it made her head pound. The voice was male, and vaguely familliar. Magus? No, it couldn't be him. Why would he? Her mind was too hazy to tell for sure if it was him or not. It COULD be someone else. Darcy heard the voice again. "Rest. You need it." She was tired. Darcy did as she was told. She moved her head a little, and slept.
She was awoken by the sound of Frik entering her room. She sat up, despite the pain. Frik, smiling, said "Glad to see yer feelin' better, sweetie. You've been out of it fur two days now."
Darcy looked at Frik in disbelief. "Two days...? Did I miss anything important? Did anything happen?" she asked.
Frik shook his head. "Nope. Things've been quiet 'round here. Ya didn't miss a thing." Frik took hold of Darcy's arm, and said "I better git started on what I wuz supposed to do. Gotta remove those bandages."
Darcy looked a bit worried. "Remove them? So soon?"
"Hey, nothin' ta worry about." Frik said. "Magus told me to. 'e said somethin' about 'im castin' a spell on ya to help heal faster, or somethin' like that." Frik smiled, raised an eyebrow, and said "I think 'e likes ya, Darcy."
A look of surprise and doubt crossed Darcy's face. "What? You mean he... helped me?"
Frik responded "Yupper. 'n like I said, I think 'e likes ya! 'e wouldn't do that for jus' anybody!"
Darcy looked at Frik as if he lost his mind. "Sure, he likes me. I bet he even wants to marry me, and have twenty kids!! He hates me to bits, Frik! Listen to reality, not all those dirty rumors!" she shouted.
"I don't listn' to rumors. I jus know, as a fact, that 'e must like ya ta treat ya so well." retorted Frik. "Fr'instance, yer wearin' one of 'is shirts!"
Darcy looked down. Her T-shirt was gone, and replaced by a dark red, long sleeve shirt. Darcy just sat there, and stared at it. Hers must have been shredded in the battle. She thought "He did...He really did...why?
"Well, back ta business." said Frik. He began to remove the bandage from right arm, and Darcy almost screamed. Frik may have been a nice guy, but he was not a gentle worker. By the time he got to Darcy's left arm, she had blacked out once more.
(A/N: Another chapter down. And get ready, because i'm already working on the next one and its gonna be up in the next few days. Darcy and Magus's relationship get more intense.)
Reviews are always welcome. Laters :)
