Chapter 13: Betrayal
Last time…
Eight opens his mouth dry as he coughs up blood. He could have sworn that he had broken his back from the heavy fall but soon realises that Evil Jessica had cast the paralysis spell to prevent him from moving. Eight struggles, barely crosses his forearms over his face as the wicked woman draws very close to him. Evil Jessica, determined to kill anyone that stands in her way, raises the sceptre above her head to deliver the finishing blow.
"Now… You will die!"
The thunder and lightning clashed.
The ghost still stares at her deep into her brown eyes. He now lies helpless on the floor covering his stomach. And how exactly did he get onto the floor from last time? It all seemed a blur. The sickly deep red blood spills from his dry mouth. Some oozed out. However, there were further stains when the shadow violently coughs forcing the blood to rain upon the red carpet. The sight of it nearly made Jessica regurgitate her stomach contents. She cringes, trying her best to avoid the sight and smell of the revolting blood as she studies the weeping shadow. It looked as if he were crying but there were no sounds or tears.
"Thou must slay him!" Rhapthorne's voice glowed from the blackness from where he had been hiding. His large hand lightly pushes her forward forcing her to do something out of her own will. "So go ahead! Kill him! Kill him now..."
The mage hesitates as she stand tall over the defeated shadow. Her arm, which holds the magical wand freezes.
"Do it thou must! Show no mercy!" Rhapthorne persuaded.
"I-I shouldn't..." Jessica stares at the shadow figure intently. She could feel that something wasn't right. Her body was half edging forward but her mind was playing games. "I-I can't... Its not right to kill a person, a monster or anything without reason..."
"He has despised you for being reckless and rebellious! He simply won't give you the heir of the sage! That is the reason to strike him down so that you can take it by force! Only then you will become victorious and more powerful! Only then you can save the one you love..."
A vision of Eight appears for a brief second before fading into the shadows form. Jessica widens her hazels eyes in shock. Could it be? Is this an illusion or has she not waken to see reality? She questions herself, still in deep thought. The shadow's form changed rapidly until one image emerged but this time it was someone else who looked too familiar to her.
Alistair...
How could she forget her promise to avenge his death? The flashing images flicker back and forth. The shadow morphs into an image of Eight, who pleads for mercy with his black solemn eyes. To her, he reminded her of Alistair. The decision was too much for her. She turns, shaking her head in dismal, throwing her hand down. "No! You will never hurt my friends... I'll will never give into you no matter how much you persuade me!"
The Dark Lord glares at her heatedly as his confident face distorts into an angry one. Suddenly, something sharp and deadly catches Jessica off guard. Much to her surprise, the Dark Lord's bright yellow eyes widen for he could not see who had struck his servant unexpectedly.
"Who did that?" The Lord of Darkness demanded as he glances round the room.
Jessica opens her mouth although there was no sound. It was as if her whole world had been swallowed up.
The thunder and lightning clashed against each other. He opens his eyes. Eight slowly glances up to see Yangus in view. He says nothing but offer his large hand. He shift in close to him and hoisted Eight back into his feet. In unison, they turn and stare at the fountain.
They had lost. They truly believed that their friend was dead.
But they were wrong...
Blood is thicker than water. She hadn't moved a muscle ever since she was prepared to deliver the finishing blow. The psychotic girl had her head hanging down as if she had stopped doing her evil deeds all together. But who could have done this? It was until a long thin piece delicately sticks out of her stomach.
Angelo...
She slowly lifts her head trying to puzzle out what happened. The templar in red stands in her view as vibrant as the angels. The two of them stare at each other intently barely blinking. Angelo fired his Cherion's bow again.
Another arrow struck her violently.
Eight and Yangus cringed as more blood splatters out of her. Still, Angelo said nothing. David eventually moves closer to the scene unnoticed. His whole body stiffened in pure shock. He slowly begins to tremble. How could a delicate girl hold her own despite been shot at by a deadly blow?
"Is that... all you've got?" The witch giggled breathlessly. She was struggling to recover. Anxiously, she staggers in the courtyard, inch by inch, inhaling sharps short breaths. "Is this the best... that you've got?"
A third arrow catches her off guard. She quickly gasped. Her eyes widen in pure shock as the arrow pierced her yet again.
"Nothing... stands... in my... way!" She stammers heatedly looking downwardly at the arrows that pierced her slender body. The weary witch grunts and cries in agony as she rips all three arrows, at once, out of her body. Angelo closes his eyes turning away his head slightly to conceal his face behind his silver hair that dangles over his face. Yangus cringed. Eight's heart ached. It must have hurt. The evil woman tosses the arrows aside. She looked like hell, bleeding, burnt and bruised all over. She breathes heavily but there is a sinister chuckle that blooms in her voice. Eight, Yangus and David nervously watch. Even the townsfolk stopped what they were doing to witness the horrific moment. The wicked woman, who they feared of, was down defeated crosses a small but sinful smile. It was if somehow losing the battle made her feel happier than she intended to be. She struggled to walk forward using the sceptre to support her. The templar knight draws the bow back. He studies her. The beautiful woman he had once known too well was standing right in front of him. She may be badly hurt but in his eyes, she was a Goddess to him. He slowly forms a smile. That was when everything changed. His smile falls into a sorrowful expression. It gravely reminded him the time when he first met Marcello at the Abbey when he was just a boy.
The woman distorts her face with hatred and rage. Unnoticeable to the group, there were small hateful tears that formed in her demonic eyes. Her voice grows louder and louder with total rage. "You... You! You! YOU!"
Angelo closes his sorrowful blue eyes. He allows his silent tear to flow down his cheek as he lets go of the delicate string. The fourth arrow he fires successfully pierces though the sorceress' stomach causing her to collapse on top of the sceptre.
"Arrgh! Urrgh! Arrgh!"
Jessica collapses onto the floor coughing up blood in the process. She rolls over on her side, wincing as the unbearable pain racing through her heated stomach. Four times she had been shot. Each one of them pierced her. It was as if a thousand thorns had worm their way round ripping sections of her internal organs. Sweat drips from her forehead but she could attend to it right now. She was in great pain.
She then sees the shadow, who was on the floor begging her to spare his life, in which she did, slowly climbs to his feet. It smiles at her gratefully. "Thank you for sparing my life. You are a good person... Your friends love you and they... wish you to come back... in one piece..."
The shadow evaporates into the air. Jessica half smiled even though she didn't get to say a word to the shadow. Sighing, she felt relieved. The peaceful moment was ruined when Rhapthorne, the Lord of Darkness, screamed with fury. "FOOL! How dare you! You spared his life! Now all is lost!"
No. Not all of them… An immoral empathy came to mind. Let us do the impossible. Jessica examines the Dark Lord as he begins to shake his shoulders. Rhapthorne raises his voice with determination. "If he will not give me the sage to die at my hand, then I have no choice but to exterminate you all!"
"What are *cough!* you going *cough* *cough* to do?" Jessica hollered.
"I am going to do what I've should have started a long time ago! Blow everyone up into pieces!" He shot back with rage. With his staff, he lifts Jessica, with his magic and hurls her over across the room. With force, Jessica flies backwards crashing into the strange statue causing it to crack as she falls heavily onto the ground. Again, she cries curling into a ball to fight the throbbing thing that lies in her stomach. With one eye closed, her angry face glares at the Lord of Darkness.
Rhapthorne thrusts his staff towards the black ceiling as his eyes flash brightly. A mysterious aura surrounds the Dark Lord as a surge of energy washes over him. "Yes! It is time to end all living beings!"
She lifts her head up, one eye shut, seething at the party of three. "I-It's not possible! N-No human can match the power... of the sceptre! You won't... get away with this! Now... you'll see... the true power... of this sceptre! Already it... had ended the bloodlines... of the four sages!"
"Enough! You have lost!" Angelo spat with disgust. He sounded like hell. It pained him the most to hurt her so severely but he had to do it. It was the only way to save his friends and allies. Eight was on the brink to death, with Yangus nowhere to be seen while David is in danger as well as everyone else who lives fought for this town. The party watch over the possessed girl as she reluctantly stands on her own two feet with the sceptre dangling down by her side.
"No..." She stated as the party glance at her. They were beginning to wonder what she would dare do next. For starters, she begins to chuckle darkly, shaking her shoulders. "Now... watch, and despair!"
"Huh!?" Eight quipped, watching her intensely with a horrified look on his face. The party begins to notice the strange dark aura surrounds Evil Jessica.
"You wot!?" Yangus quipped.
"I may have been defeated... by the likes of you... but I will not go down so easily! If you won't give me the heir of the sage... then perhaps I'll take my revenge! This vulgar village will fall into the precipice of darkness!" Evil Jessica's giggle glows louder and louder.
"Don't do the impossible!" Eight confronted as he dares to draw near extending his arm out trying to reach to her. Just as he stated to move forward, Evil Jessica levitates her self up into the dark sky. She then raises the sceptre above her head. Soon, the sky was very bright with a mixture of yellow, orange and red colour. A swirling enormous fireball expands rapidly. Evil Jessica glares down at the town with complete hatred, hollering with total rage. "This town will burn! And every one of you will perish!"
Angelo grunts, gripping his bow and arrow tight.
"This ain't good, guv!" Yangus closes his fists.
"Stay your spell, Jessica! Stay your spell" Eight called out.
She examines the Trodain guardsman but completely ignored his command. The terrifying ball expands rapidly. The energy rushes through the town slowly picking and chipping bit of stonework one by one. The force was unbearable to handle.
"Its enormous!" The bar man pointed out as he started to stagger back.
"Help us!" The maid cries out with fear.
"What are we going to do?" The old woman, who stands behind David, shouted. The crowd looks at the party of three for an answer.
"I... I don't know..." Eight finished praying for a miracle to happen. All he could do was watch and despair.
Just at that moment...
"Get out of the way! Move! MOVE!" A nasally voice calls out. The Master of the household, Dominico, rushes out into the courtyard, standing besides Eight. "Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Just in the nick of time! The barrier is ready!" He then glances up at the wand waving menace. "You villainous fiend! Take my life, would you?! Well, you'll have to break my barrier first! Alakazam! HA!"
The so-called great magician charges his spell and unleashes the final barrier instantly. A beautiful golden aura grows rapidly shielding Arcadia.
"If that fool thinks he can over throw me then I'll erect my eternal shield! He shall burn to cinders!" The Lord of Darkness patronised as he psyches himself to set free the oversized powerful 'Kafrizzle' attack.
"I must do something!" Jessica says to herself, slowly climbing to her feet, holding the swelling pain in her stomach. "Otherwise they will all die…"
The mage glances over her shoulder to see Rhapthorne's reign of terror rising. He was ready to cast his dark barrier and unleash the obliterating fireball.
"I have to save them even if it means risking my own life. I guess avenging my brother's death wasn't enough to do him justice... Mother won't be pleased but I-No! Forget that now... I will follow my heart no matter the consequences!"
She stumbles but makes her way to the throne where the sceptre sits restfully. She snatches the sceptre from the throne, not caring or thinking about why the sceptre is here in this lumpiness place, thrusts it into the air. It begins to glow. "This is for you my dear brother... I will make him pay!"
The Lord of Darkness sees a strange light that catches him off guard. He sees Jessica wielding the magical sceptre. He glances down and shouted. "What are you doing?"
"Your reign of terror is over, Rhapthorne! I wouldn't allow you to do this anymore! If you must drag an entire city down to hell, then you are going down with me as well!" Jessica roars back with fury.
"You fool!" Rhapthorne smirked. "You may sure to rest for now but you'll come crawling beneath my skin! I know thy little secret... Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! AH! HA! HA! HA! Drown in the cesspool of darkness! Bow down to your master as you pledge your soul to me! THE LORD OF DARKNESS SHALL RULE THE WORLD ONCE MORE!"
"NOT A CHANCE! HA!"
KABOOM!
Simply runaway
Into the darkness leading you astray
Flowers of wisdom bloom
Lairs of clandestine gloom
The storms rages in hail
Soon you regret this untold tale
Wasted. Tainted. Trapped
In a vast world only a hapless map
Sign. Sublime. Confine
You are but you are not really fine
Now you must face your punishment
Through the wrath of divine judgment
Return to live and fight another day
Or simply runaway
The insane castle is now in ruin. One side of the castle had erupted like a volcano. The stone work collapses, breaking into small chunks as they tumble over into the lava below. The other monsters that stand from the outskirts cower in fear as they witness the smoke that smears across the vivid skyline. They strongly believed that the Lord of Darkness was almighty and powerful. They left the castle knowing that they were useless to serve loyalty to the Dark Lord. They had seen their friends been beaten and humiliated In the castle, which is why they have chosen to leave the castle and are coping to survive on the outskirts individually or in small groups. The curious monsters see what may appear to be a shooting star that rocketed towards the black hole that swirls at the top.
Jessica soars through the vivid red swirling sky of eternity. She flies high in the sky, twisting, turning and tumbling up. She briefly examines the castle as a wave of light blinds her vision.
"I'm sorry everyone…" She whispers weakly as a flash of light blinds the entire picturesque pitch white.
The defeated girl free falls through the dark sky. The cliffs were a blurry because of the speed she was going at. The last image she sees is the rushing wind that draws the teal sea closer to her vision. She soon plummets into the blackness once again.
Arcadia, a peaceful town, has now fairly fallen into the precipice of its true perfection: To descend down into the wailing ocean…
[A/N: WAH! So short, I know…
Anyway… Sorry for being away for a while (work and study). So, my original draft was supposed to end just like the game. Too predictable wasn't it? Goodness! What just happened?]