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Claimer: everything else (c) me

Chapter Twenty-One: An Untimely Fate

"I wonder where Josh is going?" Yoko wondered.

"Hmmm…" Aaron murmured, pondering the thought for a moment before there was a slight stir from Emma's body, along with a silent groan. "Emma!"

As the three of them hurried to her side, she slowly awoke, her eyes blinking open as she gazed up at her brother and friends.

"Morning, guys," she greeted with a yawn, rubbing at her eyes before chuckling. "Just kidding."

"I'm glad you're alright," Aaron sighed with relief, hugging his sister tightly.

"Me too," she agreed with a smile, hugging him back. Looking around, she asked, "Where's Josh?"

"I don't know," Brett told her, "after he came back he just left."

Closing her eyes, she extended her magic all around the planet, reaching through the minds and sights of the animals all over the place, trying to see where the marshal was. But he was nowhere on the planet to be found.

"Dammit," she swore, jumping up to her feet. "We've got to go after him, he's gone to Veralix to confront Chris! We've got to stop him before he gets himself killed!"

- - - -

"Ugh… I never like coming to this place," Josh groaned quietly, annoyed at the fact that the last time he had gone to Veralix, his girlfriend was nearly forced to marry their enemy.

Sneaking quietly around, he used magic to make himself invisible, and headed towards the large castle, managing to sneak through undiscovered for the first 2 floors of the 5 floors of the castle.

Hmmm… it's a little too quiet, Josh thought, shouldn't these guards be at least a little smarter?

But suddenly, he felt a blast impact his chest as he was thrown across the light ashen-coloured marble floor, his invisibility magic disrupted as his opponent stepped out from behind one of the many tall stone pillars. It was Chris.

"I'm impressed you managed to make it through this far without being discovered by any of my guards," he commented. "Of course, there is still a lot you must learn. I've always known that you have been here ever since you stepped foot into this castle. I just thought it would be fun to confront you myself."

Josh gritted his teeth, angrily flicking his palms towards him, and two bolts of lightning shot from them, where Chris blocked them easily before retaliating with a huge ball of fire.

Instantly, Josh reacted with a water ball, entering the heart of the fireball before exploding into steam.

"Impressive," Chris noted. "Your magical abilities have grown."

Josh cracked a grin, displaying his at-times cocky attitude. But this led him to waver from his concentration, right as Chris vanished and reappeared behind him.

"But not well enough," he finished, blasting Josh in the back with a powerful ball of blue flame.

The marshal went sprawling to the ashen-marbled floor, his back singed and slightly smoking from the attack. He wasn't moving…

- - - -

Emma was more than pissed that Josh had gone off on his own to defeat the Veralix ruler all by himself. It was just beyond stupidity; he was practically insane if he thought that he could defeat Chris all by himself. Maybe with some help, yes, but by himself, crazy!

Immediately, Emma, Aaron, Yoko and Brett had taken one of Alphasparx's spacecrafts and quickly sped off to Veralix. They had discovered and landed by the Hornet, where they found it deserted, with Josh nowhere to be seen.

"He's probably already in the castle by now," Emma growled in anger, her azure eyes blazing with ice cold fire. Her white dress blew around her legs. She had not bothered to change into something more appropriate. With a blaze of white magic, her sword appeared in her hand, and she dashed off, Aaron, Yoko and Brett following while Fluffy stayed with the Hornet in case the team got into any sort of tight situations.

Without bothering to conceal themselves in any way, they fought their way past the guards towards the castle, where they found trouble at the entrance. They were completely surrounded.

"Ugh, I don't have time for this!" Emma hissed impatiently.

"Go!" Aaron ordered. "Yoko, Brett and I will hold these guys off. You need to go help Josh out. Chris will at least hesitate to hurt you because of his feelings for you, so that may work to your advantage."

She turned to him, horror in her eyes. "But Aaron, you guys can't fight off all these guys by yourself!"

"Go!" he howled, a dark blue aura rising from him as he began fierce concentration on his magic.

Giving Yoko and Brett a brief nod, Emma leaped over, on top, and around the guards guarding the entrance, beginning to fight her way to where Josh was. Now all she was hoping was that she wasn't too late…

- - - -

"Ugh…" Josh moaned, fluttering open his eyes to find himself lying on the ground on his stomach, Chris taking slow steps towards him. His cheek pressed against the cool marble, and he felt a strong burn shoot through his spine. His back ached, and he went on his hands and knees, feeling shocks of pain shoot up through his back.

"Heh, you really are pitiful," Chris chuckled evilly. "Are you sure Princess Emma didn't just date you because she felt sorry for you?"

Josh growled. "Emma isn't shallow," he hissed, leaping in defence of his girlfriend. "Are you sure you didn't fall in love with her because she's beautiful? Maybe you're the shallow one!"

Chris stopped in his tracks, closing his eyes. "I fell in love with Emma because of her beauty; in heart, mind, and body. Her pureness makes me feel complete. She is a flower of rare beauty," he explained. "Princess Emma has always been beautiful. I have been in love with her since the day I first lay eyes on her. Then that damn Prince Elliot interfered, winning her heart and her love that was rightfully mine."

"But you killed him!" Josh snapped. "And that destroyed Emma's life!"

The sorcerer shook his head. "He allowed himself to die in her place," he said, "the bitter fool. He allowed himself to get killed… all in the name of 'love'. Is it not 'love' that I fought and kidnapped fair Princess Emma? Is it not 'love' that drives her to come kill me, even now? Is it not 'love' that you are prepared to die for?"

In his fury, Josh leapt to his feet, ignoring the searing pain in his back before throwing a huge ball of swirling elements at Chris, which exploded before it touched him, filling the room with dark smoke. Soon enough, the smoke cleared, and Chris held a long silver bow, a quiver of white arrows on his back.

"Poor Princess Emma will have to endure more heartbreak, I suppose," Chris sighed, pulling an arrow and knocking it on, pulling the string back and aiming at Josh.

Josh shot a ball of fire at the sorcerer, and Chris released the arrow, the arrowhead piercing through the magic and Josh felt an immense pain on his shoulder. Looking down, he saw that the arrow had just nicked his shoulder, while his magic fireball had been dispersed.

"W-What just happened?" he breathed in shock.

Chris chuckled. "My bow enables these arrows to dispel any magic you may throw at me, or try to defend yourself with," he revealed. "Plus, if these arrowheads sear through your flesh, for a long duration you cannot heal yourself with magic, nor can anyone else heal you either. If it lands a fatal blow, the arrow will turn to smoke and vanish. Therefore… your magic is useless. And this time… I won't miss…"

Josh shook his head furiously. That had to be impossible. He was the Alphaspark. That had to mean something, right? Wasn't he able to counter Chris' dispelling magic? He had to try. Focusing hard, he summoned a ball of red flame, which burned brightly to transform into a ball of lapping blue flames.

"Impressive," Chris laughed, fluently knocking his next arrow. "The blue flames of determination. That won't do you any good here." He took careful aim at Josh's chest. "Now die."

Right as Josh released the fireball, Chris released his arrow. All of Josh's instincts told him to run, but he stood his ground, even as he saw the end of the arrowhead pierce through the center of his fireball. Knowing there wasn't much time to move, Josh closed his eyes.

I'm sorry, Emma… he thought sadly.

There was a swoosh of air and a gasp, and Josh suddenly realized that he was no longer alone… someone was pressed up against his chest, warm, familiar hands pressing on his shoulders. Josh heard Chris gasp with surprise and shock too, so he opened his eyes… and found Princess Emma Stiles of Alasparx standing in front of him… an arrow buried deep in her back…

Josh's eyes widened in surprised as he breathed quietly, "E-Emma?"

OMG DRAMATIC! Will she live?! WIll she die?! Find out next time!

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