Chapter 25: Sinister Intent
The sand underneath Violet's feet was shifting, making her stumble where she stood.
The tightly coiling miasma around the possessed Eric's body was making the air around them quake.
Violet tried to take a step back, and Death took a step closer.
Their eyes met. The sinister intent in the possessed Eric's eyes was intense.
"Well. What do we have here? Target practice, or maybe even a warm-up?"
Eric's voice was normal. But the Eric Violet knew wasn't behind it.
She was going to die. She started to cry.
"Eric, no…"
She sobbed in earnest. The man she loved just wasn't there.
But he was.
Eric was trapped within the walls of his own mind.
"NO! NOT HER, DAMN IT! THE WORLD!"
He tried in vain to activate his ability. But to no avail. His words fell on no one's ear.
The walls surrounding him constricted, as his own mind forced him to stop trying.
He would damage himself, trying to activate the ability inside himself.
He wasn't able to stop Death. Violet was going to die.
"I'm not Eric. I am Death; your judge, your jury, and your executioner."
His hand moved towards her…
The air above them seemed to split for a microsecond.
The air between them shivered as two figures appeared.
Two streaks slammed into the earth.
The ground cracked.
The two figures split up, jumping at 45 degree angles into the air.
The two angels were revealed in the air, their identities clear as day.
They were two different versions of the same person.
And they struck as one, thrusting their hands forward, creating pressure waves.
Neither were surprised when it did nothing aside from slightly budge the possessed Eric.
The battle quickly escalated, with the darkly angelic Eric shooting forward and slamming both of the others out of the sky.
Both hit the ground with loud thuds.
The younger Markus stood up first, breathing heavily.
They crouched on weakened legs, their tunics scuffed and worn.
They shot forward together, slamming into Death.
It seemed to be effective at first, but they just bounced off of him. They weren't able to do anything.
As Death focused in on them, Violet tried following the explosions of air.
But it didn't work. She couldn't keep up. With every blow, the seaside shook.
She was amazed. And terrified.
"This is really something beyond us, isn't it? Life will never be the same after this."
Back in the fight, the punches and kicks landed well enough, but their effects were minimal.
The two angels were struggling desperately, and through the high-intensity clashes, were being pushed back.
They were losing, and they knew it.
The older Markus figured it was now or never for his trump card.
Kicking Death as hard as he could, sending him flying before turning to the other Markus.
"I need you to hold him off," he said, looking at his younger counterpart, who then cracked his neck before nodding.
"I've got you. Just hurry it up. I can't buy you much time."
The understanding between them was intense.
If this didn't do the job, they'd have to risk merging forever.
The older Markus shot into the sky, arms raised.
"Stars! Cosmos! Grant me your power!"
Immediately, he started to glow, and his aura gradually gained in size.
As Violet looked on in awe, the younger Markus and Death were still fighting fiercely, with the former since having activated his origin state.
She could sort of see them now. But only since they were fighting in one spot, and not moving around quickly.
The young angel's techniques fell in vain on the darkly angelic being.
Their blows created craters and gashes in the beach.
The winds generated by their auras created massive waves.
And the older Markus floated in place, eyes screwed shut in concentration.
His aura was approaching an obscene size.
The people in the surrounding countryside were blinded as the fierce grey aura turned a brilliant gold with a flash.
He started to absorb his aura back into himself, the flames around him becoming more intense.
The light around him continued to brighten.
The air around his aura quickly grew heated and shimmery.
"I suppose its time, then."
Suddenly, he was behind Death, raging with a bright and explosive aura.
A palm impacted the small of the possessed boy's back.
Death started to turn around, but he couldn't move in time.
He shouted; "NOOOOOOOO…"
The older looking angel smirked.
"Endgame Cataclysm."
With a spark, a mile-wide wave of raw golden energy erupted from the older Markus's hand, firing towards the sky.
Death was launched into the upper atmosphere, Eric's body starting to flake away faster than Death could regenerate it.
Violet's face was one of fear. What would happen if his body never came back down?
But it wasn't over.
As the blast stopped and dissipated, the air around them increased in pressure.
They all buckled; even Violet, who was much further away.
Both of them felt that he hadn't been finished off. Death had too much power to be defeated while inside a mortal vessel.
A four-dimensional being inside a three-dimensional body meant near infinite three-dimensional power.
At this rate, they would run out of energy before they could fuse.
"How are we supposed to get an opening large enough to merge if we're this weak?"
The younger angel despaired.
They were already losing.
The possessed boy ominously floated above, giving them the chance to get thinking.
But before either of them had had time to start thinking of a counterattack, Death was behind them.
He smiled at their little attempts at defeating him.
"Go on. Do your fusion. It's futile, and it will not be enough to stop me."
His smirk was intolerable.
The older Markus was the first to spin around, his reflexes guiding him. The younger followed suit shortly after.
One nodded at the other, and the younger Markus pulled something out of his tunic.
The younger Markus was holding something in his right hand, that he slowly raised to his left ear.
The clinking of crystal on metal was heard by Violet.
The two of them glowed light blue, before they were drawn together.
They merged, like two tributaries flowing into one another.
There was a flash of light, and then the essence of glory appeared.
Markus.
Not future or past. This was Markus at his absolute maximum and then some.
The true Emissary of Disaster.
His eyes were fierce and hateful, the shimmer inside them proof of his completion.
His tousled hair was upright and grey.
The origin state.
While Violet had no clue what had just happened, she knew it was important by the energy this being was letting off.
She knew this Angel was Markus. But which one?
There was an odd feeling about him.
It felt like Bach's first cello prelude.
Assuring and calming.
He felt like majesty.
He felt like hope.
Everything about him spoke and whispered in major keys.
The world parted for him, as if awaiting his very command.
Death smirked.
"That still won't be enough to beat me. If the Origin could harm me, don't you think he would have by now?"
The angel didn't even falter as he ascended into the sky. His countenance was unshakable.
The soft whoosh of air under his wings spread out the feathers, getting them ready for high-speed movement.
He was going to lose, but he knew that he was playing an important part.
The two that comprised him had been resolute and in agreeance on one thing.
"Weaken him enough for Violet to separate Eric from Death."
If Violet was to be honest with herself, as she watched from the ground, there were a lot of things wrong with the situation at hand.
But she knew somehow that everything would be okay.
The ways that life worked didn't feel corrupted.
So she knew that in the end, life would continue.
This wasn't Armageddon.
This was just another beginning.
This battle was another goodnight that they might not wake up from.
This battle was Eric's ultimate test.
This battle was the absolute endgame.
It either all ended or all started here.
There was a gust of wind next to Violet as the Origin appeared next to her, as she laid on the ground, stunned into shock.
"You need to get up. You play an important part in all of this. I can help you, but if he is to survive, you need to want him to survive."
He turned his back on her, and began to step away.
"It's going to be okay. Just reach out!"
Her hand flinched; a small movement.
If anyone had seen them in that moment, they would have seen Violet's eyes widen in pain.
And the smallest movement from her body wasn't a small movement on the spiritual level.
Her soul had extended itself far away enough from her body to grab the Origin, in its desperation.
"I can't move, you've gotta understand."
He smiled in a small way. "That's okay. I'll carry your burdens. That just now was enough to convince me that you want him to survive. That you love him enough to tear your own soul to connect with me is incredible. You must be in a lot of pain."
She nodded her head slightly, as the air above them turned into millions of small clashes and thunderclaps.
She was in incredible pain. It was like she was being stabbed with a hot knife, and that pain was sparking through every other nerve on that side of her body.
She was down for the count, now.
But two things still hadn't changed, after everything.
She was still afraid for Eric, and was still trapped within the shells of her own potential.
Both of those things would soon change.
Life will always move, if you desire to stay.
Time will always shove you aside, if you seek to live in the past.
Death will always find you, if you hide from him.
The ways that we move in life keep us alive.
For those of us that flow with the movements of time, we find infinite futures
Sprawled out for us to find.
And for those of us that greet Death with a smile, I hope that you're smiling because
You have no regrets
And because you didn't need a reason to love.
When we leave things behind, the burdens drop off of our shoulders.
When time helps heal our wounds, we grow stronger.
And when we greet Death having loved everyone, we can truly say that we lived.
What happens to Violet?
Find out NEXT TIME ON Scars in the Mirror!