The chapter before the finale always makes me really sad! I'll have nothing to do with my life until I come up with an entirely new plot.
Plus we won't be working together any more. Anyways, here's the chapter before the finale!
Disclaimer: There is some talk about God and angels in this chapter. It's not meant to offend anyone who doesn't believe in this stuff, it's just the religion these characters believe in. We apologize to anyone who doesn't believe in this.
Equinox POV
I stood before my army; my two servants beside me. There was chatter amongst the warriors, so I took the opportunity to speak with my servants. "Look at them. So many will fight for me."
"It's spectacular, mistress." Josh replied, holding my water as usual.
"Soon I won't need you. My statue hall is getting empty, I wonder how you'd look in it?"
Taylor, who occasionally broke free of the potion, looked at me in fear. "You wouldn't-" Her eyes snapped back to normal and she continued fanning me. "It'd be an honor, mistress."
I smirked. "Much better. Now, to call my warriors to attention." I stood up and yelled at the top of my lungs, "Listen up!" They all stopped talking and looked at me.
I slowly walked towards the edge of my platform. "You all know why you're here, right? This girl-" I snapped my fingers and an image appeared. "-is a threat to our existence. She and her little group of friends want us dead." Shouts erupted into the air. "Quiet! Now, I have one of her partners here, serving me as we speak. I think she'd make a nice edition to my Hall of Statues!" Cheers replaced shouts as I brought Taylor next to me. She stared off into space, probably not processing what was happening. I raised my fingers, ready to freeze her when a messenger burst into the room.
"Mistress Equinox! A demon has broken loose in New Jersey! She might destroy the state!"
I cackled. "The chaos has already begun! Who is this troublemaker?"
He bowed when he reached my feet. "Roseanne Harvey, m'aam. She was provoked and is now a raging storm, last time I checked."
"What made her so mad? Roseanne was always sensitive; a horrible trait for a demon. "
"A girl. She was talking about her daughter, and this lady angered her."
I looked at him curiously. "The name of this girl?"
"Uh.." He muttered something.
"Speak up before I cut your tongue!"
"It was Carmella Paige, mistress! She's in New Jersey being chased by the demon!"
I slammed my fist into the side of my chair. "What? Only I may murder her once and for all! Call off this demon!"
He shook his head. "We can't. Only fate decides what happens now." I dismissed him and began pacing.
Carmella was going to be killed by a demon. Unless she escaped, of course. But would that be good or bad? I could still finish the job, but if she beat one demon she had a slight chance at beating me. Granted, I had an entire army, but she would find a way.
Finally a soldier spoke up. "What do we do now?"
I considered my options. Roseanne wasn't tough to beat. From what I could tell, Carmella wouldn't let some random demon kill her and risk losing her friends. I figured I could let Carmen come to me. "The girl is smart enough to escape Roseanne." I began. "But dumb enough to rush an entire army alone! It would be a horrible decision to leave the comfort of our base. We have a huge advantage here: food, soldiers, a well-protected castle. Let us stay here and lure the prey!"
They all seemed to be in agreement. I watched as they started filing out of the room. "Wait!" I called. They turned to look at me. "We need strong defense. Double up on every position! Guard every entrance! Now!" They rushed out to their positions.
I smiled and turned to my servants. "Everything is going as planned. Soon, I'll have full power!"
Taylor's eyes went from foggy to clear. "You'll never win." She growled.
I rolled my eyes. "Of course I will. And you, you've broken the spell ten times today. I feel like my statues need a new friend." She looked at me cautiously. "Josh, hold her." I commanded. He walked over and gripped her forcefully. She struggled against his strength. "Any last words?"
"This isn't the end." She warned. "Carmen will get you. And when she does, you'll be sorry." Then she stuck up her middle finger.
I turned her to stone in that position, leaving her eyes open so she'd see the destruction of her friends. I cocked my head, looking at the statue from a different angle. "You know, I feel like this will be a great addition to my collection. Josh, being her to the hall." He robotically carried her to the hall as I sat in my chair, considering the many ways to kill Carmella Paige.
3rd Person POV
Annette joined up with the rest of them minutes later, and they were all horrified.
Solstice was suspended in the air, covered in shadows that writhed all over his body. He himself, however, was perfectly still.
"What's wrong with him?" Adam asked, looking towards Jewels who was at Solstice's feet with her wisps nearby. After Annette had arrived, Jewels had apparently magically fixed everything and then made everyone turn around and walk away when they approached Solstice so they wouldn't notice.
"The shadow plague…" Jewels muttered, staring solemnly at Solstice.
"The what?" Jason said, staring at Solstice also. Only Jewels knew exactly what it was, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that something magical with the words shadow and plague in the name was bad news for anyone.
"The shadowplague. It was a large-scale epidemic disease in around 2006, created by a corrupted nymph who had become mortal due to a love who broke her heart. Said nymph sought out a demon called Kurisock, became an evil witch made of shadows, and years later after many events transpired, she obtained a dark relic and her darkness became contagious. (A/N: Book series reference. Purely coincidental that its name was the same until I relized it once I re-read that specific book)
"Fablehaven, the magical creature reserve this transpired in, was nearly destroyed by it. The plague spread, corrupting everything. The disease turned creatures of light ot creatures of darkness, altering their minds and how they viewed the world, mutating their appearances and powers.
"However, whenever humans were corrupted, their bodies became shadow outlines of their bodies and invisible to those unable to see dark magics. It was curable only by incredible sources of light magic, or if the source was destroyed." She stopped, breathing deeply as she gasped for air. She'd basically read a large report on rocket physics without pausing.
"So… why isn't Solstice invisible to us?" Asked Mitch, staring at him. Jewels turned around, and started looking around nervously.
"Ya, that's a good point. I still see him, he just looks like he's covered in shadows." Adam said, taking a bite out of a yellow apple which he had dubbed "Budder apple".
"Um… well, see…" Jewels stammered, trying to avoid the awkward question.
"We can't see dark auras or whatever, can we? " Annette said, her head tilted in question.
"Because if we can, why magically make it so everyone else walks away?" Blaze asked, further elating on the subject.
"It's because… well…" Jewels began, feeling pressured as she attempted to worm her way out of it.
"And according to what the guys told me, what did those demons mean when they were shouting about Solstice being the "demon slayers' commander"?" Asked Annette.
"It's because… well… He's an angel." She said.
"WHAT?!" Everybody shouted as Jewels gulped, preparing for the onslaught of questions and shocked protest.
"He's an angel?"
"But.. what.."
"Why doesn't he have wings?" Asked Blaze, speaking above everyone else.
"And on that, if this thing mutates things and makes them evil or whatever, why isn't Solstice a demon or something?" Mitch added, squinting at Solstice.
"Well, to answer Blaze's question… Solstice isn't, in most meanings of the word, a mortal. He's virtually immortal, and quite frankly most humans would break out into cheers of joy or something crazy at the sight of a human with white wings who is basically floating in the air. How would you react? EVERY angel on the mortal planet hides their wings."
"Every angel?" Adam said, eyebrows raised.
"Well, ya. There's around 10 thousand angels on Earth, and a tenth of those are demons to answer your question, Mitch…" She paused, taking in a shaky breath."The thing is… angels are not inherently aligned with good or evil, light or darkness. That they are yes, sided with good and light, but you must also understand that they align themselves with a certain element. Ice, fire, water, lightning, air, and everything else in existence. In the case of the shadowplague, which realigns beings of light to beings or darkness and mutating their form often or not, has no effect on angels. The quite simply absorb it all and convert it into their own unique brand of magic. This is not purely because they can be called neutral beings; but also because of the minds of angels: How God created them.
"Angels' minds are very incorruptible and uninfluenced. They will make their own decisions, take orders, and process everything around them exactly how it is, and they accept it as they do. They can be influenced, and convinced, or have their opinions changed, but mind control and total dominance over their minds is impossible. The mind altering part of the shadowplague has no effect on them therefore, and if it WOULD have a effect on them, it won't. Angels can only become truly evil and altered in the way the shadowplague works if they choose to become a demon and align themselves with satin, which is null and void for angels; whom will only willingly do so. Not because of a disease.
"However, Solstice… Solstice is different. He has essentially aligned himself with everything. Including darkness, which was against his will. The doomsday demon called Sailacane, whom was without form, was trapped in Equinox's original blade by her will. She had to destroy Solstice, and she had to kill Sailacane. So her logical action was to due something she believed would get rid of them both in one foul swoop. She therefore tricked Solstice into meeting her in a private place where he could "Go missing" and never be found, and after her speech to try and convince him to join her, she stabbed him in one of the few vital organs an angel has. He lost consciousness, fell off a cliff in which Equinox had lured him to, and awoke several hours later the sword gone from his chest where she had left it and his wound healed. That was the thing… injecting Solstice with a world-ending energy of an extremely powerful demon who no one believed could safely be put in anyone.
"But he lived, because of his form-altering infinite energy. Everything that Sailacane is was in that sword, and Solstice absorbed it all. Everything... Including his mind. Solstice had Sailacane's powers that he calls Ragnorok. Before Solstice sealed up the mind and conscious of Sailacane, he took control of Solstice's body multiple times, once nearly destroying the world. That was last year, in fact…"
"2012 WAS supposed to be doomsday?" Jerome asked, staring at the body. It might have been his mind playing tricks on him, but Jerome could've sworn his eyes were suddenly glowing red and the shadows were fading.
"Yes, it would've been if the slayers hadn't gotten the divine council of heaven to interfere and re-seal him. But what I've been meaning to say is… this much darkness would instantly go to one of the only source of it in Solstice's body: Ragnorok. Therefore, his body will most likely relinquish control to…
"Me." A loud, ominous voice said. Everybody turned around to stare at Solstice, who had just touched the floor, the shadows now gone from his body and his eyes glowing red. They all stared, wide-eyed in horror as black shadows with red outlines erupted around a large spear which he grabbed and, much to their surprise, leaned on instead of attacking them with.
"Ah, Jewels, how good it is to see you. Must have been less then a century since the last time I was in control?" He smirked, drinking up everything.
"Less then a year." Jewels growled.
"Oh, you're worried about your little BOYFREIND aren't you?"
"He..isn't.. my boyfriend!" Jewels growled, clenching her fists. Her cheeks were a light red. Sheeeee was blushing.
"Reeeeally. I saw what happened last year on top of the Aztec temple, ya know. I hadn't slipped into unconsciousness just yet at that time." He teased, the smirk still on his face.
"You couldn't ha- wait how did you know about..GAH, not important! You had better diminish your control on Solstice now!" She proclaimed, her face turning a deep red color.
"I couldn't right now even if I WANTED TO!" He laughed, and enjoyed watching Jewels who looked like she was on the edge of breaking off into a rant and raging. "His consciousness is off talking to some divine entity no culture or religion even know EXIST or something again. Probably the core, 6 out of 10 times he talks to the core in a moment like this. My time is almost up…" He said, fake looking at a watch. "So now, I issue a warning. That Carmen person or whoever? Kinda hard to tell when accessing Solstice's memories but… Point is, the demon Roseanne Harvey is chasing her with a vengeance."
From the corner of the hallway, someone gasped. Sailacane just laughed when he heard it.
"Ah, there's the confirmation I needed. Demi-demons… I can sense them from miles away. Back to the topic at someone else's hand, however! She isn't defenseless however. She has a sword, and 2 demon slayers are currently with her. The bad news about this is these two demon slayer just so happen to be the most idiotic ANYTHINGS in history, and will most likely die with her. And even if they actually live, Carmen plans on charging headfirst into the largest demon army EVER! Even larger than my old one, and hers is still growing! So now, Goodbye and screw you."
With that, he bowed and the red glow of his eyes returned to Solstice's blue. He got back into a normal position with a confused look in his eyes.
"Why was I bowing, feel like a jerk, sense a demi-demon around a corner, and suddenly have a spear in my hands?"
Isn't it nice knowing you were supposed it die a year ago?
Why yes, it is. In the reviews, let us know if you're excited for the finale and what you expect to see!
If you read this, tell us who you want to be killed off first :p