A True God Emerges
Moving on.
xxx
It's impossible...this can't be happening...not when he's so close. This humiliation, this rage boiling in his veins caused Boswell to shake uncontrollably. His teeth were clenched so tight he was about to tear his gums up. The vessels in his dagger filled glares were showing. The sweat running down his brow evident of his waning bravado. That princess...THAT BRAT...stopped his attack with a sweep of her arm?! IT'S IMPOSSIBLE! NONE CAN DEFY HIS POWER! NONE! He won't let them! This will not stand! He will have his revenge! And he will start with the subjugation of this peasant made princess! Boswell rose into the air, butterfly wings drawing from his back. In a fit of fury he thrust his hands. The magnificent wings unleashed pin missiles, their drilling tips screeching for Lydia in the middle of the field.
"LOOK OUT!" Chris cried. Adelea and Merryweather knit their brows.
Lydia stared at the missile disinterested. Her eyes reflected their approach with not much more than simple acknowledgement. Boswell leaned in with eager anticipation, able to practically hear her body being torn to shreds. His elation fully deflated when she stretched three erect fingers forth, stopping the missiles on the spot. "WHAT!" Boswell fumed. Their streaming tails wagged rampantly in their desire to hit their mark. Lydia still just stared. Her face completely blank. Like she isn't taking him seriously in the least anymore. "You...you WRETCH! Do you think you can defeat me?! THE GREAT-" Lydia sneered with a quirk of her lip. She turned her wrist like a knob. Small portals spanned and swallowed the pin missiles whole. Lydia swept her hand, removing the portals and materializing them behind Boswell. He froze in dismay. Before he could counter, the missiles he launched pelted him in the back, tearing his wings to tatters. He was on a plummet for the dirt, but savaged himself with a sudden burst of wind. Lydia effortlessly reanimated that wind into a demonic claw, ensuring the large man in a palm shaped cage. "HOW ARE YOU DOING THIS!?" Boswell screamed. He tried to wrestle with his cage. His hands went through the fingers, but the rest of him was stuck. "What sorcery is this?!"
"I already told you!" She hissed, her eyes beginning to glow with that menacing silver. "I won't repeat myself anymore!" As punishment for making her repeat herself, Lydia sprouted an arm for that claw. It moved with hers. She flourished her arm. The wind arm coiled itself. "I'm," She swung her arm down hard, and Boswell was sent crashing hard into ground, rocked inside his cage, "An," She brought him up again and smashed him to a boulder, "IN-HE-RI-TOR!" On those three syllables Boswell was smashed around like a wreckingball, and finally sent cracking his back to a tree trunk. Each impact had people flinching, and gasping in horror. The hand dissipated, as did Lydia's irritation for his stupid question. She blew on her hand, watching in revulsion as Boswell tried to get back up. Man really doesn't know when to quit. "You're out of your league, Boswell!" Her arm tensed, fingers contorting like claws. A full glove of flames appeared to that arm. "Stay down before you get hurt even worse!" She warned.
xxx
Roland, Miranda, Miles, and Baileywick swallowed massive, dry lumps lodged in their throats. Every muscle in their bodies was thumping in terror. Though Lydia was going overboard, she doesn't seem to be losing herself to Dia. Then again, aside from that display, her intention isn't to kill Boswell. She's going to try to render him unconscious. Or get him to surrender. Whichever comes first. They're just praying she can do that before she gets too carried away.
"ROLAND!" Henrik's voice finally broke through. The man was hyperventilating in madness. It's easy enough to see the cogs in his head spiraling out of control. The steam whistling from his ears showed he was on the verge of a full self-combustion! "TH-TH-THE POWERS AND-AND-AND THE WHOOSH AND HER EYES...THAT MAGIC WASN'T THERE BEFORE-SHE SHOULD HAVE BEEN TORN TO SHREDS! WHAT IS SHE?!" All things considering, he's taking this very well. But the joking aside, looking around, their guests' glares were demanding answers. Not that anyone knew how to give a proper one.
"Well...you see...she's…" Roland was developing cotton mouth. What can he say? Should he even say anything? Lydia will undoubtedly answer their questions. Or is waiting for her proof he can't really cope? In all honesty...he doesn't know what to do.
"She is an Inheritor, King Henrik." All heads and wide eyes snapped around to Cecily. In her resolute fashion, she spared him, his family, and their servants from having to respond. "And there's no call for alarm. Lydia would not harm us."
"Mom…?" Vivian trembled. Does Cecily know something she hasn't told her?
"An...Inheritor?" Irene asked next, finding her voice.
"What is that?" Clio inquired for everyone. Tilly didn't need to hear. Roland already filled her in a long time ago.
"The Given Name is Generation Arcanist." She explained slowly. "A Sorcerer who inherits the permanently dormant magic of a Parent, and has it added to their own."
"The magic that abusively nested itself within them battles and rages within the host." Marcus inserted himself. He twisted his ring anxiously. "A pot that slowly stirs itself from birth to the age of five, then gradually starts to boil over." His own blood was boiling. "The young sorcerer is then blessed or cursed with powers beyond their comprehension...or control." He shuddered to say.
"These powers will bring great beauty and peace, as well as great danger and fear." Cecily comforted her husband with a hand to his shoulder. She touched his ring, reminding him with a tender smile of the vow they both made. For better or worse, and that included his past. "They can remove storms from the skies, and allow the sun to cascade a rainbow that brings fertility to barren lands." Doesn't sound too bad. No one was really understanding why she and Marcus looked so dreary. Then the light dwindled from her face. "They can also reduce entire town steads to nothing but dust." There's the drawback. Hugo, Axel, Chris, Junjie, and Ahlii swallowed big lumps. "And all it would take...is a simple slip of temper. A bad day, an argument - anything that would force Lydia to become upset."
"But...she's gotten upset before." Hildegard trembled. She's seen Lydia upset plenty of times. "Nothing like this ever happened!"
"Her headband." Miranda finally found her voice. She showed it to them. "It's more than just an accessory. It's a device that suppresses her powers." Astrid, Pamela, Irene, and Hildegard quirked a lip at the misleading item. "Fauna gave it to her so she'd be able to keep a cap on it."
"But it's not perfect." Roland finally stepped in. "The power will leak through here and there, and it causes her great discomfort."
"THAT THING..." Jade cried in disbelief.
"Kept ALL OF THAT..." Ahlii tossed his arms around, ending with a point at Lydia's flame engulfed arm.
"UNDER CONTROL this WHOLE TIME?!" Astrid, Mrs. Henshaw, Junjie, and Jin gasped.
"You have to be joking! That doesn't seem possible!" The King of Khaldune protested adamantly.
"I agree!" Quon refused to believe it too. There's just no way.
"It's true." Sofia, Amber, and James sighed heavily.
"No! It can't be true!" Axel howled. "We saw her battle with the witch Marla!"
"Indeed!" Pamela inserted herself. "She displayed incredible feats of magic and her headband was on the whole time!"
"Because she refused to take it off." Miranda said more sternly, stopping their debating. She redirected their attention to the battle happening now. "This IS Lydia's true power! This is who she really is!" She snarled, sadness glossing her eyes. "And it comes with a terrible price." Her voice quaked.
"A price?" Princess Maya shivered. She doesn't like the sound of that.
xxx
Boswell was back on his feet, huffing and puffing and wiping grass and dirt from his pudgy cheek. His cape and clothing were getting torn. And he could be imagining it, but he's starting to feel bruised. This is just after a couple of shots. Though those shots felt like point blank canon balls bombarding him. This can't be happening! He's losing ground...fast. I can't lose! He's come too far! He can't lose to this child now! Not with all this power he has! However, in spite of the bravery he fueled himself with, when Boswell squared to Lydia, the demonic expression on her face turned his spine to ice. His inner flame extinguished with a single breath of her glare. And...and behind her...is he seeing things? There in the shadows...there's a second set of ices on him. "What...what is this?"
A manically chipper cackle reverberated Lydia's throat. Her whole person was shrouded in shadow save for her strobing silver blue eyes and her demented smile. "What's the matter, Boswell? You seem scared." She crooned with a distorted voice. Chills scaled the spines of Boswell, Cedric, Adelea, and the others, beads of sweat running down the brows of all who could not look away. A dark, malefic aura wafting from her figure, the shadow of her inner self emerge transparently behind her. Her own smile splitting her face down the middle.
'One...more...push...' Her teeth parted, releasing a noxious steam. 'Just...one...more...'
"I asked you a question, Little Man!" Lydia marched toward him, hands in her robe's pockets. "What's wrong? Nothing left in that bark of yours!"
"Do not let this fluke swell your head!" Boswell snarled. "You're more naive than Lezard described you!" Lydia arched a baffled brow. Her demented glee relaxed, much to her relief. "An inheritor of the crown, is what he called you as well. He made you sound so amazing! What good is that crown when you're dead?!"
Lydia had to just STOP! She, quite frankly, went stiff as a statue. Her mind exploded with the fresh batch of idiocy that struck her ears. Lezard told him she was an Inheritor, and she just went through an effort to tell him what she is...and he totally missed the mark! BY THREE KINGDOMS! He honestly believes that...when she called herself an Inheritor...that she's an inheritor of...a...crown. "Ha...ha-ha…" She lurched forward, putting a hand over one of her eyes. Boswell, Cedric, and company raised their brows at the little noises coming from her. They wondered if something happened. "PAH-HA-HA-HA!" She scared the daylights out of everyone when she threw herself up, laughing so crazily. She was holding her stomach, staggering all over the place to stay standing. "YOU-YOU-YOU THINK-HA-HA-HA! OH MY GOODNESS! THAT'S HILARIOUS!" She can hardly breathe. She dropped to a knee, slamming a fist to the dirt. The flames around her one arm extinguished.
xxx
"She's lost her mind!" Jun cried.
"No...she hasn't…" Sofia moaned, hugging at her elbows.
xxx
Boswell was really getting annoyed with her laughing at him. "Tell me something. Has the desperation of your situation broken something in you?" He circled a finger at his skull. She's off her rocker.
Lydia had to take really deep breaths to calm her laughter. She wiped a tear away. "Boswell, Boswell, Boswell…" She rose back up, dusting the hysterics off. She stared at him with a very somber looking smile, "You can't break something that's already broken." That just confused him to no end. Miranda, Roland, Gwen, and Alauna felt a sting at her words. Miles and Baileywick had to hold the children so they wouldn't be so crestfallen. Cedric, however, was just angry to hear her say something like that. "You think when Lezard called me an Inheritor that he meant I'd be getting a crown?" She just has to double check.
"Well, he made it sound like you were the monster one." He shrugged it off. He still doesn't really get why it's important. "But a precious little girl can't be more than a bungling, sleight of hand, parlor magician."
A bungling parlor magician...she lowered her head. She really wishes that was the case. "Oh...you'd like to think so...wouldn't you?" She rumbled ominously. Her bangs obscured the trouble glowering in her eyes. "Everyone...would like to think...that Little Lydia is nothing more than a menace with a big mouth and a lot of spunk." Irene, Garrick, Pamela, Henrik, Hildegard, and Hugo felt stabs to their shame. That's exactly how they saw her. How they...sometimes still see her. "Trust me...I wish that was the case too." She looked sadly at her hand. "Neither of us are that lucky."
"LEAST OF ALL YOU!" Boswell had teleported behind her while she was distracted. He extended his arms to the sides. A glow outlined the top of the trees. He swept his arms across each other. The leaves tore from their twigs, sharpening like darts as they flew for her. Lydia sighed tediously. This was starting to get old, fast. She just knit her brow. Thin, glossy shields unfurled on her sides. The leaves pelted the shields, bursting into sprinkling flakes. And she wasn't disturbed in the least. "Impossible…" He quaked.
"What? All that power not helping you? Did you think having it made you invincible?" She snapped her head back to him. "WRONG!" She whipped around, jabbing a flat palm into his stomach. Boswell was sent skipping across the ground. He managed to flip himself around, digging in his feet to stop. He raised his head, and froze in terror of Lydia just inches from his face. "All this power, all this rage, all this hate - you're not invincible! YOU'RE CRIPPLING YOURSELF!" She backhanded him, smashing the other side of his face to a tree trunk. "But that's okay! As long as you can make a few people quiver, squirm, and cower before you, right?!" She marched toward him, shrugging her hands. "Make them all regret their sneers, their insults, and their bullying! Have the whole world bow at your feet and beg for mercy from your hand! RIGHT!" She roared with wide, mad eyes, tears forming in the corners. Eyes widened all around, hearts weighing heavily. These woeful words...they hurt. More than they should be. She's speaking from her own heart. "It's exciting! IT'S THRILLING!" She meandered nonchalantly towards him, ignoring the fear she was orchestrating from the others. "It makes the heat under your skin send you into ecstasy! It's everything every lonely person wants!" She gritted her teeth. "IT'S EVERYTHING WE WANT!" She stopped suddenly, stomping her foot. Boswell was ricocheted into the air. An elastic orange band drew to her wrist. A band launched from it, attaching to Boswell. Lydia yanked hard, rocketing him for her. Lydia traced a life sized circle with her index finger. Boswell flew into it, disappearing into thin air. Lydia traced another over her head, taking a quick step to the side. Boswell came falling out. The wind was robbed from his lungs on impact. He groaned in pain. Lydia stomped a foot to his chest, pinning him in place. "But what's left in the end? Huh? Who's left in the ashland when we've gotten what we wanted?" She leaned forward, folding her elbows to her knee. "Friends? Family? The family pet? That weird neighbor with a lazy eye? No." She swept her hand. "There's nothing left! Do you know why?" She removed her foot. She took his grudging silence as permission to continue. "Because you spent your whole life wanting people to respect you, to fear you, and to accept you…" She snuck a glance to her family...and soon to be former friends hiding out in the bushes. "That, without realizing it, you chased them all away. And now, as the dust settles, you're more alone than when it started." Roland and those from the castle lowered their hands, hugging at their arms somberly. The rest were left writhing in place. What in the world was happening here?
"Who are you to lecture me?!" Boswell frothed at the mouth. He peeled himself from the dirt, standing up to the high and mighty princess. She was unphased by how close he was. Or by how badly his breath smelled. "You have admirers - people willing to sacrifice themselves for you! How dare you judge me?!"
"I can judge because it's only been my family and those in the castle who have known what I am! And…" She sank before him, her body trembling to fight the grief, "Even I don't think they'd stay forever! Not if I can't control...THIS!" Her eyes flared bright silver, a silver aura erupting from her. A flash of energy exploded from the soles of her feet, frightening Boswell back an extra five feet. "Everyone else here...LOOK AT THEIR FACES!" She commanded him. "LOOK AT THEM!" She screamed again. Boswell was skeptical at first, but he finally looked. He saw what she was talking about. "Do you see it? The fear, the confusion, the anger - the overwhelming horror of not knowing what might happen if this continues?" With the exception of those who lived in the castle, everyone was looking at one another to see if what she was seeing was true. It is. Though they wanted to deny it, none of them can ignore the sheer terror radiating from one another. "For YEARS I've kept what I am underwraps! Hiding it under that headband Fauna gave me years ago!" Miranda clutched the headband. "So scared that everyone who calls me friend or who has welcomed me into their life would just...leave!" Junjie, Ahlii, Astrid, and Axel clumped together, overcome with shock. She really thinks that. Jade, Ruby, Vivian, Clio, Hildegard, and Chris shook their heads. She can't really...feel that way. "They'd run...they'd rise up against me...send someone after me...or they'd come back and try to shove me in that box!" Irene, Pamela, Garrick, Henrik, Cecily, and Marcus lowered their heads. They...can't really deny...that they wouldn't do such a thing under drastically different circumstances. "All of that might happen after tonight." Lydia accepted with a shrug. Tilly, Mrs. Henshaw, Cecily, Adelea, Merryweather, and Cedric felt slightly outraged by the comment. "But right now, I don't care about that." She fanned it off. Boswell was too close, and it was irritating her. She drove a punch right into his nose, knocking him on his butt. "These people you're terrorizing are my guests! I won't let you lay a finger on them!"
xxx
"Lydia…" Vivian sighed sadly.
"My goodness…" Tilly was lost for words, wrapping her arms to herself. This was really hard to watch.
"Does she...really live with this?" Irene asked, still in utter disbelief. This isn't the same girl, right? This can't possibly be the snarky, sometimes charming, gleeful, not easily angered girl she's come to know and admire? "That cold heart, and these frightening powers? And her words...this isn't the real Lydia...is it?" It's a truly frightening thought.
"The coldness and harsh words...not so much." Miranda replied solemnly. "She's speaking out of past hurt." Not really the past if she feels it's coming from the present as well. "But the powers...this is Lydia in such a way that they take a toll on her body." She bit on her lower lip. "She doesn't sleep, she doesn't eat, she hides in her room, she resorts to drugs…" And the list just keeps growing every time. "Lydia tears herself apart to keep her powers under control. And sometimes...it breaks her further." She snaked fingers into her hair, sinking in her woes.
"I don't believe it." Clio exhaled, becoming a little dizzy from all of this. "How does she do it?"
"We don't know. And neither does she." Miranda responded. She wished she could understand. Maybe then Lydia wouldn't feel alone in this.
xxx
Boswell clapped his hands, a clash of thunder resounding. He spread his palms, breeding a chain link of rapiers. He whirled the link above and behind him, the sword tips cracking like a whip as he reared it around. He swung it full force forward, the swords launching. He brought the freed link around again, sending the chain traveling as a two pronged strike with the swords. Lydia stood her ground. She swallowed the swords inside miniature portals. When the chain link came, she extended her arm, manipulating the chain's body and wrapping it to the full length of her arm. She tugged hard, drawing Boswell into a game of tug of war. Lydia snapped her fingers. The portals reappeared around him from above, unleashing the barrage of swords. Boswell growled rabidly and blindly flailed his arm. A shockwave shattered the swords into hundreds of shards. He guided them into the grass, their shimmering forms swimming beneath Lydia. She raised her arm, curling into herself. The shards ripped out of the ground in beams of light, grazing her robes, narrowly missing her skin. Boswell redirected the shards back down, cackling as they locked on for that thick skull of hers.
"RUN, LYDIA!" Lucinda begged.
Lydia grinned darkly behind her arm. Time for one of her favorites. And how nice of Boswell to provide the link for her. An orange glow coated the chain. Cedric, Adelea, and the Royal Family all grinned. They knew what was coming next. "VICIS VERTO!" Lydia and Boswell were shrunk into balls of light and sent traveling through the chain. Lydia emerged in Boswell's place, and Boswell was right beneath the rainstorm of shards. Boswell shrieked in panic, cowering into a crouch. Everyone closed their eyes as the shards reached him. There was widespread relief when they missed him and were just stuck to the ground. Boswell was slightly confused. Then he saw Lydia's white glowing hand. She altered the shards' direction a tad. She isn't trying to kill the guy. Just make him stop.
"GRR! YOU DAMNED BRAT!" Boswell's powers flared out of control, lashes of pure energy ripping grooves into the area. "You think you can make a fool out of me?! I'm the one with true power! I won't be defeated by some pitiful wretch!" He barked.
"True power…" She breathed irately. This so called true power...is nothing but a sham. But who cares, right? Doesn't matter where the power comes from, or how someone got it! They have it now! And Hades will freeze if anyone tries to take it! Heck, they'll silence anyone who tries to question them. Isn't that right? That's what true power is to people like this. A means to subjugate and oppress everyone they deem beneath them. "DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" She roared at the top of her lungs. A vibrating glow radiated from her head to toe. Her eyes were consumed in a hateful silver glow. Her balled fists raged with silver flames, frightening Boswell and the others back a couple of feet. She hung half herself, fuming with labored breaths. "People like you...think you can do whatever you want! Just because you got a small taste of what power is!" She slowly straightened her back, air being drawn into her mouth. "YOU MAKE ME SICK!"
Familiar swirls of wind filled her mouth. "COVER YOUR EARS!" Miranda screamed. Everyone snapped their hands to their ears, crouching low. Cedric, Merryweather, Lucinda, and Adelea took cover.
"No mercy for the forsaken! Allow the shrieks of heaven to sunder the land!" She tossed her hands to the air. Wind flocked around her arms like lightning to a rod, filing in her nostrils as she drew in a prolonged breath. She closed her hands, parting her lips to reveal swirling streams. "MORTIBUS CLAMARE...!" (Deaths cry) Lydia screamed bloodcurdling loud. Skulls and wind flew from her mouth, morphing her scream into a disembodied wail. The hands did little to muffle the ghoulish cries. All eyes gazed in wonder and fear, watching ghosts fly from the bowels of Lydia. The wind and skulls pierced Boswell's ears, ushering his own wailing. In his eyes nightmares flashed. The streams carried the skulls in and out of his body. To end the scream, Lydia bit down hard and cut the flow, forcing Boswell to be dropped like a sack of bricks. Lydia panted heavily, her hair hanging wirly and clinging to her sweaty face. Her throat was sore from the scream, but it left Boswell winded. "You claim...to have...true power. But you don't know what that really is, do you?" She rasped venomously. She wiped her cheek on her sleeve, shaking off her exhaustion. "Real power...is knowing when to show force and when to extend a gentle hand. Real power is being able to admit you're weak, and proving you have humility rather than always standing strong and putting on airs." She took several deep breaths, calming her powers back into submission. "You can call me a hypocrite if you want. But right now, I promise you, I'm only being a bully because I'm really sick of you." She's beyond sick of him. She wished she was depraved enough to skewer him. THUMP-THUMP! "GRR!" She clutched at her chest. A sharp tension gripped at her chest. Her control was slipping. "Damn. Lost track. MOM! The headband!" Miranda was already lined up and threw it back to her. Lydia caught it, quickly returning it to her head. Her perpetually flowing energy was instantly capped, the pressure removing itself. "Thanks...I'm okay now!" She panted. She just needed to keep it on for a few minutes. Once she calms down, it'll be okay to go for round two.
xxx
Tilly whistled impressed. "She really does depend on it." More than she or anyone else will realize.
"Hold on! He's down!" Hugo blurted. "She can take the box from him and end this!"
"No she can't!" Merryweather called back, catching his blunt idea. "Have you noticed how he's been knocked around, but his hat hasn't fallen off, or the box just hasn't come rolling out?" Now that she mentions it...they have noticed that. What's going on? "Boswell has had the box too long. He's become attached to it. It won't let go by just batting him around!"
"Of course it wouldn't be that easy!" Hildegard tossed her hands up. "Oh well, not like we've got to worry for long."
"Huh?" Hugo tilted his head.
"What?! You still think Lydia's going to lose to a guy like that?!" She scolded him.
"No, of course not! I'm just shocked you're taking this so well."
"What's not to take well? Lydia's much scarier than this when you touch her stuff without permission."
"True that!" Ruby and Jade raised their hands, having experienced that anger first hand.
"Brr…" Amber, James, and Sofia shuddered, giggling amongst themselves.
"You make a valid point, Princess Hildegard." Miles agreed with a hearty laugh. A wave of laughs shared amongst the group. Suddenly they were all feeling a little more relaxed.
xxx
Boswell was on his last leg. He was barely standing. He was hunched over, forcing himself to not keel to Lydia. If things kept on like this...he wasn't going to last much longer. No...he can't lose. Not when he's so close. "I won't be defeated...not again!" He vowed to himself.
"You ready to give up yet, or are you thirsty for more?!" Lydia challenged him.
Boswell ground his teeth together with a rabid growl. How dare she look down upon him. She doesn't think he can muster the will to defeat her? Very well then! "Fine! You want more?" He shot a glare to the spectators. "How about this showstopper?!" Boswell levitated into the air. He flicked his arms out in different directions. A glowing blue gunk was splashed to Adelea, Merryweather, Cedric, and Lucinda, solidifying on contact and trapping them there. Lydia wasn't grasping where he was going with this. Boswell swirled his hands, swiping them down. He bewitched the field, causing the grass the roll like waves out at sea. Everyone braced themselves. For a moment, all went silent. Nothing seemed to happen. Was his spell a dud? Then there was this rumbling. The ground beneath everyone's feet was vibrating rampantly. Suddenly the dirt split asunder. Thorny vines wrapped to the waists of Jade and Ruby, Chris, Sofia, Amber and James, Clio and Vivian, and Hugo and Hildegard. In blurs before their parents' eyes they were ripped from their haven, dangled high above the mayhem...and at Boswell's mercy.
"HILDY!" Pamela scream shrilly, Astrid and Henrik trying to hold her back while not rushing to Hildegard themselves.
"HUGO!" Garrick fumed. Irene had to restrain both him and Axel, before she rushed out there too.
"CLIO! CHRIS!" Adelea cried, her fingers digging grooves in the dirt.
"JADE, RUBY!" Mrs. Henshaw wept.
"SOFIA, JAMES, AMBER!" Miranda, Roland, and Tilly howled.
The kids screamed in terror. It was truly unbelievable. Boswell was so desperate for victory that he was lashing out at harmless children now! Lydia gaped in dismay, watching her brother, sisters, and their friends be swung around like ragdolls. "BOSWELL!" Lydia howled with a murderous glare. "HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND! LET THEM GO!"
"Gladly!" He chortled. He started to bring them down. Lydia was actually getting her hopes up their feet would touch ground. Their parents felt their hearts about to burst. The kids felt their feet touch the solid surface. Then Boswell chuckled. In an instant they were whipped from the vines, sent flipping high into the air, their little limbs flailing to find anything to stop them. And all Boswell did was raise his hands and smile, daring Lydia to catch them.
"NOOO!" The parents screamed pleadingly.
Lydia took his bait hook line and sinker. Summoning her wand back to her hand, she twirled it like a pinwheel. "Portum mollis!" (Soft landing) She flourished her the twirling wand low and smooth, puffs of spiraling wind spread to the field. Hildegard and Clio held one another and closed their eyes. Jade, Ruby, and Sofia braced for impact together. James and Amber, Chris and Hugo flipped around so they wouldn't see their collision. They all yelped at a springy softness saving them last second from a messy demise. Laughs of relief and outright groans echoed from them. Lydia sank as she released a breath. She caught them.
"YOU'RE WIDE OPEN!" Boswell howled from her side. Lydia whirled around to launch a counter strike. A barrage of high velocity shooting stars battered her torso and face, sucker punching her for what felt like minutes. In the midst of the attack, she lost focus and her spell dissipated, dropping the kids to the grass. The final star came as an uppercut into her chin, lifting her five feet off the ground and to a wind knocking crash to the ground.
"LYDIA!" Sofia, James, and Amber cried. The trio scrambled, unable to stand idly by anymore, and ran for her. Lydia caught them from the corner of her wincing eye. She rapidly changed her wand hands, blindly swinging the thing. A crescent flash of light washed over the three, teleporting them away and back with their parents. "WHAT! NO! LYDIA!" Sofia cried. Lydia may have succeeded there, but Boswell took advantage and a titan sized palm materialized above her. It was then that she realized...this was going to hurt. The palm came down in a free fall, smashing her.
"LYDIA!" Cedric howled.
"YOU COWARDLY BASTARD!" Garrick snarled.
The hand disappeared, leaving a moaning Lydia crushed in a palm shaped print. Still, she was able to peel herself out. Clumps of dirt, grass, and a worm or two falling off her. She coughed up spit lodging itself in her throat, wiping her cheek off. "That...the best...YOU GOT?!" She rasped heavily.
"Not even close…" Boswell extended a hand to the forest outlying again. "HERE COMES ROUND TWO!" He closed his fingers into a fist.
"AHLII, LEANA, MAYA, KHALID!" Nasri screamed as his children were abducted by sets of bat wings appearing on their shoulders.
"JUNJIE, JIN, JUN!" Quon stumbled on his race to save his from the dreaded wings.
"ASTRID!" Pamela was held back by Henrik this time.
"VIVIAN!" Marcus reached for her, his fingers brushing her fingertips.
"BOSWELL, YOU COWARD!" Miles roared. "LEAVE THE CHILDREN BE AND FIGHT LIKE A MAN!"
"I am no mere MAN anymore, Constable!" Boswell snapped his fingers. Everyone might have expected bats to form from those wings. Instead they got the heads of venomous vipers. "I AM A GOD!"
Lydia's blood was boiling. He calls himself a god when he behaves like a damn devil. Threatening her friends...her siblings...her curling fingers dug into the dirt. I'll crush your beating heart right in your chest! Her gritted teeth puncture her lip drawing a thin trail of blood. "Boswell…" She growled his name murderously. Her battered body standing tall beyond miraculous belief. "I swear...if you don't stop…" Static flared around her headband, making believers out of the skeptics further. She lifted her head, her blue eyes glowing ferociously, "I'LL KILL YOU WHERE YOU STAND!" THUMP! Her soul pulsated. She ignored it.
"Bold words from such a little girl." He smirked at his serpentine bats. "Let's see you back them up!" He snapped his fingers again. The serpent recoiled, their fangs sprouting from their widening mouths. Lydia hissed through her teeth. There was no other choice. She tore her headband from her head. Her eyes flared bright red. The serpent barely budged an inch on their strike, and they were screeching shrilly in agony as their bodies lit on fire from the inside out.
Junjie and the others were released. Their drop to safety wasn't high at all. They landed with ease, even the younger ones. But the shock left them with noodle legs. The other kids raced to their rescue, helping them hobble to safety. Sofia, on the other hand, wasn't done. "GAH-HA!" She heard Lydia cry. Boswell had attacked her again while she was saving her friends. This time he sicked those thorny vines on her, crushing her legs, arms, and neck. This wouldn't stop, and Sofia knew it. Boswell was just going to keep dragging others into his fight to use as shields and pummel Lydia. She needed help. And the four she needed were still glued to the ground. Sofia steeled herself, and in the mayhem went to Merryweather.
"Sofia, no! You shouldn't be here!" Merryweather protested.
"Lydia needs our help! So stop arguing and help me free you!" She fussed. Merryweather was taken aback by her tone...but thrilled to see such bravery and loyalty from one of her students.
Lydia was skipping across the grass, winding up caught in a sticky web. Boswell cackled and floated her into the air. He fanned his fingers, creating a series of darts. He let them fly one at a time, purposefully missing Lydia. The last one stuck into her leg, going in pretty deep. "RUBBER GLUE, BACK TO YOU!" She barked.
The dart in her leg vanished. Boswell grunted in discomfort. His own dart reappeared in his leg. "Is that truly the best you can muster now?" He shrugged it off. He collapsed the web, wrapping it tightly to every inch of Lydia so only her nose was free. It was feared he was going to suffocate her. He astonished everyone by going over and grabbing a little strand. He gave it a hard tug, sending her spinning out of control. He laughed mockingly, snapping his fingers and setting off random potshots in her path. One exploded right at her feet, throwing her back into the mud. And she was hesitating on retaliating. She didn't know if he was going to hit her...or her friends.
Boswell was having a grand time knocking her down. His cheap attempts to harm everyone around them were working in tripping Lydia up. But she wasn't deterred. No! She won't give him the satisfaction of her surrender! She'll make him pay for what he's done! And she will dance to the music of his screams as his bones break. I will...smile...as you beg me for mercy! A flame ignited in her thumping heart. She saw him get ready to drag another innocent bystander into this mess. Only he was playing eeny-meeny-miney-moe to make a choice. He was slithering his way for Cecily now. Or Irene...Pamela. "NO!" She sloshed out of the mud and thrust her arm. A barrel of flames came roaring from her palm. Boswell, in a panic, launched into the air. The flurry of flames howled beneath him. Lydia glared up at him. She shifted her hand, guiding the funnel around in a sharp curve, compacting the head. Boswell turned right as the funnel was upon him. It struck him with such ferocity he felt like a canon just shot him. Lydia twisted her body all the way back, and then let herself loose with a flail of her arms. A solid aurora wall smashed into him, driving him face first into the ground. When the wall vanished from him, he peeled his furious face from the dirt. "You think...cheap shots like that...will stop me?! Boswell…" She chuckled sinisterly, covering one eye with her gnarled hand, "YOU'RE MORE OF AN IDIOT THAN I REALIZED!" The silver returned to her eyes, this time holding its shade. "And like every idiot with power before you...I'LL SEE YOUR HEAD ROLL AT THE GUILLOTINE!" Her canine almost seemed to sharpen like...fangs. She was...getting excited. She was super excited. He just kept pounding her and pounding her, and she was just getting back up. No matter what he threw at her...or who he threatened...this dark enthusiasm was bubbling inside of her. Almost as if she's enjoying the fact that he's so shameless. Because...with him being so unforgivable...ha-ha...it won't break her heart in the least if she kills him! Yes, yes! She'll kill him! She didn't get to kill Lezard! And with no one really able to stand in her way...SHE CAN KILL BOSWELL BEFORE HE DREW ANOTHER BREATH! THUMP-THUMP! "HRM!" Oh no! Her body was...throbbing. Splitting itself apart. The murderous impulse flowing through her veins...the thirst for someone's life...THUMP-THUMP! "GYAAHHAA!" She clutched at her chest. Each beat of her heart radiated in white hot pain. "NO! NO! NOT NOW! NOT NOW, PLEASE!"
A mad grin split her shadow's face in half.
xxx
"Oh no!" Roland cried. He can see it from there. The flickering lights in her eyes. The malefic shadow rising from her back. He can see the silver eyes, and that disgusting glowing smile.
"What's wrong with her?!" Junjie panicked. Lydia seemed like she was in agony. Did Boswell do more damage than it appeared?
"She's coming out!" Miles whimpered, his knees knocking together.
"LYDIA! FIGHT IT, PLEASE! DON'T LET DIA OUT!" Miranda implored.
"Dia?" Lin-Lin asked. Was he speaking of that shadow coming from her. That wasn't there before. A horrible chill ran down her spine. "King Roland, you mentioned a price!" Earlier when Lydia began unleashing what was called her true power. "What is the price?!"
Roland saw no point in withholding the answer. "Long story short - the overwhelming power Lydia possesses has developed a consciousness and gave itself a name!" She is going to surmise the name Dia. "And it attacked all of us a few months ago!" Gasped echoed from the crowd, even Tilly. They looked around to those who lived in the palace with Lydia, hoping that it wasn't true. Their somber expressions made their horrors real. "Lydia was only able to get back in control because of her teacher and I appealed to her senses." He doubts it will that easy a second time around.
"Being an Inheritor sounds like it sucks." Axel said with no hesitation.
"More than any of us will know." Miranda sighed regretfully.
xxx
Lydia threw herself to her hands and knees, punching furiously at her face, the ground, her stomach and chest. She pounded and pounded away, screaming at herself, "DON'T YOU DARE! NOT YET! I CAN'T…" She was bruising herself and splitting the skin on her knuckles. Her blue eyes fighting for dominance over the silver, turning red in the process. Her skin felt like it was on fire. Her muscles splitting, the agony shooting into the bones and corroding the marrow. Every vein in her body, right to her heart, was throbbing violently. "YOU CAN'T...COME OUT! NOT NOW! THEY'LL SEE!"
'They've already SEEN, Lydia. There's no sense in trying to cover it up now.'
"No…" She bit into her lip, tearing the previous wound further. "I won't...let you! Not again!" She swore.
Dia only laughed at her. 'And yet I'm slipping through inch by inch. All I need if for one more push!'
No...that won't happen! Not again! "I'll never...let you...near them again!" Miranda, Miles, Baileywick, and Roland could hear her fighting with herself. With Dia. Amber, James, Gwen, and Alauna quaked uncontrollably. She was falling apart right in front of them. Sofia, who had barely gotten Merryweather halfway free, felt herself be torn between saving her teacher, or going to her sister's side. Not that there's anything she can do for Lydia. Not without getting in the way.
"Still you persist! Fine!" Boswell snarled venomously. He took her inner conversation as a declaration of all out war. "If you won't lie down and die…" He turned his attention toward Sofia. She was working with the blue fairy to free her wand arm. That gunk she was in was super thick, "Perhaps this will break you once and for all." He stalked toward Sofia. Merryweather screamed for Sofia to run. She saw Boswell coming and scrambled to get away. Boswell flicked his wrist. Roots bound her ankles, trapping her in place.
"NO! GET AWAY FROM HER!" Lydia got up. Boswell anticipated this reaction and set a nice trap for her. A patch of grass slipped right from under her foot, the rest turned into fly paper. Lydia fell right on it, completely stuck. "NOO...SOFIA!" Lydia screeched. Boswell chuckled at her pitiful screams, continuing his march for the little princess. "DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" Lydia roared, her teeth sharpened to fangs...and her eyes turning completely silver.
"NOT A CHANCE!" Amber yelled. She and James broke through the bushes, sprinting for their sister. They grabbed rocks on the way and threw them at Boswell heatedly. He merely shook his hand, blowing the rocks away. A snap of his fingers and they two became trapped in a bubble. "SOFIA!" Amber pounded at the bubble. James kicked at it.
"BABY BROTHER!" Tilly snarled.
"Right behind you!" Roland and Tilly charged, grabbing long branches that had fallen. They were faster than Boswell thought. They even dodged a frivolous potshot he conjured with a quirk of his brow. The two were right on top of him, the sticks raised high. Boswell effortlessly raised a hand. The sticks were stopped dead in their swing, slipping right out of their grip. They were baffled by the full swing of air that connected with Boswell, turning in dismay to their floating weapons. Boswell turned his wrist. The stick came around, batting them across the face, knocking them half conscious to the ground.
"DAD! TILLY!" Lydia couldn't take it anymore! A blue flame roared from her body, burning the sticky paper apart from her. She starting to get back on her feet when she saw Boswell turning himself halfway back. He hovered his hands apart from each other. A spiny silver crystal formed into the center. Within the center was a siwlring blue orb radiating with sparks.
"Time to say goodbye, Princess!" Boswell raised his hand. Sofia couldn't scream. She was frozen with terror. Lydia...help me...PLEASE! She begged, tears forming in her eyes.
"Sofia...SOFIA!" Lydia was beside herself with fear. She broke into a run. Everything was happening in slow motion. Boswell's incoming attack, Sofia cowering in a feeble defense, Lydia racing to save her. The blood rushed to their ears. The drumming of their hearts pounding, sounding similar to the ticking hands of a clock. No...no! Get to her...save her! Lydias heart pleaded. Nothing can happen to her. She has to save her! Her tear dripped to her brooch. As if sensing her desperation, the brooch started to glow. Lydia, in her craze, didn't know why it was glowing, or think twice about what it could mean. She just prayed...prayed it would help. She tore her brooch from her chest. It glowed brilliantly in her palm. Sofia...SOFIA!She screamed pleadingly in her mind. No bad happen...LET NO BAD HAPPEN! She threw the brooch. Boswell brought the spiny down. The Amulet radiated with power. The brooch was caught in the impact. An explosion caused a riptide of earth and smoke to erupt outward. A ring of trees, brush, and dirt was flattened out. Those ensnared by Boswell were nearly ripped from place, but were held firm. Those hiding in the bushes managed to dive behind the trees, bracing themselves to one another. Lydia was sent flying, her back striking a caving tree. A dome of thick dust erupted higher than the trees.
There was heavy coughing throughout the picnic area. Twigs and grass got in a few mouths. Knuckles rubbed fiercely at the dirt in their eyes. Some were a little more bothered that their clothes were dirty. But, in hindsight, the most important thing was that everyone seemed to be alright. There was even a little test issued by Cecily. "Sound off! Who's not dead?" She got a unanimous groan from everyone. Though they're all pretty sure they'll have to live in their bathtubs for the next week if they wanted to get clean. Concern for themselves quickly shifted when they remembered Boswell's attack on Sofia and her family. And everyone else trapped near the blast.
When the dust started to clear...Cedric, Lucinda, Merryweather, and Adelea seemed fine. Just a little dusty. Nothing they won't shake off. Sofia was fine too. Not a scratch on her, thank goodness. The brooch and her Amulet dropped into her lap. Did they protect her? They truly are amazing items. "Ugh…" Came a wheeze. Sofia then noticed...someone was standing over her. No...they were hugging onto her. Their clothing torn to tatters...and the skin beneath peeling with blisters. Sofia slowly craned her head back. A horrified shriek escaped her tiny throat.
There...towering over her, smoke coming from her trembling figure...her arms wrapped eternally strong to the young Princess...was Miranda. "M...Mom?!" Everyone, including Boswell, were rooted in silence. When? When did she get there? Where did she come from? No one saw her move! She was all the way over there a second ago! WHY IS SHE THERE?! And how is she...standing? "Mom…" Sofia touched her smoking cheek. Miranda released a shaky breath. She shakily raised her head. Sofia gasped in horror. The vibrancy that usually illuminated in Miranda's eyes...faded to nothing. "MOM!"
Miranda moaned lifelessly, her voice nothing more than pained squeaks. Her hand limply rose to Sofia's soft cheek. The intoxicating warmth of it filling her slowing heart with such joy. "Sofia...I...made it…" On that breath she collapsed beside Sofia, a shallow breath falling from her mouth. 10 seconds passed...20...30...a full minute. All just stare on in silence, minds racing in the hope she would rise, hands cupped to mouths to keep from crying out. But...nothing. Miranda wasn't moving.
"Mom? MOM?!" Sofia shook Miranda. "Mom, please, tell me you can hear me!" Roland started to stir from his daze. He massaged where the stick hit him. He was going to be feeling that in the morning. As the haze was clearing, he noticed it was unusually quiet. Did the battle end when he was unconscious? "MOM, PLEASE!" He then heard Sofia cry.
Tilly shook her brother by the shoulder. He saw the horrified look on her face and followed it. His heart break into thousands of pieces. "MIRANDA!" He forgot about the pain in his head and stormed over to her. He shoved Boswell aside, dropping to his knees and scooping Miranda into his arms. He brushed her hair from her sunken face. He brought his ear to her mouth. She was barely breathing. "No...MIRANDA! HOLD ON!" He lied her flat, placed both hands to her chest and began resuscitating her. "C'mon! C'mon! Miranda, hang in there!"
"MOM!"
"MOM, PLEASE...WAKE UP!" Amber and James begged her, pounding at their bubble. Heads were...starting to lower. Hats removed and put to their chests. Was this...the tragic end of Enchancia's Queen?
In spite of how weak she was feeling...Lydia was standing...her whole body stiff as a board. The color was gone from her cheeks, her eyes glossed in overwhelming horror. "No...please no…" She rasped in a strained whisper. This can't be happening...it wasn't happening. It's some cruel joke. "Mom...MOM!" Was she screaming? She is screaming right? Her mom isn't moving...she has to scream. Cry? Sniffle? SOMETHING! Why?! Why isn't she calling out to her? Mom...come on...get up! She begged mentally. Her legs were moving on their own. Get up, Mom. You're okay...right? Miranda has to be alright. She's her mom, after all. She's survived it all. This...this can't be...how she leaves. No...she...she isn't...she can't...leave Lydia. "GRR!" The pain was back. Thump-thump...thump-thump! Thump-thump-thump-thump! Faster...and faster...and faster...her chest was pounding. Everything within her was running on 20 cylinders. And she can't stop it. "This shouldn't have happened...I should have...I could have protected her...all of them!" She clawed at her head, staggering about rampantly. Attention split between her and Miranda. Those that saw Lydia were in fear she was having some sort of mental break. "Mom...Mommy...wake up...MOMMY!" She was screaming now. Her voice was breaking. Miranda didn't stir an inch. "No...no…" She smashed her hands to her face. She's gone...her mom is gone. And...it was...all...HIS FAULT! Her eyes flared open with silver flames coming from the corners. "You…" She snarled with murderous hunger. He regarded her impassively for a second, then grimace at the flaring silver aura wafting from her."You'll pay for this!" She declared in a demonic tone. "In the worst way imaginable...YOU-WILL-PAY!"
Soul crafted chains broke link by link, rusting away in an instant. 'AT LAST!' Dia howled triumphantly. The chains restrained her were broken.
Lydia tried in vain to contain the rage pouring inside of her. Sparks popped in the aura, pulses shooting from her boots and tensing shoulders. In the end, it all came gushing out in a tidal wave. Lydia took in a deep breath, her eyes vanishing into solid silver, "HAAAAAAAAH…!" She wailed, waves of uncapped magic exploding out of her. She lurched forward, doubling over in pain beyond her body's measure. Her feet slowly left the ground. He ties to the earth severed as her own world was just destroyed. "Mom...mom...mom...mom…" Her mom is gone...her mom is...is...She threw her head back and howled to the moon, "AAAAHHHHH-HHAAAAAHHHH…!" Violent shockwaves launched everywhere, cleaving the tops of trees, tearing the land asunder with gashes, and narrowly missing the heads of everyone around. Lightning shot out for the sky, torrents of wind threatening to topple to the land. The insurmountable energy ripped the seams in her fine robes. Slits climbed horizontally up her tights and the bell sleeves. Tears in her own skin were spilling with glowing silver liquid, only to heal themselves on the spot. The ones that came from beneath her eyes lingered, like they were scarred tears. Traces of her chestnut hair petrified to white, the locks growing past her shoulders. Boswell cast a force field around him, repelling parts of the blasts. His shield cracked like brittle glass and he was knocked to the ground. Amber and James, though seeming to be safe in their bubble, dreaded this moment. Here she comes, they both thought. Roland guarded Tilly and Sofia, refusing to let the beast emerging anywhere near them. Merryweather and Adelea braced themselves for what was to come. Miles and Baileywick urged everyone to stay as far back as possible. This won't be pretty. Cedric, one of the only ones from the castle who hadn't seen this sort of loss of control from Lydia could only look on in utter awe. Lucinda just lied their confused...and scared for her life.
Gradually...as her breath was running out...Lydia's screaming came to a silence halt. Her rampant magic quieted down as well. Her feet drifted back to solid ground. Her knees buckled into one another, but she was able to stand. Her upper body was slumped forward, her shoulder bobbing with her heavy breathing. Her newly elongated hair was drapping messily. "Ha...ha...ugh...woo…" She steadied herself, feeling a little dizzy. "That's...ooh...that's better…" She ran her fingers through her new hair, smoothing it from her face. She fixed her posture, adjusting her torn robes. She'd snap her fingers to fix those up...but they had a little charm the way they are. "Now then, where was I?" She was talking to herself like nothing happened. That ringing in everyone's ears sure didn't go away. They were all wondering if Lydia was alright. She's acting like she is. When she opened her eyes though, it frightened everyone by the pristine silver in them. She locked those silver orbs to a now fully trembling Boswell. A depraved grin split her lips. "Oh yes." An ethereal hand launched from her thrusting arm. Talons latched to Boswell, crushing his limbs to his sides. He was lifted from the ground. Extra fingers grew, wrapping to his neck. "I was going to choke the life out you!" She cackled with two voices. Boswell's head was swelling with pressure. His face was turning blue, then purple, and his eyes popping out of his head. He tried in vein to free his limbs to fight, to pry those finger from his throat for sweet air. It only made Dia tighten her grip.
"LYDIA, STOP!" Adelea screamed. "YOU'RE KILLING HIM!" Lydia laughed at her plight. That was the point.
"STOP THIS AT ONCE, LYDIA!" Merryweather ordered her.
"If you kill him you won't be any better than he is!" Lucinda implored her. Dia was only laughing, crushing Boswell more. Cedric...Cedric just sat there in total disbelief. She won't kill him...will she? That's not her! "Lydia, please, put him down!"
"I will…" She crooned, narrowing her eyes to the fading man. "Once I'm sure he's breathed his last." She licked her lips ravenously.
xxx
"SHE CAN'T BE SERIOUS!" Leena shrieked. Mrs. Henshaw cover Jade and Ruby's eyes.
"She won't kill another human being!" Astrid firmly declared. No way the girl she knows would kill someone.
Doubts as to whether or not Lydia would really take a life were spreading. When they look at her, see how she's almost enjoying herself...and how she's talking...a handful of them couldn't help but wonder what the REAL LYDIA was capable of. Then there are those like Astrid who believed in Lydia. They know her too well. She's kind, honest, decent, not vengeful in the least. She would never take someone's life. She can't.
xxx
Dia cackled darkly again, summoning another palm to crush Boswell. In spite of his lung being deprived of air he was able to howl in agony. His face was changing several different colors. He desperately drew on the Ix Box's power, only for it to snuff itself at. "This here, Boswell, is what TRUE POWER LOOKS LIKE! The might of an Inheritor is not something someone like you can overpower!" She was practically drooling watching him suffer. "The more we fight, the stronger our opponent, the more it draws on our murderous impulses! So, you see, idiots like you, Lezard, Birk, and Nettle do me a favor when you try to kill me!" Try being the operative word. They all failed miserably. Two of them escaped with not even a scratch. The last one nearly met his end...but got a momentary reprieve. Boswell will not be so lucky this time. "My resolve to crush you insects became ever solidified all the more!" She flew into a manic laugh, crushing Boswell even more. He couldn't take it anymore...and finally went limp in her hands, causing a mass outcry of horror. The adults covered all the kids' eyes, turning them away. Outrage, disgust, and outright fear spread like the plague throughout the field. She...she really killed someone. "And that is how you take care of that." She dropped Boswell like a doll whose strings had been cut. His hat finally fell from his bald scalp, as did that menacing box. Dia smiled darkly, putting her foot to the box. She focused a piece of her power to her foot and stomped down. The box was riddled with cracks, and then shattered under her foot. She ground those pieces into smaller pieces. The trapped magic inside flew around in a frenzy, as did residual energies Boswell stole. In one felled swoop the magic returned to their proper owners, bringing each and every one of them out of their comas. The spells Boswell cast unto the others - The pets, the guards, the knights, Cedric, Merryweather, Sofia, Amber, James, Lucinda, and Adelea - withered away on the spot. Without Boswell and the box, the spells couldn't hold themselves. It was starting to feel like a happy ending...until they all remembered Boswell's lifeless body on the grass. Dia walked over to him, stomping her foot to his cheek. "Honestly, I don't know why she showed you mercy. She should have let me kill you from the start!"
"Urgh…" Dia froze in place, her eyes wide. The shock was shared. No one could believe it. Boswell...just groaned...he's still alive!
"Hmph! How annoying!" She hissed. Seems like she can't do anything right. "Oh well, I can rectify that easily enough!" She marshalled a flaring ball to her open palm.
"STAND DOWN! THAT IS AN ORDER...DIA!" Dia closed her palm with a snap! Her brow furrowed. There's only one person stupid enough to try and order her around. Standing across from her, in a pitiful guard before his loved ones, was none other than King Roland himself. Who was he kidding with that forced bolstering of his figure? Dia can see he was shaking. He's way out of his league. Though, she has to admit, it's adorable how he's trying to look tough in front of his peers.
"Why such a hateful look, Rolly?" She spread her lips, licking her fangs with a malicious desire. "Didn't you miss me?!"
To be continued.
Sucky ending, but I needed to wrap this up. It was getting on my nerves. Really hating how this is turning out. But my end result will at least be how I want it. And the next chapter will be the end of this sad birthday. I got Wassailia to get to!