Rise of the Champions - Chapter Twenty-Six
Author: Milady Dragon
There were only a couple of times in life that Phil felt completely and utterly free.
One of those times was when he was with Clint, either sheathed within his willing body, or his lover buried deep within him, their emotions spiraling up toward climax. It felt like flying when they shared that connection, and if Phil had ever had any doubts about being with Clint forever, they were lost as their pleasure mingled into one, ringing, affirmation of their love and devotion to one another.
Making love to, and being made love to, was as close to either of the Heavens Phil knew he'd ever get.
Another of those times was when he was deep within his magic.
The Void sang to him now. It used to be silent and, up until his second death when Hydra had put that Vibranium chain around his neck, Phil had honestly believed that he'd been cast out by the Void for his crimes. Now, he knew the truth: that the Void had brought him back, and had deliberately obscured his memory of it in order to protect him until he was ready to know what really had happened.
He was Void Champion.
Phil was finally beginning to believe that this wasn't a punishment. That the near-immortal life he had stretching before him wasn't the Void passing judgement on his time as the Dark One. It was acceptance by the very magic that was part of him, so much so that he would live forever. The Void wanted him as its own, and the Wizard had no choice but to accede to its wishes and be what it wanted him to be. And he accepted that the Void saw something within him that he never had.
He was now more Void than human. He wondered if this was how Ianto felt, being so closely bound to the Deep Ways as his friend was.
The Perception filter that Ianto had provided may have hidden Steve from casual sight, but not to Phil. There was still lingering Void within the Knight from his time within it, locked into the very fibers of his body, unable to be tugged free without causing critical damage to the man. The Wizard hadn't realized it at the time he'd removed what he could, when Steve had been in his coma; however, now he did, and it scared him that he could very well have killed the former Paladin under the guise of attempting to heal him, completely by accident.
The Void had known, though. It hadn't let him take everything.
That taint was very visible to him. Phil knew that Crystal sensed it as well, which boded well as to her level of magical ability. Other Voids, depending on their own natural connections to the Void itself, would have been aware of it as well. It marked Steve as someone with the Void's favor, because that was what it was…the Void's protection had extended beyond itself, and even Phil didn't know what that protection would entail.
He was looking forward to finding out.
The Void practically permeated James Barnes. Much of it was that unhealthy sort that had come from Pierce's twisted Void Point, and the Void that had been there before Pierce had been contaminated by it as well. Phil knew he was going to have to remove that, taking it within himself in order for it to heal itself within the Void he held inside himself. Even now, standing beside Ianto as his Cardinal counterpart worked his own magic – bright, brilliant, and warm, like the sun – attempting to pick apart the Berserker curse that had been placed upon the Winter Knight, and more specifically the arm that had been forcibly been attached to the poor man, he could feel that sick magic curling and twisting away, making Ianto's job even harder than it needed to be.
Phil put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, breaking his concentration. "Let me," he murmured.
Ianto understood immediately what Phil wanted, and stepped back and out of the way. Phil glanced down into James' eyes, light and dark at the same time, and explained, "I'm going to have to remove the Void powering those curses before Ianto can go any further with his own work." He grimaced. "It may be…uncomfortable."
"Do it," James ordered. "Anything you need to do to get these curses off me."
Phil nodded. He moved up to the very edge of the Containment pod's magical field, knowing he could pass through it easily if needed and yet it would still hold James in his chair. He let himself see, how the Void mixed with the spells that had been laid upon the poor man, knowing that, as good as Ianto was at working with curses, he would have a more difficult time – or even fail, in some circumstances – if Phil himself didn't step in at this point.
"What do you see?" his friend asked softly.
"You won't be able to remove the geas on the arm if I don't pull some of Pierce's spell work out first," he answered.
Ianto understood at once. "He used the tainted Void Point."
Phil nodded. "It will fight you if you try to break it, as well as the Obedience and Bloodlust curses. It's even entangled a bit with everything else. It won't come willingly, and you'll only end up hurting James too badly if you try. I don't think he'll survive the process."
"I thought that might be the case."
As had Phil, although not to the extent it had turned out to be. He hadn't really realized just how bad it was until Ianto had started to pick apart the threads of the Berserker curse. That tainted Void had begun twisting and roiling, reacting to Ianto's Cardinal presence, and it hadn't been about to accede to the Cardinal Wizard's will in the matter, no matter how powerful his friend was, or as adept at removing curses.
"I could feel it," his friend went on. "It's…slick, like oil, and I've never felt Void like that before in any of the previous spells I've managed to unpick."
"You would have succeeded if not for that." Phil was positive of it. He'd seen the evidence with Andrew, and the curse he'd fallen under, and then the end result when Ianto had finished ridding him of it. His friend was powerful, and the gift for curse breaking was too much for any sort of usual curse he might run into.
But this was something completely different. Phil had to wonder if Pierce had done it on purpose, knowing just how strong Ianto was and not wanting to take the chance of the Winter Knight falling into the Cardinal Wizard's hands. That seemed a perfectly reasonable assumption to make, given how ruthless Pierce had ended up being. And how paranoid.
James was looking up at him, and Phil was shaken by the trust he saw within that sharp gaze. He gave the man a single nod, then extended his hand, calling the Void to him much as he had before, with Steve and then with Garrett.
The trick here was not to kill James by removing it all. He was like Steve in that respect; there was always going to be something of the Void within him, a reminder that he'd once been cursed. However, Phil would take what he could safely.
James' body arced upward in the chair, as if following the twisting lines of Void that began to pull out and toward Phil's hand. The Wizard almost wanted to flinch away, because Ianto had described it perfectly: oily, not at all like the Void in its true form, and cold as ice. In his magical sight, he watched as it began to writhe against his call, James gasping under what had become a battle between Phil and Pierce's warped spells.
Phil wanted to stop, but he didn't dare. James needed to be freed, and it was never going to be a pleasant experience for the poor man. But this…this, Phil should have foreseen; he'd done the scan on the arm when James had been brought in. He'd seen the spells that had been used to put him under Hydra's thrall, had known that Pierce would have relied on the Void Point in Hydra's mansion to bring them under his own control, and yet it hadn't been apparent until Ianto had begun the process of pulling the curses apart that this wasn't the usual sort of Void that Phil was used to dealing with.
He tugged a little harder, the Void actually fighting his summons. James was struggling as well, but the Containment pod was keeping him firmly in his chair, preventing him from reaching out and stopping the Wizard from doing what needed to be done.
Gritting his teeth, Phil reached out, grasping the tendrils of Void that had so far left James' body, their sliminess making his skin crawl. He was going to have to take that within himself, and it was going to make him ill before he could expel it; it would take opening a new Void Point in order to do that, and he was seriously doubting he would have the strength to after he was done, as there was no way it could stay within him as he'd originally thought. Still, he wasn't about to stop, so he yanked as hard has he could, practically tearing that tainted Void out of the poor man who'd been cursed with its presence for so long.
James screamed in agony.
So did Phil, only his was a scream of defiance.
He was in a fight for this man's life, and soul. Phil called the Void to him, and it fought him in a way he'd never experienced before. The Void usually came to him joyfully, rushing to his call. This wasn't right, and it needed to be dealt with, now.
Phil called upon the Void, the magic within him, and bent his will toward ridding James of the taint, using every bit his mental and magical strength to wrestle it out of the writhing man in the chair.
It finally came free, James slumping backward, his head lolling as his chest heaved, like he'd gone without breathing forever.
The tainted Void twisted about Phil's fingers, angry and roiling and wanting to hurt him for prying it out of its vessel.
He didn't want to do this part, but he didn't have a choice. He couldn't leave the Void to its own devices; it would try to inhabit someone else, most likely Steve since he already had a bit of itself within him. Phil couldn't take that chance, and so he drew the sickness within himself.
He gagged at the horror of it, falling to his knees without feeling the impact against the stone of the floor. In the end there hadn't been a lot of it within James, but it was enough to make Phil violently ill as it clashed with the clean Void that filled his blood and bone. Gods, he wanted to expel it from himself but he couldn't. It would only do more damage if set free.
He wasn't about to let that happen.
And so, he fought.
Somewhere beyond the roaring in his ears, and the silent voice of the bad Void in his head, he could hear his name being screamed at him, and the thought it might have been Daisy. "Stay back!" he shouted, needing everyone to keep clear as he battled the Void into submission. This was a fight he needed to win, and being distracted would only make him lose the fight.
The pain was terrible. Phil knew he could handle it; he'd dealt with much worse. He'd had to, back during his days as the Dark One, even though that pain had been more emotional than physical. Still, emotions would also cause bodily pain, and it was something he'd been used to for years. His mind and his magic fought the tainted Void, needing to bring it to heel until he could discharge it.
Then, he seemed to gain some strength from somewhere outside himself. He didn't question it, grabbing on with mental hands as he pushed the sick Void down into himself, his own magic containing it close to the source of his connection to the Void, where it would remain until he could regain the strength needed to open a Void Point and send it back home.
Phil had no idea how much time had passed, but when he came back to himself he was still on the floor, his head pillowed in someone's lap. Blinking, he gazed up into Clint's worried eyes, Lucky beside him, and with his magic still wide open he thought he could see miniscule flecks of Void in those beloved multi-colored irises.
But that was impossible. Clint wasn't a Wizard. The Void wouldn't be within him.
"Welcome back," Clint whispered, leaning over and pressing a kiss to Phil's cheek. "You had us worried."
Phil's eyes darted around, making out Daisy kneeling beside him, not touching but obvious that she really wanted to. "Don't ever do that again, Dad," she scolded him, fear choking the words.
She was so very beautiful.
The Deep Ways glowed within her, like she was a star fallen from the sky and walking about in the world. This was the child he'd discovered completely by accident, and had raised to be a wonderful young woman who was willing to take on the world if it meant defending him from anyone who would want to hurt him. That need had grown to include the family she now had around her, and oh, Phil was so very proud of her.
He blinked again, his magical vision transferring back to normal, the room dark now that he'd hidden Daisy's magical presence away from his sight. She was scared, so he held out a hand to her; she grasped it, the familiar tingle of the Deep Ways pleasant against his skin and grounding him in ways he could never have explained.
Lola's familiar worried cooing had him glancing down at his dragon, where she was cuddled up against his side. Her scales looked a little pale, but that wasn't surprising; she was as much a part of him as he was of her, and his pain and struggle would have communicated itself through their link. He reached down with his free hand and stroked along her jaw, and she nuzzled his palm, licking him lightly in relief.
Stephen and Ianto were hovering, both looking very concerned. "How is James?" Phil asked struggling to rise. His brain felt like it was sloshing around inside his skull, which was really unpleasant, but he could deal with it.
Ianto gave him a slight smile. "You should ask him yourself."
He held out an arm; Stephen gave him a look that was obviously letting him know that he thought Phil was insane upon insisting on standing, but he reached down and clasped the offered hand and helped him to his feet. Stephen's magic buzzed against his own, grounding Phil just a little bit more than he already was.
He swayed a little, and it was only Clint's arm around his waist that kept him from hitting the floor once more. Lola was a warm, solid length along his opposite side, and Phil sighed, accepting their aid. "I think I might need a chair."
Ianto had already pulled one up for him. Phil accepted gratefully, sinking down onto the cushion, Lola's head on his knee. His gaze moved toward James in his own chair, needing to check on him and hope that the struggle hadn't taken as much out of him as it had Phil himself.
He could see immediately that what he'd just put himself through had made a difference in the man. James' posture was lighter, more relaxed, and he smiled worriedly at Phil. "You didn't have to do that." He was pale, and wan, but his eyes were a lot less shadowed than they had been, the weight of the tainted Void gone.
"Yes, I did." Phil wondered just what sort of personal strength it had taken Steve to stay in his position by the wall. What had just occurred must have been traumatic. Seeing his friend in agony…Phil wasn't sure he could have stayed away.
The expression on James' face…in that moment, the Wizard knew he'd just gained James Barnes' undying loyalty. That his act of taking the magic into himself has cemented for James that there would be people who cared for him, no matter what his past was.
That Phil could even compare his rampage with James' own as the Winter Knight wasn't something he was ready to discuss. If he ever would be.
"Clint and Daisy should take you home –" Ianto began.
"I'll be fine." It was almost a lie; Phil already felt a little better, but the sooner he got rid of the sick Void the better it would be. It was contained, but he knew it was there, and there would be no way he could ignore it, sitting like a lump of black ice against his soul.
Ianto raised a questioning eyebrow at him.
It was all Phil could do not to roll his eyes, knowing it would make his headache worse. "I'll be fine to at least monitor. I might not be up to much else, but I'm not leaving yet. We need to get at least to that geas before stopping. You need me to be here, Ianto."
"Phil…" It was Stephen this time, concern in his dark eyes.
"The longer we argue about this, the longer it will take," Phil pointed out. If he was being honest, he really did want to go home, but he couldn't. Not yet. He needed to see this through, to free James from what Hydra had done to him, to give him his life back. "I won't do anything unless you need me to, but I need to be here for this."
Ianto looked torn, but he nodded. "Just monitor, and give me direction when you see something that I've missed. I'll have your word, Phil."
"I'll give it." It was easy for him to do. Phil doubted he could even dredge up enough strength to put anyone to sleep, let alone advanced curse removing.
"We will be talking about this," Clint whispered in his ear, the threat in his tone nearly buried under worry.
Phil reached up and took his hand. He smiled tiredly. "I understand." He did. Clint must have been scared at what he'd seen happening, even without the benefit of magic of his own.
Daisy had, though, and her eyes were narrowed at him, as if she was trying to assess for herself his physical condition. She didn't say anything, however, knowing that he was a stubborn bastard and wouldn't budge unless they carried him out. She understood that he needed to see this through, because she did as well. They were in this together, wanting to help James regain at least a little bit of himself that Hydra had taken away.
"Are you sure?" James inquired. "I'd understand after all of that if you wanted to go and rest. I can go back into the cabinet –"
"No." Phil was adamant. That was the last thing he wanted for James to have to do. "We can get the majority taken care of today, and you can sleep in a real bed tonight."
"Agreed," Ianto said firmly. "Let's get back to work, shall we?"
He moved back toward James and, this time, when Phil watched the Cardinal Wizard work, he could tell they were going to be successful with removing the arm and the curses.
It was going to work. It had to.