Before we begin, a special thank you to all the people who reached out in July asking if I was alright and in general offering their ongoing private support. You know who you are and I thank you for it.
"Rosebud!" Mard screamed as his mate crumpled over, almost into her own sick. He caught her and cradled her shaking form to his chest as he ran over to where Belial was.
"Lay her down," the demoness said as her eyes began to glow, and small sparks of her demonic power danced along her pale fingertips.
Mard laid Rosebud into the soft grass, little white and blue flowers grazing along her skin. Her face was frozen in a moment of pain, brows tight together and upper lip slightly lifted. He took her hand and tried to give the Prince some space to do her examination. His heart pounded in his chest and the roar of his own blood thundered in his ears. His whole world started spinning out of control as he swallowed and fought against the tears building at the corners of his eyes.
"When did she last eat?" Belial asked.
"A-about an hour ago," Mard said, barely getting the words out.
Belial sat upon her heels and gently pressed her hand over Rosebud's damp forehead. She let out a breath as his precious mate's features softened and her body relaxed. Rosebud looked asleep and Mard kissed her hand as he glanced up at a relieved Prince.
"Well, if the cultists have eaten, they are going to have a nasty stomach ache. It is a side effect we did not know about. Otherwise, your little angel is just fine."
He shot her a hard look, "how could you have not known? You did live tests."
Belial snorted as she took off her glasses and cleaned them, "on not enough people and we did not consider something like their feeding time. We were mostly trying to figure out if they would live, as per your orders, not if they would be uncomfortable." Her voice was deep and dark accented in her own tiredness.
He knew she was right; their testing pool had been small and time frame even smaller. Though for all that is unholy did Rosebud have to be the one person to fall ill to an unfortunate side effect.
"She will be alright then?" he asked, still holding Rosebud's hand and placing small kisses to her knuckles.
"Her vitals are good, and the injection does not seem to be causing other organ or system difficulties. I figure she will wake up in about an hour, give or take. Though she will most likely be nauseous for a while, ginger ale can help with some of that."
"We have to handle the cultists and," he looked up at the sky and saw the barest shadow of the moon start to infringe on the bright sun, "now."
"Hey boss," Silver said and Mard looked over at all his demons standing around. They had various degrees of concern etched into their faces as they looked down at the scene. The fleeting thoughts he captured, were not worry for him but for her and he considered that a small victory in her ability to win people over.
"I cannot leave her," he said and then looked down into her sleeping face. Mard knew she'd kill him or deny him sex for a week, if this mission failed. Yet, she would also likely to be upset if she woke up, feeling unwell and he was not beside her. Mard was in a conundrum, his duty to protect his future Queen's people or his duty to his mate.
Silver knelt, careful to not touch the Prince who was adjusting her glasses and pursing her lips. The undead human took Rosebud's hand in his own and smiled. "Look, I don't know her that well but here's what I think."
Mard arched a brow and Silver simply continued, "she'll forgive you for not being here when she wakes but she sure as Hell," he grinned at Belial, "pun not intended. Will not forgive you if we fail. We need you on this one boss and besides," he looked back over his shoulder and shrugged, "you're the fastest and most powerful of us. We can get this done in half the time with twice the success with you out there."
"The old man is not wrong, Mard," Jackal added, "besides, what about one of her spirits or maybe the Prince can stay here?"
Belial shook her head, "I need to get back and check on my own mate. Remember he went over the amount of blood a human can give to make the amount we have. He is not in complete danger, but there is always…" her voice trailed off and Mard could see the small frown pulling the corners of her red lips down. Now that he looked at her, he could see a bit of shadowing under her eyes and her skin was a bit more pale than normal. The Prince had worked herself to exhaustion and dealt with mating, all to give them this chance.
As he opened his mouth to speak the ground started to rumble and everyone froze. The wind blew and upon its wildflower fragrant gust it carried that awkward melody. "They started," he said as he stood up, letting go of her hand.
All the demons looked over in the direction of the camp they had scouted, and he could barely make out the horizon line growing darker. He looked up and the sun was almost a quarter covered with the moon. The wind took on a shift of cold and he set his jaw as his eyes narrowed.
All the demons had the same thought, they were hastening the eclipse and soon the portal would open.
"Demons of Tartaros," he said, pulling into his royal voice, "the decision is made. We shall go and defeat these infected humans. Inoculate them, whenever possible and if not, a quick and merciful death will be excused. Belial, tend to your mate but I ask that you leave one medical demon, that you trust to watch over Rosebud."
Belial stood up and motioned over Larry, the pestilence snake demon nodded as she gave him orders. She looked over her shoulder, "he knows the most about human physiology and his bedside manner is pretty good with demonlings."
"Thank you, Larry," Mard said with a slight bow before he nodded to his demons and they began to move.
They ran, flew, and jumped the five miles towards the ritual area. The chanting was growing in the strength as the area grew darker. A general malaise settled over Mard's shoulders and he could see in his peripherals a couple of his demons shiver. The moon was trying to out race them and as they came over the hill the demons paused to take in the scene.
At the base of the mountain was a large green flame bonfire and the cultists all in black robes on their knees chittering in unison. Above the tall flame he could see the first crack of reality, a black line that was pulsing in a strange ethereal sort of energy. Slowly the death and decay of the ground was spreading out from the center.
"This is not good," Jackal said and Mard agreed.
"We do not have ti…" his words were cut off as the rip in reality started to widen and the earth violently shook under their feet. Tempester almost fell over and was quickly righted by Keyes, as Kyôka held up Seilah. Mard jumped to the side as a fissure formed, sending up a spray of dirt and trapped gasses under the surface.
Into battle! He mentally commanded, pulling two of the syringes from the belt across his chest and moving towards the circle.
They demons moved after him, each headed towards their planned places. They planned this to act as a clock, with Mard taking the high noon position, because it was furthest away. The idea would be to work from the outside and towards the middle, trying to corral the people within their designated slot of time.
Mard summoned his Curse power, his vines raising from the ground to grapple the cultists into place. As he jumped over them, he started firing off the syringes, concentrating on not missing a single one of them. He landed in the chaos and moved efficiently through the startled people.
The chittering continued, becoming louder and more violent sounding. Even while trying to fight him, they did not stop their grotesque calls to the Plane of Madness. As one came at him, it's black hood fell back and Mard blinked for a second.
It was barely human; eyes were melted out of its sockets with strange red worms squirming in the place. Lips were black and cracked as a black ichor ran down the corner of its mouth. The worst part was its skin, no longer a human color it was a soft teal with black veins pulsing along the neck. This was much worse than what he had seen in the Underworld.
The transformation not quite like this and as the cultist charge him, Mard flicked a syringe at it. Its hand shot out, knocking it to the ground and Mard cursed under his breath as he summoned more vines from the ground to grab it. This once human was stronger and faster than any other human or mage Mard had ever known.
It pulled against the vines, the chittering turning into a wail that almost sent Mard to his knees in agony. Hands were upon him as he felt the infected try to pull him to the ground, their power, stench, and sickness trying to bury him alive.
Or drag him into their madness.
Mard lashed out, punching, dodging and kicking whatever he could and holding back for fear of killing them. All would be lost if he miscalculated and turned into a cat again. These fiends would probably eat him or worse, infect him.
He managed to hit another one with a syringe, watching it fall to the ground in a boneless heap of black shadowy cloth. Another he merely dodged in time to avoid its punch, feeling the small gust of wind from the high-speed movement. He spun around and reached for a syringe in the chest strap. He held the needle side out and in a short movement, stabbed it in the stomach. It fell and as it did he felt his ponytail yanked and his head forced back to an uncomfortable angle.
The sky darkened even more as he was jumped upon and sent into the dead ground.
Everything was moving too fast as Mard fought against the several things that grabbed at him. He tried to not scream as those worms tumbled onto his cheek. As he tried to look around and get some leverage to shake these ghoulish things off him, across the ground a ball of black ooze raced for him.
His eyes widened as he summoned whatever he could for power and despite all the pain he was feeling his mind focused on one thing.
Rosebud.
She believed in him. She gave him a chance he most likely did not deserve. She was his entire life and future, the better part of his very being. He could not fail this, she believed in him.
His body hurt as he transformed and suddenly, he launched himself into the sky, knocking loose all the cultists on him. Even as they fell ten feet, they did not stop their chittering. Even as he heard bones break from the impact, the mindlessly infected had the will to continue.
The black shard had widened, and the moon almost completely eclipsed the sun, but there were too many of them. Not enough of them were silenced and from the air he could see his demons fighting back. Each of them caught between a moment of defeat and victory.
He noted the fire, it was a beacon and if he could extinguish that? Mard didn't have time to think it through as he speared for the unnatural fire. This was going to hurt but the pain would less than if they failed.
Judging by the shadowy tentacles that were flailing through the rip, he had perhaps ten seconds. Mard closed his eyes and mentally told Rosebud he loved her one last time as he dove towards the blue-green ethereal flames.
Lucy woke up with a jolt, her body tingling all over and she could feel a wave of adrenaline flood her system. She blinked several times and noticed that the sky was darker than she last remembered. Putting her hand over her eyes she saw the accelerated moon move to eclipse the sun at an unnatural speed.
The world spun a little and whatever was left in her stomach had threatened to come up, but she managed to hold it down with a hard swallow. Lucy stood up and could feel Mard in her mind, his thoughts riding the edge of rationality. She ignored the snake demon in lab coat who was getting up as if he was just freshly knocked over.
"Mard needs me," she whispered as she summoned her wings and called out for Corvus and Loke.
The spirits appeared and she said nothing as she ran before, she attempted to jump and begin to fly. Lucy wobbled in the air until Corvus's pale hand wrapped around her bicep and held her steady.
"Got you Queenie," he said as he pulled her towards him. Lucy wished away her wings as Corvus held her in his arms, cradling her against his body. His speed and flying grace better than hers and as she looked ahead, she could see the darkness racing towards them.
Something had gone very wrong and she could feel that, she pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, finally noticing a bright greenish blue glow and a black streak that split the sky.
"Princess!" Loke shouted as he jumped large expanses of wildflower studded terrain, moving with his grace to keep up with Corvus's flight.
"Mard's in trouble! We have to hurry!" She shouted as a large gust of cold wind slammed into them. Corvus teetered for a moment but continued, covering the distance at a speed that let the world blur by them. Even her faithful lion, in his polished suit, looked to be struggling to keep up as a massive fissure opened up before him.
"Fuck!" Loke screamed and then vanished, the chasm too much for him to jump.
"Loke!" Lucy called out and then cursed under her breath.
"He'll be fine, but what the hell are we gonna do?" Corvus asked as they came over the hill and the sight had him stopping in the air.
The ground was dead, the cultists out of control, their chittering was loud and something evil coated her skin. The stench was a mixture of decayed flesh and vomit, hitting her nose and making her queasy again. In the sky she saw Mard, transformed as he raced towards the unnatural magical fire. Lucy pointed at it and Corvus nodded, his wings beating into the air before they flattened against his sides, reducing air friction.
Lucy wasn't 100% certain what to do but then she remembered something Mard said to her before he left to investigate the cabin Natsu found.
If their eyes turn black, summon Mr. Kitty. His holy magic should counter any new effects.
She remembered in another conversation that he said something about creatures from the Plane of Madness not a fan of holy magic or light in general.
Holy magic. As in not just Loke's magic, but Celestial magic overall. Power that comes from the stars and Heavens, power she has deep inside of herself.
Angel of the Stars. That was who she was, and that power could be used. Lucy could drive back this darkness and the madness.
It seemed like the vaccine plan had failed, these people were lost, but others didn't have to be. Mard and his demons were fighting for their very lives and trying to not kill anyone. They were holding back to honor her and though it was sweet, somewhere inside of herself, Lucy knew this was all a risk. Now, all she could do was take the decisive action that Mard once had to take.
The needs of the many...
"Corvus put me down over…" she scanned the field for a split second and pointed towards an area that was covered in Mard's vines. It was also the least chaotic bit of movement, which wasn't saying much. "There!"
Mard! She mentally shouted, pull up, now!
Rosebud? He questioned, sounding shocked and relieved to hear her mental voice.
Now! She commanded, almost not caring how shrieking or overbearing she sounded.
As they passed by Mard, in his imposing black demon form, he banked to the side barely missing the large pyre. The sky darkened again, and the crack had started to transform, now taking on more of a circular shape of oozing dark energy. Small black creatures started filing out of it, as the fire shifted from greenish blue to an ethereal cold grey-blue. The malaise in the air was even worse and she could feel the strange mental magic poke at her head.
Corvus set her down and dismissed his wings, grabbing his battle-worn axes off his back and taking a protector's stance. Lucy clasped her hands and dropped to her knees, bowing her head and doing everything she could to block out the battle around her.
She said a quick prayer to her mother and reached deep within her own vessel, tapping into more than just her magic. She pulled upon the magic of Aurora, the star angel's soul she carried. Her nerve endings tingled as she finally connected into the last bit at the top of her magic's vessel, her most guarded and hidden of all magics.
It would not be enough, and Lucy dug deeper as she heard battle and Corvus screaming "Nevermore!" before the clank of metal. She needed something stronger, brighter, and could carry the missing pieces of herself.
She needed her other side. Her mate.
Lucy felt her connection to Mard, their powers mixed in harmony, as his Curse joined with her magic. The magical combination as natural and easy as breathing and stronger than anything Lucy felt. Her body thrummed with new power.
The sacred and the profane.
The demon and the celestial.
The King and Queen.
She could feel it as Mard knelt behind her, his hands covering hers and their powers blending. Everything around them faded into nothing as she felt them connect in body, mind and soul.
Words Lucy had never heard in her life flowed out of her and Mard in unison as her eyes opened and she watched the scene unfold. The last sliver of the sun still shone in the sky, the portal still not fully open, the creatures coming out of it and the demons roaring through the messy battles before them.
"Light and darkness, we call upon thee. Life and Death, we embrace you. Celestine and Infernal, we stand together." They said.
"From the darkness of the Underworld," Mard continued.
"From the light of the Celestial Realm." A vibrant gold and purple magic swept all around them, carrying the sound of chimes familiar to her spirits as rose petals swirled all around them. Their arms opened, as Lucy turned around on her knees to look up at Mard, his eyes a beautiful full liquid silver and staring intently into hers.
"Splinter Star!"
"Rose Petal!"
Together their hands met again as they pressed their bodies against each other, cheeks touching, "Cursed Celestial Storm!"
The magic swelled between them as Mard pulled her close and kissed her. The power jolted through Lucy's body, shaking the earth under her bare knees. The stench of death in the air was overtaken by a warm fragrance of stardust and roses. Magic and life danced along her skin as Mard deepened their kiss, drawing more passion and power out of her.
It was a cacophony of wailing for several intense seconds, as everything poured out of Lucy and Mard. Their powers combined into what felt like the most natural unison raid she had ever experienced. In this moment, Lucy finally felt as if she was worthy in power to stand beside the Underworld King.
She felt a warm peace within herself, that little circuit finally completely.
Lucy felt all his love and her love for him. Felt the last fleeting ticks of doubt about their future drain from her as their tongues glided and she held onto his shoulders.
In the middle of battle, calling upon a depth of magic she didn't know she had and in the embrace of Mard.
She finally felt at home.
Sorry for leaving you all on a cliffhanger for a month, but July just got away from me. I hope you enjoyed this story so far; it has been fun to write.
Stay safe, stay healthy.