Disclaimer: I do not own anything I could be sued for

Nagiciam stood nervously watching his master. "You know…master, I just lost my temper back there. I never wanted to fight you."

Sohac only grinned and shook his head. "That's too bad Nagiciam!" he yelled back as he walked away from him preparing for the duel. "You wanted this, and you're going to get it!"

Stopping about fifty paces away from Nagiciam, Sohac turned and stared at his pupil. "So…it comes down to this." He whispered to himself. The raising his voice, he lifted his arms and held a fighting pose. "I may be without my wand…" he yelled to Nagiciam who nervously stood gripping his wand. "But I can still defeat you! If I win, then you are no longer my pupil and you must swear never to teach what I've taught you to anyone! On top of that, you will be stripped of your magic power and sent to the Shadow Realm which we call death."

Nagiciam gulped and stared back at his teacher. "And if I win?" he squeaked.

Sohac narrowed his eyes and glared. "Then I will go to the Shadow Realm, be stripped of my powers, and appoint you, the high Spellcaster of the land."

Gasping, Citlec stared at Sohac. "Master Sohac!" Citlec cried. "You can't! If either of you lose…!"

Not moving his eyes, Sohac nodded. "Yes I know. But this is the only way. The only way left for us to do!"

Then forming a small blue orb of magic in his hands, Sohac shot it at Nagiciam at full force who stood still. "This is the only path to take now!" he cried.

"Nagiciam!" Citlec cried as the orb drew closer. "Move!"

Suddenly just before the orb hit, Nagiciam swept his hand forward, his hands glowing violet and swept the orb away and into the sky where it flew off into the distance. "Master!" He yelled. "I have to go save Ley and I won't let you, or Otes stop me!"

Sohac grinned to himself as he repositioned himself. "I've chosen a bright one…" he thought. "He can understand fear and love at the same time. Something rare among the Spellcaster clan. But he still can't see…"

Forming another orb, Sohac glared and fired it again at Nagiciam, his hands glowing blue. "You still can't see Nagiciam!" he cried. "The real pain of losing someone!"

"The real pain?" Nagiciam gasped making him stop for an instant. Unfortunately, that move was a grave mistake.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGHH!" Nagiciam cried as he blocked with his left arm as the orb hit him in full force sending him flying backwards into the ground.

Sohac sighed sadly as he stared at the small dust cloud that was rising where Nagiciam fell. "You see…" he said to himself. "The strongest magic comes from the heart. When you lose someone you love, if you can pull that magic from the heart…then you are invincible."

"NAGICIAM!" Citlec cried as he frantically searched for a sign of his friend. "Are you alright? Nagiciam!"

Meanwhile, in the dirt hole, Nagiciam stared up at the blue sky, his eyes glazed over and wide open.

"The strongest magic comes from the heart…"

"…Magic…? Ley…"

His clothes had been torn and the two parts of cloth that had been in from now gave way to the blue tunic underneath. His pants were cut all over, and his head cloth was missing letting his long purple hair flow all over the dirt. Cuts riddled his face and a trickle of blood came from his mouth. However, his left arm had been almost completely ruined.

"I can't give up…I won't give up…"

Slowly, Nagiciam struggled to a stand gripping his left arm. Then glaring up at his master who had his arms crossed, his face expressionless, Nagiciam stood wearily. "I'll never give up on Ley! Not as long as there's breath and blood left in my body! Giving up is not an option!"

Sohac only grinned. "Well then…come and get me." he said just enough for Nagiciam to hear.

Nagiciam growled and then ran for Sohac, dropping his wand before leaving. "I won't need my wand to defeat you!" he screamed as his hands shone violet again.

Quickly, Sohac blocked with his own fist, which had turned blue again and the two began close combat.

Punching and slicing with their hands, Nagiciam and Sohac blocked and struck with all their speed and strength. "You've learned well Nagiciam." Sohac grinned as he blocked another attack. "But I'm afraid your anger renders you blind! Never do anything in anger!" Striking, Sohac felt his hand graze Nagiciam's right side, in which blood followed.

Crying out and backing off, Nagiciam stumbled back, gripping his side, which was beginning to bleed more and more.

"And never take your eye off the enemy either!" Sohac cried as he sliced downward, barely giving time for Nagiciam to jump back. However, a huge slash came down on Nagiciam's chest, bleeding also.

Stumbling back more, Nagiciam gripped his chest and breathed heavily as he stared down his master who was holding up his glowing hands. "He's the toughest thing I've ever faced!" Nagiciam growled in his mind. "But I can't lose! I have to go save Ley!"

Sohac stared at Nagiciam, his arms held up. Then pulling one hand back into a fist, Sohac glared at Nagiciam. "Now…this is the hand that will end this." He said quietly. "And then there'll be no going back. Surrender now!"

"Nagiciam! Run!" Citlec cried.

"The strongest magic comes from the heart…"

Nagiciam gasped as he heard the words ringing in his head. "Ley…I won't give up…" he thought sadly. "I can't give up on you…I'll never let you down!" Then raising his hand to meet Sohac's, Nagiciam closed his eyes. "I'll never surrender!" Jumping forward first, Nagiciam swung at Sohac who barely had enough time to get away before his clothes were slashed at the chest.

"What!" he thought. "How could he have this much damage and be moving this quickly? It's impossible!"

"Master!" Nagiciam yelled as he swung again and again. "I won't lose! Not for stakes this high for me!" Dashing again and again, Nagiciam barely looked tired anymore as he fought on.

Sohac stared as he barely dodged again. "His loss of Ley…his true potential powers are showing now! He may be ever stronger than me…I just have to provoke him a bit more…"

Grinning again and dodging his attack, Sohac sneered, "Oh come now Nagiciam. Surely this can't be your level of power. This is weak. I haven't even used my full power yet! Is this Ley's savior? You don't deserve to feel the way you do about her! You're weak! You never cared for her at all did you? Or else you'd be able to tap into your full powers and obliterate me!"

"Never cared!" Nagiciam cried as he stopped for a second. "You don't understand how I feel!" As the image of her came over his head, Nagiciam felt tears begin to form and run down his face. "You…you'd never understand at all what it felt like to see her captured right in front of me and I could do nothing about it! You have NO IDEA HOW I FEEL!"

Sohac gasped as he stared at Nagiciam. "It's happening!" he gasped.

"Nagiciam…" Citlec sighed sadly as he watched his friend. "What a sad battle your fighting."

Instantly, a bright blue light fell around Nagiciam as he closed his eyes and felt energy wave over him. Then in a flash of silver light, Nagiciam opened his eyes, now glowing purple. His body radiated with light and hovered a bit in the air. Then a large ball of energy formed in front of him, as he put his hands together to fire.

"NO IDEA!"

And with that, Sohac felt himself being ripped away silently, his body being torn to shreds in the light that was his own students'. Almost in slow motion, Sohac dropped to the ground, blood and torn cloth everywhere. His eyes staring up at the sky and his arms spread, he grinned to himself although his face stayed motionless, his eyes blooming white.

"So…I guess…he found…the pain in his heart…" Sohac whispered softly. Then, as the sky faded to black, he took one more breath. "Will I see my beloved again…?"

Sadly, Nagiciam dropped to the ground, spent. "That took up…a lot of energy…" he growled as he stood up. Staring at the body of his master, Nagiciam silently walked over to it.

"I'm sorry."

Behind him, Nagiciam head the sounds of cries and gasps. As he turned to look sadly, he saw the other survivors of the court staring at him in silent horror and amazement. Even the King was there.

"How could he do this?"

"Sohac…is he really gone?"

"The high Spellcaster of the world…he's dead. Killed by his own student."

Turning to face them, Nagiciam sadly called, "I know…what you've seen here is tragic…and he was…" but he could not finish as he dropped to the ground and began to cry.

"He was…like a father."

"Nagiciam…"

Looking up slowly, Nagiciam stared up at two golden eyes of which were Yami's; Citlec behind her. "It's time." She said sadly. "Time for me to teleport you two to the castle where you will face Otes and Ley. Maybe even for the last time of your life."

Nagiciam nodded as he held out his hand to her.

"Let's go."

***

Yami grinned as a flash of light appeared and the three found themselves at the middle of a field. "Alright…we're here." She said.

"Here? Already?" Citlec asked as he looked around. "But we just got here. What's with all the supplies?"

Yami grinned as she pulled out her wire. "Cause we can't teleport back." She said simply. "No one has ever succeeded in making a wish here before. They don't know that one needs to have supplies to get back home. Sucks to be them."

Nagiciam stared around at the temple. They were surrounded by nothing but an endless plain of grass, which was up to their waits and flowing gently with the breeze. The sky was blue and calm, but no animals of any kind could be seen. "Nothing's here…" Nagiciam said out loud to himself.

"Well of course not." Yami said as a-matter-of-factly. "It has to be night."

Nagiciam nodded. "Alright then…and then what do we do?"

At this Yami turned to face them, her eyes shining evilly.

"At night is when the fun begins."

***

It was sunset and the trio had been sitting around being slightly bored. Citlec had gone off the practice with his sword and Nagiciam had been left alone with Yami and his thoughts. Already, bandages had been used up from the supplies.

"The strongest magic comes from the heart…"

As his former master's words rang over and over in his mind, Nagiciam sighed sadly. "I wonder if…he really wanted to die. Or to kill me." he thought. "I mean…I healed my wounds, but…did he really have to go to the Shadow Realm?"

"He didn't have to die."

Turning at Yami's voice, Nagiciam stared at Yami who was sitting in the ground facing sideways to him, leaning up against the supplies she had brought. "He wanted to die."

"What?"

Yami nodded, but didn't turn to face him. "He wanted to die. I heard his thoughts right before he was struck down. He wanted you to kill him Nagiciam, because he knew that you were stronger than he was. You had the stronger heart…and the most pain. That's why he wanted to die."

Nagiciam sighed sadly as he folded his legs up to his chest. "Is that the only reason why he wanted to die?" he asked Yami as he turned himself away and to the side of her. "I found my true potential as the high Spellcaster in the land. But was it really worth the title? Why did Sohac have to challenge me and why did I accept!"

Angrily, Nagiciam slammed his fist down into the ground as two tears fell out of his eyes and onto his fists. "If I hadn't accepted…if I had only kept my sense of reason with me…I hate him! He's putting me though this and it's all his fault!"

"No."

Looking back up at Yami, Nagiciam stared surprised. "You're saying it was a good thing to kill my master?" he asked horrified.

Yami shook her head, her eyes closed. "It is never a good thing to kill someone's master Nagiciam." She said softly. "I should know. But Sohac wanted to go to the Shadow Realm. He had someone there that he wanted to be with. He was thinking of suicide earlier in secret, but he didn't want to leave you not understanding his predicament and scared. To kill himself would be the cowards way out. Leaving you to defend yourself in the world without his final lesson. So that's why he fought you. To wake you up and make you see that even though you had been broken those broken pieces could be used to inflict damage upon the enemy and be unstoppable. He never wanted you to brood over him. He sacrificed himself to help you. So don't hate him. Only remember the kindness he showed you and never forget the lessons he taught you."

"…Alright."

"Now get up. We have to go find Citlec and tell him the temple is going to open now."

Nagiciam looked around. "Open where?" he asked.

Yami grinned as she pulled out her wire. Then with a flick of her writs, she sent the wire flying into the sky and watched as it came crashing down into the ground. From the spot that it landed, a hole opened up and gave way as a magic platform rose to the top, ready to take someone down into the depths.

"Open there."

***

Nagiciam and Citlec sat down on the platform as Yami stood her hands ready. "You two might want to get up. There'll be some leftover monsters."

"Monsters?" Citlec repeated shocked. "Monster's in the temple?"

Yami nodded. "Millennium monsters too. The strongest kind."

Nagiciam gasped. "Then we have a fight on our hands don't we?"

"No." Yami said. "I have a fight. Only the path may touch the creatures. If either of you two get too close or even graze you, where they hit you your skin will burn, slowly peeling off and way, flake by painful flake, and then you'll be burned away. All of this takes about an hour and you'll be alive through all of it of course. Even when there's only an inch of you left."

Nagiciam and Citlec gulped.

As the platform came to a stop, Yami got off, a gold door in front of them. "Listen you two. There are a series of doors in the way and three levels. During each level I defeat, you two wait outside the door behind it until I call for you alright? And if even one of you come in, I'll take your head off myself. Don't come in no matter how bad it seems."

As Yami went though the door, she sighed. "Welcome to the gates of hell." She said before she closed it.

***

Looking around the room, black stones covered the inside of the room, making it dark. There weren't any windows, just a few lamps of light. As Yami took one step forward, her foot knocked up against something hard and rusty.

"Old armor." She concluded. "From some poor soul who didn't have me as a guide."

Deeper inside the room, small sounds could be heard as thousands of red lights lit up the room around her. All were eyes.

Yami grinned as she cracked her knuckles. "Let's begin…Osiris."

***

"Alright. You can come in now." Yami called as she stood at the next door. Nervously, Nagiciam and Citlec came in, light coming from Nagiciam's wand. "Good god!" Citlec cried as he saw what was on the floor. All around, small bits of flesh and bone lay, armor and dust scattered everywhere.

"The monsters always save a few number of victims if they can." Yami explained. "They have to eat too."

And then she went into the next room.

***

The next room was brighter, but all the more deadly. Yami grinned as she stared down two gold golems with a golden eye on their forehead. "This is too easy…give me a challenge Ra."

***

The final door lay in front of Ley as she opened it. Behind her, Nagiciam and Citlec stood nervously in a pile of rock. Around them, weapons had been stuck in the wall and cracks were in every corner. "The last door. And the last monster."

***

Yami grinned as she faced a figure leaning on a stone, a bit of blood running down it. Blue light fell on the figure as blue stones lay the room. He was wearing a blue vest with long sleeves and baggy white pants that munched up at the knees. He also had black boots and metal claws on his hands. His blue hair stuck straight up and his eye glowed. "So we meet at last."

Looking up, the figure smiled. "Well well. If it isn't the fabled Path of Wish. I've been waiting for you." He said as his eyes glowed red and his long blue hair swept in front of him. A deep gash was already on his chest, but as he swept his hand over it, it healed following his hand.

Yami grinned. "I may be weak. But I'm never as weak as anyone thinks! Your friends behind me made that grave mistake. I'll make sure you make the same one Obelisk!"

Bringing her hands apart, Yami pulled her wire into her hands, and shot it out at the figure. However, Obelisk jumped and with ease, flew down at her, his foot out for a kick.

"Not yet!" Yami cried as she jumped out of the way. Instantly where she had been, a hole appeared where Obelisk had dented the ground. Jumping for Yami, Obelisk slashed at her again with his claws, but Yami quickly blocked with her wire.

"Ah…a formidable fighter!" Obelisk cried in happiness. "I've been waiting for this for a long time!"

"Bite me!" Yami yelled back as she swung at him with her fist. "You're going to die!"

But Obelisk jumped out of the way and slammed himself into her. Digging his claws deep, he made them fall forward. Landing on top of her, Obelisk grinned. "You know you'd be so much stronger with your second half!" he sneered. "I saw the girl when that bastard of a man hit me with his white lightning! Maybe I'll vent some of my anger out of you!"

Twisting his wrist sharply, Obelisk tore into Yami's stomach, making her scream.

***

Outside, Citlec pounded on the door. "Yami!" he cried as he reached for the handle. However, Nagiciam quickly pulled him back. "Citlec don't!" he cried. "Yami doesn't want you in there because she knows you won't stand a chance against whatever's in there!"

But Citlec wasn't listening. "She's in pain! I can hear her! Let me to her Nagiciam!"

Finally, with one burst of strength, Citlec tore through his friends gasp and burst into the room. What he saw made him gasp. "YAMI!"

Yami was on the ground, Obelisk on top of her, clamping her mouth with one hand and digging his claws into her with the other.

Not thinking, Citlec swiftly dashed forward and swung his sword up at Obelisk, who jumped out of the way. "Get off of her!" he cried before kneeling to Yami and holding up her head. "Yami! Are you alright?" he asked urgently.

"Two things Citlec…" Yami groaned as she stared up at him. "One, does it look like I'm alright and two, I told you NOT TO COME IN HERE!"

Citlec nodded as he helped her up. "But I can't just leave you!" he argued back.

Yami sighed. "Citlec, I appreciate the help, but you have to get out of here! He'll kill you with just one touch! I'll be alright; just go!"

Obelisk stared down at the two as he floated in the sky. "Aw…isn't it sweet. And just when I was thinking I had a chance with the famous path. Ah well. I guess I'll have to get rid of the competition!"

Flying down at them once more, Obelisk grinned. "Now is the time to die!" he screamed, his claws brought forward.

But before he could strike, Yami quickly stepped in and threw her wire at him.

"What! NO!" he cried as wire snapped around his body and legs.

"Struggle all you want." Yami grinned as she held her wire in her fingers. "It'll only make you suffer more. But I think I'll end your pain. NOW!" And with a flick of her writs, the wires snapped around Obelisk, tearing him into pieces.

"He was right you know." Yami grinned as she stared down at the blood and flesh that was falling to the ground. "It was the time to die."

And the final door awaited them.

"Welcome to hell."