Darkness Parting
"I don't see anything, just a shadow." Scinan said. He looked up at the faeries. "That's not a good thing is it?"
Psellia took the mirror from Fuhnah's shaking hands. "No Scinan," she said quietly. "It's not a good thing."
Scinan stood and looked at his legs. The dark shades of fur had extended almost to his shoulder. But it was just a deep green, that's all. Like his fur had been scorched. "Fyora," he said quietly, "what do I have to do, to fix what I have done?"
"I do not know if that is possible Scinan." Fyora said replied, her back to the Lupe.
"What do you mean?" Spirit demanded, "what has Sci done?"
"Have you not discovered it yet ArizonaSpirit?" Asked Lyana. "He has gazed into one of Vira's mirrors. The mirrors that bare the darkest parts of your soul. He saw nothing but darkness and that's what his soul is. Darkness, pure and untainted, darkness unmatched."
Spirit turned slowly to look at Scinan in horror. "Sci? A – are they saying that... that you're the vassal?" Scinan looked away and nodded. Spirit backed away, despite what Auraria had said, he was still dangerous. Still a weapon in himself, he hadn't been able to control his power then, what's to say that he would be able to now?
Scinan, sorrow sinking into his heart, turned back to Fyora. "If there is even a slim hope, just a tiny chance, don't you think it's better than making do with this?" He shouted at her. "If it means my destruction, if it means all our destruction, to repair the damage that has been done, isn't it worth it!" He arched his back shoulder tensing, a growl rumbling in his chest. "Look at me Fyora!" she did and Scinan said in a voice that was deadly soft. "In this place, this nightmare, death has no meaning to me anymore."
Fyora didn't say anything, didn't even twitch. But inside her emotions were roiling chaotically. Despite everything this Lupe was, despite that he was darkness, Fyora found herself placing some slim hope in him that he could be the one to undo what he had done. "Very well," she said finally. "Your decision, shall take us back out over the ocean bed. Let us hurry."
"So where are we going?" Spirit asked Auraria. They were once again on Sky Path and Auraria now carried both Spirit and Scinan.
"We're going to the Elemental Shrine located on the outskirts of Maraqua." The faerie replied. "It shouldn't take long to get there. Ah here we go." The faeries descended from the Path and landed just in front of the Shrine.
Spirit stared up at it in awe. It was a series of pillars, the largest one was in the center, big enough for a whole crowd of people to stand on. Spaced evenly around the center pillar were four smaller columns, these just large enough for one person to stand on, and even then they would have to watch their balance carefully.
"What are we supposed to do with this?" Spirit asked, as the columns were some hundred feet off the ground.
"Fuhnah, Psellia, Lyana, and Nereid must climb up the four smaller pillars that correspond with the elements they once held." Auraria explained, "You Spirit, Scinan, Fyora and I must climb the center one. At the top there should be three engraved circles. You and Fyora stand in one, Scinan in another, and I in the last. From there we must perform the ritual that will hopefully end this nightmare."
Nereid, Lyana, Fuhnah, and Psellia climbed up their separate pillars, using foot holds that had been conveniently carved in the side of the columns. There were also foot holds in the large pillar, providing a way for Scinan, Auraria, Spirit, and Fyora to climb to their separate places. As Auraria had said, there were tree circles carved in the surface of the pillar at the top, spaced evenly around pillar's area. Scinan walked to the ring of darkness, Auraria the ring of light, and Spirit and Fyora stepped into the last circle.
"Well..." Fyora said quietly, "let's begin. You all remember how this is supposed to work right? This particular ritual has cause for you four, Fuhnah, Lyana, Psellia, and Nereid, say one line, and Auraria to say the next, then you four again and so on. You will continue to switch places until the last verse, then the first two lines are recited by Lyana, Nereid, Psellia, and Fuhnah, and the last two by Auraria." She trailed off, and the ritual began.
"Fire, water, air, and earth," cried the four strong voices of Fuhnah, Nereid, Lyana, and Psellia.
"A power fueled by their hate," Auraria murmured.
"A binding did they birth,"
"The chains they did create."
"Chains of silver to restrain the heart,"
"Chains that no eye can find."
"The stone of crystal to do the part,"
"To burn, break, and bind."
"The stone made by the blood of light,"
"A betrayer of its kin." Auraria's voice was shaking.
"It's fear of the darkness' might,"
"Made it weaken and give in." Tears streamed down Auraria's cheeks. That was not how it had happened. It hadn't been that way all those years ago.
"Darkness will be forever free," the other faerie's voices were rising in passion.
"When all the bindings do break." Each one of Auraria's words dripped in anguish.
"To challenge or take up its destiny,"
"Will the monster the chains did make."
"The sky to fall to oblivion, and all that was shall cease." The four faeries recited the two first lines of the last verse.
Auraria raised her tears filled eyes and in a voice soft, sorrow filled whispered. "Darkness within, darkness unleashed."
Scinan's eyes widened. "Au – Auraria," he stammered, fear in his voice.
She looked away. "I'm sorry Scinan, but this must be done." Scinan started shaking, a silver sheen appeared around his neck and a silver collar appeared against his throat. Silver shackles appeared around his ankles, linked together with strong silver chain. A band of silver materialized around his muzzle, chains connecting it to the collar. On the collar a yellow gem appeared, a small silver chain snaking out from behind it and sinking through Scinan's skin on the left side of his chest. Buried deep into his heart, as it had been since the binding had been created all those years ago. Scinan froze, the pupils of his eyes shrank to nothing. He arched his back in pain and a muffled scream of agony issued from his muzzled lips.
"F – Fyora," Spirit whimpered, shrinking against the faerie. "what's going on?"
"The darkness must be destroyed Spirit. It's how this all must be."
"De – destroyed? No!" Spirit shrieked, "No, Fyora you can't! It's not his fault!"
Fyora gazed at the Lupe with stone cold eyes. "It is no matter of fault anymore," and she struck Spirit, casting casting her from the circle. The Faerie Queen raised her arms high and recited the final devastating words.
"By sky's cradled world,
The life of darkness will end.
Reborn the land unfurled,
By the darkness' death will mend."
Scinan threw his head back, his body jerking. He was unable to scream, unable to shed tears unable to do anything to communicate the ultimate suffering his heart was going through. The silver chains that had his death sentence written on them since he was born, burned against his skin. Burned his green fur to black. The Lupe collapsed, finally realizing that he had been on the line of death all his life. That it had only been a matter of time before Fyora decided that it wasn't safe to allow him to continue to exist.
Psellia's eyes widened. "It almost looks like he's actually suffering." She murmured shakily.
"H - he," Lyana whimpered, unable to shrink away from the writhing Lupe without falling off her pillar. "His is feeling pain!" She shuddered, wrapping her arms around herself. "He's in complete agony!"
The pain would not go away. The chains would not go away. Scinan couldn't stop screaming. The muzzle around him mouth cracked and shattered, leaving chains dangling down his shoulders. His voice was released into the cracked heavens, ultimate misery in every breath. Spirit was shaking, he was only feet from her, his eyes, his voice, they were no longer ScinanDarkShine.
Scinan reared back, balanced on his hind legs as the chains that held him burned visibly white hot and screamed one final scream. A jet of pitch black light exploded out of his mouth. Tendrils of dark fire flicked and twisted around him. Scinan came to all fours, his eyes dark with a kind of vicious joy. Spirit was afraid.
"Stupid faerie fools." Scinan roared in a voice that was not his own. "To think that your measly little chains could restrain the might of darkness. All your chains did was create me, create the monster that destroyed your world." He, it, laughed. "Rather infuriating isn't it Fyora? To know that if you had simply let this poor Lupe live a normal life, this wouldn't have happened. But no, you and your Faerie Council, your all knowing psychic abilities, felt that you should not to let history run its course and tried to restrain the darkness. But you know, I must thank you, if not for your meddling, I would not be here to laugh in your face this day." It tried to walk toward Fyora, but was stopped by some sort of barrier. The dark creature snorted in annoyance.
"The vassal is dead isn't he?" Fyora asked it.
"He was dead the moment you sank your cursed chains into his heart. It was only a matter of time before he realized it. Now this body of his will become nothing but a framework of darkness. He will no longer be flesh and blood." Something caught the creature's attention and it looked up. Sparks of light were floating down in golden globes. Like snowflakes that glowed of the embers in a dying fire. They were warm as they broke on Spirit's fur.
"The sky..." Auraria whimpered, "the sky is falling."
Fyora sank to her knees. "Even our greatest powers could not stop this evil from coming."
Spirit whipped around. "You're wrong about the darkness Fyora! It's not evil, it never was! Darkness is just a part of the balance that keeps this world going! Earth to air, fire to water, good to evil, light to darkness!"
Fyora looked at Spirit in disgust. "You ArizonaSpirit, of all our allys, you are to the one to take the darkness' side?" She spat bitterly, "you are a traitor to your kind." Spirit was confused by the faerie's retort, what did she mean?
"Do you have something to say, little sprite?" Spirit turned, the dark creature was gazing intently at her. Now only a being of dark fire roughly in the shape of a lupe with white hot eyes. Bubbling silver at its feet told Spirit that the chains had melted off it.
"I – I do have something to say to you." Spirit said quietly. She walked through the barriers around the circles and to the ring of light where Auraria stood. She took a deep breath and recited a verse of a song that she had known ever since she was a pup. It had been the first song she'd ever played on a flute.
"It was always known the chains would fail,
And the darkness release its wrath.
Though the vassal fought to no avail,
It is light that stands alone in its path."
Auraria knew the song and took up the next verse.
"For the betrayer of its kin,
The one who made the stone.
Light, for its redemption,
Consents to fight alone."
The scar on the faerie's left hand began to glow with steady golden light. Spirit raised her voice, tears running down her cheeks and spoke the last verse.
"The darkness to falter at a friend's final call,
When all hope seems lost.
The shadows will rise to rejuvenate all,
To save the world at any cost."
The darkness creature paused, then stepped from the ring of darkness. "It can't do that!" Fuhnah cried, "it broke the circle!"
"Yes but Spirit shouldn't have been able to do it either." Lyana murmured. "There are powers at work here that are greater than we ever imagined."
The creature stepped into the ring of light and laid his cheek against Spirit's. In her ear it murmured.
"To you I give one last song,
I choose the light to sing it.
Your heart was pure all along,
new life you ask, darkness will bring it."
It drew away and looked Spirit strait in the eyes. Spirit swallowed. "S – Scinan?"
It smiled. "Yes I'm here." The dark fires changed color in an instant, becoming a crystal blue color, as did the creature's eyes. Scinan raised his flaming paws and out of the fire materialized a blue crystal flute. "Will you play for me Spirit, one last time?"
Spirit took the flute and asked coyly. "What would you like me to play Sci?"
He smiled again. "Play the end of the darkness Spirit, play the grief of light."
Spirit blinked and drew in a breath of horror. "No Sci! I can't!" She clutched the flute to her chest, refusing to do what he asked of her.
"Spirit, if it means my life for all of Neopia? For you?" He looked at her, with his flame filled eyes. "I would gladly sacrifice that." His ears twitched, "but I promise Spirit, that this isn't the end. I will come back." He turned his back and walked again into the ring of darkness. Fyora, Fuhnah, Nereid, Lyana, and Psellia stared in opened mouthed shock.
Auraria moved up behind Spirit and put her hands on the Lupe's shoulders. "It's all right Spirit, I'll stand by you." Shaking Spirit pressed the flute to her lips and slowly, tremulously, began to play. At first it seemed like nothing was happening, but then Scinan's body began to fray. The darkness that made up his being unraveling at an alarming pace. His body rose into the air. It no longer had any discernible shape merely a great cloud of darkness lined with crystal flames. Spirit lowered the flute, the song was done she needn't do anymore.
Auraria pressed something against Spirit's back and she turned to see that the faerie was holding out the wisdom stone that she had dropped before. Spirit took at and raised herself onto her hind legs. "Scinan!" She screamed, she knew, she felt, that she had his attention. Spirit raised the stone high and squeezed it. The shining words projected themselves onto the cloud of darkness, 'wherever you go, go with all your heart.' Scinan smiled, he heard another voice, Hryre voice speaking to him. "There's a great heart in there, just waiting to shine out."
Scinan smiled and murmured. "I'll shine Hry, I'll go with all my heart." the sparks of light falling from the sky whirled in a maelstrom around him and a phenomenal amount of dark power exploded outward. It was the storm, the storm that Scinan had predicted that first night.
Spirit shut her eyes and the faeries braced themselves against the wind. A mix of rain, snow, and hail stones struck them. Cold and heat burned and froze them. Blasts of light shot out from the four faerie's pillars. Red from Fuhnah, light powder blue from Psellia, green from Lyana, and navy from Nereid. The columns of light pulsed with their faeries' respective powers. Then everything went pitch black and there was nothing.
Spirit opened her eyes to the smell of sea salt and the sun's warm rays falling on her back. The water was just level with the top of the pillars and was dampening the bottom of her paws. The faeries around her were completely back to normal, with their wings and normal clothes. There was nothing at all to disturb the world. Not a breath of wind, nor flake of snow, nor drop of rain stired. All was calm and peaceful, then the faeries and Lupe heard a voice echo away from them across the water.
"Now bound in eternal rest,
Will the embodiment of darkness sleep.
For all the ones it left behind,
Does the heart of darkness weep."