The Ninth Star
Summary: An evil enigmatic being known as The Ninth Star was once in a group known as the Nefarious Nine, all of whom were destroyed. The sole survivor of the attack, The Ninth Star takes up residence in a new host, and has now been tracked down to Valestrai, where there are nine powerful magic wielders under investigation. Sofia and company are called in to help question the suspects, but nothing could have prepared them for the outcome when the mystery begins to unravel. *Takes place two years after The Tainted Ten*
Disclaimer: I do not own Sofia the First. The following characters belong to me: Jastin Butterford, Muscles, Malango the Magnanimous (mentioned), Corban, Charlie, Serena, Angel, Shikoba, Alo, the Ninth Star (and other Stars), and several others not mentioned in the other lists. MarionetteJ2X owns Nana, Tanya, and Terra. Mr. Shortman92 owns Christopher Crowley and Amaya. NerdsinaTree owns Captain Nereus. Royal Detective owns Gabriel Sebastian. Allyrwhitney owns Feya. Jettmanas owns Davidius. Creepy-Pasta owns Neoma. Pinkscarlet08 owns Amerie. Theblackraven2.0 owns Malcom "Mac" Woodruff. Also, the "Nefarious Nine" title belongs to NerdsinaTree, as the title was originally supposed to be used in "The Tainted Ten" until we added a tenth character.
A/N: After this chapter, the Wix page has been updated with images of the mentioned characters whom we've met in the past few chapters. I kept them hidden until now.
Chapter 16: We All Fall Down
"Amerie!" Neoma gasped, holding the wand Merlin had made her a little tighter in her hand. "Hang on. We'll help you!"
The fairy's entire body was filling with the Ninth Star's venom-like magic, practically paralyzing her. She was shivering because there wasn't proper blood flow in her body, and she was fighting internally to regain control of her body. Finally, she gasped, managing to tell the others, "J-Just destroy me! I-I'm holding the Ninth Star, and—and it will destroy both of us for good!"
"We can't do that!" Sofia cried out, holding her hands up to her eyes as a flash of light burst from Amerie's body, and her right eye burned red like the Ninth Star's did.
"Stay back!" Amerie demanded, her voice a distorted tonality as the Ninth Star took over. "I'll kill this wimpy little girl before you even have a chance to destroy both of us! She thinks she is so brave, trying to be a martyr and sacrifice herself." Amerie held her hand up to her face, her nails threatening to dig into her left eye without the red glow. "We'll see how brave she is!"
Alo rushed forward, knocking Amerie's form on the floor, snarling in the face of both the girl and the demonic presence, the threatening hand now fallen away. The wolfdog's eyes narrowed heavily as the being within the girl gasped and shrieked. The wolfdog stepped backwards, back into the arms of his owner, as he watched the next unfolding scene.
The Ninth Star vacated the girl's body, holding up its hands toward her, those taunting eyes narrowing when it noticed how weak she was. Growling with a deep groan, it lifted its hands above its head, ready to strike.
"Amerie, move!" Cedric yelled.
Amerie was again frozen, but for a different reason this time. She frowned in thought, her face lighting up as she made a connection.
"I'm also able to transform myself and others into magical creatures," Amerie added, almost as an afterthought.
The fairy smirked as she slowly regained some of her strength, waving her hand over her face, spinning around once, slowly morphing into…the Ninth Star.
"She did say she could…change into other creatures," Orion breathed, careful with his arms as they were still injured.
"I thought she meant ma—oh!" Cedric nodded. "That will work, I hope…"
Enraged with Amerie's nerve, the Ninth Star attacked her, but its eyes widened when the girl reacted and mimicked the attack, becoming a reflection of the evil being itself. The Ninth Star turned abruptly when Amerie called out to the others to help her, and all the available magic wielders powered up, releasing their attacks: Light Magic, sorcery magic, protector magic, and everything combined. Even the Ninth Star's own dark magic was directed its way, all of the powers merging together to strike the creature, destroying it as it screamed in anger and aggravation from failure. The only thing left of the creature was the gold hardware it had worn, the red ruby practically bleeding from its setting.
Sofia gasped and rushed to Amerie once she reverted to her normal form. She caught the fairy in her arms, watching her take what she assumed was her final breath as her body grew limp. The princess sobbed, soaking the girl's dirtied white top, as she held her closely. "Why?!" She shuddered as she felt Cedric kneel behind her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "This was a senseless death. She could have been saved!"
"S-Sofia," Greylock attempted from his place on the ground behind Gabriel, who had released the barrier upon seeing the evil presence was gone. He smiled as he caught the princess's eye, and he pointed toward Amerie. "Look."
Amerie weakly breathed in, her green eyes opening and focusing on those around her, and she giggled softly as Sofia gasped, staring at her in shock. "I guess… I now have a story for my p-parents…" She smiled as Sofia laughed in relief and hugged her, telling her how brave she was for standing up to the Ninth Star.
Orion caught sight of Vega, who was alive and healed, thanks to Terra, but still kind of weak, leaning against a wall. He hurried to her, settling down next to her, looking her over carefully.
"Orio—" She couldn't even finish his name as she felt herself pulled in for a warm embrace and…a soft kiss to her lips. When he broke the kiss, she felt her usual serious exterior fading a bit as she smiled up at him. "I've been waiting for you to do that for years." She reached up, her fingers tickling the back of his neck, as she pulled him down for another kiss.
"I wondered how much longer they could hide their feelings," Sofia laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes as Cedric helped her and Amerie to their feet.
Shikoba stepped forward, her hand covering her ring, feeling a bit strange as she did. Still, she told the others, "I just wanted to thank you all for your help… I do hate that we lost some in this battle with the Ninth Star, but my instincts tell me that it is gone for good." She smiled, a rare occasion, her hands lifting to her heart. "I could not have done it without you all. You are free to go."
Alo moved in front of her, almost defensively, his eyes narrowing as he glared daggers at the group—almost daring them to make a move.
Cedric blinked, nervously asking, "H-Has he been fed recently?"
Shikoba did not have time to respond as Alo, her spirit guide and faithful guardian for the last five years, transformed before her very eyes. Her hands lifted to her mouth as she gasped sharply.
Alo's wolfdog form was gone, and before her now stood a human form instead. Like the Ninth Star, this form was very pale. He was covered in black armor from his upper body to his legs, with skin-tight pants beneath the harsh exterior of the sharp thigh-high boots and evenly placed dark bands. A thin sliver of skin showed between the upper armor and pants line, a hefty belt wrapped around his waist. Around his shoulders was a thick black cloak, held in place by a gold pendant with a blue jewel in the center. Instead of teeth, he had what appeared to be sharp fangs, and his eyes were demonic with a soft yellow glow to them. His hair was long and black, parted heavily to the right side, spilling down to his waist. Perhaps the more horrifying feature of this human form was the large black serpent dragon that wrapped itself around him, hovering over his head, its eyes narrowed into glowing slits and its mouth opening a bit, showing off the fire within, waiting to be used on the remaining people.
"I have not eaten yet," the being told Cedric with a sneer, smirking as his hovering creature breathed raggedly. "I'm anxious to taste the souls of the damned."
"Who are you?!" Shikoba demanded, feeling betrayed as the dark-clad being turned to smirk at her.
"Why, you should know better than anyone, Shikoba…" He released a blast of energy, knocking the others onto their backs as they groaned in pain. "I am the Mosaic Being or Mosaia, the god of torment and annihilation, and the originator of the Nefarious Nine!"
To be continued…
Next Chapter: Soulless
