Chapter 16
Luna watched in terror as her friends burned, their cries and screams deafening. Luna stood there in silence as she trembled before the horrific sight. She swallowed, an attempt to regain control of her short breaths. Don't panic. Don't panic. Their lives are at the literal stake, they need you to save them. You need to stay focused and think clearly if you want to get out of this alive. She straightened herself and turned to the Fallen. The being was glaring down at its burning victims in malice.
"Clever Sally, but it won't work," it grumbled. But after a moment, the Fallen tossed the bottle of liquor it was still holding aside, adjusted its robes and turned to Luna with a bright smile.
"Ahh Kimberly, my favorite Hex Girl," the Fallen said. "Why don't you be a smart mortal and take my offer."
Luna took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Unlike what happened with Matella, she used her silence as a way to observe and study the entity. While it was no easy task- the loss of several minutes during which Thorn somehow acquired a Grammy certainly didn't help- but she was able to learn a few things. She knew outright rejecting the Fallen was a bad idea but she couldn't serve it after what it did to her friends. She had a plan, albeit one that could fall apart at the slightest mistake, but it was something to work with nonetheless. She wiped the sweat from her brow as she faced the Fallen.
"If I pledge myself to you, I can get whatever I want?" Luna asked.
"That's right," the Fallen answered. "I can make whatever you want happen."
"Okay then, I'll accept your offer," Luna replied. She nervously glanced at her burning friends and then back at the Fallen. "But first you have to spare Dusk and Thorn."
She instinctively took a step backwards, not knowing if her play would work. The Fallen frowned and briefly looked over the dying girls before turning back to Luna. She shuddered but she kept her stance, ready to accept whatever happened.
The Fallen laughed and smiled. "That's why I like you Kim." It snapped its fingers and the fire disappeared, along with the damage it caused to Dusk and Thorn. They gasped and were exhausted, but alive.
"Until we negotiate your duties to me, they'll remain bound; oh, I'm also magic proofing those ropes, so don't try anything," the Fallen said.
It worked! Tears in her eyes, Luna ran over to her friends and hugged them.
"Are you two okay?" she cried.
Dusk and Thorn gave a weak nod as tears rolled down their cheeks. They were panting, their faces drained off what little color they had; Luna couldn't even begin to imagine how much pain they were in.
"Why would you?" Thorn softly cried.
Luna gave her a wink and Thorn nodded. Luna continued to hug them. She made sure to cry as loudly as possible to make a scene. The Fallen and the congregation's attention needed to be on her and not Dusk's knife that she carefully slid with her foot to the base of the stake by Thorn.
"Telekinesis…knife…wait," she whispered to Thorn before stepping away from them as the Fallen appeared behind them.
"Now Kimberly," it said extending a hand. "I do believe we have a deal"
Luna backed away from the entity. She needed to keep the Fallen distracted so Thorn could get an opportunity to cut the rope all while not actually submitting to the Fallen.
"Um…of course…um, Great Merciful One," Luna said trying to sound eager to serve the Fallen. "But before I agree to anything, I want to know what the world will be like after you are free."
"Oh, it will be a wonderful and fair world," the Fallen said as it walked past her and toward the pedestal. Luna smirked; the Fallen was doing exactly what she wanted it to do. "The Light Ones will be annihilated and I shall recreate reality in my image. Those who stand with me shall be rewarded."
She wasn't sure if it was mass hallucination or spell, but Luna saw various members of the congregation with their desires granted: members had incredible wealth and attractive spouses; they were in positions of power and possessed incredible magical abilities and artifacts. The actual cultists gazed in awe at the sights, which was good. Luna nodded to Thorn. The Wiccan levitated the blade and inserted it between the rope and stake. The knife slowly moved up and down as it painstakingly worked its way through the coils.
But Luna was caught off guard by what she saw next. The three of them were on stage playing before the largest crowd she'd ever seen. Yet this wasn't the most shocking element of the vision. Dusk and Thorn were playing their usual instruments, but Luna saw herself on bass, playing at the front of the stage as the lead singer. No more monitoring their performance, making tons of adjustments on the mixer and adding extra stress; she was free to play to her heart's content.
A magazine appeared in her hand. It felt real. She looked at the title. 'Hex Girls Continue to Top Worldwide Charts.' She read the subtitle 'Critics agree, Luna replacing Thorn as lead vocalist was a genius move.'
The scene changed and the magazine was gone. They were on a talk show.
"How does it feel to be one of the most famous bands in history?" the host asked. "I mean, you can talk to an isolated tribe deep in the Amazon and they will know who the Hex Girls are."
"It feels great," the vision Luna said. "It helps get our messages to everyone. We show people that they can be comfortable with who they are while caring for others and the environment."
The vision faded and the room was back to normal.
"All that and more can become real," the Fallen said. "But I need to be truly free. Kneel before me and we can all start the process of freeing me."
Luna hesitated. She glanced at Thorn. The Wiccan had been distracted by the vision and still had a way to go before she cut through the rope. Yet the temptation to accept the Fallen's offer was there. Don't. What you saw wasn't real. It doesn't care about us; we're just tools for it. It's trying to trick you. Don't fall for it.
"I have a couple questions that only a being as great as you can answer," Luna said.
The Fallen grunted. "Make it quick."
"Um, what did the Light Ones do to you?" she asked.
"WHAT DID THEY DO TO ME!?" the Fallen shouted. The entire room shook. "They locked me in a prison to suffer for eternity, tarnished my name, spread lies about me all because I questioned their authority and the Aether's! I questioned our duties and place in the universe. How it was unfair. How we could do better. They didn't like that. They tried to silence me, so I had no choice but to revolt."
Luna knew little of what the Fallen was speaking about but it didn't matter. She needed to keep the Fallen going.
"How could a being as great as you lose to such pathetic entities?" Luna goaded.
"Because of my wretched Tactician stabbing me in the back! If he didn't go rogue, I would've won."
"Um…so the...um Broken ruined your magnificent plans?"
"YES!" The Fallen shouted. "That conniving, selfish, backstabbing bastard fucked everything up; he destroyed the only chance for a righteous universe and left every sapient being to suffer in a meaningless existence!" The Fallen continued to rant about how terrible the Broken was as the being angrily paced back and forth across behind the altar. The room trembled and the Fallen's followers kept their heads to the ground in fear of further angering their god.
With the Fallen no longer paying attention to Luna, she slowly made her way back to the stake. The Wiccan was almost through the ropes, she just needed a little more time.
"Get your arm free and destroy the crystal," Luna whispered to Thorn.
"And how am I supposed to do that?" Thorn replied in a hushed tone.
"Use that magic laser thing. It blew up a marble mausoleum, it should be able to take out that crystal."
"Will that even work?"
"The Fallen said it uses the crystal to communicate with our reality, so destroying it might disconnect the Fallen from the world."
Thorn glanced at the crystal. "I'll try."
Luna quickly backed away from her friends when she heard Esmeralda call out to the Fallen.
"Lord, she is keeping you distra-"
"DON'T EVER INTERRUPT ME AGAIN!" The room trembled as the Fallen jolted its head in the witch's direction. Esmeralda simply lowered her head and backed away. After a few moments, the Fallen calmed itself. "But I do believe you are right."
Shit. Luna found herself on her knees before the Fallen unable to move. The Fallen put a hand on her shoulder, the touch unnaturally cold. The entity looked her in the eye and smiled.
"You clever girl, you stirred me up into a frenzy and got me monologuing in order to distract me from you trying to untie them," the Fallen exclaimed. "I should burn them as punishment, but you've really impressed me. You set a goal and develop a plan to achieve it; I like that, now I really want you to join me, we can put those critical thinking skills to good use."
"I just wanted to know more about your vision for the future," Luna lied. "I mean it."
The Fallen withdrew its hand and sighed. "Don't lie to me Kim. You were trying to break them out."
"No I swear I wasn't!" she pleaded.
"Look, I don't know why you're trying to save them. All they do is cause problems and you're stuck cleaning up their messes," the Fallen said.
"No...th-that's not true," Luna stuttered. Don't let it get into your head; it's just trying to use its psychological tricks on you.
"Yes it is, you just mopped up the mess they made here," it said. "But seriously, do Sally or Jane ever take you into consideration when they decide to do something?"
"I…" Luna didn't know what to say.
"No they don't. They just stick you behind a keyboard and expect you to fix everything for them; I mean, they don't even appreciate you enough to let you play bass." The Fallen knelt down and got eye level with her. "I've shown you that you can do better if only you'd put your foot down and take control of them. Or better yet, ditch them, let those two solve their own problems for once."
Luna shook her head. "No you're wrong, they do care about me and I care about them. We help each other with our problems. Now sure, we get into arguments and sometimes one of us does something really stupid, but we're here for each other."
The Fallen shrugged and sighed. "They don't deserve you; you're too damn selfless." It paused and smirked. "You know how many people could use someone like you?" The Fallen tapped her forehead.
Luna clutched her head. She heard voices. So many voices. An innumerable amount of voices. Male and female, young and old. In every language imaginable. They were all talking at once in a garbled frenzy that drowned out her own thoughts. She could make out snippets of their cries. "Save us!" "Have mercy!" "Help us!" The uproar only grew in intensity as more cries and pleas were joined the deafening chorus. Luna wanted to cry. There was so much anguish and melancholy in the noise and she couldn't handle it.
"Please stop," Luna wept.
The Fallen tapped her head and she sighed with relief as the voices vanished.
"That was a small snippet of all those who pray and call out for someone to save them," the Fallen explained. "Now that was only a few thousand people; anymore and your mind would break." There was a long pause. "You couldn't comprehend hearing the prayers of all sapient life in the universe, which is what I hear every second. Granted, I've had an eternity to acclimate to it so it doesn't bother me but it's still so unfortunate that I can't do anything to help them." The Fallen leaned closer to her. "Kim, all those poor souls want a god to save them but nobody cares. You'd think the Light Ones would since they portray themselves as the good guys but they don't despite the fact that they hear them too; hell, the Broken and his traitorous kin are imprisoned on the Earth yet they don't do anything to help your species. No, I'm the only one who cares and I can't do anything while I'm trapped in that wretched cell."
The Fallen stood back up. "Free me Kim so I can end the suffering of everyone. Let me be their god so I can protect them and give them peace and comfort. I'll be there for them, no 'mysterious ways' bullshit; they pray I deliver."
Luna wiped away a few tears. Could the Fallen actually bring peace upon the world; no more suffering and pain? She slowly reached her arm out toward the Fallen. Stop! She pulled her arm back. It's just guilt tripping you. Don't listen to it.
"I guess you're more selfish than I thought, taking away everyone's only chance at peace and harmony like that," the Fallen sighed. "I didn't think you had it in you."
"No, no that's not what I meant," Luna gasped.
"Then what did you mean?" the Fallen deviously asked.
"I-I just can't," Luna muttered. Calm down. You can salvage this.
"Can't what? Accept my offer and serve me?" the Fallen grumbled.
Luna quickly nodded.
"Why? Cause your friends?"
"Yes!" Luna cried.
"Look if you want your friends back so badly, all you had to do was ask for them," the Fallen said. "Just pledge yourself to me and your friends will be free."
Luna hesitated. She glanced at Dusk and Thorn. By sheer luck, the Fallen hadn't noticed Thorn cutting the rope and the cultists were too afraid to speak up if they knew what was going on. Luna sighed. She just needed to buy Thorn a little more time.
"Um…" Luna muttered, trying to think of something to say.
"I'll sweeten the deal, I'll not only free them, but I'll forgive of their sins against me and they won't have to serve me. I'll wipe their memories, so that you can serve and worship me in secret. On top of that, I'll make both you and Jane witches, so the three of you can have a little coven and practice your magic together. It'll be perfect, everything you could possibly want and all you ha-" the Fallen stopped. For a brief moment, Luna could've swore she saw a flash of fear wash over its face. It quickly glanced at the ceiling looking around as if expecting something to descend upon all of them; its eyes glowing a fierce gold and crimson. Luna noticed that the being's hands were twitching and the Fallen itself seemed to shudder.
"Give me a minute Kim," it said never once taking its eyes off the ceiling. "Esmeralda! Marcus! Over here!" The Fallen and its two worshipers grouped behind the pedestal and conversed. What they were speaking about, Luna couldn't hear.
Luna sighed. She had no idea what was going on and that was worrying. She toyed about running over to the stake and untying her friends, but the Fallen seemed troubled, almost spooked, which made the being unpredictable. She decided to stay put since Thorn was so close to breaking free and, worst case scenario, the Fallen's current offer was probably the best she was going to get. I'll make the deal if I means saving them.
The Fallen turned away from Esmeralda and Marcus while the two mages started drawing something on the ground. It walked back to Luna and looked very upset.
"New plan, you're going to serve me without question or I'll restart the fire with you in it," the Fallen stated.
Luna shuddered at the sudden change in hostility. "What happened to the old deal?"
"Things change," it growled.
Luna's heart was racing. She couldn't speak and this only angered the Fallen.
"Hurry up! I'm losing my patience with you!" an agitated Fallen said as it kept looking at the ceiling.
Luna glanced at Thorn. She needed a minute at most. But Luna didn't have an extra minute to spare as the Fallen kept glancing between her and the ceiling with glowing eyes
"I…" she managed to say.
"Spit it out!"
"I…I…" Luna closed her eyes. Hurry up Thorn. You can do it.
"Come on," Thorn said through gritted teeth. The knife cut deeper into the rope, relieving some of the pressure. Despite the rope loosening, she could only wiggle her arm. She grunted and the knife cut quicker. She was so tantalizingly close.
"I'm done with this. You got ten seconds to answer before I smite you into oblivion," the Fallen warned Luna and it started counting down.
Thorn's heart raced. She could feel the magic coursing through her waiting to erupt in angry furry. The knife cut even faster.
"Eight, seven, six…" Its eyes were glowing gold and crimson and black energy swelled around it like an approaching storm.
The knife was cutting fast enough to create smoke and her face was illuminated by the glow of red magic that formed around her trapped hand.
"Five, four, three…"
SNAP!
The coil broke and Thorn freed her arm and raised it. The Fallen looked at her. The two made eye contact.
"You don't fuck with the Hex Girls."
The brilliant beam of blood-red magic fired from her hand. The Fallen simply watched as the red beam tore through the crystal, shattering it in a violent explosion that sent shards flying everywhere. The rope ensnaring her and Dusk immediately fell away and the two girls dropped to their feet. The Fallen's vessel began to tremble as black energy left the body.
"This was an excellent learning experience," it calmly muttered as most of its body went limp. Blood gushed from the stab wound and its head fell sideways as its snapped neck could no longer support it. "I think it's time to do some restructuring."
It snapped its fingers and the vessel crumpled to the floor, leaving a black, smoke-like mass hovering above it. The entire compound quaked. Alarms blared and fissures opened up. The ceiling crumbled and further explosions rocked the facility. Small portals formed where Esmeralda and Marcus were drawing, and the two fled through them before the portals closed; the other cultists who weren't crushed by falling debris or fell into the widening crevices ran to the doors, which had fallen down.
"Run!" Dusk shouted.
Thorn didn't need to be told to do so. She and Luna were right behind the blonde.
Go ahead and run, Hex Girls; you can't escape the fate you've written for yourselves. You've chosen pain, so that's all you three shall know, my will be done.
Thorn shook her head as the Fallen's voice echoed in her head. She noticed her friends doing the same, suggesting that they also heard the voice.
Sally McKnight, you will fall first. And when you do, I will laugh as you become what you fear, for no mage has escaped it.
"Shut up!" Thorn shouted as she and her friends neared the doorway. "You can't do anything me!"
Hehehe! I don't have to do anything, for you'll do it to yourself.
Thorn grunted and tried to ignore the Fallen. The Fallen was wrong; all it was trying to do was torment her one last time before it was dragged back to whatever hell it came from.
I'll see ya later Sally.
Thorn looked back and saw a brief shimmer of crimson and gold as the Fallen's incorporeal form dissipated before she and her friends ran through the doorway.
They ran through the burning and collapsing hallways. Explosions sent unfortunate cultists into the air. Thorn blasted away falling chunks of concrete and steel as the Hex Girls made rounded a corner.
"Where do we go!?" Dusk shouted.
"I think the exit is just straight down the hall," Thorn replied.
They almost made it. Thorn could see the metal detectors of Processing. But the Wiccan noticed flashes of multi-colored light coming from one room. She could sense the raw magic leaking from the room and it felt wrong, like that magic wasn't supposed to be mixing. She stopped and cast a barrier around her and her bandmates.
The room violently twisted before jettisoning matter and magic in a powerful shockwave that vaporized unprotected cultists and caused the ceiling to collapse, filling the hall with earth. Thorn felt the blast yet her barrier remained steady. Unfortunately the shockwave pushed them in their protective sphere through a wall and into another room. Thorn gasped and the barrier shattered, causing them to fall to the ground.
"This isn't good," Luna said. She pointed to where they came through the wall. The hole was filled in with dirt and debris.
Dusk got up and tried the door. "It's blocked."
"We can't be trapped," Thorn said. She looked around the room. There was a large table surrounded by chairs. That was it.
She ran over to the door and raised her hands. The rubble behind the door vibrated and the Wiccan's arms trembled as she tried raising them. She gasped and her telekinetic hold on the rubble was gone. Panting, she tried again and fell to her hands and knees. She raised a weary hand but Luna lowered it.
"It's too heavy, stop straining yourself," she said, helping Thorn to her feat.
Thorn nodded and Luna walked her to one of the seats. The Wiccan took a moment to catch her breath.
"DAMNIT!" Thorn cried as she hurled a blast of blue energy at the door. The door shattered into small fragments and more dirt spilled into the room.
"Chill out, that's not going to work," Dusk said.
"I have to try something," Thorn panted. "I'm not gonna let us die in here after what we went through."
"Blasting at the debris could cause the room to collapse," Luna said pointing to the unstable ceiling.
Thorn scowled and with a wave of her hand, sent several chairs flying into the wall.
"So what are we going to do," Thorn grunted in frustration.
"I'm not sure yet," Luna admitted. "But give me some time to figure it out."
The room trembled and hairline cracks snaked across the ceiling.
"Well, think of something fast," Thorn stated as she got up from her seat.
As Luna sat in deep thought and Dusk leaned against the wall, Thorn paced back and forth in exasperation. Fuck! This is not happening! They prevailed against two real ghosts. They brought down Matella and ruined all her schemes. They escaped execution and beat armed cultists. They even defeated a god. A tears rolled down her cheeks. Surviving all that, only to be crushed by rubble. No, that can't happen. I won't let it.
Thorn's pace quickened with each increasingly stronger tremor. As smart as Luna was, Thorn didn't think she could come up with a solution. Her fears were proven when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.
There was another tremble and something burst from behind the wall opposite of the entryway. The wall gave way and plumes of fire and smoke filled the room. The three girls darted away from the flames.
"Fuck that was close," Dusk said.
But they weren't in the clear. Just as Luna predicted, a portion of the ceiling collapsed and crushed the table. More rubble fell and in a terrible chain reaction, a cascade of stone, metal and earth came crashing down upon them.
Thorn cast another barrier around her and her friends. The room was filled and they were trapped within their little magical bubble. Shaking, sweating and out of breath, Thorn struggled against the massive weight but it was too much for her. She collapsed and the barrier cracked; dirt fell through the cracks, showering them in dust.
As their pocket of space filled with dirt, Thorn felt her friends move against her they and tightly each other. They remained silent for they didn't need to say anything. They grasped each other's hands, refusing to let fate separate them. She looked at them one last time. With teary eyes, they smiled. There was no anger or sadness behind their eyes. Only love. Dusk and Luna gave a slight nod; they were ready. Thorn smiled back; she was ready. They all closed their eyes and Thorn let the barrier disappear.
A/N
Heya. I hope everyone is still enjoying the story and thanks to everyone to left reviews/feedback. Just a couple quick updates. We're nearing the end of the fanfic as I only have one- two more chapters plus an epilogue left, so thanks to everyone who sticks around to the end. All remaining chapters will be posted next week (probably Monday and Friday) as I'll be relocating for a new job and will be too busy to write/edit (I'll still respond to reviews/PMs of course). Thanks again.