Chapter SIXTEEN
"Darque..." The boy purred. He moved with amazing speed and Lucy suddenly found him standing behind Darque. "I missed you..."
Darque stiffened. "Did you miss me?" The boy asked.
Darque bit her lip and didn't reply. The boy turned his gaze to the two present mages.
"You found you're contractors already?" He giggled.
Darque clenched her fists. "Why are you here? You know the rules."
The boy nodded. "Duh. I'm still looking for people worthy enough to serve me." He grinned, then brought his mouth to Darque's ear. "What kind of lies did you tell your candidates to get them to help you?"
Darque's eye narrowed. "I have told them the truth."
The boy looked surprised, then his face melted into a grin once again. "Oh, well, that's so like you."
"The boy. Was that you're doing?" Darque snarled.
"That depends. I was wondering when I'll get to meet you, then remember how kind hearted you had, and sort of set up the mission. I thought you'd hear rumors about the boy who transformed into a monster but apparently the monster was too strong and anyone who got close enough to see the boy transforming died. In the end, the village sent out mission requests to the guilds as well." He smiled. "It worked out either way."
Darque frowned. "How did you know where I was?" She asked.
The boy shrug. "In case you haven't noticed, you always...regenerate...in Fiore. I always find myself in Sin." The boy laughed. "It's ironic, isn't it. Fiore, or flower is where the Devil appears while the Angel appears in Sin."
"In your current form, you can only control the movement of objects. Even using Holy Light, you can only control Kinetic Energy." Darque said. "How did the boy-"
"Transform into a monster?" The boy interrupted. "You know that when take-over mage's lose control of whatever they took over? That-"
Darque snarled. "I meant, how did you get the boy to take-over that...thing."
"Interrupting someone while they are saying something is not nice." The boy shook his head. "Manticore is correct." He said.
"You were watching us?" Darque asked.
Lite grinned. "As you know, though the keys of Afterlife can teach their candidates magic, like illusion and telekinesis, we can't use them ourselves. The limit of teaching the magic is two people. However, once the person you taught dies before you perform the binding ceremony..." He winked. "Get it?"
"Since manticores are not found around here, you taught, no, forced someone's brain to learn the process of teleport magic, and forced them to teleport yourself and a manticore here. You found a boy who you thought could learn take-over magic and teleported him here, where the boy unknowingly used take-over magic to protect himself from the manticore. However, he was not strong enough to control it." Darque said. "You then killed of the teleporter, so you can still teach two people."
The boy nodded in approval. "Yup, something along those lines. Smart as always."
Darque growled. "You killed an innocent boy just so you could find me?"
The boy shrug dismissively. "The boy was just an lucky catch that I came across. If this one didn't work, I would have done more damage elsewhere, until you showed yourself." He smiled. "You should be glad that this one was my first try."
He released Darque and turned to stand in front of Lucy and Jellal. "They are you're candidates, right?" He asked. "You didn't do the binding ceremony yet?" Darque didn't reply.
Lucy looked at him warily and Jellal took a step forward so he was standing in front of her.
The boy smiled. "I'm sure you've already heard of me, but I am Lite di Angelo." The boy, Lite bowed. "In my current form, I can manipulate the movement of objects." He giggled. "But when I have to face Darque in battle, I can control all Kinetic energy."
He blinked innocently. "Tell me, miss." He said, looked at Lucy. "Which do you think is more powerful. Kinetic energy or Elemental energy?" Lucy blinked, and didn't reply.
When no one said anything, he looked up and grinned. "What worried I'll attack you?" When neither mages replied, Lite sighed. He reached into one of his pockets and brought out a marble. He threw it at Lucy, manipulating the kinetic energy so that it few triple the speed it should have. Lucy yelped and instinctively brought her arms up to protect herself.
At the last moment, a black energy shield appeared in front of Lucy and the marble exploded. Her legs gave way and she sat on the floor, breathing heavily. Jellal got onto his knees and gently patted her back while keeping an eye on Lite.
"See." Lite said. "I can't attack you until I find candidates and we all do the binding ceremony." He yawned. "Or until full moon comes."
His sadistic smile returned and he turned to walk back to Darque. "You can't perform the restarting ritual thingy anymore, right? The sacrifice is too big."
He gently wrapped his arms around Darque again. He slowly opened his mouth and bared his teeth against Darque's neck. He suddenly recoiled as the black light appeared. "It's such a pity that even biting you is considered an attack."
Lite tapped his chin, then looked at Lucy again. "When I win, I'm going to revive Darque and make her to stay with me forever. She's gonna be mine and only mine. Her magic strings are only mine to control. She's gonna only ever look t me and I'll make her beautiful for the world to see. It's eternal love. Isn't it romantic?" He folded his arms. "You're a girl, right? Don't you read romantic novels?"
Lucy noticed the way Darque stiffened in Lite's hold. Lite seemed to notice as well, because he smirked into the crook of Darque's neck. His tongue flicked out and Darque tried to dig her elbow into Lite's stomach, but a white light deflected it. Darque jerked her arm back and the momentum sent her tumbling forwards, out of Lite's grasp.
Lucy remembered the magic strings and instinctively tugged them. Darque flew towards her and Jellal, landing neatly onto her feet. Lucy caught the spirit mouth 'thank you' and nodded, still eyeing Lite.
Lite pouted. "It's not nice to interrupt people when they're enjoying their reunion."
Jellal scoffed. "I don't think Darque was enjoying anything." He said.
Lite reached towards Darque who visibly flinched. Lucy quickly touched her key. "Return." She said, and Darque burst into smoke, returning to the key.
"Aw man." Lite whined. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket watch. "Oh, look at the time." He said. "I have to go." He spun on his heels and began walking back to where he had first appeared from. "I'll see you guys soon." He raised his foot and disappeared, leaving behind only rustling leaves as proof that he had ever been there.
Hello people, here's the new chapter. Sorry if there are any mistakes, this chapter was sort of rushed. Tell us about any errors and we'll fix it.
Darque: Hey, since when did you get so, I dunno. 'It's eternal love'.
Raven: ... It was you who left me with writing that bit!
{XD}
This is just a summary of the keys of Afterlife for Akawaka {Guest} and others who might be confused.
{XD}
Darque di Daemon: Key of the Devil of Hell
Magic: Hell magic; the black elements.
Full power: Cursed Darkness magic; manipulate Elemental energy
Appearance:
Normal: Pale skin and ice blue eyes. Wears a goth lolita dress, a white laced blouse under a black dress. Has a star tattoo right below her right eye. Wears black knee high socks and platform lolita boots.
Battle mode: Same clothes, just has blood splatters all over it. Pale skin and eye has yin yang patter on it, blood red and ice blue instead of black and white. Wears a black eye patch over left eye.
{XD}
Lite di Angelo: Key of the Angel of Heaven.
Magic: Heaven magic; movement of any objects.
Full power: Holy Light magic; manipulate Kinetic energy {Movement}
Appearance:
Normal: Wears a laced white shirt under a black jacket with short black trousers. Black and white striped knee high socks and lolita platform shoes. Wears a small top hat decorated with a red ribbon.
Battle mode: Same clothes, just has blood splatters all over it. Pale skin and eye has yin yang patter on it, sunset orange and lime green instead of black and white. Wears a white eye patch over right eye.