The Magical Bond Between Two Hearts
Chapter 26: Set Free
It wasn't hard for the shadow to find Lucy, her curse leading the way. Her anger had quickly consumed the twin, causing her body to shiver sporadically, sending spikes of darkness from her. She would have gone to finish the curse to fulfill the Shadowman's desires, if it weren't for the giant. This only gave her more of a reason to destroy them both, they did the same to her brother. The one she only cared about in her own life, now gone forever.
Her speed had increased dramatically, running around the area to which they sat. Her movements were jagged and rough, hoping to scare the two.
"You think you got away did you? Slaying my brother was the worst mistake you could have made."
She could see the fear in Lucy's eyes as they darted from tree to tree. She smirked at this, but was more concerned that the giant did not seem phased. He seemed a lot more determined to face her than the girl was. She found joy in this revelation.
"Show yourself," the giant shouted with a growl. So cute that he was trying to sound intimidating.
She could feel her arm contorting in darkness as the shadow came to a halt in front of them. With an intense growl she slowly walked towards them, then quickly accelerated into a run. The shadow was rather disappointed as the giant acted fast, moving himself and the girl out of the way. She screeched in frustration, her body again shivering as more of the darkness crept through her right side. With one swift motion she turned and ran once again towards the pair, this time she could see the giant was caught off guard. However, she was annoyed to see him push the girl away before she slammed into the big buffoon. He was strong, but knew that she could take him down despite the size difference.
He landed on the ground hard, shaking the earth. Impressive feat, but not enough to sway her.
With Lucy away from the giant, she turned and leapt toward the girl. The fear behind her eye was exactly what the shadow wanted to see. The moment of victory was snatched away, literally, when her leg was gripped from behind. Before she could react, the shadow was thrown away from her target, colliding into the ground before rolling back to her feet. She let out a monstrous howl as her arm shifted once more. The still air shook with a grotesque snap, as her arm assumed a new form.
"You will pay for stealing away his life." She breathed heavily as more of her was lost to the new entity.
As she was readying another attack, the giant slowly stood. The look he gave made her irritated, as if he did not want to fight back.
"She would never hurt anyone," he started taking a step in between her and the prey, "You have to understand…"
"SHE TOOK EVERYTHING!" She screamed before charging once more.
Lucy wished she could say something, anything to make this stop. But her voice would not come, the curse preventing her from doing the right thing. She could only sit and watch in horror as Ralph and the entity went back and forth. He was the one standing between her and the monster she created.
I can't let it end like this. I won't let anyone else get hurt.
She quickly stood to her feet, but not without shaking in fear. She lifted her two hands once more, concentrating as two orbs of light formed in her hands. Before she could throw them, a pang of guilt came across her face. She slowly lowered her hands, the light dissipating as frustrated tears fell down her cheeks.
No, there's no way I could…
A thunderous slam caused Lucy to snap her head back to the fight. Her eyes widened seeing that her friend was pinned down by a massive arm. The entity was grinning in delight as it tightened its grip. Something snapped in Lucy's mind as she reignited the orbs in her hands and charged forward to Ralph's aid.
"MARTIN!"
Lucy halted as she could see in the monster's blackened eyes, the same sorrow that drove her. She froze for a moment. Am I really going to kill again? This isn't right. She…feels the same as I did when I lost…Daisy.
With tears still running down her cheeks, she raised the orbs up. With one quick motion she slammed them together, shutting her eyes tight. An explosion of light engulfed the area. The water behind them rippled intensely for a few seconds, before it settled back in its natural state. The light soon faded away mere moments after it engulfed the figures.
Lucy slowly opened her eyes, at first blinded by light. However, when she looked down to her trembling hands, she realized the light was coming from her own body.
"Why? W-What did you do to me?"
The girl moved her gaze to the monster. The shadow looked at her with confused eyes. The arm that was grotesque and contorted, had reverted back to normal as it was covering up her eye. Tears were present in her other one, as she looked at Lucy with hatred and sadness. The girl took one trembling breath, opening her mouth.
"I'm doing what's right. Saving you."
Neither she nor the shadow before her could believe it. As Lucy stood, confident and shocked by this revelation, the dark figure's own surprised and sad demeanor faded into hatred once more. She lowly hissed at the bright girl.
"You? Saving me?"
It was slow, but the shadow's arm was contorting once more. "After what you did to my brother? How can someone like you convince me you're a good guy?"
Lucy did not move nor speak for a moment, watching as the darkness began to creep back around them. In the girl's mind she didn't know what she was doing. But she couldn't stand and do nothing again.
"I never meant to hurt him." She took a step forward.
"You took him away from me!" The shadow shivered as she hissed once more at the girl. Lucy stopped for only a second, before she continued forward.
"I would have saved him if I could. I don't mean to hurt anyone. Please, let me talk to you." She extended her arm forward nervously. As soon as she did the shadow took a step back, attempting to swipe the arm away. In the process of doing so, removed her arm from the one eye showing almost total darkness.
"You don't know what it's like to lose someone important to you!"
"Actually, I do."
The woman moved to strike, but before she could Lucy quickly moved to wrap her arms tightly around her. She struggled, but the girl wouldn't let go. The shadow's arm was now reverting back to its grotesque form, as the shadow snarled at Lucy's actions. She moved to raise the arm up to take her down, grinning slightly as she heard the giant call out in desperation.
"I lost my sister to him."
Something about the way she said those words made the shadow stop. Her twisted arm was still raised in the air, but her grin dropped.
"He took the one thing that made me happy so many years ago. I was devastated for so long that I didn't know if I could go on."
She would have killed the girl still, however the moment she heard Lucy start to tear up, she hesitated for a short moment. Slowly the shadow wrapped her disheveled arm around Lucy, determined to get rid of her. The girl flinched only a little in her grasp before slowly going limp.
"STOP!"
The bellowing voice of the giant caused the shadow to glare up at him.
"Or what? Will you strike me down like your friend did with my brother?" she spat back with a snarl.
Ralph was silent, at first glaring at the monster before his face softened.
"No. She isn't your enemy here. The Shadowman took her sister away, the only person who stood up for her."
"What?"
The woman's deathly stare broke as she tried to wrap around the one sentence. Her face furrowed, darkness crossing her face as she was clouded with confusion.
"She knows how you feel, because Lucy felt the same way as you did. We all feel sorrow when we lose someone important."
The shadow was silent, her contorting arm still wrapped tightly around the girl. She did not loosen her grip nor squeeze tighter as she was conflicted. Finally, she released her grip and pushed Lucy away. The girl gasped, almost falling to the ground as she looked up at the shadow. Her eyes were full of guilt, yet they were also filled with sorrow and regret. Just like hers.
The two ladies were silent, staring with the same sorrowful eyes. The shadow knew that this girl understood her pain, even though she took away her brother. But more than that, she felt conflicted.
Why should you trust her? She might attack you once your guard is down.
Yet her eyes, they look as sorrowful as mine.
The shadow shut her eyes in frustration.
This must be some sort of trick.
But, she had someone to protect her. Just like my brother did when we were kids.
No, they could be lying to make you believe they're good.
Her debates were short lived when the sounds of soft crying could be heard. Annoyed by this the shadow opened her eyes, ready to find the young lady in shambles. Instead she found that the area had changed. The one eye that was once black and lifeless suddenly seemed to brighten in awe. Instead of the lake and candy trees surrounding her, she stood in a golden field of wheat. The stalks blew softly in the breeze, as the area seemed to bathe in a soft pink light. The sun was slowly going down behind the mountains in the distance. In the middle of this calm field, a small girl sat with her knees up to her chest. Her face was hidden from view due to the brown, messy hair that billowed on her shoulders.
Where is this place?
The shadow took a step forward towards the small figure. Sounds of sobbing and soft hiccups came from the girl. As the breeze came up again the girl shivered and pulled her knees closer.
This must be some sort of trick they're playing-
"There you are. Sorry I took so long."
The shadow jumped a few steps back from this new voice. When looking to the source, she found another little girl. Her dark, blue eyes were bright as well as her smile. Two black braids sat on her shoulders as she moved towards the crying girl.
"Hey, are you okay? You didn't stir up those little goblins again did you?" the girl asked jokingly as she approached.
The girl looked up, big tears falling down her small cheeks. Upon a closer look, the shadow noticed there were bruises sprinkled on her face. Her legs and arms also had bruises spreading across her skin. Her face contorted into a frown as she watched the girls in silence.
"You were in a fight again, huh?" The braided girl stopped as she noticed her friend's bruises as well.
The hunched over figure was silent before starting to sniffle again.
"All the other kids hate me. I tried to talk to them out of fighting me, but they wouldn't listen, Daisy." The small girl's gold eyes showed frustration and sorrow as she choked out a sob.
The black haired girl sighed, her smile never wavering as she carefully sat down next to her.
"They just don't understand you is all. Give it some time."
"But what if they don't want me around? O-Or if they come to pick on me again?"
"Then I'll be there to protect you, Lucy. I'll always be here, through the good times and the tough."
"Don't worry. I'll always be by your side, Melissa."
The light in the shadow's eyes returned, realizing how much these girls cared for each other. Just like how Martin did for her.
Suddenly the peaceful world seemed to get harder to see for the shadow. She soon found her vision blurred. Her normal hand slowly moved to clear her eyes, but as she did so felt wet drops on her fingers. She then realized there were tears in her eyes. This shadow, Melissa, did not move save for wiping her face from streams of tears. Once her vision returned, she looked around in confusion. What was once a calm wheat field reverted back to the lakeside from before. When her eyes laid on the giant, he had the same look as she did. Yet his gaze was not on her. The shadow followed his stare to find Lucy now kneeling to the ground.
It took all Melissa had to not flinch at the huge magical aura the girl was giving out. The light seemed to bathe around her, before it calmly faded away. Lucy shivered as this time she was trying to hide her sobs. The shadow hesitated, watching the girl crying before walking forward. Melissa knew that the giant was watching her, and making one wrong move would cost her. But that was the least of her concerns.
She knelt down to Lucy's level as the girl continued to shiver. The shadow stayed this way, before slowly placing her normal hand on the tiny figure. At first Lucy flinched at her touch, before slowly glancing up at her. Tears were forming in her golden eyes, just like the small girl.
"I still can't forgive you for what you did," Melissa started. Lucy's eyes slowly lowered, a shamed expression forming on her lips. The shadow shakily sighed before she wrapped the same hand around the girl in comfort.
"But I understand what you've been through."
The girl tensed up as Melissa awkwardly hugged her. "You're…not going to kill me?" she squeaked softly.
"No. At least not for now."
Lucy let go the breath she was holding, leaning into the shadow's attempt at comforting her. Melissa stared down silently, before glancing up towards Ralph.
"Had a change of heart?" His expression seemed to soften, making the shadow assume he wasn't about to slam her into the ground.
"I wouldn't call it a change, just another defeat for me. Besides-"
Suddenly, her gaze quickly shifted to the other side of the lake. She was silent, but her expression turned grim. Melissa could tell the other two noticed this, with Lucy leaning more into her one-armed hug.
"What is it?" she heard Ralph ask.
"You both need to leave. Now."
As she said this, a huge, dark crescent-like blade flew quickly towards the kneeling pair. Melissa wrapped her arm tightly around Lucy, jumping out of the way before it hit them. She landed next to the giant, as the crescent flew out of sight.
"Go! I'll keep him here," she told him before quickly handing over Lucy. Ralph stared at the shadow, dumbfounded for a moment.
"Go on, get her out of here!" Melissa pointed behind them before turning her gaze to the other side of the lake. She could hear his rumbling footsteps retreating behind her as the shadow turned to face the oncoming enemy.
She did not have a chance to say anything to the shadow before she was carried off into the forest. She didn't even ask for her name. Yet Lucy could do nothing but hold onto Ralph as he charged away from the lakeside. She felt safe, but found herself looking behind them, worried by what was facing the shadow lady.
"You both are safe."
Lucy turned her head quickly to find the tall figure of Sorceress coming closer. As they locked eyes, the woman frowned as if she was confused. She couldn't help but tilt her head in return.
"Are the others alright?" she heard Ralph asked as he slowed to a jog.
"Oh, yes they are. They're not too far from here. Your friend found me just after you took off." Sorceress continued to stare at Lucy, only making the girl nervous.
"We should try and get away from here. It's not safe."
Lucy found herself being set on the ground, blinking and looking up at Ralph curiously. She suddenly gasped as something small slammed into her chest. Looking down, she saw a familiar set of candy stuck in black hair.
"I knew it was you." Vanellope whispered as she grasped Lucy tightly. In turn the girl hugged her back just as tight.
"Sorry I worried you all." Lucy replied before feeling someone else wrapped their arms around her. She blinked, and was surprised to see it was Shane. She laughed a bit nervously, hugging him back with one arm, with the other still grasping Vanellope.
After a moment Shane let go as he turned his attention to the others. Lucy took this opportunity to look back into the darkness, listening for anything. She grew concerned for the shadow woman, wondering if she would be alright fighting on her own.
"Girlie?"
Lucy glanced down at her friend, her hazel eyes staring up at her with concern. She looked back into the darkness, then back at Vanellope. She could hear the other three talking about something, but she didn't know of what. Slowly she set the girl down, patting her head once.
"I can't leave her to fight on her own. I'm not losing another friend."
Without another word, Lucy ran back towards the direction of the lake.
"Lucy, no!"
But she did not listen to the racer's cries, or the cries of her other friends. She just had to get back to the fight. No matter if it cost her dearly.
The willpower to get there made her forget entirely of how exhausted she was before. Her legs just kept moving forward, until she found herself at the lake's shores once more. She panted softly, quickly looking around the area. At first she couldn't make out anything or anyone.
CRACK!
She flinched as she caught another dark crescent blade flying to the right of her. She turned to the direction where it was thrown, her eyes widening seeing the shadow lady knelt down once again. Towering over her was the Shadowman, a calm, wide grin spread on his distorted face.
"You had the chance to end it, before and after her curse was broken. Yet despite being so close, you were swayed to pity her."
"You…never understood what Martin and I went through."
"On the contrary, Melissa. I knew you were both suffering. I gave you both the power to fight back," he snarled raising his hand as it formed another crescent blade, "But you failed me."
At this moment, Lucy instinctively sprung to stand between the two as the Shadowman threw the blade directly at them. She held out both of her hand, shutting her eyes tight.
CLANG!
The sound made Lucy open her eyes to find the crescent deflected from the barrier that formed around her hands. Her arms shook, as the barrier quickly faded away.
"What are you doing? Get out of here!" the shadow shouted from behind her.
"I'm not leaving!" Lucy turned to Melissa with a smile, "I won't lose another good friend like you."
"That's too bad."
In one moment Lucy felt her breath being knocked out of her as the Shadowman slammed his arm into her stomach. She wobbled before falling over, coughing as she tried to catch the breath she had left.
"You leave her alone!"
The girl turned to find Melissa standing to her feet, rage in her eyes as she charged with her distorted shadow arm raised. This brave gesture was short-lived as he knocked her back down with ease, before she could even land a hit. She tumbled to the ground, shaking as the shadow arm became more distorted. This made the dark entity scowl, a useless pawn who had promise. Yet his plans had changed now that the 'Girl of Light' had returned.
"Funny, I don't recall there was an answer to breaking your curse." The Shadowman turned and took a step once more towards Lucy. "If I remember correctly, there really isn't anyway to break it. Not even to my knowledge."
Lucy at this time was trying to get on her feet again, but before she could she was quickly snagged off the ground by the cloth of her dress. She struggled to break free, but the Shadowman's grip was very tight as his eyes met her golden ones.
"So maybe you can tell me who it was that broke your curse. Or are you afraid of putting another one of your friends in danger?"
Lucy said nothing as she continued to squirm, her eyes glaring at him. She almost cringed when a grin spread across his face.
"Perhaps I should put another curse on you, a stronger one this time. Wonder how long you would last."
Lucy's eyes widened in fear for one moment, but quickly disappeared as she stopped struggling. This caused the Shadowman's smile to waver a bit.
"I won't let you make me or anyone else suffer from your actions."
"Oh? And how are you going to stop me, little girl?" the Shadowman asked with a wider grin.
The two suddenly felt the ground begin to rumble softly, only to quickly grow intensely. Before anyone had the chance to act, Ralph slammed his whole body into the shadowy figure, causing him to let go of Lucy in shock. She fell to the ground, but quickly got back up in time to see the giant once more standing between her and the Shadowman. To her horror she found that the entity was starting to grow taller, his human-like figure disappearing to form a menacing, looming figure. His grin had grown so wide that it made Lucy shiver at the sight of it.
"Wonderful! A rematch against the wannabe hero. This should be fun."
To Lucy's surprise Ralph stood his ground as the Shadowman's figure continued to grow. She quivered, taking a step towards the giant out of fear.
"It's alright, Lucy. I won't let him win this time."
The girl stopped as Ralph gave her a reassuring smile. She wanted to argue that she could help, fight by his side against the threat. This time she found herself hesitating to speak. Lucy wanted so desperately to get stronger to protect her friend, but realized they weren't so powerless. She nodded once before taking a step back.
"You're so bold to face me head on without your friend to help you." The Shadowman sneered, "Since you seem confident enough you can take me down, I'll give you the first punch. Better not waste it though, unless you all want to perish."
Ralph did not say a word as he readied to attack. Lucy watched on with worry, but was curious to see what he would do this time. The tension in the air increased dramatically as the duo silently faced each other. The wrecker clenched both of his hands, before finally charging towards the towering entity. Shadowman's grin continued to grow as the giant approached. With one fist, Ralph swung right into his chest. As it collided, he was able to go completely through the shadow. But as the Shadowman turned his grinning face to meet his, Ralph knew that he had missed.
"Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that measly punch to hurt me."
At this point Ralph knew he had to act fast. He already messed up, and if he did nothing now the three of them would all get a game over. He couldn't stand he thought of Lucy disappearing. So Ralph did the only thing he knew how to do.
The wrecker growled as he wound back his other arm towards the Shadowman's face. Unknown to Ralph, his fist began to ignite in a strong, red aura.
"I'M GONNA WRECK IT!"
His fist swung down hard into the shadow's face. On impact the aura around his arm slammed into the figure, causing the Shadowman to fly and hit a tree behind him. Everyone was put into a silent shock as each one tried to figure out what on earth just happened. Ralph glanced at the arm he used, just catching the faint, red aura emanating before it disappeared.
"How?"
The wrecker glanced to where the Shadowman shakily stood. The tree he was punched into formed a crater that almost went entirely through the middle.
"This is not possible. You've… changed."
The entity's expression stayed in a constant shock, yet it slowly changed to a grin. Without another word the Shadowman disappeared into the dark forest. He would not be surprised the second time.
The intense, ominous feeling that hung in the air slowly started to dissipate. Ralph relaxed as the danger had passed by them for now. He stared down at his huge hands in total confusion. For 30 years he had been doing the same job, wrecking a building with them. There was never an update to his game, or any reason to.
Before he could ask himself why this was happening to him, something slammed into him from behind that almost made him jump.
"That was amazing!" Lucy's voice exclaimed, "I was so worried when it didn't hit, but you really showed him!"
Ralph chuckled as he tried to turn and face the girl. "Yeah, I guess I really did, huh?"
"Are you two finished?"
The both of them flinched as Melissa glared at them in annoyance. She slowly stood to her feet, clenching her shadowed arm with her normal hand. "Whatever it is you two need to work out, do it on your own. I think I'm done here." The shadow turned to leave as well, limping a little.
"Wait!"
Melissa turned to find that the girl had moved towards her a little. She glared at Lucy before her expression softened. The magical girl lifted a hand towards her, sending a bit of her golden aura in her direction. She grimaced, thinking it would hurt her. Instead she found that the tears in her clothes and shoes were gone, or rather they were made entirely new. She gasped as her distorted shadow arm seemed to shrink as soon as her new clothes formed.
"What is this?" she asked semi angrily.
"I…thought I should give you something. S-So that your arm doesn't get out of control." Lucy shyly stammered.
"I DON'T…!" Melissa paused seeing her flinch in fear. The shadow sighed, "It's fine, I guess." She turned raising her human hand up and waved. "Stay out of trouble."
Lucy wanted to convince her to stay, but instead waved one hand, as the shadow woman disappeared into the candy trees. Her arm slowly fell to her side, staring into the forest for another moment before turning back to Ralph. She tilted her head in confusion, a question racing through her mind.
"How did you do that?"
A/N: Hello guys. I hope you had a Happy New Year. Yes it's been a while, and I apologize for taking so long in many uploads. Life gets in the way, and days turn into weeks then months. However with some help from good friends of mine, I've finally got the determination to write again.
Thank you to all that have been patient, and again apologize for the wait. I hope you enjoy this chapter, and hope to get the next one up soon.
Until then, cya later. :)