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Chapter 10: - Healing a Broken Heart
The silence that stretched between us was dense with worry, confusion and other such emotions which concerned the fact that we were heading into the lion's den where our enemies were waiting for us thus everyone was concerned with what to do once we arrived in Daemon Capitala.
"Everyone listen up," I called out. This caused everyone to look at me with Lady yelling back that she could hear me as she had to focus on keeping the airplane in the sky. "The Horsemen will attempt a ritual to revive Apocalypse, we have to prevent that ritual from succeeding," I stated. Everyone looked confused so they all moved in close as Dante specifically took a seat right next to me.
"How exactly do we stop them from reviving Apocalypse? Kill them?" Dante asked. I shook my head as I rolled the sceptre within my hands and thought about how to phrase my next statement so that they could understand exactly what I meant.
"No killing them would be pointless. As demons lack a soul they eventually reform within the depths of hell and thus the Horsemen will eventually reform and attempt the ritual again, the only way to stop them would be to bind the Horsemen," I explained. Everyone looked at each other before turning back to me.
"How do we bind them?" Trish asked. I already knew the answer to that, it was a miracle that the seal Mundus and Sparda used was able to last this long and to help we'd need an even stronger seal than the last time.
"I'll have to do that but if I get attacked I'll be forced to restart the ritual again and they will attack me to stop me, so I need you guys to protect me which means you'll have to fight the Horsemen," I responded. Everyone paled at that thought so I quickly put the sceptre onto my back as I stood up. "We'll talk more when we land but for now w-," I began but I was suddenly cut off.
An explosion rippled across the side of the airplane which sent it spiralling to the side and sending the lot of us flying as Lady desperately tried to regain control of the airplane as we began to fall towards the sides of the plane which ended up with most of the others plastered against the walls. Luckily I had escaped that fate and so I began to use my chain and sword to pull myself towards the back of the airplane.
Once I reached the end I placed my feet down and turned myself into metal which enable Lady to fully level off the airplane and so before my weight caused any trouble I turned myself back into flesh, everyone returned to their feet and Dante swiftly moved into the cockpit and so I followed to see exactly who attacked us although I already had an idea who it was.
We looked out the windows and saw that my idea was correct as Mirage's hair was distinctive against the black sky that she flew in, I cursed and immediately returned to the main body and opened the door which caused a huge gust of wind to surge through the metal bird and it sucked the air out of it. I ignored this and reached outside placing my hand on the surface, I used my magic to anneal my hand to the surface and did this with my other hand and my feet, once safely secured to the airplane's surface I climbed my way up to the roof.
Once on top of the airplane I stood up and withdrew my sword as Mirage landed on the plane across from me with her staff already in its' separated state, I noted that the wood was becoming black and rotten due to the overexposure to Black Magic and it was beginning to transfer to the wielder if the raw and peeling skin on Mirage's hand was anything to go by.
Mirage swung her staff around and planted it into the plane which caused a portal to open up before she jumped off and disappeared into the dark of the night, the portal was black inside with two blood red circles ringing the perimeter with runes written between the two circle, I recognised the runes as those that were used for summoning which meant that we were about to be swarmed by demons.
The demons that emerged from the portal were dressed in armour with a sword in their right hand that had two prongs stretching out to the sides for a tip and a shield that possessed spikes, I identified the creatures as Dullahans, demon knights that had been possessed and thus reanimated. The Dullahans' only form of attacking were stabbing using the rotating spikes attached onto the shield or slashing airborne enemies with its sword. The sheer strength that its' armour possessed prevents all forms of frontal attack with its' only weakness being the red gem that was embedded into its spine.
The portal was still open which meant that more Dullahan and any other demons could come through at any moment which meant that my first priority had to be to successfully close that portal before I became overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Unfortunately as it happened the Dullahan were forming a barrier around the portal and thanks to their type of attacks it would be difficult for me to make it around them, however I wasn't about to let something like this stop me from doing what had to be done.
I held out my sword as I kept my feet annealed to the plane's smooth surface as this was the only thing that prevented me from flying off and probably being killed, I took a carefully step forward which was to glide my feet over the surface which meant that I couldn't move all that well so I would have to defeat the demon from where I was standing and then move in to close off the portal.
I channelled my magic into the blade and began to shape it until I swung it in an arc which sent a powerful gale of sharpened wind slicing towards the demons, many hid behind their shield although a handful of them were sent into the air thus allowing me to use my magic to strike at their gems when they were exposed after being battered slightly by the wind.
Thanks to my attack I had managed to destroy eight of the summoned demons however this didn't deter the remaining twenty as they charged towards me with their shield spinning around making the spikes turn into a blur, as the demons closed in I swung out with the wind which created a shield around me thus preventing them from attacking me.
The demons resumed their assault on me with their shields and so I had to duck and block every attack whilst continually channelling my magic into my feet to prevent them from being removed from the airplane's surface, although I gained a few scraps across my skin when the spikes made contact with me.
I ducked down preventing an attack from cleaving my head from my shoulders and I pressed my free hand against the metal and pushed my magic into it which caused the metal to rise up and strike the gems of five of the Dullahans whilst I managed to twirl myself around and drive my sword deep into the gem of three more of the demons.
With only twelve left I knew that I had to dart passed them and close the portal before any more of them could come through so I used the wind to push them back towards the back of the plane which allowed me to begin moving towards the portal however before I could close the portal ten more Dullahans emerged from it and I barely had a chance to dodge the attack.
I gritted my teeth and dived around them and slammed my sword into the red rings and began to surged pure magic through the weapon and into the portal as I forced it to collapse into its' self which caused a lot of strain on my magic but I succeeded in stopping it from allowing anymore demons to escape the Nether Realm.
With that threat removed I was able to focus my full attention on the demons and so I pulled out my chain and attached my daggers to it, I then used my telekinesis to attack the Dullahans from a distance and to give me some protection in case they tried to attack me. Using this method I was able to destroy the rest of them although a few of them attacked me and I gained a few more injuries but that didn't stop me from fighting back and I managed to keep my feet annealed to the airplane.
Even though the demons were defeated our fight had severely damaged the airplane's ability to fly and so I began to climb back down to the plane and I was hauled in by Dante who swiftly closed the door, Kyrie was holding a mask to her face to help her breathing and the door to the cockpit was closed ensuring that Lady was still capable of flying the machine.
"We need to get out now!" I yelled. The others decided not to argue with me as Trish swiftly went to the cockpit and got a hold of Lady whilst Nero went over to ensure that Kyrie was fine and Dante handed me the Relic which he had a hold of.
"How do we get out?" Trish asked. I turned around and opened the door once more but this time I remained in place as I began to activate my magic, a summoning portal opened up, although the runic circles were purple, and out of the portal came a large creature that was easily larger than the airplane.
The creature was serpentine in appearance with four legs extending beneath it and glittering silver scales adorning its' skin, the tail was barbed with thorns that I knew could be detached at the creature's will whilst curved horns formed a crown around its' triangular head. It flew slightly beneath us as its' wings beat against the wind so that it remained close to the airplane at all times, I smiled glad to see Shay the Frost Dragon whom I had bonded with years ago.
"That's how!" I yelled over the howling winds. Before they could respond I jumped down and easily landed on the dragon before turning to wait for the others, Dante jumped out and landed on my friend although he stumbled a bit so I quickly latched a hand onto his arm so that he didn't fall off.
Once the others had jumped down, with some steadying from my wind magic, Shay pulled away from the plane just as it became consumed by the flames that had begun to spread at some point, Shay then began to fly even faster away from the descending wreckage and towards Daemon Capitala. This ride was much smoother as we weren't attacked this time thus the other four began to relax however I had crouched down on Shay's head to contemplate what happened.
"Mirage attacked us. The others don't know about her being controlled and they might attack her so how do you suggest we free her from the Incubus' control?" Dante asked as he crouched down beside me. I reached under my top and pulled out a necklace which contained two rings hanging form it, the first was made of white crystals in the shape of vines with a glittering blue rose resting on the top whilst the second was made of gold in the shape of a feather with a ruby resting on top and it was surrounded by diamonds.
"When Mirage left she gave me these two rings, the golden ring is the ring which her One gifted her with as he forged it with my help whilst the white ring is… well it's connected to someone important to her. If I can get her to wear these rings she might remember the people she truly loves," I explained.
Dante nodded and silence fell upon us however as the site of Daemon Capitala was upon us no conversation was need, I stood up and called back to the others who began carefully making their way towards me as I stepped further down Shay's head until I was capable of looking directly into her cyan eyes.
"Shay please take us down there," I requested in Dragonian. Before my friend could respond I was swiftly knocked to the side and barely caught onto one of Shay's talons, I looked around and found that standing below us on top of a building was Mirage so I swung myself up onto Shay's paw and then proceeded to jump down so that I landed beside Mirage who looked at me.
"Shay get the others to safety!" I commanded. I glanced back to see the dragon taking flight away from my location and so I turned back to face Mirage and had to swiftly dodge out of the way of one of her crushing blows, I landed a few feet to her side and so I threw a mana bolt at her but the witch was able to deflect the blast up into the air and she then dashed towards me.
I whipped my sword out and caught the end of the staff as it wrapped around my blade so the two of us began to pull against each other and the objects went sailing into the air so I immediately punched the woman in the abdomen which caused her to stumble back a bit. I used this opportunity to jump up and grabbed a hold of my sword, I swung my weapon which sent the poisoned staff flying away from it although Mirage successfully caught it, however I saw that the Black Magic's curse began to spread even further up her arm which cause her to hiss in pain.
I felt fear spike through me and I knew that I had to act quickly otherwise my sister would be lost to me forever and I refused to allow that to happen to her, I landed on the ground and immediately sent fire surging towards Mirage however she successfully countered it by summoning dark water which caused steam to shroud the area thus preventing us from seeing the other's movements.
I used my magic to sense for her presence and I knew that Mirage would be doing the same, I felt her approaching me so I immediately swung around and blocked her staff, which had been restored to its' connected form, I then spun out of the way and sent snow flying into her face which caused her to stumble back although she quickly retaliated by using the steam to throw me backwards and off the building.
I used the wind to halt my fall and bring me back up to the roof where Mirage jumped into the air and began to engage me in close combat by striking her staff to my legs although I turned them into metal at the last second thus preventing them from sustaining any damage from the blow although Mirage's staff was left undamaged thanks to its' strength.
I pulled my sword back and slammed the pommel of it into Mirage's neck which sent her flying back and into the side of a building, the momentum caused the bricks to crack from the sudden pressure as my sister stood up and sent chunks of debris flying towards me although I summonsed my shield which deflected the stone slabs away from me when they impacted it.
My shield ended up cracking from the repeated slamming so I dropped my shield and grabbed a hold of the last few chunks and sent them flying back towards Mirage however she successfully dodge them by turning into butterflies which allowed her to weave her way through the small gaps between the portions of metal that connected the slabs.
Mirage reformed herself and used the wind to propel herself towards me so I took off flying deeper into the building area until I came upon a construction site and I landed on the metal beams and waited for Mirage to arrive, when she did Mirage immediately brought her staff down towards my head however I managed to dodge the attack although the beam ended up being dented from the force of the attack.
I reached into my shirt and pulled out the rings as I had to get them on her now otherwise it would end up being too late, I then pulled out my chain and I swung it towards her head which she managed to dodge although I used her distracted moment to launch my foot into her cheek which sent her spiralling downwards.
I used my chain to swing down to where she was although Mirage steadied herself and used the metal to act as a series of stairs to head up toward me and when she got close, Mirage threw a kick towards me although I used my own foot to block it this caused the both of us to be sent tumbled down but we both landed on a metal beam.
I was the first one to get to my feet and I lashed my chain towards my sister which wrapped tightly around her arm although she used this to force us into close combat again which was made more difficult as I could only dodge the attacks that she threw at me due to both of my hands being preoccupied thus I knew that I had to do something or be severely injured.
I took a deep breath as I jumped back and sent a shrieking flying form my voice must like the first night that I had meet Dante, the sound caused Mirage to drop her weapon and cover her ears in a desperate attempt to drown out the sound so that it didn't deafen her.
I used this opportunity to pull my chain back and then sent it spiralling towards her again but this time it wrapped perfectly around the woman's form with only her head and left hand been free to move, I rushed forward and planted a kick into her chest which forced her backwards and this allowed me to pin her down.
Mirage struggled and attempted launch lightning at me but I used one of my daggers to prevent this by stabbing it straight through her hand thus disrupting her ability to mould the magic, I used this pause to take the rings off of the chain and I slipped both onto her hand.
"Remember Mirage. Remember the man whom you claimed caused you an endlessly amount of joy and remember the child that caused a smile to appear on your face before they took him away. Remember me and Rhea and Amu, your sisters, your friends. Please I know you can see us just remember what it felt like to love, he hasn't forgotten and neither have I so please remember for him, for me and for your son!" I begged.
Mirage stilled as she looked at me thus allowing our eyes to lock and I saw that the reddish pink colour had faded from her eyes, she blinked a little and looked around before turning back to face me as confusion, shock, realisation and finally sorrow flickered across her face before she turned so that our eyes could lock once more and I saw that her eyes had returned to their normal warmth.
"Oh Wiccan, I'm so sorry. I've hurt you, I've used Black Magic and I've tried to harm innocents," Mirage apologised. Tears began to prickle at her eyes so I immediately uncoiled the chain from around her which allowed the woman to sit up although I immediately wrapped my arms tightly around the woman and pulled her into a hug.
"It's alright Mirage. You're back now, that's what counts," I murmured into her hair. Mirage returned the hug however I felt her arms slips down until her hand could tightly clasped my upper arms and she pushed me back, I looked at her confused however her face returned to its' normally calm expression.
"I am so sorry for everything Wiccan, thank you," Mirage spoke. I was confused about what she meant before I felt myself being sent spiralling backwards and I ended up crashing through glass, I rolled a few times before coming to a halt so I quickly scrambled to my feet and I rushed back to the broken glass and looked out.
I saw Mirage standing on the beam but she was looking to the side so I followed her gaze and saw a missile coming from a nearby building and it was heading straight towards her, Mirage turned back to face me and we locked eyes which allowed me to realise exactly what she was doing especially when she raised her hand and forced the missile to continue on its' course.
"MIRAGE!" I screamed. Mirage sent me a smile just as the missile hit her and she disappeared from my sight, not only that I could no longer sense her mana which meant that she had to have died, I sunk to my knees and covered my mouth with my hand as began to cry at the fact that I had lost my closest friend.
I felt the mana of Dante and the others approach me and call out to me but I didn't respond as I was too wracked with grief to respond, I felt the majority of the group leave the room but Dante remained and I felt his hand rest on my shoulder which caused me to look up at him thus allowing him to see my tear stained face.
"She's dead," Dante stated. I knew it wasn't a question but I still nodded to confirm it, what I didn't expect was for Dante to draw me into his arms and hold me there as if he was trying to comfort me, then he reached up and wiped away the tears that streaked down my face. "I know how it feels to lose someone you love," Dante quietly spoke. I pulled back and looked up at the half-demon as I brushed away the remaining tears.
"We need to keep going. Mirage would tell me to get my ass moving instead of sitting around moping and I intend to take that Incubus' head," I commented. I stood up and Dante followed, we then headed over to where his friends were and I sensed where Nile and Malcolm were located so I began guiding the others to the building.
