Ephraim stood in front of an altar at the back of the Black Temple. He merely stared down at it, his face expressionless. Whether he was contemplating the Demon King's evil thoughts, or trying to resist those things, one could not say. Either way, he raised his head as he heard the sound of footsteps running towards him from behind. Human footsteps. He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was.
"Ephraim!" Eirika cried out as she and her companions came to a stop. She stood only a few feet away, while the others hung back, watching.
"Be careful, Eirika!" Tana warned. "He could be..."
Ephraim turned to face them, his expression softened, lacking his usual confidence. "Eirika..."
"It's all right, Tana," Eirika said. "It's Ephraim. We're here, Brother. We've come to save you."
"There's no time to waste," Ephraim told her. "Do as you must, quickly!"
"We have the spell right here!" Ewan called, waving the scroll above his head carelessly. "Here goes..."
Saleh planted a firm hand on Ewan's shoulder. "Wait! We need to get the Demon King out of Prince Ephraim's body first. And also, we need that Dark Stone."
"The Dark Stone..." Eirika looked at her brother again. "Do you have it?"
"Yes..." Ephraim pulled out the Dark Stone. "But don't worry about me. Cast that spell."
Eirika held out her hand, reaching for the stone. Ephraim watched her hand, but hesitated.
"But before I hand it to you, I need you to promise me something."
"What is it...?"
"If that spell fails, I want you to kill me."
Eirika gasped softly, visually taken aback by the request. "Brother..."
"Please, Eirika. I don't want to live as the Demon King's vessel. And make no mistake, he'll make me try to kill you. I would rather die by your hand than for you to die by mine."
"Brother..." Eirika turned to glance at the rest of her party. Everyone else watched intently. They could not make the promise for her, but they merely nodded, reassuring her that they would be behind her, whatever she chose to do. As painful as it was, she had made the same promise one year ago. She would not surrender the world to atrocity just to save one corrupted friend's life. Though Lyon had lost his own life, his desire was to save the world. And now Ephraim had the same desire.
So with that in mind, she nodded, her eyes welling up with tears. "I promise."
She reached out for the Dark Stone once again, while shooting a hopeful glance at Saleh and Ewan. Please, do not fail...
Ephraim slowly held out the Dark Stone towards her to put it in her hand...only to withdraw it at the last second, his facial expression suddenly turning malicious.
"Heh. Did you really think I'd hand it over that easily? Did you think that a mere human would be able to make a fool of the all-powerful Demon King?"
Eirika sighed, disappointed. "Of course not. I you deceived me last year, Demon King, but this time it won't be so easy."
"All the wiser, eh? Well, it matters not." Ephraim – or rather, the Demon King stepped back gracefully, holding up the Dark Stone to tantalize them. "You want this stone? Then come and get it!"
Eirika eyed the stone, as if expecting some sort of trick. Then she planted her feet and rushed forward, aiming to knock the stone out of Ephraim's hand with her rapier. However, Ephraim pulled the stone away, avoiding the attack. Eirika corrected herself, aiming another slash towards his hand. Ephraim brought up his lance and blocked the attack, and then swept the opposite end towards her ankles, tripping her to the ground. Eirika rolled away from him to recover.
"This will not be easy..." Saleh remarked.
"I'll try next!" Tana said.
Raising her spear, she charged at Ephraim. Before she even reached attacking distance, the possessed prince sidestepped her. Tana stumbled and fell to the ground, and Ephraim kicked her in the side, causing her to roll away.
Gerik inhaled deeply, gripping his sword. "All right, looks like I'm next."
"Be carefuly, Gerik..." Saleh warned.
Gerik screamed and rushed in towards Ephraim. While the Demon King was distracted, Myrrh looked around, spotting a decent sized rock. Picking it up from the ground, she found that it was the perfect size, about the size of her palm. She then glanced up at Gerik and Ephraim fighting. Ephraim parried Gerik's sword hard, causing him to flip over and hit the ground.
Eirika, Tana, and Gerik moved back over to where Saleh and Ewan were waiting, breathing heavily.
"Has he always been this good?" Gerik asked.
"Yes..." Eirika replied, although it was hard for her to measure Ephraim's true skill level, since she loathed violence, and Ephraim was far more experienced than she. "Although I'm not sure if this is only my brother's skill we're fighting against here."
"Good point," Gerik conceded.
"It's very possible that the Demon King may have enhanced Prince Ephraim's skills," Saleh added.
Bored of their conversation, Ephraim held up the Dark Stone again. "Well? Would you care to try your luck again?"
Myrrh kept her eyes on the Dark Stone, clenching the rock in her hand. "I'm sorry, Ephraim..."
She planted her left foot on the ground and hurled the rock. It struck home, successfully knocking the Dark Stone out of Ephraim's hand. The stone flew across the room, bouncing off the stone wall before hitting the ground.
"I'll get it!" Ewan called out as he ran towards the stone.
"Oh no, you don't!" Ephraim ran in pursuit of the boy.
"Ewan!" Saleh shouted the warning as he ran towards Ephraim. He managed to catch up and grab Ephraim's arm, stopping him from reaching Ewan.
Ewan picked up the Dark Stone. "I've got it!"
Ephraim ripped his arm from Saleh's grip. "You impudent mortal!"
He tackled the sage to the ground, and then stood up, pinning him to the ground with his foot and holding the point of the lance to Saleh's throat.
"This isn't exactly the best body to harness my power...however, you'll make a fine replacement. Therefore, you will become my next vessel!"
Saleh looked up at him helplessly, gasping for breath underneath the foot crushing his chest. A cold chill ran down his spine at the thought of being controlled by the Demon King, and being made to do unthinkable things.
Gerik rushed in silently, sneaking in a powerful punch to Ephraim's jaw, knocking him to the ground and freeing Saleh. "Like hell he will!" he snarled, reaching down to help Saleh.
Saleh took Gerik's hand and stood up with a relieved sigh. "Thank you, Gerik..."
Now that Ewan held the final piece needed, he was ready to cast the spell. However, he hesitated, knowing that Ephraim had not yet been freed from the Demon King's possession.
Eirika sensed Ewan's hesitation, which was understandable. It would hurt her more than anyone to lose Ephraim, but she had made the promise. The whole of Magvel, if not the entire world, was at stake.
"Do it now!" she commanded. "We'll hold him off!"
"Right!" Ewan held the dark Stone in one hand, and opened the scroll with the other. He then began to recite the written incantation in a foreign language, concentrating on the dark power.
Eirika and the others turned their attention back to Ephraim and the Demon King.
"Is everyone ready?" Eirika asked, gripping her rapier.
Gerik and Tana nodded, also gripping their weapons, setting their goal in mind. The goal was not to defeat Ephraim, but to distract him while Ewan recited the incantation.
So with a low, growling scream, the three rushed at the possessed prince to begin the battle. Saleh hung back, standing in front of Ewan to guard him directly. Myrrh stood nearby, feeling useless. The only way she could fight was by using her dragon form, and she did not want to unleash that power on Ephraim, whom she had come to adore.
"Ephraim..." she mused softly, hoping against all hope that he could be saved.
Ephraim twirled the lance in his hand once to prepare himself as the fighters came at him. Tana reached him first, swinging her lance vertically towards him. Ephraim held his lance horizontally, easily blocking the attack. Tana pulled back and attempted a thrust. Ephraim sidestepped it as he moved towards her, slamming his lance into her back. Tana stumbled forward, tripping over her own feet and falling on her face.
Eirika came in next, swinging her rapier towards Ephraim's head, which he dodged handily. She aimed a slash towards his chest, but Ephraim hopped backwards out of its range. He then moved in, sweeping her feet out from under her with his lance, and Eirika slammed on the ground on her back.
Ewan continued to chant away. The Demon King decided to try to stop him. But Saleh was ready for him. He jumped into Ephraim's path, holding his staff defensively. Anticipating that, Ephraim aimed a thrust towards Saleh's gut. Saleh parried with his staff. Ephraim then spun around, sticking the broad end of the lance between Saleh's legs, and brought it up, flipping the sage over, causing him to crash on the ground on his chest.
Gerik charged in from behind Ephraim with a fierce yell. Ephraim sidestepped him, blocking Gerik's incoming sword strike. Undeterred, Gerik continued to attack, intending to force the Demon King away from Saleh and Ewan. While that much was working, Gerik was still unable to land a solid blow.
Saleh picked himself up slowly, watching the battle closely. He spared a glance at Ewan, who had apparently not noticed the Demon King's attempted interference. The boy was deeply focused on reciting the incantation. Saleh let out a relieved sigh, nodding in approval. That's it...
Gerik fought on, still trying to get past Ephraim's defenses. He sidestepped a lance thrust, then moved in to slash Ephraim's arm. The prince hissed in pain, and then spun around, giving the Desert Tiger a hard whack, knocking him to the ground effortlessly. Ephraim then hunged over, holding his wounded arm.
"Fragile human bodies..." the Demon King cursed.
Eirika, Tana, and Gerik regrouped to catch their breath. Eirika glanced over at Ewan, who was still casting. How long was it going to take? Was he anywhere near finished? Eirika gasped softly as she realized that she was no closer to freeing Ephraim from the Demon King's possession.
Her question was soon answered as Ewan finished his incantation.
"I did it!" he called out, hopping in excitement. "I did it!"
Everyone glanced at him oddly. They should have been glad that he had finished, but they weren't. It meant that they would lose Ephraim. Their mission to save him had failed. Eirika looked over at her brother sadly.
"Brother..." she said softly.
Ephraim glanced back, tilting his head, a look of confusion crossing his face. The others noticed something else that was off as well.
"Nothing's happening..." Myrrh pointed out.
"Uh...maybe I stuttered too much?" Ewan stammered, holding the scroll upside down to check if he had indeed held it wrong. But no, even though the text was in a nearly ineligible language, he could still tell that he had held it right side up while casting.
"Now what?" Gerik asked. "That spell was the only chance we had!"
"That spell has to be recited by someone with extreme power!" Ephraim called out. "It has to be recited by Myrrh!"
Right when the words came out of his mouth, he quickly clamped his hands over it. He removed his hands and added, "Oops...that one slipped."
The others glanced at him, their eyes widening, but also wary that it might be a trick of the Demon King.
"That was Prince Ephraim speaking..." Saleh said. "He speaks the truth!"
Ewan wavered, but then joined his teacher. "Yeah, you're right! The Demon King would never give us a tip like that!"
It also served as proof that somewhere within, Ephraim was fighting to free himself from the Demon King's possession. But the Demon King had absolute control once again as he stared down the heroes.
"You humans sure are tenacious, I'll give you that," he conceded. "After all, that was why I was defeated in that ancient battle, and again last year. Well then, it's time I step up in this little game myself. Come forth, my servants!"
A loud pounding sound came from the temple's entrance. The heroes glanced back, knowing exactly what it was. It wasn't long before the monsters busted through the entrance and poured into the temple, rushing into the room. Remarkably, they did not attack right away. Rather, they kept their distance while surrounding the group, with Ephraim staring them down in the center of the circle.
"Uh-oh..." Ewan gulped. "What do we do now?"
"Here..." Myrrh held out her hands towards him. "Give me the stone and the scroll."
"Oh, right!" Ewan gladly handed her the items. She was going to need them if she was going to cast.
"This doesn't look good," Saleh said, "but we must protect Lady Myrrh."
"You all can focus on dealing with the monsters," Eirika said. "I'll face my brother."
"Eirika...are you sure?" Tana asked.
"Yes...I have to free him from the Demon King's control. And I'm the only one who can."
"All right...good luck. I'll be praying for both of you."
"Thank you..."
And so the heroes began the battle once again. Gerik and Tana moved in to fight the monsters directly. Myrrh began to recite the incantation. Saleh and Ewan stayed near her to protect her, tomes ready to blast any monsters that came near them. Meanwhile, Ephraim and Eirika stood where they were, staring each other down.