Happy new year everyone! This is the first chapter I'm uploading in 2018... what a year 2017 has been in terms of writing for me (not sure if I said this before but I am writing ahead quite a bit! I'm really proud ;;v;;!), but everything else irl? not so much haha
Anyway, feedback, critique, thoughts, ideas or any kind of commentary is always appreciated! Even a small comment makes me realise people are reading and that means so much... don't feel obligated to, though! Any shy or silent readers mean a lot also, love you all! ;;;v;;
Ahem! Back to the story... some stuff is about to go down!
Elegy's eyes followed Bronze pace around the room frantically. Clanking noises echoed throughout the room with each step.
"Bronze, dear, please. Sit down, you're exhausting yourself at this rate." Hail said, rubbing his temple as he tried writing down something on a little notepad while a magazine lay on his lap. "Your wounds are still healing."
"No!" Bronze snapped. "Guys, he did something to Aeris and took her away!" She held up a hand, trying her hardest to summon a portal, but nothing happened. In frustration, she punched the wall, leaving a hole in it. "And the portals aren't working either!"
"Yeah, this place is kinda falling apart." Smoky muttered, looking at something on his tablet. "And the connection is being shitty too."
The room suddenly shook heavily, and Bronze almost lost her balance. She leaned against the wall to keep standing.
"Oh no, we might actually die at this rate." Smoky said in a deadpan tone, taking his gaze off his tablet to look around the shaking room. "How tragic."
Looking over the cracks that appeared, Bronze turned to the others. "What's happening?"
As the room shook once again, the four all felt energy draining out of them. Elegy was seemingly hit with it the hardest. She suddenly stood up, eyes wide as she gave the others frantic looks. She looked slightly panicked, like she wanted to say something but couldn't.
"Elegy?"
She grabbed at her head as the place shook again, this time Bronze did fell over. Smoky came from his spot to help her back up while Hail placed a cold hand on Elegy's shoulder. She calmed down considerably at her friends being near her.
"Is this place... sapping power from us to keep itself standing?" Hail asked, looking at his hands. They looked normal but it felt like something was very lightly pulling on his skin. It didn't hurt, in fact, he barely felt it at all. "Is that what's happening?"
Smoky shrugged as smoke escaped from his hands. "Shade's gonna come back to everything he totally worked so hard for up into smoke and ashes, haha!" He laughed loudly. While he was obviously trying to ease the mood, he himself didn't really seem to care. "He's gonna be so pissed. I bet he's gonna cry."
"Well, we won't be around to see that if this continues..." Hail reminded him, looking up at the room as it continued to shake. Suddenly a disgusting yet nostalgic taste filled his mouth and even the hint of that mere taste made him want to throw up.
"We have no choice but to... wait."
Episode 9: Forsaken
Getting close to the monster proved to be quite a challenge. Due the constant manipulation of wind, the Cures kept finding themselves being blown away before they could land a hit, or even reach it.
A far-ranged approach seemed to be the best course of action, although that was something none of them really excelled in. While often refraining herself from using her fire-powers, Ember decided she had no choice but to rely on them this time.
"Terra, stay over there!" She warned the green Cure, knowing of her fear of fire and not wanting to scare her. It was painfully obvious how underused her fire powers were as the flames she shot at the monster barely reached their mark.
Splash slashed the monster with as many streams and water tendrils as she could and Terra threw large rocks, which eventually did cause the monster to descend to the ground and raise its arms in front of them protectively while it flailed around.
The monster let out a softer, yet still ear-numbingly loud, moan as its wings shot a whole plethora of sharp feathers in the Cures' directions, striking them like arrows hitting a target.
Despite the almost numbing pain the feathers gave them, they quickly regained themselves as the feathers dissolved, along with the pain. All unleashed elemental-powered kicks, punches, and the like at the monster, in hopes of weakening it. Most of their attacks were rendered useless, either swatted away by clawed hands or wings, or blasted away by heavy wind.
"Damn it!"
"What do we do!?" Terra raised a barrier made of rocks to shield herself and her friends against another barrage of arrow-like feathers. She turned to Ember, expecting her to have an answer. "Can we use our attacks yet?"
Ember couldn't really find a proper reply to that. Was it a good idea to risk wasting an attack now? They eventually "recharged" again for another use but still... they should use their finishers wisely.
With Unbounds, the color of the eyes signified when a purification was in place. But this wasn't an Unbound, probably, or at least not a regular one. There wasn't even a cage in its chest. There was just a large, empty hole.
Upon better inspection, Ember noticed there actually was something hovering inside the hole in the monster's' chest. From where she was standing, it looked like a small, black dot but even with her precise eyesight, it was too small to see what it actually was.
Her eyes quickly flicked around the area. Slowly everything around them was drowning in darkness. She sincerely hoped people were able to get away in time. Sure, every time they had defeated an Unbound the damage had been magically repaired, but this was clearly different. She had no idea what to expect.
"Let's put an end to this as quick as possible." Splash said, voicing Ember's thoughts almost exactly. Despite her voice sounding rather confident, her face revealed her uneasiness.
Ember nodded and the two rejoined Terra, who was creating pillars as platforms to get close to the monster. The pillars were seemingly quite sturdy as most of them managed to stay standing despite the wind blows.
"Let's go! Together!" Terra said as she created a ball of rock around herself. Splash got legitimately excited as she jumped on the ball. Ember, confused, followed her lead and jumped on too.
Splash launched the ball into the monster's direction with her water as she and Ember started running in place to get more momentum.
She nudged Ember in the side as the ball hit the monster in the face. "Jump!"
The duo leaped up, backs against each other, feet raised forward. Water and fire merged as they rammed their feet into the monster's torso, creating a small blast of scalding water.
"Double Scalding Cure Kick!" Ember cried out, while Splash gave her a puzzling look. She didn't need to name a simple kick, but she felt no regret doing it anyway. If only to fire herself up and hopefully melt away the fear she was feeling right now. Imitating the cool action shows she would spend time watching online with her brothers. It made her feel braver.
Splash roughly grabbed Ember's arm and launched herself towards the monster again, quickly landing a kick before rolling down on its shoulder. She had to pull Ember by her sleeve to prevent her from falling off.
Terra dissolved the rock after it had hit the monster, quickly made her two rock gauntlets, and started slamming its face numerous times. As she started descending, she undid one gauntlet and grabbed one of the chains wrapped around the monster's torso.
The monster panicked as it took off into the sky again. Curling into the air, shooting more feathers, the monster tried desperately to get the three off, but they kept holding onto the chains as if their lives depended on it.
Underneath them, darkness continued to spread.
Ray swallowed all their fear. They closed their eyes and ran through the dark pool on the ground. They heard Bright call their name multiple times but ignored him.
Looking down they noticed that instead of trying to engulf them, the darkness evaded them. It parted around their feet as they slowly made their way up to Shade, who watched the airborne fight with excitement.
Their body gained a luminescent glow as they felt more confidence in this single moment than for the past couple of weeks.
"Stop this. Now." They commanded, stopping a small distance from Shade.
Shade blinked in surprise. "What? You're not enjoying my masterpiece?" He asked and pointed at the sky.
"We are both guardians of Primo. We should not be doing this..."
"That is exactly why you shouldn't stand in my way! I'm trying to make everything as it was... but better!" Shade declared, growing more and more excited as he rambled on like a hyperactive child. "As soon as the Titans are under my control, then Primo can be rebuilt. Think about it! No more pointless deaths, no more destruction on the whim of some emotional wannabe goddesses..." He paused as his smile softened for a moment. "That sounds great, doesn't it?"
Ray couldn't find something to say as they let Shade's words sink in. That did sound great... but...
"No."
"No?"
"I will not let you do that." Ray clenched their fists, glowing even brighter. "Not at the cost of this world and its people!"
Shade scoffed at that. "Choosing this stupid world over your own... so much for being the 'hope' of Primo. Disappointing as always."
"Even if you can rebuild Primo... it will not bring back... the people..." Ray's glow flickered slightly as they wiped some fresh tears from their eyes. "Primo is meaningless to me without Lucille, without Mother... I am sure you feel the same..."
Now it was Shade who let Ray's words sink in.
However, Ray didn't give him any chance to reply. "I will continue to go forward, carrying my sins along with me. I will not stop or turn around." They smiled. "I will keep going to something newer, something better! I will make Lucille and Mother, and everyone proud, because I am the light of h-"
"Yeah, yeah, you're so heroic and dependable, all right."
He then raised his hand as this shadow shot forward, stopping right in front of Ray, who froze in fear. The shadow didn't move. It just... floated in place, towering over them but not doing anything aside from staring down at the frightened blond.
"Get them!" Shade ordered, repeating his words a few times. He started to sound more and more frustrated as his commands seemingly fell on deaf ears. "Come ooooon! Rip them apart!"
Still nothing. The shadow continued to stare, darkness seeping from its body like smoke.
"No way..." Shade whispered softly, more to himself than Ray. It was like he was hit with a realization he didn't want to believe. He clenched his fists as the shadow came back to his side. "Fine."
"There's something in here!"
Terra undid the other gauntlet to reach inside the hole in the monster's chest.
"It's... an egg!?" The green Cure blinked. She reached further, curiously inching closer to the floating egg. When her fingertips touched it, a quick shock resonated throughout her body.
For a split moment, she heard a ghastly voice and could smell a faint aroma of... marshmallows?
"It hurts. It hurts. It hurts."
Alarmed by the voice, Terra retreated her hand hastily. She looked up, just barely able to see the monster's face. Its eyes... they looked so sorrowful.
"You are really suffering in there, aren't you...?" She whispered sadly, then quickly shook her head as a determined look appeared on her face. "Hold on a little longer, we will save you!"
The monster twisted in the air, swiping its hands around frantically. The flapping of its wings summoned furious winds all around, trying to get the three off. As the wind intensified, Splash felt her grip on the chain slip but Ember managed to grasp her by the leg before she could fall down.
Ember tried to pull up her fellow Cure but the wind was too strong. "Don't worry! I won't let go!" She reassured Splash. Splash said something in response but her words were devoured by the howling winds.
Squeezing her eyes shut and mustering up all her courage, Terra tried again. Against the wind, she leaned forward and snatched the egg in her palm. She felt another quick shock, but as she grasped the egg tighter, the feeling ceased.
"GOT IT!" Terra cheered, hanging on the chains for dear life as the monster made another sharp turn.
The monster wailed and made a few more circles in the sky before finally coming to a standstill in the air. Terra used this chance to quickly climb up to the monster's shoulder, using the chain like a climbing rope.
"I got it!" She opened her palm to show the egg to Ember and Splash. "It must be her Primary Charm? I think? Maybe?"
Blinking a few times, Ember leaned closer. "So this is what it was..."
"Attack?" Splash asked, still hanging aimlessly as Ember held onto her leg. Even though she was used to move around rapidly and having her feet above her head, hanging upside down like this admittingly made her a little lightheaded.
Ember thought for a moment, but then nodded. "Terra, you do it!" She gave Terra an encouraging smile while she used all of her strength to pull Splash back up.
"Okay!" Terra made a jump as both Ember and Splash pushed themselves off the monster. The three hovered in the sky for a suspiciously long time, or maybe it just seemed longer than it actually was.
"You don't deserve to go through this, but we will save you!" Terra said quickly, clutching the egg still in her hand, the sadness radiating off of it.
She raised her other arm, forcing a gigantic hammer around it, even bigger than usual. "Pretty Cure Earth Smash!" The impact of the hammer against head of the monster instantly sent it, and Terra, falling down at rapid speed.
Terra gasped as she saw cracks appearing in the monster's skin. It emitted an agonizing scream as more cracks appeared.
The monster crashed into the ground, leaving a huge crater in its wake. The darkness from the area slowly wrapped around its body, restoring the cracks.
The green Cure landed next to it, not too far from where Ray and Shade were standing. Precisely ten seconds later, Splash slid down, dragging Ember along with her.
"Ray? What are you doing...!?" Splash trailed off once she saw the darkness parting around Ray's feet. "Uh..."
"You girls sure are something! I can't wait to see what will become of you when I'm done with you!" Shade grinned, rubbing his hands and looked the three Cures over, like a customer in a store. "I think you'll be next, Ignis."
Terra bolted to Ray's side while Ember and Splash unleashed kicks and punches at the fallen monster.
"Ray... he didn't hurt you, right?"
"I am fine." The blond replied simply, giving the Cure a rather blank look.
"That's good! Can you maybe hold onto this? Be careful, though!" Terra offered Ray the egg. They jerked away from it.
"No... No! It is tainted!"
"That is mine!" Shade suddenly shrieked and pointed at the egg. His shadow darted forward to grab it but Terra erected a big wall from the ground, dropping the egg in the process. The wall instantly started being covered in darkness too, but it protected them against the shadow's attack at least.
Ray reluctantly picked up the egg before the shadow could grab it, with their hands hidden in their sleeves, of course. As their hand came close to the ground, the darkness whisked away around them.
"Oh, Terre. What do you even plan to do with that? Eat it?" Shade hid his displeasure with a wide, forced grin. "After all, you're a living garbage disposal!"
Terra kept making new walls as the shadow kept bringing them down with powerful punches.
For Ray, however, everything went out of focus as they held up the egg. Inspecting the dark spirals spread around it, they now just realised the egg itself wasn't black, just a very dark purple.
"It hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts it hurts!"
Ray didn't realise the tears streaming down their face before it was too late.
They felt it. The pain, the fear, the despair. Everything Aeris was feeling resonated throughout them via the egg.
Meanwhile the monster had slowly gotten back up again. It trembled as it hugged itself while the cracks finally were fully repaired.
"Connie, I'm sorry... I should have tried harder to help you..." Ember said, voice filled with guilt. "I know the real you doesn't want to fight or cause destruction. So, please, let us help you!"
"Pretty Cure!" As the monster tried to ascend again, a whip of fire wrapped around its body and kept it in place. Panicked, it screeched and squirmed before Ember forced her eyes shut. "Scorch Wrap!"
The monster erupted into flames, causing it to fall over again. It landed on its side this time as cracks once again appeared all over its body.
Writhing on the ground, it looked up at Ember with clouded eyes, giving her a pleading look.
"Pretty Cure Hydro Flood!" Splash followed up, pushing Ember out of the way as she spread her arms to send a huge tidal wave at the monster.
Raising itself up with a wind blast, the monster's cries shook the area. Darkness leaked out of the cracks like a waterfall and disappeared into the mass of darkness in the ground. Feathers scattered everywhere as the monster turned back into Aeris... or what should have been Aeris.
Spirals of black swirled on her skin, like snakes, as she fell on her knees. The darkness instantly had wrapped tendrils around her as the three Cures snapped their attention to the girl.
"I will help her. You keep Shade away." Ray held out an arm in front of Ember and Terra before they could rush to the sobbing Aeris.
"But...!"
"That is an order." Ray said firmly and showed them the egg floating in their palm. "Please, believe in me."
Splash actually gave them a smile. "Beating up that jerk? Heh, don't have to say that twice!"
Despite Splash's words, Ember was the first to move and run towards Shade. He looked quite alarmed at the turn of events.
Ember exhaled some smoke. For someone she had only met yesterday, Ember felt no remorse for feeling so ready to utterly destroy the boy. This had to stop. He had to go.
The red Cure grinned as she jumped up, literally firing up her right leg and sliding towards the still laughing Shade. "Ignite! Burning Cure Ki- Ah!" She should have expected his shadow to grab her leg before her kick could land.
Gritting her teeth in anger, Ember felt her temperature rise furiously and her whole body was covered in flames. She used her free leg to kick the shadow's head away. It cracked in an unnatural angle and let go of her.
"There it is! That's the Ignis I know!" Shade cheered, having apparently overcome the previous disbelief. "Overly violent and destructive!"
Ember was still on fire. She clenched her fists. "Silence! I will destroy you, cockroach!"
"And a huge biiiiitch!" Shade added, clapping his hands with a grin. "Well, not so huge anymore, haha!"
"Hey, Ember, leave something for me!" Splash shot a water tendril at Shade, but this one was once again blocked by the shadow.
Terra made a jump and created a small tremor when she landed. "For us!"
"Um... Aeris?"
Ray's mere presence kept the darkness at bay as they knelt down in front of Aeris. Clawed hands were raised to her face, sobbing, pleading. Everything that came out of her was a mess of whimpers.
The most noticeable thing was still the heart-shaped black hole in her chest. Darkness dripped out of it like a leaking drain.
"... he... lp..."
Ray didn't want to feel sympathy for Aeris. Like all Titans, she had done terrible things and caused the deaths of many people. Yet Aeris... she had looked so sad during their battle.
She had been crying back then, too.
"... You must be hurting a lot right now. I'm sorry, firefly."
At remembering the Titan's words, Ray's glow dimmed slightly. They looked down at the Aeris in the present.
Seeing someone who once stood literally tall with pride being reduced to this pathetic, sobbing mess... Ray genuinely felt bad.
Maybe, they could actually save someone this time...
Ray summoned their lantern. It had been a while since they'd seen it. Sure, they had tried to transform again, but no luck yet. They didn't know the true capacity and abilities of this mysterious artifact but... somehow they felt it was calling them. So they let it guide them.
Holding the lantern in one hand and the egg in the other, Ray brought them together. They felt a bit alarmed when they saw the egg being swallowed into the lantern. The egg started circling around, faster and faster. Slowly, but surely, the darkness disappeared and the egg regained its true colors again... purple and yellow.
Aeris screamed and clutched her chest. She hunched over as her wings started twitching and cracking, like they were breaking.
Biting their lip, Ray forced themself to keep focused on the lantern. After a minute, the lantern spat the egg back out, right into the hole in Aeris' chest. She was surrounded in a blinding light while her screams died out.
The darkness on her hands, gone.
The marks on her face, gone.
The wings, gone.
The feather-like hair, gone.
All that remained was an unconscious, petite girl.
"No... no, no! How could you do that!?" Shade yelled at Ray when he saw what happened. "Why are you ruining everything again!?"
He stepped forward but the three Cures again unleashed attacks on him, or tried to as the shadow was quick enough to block all of them.
"Quick! Get Aeris!" His voice cracked as he pointed at Aeris' sleeping form. "Bring her to me!"
Without pause, the shadow darted towards Aeris but Ray spread their arms in front of the girl. Trembling slightly, they resolved to keep standing, glaring up at the shadow floating over them. It looked like it wanted to swat the blond away but seemed stuck, hand hovering above its head.
"Why... won't you...!?" Shade grit his teeth and his body shook in pure, utter frustration. His distraction as well the fact his shadow was away from him left him open for attacks.
The three Cures surrounded him, circling around him like a group of hunters would on their prey.
Ember set her fists on fire.
Terra manifested her gauntlets, with added spikes this time.
Splash created a swirl of water around her leg.
"W-Wait...!" Ray's shaky cries were unheard as the three Cures dashed towards the shocked boy, who raised his hands in front of him in hopes of shielding himself from their threeway attack.
The shadow faded at the moment the three Cures hit its master. A combination of flames, water, and rocks engulfed Shade. Pointy spikes digged into his skin, water filled his throat, and all finished off with a fiery punch in the chest.
Afterwards, Terra instantly ran back to Ray's side. To both get away from Ember's fire and also not wanting to see the aftermath of their combined attacks on Shade.
Smoke came off of his body as he fell on his back, unbreathing and still.
Despite the abuse he had endured, Shade's lifeless body looked not nearly as bad as it could be. His eyes were empty and lifeless, just like Ray's had been. There were cuts and burns on his body, and black, oily substance dripped out of his wounds.
With two entirely different expressions, Splash and Ember looked down at the boy's body. Splash let out a sigh while Ember was wearing... a smile?
"Let's hope this one stays dead." Splash softly kicked Shade's body. Nothing happened. Even the darkness still everywhere didn't move. It was just there.
Once she noticed Ember's expression, Splash gave her a mocking grin. "Aren't you looking jolly? Who knew you, the goodie-goodie Hanan Karim, was actually a huge sadist?"
Ember was quiet but suddenly realization hit her and her smile disappeared. "... He's dead." She breathed out. It seemed like she didn't even believe her own words. "We actually killed him."
"He asked for it." Splash shrugged as she walked back to Ray and Terra. Ember quickly followed her, rushing up to Aeris and picking her up. The now purified egg was in her pale hand.
Ray had grown pale and looked horrified. It seemed like they wanted to say something but the words couldn't roll off their tongue. Terra was turned with her back to the others, hands clamped over her mouth and eyes squeezed shut...
"He was evil... he deserved this..." She repeated as some sort of mantra. "He deserved it... we had no choice..."
Suddenly dark particles emitted from Shade's body as his body starting twitching. His head bent backwards as every twitch brought him further up, each being accompanied by a disturbing crack.
He rubbed his restored face and grinned maniacally.
"Just like old times, eh?"
Terra stepped back, eyes wide. "What?"
"Haha, I thought you would at least remember that I am immortal!" Shade replied with a sneer, quickly followed by another laugh. "You flickered me so many times back home." He paused, a quick sigh escaped his mouth. "Makes me feel nostalgic."
Splash snapped her head to Ray with a glare, demanding an answer.
"I tried to tell you..." They started meekly as they rubbed their palm again. "He is like me..."
"Oh is he now? Let's see. Annoying? Check. Don't know when to shut up? Check. Don't know when to die. Check. Yeah, you're pretty much the same person." Splash groaned, counting down the similarities on her hand. After another groan she turned to Terra, who looked like she could faint at any moment now. "You okay, Terra?"
Terra took in a breath. "No..."
"So how do we kill him?" Ember asked, not taking her eyes off Shade as she held Aeris' body closer. "I think I'm fired up enough for another Scorch Wrap."
"No... do not." Ray almost begged.
Shade laughed before Ray could continue. "Oh, you can't kill me. I have overcome the greatest despair and cheated dimming out all together! No matter what you do I'll keep coming back, again and again! I am invincible!"
As he fell into another laughing fit, his shadow silently reformed behind him, waiting for a command.
"Bring Aeris to me."
Ray spread their arms again, standing in front of Ember and Aeris. "She is the only person I managed to save! You are not ruining that!" They looked up at Shade with a somewhat prideful grin on their face. "Your shadow refuses to attack me... heh... I bet that is because you are scared of my wonderful light."
Shade glared back at them, silent. His eyes flicked from everyone in front of him before he summoned a portal with a long, drawn-out growl. The darkness instantly started streaming back into the portal, slowly turning the area back to its original state.
"Guess you win today." Shade's grin was a lie. It was a futile attempt to hide his fury. "But I have all the time in the world to wait for another opportunity to drown this world into complete darkness, and get back what's mine."
He jumped back into the portal, taking all the darkness with him.
Shade's smile instantly dropped when he stepped out of the portal. His throne room looked like a mess. There were crack in the walls, even a small gap here and there. Maybe he had taken a little too much darkness with him, or gotten a little greedy when he had infused Aeris with some of it?
Luckily, the darkness seeping out of the portal quickly repaired the room to a certain extent, closing all the gaps and shrinking most of the cracks.
That... thing he had turned Aeris into hadn't even given him any darkness. It had only spread it. Cool in concept, but useless compared to the weaker but easier to make Unbounds.
It wasn't what he had planned.
Regret overcame him. He really shouldn't have done it. The results weren't what he had wanted and now he had lost both Aeris and a lot of darkness he had collected.
"No, no, noooo!"
In rage he punched the wall with his right hand while his left hang limply by his side. He punched again, and again, and again. He punched until black inky-like substance came out of his knuckles.
"That wet candle... that little bitch..." He gritted his teeth, looking at his knuckles slowly healing. Shade shook in anger. Lost, lost, lost, almost everything was lost. Back to square one. Restart. Try again.
Feelings of loathing and frustration finally caught up with him as he sank to his knees near the throne, throwing himself on it as he started sobbing.
"How dare they ruin my..." He sniffed. "My... plans..."
They were so lucky the fight had taken place pretty much in front of Bright and Ray's house. The group had managed to get back inside before the crowd had gathered.
Now, they were all inside. Aeris, or Connie, was still asleep, and the group had left her in Bright's room until she would wake up. Hanan and Beryl took turns watching over her, sitting on a chair near the bed where she was peacefully sleeping in.
In the living room, Bright was somewhat horrified to see Morgan pour a lot of hot sauce over one of the salads he had just made. Beryl was already starting her third while Ray just sat on the couch, watching the others silently, like an alert pet would.
"This salad... it's nice." Morgan admitted. "A lot of love seems to be put into it."
Bright lit up from her comment. "I really wanted to thank you girls." He sat down, folding his hands together with a gentle smile. "For risking your lives, fighting for this world's future, for your home." He paused, and corrected himself. "Our home."
"No thanks." While Morgan's reply was a simple, dismissive wave as she continued eating while Beryl dropped her fork and threw herself on Bright, pulling him in a big hug.
"You're the best! You smell so nice~!"
Ray suddenly leaped up and stomped towards Beryl. "Stay away from him!"
Beryl stuck out her tongue playfully at Ray's glowing white face, before letting go of Bright and jumping towards Ray. "Don't be jealous, there's hugs for you too!" Ray shrieked as she came close to her. They hopped out of the way, causing Beryl to fall flat on her face.
Clearly amused, Morgan chuckled at the sight. She silently watched as Beryl and Ray ran in circles around the the room, like two playing children.
In the bedroom, Connie finally opened her eyes. Hanan stood up so abruptly the chair she was sitting on fell over with a loud thud.
Connie whimpered at the sudden noise. She seemed to be in a bit of a daze as she looked at the ceiling of the room and slowly turned to Hanan. The latter felt a rush of relief go over her when she saw that Connie's eyes had returned to its normal color. No black sclera and no marks around her eyes. Her feathery hair was back to being soft and somewhat floofy. She looked exactly like how Hanan remembered her.
"... Connie? How are you feeling?"
Still in a daze, Connie tried to sit up. She let out a pained breath and tried to touch her back with her hands. "My... wings...?"
Hanan leaned forward and placed a warm hand on Connie's back and started rubbing it softly, like it was a sore wound, and, well, it probably was. There were no signs of the wings ever been there. Hanan briefly wondered if the wings were gone or if they had just retreated into her back. She hoped the former but somehow suspected the latter.
"You really are Hanan..." Connie suddenly whispered, looking up at her with big eyes.
Hanan replied with a somewhat awkward laugh. "Yeah, that's me."
"I hurt you... and your friends..." Each word seemed to take a lot out of Connie. "I'm sorry..."
Hanan wasn't sure how to feel about what the girl in front of her was saying. The implication that she was aware of what was happening while she was turned into that... thing. It didn't help lessen her fear and anger.
"No, no!" Hanan said, a little too loud probably. "That wasn't your fault." She added, softer this time, and placed a hand on Connie's wrist, raising her hand in front of her face. "You're okay now. See?"
Connie let out a soft gasp as she inspected her hands, just now realising they weren't soiled in darkness anymore.
She looked up and gave Hanan a sweet smile. She looked so relieved, so hopeful.
"Thank you."
Hanan was surprised when Connie suddenly grasped her hand tightly, like a small child would. Hanan let her. She probably wanted some sort of support and Hanan was happy to offer her whatever she needed at the moment.
"It was Ray who purified you, actually. Don't ask me how they did it though."
"Can I see... them?" Connie asked. Hanan rubbed the back of her head, debating if that was a good idea. Ray had outright refused to let Connie sleep in their room, and not to mention they had acted rather rudely to her before. But then again, Ray had been rude to all of them at least once.
Before Hanan could properly reply, she felt her phone buzzing in her pocket. She quickly excused herself from the room and picked up.
[Hey nerd, I heard you went somewhere after school with Connie. What was that about?] She could hear Eclair's voice on the other line. [Hanan? Hey?]
Hanan almost dropped her phone as Eclair continued calling her name, sounding more and more frustrated each time.
"... What did you say?"
[Don't act all innocent, Han. She was with you. Is... is she still with you now?]
"What are you talking about? That didn't happen..." Hanan stopped abruptly as realization hit her. Did Ray purifying Connie caused everyone to remember her again? She couldn't help but laugh at the implication. She instantly felt a lot better. Good enough to tease Eclair, at least.
"And what if she was? Jealous?" She said between her chuckles. While it would have been funny, she decided not to tell her that Connie had held her hand just a few minutes ago. It would be funnier to see Eclair's reaction to that.
[Shut up! Where are you? I'll come over to kick your ass right now!]
"How romantic~! And here I thought Connie was your crush."
[Hanaaannn! I don't care if you just had a fight with that giant thing, meet me past dinner at your house for a brutal card duel.] Eclair laughed for a moment but continued in a more softer, almost worried tone. [But seriously, that thing was huge. You're okay, right?]
It might be better not to say anything about that.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Tough battle." Hanan said in a hushed tone. "I'll tell you later, okay?"
After saying goodbye and hanging up, Hanan held onto her phone a little longer to send a quick text to someone else.
Bronze literally kicked in the door of the throne room, briefly stopping when she saw Shade hanging over his throne and sobbing. She shook her her initial confusion off as she walked over to him, roughly grabbing him by the arm and holding him close.
"Where is Aeris?" She demanded. "What did you do to her?"
"Unhand me, commoner!"
A punch in the stomach made Bronze let go. She slid back but didn't hit a wall this time.
Shade wiped his remaining tears while the shadow floated in front of him, as if trying to hide its master's display of weakness.
"Why are you crying?" Bronze asked. Her voice had no hint of sympathy, just pure curiosity and maybe a tinge of mockery. "What did you do!?"
With a hiss, he stepped forward while pointing at the door. "Get out of this room. I don't want this place to be tainted with your disgusting presence, you trash!" He spat in her face. "And I'm not crying!"
Bronze shook her head, taking a few steps back to be further away to be out of the shadow's initial reach. Just in case.
"This place was falling apart. We were falling apart." She told Shade, who blinked in surprise at hearing that.
After a good minute of just staring, Shade pointed at the door again.
"Out."
"Not before you tell me where Aer-"
"She's gone! That wet candle did something to her and now she's out of my grasp!" He clenched his fist and leaned back on the throne. "I hate that little... hate, I hate... I hate... hate."
Bronze knew she shouldn't ask more. She shouldn't say any more if she didn't want his wrath unleashed upon her. But, she didn't have anything to lose.
"Did she get captured again!?" There. She said something anyway. "I'll go get her back if she's in dan-"
Shade once again snapped at her. "Nooooo, you can't! This place will really fall apart if you bring her here like that. All the darkness got taken out of her..."
As Shade was rambling on and on about darkness, Bronze's mind was somewhere else.
She wasn't sure how to feel about this. Relieved? Definitely if it meant Aeris wasn't in pain anymore. If she was back with her parents and safe. But... that would only be for a short while. No matter how hard she resisted the thoughts, slowly Bronze had realised that there was no saving Aeris. Not her or the other Titans. Not even Earth could be saved. It would all fall into darkness sooner or later.
That's why Bronze had looked out for her. To make the best of the situation and protect her, like a mother would. So, maybe, Bronze was projecting some unfulfilled dreams onto her...
"I'm low on darkness. You guys need to get more soon." Shade's voice suddenly brought her out of her thoughts. "For now, stay put. Tell the others I'll get you all more Dark Ink later." He held up Hail's bottle, still a little bit of ink swirling inside it. "I will use this last bit myself. I may have to start all over, but that doesn't mean a thing. I have enough time in the world, no matter what happens... my plans stay unchanged."
A surprisingly quiet, yet foreboding laugh filled the room.
"This is only the beginning."