Hey there Septimusers. I have literally banged my head against the wall to try and shake out some ideas for this next chapter. Ironically, it was the resultant bruise that gave me inspiration.
DISCLAIMER: Septimus will never be mine. The whole lot of them belong to Angie Sage.
"Release." Septimus muttered under his breath. "Release and Revive. Revive and Release.."
"Revive." answered Jenna, slamming a tattered old book down on the desk. "But no Release."
Septimus grabbed the book and began leafing through it.
Hurry. I grow impatient.
"This looks quite easy." commented Septimus. "We just need a decent Release to go with it."
I'm hungry.
"Can't we come back for it?" queried Jenna. "Take this one down, the sooner the better."
Septimus shook his head. "They need to work in Conjunction."
Very wise, Apprentice. You'll do well as my servant. Better than the Queenling, at any rate.
Jenna and Septimus continued their frantic search, eyes glowing and fingers a blur as they flicked through Ancient volume after Ancient volume.
Oh just look in the Cookery shelf.
"Here!" yelled Jenna. "A loose spell that was tucked in a book on vegetable charming."
Told you. Now make haste.
Septimus examined the spell. "This will work perfectly with the Revive."
"Release and Revive." said Jenna.
Your master grows ever more impatient. He has been imprisoned these seven hundred years...
Septimus and Jenna exited the Pyramid Library and fled down the silver staircase to the Hall.
Muttering under their breaths all the way. "Release and Revive, Revive and Release..."
Alther, accompanied by a herd of bemused Ordinary Wizards, was standing guard by the marble statue. At the sight of the Apprentice and the Princess, he said, "Shouldn't you be with Marcia?"
"The ExtraOrdinary is fine alone." hissed Septimus in reply.
"My god. Look at their eyes!" shouted one of the Ordinaries suddenly.
Jenna turned and stared at him.
Scarlet and green.
Revive and Release.
The Ordinary Wizard crumpled to the ground, scarlet mist floating above his still form.
Someone screamed. Alther gasped and exclaimed, "What-..."
"Listen to us." Septimus thundered. All trace of his normal self were gone bar his Apprentice robes. "We are going to Open the Bronze Door. Do not try to stop us."
A second Ordinary looked straight into his eyes, and he too fell.
"Septimus." gasped Alther. "Princess. That isn't you. Who is it?"
"Move out of the way, Ghost." commanded Jenna. "There are many more who could be injured, and there is only one of you."
Alther could only stare in horror at what had once been his friends. Now they were Tainted, Infused with Darkenesse.
"I won't let you." he said, but he knew there was nothing he could do.
The Princess and Apprentice Passed straight Through him, and disappeared into the Silver Chamber. He bitterly wished he could Follow them, but he would only get Returned. Instead, he raced off to see what had happened to Marcia, leaving the Ordinary herd to try and do something for their fallen friends.
Septimus and Jenna raced down the narrow silver stairs, oblivious to their slippery steepness. All too soon they were standing outside the Bronze Door.
Jenna had the Release clutched tightly in her fist. She took the Charm out of its pocket.
Septimus extracted the Charm for the Revive. The two Charms were similar, both old and blackened.
They both turned to the door.
Scarlet eyes saw what violet and green had not. The Runes were instructions, written in an Ancient Mirrored language, so they could not be read from the other side of the door.
Servants, do the bidding of your master.
Jenna and Septimus looked straight into each other's eyes, holding out their Charms. A simple Fusion spell brought them crashing together and breaking apart again. The two servants now held a shard of jagged black stone apiece. They began to chant their spells, Septimus the Revive and Jenna the Release.
The tangle of incantations twisted and entwined, words spinning, Magyk flowing uncontrollably. The thing let go of Septimus momentarily, and in that instant he was able to witness, but not comprehend, the knotted web of Magyk that wove in and around them.
When the Magyk was spent, the Apprentice and the Queenling collapsed gracefully to the cold, silver ground to recover. The scarlet web of Darke Magyk concentrated itself into a continuous, sinewy form that wriggled into the gaps around the edges of the Bronze Door. The door was no match for Magyk of this degree; it simply swung open.
The massive, Mysterious creature stepped forward into the vanishing haze, Free at last.
Marcia could hear screams, a long way off. She reached out to touch the voices, but they were too distant. She would follow them. Go to where they were...
"Marcia!" This voice was closer, more real. She followed it instead, and found herself returning slowly to consciousness. Almost.
"Marcia." Alther said clearly. "If you can hear me, listen carefully."
She managed to open her eyes, but she could see little and feel nothing.
"There's someone coming up the stairs. You need to wake up properly and gather yourself. There's quite a bit of Magyk needed. The Ordinaries aren't nearly strong enough. Marcia, you have to recover. There are too many lives at stake."
Using all her strength, Marcia jolted herself into full consciousness. She was lying on the carpet in her room, Alther kneeling beside her. She staggered up, groaning as everything came flooding back,
"Septimus." she muttered. "Jenna-"
"They're Possessed." explained Alther. "The thing they Awoke, they've Revived and Released it. It's coming."
The door swung open, and three Ordinary Wizards all but fell into the room.
"There's a Darke thing Possessing everybody!" one of them shrieked.
"Everybody?" repeated Alther.
"It's making an Army." said Marcia. "It can manipulate people into doing anything. One way of forcing things to happen while it's regaining its strength. Come on." she strode purposefully towards the door. "I don't care what I have to do, but I'll do what I can. You three-" she turned to the shell shocked Ordinaries- "Get out of here now. I want you to clear the area immediately around the Tower. If it's too late here, then we need to try and protect as many others as we can."
She strode out onto the landing, and called the Staircase.
"Marcia." panted Alther, catching up with her. "What do you plan to do?"
Marica turned to him. Her emerald eyes were glittering with emotion. "I don't know." she said truthfully. "I can't do a lot. But I've got a duty to protect the Castle."
The Darke creature was enjoying himself immensely. His army, much to his delight, were all Wizards, so it would be easy to channel Darke Magyk through them. It might kill a fair few off them off, but in just a few hours he would have the whole Castle to pick from. From there, who knew...
His servants came forward, and knelt in front of him.
"What?" he hissed.
The Queenling answered. "The ExtraOrdinary is in the Silver Chamber. She is coming to get you."
"She has armed herself with her strongest Magyk." added the other.
He grinned. Child's play.
Marcia had just reached the Bronze Door when Septimus and Jenna jumped out of the shadows, one either side of her. Weary this time, she looked up at the ceiling to avoid the gaze of either.
"You may not pass." snapped Septimus.
"What has become of Septimus? The real him?" Marcia asked, telling herself that it was the echo that made her voice trembly.
"That is irrelevant." snapped Jenna. "Go now."
"Listen." begged Marcia. "Both of you."
"Our master hears all." replied Septimus, and Marcia could practically him smirking.
"Well that's good," declared Marcia, her growing stronger, "Because this is something your master could do with knowing. I know what has happened to the real Septimus and the real Jenna. They are, you are, still there, just being restrained. Your bodies are being manipulated beyond your control. But I will say this-" her voice grew yet louder-
"Possession does not kill off humanity. Controlling a person's body does not make them yours. A person, and I mean a real person, cannot be destroyed. Whilst there is life, there will always be a spark of hope, of determination. The things that make Jenna and Septimus who they are, and the same applies to all the Wizards- are still there, and I would bet my life they are still Resisting."
Very interesting, Miss Overstrand. Why don't you come in and face me?
The Bronze Door began to swing slowly open.
Author's note:
So there we have it. That is Chapter 6. The bruise made me think about eyes, and being Petrified or whatever by looking in them, and also how Jenna and Septimus' eyes, once scarlet, could read the writing. Marcia's speech came from somewhere deep inside me, that I don't often touch. And thanks to Camilla Richard, Iluvcatz, 13magicalmOments and everyone else who's reviewed so far, as well as who's been helping and hindering in equal measure since the flight of my notes on the story. There'll only be a chapter or two to go, then I'm finished.