Adventures of John: Death of Magic

Chapter 11: A Desperate Plan

I stared in shock at my fingers as they flickered. I was forced to concentrate through the pain to make them stop, but I knew that it would not last long. Powerful as I was, I still had only a limited amount of magic. No matter what I did, from this point on I was running on borrowed time.

"We have to fix this," I told them through my gritted teeth. "We need to find a way to reverse this!"

"And what are we supposed ta do about it?" Merida asked, laying lethargically against the stone wall. "Yer plan failed. We've lost. I'm just going to nab Hans and get my bounty."

"I'm not giving up," I swore, my eyes focused on Elsa, who was in too much pain to even speak. "I'm not going to give up, not as long as I have any presence in this world." I forced myself to my feet, my brain working on overdrive. "The magic of this world is dying out. Come on John, think. Magic is energy. We need to find a way to jump-start the Mana Heart, like a car battery… No, that wouldn't work." Could it? Obviously comparing something like the Mana Heart to a car battery was idiocy, but could jump-starting it work?

The Mana Heart was supposedly the center of this world's magic. Could it be that the reason it was absorbing all this magic was because it was trying to repair itself? I focused for a moment and my vision shifted. I suddenly saw myself in the center of an immense nexus of ley lines, thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of veins of power running through the cavern into the Mana Heart. This really was the center of this world's magic.

It was attempting to repair itself by taking the magic back in, but it wasn't working. That magic had already been in and out of the Mana Heart many times before. With all my time in Arendelle, my own magic had become a part of this world as well, despite the fact that it originated from an entirely different universe. It would require a different energy source, one that was completely neutral, with no connection to this universe or any other.

"Void magic." But the Void was empty again. Anything and everything with Void energy was gone. Or… was it? A while ago I struck a deal with a dragon, in which he ended up with a Voidstone. Not the best idea, but it looked like this time it might actually have worked in my favor. If there was anywhere that the power of a Voidstone would be safe, it would be a dragon's horde. Now I just needed to convince a greed-obsessed dragon to give it back.

. . . . .

I stumbled to the ground as I materialized in the lair of the black dragon in the Dragon's Pass. Gold was piled in mountains around me, jewels and enchanted items scattered throughout. It was a maze of riches, and I had no idea where to look for the Voidstone. I didn't have much time to look however, as a massive head reared out of the nearest pile, gold raining down as the massive black form hovered over me, smoke pouring from its nostrils.

"WHO DARES DISTURBE- Oh, it's you again. What do you want?"

"Nice to see you again too," I muttered. "Look, I need the Voidstone back."

"And why would I give my most preccciousssssss treasure to you, little mortal?" His red eyes gained a dangerous glint, and I knew that my next words would mean the difference between living and getting turned into a crisp.

"Can't you feel it?" I asked, my body flickering again for a few seconds before I could get it back under control. "This world's magic is dying. I can barely even hold this body together. If magic dies, so do magical creatures. That includes you. I have a plan that might be able to fix this, but I need to Voidstone for it to work. It is the only way to save all of our lives."

"The Voidstone is mine!" the beast roared, ignoring reason in his greed. "I will not let you take it!" He opened his mouth and let out a blast of flame, only the flame didn't come. Instead there were simply sparks and a so much smoke that he began to choke on it.

"Your flame breath is from magic," I told him. "And we are beginning to run low on magic. Now, I am going to take the Voidstone, and if you value your continued existence, you won't stop me. I paused for a moment and he only glared at me sullenly. I took that as a yes, so I closed my eyes and reached out to the Voidstone, calling it to me. Suddenly it was in my hands, as if it had been longing for me. As if it was eager to be used again. I shook my head and threw that thought out of my mind, focusing on the Mana Heart.

. . . . .

I screamed in pain as I materialized, barely managing to keep myself from being sucked into the remnants of the Mana Heart. I curled up in on myself before managing to put myself back together, but my body was still faint and slightly translucent. I wasn't going to be using any more magic until this was fixed. I could barely hold myself together, much less throw around spells. I went to my knees and kissed Elsa's forehead, grasping her hand tightly before turning around and trudging my way to the Mana Heart.

Every step was torment, forcing my leg forward while at the same time forcing my body from being absorbed into the vortex of energy. I would have gladly just thrown the Voidstone into the center and been done with it, but as it was I could barely hold the stone, much less throw it. I had nearly reached the central platform when suddenly there was a blade to my throat, Hans's triumphant laugh filling the air.

"You've lost," he hissed. "Magic is dead! You have no more power! Now nothing will stop me from taking what is rightfully mine! I will-" His monologue was interrupted as a tremor ran through the cavern, the central platform collapsing in on itself and shaking the walkway. The swirling vortex of energy fell into the seemingly bottomless pit below, but it did not stop pulling at me. I crawled forward and Hans tried to pull me back, forcing me to flip him over my head. He landed on the edge of the walkway and grabbed onto the edge, holding on for dear life.

"End this madness Hans!" I exclaimed. "Let me fix this! I will save you, just let me set things right!"

"Never! I will not let you win again! After all this time, I deserve my happily ever after! I deserve to win!" Another tremor ran through the cavern and I reached out to grab him, but it was too late. He slipped off the edge and fell down, hitting the vortex of energy. I watched as his body disintegrated under the torrent of magic, his dust scattered. After a moment of staring I dragged the Voidstone forward and dropped it in, watching that infinitely black stone drop into the center of the maelstrom.

For a moment everything stopped, and then everything exploded. Light of a million colors filled the cavern and exploded outwards, giving back the magic that had been taken away. I breathed deeply and felt like myself again, and when I looked over at Elsa, it looked like she was feeling much better as well. Above us, the magical creatures regained their strength, their broken shackles abandoned on the ground. They turned to their former masters, and many members of the Rose discovered the uncomfortable sensation of being attacked by a raging gorillaphant.

Elsa ran up to me and leapt into my arms, kissing me deeply and passionately. "Next time, I get to save the day," she told me, pulling away for a moment before returning to the kiss. I couldn't argue with that.

"We should probably get things wrapped up before we get carried away."

"Yeah, that would probably be best."

We turned around, only to find that Magus Magda was nowhere to be seen. "Of course," I muttered. "Next time we need to wait until after we've tied up all the loose ends before we start the kissing."

"Get a room, you two," Merida groaned.