I just wanted to get a chapter out really quick. The last one had a fantastic turnout of views and alerts/favorites, and I'm thrilled with it all. ^^

And I warn you all, there is still a long way to go. Those of you who are reading this, I really hope you started it with the intention of being in this for the long haul. This thing is less than three quarters of the way through, still; actually, closer to three fifths of the way done. We've still got a ways to go. :3

And in case it's not clear to anyone, NO, Magiya is no longer in control of her own body.

Quick reviews…

Kirei Ryuusei: Hah, I'm glad you liked it so much! And yeah, beating her MAY be impossible, for all we know! :3 Here's your fight scene!

Quick recap of where the last chapter ended:


The place where the dark magic hit the wall blew outwards, sending small chunks of stone soaring past his head. The resulting dust caused Artix to collapse in a fit of coughing. When the crap clouding the air cleared, though, he saw that Magiya wasn't even nearly affected. She had a small head wound that was almost irrelevant, slowly dripping blood, and was half-layered in stone dust from the explosion. She hadn't moved.

What the fuck is going on here?

Artix then had to leap aside as she sent another deadly little fist-sized orb of darkness shooting straight at him, and he had no desire to make something else blow up. Somehow, he knew, this wasn't her. Rather, it was her, it was her body, her form, but she wasn't the one calling the shots here. Still, he had no idea that Magiya had access to that kind of power; if he did, he wouldn't have goaded her as he had quite so often.

"Magiya!" he barked sharply, trying to get the attention of the real her, and not whatever this thing was. There was no change as she flung another spell at him, narrowly missing his head and crashing into the ground behind him. A small crater was left behind, and Artix prowled around in a semicircle while she summoned up another black-purple orb. He had to find out what the hell this was, if it wasn't her—and it wasn't. But in a way, it was. When she whipped around, sending another ball of dark energy at his face. He only just ducked in time, dropping to the dirt before it could touch him. Artix almost thought that he could feel the slight wind it made as it passed over his head, and he gritted his teeth.

"This isn't you!" he yelled as he had to roll to his side to dodge another attack. "Dammit, listen to me!"

Her spell-filled white eyes didn't change, nor did her face show any expression. However, the cracks seemed to spread ever so slightly further down her cheeks. The only difference was that she was abruptly trying harder to kill him, sending spell after spell in his direction as her long brown hair swirled around her face with the movement. Artix continued to either deflect or dodge each of the dark, blackish-purple orbs of energy. He had seen what they could do to him, and was in no hurry to be struck by one.

I can't hurt her, he thought in frustration, going down a mental list of options. I don't know who or what is calling the shots, so I can't take down the head of this thing. I don't have magic to fight back with. The real her isn't responding to anything.

His attention was suddenly snatched away as one of the fist-sized balls of energy grazed his right shoulder guard, causing a deep rent in the carefully crafted metal to appear before the rest of the energy nearly obliterated the entrance to the cemetery. He barely managed to roll out of the way before the rusted iron archway came crashing down, one of the small spikes landing point-down in the ground where he had been not a moment before.

"Magiya!" he roared, his brown eyes gleaming. "Stop this!" His tone was not dissimilar to the one that she had used the last time he saw her, riding back from Moonridge; cold and stony. The only difference was that his was edged with desperation, and it was much, much louder. This time, however, she paused. Just slightly, just the faintest hesitation. But it was there.

Artix was seized with a sudden surge of hope that was almost immediately dashed when a bone-chilling, terrifying laugh echoed down the short section of the path that was within sight (alongside the mostly demolished stone wall), and a hooded figure appeared, floating several inches above the ground. Whoever they were, they were accompanied by a giant, floating pink jewel that gave off an eerie, ethereal glow. The hood on the cloak of the figure was deep, providing them with sufficient cover to keep their features hidden. And as soon as the floating person appeared behind Magiya, still emitting that sinister, haunting laugh. It was feminine, and sounded strangely… familiar. Artix raised the end of his sword to about chest height, the edge of his upper lip raising slightly.

"Who are you?" he spat, pure fury emanating from his figure. Loose strands of copper brown hair interrupted his vision here and there, but even so, he didn't even blink. Judging by Magiya's failure to turn to attack this new figure, and the new woman's obvious nonchalance around her, this was the person who had screwed up the young Mage. That didn't exactly endear them to him.

"Artix," purred the hooded figure, the tone making his skin simply crawl under his armor. He held back a shiver, instead grinding his teeth.

"Who the hell are you?" he repeated, louder this time. It was closer to a shout, and it was impossible that the lady behind Magiya couldn't have heard it unless she was stone deaf.

"You know me, Paladin," she said in a sickly sweet voice. Lore, I don't even know who this woman is, and I already hate her! … That's a new record.

"No, I don't," he retorted, his hands tightening around the grip of his sword. "Why are you doing this to her?"

"Why do you care?" hummed the figure. It was clear to him that the woman (who was still floating) was unconcerned by his obvious anger and frustration. However, her question didn't faze him. He answered immediately, not skipping a beat.

"Because I love her!"


"Because I love her!"

The words rang straight through the white, clear as a bell.

They caught my attention as nothing else could have right now, in the nondescript place I was now in.

It was hellish in its simplicity.

If I'd still had a body here, I would have looked up at the exclamation, blushing like crazy, and then probably run. But the fact of the matter was, I didn't have a body right now. I had no arms or legs, no eyes, no ears, mouth, or lungs. I wasn't.

But all there was right now was my mind, the words that matched the voice that had broken through my shields, and the pain. The horrible, paralyzing pain.

He loves me?

My consciousness gave a great leap then, the joy halting the agony for a brief moment.

He loves me.

Why am I happy about this?

Then there came another bolt of torture as this thought made itself known, and I automatically shrunk back.

It hurts…

I retreated deep within myself now, seeking a refuge from the all-too-frequent bolts of pain. And it was there that I lost myself again, all independent thoughts and realizations fading.

The white grew brighter.


"Because I love her!"

At this outburst, the lady in the black cloak hissed; but it didn't sound human. It sounded like the kind of noise that was made by snakes the moment before they struck, and it made goosebumps race down his arms underneath the chain mail that was beneath his armor—at least one piece of which was damaged beyond repair, Artix thought with distaste.

"Then you can stay with her in the Underworld," spat the figure, making a flicking gesture with her right hand so that her palm was facing him. Magiya echoed it, and yet another compressed sphere of black energy with purple crackling around it flickered into existence an inch from the surface of her skin. The light emanating from her eyes increased, nearly blinding him for a moment.

What's going on in there?

Then the magic was flying at him again before his eyes could adjust to the darkness again, this time hitting him directly on the breastplate of his armor, right above his sternum. Then Artix was flying too, in the same direction the energy had been traveling. He crashed into what remained of the wall around the cemetery before the receptors in his brain could register the white-hot pain of the spell hitting his body, and then stars exploded before his eyes before everything became dark.

No…


Okay, don't hurt me for this. It's all part of the plot. *ducks incoming bricks, pies, and cleats*

School lets out soon, and then I'll be off and out and just busy in general... But I just wanted to get a quick thing out.

The flowers are blooming beautifully here.