Chapter 31: Arius
7700 BC - Enchanted Forest - Fairy Tale Realm
"That Bean has to be around here somewhere" Arius said to himself, while looking for the rumored Magic Bean that Nimue sent him to find "there it is" and he goes to grab it
"Not so fast, Dark Apprentice" the Apprentice said, appearing between Arius and the Magic Bean
"Really, Nicky, we have to do this now?" Arius asked
"The Dark One cannot be permitted to leave this realm and wreak havoc on the Omniverse" the Apprentice said as he pulls out his wand
"Here we go again" Arius said and sends a blast of Dark Magic at the Apprentice, who deflects it "surely Nicky you know by know you can't beat me"
"I've done it before" the Apprentice said
All of a sudden, a goat-like creature appears and grabs the Magic Bean
"Thanks for the Bean, guys" the goat creature said "the Dark One will give me anything for this" and then teleported away
"No!" the Apprentice said "now the Dark One will take her Dagger and invade some other realm"
"What is with your and her obsession with that Dagger?" Arius asked
"Oh, you don't know" the Apprentice said "I'm surprised she never told you. The Dark One Dagger can control the Dark One. It is also the only weapon that can kill her"
"Thank you for that very valuable piece of information, Nicky" Arius said as he lets up his attack and teleports away
Elsewhere in the Enchanted Forest, the goat creature appears before Nimue
"Dark One, I have the Magic Bean that you wanted" the goat creature said
"You managed to get it before Arius did?" Nimue asked
"Yeah, he was too busy having a wizard's duel with an old man" the goat creature said "and losing by the looks of it"
"What do you want for the Bean?" Nimue asked
"Make me your Dark Apprentice" the goat creature said
"What?" Nimue asked
"I've studied Dark Magic for years, now I believe only you could take me further" the goat creature
"Very well" Nimue said "Arius has failed me for the last time and you have proven yourself worthy. But I must know you're name before I take you on as an apprentice"
"Of course" the goat creature said "my name is Krampus"
"Well, Krampus" Nimue said "are you ready to leave this realm for another?" and she took the Magic Bean from Krampus
"Of course, my Dark One" Krampus said
"Nimue, you traitor!" Arius yelled as he tackled Nimue to the ground. Nimue knocked him off of her and got back up
"Arius, you fool" Nimue said "I would've let you live, but now, I'm afraid I have to kill you"
"Try" Arius said as he reveals he managed to grab the Dark One Dagger from her
"Careful, Arius" Nimue said "you can't hold onto that forever"
"I'll get it back" Krampus said as he rushed towards Arius
"Dark One, stop him" Arius said and Nimue freezes Krampus in place "now throw down the Magic Bean beneath him and have it send him to the Land Without Magic" and she does and Krampus is gone.
"Anything else?" Nimue asked sarcastically
"Die!" Arius said as he stabbed her with the Dagger and she dies "Something feels different, like I'm gaining more power" and he pulls the Dagger out of her body and Nimue's name is no longer written on it, but rather his own. A tornado of Darkness comes out of Nimue's body and surrounds Arius and teleports him away
The Vault of the Dark One
Arius appears surrounded by Darkness. He sees the darkest parts of his life
"Enough!" The old man said and with a twirl of his hand gold smoke twister around him, revealing that he was using a glamour spell and that he actually looks like a young man
"Who… who are you?" Arius asked
"I am the Sorcerer" said the man "I am one of the Original Powers, I have lived hundreds of years and not aged, I have wielded magic that you can only dream of. I am Merlin, now begone!" And Arius and his gang run off
"Hello, Arius" Nimue said as she appears behind him, disguising her voice to sound like a man's
"Vort… Vort… Vortigan" Arius said
"Ah so, you think you know who I am" Nimue said
"Everyone knows that mask" Arius said
"Indeed they do" Nimue said "perhaps I'll tell you how wrong you are later, but for now, I need you"
"What do you want with me?" Arius asked
"I need an apprentice" Nimue said "someone who has a powerful potential for magic and yet is willing to do whatever it takes to get what he wants"
"Why do you think that's me?" Arius asked
"Oh, Arius" Nimue said "I just have a way of telling"
"While learning magic sounds good… what's in it for me?" Arius asked "Why should I learn it from you specifically
"Because my rival, the Sorcerer is the man who humiliated you in front of your friends all those years ago" Nimue said "and because his Apprentice is your rival, Nicholas"
"Wait" Arius said "little ole' Nicky actually learned magic, I figured Merlin just wanted a servant boy"
"Oh yes" Nimue said "and he's become a very powerful user of magic, I know firsthand. But I foresee you becoming even more powerful"
"If that little pipsqueak can do it, so can I" Arius said "you've got yourself an apprentice, let's go…"
"…You don't want to say goodbye to anyone?" Nimue asked "you don't have any family or friends that would worry about you?"
"Who cares about them?" Arius asked "like you said I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get what I want and what I want is power, not family or friends"
"… Very well, you're training begins now, my Dark Apprentice" Nimue said
He sees every time Nimue abused him for failing her, every punishment
"Die!" Arius said as he stabbed her with the Dagger and she dies
He then emerges from the Vault in liquid Darkness. The Darkness falls away and reveals Arius, now with scaly skin like Nimue's
"Well I guess it worked" a voice said and he turned to see Nimue
"Nimue!" Arius exclaimed and he tried to attack her, but just went right through her "what?! I killed you! What worked?"
"My plan worked" Nimue said
"You planned for me to kill you?" Arius asked
"Not you specifically, and ideally not anybody" Nimue said "but I wanted to make sure if somehow I was killed, I would still survive, so I built this Vault and was able to adjust the spell Merlin used to tie me to the Dagger to also tie me to this Vault. My soul is technically in the Underworld, but now I can communicate with the current Dark One, as the voice in your head, think of me as your guide. Guess what Arius, you now get to be with me, forever"
The Underworld
"That spell you used on your Vault is impressive" Hades said to Nimue once she was done talking to Arius "but you know, I don't really like people communicating with the Overworld, but I'll make an exception in your case"
"Make an exception, like you can stop me" Nimue said
"While I obviously can't kill someone that's already dead" Hades said "and I can't undo your spell, I can toss you in the River of Lost Souls, that will sever the connection to the Overworld"
"Well… we wouldn't want that now would we" Nimue said
"I'm allowing this for two reasons" Hades said "first, you did fine work sending so many lovely dead people my way during your life and you're using your connection to the Overworld to encourage others to send even more my way. It doesn't make much sense to cut off one of my chief suppliers"
"And the second reason?" Nimue asked
"All magic comes with a price" Hades said "and the price of this spell is that you can't move on, nor can any of the future Dark One's that come here. So enjoy your stay in the Underworld, as it's going to be forever"
Hall of Legends
"That went well, Nicholas" Simultaneous said sarcastically "I mean it was impressive that you manipulated Arius to kill Nimue with the Dagger by telling Krampus that she wanted a Magic Bean and telling him where to find one, then distracting Arius long enough for Krampus to find it, and then 'accidentally' letting it slip exactly what the Dagger can do. But apparently while the Dark One Dagger can indeed kill the host, the Darkness itself isn't so easily snuffed out"
"Killing the Dark One with the Dagger merely making the killer a Dark One is indeed unfortunate" the Apprentice said "but now we know what doing that does and we know we must look for an alternate way to destroy the Darkness"
"And it's a good thing Merlin couldn't bring himself to kill Nimue with the Dagger" Ninjor said "otherwise he would be both the Sorcerer and the Dark One and I'm not sure we would even know it"
"I have a prophecy" Reul said "of someone that may be able to help. In a dark winter, a Savior will be born. In that same winter, a Great Evil will be made. The Savior and the Great Evil will die fighting each other. And you will know the Great Evil by the crescent it bears"
"Perhaps the Savior is the Guardian that the Sorcerer prophesied" the Apprentice said "and perhaps a new Dark One will emerge the winter the child is born and when the child is grown up they will be able to defeat the Dark One at the cost of their own life"
"Perhaps" Zeus said "but that is a lot of conjecture. We will need and wait for this Savior to be born"
North Pole - Land Without Magic
"Arius!" Krampus said "Arius! I will find my way back to the Enchanted Forest and kill you and save the Dark One!"
"It's a little too late for that" the Apprentice said, emerging from an Enchanted Door
"You… you were the one that told me about the bean and who tried to stop Arius from getting it" Krampus said "you set me up"
"I used you to set Arius up" the Apprentice said "and now Nimue is no more. I came to check on you and ensure you can't harm anyone. As I see you are stuck in this frozen wasteland, I will leave you"
"You think I'm going to let you leave here alive?" Krampus asked and he tried to blast the Apprentice with a spell, but nothing happened
"Your in the Land Without Magic" the Apprentice said "did you really think your magic was going to work here"
"It works for you" Krampus said
"I'm the Apprentice to the Sorcerer" the Apprentice said "of course my magic works. So long, Krampus" and he leaves through the same Enchanted Door he came from, which vanishes after he goes through it. Krampus tries to use his magic again, and fails. He pulls out his wand and notices it does work…