The Other Side of Darkness

Dark Deal

Episode 4: Chapter 32~33

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Lev felt a sudden burst of pain in her head. "AGH!"

"L-Lev!" Grim exclaimed. "Are you okay?"

All around them, students began groaning and clutching their heads.

"He's trying to brainwash all of them!" Azul gasped.

Jade put his hands on the side of Lev's head. "Prefect, stay strong. You can do it. Don't give in."

"Agggh," Lev groaned. She hated this sensation. It felt like a dozen needles where trying to stab themselves into her brain.

The other students weren't as lucky and quickly became consumed by Jamil's magic. The vice dorm head ordered them to take Kalim and the others and throw them out.

The Octavinelle trio tried desperately to hold the brainwashed students back, with Kalim continuing to try to shout offers and apologies to Jamil to make him stop. Needless to say, it didn't work.

"I can't believe this," Azul hissed. "Not only is his controlling all of them, he's giving them all individual commands! I greatly underestimated him. He's not just the best wizard in Scarabia, but he's probably among the most talented of the whole school!"

"Jamil! Please!" Kalim shouted. "I'll do anything! I'll go home and you can be Dorm Head! Just stop!" 

Jamil frowned. "Are you joking? The spell that binds me can't be released just like that. Not as long as you continue to live in this world!" Lev could sense Jamil's frustration build up as the pain in her head increased and pressed harder.

"A-Azul," she stuttered. "J-Jamil needs t-to s-s-stop. If n-not...he'll O-Overblot." 

The Octavinelle students all frowned worriedly.

"Jamil, you need to stop, now," Azul ordered. "You'll build up too much blot if you don--" 

"Don't order me around!" Jamil shouted. "Don't you see? I AM going to be free!" A dark mist suddenly began appearing and swirled around him.

Oh...no...

There was an insane female laugh. "FOOLS!" 

There was a burst of black and all the students were temporally blinded. The pain in Lev's head faded.

"Jamil!" she shouted. But it was too late. Jamil had Overblotted.

His dorm uniform was transformed into a tattered tunic with several golden chains dripping from a necklace around his neck. A black turban with a red jewel was placed atop his head. Inky black snakes surrounded him, hissing and glaring at the Kalim and the Octavinelle trio.

"What the--?!" Kalim gasped. "What's happened to Jamil?!" 

"This is just like what happened to Azul..." Jade muttered, taking the scene in with a blank face.

"This isn't good," Azul growled. 

"Aww, are you all scared now?" Jamil laughed. "This is what you get for keeping me bound for so long!" 

"Jamil! Snap out of it!" Lev ordered. "You need to calm down! You're going to hurt yourself!" She began to step forward, but a black hand suddenly shot out of the ground and grabbed her leg. "Wha--?!" 

"Not today, my friend." Pulling on Lev's leg, a figure shot out of the blackness. Lev fell forward onto her knees and looked up in horror.

The black ooze slowly dripped away from the figure's face, revealing the black-haired girl. This time, however, the girl's eyes were not their normal blue-green. Instead, they were a flaming gold. They were both uncovered, with the eye that previously had a bandage covering it fully exposed. A still-healing X shaped scar crossed over it. The black ink covered most of her body, like she wasn't completely whole. Her black hair seemed to turn into mist near the ends and her clothes faded between being fabric and blot.

"Ack!" Azul gasped. "You're--!" 

The female giggled darkly. "Pleasure to see you again, Azul. In fact, it's a pleasure to see all of you. You have all helped me sooo much!" She frowned dramatically. "Do you know how hard it is to build a form in Alternate Universes from scratch? I had just about given up when I realized how powerful blot was..."

"You're disgusting," Lev snarled. 

The girl shrugged. "Perhaps." She turned to Jamil. "Well? Are you going to deal with them or not, Sultan?" 

Jamil's horrifying smirk grew. "Oh please, like I'd could stand one more second in the presence of these false kings!" He raised his hands and magic swirled around his fingertips. "To the ends of the earth with you! And never come back!" Black ink enveloped Kalim, Azul, Grim, and the twins before throwing them away with extreme force.

"NO!" Lev screamed, running forward.

The girl caught her again. "No you don't~!" She shoved her against a pillar. Lev cried out as the elaborate gold decorations stabbed into her back.

"Demon!" Jamil snapped. "Do you remember our deal?" 

The girl rolled her eyes and released Lev. "Of course, Sultan." She bowed almost mockingly.

"Good." Jamil waved a hand. "Now, go." 

The girl giggled, threw her arms around Lev, and had darkness envelop them both. When the darkness cleared, they were inside the first room that had been given to Lev when she arrived in Scarabia. Lev blinked in surprise.

The girl walked over to one end of the room and picked up a bundle of clothes. She tossed them at Lev.

"Get changed, now," she ordered, flopping onto a plush red cushion. Some of the wet, inky blot covering her seeped into the fabric.

"Why?" Lev growled.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Just do it." 

Not having any other option, Lev walked into the bathroom and quickly changed. This outfit was pretty much the same as the clothes she had been wearing earlier, save that they were a deep, rich red.

...I hate this. How did everything go so wrong?

Pulling her phone out of her back pocket, she checked her messages. Grim had sent an emergency text out just a little while ago, telling everyone that things were getting worrisome and that they needed some help. Unfortunately, Jamil's Overblot energy seemed to be messing with her internet connection, so she couldn't see if her friends had texted back or not. Sighing, she hid the phone inside a pile of clothes since she couldn't hide it in her current outfit without it being painfully obvious.

When Lev finally walked out of the room, the girl whistled.

"No wonder all the guys here are falling for you," she said. 

Lev frowned. "No one's falling for me."

"Are you sure about that~?" 

Change the topic.

Lev glared at her. "Just who are you?"

The female sighed. "Aaaaand we're back to this." She stood up and approached Lev, a dangerous smile on her face. "I told you before, I'm a being that consumes the darkness hidden within people's hearts. In this world, it takes the form of 'blot'. In order to get stronger, I must eat more darkness. So, I provoke and use weak-hearted magicians and convince them to Overblot, thereby getting myself more blot to consume." 

"So, Jamil is just the next in your line of victims," Lev growled. "But somehow, you've convinced him you're on his side." 

"Yep. Push the right buttons and say the right words and you can get anyone to do anything for you."

"You're sick."

"Really?" The girl stepped closer. "Are you sure you don't do the same thing? Act a certain way with certain people, just so that you can end up in the perfect position to get whatever you want? The only reason people might catch you off-guard is if you don't know them well, or if they do something you don't expect. But other than that, you've got over half this school in the palm of your hand." 

"No!" Lev also stepped forward to stand her ground. "I'm nothing like you. I'd never use my position to hurt others on purpose. Never." 

The girl smirked. "You sure about that?" Lev didn't say anything. The girl chuckled and began to walk back towards the door. "C'mon, let's go. The sultan is waiting~."