Addict (SetoSolace)

Thirteen: "Light"

The song above is "Half-Truism" by The Offspring, and I think it goes quite well with this chapter. Fair warning: It says 'hell.' If that offends you in any way, I urge you not to watch the video. Alternatively, you can listen to "Explode" by Patrick Stump.

AJSDFKL SJDFAKLDJ WE'RE GETTING THERE GUS

WE ARE. ALMOST TO. THE ENDASDKLF JSDLFKASJDFKLASDJFDSKFLAEJEBEBAPW

AND SO MUCH HAPPENS IN THIS CHAPTER JUSTA LKSDJF KAWEB

OKAY

WHELP

TRY TO EN-JUH-HOY, MY BE-AY-YOO-TIFUL RULERS >:3

Addict

Ch 13: "Light"

"Okay," I say breathlessly as he pulls away. "I-I'll try my best."

"Thank you," Brice whispers, leaning his forehead against my mine, and I glow so brightly that Brice has to jump back and rub at his eyes. "Agh."

"Yikes, sorry, I-" I try hard to shut down my blushing. "My apologies, friend, ah, I-"

"It's cute," Brice laughs. "Blinding, but totally cute."

I bite my lip as hard as I can to prevent myself from glowing even more brightly. "Ah, I suppose I should go cast the spell, then."

"Guess so," Brice agrees, nodding slightly. "But be really careful, please? And, please, remember that I believe in you, and I know you can do this."

I smile shyly. "Thanks, Brice."

"Yeah," he says, smiling back at me. "No problem."

A few long, distracted moments later, I snap out of my daydreams and laugh awkwardly, and Brice blushes. "Okay, ah, bye, then. I'll meet you outside the HQ afterwards?" I ask.

"Uh, yeah! Okay, good plan."

"All right! We're set, then," I say, and then he and I walk down the stairs, out of the attic, into the main room of this tower. Luckily, there's only one person here, and I easily take him out. "Be wary getting back outside the HQ; I've no idea how far in we are, and I don't want you getting hurt."

"I will! Don't worry, I've got this. You just take care of the magic thing."

"Mm. I'll be seeing you in a few minutes, then?"

Brice nods confidently, and then he waves to me and darts out the door of the tower we're in. For a while, my eyes follow his figure through the window, but eventually I force myself to take a deep breath and head outside.

I need to get to a part of the HQ that gives me a clear view of the whole place. Quickly, without any regard for silence or secrecy, I shoot up into the air. I'll have this place obliterated soon, anyways. Well- that's assuming I can actually cast any Light spell worth an ounce of mana. Brushing that thought aside, I weave between two buildings and then dart up to the roof of a tower even taller than the one Brice and I teleported into. This will do nicely.

"Crepitu-" I freeze and cut the spell short when I realize how easy it is to cast. It's Dark magic, I'm still casting Dark magic.

Okay, come on, Seto. You can do this. Just- Just one spell. One tiny spell. One huge, tiny spell.

It'll be easier on me than on any other Dark mage, because I've got all three types of magic. So, think this through, Seto. I'll need to disable the entire base. But I don't want to kill anyone – I think that might taint my magic enough to make it Dark again. So I'll have to create an explosion with an area radius of at least one hundred meters, but I'll also have to cast an after-spell to protect anyone inside just enough to keep them alive. Disabled, but not dead.