• The Demon's Curse •

22: In Which Bad Things Happen

That night, Lily found herself by Calicfer's side. 
"What fears have stricken you child?" He said, peered over at her.
"Howl says it's the witch. She coming for him." She said, fiddling with a loose string on her sleeve.
        "Are you scared for him or yourself?"
She didn't answer, gaining a chuckle from the demon. "Awfully selfish of you."
        This amused the Demon greatly but it only made her feel worse. Lately he was mean to her. As if pushing her farther away from the truth. "Calcifer?"
"Hmm?"
"What if You were human? Would the contract be voided?" Her mark burned slightly but no more than a sunburn.
        "You must get you cleverness from all those book you mend." he smirked.
"Is that a yes?" she pressed.
"I can't say for sure. But that would take an awful amount of magic."
"Black magic." Added the feline. Calcifer flickered with irritation at the other Demon's presence.
        "Black magic?" she asked confused.
"Dark arts for magic. I could offer my assistance with that. I know someone who would be willing do-"
        "Don't listen to him Lily." Michael growled.
Lily's mark from Ifrit seemed to burn coldly as he tilted his feline head. "I warned you boy. I said not to meddle  and this is what you do?"
Before Ifrit could pounce, Calcifer scooped up the demon in his blue flames. He juggled the white form, seemingly unaffecting the feline demon other than the screeching of Ifrit. Calcifer was distracting the younger demon, keeping him away from Michael. 
"It's a lot to explain," Michael shouted. "But I need these to strip their powers and keep the Castle safe." He found Lily's glasses and held them harshly in his hand. She was shocked and the room was spinning. At least it was to her. 
Michael tossed the Glasses into the grate with the struggling demons and began to chant in a language much like Calcifer's songs. She watched, horrified at the melting frames. Calcifer then grew very wild along with Ifrit. Their very essence mixed, battling pink hue with orange and red. 
        "That is the only thing that can bring her back to the Flat planes you idiots!" Ifrit howled with anger. His rage glowed brightly against the Hearth, scorching the chimney with soot. The Demon's faces distorted into what seemed to be their true faces. They were long with sharp teeth and hollowed eyes. The cackling turned into a raging fire that Calcifer seemed to be struggling with. Pink and violet hues fought the rage all the while Michael chanted. 
        Symbols danced around the room and Lily was left immobile. The pain of fire on her arm and ice behind her ear left her in agony. She collapsed on the floor, forced to watch her world go up in magical flames. The part all her fairytales left out. The room grew dim, despite the blaze of light before them. She wanted to scream as the familiar spirits surrounded her and began to screech. They pranced around her with faceless shadows and chanted along with Michael. 
        He seemed much older now that he was performing such a ritual. The lines on his face were more prominent and his voice was lower. His silver tongue guided these foreign words concocting a spell that would supposedly fix this mess. She had no time to think even, It all blurred together once a figure came to rush down the stairs.

        A head of raven hair shook Michael viciously, hoping to stop the spell. But the trance was much too strong. His eyes had began to glow white and there was no way of reaching Michael now. Lily wanted to get up from her crumpled heap on the floor and help Michael from his attacker but she couldn't move. The spirits made her grow heavy, gaining a thousand pounds. She held the atlas on her back feeling her hair gray. Her chest hurt as she strained to hear the sound of her own voice, begging to make. it. stop. 
        Lily could swear up and down that the room was spinning uncontrollably and that it was all in her dizzy mind but the fact was that Calcifer was losing control. The castle was tripping over itself, without is demon to bespell the gears and independent pieces. The floorboards creaked with unevenness and the windows, flashed to the view of the outside of the castle. The dimensions were breaking away and soon the Castle would fall apart.
        She blinked several times before the figure in front of her came out to be a person, not a spirit. They of course screeched even louder and grasped at the stranger. They slashed at him, yanking hair and flesh from the figure. He would do better if he had swapped away the claws of the spirits but the figure refused to let go of Lily, protectively hovering over her. The weight shifted to a much lighter load, allowing air to inflate her lungs. She gasped greedily, clinging to whatever was so eager to protect her.
        A loud crack had deafened Lily into hearing nothing but white noise. A loud, constant ring echoed in her ears as she stood. It was a mistake. Both Demons had vanished. Michael was nowhere in sight. Her footing gave out, surprising even herself she was able to stand. Landing on the wooden floor, she coughed, not that she could hear it. A wetness ran from her nose to her lip. Instinctively she licked it. It was robust and metallic. It was blood. She kept wiping at it with her hands until she had noticed how ugly her sleeves were getting. She pushed hair from her face, desperately trying to see past the matted clumps but she was horrified to find her once black hair was now hanging in sheets of white. 
        She felt herself crying as her eyes lingered on the Wizard beside her, unmoving. She reached for him but her fingers betrayed her, fore she couldn't reach. She mouthed broken pleas, willing him to move on his own. He did not. It wasn't until all of her hope shattered at another figure, in complete black fell to its knees and landed on her. It was just enough to knock the wind out of her as the figure laid on her abdomen. Her scattered brain couldn't handle anymore of it's soundless tortue. Instead it shut down.