The Source of Mana (T)

Chapter 18

Maryiel continued down the dark and icy corridor. It didn't take long before she stumbled upon a slightly larger room in the belly of the North Mountain. There was a strong magical presence that lit up the room. Her thoughts raced as the magical essence consumed her from the inside out. Centered in the middle of the room stood an icy stalagmite naturally cropping out of the ground. It served as the resting place for the source of mana. Maryiel approached. She had never seen one up close before, but she was certain that this was in fact the black locust of legend across the multiverse. It glimmered with magic. It was shaped like a flower, but it was jet black. It rested upon the stalagmite altar slightly infused with the ice. "At last." She whispered to herself. Near infinite mana at her fingertips, she could rule this entire plan of existence, and nothing could stop her. She gently placed both of her hands on the artifact and broke it free from it's icy confinement. She felt the mana pour into her immediately. Her eyes began to glow a deep purple, as the ice of the room began to rumble and change forms. "It's not the best plan, but it's all we've got. As long as you can use your power to immobilize her, I can do the rest." Jace stood in a circle with the royal sisters as they made a plan to stop Maryiel. If she found this black lotus I was not going to be an easy fight. According to Jace just being near it's presence had started to make her wicked. Anna insisted on going with them, even if she didn't have powers, she didn't want anything happening to her beloved Elsa. If they made it out of here alive then they could finally be together. Anna hadn't realized her whole life that Elsa wasn't just hiding her powers, but also her feelings. Of course now things made a little more sense to the young princess. Elsa never had anyone growing up, Anna was the only person in her life. Was it really so weird that she would develop feelings as she watched Anna blossom into a beautiful young woman? "We got this. I'm not going to let anyone take you from me ever again Elsa, just promise you won't hide your feelings from me." Anna had a determined look on her face as she spoke directly to Elsa. "I promise." Elsa replied, it was all she could say. She felt stronger now. Maybe not strong enough to do this alone, but they had Jace on their side now. He never meant for this to happen, he was just as lost and hopelessly in love as Elsa was. She found her resolve, and repeated Anna. "We've got this." Jace took the lead, Anna and Elsa followed close behind holding each other's hands. They eventually came upon the icy room that housed the black lotus. They could see Maryiel floating in a purple aura in the center of the room. She was in fact holding the lotus in her hands as the ice around them rumbled and shifted in response to the powerful magic. She was in a trance like state, and didn't notice them. Jace used the opportunity to get them closer. He whispered to Elsa. "It's your move. Get in there and give it all you've got. Get her down to where I can reach her." Anna backed away giving Elsa's hands one last squeeze for good luck. Elsa nodded agreement and marched forward. She shot her icy tendrils the rest of the distance to try to subdue Maryiel. Maryiel's magical aura resisted her attempts. Elsa held fast and used all the magic she could drum up. It seemed to be a stale mate, but she wasn't the one wielding an unlimited source of magical energy. Jace crept forward. Anna followed him without him noticing. She grabbed his cloak and swung him around to face her. "Elsa can't keep this up. You can't fight magic with magic. True love is our only hope, so talk to her. If Lilliana is still in there maybe you can weaken her resolve. "Your right." He continued towards Maryiel, but this time he had a plan. He mustered up all of his strength. He put his finger tips to his forehead, as his eyes started to glow with blue flame. He sent a blast of mind magic directly at Maryiel, and invaded her brain. He didn't attempt to weaken her with his magic, but instead tried to talk clearly to her through her mind. "Listen to me. You are Lilliana Vess of the plane Dominara, and I am Jace Beleren. Please Lil I know you are in there, you've saved me so many times. I brought you here to return the favor. I know we've had our differences in the past, but I love you, so please I'm begging you. Fight this. Love thaws, let it give you strength." Maryiel responded not with words, but with her magic in an attempt to hold off Elsa's advances. She was in defense mode, but Jace's voice was distracting her. When he talked to her about love something inside of her boiled up, something unaffected by the power of the lotus. Elsa pushed out more ice magic to over take her, but she was almost completely drained once again. "It's working! Just a little more Jace search your heart!" Anna shout encouragement. She could see Elsa was running dangerously low on stamina. It was now or never. "Lil it's me I'm not going anywhere, we don't want to hurt you. Listen, I love you with all my heart just like these two sisters. I promise I will protect you. We can use the magic of the lotus to break my inter planar spell and go home. I know you are in there. I'm coming for you my love." Again Maryiel struggled with the voice in her head. Even with the power of the lotus she couldn't focus because of the inner conflict roiling in her mind. Elsa took the opportunity to do her part. She thought of Anna and sent one last blast of ice towards Maryiel. This time it worked. Maryiel was forced back down to the ground as ice formed up her legs holding her in place. "Damn you how could this be!" Jace wasted no time. He spoke his piece. He felt a kind of courage he had never felt before. These two women had taught him so much. He rushed forward and grabbed a hold of Maryiel. "True love's kiss." He whispered in her ear, and then he kisses her. She was hardly in a position to protest, but as soon as she felt their lips touch she folded to this new found power inside of her. Was this true love really more powerful than the lotus? How could that be? But it was pointless to fight it. As their kiss continued the magic around her dissolved away. She could feel her memories flooding back to her. Jace- he had saved her, brought her into hiding to protect her from four demons. She insisted he erase her entire identity, and so he did. He must have resolved to follow her after all this time out of love. Finally she could feel it. This was in fact true love, and it was in fact the true source of mana on this plane.