The Faithfuls

Chapter 16: Zeth

Chapter 16: Zeth

Muse secures Jazzmozzelle to the base of Jinx’s tree, making sure she has no means of escape. We know we have no time to lose, so we sprint as quickly as possible to where the shadow bomb came from.

“Everything is wilting!” Brandon pants. And he’s right. This dimension isn’t going to sustain life for much longer. Ursa prepares a blue, glowing star, which I take is the cure for Jinx. If my father’s teachings had worked on me, I wouldn’t care about Jinx and would relish in all this destruction. But my father’s teachings didn’t work, which is better than being heartless.  At last, we reach the centre of the chaos. And it was worse than expected. Jinx stands in the centre of a shadow sphere, laughing as she destroys trees left right and centre.

“Jinx!” I yell. She stops and turns to us.

“Why hello Jinx’s friends!” She dissolves the sphere. “I’m sorry if you were looking for her, but she’s gone. I have access to her thoughts though. So, I can be her if you want me to.”

“You’ll never be her.” I spit. “She wouldn’t destroy herself.”

“Oh, but that’s the thing. I can’t destroy myself. I am shadow. I don’t die from nature. Why do you think I’m destroying everything now? 2 reasons. One: It is my master’s bidding. Two: If Jinx ever does come back, she’ll die anyway. And on that cheery note, if you want anything from her memory just say so before I completely ignore them.”

“We don’t want any of your memories. Jinx will be able to say it to us. She’ll fight you.”

“You think she’ll fight me? For god’s sake, she has nothing to fight for! Now if nature dies she won’t die. She’s happy. She has nothing to fight for.”

“She’ll fight for us! She will always fight for us!” Muse calls out.

“You seem so sure. Oh, and Zeth? Fun fact before I destroy everything. Jinx never loved you. Get over it.” That’s tipped us over the line. Brandon creates an arena of lightning that only we can enter, followed by him making spears of lightning. Muse and Ursa dash forward, Ursa being careful with her star. Muse and Brandon combine powers to dodge Jinx’s shadow streaks. But Jinx was never good at fighting. As they send wave after wave of attack, she just dodges everything. Until she bashes into Ursa, who holds her in a headlock.

“Get her down!” Ursa yells. Fire and lightning wrap around Jinx, holding her to the ground.

“Please work.” Ursa keeps repeating under her breath. She puts it on Jinx’s arm, the source of the shadow. It glows blue as it sinks into her skin. After Jinx’s cry of pain, she falls unconscious. Either from the star’s energy, or the fact that she’s about to die.

“She’ll probably we awake in a few hours.” Ursa smiles. Everyone starts cheering that the world isn’t completely dead. But I’m still repeating that remark in my head: Jinx never loved you. Get over it.

“Get her back to the tree.” I say. “I just need... some time alone.”

“Sure thing Shadow. We’ll meet you back at the tree.” Brandon helps pick Jinx up as I wander into the forest, thinking about what I have to fight for.