Freed (Magics AU - Part 2)

Prologue - Brethren

Brethren had predicted this day from the moment the war had started. He'd been having his fun with the Lights - and even the mortals, who had foolishly decided to fight for their homes instead of wisely staying out of it - for two years now, and so far the fun had been quite worth it. It was exhilarating to battle head-to-head against the feisty Lights, and it was just pure joy to watch the mortals feebly attempt to take back their world. It was especially enjoyable when Brethren went up against that killjoy Caynen, who put up such a fight that Brethren pitied the man - but only a minuscule amount. Brethren knew that the Lights were fighting for a reason, and that reason was coming quickly. But Brethren wasn't ready for the day to come, and he was going to do everything in his power to prevent it. 

As much as it annoyed him, Brethren knew that somehow, they had figured it out. When Brethren and several other Darks had raided one of their camps, the Lights had fought back with such determination and confidence that it was obvious that they were up to something. It hadn't taken Brethren long to figure that something out. 

After Brethren had climbed out of the Abyss hundreds of years ago, he'd realized that there was no connection between Earth - the Light's domain - and the separate, Dark world. He was the only thing that kept them from breaking apart and drifting into the blank nothingness of realities between worlds. Brethren was able to jump from the Abyss to Earth whenever he wanted, but all of the Darks that were born and raised in the Dark Realm were trapped there. Annoyed by this fact, Brethren had formed a key that allowed the Darks of the Earth to unlock the gates of the Abyss. After Turning several mortals to Darks or Shadowbeasts, Brethren had gathered his army and begun the war.

Even before the Dark War, the Lights had realized that Brethren was slowly "losing his mind", in their terms. Brethren wasn't human, but he was smart enough to know that he'd never gone insane. He'd always been this way, and he'd finally grown tired of succumbing to the wishes of the flippant, annoyingly joyful Lights. Brethren had found out that everyone said that the Lights and Darks worked together in harmony - really, it had been the Lights passive aggressively commanding the Darks to keep the peace. After the war had started, it hadn't been long before the Lights were standing in Brethren's way. 

When the Lights had stepped into the war, Brethren had known that they were going to use the Abyss against him. The war had already lasted two years, which had given Brethren some confidence that the Lights wouldn't find where he'd hidden the key. Unfortunately, they seemed to have either found the location, or they had the gemstone with them and were waiting for the right moment. 

It angered Brethren that they had found out how to lock him in the Abyss. Because the key was made from Darkness, Brethren knew that the Lights would have troubling time trying to seal him away. But he knew, because their magic was strong and the opposite of his, it was possible. If they sent Brethren and the Darks back to the Abyss, there would be no Darks on Earth to bring them back. 

Brethren didn't want to spend the rest of eternity in the Dark Realm, even if it was his domain. Toying with the weary Lights and the pathetic mortals was more enjoyable than a vast world of Darkness. Yes, Brethren ruled everyone in the Abyss, but it was more fun to play around with the humans. 

So when his commander had informed him that a Light was waiting outside the camp, Brethren's anger had soared. 

For most of the day, Brethren had been content - true joy was not a capable emotion for him anymore. After his wife - the only thing that actually gave him a deep sense of happiness, even if she was a rebellious pain in the side sometimes - had died shortly after the war had started, there was no such thing has real joy for Brethren. Not that it mattered - he gained fleeting enjoyment in the battles and captives that the Darks held.