The Septic Curse

Twenty-Four

"You know NOTHING!!"

"I know enough from all that you've told me."

"If you keep down this path, you WILL die you piece of shit!"

"Lies! I would never stoop to taking my own life- even if I killed an entire nation! The only reason I would die is from you going back on your word and killing us just to fend off the sadness in your poor, miserable black heart!"

"Your lack of morals will be your downfall- one way or another!"

"I don't say this because of lack of morals! I realize that what we did hurt others! It hurt YOU! But unlike you, I will NEVER take the coward's way out! If I end up feeling guilty- so be it! I will live with that guilt for decades more, if not a century! Is that not the better way to pay for sins?!"

"I'm NOT a COWARD! What part of this do you not understand?! If you don't talk to him, you'll-!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Marvin shouted, a black magic whipping out of his body and tearing the illusion to invisible pieces. 

And with that, the voice of Starless was gone.

"Marvin...?" 

The magician turned sharply, stumbling a bit. 

The other Septics were there... But they had... Disappointed looks on their faces. Robbie looked the most devastated, and Jameson came as a close second. 

And in front of them all, stood Sam. 

Marvin felt a soft tug on his mind as Sam tried to initiate telepathy, and he was too shocked to resist. 

"lf t4At l2 r3A11y 40m lt l2... 20 63 lt."

But suddenly, Marvin sprang into action. It didn't matter if the other was talking- this was his best chance, and he was going to take it! With a cringe, the magician shouted out the banishing spell. 

...

Sam looked down at its fading form, going silent in shock. But its chin tilted back up, lips slightly pointing downward in a sad frown. 

"l11 233 y0v 200n."

And with that, it was gone. 

Marvin quickly noted down its location using the tracking spell, smiling at his accomplishment. But that smile faltered as he remembered everything that just happened. 

Was it really worth it?

'Of course it is. Even if it turned out to be the best, kindest person in the world... We still have to do this.' Marvin looked up to the others, hearing Chase's disappointed sigh. 

"Is it so hard to just talk to the brat...? You're the only one out of us that disagreed, Marv. But I suppose you do have the magic, so what the hell do the rest of our opinions matter?" Chase grunted, "so what if it's a kid, right? No point in last words, right?" 

Jackie shook his head softly, "seriously, bro?" Jameson stuck to the side, just listening. He had a few harsh words he wished to say as well, but he figured that just Chase should do the scolding. 

"Wh- no, I wasn't... I told the guy to fuck off... I said nothing about whether I would let the kid speak or not. Of course, I'll fookin' let it speak!" Marvin hissed defensively. "Geez, I'm not THAT much of a fuck-up! And besides, that old geezer from before said that the payment for this book was doing just that."

"Then why were you getting upset at Starless?" Chase asked. "Because he was lying!" The magician growled, but everyone else gave him looks. He was only telling part of the truth. 

...

"...And because I wanted him to see that suicide wasn't the answer... Before it was too late..." Marvin finally muttered, looking down. "It made me upset, okay?! He mentioned that he was going to kill himself, and lied about me doing the same if I didn't talk with Sam. The fact that he would just throw his life away like that! I just-" He sighed, looking Chase in the eyes. 

"It scared me... Because it reminded me of how you used to be." The magician looked back down guiltily, "and... And if he really cared about Sam and the demon, then he wouldn't do it. He wants Sam to be happy... I just want him to see that Sam wouldn't like his death at all. But I think it's already too late for him..."

"I don't want him to die."

Marvin felt a tear slide down his cheek, and somebody moved closer. But he paid no mind. "I don't want to be the reason for another's death. For the pain of even more people... I just want things to go back to normal. I just want Sam to rest in peace." And before he knew it, several pairs of arms had wrapped around him. 

"Ve know, Marvin... Ve know..." Henrik cooed, his voice cracking a bit. "Vut... Vut perhaps next time, you show zhat you mean vell instead of acting like an absolute asshole." The doctor tried to chuckle, but it came out dry and humorless. Marvin wasn't the only one who felt this...

It hurt them all... But not as much as it should- that, they were certain of. It hurt to know that they caused this, to accept that fact without really knowing which part went wrong... Or maybe it was because too many parts were wrong. They had done too much harm without ever realizing it... 

And now it was time to fix their biggest mistake, whatever that may be. 

Separating from his family, Marvin took in a deep breath. "It's time." It was now or never, so with a confident nod, he walked out of the house with the others right behind. He could sense a pull towards a direction, meaning that the spell was working and that was the direction Sam's grave would be.

This was it. The finale.