The Septic Curse

Twenty-Six

"ANTI!!"

Marvin could hear Chase screaming, but as he looked up, he could hardly register it. 

'Why?' He found him asking himself. 'Why did it have to come to this? Why did THIS have to go wrong?' 

...

The ball of magic barreled into Anti's stomach, causing the ghost to stumble back before the magic disappeared inside his 'body'. 

'I thought... For once, I could do something right.' 

Marvin could feel something slowly drip down his cheek, the same feeling soon coming to the other one. But he didn't acknowledge it, too focused on the ghost. Anti's form flickered out of existence for a second, and his eyes dimmed in a bitter depression. 

'But it was all wrong.' 

Chase threw his arms around the ghost's fading form, only making it go faster. But Anti was happy to use the rest of his power to comfort the fatherly ego. Next thing he knew, Jameson and Robbie were on him too. Next was Jackie and Henrik... And finally, Marvin stood up and made his way over. 

He stopped though, not hugging Anti like the others. 

"I couldn't love you until it was too late, little brother... You deserved so much better. But I will remember those weeks as 'Sam' fondly. I love you. And I'm sorry." 

As Marvin mumbled those words, Anti's eyes turned to him. 

And the ghost smiled. 

Anti separated from the egos, his 'physical' form not being able to hold on anymore. His smile faded away, and he looked away...

As he closed his eyes, a pure white 'tear' made its way down his cheek...

And as it fell, he disappeared. 

For some reason, Marvin's instinct was to catch it. And running forward, he did just that. He looked up to where Anti was...

But he was gone. 

The tear in the magician's hand was as white as snow, looking more like glue than anything. But in the center, it was green. 

The tear had a gentle pulse, as if a heart. But to Marvin, it felt more like an egg. 

And he knew then, no matter what it was... It didn't belong to them. It belonged to someone much dearer. 

Through the sorrow, the only real sound was Robbie's mournful howling. 

The 'curse' of Anti was gone... But he had left them with the real Septic Curse. 

Guilt. 

Something they could never get rid of. 

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