You Tried

Chapter 28- Decisions

-Seto's POV-
Well, I'm 15, and the kid is 3. She's already got Elimonus down, and I'm starting to wonder if she'll turn to her mother's ways, or Brice's. If she turns 5 and still gladly uses Elimonus, I'll know immediately that Amelia lied to Brice. Using Elimonus will get me killed. And knowing Amelia, she wants me dead. Badly.
I've 'influenced' Brice, and I've been near the girl before. The kid certainly knows me by now, but now... She seems scared of me. As we've both gotten older, I seem to scare her more. She's started to skirt around me when we're in the same area, and she just- doesn't seem to like my presence.
I've told Brice this, and he's noticed it himself. It might just because I'm older, and my magic is stronger. The one day, Amelia's sister showed up at the mansion. She nearly had a heart attack when she saw me and Brice. Mainly when she saw me though, because I'm a dark sorcerer in a Solace house.
She had immediately reacted, and shot a panicked Elimonus spell at me. I'd easily dissipated it, from practice. But my question is- Sky's magic is both light and dark. Where does he fall? With both sides, he can count as a dark sorcerer, and a light at the same time.
But he's also an immortal. He may not be able to die, but he can be given eternal pain without cure. But for the whole duration of Amelia's sister's visit, I was confined to my room, or outside. And that was a month long. She refused to be within 20 yards of me.
If she could see me, she panicked. And that was often, because I had to sneak around, past her. I got seen a lot, and I had to dissipate a LOT more Elimonus curses. When she left finally, I still snuck about, just because Amelia had gotten twitchy with my presence again. She dislikes me more than what she already deals with. And I know her secret.
She still has dark magic users here. I can sense them deep within the grounds. I know Sky can as well, because he's jumpy, and he walks a lot more than usual- outside. Finally, I tell Sky. "Sky, there are dark users here. Is it just me, or are they underground?"
"They're here. I've been trying to locate them, but the distance is so far. They seem to be underneath the courtyard, but I can't pinpoint the exact location. It's so frustrating." Sky stamps his foot. "I never got it. Why is your full name half yours and half your dad's?" "I don't know. My dad's an ass and my mother couldn't fix him. He's broken or something. He's not creative, I don't know." "Oh. Okay, Sky. Just curious."
"Seto." "Yah?" "Come with me. I have an idea to pinpoint these dark users." I leap after him as he heads back into the mansion. But our plans skid to a stop when I see the kid, staring at me angrily.
"Sky. Sky help. Sky! Sky! Dude. Help me. Now. Please." Sky stops, and looks back at me questioningly. Then he sees the kid. "You should go, Sadie. It's dangerous trying to challenge a sorcerer older and more powerful than you. Stop this right now." The girl doesn't shift, doesn't acknowledge Sky's words.
She's challenging me, meaning if I walk away, it's considered weakness, and frowned upon. But if I hurt her, Amelia will have my head. And I would like to stay in one piece and alive, thank you very much. So I step closer to her, accepting the challenge. I have to ignore Sky's warnings on continuing.
If I continue and lose, I'm dead. If I continue, and hurt her, I'm dead. If I back away, it'll say I'm weaker than a three year old. And I'm not. That's definitely for certain.
I see a flicker of fear go through the kid's eyes, and it disappears just as fast. She's only learned a few spells, and I've learned hundreds. And hers are all the basics, the same spells every sorcerer or sorceress starts with. Straight away, she shoots an Elimonus at me. I easily wave my hand and it blows into dust.
She tries harder, and shoots three simultaneously. I know she's burning herself out already, because she's breathing hard. I dissipate all three with a few flicks of my wrist and forearm. Sky's watched this from the base of the steps, and suddenly steps between us. I cede, and step away.
Sky stares at the girl, and she angrily cedes, stomping down the hall. Sky turns to me when she leaves. "That was dangerous, Seto. You should have walked away." "I couldn't! She made it impossible. At least I thought rationally and didn't cast any of my own spells." "You get that point, but she isn't going to be like Brice. Amelia had lied."
We travel the grounds and track down Brice. He's alone by the pond. I call out, "Brice. Amelia lied to you." He looks up at me. His face is drawn out, and chalk white. He looks upset.
Sky's half smile melts. "What's the matter?" Brice's voice is shaken. "My mother... She- she did it right in front of me. I thought it was just Dad. But she did it."
"Brice. Did what?" "She- she killed the little boy. Slit his throat right in front of me. And she looked happy about it." I noticed just how stricken he was, and pulled him to me. He buried his face in my shoulder and cried. I melted to the grass with him, and we sat there for a few minutes while he relaxed.
Sky sat next to us, and seemed to question himself silently. He got angry once, and ripped up a whole chunk of grass, nearly screaming at himself. But soon he stared blankly into the amethyst in his amulet. He slowly moved it along the chain, and watched it, mesmerized. He slowly relaxed as Brice slowed his crying, and sat back on his heels.
His face was red, and his eyes were puffy. He was so upset about this. "This boy. What did he look like? I'm sorry to ask, but I need to know." "Um... He- he was maybe- 8? He had... Um- short, black hair. Red sunglasses, and um... A black jacket."
(Sorry guys. I killed Jordan... Sorry not sorry)
Oh... So that will set us back. We need to find them before that happens to all of them, probably including me. I was snapped out of my thoughts when I heard a scream of terror in the front of the mansion. Sky sped ahead while I ran along with Brice. I saw him freeze, and I instantly knew it was bad.
I reached Sky, and looked over. In the front gate, stood the dragon, but also, Amelia. She looked happy- excited even. But she also looked terrified. She smiled at me creepily.
"Hello, Seto. Would you like to meet my friend here?" "I- I already know him. I'm not coming anywhere near you, your friend, or your psychotic lies." "Fine. Then I'll force you." In seconds she whipped out an energy rope, and wrapped it around my neck. I broke through it, with no more energy to spare.
I'm tired, and my energy is gone. Breaking up 4 Elimonus spells takes enough. To break a strong energy rope right after drained me too much. I'm ready to collapse, and Amelia isn't about to slow down. She not ready to stop anytime close by.
She pulls another spell I can't break at this point. It's a cage. No material objects, just blue light magic. Not even made into bars. Just a tube with no openings. And I'm instantly stuck in place.
The tube is a spell to use if and only if the one you use it on needs to be immobilized. Otherwise the spell naturally breaks itself. But with light users, that rule goes out the window. If the one inside is a dark user being contained by a light user's magic, it doesn't matter if they need to be immobilized or not. It won't break anyway for the helpless dark user.
Meaning- I'm screwed. Amelia holds the cage, and the dragon uses its wings to blast Brice and Sky backwards into the stone wall. "Brice! No!" I scream as Brice's head connects with the wall, and I see his eyes light up with shock and pain. As his back slides down the wall, I see a blood trail start where his head had hit to where his head now rests.
Brice is crying out in pain, but I can barely hear him due to the cage. Amelia isn't tired at all, and I can see a cruel smile spreading on her face as she holds me here. Suddenly, a small voice echoes from the front gate. "Seto? Can you help me?" It's Preston, and he sounds frustrated.
He appears in the gateway, and he looks scared and surprised to see me like this. I start to wilt to the cage floor, weak without enough energy to sustain consciousness. I drift into a meaningless sleep.

-Preston's POV-
I've been trying to fix a knot I pulled in my tie, and I can't get it out. So I decide to go find Seto, because he's good at knots. Only to find him in a box, panicked. He falls to his knees, and his eyes roll back into his head as he passes out.
"Seto? What-" Then I see the damage. Brice is laying against the wall, with a thick line of blood following from 2 feet above his head to his head. He looks sad, and in pain. Sky is laying sideways in the grass, not moving.
Mrs. Solace is spreading her left hand to Seto, which seems to keep the box up. The big dragon is standing next to her, calmly standing in this mess. Seto has passed out, Sky is knocked out, and Brice is injured. What happened? Brice looks up at me slowly.
"Brice? Wha-" "Stop. Save- Seto. I'm fine. He needs help." "But I- I don't know how! What do I do?!" Brice reaches his hand out to me. I hold it up so he doesn't strain himself. "Just be you, and try in any way you know."
"But I don't have anyone to help me. Rob is home, so are Mitch and Jerome. Ty and Anthony are AWOL, and I have nothing on my own!" "Preston. Just try. He really needs you. You're stronger than you think. Give yourself a chance."
I gape, having nothing more to say, but still wanting to argue. "Preston. Try."