A Powerful Secret

Chapter 39: Defeated

Big chappie, this one! :D Enjoy xx

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The fire was spreading around me too quickly for me to escape, and soon a meter high wall of flames seperated  Xeneya’s unconcious body and I from the door and Nequitiam Malum. The fire was obviously man-made, unusual black stripes decorating it and the heat more intense than usual.

I could never escape.

A firey arm melted out of the flames and stroked Xeneya’s foot, setting fire to her jeans and, once the material had been burned through, starting on her skin. I screamed at the gory sight and was just reaching for her when Nequitiam Malum’s voice stopped me short.

“Save her and let your petty world be destroyed, or leave her and save your pathetic home land,” he snarled and I hesitantly backed away, knowing that it would be selfish of me to save Xeneya. It was aslo what I wanted to do most.

But I had no choice. I had to save the world, literally. I couldn’t pick one friend over more than seven billion others.

NM waved his wand around once more, but this time he was pointing it at the ceiling and making a hole rip open. Wind pulled me towards it but I planted my feet into the ground, determined to succeed.

I can do this.

Rage boiled inside me at the thought that Nequitiam Malum just killed my BFF and brainwashed the other, and I clenched my fists and growled as loud as I could. Fortuna Dea’s wand, which was still on the ground a few centimeters away from the fire wall, began rippling like easy waves and the gemstone turned a blazing red, replacing the earlier dull color. I picked it up, ignoring the heat that raadiated from the staff, and scowled at the people in front of me.

“Think clearly, child,” a sudden voice said to me, but after quick survey of the area around me, I realized nobody was talking to me. I peered through the flames and gasped when I saw Fortuna Dea’s body shivering and her mouth move as the voice continued. “Say what your heart tells you. If you truly follow what you believe, you will win. Believe in yourself. Believe in yourself…”

“You don’t have the right to destroy my home!” I shouted, tears pouring from my eyes, but this time, it wasn’t a sign of weakness – it was a sign of emotion and strength. “You killed my friend, you brainwashed everything I’ve loved; and yet, what have I done to you?”

“I never said you did anything, Valentina,” Nequitiam Malum mused, smirking, obviously enjoying my little scene. “But that doesn’t mean I can’t destroy you! Plus, you’ve done some pretty bad damage the few days, stomping around in my castle!”

Last few days? We’ve been here for days?

“Your time is over, Nequitiam Malum! You will never win, and I shall never let you!” With that, I stepped forward, so close I nearly brushed against the fire, and pointed the staff at him, feeling the words my heart were telling me to say.

Fortuna Dea was right; If I believe in myself and follow my heart, I will win. I know I will.

“For far too long you have ruled this world, but your power is only that gem. Destroy it I may, and I will win; to surrender you are condemned.”

The blazing gem at the end of Fortuna Dea’s staff began vibrating, more and more, until a wash of light exploded from it and filled the whole room, making me groan and shut my eyes at the sudden brightness. For a few moments, the light simply hovered, like a heavy curtain, until it began moulding into a single beam about as thick as a large tree and zapped straight towards Nequitiam Malum. It crashed into the gemstone, making it explode into tiny shatters and shower to the floor.

“No! How dare you! You will pay for this, Valentina Devonne, I will make sure you will!” NM shouted, first his legs, than his stomach and finally all of him disintegrating along with the staff. The brainwashed Potea Creandi all began sparkling, little black stars whizzing around them so quickly it mad e me dizzy to watch. The fire, which had recently been blazing around Xeneya and I, disappeared the instant Nequitiam Malum did, allowing me some time to see how Xeneya was doing, and praying she wasn’t dead.

I was just beding down to help my BFF when the twenty-three others were lifted into the air and spun around wildly, the black stars moulding into long strands, and soon after a surge of power exploded in the room and I was thrown off my feet, finding myself in unconciousness.

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Nequitiam Malum is gone! But what’s going to happen to Valentina? Is she dead? Is Xeneya dead? Find out in the next chappie ;)

Yuki xx