Finding Darkness

Chapter 39

~Astral~ The pain is unbearable. Black Mist's claws dig into my chest, tearing and shredding.

"Don't worry, Astral," Black Mist purrs. "In just a while, you won't feel a thing."

"They'll get you," I mutter weakly. "They'll find you and bring you back."

Black Mist scoffs. He stops, and my head lolls forward. "No, they won't. Without their precious Agent at the scene, they won't be able to pinpoint my location." He smirks. "Sweet dreams, Astral. This is for turning me in all those years ago."

Something cold slices through my chest. I take one shuddering breath, probably my last, and sleep.

~Black Mist~ I slide my knife out, not entirely sure if he's dead, but completely sure that his soul isn't ready yet. It might never be. It's really hard to tell if I hit his heart, or if I hit the narrow space between his heart and lung. I shrug and drop him. I don't really care.

I sense something shooting toward me, and I dodge just as a knife embeds itself in the wall behind me.

"You monster!" the cat girl cries. She's standing on the top stair, two more knives in her hands. She breathes angrily with tears in her eyes. "You killed them both!"

I sigh and shake my head. "No, I personally, maybe, killed Astral. Yuma killed himself because he was the one who opened the Death Letter.

"Which you sent." She glares at me intensely.

"Whatever. Same difference." I wave off her comment casually. "The point is-" I feel another presence in my mind. Oh, shit.

"Number 96," the Light Forces whisper. "You cannot escape. Give up now, and we won't destroy you."

I scoff. "As if. You'll have to try harder than that if you want to bring me back." I turn to the girl. "We'll finish this another time." With that, I take my leave.

~Astral~ I open my eyes and find myself in a white room. I try to get up, but I cannot move. I feel sane for once. The question is: what happened? Images in my mind show me, but they are blurry and difficult to grasp. All I remember is Yuma dying and the knife slicing through my chest. Why am I not dead?

"Astral! You're alive!" A female voice, a teenaged one actually, reaches my ears. I recognize it, but I cannot place it.

I close my eyes, feeling that my leaders wish to speak with me.

**********

When I open my eyes, I am hovering in empty space. I turn my head and see the other twenty-three taking in their surroundings. They are all just as wounded as I am.

"Light Agents," a voice whispers. "We have located all of the evil in this world. They are in three locations."

We float toward the sound, forming ourselves into a V shape, our signature formation.

"We are listening," we say in unison.

"Good. Agents 3, 12, and 24. Separate."

We separate from the formation obediently.

"Choose the Agents you wish to assist you. Agent 3, you will choose first."

After 3 chooses his seven, I am next.

"17, 5, 11, 10, 23, 20, 9," I choose.

The remaining Agents go with 24.

"Now, wake Agents. The humans need you."

**********

I awake back in the white room. I take a moment to take in every detail of the place.

"Astral?" the female voice calls. "Are you still with us?"

I try to sit up, but every part of my body aches. Nothing like the empty space where pain does not exist. "Where am I?" I ask, my words slurring.

"Agent 12, your Key Owner has been murdered, has me not?" the Light Forces ask.

"Yes," I answer obediently, unaware of anywhere else.

"There is a way to bring him back."

"Can you tell me?"

"You must give up half of your life force and give it to him. If you do so, he will come back to the land of the living. Your life is currently at fifty percent."

I bolt upright, every nerve in my chest protesting. "Then I must go now."

"Go where?" the girl asks. I turn to her. Cathy.

I grab her shoulders. "Cathy, do you know where Yuma is?"

"U-um, he's dead, Astral," she responds.

"I know that, Cathy. Where is he buried?"

"I'll show you, but why do you want to know?"

"Then let's go!"

I drag Cathy outside, my arms screaming with pain. I ignore the feeling.

"Agent 12," a different voice calls. "This is Agent 20. Can you hear me?"

I look around, searching for the group I chose. Their bodies gradually appear, some male and some female.

I smile. "Well, it is nice to know that I am not alone anymore."