The Forgotten Soul

23

 "Anani," DC yells and I jump back as Maxine lunges out at me. Immediately the guards raise their guns and aim at Maxine.

 "No," I yell but it's too late. Her eyes grow big with surprise but then they turn pitch black and an ominous smile spreads across her face. Her attention turns to the guards who shot her. Before I knew it they were in the air. She brought them close together until they all broke from the pressure. The next thing I knew they were set ablaze, any chance of me saving them out the window. I jinxed myself as she tossed them out the window, breaking the neutralization barrier.

 "Max don't do this," Michael says. Her attention snaps toward her twin brother and her face softens. She lowers herself so she is face to face with her brother now.

 "Mikey," she says, holding his shoulders. "I can't stop this. It's too much fun," she said before shoving him backwards through the aisles until he hit his head on the door, knocking him unconscious. She laughs out loud.

 "Oh how wonderful," she says before her gaze reached mine and she smirked. "I think you should meet my great friends now. I'm pretty sure I mentioned them earlier so no further introductions are needed.”

As she rose through the air, darkness in the silhouette of humans arise from the ground as well. They were faceless but you could feel their smiles creep onto their faces.

 "Aww guys. Don't be shy. They don't bite," she says obviously to the silhouettes. "They're only human."

 Before I know it they take charge at the people who were too scared to run.

 "DC," I shout out.

 "I got it," he said. Before I know it he's holding a fire cannon aimed at the entities.

 "One for you," he says as he shoots the one closest to him, "and one for you," he says as he shoots the one farthest from him. Nothing happened though.

 "DC," Terra yells angrily, "that was useless," she says as she sends a brick wall straight at two other silhouettes.

 "Wait for it," he says in reply. Immediately after, a current runs through the first silhouette he shot, creating a chain reaction until it reached the last silhouette making them all burst into flames.

 "Woah," I say. That was awesome.

 "You bastard," Terra says, smothering a silhouette inside a rock tomb and crushing it. "You went easy on me in the tournament."

 "Uh not the time for that Terra. These things aren't dying," DC says. He was right. They weren't. Between Terra, DC, David, Charlie and I, our odds were infinitely less than theirs...

 But not hers.

 "Maxine," I shout up to her. Her head turns to me and she smiles.

 "Hey. It's the orphaned princess. Your highness," she says as she bows, mocking me. "What can I do for you? Do you want me to stop, or to see the light in me, because I won't do either."

 "I want you to take me instead," I say. Once the words leave my mouth all the commotion seems to stop. I walk towards her before I feel myself lift off the ground, floating closer to her. Now we were face to face.

 "Anani, what are you doing," DC says. I give a small smile.

 "Take me instead," I tell her. She looks me up and down while DC is yelling no in the background. A sinister smile is on her face as she drives her fist into my face and I fell.

 "Taking your life is just wrong when I can take his," she says as I'm down on the ground. I hear a blood curdling scream and I freeze knowing exactly who it was.

 "Charlie!"

 "Noo," I hear them yell and then I hear nothing, but I feel every pore in my body filled with hatred for one person.

Max.

I stand up and feel every element encompass me in a whirlwind of power that surged in great amounts. I had her attention and I was going to make sure she never hurt anyone again.

 "Well well well. Look who decided--whoa--" she said as I shot dozens of fireballs at her. Two of them hit her sending her off balance as I sent an ice blade at her.

 "You little--" but her eyes go wide as ice blade slices her arm. She looks at the wound as it bleeds and frowns.

 "This is what I'm talking about. An actual fight," she said. She raises her hand up and a beam shoots out of her hands towards me. I dodge them at the last second. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch as another beam soars from a silhouette on the ground. I dodge that one too only to be struck from behind by another beam from another silhouette. Several more strike me and I hear my name being called out. The voice gets closer before I hear it cry out in pain. My eyes snap open as I see DC lying on the floor. He was alive but hurt and I could not tolerate that. With everything in me, I launch myself at Maxine, my hand an entity of spirit as I shove my hand through her. She gasps as my hands clung to her heart.

 "I release your spirit of darkness into the world," I say and immediately the entities on the ground returned back into the ground.

"I relinquish your magic for all time," I whisper in her ear and she screams as I fully separate her body and a part of her soul. She fell to the floor and I'm left standing holding a dark soul in my hand. I couldn't release it because it would attach itself to another soul and everything would start all over again. I couldn't let anyone take this. They weren't strong enough.

But I was. I inhale deeply as I pull the sound fragment into me and I gasp as the darkness tried to consume me immediately.

I fall and as I fall I felt pure magic tighten and grab hold of my heart, keeping it safe from the darkness.

"Ananius no! No. I love you. You can't leave me," I hear a faint voice say. I feel a tear fall onto my cheek and feel lips press against mine roughly as if it was a means to bring me back, but I can't go back.

 Ancient and dark magic can't coexist in one host. If someone tried to, there surely die.

I'm going to die.