Forgiving Light

Chapter 35

~Black Mist~ What's Dark doing here? Shouldn't he be lying somewhere, an empty shell of who he used to be? How did he survive?

"I can hear your thoughts, Nii-chan," Dark taunts. "I resided into myself when you attacked, so you didn't take all of my soul."

"Ah, smart," I compliment mockingly. "That still doesn't change the fact that I have the majority of your soul. I can easily dispose of it along with the rest of you."

I see fear in his eyes.

I sense something behind me, and I whip around in time to see Leviathan hit me with his tail. I'm not fast enough to dodge, though. I'm thrown back into a building with bust humans. When I crash through, they scream in terror and surprise and scurry to get out.

I get up and look over to Dark, who now has a stoic expression.

~Dark Astral~ I pound my fists against the confined space, screaming and cursing at the Light Forces to let me out. They just ignore me, though.

Onii-chan looks over to me as he gets up from the inside of the building, and comprehension dawns on him. He grins and floats over.

"Ah, I see now," he purrs. "You're controlling poor Dark now, aren't you? Since most of his soul is now gone, there was enough space for you to fill." I smirk and click my tongue. "Shame, shame. That's very low of you."

"We needed a body to assist," the Light Forces answer. "It did not matter which one as long as it was able."

"Onii-chan!" I scream even though he can't hear me. "Look out!"

Nii-chan seems to hear me because as soon as I mentally warn him, he turns around. He quickly dodges as Justice swipes his sword down. He suddenly becomes alert and starts sensing all around.

~Astral~ I hold back for some reason. I cannot seem to make myself go into the battle while the other Agents obediently fight Black Mist. There is simply too much doubt for the Light Forces, my leaders. All of the new memories make me question why exactly I am doing this. After all, I seemed reluctant to even give the signal to behead Black Mist.

Suddenly, the rest of my memories follow. The ones that were skipped.

I visit Black Mist every day. The anxiety only grows, and I enter his cell. Once again, I demand that they do not put him to sleep, and since I am a Light Agent, they must comply. When they do, he only lunges at me in a blind rage.

The rest of the execution shows.

I love you, too, Onii-chan, I think to myself as I give them the signal to behead him. The blade is reinforced with the light energy of all the Agents, so it will kill him.

The blade slices through, and I turn away to not see. I don't hear it go through, though.

When I open my eyes, I cry out in astonishment as he whips out one clawed hand at me. He claws deep scars into my face, and his nails pass right through the gem on my left temple, causing a massive pain.

Agent 20 catches me before I completely fall, and I vaguely hear the shouts of alarm from the crowd. The rest of the Light Agents swim in and out of my view as some try to capture Black Mist again and others escort the crowd to safety.

"Try and catch me, Agents!" he calls with a dark chuckle. I watch as he opens a portal, and two more dark figures escape with him. He jumps through as well with a snarl.

"11, see if you can heal this," 20 says urgently.

I see Nebula come into view with a concerned look. "20, I may not be able to heal this on my own. When a gem is shattered or broken, it is critical. We must take him to the Tower."

I close my eyes and feel strong arms carry me all the way to the Tower, where Eliphas awaits. Everything is a blur as he fixes the gem and heals the scars.

"The dark one may have injected some of his evil into Agent 12," I hear him say. "Keep a close eye on him."

The scene changes once again to the meeting before we take off.

I snap out of it and look back down to the battle. Dark, who is now controlled, looks up at me. He frowns disapprovingly. I look to Black Mist, who is dodging, blocking, and counterattacking expertly. He is defending himself in that same blind rage he used when he first escaped.

I feel my left temple gem. I can still feel some fractures in it. I feel for the scars. There. It was real.

Suddenly, I can't do it. I cannot bring myself to attack him.

Black Mist, my only brother.

My Onii-sama.

~Dark Astral~ The Light Forces are displeased. They make me float up to Astral, who seems to be reluctant to join.

"Agent 12," they say. "You should be down there, leading the fight. You are the one who needs to send him off. Why are you here instead of there."

Astral snaps out f his daze. "E-excuse me?"

"I will not repeat myself."

"I-I do not understand anymore. Why must we fight him?" He's finally questioning his orders after all this time.

The Light Forces are taken aback.

"Agent 12," they breathe. "Are you questioning your primary orders? You realize that you are currently breaking the oath you took when you first joined."

Astral shakes his head rapidly. "F-forgive me. I was not thinking straight."

And just like that, he's back into the battle. He zips down into the heart of the fight.

I have a feeling that it wasn't of his own will.

"Did you control him into saying and doing that?" I ask. 

"Yes, but you will not be telling anyone," they respond. "We will make sure of that."