The eighteen-year-old girl stormed out of the house, ignoring the voice calling out her name from behind. She could not waver— She never did, anyway. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to let some Magi distract her again.
“Marcia, stop!” Warlock Alcaeus Vulcan materialised in a circle of fire in front of her, thrusting his hand in front of her. “I cannot let you continue this madness. This spell is forbidden by Necromancers for a reason. You’re breaking all the laws of nature if you cast it!”
“Out. Of. My. Way.” Marcia stepped to the side, but Vulcan materialised his staff and pointed it at her. The girl narrowed her eyes in anger.
“You don’t want this fight,” she hissed. “One word from me, and the beasts of this forest will be upon you in an instant.”
“You’re right; I don’t. But you’re giving me no choice.” Vulcan’s eyes were glistening in the moonlight as he lowered his staff slightly. “I don’t care about the world anymore; I care about you! If this spell goes wrong—”
“It won’t. I’ve taken the necessary precautions to get past the warnings.”
“Nobody knows that for sure, not even the Grand Necromancers who created the spell themselves! Please, my daughter. Please come to your senses. Just come home to your family…”
“You’re not my real father!” Marcia spat. “And I have no family left. They were killed by your kind! I just want them back, and you won’t stop me!”
“Am I— Are we not enough?” Vulcan’s voice dropped to a sad whisper. “Is this family not enough for you?”
The girl faltered for a moment, but she steeled herself again. No one gets in her way.
“No,” she replied coldly. “You’re just a man who raised me. We’re not family.”
A wand slipped into her fingers, and she cast a teleportation portal. She stepped in quickly, closing it before her foster father could follow her.
The dark, dilapidated house greeted her warmly. Whitacre Street slept snugly outside its dusty windows, soaking in the yellowish-white moonlight serenely. For better or for worse, the government had not bothered to collect her old house, which meant that she had the perfect dark setting to begin her magic ritual.
Black particles swirled out from her fingers like tiny galaxies as she began humming the incantation. Dark magic flickered in her eyes and candles materialised around her in a complicated pattern.
Marcia smiled. The gateway to Purgatory was now open.
A spark of magic burst from her fingers as she snapped them. It settled on the floor and three corpses materialised in its place. Brownish bones were all that were left of them, but it didn’t matter.
She pulled out a tome from her coat and tossed it upwards. It froze in position the moment it left her fingers and began gyrating on the spot. Marcia crossed her hands, her fingers interlocking in all sorts of strange positions as her mind flitted into the afterlife. Her eyelids fluttered in concentration, eyes rolled back.
So many souls in there… Where are you— There.
The girl opened her eyes again, pink and black light still dancing twixt the realm of life and death. She had finally found the souls she needed. Now came the difficult part.
Marcia took a breath to steady herself. She had risked life imprisonment stealing this forbidden spellcraft from the depths of the Grand Necromancer Archives. She had desecrated her family’s graves digging up their corpses. And she had already broken several natural laws retrieving her parents’ as well as Felix’s souls from Purgatory.
She could not afford a single slip now.
Her hands trembled in anticipation as she carefully dragged the three glowing orbs of light into the corpses. The bodies glowed warmly as the souls returned to their respective hosts without further mishap. Marcia held her breath in anticipation, watching the glow engulf the bodies. The light dissipated with a small poof.
And then her family were no longer mere cadavers.
Marcia choked back a tearful squeal as the corpses— now whole as though they had only died a few minutes ago— began to stir slightly. She covered her mouth as she wiped away tears of joy. It actually worked. Her family had finally come back to life.
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“What’s… happening?” Her mother was the first to wake up.
“Where am I?” Her father sat up next, looking around in bewilderment.
“Who are you?” Her brother turned to her, confusion written all over his face.
Marcia threw her body towards them, hugging them tightly as tears of joy burst from her eyes. Her dream had finally come true. She had finally gotten her family back. She wasn’t alone in this world anymore.
“Argh…” Felix pulled away, clutching his head painfully. “What’s going on…? Everything hurts!”
Marcia reached for him, but he recoiled his body in horror.
“Get away from me! Who are you?” Her parents scrambled to their feet this time, shrinking away from the girl as well. “What is this place?”
“Dad, Mom, Brother!” She scrambled towards them. “It’s me, Marcia! Don’t you remember me? We’re family!”
“I don’t know you!” her father exclaimed. “This… This doesn’t feel right— Argh… What have you done to me?”
Marcia shook her head slightly in horror. This wasn’t right at all. They were supposed to come back to her. They were supposed to love her! Why was this happening?
“No, no… No! Please give me another chance!” She fell to her knees, flipping the spellcraft desperately. “I’ll fix this! I promise I can fix this!”
They screamed without warning.
The girl scrambled back, watching in horror as black scales began spreading all over her family’s bodies. Bones cracked and tendons snapped as the three corpses contorted in agony, painfully transforming into something that would haunt her nightmares for years to come.
Tall, spindly figures now stood in place of the three people she loved most in her life. Shiny black scales rippled through their bodies as their golden irises stared down at her without a shred of humanity in their eyes.
“I just wanted them back… I just wanted them back…” Marcia trembled uncontrollably. This was all wrong. This wasn’t supposed to happen…
Golden light reflected in her helpless irises as she went limp, preparing to atone for her mistake with her death—
“Eldritch Blast!”
A powerful whirlwind blasted the Unendings into the walls as a flash of red darted forward and stood in front of her.
“Father?” Marcia blurted out, her head spinning with shock.
“Get to safety, Marcia!” Vulcan yelled, spinning his staff like a seasoned spearman. Tiny phoenixes burst out of his weapon and breathed white-hot fire onto the monsters.
Marcia scrambled to her feet, her eyes flashing pink as she tried to connect with any animal in the vicinity.
Dammit, none of these crows are going to stand a chance. I need something bigger. I need—
The girl skidded to a stop and stumbled backwards as a black sharpened hand pierced the wall right in front of her.
She screamed. The monster plunged another hand towards her. She closed her eyes. It was all over.
“Ugh… Not… my daughter, you demon…”
Marcia opened her eyes again, her mouth hanging open in shock as a puddle of blood stained the floor before her. Vulcan gritted his bloodstained teeth as he gripped the stake lodged in his chest firmly.
“With the last breath of my life, Lord Vulcan… Grant me strength.” Fiery determination glinted in the Warlock’s eyes as the Unendings closed in on him. “Crimson Tundra: Eldritch Blast!”
A huge explosion burst from Vulcan’s chest, turning the three monsters into ashes immediately. The roads sizzled as the searing fire cut out of the house, melting everything in its destructive path.
And just like that, it was all over.
Vulcan’s body slumped into Marcia’s arms after a few seconds. His weight pressed on her as he went limp, but Marcia still summoned all the strength she had left to lay him on the floor gently.
No, no, no, no, no…
Marcia fell to her knees, her tears washing away the blood on her foster father’s hand as she gripped it tightly.
No, please… I’m sorry…
The man breathed painfully, looking at his daughter for the last time.
“Oh thank the gods…” His lips curved into a weak smile. “You’re safe, my dear daughter… You’re… safe…”
I’m so sorry… I’m so sorry… I’m so, so sorry…
Vulcan’s head dropped to the side as his chest stopped heaving.
“Father… No…” Marcia whimpered. “I’ll be a good girl from now on… I promise… I’ll never do this again. I’ll never— Please, no. I’m so sorry…”
But it was too late for regrets.