-Chapter One-

Lapse

Taylor's eyes suddenly flew open to find himself standing alone in a familiar room.

Dark, barren, depressing and sullen, it was a place he knew well as he stood at the centre.

Alone he was, but the room was not empty. His purple eyes darted from corner to corner, his breathing began to hasten. His heart struggled violently in his chest, as though it desperately needed to escape from something.

Dark shadows, unseen to the eye danced about the small room. They began to creep up closer upon Taylor, before their black hands began to reach all over his body. He felt agony run up his skin at their touch, wanting to scream but unable to. Their gaze toward him held something bordering on both affection and contempt, and it was so strong he could feel it in the air.

D-don't! Taylor internally gasped, but unable to move, could only stand still at their mercy.

It was always six of them, waiting for him in this room.

Their breathes drew closer to his ear, accompanied by an eerie rasping and heart wrenching wails. One of them clutched the side of his head, and began to whisper to him.

"Don't ever try to escape your shackles. The moment you do, we'll inflict this torment on your most beloved." At its words, an image flashed in Taylor's mind.

It was a scene right out of a painting - a tranquil, yellow meddle with warm sun and cool breeze. A young woman stood amidst bright daisy flowers, wearing a small smile of glee on her face. As she turned and noticed Taylor's presence, her face turned to a wide beam, and she reached out to him. Her long, raven blue hair flowed seamlessly behind her.

"Save this world. Save us. Destroy it all. Kill all of them. You are our puppet," they continued to usher to him. As Taylor tried to reach back out to her, a sudden ball of lightning struck the meadow. Dark clouds covered the skies, and the flowers were all plunged into a hellish fire.

The girl laid on the ground, still, her blue hair soaked black in crimson blood.

Taylor screamed at the horrific sight when his eyes suddenly fluttered, and he found himself back in reality.

The buzzing of the electrical light overhead suddenly faded back into his hearing, and Taylor, a handsome, tall man with medium hair falling to his shoulders, purple eyes and sharp cheekbones, suddenly gasped for beath now that he was back in the real world.

He stole a glance at his surroundings, immedaitely recalling where he was. In the small, grey and dimly lit room, akin to a military bunker, Taylor spied his three closest comrades.

As cold sweat dripped down his forehead, Diana was the first to notice his franticness.

Known as the Temptress, she was a voluptuous woman with figure, swagger and seductive long blonde hair. Her green eyes stole a glance around the room but quickly settled on Taylor.

"Taylor?" she asked, calling out to him.

"Yes?" he answered, drawing in deep breaths.

"Did their voices call out to you again?" she referred to the Six.

Taylor didn't respond for a moment, his gaze only settled on the ground for a moment, before he grimly nodded.

"They're getting impatient," another voice cut in. Jason leaned against the corner of the room with his arms staunchly crossed. Another, handsome man with long brown hair and a pair of sharp blue eyes that could pierce the soul. "I don't like it. It makes me feel like they're scheming something, and we don't know what."

"We've always known they've had some grand plan for us. What did they say this time?" Andrew, who was seated on the ground against the wall next to the bolted steel door was relaxing with his hands behind his head. Young like the others, he short black hair contrasted with his bright light blue eyes, but he was always one with a snarky remark.

"Just the same as always," Taylor shrugged.

"Destroy the world?" Diana asked.

Taylor nodded.

"We're doing that right now, though?" Andrew wondered. "What else could they want from us? Don't tell me, they literally want us to cast a big spell that'll blow Earth into smithereens," he scoffed.

Diana gave him a glare. "Don't jinx us."

"Screw you. And screw this," Andrew rose to his feet and threw open the bolted door. "I'm going to see Aira."

"Don't do that," Diana shook her head with a sigh. "Not a good idea."

"Excuse me?" Andrew answered, wearing a gaze of fury. "Who do you think you are? Just because you and Percy are having a rough patch doesn't mean Aira and I are... are... we get along, okay? I believe in her. I know she'll take our side," Andrew seethed with anger.

"Don't lie to yourself! What the hell do you mean, rough patch? Our love doesn't lose out to yours!" Diana scoffed. "Admit it, they hate us right now."

"Right now?" Jason chuckled. "Well, didn't take you for an optimist, Diana," he let out a huff.

"Damn it!" Andrew kicked the concrete wall, blowing a large hole in it. "Why? Why did it have to us? I swear it on God, I'm going to fucking murder those Six pricks!"

Before anyone could say more, Andrew stormed out the room and slammed the door behind him.

"They are God, though," Jason mumbled under his breath. Taylor pondered their words, and thought of the look on Mercy's face when he locked her up. The look of utter... hatred. Right now, he just wanted to hug her and have her console him.

Was it okay for him to go see her too?

Diana and Jason were clearly swayed by Andrew. They had all agreed to give it a bit of time, but as usual, Andrew charged forward with disregard.

"Tch," Taylor clicked his tongue harshly, and left the room as well.

As he approached the room Mercy was held in, he could feel emotions pulling him in every direction. But the strongest one was his desire to see her. He knew though, if she looked at him like that again, it could break him and everything him, Andrew, Jason and Diana have been working for.

Taking a deep breath as he came to the white, wooden door, he hesitated for a moment, before giving it a few knocks and entering.

Mercy was standing at the veranda, overlooking the ocean. In this tiny, seperate dimension Taylor had made for her, she had no way of escaping his grasp. But it was for her sake he did this.

He couldn't have her out there in the world, in the danger. The danger that they had created. This was agreed on by all four of them.

She heard him enter, and briefly glanced past her shoulder at him. Her gaze immediately turned to a cold, apathetic expression, as though she was staring at a stranger.

She turned to face him, her eyes piercing his.

"So, what did you come to see your little captive for?" Her remark was sharp, hurtful and stung him. This wasn't the usual Mercy he knew. She was always kind, accepting, considerate. This side of her, shown only to her enemies, was her way of throwing dirt back in his face for what he did to her.

Taylor could hear the sound of his heart shattering like glass in his ears.

"I-I... wanted to come see you, and check on you," his gaze fallingl to the ground dejectedly.

She scoffed at his response.

"You're still acting like you love me, at this point?" she shot back.

"...I'm not acting." She sighed at his hardheadedness.

"I could never beat you, Taylor. But you can't beat me either," she gave him a smirk. "Why not stop this? Let's just put all this down and turn it all back to the way it was. Wouldn't that just solve everything?" she asked him.

Earlier, she said the same thing with a genuine plead and longing in her eyes. Now, she knew her usual, cute appeal wouldn't work, she's started talking to him straightforwardly.

"I already said I can't," Taylor answered grimly.

"You can! You can!" She put her hand on her chest. She had broken down once again, and was now opening up to him. "I'll tell the rest not to touch you. Even if I have to fight them, I'll make sure they don't harm a hair on your head, for what you've done until now! I'll ask them for forgivness, they will give it, I'm sure!" Mercy's voice shook as she begged him.

Even after what he did to her, she had already long forgiven him. But it was the other atrocious acts he had committed, that meant he could not return to the side of the Magicians.

He never wanted to deny her anything she asked him for. But this time, it was impossible.

"I can't," he answered again.

"Why not!" she broke down into tears. Her cold, hard exterior was useless in front of him. It may appear menacing to others, but all it took was Taylor's gaze to break down the defences of her false act.

"If you love me, then why not?"

Because they will give you an eternity of suffering. The Six will latch onto your soul, pull you into their destructive grand plan, and you will have no way of escaping, Taylor wanted to say but only remained silent. He couldn't tell her about them.

"We agreed you can tell me anything. You always told me everything you were going through, so why not this? Tell me why you're doing this, what's haunting you. We can work through it together. At least, I can help you. Don't just, lock me up like this!" she shouted at him. "Why did you, and Andrew and Jason and Diana turn out like this? What happened to you guys?"

Taylor wanted to tell her. He wanted to, but everytime he felt that feeling, it was accompanied by the eerie breathing down his neck. He knew they were always watching.

"I'll tell you once this is all over. Just please... believe in me."

"Is it because of us?" Mercy asked and Taylor froze.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he answered.

"Taylor..." her voice dropped to a soft whisper. "I know you better than anyone else in existence. You're a man without weaknesses yet, you're being coerced? Threatened? Blackmailed? And then you lock me up here, in this little fantasy world. It's obvious they're threatening you with me," she smiled at him with tears down her cheeks.

"That's not true!" Taylor shouted back. His words couldn't reach her. For the both of them knew it was the truth.

"You know, Taylor? I never wanted to be a burden to you, like this. And I hate it... the fact that you've turned into a villain, all just for my sake. My Taylor..." she gave a hollow, fragile laugh. "He was an ally of justice. A kind man who stood up for the weak. Not someone who would plunge the world into despair like this. I'd rather have never met you, so you could live a normal life! This is all my fault!" she cried.

"You're wrong!" Taylor yelled. He felt panic course through his veins. He hated seeing her cry, and he hated that she hate herself more than anything. It wasn't her fault. It was all his. His instincts took over and he ran to her before pulling her into his arms.

Her warmth still gave him comfort, even in this moment.

"You're mistaken. I'm evil. I'm a scumbag, okay? I'm doing this not because of you, but because I believe in my actions. This world needs cleansing."

Mercy chuckled softly, through her tears, hugging him back.

"I've always wanted to hold on to you one more time, like this."

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"Mercy, what are saying?" Taylor answered in shock.

"They told me I had to kill you, that it was the only way."

"They're wrong. There's another way!" he answered with urgency.

"I know. Of course. I could never bring myself to kill you, you fool," she looked to him with her usual, bright and beaming eyes. "But one of us do have to die. It just never had to be you."

"Mercy!?" By the time Taylor had realised the meaning of her words, it was too late.

A trickle of blood began began to stream down from Mercy's lips, and Taylor felt her strength disappear.

Before she fell, he caught her and they fell to the ground together.

"What are you doing!???" Taylor screeched, casting a healing spell on her. But to his dismay, he didn't have any effect.

"Don't bother, my dear. It's anti-magic poison. We all agreed that if it came to this, we'd put it to use."

"Why!? You fool? I never wanted this!? I never wanted any of this!" Taylor cried.

"I told you, idiot," she chuckled and coughed weekly. "I never wanted to be a burden to you."

"I don't care! Don't leave me, Mercy! Please, don't leave me alone..." he sobbed.

"With this, you'll be free. Whoever turned you into a villain, will now have no power over you." She gently reached out and touched his cheek. Her skin was ice cold, just like the first day he had met her. "If I can turn you back into yourself, my Taylor, then I'm content. I will always... love you..."

As she uttered her final words and they fell softly from her lips, her body fell limp and her eyes drifted closed, in serene tranquility.

"Noooooooo!!!" Taylor screamed.

Taylor felt the world around him crumble. The dimension began to collapse, as Taylor felth is Magic spiral out of control. Cracks run up through the space like shattering glass, and turbulent wind began to thrash about the air. As he looked at her cold, still body, he recalled the burning flower fields. Mercy was dead.

Now, the world was meaningless. All of it, that Taylor was fighting for, was only worth it if Mercy was in it. But now she was gone.

They won. This is what they wanted. The dark shadows crept up on him, ushering to him.

"Destroy it. Destroy it all. The people who turned you this way, the world that killed your beloved. Destroy it, our puppet. You can never escape your fate."

Why did Mercy have to be the one to die? Taylor would have gladly sacrificed his life for her happiness. But why did she end up being the one to do that?

"Ahhhhhh!" Taylor screeched in agony, clutching his head. He couldn't look at her. At her peaceful face. She was in a sleep she would never wake up from again, and that thought made Taylor want to end it right there and then.

Why not?

Why not end it now?

Two weeks passed, and Taylor was sitting in the corner of her room. The dimension was on the verge of collapsing. Maybe Taylor will just go with it. Mercy's body was propped up on the veranda. During the whole time, Taylor didn't dare look at her. He only kept to himself and his thoughts.

Was there a way to bring her back? Was there a way to kill the Six? Was there a way to do both? Should he just resign to his fate? Should he attempt one final attempt of retaliation, and kill himself? Would he escape their clutches, if he died?

All the thoughts went in circles in his head when the white door to the room was suddenly blown down, and a familair figure stepped inside.

"J-Jason?" Taylor rasped, his eyes still red from tears. Jason looked around the room, before he cast a deathly glare onto Taylor.

"I knew it," he mumbled under his breath and began to approach the veranda.

"Don't go there! I'll kill you!" Taylor shouted.

Jason stopped, before looking back to him.

"So she is dead?" he asked.

"S-suicide..." Taylor answered shakily. "I couldn't stop her. It was anti-magic. My spells had no use..."

"They played us," Jason answered.

"For fools!" Taylors answered. They knew they were both meaning the Six.

"The only thing I can think of to get back at them..." Taylor looked down at his two, shaking hands. "Is to leave this place and go join her... But I'd probably go to hell. And a saint like her, she'd be in Heaven."

"We've always lived in a different world to them. Wasn't that why we did this? So they could enjoy the light while we suffered in the dark?" Jason asked.

"Then... I won't join her. But at least, I can piss off those six bastards," Taylor responded.

"Killing yourself won't stop them."

"At least I won't be their puppet! Someone else... someone else can inherit this accursed role," Taylor shouted.

"It won't stop them from that."

"What? Why? How? Have they enslaved our souls!? Will we not ever know peace, even in death?" Taylor's broken laugh echoed about the room.

"Similar," Jason scoffed. "They exist outside of existence. That's why we can't physically hurt them in the first place. They possess the power to latch onto you in a different timeline. Maybe you killed yourself last time. Maybe, we've done this a million times. A million past versions of ourselves, and we're just one drop in a sea of endless cyclles. Even if you kill yourself in this life, they'll just go back to the past, to the next version of yourself and grab hold of you then. And here we are again. This is what's called fate. Destiny. Something that cannot be resisted." Jason looked out at the collapsing dimension.

"Then... why hope do we have?" Taylor chocked. "Mercy's dead... she's fucking dead..." he cried.

"We all agreed, even if we had to walk the path of hell, we'd save them, right?" Jason asked.

"Yes... though it didn't work in the end... even after everything we've gone through, we still failed," Taylor sniffled.

"That's wrong. We're not at the end. And nothing's changed. We can still save them. And we still have the path of hell to walk waiting ahead of us. This is truly... only the beginning. You can see that as a good thing or a bad thing. Though it might all end up as nothing more than vanity, but if you're truly one of my brothers, come with me."

"You... have a way? She's dead already. What could you possibly be suggesting?" Taylor rosed to his feet, before it suddenly clicked and he gasped.

"Where's Piper? Did she also...?"

"Dead," Jason answered grimly. "Two weeks ago, we each went to see our loved ones. They all had the same idea. I haven't gone to see Diana or Andrew yet, but I'm pretty sure Percy and Aira have done the same."

Taylor's fists clenched. He wanted to console Jason, but knew it was not his place, as someone in the same situation.

"You better have a way, Jason," Taylor muttered.

"We'll have to see," Jason smirked.

The only reason Jason hasn't lost it yet, was because he was holding onto one final, string of hope, Taylor realised. Was it okay for him to grab onto it too?

Taylor took a deep breath and stepped out onto the veranda, where Mercy's sleeping, peaceful face greeted him. He had cast a time-stop spell on the dimension, for he couldn't bear to see her flesh rot. He knelt down, before giving her a final hug.

"Wait for me. I pro-promise," his voice shook as tears flowed down his cheeks. "I'll fix all of this."

After a few minutes of walking, they came to Andrew's area. Upon opening the door into his pocket dimension, an ocean side villa, they found Andrew huddled behind the kitchen bench, up against the cornered wall.

"Get out!" Andrew shouted. "Just get the fuck out! I'll kill you all!"

Taylor gave Andrew a sympathetic gaze. Andrew was clutching Aira's body in his arms. From the fact that it hadn't decomposed, it would seem he cast a preservation spell on her corpse.

"When did you she die?" Jason asked straightly.

"Two weeks." Andrew must've been sitting in this single spot, the whole time, hugging her limp, hollow body. In these hellish two weeks, harder than Taylor had ever lived, more hopeless than Taylor had ever experienced, Jason was the first to move out of them.

"So, what now?" Jason asked.

"I'll kill them!" Andrew yelled with tears in his eyes. His glowing blue eyes, matching the shade of light blue hair on Aira's head, was narrowed into a menacing glare. "Even if I have to become a devil, I'll tear their limbs from them one by one! Every single one of those six fuckers!"

Jason smirked.

"Good, at least you weren't thinking of the same thing as this idiot," Jason gestured at Taylor. "Follow me."

"..."

Andrew rose to his feet, carrying Aira bridal style, before conjuring a bed of flowers on the floor and laying her gently down on it. The house around them faded, leaving her to lie in the sun before the beach without obstruction.

After one final gaze at her body, Andrew wiped his tears before he shoved his way past the two and through the door.

"Revenge will be mine," he growled.

A few more minutes and they came to where Diana was. The door lead into the bottom room of a wind-turbine house, sitting atop a large hill. As soon as the three young men entered, they could hear the sound of Diana's weeping from outside. Stepping out the front door, the area opened into large grass plaines and forests, with the hill overlooking all. Diana was on the ground, crying her heart out while clutching to a thick oak tree. Beneath it was a tombstone with the words, My Beloved Percy inscribed on it.

Taylor realised Diana was the only one to give her loved one a proper burial.

"Let me guess, you've been at it for two weeks?" Jason asked. Diana took control of her shaking, before casting a dark gaze at them.

"Please leave," she told them through her grit teeth.

"I have a way to bring him back," Jason spoke.

"If it's your usual bullcrap forbidden magic, I don't want any part. I don't want a lifeless zombie slave to love," Diana answered.

"It's forbidden, but it's not bullcrap. And I mean the real him. Not some flesh puppet. I will make sure it's the real them. I swear it," Jason spoke firmly. His conviction seemed to reach Diana, as she looked to him with surprise, before she stiffled her tears and stood up.

"If it's you, I'll believe it."

Jason smirked.

"You best."

Once they had gathered at a public park in the woken world, at least, one that wasn't completely desicrated, Jason didn't speak for the first ten minutes. Instead, he gazed out at the distance.

Everyone waited patiently, until finally, he spoke.

"You all are aware of my Magic thesis, Transcendence Magic, yes?" he asked.

"Pfft, of course. How many years have we been fighting alongside each other now?" Andrew laughed. "Just hurry up and get to the point."

"Hmph," Jason chuckled. "My Magic deals with spirituality, awakening and the mind reaching the metaphysical, beyond this reality. Considering that the Six are beings outside of existence, my power is really the only lead to finding a way to resist them."

"Mmhmm," Diana agreed. "All of our powers though, have some sort of element that could combat the Six, just not on their own. Andrew's Defiance Imperium Magic, my Breakdown Magic and Taylor's Vanquishing Magic, including your Awakening Magic."

"Yes. That's right. We'd have to combine them. At least into a single person who can use each four, and potentially others. That way, the weaknesses of each one will be supplemented by the others."

"That's impossible," Andrew answered. "One's thesis is aligned with themself. Even in one life, we can't master one, our own one, let alone more than four theses. The people that reached Trinity number in the single digits, in all of history. They were all whacky brainiacs, gifted and talented, psychotic, not like us. We're Magic Kings, but only barely. And even then, that's only thanks to the Six interfering with our lives."

"You're right, it's impossible in one life, especially for us," Jason admitted. "So, I'm going to leave this place. Leave this realm, through a dimensionally modified variant of the Astral spell," he explained.

"Everyone who's done anything even remotely like that blew themselves up, man," Andrew told him with skepticism.

"We already know time travel is possible. There’s definitely a way to send our minds back to our old bodies. I'm confident in my ability to leave. I won't blow up. But I might not come back," Jason answered.

"What about us? Are we just to wait in this world? What if you actually make it, would all of us just remain here?" Diana asked with fury.

Jason shrugged.

"The path of hell is hard to walk, my friends. I might wipe out my own existence. Who can tell, really? But at this point, isn't it better than just giving up? Think about those six assholes, laughing down at us, right now? I want to see the looks on their deformed faces when I enter the abyssal realm and give them a good fucking punch."

The four broke out in laughter, even in these grim times.

"If I make it, I will pull you four with me, you don't have to worry."

"And what if you don't make it? We won't get pulled, and what? We just wait until we're bones and dust, is that it?" Andrew asked.

Jason shook his head.

"If I make it, you'll immediately be able to tell. But I won't if the spell is modified wrong." He waved his hand and a ritual circle appeared, glowing golden at their feet. "I'm leaving all of the techncalities of the spell in this seal. If I don't make it, then one of you have to, and pull us there. You'll be able to tell if I failed, easily enough. You'll still be stuck here, in this hell. That'll be evidence I failed to change the past. Easy enough, right?" Jason asked.

"...I get that it's our only option, but would Piper have wanted this?" Diana asked. At her mentioning of the name, Jason's face turned sour.

"Her dying wish was that I'd kill whoever did this to us. Pay it back a hundred fold. I would've gladly sarcificed myself for her. Don't you all feel the same? Now that she's gone, there's nothing I fear in this world anymore. I no longer have anything to lose. I will admit, rationally, they made a good choice. After deducing that they were somehow being held hostage, they each chose the most logical option to create the result they desired - to free us. As expected of them, they are true Magicians." Jason clenched his fists. "Right now, we can't even percieve the Six, let alone touch them, let alone defeat them. I don't care if I have to do it all alone. It's just whether the rest of you are with me, or not, is the question. Are we really all comrades bound by the soul, like we vowed that time all those years ago? At the start of all of this? That no matter what happened, how bad things got, we'd stay at each other's side and overcome all of this?" Jason questioned them.

"If Jason can't do it, I'll go after him," Andrew spoke up.

"No, I can. I'd feel I have a better affinity for this sort of stuff than you, Andrew," Taylor chuckled.

"What?" Andrew glared at him.

"Taylor's right. After me, out of you, Taylor's probably the most likely to suceed. And Andrew, you're definitely last, so yes actually, maybe you should go first. That way, if it comes down to the final person," Jason looked to Diana, before chuckling. "It won't be without hope."

"Fuck you all," Andrew mumbled, and Diana giggled.

"Okay, Jason!" she stepped forward and put her hand on his shoulder. "God speed."

Taylor joined her, doing the same. "We're counting on you. And if you can't, we'll all make up for what you're missing."

Andrew finally joined in.

"It'd be nice if you succeeded. I don't want to go into the bloody Astral Plane. But at least, even if we die the most torturous death, I wanna drag down those six with me."

Jason nodded to them.

"Then, we better succeed. I will, without a doubt, see you on the other side. My dearest comrades."

With those final words, he looked up at the sky and clicked his fingers. The wind picked up and the skies began to shift. A portal erupted out of the sky, like a miniature sun, coloured black and golden. Everyone watched onward silently as a bright yellow halo sprouted from Jason's figure and he melted into the portal. It immediately closed up on itself, and the gust of wind disappeared with it like it had never been there in the first place.