Anastasia was standing in the street watching the battle when a man went flying through the sky, letting out the highest pitched scream she had ever heard. Then, there was a flash of light, a light like the brightest sun. She couldn’t keep her eyes open.

When she could finally see again, she was somewhere else. The pavement beneath her feet was gone, replaced with pale green grass that swayed in the breeze. The sky was grey, covered in a ceiling of clouds. Twenty feet away, she could see the gate, and in front of the gate… stood Gregory.

“Gregory,” Sadie called out before she could.

He didn’t answer.

How was that possible? She had never heard of people going to the gate together before.

“Gregory!” Sadie screamed, but this time, her voice was overpowered by the sound of another.

“Come, young one, stand at the threshold of the gate,” a deep voice rang out, sending vibrations through Anastasia’s body like those of a large bell being struck. “We shall give you the knowledge you came here for.” With a loud creak, the double sided gate opened, and the ruined castles beyond it came into full view.

“Gregory, no,” Anastasia tried to move, but she couldn’t. Her legs were heavy. She felt like a stone statue.

“What… are you?” Gregory’s voice echoed through the field. He tried to take a step inside, but the voice spoke again.

“You will stop there,” it boomed. “As for what we are… it is of little importance.”

“…We?” Gregory seemed overjoyed. “Are you… are you the gods of this world?”

“Gods?” a light wind came with the sound of the voice. “No. Nothing as grand as that.”

“Then what are you?”

There was a long silence before the voice answered. “Imagination,” it said. “Perhaps this entire place is nothing more than a collection of ideas. A file filled to the brim with the concepts of what you call ‘thought’.”

“A… hive mind,” Gregory said. “Then my theory was correct.”

“These are merely our musings. Just as mankind may never know their true purpose, we may never know ours,” the voice seemed to take on a growl like quality to it. Like a beast. “However, that doesn’t mean we cannot provide you with the knowledge you seek.”

“The… knowledge I seek,” Gregory repeated. “Is this… is this what that woman has?”

The voice let out a booming laugh. “Indeed, it is.”

“Please, give it to me,” Gregory said. “I need the strength to defeat her. I… have to stop her before she destroys everything I’ve worked for.”

“A simple task,” the voice continued. “But this knowledge cannot be bestowed without sacrifice, you see.”

“Anything. I’ll give you anything.”

“Anything?” the voice carried with it a hint of menace. “Your humanity will be the price. Your life, as it was.”

The wind blew strong, brushing Anastasia’ hair against her cheeks. She tried to move her eyes, and managed to look at Sadie next to her. Sadie’s face was twisted with frustration. She knew right away that she couldn’t budge either. Anastasia tried to move her lips again, but it felt like she had forgotten how.

“I am a magician, first and foremost,” Gregory’s voice snapped her eyes back toward the gate. “I was prepared to abandon my humanity the moment I began my research. I have no problem giving it up.”

“Very well,” the voice began to sound like several speaking at once. “You may place your hands inside the gate.”

He lifted his arms.

Give up his humanity? What humanity? After all the terrible things he had done, what right did he have to give up something he didn’t even have? She couldn’t stand it. It made her so angry, she felt like she would burst. “Stop!” Anastasia screamed.

She moved.

The image of the light she saw before they were transported to the gate flashed in her mind, and she felt a strange force envelop her body. This was it. This was how she could stop him.

She thrust out her left hand, striking her palm against that of her left as she did so. They struck like a match, the flame bursting into life. A flame, even more violent than her last left her hand, flying straight toward Gregory’s head.

The flame smashed into something, falling apart before it even reached him. It sparked bright before fizzling into nothingness. How? Did he stop it?

Gregory turned to her. “Anastasia,” he said, almost overjoyed. “It’s already too late.” Dozens of shadowy hands clung to his arms. The same creatures that appeared to her when she tried to put hers through the gate.

“Gregory…” Sadie’s voice came from behind her. “What did you do?”

Anastasia looked back, completely helpless. And then, she spotted the boy.

It was the boy she had seen earlier while she was fighting Walter. He was standing farther back in the field, surrounded by a dark veil lingering behind him. It was like a crack in a rock, an opening to somewhere dark and cold.

What was this? Why was he there?

Anastasia blinked, and they were back in the city, standing down the road from the collapsed building. Lem was covered in giant icicles. Even from afar, she could see the blood. What had happened while they were gone?

Then Lem fell, without so much as a whimper. The ice vanished, and with it, so did his body. Loyal to the end, Lem gave his life for Gregory.

“Lem,” Sadie gasped. “No…”

Anastasia felt like crying, but she didn’t have time for that. She quickly looked to her side. Sadie was watching, eyes wide. Walter was laid out on the ground. His eyes were closed, but his face was back to normal. Did it have something to do with the gate? She didn’t have time to think about it. If his body was still there, then it meant he was still alive.

That would was good enough for now.

“It’s… it’s beautiful,” Gregory said, his voice coming out loud like it were coming through a speaker. “The gate…” his words trembled as they came out. “I’ve seen… beyond the gate.”

Dark energy began to swirl around him, a sinister magic that made her feel sick to her core. As if it were a fire spreading, the same energy appeared around the woman in black. The man that had flown through the air retreated with the help of the blue haired woman.

“Sadie,” Anastasia kept her eyes forward. “We have to go. We have to stop him.”

“I know…” Sadie replied. “But how?”

“I don’t know,” Anastasia bit down on her lip. “But if we don’t do something… that woman will kill him… Or he’ll kill her. Either way, we have to stop this.”

“He’s out of familiars,” Sadie said. “If we can get to him fast enough, maybe we can take him by surprise.”

“Take him by surprise how?”

“Wind magic is your specialty right? If we get close enough, we can both try to use it to stop him from moving.”

Anastasia didn’t know if she could call it her speciality. It was more like the only magic she really felt like she could control. “Will we… be strong enough to do that?”

“Hey,” a little of Sadie’s sassy tone managed to make it back into her voice. “Make some wind the strength of metal chains! Can’t you just do something crazy like with that fire arrow thing?”

“Well, uh, maybe,” Anastasia frowned. “I honestly have no idea how I did that, though.”

Sadie took her by the hand. “We won’t know if we don’t try, right?”

Anastasia looked long and hard at Sadie. “You know this will only work if we get lucky,” she said. “Really, really, lucky. Like hitting the lottery, lucky.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Ana, I met you, didn’t I?” Sadie smiled. “I’d say that makes me pretty lucky. I’m willing to go all in here with you.”

Anastasia felt her face flush red. “W-What are you saying?” No one had ever said anything like that to her before. “I’m the one that’s lucky that I met you.”

Sadie grinned. “Really?”

“W-Well, not because you’re famous or anything,” Anastasia suddenly panicked. “I’ve… just never had a lot of friends. You’re one of the coolest people I’ve ever met… so I just really want to keep being your friend. And stuff.”

“You’re adorable!” Sadie threw her arms around her.

Anastasia’s face felt like it might overheat.

“We’ll always be friends,” Sadie pulled back. Her voice was chipper, but her expression told an entirely different story. Her eyes were filled with pain.

The gravity of what Gregory had done washed back over Anastasia. The people he experimented on. The people he killed. Sadie had lost everything, but she hadn’t lost the will to fight. She couldn’t give up either.

Anastasia looked back down the street at the swirling dark energy. Gregory and the woman hadn’t moved. What were they waiting for? If they were talking, she couldn’t hear them. She and Sadie still had time to stop this.

“I have an idea,” Anastasia turned back to Sadie. “But we’ll have to time it just right for it to work.”

“What is it?”

Anastasia sighed. “Do you think you’re strong enough to throw me?”

“Ana,” Sadie narrowed her eyes. “Do I look that buff to you?”

“Oh, no, I’m talking about magic,” Anastasia waved her hands in front of her. “Is your wind magic strong enough to get me over to Gregory?”

“Hmm, I don’t think I could do it from here,” Sadie said. “If we were closer…”

“Okay,” Anastasia cut her off. “We’ll run toward him then.”

“But if he sees us coming, he’ll stop us,” Sadie pointed. “Plus, who knows what will happen if we touch that black stuff?”

“That’s why we’re going to land on the rubble behind him,” Anastasia said. Then, on the count of three, we’ll launch ourselves high into the air. High enough to make it over that energy. High enough that he won’t be able to see where we’re going without taking his attention off that woman.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Sadie looked uneasy. “If we’re really going to catch him before he can react… won’t we have to charge the target of our magic midair?”

“Yeah, we have to switch before we land,” Anastasia nodded. “I-If we don’t do it at the perfect time, then we’ll… probably break our legs… or something.”

Sadie frowned. “Can’t we just jump down from a building or something?”

“They’re… not looking so good,” Anastasia pointed over at the buildings, heavily damaged by the earlier magic battle. “What happens if it starts to fall while we’re on top of it?”

“I guess you have a point…”

“I know it’s crazy, but I don’t think we have much time,” Anastasia went on. “If those two start fighting again, who knows what will happen?”

“Alright,” Sadie said. “I’ll put my trust in you.”

“We’ll have to keep our magic on each other until the last possible moment,” Anastasia gulped. “D-Don’t forget, okay?”

“I won’t!”

Okay, making the plan was one thing, but now she had to actually do it. She looked down at her legs, and realized they were shaking.

One chance. They only had one chance to do this. No room for mistakes, no time for distractions. And even if they did everything right, there was no guarantee it was going to even work.

No, it was too late now. Sadie was putting her trust in her. She needed to put her trust in Sadie too.

“Let’s go Ana,” Sadie’s voice acted as a start gun. The two of them took off, doing their best to match each other’s speed.

“One,” Anastasia shouted. It was much harder to run and speak than she expected. “Two,” they were almost there. “…Three!”

She looked over to Sadie, and threw up her arm. At the same time, she felt something kick her from behind, launching her into the air all the way to the height of the surrounding rooftops. They were flying.

Anastasia’s stomach lurched. It was just like everyone said, when you’re high up, you should never look down. Of course, it was already way too late for her to take that advice.

When they came over Gregory, Anastasia shouted again. “Okay!” She pushed down with her magic and felt Sadie do the same.

The change was immediate, and they began plummeting to the mound of rubble below. Oh no. She needed to look down again to gauge the distance. Her head felt light. She fought the urge to pass out.

She forced her eyes below. It was still too early. Just a little more. The ground was getting closer and closer. A little more. “Now!” Anastasia shouted.

The reassuring cushion of Sadie’s magic left her, but she didn’t worry about her landing. Her feet touched the slope of the debris, a jolt of pain rush up from her feet. If she had broken something, it was already too late to care. All of her attention was on Gregory.

For just a moment, the image of the gate flashed in her mind, followed by the boy she had seen standing there. Her magic welled up inside of her, shooting from her arm like a cannon.

“What!?” Gregory shouted as her magic wrapped itself around him. The dark energy around him froze in place.

“Anastasia!” Sadie yelled somewhere to her side. “He’s fighting it. Just… hold on.”

“Wow,” the woman in black let out a laugh. “I don’t even need to lift a finger. The whole city’s out to kill you.”

Anastasia’s legs ached. Her vision was fuzzy. It took every bit of her concentration just to keep her magic around him.

“G-Gregory,” Sadie choked out. “You have to stop this. You have to… turn yourself in.”

“It’s too late, Sadie,” Gregory’s voice was much calmer than she wanted it to be. “I’ve long since passed the point of no return.”

No. That couldn’t be right. He shouldn’t have been able to move. Why wasn’t their magic enough?

Gregory managed to snap his fingers. A huge fireball materialized from the friction, and it rocketed toward them.

If she moved now, she’d lose her hold on him. If she didn’t, she would be swallowed by the fire. Either way, she would die. It was over.

The gleam of a blade flashed in front of her, and the fireball broke apart, sending burning pieces falling to the ground.

“Walter…” she mumbled. She felt the last of her strength leave her, and her magic vanished.

The butler landed in front of her, scythe at the ready. However, it wasn’t pointed at her this time. It was pointed toward Gregory.

“You disobey me?” Gregory looked up at them, hatred burning in his eyes. “You were ordered to protect me. You were ordered to kill them. I’ll cut your mana right here and now!”

“Master Gregory,” Walter gave a small bow. “Indeed, you ordered me to protect you. I am doing just that.”

“Excuse me?”

“You see,” Walter straightened back up. “Your actions border on the suicidal. I have deemed… you are a threat to your own safety.”

There was a long silence.

“I understand now,” Gregory finally said. The dark energy around him fell. It came into contact with his skin, and white smoke bellowed up from it. “This… is the trial I must face.”

What… was this?

“I thought I was meant to see the new world,” Gregory’s eyes began to droop, melting into a thick black sludge. His words began to slur as the same sludge formed in his mouth. “Now I see that I was only meant to usher it in. I was meant to… make the connection. To bring the worlds together.”

He was turning into the energy itself.

The blackness spread out from underneath his feet. It touched the rubble, and the concrete around the base slid down, falling into the darkness. She could feel the heap shifting beneath her

“Ana,” Sadie yelled. “We gotta run.”

“I think my feet are broken,” Anastasia panicked. “I don’t have any mana left.”

Before she could even say another word, Walter took her in his arms. He and Sadie both jumped off of the hill, over to an alleyway where other people were standing.

The woman in black was shooting blasts of lava and water powerful enough to bring down a building, but it was no use. Everything she sent at it just disappeared inside.

“The city…” Anastasia cried. It was swallowing up everything it touched. Would it ever stop expanding? Wasn’t there anything they could do?

“Ana, I think we need to get out of here,” Sadie said.

“And go where?” the words fell out of Anastasia’s mouth. “He’s going to take everything…”

Someone walked past her.

It was the boy. The boy she had seen at the gate. The one that seemed to give her the extra strength. He continued toward the blackness. What was he doing?

“Ella!” someone nearby called out.

“It’s okay,” the boy answered without turning back. “I… remember everything now.”

Ella? Was his name Ella? Why was he walking toward it?

Ella started walking again, his steps lacking any hesitation. He stopped when he reached the pool of blackness, and then, he shined.

An ear shattering screech erupted as the dark energy made contact with his hand. It came to him like a vacuum, melting into him and disappearing.

It went quiet. The energy was gone, leaving only Gregory standing there.

“What… did you do!?” Gregory screamed. “I was so close. So close! I’ll kill you!” He put out his hand, but nothing happened.

“I’ve taken away your magic,” Ella rose his voice. “And not just what you got from the gate just now. All of it.”

His magic… was gone?

“This is impossible…” Gregory dropped to his knees.

With that, Sadie took off, running toward her brother. Anastasia looked up to Walter who was still carrying her. He seemed to understand what she wanted, and he followed soon after.

“Gregory, it’s… over now,” Sadie said as they reached him.

“Over?” Gregory looked up at them. “This isn’t over. Don’t you see that this is the beginning?”

“Stop,” Sadie was crying now. “That’s enough!”

Anastasia moved in Walter’s arms, and he set her down on her feet. Pain shot through her again, but she didn’t care. There was something that she wanted to do now so badly that it drowned the pain out. She only hoped she could muster enough mana to do it. She took a deep breath, focusing on her right hand. She felt water droplets forming in her palm.

“Even if I die, it doesn’t change anything,” Gregory went on, sounding more crazed with every word. “My legacy will live on…”

A whip of water slapped Gregory across the face as Anastasia swung her hand. It broke apart on contact, drenching his hair and glasses.

“You don’t have a legacy,” Anastasia glared down at him. “The only thing that anyone will remember you for is how little you cared for human life. You’re not a magician. You’re a monster.”

Gregory’s lips quivered as the water dripped down his face. He hung his head.

Anastasia let out a deep sigh. She couldn’t believe she managed to say that without a single stutter.

Someone clapped. “How touching.”

Anastasia turned to see the woman in black, followed by the women with red and blue hair, as well as the girl with glasses.

“Step aside, it’s time for his punishment,” the woman stamped her foot. “I don’t appreciate cockroaches making me look like a fool.”

“Please,” Sadie stepped in front of Gregory. “We’ll turn him into the association. He’ll… get his punishment.”

“That’s not how this works,” the woman smiled back. “Now move. I won’t ask again.”

They stared each other down. Sadie didn’t budge.

“Hannah,” Ella moved in between them. “I think it’s time for you to leave now.”

“You…” the woman’s eyes filled up with fury. “We had a deal.”

“Hey, as much as I like being human,” Ella sighed. “I’m more than willing to do the same thing to you as I did to him.”

The woman’s eyes were like daggers. “Fine,” she finally spoke, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned away. “I’m out of here. Come on, you two,” she motioned to the women. “Oh, and you, Demon Girl. I’ve taken you on as my familiar.”

“T-Thank you,” the girl with glasses responded. “But I… have one more thing I need to do.”

“Huh?”

“My brother,” the girl said. “I think he’s still in the convention center.”

“Whatever. Do whatever you want.”

Anastasia’s heart skipped a beat. The convention center where Sadie started her concert. She had almost forgotten about it. If Gregory wasn’t behind that…

Then who was?