Chapter XI

“My name is Nigreos Noctis and I am the Master of Darkness at the Ijirian Citadel. And yes, I am using magic.”

“As for the gem, it belongs to Ijiria. I have come to reclaim it, simple as that. So, seeing as you have done nothing against us, we won’t do anything to you as long as you peacefully return our relic.”

“That’s all we want. Ijiria has no need to harm you, Lilly Harper. So, tell us what we want to know. I want a list of people who used the stone so we can make sure its magic isn’t negatively affecting them, and we want to know if you attend West Wilham.”

“Its magic interacting with non-magical organisms. Who knows what it’s done to them. It could potentially kill them, even. So, if you don’t want to risk your friend’s lives, I recommend you cooperate.”

Lilly's eyes shot open and she frantically pushed herself to a sitting position, her breathing ragged and her body slick with sweat. Immediately realizing that she wasn’t in her bedroom, she hurriedly looked around to regain her bearings and, upon remembering that she was in Eric’s room, she exhaled in relief and placed a hand on her chest to feel her beating heart. The events of the previous night came back to her and she slowly began to take deep breaths to calm herself down. It was still dark outside and a quick glance at her phone told her that it was only four o’clock. Eric was sleeping in the other corner of the room and so, he hadn’t noticed her wake up. Satisfied that she wouldn’t worry him, Lilly leaned back and rested her head on the pillow once more, now composed enough to try and process what had happened.

All at once, and without any warning, the memories of her conversation with Nigreos Noctis had come flooding in, and now her mind was even more jumbled than it had been the previous night.

What just happened? she asked herself. Why now…of all times? And…how did I even forget about something so important in the first place?

That day, Eric had been complaining about headaches and so, to help him focus, she offered to swap bodies with him so he wouldn’t have to deal with them. Yet, when they swapped, everything suddenly went dark, and before she knew it, she was in her own body again. At the time, they hadn’t known what to make of it, and it hadn’t happened since, so they had decided to keep it in the back of their minds. But now, Lilly remembered the truth. During that brief time she spent in Eric’s body, she interacted with the voice of a man who called himself Nigreos Noctis.

“Ijiria,” she whispered.

That’s the place Eric said his mom was from. And this Nigreos guy said he was a Master of the Ijirian Citadel—whatever that means.

She rolled over in bed and clutched her hands together, suddenly feeling cold despite how sweaty she was. She was trying her best to piece together the conversation that she now remembered, but so much of it had been forgeign to her at the time, and after what happened the previous night, she had even more to think about.

Nigreos said he was here for the gem. He said it belonged to this “Citadel” place and that they just wanted it back. Overall, that makes sense. We never knew where the stone came from or who used to own it. In fact, those are the very reasons why Damien always gets irritated when we screw around with it. So if it belongs to some other world—some world full of magic, then it would be reasonable that they want it back. Lilly then clenched her teeth, moving her thoughts to the other point Nigreos had spoken of. He also told me that the gem’s magic could be hurting us. He even said we could…die…

She swallowed, recalling the horrific monster that attacked them and feeling another shiver go down her spine. She knew it was Jay’s body that the creature was using. She knew that somewhere within that thing, Jay Brooks was still alive. She just had to figure out what happened to him and then get him back.

So…is it possible that what happened to Jay is one of the consequences Nigreos was warning me about? Could the stone’s magic have turned him into that monster? She grit her teeth at the thought, realizing that if that were the case, then there was nothing stopping it from happening to her, too.

Maybe…Nigreos can fix him. Maybe, if I try to make contact with him again, he can tell me what to do, she thought. After all, he said that he wanted the stone back…and that he wanted to protect us from whatever its magic might do to us. Then, another thought came to mind, and she couldn’t help but tense up even further.

What if…the reason nobody but Eric remembers Vinny Mickelson is because of the stone? Could it have wiped him from existence? And maybe it has something to do with Alice’s disappearance as well. She could also be one of those monsters for all I know.

As her imagination began to run wild, Lilly quickly shook her head and tried to stop herself from getting worked up again. She knew that if she didn’t get back to sleep then she would be utterly exhausted the following day. Yet, knowing that did little to help, and more thoughts kept popping into her mind.

Is that Nigreos guy in Wilham? Or was he communicating with me from Ijiria? And hell…how would I even go about trying to get in contact with him? I’m not even really sure why I was able to talk to him in the first place. My only guess would be that it had something to do with Eric’s headaches…

Lilly rolled onto her back once again and stared up at the ceiling of Eric’s bedroom, knowing that no matter how hard she tried, it was almost certain that she wouldn’t be falling asleep again any time soon.

***

Since his father was still in bed and Lilly was in the shower, Eric had the front room to himself as he sat in his father’s recliner, listening to the ringing of his phone against his ear. Despite knowing that he could have had the upcoming conversation in front of Lilly, he had opted to do it in private. With so many variables still a mystery to him, he wanted to try and handle as much on his own as possible. Of course, that didn’t mean he lied to Lilly when he told her they would work together. He still fully intended to keep her in the loop, at least so that he could keep her safe. It just meant that he knew he had a better understanding of what could be happening, and thus, he only wanted to tell her what pertained to her.

The ringing finally ended with the answering of the phone from the other side.

“Hello? Eric?”

By the sound of Damien’s voice, Eric could tell that his old friend had probably been woken up by his call. It was then that he remembered that it was a Saturday, and Damien would almost have certainly been sleeping in until at least ten o’clock. Therefore, he was sure that the boy would be irritable at receiving a call barely past eight.

“Good morning, Damien, my friend,” he greeted, trying to sound as lighthearted as he possibly could.

The truth was, just hearing Damien’s voice was comforting. While he was pretty sure that the creature from the previous night was after him, that didn’t mean it wouldn’t try to attack his friends. It had already tried to kill Lilly, and thus, it was quite possible that it might have gone after Damien or Liz after failing to catch him and Lilly.

“Hey, what’s up?” Damien asked, already sounding more awake, and with a touch of concern in his voice. “Where the hell were you yesterday, dude? Are you okay?”

Eric smiled at how worried his friend sounded. “Yes, for the time being, I’m fine. And I apologize for not helping with the festival. I didn’t mean to leave the work to you all. I just…had some things I needed to take care of.”

“And…did you take care of them?” Damien inquired.

Eric bit his lip hesitantly. “In a way, I suppose. At the very least, I’ll be back at school Monday morning.”

There was a moment of silence between them before the other boy finally replied.

“Well, I guess that’s good to hear. Does that mean you figured something out about Vinny Mickelson? Or…?”

“No, unfortunately I haven’t,” Eric replied quickly. “It’s just that…I think I may have a lead. Or at least, I hope I do. Though I’ll tell you more about that should it amount to anything. For the time being, I would request that you refrain from worrying about me. I promise you, I am perfectly fine.”

Before falling asleep the previous night, Eric had spent quite a bit of time debating whether he should tell Damien and Liz about the monster that attacked them, but after thinking it over, he decided that it would be best to keep them in the dark for at least a few days while he attempted to figure it all out. With any luck, he could figure out a way to deal with the problem without either of them ever even realizing that the creature existed. He didn’t want to worry them and so, he would do whatever he needed to do to keep them ignorant.

“Well, if you say so,” Damien murmured. “But it’s not like you can blame me for being concerned. I’ve never seen you as shaken up as you have been these past few days. And I hope you know that I’m here for you…if you need me. Don’t forget that. You can trust me with anything.”

“And I do,” he replied. “Thank you, Damien.” Eric then cleared his throat and continued, wanting to move the conversation along before Lilly came out. “Anyway, I do have to ask, have you heard from Liz at all?”

“Liz?” Immediately, Eric could hear suspicion in Damien’s voice. “Not since I dropped her off at her house last night. Why?”

Eric forced a laugh, hoping to play it all off as if part of a joke. “Well, she was the only one who made no attempt to contact me yesterday and I feared she was angry with me. If you could tell her that I’m quite sorry and that I’ll make it up to her, that would be great.”

“Oh, don’t worry about her,” the other boy said softly. “She…just wanted to give you some space, is all. In fact, I’m sure she’d welcome a call from you. Just…maybe wait another hour or so. I doubt she’ll want to be woken up.”

“No, I don’t suppose she would,” he muttered. “Well then, I suppose that would be all. Sorry for waking you up, my friend. I just…couldn’t sleep and I really wanted to apologize. I’ve not been myself these past couple days and I really need to shake that off.”

“Well, to be honest,” Damien began, “as much as I’m happy to hear from you, I’d recommend calling Lilly first. She was really on edge yesterday.”

He internally cringed as he thought about the girl currently in his shower who also happened to have slept in his room the previous night. He decided telling Damien anything about that would just make him suspicious that they were hiding something, and so Eric forced himself to just laugh.

“Yes, of course,” he replied. “I shall call dear Lilly right after this! Thank you for the advice!”

“Y-yeah…no problem, I guess.”

“Anyway,” Eric went on before Damien could say anything more. “I’ll see you on Monday, Damien! Take care of yourself and…let me know if there’s anything you need.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

His friend was silent for a moment, and Eric wondered if he was simply thinking about something, before the boy responded. “Yeah, thanks, Eric. You, too. See you.”

“Goodbye.”

With that call over, Eric lowered the phone from his ear and stared silently down at it, considering what Damien had said. He knew that if Liz had made it to her house the previous night then she was more likely to be safe, but he wanted to be absolutely sure. He decided he would just send her a text and wait for her to wake up before trying to call her, but before he could even open his messages, someone spoke from the room’s doorway.

“So when do you plan on calling me?”

He jumped to his feet like a startled cat and spun around to see Lilly standing in the doorway, wearing her uniform from the day before, her hair still wet from the shower. She was looking at him with a sly expression, but he was more thrown off by the fact that she’d been able to sneak up on him.

I was too distracted by the call. I really need to pay more attention.

“Um what?” he stuttered.

Lilly laughed. “You told Damien you’d be calling me once you were done there. Well, I’m waiting? Where’s my call?”

He laughed awkwardly and pocketed his phone. He supposed there was no longer any reason to hide that he had called Damien. The only reason he had wanted to in the first place was just in case something had happened to the boy. If some trouble had befallen Damien, he didn’t want Lilly getting involved with it. However, since everything seemed to be okay for the time being, he told himself that he had nothing to hide. So he calmed down and smiled at his girlfriend.

“Sorry, dear Lilly,” he replied. “In that case, I shall call you tonight. How’s that sound?”

She returned his smile with a warm one of her own. “That sounds perfect.” Her features then stiffened as she went on. “So, is Damien okay?”

Eric nodded. “Yes, he’s fine. I was just calling to check up on him. After all, we know nothing about that monster that attacked us. However, it did go after you in what seemed like an effort to get to me so…”

“You’re worried it could go after Damien and Liz now,” she finished for him.

“Yes, I am. And especially if it is the monster who…seemingly erased Vinny’s entire existence.” He swallowed. “I just…don’t want to let myself get caught off guard a second time.”

For a moment, he saw Lilly glance down at the ground, as if something had crossed her mind. However, it was gone as quickly as it had arrived, and soon, she was looking at him with determination.

“Eric, can I talk to you for a moment?

Something about the way she was holding herself had changed, and he realized in that moment that she was truly prepared to face whatever was coming after them head on. It was both inspiring to him and utterly terrifying. He didn’t want Lilly getting hurt, and if she was running right into danger, there might not be anything he could do to protect her.

“Of course,” he said, taking a seat in the chair.

Lilly moved to sit on the couch then folded her hands atop her lap. For a second, she looked like she was gathering her thoughts as she gazed down at the carpet. Then, once she raised her head, her confidence had returned, and she asked him a question that he would never have fathomed could come from her mouth.

“Did your mother ever talk about a man named Nigreos Noctis?”

He couldn’t help but to stare back at her in stunned silence. He didn’t know what to say. His mind was already so cluttered with questions that he could hardly process what to make of it all. Yet, that didn’t stop the image of that man in black rising to the forefront of his thoughts. Eric knew he would never forget the intense aura about him nor would he ever forget his name. He had been the one to take his mother away and his name was Nigreos Noctis.

“Eric?” Lilly uttered. “What’s wrong?”

He licked his now dry lips and clenched his fists at his side.

“Where…did you hear that name?” he managed to ask.

His girlfriend still looked concerned but she answered his question regardless.

“Two weeks ago…do you remember when I completely blacked out while in your body?” she asked softly.

He nodded. Of course he wouldn’t have forgotten that incident. He had been terrified that something had happened to her and ever since, he’d been trying to figure out what might have caused such an anomaly.

“Well, the truth is, I didn’t black out. I instead went to this…dark place where a voice started speaking to me.”

“But—?!”

“I didn’t lie, though,” she quickly assured him. “Until this morning, I couldn’t remember it ever happening. It was as if I had blacked out. But now, I just suddenly remember everything about the interaction, though I don’t have a clue why.”

He knew without doubt that she wasn’t lying to him. Her eyes were genuine. She truly had forgotten about it.

So why can she remember now? Could that monster have done something to her that jogged her memories?

“And this voice?” Eric began. “Was it Noctis?”

Lilly nodded. “That’s what he said his name was. He called himself one of the Masters of Ijiria—the Master of Darkness, specifically.”

The boy bit his lip, instantly recognizing the term. “My mother told me about the Masters. Apparently, they’re the most powerful magic users in Ijiria. According to her stories, at least.”

“And did she ever mention a Nigreos?” Lilly pressed.

Eric immediately shook his head. “No. Not once. However…I do know of him. I’ve seen that man with my own two eyes…and I could never forget him.”

The girl tensed up. “You’ve…seen him?”

“Yes…he’s the one who took my mother away.”

Eric’s words hung in the air as the two of them went silent. Lilly’s eyes were wide and he could tell that she was struggling to process his information but, as much as he would have liked to have given her a moment to think, he just couldn’t hold himself back.

“So you spoke to him?” Eric asked. “In this…place?”

Lilly nodded. “He said it was in my mind. To me, I figured that meant we were speaking telepathically…so I never saw him and I can’t even be sure if he’s in Wilham.”

Eric leaned back in the leather chair and ran his fingers through his hair in thought, desperately trying to calm his body down. Noctis spoke to Lilly? It’s possible he’s in Wilham again. Could that mean…that after all this time…I could find out what happened to Mom? Is it possible…?

“And what did he say?” he inquired, trying with all his power to keep himself focused.

“He’s come for the gem.”

Eric exhaled sharply and sat up. “The gem? So…?”

“He said it belonged to Ijiria and that he wanted it back,” she went on. “Though he said he wouldn’t hurt us so long as we just listened and returned it to him. But the thing is…” Lilly hesitated for a moment. “He said he was going to erase my memories. So…I’m not sure how I was supposed to listen if I forgot about the request in the first place.”

Eric clenched his teeth and reached into the pocket of his pants to grasp the object that was within. When he pulled it out, he could see his face reflected in the shiny orange surface of the gemstone and he could feel the mana coursing from it through his hand.

This…? Nigreos Noctis wants this?

“A-another thing,” Lilly stuttered. “He also said…that the gem’s power could be harming people without magic. He said…it might even kill us.”

Eric’s head snapped up from the stone so he could once again gape at the girl.

“Do you think…that’s what caused Mickelson to disappear?” she went on. “Or…could it be responsible for what happened to Jay? If so then…?”

“No,” he instantly said despite having no way to back it up. “No, that doesn’t make sense. What happened to Vinny and Jay are completely different situations. It wouldn’t make sense for a stone that swaps bodies to…to erase someone’s existence or turn them into monsters. It just…can’t be possible.”

Lilly shook her head. “But then…? Do you think Nigreos lied? Could he be…the one behind this?”

Could he be?

The thought that the man in black could have been the one to take Vinny away from him sent a particular rage through Eric’s body that he hadn’t felt in a long time.

Vinny…

Jay…

Alice…

If that man stole them from me…like he did my mother… I can’t allow that! I can’t allow him to take anything else!

He knew it was irrational but he just couldn’t fathom Nigreos not being their enemy. He couldn’t believe that the stone was behind everything that was happening. It was wrong! But Nigreos being responsible, on the other hand, seemed perfectly reasonable to him.

Master of Darkness, huh? The image of the monster from the previous night returned to him, as well as the shadows it sent after them. It adds up… Could the man in black be behind this?

Could Nigreos Noctis have really returned?

***

After bidding Eric goodbye down in the lobby, Lilly rode the elevator all the way up to the third floor. She was anxious to get home and put on some fresh clothes. She hadn’t planned to stay the night at Eric’s so she only had her uniform from the day before to wear. After everything she’d been through, she just wanted to get to her apartment and relax for a bit.

After all, I’m not sure how much relaxing I’m going to get in the coming days.

After talking it over, she and Eric had decided they didn’t have any option other than waiting and seeing. They were completely ignorant to whatever was going on and so, their options were painfully limited. All they knew was that Vinny Mickelson had been somehow wiped from existence and Jay Brooks had been corrupted by some nightmarish monster. As for Alice, neither of them could guess what happened to her and they both feared that she had met a similar fate as Jay.

What the hell are we supposed to do? Even with Eric’s magic, how do we fight something when we don’t even know what it is. And then there’s the matter of Nigreos…

Eric’s reaction to that name was enough to send shivers down her spine. Initially, she’d hoped they could trust him and maybe even try to make contact with him to ask for help, but Eric had seemed convinced that he could be behind it all. She wasn’t sure what to think and now, she wasn’t sure how safe she was. She had been lucky that Eric was already at school when the monster attacked her. Had she been alone, she knew she would have been killed.

I almost died last night. My life almost ended.

She was terrified. She had never been so scared in her life and she was powerless to do anything. She couldn’t even tell anybody else about it. She and Eric had decided that keeping it to themselves would be best for the time being. He didn’t want to scare Liz and Damien and while she wasn’t sure how good of an idea that was, she knew trusting him was her best choice. As blind as he was, he knew more about Ijiria than she did.

Swallowing her fear, Lilly walked up to her apartment door and knocked a few times. Her belongings were still in the clubroom so she didn’t have her keys on her. Therefore, she had to wait a moment before the door opened and when it did, her mom was there to greet her.

“Hey there, sweetie. How was the sleepover?”

Recalling the lie she’d told her parents about staying over at Liz’s, Lilly forced a smile and headed inside. “It was fun,” she replied. “Thanks for letting me stay over on such short notice. I appreciate it.”

Her mother returned her smile. “Well, I figured since it wasn’t a school night, why not? Do you need any breakfast?”

Lilly slipped her shoes off by the door and shook her head. “No thanks, Mom. I already ate.”

“Well alright then,” her mother said. “There’s pancakes in the fridge if you want any later.”

“Thanks.”

The girl then headed through the apartment and went into the hallway, toward the bedroom she shared with her sister, only stopping to tell her dad “good morning”, who she found sitting on the couch, watching some sitcom on the television. She didn’t see Alexa anywhere so she figured her older sister was either in their bedroom or was out with some friends. She prayed it was the latter option and was sorely disappointed when she opened the bedroom door to find the girl sitting up in her bed, texting on her phone. Alexa immediately looked up and for a moment, they simply stared at each other.

Lilly was no longer certain where her relationship with her sister currently stood. Alexa was still very suspicious of the Magic Club, and that had caused plenty of tension between the two girls. However, two nights prior, Alexa had come to her, asking about Eric to see if he was okay. It had seemed genuine and didn’t come across like her just sticking her nose in for no reason. She knew it would be smart to sit down and talk with the older girl, but after everything that had happened, she didn’t think she had the energy to do so.

“Hey, Lil’,” Alexa greeted. “Welcome back. Have a fun night?”

Lilly shrugged as she moved toward her closet to grab some fresh clothes. “Yeah, it was fun,” she lied. “Liz and I don’t really hang out much so it was nice to just take a girls’ night.”

She nodded. “Well, glad you enjoyed yourself.” Alexa then turned her attention back to her phone. “Oh, by the way. Did Mom ask you about babysitting Natalie this Friday?”

Lilly suddenly froze, and a chill seemed to seep into every part of her body. In all the chaos of the last day, she’d been so caught up in processing it all that she never gave Natalie a thought, but she now realized how stupid that had been as something utterly horrifying dawned on her.

Natalie used the stone…so if Nigreos Noctis wasn’t lying, and anybody who used it is in danger…

“Lilly?” Alexa pressed, a touch of worry creeping into her tone.

The younger girl turned around and forced a smile. “Nope, I just got home so I’m sure she was gonna tell me later. Thanks for the heads up, Sis’.”

Alexa frowned and it was obvious that Lilly failed to hide her reaction, but thankfully, her sister refrained from pressing the matter any further. Lilly quickly grabbed a change of clothes and hurried into the bathroom to get dressed, wanting to get out of the room as soon as possible. She kept reminding herself of how Eric insisted that Nigreos was probably lying, but she couldn’t calm herself down. No matter what she did, she couldn’t get the possibility that Natalie was in danger out of her mind.