Chapter XXXIX
When the sudden wave of flames was cleared away by Nigreos’s magic, the Master of Darkness was left standing alone in the middle of the street, frantically scanning his surroundings for any sign of Eric Reiner. Yet, no matter how hard he searched, he couldn’t deny reality. Once again, he’d foolishly allowed the boy to slip through his fingers.
Nigreos sighed, clenching his fists down at his side as that fact properly sank in. But I suppose it does not matter. He can only run for so long. We’ll simply cut him off at his house and deal with him there.
He took a deep breath and regarded the destruction left in the wake of the boy’s last ditch fire attack. The streetlamps were shattered, the balconies of the surrounding apartment buildings were on fire, with some of them already having crashed into the road below. He could see glass shards strewn about from the various windows that had been blown apart. Little fires still shone bright across the road, though without any fuel, once the magic sustaining them ran dry, they would extinguish. He didn’t see any bodies so it seemed that Eric’s attack hadn’t caused any casualties.
But truly…he is more powerful than I expected. I knew he was special just by the readings from the Basim back in the Citadel, but seeing it for myself, it’s only more clear how impressive he is. He has Abi’s natural talent.
Right beside him, a sudden flash of light engulfed his vision and, once it cleared, he found Album standing there, her one good fist clenched tightly as she regarded the destruction surrounding them.
“Where are Harper and Reiner?” she demanded, her voice still weak despite the healing magic he cast on her before confronting Eric. “Don’t tell me you let them escape?”
Nigreos shrugged. “I did, but it’s not a problem. We’ll make our way to his home and finish things there. If he and Harper don't head that way, we merely use his pathetic father as bait and lure him back out. Either way, this mission will end soon.” He then regarded her with a cocked eyebrow. “That is, if you succeeded.”
Album scoffed at his implication of the possibility of her failure. “Of course I succeeded. Clark, Tao, and Hill are safely in the erased realm. Harper and Reiner are the last two to deal with.”
For a moment, he didn’t respond, instead choosing to regard her with narrowed eyes. The original plan had been for them to split up and attack the house from both the backdoor and the front. After spending most of the week simply keeping watch on the homes of their targets, they had decided to wait for the weekend and attack Harper’s apartment so they could erase both her and Hill. However, they hadn’t expected them all to gather in one place and so, when they did, Nigreos knew they had to act. He hadn’t wanted to face Eric just yet, but with too good of an opportunity presented to them, he and Album chose to make their move.
But I underestimated him again. He not only defeated Album, but he had her at his mercy. She may never admit it, but she might have died had I not stepped in to stop the boy.
Despite having healed what he could, she still looked weak. Her clothes were stained with blood, her face was slightly swollen, though he’d been able to close the wounds and readjust her nose. Eric had burnt her right arm to ash so they could no longer properly reattach it when they returned to Ijiria. She would instead have to rely on a sensium replacement. Yet, despite all that, her features were still and calm, leaving him ignorant as to what she was really thinking inside. He knew Album was prideful so he couldn’t imagine what might be going through her mind.
“We should move,” she said softly. “If we’re lucky, we can catch up to them quickly and finish this tonight.”
Nigreos nodded, content to leave her alone for the time being. “Agreed.”
He could hear sirens in the distance and knew that must mean the authorities were called. He’d done his best to use his darkness to conceal them, so the magicless residents of the apartments shouldn’t ever know what truly went down that night, but he knew they must be frightened. They didn’t have the time to deal with the local police. So, Nigreos threw up a distortion and the two of them began making their way in the direction of the Reiners’ home.
This is it. We’ve almost finished the mission. If we can erase Lilly Harper, then we’ll have dealt with the final target, leaving only Reiner left. Then, we simply need to locate the relic.
It seemed simple enough in concept. Two children shouldn’t be an issue for them to deal with, and even if he used healing magic, Eric would still be weak after their battle. He wouldn't have much mana left to fight with. If both he and Album attacked him at once, even his blood magic wouldn’t allow him to defend Harper for very long.
Especially at night, he thought with satisfaction. The only issue is what to do with Eric.
Ever since they learned of his involvement in the loss of the Assassination Stone, the two of them had been on opposing sides of what should be done with him. Album sought to simply kill him if erasing him didn’t work, while Nigreos was in agreement with Ryokumo that they should try and bring him back to be trained in Ijiria. Even now, they had yet to make a decision and, with her pathetic failure in her battle against him, Nigreos knew without a doubt that he would never be able to convince her that they needed to bring Eric to Ijiria. She would do everything in her power to kill him, if only to protect her pride.
But she may not have an option. Clearly, Album isn’t strong enough to fight against the blood magic. I’m the only one with the right knowledge of spells that can be used to take him on. So, with Album as weak as she currently is, the decision may fall to me whether she likes it or not.
As they rounded the corner, the sirens only seemed to get louder, and soon enough, he saw two cars with flashing red and blue lights drive past them and curve around toward Harper’s apartment building. Nigreos glanced back at them with a grimace.
We really should be on our way as quickly as possible. If the police find what happened to Harper’s place, they’ll be after her in order to find out what happened…especially considering all the fire and destruction Reiner left out front. If the police get ahold of Lilly Harper, it’ll be far more of a hassle to erase her.
“Nigreos,” Album said softly, bringing him back from his thoughts.
He cocked an eyebrow. “Yes? What is it?”
“That boy is broken.”
He didn’t need to ask who she was talking about. The anger in her eyes was plenty to tell him that she meant Eric.
“Whether you like it or not, we can’t save him,” she went on. “He was prepared to kill me and if we bring him to Ijiria, it’ll only be a matter of time before he tries to kill us a second time. He hates us. He’ll never forget what happened here and he’ll never be loyal to Ijiria. He has to die and you know it.”
He snorted and shook his head, finding some amusement in the fact that he had correctly guessed her thoughts. “No, he doesn’t. Even with his blood magic, he won’t be able to harm us within the Citadel. Even if he tried to take his revenge, he would just get himself killed. However, I do believe that once he’s lost everything, he will accept that he belongs among other magic users and not the magicless animals of this realm.”
“Don’t be a fool,” Album growled.
But he ignored her, knowing that it was no longer her choice to make. Instead, he focused on continuing down the sidewalk as he regarded the houses around them. He knew where Reiner’s home was since he’d spent enough time over the week keeping an eye on it. It wasn’t far from where Harper lived and so, they would be there relatively soon.
Or at least that was what he hoped for, but as was becoming annoyingly common during their mission, his plans rarely went as he wanted them to.
Nigreos and Album both came to a stop as they spotted the man standing up against a wooden fence off to the left, his head directed in their direction. After all of his observation of the Reiner household, Nigreos recognized him immediately. It was Scott Reiner—Eric’s father and the man who took Abi away from Ijiria. He was no longer the handsome individual Nigreos met that night many years ago. Instead, he appeared much older than he probably was, with unkempt gray hair and a beard. He was fatter and his clothes were old and too tight for his rounder body. When the Master of Darkness first saw him, he thought it couldn’t possibly be the same man. He had fallen so far that it made him want to laugh, and he once again asked himself how Abi could have fallen for such a worthless being.
But what’s he doing out here? Nigreos wondered. And what’s with the stupid goggles?
Unlike the few times Nigreos saw him leave the house, Scott was wearing a pair of blue painted goggles, with shaded lenses that blocked his eyes. Paired with the rest of his grimy appearance, he only looked more pitiful and sad. Part of Nigreos wanted to just send the surrounding shadows into his body and kill him on the spot. With the distortion still up, he would never even know what happened before he died. Yet, the other part of him knew there was no point. Scott wasn’t a threat to them.
“It’s nice to meet you again, Nigreos Noctis.”
Nigreos and Album both exhaled sharply as Scott suddenly addressed him, his features stern and his fists clenched.
What the hell?! He can see us?! How?! Nobody can see through distortion and without magic, he can’t sense our mana!
“Drop the spell, Noctis,” Scott snapped fiercely. “And face me like a man.”
Beside Nigreos, Album was tensing up, clearly on her toes as well. However, despite the new set of shocking events, he decided to do as requested and lowered the spell, revealing them to the man. Scott smirked, then glanced between them both with a scowl.
“How did you see us?” Album demanded, her hand already raised, ready to launch a beam of light straight at his chest. “What sort of tricks do you have up your sleeve, Reiner?”
The man shrugged. “Not telling.” He then regarded the woman with interest. “You’re Album, I’m guessing?” he growled. “Yeah, Abi told me a lot about you. You’re not as cheerful as I’d heard.”
“What do you want, Reiner?” Nigreos demanded. “We don’t have business with you this time. So it’ll be best for you to leave us alone.”
Scott snorted bitterly, a flash of rage crossing his features. “If you’ve got business with my son then you’ve got business with me. I know all about what you’ve been doing—erasing all those children from a damned high school like some kind of heartless monsters…though I’d expect nothing less of you.”
Nigreos narrowed his eyes, bringing the surrounding shadows up to swirl around him, ready to be used on the other man should he decide it was necessary. “Watch your tongue,” he warned. “Or else you’ll be meeting the same fate as them. Now, walk away.”
“No,” Scott said bluntly. “You see, Noctis, I’ve been wanting you dead for many years now. I know everything you’ve done. First you take my wife away from me and drag her back to a world she didn’t want to be in and then you kill her! And now you want to take my son from me, too?!”
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Nigreos scowled, realizing that Eric must have told his father about his mother’s death. Even though Scott was hardly worth their time, he couldn’t set aside the uneasiness he was feeling after the man saw through their distortion. He didn’t have time for any more surprises with the end of the operation in Omaruo so close.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment for years!” Scott roared. “I won’t let you harm my son!”
“And what are you going to do to stop us?” Album snarled. “What can a mere magicless man do to us? No matter what tricks you have up your sleeve, you will still die. By confronting us, you’re essentially committing suicide.”
Yet, he shook his head. “No, I’m not. By confronting you, I’m killing you.”
Nigreos had a bad feeling about what was happening. Part of him wanted to unleash his shadows and kill the man right there, but he was held back by his fear of some unknown trick. Each time he and Album attempted to make a move, they were thrown off by something they couldn’t have planned for, and now Scott Reiner was confronting them as if he was untouchable, only worsening his nerve after a man without magic accomplished the impossible and saw his way past a distortion spell.
Could Abi have laid another trap for us? I mean, they aren’t genetically related so it can’t be blood magic, but could there be something else? Could the goggles be charmed somehow? But no, I don’t sense any magic in them…
“So, come at me, Noctis!”
With that shout, Scott reached behind him and produced a small knife before charging toward them, screaming like a madman. Within a second of his charge beginning, a flash of light blinded Nigreos’s vision and he knew without a doubt that Album had reacted.
“Album, wait!” he shouted, but it was no use.
When his vision returned, Album had her left arm shoved straight through Scott’s chest. Nigreos gaped in horror as the man dropped his knife from his weak grasp, and he realized he was holding his breath in both apprehension and fear of what could happen. Yet, there was nothing. There weren't any surprises or unexpected twists. Album wrenched her hand from his body and kicked him to the ground, sending the pitiful man into the concrete, clutching at the bloody wound in his chest.
“I expected more,” Album muttered. “What a disappointment. Erasurei.”
Nigreos kept his shadows at the ready, knowing he wouldn’t be content until the man was gone, but as was intended, his body began to crumble into dust, just like all the others. Scott only continued to gasp for air as the dust spread up his body until only his torso and head remained. Yet, just as it was about to overcome his head, Scott Reiner looked Nigreos directly in the eyes and smiled smugly, as if somehow, someway, he considered this a victory.
But how? What does that mean? He’s gone. He’s erased! There isn’t anything he can do to us from within there! So why…
…did he look as if he was the one who won?
***
In the darkness of Eric’s living room, Lilly Harper sat in one of the leather recliners with her legs pulled up to her chest. She was shaking and her mind felt like it was falling apart. Everything had become a blur and she no longer knew what was real and what was fake.
Everything was gone.
She couldn’t remember most of what had happened throughout that past year no matter how hard she tried to recall it. There were a few conversations with Eric that she remembered, but all that surrounded it was lost. This told her all she needed to know. Whoever they had been trying to protect that night was erased. She and Eric were the last two left and soon, they would be gone, too. The only one she could remember was Rina, but with the context surrounding their relationship taken away, she no longer recalled much about her either.
I don’t like feeling like this. This past year…it’s just gone…like it didn’t happen. This is terrible. This is awful! I don’t want this! I want it back! I want to know what I lost!
The tears came to her eyes once again and she found herself crying. She was waiting for Eric to come find her because he was all she had left. He was the only one she remembered and he had promised that he would stop Nigreos and Album and come find her. She wanted to believe he could do it, but part of her knew he would be defeated. The Masters of Ijiria had proven time and time again that no matter what they tried, they would lose. Eric might be able to fight them off, but he wouldn't win.
Just then, Lilly’s head snapped up in fear as she listened to the door unlocking. She had used a spare key to get in, which she left in its spot inside one of Eric’s plants just in case he lost his own during the fight. But at the same time, it also meant that if Nigreos and Album beat him and came after her, they would be able to get in, too.
Though…it’s not like it matters. If they really wanted to, they’d just blow the door off without a care in the world.
She tensed up as the door swung open, but when she heard her boyfriend call out, she relaxed a bit.
“Lilly!” he shouted. “Are you here?!”
He sprinted down the hall and came to the family room doorway before she even got the chance to respond, and when she saw the state he was in, her eyes went wide. Eric’s face was bruised and swollen, and his nose was crooked. His shirt and pants looked as if parts of them had been burnt away and ash covered his body. Yet, he was alive and that was what mattered the most to her.
Lilly got to her feet and looked at him expectantly. “Did you…beat them?”
His relief at seeing her alive quickly melted away as pure despair replaced it. Eric collapsed to his knees, his body shaking, and she was quick to rush to his side.
“N-no…I didn’t…” he uttered. “I almost had Album, but Nigreos was too much for me. He won and I… I barely escaped with my life. And now we’ve lost Alice and…” He exhaled sharply, as if remembering something, then looked up at her in panic. “Lilly! Do you remember Damien, Liz, and Natalie?! Can you remember them?!”
Damien… Liz… Natalie…
“Who?” she whispered, and the moment the question left her mouth, she realized that those must be names of the people they had been trying to protect. “Eric, I…”
For a second, he didn’t react. In fact, his features stayed so still that she almost wondered if she failed to respond loud enough. She was about to repeat herself when, without warning, he started to laugh. It was soft at first, but as the seconds went on, it became louder until he was laughing so hard that he almost doubled over.
“Eric?” she pressed. “Eric, what’s wrong?!”
The boy slowly got to his feet and he raised his head to stare at the ceiling. “What…the fuck was I expecting? Of course they’re gone… Why wouldn’t they be? I’ve been saying it from the start. It’s only a matter of time before we lose and now…Damien and Liz are lost. So’s Natalie. I failed. I failed them all. I was the only one who had a chance in hell and I failed…”
“Eric…?”
Still ignoring her, the boy turned and stumbled back into the hallway. Fearing for his mental state, Lilly rushed after him as he stalked into his bedroom, not even bothering to flick on the light as he went for his dresser drawers.
“Eric, please. Talk to me!” Lilly urged.
He reached inside and, to her surprise, he produced a small, orange stone, which emanated a small bit of light despite the room’s darkness. For a moment, he just gazed down at its smooth surface with a weak smile.
“All because of this,” he uttered. “We lost everything because of a simple body-swapping stone. I don’t even understand…what’s so important…ABOUT THIS FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT!”
He suddenly roared at the top of his lungs and hurled the gemstone across the room, breathing hard as it hit the wall with a loud crack and fell onto the carpet before going still.
“Why?” he shouted. “I just wanted to help people! I wanted to use that stone to help people! We helped Brad improve his grades and become a better student! We saved Alice when she was getting bullied! We used it to bring Damien and Liz back together and their relationship nearly fell apart! We gave Jay a chance to understand how much we cared about him! We gave Natalie sight for an hour! We spent so much time trying to help people and what was it all for?! They’re gone now! Because we tried to help them, they’re gone…and maybe even dead!”
Lilly swallowed, wanting to step forward and comfort him, but also fearing approaching him in his current state. It seemed as if everything that had been weighing him down finally broke free, and now, she wasn’t sure even she could bring him back.
“Where did I go wrong?” he muttered, his shouting fading into a whimper. “And when Nigreos and Album came, I did everything in my power to save them…but it was all pointless. In the end, they really were too powerful for me. What could I have ever done against them? They’re essentially gods when compared to me…and ever since they arrived…” He scoffed. “No, ever since I found that stone…we’ve all been standing in their maw, waiting for them to clamp their jaws down and swallow us. There was nothing I could have done.”
Lilly opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. What could she say to him when she didn’t remember any of the people he was talking about? She didn't understand anything anymore and all she could do was stare at him like a fool. She tried to think of anything she could do, but with the past year gone from her memories, she felt as if she couldn’t even understand him as a person. He all of a sudden seemed very foreign to her, and all she had to go off of was her emotions. She loved him. She at least knew that much. And so, she abandoned all sense of thought and walked toward where he was standing.
“Eric,” she whispered.
The boy slowly turned his head to look at her, and the moment he did, she leaned up on her toes and pressed her lips against his. He seemed startled, and part of her was expecting him to push away with how unstable he was acting, yet he didn’t. Instead, Eric returned the kiss as he gently placed his hands on her back, pulling her closer to him. At first, it was just a gentle kiss, but after a moment, it became more passionate, and when they finally broke off from each other, she rested her head against his chest and smiled.
“You still have me,” she told him. “Let’s run away. If we leave Wilham, maybe they won’t be able to find us. Maybe we can go up north to Alden, or even head all the way south and live lower on the coast. If we leave the gem behind and go into hiding, maybe they’ll leave us alone. We could be happy together…right?”
“I… I wish that was possible,” he muttered. “I wish we could run away together. Being with you sounds like a dream…but it’s not possible. Nigreos and Album will find us. No matter where we run…we’ll never escape them.”
She closed her eyes and fought back her tears, knowing he was right but still wanting to believe that they had a chance. “We won’t know unless we try,” she replied.
“Maybe…” Eric released his hold on her and softly pushed her back so he could look her in the eyes, his fingers moving to gently caress her cheek. His expression was stern and calm, without any sign of the hysteria from moments before. “But you’re right. I still have you, Lilly, and I’ll do everything in my power to protect you.”
He then turned on his heel and stalked back toward his dresser before rummaging around inside once again. She frowned and was about to ask what he was doing, but he started muttering to himself before she could.
“Yeah…I can’t lose you. It doesn’t matter what happens to me. I’ll do what I can to protect you.”
“W-what do you mean?” she stuttered. “Eric, what are you talking about?”
“Yeah…if they’re gonna kill you anyway then maybe it doesn’t matter how dangerous it is? What’s the risk if death is potentially waiting for us on both sides? I’ve got nothing to lose, and because I’ve got nothing to lose, I have nothing to fear. I’ll use it…to save you.”
Just as she was about to call out to him again, he produced from the drawer what looked to be a syringe and within the canister, she saw some mass of black and white swirling about within that reminded her ominously of their monochrome enemies.
“Eric…?” she repeated his name, for firmly, as he turned back and approached her. “What the hell is that?”
He glanced down at it with a blank expression. “This…is going to save us.”
What happened next was so unexpected to the girl that she hardly processed it at all. With a deep breath, Eric reached up and jammed the syringe needle straight into the back of her neck. She exhaled sharply at the sudden movement, though she didn’t immediately feel any pain.
“Er…ic?”
Then, all of a sudden, a sudden spasm of utter pain shot through her that was so intense, her vision went white and just before she lost consciousness, the last thing she saw was Eric’s expression, full of desperation and fear.