8 - Rico
Alice was truly amazing. All she did was use a teleportation spell to go and heal Julian, but it was enough to turn the tides of battle. I must say, I underestimated her. I shot another bullet at Grey but he evaded it easily, he was an impressive opponent for sure, but there was no way he would be able to dodge my bullets and Alice's magic combined. Alice was in the frontlines, sending blast after blast at Grey, dodging his lightning, her pink flowery dress sailing through the air. But finally, after many missed shots, she had finally hit her target.
The air seemed to cool and she launched another blast to the right of Grey, which he then sidestepped into, leaving a gash on the side of his chest. Dang, looks like I underestimated those air blasts as well, they were a lot stronger than I thought. I turned to see Ray climbing up the wall, Corra strapped to his back with a rope. It looked like he was taking her to safety above the rafters. I thought that I should go help him, but judging by the determination on his face, I didn't think he needed it. I turned to see Grey kneeling down, Alice with her hand pointed at him, ready to finish the job.
"Go ahead, end it." He coughed, clutching his side, "Do it."
I walked over to him and spat on the ground where he kneeled, "May I?" I asked Alice, cocking my pistol, "This is for Corra."
Just before I was about to pull the trigger, a crooked smile creeped up Grey's face.
"The transformation should have started by now."
"The transformation?" I shoved the barrel of my revolver closer to his head, "What are you talking about?"
He laughed maniacally, blood spilling from his mouth, "You're friend Ray, he's not who he seems."
I heard the sound of an explosion coming from above, like someone had just lit some sort of bomb. As I looked up to see that the rafters had shattered, Grey laughed like a lunatic.
I cursed under my breath and grabbed him by the collar, "What is going on Grey? Speak to me!"
"It's too late." He laughed, "Under these circumstances, he's probably reached fifty percent!"
A voice rang through my head, like it was being whispered in my ear.
Grey, you shall pay for what you've done.
I turned to see who, or what was behind me as I heard the sound of boots hitting the floor. It was Ray, or at least I think it was Ray. His pale blue eyes had turned bright purple with no pupils to be seen. His dark brown fur had been died blood red and the short claws on his hands had grown super big and super sharp; they looked more dangerous than Corra's knives. His scarf, on the other hand, was glowing a bright crimson colour as it floated in the air around him, like a pet snake obeying it's master. He even had somewhat of an aura around him, the air around him turning a sort of purple colour.
I shall tear you apart, piece by piece.
Once again, I heard the distorted voice ripple through my head. Assuming it was Ray's voice, it didn't sound like him at all. It was much deeper than his voice, and it sounded somewhat distorted, like a record that was being scratched.
"Heh," Grey chuckled, wiping the blood from his lips, "Do your worst daemona."
That was a word I'd never heard before, was it referring to Ray's new form? I looked back at Alice for some sort of answer but she looked exactly how I was, her mouth hanging open in awe as she started at this strange demonic looking version of Ray.
Any final words? Oh, that's right. You didn't give her any.
Ray lunged at him with such a force, the air around me rippled. Arches of lightning streaked off Ray's legs as he leapt towards Grey at blinding speeds. Sparks flew as he made contact with Grey, grasping his throat with his hand, his pupiless eyes seething with hatred and rage.
And now, you shall feel the same pain that she did
I watched in horror as the hand that gripped Grey's throat began to glow, growing even redder as if it was going to explode. I ran towards the exit, quickly scooping up Alice in my arms. Just as we ducked behind the stone wall, Ray's hand let loose a blood red explosion, so massive that I could see it was ripping apart the ceiling, unleashing the cold of the winter night into the room.
I squeezed Alice tight as the wind from the explosion lashed at our faces like a whip. She was crying, her tears hitting my knee with a plip sound as we kneeled behind the wall, sheltering each other from the blast with our wings.
After what seemed like an eternity, the noise stopped and everything went silent, like all the joy had been sucked from the world. We stepped into the room and it had been completely demolished. The stone walls had been charred and were as black as coal, the tables that had been caught in the explosion had been reduced to absolutely nothing, and to top it off, the roof was missing, the stars twinkling above my head. Grey and the rest of the Wisps were gone as well.
We began searching the room for Ray, Corra and Julian, flipping over seared tables and piles of wood. After I searched and found nothing, I heard Alice call my name,
"Rico!" she yelled, panic in her voice, "Get over here! It's Ray!"
I sprinted over to where she was kneeling. Ray had reverted back to normal and he looked even worse than before. Scrapes and scratches lines his body and blood was splattered across his face and chest. His scarf however, was still in perfect condition, only the slightest bit of blood remained on it's crimson red fabric.
"He's in pretty bad shape," Alice continued, "But I think some healing magic will fix him up.
"Alright, you do your thing and I'll find the others."
I searched the room for any bodies, and after many circles around the room, I saw an ear poke out from underneath a pile of wood.
"Corra!" I yelled.
I frantically tore away the wood, Corra was under there. My friend was under there. Finally I managed to get all of the pieces that were on top of her off and looked in horror at what was in front of me.
I used to fool around with the idea of death. I'd joke about it and ridicule about the pain that it brings, but now that I'd truly experienced what it was like, to kneel in front of someone whom you loved who was dead, I'll never go down that path again. Corra's corpse was lying on the floor, smeared in blood. Her face had the colour and life sucked away from it and her open, unblinking eyes cut straight through me like a knife. I was shedding silent tears, mourning for my friend when a hand clasped my shoulder.
"Look man," He said, "It's going to be alright."
I swerved to see Julian standing there, his hand on my shoulder. That was the first time I'd heard Julian so sincere, his words felt like they actually meant something.
"Julian?" I sniffled, "How'd you survive? I mean, with the explosion and all."
"Simple. I adapted."
I turned to go get Alice, but she was already walking over, supporting a very beat up Ray.
"Oh no!" She put her free hand to her mouth, "Corra…"
She kneeled down next to me, examining her body.
"Stand back." She said solemnly.
That was also the first time I'd ever seen her so angry and determined, she was always such a carefree and happy soul. I never thought of her to be the angry type. As we stepped back, I heard her mutter something that I didn't understand, it sounded like it was from another language and watched as Alice's delicate body glowed a bright yellow colour, almost blinding me. The yellow energy seemed to transfer from Alice's body to Corra's as the air around her crackled with pure energy.
She stood up, "There."
"Alice, what did you just do?"
She smirked, "You'll see." She put down Ray's body next to Corra's, still a little groggy from the healing magic.
"Alice… What are you doing?" Ray mumbled, dazed.
She put a finger to his lips, "Shhh, you'll see."
Corra shot up as the colour returned to her face, her eyes fluttering open, "Where—Where am I? Ray?" She hugged him, tears forming in her eyes.
"I patted her on the back, my feathers instantly getting soaked in blood, "Corra? Is that you?"
"What do you mean?" She let out a confused laugh, "I'm alive?"
I stumbled back, she…. Laughed…
"What did you do to her?" I whispered to Alice, "Corra's never laughed in her life."
"All I did was use a resurrection spell! Nothing about her should be changed at all theoretically."
Corra gave me a big hug, it was the first time she'd touched me other than a slap or a punch, "Nothing's changed you big idiot, I'm alive!"
Julian just stood there, refusing any hugs, what a grump. I can't say the same for Ray however, it looks like he had finally broken, tears were flowing from his eyes like a waterfall.
"Avert your eyes," he grumped, "Just some dust in my eyes, that's all."
Corra leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Maybe this will keep your eye from itching then."
I fell on my back, Corra? Making physical contact? Had she been hit on the head and had a screw knocked loose or something?
"What are you staring at Rico?" Her face went from happy to solemn in one quick motion, "Well? Spit it out!"
I laughed, "Nothing Corra, just glad to have you back!"
"Heh, you too Rico."
We had left the tavern (or what remained of it) and Cornelius met us halfway, claiming he'd seen the explosion and was just about to call the authorities. When we returned home, Ray and Corra immediately crashed in their rooms, they needed all the rest they could get. As for the rest of us, we partied into the night, drinking all the beer we could guzzle, except for Alice that is, she just had a glass of orange juice and called it a day. That night, I had asked Alice a question. I saw her standing out on the balcony, looking out on the town. She had a flower tucked behind her ear and her long blonde hair was blowing in the wind.
"So, care to explain exactly how this whole… Magic thing works?"
For a moment she didn't respond, her eyes looked on the horizon, but then she responded, her voice as calm as the sea, "In order to wield magic one has to have a waypoint, an item in which they can channel their energy through to be able to cast a spell."
"Where can I get a waypoint?"
She chuckled, "I'm afraid it's not that simple, you'd have to go through exhausting training for several years just to be able to be eligible to get a wayfinder."
All hopes of getting a wayfinder for myself instantly disappeared, "Oh. So what's your wayfinder?"
"I…" Her eyes trailed the eastern docks that nestled just below the setting sun as she spoke, "I don't have one."
"But…" Now I was even more confused, "I'm afraid I don't understand."
"Neither do I." I could tell she was starting to get tense, her hands were gripping the railings tightly, making her knuckles white.
"Hey," I asked, trying to change the subject, "So what exactly did you use on Corra to you know... Make her come back from the dead?"
"Have you heard of the three forbidden spells?"
"No, I don't believe I have." a brisk wind began to pick up, blowing my feathers like a fan.
"They're the three most powerful spells known by man."
"Seriously? And you used one?"
"Yes, peprit, spell of rebirth. It can bring anybody I want back to life, but it comes with a cost."
"What cost?"
"Well, how old is Corra?"
"Twenty." I answered, unsure of why she needed that information.
"Well, because your friend is twenty years of age, I've just lost twenty years off of my life."
"What? I'm a little slow today if you can't tell. It's just..."
She turned and looked me in the eyes, I never realized how beautiful they were, "Look, say I live to be eighty, I'll only live to sixty because of the twenty years that have been sucked out of me. Or, I guess I should say that I gave those years away. Not only that, but it doesn't work if the person has been dead for more than an hour, luckily we caught Corra in time. It also puts a pretty heavy toll on my body, I'm struggling to stand right now, actually."
"What about those other spells? Can you use those?"
"Well, that's the thing. Unlike other spells, these spells were trapped in spellbooks by the ancient rulers of the past, they are extremely rare and only few exist. Luckily, Cornelius had the spellbook for peprit and he taught it to me. He only has the book for peprit though, so no, I can't use the other two forbidden spells."
"So, there's peprit, but what about the other two? What do those ones do?"
"Well, first there's imperium, a spell of power. It's said that this spell is so powerful, that it has the ability to level entire nations. Thankfully, only one exists. The second one is turae, spell of creation. This spell was supposedly used by the ancients to create all that you see around you, it has the ability to create any nonliving thing you want. And again, only one exists."
I paused, "I'm sorry."
"For what?"
"I never knew that people could possess such incredible power. I mean, all I can do is shoot a gun. It only makes me more scared for what's to come."
She put her hand on my shoulder, her stare getting even more intense, "Hey, we got this, alright? Look at what we just did tonight! We took down an entire gang, revived someone from the dead and our boss turned himself into a demon thing and basically murdered everyone! It was great!"
I laughed and stared into her eyes, a smile stretched across my face.
"What? What is it?" She asked.
I grinned, "Oh nothing, you're just cute when you talk about murdering people."
She blushed, an even bigger grin stretching across her face, "Oh please Rico, you flatter me too much. Now, I should be heading to bed."
"So, no kiss?" I asked.
She giggled, "Goodnight, Rico."
"Goodnight Alice."