Lucy Rudolf's/Justine's P.O.V
I woke up to a loud thud that shook the entire house. "What was that?!"
After transforming back into the Wizard, I looked out the window. Everything seemed to be normal, no giant craters or fires anywhere. It looked exactly like it did when we first went to bed.
Arch opened the door in a panic. "Justine! I think the siren may have found us!"
"What?!" I ran down the stairs, looking through the glass at the front door before turning back to Arch. "You need to get Galifici out of here. He'll bring us down if she knows he's human right now and can't transform."
She shook her head violently. "I can't do that, Justine! What if she's stronger than you?!"
I put my gloved hand on her shoulder. "She may not even be here to start a fight. Take Galifici and leave. I'll catch up with you later, okay?"
She looked like she wanted to say something else, but she closed her mouth and left to find the vampire.
As soon as she was out of sight, I turned back to the door. On the other side was my worst enemy, one that I knew barely anything about. I was going to have to be careful.
My hand shook as I turned the door knob, but I grew frustrated and yanked the door open after a few seconds.
On the other side was the Siren, who seemed to be alone. "Hello, Justine. Glad I managed to find you."
"What do you want?"
I shrieked when I felt something bring my arms behind my back. After looking over my shoulder, I found the one person I couldn't bare to see at the moment.
"Apparently Malefici was attacked today by a certain vampire that he knows. You wouldn't be hiding him here, would you?"
"No." I spat. "He left for the dark realm hours ago."
The Siren's face contorted with hatred before summoning a three forked spear. She raised her arm up with the dull end before striking me with it, sending me face down on the house Arch and I made.
"You let him get away? It'll take hours to get to the dark realm and find him, stupid." She said as she made her weapon disappear.
She started to pace around the front porch when I got up. "Until then, what should we do with you?"
Her eyes lit up. "I know! We'll make sure you never make any of those stupid choices again, by making sure you'll never be able to move again. Malefici, continue, please."
"Are you crazy?! Malefici wouldn't hurt me!" I started to second guess myself when the demon summoned his scythe.
"Malefici? Snap out of it! It's me, Justine! Don't you remember me?" It was too late for any talk at this point. My arms were still stuck behind my back with some rope, and I couldn't move.
He struck me in a similar way the Siren did, sending my flying across the width of the house. I groaned before lifting myself back up. Thank goodness the ropes came undone.
Suddenly I wished I just played dead. Malefici stood over me, the whites of his eyes now a dark green and full of hatred.
"You'd be amazed by how a voice can do something like this." the Siren commented. "I think this friend of yours really took a liking to it."
Malefici swung his scythe down at the pointed end, and I knew I only had one option left.
I managed to catch the scythe right before it could pierce through my costume. Even though I did manage to stop it, I did struggle against Malefici's brute strength.
After a minute, my arms started to grow tired. I was now desperate for any source of power at this point.
A light bulb went off in my head. Malefici was still my battle partner, meaning that we could share our magic with each other. The Siren couldn't have known that.
I started to draw magic from Malefici, not even caring if the Siren's spell spread to me as well. My costume started to shift like it did when I was trying to escape that monster earlier, and I felt a great boost of power.
Somehow, I managed to turn this situation around by grabbing his scythe and swinging him around the room.
I looked over at the Siren briefly. Her eyes looked like they would burst out of her head, but she just smiled afterward.
"I don't think so." She stuck her right hand out in front of her, and I felt all the energy I had start to leave me.
"What?" I watched as I started to turn back to a human, all magic leaving me. The only thing I had left was the Grand White Wizard mark on my back.
Malefici recovered quickly, making his way across the room. He kicked me in the torso, and I was sent through a wall.
"Malefici, don't end this so soon. She's making our lives much more difficult than it needs to be." Malefici put his new scythe away.
Instead of using his weapon, he was relying on brute strength. He kicked me multiple times, and I was pretty sure I had at least 4 broken ribs, and a lot blood to cough up.
I was out like a light once he slammed his foot against my head, but I was instantly woke up once he climbed on top of me.
"Malefici, you're better than her." I managed to say quietly. "You don't have to do this."
He frowned before drawing his arm back, repeatedly punching each side of my face until I saw one of my teeth fly across the room like I did earlier.
I could see, with all the vision I had left, tiny claws that started to stick out of gloves. He managed to slice at my arms, face, and torso with no problem. I wanted to cry, but I physically couldn't.
He kept going at this for a while, until the Siren shrieked. "And who are you?"
A deeper voice caught my attention. "Your worst nightmare, where are they?"
I could no longer hear anything, at least from the Siren. Malefici's weight was lifted, so I assumed he left too.
"Lucy?" the same voice called out to me, and I could just barely hear their footsteps. "Oh my gosh, Lucy, what happened to you?"
It was one of the Villains that attacked me during my first night as partners with Malefici. I think it was the Devil user. "Malefici and that girl came by. I told him that Galifici was in the dark realm, and she flipped out."
The Devil brought me up to a chair and put his hands on my shoulders. I instantly started to feel better the second his fingertips came into contact with my blood-stained clothes.
"Is he really there?"
"No. I made sure Galifici and Arch left before I went to see them. Why are you here?"
"I sensed something evil in the forest about an hour ago, so I went to go see what was going on. I'm glad I did."
I looked down at all the cuts Malefici inflicted, which instantly started to heal over. Although I could feel no pain from them, they did leave many scars.
"Thanks for coming. I'd be dead right now if you didn't show up."
"I'd also be dead right now if you didn't save us last night. Think of it as me returning the favor."
"You were there? I thought it was just Malefici?"
"No, I also got caught up in that mess. You saved us from being sliced by those vampire's knives."
He let go of my shoulders, then walked over to my right side. "Do you know where Arch went?"
"They must have left through the back. From there they probably went straight back deeper into the forest."
He nodded. "Alright, lets get going."
The Devil User motioned for me climb onto his back, and I did so without a second thought. I was too exhausted to say no, and my muscles were too fatigued to do anything right now, so I was thankful for any comfort he had to offer.
He raced through the house and slammed through the back door. " Did Arch seem okay to you?"
"Yeah, why?"
He fumbled with his words. "I hurt her a few days ago by accident. Can you keep a secret?"
"Only if it doesn't hurt anyone."
He jumped over a fallen tree. "Arch is actually my little sister, which is why I need to make sure she is still safe."
I freaked out and landed on my back. "Griffin?!"
He panicked and turned back before he picked me up again. "Try not to make such a big deal out of it. It might make things a bit easier if you knew who I was, considering I know most of the others."
I agreed. For some reason, at that moment, I wanted to know who Malefici was. If he was the same kind of person under the mask, or if he was completely different person.
After about a half an hour of speed running, Griffin found a flash of green.
He put me down carefully. "Arch?"
Arch was discussing something with Galifici. "Demonaris?"
Demonaris ran up to Arch and gave her a big hug. Galifici walked over to me and started to talk about what happened back at the house.
"Is that you Justine? What happened?"
I sighed before sitting down on the cold grass. "The siren and Malefici payed us a visit. She's upset that you attacked him, and she made Malefici attack me. In the process, the siren reversed my transformation, and I can't go back now."
He looked up at the sky. "I guess that explains the scars you have. I'm glad Demonaris got to you when he did. Do you know what happened to the other two?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "No clue. They probably fled when they saw him."
This made Galifici laugh. "Malefici isn't much weaker than Demonaris. She obviously doesn't know much about the Villains."
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Everest Ailan's/Galifici's P.O.V
I glanced down at the marks Malefici made. There were too many to count, making me briefly wonder if my brother was actually gonna feel bad for once in his life.
No matter what, he'll pay for what he has done.
"We should still be careful with her. It doesn't look like she was able to reverse Demonaris's transformation, but she was able to do so with you. Maybe she can only effect the Heroes?"
Lucy clenched her fist on the forest floor. "I'd cry if that was the case. The only people on earth right now that are Villains are you, Malefici, and Demonaris. You can't transform and Malefici's under her control."
"What about Demonaris?"
The Devil user walked up to us. "You want me to get rid of them? Are you sure the Heroes can't do it?"
Something sharp pierced the air, and the next thing we knew, Demonaris was on his side.
Everyone gasped, and I looked around to see if I could find the culprit. Demonaris's chest had a spear sticking out of it, and all I could hear was the sound of Arch running over to him.
"Demonaris!" She ran over to the collapsed man. He transformed back to his civilian form and started to cough up blood.
"Hold on Griffin." Arch spoke softly as she grabbed onto the spear. It disintegrated in her hands, light magic replacing the darkness it was cloaked in.
His wound was healed by Arch, but he was out.
"That was too much for him." Arch started to sob. "What are we going to do now?!"
I knelt next to Arch. "He'll be okay. We just need to find someone that has enough black magic to counter her."
"The only people here that have black magic either can't transform or are evil." Arch wiped her tears with her long green hat. "There is nothing we can do."
A sudden thunder clap startled everyone. Arch grew frustrated and started to shake her fist at the air.
"Hold on Arch, what is that?"
A black mist hung over the area the lightening struck. It started to take a humanoid shape.
"It's a mentor, but who's?" Arch asked.
It's appearance was strikingly similar to my brothers.
"I think's it's Malefici's, but how?"
The figure approached us, seemingly tired. "Ugh, finally! I've been looking forever for you guys!"
"Luzor? What are you doing here? Weren't you attached to Malefici?"
"I was forced out by that siren when she took control of him. On the other hand, I think I may have figured out a way to get rid of them."
"What? How? Only people that don't use light magic can do anything against her, and they are all out!"
Lucy walked over to Luzor. "We've already lost , Luzor, it's too late."
Luzor started to pace around us. "I don't think anyone else is going to come back from the other realms, but I think we do have one other. It's more of a last resort."
"What? What is it?" Arch sounded a little too eager for an answer.
"Lucy, I'm gonna need you to transform."
"I can't right now, Luzor. Even if I could, she'd just reverse it again." Lucy's face fell.
"No, not into the Grand White Wizard."
"What do you mean? That's all I can do!"
"No, it's not! Polori is the one Hero mentor that was on trial to be thrown out, but she was kept in the end. She is a hybrid between a Hero and a Villain, she has just been choosing her Hero side for hundreds of years!"
Everyone's jaws dropped at Luzor's words.
"You mean, she has the potential to be a Villain?"
Luzor nodded. "Exactly. She is the only female Villain in history. What did Malefici do to you, anyway?"
Lucy stepped into the moonlight, showing her scars from the attack earlier. Luzor took a look at what happened, then rubbed his forehead. "That idiot. They're fully healed, but those scars will never go away. He really did it this time."
Luzor disappeared once again, turning into the mist and flying off back in the direction of the house.
"What do we do? It's not like it'll happen magically." I commented.
Arch looked back at Griffin. "The mark needs to be altered by a Villain. I think it'll work."
"Arch, Demonaris is asleep, and I can't transform."
She looked back over at me. "You don't need to."
I thought about it for a minute, realizing that this was probably the best way to go about this. My brother would be the best match for this, but he wouldn't be able to help her. Our powers levels are almost the same, and I am his twin brother. Even our names were almost identical as humans and Villains.
Lucy agreed to this, even though she looked like she was shaking. This was a big risk we were taking, she could just turn evil like Malefici did. Then it would be all over.
I placed my hand on Lucy's back as I watched the color from my mark start to fade.
"Is this gonna take away my magic?"
"No, it'll just weaken it for a while." Arch assured me. "You're still the vampire."
I nodded and continued with transferring the black magic. The mark on her back turned to coal black with the excessive amounts of dark energy building up; this could work if I could just do it correctly.
Once I felt all the energy leave me, I collapsed on the ground.
"Galifici?" Arch rushed over to me. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine."I said once she helped me up. "She should be good to go, are you ready Lucy?"
Lucy turned to face us. "Yeah, I think so."
She reached behind her to find the mark, which was now something that belonged to a Villain.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lucy Rudolf's/Justine's P.O.V
I cautiously traced the mark on my back, automatically starting to feel an unfamiliar wave of dark energy wash over my humanity.
Once the transformation was complete, I could hear Arch and Galifici gasp.
Arch nudged Galifici before speaking. "I don't think you're the White Wizard anymore, Lucy."
"What? Of course I am, I just look a little different, right?"
Galifici shook his head. "I don't sense any kind of light magic from you. You look nothing like you did before."
I looked down at my hands, and I was shocked to see that my colors changed. My skin was now tanned, and my white and purple suit was replaced with a black and maroon colored one. Even my hair turned to a light brownish color instead of the natural blonde I had.
"Ok, if I'm not the Grand White Wizard anymore, then who am I?"
Smoke started to evaporate from my body and take shape. It looked like it was supposed to be Polori, but her colors and overall appearance were also altered.
"I see that you figured it out. It's a shame you had to find out like this." She muttered.
"Polori, I'm not the White Wizard anymore, am I?"
"No." Polori stated as she picked her head up and straightened her posture. "For now, we are going to refer to you as something else whenever you are in this form. Instead of Justine, you will be called Jolene. It's the name given by the previous User of the Grand Metallic Wizard."
"Metallic? What do you mean by that?"
She motioned to my outfit, and I raised my arms up to find that it was indeed metallic.
"Instead of light, you not only can control darkness, but also metals. You'll need this magic to end the Siren."
I turned my head to the left and watched as the sun came up.
"How much time do I have?"
"This form gives you an infinite amount of time as long as you don't sustain too much damage. The siren and Malefici shouldn't be too far."
I walked over to Galifici and Arch. "You two should hang back. If you're there, she might try to use you against me."
Arch's eyes started to tear up, and she threw her arms around my neck. "Please be safe, and come back soon."
"I will, don't worry." I reassured her. I looked over at Galifici and nodded, and he did as well.
I ran off back in the direction of the house, hoping that I'd have a chance to save Malefici.
My battle partner. My friend. He was the one person I started to care for more than Everett, which baffled me since I've only known him for about a week.
Even so, I knew it was meant to be. I couldn't just let him go like that.
"Hold on, Malefici." I spoke between breaths through the dense woods. "I'll be there soon."