Sal had thought dying would hurt, he'd imagined feeling untold amounts of pain and agony, coupled with the most precious moments of his life flashing before his eyes in red, as though it was an incentive, something that would numb the pain that came with death's sting.
But as the butt of the trident stabbed through his heart and the realization that Casmir had died settled in his mind he felt nothing, he'd had no flashback of precious times past. He had only strained to keep his eyes open, to keep the darkness from engulfing him, until, eventually, the world became nothing but that darkness of which he had desperately strained against.
***
There were voices, different voices, all speaking at once, all from the same lips.
"Not yet Salome", the voices echoed, "not for a long time"
They faded as quickly as they came, and were replaced by a singular, more familiar voice.
"I am not gone Sal, I'm holding on, for you, for all of you"
And then there was silence.
***
Light flooded Sal's vision in an instant, air filled his lungs in one desperate rush and he gasped as each of his senses, both magical and physical, began to work. The trident's butt still stuck out of his chest, the point in his heart sizzling as if it stood in lava. Sal grabbed the shaft and pulled the trident out of his heart, gasping once again as his mark burned and the wound seamed to a close. As soon as it did, everything became clearer.
Sal stood from the floor and his eyes searched the room for his friends. He saw them all, huddled over what was no doubt Casmir's remains. They were all just kneeling and staring, fists tight and eyes shining with tears.
Sal had wanted to believe he'd imagined it, that death had brought his fears to life in the form of hallucinations, but the voice he'd heard wasn't a fabrication of his mind, it was proof that he had failed to protect his friend, proof that Casmir was dead.
It hurt so much more than it was supposed to, he had known him for a few days, and yet it felt like Sal had lost something he couldn't imagine living without.
The pendant suddenly began to pulse against his chest and Sal looked around the room. Stalking towards his friends was one last Atlantian, the one he'd been fighting. The Atlantian watched them like a beast as he walked, weaponless yet just as dangerous.
Sal realized the test wasn't over, the Atlantians hadn't been defeated, and his friends were so shocked over Casmir's death that they were oblivious to the danger lurking towards them.
Sal rose desperately to his feet, reaching out with his hands and calling for Kyrona, but the sword didn't move, for he wasn't the one that named it, and it was so far away that by the time he reached it the Atlantian would be on his friends like a lion.
Then he remembered his wand.
It can also be a decent weapon, Katarina had said. If you know how to use it.
Sal reached into his boot, feeling for the leather strapped handle of his wand and pulling it out as he charged the Atlantian.
There was a dull voice of reason echoing Melchior's words in his head.
Its entirely surrounded by water, which negates magic, so to use it would be futile, whether you're inside or outside.
But there was another, much louder voice, hammering Peter's words as well.
Phantoms are warriors, why they're created is a mystery, but they are always powerful and the things done to them before they are brought into the world are blessings, or curses, that give them unfathomable gifts, and an endless potential.
I couldn't protect Casmir, thought Sal, he could feel a thrum in his chest, in his veins, pulsing with every beat of his heart. But I will not fail to protect the rest of you.
Sal leapt to his feet, his mark burning, his eyes shining as a glyph shone in the back of his mind, the image of a circle of fire. He brought his wand down, stabbing as if it were a knife, and drove it into the Atlantian's head.
There was a sound like ice tearing through skin and the Atlantian shuddered under Sal's grasp, and then, there was a burst of fire, black as the darkness of death itself.
The Atlantian screamed, the sound like an unnatural thing, and Sal watched as it fell to it's knees and then to the floor burning, becoming nothing but wisps of grey vapour.
Sal took a deep breath, feeling the magic slowly wash away from his veins. He looked at the floor where his wand lay steaming, the slim crystal body still glowing with blue light.
The sound of clapping resounded behind Sal and he whirled to see Neptune standing there looking gleefully at him, Antony simply looked at Sal with surprise and the slightest trace of partially concealed fear.
"Quite a show you've put on Salome, I must say your display of glyph magic is truly unfathomable" Neptune said.
"He shouldn't be able to.... it's supposed to be..." Antony stammered and gulped. "Impossible"
"He is a Nightshade" Neptune replied, his eyes shining as he spoke, "they specialize in doing the impossible, he is so much like his moth..."
"You will not speak of her any longer" Sal said.
Neptune paused, he seemed not have heard Sal, but then his eyes flashed white.
"Would you mind saying that again child?"
Sal stepped forward, ignoring the warning in Antony's eyes and the brewing anger in Neptune's.
"I said you will not speak of my mother again, you will keep her name out of your fucking mouth, do you understand me?"
Neptune scoffed and stepped forward, Antony grabbed for him but missed by inches.
"Now you listen child.." he began, but Sal was tired of hearing this idiot god ramble.
He stepped forward as well, not caring for consequences or who he angered.
He spoke.
"No you listen, Neptune" His voice boomed in the temple, and he commanded the room as a preacher would his congregation. "We have done what was required of us, we have completed our task, so therefore we..."
"You have disrespected me in my own realm, threatened me despite my hospitality and you brag of passing my test when nothing remains of your friend but dust." Neptune scoffed and chortled, "you have failed Salome, adamantly, brutally, failed, therefore you can leave, and my son stays"
Sal glared at the god, watching his crystalline eyes glow with white light, knowing that he was trying to look intimidating, knowing that that was the same look Boulder got when he was looking at an opponent he'd never gone up against before, it was the look of a scared man not knowing why he was so fucking scared, only knowing that the best way to fight that fear was to simply pretend to be scarier.
Sal laughed, it was short, sharp and intimidating.
"You were never going to let Antony come with us, you were playing games, and you may think it makes you smart and cunning but all it does is make you a coward" Sal said. "A divine coward"
Neptune's eyes burned with light and he raised his arms, they both shone with magical energy.
"You dare..."
"That is enough Father!" yelled Antony as he placed himself in front of Neptune and looked him dead in the eyes. "Just let them go, let them be, they are just foolish Shaded beings, they are not worth our attention"
Neptune's chest heaved with anger, his outstretched hand still burning with magic, but then slowly, he lowered it, his eyes not leaving his son's for one second.
"Flee while you still can Nightshade" Neptune said, "flee while my son tries to contain my wrath"
Sal shook his head and turned.
The others were staring up at him, Katarina and Bloom both looking at him like he was some sort of ethereal entity, Melchior with something else in his eyes, a sort of odd realization.
"Let's go guys" Sal said.
"You have to be joking" Bloom protested, "we can not just leave, we came here for him, we fought because of him, Casmir is gone because of him"
"I know that" Sal said, he could hear his own voice barely holding itself together. "But we have to go"
Bloom looked confused, disappointed, but Katarina sighed in defeat and got up from the ground, her eyes drifted pass Sal and pointed at Antony who still stood directly in front of his father but was facing them and watching them with pity and longing.
"Sal's right, we should go, there"s nothing he could've done for us anyway" Katarina said. "He's a demigod after all"
She turned around, looked at the remains of her brother once, and then walked farther away, her hands wrapped around herself, her shoulders shaking as she cried silent tears, tears that made Sal's heart shatter as he watched her go.
He followed her, picking up his wand as he did, and slashing it across the air. The Portal glyph shone for a second, and then a shimmering blue portal came to life in front of them.
The first to go through was Katarina, shoulders still shaking, then Bloom, her hand firmly placed on Melchior's shoulder and then Melchior himself, who held Casmir's ring in his hand like it was the most valuable thing in the world, clutching it as if he could somehow bring Casmir's soul back to the land of the living by sheer will.
Sal walked forward, a part of him unable to just give up on Antony, unable to leave him even if he acted like he was happy here, even if he feigned contentment, Sal knew what Antony wanted most.
So he turned around, and with that same overbearing confidence, he spoke.
"I don't know if i'm right" he said. "but I think the only person that can release you is you, you need to know what you want, and you need to fight for it, if not you'll never grow out of here"
Antony looked stunned by Sal's words, a question was clear in the curve of his eyebrows, a comment no doubt at the tip of his tongue, but Sal didn't know the answers to his questions, he wouldn't have known what to reply to his comments, so he didn't wait for Antony, he simply walked through the portal and let the light blind him.
***
As Bloom stepped out on the other side she was immediately glad to be on land. She could tell by the position of the moon that it was past midnight, the streets were quiet, and the air was thick with the smell of rain and night.
She heard the sound of the front door opening and closing and knew that Melchior had gone inside. Their soul binding burned deep in her heart. She could feel Melchior's pain, his heart break, to lose someone when you were just getting to know them, just beginning to understand who they were, it must not have been easy, especially for him who had never known a death before.
She sighed deeply and walked into the house.
The first thing she looked for was Melchior, and she found him fast, sitting on the last step of the staircase, his eyes trained on the ring he held firmly in his hand. He was soaking wet, his golden hair falling in strings over his eyes, the armour Casmir had given him looked heavy on his body.
"Melchior" called Bloom.
Melchior turned to face her, she saw that his ocean eyes were shining with unshed tears, his face was unguarded, his expression raw. Melchior had never been good at concealing his emotions, he'd never even bothered to try in front of Bloom.
"You knew" Melchior said, his voice was light and shaky with tears.
"I knew what Melchior?" She asked gently.
"That he wanted Salome, that he was.... falling for him"
Bloom sighed and walked to Melchior, she bent in front of him so that their eyes were levelled and held his hands.
"That is why you said he would hurt me, that he would do it unintentionally" he clenched his jaws tight, and closed his eyes, pressing his forehead on Bloom's, his skin cool against hers. "You were right, so right."
"Oh Melchior" Bloom exclaimed, she didn't know what else to say, what words to speak to comfort him.
"It is so selfish of me, to ponder on the knowledge of his true feelings now that he is no more" Melchior said. "Now I have no knowledge as to which hurts more, his death or my heart's"
Bloom closed her eyes and wrapped his arm around his shoulders, feeling his tears fall down warm on her shirt as he cried.
There was a soft click and then footsteps and somehow Bloom heard it but didn't move, for Melchior held on to her for dear life.
"I just got him back" Bloom heard Katarina whimper, "I just fucking got him back and now he's gone, he's gone Sal"
"I know, Kat, I get it, but I promise everything is going to be okay, everything will be fine" Sal said. Bloom could tell that he was hurting too, that he was struggling to keep it together, just for them.
"You don't know that" Kat replied.
There was a soft sound that followed, a sob, Bloom decided.
"You're right Kat, I don't have a fucking clue" Sal said. "but I choose to believe it, you have to believe with me okay?"
There was no reply, but Bloom could tell even from the silence.
They all would continue to believe with him.
***
Sal sighed as soon as he closed the door behind him, for the first time in a long time he was tired, who knew grief could wear you out.
He pulled out his phone and called an Uber and then he sat down on the front porch steps and waited, his legs weak from everything he'd done today, the fighting, the magic, the comforting.
Casmir is dead, he thought.
It still felt unreal, Casmir who had promised to be there, had sworn with his life that he would never leave, was suddenly gone.
Sal cried, he couldn't help it, the memory of the days that had past flooding through his mind, Casmir's smirk, Casmir's voice, the weird look he always got in his eyes whenever he looked at Sal. Sal would miss him, would miss his humor, his bravery, his everything.
"It should've been me" wept Sal, "I should have...."
"Do not say that"
Sal turned around to see Melchior standing there, he had changed into a white tshirt and black shorts, both of which were so large on him they had to be Casmir's. He still had Casmir's ring in his hand, he hadn't worn it, he had simply held it in his clenched fist.
"Hey Melchior" Sal said, quickly wiping his eyes and turning. "Is there anything you need?"
Melchior hesitated, still standing by the door.
"No" he answered.
Sal sighed, he had never really talked to Melchior, not as much as the others, so he didn't really know what to say.
"Look, you can come sit and talk if you want, really, I wasn't doing anything, I was just...."
"Blaming yourself" Melchior finished.
Sal sighed but he didn't reply. He simply looked forward, watching through blurry eyes as a family of vampires emerged from the house opposite him, their fangs shining white, their silver eyes glowing in the dark.
He heard Melchior sigh and come to sit beside him, he was sure his feet were bare because they made no sound as he approached.
"What happened today was not of your doing" Melchior said as he sat, "he is….gone, and sadly there is nothing any of us can do to change that"
Sal turned to Melchior but he wasn't looking at Sal, he was facing the floor, his golden hair falling like a curtain over his face and hiding his expression, but Sal didn't need to see to know.
Melchior sounded whole but he looked broken.
"There is nothing that can be done to change the past" Sal said. "But there are things that can be done to make a different future"
He stepped closer and whispered.
"A future with Casmir in it"
Melchior looked up at Sal, his eyes hopeful.
"Did I hear you correctly?" Melchior asked.
Sal looked Melchior in the eye, the expressions once hidden were now on full display like fireworks.
"When I died" Sal said. He said it so casually, the look in Melchior's eyes showed that it unnerved him. "Casmir spoke to me, he said he was holding on. I think he believes that I can bring him back"
Melchior shifted closer, his scales peaking through the near transparent fabric of Casmir's shirt.
"And can you?" he asked.
"I don't know, Necromancy on that level requires immense magic, steps, procedures, ingredients, I know a few of them but I don't know everything, but I was able to use magic in the Bermuda, I think might be able to do this too"
"And the rest of this knowledge and ingredients, how do you plan on getting them?"
"I'll need to meet a necromancer, luckily...."
"We are hunting one" Melchior finished.
Sal nodded.
Melchior smiled, it was a different smile than any Sal had seen, it was predatory.
"You can't tell the girls okay?, at least not yet, I don't want to give them a hope they cannot rely on, I don't want to see them crushed if I fail"
"Then why are you telling me?" asked Melchior.
"I don't know" Sal replied honestly. "I guess it's because I know you the least, and yet I feel as though you believe in what we're doing, I feel I can trust you."
Melchior scoffed and looked away from Sal.
"I believed in Casmir" he said, his voice sounded like he was in a dream "I saw how amazing he was, how kind, and I saw that he believed in you"
He turned back to Sal, his eyes swirling.
"I presume that means I can believe in you as well, can I not?"
Sal placed a hand on Melchior's knee, it was cool and smooth with scales.
"Yes Melchior" Sal said, feeling the weight that his words carried, the weight of a promise. "you can believe in me"
Sal felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he pulled it out and saw that his Uber had arrived outside Luna Estate.
"I've gotta go, my Uber's here" Sal said.
"Your what?"
Right, Sal almost forgot that Melchior was new to the Mortal World and it's vocabulary.
"My ride home" Sal said simply.
Melchior nodded in understanding, and Sal laughed before he stood from the porch.
He turned one last time to say goodbye and caught Melchior in a moment of hesitation, his brain struggling to make a decision.
"Is everything okay?" asked Sal.
Melchior looked up. He seemed so conflicted, torn between two things, but he just nodded with a small smile, waved and then walked back into the house.
Sal srunched his eyes in confusion, then felt his phone vibrate twice.
He looked at it and saw two messages, one from his Uber driver, the other from Lester.
He ignored the one from the Uber and opened Lester's text.
It was three words, three words that made Sal's heart lurch.
BOULDER, HOUSE, ASAP.
***
Sal practically jumped out of the car as soon as it pulled up in front of his house, the night was cool, the streets were quiet, and the lights in Sal's house were on.
He ran and got to the front door, hastily unlocked it and then pushed it open.
He knew it would be risky, not coming to work for this long, but he never expected this. Boulder had promised to stay away from Lester no matter what, now Sal feared the worst as he walked into his house.
What he saw next stunned and confused him greatly.
Lester sat laughing on the sofa, his shirt was open revealing his flat stomach, his eyes sparkling in a way Sal had never seen before, and sitting beside him was another boy, the boy was familiar, curly purple hair, shining olive skin, his face ordinary yet godly, just like his father's.
"You've got be fucking kidding me" Sal exclaimed.
It was Antony.
Sal had no idea what to say, how was it that the demigod he'd fought for just minutes before was sitting in his living room talking to his best friend like they were long lost companions.
And where the hell was Boulder?
Thankfully Lester had noticed he'd come in and frowned in his direction.
"Oh my god, Sal are you alright?" Lester asked from his place on the couch. "You look wet, the rain must have gotten you again"
"Yeah something like that", Sal said as he shut the door behind him. "I thought you said Boulder was here"
"He was, but it seems you were too busy with band practice to reply any of my texts" Lester said, his eye fixed on Kyrona strapped to Sal's back.
Right, The Shade, realized Sal.
"I'm sorry, I hope he didn't cause any trouble" he said.
Lester hesitated visibly, his mind searching for a way to answer without being dishonest.
"He left a message, a very strong one, but i'll tell you all that later" he replied.
Sal knew Boulder, he also knew what a "very strong message" entailed, and from the way Lester kept the long sleeves of his shirt extra low Sal knew he couldn't be wrong.
"Lester, I.."
"You never told me you had a brother" Lester interriupted.
Sal let out an impatient breath, he didn't like this, he didn't like it one bit.
"Half brother" corrected Sal as he slung Kyrona/his "guitar" off his shoulder and leaned it against the wall. "And I found out recently"
"When?" Lester asked.
"A few days ago" lied Sal.
Lester peered at Sal, clearly seeing through his every word, but he just shrugged.
"Okay, if you say so, Tony was just telling me about your mom, he seems to know a lot more about her than you do" he said.
Tony?, oh right, The Shade again.
"Well Tony has a dad, whereas I do not" said Sal, unable to resist the hurt that bled into his words. "In fact he should be with him right now, I have no idea what he's doing here"
"I, um, I took your advice" Antony said.
Sal glared at him and clenched his jaw, he also noticed that Antony's eyes weren't crystalline, they were a very dark brown, like warm chocolate, but they seemed to shift and change, from pupils to crystals then back to pupils.
"Why don't we speak in private?" Antony asked.
Sal looked at Lester who was looking at him with new curiosity blazing in his eyes.
"Fine" he replied.
Antony gave Lester a small, kind smile before walking towards Sal and proceeding out the door, Sal looked at Lester once again, then he followed Antony back into the night.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Sal asked immediately, he could literally feel his patience reaching it's breaking point.
"I defied my father's wish and followed you here" answered Antony.
"You did what?!" exclaimed Sal.
"I defied my father's...."
"I heard you the first time!"
Antony quirked his eyebrows in confusion.
"Then why ask again?" he said.
Sal audibly growled.
"Are you angry?" asked Antony.
"Shouldn't I be?"
"I'm not entirely sure" Antony answered.
Sal growled again.
"Okay, I understand I may have acted a bit...impulsively" Antony said.
"You think?"
"But what you said in my father's realm, it just...it touched me right here", he placed a gentle hand on his chest, "it touched me in a way nothing ever has, not even my father's words, neither his affection"
Antony chuckled lightly, his voice carried a confidence that was newborn, it was now Sal noticed he was dressed every inch like a mortal, jeans, sneakers, and a purple tshirt with the Lacoste symbol intricately sewn on the shirt.
"I really want to be a part of this, I'm honestly weary of my father's desires and responsibilities, I want to be my own person, and I feel I can only do that if I am by your side. Please brother, I need you"
Sal thought carefully about the next thing he was going to say, he didn't want to say no, didn't want to tell Antony that there was no way in heaven or hell he was going to accept him, but he also didn't want to lose anyone else, especially not someone that was of his mother's blood.
He sighed and looked at Antony in the eyes, now unmistakably crystal without the Shade interfering with his appearance.
"Okay" he said.
The smile that lit up Antony's face made his heart swell instantly.
"But I still need to tell the others, so do not come tomorrow"
"Thank you brother" Antony beamed.
"Don't call me that" Sal warned.
Antony nodded, a little hurt but he pulled Sal into a large hug (which reminded Sal painfully of Casmir), and then walked into the house.
"You can sleep in my room" Sal said as he followed him inside. "wait there I'm coming"
Antony nodded, gave Lester a dashing victory smile and then proceeded up the stairs.
"He's cute" Lester said.
Sal gave Lester a warning glance and sat on the couch beside him.
"You guys sound alike you know"
"We do not sound alike" Sal protested.
Lester raised his hands in surrender with a smile. His sleeves rolled down accidentally and Sal saw it, a long cut running from the base of Lester's right wrist to just above his elbow, bandages crisscrossed the wound, a feeble attempt at first aid.
"What the fuck?" Sal said, he drew closer to Lester and held his arm gently. "Les, did Boulder do this?"
"I'm fine Sal" Lester said, as he gently pulled down his sleeves. "It was just an accident"
"Bullshit" Sal cursed. He went to the kitchen and pulled out a first aid box from the drawer.
He sat down close to Lester, took his hand and began pulling up the sleeve of his shirt and carefully taking off the bandages.
"What did he say when he got here"
Lester winced as one bandage came off, but he spoke.
"He just barged in and asked where you were" Lester began. "I told him I didn't know, he tried threatening me but I'd grabbed the kitchen knife and tried fighting him off, he was stronger though, should've taken that judo class like you said"
He laughed but Sal didn't find it funny. He examined the wound, it was deep but Lester had somehow managed to stop the bleeding. Sal pulled out a wide white bandage and began to wrap it around Lester's arm carefully.
"He said he's giving you two weeks to settle whatever it is that's keeping you away from work"
"And he couldn't just say it and leave, he had to scar you" Sal muttered.
Lester once again didn't say a word.
"Fuck him" Sal swore as he tightened his grip on the bandage.
"Hey!" Lester said and grabbed Sal's arm. "Stop it"
Sal sighed and shook his head.
"I'm sorry, did I hurt you?" Sal asked as he loosened his grip and held the bandage in place.
"It's alright, I'm okay, really" Lester said. "it's just a cut"
"No Les, it's not "just" anything, not when Boulder's involved, he promised he would never touch you"
"Sal, I'm fine, seriously" Lester said. "I just wish I knew what's keeping you out late at night, if it isn't Boulder, then what is it?"
Sal wanted to say it, he so desperately wanted to let his best friend in, but he knew that doing so without a valid reason, other than the weight of guilt hanging over his shoulders from lying to the most important person in his life, would mean dire consequences.
So he simply sighed, took Lester's hand and said;
"It's nothing serious, I promise"
Lester's face fell in disappointment, he nodded, faked a smile and stood from the couch.
"I should get some rest" Lester said.
Sal nodded and watched as Lester walked upstairs, knowing that keeping this secret from him wasn't only saving him, but was also breaking his heart.