ULTRAMagic Interval - Chapter 7
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Sam was feeling better the next day, but her past was still bugging her. Things seemed calm on the outside, but the reemergence of her Unlight memories were setting off her anxiety left and right. They were trickling in at a steady pace, driving Sam mad. The others noticed she was rambling to herself all day, with them occasionally asking if she was doing alright. Eventually Sam was able to grip on it, but she had to talk to Will no matter what. Later that day, Sam pulled Will aside into an empty lounge. It was fairly simple, with a nice view of the outside and decorative plants here and there.
“So Sam, what did you want to talk to me about?” Will asked as Sam looked out into the hall before shutting the door.
“Dang cameras… Okay, first off…” She gave him a hug. “Secondly, Will, I know more about what we’re dealing with than you think” she said as she sat down at a coffee table.
Will was surprised. He then sat down across from her. “Really? How?”
She took a breath. “I’ve been to the Unlight before.”
“Awesome! Can you tell us about it?”
“Not today, Boyo…”
It felt like he had bothered her. “Oh, I’m sorry…”
“Boyo, we’ve talked about this; Don’t apologize, you haven’t done anything wrong.” She then gently sighed. “It’s not that I can’t tell you, it’s just that now’s not the right time.”
“Oh… is it a sore object?”
Sam chuckled. “That’s putting it mildly…”
“So, um, what can you tell me?”
“Well I was a general in The Unlight known as Morrigan Devilfay, a succubus who had way too much time and ambition on her hands.”
“So you really are a succubus? You don’t seem like it… er, not as a bad thing! I’m just saying…”
“It’s alright, Will. I was always different back in Inferno. I’ve always been a demon of desire, I just desired other stuff… like conquering The Unlight for some reason. Good lord what was I even thinking back then…”
Will got up to pace by the windows. “So I take it Zasiel really is my true name then and I’m not crazy?”
Sam nodded. “Yup. I’m still mad that Valentin referred to you the way he did.”
“Oh yeah, that… Sam, what is The Tyrant God? It feels strangely familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“You don’t want to know. You’ll find out eventually, but just ignore it for now. Don’t worry, if that thug ever calls you that again, I’m knocking his head clean off.”
Will paused, being taken off guard by how serious Sam seemed with that declaration. “Okay then. Do you have any cool powers as Morrigan?”
She giggled, held out her finger, and pulled it in. This caused Will to come to her like he was being pulled by an invisible force. “Of course I do, Boyo. This is called star magic. It’s coming back to me slowly, so I can’t do much right now.”
“Whoa, was that gravity manipulation?” Sam nodded. “Wow, who taught you that?”
“Metrodora, the Warden of Lust. She’s a gravity devil who honed her powers in The Unlight under another star magic mage. She sought me out when she learned I wanted to go to the Unlight.”
“Cool. Can I learn it too, once I have ULTRAMagic?”
Sam chuckled to herself. “Oh yeah, that. Boyo, are you sure about this? ULTRAMagic is very taxing on the mind and body. I can count on my fingers the number of people that can perfectly handle the trait.”
Will nodded. “Yeah, especially if I can learn that gravity magic you just did. Plus it will help me with my alchemy.”
Sam looked up at the fluorescent lights for a moment, agreeing that Will had a fair point. “You know? My knee jerk reaction was to shield you from this stuff, but I thought about it, and well…” Sam held out her hand, a purple flame appearing in it. It flickered and crackled, but seemed harmless.
“What’s that?” Will was a little nervous, hesitant to touch the flame. It felt warm as he put his hand near it, but not in a harmful way.
“It’s a soul fragment, my soul fragment. You’ll need five others if you’re going to achieve ULTRAMagic. Take it and accept it into your soul.”
“Do you need mine in return or something?”
“No, boyo, just take it.”
Will put his hand into the flame, causing it to spiral up his arm and fly into his head. His eyes turned purple for a brief moment, followed by a sense of intense energy that caused his head to hurt. This then gave way to a pleasant euphoria as Will felt stronger all of a sudden. There was a moment of labored breathing, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Don’t worry, that’ll mellow out as you collect more” Sam assured him.
“Awesome… So what do I do next? Who do I talk to?”
Sam could not help but laugh a little. “Easy, Will. You can’t rush this. I suggest letting this come naturally. Given what’s going on now, it’ll probably be sooner than later.”
Will felt his stomach growl. “Alright then. Hey, let’s go get something to eat and tell the others the good news.”
Bethany was on the prowl that night looking for an entrance into M.A.I.G. headquarters. She had no luck, as every possible entrance was heavily protected. Scaring the guards was a no go as that would just arouse suspicion. The 21st century was infuriating Bethany to no end. There were cameras everywhere, construction standards had vastly improved, and everyone was healthier in general. If it had been the 17th century, Bethany probably would have had Will’s soul by now.
It was time for a new tactic, as Bethany could have sworn she saw Umuka out of the corner of her eye. If he was on to her, it would only be a matter of time before the whole base was after her. Feeling unnerved, Bethany went into the nearby forest to find a place where she would be hidden. She then laid down and went to sleep. Hopefully Will’s dreams were not also being patrolled. Something did not feel right, with Bethany having a hard time actually entering the dream. Previously she had felt in control, but now it was like she was stumbling into something she should not.
Ending up back in the ruined city, Bethany went looking for Will. Oddly the sky was stuck in an eerie, red sunset. It blanketed the land in a crimson haze. As she walked, Bethany noticed that the city gave way to a dusty wasteland, darted with the ruins of a civilization that never existed. Will was standing atop a hill with his back turned to her. He then faced her, revealing that he was clad in menacing armor and had two, large blades at his sides.
Bethany felt her heart shoot into her throat. She was not prepared for any of this as she summoned a scythe made of sickly, billowing smoke and pink electricity. “What’s going on here!? What’s all this?”
“So, you’ve come at last…” Will replied. The way he spoke felt like he was not acknowledging that he was dreaming. It was like he believed all of it was real. Drawing his swords, power erupted from them as the gravity around him was distorted.
“What the hell…? NO, you’re dreaming! And I’m here to take your soul!” Bethany was completely ignored.
Will flew towards her, swinging his swords in a flurry of fierce slams and slashes. Normally Bethany would have had the upper hand, but Will had regained control of his dreams. Despite his newfound strength, Bethany was holding on. Still, Will’s methodical attacks were wearing her down. It was like he was playing one of those new-fangled video games in his sleep… and he was good at it.
Next came a barrage of pieces of ruins being hurled at Bethany. The magic was strange, like it was someone else's. Bethany knew Will could not do this in real life, but that fact was of no help to her at the moment. Seeing an opening in the attacks, she flew in and slashed the warrior in the abdomen. Will stumbled back, holding the wound with fury in his eyes.
“HA, not so tough now, are you?” Bethany taunted as she readied her blade for another strike. This time she would go for the throat… until Will growled and flew up into the air. “HEY!? Where do you think you’re going?!” she called out.
Bethany looked around, starting to panic. She was still in the dream, so things were not over yet. Where was he? The left? Right? In front? Behind? Above? She then looked up and saw something that made her blood run as cold as ice. A meteor enveloped in purple fire was coming down from the sky and heading right for her!
Screaming in fear at the top of her lungs, Bethany ran as fast as she could to no avail. No matter how quickly she fled, the meteor was always right behind her and gaining. It roared louder and louder, becoming truly deafening as it got closer and closer. Bethany felt like she would die if it reached her. Her legs were screaming in pain, about to give out on her. Just as things seemed truly dire, Bethany spotted a ravine. It was her ticket out of there as she knew she could escape if she jumped in.
Going for the jump, Bethany thought she had made it as she reached the apex of her leap. Little did she realize that this was the opening Will needed. He slammed right into her, burning her to ashes as he soared off into the stars and to the great beyond. In reality, Bethany was sent flying out of the dream. She slammed against the wall of her crypt, tumbling limply to the ground. The impact would have shattered her bones had she not been part ghost. This startled the living daylights out of Valentin, who had been working on his deck of magical cards.
“What are you even doing, witch!?” He hissed. “I don’t see Will’s soul on you!”
“Shut up, Clown! Ow…” Bethany shot back between winces of pain as she got up. “What, did you think I came back here to see what you’re up to!?”
Valentin gritted his teeth. “Less talk, more soul stealing! Get back out there, whelp! It’s only a matter of time before reinforcements show up!”
Annoyed at being bossed around, Bethany picked up a rock and tried to throw it at him. He dodged effortlessly. “Why didn’t you tell me he has a soul fragment now?”
“WHAT!?!” Valentin roared, his voice echoing throughout the stone and rock.
Bethany spat in his direction, a little bit of blood in the spit. “Yeah, and he thumped my arse to boot…”
“WHO!?” He demanded to know as he took Bethany by the shoulders and shook her violently. “WHO GAVE HIM THE FRAGMENT!?”
“What makes you think I know? Now put me down, you raging jerk!”
Valentin dropped her and began twitching in anger. He then started mumbling incoherently in an insane manner, followed by him shouting and knocking things around. It was clear that this development was incredibly dire for him, like he had just lost a golden opportunity. Bethany rapidly had had enough of the chaos and went to stop him.
“Hey, HEY!” she shouted. “Quit messing up my crypt!”
“You don’t get it, do you, you little brat!?” Valentin snapped. “If we let Will go forward with achieving ULTRAMagic, that piece of sh… subhuman garbage, Despot, will get involved.”
“So?”
“SO!?!”
“What does it matter? I don’t like that creep either, but we can always stab him in the back.”
“Yes, I’m planning to,” Valentin growled. “But if we do it now, the entire Death Knell coven will be after us. He is a means to an end, but we need to actually get to that end first!”
Bethany nodded, taking a second to process that. “Okay, so why didn’t you do that sooner? You have that weird hex magic, don’t you?”
“My reasons are my own,” he replied sternly.
“Is this because of your grudge because he’s a German?” Bethany received a glare that effectively said ‘yes, now stop talking about it.’ “Jeez, sorry I asked…”
Valentin drummed his fingers on a stone shelf for a moment, thinking. “We'll scope out the situation tomorrow and hopefully secure some shadow constructs in the process.”
“That’s it? What about Despot?”
“Don’t question my methods!” he ordered. “A good general learns all he can before he heads into battle…”
“If I wanted my fortune read to me, I would have picked up some take-out from the Chinese restaurant on 15th street…” Bethany dismissively remarked as she climbed into her stone coffin.
Valentin groaned and pinched his bridge. “Perhaps it would behoove you to read The Art of War before you fail to procure Will’s soul again…”
Bethany stuck her hand up and mimicked a mouth. “Perhaps you should read the bleh bleh bleh blah!” she childishly mocked. “I’m going to bed. Don’t bother me until morning.”
Next: Chapter 8
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
Master Post - Patreon
Sam was feeling better the next day, but her past was still bugging her. Things seemed calm on the outside, but the reemergence of her Unlight memories were setting off her anxiety left and right. They were trickling in at a steady pace, driving Sam mad. The others noticed she was rambling to herself all day, with them occasionally asking if she was doing alright. Eventually Sam was able to grip on it, but she had to talk to Will no matter what. Later that day, Sam pulled Will aside into an empty lounge. It was fairly simple, with a nice view of the outside and decorative plants here and there.
“So Sam, what did you want to talk to me about?” Will asked as Sam looked out into the hall before shutting the door.
“Dang cameras… Okay, first off…” She gave him a hug. “Secondly, Will, I know more about what we’re dealing with than you think” she said as she sat down at a coffee table.
Will was surprised. He then sat down across from her. “Really? How?”
She took a breath. “I’ve been to the Unlight before.”
“Awesome! Can you tell us about it?”
“Not today, Boyo…”
It felt like he had bothered her. “Oh, I’m sorry…”
“Boyo, we’ve talked about this; Don’t apologize, you haven’t done anything wrong.” She then gently sighed. “It’s not that I can’t tell you, it’s just that now’s not the right time.”
“Oh… is it a sore object?”
Sam chuckled. “That’s putting it mildly…”
“So, um, what can you tell me?”
“Well I was a general in The Unlight known as Morrigan Devilfay, a succubus who had way too much time and ambition on her hands.”
“So you really are a succubus? You don’t seem like it… er, not as a bad thing! I’m just saying…”
“It’s alright, Will. I was always different back in Inferno. I’ve always been a demon of desire, I just desired other stuff… like conquering The Unlight for some reason. Good lord what was I even thinking back then…”
Will got up to pace by the windows. “So I take it Zasiel really is my true name then and I’m not crazy?”
Sam nodded. “Yup. I’m still mad that Valentin referred to you the way he did.”
“Oh yeah, that… Sam, what is The Tyrant God? It feels strangely familiar, but I can’t place it.”
“You don’t want to know. You’ll find out eventually, but just ignore it for now. Don’t worry, if that thug ever calls you that again, I’m knocking his head clean off.”
Will paused, being taken off guard by how serious Sam seemed with that declaration. “Okay then. Do you have any cool powers as Morrigan?”
She giggled, held out her finger, and pulled it in. This caused Will to come to her like he was being pulled by an invisible force. “Of course I do, Boyo. This is called star magic. It’s coming back to me slowly, so I can’t do much right now.”
“Whoa, was that gravity manipulation?” Sam nodded. “Wow, who taught you that?”
“Metrodora, the Warden of Lust. She’s a gravity devil who honed her powers in The Unlight under another star magic mage. She sought me out when she learned I wanted to go to the Unlight.”
“Cool. Can I learn it too, once I have ULTRAMagic?”
Sam chuckled to herself. “Oh yeah, that. Boyo, are you sure about this? ULTRAMagic is very taxing on the mind and body. I can count on my fingers the number of people that can perfectly handle the trait.”
Will nodded. “Yeah, especially if I can learn that gravity magic you just did. Plus it will help me with my alchemy.”
Sam looked up at the fluorescent lights for a moment, agreeing that Will had a fair point. “You know? My knee jerk reaction was to shield you from this stuff, but I thought about it, and well…” Sam held out her hand, a purple flame appearing in it. It flickered and crackled, but seemed harmless.
“What’s that?” Will was a little nervous, hesitant to touch the flame. It felt warm as he put his hand near it, but not in a harmful way.
“It’s a soul fragment, my soul fragment. You’ll need five others if you’re going to achieve ULTRAMagic. Take it and accept it into your soul.”
“Do you need mine in return or something?”
“No, boyo, just take it.”
Will put his hand into the flame, causing it to spiral up his arm and fly into his head. His eyes turned purple for a brief moment, followed by a sense of intense energy that caused his head to hurt. This then gave way to a pleasant euphoria as Will felt stronger all of a sudden. There was a moment of labored breathing, but he quickly regained his composure.
“Don’t worry, that’ll mellow out as you collect more” Sam assured him.
“Awesome… So what do I do next? Who do I talk to?”
Sam could not help but laugh a little. “Easy, Will. You can’t rush this. I suggest letting this come naturally. Given what’s going on now, it’ll probably be sooner than later.”
Will felt his stomach growl. “Alright then. Hey, let’s go get something to eat and tell the others the good news.”
Bethany was on the prowl that night looking for an entrance into M.A.I.G. headquarters. She had no luck, as every possible entrance was heavily protected. Scaring the guards was a no go as that would just arouse suspicion. The 21st century was infuriating Bethany to no end. There were cameras everywhere, construction standards had vastly improved, and everyone was healthier in general. If it had been the 17th century, Bethany probably would have had Will’s soul by now.
It was time for a new tactic, as Bethany could have sworn she saw Umuka out of the corner of her eye. If he was on to her, it would only be a matter of time before the whole base was after her. Feeling unnerved, Bethany went into the nearby forest to find a place where she would be hidden. She then laid down and went to sleep. Hopefully Will’s dreams were not also being patrolled. Something did not feel right, with Bethany having a hard time actually entering the dream. Previously she had felt in control, but now it was like she was stumbling into something she should not.
Ending up back in the ruined city, Bethany went looking for Will. Oddly the sky was stuck in an eerie, red sunset. It blanketed the land in a crimson haze. As she walked, Bethany noticed that the city gave way to a dusty wasteland, darted with the ruins of a civilization that never existed. Will was standing atop a hill with his back turned to her. He then faced her, revealing that he was clad in menacing armor and had two, large blades at his sides.
Bethany felt her heart shoot into her throat. She was not prepared for any of this as she summoned a scythe made of sickly, billowing smoke and pink electricity. “What’s going on here!? What’s all this?”
“So, you’ve come at last…” Will replied. The way he spoke felt like he was not acknowledging that he was dreaming. It was like he believed all of it was real. Drawing his swords, power erupted from them as the gravity around him was distorted.
“What the hell…? NO, you’re dreaming! And I’m here to take your soul!” Bethany was completely ignored.
Will flew towards her, swinging his swords in a flurry of fierce slams and slashes. Normally Bethany would have had the upper hand, but Will had regained control of his dreams. Despite his newfound strength, Bethany was holding on. Still, Will’s methodical attacks were wearing her down. It was like he was playing one of those new-fangled video games in his sleep… and he was good at it.
Next came a barrage of pieces of ruins being hurled at Bethany. The magic was strange, like it was someone else's. Bethany knew Will could not do this in real life, but that fact was of no help to her at the moment. Seeing an opening in the attacks, she flew in and slashed the warrior in the abdomen. Will stumbled back, holding the wound with fury in his eyes.
“HA, not so tough now, are you?” Bethany taunted as she readied her blade for another strike. This time she would go for the throat… until Will growled and flew up into the air. “HEY!? Where do you think you’re going?!” she called out.
Bethany looked around, starting to panic. She was still in the dream, so things were not over yet. Where was he? The left? Right? In front? Behind? Above? She then looked up and saw something that made her blood run as cold as ice. A meteor enveloped in purple fire was coming down from the sky and heading right for her!
Screaming in fear at the top of her lungs, Bethany ran as fast as she could to no avail. No matter how quickly she fled, the meteor was always right behind her and gaining. It roared louder and louder, becoming truly deafening as it got closer and closer. Bethany felt like she would die if it reached her. Her legs were screaming in pain, about to give out on her. Just as things seemed truly dire, Bethany spotted a ravine. It was her ticket out of there as she knew she could escape if she jumped in.
Going for the jump, Bethany thought she had made it as she reached the apex of her leap. Little did she realize that this was the opening Will needed. He slammed right into her, burning her to ashes as he soared off into the stars and to the great beyond. In reality, Bethany was sent flying out of the dream. She slammed against the wall of her crypt, tumbling limply to the ground. The impact would have shattered her bones had she not been part ghost. This startled the living daylights out of Valentin, who had been working on his deck of magical cards.
“What are you even doing, witch!?” He hissed. “I don’t see Will’s soul on you!”
“Shut up, Clown! Ow…” Bethany shot back between winces of pain as she got up. “What, did you think I came back here to see what you’re up to!?”
Valentin gritted his teeth. “Less talk, more soul stealing! Get back out there, whelp! It’s only a matter of time before reinforcements show up!”
Annoyed at being bossed around, Bethany picked up a rock and tried to throw it at him. He dodged effortlessly. “Why didn’t you tell me he has a soul fragment now?”
“WHAT!?!” Valentin roared, his voice echoing throughout the stone and rock.
Bethany spat in his direction, a little bit of blood in the spit. “Yeah, and he thumped my arse to boot…”
“WHO!?” He demanded to know as he took Bethany by the shoulders and shook her violently. “WHO GAVE HIM THE FRAGMENT!?”
“What makes you think I know? Now put me down, you raging jerk!”
Valentin dropped her and began twitching in anger. He then started mumbling incoherently in an insane manner, followed by him shouting and knocking things around. It was clear that this development was incredibly dire for him, like he had just lost a golden opportunity. Bethany rapidly had had enough of the chaos and went to stop him.
“Hey, HEY!” she shouted. “Quit messing up my crypt!”
“You don’t get it, do you, you little brat!?” Valentin snapped. “If we let Will go forward with achieving ULTRAMagic, that piece of sh… subhuman garbage, Despot, will get involved.”
“So?”
“SO!?!”
“What does it matter? I don’t like that creep either, but we can always stab him in the back.”
“Yes, I’m planning to,” Valentin growled. “But if we do it now, the entire Death Knell coven will be after us. He is a means to an end, but we need to actually get to that end first!”
Bethany nodded, taking a second to process that. “Okay, so why didn’t you do that sooner? You have that weird hex magic, don’t you?”
“My reasons are my own,” he replied sternly.
“Is this because of your grudge because he’s a German?” Bethany received a glare that effectively said ‘yes, now stop talking about it.’ “Jeez, sorry I asked…”
Valentin drummed his fingers on a stone shelf for a moment, thinking. “We'll scope out the situation tomorrow and hopefully secure some shadow constructs in the process.”
“That’s it? What about Despot?”
“Don’t question my methods!” he ordered. “A good general learns all he can before he heads into battle…”
“If I wanted my fortune read to me, I would have picked up some take-out from the Chinese restaurant on 15th street…” Bethany dismissively remarked as she climbed into her stone coffin.
Valentin groaned and pinched his bridge. “Perhaps it would behoove you to read The Art of War before you fail to procure Will’s soul again…”
Bethany stuck her hand up and mimicked a mouth. “Perhaps you should read the bleh bleh bleh blah!” she childishly mocked. “I’m going to bed. Don’t bother me until morning.”
Next: Chapter 8
ULTRAMagic Alternate © 2022 William Ford II (ChaoticTempleKnight)
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