Resurrecting my magic, p.38
Resurrecting My Magic, page 38
“Even if you die?”
“You have to take a chance; you have to stand up to fear, self-loathing, and doubt. You have to reach inside and be bigger than those monsters.”
Those monsters rattled around inside my head. I was bigger than Zid’dra. I was bigger than him because a kiss on a lake had opened a key to my soul. And out of the door stepped a new boy—no, a man. He could do anything he put his mind to. I leaned down. “I love you, Kangy,” I said, then summoned golden orbs of flames and played with them in my hands.
“Want to play with my balls?”
Zid’dra gagged. “Iunio, mal!”
I tossed the balls at him. Zid’dra ducked. The golden lights flickered out behind him.
I pulled out my PlasmX, the pink light glowing weakly in the dark space. Zid’dra extended a hand, snatching my PlasmX. He snapped his wrist. My PlasmX shattered, little pink stars filling the air and dissolving into the atmosphere. I strained to summon more magic; nothing worked. Was I out of magic? Puxhàredo!
The chorus began taunting me. Zid’dra was cackling. “You are nothing, Elijah Delomary. You don’t even exist anymore!”
Unexpectedly, a door behind me was kicked open. I turned to face fucking Blair Winchester in a black leather motorcycle suit, her hair pulled back off her face.
“Hiya, Elijah,” she said, chewing gum and looking entirely ferocious.
“Blair, what are you doing here?”
“Maybe Damien’s rubbed off on me. Maybe the Alliance isn’t so bad. Maybe our families can work things out. Maybe I can help save the universe.”
I broke down. “Blair, I think I love you!”
“I know, honey. Of course, you do. Look at me. Look at you.”
“Still gay.”
“I have a boyfriend. Jesus, Elijah!”
“Who the fuck are you, iunia!”
“Blair Fucking Winchester. I am filthy rich and so much better than the likes of you. Huh. Do you have a titanium card? No, you don’t because you’re nothing more than a blob of crap, and I am a fierce woman!”
Zid’dra snarled. “Get out of here, you little gnat. I am going to do my job and destroy that red-haired freak.”
“Not on my watch,” Blair roared, then snapped her gum. “Get the fuck away from my man, beelzebub!”
Zid’dra and I both watched her. This was fricking insane.
Blair, in heels, clicked swiftly across the room carrying what looked like a giant water blaster.
I eyed Austin, who was still whimpering. Blair’s eyes followed mine to the cage.
“Is that Austin? Fuck, is he okay?”
I shook my head.
“Fuck this.” Blair walked over to the bubbling-tar man.
“You bitch!” she said before pumping her weapon and unleashing a clear liquid all over the bubbling tar creature.
Zid’dra hissed and shrieked. His gooey tar-like body convulsed. He was livid.
Lightning flashed; thunder crashed overhead.
“What the fuck is that?” I whispered as Blair kept pumping water on Zid’dra, snapping her gum, and tapping her left foot.
“Holy water, what else? Hurry. Help Austin.”
“Okay.”
A moment later, the water blaster was empty, so she released it and mustered pink balls of energy with her hands, then lobbed them at Zid’dra. He batted them with a tarry appendage. She conjured a thousand doves to swarm and beat him with their white wings. I scanned the room, lightning flashed—there was a hammer! While Blair used magic to battle Zid’dra, I banged the lock with all my might.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
Thud. The lock landed on the cold concrete floor. I rushed inside and kneeled beside Austin.
“Kangy.”
He muttered, “Eli, love…”
I pulled off my amulet. It was warm to the touch. I wrapped it around Austin’s neck. It shone with a pulsing pink light.
“Kangy?”
His eyes opened. “Eli, love, you came. I didn’t want you to. This was a setup to get you. To kill you.”
I began to weep. My tears fell onto Austin’s hand. He grasped for me. “Eli, leave me. Save yourself.”
“No, Kangy…”
“Elijah, if you die, the darkness wins, the Alliance could fail…”
“Kangy, please.”
“Eli, save yourself.”
“Elijah! I’m running out of juice. Do what you have to do,” Blair yelled over to me.
Light flashed, followed by thunder, and then a sickening eruption. Blair shrieked. I was knocked down. I rolled onto my back. Fuck saving myself. I had to save Austin. He was all that mattered. He was pure love. He had sacrificed so much for me; at all costs, Austin must live. Maybe that was what Dirk meant, long ago, as the breath left his lungs. He was not a victim because he chose life and love after the struggles of his youth. And I chose to save Austin. He was worth it. He would make the world better. He would bring light to the darkness.
I scampered out of the crumbling building and rushed into the wind and rain. I looked around frantically. There was an old, beat-up pay phone hanging on the wall. I picked up the phone. How do I use this? Where’s the touch screen? Shit. Okay, well, shit. I’ll just dial some numbers.
Please work.
Please work.
“Nine-one-one. What’s your emergency?”
“My boyfriend—he’s hurt. We’re at Forman Steel on Magnolia Boulevard. Please send an ambulance.”
“They’re on their way.”
I hung up and rushed inside. Blair was nowhere to be seen. The tar blob had turned into a quivering mass of black points, hovering in the center of the room. Strange chanting filled the room. A sickly, green light danced on the rusted steel walls and beams above.
“It’s time. Stop fighting this.” Zid’dra’s deep voice hummed, “Devlina has been dealt with. Balance will come. The Alliance will finally fall. Magicals will falter. Ordinaries will perish. The coven will grow stronger. The lion will devour the lamb. Order will be returned to the universe. Humanity is meant to fail, Elijah. Don’t you comprehend?”
I was desperate. My mind raced to Mom and Barn and Tory and the Kangs and all my friends.
Blair. She helped me! Fuck. Austin. He was dying. He needed help.
The chanting grew louder. The walls quaked. Sickness crept up my esophagus. I bit my lower lip to stop it.
Shit. Shit.
Puxhàredo.
And, after a moment, peace enveloped me. I was right. For the first time in my life, I had clarity. Everything was going to be okay. I began walking toward Zid’dra.
“Eli! No!”
I walked toward the cone of black dots in the center of the room.
“Keep coming, Iunio! Death is your only choice. Death is wonderful. The Alliance must fail; humanity must fall. Balance and order must be restored to the universe.”
I sluggishly trudged forward. I had to do this for Austin. He would live and rise up stronger than ever, and he would battle the darkness, and he would shimmer. I needed to purify myself. I had to let go so that balance was restored to the universe. Austin would do that. For me.
A blaze of lightning lit the skylights above. I saw a silhouette. I heard stilettos on the concrete. Thunder rumbled overhead.
“You have to live, Elijah.”
“Devlina?”
Devlina, or rather a thousand tiny square-shaped tiles in a mosaic resembling her form, walked toward me, holding a ball of iridescent red light. I backed away.
“What are you doing?”
She observed the ball of light.
“It’s the only way.”
“I don’t understand.”
“For you to live.”
“What do you mean?”
“Asshole over there wants to kill you. He already destroyed most of me, but I know a way so you can survive.”
I watched Austin. He can—no, I can’t bear the idea of leaving him. Alone. All alone.
Zid’dra beckoned. “Come to me and restore balance, Elijah,” his voice instructed. “It’s the only way, iunio.”
No, I couldn’t let that happen. I looked at Devlina.
“What are you going to do?”
“Save you; destroy myself.”
“You are willing to do something to save me, even if you don’t survive?” I said to Devlina
She shrugged. There were tears in her eyes.
“I’ve grown to love you, kid.”
I stopped breathing for a second. I was baffled.
“Devlina, you only do things for yourself.”
She snickered. “Not anymore, I guess.”
This was colossal. Unbelievable.
“Devlina, could it be you’ve changed?”
She shrugged again. “I doubt it. I mean, I’m only doing this for you and lover boy. I can’t stand the idea of you two being separated. True love. That’s what I see. It’s what I wanted…”
The thousand tiles composing her body reassembled and her hands wiped her eyes.
“Are you crying?”
“Fuck you, Elijah.”
“You’ve gone soft, Devlina.”
“I fucking know. It’s you and your damn goody-two-shoes ways. Always helping people. Worrying about others. Fuck, you gave up your powers to save your familiar. That messed with me so much. I cried for days. I inverted myself and transformed to pure carbon and sank into the ground and leeched through the rocks and clay and mud and existed there in agony. I’ll never understand why I felt that way after you did that. You gave up power to save someone you love.”
“I can’t help it; it’s who I am.”
“I can help it, yet here we are. I’m going to do this… I love you, kid.”
“I love you too, Devlina.”
“You’re like the son I’ve always wanted.”
She was looking into my soul. We had a connection.
“I have to do this. To save you.” She glared at Zid’dra. He had reverted to a gurgling creature made of tar, laughing manically, and spilling gasoline all over the floor.
“Elijah, you have to know something. You have great power. I lusted for power, but I was searching for something that doesn’t exist. Hard power. No one follows a bully. You have soft power.”
“Soft power.”
“Your friends,” she said. “They love you. Boxey—he followed your lead because he loved you. Your family loves you. People listen to you. You will rule the entire world with your soft power. You can be what I can never be. A true leader. One whom the whole universe will follow because you love. Love is all that matters.”
She turned her attention to Austin. “And Austin—he loves you unconditionally. No matter what.” She yelled at Zid’dra, “Fuck you, pookie! You suck!”
“Don’t call me pookie!”
Devlina turned back to me, her eyes filled with hurt. “I just wanted to be loved. That’s all.” She groaned. “You can be the fulfillment of my dreams. Do you understand?”
I waggled and gazed at the floating red orb of light.
“You have to trust me.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know you are. I won’t hurt you.”
“How do I know that?”
“Faith. It’s what God has. You trust in him or her or whatever it is. Trust me.”
I nodded.
“I trust you.”
“Close your eyes, son.”
I shut my eyes.
Devlina said, “I love you, and I want Austin to live.”
“But Devlina…”
I opened my eyes. Abruptly, she screeched and heaved the red orb at me. The red ball sped toward me connecting with my chest. The light absorbed into my shirt and then everything went black.
A terrible explosion surrounded me. I was flying through a great void of frigid space.
The Excelà. My body was pulled in every direction. I was ripping apart and spinning around and around and around in the great and vast blackness. All the pieces of me were tumbling down and falling deeper into a void.
And then, white light exploded into the black night. I opened my eyes. I was in Joshua Tree, seated on an outcropping of rocks. I shook my arms and kicked my legs. I was alive.
I spotted Áurmiddo sitting next to me. We were staring up at Cassiopeia.
“True Colors” played from a red speaker. Áurmiddo reached for my hand.
“You have to live. Don’t you understand?”
I shook my head. I was muddled, my head filled with fog.
“It’s about the universe and gravity and love.”
“I don’t understand, Áurmiddo.”
“I was the key.”
“To what?” I examined his brown eyes.
“To the universe.”
“But why?”
“So, you could become who you are destined to be.”
“What does that mean?” I looked at him. I was incensed. “You didn’t love me?”
He smiled. “Of course, I did. But now, looking back, I know that when I kissed you, it opened you up to the universe.”
“I loved you.”
“You love Austin.” He laughed. “I have a boyfriend now. Ours was puppy love, Elicêo.”
“I hate puppy love. I was in love with you.”
“You’re in love with Austin now and he adores you, and he keeps the light in you burning. Don’t you see? They tried to douse it over and over again, but it can’t be extinguished.”
“I don’t understand.”
“You have to go back. Be with Austin. I’ll be in Minerva. You can visit me. But you have to go back to Earth.”
“Perhaps I don’t want to.”
“You have to. You think you’re alive, but you’re not.”
“I’m not alive?”
“You’re like a thousand tiles making up a mosaic.”
“Yeah, well maybe then it’s easier to be like this, a void, an Excelà. Nothing. No expectations. Nada. Rien.”
“No, this is nothing. You have to be something. You’ve become a man, Elijah. You’re no longer the scared boy living someone else’s life.”
“I’m not strong enough to pick myself up and go on.”
He grinned. “You are. Don’t you know that? You’ve always been strong, but you thought you were weak. How many things did you overcome? How many times did you live when you should have died? You are powerful. Remember that.”
“I’m not.”
I was crying.
“You are, Elijah. You are the great-great-grandson of our Glorious Queen of Queens. The bearer of light, the One Who Shimmers. You will always be powerful.”
“I’m not powerful, Áurmiddo. I broke. I mean, I fell apart. I’m on medicine right now.”
He held my hand. “Sometimes, you have to break to be reborn. Without destruction, there can be no creation.
“You need to go to that light. Be who you are meant to be.”
A lighted red door appeared in the middle of the sand, next to a Joshua tree.
“Go to the door. Be with Austin. Be with your family. For me. But more importantly, for you.”
“How do you know all this, Áurmiddo?”
He grinned. “I’ve been following you. On my scimitar. I’ve seen everything. Well, nothing too personal.”
I looked up at Cassiopeia burning in the night sky.
“I’m frightened.”
“Trust me.” He smiled. “You can trust people who love you, Eli. Don’t you know that by now? Your mom, Austin, your aunts, the Kangs, your friends. Even that silly Blair girl. She loves you.”
I sighed.
“She helped me.”
He laughed. “I know. I never anticipated that.”
“And Devlina.”
“She sacrificed herself for you,” he said. “Don’t you understand? People who love you will do anything for you. That’s how you know you’re loved. And a lot of people love you dearly. Even Devlina. And when you are loved, you can move mountains. That is real magic. Real power. They say that to be strong people have to fear you, but they are wrong. Love is power. Love is the law.”
I broke down crying.
“Devlina sacrificed herself for me…”
He squeezed my shoulders.
“Go, Elijah, now, before it’s too late.”
I noticed the light fading as the door began to swing shut. I stood.
“Áurmiddo. Thank you. I mean…”
He laughed. “Go, now. Email me, Elicêo!”
I ran toward the door and squeezed through just in time as it closed behind me.
Chapter Thirty-Two
The Lightness of Being
AT FIRST, THERE was nothing. And then, slowly, I noticed the sound of buzzing in my ears, and something rough licking my face. I heard grunting and then barking in my ear. My eyes opened slowly. Dazzling sunlight poured over me. I rubbed my eyes. Where am I? Puxàredo, is this it? Well, I guess at least I ended up here, not Down There with him. Zid’dra in his Gloom deep under the foundations of the Earth in all its seven dimensions.
“Master!”
I sat up straight.
“Boxey?”
I looked over. Boxey circled me, his tail wagging merrily.
“I thought you were a goner, Master!”
“What happened?”
“You fell out of the sky!” he said. “I was shocked to see that!”
“Are we in heaven, Boxey?”
He barked.
“No, we’re in the bumblebee garden.”
The fountain in the center gurgled, and the wonderful aroma of the snap dragons, mint, dahlias, and lavender filled my nose. My eyes roamed the sycamore and poplar trees swaying in the wind as the marine layer pushed over the Santa Monica Mountains into the Valley.
“Welcome back, Elijah!” A bumblebee buzzed by me.
“We missed you,” another said.
“Glad to see you again, young man!”
I closed my eyes. The buzzing was actually hundreds of tiny voices welcoming me back.
“Am I really alive?”
“Yes, Master!”
I opened my eyes. “Boxey, what are you doing here?”
“I was on my way to Old Earth for a new assignment, when suddenly I was pulled out of the Messimenta, the In-Between, and ended up here. Just now.”
I shielded my eyes. It was so bright. I was not used to this golden light. Had it always been this brilliant in Southern California? I had been living in sepia tones, and now I was in vibrant colors.
