Fun Fact: Metas are naturally resistant to the effects of reality warping, thanks to the unstable reality in their bodies. However, they are not completely immune and will not be able to resist it fully if the warping is powerful enough.
~ ~ ~
Felix found himself in the Guardian Council Headquarters again, except that it was in black and white this time. His psychic senses flared with apprehension. Of all the minds he touched, he had never been in an environment with such potent negative energy before.
The source of Gaius’s pain had completely consumed his psyche.
“Gaius, I’m so sorry…” Felix looked around him. “I never knew— I should’ve been there for you.”
A jolt of electricity struck his back without warning. Felix yelped in pain, swinging around. His mouth fell open in shock.
Cosmo Benedictus?
“Such a foolish boy…” A black and white version of Surone’s ex-President hovered in front of him, lightning magic charging in his hands. “No wonder your parents abandoned you.”
Felix flipped frantically, dodging the lightning bolts raining all around him. He wasn’t anywhere near full power in this mindscape, so he couldn’t afford to be careless here. Electrokinetic energy blossomed from his fingertips as he caught another lightning bolt hurtling towards him. With a small hiss, he chucked it back at the Grand Mage.
The lightning bolt struck Benedictus squarely in the chest, but he only laughed maniacally in response. Felix took a few steps forward, only for the apparition to grin into the surrounding darkness.
The ground burst open as a huge explosion threw him into the air. Felix caught himself before he could tumble further.
“You’re not going anywhere, kid,” an unfamiliar man snarled as he rose from the hole in the ground. “You can’t even beat me. How’re you going to save your parents?”
More sparks crackled around his fingertips, but Felix was losing patience quickly. With a single swish of his wrist, he telekinetically ripped that apparition in half. No need to hold back in here if they weren’t real.
Sinister laughter rang out as Benedictus appeared again, along with an army of people led by an unfamiliar man, whose eyes were glowing green. Felix’s eyes burned a fierce pink as he steeled himself for the tough fight ahead—
Light blinded him as a huge explosion rang out all of a sudden.
Felix opened his eyes slowly. The Guardian Council Headquarters was devoid of enemies now, although it was covered in the new corrupted energy tendrils that Gaius had been using lately. He narrowed his eyes; the metaphor was obvious.
The corrupted magic’s power was the answer to all his enemies.
His surroundings shifted, and Felix found himself in a cabin that seemed to extend forever. Recognition sparked in him. He was in Gaius’s house now, although it looked as though it had been stretched out endlessly.
“Dammit, this isn’t real,” Felix muttered. “How do I get him to see it? How do I get to the root of his pain?”
“What’s real… is fear.”
“Who said that—”
He choked as a cold hand seized his neck and tossed him onto the ground. Felix rolled to his feet, psychic energy flooding his veins. Faceless bodies rose from the ground as though they were raised by some necromancer.
They lunged at him.
“You’re just a lonely little boy, so terrified of facing the world. Terrified of failing his family. Terrified of being abandoned by his friends.”
Felix fought like a possessed wild animal, throwing out psionic blast after psionic blast. These apparitions weren’t the toughest opponents he had to face, but they had numbers on their side. With every one he cut down, two more rose in their place.
“So much doubt… So much dread… So much pain.”
Felix’s movements slowed. Some hits got through his defences. Bloody hell, these enemies were beginning to feel endless.
“Dammit, Gaius. You just don’t get it.” Warlock Vulcan’s silhouette materialised out of nowhere. “I mean, I really tried making you a hero. Hell, even Cybele tried her best. But all you’ve done is let us down. All you’ll ever do is let everyone down. You’re no hero, Gaius. You’re just an incompetent mercenary at best. At worst? You’re a complete failure.”
“Vulcan?” Felix threw a psionic spear at the figure. “No, it’s not real. The Vulcan I know will never say something like that. You hear me, Gaius?! It’s not real!”
His surroundings shook slightly, almost as though it was sobbing. Another familiar figure rose from the ground.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Gaius? How can you be so damn weak all the time?” It was Kleopatra’s turn. “I’m always here for you, but I never feel safe around you. Maybe you should just turn into a monster so I can forget all about you. Falling for you was a mistake!”
“Don’t listen to it, Gaius!” Felix yelled. “Kleo doesn’t think that way; she never did! She loves you! We love you!”
Everything shook again as another figure appeared. Felix charged towards the crouching silhouette, preparing to smash it into smithereens before it could say anything else—
“I’m so… sorry, everyone… I’m so sorry…” Gaius’s apparition sobbed like a little boy. “I’ll be better… I promise I’ll be better…”
“Don’t lie to yourself, Gaius. You know you’ll only ever be second best.”
Felix swung around, standing protectively in front of his friend. His own face stared back at him this time, although it was a shadowy silhouette like the others.
By the gods, me too?
“I can’t do this anymore, Gaius. You’re too weak; you’re always in danger.” Felix’s apparition threw his hands up in exasperation. “How many times would you have died if it wasn’t for me? I have to save you every time. Why do you even try when I exist? You can’t win, Gaius. You can’t protect anyone. You can’t even save yourself!”
“Now, that’s just insulting!” Felix roared at his doppelganger, disintegrating it with a powerful psychic blast. “I never thought of him that way! I would never say such things; none of us would!”
Telepathic energy surged through his veins as he focused the power into his hands. Everything about this place was a cognitive mirage, that much was for sure. But that also meant he had the power to dispel it. It was time for this illusion to end.
Pink flooded the endless cabin as Felix released his telepathic power. His surroundings melted away, and Gaius’s house sharpened into focus. This time, it looked almost exactly like how he remembered, except for the solidified lump of pulsating flesh in the fireplace that was shaped like a B’javiar tear. Realisation dawned on Felix.
That disgusting orange thing must be the core of Gaius’s magic corruption.
Felix placed both hands on the tip of the warm flesh, channelling psionic energy into the core. It sputtered as cracks began to form on its surface. Orange energy began to seep out of the cracks. He smiled. It was working.
“So cold… so scared…” A strange, yet familiar voice seemed to speak from the flesh. “Why are we all dead?”
Felix ignored it, focusing on breaking through the core.
“Mom, Dad… I’m sorry.”
He craned his neck back. Gaius’s apparition was on his knees now, sobbing beside what Felix could only assume were his parents’ corpses.
“If only I’d been smarter… If only I hadn’t been tricked…” The boy held their hands close to his chest. “I could’ve saved you.”
His parents didn’t respond.
Gaius threw his arms around them. “I have to be better; I have to be stronger…”
“But you’re not, and you never will be. Nobody cares about weaklings like you. It’s time to give up, Gaius. Give up, and accept that only I can make you stronger. All you have to do is give in to our power… and destroy.”
Felix grunted as a familiar sensation gripped him again. The voice was still unfamiliar, but he finally recognised that ugly presence. It was that of a demon, not too different from the one in his recurring dream.
And in this case, it was obvious which demon it was.
“Shut the hell up, Abaddon!” he yelled, forcing in one last push of psychic energy into the corrupted core. “My friend’s life is not yours to destroy, and neither is our world!”
“Felix? Are you… here?” Gaius looked around the house as though Felix were invisible. “You came to save me?”
“Yes!” Felix shouted, despite not being sure if Gaius could hear him. “I would never abandon you, my friend! None of us would! You’re not alone, Gaius. We’re here for you!”
Gaius crouched and gripped his head tightly. “No… I can’t give up. That’s not what my friends would’ve wanted. That’s not what Mom and Dad would’ve wanted. Abaddon, I know… I know you’re lying to me.”
“Insolent child! You think you know better?!”
“I do know better.” Gaius stood back up, staring straight at Felix now. “I may be weak alone, but I have people I can rely on, no matter what. They’re my family, and we are strong enough!”
Felix watched in shock as Gaius’s apparition charged towards him and dove into the core.
For one horrifying moment, nothing seemed to have happened. And then he spotted it. Huge cracks spread rapidly around the core, until they covered the entire lump of flesh. Orange energy gushed out as the core shattered like a piece of glass.
And an incredible force flung Felix backwards.
~ ~ ~
The psychic let go of Gaius, cutting the telepathic connection to his body. There was also black smoke all around them for some reason. He tensed his body, fully expecting his friend to burst out from the smoke and hit him again. But Gaius was curled up now, his magic energy flashing intermittently like a faulty ceiling light.
Relief flooded Felix as he took a closer look. At least the nasty-looking eyes and extra insect legs had disappeared from Gaius’s body.
Felix also caught a glimpse of humanity returning to his friend’s eyes. The lump of corrupted magic in Gaius’ body seemed to have shrunk down a little, although it was still swirling in his body. Felix furrowed his eyebrows in realisation.
Although Felix had already cracked the source of the corruption, the corrupt magic was still in Gaius’s body. All that was left to do was drain the magic from his soul. Gaius just needed a punching bag to let it all out.
Felix breathed deeply, steeling himself for what he was about to do.
“Hey! What’s the matter, too weak to fight back? This magic gives you power, doesn’t it? Prove it! Hit me!” he taunted the boy. “Come on, let’s go for round two!”
“Felix, please… Get out of here… I don’t want to hurt you.” Orange covered Gaius’ eyes as his voice distorted itself once more. “Please!”
Gaius’s body moved on its own, throwing a concussive blast at Felix once more.
Felix smirked slightly behind the shuddering barrier as the hit merely glanced off his psionic shield. Gaius was hitting hard, but it was working. After all, the harder Gaius hit, the more corrupt energy he was letting out of his system.
More power surged through Felix’s veins as he matched the power of another incoming blast, negating the Sorcerer’s attack again.
“Argh…” Gaius clutched his head in pain, magic sputtering out of his body weakly this time. “Ugh… Give me back my body!”
Just a little bit more.
“You’re not alone, Gaius.” Felix punched him squarely in the jaw. “Share your burden with us. Hit me with all you’ve got! Let it all out!”
Gaius screamed in agony as he dug into his chest, gouging out a handful of writhing orange tendrils that seemed to be screaming in anger.
“That’s it, Gaius!” Felix yelled, telekinetically helping his friend pull out the corrupt magic as well. “You’re better than that thing; you’re stronger than it! You’re Gaius Deusdedit, and YOU ARE A HERO!”
A demonic roar rang out as light overflowed from Gaius’s mouth like an erupting fountain. Blinding light exploded from his body.
Felix crossed his arms, emitting a powerful shield as Gaius finally released all the corrupted magic in his soul. He closed his eyes in concentration, stopping his psychic bubble from being pushed away by the shockwave.
The searing air found its way out of the cave, and trees vaporised under the sudden intense heat, leaving only charred stains on the soil.
Felix opened his eyes again. The resulting smoke cloud from that huge explosion looked spectacular, but this was no time to admire it. He caught his unconscious friend before he hit the ground.
“You’re quite a handful, you know that?” Felix chuckled as he set Gaius down gently. Gaius was still breathing, and that was all that mattered. After all, he could regenerate from virtually any injury.
He lay down beside his friend and closed his eyes for a moment.212Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXYbpijnvXm
