literature

What Fools These Mortals Be 22

Deviation Actions

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He had never been in a formal dual before. Over the years, he'd gotten into a few spats with some other magic users but most of them backed down from his elemental magic before things got too serious.

But Vinton wasn't scared of his magic. And who knew what sort of spells and runes Vinton had at his disposal. The more Hanna thought about it, as he walked several paces away and Vinton did the same in the opposite direction, the more he beginning to wonder if this was such a great idea. If he lost--and there was a possibility that he could--then he would be worse then dead and his friends would once again be Vinton's unwilling gladiators.

Hanna stopped walking, staring down at the thick, green grass between his feet. Firelight flickered over the burnished metal of his steam-powered leg. He couldn't back away from this fight; the magic had sealed the match. Hanna had willingly paid his price for his magic and he was not about to give it up. His fingers brushed the leather brace atop his steam-leg. This too had been a price in of itself. A price for his own stupidity.

Setting his jaw, he spun on his heel and faced Vinton who stood across a rather large expanse of field with smirk playing across his face. Hanna glared at him. Vinton simply kept smiling and removed his violet coat, tossing it aside to undo the buttons on his white shirt. With a heavy sigh, Hanna grabbed the hem of his own, black shirt and pulled it over his head. It caught on his ink container and he gave a frustrated grunt, ripping the fabric and throwing the ruined shirt aside. Then he grabbed a couple of paintbrushes, held one in his right hand and dipped the other in the ink, swirling it around a bit.

He felt the eyes of his friends on him, staring, heard Conrad shout some rather obscene words followed by a "what the hell is that!?", knew his undead companion was going to ask questions later, and tried to ignore them. He put the ink-loaded paintbrush handle in his mouth and proceeded to fill the second brush with ink as well. Then he closed the container and started to carefully draw out his runes. Honestly, he was a little surprised that Vinton hadn't said anything about---.

"Cross!"

Oh, there it was.

"Yes?" Hanna feigned innocence, smiling brightly despite the half horrified, half livid expression on Vinton's face.

"Your chest!" The blond man snarled, jabbing a finger at Hanna from across the field, "You lied about your price!"

"I never lied." Hanna replied with a shrug, "You just made an assumption. And you know what they say about assuming? Assume makes an "ass" out of "you" and "me"."

"Leave it alone, Vin." Cyle called and Vinton cast a glance back at him, "It's not important."

Vinton glowered at Hanna and then went back to furiously writing his own runes on his bare arms and chest. Hanna's smile vanished as he looked down at his chest, at what Vinton had been so angry about, at the secret he'd been keeping from everyone.

Thick straps of leather pressed tightly into his sides, looping from his back. The ends had metal hooks that were small, but sturdy that hooked into a zig-zagging line of stretched out skin. Hanna had grown used to it over the years but to anyone first seeing it, he imagined it must have been a rather horrific sight. He thought Worth had done a rather nifty job patching him back together again. But then, even Worth had had a few choice words to say about the state Hanna had been in when they first met.

The young red head thought about all of this as he finished drawing his runes, stowed his paintbrushes away, and let his arms dangle loosely at his sides, giving the ink sufficient time to dry. Memories whirled through his head--his past and present; things he'd done, places he'd been, people he'd met, friends he'd made. A blur of a lifetime. And if he lost, it would all be gone in an instant.

Electric blue eyes stared across the open expanse of dark grass, lit only by the last dying embers of the collapsed Fight Tent, the stars, and the quarter moon. Vinton's emerald green eyes stared back, hard, empty, and cold. Hanna tried to swallow past the lump in this throat and found his mouth had gone dry.

The fight suddenly seemed like a really, really stupid idea.

Vinton decided he was done waiting. He raised his arms and red energy boiled out of his hands like thick smoke, twisting and turning in the air. Hanna flexed his fingers and lightning crackled briefly across the backs of his hands. Across the field, Vinton stretched his arms out, pointed towards Hanna, and started chanting. Hanna's eyes widened and he rushed forward.

Chanting was spellcaster magic; if he could interrupt the spell before Vinton had time to finish the chant, there was chance it would backfire and hit Vinton instead of Hanna. The Paranormal Investigator summoned a ball of blue lighting, feeling its energy tingle against his skin, and raised an arm to throw the attack at the blonde man.  

But he was a little bit too slow.

Vinton finished the chant and clapped his palms together, lacing his fingers together and clenching his fists as tightly as he could. Hanna gave a cry of pain, the lightning disappearing in a pathetic sputter of sparks. Intense pressure was squeezing him like a vice, pressing his arms painfully into his sides. He couldn't move, his feet skidded uselessly across the grass, the air was being forced out of his lungs, and he felt like his insides were being squished into nothingness. If he didn't suffocate first, then he'd surely be crushed to death.

"Stop it!" Veser made to help Hanna, limping forward with the aid of Toirneach. But Conrad grabbed the back of the half-selkie's coat, stopping him. Veser turned his large, neon-green eyes on the vampire, glaring with all he was worth.

"Hanna said we couldn't help him." Conrad breathed, shuddering at the thought. He looked sick in the pale moonlight, "We...we just have to trust him."

"You shithead vampire! You pussy! You...you...fucking coward!" Veser screamed, eyes shimmering with tears he fought to hold back, "How can you leave him out there!? How can you do that!?" He wrenched himself away from Conrad and looked between Toni and the zombie, "Why aren't you trying to help him!? Why!?" Veser spun back around to face the fight, "Damn it! Help him! Somebody help him!"

"Veser," Toni put an arm around the teen's shoulders and drew him close, "Veser, it'll be alright. Hanna will get out of this, you know he will. Just...it will be alright."

Hanna's world spun. His mind was a blur. He couldn't focus. He couldn't breathe and he desperately needed to get a breath. His fingers twitched--a light breeze ruffled his hair. He clenched his fist and a howling gust of cold wind whipped out of nowhere, sending dangerous embers from the fire swirling into the air. The blast was strong enough to make Vinton stumble and throw his arms out, pinwheeling almost comically to stay upright. Hanna collapsed to all fours on the ground, coughing, trying to breathe again.

The two combatants struggled to their feet at the same time. Vinton was staring blankly at Hanna. Hanna returned the blank gaze for a moment and then grinned mockingly. Vinton glowered.

"My turn!" Hanna whipped both his arms over his head in a wild gesture. Cold air condensed between his hands, drawing moisture in along with it, and forming a solid ball of ice. It suddenly splintered into a thousand tiny shards that flung themselves at Vinton, whistling dangerously through the air.

"Is that all you have, Cross?" Vinton threw up another shield and the ice splintered into tiny shards that fell uselessly to the ground, "And you dare call yourself an elementalist. This is child's play. If you're not going to fight like you mean I'm going to crush you."

"That was just a warm up." Hanna retorted, scowling at the blonde man. He summoned fire in one hand and cupped his other hand over the top, almost protectively, "I've been playing around with the elements for years. There's so much fun stuff you can do with it! Like this!"

He flung his arms forward and the fire spiraled out of his hand just as a great gust of wind rose out of nowhere and...promptly scattered the fire across the grass where it sizzled out into wisps of smoke. Hanna dropped his arms to his sides and took a couple of wary steps back.

"Run, Hanna," The zombie whispered, even though Hanna couldn't hear him from their position at the edge of the forest, "Run. Don't just stand there, run."

But Hanna didn't run. That stupid, sheepish grin spread across his face, "Well, it worked before...when I was practicing." He looked up at Vinton, "Can I try that again?"

"No." Vinton said with a kind smile that didn't reach his eyes. He twisted his hands in a complicated gesture and Hanna yelped, dancing around on the spot, trying to avoid the iron spikes that were shooting out of the earth at him. One tore in his side and he flinched, stumbling backwards and falling to the ground, a hand pressed over the cut. It wasn't deep but it stung something fierce.

"Time to give up your magic, Cross." Vinton towered over him, hands raised, emerald eyes glittering with anticipation.

Hanna panicked.

There was a rumble and sharp shafts of earth rocketed out of the ground. One of them slammed into Vinton's shoulder and he shouted in pain, backing away as a trickle of blood leaked down his bare arm. The two of them glared at one another, panting, gauging how badly the other was injured. Still keeping eye contact with Vinton, Hanna slowly started drawing a rune in the dirt beside him.

"Vinton, look out!" Cyle's voice rang across the field and Vinton's emerald eyes flashed to the ground where Hanna was desperately trying to finish off the rune.

"I don't think so, Cross!" Vinton fired off several bursts of red energy and Hanna rolled out of the way. The red head flung a hand out and a bolt of lightning struck Vinton in the stomach. The man fell back with a scream, twitching on the ground. Hanna pushed himself to his feet and backed away, wiping sweat from his face and trying to catch his breath again.

"Want a time out, Vinton?" He smirked, checking to make sure the cut in his side had stopped bleeding.

"Go to hell." The sorcerer spat, standing up again. His hair was disheveled and blood was dripping out of the corner of his mouth. He'd probably bitten his tongue.

"Been there and back!" Hanna retorted hotly, summoning more lightning and letting it flicker across his hands and arc up his arms, "And it's not fun."

"Then you won't mind too terribly much if I send you there again!" Vinton flung his arms out to the sides, releasing a shock wave of raw magic at the same instant Hanna let loose the lightning. The two magics collided and Vinton's magic reflected off of Hanna's; the red head had definitely poured more magic into this round of lightning than the others. The crimson shock wave erupted in all directions. Hanna ducked one and then was struck in the side by another blast, sending him skidding backwards head over heels across the grass. Vinton dodged the majority of the redirected magic and let it fly by him.

Unfortunately, it slammed right into Cyle.

"CYLE!" Vinton's cry of anguish was mimicked by his friend's scream of agony as the magically charged energy crackled across his form. The sheer amount of power trapped in the attack was too much and imploded upon itself, flinging the man backwards to slam helplessly into a tree. Vinton abandoned the fight and tore across the grass to kneel at his friend's side.

"Is he allowed to abandon the fight like that?" Toni wondered aloud, "I thought the magic wouldn't let them?" She looked around at Conrad.

"Why the hell are you looking at me!? How should I know!" The vampire sputtered, "Maybe they needed to specify! Hell, I don't know!"

Vinton, meanwhile, was almost in a state of panic, "Cyle, damn it, Cyle, why the hell were you standing so close? What did I tell you about standing close!?" Vinton's twitching fingers hovered over the charred skin of Cyle's body, "Look at me, Cyle, you've gotten out of situations like this before and you can do it again. Look at me, damn it!"

Cyle's brown eyes eased open slowly. The light in them was fading. He looked at Vinton for what felt like a very long time. Vinton's hands were tight around the front of his friend's vest, as though by holding on as tightly as he could, he could keep Cyle alive.

"Cyle, you're going to...live right?" Cyle didn't answer him, just closed with eyes, a little smile playing across his burnt and cracked lips, "Cyle..." Vinton said the name almost pleadingly, "Cyle, don't leave me to do this by myself. Please...? Please, Cyle, I...we were supposed to finish this together." Cyle didn't move, "Cyle, we were going to go to the New World--to the Americas. Cyle...?"

No one else was moving on the field. The rest of the carnival had long since departed, leaving nothing but scraps behind. Hanna's friends were stock still, watching silently, almost in shock. Hanna himself was propped up on his elbows, his back laced with stinging cuts from his trip across the ground. His blue eyes were staring at Vinton and Cyle. He had hoped that no one was going to die.

Vinton suddenly spun around, emerald eyes ablaze with hate, anger, and pain. A few stray tears managed to escape and trickle down his cheeks. He covered Cyle's body with his own violet coat and was glared at Hanna with unbridled ferocity. Hanna swallowed thickly. He'd never seen anyone so angry and filled with pain before.

"You killed Cyle." Vinton growled, madness flickering in his gaze, "You killed my friend!"

"V-Vinton, I didn't kill anyone!" Hanna shook his head frantically from his position on the ground, "You...you're magic wasn't...I...I was just defending myself!"

"You broke the rules! Our agreement was no harm to anyone else!" Vinton got up slowly, teeth gritted, eyes dancing with hate, "You attacked Cyle! You violated the magic!"

"I didn't attack Cyle!" Hanna retorted, stiffening as the blonde man stepped closer, "It was an accident! Accidents happen! It wasn't my fault!"

"Not your fault!?" Vinton snarled, "You have no idea what you've done, you stupid," The blonde man threw out a bolt of energy and Hanna gave a yelp, scrambling backwards on all fours to avoid getting hit, "Ignorant," Another blast and Hanna threw himself to the side, "Pathetic," Hanna dived out of the way as another bolt of energy was flung at him, "CHAVY!!"

"Wh-what're you talking about!?" Hanna gasped and then shouted in surprise as Vinton flung a few more attacks at him. One struck his steam-powered leg and a crack spread across the metal on one side.

"Cyle and I have been friends longer than you've been alive, Cross," Vinton's voice was cracked with pain, crimson energy boiling in his hands, "We were practicing magic before you were even an idea in your parents' minds!" A huge stream of red energy fired from his hands. Hanna brought up a wall of flames and the result was energy and fire being flung every which way. Vinton stalked forward through the scattered flames and Hanna scrambled backwards, putting as much distance between himself and Vinton as possible, "When our neighbors found out what we were doing...they chased us down and tried to kill us! I'm sure you know how that feels..."

Hanna felt his breath catch in his throat as he took a moment to scrambled to his feet. Yes, he knew exactly what that felt like.

Across the field, Toni, the zombie, Conrad, and Veser were all still watching. Veser was almost dancing with impatience, still leaning on Toirneach.

"What's he doing!?" The half-selkie moaned as he watched Hanna run around, trying not to get hit, "Why doesn't he fight back? Hit him with a lightning bolt, Hanna! Why isn't he doing anything!?"

"I think he's upset..." The zombie murmured and the others looked at him, "About Vinton's friend dying."

Back on the battlefield, Hanna was trying to keep his distance from Vinton, wary of the madness lurking in the man's emerald eyes.

"Cyle was almost killed." Vinton growled and two silver daggers formed in his hands, glowing in the moonlight, "He would have died if I hadn't accidently stolen his magic and used it to hold his soul in his body until he could be healed!"

"You...you did that...?" Cold horror made Hanna shiver and freeze momentarily in place. He paid for that with a swipe across his arm from one of the daggers. He skipped out reach, "That's...that's...do you know what that kind of magic could do to you!?"

"What it did do to us!" Vinton shouted back and a shower of sparks sprang from the fists he had clenched around the handles of the daggers, "Cyle and I lived with half our souls missing for sixteen years! I stole magic because I knew if I got enough of it I would be able to piece out souls together again! And you've ruined everything we've worked for!"

"Stealing magic wouldn't have fixed anything!" Hanna cried, using a torrent of wind to turn Vinton's daggers away from him as the man swung out, "What happened to you was terrible, I'm not denying that! But stealing people's lives isn't going to bring back what you lost! It's gone!"

"You don't understand at all, chavy!" Vinton spat, lunging forward with the daggers. Hanna whipped out a string of flames that sputtered pathetically in his fear. Vinton cackled as he sliced deep into Hanna's shoulder, "Cyle and I sacrificed more than you could ever understand!"

"Hanna!" It was a collective cry from his friends across the field. Hanna pressed a hand over the hot blood seeping out of the cut on his shoulder. Pain and distress and sorrow bubbled up inside him, conflicting, crushing. Emotions reaching the boiling point, he dug his feet into the ground and glared Vinton down.

"How many magic users have you met that stayed in the town they were born in!?" The red head screamed and Vinton started at Hanna's sudden, uncharacteristic outburst, "How many magic users do you know that weren't driven out of their homes by people they grew up with!? How many magic users have you met that weren't disowned by their parents!?" Hanna stomped his steam-powered leg into the ground several times, causing it to creak and spit steam in protest, "Why do you think you're any different from the rest of us!? You're not! You're just not!"

"You're soul isn't split in half, Cross!" Vinton roared, flinging red energy at the young Investigator from the tip of his dagger. Hanna skipped out of the way and threw out a handful of lightning, blocking the oncoming missiles. Vinton let out a mad snarl of rage and then seemed to compose himself, straightening up and taking a deep, calming breath.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Cross." The man breathed, anger still lighting up his eyes, "The first magic I ever stole--the magic I took from Cyle to save his life--was necromancy." His green eyes flickered over to where Hanna's friends were standing and they rested on the zombie, "I wonder if I could expel your friend's soul from that corpse he calls a body..."

Hanna's eyes widened and then narrowed in anger. With an incoherent shout of rage, he flung his hands forward and knocked Vinton down with a blast of wind. The man fell backwards, his daggers still clutched in his hands, and looked up to see Hanna standing over him, livid with anger.

"Don't you dare touch any of my friends ever again." The red head growled, raising a hand that arced with blue-white lightning.

"Hanna, no..." The zombie whispered, "Hanna, no, stop!" And he ran out across the grass, ignoring Conrad and Toni calling after him and Veser encouraging him to "kick some bad guy ass". He tore across the field and threw himself between Hanna and Vinton, grabbing the red head's hand before he could strike Vinton a fatal blow, "Hanna, stop it! Don't kill him!"

"I told you not to interfere!" Hanna's blue eyes were glaring at him, wondering why the zombie had stopped him, "I told you not to!"

"Don't kill him!" The undead man begged, "Don't...don't be like him."

Hanna's hand went limp in his grasp and the lightning flickered out. He stared at his friend, "I...I'm sorry..." The red head gave a tiny smile, "Thanks Mocos, I...I almost did something I'd regret..."

"It's alright, Hanna, you--." The zombie grunted, wincing, and stumbled forward a bit. His hand slipped away from Hanna's wrist.

"Dimitri, are you alright?" Hanna's brow furrowed as he watched his friend. Blacks sparks leapt from behind him, almost invisible in the night, "Dimitri?" The undead man stumbled forward again, expression one of pain. Hanna caught his shoulders, "Dimitri...?" The dead man slumped forward and Hanna couldn't hold his weight up. He fell face first to the ground...and Hanna saw the two silver daggers sticking out of his back. Those wide blue eyes turned to Vinton.

"An eye for an eye, Cross." The blonde man said with a sneer, pushing himself off the ground, "You take my friend and I'll take yours."

Conrad's mouth was hanging open in shock as he stared at scene in the middle of the field. Toni's expression was a mixture of anger and distress. Veser couldn't seem to make up his mind about what he was feeling--anger mixed with pain and hate and loss. His large eyes danced with emotion, his fingers so tight around his precious harpoon they were turning white.

Hanna suddenly made a very inhuman noise that echoed across the battlefield--a guttural snarl of anger--and Vinton stared at him. The smug expression on the sorcerer's face fell somewhat into one of confusion touched with a hint of fear. Hanna's electric blue eyes seemed to glow with fevered hate, his teeth gritted and bared, and his entire body quivered with tension. Dark clouds came out of nowhere, swarming overhead and obscuring the moon like a shroud of death. Thunder rumbled and lighting crackled across the dark landscape, lighting it with brief flashes of intensity. A wind kicked up twigs and small rocks, so cold it seemed to freeze the very air.

"I thought he said he couldn't control the weather..." Conrad said in something that was almost a whimper of fear.

"I...I think he just got angry enough to do it." Toni replied in a low voice.

Out on the field, the storm was getting worse. A streak of white lightning shot down from the black clouds and Hanna's hand flashed out and grabbed the bolt. It crackled, coiling around his hand and up his arm like a living thing, spitting sparks, brilliant against the dark backdrop.

"This is...this can't be real...!" Veser cried, neon green irises rimmed in white as he stared at the spectacle.

But Hanna wasn't finished.

His left arm, the one not containing the lightning, caught fire. No, not caught fire, became fire. It glowed like a beacon, brighter than the lightning on his right arm, flickering and shooting out random tongues of flames. Where his shoulder met his neck, the flames were smaller and faded slowly into skin. Runes seemed to dance within the flames, the core of it all molten gold color, and when Hanna flexed his fingers, it looked as though that "molten gold" were the bones of his arm. It was a magnificent and terrifying sight to behold.

"You've broken the agreement, Vinton Jaqc Evanhart." Hanna's voice was a cacophony of different voices; harsh, cold, dark, powerful ones that were laced with anger, "You violated the magic."

"You killed Cyle!" Vinton screamed almost hysterically.

"Your foolishness killed Cyle Diaghilav!" Hanna snapped, raising both arms in front of him and aiming them at Vinton, "You broke the covenant between yourself and Hanna Falk Cross upon the harm of the undead man."

"Holy shit..." Conrad breathed, "Holy fucking shit. That's not Hanna."

"What do you mean that's not Hanna? Of course it's Hanna!" Veser pointed out at the young red head, "That's fucking Hanna and he's going to fucking kick some serious ass!"

"No, Conrad's right. Something's...off." Toni was fidgeting on the spot, looking upset, "Something's wrong. That's not Hanna."

"Then who is it?" Veser said irritably. But Toni only shook her head and Conrad slowly shrugged one shoulder, gaze fixated on the fight.

Out on the field, Vinton had apparently come to the same conclusion. Whoever it was that was in control, it was no longer Hanna Falk Cross; the cheery Paranormal Investigator who's childlike behavior had gotten him into this whole mess seemed to have been replaced. Vinton was suddenly quite afraid. He took a couple of steps backward, thought better of it, stood his ground, and raised his chin defiantly,

"If I harmed your friend, then what do you call what you did to Cyle?"

"I already explained that to you, ignorant fool." The words were a snarl of annoyance. The flames on Hanna's arm leapt higher and ice crackled in the air, "And I grow impatient." Both the fire and the lightning roared forward in a spiraling torrent, combining into one, deadly attack. Vinton threw up a barrier and the attack splintered, racing over the domed shield and burning black spots into the ground, killing the grass. Thunder boomed and cracked overhead and Toni winced, covering her sensitive ears.

"Where did you get that kind of power, Cross?" Vinton gasped, dropping his shield with a shudder. His eyes were wide with shock and fear.

"I've always had this power." There were echos of laughter in his voice, even as he spoke the words, like someone was laughing in the background. It was maddening, listening to him speak; all those voices speaking at the same time in different pitches, different tones. Vinton wanted to claw at his ears, to make them stop.

Instead, the blonde man gritted his teeth and started chanting quickly under his breath. Hanna cocked his head to the side and flicked his left arm out. Wind and fire erupted across the field and slammed into Vinton, sending him flying backwards into a tree where he crumpled to the ground. Hanna slowly walked over to him, face blank, ignoring the storm clouds, the thunder, and the lightning. Vinton raised his head, blood dribbling from the side of his face and from his mouth. The look in his eyes was pleading.

"Do not beg to me." Hanna's arms came up almost mechanically. The fire spat eager sparks and the lightning crackled with anticipation, "How many lives have you taken? Have many magic users can no longer live because you have stolen what makes them who they are?" Those intense blue eyes narrowed into glowing slits of anger, "You do not deserve mercy."

Vinton's eyes widened in terror as Hanna drew both arms back to deliver a lethal strike. The blonde man cringed backwards, pressing himself against the tree trunk, bracing for the impact of pain, arms raised for what little protection they would provide. The strike didn't come. He peered past his arms at Hanna and saw the young red standing exactly as he had been. Except that Hanna wasn't moving, his arms were quivering in the air, his face contorted in concentration.

"I won't!" Hanna finally shouted, tearing himself away and stumbled backwards. His arms dropped to his sides; the lightning sputtered, sparked and finally went out, the fire flickered feebly, dying slowly as skin seemed to grow in place of flames until it to was gone. The darkness lifted a little as the thunder ceased, the lighting withdrew, and the wind died down. The moon light seemed brighter than it had before. Hanna was looking at Vinton with an unreadable expression that was a mixture of emotions.

"I can't..." He said in a low voice that was completely his own, "I won't. I won't kill you. I can't. I...that's not how I work." Vinton just kept staring at him in shock. Hanna licked his lips, cast a glance at his friends, and then ran towards the zombie, "Bartholomew, are you...alive? Come on, talk to me. Say something." Hanna gingerly fingered one of the silver daggers, paused, and then wrapped his hands around the hilt. Biting his lip, he yanked it out and tossed it aside.

"Ow...Hanna..." Came a familiar, somewhat muffled voice and the zombie raised his head off the ground. He looked a bit dazed but alright. Hanna allowed a brilliant smile to play briefly across his features.

"I thought you were...when you didn't..." Hanna didn't know quite what to say, "Can you...can you get up?"

"I...believe I'm alright." The zombie slowly rose upright and then winced, staggering a bit. Hanna reached out to catch him but a pale hand caught the undead man first. Conrad gave an apologetic smile and the zombie returned it with a grateful nod.

"Should we get that other dagger out?" The vampire indicated the silver weapon still embedded in the zombie's back.

"Yes, probably." Hanna gave a quick nod, "I'm just going to go tie Vinton up so he doesn't cause any more trouble. You take Methuselah back there with you." Hanna waved to where Toni and Veser were standing, "I'll be over there in a minute."

Conrad nodded and proceeded to gently slid the dagger out of the zombie's back, tossing it aside when he'd pulled it free. Then he began helping him limp over to the trees. Hanna turned away from them and walked towards Vinton who was still sitting on the ground, glaring at him.

"What did you do, Cross?" The blonde man growled, "Where did you get the power to bend the weather to your will and become one with the elements?"

"That was the magic, not me." Hanna replied, pushing his glasses up his nose, "You broke the rules when you hurt Mephistopheles and I was so angry that I didn't even notice the magic taking over until I was..." He shuddered and shook his head.

"Now what are you planning to do with me, chavy?"

"I'm going to send you to a mage in London. He'll deal with you properly. I...can't do it myself."

Vinton's eyes narrowed, "I'm sorry, Mr. Cross, I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

"What?" It was the only word Hanna managed to get out before Vinton lunged at him and tackled him to the ground. They struggled, wrestling across the grass. Ink smeared with blood and dirt. They were a tangle of limbs and anger, snarling and throwing punches and insults. There was a sudden crack and Hanna swore loudly. Vinton shouted in pain as hot steam burned across his back back. The canister on Hanna's steam leg had been crushed.

"Worth is going to kill me!" Hanna tried to worm out from underneath Vinton but the man pinned him down, straddling the young man, his hands finding Hanna's throat and squeezing. Hanna gaged and thrashed, his one working leg scrabbling across the grass, his hands pushing on Vinton, trying to free himself.

"You won't have to worry about anyone killing you anymore, Cross!" The sorcerer snapped and took one hand from Hanna's neck. The young head wheezed, drawing in what little air he could only to let it out again with a gasp.

Vinton's hand, the one that wasn't around Hanna's neck, was glowing gold-white flecked with violet. Vinton sneered at the expression on the young red head's face and plunged his hand downwards. The tips of his fingers slid into Hanna's chest and young man let out a scream of torture, his own hands wrapping tightly around Vinton's wrist to prevent the man from invading his soul anymore.

"Let go, chavy!" Vinton snarled, pushing against Hanna's grip but the young red head--for however small he was--was holding as tight as a vice, "You only drag on your own torment!"

"N-no...!" Hanna whimpered, tears pricking his eyes, "V-Vinton, don't! Please! Not...it's n-n-not the right...way! Not like this! Stop! Please!"

"Hanna!" The zombie tried to get up and run to his friend's aid but pain lanced down his back and made him trip, falling to the ground, "Conrad! Go help him!"

"If anyone comes over here, the only thing left of him will be little bleeding chunks of flesh!" Vinton roared, eyes flashing with insanity, "Do not interfere!"

Veser let out a distressed cry of anger and slammed Toirneach into the ground, baring his dagger sharp teeth. Toni growled, eyes a brilliant and angry gold, fists tight at her sides. Conrad's eyes blazed blood red and he quivered on the spot, helping the zombie back upright as he did so, never taking his eyes off of Hanna.

The young Investigator found that it was getting more and more difficult to breathe and he was sure it wasn't because of Vinton's hand on his throat. A chill was seeping into his bones, ice creeping over his brains, his vision becoming edge in black.

What do I do? What am I supposed to do here? I'm supposed to be doing something. What is it...?"

He felt Vinton's magic-stealing hand slid in a little deeper and he let out another weak whimper of pain. This was wrong. So wrong. Vinton was trespassing on his soul. He could hardly feel his own fingers tight around the man's wrist.

I can't let him do this. But what am I supposed to do? Do I hit him? What do I do? No, no, no! Get out! Get out! That magic isn't yours! Get out!"

Hanna turned his head, brilliant blue eyes finding his friends all watching with terror. He couldn't just leave them here; that was so unfair. There were still so many things he wanted to do. So many things...so many things...and with all his friends. He couldn't just die. That wasn't fair. Not fair at all.

So do something about it.

Hanna looked back at the maniacal expression on Vinton's face. He bit his lip and made a choice.

He let go of Vinton's wrist.       
Sorry I was gone for so long and that this chapter is ending on the most horrid cliffhanger within this AU.
Isn't that nice of me?

Just when you thought it was over...

Wanna see the magic taking over Hanna? It's some pretty epic stuff: [link]



Chapter 23: [link]










Hanna and co belong to :iconvert-is-ninja:
Vinton and Cyle belong to me.
© 2010 - 2024 HosekiDragon
Comments18
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Fluffy52's avatar
ohh man i cant wait for the next chapter, it sucks waiting for the next chapter of storys but its totally worth the wait.