Chapter Text
Lex didn’t notice nor care when her back was thrown against a wooden table. Her tear filled eyes lazily gazed up at the ceiling as shiny metal cuffs were clamped on her wrists, strapping her to the table. Everything around her sunk away into inky nothingness. Still, the only thing she could envision was that light and now, she’s not sure how she knows this, It’s whispering. She can’t quite make out what It’s saying but it feels strangely comforting.
It reminds her of when Ethan would lean in close and mutter sweet nothings into her ear. The tentacles holding her tight reminded her of when he would cuddle her gently, pull her close. This whole thing felt very reminiscent of when she was with him, of that love that swelled her heart whenever she heard his laugh or saw his smile. It put a smile on her own face.
A new, smaller tentacle reached out and slid across her cheek, almost petting her. It tickled, making her let out a giggle. All of the tendrils and the light started shifting, pulsing and twisting in the air. She blinked and, in an instant, Ethan stood at her side, beaming down at her and cradling her cheek where the tentacle once was.
“Hey, Lex,” He said happily, tenderly rubbing his thumb under her eye. Joy flared in her chest. “You’re here,” She stated with raw jubilation. He nodded. “Yeah.” She almost felt this strange sense of completion right now but something felt missing. Like a gap in her memory, something was supposed to be here and it wasn’t.
The second she realized what, she chastised herself. How could she forget? “Where’s Hannah?” She mumbled out. Ethan’s face screwed up and he tilted his head. “Who?” Lex opened her mouth to speak, ready to answer but she found she didn’t know either. The second the name left her mouth, she seemed to lose its meaning. She scrounged through her mind, trying to remember who that was.
“I dunno.” She mumbled, truly unable to know who Hannah is. Ethan chuckled. “Oh, Lex, you’re so cute when you forget things.” Lex couldn’t stop herself from chuckling as well. Oh, well, if she’s forgotten, it certainly isn’t something worth remembering.
As Lex lay there on the operating table, hallucinating her boyfriend, Wilbur got to work. He took out his black blade and started carving tiny symbols into her hands. She was so caught up in the fog his Master had placed on her, she didn’t even know she was in pain. She’ll be lucky if she even remembers her name right now. Paul watched him do so with eager eyes. Wilbur’s blade danced along her palms elegantly, as if he’s done this a thousand times before.
Lex stared at Ethan lovingly and he stared back, matching her love exactly. His eyes glinted a soft green. She always loved that color and he wore it so well. Of course he did, his eyes were always that color. His hand was soft on her skin even though the real Ethan’s hands were covered in calluses. As she looked at him, she felt something soft wrap itself around her arm on her other side.
She whipped her head to the side to see a little girl that felt deeply familiar. “Lex,” She said, softly. “Bad double.” Lex’s face twisted in confusion. “What? Who?” She asked as she felt Ethan remove his hand from her cheek. “It’s rude to interrupt people,” He said, voice dripping with barely disguised rage.
Lex turned to see that he was glaring at the little girl, his demeanor completely shifted. She felt the little girl shake her and she turned again. “You have to fight, Lex. You won’t win but you can hold him back, for at least a little bit. You’re strong, like me.” She tacked a weak smile on the end and, for some reason, seeing this little girl happy, made Lex happy. Lex blinked and suddenly the girl was gone.
“Little brat sticking her nose where it’s not supposed to be,” Ethan spit out. Lex stared at Ethan with wide eyes. “You’re not him.” She said. ‘Ethan’ smirked at her, His eyes glinting a sharp green. “Took ya long enough to notice.” Lex squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force ‘Ethan’ out. He merely laughed in response.
“Oh, Lexi, you can’t get rid of me. I’m a part of you. You can get rid of me as much as you can get rid of a limb.” Lex focused all of the energy in her mind and glared at ‘Ethan’. “I can still cut it off.” She said as she forced Him out of her head.
Her brain felt like it was going to split in half, pain throbbing in her hand and skull. Her skin felt like it was on fire and every muscle in her body screeched with heat. Inside her chest, her heart sped up, beating like a drum during war. Slowly, ‘Ethan’ vanished from sight and she could see her surroundings for the first time since she got here.
Luckily, it seems neither magic-user has noticed that she’s snapped out of it. The one in black continued cutting through her hand, which she could now feel, and the one in blue watched him intently. She darted her eyes around the room, trying to find something she could maybe use to escape. It seemed there was nothing in this empty chamber besides the three of them and that knife in one of their hands. Unable to stop herself, Lex winced in pain and they both shot up to stare at her. Anger flashed across black-cloak’s face before he hid it away.
He strode over to grab her head. His fingers threaded between her hair. “Well, well, well, looks like you’ve got more fight in ya than I thought.” The man whipped his head over to the other. “Sing." The other person nodded and opened his mouth. As he did so, a blue glow started shimmering from his throat, poking out through his teeth and making his skin look funny.
Before a single note could escape him, the smell of rot filled the air and yellow smog billowed out from nowhere. It swirled and spun wildly, buffeting everyone in the room with the harsh wind. Wilbur let go of Lex and covered his face with his arm as the fog flew around. Everything around them faded away, being covered up by fog.
Inside the smog grew five shapes, two adult sized and three kid sized. One of the kid shapes lay lazily on the ground, breathing softly. Before the cloud could even start to dissipate, one of the shapes, who was holding something unclear but long, thrust that something into Wilbur’s abdomen. His eyes went wide as he felt a sharp pain and he dropped his arm to his side.
The smoke vacated the air to reveal John MacNamera staring into his eyes with masterfully hidden emotion. They were practically unreadable as Wilbur felt his blood soak into his tunic. Paul froze to his spot, blood stopping in his veins, face turning somehow even more pale. Tears of blue gunk filled his eyes as the room started shaking. It started off weak and gentle before quickly growing into a tremor.
No one was able to keep their footing, nearly everyone fell to the ground besides Paul. He dashed across the room, ignoring everyone and everything else. The rumbling died down as he shot to his knees, holding Wilbur gently. The sword clattered to the ground next to him and Wilbur held his wound with a groan. Paul held a hand over Wilbur’s blood soaked hand.
While Paul was distracted, Hannah shot to her feet and ran over to the confused looking Lex. The second Lex saw Hannah again, tiny pinpricks tears of joy formed in her eyes. Hannah grabbed the metal cuff on Lex’s right hand and tried to pry them off of her sister. She pulled and pulled but it didn’t budge. With a groan, Hannah closed her eyes and willed the cuffs to simply click open.
Both of them did so with ease. Lex leapt off of the table and wrapped Hannah in a tight hug, tears now freely flowing. “Wow, you’re getting good at that.” She choked out. Hannah smiled wide as Lex shot to her feet, looking out at the rest of the group.
On the ground, Paul stared at Wilbur worriedly. Wilbur let out another groan as a faint yellow light shimmered off his hand, directly onto his wound. “I’ll be fine.” Wilbur said, jerking his head over to everyone watching. “Kill ‘em.” Reluctantly, Paul had to admit that Wilbur was right. He placed a kiss on Wilbur's cheek before he rose to his feet as well, lifting his hand and igniting it with magically cold blue flames, glaring at John. It seemed in this exact moment, he’s forgotten his vitriol for Emma.
John pulled a knife out from his side as Emma readied her sword with the sound of metal grinding against metal. “Lex, Hannah, Sophia!” He yelled, not taking his eyes off of Paul. “Run!” He shouted, running up to Paul. Seeing no reason to stay, Sophia grabbed the knocked-out Daniel with great strain,, kid was heavier than he looked,, and they all dashed out of the room.
Paul flung the flame at John who expertly dodged it. John thrust his blade at Paul who dodged it as well. Normally, a blade would be no problem for him but he can’t risk him having an enchanted blade. Paul grabbed John’s arm with his fire ingested hand. John hissed at the intense cold, arm rapidly turning purple. Paul smiled at seeing him in pain.
Emma came in from the other side and sliced her sword across Paul’s cheek. Paul let go of John with a hiss and backed away, holding a hand up to the now spilling cerulean. Emma pointed her sword at Paul’s throat, forcing his back up against the wall. The exes stared at each other in silence for a beat, Emma breathing heavily.
She wanted to stab him, she knew she did. Everything would be better if she jammed this sword into his throat. Yet, as she looked at him, her brain forced her to remember when she knew him, when he was a kind man who loved her more than life itself. He stared at her curiously as her blade wavered but she kept it pointed.
John turned around, staring down at the injured Wilbur. Wilbur smirked coldly up at John, pressing his glowing hand on the wound. “Well, I guess you think this is the end, Johnny.” John winced at the nickname he hasn't been called in years. Not since Wilbur killed his mother while John watched.
“It is the end, Wilbur.” He replied simply. Wilbur tutted. “No, it ain't.” He pulled his hand away from his wound to reveal it was fully healed, no sign it was there at all, save the blood. Wilbur shot to his feet and pressed a hand on John's neck. The two shared a stare, one that acknowledged that they both knew that Wilbur could and would kill John with barely a thought. Wilbur whipped John around and shouted at Emma.
“Let him go or your little captain'll be a smear on a wall.” Emma continued staring at Paul, who looked at her with unreadable eyes. “I'm not worth it,” John asserted. “Kill him.”
Wilbur jostled John aggressively, still holding his neck. “Ya kill him, I kill Johnny and then you and it won't be pretty. For either of ya.” He said, voice growing harsh, offering a glare in John's direction.
“You're gonna kill me either way.” Emma stated, still staring Paul down. “At least this way, I get closure.” If she kills Paul's corpse, gets rid of this stain on his memory, then she'll be able to let him go, mourn easier. She thrusted her sword forward.
“Emma,” A soft voice said, a familiar one, one that made her safe, one that she heard in those quiet moments late at night, one that meant she could bare her soul and no one was around to judge, only to love. Her sword came to a halt, ready to break the skin on Paul's throat. The voice that left him in that moment wasn't his voice, the hollowly happy and melodic one he adopted post-mortem, but instead the kind, gentle one of the person he once was. It was Paul's voice, the real Paul's.
His eyes darted around the room in panic and confusion. “Emma,” He swallowed hard as he saw that Emma was holding a weapon to his throat and let out an awkward laugh. “Wh-what's going on?”