A World Of Decree: And The Seven Laws

After every viscous storm comes a time for peace, calm, and cleaning. A storm knows no bounds, always destroying and never giving back. It could be said that a storm could bring rain to a dry environment, but a storm won't make it's path to a place that needs it. A storm prepares its next endeavour, knowing exactly when to strike. A storm cannot be tamed, but you can bend it to your will if you know how.

Leo, however, didn't just tame the storm, he created it, like a perfect blade after gruesome months of work. It was a fabulous firework display of burning flames and razor thin sheets of water. To Alastor, it was nothing more than a miraculous display of fusion; a form of magic used when two or more elements are forged together to create a spell. To the blonde man, who was on the receiving end of the storm, it was the worst possible scenario.

After Leo sent the storm across the giant room of stone, his legs had finally given out, sending him back to the cold stone floor like a mannequin off balance. Through all the pain and hardsh.i.p.s, Leo's eyes remained open, glaring at the dark ceiling of stone above him. The burn marks, along with the excessive bleeding around his hands had drained all the energy he had. The bleeding stopped, but the pain was too much to keep fighting.

After the storm cleared, the blonde man laid motionless on the ground with nothing more than a few burns and cuts. His face showed no remorse, but no will to stand either. His clothes were either burned, or dashed to pieces on the ground like a failed art project.

Alastor slowly walked over to the man on the ground, "Hmm," He stroked his chin as if reading a word he didn't know. "Not dead. But he won't be standing any time soon." Alastor finished his examination, turning his head to Leo with a quick twitch of his neck.

"Alastor." Leo whispered in a low, dry voice as he heard Alastor's footsteps approaching. "I-I can't move."

Alastor kneeled beside him, "My, my. Looks like your body finally gave… I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did, considering your injuries and all." He waved his hands as if he was talking with them.

"Who's side are you on… Alastor."

"Side?" Alastor laughed, "I'm on neither a good nor a bad side. I'm more of a loose cannon. However, to answer your question, I side myself with those I believe in. Osiris has lost my interest once he stated he's only doing all this to get back at Selvis." Alastor grabbed Leo underneath his armpits, propping him up with an arm around his shoulder. "Osiris was doing this to get to the Laws, meaning it was still interesting for me. But that changed… There is no forgiveness for endangering the innocent. No matter the cost. Especially when revenge is the main culprit."

"So what no?" Leo coughed as Alastor propped him up.

"Now.. We hope to avoid further conflict," Alstor chuckled, helping Leo take slow steps like an old man with a cane.

…

On the opposite side in the cube of stone, a labyrinth of hallways, dead ends, and hidden pathways was put in place for three individuals: Paris, Mooks, and Calvin. Each direction they faced was nearly the same as the previous; nothing more than stone and a faint light to guide them. The smell of cement and burned wood filled the air, but it was too shallow to easily notice.

"You think the others are okay?" Paris asked, gripping the empty holster where her blade usually sat.

Mooks remained quiet. Calvin gave her a wry look, then answered in a monotone voice, "I can't say for sure. But something just felt wrong. I can't help but feel that something terrible has happened. And yet, I have no idea." Calvin felt his heart ache for a split moment. It was a different feeling than usual, similar to when he lost Violet all those years ago. Now, he could only hope that Rina was okay too, at least for now.

Mooks stopped dead in his tracks, "There's a man at the end of the hall."

Paris and Calvin squinted their eyes in unison to see a faint silhouette of a short man standing roughly 50 feet away. More features were beginning to show the closer they got, starting with the man's cursed eyes. His skin was dark, wrinkly, and he wore a pair of loose clothes not suited for a man that age. He was bald, but had a fair amount of facial hair to compensate. He had a cane to assist him, but his feet were b.a.r.e, touching the stone beneath like grass in a field.

Suddenly, Calvin put both his hands to his sides to stop Paris and Mooks from walking any further, "Mooks. You know who that is right."

Mooks shared a cautious expression with Calvin, "Took you long enough."

"Am I missing something?" Paris said, fl.u.s.tered, "Who is that?"

Calvin kept his strong gaze onto the old man in the distance, "That is Flint Evermore. The man that was said to be dead from the Bureau of magic."

Paris remained unamused, "So..? What does that mean?"

"Means' he can manipulate our minds, diving back into our past to use that information against us. And because he's cursed, my nullification won't work on him." Calvin smeared.

"The past…" Paris whispered, remembering the days of her youth like it was yesterday.

"Fortunately," Mooks started, "Me and Calvin have lived long enough for the past to have no effect on us. But to some, it can be their most sincere weakness."

Calvin motioned Paris to step behind him, "Stay behind me. We don't know what he'll do."

Flint pressed his cane against the ground, taking a rather slow step to approach. Another thud was made against the stone, sounding like two rocks clashing together to make sparks. Step by step, the old man covered a fair amount of distance in such a short time despite having a walking impingement. He made his step about fifteen feet away from them, trying his best to muster an unwanted smile. "Calvin the Aries." The man said in an old, fainted voice. "Mooks the Sagittarius. And Paris the Causality… Three very important individuals, and yet, as fragile as a bundle of sticks."

"Big words coming from a bag of bones and skin." Mooks howled back at him, getting an inside laugh from Calvin and a cute laugh from Paris.

Flint leaned against the cane with his entire body weight on the front of his palms. "The past. The present. The future. Which do you believe is the most important."

"Trick question." Mooks yawned out of boredom. "The past shapes the present, the present shapes the future, and the future builds on choices from the past."

"Smart one you are."

"I learned that from a wise man once. Never forgotten it since."

"Be careful Mooks," Calvin started, "If Osiris cursed him, then he's alive. And if he's alive, then we're bringing him back alive."

Flint kept one hand on his cane, the other giving a friendly wave, "Oh don't you worry, I'm not here to fight. One blow to my body will end any sort of brawl regardless."

"Then why are you here?" Paris questioned in a bossy tone, still keeping her guard.

"Well, I was expecting more. The other girl…" Flint scratched his head as if trying to remember her name, "The Law of Gender. Seems like Osiris mispredicted the outcome of today's events." He paused, widening his eyes on Paris, "Let's see what the other one can bring. Relation Memoria." Flint's eyes began to glow, only to return back to normal seconds later.

Paris, however, suddenly gasped for breath as if she were just under water, but quickly got her breathing under control with a few deep breaths and Calvin's support.

Nonetheless, Flint looked displeased, "I saw a field. A field of golden wheat, chopped soil, and hours of work. There was a blade, a death, and a sacrifice. I am truly surprised one was able to mentally recover from such an event."

"I never said it was easy." Paris said, still taking in a few deep breaths of cold air and clenching her heart as it ached in the memory of Rosetta.

"Then perhaps I shall leave Osiris's companions to take care of this mess." Flint stepped aside, motioning with his hand for someone behind him. Although it wasn't just someone, multiple voices could be heard from the distance like a cascade of snow rushing down a mountain. The voices became more clear with every second, sounding more and more like screams of tortured souls rather than human conversations.

Flint stepped to the side, disappearing into the dim light and partial fog from where he was standing. Mooks has the best vision of all, and he could see exactly what was approaching. "Run!" He yelled, not a single mark of uncertainty in his voice.

The voices approaching were all the cursed souls Osiris corrupted that served no use to him. He collected innocent people, putting them under his command and making them run around like wild dogs chasing squirrels. The people didn't want to be apart of any of this, nor did they want to hurt others, but they had absolutely no choice but to obey Osiris's command; that is the overwhelming power of one of the twelve curses.

Just as Paris turned around to run, two golden eyes were sprinting at full speed directly towards her. Without enough time to dodge the poor soul of the cursed human, the cursed man leaped onto Paris in an instant, gashing her arm with a forceful bite from his teeth.

"AAAAHHH!" She yelled in a painful scream as blood came spilling onto her clothes and the rest of her arm like a waterfall.

"PARIS!" Calvin yelled, picking the cursed man up by a ripped up collar, and throwing him into the crowd of more approaching.

Trying her best to focus her concentration onto the wound, Paris released one of the only spells that could possibly save her from this mess. "REVERSE!" She forced a quick burst of white light onto her wound, healing it instantaneously and forcing a wound twice as large onto the cursed man that hurt her.

The pain was gone from her arm, but it's as if she could still feel it lingering in the far corners of her pain receptors. Her breathing was even more rapid now, "I'm.. fine.." Fear raising her heart rate with every beat.

"Mooks!" Calvin screamed with anger, "Get us out of here! Now!"

After giving Calvin one last look of uncertainty, Mooks finally revealed his magic. "Beast Within." Immediately, Mooks's fur began to strengthen, grow, and transform into its natural form. His body began to change, adding rows of sharp teeth, densely packed muscle, and dangerously sharp paws. The symbol on his c.h.e.s.t remained the same, now seeming like a single dot on his massive tiger body.

Realistically, Mooks could make his body even larger, but the size of the hall limited his potential. "Hop on." Mooks growled in an aggressive tone, barely holding onto his humanity at this point.

Calvin jumped onto Mooks's back as if there were a saddle on it, stretching out his hand in hopes of Paris grabbing on, but in the heat of the moment, she couldn't move. Seeing a cat-sized tiger transform into a massive flesh-eating beast three times the size of a normal human wasn't an everyday sight for her. Her eyes couldn't handle the pressure, and her brain wouldn't allow her to move.

All it took was a mere second to grab Calvin's hand, but missing that one second of opportunity was already too catastrophic for them. The army of cursed souls was already too close, forcing Mooks to turn around with a slight shift and quickly opening his mouth to release a blizzard of hail and snow from his breath.

His howling blizzard shook every wall inside the cube of stone, freezing and slicing away at all the innocent people running at them. Mooks did his best to reduce the collateral damage of his howl, knowing that even if the curse were to wear off, their bodies would still endure the pain of his attack.

At the same time, Calvin jumped down, grabbed Paris and flung her onto Mooks's furry back, cushioning her fall much greater than he expected. As Mooks began to close his mouth and regain his strength, Calvin jumped back onto Mooks's back and grabbed onto any fur possible to keep him tightly in place.

Mooks saw the frozen, scarred, and damaged human bodies towards the front being trampled by the people in the back, but it bought him enough time to start an early lead down the endless corridors and hallways behind him.

…

In a different part of the cube, Selvis and Faibel continued their descent down the first wall that blocked them off from Osiris, Rina and Atlas. Selvis stroked his long fingers against the stone, feeling the cold touch of smooth rock run along the edge of his fingertips. Nothing but darkness and empty space filled the distance to his left, with the wall guiding him to the right.

Faibel adjusted his glasses, making sure to wipe any fog that might remain on the outer parts of his lenses, "If the wall fell from the ceiling, Osiris must've purposely placed it there to begin with."

With Faibel's intellect and adaptation to the situation, Selvis realized what he meant, "So the only way to escape is to go up." He said, gawking his head up towards the darkness above him. However, teleportation wasn't the only thing Selvis has mastered with all his years at the academy.

Selvis stepped back with a brief hop, motioning his right hand to create some sort of white essence in front of him. After a few seconds, a horizontal step, roughly five feet wide appeared in front of him. A few more seconds passed, and Selvis created more and more steps, all leading up to as high as his eyesight allowed it.

Just before Selvis created another step, a familiar voice dragged his attention to the darkness behind him. "SELVIS!!!" Calvin yelled from the darkness, approaching at an immensely high speed.

"Although I can't say I'm surprised that Mooks can transform, knowing it now soothes my irritability." Faibel mumbled to himself, seeing them pop into his field of view from the shadows afar.

Selvis began to walk closer towards Calvin and Mooks's direction, but he slowly came to a stop once glaring bright dots of yellow came into view. They filtered the shadows like stars in the sky, quickly emerging from the darkness directly behind Mooks. It didn't take long for Selvis to realize how many there were, and what the dots of yellow truly were.

"GRAB ON!" Clavin ordered from the distance, barely reaching Selvis's hearing.

Since they were out on the open now, Mooks doubled his size forthwith, and without hesitation. His small specs of fur turned rougher, but remained their smooth texture on each follicle. He grew fangs, another layer of teeth, and even more muscle directly on his legs.

Paris and Calvin looked like nothing more but a pair of tiny dolls on a vicious flesh-eating beast. However, Mooks's only drawback was his human mind. The more and further his body was transforming, the less of a grip he had on reality and his friends.

Mooks continued getting closer, seeing Selvis make the last step needed to overcome the great wall ahead of them.

Selvis grabbed onto Faibel with a tight grip, "Hang on kid!" Making a lasso-like hand made of white fibers of magic, and tossing it onto Mooks's back as he approached. As the lasso attached, Calvin made sure it was locked on for Selvis and Faibel.

"Get rid of the steps!" Calvin yelled as Selvis and Faibel were whiplashed from the ground onto Mooks's back.

Selvis wanted to question why, but he never doubted Calvin, especially in situations like these. Selvis snapped his fingers, erasing all the white steps from the air the second Mooks took his leap from the ground.

With Mooks's size and power, his jumping height and speed was no match for a mere wall. Calvin made sure everyone had a steady grip onto Mooks's fur, holding steady as Mooks leaped into the darkness above, hoping the wall had an intended ending.

Although it was nearly 50 feet from the ground, the upper portion of the wall finally came into view as the dim air in the chamber blew against their eyes like a fierce wind. However, Selvis knew Mooks wouldn't make it, he knew the slow descent was about to come, but lucky for Mooks, Selvis was quick to act in life or death moments.

With a quick motion of his palm, Selvis aligned a perfect platform for Mooks to gain another jump, and it was placed at the perfect timing. Mooks barely made it on, gaining the extra jump he needed and following through to the other side.

Even the screams from the other side could still be heard scratching and tearing at the wall as they came crashing down on the ground. The landing was the worst part of it all, sending Calvin and Faibel tumbling on the ground like a pair of tumbleweeds after they lost their grip. Luckily, they walked off with only a few minor scr.a.p.es and a few bruises on their legs and shoulders. For Faibel, the crack in his lens was the worst pain one could endure.

Mooks quickly turned back to his normal size, breathing rapidly with his tongue out. Selvis and Paris rushed over to Faibel, making sure he was okay.

Just as they began to slowly calm down from the madness, a thin yellow spear flew right past Mooks's head, sticking to the wall like a knife thrown against a tree. Everyone suddenly turned to the direction of the mysterious spear, and then to the direction it came from.

In the distance, another spear was flung, but it wasn't at them. Roughly 100 meters away, Calvin could see Osiris, Rina and Atlas, all fighting for their lives. He could see Rina's arm bleeding slow drops of red onto the grey stone beneath her. He could see the look in Atlas's eyes as the second spear hit its target. He could see the tears coming down, and he could finally feel his own start to creep like a gust of wind in an empty field.