The Flames of Death Spork II: Remaster Boogaloo, Chapter 10

Hello all. Not much to say about this one except that it is still sickening, boring, and utterly pointless. First chapter here, previous chapter here. ON AND WARDS!

Chapter Ten: The War

It was about two more months that we’d spent in Marleybone.

And two more months that we’d not cared.

We had fallen into a nice routine, and we don’t think too much about why we were there. We just went with the flow.

Nicole has been getting stronger with her ability in visions. She’s been having them regularly about various things, none related to Malistare, thankfully. But she always has the one recurring vision of us running away from something.

I finished getting dressed and strode over to where Nicole was pulling on her shirt.

The fuck are you two doing in the same room while changing??

When she pops her head through the hole, I kiss her right on the lips. She giggles and kisses me back. My cheeks get hot every time.

And we wanna hurl every time.

“Come on, we’re gonna be late,” Nicole urged me to move. I just stood there and stared at her with my head tilted. “Wh-?” Before she could even finish the thought, I grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into me. I picked her up and swung her around in the air, kissing her the entire time. I set her down, still kissing her, and finally I pulled away.

She slapped my arm, playfully.

,,,Okay we’re gonna ignore that tooth-rotting garbage up there for just a moment to say that previously we’d made a comment here about how we ‘could write less sickening fluff between Malorn and Penny than this’ and now I’m trying to remember why????? Did we used to ship Malorn and Penny??? Did everyone else used to ship Malorn and Penny and we thought it was gross??? That would make more sense—

“Now we’re really going to be late!” She started rushing around the room, getting her things by using magic to float them into her backpack.

But he only kissed you for a few seconds??? If that made you late, then you were already going to be late anyways??? Have you no concept of time???

I laughed at her as I finished getting ready. She stood by the stairs impatiently.

“Come on, Malorn,” she breathed, shaking her head. We walked downstairs and out the door. I called on Kalohae and we started flying to Barkingham Palace.

“See, we’re flying now,” I told her. I gave Kalohae a little pat on the butt. “He’ll get us there in-” but my train of thought was halted.

I looked back at Nicole and saw her staring into space.

She was having that vision again.

When she has it, I can tell by the way her body goes colder than her other visions and how she winces at times when I assumed we’re screaming in the vision. But I don’t tell her that she reacts this way. I don’t want to scare her.

Her body goes cold?? Bro are you like,,,touching her every single time to check??? And if this girl can be scared by being told she simply winces at something perfectly reasonable to wince at, then she certainly has no place on the battlefield. Either that or you need to stop being so Goddamn overprotective and treating her like a fucking daisy while at the same time blathering on about how strong and amazing she is just about every chapter.

Nicole snapped out of it, panting. That was typical for this vision.

“Same as usual?” I asked, thoughtfully.

“No.”

I thought for a second. Nicole didn’t say anything.

“No. It was different this time.” A shiver went down my spine. Her words were cold… emotionless. “This time… it was vivid. I could see us running from a fire. There was a black fog behind us. We jumped onto Kalohae. And I’m the one directing which way to go. You’re in pain.”

Pick. A. God. Damned. Tense.

“Nicole…” I don’t know what else to say. I was more worried than when the vision was blurred. Now we knew it meant something serious. And if I was in pain, I wouldn’t be able to protect Nicole.

Pain does not always equal incapacitation. Take it from us, we’re chronically ill. What, I thought you were the big tough hardass Bad Boy™ of the story, why do you seem so certain you won’t Power Through The Pain to Protect The Girl You Love?

“I’m sorry,” she said, “Maybe I shouldn’t have told you. Now you’ll be worried about it.” She let her head drop.

“Nicole, sure I’m worried. But it’s better to have a warning of what’s coming than to be totally in the dark about it, am I right?” Nicole looked up at me, hopeful.

“I guess you are right.”

“See? It’ll be fine.” I kissed her on the lips and let Kalohae land. I hopped off and held out my hand to Nicole. She took it and hopped down. “It’ll be okay. I promise.” I smiled at her, and she smiled back slightly. She turned to walk in the gate, and my smile faded.

I hoped I was right.

*After class, back at the apartment…*

Nicole was at the desk and I was laying in bed, petting Chester.

“What are you working on?”

“I wanted to try something…” she trailed off, getting back to her work.

“Come on, what is it?” I see a pool of orange and red magic swirling on the desk in front of her. Small sparks of fire are shooting up from it.

??? The fuck is this shit??? That’s not how magic works here???

“I’m attempting to make a new spell…”

I cocked an eyebrow, but she didn’t look away from the desk. “A new spell?”

Bitch, you can’t invent a new spell just like that. What are you now, a Master? Less? If you were powerful enough and had enough education to do that, you would hardly have to worry about Malistaire anymore, and you’d have far surpassed Malorn in regards to magical prowess.

“I’m trying to combine my visions with a fire spell. I want to make it so that I can project my visions when I want to rather than just trying to explain them all the time. I want to be able to show them to you…” She was concentrating really hard. “I’ve almost got it…”

How would that even work?? What would the card look like?? Why would it be a Fire spell??? That sounds more like the kind of thing you would try to channel through a psychic link—oh wait, I mean ‘‘‘‘‘Magical Communication Whispering’’’’’.

“That’s a great idea,” I told her. I stood up from the bed and patted her shoulder, kissing her on the head. Chester flew onto her other shoulder. “You’ll get it. You’re smart enough to do it.” I watched her for a minute, and she let out a yelp. “What’s wrong?!”

Malorn! Nicole! Can you hear me in your thoughts? It was Ambrose’s voice. Nicole and I looked at each other and we knew we heard the same thought in our heads.

“We can hear you,” I said out loud. Something was wrong, I could already tell. “Why are you contacting us?”

It is a dire emergency. I’m afraid I have very little time to explain. I bring horrible news. It is as we feared. Malistare has raised an army and Krokotopia has fallen to Malistare. 

Nicole and I went wide-eyed. We knew what that meant.

Really? Well then could you explain it to us?

We are at war, young students. I am gathering forces here at Ravenwood, but the school is under attack.

“No!” Nicole called out. In my heart, I felt a pang of pain. Ravenwood was her only true home; it was the first place she had been included with magical beings.

Oh no, let me play you a song on the world’s tiniest violin.

I’m afraid so, young one. But it shall be saved. If Wizard City falls, you two are our only hope.

‘But y’know. No pressure or anything.’

“No!” I protested. “We’ll come to help defend Wizard City! We won’t let Malistare-”

No. That is exactly why I sent you two away. If Wizard City was to be attacked, you two must be far away. Our job here is to protect this world in the Spiral. Your job is to live. You two must stay alive in order to defeat Malistare when he is weak.

OH GOOD, SHE FIXED THAT SPECTACULAR FUCKUP WHERE SHE DEADASS REPEATED HER ENTIRE PARAGRAPH OVER AGAIN.

“And how are we supposed to do that?” I asked, skeptically.

You must flee to Mooshu. Stay together, and Nicole, you must protect Malorn from-!

“Professor! Professor!” Nicole called. But his thoughts were already gone. We had no idea what had happened. Nicole and I looked to each other.

“You have to protect me?” I asked her. “I thought I was supposed to protect you! I thought you’d be the prime target for your powers!” I started pacing, thinking of how she could protect me. “How long have you known about this?!” I yelled in her face. “You knew you were supposed to protect me! Why didn’t you tell me?!”

HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU SO CERTAIN THAT SHE KNEW DICK ABOUT SHIT AND WAS ACTIVELY KEEPING IT FROM YOU??? Also, what would be so bad about her protecting you, are you afraid of seeming weak or something?? Jeez, how fragile is your male ego?? I think Malorn is exhibiting some traits of a toxic partner, Nicole. You should get out now while you still can.

“Malorn, I didn’t know! If I’d had known, I’d-” Nicole gasped. And in a blink, she leapt out of her chair and tackled me and Chester to the floor as she waved her staff, putting a shield up over the building. She stayed on top of me, and suddenly, I heard a hissing –

An explosion.

Time seemed to move in slow motion as I felt the three of us, Nicole, Chester and I were flung into the air, and thrown against the door. I hit the ground, face-down, and the ringing in my ears was deafening. I couldn’t hear anything else. I put my hands on the floor, and tried to push up and collapsed.

My head started to pound. It felt as if it was cracking open right down the middle. Everything was spinning and I clenched my eyes shut.

I felt something shaking me. I cracked open an eye and saw Nicole, covered in soot and blood, pulling on my shoulder, yelling in my face. I couldn’t hear anything but the ringing in my ear, but I read her lips, and they read, “Colemans.” She pulled me up and we ran down the hall, or what was left of it, and grabbed Mr. and Mrs. Coleman and dragged them down the stairs. The smoke throughout the house stung my eyes as they teared, along with the intense pain and ringing in my head. We dragged them out of the house and checked their pulses. They were alive, and I vaguely recognized Mr. Coleman coming to. But Nicole was in my face again, grabbing at my arm, pulling me to move.

I ran with Nicole pulling on my arm, and I saw Chester, unconscious in Nicole’s other arm. Nicole kept looking back and getting more and more scared. But the words on her lips read, “Don’t look back!”

Okay, but before you said that in the visions, Malorn was telling Nicole not to look back. You said it multiple times.

I could tell that we were finally living Nicole’s horrid vision.

And you hadn’t figured that out by now…?

I dropped to the ground. I couldn’t move. Pain gripped my entire being and I was twitching on the cobblestone street. It was blinding. It was deafening. I thought I was going to die.

I felt my body move as I laid there in my world of hurt, but not by my own doing. I was being dragged on the street, and then I was lifted up. I felt the scales of Kalohae beneath me and knew Nicole was getting us out of there on her own.

I continued to convulse in agony, but Nicole held my body down, making sure I didn’t fall. I was laying in her lap as Kalohae flew…

Then I blacked out.

Bruh what the fuck is wrong with you specifically that you’re halfways dying over here while Nicole is still completely functional???

*A few hours later…*

I groaned as my eyes started to flutter open. It felt like I was hit with a truck.

I sat upright, slowly as I held my head, careful not to black out again. The images of what happened came rushing back to me, almost knocking me over. I stood up from the mattress and looked around.

It’s called a futon, you dope, and if you had said that from the beginning maybe it wouldn’t have taken us so long to get the clue that they’re now in MooShu.

I was in what looked like a wooden hut. The room was decorated very simply, with an area rug covering most of the floor, vases in the corners, and several mattresses with blankets on the floor. There were small lanterns around the room, lighting it dimly. In the mattress to my left, I noticed Nicole’s backpack with Chester sound asleep next to it. But he wasn’t curled up as usual. He was sprawled on her pillow…

Kalohae was curled up in the mattress to my right, and he barely fit on it.

I walked over to the sliding paper door opposite my mattress and walked into a kitchen/dining area.

There was a goat-woman making something at the stove. It smelled like chicken soup. Her ears perked up when I slid the door shut behind me and she turned to me.

“Hello, child,” she said in a soft, soothing voice. “I’m almost done with supper. Your friend is worried about you.”

I nodded, understanding. Then I bowed to her in respect. “Thank you for helping us.” She smiled at me and eyed the door leading outside. It was open, and Nicole sat on the steps, staring up at the stars. I walked over and sat to Nicole’s left.

“Thank you,” I said to her. “I owe you my life.” She was quiet for a minute, and when I looked to her, I saw a tear roll down her cheek.

“Don’t thank me.” She leaned into me and buried her face into my chest and sobbed. I hugged her and rubbed her back, soothing her. She muttered something.

Oh what, does she think it’s her fault? Yes, how dare a thirteen-year-old be unable to completely protect a sixteen-year-old (did any of you notice we never had Malorn’s birthday, we’ve just had to assume it happened because it’s been over a year) from a huge and devastating explosion.

“Huh?”

She pulled back and looked at me with red eyes. “I thought I was going to lose you!” she whimpered through sobs. I pulled her chin close my face and kissed her lips softly. “You were twitching in pain and you couldn’t move on your own! I didn’t know if I could save you! I couldn’t lose… lose….” She let out another sob.

I looked her in the eyes. “You will never lose me. I promise.” I wiped the tear that started to roll down her cheek and kissed her there. She smiled a sad smile, and I pulled her in to hug me again.

We sighed as she finally caught her breath.

Well, this was still awful. We’re out. Bye.

–Bishop

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