"Petram, no!" Cynthian grit her teeth and rushed forward. Bright glowing petals bloomed everywhere she took a step and gathered around her to form a vicious whirlwind. She furrowed her brows and swung her arms down, crashing the glowing petal storm on the shadow leeches.
"Petram, are you okay?!"
The light of the Belladonna clashed against the darkness of the Leeches, raising a cloud of Radiance and Shadow.
A few seconds later, the air cleared, and a motionless Ultra Stone laid on the snow, with a few glowing petals scattered around it. The illusions of Magnificent laughed maliciously and the atmosphere seemed to darken further, just like Icetales’s mood…
Cynthian tried to reach him, but staggered from the cold. Sensing her body reaching its limit, she looked at Icetales with pleading eyes and whimpered. "Icetales, please, you have to help me."
That lone plea for help, and the miserable aspect on Cynthian’s body… Icetales felt his heart squeezing in his chest, while the wraith downpoured tears.
“Everyone I care about… is hurt because of me…”
Icetales winced once, then took a slow step toward the Roserade. Then another. Then, he walked toward her, his movements cautious as if he was afraid of touching a broken porcelain doll.
He took a deep breath, exposing his sharp fangs, and his tails burned more brightly… and wrapped his paws around Cynthian, shielding her from the cold.
“…I am sorry…” he muttered, wrapping his tails on her back as well. Despite their fiery aspect, they offered a soft and warm feeling.
“For… everything…”
At the scene, the Magnificent clones shrieked in disbelief.
“What?! It cannot be!” they seethed, as they turned into multiple shapes, resembling various ‘mons that assaulted Icetales throughout his entire life.
“Thou art a beast, a freak of nature!” The screams grew louder, but Icetales held onto Cynthian tighter.
“Thou don’t deserve nor art meant to exist!” Icetales ignored the voices once more.
“Stop this! Daemons cannot love!”
The pack of phantoms prepared another Shadow Leech, but the wraith stood in front of the crowd. The sorrowful expression disappeared from its face, replaced by a burning gaze of hatred.
Toward the ‘mon who put those ideas in his mind.
Toward the “father” that convinced him that he was nothing more than a beast.
Toward the responsible of years of solitude and despair.
“…Heh. Hahaha! Thou dare defy me, foolish lad?” howled Magnificent, before smirking at the Ultra Stone.
“With what help? Thy ‘son’ is gone,” they glanced at Cynthian,
“and thy mate will soon be. Thou were born alone, and will die alone.”
“…Thou art wrong.”
“Huh?”
“Because unlike thee, ‘Father’, I have a heart. I have light. Light that thou tried so hard to snuff throughout my entire life.”
Magnificent growled.
“Thou imbecilic freak! Daemons do not have light! They never did, they never will!”
“This world proved thee wrong!” howled the wraith, his eyes glowing red.
“And I am done listening to thy balderdash!”
The wraith grew in size, empowered by the glowing petals still shining on the floor. It became so enormous that it easily dwarfed the entire Magnificent pack, while small stars shone inside of the spectral matter. That was enough to make the illusions be actually scared of that show of darkness, unable to comprehend it.
How could darkness be empowered by
light?
“…Begone, malaise.”
And the wraith lunged at the pack, engulfing them all in a shadowy gust. The Magnificent yelled silently, wiped away by the shadowy energy charged with frost.
Just as soon as everything started, everything was gone, with the shadowed Icetales still hugging Cynthian and crying on her shoulder. Not too far from them, the Ultra Stone wiggled…
