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𝙻𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 : 𝙷𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕
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"Why are you..." Sylvie took a step forward towards Mephistopheles. There were many questions swirling around her head and she knew Mephistopheles could answer most, if not all, of them. Not only was he a servant of hell, but he was her guardian as well. Her feet automatically took a step closer to him.

Suddenly, she heard her name being called from behind. A chill ran down her spine. Was it the 'Call of Night'? The voice belonged to Mavis but, she couldn't make herself move. With trembling eyes, she looked ahead at her only guardian, Mephistopheles. He just nodded and all of her fears suddenly came to pass. And this was no ordinary fear. It was so horrific that this isn't something she could even confidently speak of. But, Mephistopheles knew better than anyone when to nod. It meant it was safe to turn around. By doing so, she came face to face with Mavis who was holding a stack of papers.

"How did you know it wasn't a spirit?" She cautiously asked.

"I..." Sylvie stopped, unable to think if it's the time to say about Mephistopheles or not.

"Blaze told me that your powers may be coming back. Is it because of that?" Mavis asked, before Sylvie could formulate an answer.

"I'm not sure. I just felt that it'd be okay to turn around." Sylvie replied anxiously. The fact that Blaze never hid anything from Mavis was true. It was confirmed.

"It's okay. We'll be alright." Mavis put her hand around Sylvie' shoulder, tapping it lightly to assure that everything will be alright as long as everyone's together in this.

"You were calling me?" Sylvie asked remembering how she called for her.

"Yeah. I almost forgot. Luna's here but..." Mavis stopped midway. Her eyes glistening but, she was holding her tears in.

"She's here? Is she okay?" Sylvie suddenly got alarmed.

"...you should come and see for yourself..." Mavis paused and she started moving towards the ward. Sylvie started following her but, stopped and turned back only to see that Mephistopheles was nowhere to be seen.

He'll be back. She knew it. Still, her heart couldn't do anything than to fear. She did believe that fears were meant to be faced or overcome. She had also noticed that life had a way of forcing fears on us if we do not address it ourself. That's why, all her life she would think deeply about what she was really afraid of and look at the core of the fear. Then, either make peace with it or face it. She could never avoid pain. She could never hide from problems. It was impossible, thinking how she grew up, confined in chains.

That's why, she had made herself brave enough to handle them. Her way of coping with fear was smoking for sometime but, after leaving 'The Sanctuary', Valerie came in her life and she could not bring herself to smoke around her. Thus, coping with fear became harder. But, somehow she was able to do it with the family around her. When one faces their fear, when they battle their demons and win, they'll be a true winner, and would never be controlled by circumstances, they'll be the the one to control them.

But, the child inside Sylvie still craved for love. The love which she needed from her parents. Mephistopheles was the only person who was capable of making her feel like a child again. Whether this was a good thing or not, Sylvie didn't want to think. For now, she wanted to go and get her fair share of love from Mephistopheles. She knew he'd say that she's being childish by being afraid of such weak spirits. It's even logical for him to say so. He was a resident of hell, and the servant of hell's Lord after all.

Turning back, she walked behind Mavis only to stop before the room beside Rhys. Mavis slowly pushed the door open and Sylvie came face to face with Luna, who was on wheelchair, a black blanket covering her feet.

"Why'd you get up! Doctor clearly asked you to rest." A panicked Mavis came to help Luna get back on bed but Luna stopped her.

"I'm okay. I just needed to go and see Rhys."

"Sylvie, can you please take care of her for the time being. I've to finish the deposits." Mavis looked at Sylvie for help as she nodded back.

"Sylvie..." A worried Luna called her name as she came to stand beside her wheelchair. Mavis had left to do the important paperwork.

"What happened... Why are you..." Sylvie was bad with words. There wasn't anything she was able to say in this situation. Her heart tightening as she touched the handle of the wheelchair and started pushing it.

"Wait..." Sylvie stopped in her track on Luna's command.

"The thing is... I want to say something to you." Luna looked back at Sylvie, who nodded and came face-to-face so that they could talk.

"A spirit attacked me and..." Luna trailed off as she began removing the cloth covering her feet.

Sylvie's eyes immediately widened at the sight in front of them. Luna's whole feet were covered in bandages and there were no feet attached to her limbs. Tears were in her eyes and Sylvie was kind of girl who felt crying was a shame thus, she tried to control them. She saw Luna's hand, there were wounds on her hands, it hurt her so much. Her heart tightened and in a low voice she spoke herself ‘Sorry. I'm so sorry. I'm late, forgive me’. She extended her hands to hold Luna's hand and called out for her in a low voice.

And suddenly, everything flashed from before. How her entire family was killed. How there was nothing but blood. How even Mephistopheles couldn't do anything as the damages were already done. Will Luna and Rhys be okay?

In her life, she had learnt something. 'Never make a delay to make it to your loved one, never hesitate to say anyone what you feel, don’t be coward. Keep up the promises you've made. Nothing is more important then your loved ones, your family.' It was her everything yet, she couldn't protect it. Why was she so incompetent! Her mind was a mess.

She had decided not to turn her back to people who want to say something or talk to her because, she'd never know what could happen to her the next moment or what could happen to them. Words could go unsaid and could never forgive herself for it. Being bad with words, she couldn’t say to anyone that she loved them a lot. She loved her entire family and Valerie... They were her lifeline. She couldn't even breathe without them now. That's how much she loved them. That's the whole reason she was trying her very best in remembering everything related to black magic. How it can take away life? And why was someone doing it?

"Sylvie... I'm afraid. What if I die? What would happen to Rhys and Valerie after I leave? As you can see my feet... I... I may never be able to stand up again. Nothing will ever be the same an..."

"Stop... You're alive and that's all that matters. Nothing is worst as death, nothing worse can ever happen then being dead so don’t be a coward, don’t compromise. You'll live for yourself, and for our happiness. Please..." Sylvie said. Her mind still blank with all that was happening.

"But what's the point of being alive when nothing would ever be the same? I could never walk. I couldn't eve..."

"No! Stop..." Sylvie raised her hands to stop Luna from continuing whatever she was saying.

"I know... If you love someone nothing matters, distance, time, situation. Nothing. You’ll always love them. No matter what, they will stay in your heart. I may always be alive in your eyes... But, for me, I feel like I'm already dead... Not once but everyti..."

"I'll never let it happen..." Sylvie shook her head. Her heart wanted to stop this negativity but, Luna wasn't ready to give up on this conversation.

"How Sylvie how? I know you want to help but, you can't. I know you believe that when people are still alive, we should make them happy. And not cry later for not making up to them. Because, death can say hi to me or others any time. You don't even have your powers. Just like mine..."

"I... I can try..."

"Try? What would you even try for? Our powers are gone. Don't you remember?" Luna sighed.

True. There was once a time when Sylvie could've prevented the situation but, could she do the same now? Sylvie's family was different. Literally, different and magical. Her aunt Algyva, was an heir to the centuries old church called 'The Sanctuary'. It was passed down from generations in their family. This was no ordinary church. A long time ago, Sylvie's ancestors prayed Flame God and obtained the power to control 'Cerulean Conflagration' also known as 'Blue Flames'. But sometime later, some members of her family tried using this power in hopes to rule over the world. Of course, this couldn't be allowed so, God decided to take those powers back from her family.

Somehow, they were able to please Him once again and thus, He let the power remain in the family with one condition.

"𝑶𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝟐𝟎𝟎 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒂 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒉𝒂𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒆𝒚𝒆𝒔 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔... 𝑺𝒉𝒆'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒚. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒐'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒍 '𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑪𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏'."

They were successful in having flames... But, lost their name in the process. Her clan was, in a way, cursed.

"𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒐𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏'𝒕 𝒐𝒘𝒆. 𝑻𝒉𝒖𝒔, 𝑰 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒃𝒚, 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂 𝒅𝒊𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒆... "

He gave them a disease, which may look ideal to the world but, was sinister from inside. Highlander Syndrome... This was the disease which Sylvie's family received. Years ago, from the Flame God, for their sins...

It was a syndrome that not only slowed one's body growth but prevented his/her body from ageing. Normally, if someone is having this disease, they just continue to live few years and die. Her family was different, though. They were cursed to live enormously long lives. 200 years, to be precise. But Sylvie was different, she was the only person to hold that 'Cerulean Conflagration' in the family. Thus, she was destined to die at a normal age, by a normal force. She could even be killed by humans if they tried using right methods... It was the truth she had come to accept as a child of prodigy.

But, things didn't go normal for her and her entire clan was killed by using black magic. The person responsible for it was none other than her brother's girlfriend, Lorelei, who desired the power of flames. After killing everyone, she tried Sylvie in magical chains who'd restrict her flame magic. It was Mephistopheles who helped her with daily chores. Lorelei had signed a deal with Hell and thus, the Lord of Hell had sent Mephistopheles to make sure that she was keeping her side of the deal intact.

But, things didn't go as planned. Three years ago, Rhys and Blaze came to 'The Sanctuary' to 'repent' for their actions. That's where they met Sylvie and she got to know that she had a family in the outside world as well. Luna and Mavis were her sisters. At that time, Rhys was under the spell of a powerful black magic which could kill him. Even Blaze was a victim of black magic manipulation but, Luna came to there like a miracle and convinced Mephistopheles to kill Lorelei, saving everyone. Mephistopheles returned back to Hell as there was nothing left for him to do in this world and Sylvie went with her family, abandoning the Sanctuary. From there, Sylvie had tried her best to adjust to the outside world and live her fullest with the family God had bestowed her with. Everything was fine then why? Why was the 'black magic' back in their lives!

"But, I still want to try... Recently..." Sylvie spoke after the longest pause. She hesitated a little but, decided to do it anyways. She was going to try using her powers. The powers, about who's existence, even she wasn't sure.

▄︻デ.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷══━一

Number of words : 2176
▄︻デ.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷══━一

Author's Note :-

I can't believe I started posting it NOW?! It's like 29th April 2022 and tommorow is the deadline for submission of ONC. I have to write 9771 more words to get 20k words done (currently the whole word count is 10229). This doesn't erase the fact that writing 20k words only won't possibly ensure the end of the story. And we've to submit only 'complete' stories for 3rd round. I'll have to push this really hard if I want to complete it on time.

Anyways, in this update we saw that Luna is finally back but, without her legs (let's not laugh at the sentence because of the humor). She said that a spirit attacked her and what happened afterwards? How did the spirit manage to hurt her so badly and if it did hurt her so badly, why did it let go?

Let's wait for further updates to see what the whole thing is about. And thank you so much for giving 'Burn A Little' a chance. We're closer to 100 reads now.

Till the next time. Take care.