Gusion wanted this to stop.

He was sick of everything being screwed up, especially when it came to his friends and his reputation.

Waking up in a musty cell didn't do any wonders.

"Hello?" he called into the silence, hoping there was a gentle soul beyond his bounds out to rescue him. "Is anybody there?"

Of course, no one was present.

Don't rely on anybody, he chided himself.

He looked around. Nothing but mossy stones and bricks. He tried teleporting, and nothing happened.

Fortunately, he still had his daggers. But he couldn't use magic, which was infuriating. Normally he could wield ten daggers at once, but now he could only hold two with his hands.

Other than looking for a clever escape, attacking random walls with daggers didn't seem like a very smart move. If all magic was erased, his daggers were just normal clunks of metal.

Suddenly, a shadow materialized before him. It formed into a shape of an animal, a very bloodthirsty predator.

"Welcome, my child," it hissed in a raspy voice.

Gusion blinked. What was this? Shadows seeped through the cracks of the floorboard and seemed to circle around him. He could hear voices among them: There should be another way. There's no hope left.

They seemed to be sapping his strength, his hope, and warmth. Then he realized that this – this creature was creating them.

"Where am I?" he demanded. "Who – what are you?"

The creature growled in low tones. "I am the Shadowbringer," it said. "My name is Helcurt. I used to be a student at your school... until they saw my power. They were afraid, cowardice."

It circled Gusion like a predatory shark. "As for why are you here, young one, I sense your inner conflict. You are confused, and I am here to guide you."

Gusion crossed his arms. "For someone who kidnapped me and took away my magic, you seem to have a practical way of guiding me."

"It was necessary," he snapped, the shadows trailing his movements. "You cannot see the truth before you are cleansed of its lies."

"I don't need your help," he said. "I don't need anyone's. Let me go."

The shadows curled around Gusion's body. To his surprise, it wasn't cold to the touch. In fact, it was warm, like blood.

"Yet you deny the truth." Helcurt's fuscia-coloured eyes glowed. "You have been tainted. I am here to help you, child."

Gusion returned the glare, ignoring the swirling shadows reaching up to the height of his chest.

"You want to help me?" He made it sound like a challenge. "Stay out of my life."

"You are confused," Helcurt insisted.

"Let me out!" he shouted. "Where am I! Where did you take me?"

"What about the price of your friends?"

Gusion froze.

"What," he started, "did you say?"

Helcurt's grin was maniacal, and victorious.

Gusion bit his lip. This was bad. He'd let him into his mind unintentionally.

"The power I can give you will allow you to save your friends," he bargained. "Only if you let me show you the truth."

"I can save them myself," he snapped. "I don't need your help. I don't need anyone's help!"

Even saying this, he felt like he was boasting. He couldn't even hold in a panic attack without Lancelot and Odette. How could he save his team of assassin friends without putting anyone in danger?

Even with Natalia, he'd had the royal couple's help and two pre-fried KFC. He couldn't do anything himself.

No, he told himself. This was what Helcurt wanted. For him to be conflicted, to be despaired, to be confused. This was his own mind, and he can control it.

He can control his mind.

He can't.

"Face it." Helcurt was like a voice in his murky thoughts. "You think you are weak. You are not."

"Shut up," he muttered. "Get out of my mind."

"You can save your friends, only with my help."

"Never. I will never seek help from you."

"See sense. What have they ever done for you? The Marksmen looking down on you, the Mages belittling you for stretching between their worlds."

"That – that's not true."

Gusion could feel his mental barriers starting to crack. Helcurt can wield anyone's horrors to its advantage, and he was not about to allow this to occur to him.

Anger bubbled in his mind. He had a life, and he was not going to let this monster take it away.

"I can save my friends without you," he swore. "I don't need anybody's help. You hear me? I don't need anyone's help!"

Instead of arguing, Helcurt simply smirked...

And let the shadows overtake him.

* * *

It didn't affect him in any way.

Sure, he'd heard lost voices like: "Join us" or "You are just another shadow" or more, but this was just common ground. He had taken his mental fighting training seriously.

There was no pain, just floating endlessly among the endless void. He could see his memories, his nightmares depicting in the darkness, but he couldn't feel a thing.

Not anything good nor bad.

He felt empty, like he always was.

Maybe Helcurt was right and he was wrong. Maybe he was right and Helcurt was false. Or they both were wrong.

Neither bothered him.

Some part of him just wanted to close his eyes. Another part screamed at him to find a way and return to Lesley.

Lesley.

Lesley.

Why Lesley?

That sweet girl, armed with a deadly sniper rifle and would kill anyone in a blink of an eye.

He wanted to be by her side.

He wanted Lesley to be with him.

He wanted Lesley to be his.

He clutched his head, suddenly feeling the weight of the situation. Why? Why her? Why now?

She's just a friend! He can't do that to her! He can't ruin their friendship!

Her hot pink hair... her brown eyes... she was perfect. She was the definition of perfect.

Why now?

He curled into a fatal position, the ground beneath him solidified. He was reminded he couldn't have Lesley, because she was under unknown control.

She could be hurt. She could be sad. It could be worse. He just wanted to be by her side, them against the world.

It couldn't be real because of him. It was his fault. He wasn't quick enough to save Lesley or his friends.

His fault.

He'd been the only one to realize the weight of their departure and the sole one to act. Where were the teachers? Why didn't they notice?

Why had he been the only one?

He screamed. Screaming from his sudden agony. Lesley was hurt because of him.

Because of him.

He couldn't save her alone. He was powerless.

She would be used as a cover for the school's destruction, from anything that would possibly come. Any fault will be directed towards her, and they will harm her for the crimes she didn't commit.

All because of Gusion's weakness.

Now he was stuck in this paradox, unable to save himself, let alone her.

No one can save him. He couldn't even save himself from his demons. Demons he never knew existed, or some so old he'd forgotten about their presence.

"Hope is not all lost."

He forced himself to look up. His cheek was wet with tears, one emotion he hadn't faced in many years.

Helcurt was smiling sympathically at him. "I can still help you, young one. I can grant you power so old and so powerful no one can counter it. All you have to do is say yes."

Gusion found himself at a loss for words.

"I – I..."

"Don't you want to save the one you love?"

He was on his knees, with nothing to lose. Every ounce of energy abandoned him, leaving him face to face with the monster who created his nightmare and despair.

"I..." Gusion wiped his tears. The action felt like a stranger. "Yes. I want the power."

Helcurt laughed triumphantly. Shadows began to curl around Gusion once more, but he didn't resist.

He never did.

"Wreak havoc for me, my child."

Helcurt's being dissolved into the shadows, bringing Gusion with him.

* * *

He woke up once more on the bed.

A dream?

It had to be.

Still, he didn't feel sore. He felt power surging through the blood in his veins, the feeling intoxicating.

It wasn't a dream.

He was in his room, on his black sheeted bed.

No one was in here.

Yet he could sense two figures' fear. Clint and Chou, he realized. They were still locked in their rooms.

So what happened with Odette and Lancelot? And Natalia?

A spark erupted in his head and a thought told him to reach for his daggers. He did, the daggers lining in the air before him like fish in the water.

Black mist curled around each one, unlike the previous light magic. He tried to control them, throwing them onto the walls with a simple thought, not even using the slightest concentration or need.

The walls were impenetrable. He'd attempted to carve graffiti on it with his daggers, but it was impossible as they were enchanted not to break against any means possible.

The daggers broke through the wall, the entire wall shattering into debris, the daggers penetrated the room's walls across his, the interior exposed.

Chou had just come out of the shower, staring at his ruined bedroom.

"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded.

Gusion felt a smirk creeping up his mouth. He recalled his daggers, which returned to their hidden holsters in a fluid motion.

"I'm going to burn this school to the ground," he answered.

He walked out of the room, faced with Odette and Lancelot.