»I can
handle it.«

AUGUST
MAGNIKAI
MANSION OF TESTRIAS, THIRD KINGDOM

      BOTH LUCAS and Sara believed that Marcus was very unaware of what chaos he may cause his disappearance. The festivities within the fifth hall were very harshly interrupted as the king was informed of his son's disappearance.

      Taking off during the day was one thing, though taking off during the night, when the sun was down was very different. The city wasn't safe at night, neither were the woods or the mountain areas. This entire kingdom was not a safe place for anyone at night, especially not for the only prince of the kingdom. Guards soon started jogging through the hallways of the mansion, alongside both king and queen checking the rooms, more guardsmen were positioned outside to check the near surroundings, though Sara was very aware that Marcus wasn't anywhere near them, or else she would be able to feel his aura.

      Chaos and turmoil were breaking out within the entire mansion, causing Lucas more and more anger with every second that passed in which Marcus wasn't found.

      "Does he have any idea what he is doing??" He asked, his tone filled with fury as he looked at Sara, whose gaze was one of distress.

      Tears glistening in her eyes but Lucas could see how hard she was trying to stay focused, to find Marcus. Panicking or crying in a moment like this wasn't going to help the situation in the slightest.

      "Listen! Everyone!" Lucas suddenly shouted causing the activities around them to stop for a moment, all eyes being on him now.

      "I want every exit, every entrance, every window and space to be guarded, I want guards by the gate, the back door and the front garden, someone watches the prince's room, and no one or nothing leaves this mansion without my notice." He clamoured in a very loud and authoritative tone, after all, he was the head of the Royal guards.

People listened to him.

      "Tim, you get your people and search the woods, no one leaves the group. Stay in teams of at least four, the woods are not safe to be explored on your own, got it?" He said, pointing towards the young magician now, who used to be Marcus' best friend.

      The entire scenario almost seemed to be a dream to everyone. Marcus had taken off before but never like this, never at night and never without leaving a single trace, even several meters away from the mansion.

      Sara was unable to detect or sense his aura and that was strange, it was very strange. Marcus was one of the most powerful magicians, his aura would be felt miles away. Tim gave him a quick nod.

      "Yes, sir." He said before collecting his people and taking off. Finally, Lucas put his attention back on Sara.

      "God, I swear to god, I will kick his ass when he's back and...where the hell is Lara??" He asked, his tone very hostile and aggressive, which in any case Sara would have rejected but right now, she felt for him.

      Similar emotions of anger and frustration were boiling within her.

      "I don't know."

      "What do you mean you don't know? You were the last one to talk to her."

      "I'll find her." Lucas sighed and nodded softly, looking around for a short second. Most of the guards were by the windows, exits and entrances now or outside in the search parties.

      He knew there was nothing that Sara could do right now and neither could he.

      "I'll come with you." He said.

Sara shook her head.

      "No. You have to find Marcus. I'll handle Lara." She muttered, starting to walk off but Lucas quickly grabbed her hand.

      "It's fine. The guards are in position, search parties out in the woods. Let's look for our daughter. I swear to god, if she's missing to, I might as well just lose my mind tonight." Lucas said, his tone angry, angrier than normally, which didn't worry Sara just yet, considering the fact that Lucas had always warned Marcus from leaving at night.

      That was the only rule, not to leave alone at night. It was simply too dangerous, too risky and despite what Marcus felt right now, it was no excuse for putting his life into jeopardy like that and turning the night of these festivities into a chaos of overwhelming guarding and search parties who are all also putting their lives in danger to find him.

      "I had a fight with her." Sara said while following Lucas after he started heading towards where Lara's room was located. Lucas paused his steps for a moment and took a deep breath, looking down.

      "So?"He asked.

      "Well, she was upset."

      She muttered. Lucas started walking again, a lot of thoughts running through his mind, a lot of anger being present.

      "Okay." was all he said before quickening his steps, causing Sara to have difficulty with keeping up with him.

      "And what did you fight about?"

      "She's jealous."

      Lucas sighed and no longer responded, only nodding softly. The silence was awkward but he simply no longer knew what to say about this. He always knew Lara was jealous but she usually always got into a fight with him but never with her mother. It was strange and worrying.

      Out of a sudden he felt a stiff and ominous sensation crawling up his neck, his heart skipped a beat and he stopped walking, turning back to Sara, whispers echoing within his ears, every sound around him echoed in his mind and the movements he captured, seemed as if in slow-motion. Sara brushed her hands over her arms, feeling goosebumps cover her skin and she withered.

      "Can you feel that?" She whispered. Lucas' heartbeat increased before he snapped out of the reverie his mind felt trapped in for a brief second and he exhaled.

      "Darkness." He said, not believing that he had just said that.

      "Lara!" They both exclaimed in uncertainty, just a second later before they started sprinting towards the room their daughter was supposed to be within. Lucas violently kicked the door open. A dreadful image was revealed to them. Lara stood in the middle of her room, blazes of bright red glowing fire were dancing over her open palms, as much as they covered parts of her skin and clothes and hair but the fire didn't seem to injure her at all, much more did it seem as if the fire was insuring her.

      The image was only alarming because each magician was solely given one kind of magic to control and know, and for Lara, it certainly wasn't fire. Especially not red flames.

      Her eyes were filled with fiery hostility, yet panic was reflecting within them as well.

      "Lara!" Sara gasped, rushing forward but was suddenly pulled back by Lucas.

      "Stay back!"

      "No! Lucas! She's our daughter."

     "She is the darkness...." He said terror sounding in his voice and blemish was written on his face as he held onto Sara to stop her from running towards Lara.

      He didn't know how stable she was right now but she was his daughter. He couldn't just leave her like that. He released Sara from his grip but stepped in front of her, taking a step towards his daughter carefully but backed away again when the blazes only rose...the closer he got.

      "Lara? Honey?. You need to calm down, okay? Can you put out the fire?" He asked, holding out his hand, as a sign for her that he wasn't going to try anything.

      "Dad? Dad, I'm sorry. It was so much. I couldn't hold it back anymore. Darkness. It was so much...so.." She paused, the frightened expression on her face suddenly vanished.

      "So much power..." She ended her words, a small smirk appeared on her lips, as the flames around her whipped strongly through the air of the open window. She knew what she was saying and doing.

      She wanted this power and this was the only great disadvantage of magic, it could do wonderful things, it could heal and create miracles and do wonder, it could protect and be one's best friend but that was only the light of it and where there was light, there could also be darkness and dark magic...it destroyed, it ruined, it caused mayhem and chaos and it killed. Solely a corrupted soul would let into the idea of dark magic.

      Only the affect of corrupted emotions and thoughts could summon dark magic and it was forbidden in every kingdom, yet dark magicians still existed and Lara had so freely let into it. She did not escape it the way her father had told her to escape it, she did not ignore the whispers and echos of the darkness trying to lure her out of her shell. She did not resist in the slightest because over time, it was her anger, her rage, her wrath and her jealousy that drove her to desire nothing but the greatest power there was.

      She knew it was what had happened to the one person she always loved who was torn from her side when she was only a child of ten years. Even the strongest minds could snap if given enough pressure and it was only a surprise it hadn't happened sooner.

      Her hands balled into fists before she took a step towards the window, her back turned to both her parents now. Lucas who held Sara back from rushing forward, the screams of fear for her daughter that left Sara's mouth were silent to her, they no longer reached her and all she felt was the adrenaline and the power rushing through her veins, the darkness jolting through her systems and the flames of bright red fire covering her hands and fractions of the room, with every second the flames grew and Lucas pulled Sara further out of the room.

      "Bye, Mommy, bye Daddy..." The words that left her mouth were steady and faded yet had an exceptionally bitter sound to them before she rushed forward, jumping out of the window, a powerful wave of invisible gust rushed back into the room through the window resulting in all the flames to be put out instantly.

      "LARA!" Sara shouted hysterically and yanked away from Lucas' grip, raging towards the window but when she reached it, there was no whiff of her daughter.

      Tears dropped out of her eyes as she turned her head to look at Lucas, who did not seem to be fazed emotionally at all about the situation, simply a raw and relatively intense expression was written over his face as he stood at the doorstep. Ultimately, he swivelled to Sara, before pulling her into a soft embrace, holding her head close to his chest as he gently caressed her hair. He placed a sweet kiss on her head.

      "We will find her...I promise. We will find them both.." He said in a soothing tone. The moment of stillness was interrupted by the loud and large steps of one of the wardens storming along the aisle and stopping right by them.

      "We've found the prince." Sara pulled away from Lucas immediately and they both gaped towards him, stepping out into the hallway too, now seeing Marcus being escorted along the corridor, with two of the guards behind him.

      Sara, held a hand over her heart, taking a breath of relief, though Lucas had an expression of pure anger and disappointment plastered over his face, as Marcus walked past them. Their eyes locked only for mere seconds before they moved around a corner, towards Marcus' room.

      Sara's eyes went after him this whole time, though her mind too was tarnished by great outrage, it wasn't towards Marcus at all, not even Lucas, it was towards herself. Lara was gone. Corrupted by darkness. And history was only repeating itself, just as it had before in the Doe family.

      Upon reaching his room again, Marcus had no interest at all, to have to rationalize his reason for leaving the premises. He was a free person, not a prisoner of some sort. He could leave as he pleases. He could also take care of himself, therefore, he needed no spy and no keeper to watch his back all this time. Lucas believed he was such a great warrior and needed to save him from every danger that may be waiting in the shadows and it was very true.

      He was indeed a great warrior, after all...the first gunsmith of the history of magical weapons that could slay the monsters of people's nightmares. He had lived through a lot of battle and fight, seen lots of action in the war and many wars before that, yet he had died in the last one he fought and Marcus didn't. Therefore, Marcus knew he could protect himself and Lucas should look after Sara or whoever he actually cared about.

       He knew tending to someone who shouldn't be cared about in the first place, would only end in misery and heartbreak, as well as utter betrayal. He held onto the necklace around his neck, enclosing the pendant with his fist, so tight, he could almost feel its sharp edges slicing into his skin, though before they found draw blood, he let go, taking a breath, moving a step closer to the large window by the north side of his room before looking outside at the full moon that was shining at the midnight sky. His breath steady, his mind at peace, for just this moment. No anger, no fear. Just nothing.

      A faint glow tore him from his peacefulness. At first, he was confused at to where it came from, since it had faded so soon and fast, but then it returned, his head went down, his eyes darting down to glance over the necklace around his neck. His pendant. The heirloom of a deceased demon soul. It was gray and dark and looked broken and dusty through all this time. This splinter that floated in the tiny void of the pendant that he took from her. This necklace that once was hers, now it glowed, it glistened in the moon light and it radiates just so much with a purple glow, the same glow, that surrounded her at any time he was by Mia's side.

      His eyes were widening in shock, irritation and surprise and it took him another moment to actually comprehend the entire situation. It took him around a minute more of staring and his jaw dropping to actually take action but eventually he did. He moved his fingers carefully when he took off the necklace, holding it up in front of his face, but the moment he did...it moved itself.

      He breathed out in even more shock, letting go of it in an instant but instead of it dropping to the ground, it levitated in midair before, floating closer towards the window. He followed, feeling quite odd to walk after a necklace, he had actually believed to be normal but then again....it was Magnikai. He took another breath. What a day this was, event after event.

Nothing ended.

     Now, his necklace was floating and apparently developing a life of its own. It knocked against the glass window, softly and over and over again, carefully, not hard, yet almost so much as if it wanted to fly outside, which was why he was glade it was closed.

      And one could only imagine the surprise on his face when he saw a purple light, flashing towards him from a spot in the dark woods he could view through his window. He immediate grabbed the necklace and pulled open his window, to take a closer look. The light was gone, though at first he believed there was nothing ever there in the first place. He felt a pull coming from the necklace he held by its chain.

It wanted out there.
Into the dark woods.