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𝙻𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 : 𝙷𝚘𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕
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"Did you try reaching Luna?" Blaze and Sylvie were on their way to hospital.

"I tried. Not once but several times. Even Mavis tried her best despite being in the hospital. But, her number isn't available. It's as if she's in some place with no signal whatsoever." Blaze finished explaining. They didn't bring Valerie here. She was staying at Blaze's parents along with her cousin (Blaze and Mavis' kid) for now.

As children get older, they'll be more aware of what's happening to them. And Valerie was already almost four years old. This place won't be too good as an experience for children of her age. Well, that depends. She knew very well about how much emotionally close Rhys and Valerie were so it was pretty much inevitable. Valerie will have to come sooner or later. But first, she'll have to make sure how sick does Rhys appear. What exactly happened to him. And how willing he was to have Valerie visit. He was her father after all. Making decisions on his behalf wasn't just bad, it was plainly wrong. Child visitation for any injury/illness was always a touchy issue... For now, Sylvie thought that she will come with Valerie some other time but first, she needed to make sure whether Rhys was okay or not.

Upon reaching the hospital, they hurried towards Rhys ward. Sylvie wanted to confirm one more thing. Whether the wounds he had, were caused by humans or... The energy. The darker, more sinister energy was definitely inside the house. There was a huge possibility that someone had used black magic there. If yes, then which one and who was the caster. If no, then what was happening. Sylvie was confident. Sure, Rhys had haters. But, haters didn't really hate Rhys, in fact they hated themselves because Rhys was a reflection of what they wished to be.

For others, Sylvie's beliefs in black magic may look unrealistic and bizarre but, she knew it was real. Yes, black magic was real and it existed. Nobody could ever shake this belief of hers. It was also a science, after all, just undiscovered science. A science of elementals. What she wished to emphasise to Blaze at the time of their argument was that, there is a hidden side of nature, which too follows a science and can be studied and known. That's what this energy was. You don't have to be too knowledgeable to do this. It was just like simple chemistry related experiments. All one needed to know was how to do it. They won't even need to be a spiritual person to perform them. Black magic was real and it was just metaphysics.

"Thank goodness you are here. You know I was so panicked. Rhys wasn't waking up and Luna is still unreachable..." Mavis came to hug Blaze as soon as they came inside Rhys' ward. Her tear stricken face was enough of a proof of how hard it was to manage everything on her own till now.

Sylvie looked back at Rhys who was now awake, to say the least. He was deeply wounded. His eyes had lost all their colour and his body looked like it had aged 40 years more. There were scratches everywhere on his body as if some sort of animal had tried to devour him. But, it was no work of some animal. Sylvie knew and understood that. Why? His neck. It had large fingerprints around as if someone tried to strangle him. Of course, the intention was killing.

It was for a fact that no human had the power to do damage this large at just one moment without Rhys trying to defend himself. No human could strangle and scratch at the same time. Even if they tried to do it, Rhys would surely try to defend himself. Especially with the environment. Blaze said that he found Rhys wounded in the hall itself. There were several objects which could be successfully used to defend if some sort of attacker entered the house. Even if multiple human beings were involved, these types of scratches were simply unnatural.

"Do you remember what happened?" Sylvie came to sit beside Rhys and asked in a low voice. She even looked back at Blaze silently telling him to explain everything to Mavis. Blaze nodded and briefed his wife about everything. To say that she was shocked would be an understatement.

"I do." Rhys said. His voice hoarse and heavy, due to the injuries.

"Was it a human?" Sylvie asked it straightforward.

"For a moment, I thought, it was Luna." Rhys coughed a little.

"Luna? Her phone was unreachable and there was no way she would be there." Mavis spoke firmly.

"So, you're saying it was Luna? What did you actually hear her say?" Sylvie nodded to Mavis. Luna being there was a possibility nobody was sure of.

"Nothing. Just my name. She called for me."

"How... How many times. How many times did you actually hear your name?" Sylvie asked. Her voice shaking. Inside her head, she prayed it not to be what she was thinking.

"Two. She called and I answered..." Rhys looked at Sylvie with a knowing gaze. He himself understood that it wasn't humane. Someone definitely used black magic on him. Again. But why? He never harmed anyone or anything. The last time it happened, he had Luna with him. This time, they used Luna's voice to lure him. And, nobody was there. Not even Luna. Why was it happening, he had no answer to his own questions.

"It's definitely black magic. I told you I'm feeling something there..." Sylvie spoke in a low voice. Afraid to even speak about it. These things never brought good changes after all. That's what she was always taught.

"What had we done to deserve this?" Mavis almost broke down. Her body curling itself on the hospital floor. She had no energy left to fight. The last battle already took her every ounce of energy. Never did she ever want to go through these things again.

"It'd be okay. We have Sylvie here. Last time, we were all alone. This time, we aren't. I'm sure everything will be okay. Just..." At this point, Blaze himself wasn't sure who he was trying to convince. Mavis or Rhys? Or himself?

"It's the 'call of the night spirit' or Nishi Dak, as far as I remember..." Sylvie started. Sure, these times were tough but, if it was Nishi Dak, it'd be easier if everyone knew what was going on and how could they protect themselves.

"Nishi means night or dark, dak means call. The Nishi Dak is a spirit that calls out to one at night or in the dark in a familiar voice. It is a very dangerous spirit - known as the Nishir Daak or Call of the Night Spirit. I may call it dangerous but, it has certain limitations so, dodging it will be easier. We just need to careful." Sylvie continued. Sure, the powers were harmful but, there were fair share of loopholes of using the night spirits.

"The Nishi calls out to it's victim at night in the voice of a person known to the victim. Normally, they're someone loved. They appear as a form which we can't fully see because it's always in the distance, or appears in the form of the known person whose voice it has used, and keeps beckoning the intended victim to follow it. It walks very fast and at a distance ahead of the victim and usually leads the way to a deserted area where it reveals its true form to the helpless victim, and then almost invariably kills the victim. That's how it generally works but, it doesn't really need to lure people. It depends on the demand of the practitioner and the environment."

"So, you're saying that the spirit called for Rhys in Luna's voice and when Rhys responded to it..." Balze started to decipher everything.

"Rhys' response triggered it and it attacked?" Mavis finished.

"Yeah. That's what happened. Most probably."

"Then, how are we going to avoid it? You said it'd be easier but, if the battle is against something which isn't even humane, how do we handle it?" Mavis asked. Calm but panicked.

"As I said. It'd be easier. The important thing about the Nishi is that it cannot call out more than twice. Thus, the Nishi can be identified if it calls out a person's name no more than two times and that too only at night. It is believed that the Nishis' are spirits of people who have not had a respectful or a complete release during their death ceremonials at the time of transition from earth to the astral planes. Thus, they get trapped in between. They allow people to control them as well." Sylvie started explaining.

True to Sylvie's words, everything was just a form of energy. Energy is neutral and cannot be destroyed but it can be transformed. Someone tried to do this transfer of energy with souls as well. Someone scrupulous who was using dark energies, black magic or culturally developed negative energies causing a lot of harm to Rhys due to envy, jealousy, greed, ego, or fear.

"The people who can control a Nishi and use it for black magic, either to ruin a family through death or to save a sick person, though often at the cost of others lives. In the later one, they try to exchange the dying soul with a sound soul through Nishi who kills and traps the soul which is later transferred to another person's decaying body. The one weakness of the Nishi Dak however, is that it can only call out your name two times. So if you want to keep living, then whatever you do - don't answer the Nishi Dak. Wait for the voice to call at least four times at night before answering. That will do." Sylvie finished explaining things.
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It was a long and disturbing day. After Sylvie was done explaining things, she left to get some fresh air. The hospital was suffocating her senses. Not to forget, her chest had started to hurt like crazy after leaving the house.

Her bangs started to take bluish colour as well. All these changes could only lead to one thing. Her powers could be coming back... But why? The last time she checked, the Goddess already took away her powers then why would she return them. And were her powers the only thing returning? Or was Luna feeling the same? They were twins after all...

"Child..." Suddenly, she heard herself bring called. No name, no nicknames. Only one person treated her like the child she forever will be...

"Mephistopheles..." Saying her guardian's name, she turned her head towards the hallway where a guy in black hoodie was standing with the same cold eyes. Those eyes, which would scare someone who's unknown. But, for her, they meant some emotion every time they looked in her direction. Right now, those eyes showed worry. He was worried, for her. But why?

And most importantly, why was he, who serves hell, here?

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Number of words : 1957
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Author's Note :-

Finally, I'm done with the deadline. It's 2:07 pm, 31st March 2022. With this update, we're ready to enter the competition again.

So, how was this chapter? We come to know what Nishi Dak is. It's really a dangerous form of Black magic. And the scariest thing is, it's still in practice. From some reports I've read, this black magic was very prominent in earlier days. Some try saving their relatives by this means even now.

So, who was doing it and why were they doing this? Let's wait for the next update to get our answers.

And, though it's completely irrelevant, I've a request to make. My request: If you don't agree with these (black magic and spirit's) existences, it's fine, but, don't over criticize it, just because you have never experinced it. Because you don't know how much one suffers when he/she goes through it. And no, I've never experienced it myself but, I try to understand how someone may feel if something as disturbing as this happens in real life.

Till next time. Take care.

Ohh and I wanted to explain the prompt and the story's connection. The prompt basically revolves around family dynamics so, I've tried showing Sylvie as someone who loves her family unconditionally without expecting anything in return. She blindly believes in them and thinks that it's only natural to do so. However, is that true?