Chapter 16: The Last Temptation Of Cassius Nightshade
Suddenly, Kara's voice broke through my mental fog.
"There's a cure," she blurted out, interrupting my despairing thoughts.
I blinked, not quite believing what I had just heard.
Was it possible?
Could there really be a cure for what plagues me?
Hope surged through me like a bolt of lightning. As I stared at Kara, my mind reeled in the possibility of a cure for my condition.
Kara's words hung in the air like a promise, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of gratitude towards her.
"Really? There's a cure?" My voice shook with emotion as I clung to the hope that her words had ignited within me.
Kara hesitated for a moment before correcting herself.
"Well, not a cure, more of a temporary solution."
I frowned at her words, my hopes plummeting once again. But then, as if to prove me wrong, Kara summoned a jar full of herbs with a simple incantation.
"Accio jar."
"These herbs contain magic nullification," she explained, holding the jar out for me to see.
I took a deep breath, trying to process everything.
A temporary solution is better than nothing. The idea of a temporary solution was both comforting and unnerving. I couldn't help but wonder how long the herbs would be effective before my body adapted to them and they became useless.
"How long do I have before the herbs become useless?" I asked, trying to keep the anxiety out of my voice.
Kara shrugged.
"It's hard to say. It could be a few years, it could be decades. But we have some time to figure out a more permanent solution."
I nodded, feeling grateful for even a sliver of hope.
"Thank you, Kara. You're helping me even though we don't really know each other."
Kara's smile faltered briefly before returning full force, reassuring me that we were in this together.
"We'll figure it out together," she said with determination.
I repeated her words,
"Together."
...
Third POV
[Time skip: 35 years later, 1835]
The room was dimly lit, the only source of light coming from a single flickering candle in the centre of the room. The air was thick with the smell of incense, and a person was chained up in the middle of the room. And that person is me.
MC's POV
As the chains clamped down on my wrists and ankles, memories of Dahlia flooded my mind. The pain, the fear, the helplessness - it all felt too familiar. Kara sensed my unease and apologised, knowing all too well the trauma I had endured.
"I know this brings back memories of Dahlia," she said,
"but we need to do this to prevent you from becoming a black ball of death."
I nodded, grateful for her understanding, but frustrated with the situation nonetheless. We had exhausted all other options to cure my Obscurism, and trapping it seemed like our last hope.
Kara finished the magic circle around me and pulled out a circular object from her pocket. Its surface was polished to a mirror-like shine and adorned with intricate symbols and runes that shimmered and shifted with the light.
It was the Ascendant.
Yes. The Ascendant from the Gemini Coven. The one and only key to a prison world.
With the Ascendant, we planned to trap the Obscurial inside me once and for all.
"Ready?" Kara asked, pulling me back to the present.
With a deep breath, I nodded and braced myself for what was to come.
"Let's do this," I said.
Offering me a reassuring smile, she said.
"See you in a minute."
"Ut te relinquit, hic captus est. Ut te relinquit, hic captus est. Ut te relinquit, hic captus est. Ut te relinquit, hic captus est. Ut te relinquit, hic captus est. Ut te relinquit, hic captus est."
As the ritual began, I felt a sudden surge of pain coursing through my body, my head pounding with a throbbing headache. Negative thoughts flooded my mind like a tsunami. Voices whispered in my ear, urging me to let go of control and surrender to the darkness. I fought with all my might, but the pain was too intense and the voices too convincing. Slowly, I felt my grip on reality slipping away.
Just when I thought I couldn't take it anymore, a searing pain shot through my head, and I felt something take hold of me. Traces of black smoke began to fill the air, wrapping themselves around my body like a python. Suddenly, my eyes turned pitch black, and I let out a blood-curdling scream.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
Kara continued the chant, her voice growing louder and more urgent. I could feel a presence inside me, something dark and malevolent that was fighting to stay within me.
But then just when all hope was lost, a memory of Rebekah, my long-lost wife, popped up in my mind, and I knew I couldn't give in. I had to fight the darkness, for her. I had to fight it, so I could meet her again.
And then, another memory surfaced, of Kara and me having fun and joking around while practising spells together.
Why did she pop up in my head now? Were we more than friends?
Putting that aside for a more appropriate time, I cleared my head of all distractions and focused on expelling the darkness.
With renewed energy, I fought against the temptation of the darkness and pushed it out of me.
Boom!
With a loud explosion, a cloud of dark smoke burst forth from my body and into the Ascendant.
Click!
With a click, the Ascendant's edge retracted, and the runes shone with confirmation, signalling that the being was successfully trapped.
As the darkness left my body, the pain slowly subsided, and the negative thoughts disappeared like a puff of smoke. I lay there gasping for air, exhausted and drained from the intense experience.
"Cass?" Kara's voice was laced with concern as she drew closer to me, her face etched with worry. Though I was utterly drained, I summoned what remaining strength I had left and managed a feeble smile, relieved that it was finally over.
A/N: If you have questions about how and why the Obscurial was formed inside Cash, you can comment down below and ask me.
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