Untold Truth

#3 Queen of Hell (Part 1)

Nick paced around the room looking for a solution to deal with his current situation - His mother who was supposed to be stuck in Hell had broken loose. And with her running loose in the human world, it was more worrying. Though he knew for a fact that she had always had it out for Gracie. But this was the last straw. He wasn’t going to let her continue tormenting his life but how could he make amends to both the realms that his mother had tormented. He knew with the crystal rose lost in limbo, there was no way that Larissa would forgive anyone from Atlantis for not taking care of the flower properly. And with both the human world and the merpeople’s world in danger, there was no hope of turning over a new leaf, not at this rate. 

“What am I going to do? This is all my fault.” He told the bartender at Cody’s club after explaining the whole situation. 

“It seems like you’ve gotten yourself in a bad situation, haven’t you? - I’m sorry that there is nothing I can help you with. If it makes you feel any better, the drinks are on the house.”, he continued to turn to the bar. 

“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” Nick noticed the familiar tattoo at the back of his neck. Though it was indeed well hidden in plain sight he could still see the obvious. “Aren’t you the person that Lucifer’s father condemned to spend the rest of your life on Earth? - Cain?”

He turned around reluctantly slowly and said regretfully, “Yes. - Was it really that obvious?”

“I mean yeah, but what are you doing here right now? I mean serving humans drinks isn’t something the first murderer would do.”

“I didn’t really have anywhere else to go and Cody offered me the choice of redemption when he gave me this job. He said that I could either spend the rest of my miserable days being a threat to humanity or I could do something for the society. It is either I am with the society or I am against them. At least bartending is something that keeps my mind off of regrettable things that I have done.”

“Talking about Cody, where is he?”, Nick enquired. 

“I think he’s taking the day off for his own personal gain. He never said anything. But I’m sure that you’ll definitely find him at his girlfriend’s place.”

“Girlfriend?”, Nick said in a questionable tone. 

“Yeah, Sapphire. The two of them had been inseparable since a month ago.”, said Cain. 

“That traitor.”, Nick said under his breath. “Well anyways, got places to be but thanks for the drink and a listening ear, Cain. I owe you one but we’ll leave that to another day.”

Nick got up to finish the shot and marched out the door. He was heading towards his car when he was stopped by the one spirit he has been trying to ignore. “Where do you think you are going?” said the spirit that appeared right in front of him. 

“Somewhere else. I need time to think about what I’ve done.”

“You’re going to find your spellbound cousin, aren’t you?”

“What else would you expect? First you place Gracie under a spell and now you send Elyssa and Alec out to find a book that you have misplaced, just because you have a personal vendetta against the Jones.”

“And yet you can recite all that. - What I’m doing is for the better of the two of us. I never mean to use Gracie but she was the only one that would even cooperate. Other than her, I have no one else.”

“I worshipped you!”, he exclaimed. “And yet time after time, you always cause things to occur that always affect the people I care about. I know that you had a personal vendetta against Cody for almost taking the throne but why - Why use me as a pawn for your own personal vendetta? We used to be close, Cody and I. But just because you turned me into something I’m not, I have to live with the fact that Cody will never trust me again. You knew that Skylar meant everything to him and yet you let me believe that you were always at the right end of the equation but you aren’t.”

“Now, Nicky. I know what I had done was selfish but I did it so that you could see the real version of Cody. He isn’t who you always believed him to be. He had been to Hell and back just for that girl. She had been nothing but trouble the moment she’s known about this other world. Our world had been turned around just because of her.”

“Enough! I am not listening to you until you reverse the spell you’ve placed on Gracie. Right now, she’s the only one I want to talk to.”

“You are going to regret this.” Angelica warned him before vanishing.

Once Austin was outside, Elyssa and Alec went back to their original selves but still stayed in character, “Where are you taking us?”, said Elyssa. 

“There’s this lake right around this corner.” Austin continued taking the lead. 

That was when Elyssa stopped him, “Actually this isn’t really necessary. - We actually came to you because we know what you really are and we are not actually seeking to get engaged anytime soon.”

“Wait, so the two of you aren’t together?”

“We are but we’re just 17 and 16, what’d you expect?”, Alec explained. “The proposal is just a diversion to get you alone. We are looking for Angelica’s lost spell book. We know about how you were in trade with one of the Jones and we are wondering if you are still in possession of the book?”

“Angelica’s spell book?”, Austin repeated. “I thought it was destroyed in the flames of Hell.”

“That’s what we thought too but it is apparently still in the human world and if we don’t get it back, Angelica’s spirit will remain in my sister’s body for the rest of eternity and apparently her spirit is getting stronger and with that she might just be gone just like that.” Elyssa continued to take her phone out to show him a picture of the supposed spellbook. “Please. If you know anything about the whereabouts of this book, please tell us.”

“It must have been glamoured when it was given to me. Otherwise, I would know where it is.” Austin continued to walk them back to his shop. “Who exactly is this person who you speak of? I might have gotten a record of her.” He continued to pull out a thick, heavy book from his backpack and flipped through it. 

Elyssa was about to question his decisions for keeping a thick and heavy book of records but she was immediately stopped by Alec. “Her name is Kylie.”

“Kylie huh?” He struggled to flip to the page to find her name. “Does she also happen to have a code name?”

“Yes. She always called herself the Black Diamond back in the days when we were still friends. She must still use it.”, said Elyssa.

“Got it. - She traded a book of fighting when she came in along with a ton of other things.” They got to the store and realized that Skylar was holding on to another sacred item that belonged to Angelica. It appeared that she was about to open it when Tyler stopped her. They rushed in before Austin could see the commotion. 

“Thanks for all the help Austin but-” She continued to open the door and headed in. “-Give me minute.” She continued to go in before the other two did. “What’s the meaning of this? I can’t even leave all of you for a minute and yet now you are already fighting?” She continued to look down at the mess that they had made. 

Skylar and Tyler were pointing fingers like a bunch of children when Austin finally came in. He looked astonished, “It looks like you are the two of you are the only mature ones in the room. Well let me tidy things up so we could start searching for the book.” He continued to wave his hands as the sparks of magic lifted all the shelves that were tilted till the books on it dropped out. “There, much better.”

They all looked at him astonished at how he was using his powers to levitate all the books here and there. That was when Skylar realized, “Hey, if you still have your magic, then can’t you use a spell to locate the book. I mean it is worth a try.”

After she said that the earth beneath them began to shake. “Quick everyone take cover.”, Austin exclaimed. “This is no ordinary earthquake.” He quickly used his magic to cast a forcefield that protected them. “Hurry half-blood, use your powers. You are the only one that can save us. My powers won’t hold it for long.” He looked over at Skylar.

Tyler tried using his powers to hold it off too, but he soon fell unconscious due to the pressure. “Hurry, Skylar. You are our only shot at beating this.”, Elyssa exclaimed while still trying to hold off the power that came for them. 

“Stop!”, Zac exclaimed. “She is not capable of beating this.” He continued to step forward and tried to stop it with his own powers. 

“Zac! No!”, Skylar tried to stop him but his ego got the better of him. The beam of magic struck him and he too fell unconscious but worse. Skylar caught him before his head hit the ground. She felt the agony boil up in her - her own blood harmed. She felt a power that she had never felt before, coming out of her. As the tear rolled down her cheek, she let it all out. The ball of light came from within her and vanquished the darkness along with all the destruction it has caused. 

Once the blinding lights were gone, she also fell unconscious. By using her powers, she risked her own life to save the rest. “I doubt this is the only time that Larissa would strike. I know her too well that she isn’t going to let this go. It is best if we hurry because time isn’t quite on our side.” Carson said to Elyssa while supporting Skylar’s head. “We already have three lives knocked unconscious, it is obvious that Larissa is preparing for war and in war, there are always casualties. First three, then what’s next - the human race?”

Elyssa tried to put two and two together. She realized that both Larissa and Angelica are bargaining, an eye for an eye, but what if the two of them were only just one. “I have an idea to kill two birds with one stone but we really have to work together through this.” She continued to get the rest of them to discuss something. “Have you ever realized how both Larissa and Angelica’s bargains are somewhat similar? And remember how Angelica could just so easily possess Gracie? There had to be some way for her to do it again but this time in a long deceased lover of a God. I might be wrong but what if since Angelica is in the land of the dead, she found a way to puppet the human world and she might be the mastermind behind all this. She had always had a grudge against the Jones but maybe, just maybe, she wanted to get revenge so bad that she-”

“Took it out on the whole human race?” Carson finished her sentence. “I think you might be getting on to something, Elyssa. But how sure can we be? We have another problem though. We still need to find a way to bring their consciousness back first.”

“I’m getting to that. Skylar is just weared-out by the overuse of her powers but she’ll wake up eventually. And I’ll brew up a serum for both Tyler and Zac. Oh, and do refrain from telling Skylar everything all at once when she’s awake. Wouldn’t want her to go through shock would we?” Elyssa had that sly look on her face as she turned to gather some ingredients she spotted in Austin’s shop. 

“How sure are we that we can actually trust that your idea is going to work?”, Aria protested. “Day after day, we’ve risked our lives just for your kind and what do we get in return? - More trouble.”

Elyssa turned around slowly, “Trust me or not, I am your only shot at a new life without having to deal with ancient spirits that want nothing but revenge. Don’t believe me? - Why don't you ask your half-blooded ex-boyfriend?”, Elyssa said looking down at Zac’s unconscious body. “Oh yeah, you’ll need my help to wake him up first. Well, c'est la vie.”

“Alright, you’ve got a point but I’m still in doubt that you’ll even save them.”

“Mope about it all you want, either, I could save the two of them without you getting in my way or I could just leave them for the dead. I mean it would be such a waste though. Think of the headlines this could make, ‘Two boys found dead without any explanation’ or ‘Son of billionaire, Carlos Frost found dead with another unidentified body’. My, my, what would Skylar have to say about this once she wakes up from her concussion.”

“Fine. Save them.” Aria finally gave in. 

“That’s what I thought. - Alec, I need you to find the dandelion root, which I think Austin should have plenty after years of collecting. But be careful because it is really delicate.” She turned to Alec and continued to tell Carson, “Carson, find something that is close to both of them because we’ll need it for the elixir.”

The boys went on to find the items. “What can I do?”, Aria asked. 

“You? You can just sit down and look pretty as you always do, princess.”, said Elyssa. 

Aria was astonished that Elyssa dared to use her title as an insult. There was nothing she could do but stay quiet about it. It was without a doubt that she had gone a little overboard previously but she still begged to help. “I’m serious. I want to help too.”

“You weren’t this optimistic when I needed you to cooperate so why the sudden optimism?” Elyssa raised an eyebrow. 

“Come on and help me, little sis.” It was Carson. He saw how she and Elyssa couldn’t quite get along so he got her out of the awkward situation. “Truth is, Elyssa is not always this way-”, he started to explain to Aria.

“Why is that?” Aria’s eyes widened.

“The truth is back when she was still training to be one of the warriors of Hell, she was in a relationship with Tyler. But back then, he wasn’t really that great of a guy and now as long as someone shows that they have trust issues around her, she would also have the same mirroring effect toward that very person.”

“How do you know all this?” Aria protested. 

“Would I ever lie to you?” Aria shook her head so Carson continued, “So the best thing to do is to trust her. Skylar and I had already put our trust in her. She had saved us multiple times in the past month so we owe it to her to put our faith in her.”