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“I’M GOING TO KILL YOU!” Marley screeched.
Atrios cackled. The higher demon was slim, tall, and had a long slithering tale with the head of a live serpent on the end... which was currently biting Marley’s already agonizing stab wounds.
“You are a powerful witch, aren’t you?”
“Why don’t you unchain me and find out?” Marley snarled.
“That won’t be necessary,” Atrios gave her a malicious grin. “My brother will be here soon enough with your sister... then the real agony will begin.”
“If... he’s anything... like you... Reyna’s going... to kick his ass.”
“I very much doubt that,” Atrios smirked.
“Even Shade couldn’t take her.” Marley took a deep breath while she had the chance. “So, what makes you so sure your brother can?”
Atrios’s smirk turned into a glare.
“Where is your old bastard of a master?”
As the higher demon moved closer to Marley to give his response, she quickly spat in Atrios’s face. Marley snickered at his look of indignation. “Heh. Been waiting to do that all night.”
“I’ll remember that as I peel the flesh off your body piece by piece!” Atrios growled.
But before he could do so much as take one more step, a magical shock wave surged through the entire Underground. When it reached Marley, she felt a rush of pure power... along with the knowledge of where and whom it came from.
“Reyna.”
“What —?”
Marley broke free of her chains as golden and pink magic bursted from her hands. She blasted Atrios with all her might, sending the slimy snake through the nearest wall.
“What do you know?” Marley smirked. “Guess it was necessary.”
She looked to her left and saw an open tunnel. Marley, still weakened from the hours of torture, took a sharp breath and ran.
“I don’t know what kind of magical boost you gave me, sis,” Marley muttered. “But let’s just hope that it doesn’t wear off too soon.”
*****
“I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE big deal is,” Reyna fumed.
“You killed a higher demon with a God Relic!” Mitchell snarled. “When you did that, everyone in Mirrorville felt it!”
“So?” Reyna rolled her eyes.
“You just let everyone know that the God Relics are active again,” Michell tried to keep his voice calm. “And there’s going to be hell to pay for it.”
“Look, I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Armie sighed.
“Oh, it will be,” Jeb shook his head. “But it doesn’t matter right now. Marley needs us. So everyone needs to shut up and get their shit in gear.”
“Fine,” said Mitchell, looking amused for the first time in hours.
“Whatever!” Reyna glared.
“No complaints here,” Armie shrugged. “Thanks for the healing potion by the way, Mitchell.”
“You’re welcome,” Mitchell replied. “It was meant to treat Marley’s torture wounds and not you two... but seeing as we need as many soldiers to free her... I really didn’t have a choice, did I?”
“Didn’t you used to be nice?” Armie asked.
“Not really.” Mitchell shrugged.
Reyna glanced at Armie as if he was a very solvable puzzle. “You remember.”
“About Mercynville?” Armie looked down, refusing to meet Reyna’s gaze. “Yeah. Now, I do.”
“The kiss worked for him too,” Mitchell mused. “Interesting.”
“Well, of course it worked for him,” Reyna muttered. “My life is a living hell in Mirrorville, so why wouldn’t it?”
“What are you talking about?” Armie asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Oh, for the love of God! The reason the kiss broke the rebirth enchantment on both of you was because you share a true love for each other,” said Jeb, rubbing his temples.
“True love?” Armie blinked. “In an alternate reality, where we had amnesia? Thanks, man, that helps a lot.”
Jeb shot Reyna an irritable glare that she clearly could tell meant: Aren’t you going to tell him?
“Yeah, Jeb’s helpful like that,” Reyna replied.
“More helpful than you are,” Jeb sighed as he shook his head.
*****
MARLEY WISHED THAT her sister would have been a little more helpful with the magical escape plan. ...Which felt more like one of her damn Improvisation Classes than anything else.
“You can’t hide forever, Marley.”
Shit! Marley thought. Atrios was nearby, and she had yet to find an escape from the pitch black catacombs that were the Underground.
“I can smell your blood.”
Marley glanced down at her various open wounds. The Higher Demon wasn’t wrong. She had left an obvious trail of blood throughout this damn labyrinth of a hellmouth.
And me without my stake, Marley tried to run faster. And I’m definitely not the chosen one. I can’t do this alone. ...But I’ve never been alone, have I? Everything in my life might have changed, but the one thing that hasn’t — is I still have those I can count on! And I know just the spell. Reyna... Jeb... please don’t let me be wrong about you!
Marley focused on the spell she’d learned a few days ago. The walls of the Underground definitely wouldn’t be the same as enchanting animals, let alone mice... she’d have to account for that... and hopefully...
“Niverionousion...”
*****
“WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM with me?” Reyna glared at Jeb.
“I can’t stand hypocrites,” said Jeb, plainly. “And unfortunately, that includes you. I don’t even know how you and Marley are related.”
“You don’t know a damn about who I am!” Reyna raged. “And what is it with you and Marley? It’s like you think she walks on water!”
“She does compared to you,” Jeb said furiously.
“...And the way you reacted when we told you Shade captured Marley,” Reyna said, her anger turning to into comprehension. “Then, Mitchell used you for the spell to locate her... you’re crushing on her?”
“It’s none of your business,” Jeb glared.
“You’re really crushing on her!” Reyna smirked.
“True love’s a funny thing, isn’t it, Reyna?” Jeb gave her a warning smile.
“...Like you said, it’s none of my business.”
“LIVIN’ EASY, LIVIN’ FREE! SEASON TICKETS ON A ONE WAY RIDE...!”
The AC/DC song echoed throughout the Underground.
Armie looked at Reyna. “Is that...?”
Reyna smiled. “‘Highway To Hell’? It’s Marley! She’s trying to let us know where she is!”
Mitchell grinned, shaking his head in disbelief. “She’s using the Choirium spell mixed with an Echrous Charm. It causes disorientation for any demon who hears it, killing two birds with one stone. Marley always was a clever girl!”
Mitchell’s eyes glowed electric blue as the four of them teleported to...
*****
“SON OF A BITCH!” MARLEY nearly blasted Armie in the chest by instinct as her friends appeared before her. “Armie! I’m so sorry! I seriously don’t know why I did that!”
“No worries, Marley,” Armie grinned anxiously, “you missed. Besides, it could have been a lot worse. You could have made me drop to my knees like you did to that asshat Harry.”
“...Armie?” Marley stared at him in shock.
“Been a while, hasn’t it?” Armie smiled. “Gotta say, though... the whole girly diva thing looks good on you.”
“Armie!” Marley ran to her old friend and leaped into his arms. “You’re back! I thought... I thought I lost you!”
“Hey, we’re friends till the end.” Armie hugged her back as a tear ran down his face. “Besides, you’d be lost without me.”
“Shut up.” Marley playfully slugged his shoulder as she wiped her own tears away. “And never say I look good wearing these... things.”
“Got it,” Armie laughed. “From now on, only pure and decent insults about you will leave my mouth.”
“Yeah, right,” Marley laughed. She looked over at Jeb, who seemed to be irritated about something, but Marley wasn’t sure what. She then noticed Reyna, who had the same expression on her face.
“...You’re back too, aren’t you?” Marley frowned at Reyna.
“Duh!” Reyna let out a mirthless laugh.
“On a scale of one to ten,” said Marley, “just how much of a Diva Meltdown am I about to suffer through?”
Reyna walked up to Marley slowly before throwing her arms around her.
“You really are a dumbass sometimes,” said Reyna.
“You’re not mad at me?” Marley asked in shock.
“I’m just happy you’re alive,” said Reyna. “I couldn’t... I didn’t want...”
“I know, sis,” Marley replied as she hugged Reyna back. The two sisters disjointed as Marley gave a small grin. “...Or should I say, little sis?”
Reyna let out a small laugh. “Don’t push it.”
Marley and Reyna shared a laugh as she noticed Mitchell was staring at the carvings on the cavern walls.
“...These can’t be right...”
“Mitchell, we need to get out of here,” said Marley. “Whatever weird Scooby Doo clue you’ve just found can wait. Atrios wasn’t far behind me, and I’m not sure how much my spell affected him.”
Jeb looked at Marley in horror. “Atrios? The Master of Serpents?”
“Well, I mean, he had this creepy snake tail, but I wouldn’t say he was a —”
“That’s only a part of his true form.” Jeb looked as pale as a ghost. He turned to Mitchell. “Get us out of here — now!”
But Mitchell ignored him, his fingers tracing the weird carvings, until he firmly pressed on one. The cavern wall cracked and separated, revealing a secret passageway. Mitchell walked through as if in a daze. The others soon following him.
A wave of fresh air greeted them as they exited the passageway. They were back in Mirrorville, just standing in a huge, deep crater.
“Is this where... that explosion Shade caused happened?” Marley gasped.
“The one that created the Dwellers?” asked Reyna.
“Yes,” said Jeb. “But why would there be a passageway from the Underground to here? The King supposedly put protective enchantments around this entire area. It makes little sense why...” Jeb’s face tightened. “Brother, this can’t be where...?”
Before Mitchell could utter a response — the crater shook horribly as a giant, horned, black and red, scaly, snake with sharp yellow fangs emerged from the passageway to the Underground. It was the size of a train.
“What the hell is that?” Marley gulped.
“Seriously?” said Reyna. “This is why you should have watched Harry Potter more!”
“Like that thing was in a Harry Potter movie!” Marley snapped.
“Yes, in the second one!” Reyna snarled. “It’s a basilisk or whatever!”
“...Did you already forget our time together, Marley?” It hissed.
“Atrios?” Marley’s eyes widened as she turned to Jeb. “The Master of Serpents, huh?”
“Yep,” Jeb said as he unsheathed his flaming sword.
It wasn’t often Marley could clearly see the Watkins brothers’ familial resemblance, but in the way Mitchell and Jeb both readied themselves for battle, they almost seemed like twins.
“Can you fight?” Jeb glanced at her.
“...What do you think?” Marley took a deep breath as she remembered how Atrios had tortured her along with his bastard of a boss. Golden and pink energy formed in her hands. She had let her fears and insecurities consume her before in the heat of battle — and she would never do so again. This time, the forces of hell would be terrified of her.
“Oh, I don’t know... how about ‘Hot damn!’” Jeb smirked. He turned his attention to Reyna. “What about you? We might could use one of those infamous meltdowns I’ve been hearing about.”
Marley frowned. “What? Reyna can’t —!”
Atrios lunged at them as Reyna unleashed her sonic waves, blasting him backwards.
She turned back to Marley. “You missed a lot. I’ll fill you in later.”
“Oh, you better!” Marley smiled despite herself.
Mitchell rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Marley could have sworn he was trying to hide a grin. “Joke later, right now, we need to concentrate —”
“Oh, I’m sure we can do both,” Marley replied.
“And I’m pretty sure she’s right,” Armie smiled as he took out his wand and SkyBoard.
“That remains to be seen,” Mitchell replied.
Atrios slithered towards them as his body contorted and shimmered with the eerie aura of an emerald mist.
“What’s he doing?” Reyna asked.
“Duplicating,” said Jeb with dread.
In seconds, Atrios had separated into five different serpents, all just as large as the original.