"Are you sure this is actually going to work?" Julia asked, her arms folded tight across her chest.
Penny didn't even look at her as he adjusted
"It better," he said flatly. "Because if it doesn't, we're all dead."
Marina scoffed loudly.
"Uh, hello? I'm still here, you know. I'm the one acting as bait for capturing a god. Remember that part?"
Kai watched them in silence, tapping his foot slowly against the stone floor. The sound echoed softly. Then he moved, circling the group until he stopped in front of Kady.
She stood a little apart from the others, biting her nails, jaw clenched so tight it looked like it might crack. Kai tilted his head.
"You look remarkably calm," he said mildly. "Terrible habit, that." Kady snapped her eyes up at him.
"Let's just get this started already and stop wasting time." Kai studied her for a moment longer than necessary, then hummed thoughtfully.
"Anger clouds judgment you know," he said. "It leads people to do very stupid things in a rush just to douse the flame."
Her expression hardened at that, "What the hell does that mean?"
"Oh, nothing," Kai replied lightly. Then, after a pause, "Just that Anya's death cannot be reversed now."
Kady's breath hitched at what he'd just said.
But Kai continued, unbothered.
"No actually, it can be reversed. It would just require power on a godly level." He shrugged. "And even if you had that… it wouldn't change anything."
"You don't know that," she shot back.
Kai met her eyes, "Oh, but I do." He tapped his foot again and stepped closer, lowering his voice as he leaned in, "You have far too much anger pent up."
Kady bristled. "Don't."
"I know a spell that can help with that," he said calmly. Before she could react, he flicked her forehead with two fingers. Warmth bloomed instantly in her chest. It felt gentle, steady, spreading outward and her breathing slowed. The tightness around her heart loosened, as if someone had quietly lifted a crushing weight she hadn't realized she was carrying.
She staggered slightly.
"How…?" She swallowed. "The last time I felt something like this was when Anya and I went looking for a way to contact the Lady Underground."
Kai straightened.
"It's a simple calming spell," he said. "Eases tension. Nothing more."
"Uh-huh," Kady muttered.
Kai ignored her and added softly,
"Mourn for her. Let her soul rest."
Kady looked down at the ground, her fists slowly unclenching.
As Kai stepped away, he glanced back over his shoulder, "And if it's revenge you want," he said quietly, "I shall deliver it to you."
"What?" Kady asked.
But he didn't answer.
Kai moved back toward Marina and the others. "It's time." He looked to Penny and gave a single nod.
Penny exhaled.
"Man, this had better work. I'm really not in the mood to die anytime soon."
With a silent displacement of air, Penny and Julia vanished, teleporting to the far end of the field
Kai turned slowly toward Marina, "Are you ready?" he asked. Marina exhaled, rolling her shoulders as if trying to shake off the weight pressing down on her chest.
"Let's just get this over with," she said. "And for the record, I really hope this doesn't get me killed. Much like Penny, I'm very attached to my life. I'd like to keep breathing—regardless of the outcome."
Kai studied her after she said that. Then he tilted his head slightly, eyes narrowing just a fraction.
"You're speaking as if you want this to fail," he said lightly. "Or is that just my imagination?"
His tone was almost playful, sing-song even but his eyes were anything but. There was no humor in them. Only calculation.
"You wouldn't happen to be considering sabotaging this entire ordeal now, would you Marina?" The sarcasm was razor-thin and deliberate.
Marina froze just for a fraction of a second. Not long enough for most people to notice.
But Kai noticed then he smiled as soft chuckle escaped him.
"Oh, cheer up," he said. "It's all going to be fine. A walk in the park."
With that, he turned away. Kai raised his hands and began the spell.
Eight precise hand gestures followed. As the final sigil locked into place, the air shifted. The wind picked up sharply, whipping around them as the clouds above began to churn and darken.
The sky bruised purple and black.
"There we go," Kai murmured.
Thunder rolled in the distance and Marina looked up at the roiling sky at the artificial storm. "Impressive magic," she admitted.
Lightning flashed all around the sky and when she looked back down, Kai was gone.
She sighed. "Great."
The storm intensified, wind howling louder with every passing second. And with it, Marina's impatience grew.
Then the air warped a few feet away from her and out of nowhere, Raynard appeared.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he stilled, eyes lifting to the storm overhead. He felt the atmosphere, the weight of it, the unmistakable imitation of something that was common wherever the goddess of harvest graced the earth. Persephone, his mother.
A slow smile spread across his face, "Clever little insects," he said calmly.
His gaze shifted to Marina as he drifted closer, studying her more closely now. Something about her made him pause.
"Ohhh," he said softly. "So that's how it is, huh?"
He laughed.
"Nice try. If I hadn't expected this, I'd have been punished for such a stupid trick."
Then his expression snapped, In a blink, he was in front of Marina, hand snapping forward to grip her throat but was suddenly stopped.
An invisible force slammed against his palm and Raynard blinked, then laughed again.
"Well now. What's this?" Marina met his gaze, a tight smile on her face.
"Oh, that's just a simple boundary spell," she said. "To bind you, Ray-Ray."
"Is that so?"
His voice darkened as he suddenly threw his head back and shouted,
"COME OUT, you little insignificant wretches! You think something like this can bind me? You think you can trick me, the god of trickery?"
The wind screamed as his power surged out uncontrollably.
"How presumptuous," he continued, raising both hands, "for you mortals to think you can do anything against me."
His eyes ignited in raw, unrestrained power flooding the space. The pressure alone made Marina's smile falter as she instinctively looked past him.l
Raynard followed her gaze.
That's when his magic poured outward in violent waves. Marina feeling the weight and the sudden intensity didn't hesitate as she turned and ran.
Raynard snarled at that little act.
"You mosquitoes?" he said coldly. "Very well then."
He raised a finger and pointed at Marina.
"Let's start with you first."
And then he turned to where Marina looked at earlier, "Kady."
The name echoed unnaturally through the storm. And Kady stiffened wherever she was, eyes widening in shock.
The boundary holding him shattered without warning and the air screamed as the spell collapsed in on itself, he straightened slowly, dusting imaginary dirt from his sleeve, his lips curling into a smile that carried no warmth.
"Oh," he said lightly, "I came prepared for your little trap."
He snapped his fingers and Marina froze mid-step, her body locking completely as if reality itself had forgotten how to move her.
In the same instant, Kady vanished and reappeared in Raynard's hand.
She gasped, disoriented, confusion flashing across her face just as Raynard's grip tightened around her throat. There was no hesitation. No flourish. He was going to break her neck as casually as breathing.
And seeing the whole plan coming undone Kai moved from his position in a hurry.
He didn't think as he immediately started casting spells one after another. Magic detonated from him in rapid succession, layered, stacked, overlapping and faster than words could form.
A containment spell slammed into existence around Raynard, collapsing inward like a pressure coffin.
A tethered boundary snapped shut immediately after, anchoring space to itself, locking Raynard's position to a fixed point in reality.
Then a freezing spell, he poured over everything, Kai forcing obscene amounts of power into it, veins glowing faintly as he pushed harder, deeper.
Raynard froze again.
And finally Kady fell free.
Kai was already moving, with fist drawn back, aiming straight for Raynard's heart and Penny blinked into existence his cloaking spell peeling off.
"Kady!" Penny shouted, reaching for her but Kai's eyes went wide.
"Oh no—"
He suddenly screamed, "NO, GET AWAY FROM HIM PENNY SOMETHING'S WRONG!"
But it was already too late.
Penny's legs twisted violently, bending in impossible directions as reality itself rejected him. He screamed and collapsed, crashing hard into the floor.
"ARGHHHHHHHHH"
Kai swore. "Shit."
Raynard suddenly shifted, he didn't exactly break free of Kai's spells no, he shifted."
His form warped unnaturally, like time itself had folded around him and moved backwards.
Kai's breath caught.
"He's… he's using reverse entropy," Kai muttered. "Damnation—"
The spells unraveled holding him down unraveled and Raynard burst free.
Kai tackled him instantly, slamming into the god with everything he had. His fist connected with Raynard's face hard enough to crack the ground beneath them.
Raynard laughed. Laughed like it was the funniest thing he'd experienced in centuries.
"Tell me, boy," he said gleefully, "is this all going according to your plan? Do you truly believe you can bind me—a god?"
Kai didn't answer.
He grabbed Raynard, skin to skin, and siphoned. Power surged into him but Raynard snarled. "Uh-uh, you leech."
He kicked Kai away, sending him skidding across the floor.
Before Kai even hit the ground, he rewound as reality snapped backward a fraction of a second.
Raynard's kick replayed but this time Kai was ready for it. Raynard blinked in surprise as Kai caught his leg mid-motion.
"Oh? You copycat" Raynard said, amused.
Kai twisted his leg and unleashed a spell immediately. A bone-breaking spell detonated through Raynard's ankle as acid-blood magic ignited beneath the surface, searing inward.
Raynard roared in anguish at the sudden invasion of pain.
Kai siphoned again, harder and faster than before, ripping power out of him in violent waves.
For a few precious seconds, Raynard was incapacitated. Then his eyes ignited.
A pulse exploded outward, throwing everything away from him in a shockwave of raw divinity.
"Enough."
He clapped once and immediately after everything froze.
Sound. Air. Motion.
Kai froze in his position, locked in time.
Raynard stood up and expelled Kais magic in his body with a calm groan. Then, he strolled calmly through the frozen world, stepping over Penny's broken form, past Marina's locked stare.
He stopped in front of Kady.
"Let's continue where we left off, shall we?" He gripped her neck again.
Then snapped his fingers again, only Kady unfroze. She gasped, clawing at his wrist, legs kicking uselessly as terror flooded her face.
Raynard smiled, savoring the feeling.
"Now then… where should I begin?" he mused. "There are so many things I want to do to you, Kady. Just like I did to your friend Anya."
He snapped again and this time, Julia appeared beside them, gasping as she came into existence.
Raynard looked her over thoughtfully, "Oh," he said. "Another plaything."
Kady tried to speak, tried to scream, but no sound came. Her hands shook as she struggled against him.
Raynard leaned in close.
"Should I start with her first and make you watch?" he wondered aloud.
He laughed.
"No… no. I think I'll start with you."
Then, He frowned as his magic suddenly dipped. Raynard turned back and looked at the cause.
Kai was twitching through the spell. Moving ever so slightly under the the time-freeze spell no mortal should even be able to move within. Raynard's eyes widened with genuine interest.
"Oh," he said slowly. "You are a powerful one. I'll give you that."
He then looked back to Kady.
"I've changed my mind."
His grip tightened around her neck, "I'll simply kill you here."
He glanced at Julia, smiling.
"Besides… I can do whatever I want with this new toy."
Then, bored already, he sighed.
"I've grown tired of you Kady."
He snapped his wrist and Kady's body went limp.
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