The Demon Prince's Possession

Viora

It was in the last elements of my sealing bind for Allegra when I felt a twinge from deep in my chest.

The sign that I had been dreading.

I recited a location spell, one that I bound to Allegra’s curse from the day I concealed her in stone.

Then I felt it.

That unhinged power surged through my veins as an image flashed through my mind.

I could locate her…

But that meant her curse had been activated.

I need to get to her and fast.

It might be too late, but I have to try.

Cerberus

“Allegra!” I called, running through the palace as if my life depended on it.

Well, I guess my life did depend on it.

If Allegra’s curse had awoken, she would come after me, and by the sounds of things, she wouldn’t stop until I was dead.

My mother and father weren’t far behind me as I tore through my bedroom door.

Allegra was nowhere to be seen, so I checked the bathroom, the wardrobe and finally, the balcony.

Allegra was gone…

“We have to find her!” my mother shouted.

“You are not to harm her!” I ordered.

“Cerberus, she is going to kill you. It was different when her curse hadn’t activated, but now it has; we cannot take that risk,” my father said.

I didn’t want to do this, but I had no choice. My parents would never allow any harm to come to me, especially not after I had finally come back to them after so long.

I took a deep breath, willing my Demon and Angel forth as I used a power I had hoped to never utilise.

My gift of Enchantment.

But my gift slightly differed from my mother’s. Instead of temporary paralysis, I commanded the affected, and nothing could ever go against my orders.

The only problem was that I had never succeeded in using it; only those weaker than me would become affected, and even so, my power required both my Demon and Angel to be in agreement.

I had finally merged my two halves, but could I command my parents? The most powerful of two species?

“You will not harm her,” my voice was deep and definite.

My father tensed as he tried to fight the command. My mother’s eyes shined a piercing white; she was resisting me.

I willed the command again.

I watched as my mother flinched; she was fighting it, but there was one thing I had that ultimately overpowered her at this moment…

Fear…

The fear of losing Allegra.

And fear could command great things.

“I will not say it again,” my voice grew deeper, more profound, “You will not harm her!”

My mother’s tense frame slowly softened, and her eyes dulled until I was met with her soft, golden-coloured ones.

“We can’t just let her kill you!” my father bellowed, clearly unappeased by my choice of words, “Not when we have finally got you back,” his voice cracked at his last words.

“Then we trap her until Viora can find a way to break the curse,” I countered.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” my mother whispered defeatedly as we exited my room in search of Allegra.

“Oh no!” my mother gasped.

My father and I looked at my mother until she ran down the hall towards the library. We followed until we saw my mother inspecting the pieces of shattered glass on the ground beneath the fireplace.

“She took it…

“She took the Archangel blade.”

Allegra

I finally feel awakened.

A burden lifted from my shoulders.

My true purpose in life is clear; kill the half-breed.

Yet, somewhere deep within, a continuous stirring of doubt beat in the back of my mind.

Was this me, or was this the curse?

Yet every time I tried to listen to that tiny beat of doubt, I was overpowered by a more potent force of hatred and disgust.

I didn’t know where I was walking until I set my eyes on the cave where this all began.

Our destinies were entwined; always certain to meet.

This was where it all started. I didn’t see a more fitting end than this very spot.

A purple spark in the corner of my eye broke me from my thoughts.

I was too late to evade the flying flame as it plummeted towards me. But just as it was inches away from me, ready to inflict damage, a wall of black smoke engulfed the purple blaze as though it was nothing.

I faced the one responsible, only to come face-to-face with my mother.

Viora stood a short distance away, her expression oozing terror and surprise.

Viora

“Hi mother,” Allegra spat.

I didn’t recognise my own daughter; the curse had taken its toll and manipulated her head with darkness.

The result of a blood magic curse...

“Allegra, please don’t do this,” I pleaded.

Allegra gave a smirk that would make your blood run cold, “Do what? Rid the world of a stain that was never meant to exist?” she mocked.

“You don’t believe that.”

I had to stall her. I needed time. Time to think of a way to stop her.

“I see clearly now. Father was only trying to help me see the truth. That hybrid could destroy the world, murder in the millions and yet you protect it?”

“This is not you!” I begged, “This is your fathers doing.”

I saw her eyes mist with black as she swirled a cobalt blue flame in her hand. She readied her aim and released. I managed to jump out of the way, but my leg caught in the ripples of the sparks as they forced a hole in the rock behind me.

I climbed to my feet, disregarding the fresh burn on my leg.

I didn’t know what to do.

My most potent flames couldn’t even reach her; how was I meant to stop her…

Cerberus

I followed the tracks in the 3-inch snow. Allegra was heading towards the cave.

I finally cast my eyes upon her just as she released a sweltering blue light towards Viora, completely obliterating the stone behind her.

“Allegra!” I called, “Stop this!”.

I used my Enchantment, but I wasn’t getting through to her. She was strong, much stronger than I, so it wasn’t working.

But how?

Where did she get all of this power from?

I could sense her aura; it was unhinged and out of control.

Her eyes turned towards me. With one look at her sinister gaze and black, soulless eyes, I instantly knew she was not Allegra. This was the curse.

“You don’t have to do this!” I called.

Without speaking, she readied another attack. Just as she was about to release, Viora shouted, “Now!”.

My mother released her pearly white wings and forced a gust of wind to make Allegra tumble backwards. My father used telekinesis to raise the fallen debris and form a dome around Allegra until she was trapped in the stone.

“What do we do?” my mother shouted frantically.

“She has the temporary power of blood magic because of the curse, as well as her own unchallenged power. It has been untapped for the last 1400 years from being trapped in the stone, just waiting to be released,” Viora answered as she hobbled to our side.

“So she’s unstoppable?” my father added.

“I could try and trap her again like I did before. Only it will take time, considering how strong she is.”

“Do it,” I spoke, “It’s the only choice we have”.

The dome rock rumbled and then shattered into dust as Allegra stood tall and more enraged than before.

“No!” she screamed.

In the blink of an eye, Viora went flying into a tree. She stayed raised in the air, against the tree, as if an unknown entity was holding her, stopping her from escaping.

My mother and father were next; Allegra raised her arms, sending my father into the sky and then plunging towards the ground at unimaginable speed. I heard bones crack as my father was paralysed to the spot, the same as Viora.

My mother teleported to Allegra’s side, only for a black haze to engulf my mother, sending her into some sort of paralysis. My mother’s eyes glossed over as she convulsed on the floor.

“What did you do?!” I shouted as I watched my mother writhe on the ground and my father’s futile attempts at trying to reach her.

“She is in a nightmare of her own creation. One that will stay until I kill you, unless it kills her first,” Allegra smiled sickeningly.

I stepped closer, my arms out as a sign of a truce.

“You can fight it, Allegra; I know you can,” I spoke as softly as I could, the tremble in my voice almost threatening to show.

“There is nothing to fight,” she answered.

“Remember what you said to me,” her head cocked to the side in confusion, “You made me promise to bring you back if you were ever a danger to me.

“Remember…” I spoke again, taking another risky step forward.

“The Night I told you about Celia…” her features softened, I was getting through to her. “I said you reminded me of her; treated me as an equal, not some hybrid that needs to be put down.

“You made me better, Allegra, you brought me back, let me help you…”

I took another step as her knees almost collapsed to the ground. She was fighting the curse; I could sense it. She just needed to push a little more.

“You told me my Angel was fighting for me, so I should fight with him, and I did. Now you have to do the same, Allegra.

“Fight, fight the blood curse plaguing your mind.

“I know you don’t want to do this,” I was now a few steps away from her.

Her lips twitched at the corners, her ready-to-attack stance had softened, and beneath the black swirls of her eyes, I could see the Sapphire blue struggling to pull through.

Her face contorted as she fell to her knees in the snow. She held her head in her hands as though something was clawing its way into her mind, a parasite she craved to get rid of.

“No, no, no!” she screamed as she battled the inner demons plaguing her mind.

The snow around her dampened with her tears as her cries became louder, and the smoke surrounding her grew until it was almost impossible to see her.

My mother, father and Viora were suddenly released from their supernatural shackles.

“She can’t break it!” Viora called with a hoarse voice, “It’s impossible.

“Blood curses are unbreakable, forever binding until the affected completes what they were set out to do.

“No matter what she does, no matter how hard she fights, she cannot win…”