Chapter Ten – Marco POV

I mean, was I supposed to follow her? She seemed so upset. And for what? The truth? Wouldn’t it be easier to just give in to the legend so life could be simple again?

I sighed and sat on the couch. Putting my head in my hands, I just stared at the floor. No, I had to go there. I couldn’t just let her leave mad at me. I had to fix this.

So I headed to the realm and was greeted by Morgyn, who looked very unhappy.

“When were you going to tell me?”

I swallowed hard. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Did Jade tell him? What the hell was she thinking?

“I see it, Marco. Your eyes are red, and your whole demeanor has shifted. It’s like you’re up to something.” He crossed his arms.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “The only thing I’m up to right now is finding my future wife and apologizing to her for my behavior.” I stepped closer. “Now, if this is going to be an interrogation, I’ll go do that.” I walked away, clenching my fists.

Jade saw me and rolled her eyes. “Marco, I don’t want to continue the conversation from earlier.”

I smiled empathetically. “Neither do I.” I wrapped my arms around her waist. “I just want to apologize.”

She rested her head on my chest, and I hugged her tighter.

“Did you mean it?” She asked quietly.

I sighed. “I did in the moment, but you’re right. We need to fight this, not embrace it.”

She pulled away, gazing into my eyes. “They’re brown,” she said. “You’re back?”

I nodded with a smile. “Yeah, I guess. I certainly don’t feel so edgy.”

Morgyn came up to us. “Marco, I’d advise you to stay away from Jade as long as you’re going to let your dark magic take over.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Morgyn, don’t do this.”

Jade glared at him. “I second that. He knows how to control it. See?” She pointed to my eyes. “He’s okay now. We are working on it.”

“We?” Morgyn tilted his head.

Jade stuttered nervously. “I-I mean, y-yeah, I’m helping him, of course.”

I sighed and shook my head. “Morgyn, Jade, let’s go outside.”

They followed me. I paced in front of them.

“You know of the legend, I’m sure,” I said quietly.

“I do,” Morgyn nodded.

“Orion lives with you all full time, no?”

Morgyn nodded. “Yes. We have our struggles with him, but that was to be expected.”

“We are all about to have big problems with him.”

Morgyn tilted his head. “Marco, I don’t understand…”

“He’s the destroyer,” Jade said in a near whisper.

“And that makes us, well, the diabolical couple, consumed by darkness, who takes over the realm with the destroyer. Kyler and Ethan are the protector and restorer.” I sighed as I saw Morgyn’s expression shift to fear. “Morgyn, we don’t want this. We are fighting the darkness whenever we feel it. I don’t want to go down that path again.”

“I can’t take any chances.” He furrowed his brow. “It’s best if both of you are banished with Orion until you can control it.”

I crossed my arms. “And what of Declan and his son Danny?”

“Declan Walker?”

I nodded.

“He’s dead.”

“No.” I shook my head. “And what would Caleb say about you banishing his son and his ex lover? Whom, by the way, he’s still very close to. I get that you want to keep the realm safe, but your method of doing so is flawed in so many ways.”

“Flawed?” Morgyn snapped.

I nodded. “Yes. Flawed. You aren’t taking Caleb into consideration. You aren’t thinking of the two children who will lose both of their parents. You are failing to realize that the dark pairing are the only ones who can stop their own undoing!” I felt myself getting angry. I stepped closer to Morgyn. “You aren’t even trying to consider the chaos you will cause if you banish me again.”

“Is that a threat, Marco?”

“No,” I growled. “It’s a promise. I won’t be the one causing said chaos. The blame will entirely fall on you.”

Morgyn narrowed his eyes angrily. “I’m impressed you were able to keep your facade up for so many years, Marco. You even stole Jade in the process. I should have never trusted you. You’re reverting.”

By now, I was blinded by rage. “I am not reverting, Morgyn!” I growled. “I don’t want to be him! I would rather die than be that man! And might I remind you that Jade found comfort in me when you and Caleb let her down horribly. You can’t just ignore her and expect her to stay. I should have known you still had so much hate in your heart for me. You could have just said it and I wouldn’t have even bothered trying to make amends with you.” I stood back. “Some of us are better than this petty bullshit.”

Morgyn pulled out his wand. “What did you say?!”

“Try it, Ember!” I barked. “Who will be the bad guy then?”

“You!” He roared. “It’s always been you, Marco!”

Jade pushed Morgyn down, her eyes glowing red with a darkened fury. “Morgyn, I’m going to say this once, and only once. If you try to hurt Marco, or banish any of us, including my son, I will personally burn you until you beg me to kill you. Understood?”

My eyes widened. “Jade, that’s-“

“Not now,” she growled, holding her hand up. “And Morgyn, if you don’t want this dark pairing to lose control and destroy this place, then-” she stepped closer to him. “Stop pissing them off!!”

Morgyn gazed up at her with terror in his eyes. I stepped in and pulled her back. “Jade, please. Stop. Let’s just go.”

She looped her arms around mine. “Yes, my love. Let’s.”

We teleported back to the apartment and I gripped her shoulders. “Jade, love, you can’t do things like that. That’s a sure way to actually get us banished.”

She put her finger up to my lips and moved closer to me. “Shhh I’ll defend you no matter who says what and how harsh I need to be.”

Before I could speak, she kissed me. When we pulled away, I shook my head. “No, you don’t understand. Morgyn absolutely won’t hesitate to send us away. Even you. You aren’t immune to this.”

“Hush Marco.” She kissed me again. I wanted to pull away, but I couldn’t resist her.

We were incredibly non-productive when in darkness.

“But that was exhilarating,” she said with a smirk. “I really had to resist not getting involved in other ways.”

I narrowed my eyes flirtatiously. “I can’t resist you.”

“Mmm, good,” she licked her lips. “Because I have plans for you tonight.”

“Oh, do you?”

She bit her lip and nodded. “I’ll show you.”

She led me to the bedroom, and of course, one thing led to another in no time. Her plans were intense foreplay. I certainly didn’t complain.

We teased each other all night, over and over until we just couldn’t anymore. We fell asleep quickly.

The next day was chaotic. Jade and I were still in darkness, and we knew Morgyn would be making plans to rid us from the realm. I paced, trying to think of any way I could save us from that fate.

“I mean, we could just explain it’s not our fault or choice,” Jade said quietly.

I glared at her. “Okay, sure. ‘Hey, Morgyn. So, I know we are totally evil and want to take over the realm, but it’s not our fault. Spare us!’ Seriously, Jade?”

In a flash, she was in my face. “You’re mocking me now, Marco?”

I stepped back. “No, but that was a pretty stupid idea.”

“Better than anything you’re coming up with! You’re just pacing, not doing a damn thing!”

“I’m thinking!” I growled. “You know, so I don’t come up with ideas like yours.”

“Then how about this? We let him banish us and find a way back out. It’s not like you and Damien didn’t already do that.”

“Do you know how hard that was?” I snapped.

“No!” She barked. “Because I wasn’t there! And I wouldn’t have been dumb enough to end up there.”

“What?!” I snarled. “What the hell has gotten into you? We are on the same side. We are supposed to work together!”

“That’s hard to do when as soon as I come up with something, you mock me! I should ask what’s gotten into you then. You were so quick to insult my intelligence like that, eh? Insulting the one you l-mmph!”

I kissed her before she could ramble any more. “I’m sorry, mi reina,” I sighed.

She walked away. “Then show me. Because one kiss doesn’t tell me anything other than you wanted me to shut up.”

I sighed.

“Maybe we should just stay away from the realm,” she said quietly. “If we aren’t there, we aren’t causing trouble. If Morgyn doesn’t see us, he won’t banish us.”

I thought for a moment. “Yes, that’s a good idea. We could wait it out for a little bit until things calm down.”

She headed for the door. “Looks like I can come up with something good. Sometimes.”

As she walked out and shut the door, I moved toward it. “Jade, wait!”

But she was gone. I contemplated following her, but I decided to give her space. I screwed up. What the hell was I thinking? Why did we keep fighting like this? I felt like my world was crashing down, and I just couldn’t take it.

Because it is crashing down. Everything that was happening was weakening my spirit, over and over. Pretty soon there’d be nothing of me left.

I paced again. She was right. Laying low was our best option. And trying to get rid of this darkness. It was only getting worse. I had reached a point where even the thought of ridding us of it gave me a sense of dread. How could I possibly want to be like this?

“Ugh!” I threw my hands up. “No, goddammit! I’m fighting this!” I decided to head to the realm after all. There was something I needed.

I changed into a hoodie and flipped the hood over my head. I put on the glasses I hadn’t worn in a long time and teleported into the realm. I immediately headed for the bookshelves. If this was a legend, a book about it had to exist. Keeping my head down, I started searching.

“The Legend of Betrayal, The Legend of the Six Winds, The Legend of-” I sighed. “No, no, no.” I continued searching in silence. Finally I came across something. Not what I was looking for, but it caught my attention. “The Legend of the Dark Realm, eh?” I grabbed the book and tucked it into my hoodie. “Yes, I’ll need-” I stopped. Behind that book another was hiding. I shuffled the other books to the side and grabbed it. I studied the cover. It was faded. This book looked to be one of a private collection. It also appeared to be heavily used. Clearly, someone was doing research.

I opened the book since I couldn’t make out the cover. “The Legend of the Downfall.” I swallowed hard. I flipped through the table of contents. “Darkened Sky. The Dark Sages…” I shook my head. “We were legends? God…I never thought…” I sighed and closed the book, overcome with emotion. Putting it into my hoodie, I teleported home.

Shedding the hoodie and glasses, I took out The Legend of the Downfall again. I whispered the chapters to myself. “The Unknown Realm. The Rebirth. The…Destroyer. Well, this is the book I wanted. The Protector and Restorer. Power Divided.” I flipped to that chapter.

“This part of the legend says that the mother of the destroyer and the untamed dark sage will find their way to each other. They will fall in love. But their love comes at a price. Damaged from past events, this couple will be the power source of the realm. However, in order to activate that power, they will embrace darkness. This will happen regardless of their own will. They are destined to become the king and queen of the realm, their power being far too strong for anyone to stop. Not even those of the council.

“As their reign begins, the realm will become unstable as the king and queen harness all power from the sages. The balance will then fall on the king and queen. The destroyer, the vampire/spellcaster hybrid prince of the realm will aid in this takeover. The Protector, as well as the Restorer, if they are not one in the same, will hold the key to light magic. However, beware. Fighting the king and queen will result in the end of life. It is unclear whose life may be taken, but in order to restore balance, one must die. If they are ever revived, the risk of darkness returns, potentially leading to another downfall.”

I closed the book and wiped the tears that had fallen down my cheeks. We didn’t have a choice. This was going to happen. One of us had to die to save the realm.

If I could, I would sacrifice myself. Not to be a hero, but because it was what was right. If I had never been brought back, this legend would have no merit. Everyone lived in peace before my return, and I’d make sure everything returned to that peaceful time they had.

Jade came back in as I laid on the couch, staring at the ceiling. She peeked over the edge and I looked at her, but my expression remained, and I didn’t say anything.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I shouldn’t have stormed off like that.”

“You had reason to,” I responded, just as quietly. “I’m sorry for undermining you and downright insulting you.” I gazed into her eyes, reaching up and caressing her cheek. “Mi reina, I love you more than you’ll ever even imagine. You changed me. You made me realize there was so much more to life than I had cared to see. You gave me dreams. Love. A family. I owe everything to you, mi amor.” I sat up, still touching her cheek and pulled her into a kiss.

As we pulled away, she rested her head on mine. “Are you…alright? Where did all the sentiments come from? Don’t get me wrong, I love them, and you, but this feels like…goodbye?”

I shook my head. “No, absolutely not, Jade. Never a goodbye.” My own words haunted me as I thought about the words I had read. “My head is swirling. You give me peace. I just needed to express that. Maybe you don’t hear it enough.”

She kissed my forehead. “Marco, mi rey, I don’t need to hear it. I see it every day. I feel it in your heart.”

I smiled. “You know what? This weekend, let’s just do it.”

She blushed. “Uh, we don’t really need a schedule for that.”

I laughed and kissed her again. “No. Let’s get married. Spontaneous, just run off and elope. What do you think?”

She laughed as well. “Uh, okay? That’s fine. I didn’t want a real big thing anyway.”

I stood up and rushed to the back of the couch. I pulled her into a tight hug. “Then it’s settled. This weekend will open a whole new chapter in our lives.”

I just hoped I’d live long enough for the next chapter.

Chapter Eleven (click here)