The gates of the afterlife had opened, soul suckers flew out of the portal and into the city, already tasting the sweet life of each living creature. The soul suckers were banshees who hailed from the darkest corners of hell, they flew around freely and without hesitation, if they had eyes instead of two black holes you could see the feral hunger in them. New York City's pedestrians had no clue what awaited them, but soon horror erupted in the dark city as the six soul suckers that managed to escape through the portal claimed their first victims. People screamed and violently pushed each other as they tried to escape the grayish ghosts that had come to claim their souls, on the streets people ran, some abandoned their cars seeing as the streets grew crowded from people escaping.
Soon the police arrived at the scene and tried to protect the civilians as good as they could, though it was useless seeing as guns couldn't hurt them and there was no way of restraining them since they were ghosts. "Look for shelter inside the stores! Move it, people, move it, move it!"
Ramsey Bianchi broke free from Spider-Man's web, firefighters and paramedics had managed to extinguish the fire and aid wounded civilians. She flew over the city and made her way toward Oscorp electricity center, as she near the said place she was unable to ignore the loud screams and cries for help happening below her. "Oh, my god." She gasped as she caught one soul sucker sucking the life out of a little girl and dropping her corpse before flying onto its next victim, which was a pregnant lady. "No!"
The Witch of Life could feel in her chest the souls claimed by the enemy, she summons her white ancestral magic rings and threw the disk over at the soul sucker. The pregnant lady was on the ground holding her grown belly, the soul sucker burst into ashes before it reached the woman. Ramsey landed on her feet gracefully and the magic disk returned to her before disappearing, she rushed forward and helped the still in shock woman.
"Are you and your baby okay? Were you hurt?" Her hazel eyes scanned her body for any visible wounds, she breathed out in relief when she found none. "You have to seek shelter. Go home. Stay away from the streets."
The woman let out a shaky sigh as silent tears rolled down her tanned cheeks, Ramsey understood her fear, but right now she didn't have time for this. She needed to stop Hayek before more came out, she held out her hand and a white glowing dagger appeared on her palm, she gave it to the woman who still couldn't utter a word. "Here, take this. Keep it with you at all times until you reach home or some place safe. If one of those things tries to come after you and your baby, stab him with this. Good luck."
Before she could fly away, the woman stopped her. "Wait!" Ramsey looked at her over her shoulder, the woman stared at her with watery and terrified eyes. "Who are you?"
Who was she? The young adult went by many names, she was a daughter, niece, cousin, Witch of life, a Walker, a girlfriend, and she was Ramsey Bianchi Walker. She was many things but none of that matter, she glances at the woman and gave her a soft smile. "A stranger trying to do the right thing."
She shared with her one last smile before shooting to the sky, Ramsey accelerated her pace, only stopping to kill a new soul sucker that had escaped through the portal. Thunder blasted above her, she would blink every time lightning would flash since it momentarily blinds her. Three minutes later she had made it to Oscorp electricity center, she slowed down and witness Spider-Man fighting against Electro and Elias trying to choke Green Goblin as they flew uncontrollably on his glider. Her eyes darted to the clock tower that was just behind the electricity center, she noticed the black turmoil forming above it, and she caught sight of soul suckers coming out of it.
"Damn, that looks scary." She mumbled to herself, her hands were curled into a fist as she pushed them forward and flew toward the tower.
Green Goblin did a 360-degree turn causing Elias to lose his grip on Harry and fall, Ramsey saw her friend free-falling, and she quickly switched directions and flew to him. Elias's arms flail around, his hands grasping air and his heart beating against his sternum, before he touched the ground, Ramsey was able to grab him and slow down his fall. "Oh, hey, Ramsey. Nice of you to finally join us."
"I would've made it sooner if Peter hadn't webbed me to the ground." She let go of Elias, and he landed on his feet, she landed beside him. "Though if it wasn't because of that, I wouldn't have seen the damage Hayek is causing to the city as we're here. We have to stop her. Now."
A cynical laugh had them whipping their heads toward the source and saw the Green Goblin flying toward them with pumpkin bombs in his hands, he threw them to us. "Die!"
Elias was already moving away when Ramsey pulled him behind her by his shirt, before the brunet could as her what she was doing, she spread her arms wide and summon her telekinetic force field and a white glowing dome encapsulated them. "Ramsey, are you sure this is going to..."
The words died on his mouth as he covered his head and hid behind Ramsey when the bombs made contact with her glowing dome, the Latina held her ground and the telekinetic force field didn't falter. Smoke engulf them due to the explosion, Ramsey scanned around trying to spot any surprise attacks, but the smoke was too thick. "Did I answer your question?"
Elias slowly moved from behind Ramsey, he glanced around and breath out in relief when he noticed he was alive and in one piece. "Remind me never to doubt you again."
The Latina smirk and lower her arms for a few seconds after nothing happened, the force field vanished as the cloud of smoke started to disperse, and their surroundings became a bit clearer. "What's happening in the city?"
"The portal to hell has open, soul suckers or demons, whatever you want to call them, are feasting on the souls of the people." Ramsey shared with Elias, the Romanian looked at her in shock. "She's keeping us here and away from the real fight. I learned that I can kill them using my powers of light, our only option is to kill Hayek, that's the only way of killing the soul suckers."
Elias let out a heavy sigh, placing his hands on his waist and nodding. "Electro and Green Goblin are her guard dogs, makes perfect sense." Ramsey stared at him. "Your boyfriend is keeping Electro busy, I can try and keep Goblin entertained."
"I'll help you," Elias frown, "if I take Harry's glider away, he won't have anywhere to go. He's weak without it, that's where you step in. Be ready."
Ramsey didn't allow him the moment to rebut her, the cold air blew back her dark brunette hair as she flew out into the open and Harry easily spot her. His expression was one of shock as he saw her levitating ten meters away from him with white magical rings on her wrists and runes inscribed on them, but soon his face twisted into one of a cynical psychopath. Thunder banged above her and her eyes darted behind the Green Goblin where the portal grew wider and more soul suckers pour out from it, her heart clenched in fear as she counted at least sixteen ghosts.
"Ah, the girlfriend," Green Goblin sneered, "too bad Peter never introduced us."
Ramsey shook her head, there was no time for face-offs right now, her weapons disappeared, and she raised her hands to indicate she didn't want to fight. "Harry, listen to me, there's no time for this."
Electro sends Peter flying a good distance away from him, Spider-Man's body landed near the entrance of the building inside the electricity center, Elias glance at Ramsey in the sky before licking his lips hesitantly and running up to Peter. The hero groan, feeling his muscles twitching and aching from the hit and the electricity, one of his shooters was down just like the previous fight he had with Electro. Elias hoist him up from the armpits and scanned his swaying body for any visible wounds, he breathed out in relief when he saw none, Electro had retreated into the grid and started to play the familiar Spider-Man tune again.
"God, I hate this song." He groaned, throwing his hands up in the air before swaying, forcing Elias to catch him and steady him.
"You look like shit," Elias told him, he couldn't really see his face, but by the way his body swayed and flinched he knew he had taken a lot of hits.
"And feel like it, too."
Elias grimaced. "Shit, what do we do? Things are bad, while we fight here, Hayek is attacking the city using soul suckers she brought from hell." He pointed at the portal above the clock tower. "They come through that. Electro and The Green Goblin are her guard dogs, Ramsey is trying to knock Harry off his glider, so I can engage in hand-to-hand combat with him while you deal with Electro."
"Soul suckers from what now?" Peter looked at him, his voice dripping with confusion. "Man, this is above my pay grade... and I don't even get paid for this. And now you're telling me we're fighting demons?"
Elias shrugged, understanding where he was coming from. "Focus, man. How can we stop Electro? I can help you while Ramsey fights Goblin."
Spider-Man gripped his forehead as he thought, he really had no clue how to stop him, all he could think of was the fatigue he felt and the aching of his muscles. "Okay, so he's electric." He stated tiredly. "Last time, water pulled the trick, but I don't think it'll be the same this time."
As Peter thought out loud, Elias felt his neurons make contact between them as an idea sparked in his mind. "He's electric..." Elias repeated as a light bulb went on in his head, his hand smacked against his forehead at the obvious realization. "Of course, he's electric!"
"Yes..." Peter replied confusedly. "That's what I said."
Elias shook his head and placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him gently. "Basic science question. What happens if you overcharge a battery?" Peter tilted his head to the side, already knowing where he was getting at. "It explodes."
"Right." He nodded, a plan forming in his head. "So we use his power against him. Elias, you're a genius!" Peter cupped his cheeks and joined their foreheads in a spur of excitement, Elias pulls back and grabs both of his arms since Peter still held his face. "I think I can reconnect the power lines. But I'll need you for step two."
The raven hair Romanian nodded. "Just tell me what to do."
Spider-Man motioned at the building on his left. "I need you to reset the system." Elias glanced at the building and he nodded. "When I say you turn that power on, you turn it on. No matter what."
Peter patted his cheek before letting him go, Elias breathed in and turned to the hero, they shared a look and Elias hated how everyone was willing to die tonight. "Okay... I'll handle that. But please, try your best not to die, or else Ramsey will have my head."
"She can always bring me back to life and kill me herself." Peter jokes and Elias chuckled as they both started to retreat from each other. "Alright, let's go! Go!"
They separate, Elias, rushed inside the building and climb the stairs as fast as he could, beads of sweat rolled down his filthy head, once he reached the control room he made his way toward the panel and spotted a red lever. He noticed the plastic lid was locked, he cursed loudly and hastily search for a key before noticing an electrocuted dead body on the ground, and he held the key in his hand.
Elias scrunched his nose in disgust and reached out for the key before pulling it out of its grasp by the chain. "Ah, gross."
He quickly inserts the key and opens the lid, he then looks up and waits for Peter's signal.
Ramsey's face was turned to the side as she received a punch on her face, she yelped and squeezed her eyes before forcing herself to open them and regain her balance. She touched her cheek and felt something warm trickling from a freshly open cut, she pulled her fingers away from her cheek and noticed the crimson blood coating her fingertips, she even tasted the metal. The Witch of Life had underestimated her opponent, Goblin was driven by hate and Ramsey was desperate to get to Hayek.
"Harry, please." She tried again. "That thing is going to devour us whole. It won't matter whether you're on Hayek's side or not."
"Is that fear I'm sensing from the: oh, so great witch of life?" He sneers, hovering on his glider, his last pumpkin bomb was nested in the palm of his hand. "Aren't you supposed to be this... legendary witch? Hayek's counterpart?"
"I'm still human, Harry." She shook her head. "Don't let appearances fool you. I don't care about the rest of the world, they haven't done shit for me. I only care about my family."
Harry tutts.
Ramsey looked at him imploringly. "You're not alone... Harry. Even now, you're not alone. I know Peter failed you, he let you down when you most needed him." Something in his face twitched and Ramsey noticed. "But regardless of what you've become, he will always love you and care for you... you're his brother. Even families make mistakes sometimes, but that doesn't mean we don't care."
Thunder rolled across the dark sky along with flashes of lightning, Ramsey swallowed thickly as she noticed the portal vomiting black mist and how it covered the clock tower, hiding it from the public eye. Her heart sank to the pit of her stomach as she thought of Gwen and how terrified and confused she must be, but that wasn't her only concern, the black mist didn't only swallow the tower, it was also moving omnidirectional and Ramsey realized it would swallow the city entirely.
Ramsey glances at Harry, who turned to her with a dark smirk. "Please, let me save my family."
"Now, Elias, now! Do it now!" Elias' heart clenched as he noticed the landscape before him. Peter had tied the power lines using his web and Electro was discharging an electric charge against him, behind him the black mist was moving towards them omnidirectional. "Do it now!"
Harry looked down and Ramsey mistook that gesture for one of shame, she believed she had him, but she was wrong. Harry Osborn had died, and Green Goblin didn't have an ounce of humanity in his body, he only had pain and suffering. The billionaire Harry Osborn was weak and easily defeated, but the Green Goblin was anything but weak and a fool.
"You care about them?" He played her.
"You better not die, man." Elias cursed as he reluctantly pulled the lever. He witnessed the scene before him, his eyes reflected the light that came off from Electro's body as he was being overcharged.
Ramsey had her back turned from the fight below, she focused wholly on Harry. "Yes, I do, I really do. She's my family."
"And you would do anything for them?"
She nodded once again and, without hesitation, she said, "There's nothing I wouldn't do for my family."
Green Goblin nodded, looking at her dead in the eye. "Okay." He allowed her a moment of relief before a wicked smirk curved his lips. "Then show me."
Ramsey frown, too slow to realize what he was about to do. The Green Goblin turned away from her and flew directly toward the cloud of black mist, before being swallowed by it, she noticed he had activated the pumpkin bomb, and just like that everything clicked. Ramsey gasped loudly and flew after him at full speed, she too, was swallowed by the mist, the temperature was unbelievably cold, and she heard whispers all around her. She flew blindly, her heart was racing due to not being able to see anything nor anticipate any danger.
"Harry! Harry Osborn!" She called out for him, hoping he would laugh and use it as a guide, but he remained silent.
She stopped moving and glance around, something was horribly wicked, she could feel it in her chest. Her head wipe from side to side, trying to spot the danger or something, she turned around, and just as she did she was body rammed by something. "Ah! What the hell?"
Her eyes widen as she saw a soul sucker grabbing her shoulders and sucking her soul, her survival instincts kicked in after five heartbeats. Ramsey summon her powers of light, a dagger (the same one she had given to the pregnant woman) appeared on her palm and she stabbed the soul sucker on the chest. Just like before, the ghost burst into ash, and she was out of danger.
Ramsey couldn't even take a deep breath when the sound of an explosion caught her attention followed by a cloud of fire, she immediately flew toward it before the fire went out, and she was left in the dark again.
"Oh, my God!" Gwen bellowed.
There was a prominent ring in their ears due to the loudness of the explosion, the ground beneath them shook violently as if it were an earthquake happening. The metal catwalk was severely damaged, parts of it had fallen down, leaving the metal catwalk uneven and threatening to fall at any second.
"Gwen!" Ivanna gripped the blonde's arm in fear of something happening to her. "Don't. Move."
Electro was successfully terminated, Peter lay sprawled on the floor, unconscious from the harsh blow he received after defeating Max. Elias had rushed out of the building in haste as he tried to reach Peter before the mist could swallow them, but the mist was spreading fast, and soon it engulfed Peter and Elias. The Romanian came to a halt, skiing a bit from the abrupt stop, he fumbled for his phone and pull it out before turning on the flashlight.
"Peter?" Elias called after the young adult, he waved his phone from left to right trying to spot the masked hero. He tried his best to find him while using the flashlight on his phone. "Come on, man, answer me! Where are you?"
The Witch of the Afterlife groaned, she forced Finn's body to push them up using his arms, they knelt and glanced up at the hole on the tower. Her attention drifted to the portal and noticed the mist had lost its thickness as it started to dissipate, Hayek snarled and pushed herself up. Her eyebrows narrowed angrily as she saw Ramsey arriving at the scene, she landed gracefully on the metal catwalk, and immediately the ground groan under her extra weight and threaten to fall.
Hayek smirked, it was time.
Ivanna gasped in shock as she saw Ramsey levitating, the brunette Latina made eye contact with her and her eyes widened, mirroring Ivanna's shock. "Auntie?! What- What the hell? I didn't know you were- What is this?"
Ramsey was at a loss for words, her mind struggled to comprehend the meaning behind this, two of the most important people in her life were handcuffed to the railing of the damaged metal catwalk. Gwen and Ivanna stared right back at her, in their eyes she saw relief, but Ramsey's were filled with dread and confusion. If Hayek had bothered to kidnap them, then it meant she needed them for a reason, but what was it? What was the reason?
"Ramsey?" Gwen pulled Ramsey out of her head, and the Latina glanced at her in absolute worry. "I know this looks confusing, but please, get us out of here."
She shook her head, pushing all thoughts aside. "Yes. Yes, of course. I'm sorry."
"It's okay. We're okay." Gwen reassured her.
Ramsey sniffled and carefully leaned close to the handcuffs before summoning her magic rings, she used the disk-shaped ring to cut through the black handcuffs but soon realized they wouldn't budge.
"Since when do you fly?" Ivanna wondered, but shook her head and rephrased. "You and I are going to have a long conversation when this is all over."
Ramsey stopped trying to break them and frown. "That's weird."
"What? What is it?" Gwen questioned anxiously.
"The handcuffs... they won't budge."
Before any of them could offer a solution, Hayek intervene, grabbing the attention of both hostages. "I might have something to do with that."ย
Ramsey flinched and spun around, the metal catwalk groan and slipped, causing the ground beneath them to shake. Gwen and Ivanna gasped and held each other tighter. "I used runes."ย
She waved her hand and revealed the runes engraved on the handcuffs, Ramsey stared at them in confusion. "They're pretty effective if you want something to stay permanent. Well, given by the look on your face, I take it you don't know how they work." Hayek tilted her head to the side. "In a given space, only the witch that cast the runes can use her magic. It's part of the fundamentals of magic."
Ramsey carefully turned to face Hayek, her eyes stared into Finn's sky blue eyes. "Hayek... please, they have nothing to do with this. Just let them go and let's settle this between us two, this only concerns us. Not them."
Hayek nodded, pursing her lips as in thought. "I wish things were that simple, young Ramsey." She stared at Hayek pleadingly. "I truly mean this when I say I wish there was another way."
"There's always another way." Ramsey pressed. "Another choice."
"Not in this scenario, young Ramsey." Hayek shook her head and stared at her patiently. "If I want to make the world pay for what they did, then there's only one way to do it. A blood debt has to be paid by blood."
Ramsey curled her fist and narrowed her eyebrows at Hayek, she could feel the protectiveness rising inside her. "If you want revenge, what better than to do it against me." Hayek let out a heavy sigh. "I am the witch of life, if you want to punish someone, punish me."
"My revenge isn't against you, if anything you and I are in the same boat." Hayek levitated closer to Ramsey and the Latina tense. "We're both marionettes of the universe. I am imprisoned every century." She gestured at her with an open palm. "The burden of the Witch of Life is passed down by generations. But due to our differences, we are unable to see eye to eye, your purpose is to stop me no matter the cost, mine is to suffer and cause suffering."
Ramsey looked at her defeated. "And how are you different from those that wrong you? You're willing to make other people suffer, to prove what? That you were right? That what happened to you was wrong and unfair."
"You're right... I truly don't need these people to die." Hayek confessed, and Ramsey allowed herself to feel hope. "Why would I? How will that alleviate my pain? Or change the past?" She cocked her to the side. "What I'm about to do is unfair, but then again, ... that's my point."
Ramsey sucked in a deep breath, not expecting what happened next. Hayek manifested a huge axe and swung it down against the frail metal catwalk, causing the surface to completely give away. Ramsey was able to quickly react and levitate, but then she remembered Gwen and Ivanna, she glanced down and saw them fall. She was about to dive when Hayek swung the axe against her head and Ramsey quickly dodged it and the next thing that happened, she was being pinned against the wall by the Witch of the Afterlife.
"Let me go!" Ramsey struggled against the witch. "Hayek, stop!"
"Let you go?" Hayek sneer, chuckling. "Why, if this has just begun?"
Ramsey was overwhelmed by impotence as she heard the screams of her aunt and best friend, Hayek fought hard, skillfully, swing after swing and punch after punch. Ramsey couldn't break free and her movements were growing sloppy due to desperation, her heart was beating fast and she feared it would burst out of her chest in the middle of the fight. Although this war was far from over, hope was restored when a flash of red and blue fell from the roof's opening and shot two webs, each catching both women. Peter tried swinging them near the catwalk, so they would land there and get the hell out of here by foot, everything was going smoothly until Green Goblin showed up. Harry jumped off his glider and landed on top of Peter, the hero groan and his grip on the webs faltered, but he managed to regain his iron grip.
As a fight was happening above, Elias Magnuson was preparing everything below, he occasionally glanced to see how they were doing. His heart was beating fast, and his hands trembled in fear, Gwen and Ramsey's aunt were dangling from a thin web-line that could snap any second now, and that thought terrified him. He placed the prison sphere in the middle and gently traced a pattern before it open in a blossoming manner.
"Okay... that's ready." He mumbled to himself, he looked up. "The next step is casting the spell."
"Harry..." Peter croaked out. His former best friend had his hands wrapped around his neck, squeezing it. "Sss... top..."
He removed one hand off his neck and ripped his mask off his face, he saw the sweat and blood rolling down the sides of Peter's face. Harry pulled out a knife behind him, his sardonic smile never disappearing from his face, he pressed the blade against his cheek tauntingly. "I want to see the look on your face when I kill you."
Peter was unable to defend himself, since both of his hands were busy holding the web strings attached to both women.
Ramsey screamed in frustration as she fought against her counterpart, Hayek was relentless, changing weapons in a blink of an eye. The axe turned into a bลstaff, and she hit Ramsey across the face, the brunette tasted blood as her head was wiped to the side, hitting her head against the brick wall. She then manifested a different weapon, this time it was a dagger, she pressed Finn's body against hers and stabbed Ramsey's shoulder before twisting the knife and sinking it deeper.
"Ah, fuck!" Ramsey cursed from the pain, her breathing was ragged, and her head was spinning. She stared into Hayek's cold blue eyes with nothing but pain.
Hayek stared into her eyes with anger, she yanked the dagger and blood pour from the open wound, her weapon changed into a sword, and pressed the blade against her jugular vein. "I could kill you this instant," the blade was pressed deeper against her throat and Ramsey swallow thickly, "for the first time in a hundred years, I can kill the Witch of Life."
"Go ahead. What's stopping you then?" Ramsey whispered, obviously tired of this fight.
Hayek stared into her hazel eyes seriously. "Oh, I'm waiting."
"For what?"
Peter tried kicking Goblin off him, but there was no use, he was trapped unless he let go of one of them. "If you couldn't save me," Green Goblin leaned closer to Peter's face, "don't even think I'll let you save them."
Peter shakes his head, knowing exactly what his next step was going to be. "Harry... please!"
But it was too late, Harry already cut the first web which happened to be Ivanna's, the woman gasped as gravity pulled her down once again. A loud scream caught Ramsey's attention, her heart plummet to the pit of her stomach as she recognized the voice.
"For that."
The still handcuffed woman screams in terror as she falls, Peter uses that hand to punch Harry across the face. The wheel turns and cuts Gwen's web next, the blonde gasps before her body starts to drop. Peter wraps a web around Harry's throat and shoots it through the hole of the gear wheel, once it turns it pulls on Harry's web and chokes him. Hayek allows Ramsey to dive in after Spider-Man, she witnesses him shooting a web at Gwen since she was closest to him, Ramsey tried accelerating to reach her aunt on time.
But the truth? She wasn't going to make it.
"Auntie!" A scream erupted from Ramsey's throat, it was filled with horror as the young adult reached out for her aunt's hand, only for her to be too late. "No! God, no!"
Ramsey stops centimeters from the ground, tears well up in her eyes as she saw the broken body of her aunt, a second thud caused her to flinch. Her hazel eyes noticed Gwen's body dangling from her boyfriend's web, but she didn't move at all, she wasn't even breathing. Ramsey lowered herself next to her aunt and got on her knees beside her, she cradles her delicate body in her arms and she felt the blood soaking her clothes. "Please, please, I can't do this without you. I can't go through this again. I can't."
She strokes Ivanna's blonde hair, she tried her best to ignore the blood soaking and dripping from her cracked skull. The lump in her throat hurt her enough to let out a loud sob as she hid her face on the crook of her neck and mourn.
Elias approached Gwen, seconds later Peter had descended, and he stared at the limp body of his best friend. "Gwen?" Elias's voice was shaky as he scooped her in his arms and ripped the web string off her abdomen, he fell on his knees and cradle her. Elias couldn't listen to Ramsey's cries of grief, only the beating of his heart in his ears. "Hey, Gwen... answer me, will you? You're okay, you're safe. You- You made it. Please, open those beautiful eyes." But Gwen remained unresponsive.
"Gwen?" Elias's voice cracked at the end, he felt an immense pressure on his chest, and the urge to cry was powerful. "No, no... please, no. Don't do this, Gwen. Please, I beg you, don't do this to me. We had plans. "
Peter fell on his knees as a pang of immense guilt pierced his soul. Leave Gwen out of it. Promise me.
Hayek teleported where they were, she took in the damage she had made, there was no satisfaction because she knew the pain well enough. She walked up to Ramsey and Peter immediately move to attack her, but with just the flick of her hand, Spider-Man was pinned against the wall by black giant cuffs.
"This what you're feeling is exactly how I felt when they slaughtered my people and condemn me to a cell when I sought to do justice." Ramsey continued to cry, she rock her body and held her aunt tightly against her. "The difference between you and I is that I claim souls, and you grant life."
Ramsey stopped crying and looked up at Hayek's solemn face. "Bring her back to life, Ramsey. You know how to."
Elias stared at Ramsey, his sobs had subsided as he witnesses Ramsey closing her eyes and pressing a hand on her aunt's chest, seconds later a white glowing light came from her palm just like it did moments ago when she was healing his wound. The deafening silence was soon interrupted by Ivanna's loud gasp, she sat up and glanced around before her eyes settled on Ramsey, who stared at her in shock.
"Oh my god... I... I thought I had died." Ramsey engulfed her into a tight hug and let out a cry of relief. "What happened?"
"It doesn't matter," she squeezed her eyes and warm tears trickled down her cheek, "what matters is that you're back."
Elias cleaned his face and called her. "Ramsey, do Gwen. Gwen's next, bring- bring her back."
Ivanna let go of her niece and turned to see Gwen's dead body in Elias's arms, she gasped, but Ramsey was quick to crawl her way toward them. "Okay, okay."
Hayek remain silent as she stared at the scene, this is where her experiment takes place.
Ivanna watched her niece press a hand against Gwen's chest, a white light came from her palm and brought Gwen back to life and as she did Ivanna felt her body go limp before everything went dark. Gwen gasped and sat up immediately, Elias grabbed her face, and they stared into each other's eyes before they join foreheads, Ramsey smiled and hugged her best friend. Peter was still pinned down, and he had seen everything, he shared a look with Hayek.
"I can't believe you're this cruel."
Ramsey turned to face them, and she noticed her aunt passed out on the floor, her heart skipped a beat, and she rushed toward her and check her vitals, there was no pulse. Her blood ran cold, and she turned to Hayek with a genuinely confused look. "I-I don't understand. She was fine a minute ago, everything was okay."
"Everything was fine until you brought Gwen back to life." Hayek dropped the bomb. "You can grant life, Ramsey, but at the cost of another life. A soul for a soul."
Ramsey shook her head. "No. Mm-mm. That's not true."
She performed the same procedure and Gwen went limp in Elias's arms, Ramsey glanced at her best friend, and she realized Hayek was telling the truth. Ivanna opened her eyes and sat up, she stared at her niece confusedly, a sob racked Ramsey's body, and she pressed her forehead against the cold cement, and just cried. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Gwen."
Elias's heartstrings tugged painfully at his heart at the sudden truth, Ramsey was sacrificing Gwen for her Aunt's life, and that broke his heart.
A warm tear trickle down his face as he caressed Gwen's beautiful blonde curls before burying his face in her neck and whispered, "Oh, Gwen... we could've been happy."
"Everything comes with a price, young Ramsey," Hayek spoke up, there was no tease and no arrogance in her voice, she spoke sincerely. "I truly regret it had to be you who paid the universe broken dishes, none of this is fair. And that's exactly why I went through all this trouble just to prove it. I needed to break the Witch of Life in order to tilt the scales."
Hayek walked to the middle of the tower and utter the spell once again, the portal reopened and the mist returned. Ramsey slowly lean back and turned her head to Elias, the Romanian was already staring at her, and they exchange a nod. Ramsey pulled herself up and helped her aunt, she gave her a hug and whispered, "Te amo, ma."
Elias had carried Gwen out of the circle before pulling Ivanna away as well, Peter knew in his heart what was happening. "Ramsey, no, please don't do this!"
She stared at him and with tear-stained cheeks, she smiled at him. "Remember what I told you. I love you."
Hayek didn't listen to them since she was busy shouting her spell, Ramsey stared at Peter with a heavy heart before forcing herself to look away and walk up to Hayek. She grabbed her wrists and Hayek opened her eyes, she frowned and stopped casting her spell. "What- What are you doing?"
"Absolving you of your burden." Ramsey smiled at her, Hayek's eyes widen. "Astra inclinant, sed non obligant. Igne natura renovatur integra."
Light exploded from Ramsey's palms and engulfed Hayek's ball of dark magic nestled between her palms, soon both forces started swallowing them whole as they fought to repel one another. Darkness against light and vice versa. Ifย Elias didn't send them to the dugeon dimension they risked leveling the whole city, the explosion of two powerful force won't just destroy the entire tower and kill the rest of the people in it, it could also kill half of New York's population. Ramsey and Hayek's souls were drawn to each other, and once they merge they would cancel each other out, resulting in an explosion.
"Elias, now, do it now!" Ramsey screamed in pain as she force Hayek to stay with her.
Peter shook his head and fought against Hayek's black body cuffs. "Ramsey, no! Don't, please! Elias, don't you dare do anything!"
Elias glanced at Peter, "I'm sorry, Peter." He turned to the witches and reluctantly casted the imprisonment spell. "Omne bonum a Deo, omne malum ab homine." Peter screamed in frustration, tears rolled down his bloody face, the ring that hung around his neck on a thin silver chain was enough to make him realize what he was losing. His world. "Pulvis et umbra sumus. Ex hoc momento pendet aeternitas."
The sphere opens and starts to pull them in, Ramsey sniffles and makes eye contact with a desperate Peter who continually tried to break free from Hayek's hold. She smiles at him, her chest flooded with warmth from the love she felt for him, she was no longer afraid of dying and if anything, Peter made her stronger and more sure of what she was about to do. I love you, she mouths at him before closing her eyes and feeling herself being dragged by the sphere.
Peter breaks free from Hayek's cuffs, but it was too late now, they were gone. "No no no no!"
His knees buckle beneath him, feeling all the strength leave his body as he crashes on the ground, kneeling five meters away from the prison sphere, in defeat. His body shakes from the sobs that racked his body violently, the pain on his chest was so profound that it made him nauseous as he mourn the lost of his world. The burden of a hero, they save everyone minus those who matter to them.ย
The sky cleared immediately, the portal disappeared, and the black mist dissipated, there were no more soul suckers roaming around feasting on civilians.ย
Everything had ended.ย
The war was over.
"What did you do? Why...?" Peter asked Elias once he had calm down. Elias continued to cradle Gwen's body, he glanced up and stare at Peter through broken, bloodshot eyes.ย "I did... only what she asked me to do."
Ivanna slowly made her way near the prison sphere and kneels before it, she grabs the gold sphere that contained her niece, tears rolled down her cheeks as she pressed the cold surface of the object against her forehead. "Why did it have to be my baby?" Ivanna criedly loudly and ugly, Ramsey was dead, her daughter was dead and she couldn't do a thing to stop it. "She didn't deserve this."ย
The cycle of violence between life and darkness had finally ended after four hunded centuries of war between both forces and now there was peace. There were no more pawns, no more marionettes or injustices, everything needed to fall apart in order to fall into place.
Part of the preparation for The Circle of Life to achieve full autonomy over the fate of humanity, it needed to extract a heavy toll, a fair sacrifice, the life of the Witch of Light, and the death of the Witch of Darkness.ย
HOLA!
Omg, this is literally the worst Valentine's Update ever. On that note...HAPPY VALENTINE'S!!!
Guys, I'm so sensitive rn, we're one chapter away from ending this story. How are we feeling y'all?ย
Stay safe mis amoresย ๐ค