Second Chances: Part II

Vanessa had been blindfolded and taken to an unknown location away from the underground maze. She struggled to get free but a decade of malnutrition meant that she was no match for her assailant. After being carried around for a bit, her kidnapper seemed to relax in a secure spot where they put Vanessa on a chair and tied her hands and feet so she couldn’t escape. 

Vanessa was still blindfolded and couldn’t see what was going on. She struggled to get free but knew it was a fruitless effort. After she had stopped squirming for freedom, her kidnapper finally removed her blindfold.

There stood a short woman with blue hair and a large gash on her right cheek from a wound she had suffered in the past. The kidnapper looked at Vanessa with a murderous lust in her crazy eyes. The front of her face was covered partially by her unkempt curly hair. She seemed to be the living definition of the word insane, as her gaze by itself was enough to frighten the poor elf.

“You don’t know what you’re doing, let me go.” 

Vanessa calmly requested, but her kidnapper did not respond, simply looking at her watch to keep time until the juggler made his way back to their hideout.

It was a random cave on the side of a mountain with barely anything inside except some supplies and weapons sprawled out on the floor. Vanessa hypothesised how these people must have had followed Silver and were waiting for the opportunity to spring into action once the two exited the maze.

“I’m back Aiko, everything ok in there?” 

The Juggler sang his words as his voice resounded through the cave. The crazy woman looked over to find him standing at the entrance

“Everything’s fine, just hurry up and get in here Hikaru.” 

The mad woman shouted back, caressing the gash on the right side of her face on-sight of the Juggler. Without warning she started harming herself, scratching her left arm so violently that cuts began to appear as a result of her nails digging deep into her skin. Soon, blood trickled down her forearm and onto the floor.

“Stop hurting yourself!” 

Vanessa shouted out in disgust causing Aiko to stop.  Her eyes exploded into a murderous glare, as the mad woman jumped on Vanessa like moths to a flame. 

Punch after punch after punch met with Vanessa's face, until the chair she was restrained to fell over.

“DON’T TELL ME WHAT TO DO YOU BITCH!” 

Aiko spat at Vanessa who writhed in pain on the floor. Her Obsidian black hair fell onto her face and covered her bruises as she shot daggers back at the woman through the streaks of white in her luscious locks. The poor elf could not soothe her pain with her own hands as she was bound, the blood circulation reducing in her hands from how tight Aiko had done the knots. The Juggler descended on this chaotic scene and simply hugged his crazed lover.

“There there, don’t listen to her my love. Cut yourself as much as you want, here, I’ll even help you.” 

The juggler donned a devilish grin as he revealed a straight razor from his breast pocket and held out Aiko's arm. The mental vixen went red with excitement as Luke opened the blade and swiftly cut the letter L into her arm. Blood dripped out of the cuts as Aiko looked on, filled with lust and temptation.

“Mmmmm I’m gonna get drenched if you keep doing this to me pookie bear!! Cut me more, cut me more!!” 

The woman let out a demonic laugh causing Vanessa to be filled with horror and disgust.

“You two make me sick… “ The elf murmured on the floor “... People like you are the reason I hid myself away for so long…”

“And what purpose did it serve if you’re dying by our hands here?” 

The juggler laughed as he pointed a Kunai at Vanessa.

“It doesn’t matter, you can’t kill me. To the Queen, you two are nothing but pawns to be slaughtered and you will be very soon, because of how careless you are.”

“Careless?” The Juggler asked confused, 

“You’re on the floor tied up and your boyfriend is lying face down in the dirt. My magic lasts for an hour exactly and we only need one minute to kill you. How do you see yourself getting out of this predicament you ignorant bitch?”

“You underestimated him. That man will come to take back what’s his. Did he really look like the kind of man who would let you do what you want? My eyes have never deceived me so I hope you've said your prayers.”

As soon as Vanessa finished her rebuttal, Aiko ran towards her and kicked the poor elf directly in the face with the toe of her chunky army boots. Vanessa’s head was blown back by the impact, causing teeth to fly out and blood to gush forth from her broken nose.

“DON'T YOU DARE TALK BACK TO MY HONEY!! AHAHAHA TAKE THAT AND THAT!!!! ”

Aiko continued her merciless onslaught, stomping on Vanessa’s chest and breaking a few ribs in the process. Hikaru simply looked on and laughed as the murder was proceeding splendidly. More than anything, the Juggler was happy that Vanessa was now quiet as a sense of paranoia was indeed beginning to creep into his psyche because of what she had said.

Just at that moment a severed hand came flying into the cave and hit Aiko square in the jaw with a fatal force behind it. 

The severed hand flew through the air so viciously, and with so much power, that it easily tore through Aiko's skull and took a part of her jaw with it on its trajectory past the mad woman. In a split second, Aiko had a gaping hole in her face and fell to the ground dead.

“A severed hand?! Where did that-?!!” 

Before the Juggler could finish his words or even digest his own thoughts, Silver’s right hand burst through his chest with the Juggler’s spine in his grasp.

“You should’ve gotten both of my hands.” 

Silver calmly stated as blood spurted out from the Juggler like a fountain and draped itself all over Silver’s body and the immediate floor around them.

Hikaru and Aiko died instantly as the Wizard threw away the Juggler’s corpse disdainfully. He then made his way towards Vanessa who was struggling to breath on the ground. 

Silver leaned down, brushing her hair to the side to see the damage. Most of her nose was shattered and blood was coming out of her mouth which caused him to shed a tear of regret

“I’m sorry…” 

Silver regretted, softly, as he freed Vanessa from her bindings and took her out of the cave, placing her on a comfortable bed of grass some distance away from the hideout of their dead assailants.

“I can’t believe someone like you can shed tears…” 

Vanessa spoke through battered breaths, trying her best to take in the emotions of Silver 

“I knew I was right to trust you… even if you couldn’t save me this time, now I know you will always come for me…” the elf moved her hands to grab Silvers right arm near where he had sliced it off.

“You severed your own hand, just to come save me… Thank you… but I don’t want to live knowing you sacrificed yourself like this for me…. just save me quicker next time… before I get like this…”

“Next time?” 

Silver asked dejected as Vanessa lifted one of her hands and wiped away the Jugglers blood from the Wizards cheeks. She caressed his face in her palm as she stared deeply into his eyes.

“Kill me Silver…”

“If you kill me, we can go back and try again…” 

Vanessa requested, much to Silver’s confusion. He didn’t know how to react to this situation as Vanessa gave another push

“Trust me…” 

Vanessa urged him as she grabbed his palm and placed it around her neck, gazing deep into Silver’s eyes before letting a pure and innocent smile paint itself across her face. Silver realized he desired her in that moment as their eyes locked and their souls connected. This caused further anguish to arise within as he prepared to do what was necessary

“I never realized how hard it could be to take a life…but…I trust you” 

The wizard replied despondently with a lump in his throat as he lifted his hand and thrust it deep into Vanessa’s chest, clasping her heart tightly. Vanessa coughed up blood as he heart was crushed. 

In that exact moment, her eyes began to glow white as a transmutation circle appeared on her chest.

“What the hell…” 

Silver murmured shocked as he watched Vanessa’s entire body slowly get enveloped by the radiance. The Wizard instinctively took a few steps back as the energy got more and more intense, to the point where trees began to sway in the distance. In the sky, Silver noticed birds were flying backwards which caused him to be shocked at what he was witnessing.

“The blood.. It’s flowing backwards?!!” 

The mage realized as he saw Vanessa's blood making its way back towards her body. The type of "reversal" began to happen all around Silver, as if nature itself was moving in reverse. The white light emerging from the magic circle on Vanessa’s body quickly enveloped everything around for miles, including the Wizard.

Soon enough, all was engulfed by white. This blinding white radiance and magic stretched out for infinity and seemed to escape the planet to encroach upon the edges of the universe. It was as if the scales of cosmic time themselves were turning back to a certain point, where after the energy began to recede and make its way back to a starting point. It moved as if alive, back through the transmutation circle into Vanessa towards a moment in the past. This just so happened to be the moment Vanessa found herself having jumped on Silver’s back at the bottom of the labyrinth.

“Hold on tigh-”

“STOP!! DON'T JUMP!!”  Vanessa shouted out as Silver was about to launch himself to the top of the labyrinth..

“What happened now?!” Silver asked, annoyed as Vanessa jumped off his back and ran to face him from the front, grabbing his left hand to see that it was still attached to his arm.

“Good, it’s still here.” She smiled warmly as she placed her face inside the palm of Silver’s hand, causing the wizard to be strangely embarrassed.

At that moment, Silver saw a streak of Vanessa’s obsidian black hair turn completely white right in front of his eyes. Silver was entranced by this, forgoing his embarrassment altogether.

“Woah..” he retreated his hand, slightly ablush, causing Vanessa to laugh

“Oh my, look who's getting embarrassed now? Weren’t you supposed to be Mr rough and tough?” The elf laughed but Silver was just confused at what was going on .

“Why’d you stop us?” The wizard returned to the matter at hand causing Vanessa to cease her laughter and put on a serious face. Seeing her emotions shift so suddenly, Silver decided to listen intently. Vanessa revealed the truth of what had happened, but Silver couldn't help but doubt her story.

“Soo let me get this straight.. you’re saying when we go up there we’re going to get attacked and I’m going to murder you? Ridiculous. Not even the five legendary mages could look into the future. My Death Magic allows me to skip events but even it cannot control time and space. Hurry up and hop on. We don’t have time for your games.”

“It’s not a game! I'm telling you the truth, I came back here in an hour from the future! Didn’t you say you would trust me?!” Vanessa replied, seemingly at her wits end

“Listen, I don’t trust anyone blindly like that other than Supreme Mage Chernobog. He’s the headmaster of the Academy where I’m taking you and one of the five legendary mages along with, I guess this Architect that you mentioned. Chernobog is the man who taught me my Death Magic and someone I trust completely. I’m sure he’ll help us figure out how to protect you when we get there.” 

Silver responded but Vanessa just pouted

“Well, I’m not going up there just to die so until you go and deal with those two with your stupid ‘Death Magic’ or whatever, I’m staying right here!!” 

Vanessa mocked silver, lifting her white dress to cross her legs as she gently sat down on the ground, closing her eyes and beginning to meditate as Silver looked at her begrudgingly

“FINE. I’m gonna go up there and check on these ‘hallucinations’ you had, but if I find out there's nothing up there, I will personally spank you when I get back.”  the wizard intensified as he launched himself towards the exit

“Pervert!!”

Vanessa shouted, her eyes closed as she sat at the bottom of the stairs, pondering her death mere moments ago.

A panicked and horrified expression painted itself across her face as her eyes widened to an unnatural radius. Her breathing began to palpitate at the thought of having gone through the immense and unimaginable pain of death mere moments ago. Vanessa panicked and began to shed tears as she tried to count her breaths and return to a state of calm and peace. The tremors of that nightmarish moment, Silver thrusting his hand into her chest to squash her heart, every beat reverberated through her psyche, replaying in a rhythmic fashion, traumatizing her intermittently for a few minutes until she was finally able to hold it in and regain control of her mind.

Having recomposed herself, Vanessa began to rearrange her mental faculties in the mansion that was her mind. She had dealt with this pain in the past, allowing her to deal with the trauma once again after all. However, what made her feel uneasy was the fact that she had experienced it after so long.

The weight of those 10 years sitting in stone. Vanessa felt that weight being lifted all at once, in an instant. She vowed to herself and smirked as she thought about flipping the canvas over.

“It’s all about perspective” 

The beautiful elf murmured.

On the surface, Silver was engaged in a heated battle with the Juggler and his sidekick.

“Why don’t you and your side chick give up already, I knew all your tricks before I even got here!” Silver shouted out cocky but tame as he realized Vanessa was absolutely right about her premonition.

“SHIT SHIT SHIT !!!! HOW DID YOU KNOW EVERYTHING I WOULD DO?!” The Juggler shouted out as he retrieved a pump action long barreled revolver from his breast pocket and aimed it at Silver

“That’s the spirit honey, get him!!” 

Aiko shouted as she launched herself as a distraction.. Silver was unfazed and prepared to tackle her when, in a flash, The Juggler shot a round straight through Aiko at the Wizard!  Silver was shocked into submission and let the bullet pierce through him as well.

“HAHA I GOT YOU, BASTARD!!” Hikaru shouted out victorious as Silver and Aiko fell to the ground immobilized.

“Good Job Honey!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!” Aiko shouted out on the ground, simmering in lust from the pain of being shot. This weird fetish however was short lived as she looked down and realized that the bullet wound in her stomach was gone! Aiko looked at her torso in fear as she realized this was not a natural phenomenon!!

“Where’d it go?!!” She thought flabbergasted as Silver began to stand up. His menacing aura overtook Aiko who began to fear for her life.

“Look at you.” Silver focused his murderous gaze on the Juggler

 “You’d even shoot your own woman, just to further your own senseless ambition. A man who does not value Death does not know his place!”

Silver launched himself at the Juggler who found that the Wizard had instantly vanished from his sights. In a split second, Silver was next to the Juggler with his fist thrusting straight into his scrotum. The Juggler’s eyes rolled back into his skull. Hikaru was thrown by the punch into the foliage behind him, breaking many trees on the way towards his demise!

“BABY!!” Aiko shouted out horrified as she saw Hikaru knocked out some 100 meters away from her. She then swiveled her head to gaze upon Silver who stood there imposingly.

The insane woman trembled as she looked upon the monstrous sorcerer who simply ignored her presence until she ran away and after the Juggler.

“Save your legs, he’s dead.” 

Silver spoke into the wind as he watched Aiko run off in the distance to the aid of a corpse.

Without a moment to spare, the Wizard turned around and headed back down to where Vanessa was expecting him any minute. Silver reappeared at the bottom of the shaft covered in slight bruises, something Vanessa took note of.

“Well I’ll be damned, you were right! You really did come from the future…” the wizard exclaimed

“Chernobog said Time manipulation with magic was impossible so how did you do it…no wonder the Queen wants you dead!.” he pondered but Vanessa just stared at him with a thousand yard stare. It was obvious she had something else on her mind.

“I’m glad your hand is still intact this time. You really need to take better care of yourself, and I expect you take better care of me as well, even better than you do of yourself.” She smiled warmly

“Now come on, I'm tired. Lift me up like a princess and take me away from this dull cavern.” Vanessa flirted with Silver who was surprised by how forward she was being

“I guess I have a me in the future to thank for this..” The wizard scratched his head as he laughed heartily, picking her up like a delicate flower.

Instead of jumping to the top like a brute with Vanessa on his back, in this iteration, Silver decided to take his time ascending  with Vanessa in his arms, princess carrying her to the top at a gentle pace.