“Hell is empty, for the Devil is here...” Mr. Jade spoke those words, once again, to the man standing before him. A man who was his exact double. The men were mirrored as they stared each other down within the empty executive office of the town of Harrison.
Jonas wore black. Mr. Jade wore grey. One clothed in darkness, the other in pallid hues. One whose heart was wreathed in shadow, the other who was one with the shadows themselves. Finally, the time had come. A confrontation of wills, a battle of broken souls...
“Save your poetry,” Jonas said. “I’m going to end this.”
Mr. Jade smiled. “By all means do, Jonas. You know exactly what must be done.”
Jonas stepped closer to him, their identical grey eyes, both tired, both angry, stared through each other in a continuous glare. “I won’t believe that...” Jonas said.
“Believe what you will. It makes no difference. You know as well as I do the only way to end everything. To end me...”
“Enough. I’m telling you to come to our town. There are other ways to end this.”
Mr. Jade raised an eyebrow.
“We’re depleted. We have nothing left. We can’t fight anymore. But I refuse to let my friends die. So you will meet us there.”
“Will I?”
“You will. And you’ll quell the rebellion, as you’ve wanted. My friends surrender and you keep them alive.”
“In exchange for what?” Jade asked.
“For me. I know it’s what you want. My life... forfeit. It’s what you’ve been after all this time...”
The cold anger of Jade’s eyes bored straight through Jonas. “I have longed for the day...”
“Then take it. Meet me in Lana and we can end this. I’ll be waiting.”
Jonas turned to leave but he stopped when he heard Mr. Jade chuckle. “You’re a coward, Jonas.”
“I don’t need to hear it from you,” Jonas said.
“Because you hear it enough from yourself, I know. Though I must know, now that Lanala has been rescued... was that her magic I detected, blocking me out? Is that why I cannot speak to your mind?”
Jonas didn’t turn around. “Come to Lana. And find out.”
Finally, Jonas left the room and slammed the door behind him, leaving his dark counterpart alone once more.
...
Let’s hope phase one is out of the way Meryn thought to herself, struggling in her bonds. She glared up at her rival from beside the campfire where Fa’rah smiled at her.
Phase two... according to plan.
“Goldie... I’m curious,” Fa’rah said. “Something seems off this time... tell me yes or no. Did you really put everything into that fight?”
“Mmpph...” Meryn grunted. She was gagged tightly with cloth, one stuffed in her mouth, another tied on over it. Sturdy rope held her crossed and bound wrists behind her back. Tight coils held her wrists pinned to her back, wrapping her waist, trapping her arms to her sides, wrapping under her chest, and tightly binding her upper arms, running across and above her chest. He legs were tied at the ankles, calves, and thighs. She was propped up against a log, legs straight out in front of her, beside the campfire Fa’rah had built. Her muscular, blonde captor grinned at her from the other side, seated on an opposite log.
“And another thing... you’re not exactly trying to escape those ropes. What are you planning?”
Meryn thrashed about on the ground, wildly, growling into her gag, twisting and turning and shaking, all as though trying to convince Fa’rah. The heat of the nearby fire, coupled with the balmy night, made beads of sweat appear on her face as she struggled.
“Putting on a show won’t do you any good, Goldie. Much as I love to see it...”
“Hmmpph...”
“So you’re not going to tell me? Anything?”
Meryn just shrugged as far as her bonds would allow.
“Figures...” Fa’rah stood up from her seat. “Well, best get yourself rested up. It’s a long ride to Harrison from here come morning.”
She heard Meryn grumble something into her gag. “Hey, it ain’t my fault you got yourself caught. Again. You and that father of yours... you both make it too easy.” Fa’rah chuckled to herself.
“Mmmrrppphh...” Meryn growled. But she was no longer looking at Fa’rah. Instead, she was looking past her oldest rival. Just as expected. Jonas got good intel...
Two men dressed in black came out of the darkening shadows of night, stepping into the firelight. They had their guns drawn, but they tipped their hats to Fa’rah.
“Marshal,” one of them said.
“Do I... know you?” Fa’rah asked, reaching for her gun on reflex.
“We’re with Mr. Jade,” the second man said.
“Some of his new specialists,” the first continued.
“Specialists? Why haven’t I heard anything about this?”
“He kept it secret from everyone. Couldn’t risk the rebels finding out,” the first man said.
Meryn smirked under her gag. Looking good so far...
“So then what are you doing here?” Fa’rah asked.
“At Mr. Jade’s request,” the second man said. “We were to follow you, Marshal, and follow up on any prisoners you capture.”
“Follow up?” Fa’rah raised an eyebrow.
“I think you know what he means...” the first said.
The two approached Meryn, guns in hand. One of them moved to raise his... but it was knocked from his grasp. A bullet tore it from his hand, the gunshot echoing all around them. The two stunned men turned toward the source.
“What are you doing!?” the man asked.
Fa’rah stood back from them, gun drawn, trained on the two of them. “You boys just hold it right there... I won’t have that.”
“It’s Mr. Jade’s orders,” the second man sand.
“Damn his orders. He told me we’d keep them alive...”
The first man smirked. “Don’t act like you haven’t killed before... we all know you have.”
“That ain’t me anymore!” Fa’rah spat, venom in her voice. “And especially... especially not her...”
Meryn hadn’t expected to hear that so her eyes shot to her old rival. What the hell did she just say?
“Look... I hate her guts. I always have. I always will. I love nothing more than to have her at my mercy like right now. But to kill her... I just can’t. I won’t. Jade’s taking this too far...”
“You don’t get to decide that,” the second man said.
“Afraid I do. Now, I’m going to give you one chance to back away and go back where you came from. Else maybe you’ll see something of who I used to be...”
“Now you’re threatening us? Jade will hear of this...” the first man said.
“I don’t care... I won’t let him kill her. Or any of the others. Like I said, I hate them but...” her eyes drifted to Meryn for a moment. “I need a purpose... I need them.”
The second man raised his gun to Meryn’s head. “Too bad for you...” His arm flexed, his finger twitched... but he couldn’t pull the trigger. Another bullet ripped through his skull and he collapsed to the ground. Another tore through the first man’s chest, laying him low. Then all went silent.
Fa’rah knelt down and pulled down Meryn’s gag, pulling the cloth from her mouth. “Fancy that, Goldie...” she said with a smile. “Me, saving your life... Never thought that would happen.”
“This world isn’t exactly our usual brand of normal,” Meryn said.
“It’s like we’re backwards... this is... I never thought I’d be saving your life, Goldie.”
“First time for everything...” Meryn said, shrugging into her bonds.
Fa’rah sat down on the ground beside her captive and looked her in the eye. “I can’t believe I’m feeling this... respect for you, Goldie. Like you’re...”
“Your counterpart?” Meryn asked.
“Something like that,” Fa’rah replied. “Don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t around. It’d be awful boring...” she flashed a grin. “And besides, I wouldn’t get to keep you tied up like this. No upside to letting them kill you.”
“For what it’s worth...” Meryn said. “I feel the same. You’re still cocksure, arrogant, insufferable... but capable, in many ways. An opponent worth respecting...”
Fa’rah smiled again. “Well I’m almost touched, Goldie. Who knows, in some weird alternate world, maybe you and me wind up like some pair of lovers and-”
“Don’t push your luck,” Meryn said, her voice hardening. “That there is something that would never happen.”
“You so sure?” Fa’rah asked, with a smirk.
“Fa’rah... don’t make me warn you again.”
Fa’rah chuckled. “Yeah, I’m just shaking, Goldie. Who exactly is in position to make threats? I don’t see those ropes coming loose...”
Meryn sighed. “Might want to keep them on, too...”
Fa’rah’s expression fell. “Okay, now that’s just weird... You’re not... into this... are you?”
“Hell no I’m not!” Meryn said. “I just have... well, a proposal. We’re setting a trap for Jade. And considering you... rather loud resignation, we might be in for a temporary truce.”
Fa’rah sighed this time. “Ordinarily, I’d just turn you over at the drop of a hat. Make sure you stay a prisoner. But Jade... I can’t let him kill you. I won’t do it. Now... what did you have in mind?”
...
Fa’rah paraded in front of her many captives, inspecting their bonds, tightening their gags, smiling happily to herself. She’d always dreamed of this day... well, in a way. This wasn’t exactly how she dreamed it but, well, the feeling was still intact just the same.
Meryn knelt down on the ground, bound and gagged as she had been before. On one side, sat Taria, bound and gagged the same way, ropes pinning her wrists behind her back, wrapping her arms and legs, a cloth gag over her mouth, holding in another. On the other, her girlfriend Saira. She, too, was tied identically, a cloth gag over her mouth, glaring at their captor.
Lined up by Taria, on the very end, Celia knelt down, also bound and gagged. In the middle, knelt Artema and Lanala, side by side, tied the same way, gagged, and glaring up at Fa’rah. Further along, Luna and Mirelle knelt down, gagged with cloth, bound with rope in identical places.
The remaining two women, Elyn and Aurora, knelt together at the very end of the row, tied up, cloth gagged, identical to everyone else.
And that was it. There could have been more, perhaps, but Fa’rah knew these were the ones Mr. Jade would be interested in. She continued to pace slowly back and forth in front of them, mindful of their silent glares, smirking to herself. Fa’rah stopped short when a man stepped in front of her, walking out of the large building her captives were lined up outside.
“What are you so smug about?” Jonas asked.
“Have to look the part, don’t I? You have any idea how many times I’ve imagined a day like this?”
Jonas grunted and turned away from her, not even bothering to look her way. “Jade will be coming in from town in that direction. Alone.”
“And how do you figure that?” Fa’rah asked.
Jonas tapped the side of his head. “This time... it’s me that’s in his mind.”
“Wait... but how?”
Jonas nodded toward Lanala. “Ask her later,” he said. “Some kind of telepathic block. Means I can get to his mind but he can’t get to mine.”
Fa’rah sighed. “All this damn magic.... never was a fair fight with all that witchcraft involved.”
“I’d say how wrong you are for calling it witchcraft but I’d be wasting my breath,” Jonas said.
“You’re too thick to understand it anyway.”
Fa’rah chuckled slightly and snapped back. “Like you could do any better!”
“Just because I’m thick doesn’t change the fact that you are...” Jonas said.
“Quit trying to rile me up! What’s your idiot plan again?”
Jonas let out a short breath. “You stand behind them. Act like we surrendered to you. Keep your gun trained on me while I stand in front of the building here. When Jade rolls up, he and I will face off. Soon as I get his attention, you untie Lanala from those ropes she came into the world with.”
Fa’rah shook her head. “Seems a bad choice keeping her power contained,” she said.
“Have to. Jade will see right through that and he’ll know the second her power is in play. So we had to. Luckily, it seems it can’t drain her power anymore, since it was used on her here instead of... wherever she came from.”
“You’ve tested this?” Fa’rah asked, eyebrow raised.
“Not me, personally, but the ropes were tested. I can tell you that much.”
Fa’rah turned around and smiled at Artema. “You old dog you... I know what you were doing...”
“Mmmrrpphh...” Artema growled.
“Fa’rah, enough,” Jonas said. “Once you get Lanala free, she’ll do the rest. You got that?”
“Yeah yeah, let Ms. Sorceress play hero. I got it,” Fa’rah said.
Jonas glared in her direction. “Nobody here is playing, Fa’rah. This is for real. I swear, if you do anything to compromise this or turn on us-”
“Relax, buddy. No need to go all ‘Demon’ on me. I’ve got you.” Fa’rah’s own expression turned very serious. “I’m not letting Jade have his way.”
“You’d better not,” Jonas said. “We just stick to the plan and it’ll be fine. Now...” Jonas sighed.
“Draw and put your gun on me.” Jonas held his hands out to his sides. Fa’rah smirked and drew her pistol, keeping it trained on Jonas’ chest.
“Gotta say, this feels good,” she said.
“Enough. He’s coming,” Jonas said.
They all fell deathly silent. The town was completely still. The rest of the rebels had been ordered out of town. Nobody stirred. Save for the lone figure, stepping out of the shadows, walking out into the street. The sun blazed overhead, the captive women behind Fa’rah fell silent. Only a gently breeze could cause movement, kicking up dust as Mr. Jade strolled into town, stopping well short of the building. He eyed the situation carefully.
“Marshal,” he said, without looking to Fa’rah. Instead, he kept his eyes on Jonas. “You’ve captured all these people, have you?”
“One by one,” Fa’rah said. Her gun remained on Jonas. “Wasn’t easy.”
“I can only imagine,” Mr. Jade said. “It is strange though.”
He finally managed to pry his eyes away from Jonas and look in her direction. Nobody saw or heard the two figures lurking behind Fa’rah and the bound and gagged women. Waiting...
“What’s strange?”
“I received word you had captured her,” Mr. Jade said, nodding toward Meryn. “And I sent two specialists to help you deal with the situation. With strict orders. One wonders... where are they?”
Fa’rah shrugged. “Didn’t know you had any of these specialists,” she said. “Must have gotten lost.”
“I can assure you they did not, Marshal. My specialists would not be so incompetent.”
“You think something happened to them?” Fa’rah asked.
“I know something did...” he nodded, slowly.
Muffled yelps from behind tried to warn Fa’rah... but someone grabbed her arm and took the gun from her grasp. “Hey, what!?”
Another person grabbed her free arm and they both pulled her arms behind her back. “What are you doing!?”
She looked to her left and right... and noticed a pair of deputies. Both young women. The ones she had sent to Gold Valley, that had been captured... and they were quickly binding Fa’rah’s wrists behind her back, tightly.
“Marshal... I am disappointed. It’s no wonder Mother never trusted your word...”
“Jade! You get these goons off me or so help me I’ll-mmmppphh!!” A cloth was quickly stuffed into Fa’rah’s mouth. Another tied on, tight, over her mouth. More rope wrapped up her strong arms and powerful legs and soon Fa’rah was an identically bound and gagged captive, kneeling on the ground beside all the others.
But in her struggle, battling the deputies, both far stronger than they looked, she had purposefully grabbed for her knife and let it slip from her grasp. It fell in front of Lanala, who quickly shuffled her bound body forward while everyone watched Fa’rah getting tied up. The knife was now behind her, in Lanala’s grasp. And she was already sawing through the ropes on her wrists. But it was slow going... and Jade stepped forward, his gun drawn.
“You did well, Jonas. A fine ruse. Very convincing. I didn’t expect it... I suppose Lanala helped you block me out.”
Jonas said nothing, instead stepping out in front of the captive women, staring down the man who was his exact double.
“So convincing you even left poor Lanala stuck in those infused, enchanted ropes. An unfortunate mistake.”
Jade held his gun up and pointed it at Jonas’ head. “One would think, the only way to kill me, that I could do the deed myself. But, created in your image, I know that’s wrong. What Mother did by making me your shadow she cast an ancient Mageian curse on me. Diplodubulta...”
Lanala stared in his direction. She knew that word inherently... Double... she thought. The Curse of the Second...
“As I am not the original bearer of your image...” he lowered his gun again. “I am unable to kill you. Even with my gun in hand, it would find its way to misfiring. Were I to bludgeon you with a hammer, it would merely bounce off. Any blade would slice through naught but air. There is nothing I can do. No... only the original bearer of the image may end us both.”
Jonas narrowed his gaze. “You say that like I don’t know....”
“A mere... explanation. For your friends’ sake.”
Jonas shook his head. “You won’t get me to do it... not here. Not now.”
Jade said nothing, instead walking toward one of the captive women. A short woman, with brown hair... Taria thrashed in her bonds. “Mmm!! NMMMM!!”
He picked her up and dragged her back into the dirt road and held her up... putting his gun to her head. Celia shook her head at Jonas. “Nmmm...”
“I will, Jonas. You get one chance. End it the only way you know how. You useless worm. Worthless waste of human life...”
The words, his own words, they reached him... and Jonas pulled his gun from his holster, glaring. “Don’t you dare hurt Celia...”
“She dies first if you fail to end it in time, Jonas. Come now... do it. End it all. For both of us...”
Jonas’ eyes flitted back and forth from Celia, to Jade, and back again. He fought back a wave of tears, even as he saw them begin to fill Celia’s eyes.
“Close your eyes, Celia,” he said.
Celia sobbed and screamed out, desperate to stop him... but Jonas slowly raised his gun.
“That’s it... just a little further,” Jade said.
Celia’s muffled cries begged, pleaded with Jonas. She wailed at him to stop... but now his gun was fully raised. The barrel pointed at his own head. He rested it up close, to his right temple.... and he drew back the hammer.
Celia thrashed in her bonds. Mr. Jade held on, still keeping the gun on her.
“End it or watch her die by your own hand, Jonas!” Jade shouted. “End it! Now!”
Jonas looked to the terrified, despair-filled eyes of his best friend... “Close your eyes,” he implored. “You don’t want to see this...”
Still, she refused. She begged him. Pleaded. She cried and sobbed... but Jonas still wrapped his finger around the trigger. But he hesitated.
Jade tightened his grip. “You will kill her, Jonas!” he said. “Not me! It will be you! You... the wasted life. The failure of a man! The detestable, horrid, hateful trail of despair left in the wake of your mere existence... this is what you deserve! Death is the only way... you deserve naught but death by your own hand!”
Jonas’ hand trembled... but he held it steady. Still, he hesitated. He further implored Celia not to look but she refused to look away. His eyes moved to Jade’s hand, finger wrapped around the trigger, millimetres from taking Celia’s life... he had no other choice. This was it.
One more crime of existence. To make Celia endure this pain... he truly did deserve nothing but death. Finally, he broke down. His eyes filled with tears.
“I’m sorry...” he said softly. Celia wailed again, Jonas’ finger twitched...
A shout caught their attention. A familiar voice... His finger stopped short of squeezing the trigger...
“Atsechoristos!” The mighty shout spoke aloud a word... A Mageian word. “Lanala...”
Something stirred in Jonas’ mind. A weight, lifted. The despair, the self loathing... it remained. But the burden of his hatred... it was no longer as heavy. His eyes moved to Jade again. And then to the captives...
Fa’rah remained bound and gagged on the ground, kneeling. But now the two deputies were beside her. The rest were free, the ropes having simply fallen off their bodies. They all took their place behind him, Lanala stepping up beside him. With a simple snap of her fingers... the gun was gone from Jade’s hand. He stepped back... the ropes fell from Celia’s form. She stretched... and ran to Jonas.
“It’s done, Jonas. I’m sorry I wasn’t quicker...” Lanala said.
“You can’t apologize for saving my life. Again,” Jonas said.
“What did you do to me!?” Jade demanded, his form becoming as the shadow he truly was.
“What have you done!?”
“Jonas...” Lanala said. “He’s gone. The link, everything Jhana did... I’ve stopped it. You two are no longer connected. And we’re behind you.”
Jonas nodded and raised his gun again. This time pointed at Mr. Jade.
“Slay the dragon, Jonas,” Artema said.
“Destroy that demon,” Lanala said. “Know that the Demon... it was never you. It was him... and he is not who you are, Jonas. He never was. And he never will be.”
“Now you can end it,” Meryn said. “Truly. And be who you’ve always been.”
“And who’s that?” Jonas asked, watching the writhing shadows before him that was now Mr. Jade.
“A friend,” Celia said. “To all of us. And more. Family. Someone who belongs. Someone who is not a monster. Someone... who is well and truly you, Jonas. And the good person you’ve always been.”
The tears welled up his eyes again. Jonas drew back the hammer again, this time taking aim at the demon who once wore his face... The Devil himself.
“And that’s an end to it,” Jonas said. He squeezed the trigger... the bullet tore through its target. The writhing shadows collapsed into the dirt. Their movement stopped. He watched Mr. Jade fall, the glowing red light of his eyes going dim. He was still naught but shadow. But his form remained. Still. Dead.
So Jonas holstered his gun. And all fell silent once more.
...
The portal is open. Lanala is taking them all back home. With Jade gone, the law can finally be mended. The world around us, here, in this valley... it can heal. We can take it back.
Yet here I stand. Alone. He’s still there, in my mind. He was right about one thing... his thoughts are my own. They always were. All Jhana did was make those thoughts manifest as the worst version of myself. The utterly broken, vengeful, wrath-filled parts of me I know have always been there.
I’ve left them alone, for now. But it’s only because of them that I stand here. Lanala, once again, saves me from the brink of oblivion. If not for all of them, I would have utterly faltered long ago.
But the path I walk now is a lonely one. I will still see them. But now my purpose is at its end. Now I must watch from afar. They deserve their lives devoid of the trouble I have given them.
I eternally walk alone. That is what I was always destined to do. But, perhaps, not entirely. I still have all of them. They remain here, as they always have, to pull me back from the brink.
And now this chapter of their lives is at its end. They stand together. I stand alone. That is how it must be. And how it will be. So it goes on...
Story Theme Song: Five Finger Death Punch- Wrong Side of Heaven