Next Mage
42.Eruption

~Marilla's

POV

Oliver took in a deep breath.

"Let me start from the beginning," he said quietly. Emma and I leaned in attentively, and Elvira resorted to looking only the slightest bit interested as she carefully scrutinized her nail polish. "It happened years ago, and your father--I forgot his name, Marilla, but he was one of my father's greatest friends, from what I can remember, and he was a spirit mage."

"His name was Elior," I whispered sadly, and Emma glanced at me sympathetically.

"That's--that's an exotic name... B-but most people in Myragon, especially mage-born people, have strange, I mean, exotic names, usually to do with the element they own." Oliver said hastily. "Elior, for example, means 'God is Light', and Spirit mages' names often have something to do with light or the color white. My name is a supposedly normal name, I guess, because my parents weren't mage-born--they were recruits."

Oliver swallowed as a flash of pain appeared on his face for a moment before disappearing. He was thinking about his father. Dad and Oliver's father were good friends, I thought, surprised and miserable at the same time. Then a memory flashed into my head.

I was six, and I was sitting, waiting, wondering why my father hadn't gotten home from work yet. He said seven o'clock, but it's eight thirty-seven, I thought, resting my head on my small hands. I hope he comes back soon...

A sudden shock of realization came over me like a tidal wave. He was in Myragon, I thought. All those hours of waiting...waiting...waiting... Then hearing the door open and running down the hall to greet dad with a hug... Then asking him where he got all those big scratches, and feeling confused when he said he'd tell me when the time was right...

"A-anyway, back on the topic," Oliver exclaimed suddenly, his voice cutting through the thick fog of my thoughts. "Your father--Elior--was, well, trying to kill the Ragnarok. My mother told me he was one of the most powerful Spirit mages there ever was, excluding Kamali. He went to Ragnarok Island with a large team of mages, i-including...my...f-father--" He choked on the last word, then bit his lip as it quivered ever-so-slightly.

He opened his mouth once again.

"Your father...no one knows for sure, but he just....turned, just like that, and nobody knows if the Ragnarok forced him or if he made the decision himself. As for my father and most of the rest of his team...they were b-burnt to death. Burnt in a fire." Oliver spat the last four words out quickly, as if he didn't want to say them.

"But..." Emma started, and we all turned to face her. Elvira was looking less disinterested. "Why was Marilla's dad found...um...wounded and dead and lying on the ground? I mean, if he became a Ragnarok mage..." She trailed off as she caught Oliver's grim expression.

"That's just the thing," he said gloomily. "The evil, terrible, wicked thing. The Ragnarok has many Ragnarok mages, but sometimes," Oliver brought his voice down to a hoarse whisper, "It eats them. Or tortures them until they die, forces them into a gruesome battle, like gladiators; stabs them, drowns them, burns them, buries them alive..."

Oliver shuddered, and everyone else did as well. "Basically killing them, but in any way, shape or form of death the Ragnarok can think of. I suspect the more excruciating the better. The Ragnarok must've torture your dad..."

"B-but why bring him back to Earth?" I said shakily. Oliver shrugged, the tiniest movement of his shoulders, his expression solemn. We stayed silent for a few minutes.

"I think," Elvira spoke up suddenly, "that the Ragnarok knew. It knew your father had a family, it knew he had a home, a loving wife, a young daughter. It knew...and that's why it threw him back to Earth. So that your mother would find him lying on the ground, dead and mutilated, and so she, and you," at this, Elvira turned her sharp green gaze on Marilla, "would have to live with that pain forever," Elvira finished.

The room was so quiet that you couldn't even hear us breathing. The air seemed to still around us, and the painful, heavy feeling in my chest grew heavier and heavier with each passing, silent second.

Finally, I opened my mouth, but no sound came out, so I shut it once more.

Then all of a sudden, a loud shriek pierced the silence. ~Oliver's POV

We dashed out of Marilla's room to jerk to an abrupt stop in the living room. Adrian and Abigail's gazes were aghast as they stared at the brightly-lit TV screen, their mouths wide open and their bodies rigid, as if they had been petrified. "Mom!" Marilla rushed over to her mom worriedly. "What happened--" Marilla's own mouth fell open as she saw what was happening on the TV. Everyone turned to the screen.

"...Mount Kibo's eruption has claimed a total of sixty-two lives so far. Gallons of water have already been blasted at the lava flow, but it shows no sign of stopping," the news reporter's expression was neutral, but his voice showed a hint of panic. Pictures and footage of large clouds of smoke, panicked people screaming, long sprays of water and a dreadful, rising flow of lava flashed across the screen as the reporter continued to speak.

"Strange sightings of pale, stalking men and women with glowing red eyes have also been reported all around the world. A few witnesses seemed to be driven mad after looking directly into the strange crimson eyes."

A video of a screaming woman appeared.

"The ghosts! They're coming for me! They're coming for me! Save me!" She cried, holding her head, her eyes so wide they looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"People suspect that these supernatural men and women are ghosts or ghouls, or even zombies. Many are saying that this is the end of the world. If you happen to see any of the strange, red-eyed people, police advise to cover your eyes and not make eye contact..."

The news reporter's voice seemed to fade out as a strange buzzing noise filled my ears. I clamped my hands over my head to block out the noise, but the buzzing was still there.

It's like it's coming from inside my ears, I thought, intrigued and wary at the same time. The buzzing continued for a few more moments; I couldn't hear anything else, even when Marilla sank to the ground in shock and began to appear to say something.

Then, finally, there was a sinister, raspy, nearly inaudible whisper:

Try to save Earth now.