Things Left Undone Book 1, Chapter 15
Magus Gets the Last Laugh
By CuteLucca
Magus was disoriented for a moment after the gate had brought him here. Wherever here was. He looked around, but there was no scenery except the deep, endless black, and the injured Lavos.
Lavos was not moving, but by that time, Magus knew better than to underestimate the "plant". He walked towards it, and circled it, but it still did not move.
His thoughts then turned to where he was. Although there was no visible floor under his feet, it was as sturdy as a sheet of flat marble. Every time he moved his eyes, it seemed darker. It was almost a suffocating black, and the hot wind that lazily whirled through did not help.
There was a wheezing behind him, and he whirled around at lightning speed, brandishing the scythe he could use so well.
Lavos was stooping, unable to stand fully upright due to the gashes through his legs and what must have been unbearable pain from the crossbow bolt in his midsection. He did not bleed, but for the green substance oozing out of his wounds.
Lavos raised his head, and gave a pleading look to the angered Magus before him.
Magus laughed. "Fool creature. You think I will have mercy on you after all that you've done?" Magus shook his head, and advanced towards the plant.
He jumped what must have been three feet straight up when Lavos talked to him.
"Magus...(hiss, crackle)..." Lavos gave an interpretation of a cough, and continued. "Magus... You could have been immortal. You could have ruled the world with your mother and sister." The voice was tinny, and it was interrupted by occasional hisses and crackles.
Magus, still shocked, shook his head with strong willed determination. The plant was delving into his head, he could tell. Probably trying to brainwash him. He took a deep breath, and responded. "No. My mother could not resist the power of your spells. She was brainwashed. And my sister, Schala..." He stopped and drove Lavos's mind out of his own. "Could not be turned by your powers. I choose to follow her example, and shun you from my life and thoughts."
Lavos was still oozing, and weakening by the minute. He took a step towards Magus, and laughed. "Your sister was unfortunate. She will die a horrible death when I take over this fool planet, as soon as I make you and your insolent companions suffer." He took another step.
Magus struggled, wanting desperately to back away from the creature. It was to no avail, though. His feet were frozen in place. "What..." He struggled again. "Have you done to me?"
Lavos laughed, and took another step towards the frozen Magus. Lavos was so close now that Magus could feel the icy-cold evil emanating from the plant, and smell the foul stench of its black magic.
Fewer than three feet now separated the pure evil and the former evil, and Magus closed his eyes, the only part of his body still under his control. He was freezing from the ice vapors of Lavos, and his head was starting to swim. He couldn't hold out much longer.
As he was awaiting the torture that would make the last few minutes of his life ones of screaming agony, a long-lost memory emerged from somewhere deep inside.
He was in Zeal palace, with his mother, Queen Zeal, and his sister, Schala. They were playing a game. Magus was still very young, and he squealed playfully when his mother picked him up over her head. She was her old self, and Magus smiled as he flew through the air in the security of his mother's arms.
The fond memory was shattered by the scream of an enraged Lavos. Magus opened his eyes a crack, and once he saw what was out there, he found that he was able to move and had regained all control of himself.
His mother, Queen Zeal, was standing across the void. Her ghostly voice echoed through the darkness, reaching the ears of Lavos and her son. "Lavos." The Queen raised her arm and a beam of light shot out, blasting Lavos to the floor. He did not stir. She turned to her son and smiled. "I know you can never forgive me for the evils I committed during the time Lavos commanded me, but I hope that you become at peace with yourself, knowing that I have passed on with a free mind. Know also that your sister is alive and well in the Earthbound village, and awaits your return." The Queen turned, and with a tear in the corner of her eye, told Magus that Lavos was not dead, and only he had the power to finish him off. She told him she loved him, and faded away into the black.
Eyes set in grim determination, Magus walked over to the creature and without wasting any more words on him, used his scythe to decapitate the floored Lavos.
He tossed the scythe aside, knowing it could never be used for anything again, being stained with the blood of Lavos, and stood over the corpse.
"This last spell is used in the hopes that you will never again curse this or any other world with your presence." He began the intricate series of motions required for the spell that only now was becoming known in his head. "It is also in the hopes that my mother can kill you as many times as she deems necessary for you to redeem yourself, although I know that will never happen." He then sprinkled a powder only now found at his feet in a series of designs over the corpse. "I also use this spell to avenge my friends, whom you have put through countless sufferings in their search to kill you." He again used motions, and muttered a few gibberish words. "I lastly use this spell to avenge the countless dead that have fallen before your cruel and evil quest."
He completed the preparations, and with one last glance at the dead Lavos, raised his arms in a tribute to all the spirits and gods that helped him complete his quest.
The body and head of Lavos lifted up several feet, then, it burst into Flames. The Flames changed to Ice, encasing the body of the monster who so misused its powers. The Ice then changed to Water, then a black space for Shadow, and finally into Lightning, which arced from Lavos's head to his body, sinking deep inside. With one last scream, the body of the monster exploded, becoming one with the infinetissimal black.
Magus sighed, and turned away. "And I use that spell for myself, knowing I could never live a complete life with something as evil as you still alive."
Gaspar, the Guru of Time, appeared then, and led Magus back to the gate.
"Lavos is now truly dead." Magus leaned on the old man, and they were transported together to the village of the Earthbound.
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