December 20th 2022 10:30 P.M.

The Void is a trick of the mind.  It shows you not what you want to see but what you don’t want to be seeing.  What the landscape shows is a blood red sky and a grayish ground.  The trees are all barren and black.  They all rot from the inside out.  The ground is sandy but rough to the touch and the water is all red as blood.  All of the birds in the sky are skeletons and the critters of the ground alongside.

The Void was made many years ago as a prison for the hooded one so she could not ever escape.  We made it impossible for her to escape intact.  I had created the gateway to the Void and Jenna and others had designed the inside before we put the demons and the hooded one away in it, hopefully forever.

The Void is a place where all of the ancient evils hide.  The most ancient of them all have been hidden away in their own prison inside of the Void itself.  All of your worst nightmares are in the Void ready to come at you and feed off of your fear.  When Jenna and Malachi find themselves in the Void, they are in for a very nasty surprise.  They not only will meet someone they never expected to see but they could encounter the demon king as well.

“No!  I can’t let you go back!” I shouted at the person attacking me. “I will not let you escape the Void!  I put you here with Selena Johansson for a reason.  We needed to protect the entire world from your wrath!”

Jenna and Malachi watched as a person came into being right in front of me with a big ball of red ChaosMagyk in their hand.  The ball grew bigger and bigger until it was thrown at me.  I just barely was able to counter it with a ball of my own.

“You will let me out and you will let me out now!” The person screamed at me. “Let me out or all three of you will die.  I will make sure that none of you will ever come back to life!  None of you will make it out of the Void alive!”

I turned around in surprise because I had no idea that there was anyone else there.

Jenna and Malachi came running up behind me and stopped whenever they were beside me.  Jenna on my left and Malachi on my right.

“Just because you have two more people with you doesn’t mean that I won’t beat you again.” The person said. “I know you think that you can but I can easily best you, Tarik.  Easily.”

“You never beat him before and you most certainly won’t now.” Jenna said.

“You never beat me to begin with and you will not be leaving this place.” I replied. “You will be stuck here forever.”

            “Liar!” The person shrieked. “I cannot believe this, after everything I have been through and you are still doing this to me.  This is unacceptable!  You all must die!” She gathered another ball of ChaosMagyk in her hand.

            “I cannot even begin to tell you how much it pained us to leave you here.  I cannot stop you, nor can I convince you to stay here, but I can step aside, and let you leave.” I said as I stepped aside.

We all watched as the ball of ChaosMagyk slowly faded away.

            “You would…..let me leave…..?” The person asked. “It’s been so long though.  I don’t know what I would do.  Where would I stay?  What would I get?  Would people let me be a part of society?”

I shrug, “I can’t stop you, I’m too weak.  All I can do is let you go.  No go, be free, be free.  I can’t promise you anything.  You will have to follow your own path.”

“You could stay with us.” Jenna said. “We have more than enough room for you to stay with us.  Way more than enough.”

The person turns to look at me before pulling down their hood.  I can see that their eyes are flooded with tears of joy, threatening to spill over her cheeks. “Thank you.” She said, “I can’t thank you enough.  I haven’t seen you in forever.  I just want to get out of here.”

“Don’t thank me just yet.” I responded. “Once you leave, people are in the room that will try to stop you.” I offered her my hand, “If you take my hand we can all go together.”

She looks at me as her tears overflow and run down her cheeks.  She hesitates for a moment before extending her hand. “I could never have gotten out of here.  Thank you. I owe you all my life.”

I shook my head sadly before saying, “I have to end all of this somehow.”

This time whenever she speaks, her voice has an edge to it, “You can’t.” She started to get nervous, “Can we leave now, please??? I can sense the demon king is sending the clouds.”

“Yes.  Of course.” I responded with a look of fear in my eyes.

Jenna grabs Malachi’s hand and grabs the woman's hand as well.  We all make a circle.  As Jenna and the woman’s hand connect, the red clouds start to close in on them as they don’t want them to leave.  The woman tightens her grip on our hands as we are all encased in a magic ball protecting us from the clouds.  The clouds swoop in to attack the dome but can do nothing but rebound off of it.  The dome shakes and throws Malachi to the ground.  This breaks our circle so I hurry and grab Jenna’s hand as I start to chant.  I watch the woman start to disappear and then Jenna and then slowly, myself.  Malachi looks at the slowly receding dome before he reaches out and barely touches it.  That one little touch was enough for the dome to burst and by that time the woman and Jenna were both gone and I was almost gone so the clouds went after the only tangible person, Malachi.  All I can do is watch as it takes over his mind and he lunges at me to try and keep me there.  I disappear.

***

I appear back in the room and can’t get up.  It turns out that Malachi managed to cut my leg on my way out of the Void.  I didn’t know how he managed to do it because I was not solid at that point.  I turned my head and saw the woman, or should I say, girl.  I looked at her and realized that she was Oli, another of our friends and we had locked her up in the Void.  Before I could say anything I looked over at Malachi and realized that he still wasn’t moving because he was still in the Void.  I looked at his hand and saw red all over it and started to get worried.  I wondered if he was being attacked in the Void.  If he was, then there was nothing that I could do to stop it.  That is what worried me so much.

“What were you doing in the Void?” Marcia asked her. “We looked for you forever after the last war with the hooded one.  We couldn’t find you and all of this time you were stuck in the Void?!  We looked for so long, wait,” She gasped loudly, “So this means…..”

“The hooded one is still out there somewhere.” Oli said.

Everyone looked at her in shock.

“I got stuck there.  On the one day we were attacking the hooded one and you accidentally put me into the Void instead of her.” Oli responded. “I would never have gotten out if it wasn’t for Tarik.”

I looked up and muttered, “You would never have been in there to begin with if it wasn’t for me.”

Oli’s kind face appeared in front of me and she said, “No one can change the past.  No one.  We can only try to better the future.  I had someone once tell me, she looked at Malachi’s still body, “That no matter what happens, your choices aren’t what define you, it is how you treat and act towards others.””

I smiled, the corners of my mouth pulling upwards as I said, “Thank you.  I really appreciate you being here for me, Oli.”

Oli moved a strand of hair out of her face. “Of course.  I am always here for all of you and don’t you ever forget it.”

Everyone looked at me as I said, “Malachi is still in there.” I looked up at Oli and said, “We need to get him out.  I don’t have the strength though.”

“Of course, I will go with you.” Oli responded. “Yes you do!  I will bring us in and I can take us out.  Less than thirty seconds my friend!” She said cheerfully.

“You shouldn’t go though.  You just left.  You shouldn’t have to go back in already.” I exclaimed.

“It really isn’t a big deal.” Oli replied. “Plus, I can get us all out much faster than either of you could.  Remember, I can control the Void.”

“Fine then.  Let’s go.” I said.

“Be careful you guys, don’t wake up the demon king.” Jenna said.

“Of course not.” Oli looked suddenly fearful.

“You guys will do amazing.” Jenna said. “See you guys soon!”

Oli laid down next to Malachi and I next to her.  Oli grabbed my hand and Malachi’s before muttering an incantation to return to the Void.  We were there in the Void right as she finished the last word.

As we materialized in the Void we saw Malachi sitting there right where we left him.  He looked upset but we could also see the red clouds in the distance.  They looked as if they were about to come our way, but something was somehow stopping them from doing so.

We ran over to him as he looked up, “You guys left me here.” He looked past me to who he thought was Jenna but was really Oli.  He looked at her for a few seconds before getting up and slowly walking towards her.  He reached her and slowly embraced her, “Sister, you’re back.  I have missed you so much.  Is it really you?”

“I’ve been back, brother.” Oli responded. “I was the person in the Void earlier whenever you guys got here.  Now we need to go before something tries to eat us, or worse.  I missed you too.  I just wish I had not been locked up in the first place.”

“I wish we had looked before locking you up.  I am so sorry for that mistake, Oli.  We will all have bad dreams remembering how we put you in the Void, I am sure of it.”

“Oh, don’t do that haha,” Oli laughed, “Your apology was just fine.”

“I hope we didn’t anger you too much Oli.” Malachi said.

“You did not, of course.  I love you all and you just made a little mistake, that’s all.” Oli responded patiently to him.

We started to make the circle to leave the Void but then a portal opened and a demon stepped through.  The demon had curved horns and red skin.  It was about eight feet tall and easily towered over even Malachi who was by far the tallest of the three of us.  Its horns were purple and its tongue was bright pink.  It looked down at us and boomed, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY HOME?!”

***

“I hope they are okay in there.” Marcia said. “If they aren’t then there is nothing we can do.  They will be stuck in the Void until they can manage to leave it.”

“I’m sure they are,” Tasha said, “They always are.”

“I agree, if anyone could come out of the Void it’s those three any day.” Victoria said. “They are all so powerful together, I am sure that they will be okay.”

They all stared in silence at our bodies.  They couldn’t comprehend the idea that they might lose not only myself but also Oli and Malachi.  The siblings had been apart for so long and it was all my fault.  I couldn’t make myself feel better, no matter what Oli said.  It was weighing on me too much for that.

Andrew spoke up, “If they all died in there, it would be for the benefit of Magyk you know.”  He watched our faces as he said, “If they don’t come back we can then investigate as to why they didn’t come back from the Void.  We can learn from it and fix future times when we may need to enter the Void.”

“You are unbelievable.” Jenna said, “First, you claim to be my son and now you are saying it would be good if Tarik, Oli, and Malachi all went and died in the Void, is that right?”

“Indeed” Andrew laughed as he stood up and said, “If they die, it improves future experiences like these so that we can tell what went wrong and be able to fix it.”

“I don’t care about your ideas, Andrew.” Tasha said, her normally smiling face twisted in fury, “My brother and our friends are stuck in the Void with quite possibly no way out, and all you can say is that you hope they die!  Leave.  Leave, now!  Get out of this house and never return!”

Andrew looked at her, his expression unreadable.  His face started to turn pink as he couldn’t figure out what to say to them so he just turned and left.  They all let him go.

“I don’t understand him, it’s like he only talks in riddles.” Tasha said, “All of the, ‘You can’t get away’ and the ‘You should have left while you had the chance’.  What is the purpose of all of that anyway?”

“He is really insecure and just takes his insecurities out on others.” Jenna said.

“That is no reason to act like he does!” Marcia said, “And that he says he is my brother, I cannot deal with that if it is true.”

It was immediately obvious to everyone that Jenna was hesitating.  She let out a long sigh as she said, “It’s true, he sent a mental connection to me.  Only my own son and daughter can do that to me.” Jenna started crying, blood red tears streaking on her cheeks, “He is my s-s-s-son.  Just like you are my d-d-d-daughter, Marcia.  I have tried to avoid that fact for some time now but I suspected it when I first saw him.”

Marcia collapsed to the floor in tears.  She couldn’t believe that she was actually related to Andrew and she didn’t want to be.  In fact, she wanted nothing to do with him.  She couldn’t believe that her mother had given birth to a literal monster.

Jenna knelt next to her on the floor. “I know that what Andrew did was wrong but when he connected with me, I realized that he had just had a flashback.  He had remembered a time in which I had ignored him and it had pained him to remember that.  There is a lot more to a person's life than there may appear to be, Marcia.  Deep down, way deep down, Andrew has a good heart.”

“I know,” Marcia said, “I just can’t believe it.”

“I understand that, Marcia.” Jenna said, “Yet, there is nothing I can do, he is still my son at the end of the day.”

“Yeah.” Marcia said defeatedly.

Jenna looked at our three bodies, “There is no way that they will be okay in there if the demon king Zalworg wakes up.” Jenna said, “His thirst for revenge against me will get all of them killed.”

“Whatever happens is not your fault!” Marcia comforted her. “You have no control over what happens in the Void.  No control at all.  We have no control over it, the Void only has control over itself.”

“I am so worried.” Jenna said. “If they get stuck in there, it will be all my fault.  Well, and Tarik’s because we both made the gateway together.”

“Don’t be.” Tasha said. “We all are, but whatever happens in the Void stays in the Void.  They will be just fine in the end, I’m sure.”

“Yes.  And that is what worries me.” Jenna replied. “If they stay in the Void for too long it can corrupt their bodies.  You see Malachi’s hand?  He is already being corrupted by the Void.  He has been in there for way too long and now his hand is all bloody and red.”

“You shouldn’t be too worried,” Tasha said, “They are all very strong and powerful in their own Magyk’s.  I am sure they will be fine.  Wait, Malachi’s hand?” Tasha moved over to look before she slowly turned away, her face very pale, “What are we supposed to do for that?  Is there anything that we can do for him?  Or is he just stuck like that forever now?”

“They will be okay,” Paige said, “Just give them a little more time.”

“I don’t want to give them any more time.  I really don't.  I just want them back.” Jenna said.

“I need them back!”

Everyone stared at our still bodies until they couldn’t stare at them anymore so they all turned to Jenna.

“What do we do now?” Monte asked.

“We wait,” Jenna sighed, “again.”

“I don’t know what to do!” Maya said, “I have not been well recently and now all they can do is go and possibly die in the Void?  Like why?”

“It will be okay,” It was Jenna’s turn to calm someone, “They are the best fighters I know, and if anyone can get out of the Void okay, it would be them.”

“They are the best, most honest people I know.” Victoria said, “We won’t lose them.  I can promise you that.”