Ghost part 13 (Final)

Nothing but silence followed Trott's announcement. Silence and the wind, along with the occasional stifled sob from the heartbroken walrus.

It took a moment for Lomadia and Ridge to process what Trott had just said. They looked at each other with worry and fear; Ridge had told Lomadia all about what happened with Void. He told her about it the first time he spoke with her after Xephos died.

Slowly, Lomadia knelt down in front of the inconsolable engineer. She put a gentle hand on his shaking shoulder, and he looked up at her, despair written all over his face.

“Trott,” she said gently, “can you tell us what happened?”

“They're gone,” Trott choked out. “T-they're both gone...”

“Start from the beginning,” whispered Lomadia. “Tell us everything that happened.”

Trott gulped and took a deep breath to try and stop his shaking. He glanced past Lomadia's shoulder to see the beach and the ocean. It was a little past midnight, and the full moon was reflecting on the water. In his mind he saw Smiffy's boat.

Squeezing his eyes shut to stop the tears, he took another deep breath and thought back to when all the chaos started.

“It... it all started with the Ghost,” he stammered, doing his best to keep his voice from cracking. “We didn't know who it was at first... we thought it was Void. So we... we captured him, and...”

He stopped and glanced at Lomadia. She didn't know that the Ghost was Xephos, and in that split second he decided not to tell her. It had been bad enough for her to lose him, and he couldn't imagine she would be happy to find out that his soul had been wandering the worlds as a ghost from the Void, unable to remember most of his past life. He could at least spare her from that pain.

“As it turned out...” Trott continued, looking down at his hands, “the Ghost was a benevolent entity from the Void, and he was trying to help us. He told us that Void was still out there, even though we defeated him... He told us Void was a danger to us in the dark...”

Trott thought back to that night, exactly a month ago. When they had been trapped inside with a frenzied werewolf. A creature that's only dangerous in the dark. Ross.

“I guess he was right...”

His voice broke and he took a minute to compose himself. His eyes were burning from the tears, and he could barely breathe, but he felt like telling the story would help him put his thoughts back in place and realize what had happened. Lomadia knelt in front of him and Ridge stood behind him. Both of them were listening without making a sound.

“We locked ourselves inside, but we – I – didn't realize it was a full moon, and Ross...” He choked a bit, but he had to continue. “... he Changed. We had to trap him in the panic room, a-and he injured himself. Nearly tore his arm off... We thought he was going to lose it, but the next morning it was healed.”

“How did he heal so quickly?” asked Ridge, speaking for the first time since Trott started his story. Trott couldn't see him from where he was sitting, but he sounded anxious.

“According to... to Smith... the Ghost healed him with Void magic. And by healing him, he also infected him. His arm turned black and cold, and it radiated Void magic, but other than that it didn't seem like anything was wrong with it.

“But... Smith was worried. He... he knew Void magic and lycanthropy don't mix well, and he was worried about what would happen on the next full moon... the one tonight. So he tried to find a cure for lycanthropy using a couple teeth Ross left in the wall of the panic room, but when he pulled them out of the wall, he cut his hands on them and got infected...”

As Trott told this part of the story, his voice came closer and closer to cracking, and his eyes burned as the tears threatened to return.

“Let me guess,” said Ridge quietly, “the lycanthropy virus conflicted with Smith's curse and started killing him.”

Trott whipped around to face Ridge. “How did you know that?” he gasped.

Ridge looked like he was in pain. “I don't know if you remember, but it's my fault that Ross became a werewolf. But before I started the test, I did my research on you three, and he was the only one who could be successfully infected. Your walrus blood doesn't transmit the virus, and Smith's curse basically amplifies the virus and turns into a severe and lethal case of blood poisoning and hemorrhagic fever.”

As Ridge spoke, he watched Trott's expression become darker. Suddenly, he stood up and turned so they were facing each other. Even though Trott was half Ridge's height, he still took a step back in fear.

“Where were you?” snarled Trott, his voice now dripping with venom. “Ross and I both tried to contact you after Smith got sick, but you didn't answer.”

Ridge gulped, but he didn't know what to say.

“WHERE WERE YOU?!” Trott suddenly shouted.

“I tried...” Ridge stammered, his voice uncharacteristically weak. “I tried to get to you. I got all of your messages, but they were garbled. I couldn't understand them, but you both sounded panicked. I tried to go see you to find out what was happening, but I couldn't. Your world had been sealed off. I couldn't get in.”

Trott continued to glare at Ridge, but his anger faded as quickly as it had appeared. He turned so he was facing Lomadia again.

“What happened after Smith got sick?” asked Lomadia gently. She knew she should have tried to defuse the situation by changing the subject, but her curiosity got the better of her.

Trott took a small, shaky breath. “Ross and I started searching for a cure. At first we had hope, but every day things looked more and more bleak... We both got desperate. I started testing potentially harmful things on myself.”

As he said this, he rubbed his arm. Lomadia gently took his hand and pushed back the sleeve of his lab coat, revealing blistered and inflamed skin, covered in chemical burns in some places. They all grimaced at the sight. Ridge's hand twitched, and his eyes flashed gold for a second, then the blisters and burns on Trott's arm started to slowly clear up. Trott didn't thank him.

“If you think that's bad, you should see what Ross did,” muttered Trott as he pushed his sleeve back down, his voice a whisper.

“What did Ross do?” asked Lomadia, keeping a firm grip on Trott's hand.

“He... he...” Trott stopped. He didn't know exactly what Ross had done, just that it ended very badly. That was when a thought crossed his mind so suddenly that he staggered a bit. He whipped around to face Ridge.

“What happened when we fought Void?” demanded Trott.

“What do you mean?” asked Ridge, looking concerned.

“When we fought him in Limbo. Did you kill him?”

“Uh... I... I tried to...” admitted Ridge, not sure where Trott was going with his line of questions.

“Well you didn't,” snarled Trott. “You destroyed him, but you didn't kill him, and he stayed trapped in that fucking wand focus! I was concerned that had happened, so I tried to find the focus and destroy it, but I couldn't find it. I thought you had been smart enough to know that's where Void's spirit would go if he was destroyed, so I thought you took it and destroyed it.

“But I was wrong. You were too fucking stupid to realize that you can't just stab a Void spirit. I think Ross had the wand focus the whole time. I think he took it because he was curious. Because he wanted to learn more about the Void and why he Changed differently while he was in there. And he took it because you didn't. Because you were too busy worrying about what was happening here...”

Trott stopped himself, both because he didn't want to completely lose his shit in front of Lomadia, and because he had realized something.

“The key...” he muttered to himself. “Ross had a tiny golden key with him. It must have been for wherever he kept the wand focus...”

“Trott,” said Lomadia, gently putting her hand on his shoulder to bring him back to reality. “How do you know that Ross is Void?”

Trott froze, feeling all the blood rush out of his head.

“I saw him...” he mumbled. “The wand focus burst open and I saw his face. He knew I saw him...”

Trott sighed, feeling suddenly drained of energy. “And that's... that's it... Smith is dead and Ross is Void. They're both gone...”

A painful silence descended on them. Nobody knew what to say for a while.

“How did you end up here?” Lomadia finally asked.

“Ross teleported me here,” Trott muttered. “He completely lost it after Smith's funeral, and he destroyed our base... I guess he had a moment of clarity and realized he didn't want me there, so he sent me here... I don't know what's happening to him now... I don't know where Void went when he teleported away... I just don't know...”

Lomadia nodded at Trott, but out of the corner of her eye she saw Ridge's expression change. He looked like he had just realized something.

“Lomadia, why don't you and Trott go inside,” suggested Ridge. “It's late, it's dark, and Trott looks like he needs a strong drink...”

“Good idea,” said Lomadia, carefully putting her arm around Trott's shoulder and leading him towards her house. She glanced over her shoulder at Ridge.

“I'll be back soon,” he whispered to her. Then he turned and silently flew off. Lomadia had no idea what he was up to, but he clearly didn't want Trott to know that he had something planned.

Lomadia led Trott into her house. It was cozy, and there were only one or two lights on due to how late it was. She brought him into the kitchen and set him down at the table. Before she could say anything, another door opened and Nilesy poked his head into the kitchen.

“What's going on?” he whispered, doing his best to keep his voice low.

“Some bad shit went down,” Lomadia replied, glancing at Trott, who was sitting slumped over and staring at the table, his eyes empty.

Before Nilesy could respond, a small crying noise came from the far end of the hall. All three of them looked in the direction of the sound.

“He's probably hungry,” Lomadia muttered, not bothering to keep her voice down anymore. “I'll go take care of him. Nilesy, will you get Trott a drink?”

Nilesy nodded, and Lomadia left the room. There was silence for a moment before Nilesy started to move about the kitchen, pulling out a couple different bottles.

“Let's see...” he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Trott. “You look like you've been dragged through hell and back, but you also look like you're ready to hide under a blanket until the sun stops shining... Hm...”

Trott listened to Nilesy clank around, and he thought about the description he had just given. He couldn't believe how accurate it was.

A minute later, Nilesy sat down in the chair across from him and set a steaming mug on the table.

“Here we go,” said Nilesy, pushing the cup towards Trott. “Hot cider with a generous helping of the good stuff. Cinnamon flavored. Perfect drink for someone who's tired, beaten, and depressed.”

Trott slowly took the mug in his hands and took a sip. The hot drink immediately brought warmth back into his core, and the alcohol got his blood flowing again, even when it felt like his heart had been stopped for the past few hours.

“Thank you,” Trott whispered, feeling slightly more alive.

Nilesy smiled at him. “Just so you know, you don't have to tell me anything about what happened. Unless, of course, you want to.”

Trott shook his head. He didn't want to remember. Nilesy nodded, understanding.

They sat in silence for several minutes until Lomadia came back into the room. She was holding a sleepy looking baby against her chest.

“Here,” said Lomadia as she walked over and sat down at the table next to Trott. “Hold Lux, maybe you'll feel better.”

Trott reached out and gently took the tiny infant, cradling him close. Immediately, he felt his spirits lifting as he stared at the baby, whose bright blue eyes sleepily stared back at him.

“He's still a bit small for his age,” Trott noticed. As if in response, Lux yawned. “No teeth yet either, but it's normal for preemies to start teething late.”

“I appreciate the checkup, but the main reason I gave him to you is to help you calm down,” admitted Lomadia.

Trott smiled a bit and looked back down at Lux. Unlike most four month old's, Lux didn't have any stranger anxiety. He was probably the calmest baby Trott had ever seen.

Of course, staring at Lux made him think of Xephos. Of the Ghost. Where was he now? Was he back in their world or had he escaped? That made him think of Ross.

What would happen to him? He snapped and went down the road to dark magic. At that very moment he was on the loose, destroying their world. And when their home had been reduced to ash, what would he do after that? Would he move on to this world?

In that moment, Trott could clearly see the path that would lead Ross to becoming Void. The dark magic he was using would consume him, and then Ridge would step in and banish him. When would that happen? And was it too late to stop it? Was it too late to stop Ross and turn him back towards the light?

Trott realized he only had one option. He needed to confront Ross to try and stop him from becoming Void, or he would die trying.

“Trott?” Lomadia's voice brought him back to reality.

“Sorry,” he muttered as he handed the sleepy baby back to his mother. “Got lost in thought.”

“What were you thinking about?” asked Nilesy, who had been respectfully quiet the whole time.

“About what to do next,” said Trott, sounding calm and steady for the first time that night. He slowly stood up. “I'm going back for Ross.”

Before Lomadia or Nilesy could say anything, Trott looked out the window and saw movement. There were people out there. Without waiting, he ran out the door and around the side of the house.

The three people who had silently gathered turned around when Trott suddenly appeared. He saw that it was Ridge, standing next to Parv and Strife.

“What's going on?” asked Trott quietly.

“Yeah, what's going on?” asked Lomadia, who stepped out of the door behind Trott. She was still holding Lux against her chest. When the baby saw Ridge, he started to whimper and clung tighter to his mother. Apparently Ridge was the one person he didn't like.

Ridge glanced at Parv and Strife, who were standing behind him. He turned and looked at Trott and Lomadia standing by the house, and he noticed Nilesy watching from over Lomadia's shoulder. With a small sigh, he realized he'd been caught.

“Trott, I'm sorry, but you should go back inside,” said Ridge, his voice shaking a bit.

“You're going after Ross, aren't you?” asked Trott quietly, his voice accusing.

Ridge grimaced. “We don't have a choice! You and I both know what has to happen. Why delay the inevitable?”

“It doesn't have to happen!” exclaimed Trott, stepping forward.

“Yes it does,” growled Ridge. “You're a scientist. You understand how time travel works. We are approaching a fixed point in time, and trying to change it would cause a paradox that could rip your world apart!”

“In theory,” Trott responded. “Neither of us truly knows how time travel works. Not even you. We don't know what the consequences of my actions will be, but we both know what the consequences of your actions will be.”

“Then it's a good thing you aren't coming with us,” snarled Ridge.

“And how are you going to stop me?” demanded Trott, taking a step closer to Ridge, who couldn't help but be intimidated.

“What are you talking about?” asked Lomadia, who carefully handed Lux to Nilesy.

Trott glanced at her. “Our world was sealed off until Ross teleported me here. He broke the seal when he did that, so now we can freely travel between the two worlds as long as we're here. It's a hole in the shield.”

Lomadia glanced at Nilesy, who nodded knowingly and took Lux back inside. Then she turned to face the others.

“If that's the case, I'm coming too,” she said.

“What?! No!” exclaimed Ridge, looking flustered. “Y-you're a mother! You have a baby who's already lost his father. I'm not going to let you risk your life fighting a corrupted and insane demigod!”

“Oh, so you're fine with us risking our lives?” muttered Parv sarcastically. Strife elbowed him in the ribs. Everybody else ignored him.

Lomadia stepped forward and held up her arm. On her wrist was a teleporter.

“I added a special feature to this thing,” she said, pointing to her teleporter. “It constantly scans the area around me for danger. If it determines that I'm in mortal danger, it'll teleport me home. I've tried it before, and it works. If I go with you, I won't be in danger.”

“And you can't stop us from going with you,” Trott reminded him.

Ridge looked between the two of them for a moment before sighing and shaking his head a bit. “Alright, fine. But if either of you try and stop me, I'll teleport you home before you can blink...”

With that warning, he turned and strode to the other side of the clearing behind the house, and he started doing magic that none of the others could see nor understand. Strife and Parv cautiously moved over to Trott and Lomadia.

“Do you two know what's about to happen?” Lomadia asked them.

“Not exactly,” admitted Strife. “Ridge showed up and told us he needed our help with something dangerous.”

“Also we owed him a favor,” grumbled Parv. He didn't look very happy to be here, and neither did Strife. To Trott, they both looked like they had gotten dressed in a hurry. Ridge must have woken them up, and Trott hoped he'd had enough decency to knock on their front door instead of teleporting directly into their bedroom.

“Who exactly is the corrupted and insane demigod we're up against?” asked Strife, looking concerned.

“Ross,” said Trott bluntly.

Parv and Strife suddenly looked more awake. They had both still been groggy from Ridge's rude awakening, so neither of them had questioned why Trott was on Owl Island without his friends.

“What happened?” asked Parv.

“I don't know how, but he was turned into a demigod, and he was corrupted by dark magic,” whispered Trott, making sure not to make eye contact with either of them.

“And... where's Smith?” asked Strife carefully.

Trott didn't say anything, but Lomadia, who was standing slightly behind the walrus, shook her head and dragged her finger across her throat.

Before either of them could respond, Ridge called to them from across the clearing. “Prepare yourselves. The portal is almost connected.”

“Listen,” Trott suddenly whispered, keeping his voice low so that only the three standing around him could hear. “When we get back home, I don't know what we're going to find. Ross was on a rampage, destroying everything. But that's not what I'm worried about.”

He glanced up at Ridge, whose back was turned. “Ridge is going to try and banish Ross to the Void. If he does this, it'll create a chain of events that will lead right back to here. It'll create a time loop. That's why I need your help.”

“Let me guess,” whispered Lomadia. “You want us to wait until it's almost over, then turn on Ridge before he can banish Ross?”

Trott nodded. “It's the only way. I know it's a lot to ask, and it's a lot to risk, but if I can stop Ridge from banishing him, I can make sure Void never exists. If he never exists, everything will change. Xephos and Smith will still be alive. It's starting to feel like we've been living in an alternate universe for the past year, and this is our one chance at getting everything back to normal...”

“But... how will you be able to stop Ross?” asked Parv.

Trott's mouth felt dry. “I can talk him down,” he said with slightly wavering confidence. “If I can get close enough for him to hear me, I know I can calm him down enough to drop out of God mode. I've done it before... after we found out Smith was sick...”

“That's a big risk to rely on your calming bedside manor,” admitted Strife. “How do you know you'll be able to get through to him?”

“Our best friend just died,” Trott whispered, his voice cracking. “We buried him at sea an hour ago... We're both feeling the same pain, I just need him to feel it. That grief... that pain... that love... it's what keeps us...”

Trott paused. It didn't seem appropriate, but there was no other way to phrase it. There was no better way to phrase it.

“It's what keeps us human...” he choked out. “I just need to remind him that he's a human, not a god. Not a demon. Human.”

They were all quiet for a moment, and then Ridge stepped back over to them.

“Are you ready?” he asked, his voice grim. They all nodded silently. “Good. Then follow me.”

He walked back across the clearing, and the others followed him until he came to a stop at the treeline. They could all see that the air was shimmering with magic, and it felt significantly warmer.

“This is a one way portal,” warned Ridge as he waved a glowing gold hand, and the air in front of him started to warp. “It'll disappear once the five of us go through it, and the only way to get back to this world is with your teleporters. Understand?”

They all nodded.

“Good,” said Ridge. With a final wave of his hand, the shimmering air in front of him swirled into a shimmering gold portal. He stepped through and disappeared, followed by Lomadia, Parv, and Strife. Trott took one last look around, noticing that the full moon was now close to setting. The sun would be rising soon. He hoped he would be alive to see it.

With that final thought, he stepped through the portal, and the world swirled around him. The blue light from Owl Island disappeared, and Trott found himself looking at a dark sky full of smoke, with clouds glowing red from the fires beneath them. A second later, he jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Trott whipped around to see Parv standing behind him. Ten feet away, Ridge, Lomadia, and Strife stood there in shock, observing the damage.

“You okay?” asked Parv.

Trott gulped and focused on his surroundings. They were standing on what had once been a grassy field, but was now a scorched strip of earth. The air was thick and hazy, fires burned and debris was everywhere. Trott could see burnt wood, broken glass, pipes, and chunks of marble amongst other things.

“Hey Trott, any idea where we are?” asked Lomadia.

Trott took another look around. After a moment, he spotted something far in the hazy distance. In the sky, he could just see the silhouette of a large floating island.

“That way,” he muttered, pointing towards the island. “That's where the tower used to be...”

“That's where we should start looking...” said Ridge.

The small group started to walk towards the floating island. It was slow going, because the closer they got, the more debris appeared, which made it harder for Strife with his prosthetic leg. His foot kept getting caught on pieces of debris, and at one point his foot got so caught on something that he fell. When Parv helped him up and they both saw what his foot had gotten stuck on, they screamed, and the others ran over to see that the object was a human skull, blackened and burnt. They all tread a bit more carefully after this.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, they arrived at the floating island. Although the fires had intensified and the air was thicker with smoke, it had gotten colder and colder as they got closer. Now, the air was so cold that they could see their breath, and the lake beneath the floating island had frozen over.

“Void magic,” whispered Ridge. “Be careful, he could be nearby.”

As if in response, a small beeping noise filled the freezing air. Everybody turned to see that the sound was coming from Lomadia. She looked down at her teleporter and saw that a blinking green light had appeared along with the beeping noise.

“Oh fucking-”

She never got to finish her sentence. A split second later, she was teleported away, back to Owl Island.

“So... does that mean we're all in mortal danger?” asked Parv nervously.

“Yes,” growled Ridge, his hands flashing gold. He was looking at something behind them.

They all turned around to see a dark figure hovering in the air between the lake and the island. He was partially silhouetted by the fires behind him, but through the darkness they could all see his glowing red eyes.

“What are you doing here?” shouted Ross, his voice raw and hoarse.

“What do you think we're here for?” Ridge shouted back.

Ross froze. It was almost as if he hadn't realized who was speaking to him until then. He slowly drifted a bit closer.

“You...” Ross growled. “This... this is all your fault... You're the reason all this happened...” As he said this, he violently gestured to the burning husk of the once beautiful marble towers, only a short distance away but barely visible through the smoke and fires.

By this point, Ross had drifted close enough for Trott to be able to see him properly. His face was so pale it was white, and his eyes were glowing red. His clothes were torn and burnt, so Trott could see that the Void infection on his arm now stretched all the way up to his shoulder. There was blood splattered on his hands and face. For a split second, Trott thought back to how the Ghost had described the person who would become Void. He may have gotten the name wrong, but he hadn't forgotten the pale face and glowing red eyes or the fact that he'd unleashed destruction on the world. Trott just hoped there was enough time to both stop him and save him.

“I never wanted this to happen,” Ridge suddenly shouted, jostling Trott out of his memory.  

“It doesn't matter what you wanted!” Ross screamed at him. “Smith is dead! Trott's gone! I'll never see either of them again!”

Ridge hesitated, and with great effort he didn't look at Trott. He took a deep breath. “There's still time to stop this...”

“You are the cause of all the pain we had to suffer,” growled Ross, his voice lower but still loud enough to carry to them. “Everything that happened here is your fault...”

Ridge took a slight step back. It was all the incentive Ross needed. With a sharp wave of his hand, he caused the ground in front of them to explode. They were all thrown in different directions, but Ross was only interested in Ridge. He gave another sharp wave of his hand, and black magic scattered across the land. The ground started to churn, and zombies and skeletons began to claw their way out.

Trott jumped to his feet and pulled out his sword, only then realizing that it was actually Ross' glowing sword that he held in his hands. He had forgotten that he'd picked it up earlier.

The sword cut through the monsters with ease. Soon enough, Trott was surrounded by the remains of the undead. Looking around, he saw that Strife and Parv were still fighting the monsters around them, and Ridge and Ross were both hovering over the frozen lake. All Trott could see of them were bright bursts of red and gold magic as they violently fought each other.

A split second later, the gold light that was Ridge was slammed down into the ice, and the light faded. Ross hovered over Ridge's unconscious body, his smile bloody and deranged.

Without thinking, Trott dropped the glowing sword, stepped out onto the lake, and ran to help Ridge.

Ross was entirely focused on Ridge. He landed on the ice and stood over Ridge's prone body. There was nothing stopping him. His hand began to glow red, and he raised it above his head.

They were in the very center of the lake. Trott was still at least twenty yards away. He had no idea what Ross was about to do, but he didn't think he was going to make it in time.

That was when he heard the noise. It was the creaking and groaning of something immense beginning to move. The noise was coming from above him.

He slowed to a stop and looked up. The floating island was beginning to shift, and with a jolt of horror, he realized that Ross was undoing the magic that kept it in the air.

A second later, the island began to fall.

Trott did the only thing he could do. He let out a sharp scream, closed his eyes, and covered his head.

A split second later, he felt two strong, cold hands grab his shoulders, and he felt the sharp wind that accompanied being teleported a short distance. Then, not even a heartbeat later, there was a massive explosion as the once floating island smashed into the frozen lake, the heat and pressure of the impact vaporizing the ice. Trott felt the shockwave from the impact hit him, but there was something between him and the blast that protected him.

A second later, it was over. Dirt and and ice rained from the sky, and the water vapor quickly turned to fog in the cold air. The blast of wind from the crash had extinguished all the nearby fires, so the night turned dark, lit only by the faint orange glow of the coming sunrise in the east.

Slowly, Trott took a shaky breath and opened his eyes. Ross was standing in front of him, still holding his shoulders.

“Trott...” he whispered, his voice cracking. He was still pale white, and his eyes still had a red glow, but his whole demeanor had changed. He was no longer the corrupt demigod who was driven mad with grief and revenge. He was Ross.

“I... I'm so sorry...” Ross stammered, tears welling up in his eyes. “I didn't... want to hurt you... It's why I s-sent you away...”

Trott stepped forward and wrapped his arms around Ross, holding him tight. Ross gratefully returned the hug.

“I thought I'd never see you again,” Trott  whispered, pressing his face into Ross' shoulder. “I thought I was going to lose you too...”

They stayed that way for a moment until Ross stepped back, wrapping his arms around himself.

“I saw his face...” he whispered.

“I saw it too,” said Trott quietly.

Ross looked at him, his eyes wide with concern. “I don't want that to happen... I don't want to be that... thing...”

“I'm not going to let it happen,” said Trott firmly.

Ross gave him an exasperated look. “Trott, I just dropped an entire island on Ridge... I might have killed him... I destroyed our home, and everything else I could find... And look...”

He held out his hands, and black magic swirled around them.

“It's not blue anymore...” he stammered. “I'm not... I'm not an earth spirit anymore, I'm a Void spirit...”

“Ross, you're not evil!” exclaimed Trott, reaching forward and grabbing his hands. “Come with me. We can get out of here and hide where Ridge can never find you... If he can't find you, he can't banish you, and none of this will ever happen. Everything will go back to normal...”

Ross looked around for a second. The swirling fog was thick and hard to see through. They both heard a sharp scream in the distance, but it was far away, and they didn't pay it much attention.

Slowly, after a moment of thought, Ross nodded. His eyes were no longer glowing red, and the air around them seemed warmer. “Okay... let's run...”

Trott smiled. He pulled one hand away and reached for the teleporter on his arm, but before he could activate it, Ross jumped and pulled his hand away with a small gasp. They both looked down to see the tip of a glowing sword coming out of his abdomen. The sword disappeared, and Ross staggered, clutching the wound as blood began to spill out.

That was when Ridge's hand appeared through the fog and grabbed Ross by the throat, picking him up and then smashing him into the ground.

Trott screamed in fear and lunged forward, trying to grab Ridge and pull him away from Ross, but Ridge turned and flicked his hand, knocking Trott backwards. He tumbled away and landed right next to a body. A quick glance told him that the body was Strife's, and Parv was lying right next to him. Neither of them were moving. They could have been dead, for all Trott knew. He didn't have time to check.

Scrambling to his feet, he saw Ross on the ground, desperately trying to defend himself against Ridge, who shot blast after blast of magic at him. Trott could see that Ridge was covered in blood and dirt, his clothes were torn and burnt, and it looked like his nose was broken along with his left arm. On the ground next to him was the glowing sword Trott had dropped. He must have found it after escaping the wreckage of the island. Trott also guessed that Parv and Strife had tried to stop him, which was why they were either unconscious or dead on the ground at his feet.

Trott started to run towards the two demigods. He didn't get very far, because Ridge saw him. When Trott was within ten feet of them, he slammed into an invisible wall, which then became visible as a transparent shimmering wall of golden light. Ridge had put a bubble around himself and Ross, and Trott couldn't reach them.

For the second time in as many days, Trott knew he was about to watch his friend die, and there was nothing he could do about it.

Ross was weak from the blood loss. He was putting all of his magic into defending himself, and even that was wearing down. He was losing.

With one final burst of light, the fight ended. Ross lay flat on his back, gasping for air and clutching the wound on his stomach. Ridge stood over him, looking just as bloodstained and winded.

“Ridge stop!” begged Trott, desperately banging on the wall.

Ridge ignored him and stalked closer to Ross.

“I'm sorry, but this is the way it was meant to be,” Ridge said, keeping his eyes focused on Ross.

“Please... don't...” Ross choked out, blood bubbling out of his mouth. “I don't... I don't want to forget...”

“You're too dangerous,” Ridge continued, ignoring Ross and Trott. “This is a fixed point in time. Even if I wanted to, I can't change it.”

“No!” sobbed Trott, smashing his fists against the wall. “Please, I'm begging you!”

“It's because of this,” continued Ridge, “I have no choice but to banish you to the Void.”

Ross was desperately trying to move away from Ridge, but he was immobilized by the pain and blood loss.

“Ross!” screamed Trott, his voice raw with agony.

Ridge took a step forward, and his hand glowed so bright it looked white.

In that last second, Ross made eye contact with Trott. He looked terrified. Then Ridge sharply pressed his glowing hand against Ross' chest, there was a sharp flash of light, and Ross was gone.

Trott stared at the spot where he had vanished. His blood was still splattered on the burnt grass.

The wall he was pressed against disappeared, and he fell forward, not bothering to catch himself. The air grew warm again, and the fog slowly started to lift. The sun was rising, but Trott didn't lift his head to look. Instead, he laid there on the scorched earth, only feet from where Ross had just been. He felt like the life had been sucked out of him.

He heard footsteps. Someone was standing over him.

“Trott...?” It was Ridge. Trott didn't look at him.

“You should have banished me too...” Trott whispered, his voice broken and empty.

Ridge didn't say anything. He simply stood there for a moment before turning and walking back over to where Trott knew Strife and Parv were. He hoped they weren't dead.

After taking a moment to gather his strength, he got to his feet and looked around.

He stood unmoving in the center of the battlefield. It was over now, but the bodies strewn across the scorched field were still fresh. The sky was still dark with the smoke from the now extinguished fires.

There was so much death and destruction. And in that one moment, Trott realized it had all started with the Ghost.

Where was the Ghost now?

Trott turned and looked over at Ridge. He was kneeling over Parv, examining him. After a moment, he must have decided he was okay, because he activated his teleporter and sent the unconscious Parv back to Owl Island. He did the same with Strife a moment later. Then he stood and walked back towards Trott.

In that split second, Trott hoped as much as he dared that this was another one of Ridge's sadistic tests. That he would wave his hand and Ross and Smiffy would appear, alive and well. He thought back to something Ridge had said that night, when he first revealed himself to them.

I wanted to see if someone harmless was capable of becoming a monster. To see if someone self-centered was able to do something selfless. To see if someone who hated hurting people was capable of murdering his best friend.

Ross had become a monster. Smiffy had tried to cure lycanthropy, but that selfless act got him killed. And Trott... he was the one who told Ridge who Void was.

“Trott...” said Ridge, who stopped a few feet away. “I'm so sorry this happened...”

Trott looked him in the eye. “Would you really miss us if we died?”

Ridge looked shocked. “What?” he stammered.

“I don't think you would,” continued Trott. “I don't think you have the ability to care about anybody. You're a sociopath...”

Ridge looked pained. “Trott, please-”

He never got to finish his sentence. The air behind him shimmered, and in the blink of an eye the Ghost appeared.

Ridge turned around to face the Ghost, and without a word, the Ghost summoned a sword and stabbed Ridge through the chest.

Without pulling the sword out, the Ghost forced Ridge to the ground, and the sword started to glow. Ridge's eyes flashed gold, and he started convulsing. Then the Ghost started to draw the power out of Ridge's body.

Trott stood frozen in fear, only able to watch in horror as Ridge began to decay. His hands turned gray and the skin shriveled and peeled away, leaving behind nothing but dark bones. This continued all over the rest of his body until there was a final flash of blinding gold light, and the Ghost stood over a skeleton.

“That wasn't as hard as I thought it would be...” the Ghost muttered, looking at the glowing ball of light in his palm. The light that contained Ridge's entire life, his powers, everything. The Ghost held it between his hands, and the shimmering and writhing light became more stable. A thin crust that looked like glowstone began to grow around it until it was completely covered, and the Ghost was left holding a stable glowstone sphere that held the power of a demigod.

“Let's just send this back, shall we?” the Ghost muttered to himself. He waved his hands, and the sphere disappeared. Then he focused his attention on Trott.

“Sorry about that,” said the Ghost, gesturing to the remains of Ridge. “I've been waiting a long time to do that.”

Trott realized that he had fallen over and was now sitting on the ground, staring up at the smiling Ghost.

“Xephos, w-why did you do that?” was all Trott could stammer out.

“Xephos?” muttered the Ghost, looking confused. He looked down at himself. “Oh right, you still think I'm Xephos, don't you? I certainly had you fooled.”

The shadows surrounding the Ghost melted away, revealing the ghostly form of Xephos. A second later, however, his form began to change, and his disguise melted away.

“Oh gods...” whispered Trott as he looked at the true face of the Ghost. “Ross?”

“Surprise!” exclaimed Ross, smiling and kneeling down in front of Trott. “Time travel is fantastic, isn't it? I can be in three places at once.”

This Ross looked drastically different from the one Trott had just seen banished. He was much thinner, his hair was shorter and streaked with gray, and the most alarming was the fact that there were angry red burns running up the left side of his face, across his sightless left eye.

“Yeah,” said Ross, noticing that Trott was staring at his eye, “I do wish I hadn't done that...”

“How is this possible?” stammered Trott. “What happened?”

Ross' smile fell. “What I did just now... it's the reason I'm a demigod. I sent that sphere back in time. Do you remember when we found it? It Changed me, and you wanted to know where it came from. Guess you know now...”

Trott shook his head a bit. He felt overwhelmed.

“Do you want to know everything that happened to me?” asked Ross. “It might answer a few of your questions...”

Trott could only nod. Ross sat down in a more comfortable position.

“When I was banished, my body was slowly destroyed in the Void,” said Ross. “I couldn't escape. But I was angry. I wanted revenge against Ridge, so I found a scarecrow and brought it to life. But what I didn't know at the time was that I couldn't regenerate magic without a body, so creating Strawfingers severely weakened me. I had to follow her around to feed off of the chaos she caused. That was where Ridge first had contact with me. He was trying to use poison spike traps to catch my monster, and instead he found me. He thought I was just a projection... another entity from the Void. That's how he first learned about me...

“Anyways, after I nearly killed myself creating Strawfingers, I started to become disoriented and confused. I lost track of when I was and where I was, my memories and my sense of identity started to slip away... Every second, I felt more and more of myself being lost to the Void.

“I couldn't gain much energy from following Strawfingers around... She was too sneaky, and she didn't like to cause a lot of chaos at once. So I had to wander the Void in search of another way to stay alive. That's when I found myself. I found us in the Skylands.

“By this point, my memory and identity had been taken from me, and I was nothing but a shadow... a featureless silhouette with the most basic survival instincts. I found the three of us... I followed you around, trying to draw energy from you.”

“I remember...” said Trott quietly. “I kept catching glimpses of you out of the corner of my eye...”

“You were the only one who could see me,” said Ross. “It's because you were here when I was banished. You created a powerful bond between us, so strong it traveled through time, and that's why you were able to see me when even my past self couldn't.

“But... I was dying. I was running out of energy, so I had to turn to my last resort. In Limbo, I found an abandoned castle, so I used the last bit of my magic to rebuild it in the Skylands. I set a trap, and then I went dormant. You were my only hope. And luckily, you found me. Smith pulled the lever and sprung the trap, and I latched onto him. The three of us were standing in the middle of that giant spiral, remember?”

Trott nodded.

“It was the mark of the Void. I used that to teleport the three of us to a new world. Once we arrived, I went dormant again, staying inside Smith for years until he woke me up again with that lightning strike. It galvanized me. Gave me life. And... now that I have most of my memories back, I really do regret what happened to him when I was possessing him... But I did save him. He was dying of flux poisoning, and when I took over his body, he was on the brink of death. I kept him alive, only to nearly kill him later...

“I also saved myself, if you remember. I had been shot by a silver arrow, and my stitches came undone. I started bleeding out, but then I told you to go check on me. You stopped me from dying. Back then, I don't even know why I really did that, it just felt like the right thing to do.

“When Ridge destroyed my body in Limbo, he did just that. He destroyed my body, but my soul hid inside the wand focus, which my past self stole from Ridge and hid in a box in his wall. I was trapped in that wand focus for almost a year. When things started to go wrong with the Ghost – with me, again – I was able to feed off of your pain and suffering. I leaked knowledge to my past self, which helped him learn new magic so quickly.”

“So... the reason you burst out of the wand focus fully formed was because you were completely powered up?” asked Trott quietly.

Ross nodded. “After I escaped and you two learned who I was, I went back to the Deep Dark. When I went there, though, all of my memories came rushing back to me. Apparently last time I was there, it remembered me. It saved the blueprints of my body, and a copy of my memories. I had been regaining them throughout those months trapped in the wand focus, but as soon as I returned home, they all came flooding back. I knew who I was. I knew what I was. And I knew that if I wanted to make sure I exist, I had to do exactly what we spent this whole time trying to prevent. I had to lead myself down the path to becoming Void...

“Now... I spent some time in the Deep Dark, growing a new body. While I was there, I found Strawfingers. She told me how she had killed Xephos with Void flux, but she had been destroyed too. So I found her a new body. I found a fully functional and extremely powerful clone of Nano, which had everything except a soul to give it life, so that's where I put my monster. Then I took the form of Xephos to gain your trust and pity.

“I knew that getting banished was a fixed point in time for all of us. That's why I had to wait until after I was banished to kill Ridge.”

He was silent for a while, staring pensively at the skeleton. Trott sat there on the ground, trying to absorb all the information. Ross had been Void and the Ghost the whole time. How had he never figured it out? How had he never seen the signs? What truly hurt him was the fact that he had never had a chance to save Ross in the first place.

“So what happens now?” asked Trott quietly.

Ross stared at him for a moment before standing up and holding out his left hand – the one not infected with flux.

“Come with me,” suggested Ross. “We can do so much together!”

“Like what?” asked Trott. “Rule the world? Is that what you want to do now that you've killed Ridge?”

Ross dropped his hand. “I don't know what I'm going to do, but I know I can use your help.” His voice was colder.

Slowly, Trott stood up. He shook his head.

“Ross, I can't go with you. I can't join you. I'm glad you're alive, but some of the things you've done are unforgivable...”

Ross' expression became stony and cold. “Is that it? You don't want to be reminded of the past? Even though things are going to get better?”

Trott gestured to the wasteland around them. “Does this look better than the life we had before?” he exclaimed. “Ross, you're dangerous... You're unstable.”

“Unstable?” growled Ross, his eyes flickering red. “You would be unstable too if you knew what-”

Ross never finished his sentence. At that moment, the sun broke the horizon, and a silhouette appeared on top of the mound of earth that used to be the floating island. The silhouette shot a blast of white light, which hit Ross in the chest, flinging him back and knocking him to the ground.

“The Phoenix...” gasped Ross, a look of fear crossing his face. He took one look at Trott and then teleported away.

Trott stood frozen, his mind reeling from what just happened. Then he heard footsteps behind him. Slowly, he turned to see someone he didn't recognize.

A tall man had made his way down the hill and was walking towards Trott. The man had dark red hair and piercing blue eyes. His clothes were torn and burnt, and they looked a bit too small for him. He wasn't wearing any shoes.

Trott took a step back. “W-who are you?” he stammered.

The man sneered at him. “You fucker, don't you recognize me?”

Trott was certain that his heart stopped. He didn't recognize the man, but he recognized the voice.

“Smith?”

The man smiled. “I assume that's a better surprise than finding out about Ross?”

Trott rushed forward and hugged his friend so hard he knocked them both to the ground. Smiffy laughed and hugged him back.

“You're alive!” Trott sobbed. “And you're human!”

“Yeah mate, get off me or I'm going to be a flat human,” groaned Smiffy, who was being crushed under the weight of the overjoyed walrus.

“Right, sorry,” said Trott, flopping to the side and letting Smiffy sit up.

“What a day, huh?” muttered Smiffy.

“How did this happen?” asked Trott in awe.

Smiffy took a deep breath. “Let's see... First, I was cursed to look like a green monster. Then, I was infected with lycanthropy. And then Ross filled me up with Void flux and hit me with a couple Galvanic Sparks, and then you guys burned me at midnight under the light of a full moon. To be completely honest, I have no idea why all that shit is necessary, but it worked. I changed. And not just back into a human...”

“What do you mean?” asked Trott.

Smiffy reached out and grabbed Trott's hand, then he held it to his chest.

“Yeah, I can feel your heartbeat,” said Trott.

“Good. Can you feel this one?” asked Smiffy as he moved Trott's hand to the right side of his chest. To Trott's surprise, there was another heartbeat.

“You grew a second heart?” exclaimed Trott.

“Getting warmer...”

Smiffy moved his hand to the center of his chest, where there was yet another heartbeat. He had three hearts.  

Trott stared at him. “When you said you changed, did you mean...”

Smiffy nodded. “Yeah. I Changed. And you're never gonna guess what I turned into.”

“Fire spirit?” asked Trott.

“Close enough,” said Smiffy. He held out his hands, which began to glow a blinding white. Trott looked up and saw that his blue eyes were also glowing white.

“What in the...”

Smiffy nodded and his hands and eyes returned to normal. “Light spirit,” he said with a cocky nod.

Trott stared at him. “Ross called you the Phoenix.”

“Rose from the ashes, mate.”

“And you've got three hearts now...”

“Four, actually,” said Smiffy. “There's a tiny little one wedged in the back of my ribcage, behind my lungs.”

Trott had to pause and put his head in his hands for a bit. Ridge had once told him a story about light spirits. He said they were so rare they had never been documented. He said they were the true opposing force to a Void spirit. But the rumors also told that light spirits are quick to burn out, because their powers are so intense the human body can't handle it. Then again, he had also said that three hearts was the maximum.

“Does Ross know who you are?” asked Trott.

“No, he doesn't,” said Smiffy, looking down at his hands. “But there are a lot of things I've figured out in the few hours I've had these powers. I know all about what happened to Ross. And I have a good idea about what's going to happen to him too.”

“What do you mean?”

Smiffy gave a wicked smile. Trott noticed that his smile hadn't changed, even now that he was a human.

“Ross may be able to travel through time,” said Smiffy, “but I can see the future.”

Trott stared at him. “You're kidding.”

Smiffy shook his head. “Trott, I was given these powers because you and I have a mission.”

“What's that?” asked Trott nervously.

Smiffy smiled. He stood up and took Trott's hand, pulling him to his feet as well. They stood there for a moment, in the ruins of their once beautiful world, the flames of a new sun shining down on them.

“We're going after Ross,” said Smith. “We're going to stop him, we're going to save him, and we are going to save the fucking world.”

To Be Continued...