A Woman Of Ice

XCII- Thought I Was Dead

It had been almost another three months since Diana had last consumed the magic of another, and her body was slowly decaying. She was lying down in the bed of her and Luke Castellan's room at the Leaky Cauldron, paralyzed. This paralysis was both on a physical and mental level; the feeling was an intuitive sort of pain. Diana knew exactly where it was leading; death. Diana's body aches and ached for magic, but it had been too late. She had decided to starve herself for as long as she could, in order to spare as many people as possible. Diana only drained small amounts, since she couldn't kill anyone. It wasn't going well. Her body was desiccating slowly but surely. Luke Castellan knew it, but he still continued to leave the room every day in order to find someone else to drain slightly and then Obliviate. Diana Black was, despite the physical rot, still very much alive, although she was beginning to lose the ability to differentiate between the two states of existence. She felt like death itself, if not worse. Her twisted mind usually kept up a wall in order to keep out all of the horrible thoughts, memories, and feelings from the forefront of Diana's mind, but her lack of energy had overpowered that wall. Diana was paralyzed and unable to engage, to fight, both physically and emotionally. Even then, she could still recognize how incredibly insane it was that her own mind had been turned from a fortress into a prison before she had even realized it. Diana knew for a fact she was strong, definitely stronger than the average person or even witch or wizard or demigod, but in that moment it did not register. Diana, not seeing any other viable option, decided to sleep, again.

****

"Diana," Luke Castellan said quietly. "Diana."

Diana woke very steadily, opening her eyes to Luke and a random wizard standing above her.
"Dinner," he smiled sadly.
"Thanks, baby," she groaned as he placed the terrified man's hand inside of her own pale and sickly one, as Diana siphoned away his magical energy with relief.

She smiled slightly as her energy cane back, more and more of it, not noticing that the young wizard was nearing death.
"Diana, stop. You gotta stop, he's dying," Luke warned her.

But Diana was lost in her own world within her mind, one where relief existed.
"I'm sorry, Luke. But I have to," she sobbed apologetically as she drained more and more magic.
"No. No, you don't!" Luke protested. "Baby, I'm tired of all this killing people! It's too much now! You can't, please, Diana," he begged.
"I'm sorry, Luke," Diana Black repeated.
"Diana. Stop. He's almost dead now!" Luke cried.
"I told you, I can't," Diana whispered. "I need my strength back."
"This is not the way!" Luke argued. "I can get you more in a minute if you need more magic, but—"
"I need it now!" Diana groaned in pain.
"No. No, I can't take any more of this. We've been at it for months, and this is going to be the fourteenth person you've killed! I can't take this anymore, I just can't," Luke began to cry.
"I—I don't know what to do," Diana wheezed.
"Diana, if you kill him.... I never thought I'd say this, but.... I'm out of here if you do," Luke murmured reluctantly.
"Luke!" Diana screamed in disbelief, stopping for a moment. "I thought you loved me, I thought—I thought we'd always stand by each other."
"So did I. But I can't let you do this to yourself. Or to us. I'm sorry, but.... I can't take all of this anymore, all the things we do, Kronos on top of it. I have to go," Luke mustered. "Goodbye, Diana."
"No, Luke," Diana Black sobbed desperately.

But Luke Castellan turned his back on her, in every way possible, walking out of the room as quickly as he could, without looking back.
"No," Diana cried. "No, no! Petrificus Totalus!" she practically screamed, latching her hand violently onto the paralyzed wizard on the ground, sucking away every last bit of magic and life within his system. "No, Luke. Why?!" she gasped as she frustratedly grew stronger and stronger.

Eventually, the wizard was completely gone, and Diana was strong again, temporarily. But she felt anything but strong. She then fell onto the ground in despair, not knowing the sensation that had overwhelmed her body. It was strength, pain, and sadness all at once. It was a horribly vivid and frightening sort of pain, one Diana Black had only felt a few times before. She curled up into a weak and terrified ball, her mind convincing her shivering body that it was extremely cold and terrified, crying hopelessly. Have fun, a voice told her. Kronos himself. Oh, God. How do I live without him? Who else do I even still have? Diana asked herself. No answer ever came to mind. Wait. This isn't how it was before, Diana realized. Earlier that very same day, Diana had been both physically and mentally paralyzed, unable and unwilling to move. Now, all that was left to conquer was will. Diana Black, being her strong and resilient self, pulled herself up with every single ounce of strength an focused energy in her body, and panted in surprise. I can actually stand. I have my magic back, she thought. Diana raced toward her closet, sloppily throwing on new, fresh clothes, grabbing everything that was hers. Luke had actually taken what was his with him, except for one shirt. Diana couldn't help but bring it with her as she left the room, running downstairs to the pub, where Tom was of course tending to his pub.
"Tom," Diana called. "Sorry to bother you. Can I take a bottle of Firewhiskey to go?"
Tom the barman sighed. "Since you can hold your stuff, fine. Just stay out of trouble, will you?"
Diana nodded, accepting the bottle. "Thanks, Tom. Just for you, I might try."

She ran straight out of the pub, not sticking behind to see his reaction. She hopped into her car, taking a scared swig of the bottle as she drove recklessly, eyes bloodshot and throat burning.
"Kronos, master," she called out. "I'm off to kill a god," Diana growled. "I know you thought I was dead, in every sense of the word. But guess what? I'm not. I'm coming for you, you son of a b**ch. But not today. One day," Diana promised. "One day."