~Nico~
Things weren't supposed to happen this way. I thought that with all of our forces combined we could take her on, so how did it go so wrong?
My ears ring as I scan the room. Dust floats in the air, blocking my sight. When it settles I see Blake and Kayla unconscious at the walls of the cavern, blood coating their clothes and flesh. Eleanor is lost somewhere in the dust and gloom as she heals the injured Damien. Only Luca and Alex remain standing to fight against Nyx.
Ragged breaths tear through my lungs and throat as I try to push off the ground. All the magic I've used and all the blood I've lost is too much. I thought that we could end the fight quickly, but it's been over thirty minutes of a merciless onslaught from Nyx. Since the spell that the water spirit gave me was wiped by Luna I can feel all the pain that I couldn't before. My fingertips are going numb and I can't really feel my legs anymore. Also, my clothes are soaked with blood and water, chilling me to the bone. My head is also cloudy with a fever.
I watch as Luca gets smacked away by Nyx into the cavern's ceiling. He drops to the ground with a thud and is quickly buried beneath the rubble. My heart twists painfully as I wonder if he's still alive. Only Alex is left to fight against Nyx now. I can't let him do this alone.
The scent of blood is so thick in the air that it gags me. I pull myself to my feet, walking on numb legs toward the battle. All I have to do is stab Nyx with the dagger that is coated in vampire, druid, werewolf, and demon blood. If I can do that, then she'll definitely slow down enough for me to wrap the Moon Chain around her and incapacitate her. After that... well, that's the easy part. All I have to do is absorb Nyx into myself, becoming a vessel that will contain her, and then kill myself using the same knife. Easy.
Nyx uses her magic to create spikes out of stone that stabs into the air. Alex dodges the spikes by turning into his human form and doing a backflip before fluidly changing back into his wolf form and gaining speed. Before Nyx can react he bites her in the calf and she snarls at him. I take this moment to push myself forward, closing the distance. She goes to grab Alex by the scruff of his neck, but he releases his hold and turns into a human, landing an uppercut on her chin.
Without even moving an inch, Nyx laughs and licks at the black blood at the corner of her mouth. Alex's fingers are black and blue, suggesting they're broken. I cringe at the sight. Rushing forward, I stumble over my own feet and land in front of Nyx, face planting into the ground.
"Nico!" Alex calls out before he is sent flying with a single flick of Nyx's finger.
My vision is blurry when I look up to see Nyx's sneering face. My shaking arms push against the ground but Nyx steps on my back to prevent me from getting up. I gasp as all the air is knocked from my lungs. I wriggle under her foot like a worm. As if I didn't already have low self-respect as it is, this just makes me feel worse. I'm so close to her and yet so powerless. If only I could somehow stab this damn knife into her heart, that would be great.
Nyx rubs her heel into my back, pushing me further into the ground with the weight of two tons. "Poor, poor, Nico. Did you really think that you were capable of stopping me? Come on! you can barely save yourself or your friend... what was his name? Dean? Darell? Oh, oh, Dom! You couldn't even protect Dom from Celeste and she is much weaker than I am. How could you possibly think that you could stop moi?"
I hear and feel my ribs crack against the stone ground. Stars swim in my vision. Air refuses to enter my collapsing lungs. "Agh..." I glare at Nyx. My cheeks flush with shame and rage.
Nyx smiles. "Ah, sorry, what was that?" She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and leans in to hear better.
Taking the chance, I grab a handful of her long, long hair and give it a hard yank. She bends further down, stumbling a little. Her foot moves from my spine, allowing me to turn. That instance is all I need to stab her in the stomach with the dagger that I had up my sleeve. To be honest, the wound is pretty shallow. Definitely not deep enough to be fatal to anyone. What can I say? My ribs were just broken and I had bad positioning.
You did well, Nico, Noct encourages in my head.
Even though the wound was not deep, it seemed to be effective. Nyx hisses at the knife in her abdomen. She raises her hands to smack me away, but I push the knife further into her stomach. Instinctively, she lowers her arms and tries to prevent the knife from going any further in. She kicks me in the face and backs away.
Blood gushes from my nose. My vision starts spinning and I can't breathe properly with these broken ribs. It hurts so much. I have to get up, though. I have to finish her. We're so close now! I got the knife in her so she should be slowed down. Now we just need the chain. My fingers fumble as they reach for the bag at my side with the silver chain in it.
Nyx doubles over. Actually doubles over and coughs up black blood. I get the flap open and my hand touches the silver, sizzling as it makes contact. The metal burns my flesh but I keep a firm grip on it; thanks to all those times I practiced with silver. Using only willpower, I push myself to stand up. I have no magic or strength left. I must kill Nyx now. If I want to save my mate, my family, and my Pack, then it must end here.
I take a step toward the injured Nyx and falter. My world tilts to the side and I stumble to make things even. I cough into my hands that are holding the chain and see blood. So much blood. It feels like I'm drowning. Even so, I must push forward.
"Nico, what's the plan?" Alex asks. He is behind me, a warm hand on my back.
Even though he is covered in dirt and blood, he still looks handsome. He sees my face and his expression drops. I smile at him, feeling reenergized despite drowning in my own blood. With both hands, I hold the silver chain, unable to feel anything anymore. I lung at Nyx as she rights herself, just in time to get the chain around her pretty throat.
Nyx gasps and hisses as the chain touches her. "Agh, curse you, Nico! How did you know? The blood of my children and a silver chain?" I cough up more blood when I try to speak and she laughs even as I wrap the chain around her writhing body. "I guess you can't even speak with those holes in your lungs, huh?"
Alex stands behind me, his hands on my back. "Nico, she's tied up now. We have to get you healed up before it is too late."
I turn toward Alex, breathing in a raspy breath. I pull him in for our last kiss and give him a wane smile. It is too bad that we only had a handful of kisses this whole time. I can only hope the other Nico's, the other versions of myself, will be happy after I defeat Nyx.
Returning my attention to Nyx, I pull the knife covered in the four types of blood out of her stomach and hand it to Alex for a moment. With my blistered hands, I grab the silver chain and drag it toward Eleanor who has finished healing Damien along with the other task I gave her.
Eleanor rushes to me as I drag Nyx into the magic circle that was drawn on the ground. The symbols are tedious and complex. I'm glad that I gave Eleanor enough time to draw it while we fought. As expected of the Druid leader. I drop the chain and listen to Nyx giggle maniacally.
Without warning, Eleanor sets to healing my punctured lungs. I keel over and throw up all the blood that has lodged there. Thanks to her magic, I can finally breathe again, albeit weakly. I look at her soot-stained face and watery eyes. Damien stands outside the magic circle, looking at me sadly. I glance around to see Blake and Kayla still unconscious.
"You should go and heal them," I whisper to Eleanor, pushing her gently away.
Eleanor sobs and caresses my cheek gently. She places a shaking kiss against my forehead and leaves to obediently heal the others. Damien takes a step forward like he wants to say something, but is interrupted by Alex. I look at Alex's confused features. He seems skinnier than two years ago, which just serves to make me angrier. Just what was Nyx doing with him this whole time?
"Nico," Alex starts, he cups my cheek and meets my eyes, "it's finally over, right? All we have to do is finish her off."
I look toward Damien and then at Nyx and then away. "It's not that easy, Alex. I, I... um, haha."
"Nico?"
Tears burn my eyes as I try to hold it in. I can't cry in front of him, it'll just be that much harder to let him go. But the grief is too much to bear and the tears streak down my cheeks like shooting stars. It's funny how much I want to live. For years, I have wanted nothing more than to just end it all and yet unable, but now, all I want to do is live and I'm unable. Is this what you call irony?
"I, I'm going to die, Alex," I look up at him with my tear-stained face.
Alex's eyes widen and it looks as though he has been shot. "You're, wait, what? Why? No, that's impossible!" Alex's hand drops from my cheek and he grabs my shoulders and waist as though I were going to blow away or suddenly disappear.
"There's no other option except this one, so it's f-fine." I force a smile as more tears fall.
"Oh, god, can you just kill me already?" Nyx inquires from the ground. Her black blood dribbles onto the magic circle like an oil slick.
I turn to look at her, giving her a good kick in the abdomen where her wound is. She snarls at me so I do it again and again until I'm out of breath. Because of her, I have suffered so much.
"I'll gladly give you a first-class ticket to hell, Nyx," I growl.
"Wait, Nico, what are you talking about?!" Alex steps forward, trying to stop me, but Damien is there and pulls him back.
Alex tries to fight against Damien's grip but is unable to due to the wounds he has sustained. Damien pulls the screaming Alex away from the magic circle. I look away painfully. Looking down at Nyx, I grab the silver chain that is around her throat and hold her up so that we're eye to eye. That's when I begin chanting the spell that Luna taught me. The spell that will allow me to send Nyx's soul into oblivion once and for all.
Nyx smiles as I recite the spell. Singing and laughing in order to distract me, but I drown it all out. Purple fire lights up around the circumference of the magic circle, lighting up the runes with a ghastly color. Gravity seems to have gotten heavier in this space, making it difficult to spit out the words. I finish the incantation and look into Nyx's eyes that are darker than an abyss. Reluctantly, I pull her into a kiss.
The kiss is the most disgusting thing in my life. Even more uncomfortable than what Kyle did. Her skin is ice cold and she is the person that tried to make me kill my parents, kill myself, kill my pack. She is the person who ruined my life. I feel my limbs become cement as Nyx's soul is absorbed into my body and the essence that was in the Moon Chain disappears into a black mist that I swallow up. Everything about her feels evil. It's as if I have a million leeches or bugs crawling under my skin. At this rate, it'll be a gift to end it.
After absorbing her I can also see all of her memories. All the terrible things that she has done. All the people that she has killed during her lifetime. I also see my whole life played out like a roll of film. Not just once, but hundreds of thousands of times. From every Nico that has failed before me. From every Nico that has died because of her.
I grab the silver and bone knife that I used to stab Nyx originally. It is coated in her black blood. I wipe it off sluggishly on my pants and grab the vial of four bloods out of my bag. Popping off the lid, I drench the knife in more blood so that it'll be effective again. The vial shatters as it slips out of my hands. I ignore it as I bring the knife to my heart. I don't even spare a glance toward Eleanor or Alex because it'll just make it harder. Taking a deep breath, I go to plunge the blade into my heart and end everything for good.