CHAPTER WARNINGS: Character death. This is where I remind all of you that there will be a happy ending because everything is possible in this world. If you are uncomfortable reading character death, please message me and i will tell you what happens in this chapter. Your safety is important to me <3 Ily and good luck!
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There was a moment where everything was white and Phil's ears were ringing as if there was some loud explosion. He could barely see, a certain brightness in the room that was completely overwhelming.
He vaguely realizes that his arms and legs were free, the guards previously restraining him letting out loud yelps and running out of the room as if there were rabid dogs on their asses. There was someone screaming and, was that him? He couldn't tell.
All he could focus on was Dan and how there were flames surrounding the entire room. Axel was frozen to the spot and there were several guards either staring in terror at Dan, or even just lying on the ground unmoving with flames enveloping their bodies.
It was when Dan pressed a hand to his chest, coughing erratically, that Phil came to his senses, scrambling to his feet. "Dan, Dan, Dan," he babbled. He was stumbling, tears and smoke making it nearly impossible to see correctly.
Dan fell to his knees, clutching at his chest as if he was trying to claw out his heart. His eyes were clenched shut tightly and he was breathing so heavily that his shoulders were shaking under the force. There was a low groaning noise forcing its way out of Dan's mouth and Phil couldn't fucking get to him fast enough when there were people in his way.
"Dan, stay with me," Phil called again, and finally he reached him, kneeling by his side and smoothing his hair out of his face. "I love you, you know that?" Phil asked forcefully through his own sobbing breaths. Dan's face was so pale and he was sweating, his breathing slowing with each inhalation. Phil didn't want to see it, didn't want to think about what that meant. "We are going to get out of here and we are going to live happily ever after. One day, we can get our own house together with flowers and a dog or two and we don't ever have to think about Dahlia Academy ever again because we will be happy with each other. Would you like that? I'd love that more than anything."
He was babbling, he knew that, but he couldn't seem to stop the words from flowing out of his mouth. The fighting had stopped around him, or maybe that's because he could only focus on Dan at the moment, but nothing else really mattered.
Dan smiled softly. His eyes were still closed and he wasn't breathing as hard anymore, the shaking of his shoulders having ceased almost completely. He was deathly pale and there was still sweat pooling on his forehead, but he reached out and grabbed onto where Phil was brushing his hands through his curly brown hair. "I love you so much," Dan whispered, and he was so quiet that Phil was sure he may have not even heard him at all.
Dan went still. His breathing ceased and his hand dropped to the floor. Phil started to shake.
"Dan?" He whimpered, grabbing onto where Dan's hand dropped. It was like all of his normal body heat was sucked away, dispersing into the floorboards beneath them. "Dan, please."
There were hands on his shoulders, grabbing him, pulling him, trying to drag him away, but he tore himself from them, clinging onto Dan like he was his reason to live. "You can't leave me," Phil screamed. He buried his nose into Dan's neck, feeling the hairs tickling his nostrils when he breathed in. He inhaled. Exhaled. Inhaled once more.
Then he let out the most bloodcurdling scream that he could possibly muster. His chest felt like it was on fire and he could barely breathe anymore, tears running down his face and dripping onto Dan's cool skin. He kept screaming, sobbing, until his throat was raw and he couldn't make anymore noises.
From his subconscious, he heard a loud thump, followed by a series of disbelieving gasps.
It was this that made him glance up, still holding Dan tight to his chest. His blood immediately ran cold.
There were no guards left standing, each and every one collapsed to the floor. A few feet away, Phil saw Axel splayed on the floor, a thin trickle of blood running out of the corner of his mouth. Phil could feel bile rise in his throat.
"What happened?" He stuttered, but it came out raspy, so completely different that he barely recognized his own voice.
PJ sat down next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. There were tear tracks down his face and he seemed to be trying to not look at Dan. "They just dropped to the floor," he murmured, his own voice thick with emotion. "You started screaming and they went down."
"I- I don't understand."
Chris spoke up next, his lip quivering when he met Phil's gaze. His eyes, which were normally so happy, were filled with pain. "Blood," he eventually got out. "Blood is made mostly of water."
If Phil hadn't already used up his tears, he would have started bawling all over again. Instead, he started to rock back and forth. He imagined he was rocking Dan to sleep and that Dan was just taking a nap in his arms. "I killed someone?" He asked, shivering. "Multiple people?"
Chris and Peej dropped their eyes to the floor and Phil became aware of the group of students that pooled around them. "I'm sorry, Phil," Chris whispered.
Someone cleared their throat.
The entire group turned to look at Michelle, who was steadily holding Phil's gaze. Like everyone else, she seemed sad, but considerably less so. She smiled at him and Phil had to blink to make sure he was seeing correctly. "I may be able to help," she said. "With Dan, I mean. But it doesn't come without a price."
Phil's eyes widened in realization and if he wasn't cradling Dan so close to him, he would have shot to his feet. "Necromancy," he breathed. "You can fucking bring people back to life."
Michelle took a step forward to sit in front of him. She then narrowed her eyes at the hundreds of students surrounding them. "Leave," she snapped. "I can't work with you all breathing down my neck." The group rolled their eyes drastically and began to slowly trickle out of the room, leaving only Michelle, Chris, PJ, and Phil. Apparently Michelle only allowed Chris and PJ to stay because she needed Phil to be in a 'friendly environment,' whatever that meant.
Finally, she sighed, rolling her shoulders with a satisfying pop. Her golden eyes glanced down to Dan, lips pressed into a thin line, before she met Phil's gaze again. "I can help, but it comes with a cost," she repeated.
"Why are you helping me? I thought you hated me," Phil muttered. He ran his fingers through Dan's hair, refusing to look down at him.
Michelle huffed, but her voice was soft when she responded. "Dan loves you," she sighed. "I haven't seen him look at someone with that much admiration and he would kick my ass for letting you be this sad. I can't just let him die after he's finally found something to live for."
Phil nodded, tears pricking in his eyes again, but willing for them to go away. "What do I need to do?"
"My ability allows me to basically talk to the dead. However, if the person has recently died, meaning that their soul is still in purgatory, I'm able to put that person's soul back into their body. It's like alchemy though, in which I can't bring someone back to life without a cost." She took a deep breath. "When Dan comes back, he will still be able to use his power, but not to the extent that he used to be able to because his body won't be strong enough to handle that amount of power. Instead, he can use it in short bursts that won't affect his lifespan."
"That's it?"
Michelle looked away. "No. In order to bring him back, I have to take something valuable from the person who wants to come back to life. In other words, your memory. If you choose to bring Dan back to life, you will have no recollection of him or anything to do with him. Because Dan has been so rooted into your memories, you will not be able to keep any recollections of the academy or those in the academy. Your powers will also be repressed if I do this, meaning they will only be of use a few years after the procedure. Since you will not be able to use your powers, you will have to leave the academy."
Phil felt his heart sink. "Why my memories? Why not something else? Will Dan remember me?"
"The memories are what makes Dan come back to life, what give him a reason to continue living. It's the only way for this to work. He will remember you, so when he gets out of the academy, he will be able to come find you again if he wishes to."
Phil nodded, stealing himself. Finally, he allowed himself to glance down at Dan, running a finger over his cheekbone and trying not to pay attention to how cold he was. Leaning down, he pressed a kiss to Dan's forehead and whispered, "Hopefully I'll see you again. I love you." Then he straightened up and met Michelle's soft gaze. "I'd rather not remember and have Dan alive than have my memories with Dan dead."
Michelle nodded, rubbing her hands together as if she was putting lotion on. "Very well."
Phil laid Dan on the floor, his heart bursting out of his chest. He turned to PJ, giving him a tight hug, before doing the same to Chris. "Hopefully I'll see you again!" He said, and he grinned. Then it was time to pay attention to Michelle.
"Lay on the floor and close your eyes," she ordered, and Phil did what she said. He reached over and grabbed Dan's hand, entwining their fingers together. "When you wake up, you'll be back at your house with your parents. They will be notified not to say a word about your time here with the academy. If at any time during the procedure you feel uncomfortable, let me know. Are you ready?"
Phil nodded, squeezing Dan's hand. He swore he could feel Dan squeeze back.
"Let's begin."
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A/N: OKAY. So first things first. The picture is now my finished tattoo so there's that! Secondly, I'm sorry. Thirdly, next is the epilogue! I believe after the epilogue i will upload a short extra part written in Dan's point of view during a certain part of the story. And then we are all finished! That makes me super sad ;-; thanks for reading and see you next week! (I'll be in florida next week ahhhh)