Two Sides of The Moon - Chapter 47: Chapter 47

-Oliver-
When the second Oliver screeched, readying his abilities, I could only stare at him. My fear had frozen me completely as I watched him getting ready to kill us. That one second felt like an eternity. I had only one thought in my mind.
This was our end, and I could do nothing to protect us.
How could we fight against this... this monstrosity? I could feel his spirit. My spirit. He was exactly like me, but pure evil. He was the corrupted side of my spirit, the one who harbored all my hate, pain, and anger. The side of me that didn't care if this world burned.
Hell, he was the side that wanted to be the one who burned this world.
He lifted his hand with a crazy smile on his lips. On my lips. I felt him gathering his power in order to destroy us in a single blow. It didn't even take a second for him to collect enough power to do so, while I was still completely frozen in fear.
It was too late.
"No!" Jaden shouted, trying to shield me when my double attacked.
Jaden...
I couldn't say it was me who moved my body. I didn't even realize I had moved my hand, not until something bright flashed at the same exact moment when the evil Oliver tried to blast us off this world with his darkness.
I still stared at him in confusion as he squirmed in pain after my attack had caught him off guard. How did I do that...? The enemy said I couldn't use my abilities here...
I looked up at the real enemy who had created this monster that was my other half. He stood in the middle of the stairs, staring at me in disbelief.
"What did you do?! You can't use your powers here!" he shouted in anger, taking a step back toward us, but the evil Oliver suddenly screamed in rage, about to unleash his full power on all of us.
'OLIVER! GET UP AND FIGHT HIM!'
I didn't waste another heartbeat when I heard that almost panicky voice in my head. I turned into a spirit, launched another attack against the dark Oliver to force him to back off, then hurried up on my feet while my friends turned into wolves.
'Finally! Don't scare me like that!'
Hades! I could finally feel him at the back of my mind, fuming at me for freezing like that. And he was not the only one angry. I couldn't believe I'd just sat there, waiting for him to kill us!
'Nice try,' I told dark Oliver and attacked him again.
He was ready this time and easily defended himself against my blast.
'So you found your balls, huh?' he spoke, and the familiar sound of my own voice sent horrible shivers down my spine. 'You have no strength without me.'
'You think you have my strength?' I asked, and tried to blast him again, but only managed to make him take half a step back. 'No. You don't. The corruption hated my strength. You are made of all my weaknesses.'
He laughed at my words, but not because he was amused. 'You're so full of yourself!'
'I can feel your spirit,' I said calmly. 'And I don't see anything good in you. Only corruption.'
"How can you use your powers here?!" the real enemy screeched at the top of the stairs where he'd retreated. "That's impossible!"
'I guess this isn't your world, after all,' I told him with a snort.
"Kill him! Kill them all!" he yelled, and suddenly, the big hall was filled with dust clouds as the enemies appeared on the steps surrounding us.
My friends stepped closer to me, letting out loud, angry growls and flashing their teeth at the dozens of enemies. We were outnumbered, but not out of hope.
'Did you forget I can destroy their spirits?' I asked the enemy, but it wasn't him who answered me.
'Did you forget I can stop you?' the evil Oliver said and laughed. 'You will die here.'
Jaden looked up at me for a brief second, but it was enough to gain my attention.
You deal with him. We'll deal with the rest.
I nodded at him and attacked my double, hoping to catch him off guard again, but no. My blast was met with his, and the collision blinded everyone for a brief second. The enemy used that moment to attack my friends, but they couldn't be fooled like that.
In seconds, the whole hall fell into chaos. The other Oliver began a series of attacks against me, and for a moment, all I could do was try to defend myself and my friends. He was relentless. His anger was spilling all over the place as he kept hammering me with his attacks. The other enemies forced my friends to spread all over the hall, so protecting them was getting increasingly difficult really fast. I had no idea if the gifts from gods would protect them against shadow powers, and I couldn't afford to find out.
But they seemed to work wonders against the physical enemy. Jaden, Tilly, and Arch took down enemies after enemies, barely noticing the hits and shots aimed at them. Jack's form seemed much bigger than normal, and he easily kept swiping people out of his way and destroying walls along the way. But more enemies swarmed in, either to take their wounded to safety, or to take their place.
And the real enemy watched us at the top of the stairs. I could feel his hateful eyes on me, but no matter how badly I wished I could go after him, I had to give my full attention to my dark double.
He was getting frustrated with me, and I could feel it in my bones. He launched another series of rapid strikes, forcing me to keep moving out of the way. I tried to stay away from my friends to make my job of protecting them easier, and he mindlessly followed me. He had eyes only for me. He hated me. He hated me so much he didn't give a damn about anyone else.
I tried to push him out of balance. I needed an opening to actually attack him, not just shield myself from his hits. I hoped he'd grow tired, but no, he was running on his rage, and he seemed to have enough of it for days. I, on the other hand, was still in pain, both physically and spiritually. My soul was not the only hollow one. My attacks seemed weak, and it was difficult to keep my power up. I was getting exhausted already. If I couldn't find a way to get him off my back...
At the same time, I tried not to acknowledge the fact that even if I managed to beat this evil version of me, I still had the real enemy to face. We still had dozens of his men pouring in from every door and window. How big was his army? Hundreds? Or thousands?
How would we ever get away from here?
'Don't let that distract you!' Hades yelled at me. 'You can defeat this impostor!'
'How...?'
'You are my Harbinger! You hold my true power, not him! The corrupted one has no means of defeating you! You are stronger than him!'
'I'm trying...'
I leaped out of the way when another dark blast flew my way. I landed right next to the machine that had ripped my soul to shreds and tripped over the debris. The impact with the solid, hard ground emptied my lungs, and a jolt of splitting pain swallowed the rest of my body. I couldn't stay in my spirit form any longer, and when I returned to my human form, the pain grew a hell of a lot worse. I hadn't even realized how injured I already was.
'Pathetic,' the evil me said as he stopped on the pedestal above me, peering at me with pure hate in his black eyes. He hated me the most in this world. But why? We were two halves of the same spirit.
I could hear Jaden shouting my name inside my spirit, but I couldn't see him. I knew he was trying to get to me, but the enemy was keeping him at bay.
I rolled on my back, trying to get enough air into my lungs; trying to ignore the pain I was in. All my energy seemed to have vanished, and I wasn't sure if I could even get back up.
'You are stronger than that,' Hades told me. 'Defeat him!'
I gasped for air, finally able to draw it in. It was not only Hades I heard now in my head.
'Die, you pathetic little rat!' the evil me shouted, summoning a massive ball of darkness, ready to aim it at me.
"Not yet," I spat at him, and two massive figures burst out of my broken spirit.
I heard the evil me scream in pain and anger, but all I could see were two massive sets of wings between me and him. One white, one black.
'Why are there now two of you?!' Cedric shouted at me.
"Just destroy him! He's the corrupted side of me!" I yelled back, using this opportunity to stumble back up on my feet.
'With pleasure,' Cameron muttered in a happy tone.
I had no time to do anything. The second I managed to stand up, I was grabbed by my throat and shoved high against the wall so hard I nearly got the air knocked out of me for the second time.
"How can you use your powers?!" the real enemy screamed at my face, looking mad as hell.
"Because fuck you, that's how!" I screamed back and did the only thing I could think of: I kicked him hard between his legs.
I was actually surprised when he lost his grip on me and fell to his knees, moaning profanities at me. He had a physical body! He actually had a physical body we could fight!
I had no use for that information at that very moment, since he still was larger than me and had the godly weapons in his possession, but my beloved mate did. I stumbled back when a massive lightning of black fur flew past me and hit the enemy so hard he got sent flying a few feet away from me. The groans he let out warmed my soul and gave me the energy I needed to turn back to spirit.
'Not so tough now, huh?' I asked him.
I knew I shouldn't have taunted him like that, but I was pissed. With Cedric and Cameron keeping my evil version busy, and with Jaden right by my side, I felt strong again. Arch, Tilly, and Jack fought tirelessly, keeping the rest of the enemies away from us. Everyone who got in their way got defeated with ease. Together, we were not weak.
And for a split second, I thought we finally had the upper hand.
"The Echo... It must be even stronger than I thought," the enemy hissed, looking up at me. He was so angry he was practically shaking. "It will be mine!"
I was already attacking him by the time he shot up on his feet. My blast hit him with force, blinding even myself for a split second. It must've hit him, right?
But why was I in pain? It was new. Something burned in my chest...
I looked down and saw a handle of a black smoking dagger lodged somewhere around my heart. When did that get there...?
OLIVER!!
I coughed and fell back against the wall, feeling weak. I lifted my hand, not understanding what was going on around me, and touched the handle. It was cold. Ice-cold. I forgot the rest of the world as I stared at it, wondering if I should try to pull it out. I was still a spirit, so it shouldn't cause me to bleed to death. Right?
"The Echo belongs to me!"
I looked up and saw the enemy's angry face right in front of me. He looked unharmed. I must've failed... My attack didn't hit him, after all. He grabbed the knife, pulled it out, and sank it back between my ribs.
"Die you maggot!!!"
I heard people screaming my name, but they all were far, far away, like we weren't in the same reality anymore. I couldn't see them. I couldn't even feel them.
Was I alone...?
I couldn't tell how many times the enemy stabbed me. The pain was... it kept leaving and returning... that horrible burning sensation... Again and again and again...
"GIVE IT TO ME!!!"
Oliver...!
Jaden?
Fight back...! You have to fight back!!
Again, I moved before I could even consider it, and stopped the enemy's hand. The blade of the knife was touching my chest, the tip shivering. I held it still and looked my enemy in the eyes.
'You seem angry,' I whispered. 'I understand. It must be frustrating to be so incompetent."
The enemy let out a mad scream, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. He tried to stab me one more time, but I kept the dagger steady.
'It won't kill me,' I noted as he kept trying. 'I'd be already dead if it did.'
I used this opportunity to build up a blast bigger than anything I'd ever tried before. I felt it gaining power inside my soul, and in seconds, I felt like I had turned into a bomb. I couldn't hold it in for too long. The enemy must've felt it, but he didn't care. In his madness, he was still trying to get the dagger.
'Take cover,' I told my guardians, who disappeared in a split second without questioning my order.
Then I let the bomb go off.
'Now you're using my full power,' Hades said with a proud chuckle.
His voice was all my poor senses were able to register during the explosion. My eyes, ears, and skin hurt in the blast, but I knew I was fine. It couldn't harm my spirit. It couldn't harm the spirits of my friends now that my guardians were out of the way. The rest of them... I didn't care.
When I could finally see, I understood just how massive my attack had been. The enemies were gone, and the walls had come down around us. And the walls behind those walls.
I felt something cold in my hand, so I looked down. I was still holding onto the blade. I brought it closer to my eyes. It was not a physical knife. It looked like it was made of shadows, but as I watched, it turned into a golden spirit.
'Cool,' I mumbled and glanced around.
I spotted my friends staring at me without blinking.
'What?' I asked.
"You...!"
I sighed when the enemy crawled up from the hole he'd fallen into. He looked banged up. My friends turned to face him, all of them growling in rage.
'So I'm guessing you won't die that easily, either,' I said.
"Of course not!" he shouted and stood up, and sadly, my evil version appeared behind him as well. "What have you done?!" the enemy continued when he noticed the destruction of his castle.
'Renovation? This place needed more fresh air, to be honest,' I said.
He stared at me in silence. He was absolutely fuming in his anger and hate. Then he let out a mad laugh, surprising us all.
"You little bitch!" he shouted. "You have not won here! You may be strong, but you have no idea who you are up against! I will make you eat that confidence of yours!"
I shrugged. 'Then do it.'
He laughed again and brushed his hair back, trying to gather himself. "No. Not today. Not this time. I already got half of what I wanted. I will have the rest of it soon enough."
'Sounds like you're giving up,' I said.
"Trust me, I will never give up," he said in a much calmer manner. "I underestimated the power of the Echo, but I will not make that same mistake again. I will make you pay for your arrogance. I will make you beg for mercy at my feet the next time we meet."
'Poetic,' I simply said, and he shook his head in amusement.
"So will be the things I will put you through," he said. "We are done here."
'So you're running away like a coward, is that it?' I asked with a snort. 'We both know you can't defeat me.'
He only smiled at me. "Yes... You are right. There is absolutely no way I can defeat you."
For some reason, those words drained every bit of my confidence, while he clearly had regained his.
"Until we meet again, Harbinger," he said, lifting his hand.
My evil side laughed in a menacing way just before darkness surrounded me.