Waiting for Lou to wake up was agonizing, so the rest of us decided to come up with some kind of plan should Allister still be in the Sanctuary.

"We could just wait out here, surely he's going to come back. We could attack then." Imani suggested, which sounded good to everyone else. We could ambush Allister and finish this once and for all. 

Apparently when Allister came to the Sanctuary, he had strapped an electric collar on Imani, took Harry, Kaguya, and Louis, and tied the rest up to stay out of the way. All that the other boys knew was that Louis was already unconscious when he had been brought back to the room, so they had no idea what had happened with their other two friends.

Imani was quickly getting everyone loose while I struggled with Louis' chains. His were different than the others', refusing to unlock or break apart. I wondered if maybe the chains were similar to the healing curses Dad had told me about a long time ago; maybe Allister was the only one who could break them.

After a few failed attempts at breaking the chains, I sighed in frustration and was fully prepared to take my sword out of its scabbard just to see if that would work. I restrained myself though, and my spirits instantly lifted when I heard a soft groan from my boyfriend in front of me as he shifted around.

I hugged Louis tight from joy, an exuberant smile on my face as I realized we had the upper hand now against Nox. I had built the barrier, Nox couldn't get in, and now Lou would keep the ones inside already from getting far. We won.

"We're safe now, Lou. Nox can't get in, we're safe now." I leaned up to kiss him as his eyes scrunched together and his fists raised to rub over them. His lips were hesitant against mine, almost like he was too shocked to register doing anything else.

"W-we're safe now? Nox can't get us?" Louis mumbled in disbelief as he tried pulling at the chains, my lips kissing his again in comfort.

"Yes Louis, we're safe. No one can hurt us anymore." I smiled at him, brushing my fingertips over his still closed eyes, wishing to see his sparkling blue eyes. "You can open your eyes, it's safe."

My hand was taken in Louis' grasp, pulling it away from his eyes.

"I'm afraid that's where you're wrong, Mira." Louis said, confusing me. His eyes opened, and I froze when I saw red irises staring into mine. What was going on?

"W-what?" I stuttered, taking a step back, but Louis' grip on my wrist prevented me from getting too far.

"Poor little protector...you thought you had saved everyone. You thought you kept Nox out." Louis smirked at me, red alarms flaring inside my head when it wasn't friendly. "Unfortunately, Nox is already inside your barrier. I mean, I'm already inside your boyfriend's head."

I gasped and tried yanking my hand out of Louis' strong grip, tears forming at I realized the worst had happened.

It was Allister. Louis had been possessed by Allister.

"Don't be scared, little niece." Allister smiled, tears spilling over my cheeks as I watched Louis' body obey his every command and all too easily break his metal chains and begin to stand. "Louis is still here."

Allister pointed to Louis' head before chuckling. "I mean, his soul won't be alive much longer so long as I'm in here, but at least you'll share his last moments. Isn't that touching?"

"Let go of me!" I screamed as I pulled away from Allister's grasp and stumbled back a few steps, my heart sinking as I watched Louis' features transform into an expression of hurt before Allister rolled his red eyes.

It's not him, it's not Louis. I had to keep reminding myself of that.

"Minerva!" Allister smiled ecstatically towards my newly freed grandmother. My grandmother kept a stoic face as she rubbed her sore wrists, but I could tell she was upset. Her best student, the most powerful Luxien to be born, had been possessed. "I have to talk to you about the Rift."

"See, I need a place for my followers to live and train. I figured you don't need this tiny portal. Why not just give it to me?" Allister smiled, my heart cracking a bit when I recognized Louis' signature smirk. I noticed his teeth had sharpened into points, making him look more like a demon than the boy I adored.

"You're a monster. I would never let you have the Rift." Minerva spat at Allister, who glared at her.

"That really sucks, we can't just work this out? I'm in a really good mood today. You know, being young again just makes a man really happy." Allister shrugged his shoulders and stretched his arms out, Minerva's expression cracking just a bit. Louis was practically a second son to her, and now he was gone. Allister suddenly snapped at Minerva's refusal to speak.

"You can't just keep things from me! I always get what I want!" Allister yelled in Louis' voice. "I've wanted this body and the talents it holds ever since he was born, and I finally have it. Maybe I should see how his talents work?"

Allister's red eyes narrowed as he stomped his right foot, Louis' body commanding the ceiling above Minerva and all my friends to collapse, chunks of stone and metal beginning to fall towards them.

I acted quickly, creating a golden bubble around all of my friends and Minerva, the broken fragments of the ceiling bouncing off and causing no harm. Tears were running down my face as Allister stared at me, his expression unreadable before it turned to frustration.

"I'm so tired of you being in the way!" Allister exclaimed, the sound of his words cutting me ribbons the way it sounded like Louis. Before I knew it, a bolt of electricity was launched towards me, my hands held out in front of me protecting me as the electricity hit the golden barrier. More attacks were launched my way, my protector talent preventing them from injuring me.

"Everyone, enact Operation Omega." I faintly heard Minerva order, all of my friends hesitating and looking to Minerva with wide eyes.

"But, Minerva, that means we have to kill-" Imani started, her usually cool and confident expression now shredded to pieces. Her bottom lip trembled as Minerva silenced her.

"Do it. Louis won't survive being possessed anyways." She informed them, watching as her students launched into action. Her words confused me, what was Operation Omega?

My heart sunk when I saw Imani change into her jaguar form, Zayn creating a gun that he pointed at Allister, Niall replicating himself to surround the Nox leader, Liam cracking his knuckles as he came closer.

My answer was given when a single bullet was fired from Zayn's gun towards Allister.

"No! Don't hurt him!" I screamed before creating a protective bubble around Louis' body. The bullet hit the bubble and dropped to the ground, everyone looking to me. Allister was wide-eyed as his fingertips reached out to the bubble I had made.

"Mira, don't! Lou's gone! He can't come back!" Imani had yelled at me, my sobs getting worse as I kept the bubble around Allister. My friends tried attacking Allister again, but their weapons and talents were neutralized once they hit my bubble.

Louis wasn't dead, he was still there. They couldn't hurt Allister, because then they would hurt Louis and Louis was still there. Louis was still alive in his body somewhere. He had to be.

I dropped to my knees as I cried, watching as my friends couldn't hurt Allister.

They can't kill Allister, because then they'll kill Louis too. Louis was still alive, he was okay, Louis was fine, Louis was-

I was broken out of my thoughts by painful screams. Allister had used Louis' electricity talent to electrocute all of my friends and my grandmother, their bodies dropping to the ground. They groaned in pain as they tried to get back up, Allister preparing another electric charge to hurt them again.

I couldn't just let all of my friends get hurt because of me. With a smooth motion, each of my friends were encased in a little golden bubble of their own, unable to be hurt. My head began to hurt after creating so many barriers, but I had to push through. I couldn't let anyone get hurt, that was my job as a protector.

"Mira, stop! You can't protect everyone by yourself!" I faintly heard someone yell at me, Allister's rage turning to me.

"Can't you just drop dead?!" He yelled in exasperation before launching the electric sparks at me, my hand reaching out to stop it. The familiar golden barrier appeared before a sharp pain ran through my head, making me wince and fall to my knees. I gasped as the barrier I had made for myself formed before cracking and breaking apart, shattering like fragile glass. I was protecting too many people. My body couldn't take it anymore.

My eyes were wide as I watched the spark come closer before colliding with me. I couldn't scream as the sparks ran through my veins, rendering my body frozen as the electricity made me fly backwards, hitting a wall hard before I collapsed on the ground. My body shook and trembled as the sparks made every cell scream in pain. Just as suddenly as it had started, the pain stopped.

My body was tremendously weak once the electricity had stopped, my breathing ragged and my muscles refusing to move as Allister stalked closer.

"Looks like you could've used more training." Allister sneered, shaking Lou's head as he stared down at me. He laughed as he kneeled down to me, my heart feeling like it was breaking as I stared into his red eyes once more. I winced as my hair was roughly taken in Allister's grasp, his fist yanking my head up to stare straight at him.

"Poor little protector. You didn't see this coming? I'll make this clear: you lose this battle." He smiled sinisterly, his haunting red eyes unblinking as he frightened me more. I didn't respond, I was in too much pain. My whole body ached and drooped like my limbs were too heavy to keep up anymore, and I felt my bottom lip quivering as I stared at the man I had loved with all my heart.

This was the worst torture. My mind knew the man inside Louis was Allister, but my heart couldn't register it. The smile with the crinkles by his eyes, the pleasant laugh, the eyes that looked like a tropical sea, all of them were things I had grown to associate with Louis. And now? Now that was all falling down like a house of cards the longer Allister possessed Louis, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

"L-Lou..." I managed to mumble as Allister snickered and laughed heart-wrenchingly to me.

"Lou is gone, Mira. I'm afraid I'm here to stay."

The rest happened in a blur.

I couldn't count the number of times I had been thrown against a wall, hit hard by Louis' fists, electrocuted by lightning bolts of electricity. I had stopped fighting against him after my nose had bled scarlet trails down my mouth and chin, the droplets trickling into my mouth and tasting like rusty pennies against my tongue. I had stopped fighting when my head ached and pounded and begged for me to just close my eyes and fall asleep. I had gone from putting up a fight to screaming and trying to run away as Allister would try and burn me or shock me with Louis' talents.

No one could help me, I had trapped all of my friends into their own little bubbles that they couldn't escape from.

What was the point of fighting? There was one chilling fact that kept rebounding against my head more than Louis' fists the entire time the horrible fight continued.

I had never beaten Louis once in sparring training. Allister was abusing this by painting shades of deep purple and blue onto my skin and having me screaming in pain.

Please stop, please stop, please stop...

"Stop!" I screamed after Allister had pinned me against a wall, his fist raising to land a final blow and connect with my temple. Louis' face had contorted into one of sick pleasure as he watched me writhe and sob before him. My tears burned my cheeks as they fell, and I had to spit blood out several times as I continued my shameful crying. I couldn't help it. Everything hurt, I was pretty sure if I had the opportunity I would do nothing but sleep in a nice comfy bed for two weeks straight after this. That is, if Allister let me live.

"Aw, don't cry little niece." Allister cooed in Louis' familiar voice, only making me cry harder. How was I supposed to beat him now? He had taken the one thing I cared about more than anything else in the whole world. Louis was my whole world. "Once I take over this portal, I'll let you live a nice and peaceful life chained to one of my prison torture cells. As for this body, I think I'll keep it. It's much better and stronger than I ever imagined it could be."

I closed my eyes as I tried to push him off of me, my whole body trembling and shaking ferociously. When I opened them again, I tried to see past the red eyes and fanged teeth. My Louis was in there somewhere...he had to be...

"L-Louis..." I wheezed, my broken ribs making even breathing difficult. "C-come...come b-back..."

Allister only rolled his red eyes. "I already told you, he's not coming back."

I refused to believe that. Louis was still there.

"P-Please..." I barely whispered, staring desperately into those blood red eyes. I was searching for a trace of ocean blue in a swarm of scarlet, looking for a needle in a haystack.

"I already tol-" Allister started, but was cut off suddenly. I watched in awe as Louis' eyes changed from angry red to serene blue for only a few seconds. It was only a few seconds, no more than four or five, but it was enough to give me hope. It was enough to keep me fighting.

"M-Mira..." I heard the real Louis whisper, his blue eyes staring into mine desperately as the red began to come back and swirl around the edges of his irises. "H-help me."

The red overtook his usual blue just then, but while Louis was back to being captured, I felt reborn. I was right, Louis was there, I just had to get him back. I could fight now.

"Give me...Louis back..." I struggled to breathe, but my eyes narrowed and my mind re-focused  enough to push Allister off of me for a few moments. I reached my hand out to push him back by Louis' chest, but just then, something amazing happened.

My skin on my hand transformed and became completely gold, glittering and passing through Louis' chest as if I were a ghost. Allister let out a grunt of pain as my hand passed through Louis, a gasp escaping me as I pulled my hand back and watched it return to its normal color and solidity afterwards. What was that?

My mouth fell agape as this new discovery sank in before it set in a grin as a plan was concocted in the deep corners of my mind. The tables were turned as I stalked over to Allister, who seemed terribly frightened of what had just happened with my hand.

"No, stay away!" He yelled and tried shock me with an electricity bolt, but I dodged it with skill. Louis could be saved, I could do it.

My mind flew the chains that had previously bound Louis towards Allister now, wrapping around his ankles and tripping him over. In an instant, I commanded the metal to latch around Louis' wrists and ankles as they had before, the ends of the chains launching themselves powerfully into the ground and keeping him trapped.

Allister tugged and pulled on the chains, trying to use his power to free himself, but my talent was too strong. His face betrayed his fear deep within him as I backed up across the room, my eyes hardened and determined as I stared at him. I really really hoped this plan would work, it was the only one I had.

"I'm coming for you, Lou." I whispered to myself before breaking out into the fastest run I could manage, racing towards Louis' chained body. Allister's red eyes were wide as I came closer, and I thought I heard someone scream my name as I jumped headfirst into Louis' body, my own body dissipating as I vanished within him.  

A/N: Please comment your reactions over this chapter...I'd love to see them all! 

Dedication goes to Nivedita_1D for their amazing comment on the last chapter!

Vote and comment! -Maddie