Louis

My eyes opened to the bright light of the sun, and immediately I felt something was different. Most of my friends and Minerva stood above me. Their eyes were wide as they stared at me and helped me up slowly, my head pounding and my brain feeling like a bowling ball rolling around inside my skull.

I winced as I stood up, eyes closing before opening again to see Imani staring at me like I was an alien who just landed on earth.

"W-what?" I grumbled, Imani still in wonder rather than our usual bickering annoyance.

"How did she..." She started, but never finished. I reached to rub my eyes with my hands, but a shocking sight made me freeze.

Golden swirls and designs shimmered on my arms, matching Mira's exactly. My skin was covered in gold runes, from my neck all the way down to my feet. But that didn't make sense, why would Mira's runes be on me?

"Where's Mira?" I asked, but my voice got stuck in my throat when I saw her lifeless body laying a few feet away, the runes no longer shimmering and sparkling like they used to. My eyes widened in fear, and I swore I thought my heart stopped for a second.

I felt like my whole world had shattered until a voice rang out in my head.

Louis! I'm here, it's me!

Wait...what?

It's me, Mira! I'm fine!

At the sound of her voice I felt immense relief wash over me...and then confusion took its place.

What are you doing in my head? How did you even get in here?

Um...I think I jumped? I don't really know exactly.

When I felt steady enough, I hurried over to the window pane, seeing a small glance of my reflection. My jaw dropped at what I saw, and I could hear Mira's amazed gasp crystal clear.

Instead of seeing my face in the glass, I saw Mira's. Her eyes weren't blue anymore, instead being replaced by a molten golden color. They matched the runes perfectly, and seemed to glow just a bit. Both of our hair was moving as if a breeze was blowing through the room, but other than that we looked the same. That didn't necessarily mean we felt the same, though.

What's happening? Mira asked, but I couldn't answer her. I had no idea what was going on at all.

I held my breath as my hand reached out to touch the glass, Mira's hand mirroring it and pressing against my own from the reflection of the glass. It was hard to explain, but I could feel something powerful within me. I could sense Mira, feel her soul inside my body. I could sense her like electricity in my veins, feel her strength in my muscles, sense her mind right next to mine. We were one person now, our talents combining to build off of one another.

Let me try something...

I couldn't help the smile on my face as I watched my hand pressed against the glass slowly turn invisible. I raised my other hand, making tiny electrical sparks between my fingers, impressed that we could use our talents at the same time.

No way, how is this possible?

I have no idea, I smiled brightly. But it's cool, isn't it?

Mira's expression in the mirror changed from one of amazement and awe to one of fear.

But wait... She suddenly thought hard about something. If I'm in your head...where's Allister?

I looked around the room as I realized Mira's terrible uncle wasn't in my head anymore. Mira must have kicked him out whenever her soul came in, which meant Allister was still here somewhere. We had to stop him before he hurt someone else. We had to stop him once and for all.

A whooshing sound filled my ears as my vision was flooded in red, my body falling back to dodge the red orb flying towards me. My back hit the ground hard as the red orb flew past me and towards the doors that led to the stairwell, small scarlet flames making the orb look more like a comet as it soared through the air. I had never seen a soul up close, but I didn't need a reference picture to know that the red orb was Allister's soul flying back to his body.

We have to stop him! Mira panicked as I got to my feet and ran after Allister's soul, stopping once I reached the doorway to see the red orb had already flew down to the bottom of the steps. It was fast, and once I took all these steps down, there was no doubt in my mind that Allister's soul would've already found another host body.

We'll be too slow, I told Mira. I could hear her sigh in my head, her soul making my teeth bite my lip like she always did.

No, we won't be. Mira suddenly sounded determined, her will overpowering my own and commanding my hand to raise up. I was wondering what she was up to until I saw a silver metal teleboard zipping through the air and up to me, waiting for me to step on. Mira made my foot move forward, and I suddenly panicked.

Wait! I'm not telekinetic! I nearly yelled in my head, and I swore I could almost feel Mira's frustration as I pulled my foot back.

Well I am! Come on! Mira yelled back stubbornly, forcing my foot to move forward again. An image of me falling to the ground and becoming a splat mark on the ground filled my mind, and Mira groaned as she realized my fear.

You idiot, you have my runes. You're not going to get hurt. She said before suddenly both of my feet jumped onto the teleboard against my will. I screamed as Mira's telekinesis took over, making us fly down and through the halls of the Sanctuary. Her soul commanded the Sanctuary doors to open as we flew at high speed towards them, and soon we were high up in the sky. My eyes narrowed as I spotted the red orb flying through the town, and Mira must have seen it too since we started chasing it.

Townspeople screamed and cowered as we flew through the streets, our gaze only focused on Allister's soul. I had half a mind to apologize to all those people, but one I would open my mouth, Mira would make us fly faster, and my apologies were left in the wind unspoken.

How do we stop him? I asked, Mira humming in my head as she thought about it.

You have to make a protector bubble around his soul, I can't do two talents at once. She told me, my eyes looking down at the new runes all over my arms. I had mastered tons of talents before, surely protection wasn't too hard?

I was proven wrong when my first attempt at a bubble hit a lamp pole in the street and made it catch fire. Mira laughed in my head as I groaned and tried again.

Shut up, this is hard.

I know, it's so refreshing to see you be bad at a talent.

I tried to make another bubble, but this one shattered like glass before I could finish forming it. Mira's laughter was quickly becoming strained as she saw me struggling, and it wasn't long before she tried to take over.

I hissed through my teeth as Mira's focus on her telekinesis diminished and nearly sent us crashing to the ground as she made a bubble. I had never heard Mira cuss before, but she seemed to have a very colorful vocabulary as she struggled to keep us flying and trap Allister at the same time.

You can't do both, I tried to convince Mira to stop, but her stubborn nature shone through.

I can try. He's my uncle, I have to finish my parents' fight.

I huffed before raising my hands up, commanding winds to push up on the teleboard to keep it airborne. I may not be telekinetic, but I knew how to keep something in the air. With the help of the wind, Mira could finally focus on trapping Allister, and she got close to imprisoning him in one of her bubbles when the red orb suddenly veered to the side and into a storage warehouse building on the edge of the Rift. We were in close pursuit, my hand reaching out to shatter the glass of a window before we flew through it.

My jaw dropped and Mira gasped as we saw the inside of the warehouse. Everything inside had been completely destroyed. Crates and boxes had been torn apart, the lights above us had been shattered and flickered ominously in the dark space, and Luxien bodies littered the floor. My hands started trembling as Mira became distressed, the glowing runes on my body dulling in color from her fear.

Hey, we're okay. We'll be fine. I promised her, Mira's soul clenching my hands into fists as if to say she understood. I forced my eyes to stay up so Mira couldn't see the bodies on the ground, but just when I looked up at one of the walls, I heard Mira let out a small whimper as we saw a chilling message had been written for us.

'We're coming for you' had been written in blood along one of the walls in capital letters. Instantly, Mira had created a golden bubble around us, keeping us safe and anything bad out. My eyes were watering, Mira's emotions taking over my body. She was getting scared out of her wits. My brave butterfly had been suffering from Allister's terrifying hallucinations, but those were nothing compared to something just as scary that was all too real.

Lou...

We're okay. I'll keep you safe.

I jumped a little when the sound of something hitting the floor echoed throughout the warehouse. My head whipped around to see if anyone was behind us, but I couldn't see anyone.

Another similar sound came from the side of us, my head turning from side to side quickly as I made sure nothing was there.

S-Stop... Mira whimpered, and I suddenly felt faint. I fell to my hands and knees, the runes on my arms suddenly moving on my arms. I knew Mira could feel it too, and my heart began to race when I saw a gold smoke start to leave my body. Mira called out my name in fear in my head, but her voice was getting quieter and fainter to hear. It was like she was vanishing.

My eyes widened as I realized what Allister was doing. He planned this. He was trying to scare Mira away. He had already possessed me once, he wanted to try again. But in order to possess me again, he needed Mira to get out of my body. He was trying to scare her out.

Mira, calm down. I slowly got up to my feet, the faint feeling disappearing gradually.

I-I can't... Mira was still panicky. She couldn't be like that, if she got scared enough, her soul would feel threatened and leave to go back to her body. She couldn't leave me, I would be too weak to fight back and I couldn't protect my mind.

Please, I need you to stay. I had to convince her to stay. Allister's planning this, he wants you to get scared and leave.

I didn't hear a spoken answer, only Mira's frightened gasps.

You saved me and kept me safe, now I need you to trust me to do the same to you.

The golden smoke vanished as if a breeze had picked it up and carried it away, the nauseous feeling now completely gone.

I trust you.

With a smirk, I lit up in electric sparks. The sparks were stronger, and if you looked close enough, you could see tints of gold lining the bright blue current. Now that our two souls were one, our talents were stronger.

"No more games, Allister!" I yelled out at the top of my lungs as my eyes scanned the warehouse for any sign of him. To my surprise, everything around us began to turn to dust. The boxes, the shattered glass, even the bodies blew away like sand in a desert storm. The lights were suddenly fixed, the walls cleaned, and everything the way it should be. The warehouse had all been an illusion, meant to scare us. Allister was more talented than we had thought.

Speak of the devil, when the dust cleared, Mira's uncle was standing in front of us with a smug expression. His eyes were red, and he laughed when he saw the way I looked.

"I'm quite impressed little niece, I thought for sure you would take your leave." He spoke to me. He must have known Mira had kicked him out. I didn't say anything as Allister's eyes looked me over up and down.

"I've never seen this talent before, perhaps it's a spinoff of my own?" Allister wondered aloud, still smiling.

I will never be like you. Mira hissed in my head.

"Regardless of your newfound talent, I'm afraid it won't stop me. I need this portal, and I need the last protector of Lux dead." Allister spoke nonchalantly, making my fists clench and the sparks around me grow stronger. I was tired of his talk.

I launched a spark towards Mira's uncle, the powerful charge being dodged by Allister easily. Mira's anger had been triggered, my hands raising as she used her telekinesis to try and throw Allister into a wall. Allister had been pushed back, but not much. His heels had dug into the floor, his smirk still plastered onto his face before he went on the offensive.

His eyes glowed a dark scarlet as he stared into my eyes, my hands raising to prepare to defend us, but just then Mira took over.

His mind tricks won't work anymore.

Mira's bubble only grew stronger, the golden glow pushing outwards and encasing us in safety. Allister's smug little grin vanished after that, obviously not happy that his little niece discovered how to block him out.

I used Allister's moment of weakness to my advantage, racing towards him. Allister seemed to gain his sense back, drawing a dagger from his black coat. I gave him one of my smirks before Mira turned us invisible, Allister's eyes widening as he couldn't find us anymore. I slid and knocked his legs out from under him, moving to punch him right in the jaw next. Allister could only blindly swing his blade around as he hoped to hit us, but Mira's protection talent kept him from even getting a scratch on me.

"Enough!" Allister screamed as he managed to find me and kick me off of him. Mira's invisibility stopped, but we had other weapons at our disposal.

Revenge was so sweet as our talents combined to batter and bruise Allister, shocking him with electricity before ramming his body into a wall or stacks of crates. Mira's uncle looked to be all but dead as I stalked over to him.

"Please, have mercy..." He barely whispered, but I only shook my head. He didn't deserve mercy. I held my palm out, creating one last spark that would stop his heart. It was time to end this.

I prepared to hit Allister with my spark, but just when I went to move my arm down, it stopped moving. My brows scrunched together as I tried moving my right arm, but it wouldn't budge.

We can't kill him. Mira's voice echoed in my head, making me sigh.

We have to. He'll only hurt more people if we don't. I tried to convince Mira otherwise, but I knew it was a futile fight. Once Mira set her mind to something, she never budged.

That doesn't mean we have to kill him. Mira tried to make me see her point, but I didn't. How did not killing Allister make sense?

Mira took over control of my arms, holding both of them out in front of me. The spark in my hand fizzled out and died, replaced by the invisible pull of telekinesis.

The golden runes glowed brighter than I had ever seen before as they moved off of my body and towards Allister. My eyes widened as I watched the swirling runes enter Allister's body. My lungs took in a deep breath as I felt Mira tug hard backwards, Allister's body writhing as he grimaced and groaned in pain. What was happening?

My breath was taken away as I watched the runes leave Allister's body...holding the red orb of his soul inside a golden bubble. Once his body was without a soul, Allister fell unconscious and couldn't move at all. The red orb was imprisoned safely inside Mira's bubble, and it would be there forever until she released it. It was the perfect prison.

We did it. I heard Mira mumble in my head as the golden bubble came to rest in my hands, emitting a soft light.

No, you did it. I corrected her with a small smile. I stared at the bubble in wonder until I heard a pair of creaky doors opening from behind us. My head turned to see Minerva and all of my friends, Harry and Kaguya included. They all rushed over to us, Mira's battle-scarred body being held in Liam's arms. I handed Minerva the golden bubble, her eyes turning impossibly wide as she stared in awe at the contents.

"H-how..." She barely mumbled, but I didn't have much energy left to answer her. Fatigue was hitting me hard, making my knees buckle underneath me so I fell to the ground. My eyes were drooping shut, my muscles aching and my head starting to pound furiously. My breathing was ragged, I felt a little sick to my stomach, and there was nothing more that I wanted than to just go home and sleep.

Just before my eyes shut, I saw a flash of gold, and suddenly Mira's runes were back on her body. Her chest barely rose and fell as she slept in Liam's arms, her face and arms were littered with bruises, and there was dried blood under her nose, but she was back in her body. That was all that mattered.

With a deep sigh, I let my eyes shut and exhaustion take me away from reality.

A/N: Ahhhhhhh there's only one more chapter of Sorcery left! I hope you all liked this final battle chapter!

Dedication goes to AllTheLoveNatt for their hilarious comment on the last chapter.

Be sure to vote and comment, my lovely Lira shippers! The final chapter should be posted soon, and then a little epilogue after! -Maddie