~One year later

"Come train with us in the courtyard, brother Merric,"

I do not turn to look at my brother. The only response I give is a short shake of my head as I continue to stare out through the window. I spend more time a day standing here than anything else. I cannot and will not leave mother's side while she stays this way. I must protect her to the end. I will fight for her.

"Okay..." Lance says softly. I listen to the soft footsteps fade away as he leaves the room and heads down to the courtyard.

Only a moment passes, and I see Papa enter the courtyard from the other side, waiting for Lance. He stands there motionlessly, like a statue while castle maids, soldiers and other visitors pass by him casually like little ants from my perch on the higher level of center castle. You can tell Papa apart from everyone else easily with his long cape and sword he carries with him. His stride usually gives him away but today I can tell Mama's illness is really bothering him.

Little Lance appears in the courtyard and rushes towards Papa. Soft whimpering fills the room behind me. Mama's illness has been the same ever since she became ill. For any other illness this would be very strange. But this type of illness is being controlled by the caster who casted the illness.

I hear the maids who are caring for Mama whisper about this all the time. Many of them wonder why she is showing no signs of getting well or getting worse and their medications or treatments are not showing results at all. I wish I could tell them why.

But I cannot.

I have always feared if I said anything the Demon would retaliate and make things worse than it has already been.

Besides, there is nothing that can be done medication wise. Nothing can heal a dark magic hex except another magic spell and I don't know what it is or what the name of such spells would even be. I do not want Papa to think Mama is incurable and I don't want the maids to stop caring for her either.

But I know better. The Demon has told me so himself. I don't want to have to believe him, but I have no choice. Everything is in his control now and he knows it.

I can't do anything about it.

So, I just wait. To protect her myself. Hoping to find something I can do. Maybe if I can manage to defeat him, his hex will be lifted, and Mama will return.

If I knew where to go to learn if there is a healing type spell I can learn to heal Mama, then I would do it. But I do not have any clue where to learn such a spell. It's not like I can go to a dark magic school because there are none. We are not from Terra.

We are the only dark mages here on Terra.

No one can heal her. If I cannot help her then she is gone.

Ma could help but only Mama knows how to open that portal to go see her. I have not even learned that spell yet. I have not gotten that far in learning the magic. I am not strong enough to conjure such magic. And because of my weakness and incompetence, Mama is lost.

It is my fault.

Mama warned me of such magic spells anyway. She says it is unsafe to learn such things. There was a type of spell I do not remember the name of she was wanting to teach me. But we ran out of time. I don't even know what the spell is supposed to do.

I focus my attention back to Papa and Lance sparring in the courtyard below. The sky frequently bursts of purple lightning which is a constant reminder that there is war going on and is slowly getting closer to the Castle. Lance takes a swing towards Papa and he blocks. They go back and forth for a while, but Papa seems off. I can tell he is not as focused as he usually is while training. Some of his moves don't connect and Lance sometimes blocks them without much effort.

This might not be that big of a deal, but if this keeps up then when we are required to fight, our emotions are going to get in our way. I just know they are. I don't think this is affecting Lance as much as Papa and I. But Papa is even more distraught than I am, and my emotions drive my magical attacks while telling them what to do. Not being focused is a huge problem.

We are not in any condition for fighting the Demon right now. This is exactly why it is doing all of the things it has been doing and is going to do. It is just going to get worse and worse as time goes on and there is nothing I can do to help. I just have to watch everything happen helplessly. I must force my emotions to not get in my way and ignore everything that I am feeling.

How am I supposed to do this when they control my magic? I am not good enough. I don't think any amount of practice will help me. But what if I figure out something? Even if that is the case, I cannot risk leaving Mama's side.

Mama starts mumbling something from behind me, but I cannot understand what she is saying. I turn around and break my gaze from the window that I have been staring from for hours now and slowly approach the side of the bed. Maybe now she will notice that I am here with her?

Her eyes are still shut, and she is still squirming around every so often. As I get near, her mumbling changes to whispering.

"Merric... My... my sweet M—Merric... Please don't g—go,"

Something swells up inside of me to hear Mama say those words in that weak and sad tone. The more I look at her, the more I notice the wetness around her closed eyes.

"Please... leave my sweet children out of this... I—It's me that you want,"

That thing is still torturing her, even now. It's making Mama believe that it's torturing Lance and myself the same as its torturing her. Sadly, in a way it is. But I am still right here next to you, Mama. It's going to take more than a bit of torturing to separate me from you.

"L—Lance... W—Where are you... My dear child,"

I really want to hold your hand, Mama, but I am afraid it may harm you. The thing I wish the most right now is for you to just know that I have been right here with you the entire time. I fear when I decide to go, you awaken and then you won't see me. But, you will probably never be allowed to wake from this nightmare.

You will probably never see me ever again.

Why am I allowed to wake from those horrible nightmares and my mother must live in one forever, intertwined within her memories, forcing them against her.

"My love... What have you done... w—with him...?"

I shut my eyes and walk away back to the window. I cannot listen to her mumblings any longer. I would much rather listen to her screaming and groaning. At least that way, I know her memories are not being manipulated. But this. Her mumblings only show me that she no longer has them. Her memories are only there for torture now and she has lost her soul. Her sanity.

That thing forced her into insanity.

My gaze drifts back down to the courtyard where Papa and Lance are training. At least Lance is getting better. But it just seems this is causing Papa to become worse because he cannot focus any longer. I want to keep his spirits up. I want him to believe Mama will get better.

But I don't want to lie to him.

Maybe I should go down there and sharpen my skills. Maybe I should make myself stronger, so I can stand up for myself. So, I can stand up for Mama, Papa and Lance too. Maybe I should go talk to Papa about this. It's not difficult to talk about it but maybe I should not hold it all in.

But I'm afraid.

Being afraid won't get me anywhere. If Mama can no longer teach me more magic, then I have to go and learn it myself. Maybe I can learn what I need before that thing gets here. Maybe I should just stay quiet and train by myself, so I won't bother anyone with the knowledge I have. Nothing can be done about it anyway, so telling them will only make it worse.

I turn around once more and look over Mama in the bed. She has stopped mumbling and has gone back to squirming around, fighting those thoughts swimming around in the abyss that is now filling her mind. I scan the room and leaning against the wall on the opposite side in the shadows lies Falchion. All of Mama's training equipment are over there, including her armor.

The sword slightly shimmers at me as I look it over. The corner it is in slightly glows brighter than it just was like light is shining over the blade. But there is no light in that side of the room.

It has been a long time since I held that blade. Maybe it is time I familiarized myself with him once again since Mama can no longer use him to fight. The last time I tried to hold Falchion, I was not as skilled as I am now. I am sure since that day, that blade has been irritated with me. I could not control it at all and flung it across the practice field. Whenever it tried to connect to it, I failed, until that very last time I tried. I finally understood what Mama's words meant and our connection solidified, forming history between us.

As I watch the blade now, it seems to want me to pick him back up again. Mama has not held the blade in a long time and it must have been sitting there in that spot since she became ill. I slowly turn towards him resting in the corner and my feet slowly guide me to him. Everything else in the room fades away as I focus only on Falchion. He chose me when I was just a child. I was always meant to pick him up and fight.

When I reach the gleaming blade, I immediately reach for his hilt without hesitation and I keep my mind clear of any thoughts. Bond with me once again Falchion. Show me the way of enlightenment.

I wrap my fingers around the hilt and the bond between us immediately flows freely between us. The blade lights up with glowing purple energy and then softly dims to a constant glow. I look at it for a moment and give it a short nod as I narrow my gaze onto the door. Without looking, I release the blade's hilt and it gently hovers near me, following me obediently, without question or hesitation.

I slowly walk towards the door without looking back with my right hand still raised by my side, fingers pointing upwards, focused on the connection with Falchion. I feel my emotional energy flowing from the tips of my fingertips to the blade hovering around me. The connection maintains a calm stream as I keep my focus steady.

I pass through the door with my newfound courage that was given to me by Falchion. He was sitting there the entire time.

Now I will fight.