I wish...

I wish...

For millennia after millennia, stars have had the power to grant a wish in its entirety. Any wish. There was no limit as to how many wishes a person may ask for, nor how many were even granted. Yet whether the wish was fulfilled to the speaker's intent or not, that did not matter to the star. As long as the wish's words were satisfied, so were they.

For millennia, stars continued this cycle - until their time met its limit.

In accordance with this strange agreement, however, stars were allotted a wish of their own. But only one. Many used this wish as they plummeted to their death, as did Calcifer and Vega, but many others were saved by mere luck. Thus, their final wish still remained.

Perseus had planned his one and only wish methodically with this truth in mind.

Morgan Pendragon, hardly attuned to his Lunar ability at this time, knew enough that his power came with an immense weight. Tonight was no mere night - tonight would be written in history, no matter the part he played in its creation.

He knew not his foe, nor the clashing that would commence this very night, yet Morgan wished and wished with everything his tiny human mind could conjure. Perseus, under the belief that he was cognizant of all of his foes and all that would commence this very night, had already spent his one and only wish, not remembering that a wish's intent was never the focus of the star who granted it.

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The peak of Seren Saethu was a devastation of its previous glory. Crumbled rocks tumbled periodically over the misshapen edges. The surface was jagged and lost all sense of Ben's former residence. He had spent years, decades even, building a life on this isolated oasis. Now, it was manipulated and abused under Perseus' will.

Markl sparked lightsteps to walk slyly up the mountain. It was difficult finding his way back to the top. Magic was finicky here already, but now with Perseus in control, Seren Saethu was forced under his regulation. He hoped that the egotistical demon wouldn't notice his covert tactic, walking silently upon circular pads of light in a zigzag motion so as not to deviate too far from his current position. He hoped Perseus would overlook any attempt to approach him, but that was hard to believe since he was a master in his own right.

That didn't seem right to say - in his own right. Perseus had no right to do what he had done, yet he had taken it all anyway.

While Markl knew he had the support of those near him to tackle an adversary as fearsome as Perseus, their current whereabouts were unknown to him. They all chose to arrive separately so as not to give the demon the upper hand of knowing which of his enemies had returned for a second attempt. It was smart, but in that moment, Markl realized he was waltzing into the battleground first and alone.

It was then that the sinister voice of doubt crept in through the open door of his mind. What if he hadn't trained enough? What if what Perseus and Noe had taught him was nothing more than fluff and a simple advantage over Howl? What if he just wasn't capable? All those fears that led him to question his past now questioned his present - and quite possibly his future.

Yet beyond these worries, he feared most of all that he wouldn't be able to take him down while wearing the face of Calcifer.

The storm roared around him, initially sparking a shudder within his soul. He stood frozen over a lightstep, hesitant to create the next. If something such as the natural sounds of this world could cause him strife, what more could a magician with a millennium of power do to his fragile state? It seemed like a losing battle already before the fight hadn't even begun.

Seeing the clouds above as dark and exultant as they were, they had completely masked any presence of the stars above. His brethren, his birthplace - could Perseus truly have the power to take them all? On a Night of Falling Stars, when thousands were helpless in their descent, would they choose him or be forced into his hand? If he could succeed in gathering even half of the stars that fell, he would consume the power of thousands of demons all in one.

How truly, terrifyingly invincible he would become.

Markl shook the fears fervently away. Forced them out and forced himself to look above. He would need to fight his own mind along with the magician himself. There was no other way around it if he were going to pull off what he could only describe as a miracle.

He created the next lightstep. And the next. And the next. Until finally, his steps ended at the top of Seren Saethu. He had been the first to arrive, which was their plan, but that didn't prepare Markl for the chaos he was about to witness.

Perseus - under the guise of his dear friend - moved haphazardly, erratically, beyond any sense of derangement he may have shown before. His voice echoed in the harsh wind, though it seemed like he was speaking to himself. Markl watched with jitters as bolts of green flames burst from his fingertips. He shot them in no practical pattern - toward the sky, down below, even in jellylike waves. Some sparked like fireworks while others burned like molten lava.

His movements were completely unpredictable.

Markl knew Perseus to be methodical, strategizing every minute of every formula he followed or created himself. So to watch this kind of disarray, this disorder that had never once phased Perseus, was somewhat of a revelation.

Maybe his overbearing confidence could be his downfall.

"And you!" Markl bulged his eyes as a green bolt of lightning beamed directly at him from Perseus' fingertips. Had he not noticed quickly enough, he would have suffered the same fate as Xarx. That realization was enough to compel him to be more vigilant from that moment forward.

Markl couldn't let Xarx's sacrifice be in vain.

Calcifer cackled with Perseus' voice, not shocked or surprised to see the boy, but actually quite pleased. "You... I actually might have to thank. You have been such a vital role in all of this coming together. I may even go as far as to say I'm in your debt."

Markl lifted himself onto the firm ground, keeping his gaze permanently on the turbulent beast. His hair had begun transforming to green from the roots, though the majority was still Calcifer's vibrant orange. His purple eyes were the mirror image of the fire demon he met only weeks ago. His stature, his body, his guise - all Perseus puppeetering Calcifer.

Markl gritted his teeth with fury. How insulting to use his friend's embodiment to produce such tragedy upon the world. Every attack that might somehow weaken Perseus would also attack some part of Calcifer, if there was any part of him left. It wasn't just insulting - it was cruel.

Perseus dropped into a sneer. "I'm afraid I must pay you back another time. I'm quite occupied at the moment, seeing as the stars are nearing their shining moment. Run along now."

Markl set light snares aimed at his wrists, but one slash of green flames disintegrated them instantly. He sent them again and again, only to come to the same result. He knew it unwise to commit to the same move time after failed time, yet his nerves had kicked in far too quickly, and he feared any other offensive attempt.

"That's cute," Perseus coddled, "I will say it's impressive you even had the guts to come back up here. I was sure that you, out of everyone, would have crawled away, running with your tail between your legs. But your willingness to die for your mistakes is probably something dear old Cal might call... admirable."

"Don't you dare speak for him." Markl hollered over the thunderous cry of the sky. "You've taken his body, his life. The last thing you have any right to is his voice."

Perseus pursed his lips in a facade. "Oh, hit a soft spot, did I? That's good to know what sets you off. Just for the remainder of your time here. I guarantee I won't need to remember that after tonight."

The demon kindled mini flames through each of his fingers and set them off in a sporadic manner. The bolts acted in a way that sought out Markl's location no matter which way he dodged. He sped to one side of the mountain, and the next flames were already en route to follow.

Perseus laughed as the boy struggled. "This will be a fun ending for you. I'll make sure to give you some semblance of a fighting chance so your death isn't so pointless."

Markl evaded the final flame and stopped to catch his breath. He was already scrambling to keep himself above a disadvantage just by skirting around frivolous attacks. He couldn't imagine what the demon would do when - if - he considered Markl a true threat.

He had seen what Perseus was capable of as a fire demon. Now, as a human, he was catastrophically more than that. He just needed to amp up his fury before the others arrived.

How he hoped they could keep the element of surprise.

Markl huffed as he spoke. "What? Am I not worth your full power? Or is that all you got?"

Perseus raised an eyebrow, eyed the boy up and down, and held his stomach while he laughed. Markl wiped his sweaty brow, grinding his teeth in rage from this insult. The demon relaxed his laughter slightly as he said, "Oh, kid, you really have no idea."

"Enlighten me, then."

Perseus pointed all the fingers on one hand toward his chest - Calcifer's chest - and slightly bowed. "I'm a living legend. I lived my millennium in the sky as a star and conquered the galaxies. I became a fire demon through discipline and a naive child who sought my power. I beat her, and then I beat my greatest rival by taking the very body he wished for all his life."

His voice deepened, lowered with a vile sense of unseen victory and vulgar dominance. "When I say that I'll give you a semblance of a fighting chance, understand that I choose not to end your life in a split second because I enjoy this special type of torture."

Markl sucked in a quick breath, hoping the shivers down his neck were only noticed by himself. "You think I won't go down right away just because you're going easy on me? That's your first mistake. And it'll be one you regret."

"Who are you but a worthless star meant to die the day of his birth?" Perseus rolled his eyes. "You are nothing. You are beyond worthless. I got what I needed from you, and for that I'm granting you one final chance to scurry off like the soot you are, knowing how this is all going to turn out anyway. You more than anyone should know you can't get rid of your demons so easily."

Markl sparked a light orb, intensifying its power with every word he spoke. "Everyone's got demons, Perseus. You're just one that has to go."

In a haste of adrenaline, Markl bolted toward him. His nerves were shaken, though, so he hadn't thought to enact light speed in his sprint. By the time he realized this, Perseus had already turned away from him, pressing one fist deep into the ground.

Markl was flung back by a wave of green and orange flames. It was a tornado of fire, warping all around the demon in the center and spiraling toward the sky. Markl held onto a divet in the earth for stability, but the whirlwind of fire was melting to the touch. Had he been any closer, Markl feared he would have disintegrated by its fierce flames.

Cackles and crackles of Perseus intensified and lessened, boomed louder and then ceased. He kept sparking fiery shots at the boy, quick to predict Markl's movements even as he ignited lightspeed flight around the peak. Markl worried his opponent was too chaotic and unpredictable to even land a shot. And yet, he couldn't stand to play defensive.

Markl shot a light beam toward the ground, the earth dusting upward and hazing the air between them. A simple cover, but the timing was perfect. Markl sped forward to where he remembered Perseus stood last and aimed to grab him.

He hadn't prepared for the empty space and the spark of flames to his right.

"Nice try, kid!" Perseus sent a fiery whip in his direction, knocking Markl coldly to the ground. He quivered, like lightning coursing through his body, but it burned inside as opposed to sparking his core. Every move, every attack - it was like Perseus planned for everything.

Perseus smirked. That sinister, terrifying smile that reveled in premature victory haunted Markl. His visage screamed proud satisfaction, as if he had already beaten Markl's body and spirit.

His smirk, however, wasn't his usual. It contorted in a haphazard manner, like a portal sucking through and distorting his face. Perseus twitched like a glitching spell as a familiar voice shouted, "Don't go easy on him, Markl! He's not holding back, so neither should you."

Markl huffed. That wasn't Perseus' voice - it was Calcifer.

He was alive. Somewhere inside his own body, most likely still under Perseus' control, some part of Calcifer was still alive. Markl gathered the courage to smile himself, thinking that maybe his friend wasn't lost for good. Yet that smile was short-lived. Knowing this, knowing a part of Calcifer was lucid and conscience and connected...

Could he still end Perseus?

"Don't hold back because of me." Calcifer said as his face seized back to Perseus' normal iniquity. His final words resonated with Markl. Don't hold back because of me. Had he? Was he not giving his full strength for fear of hurting - or potentially killing - Calcifer? Or was his friend giving him more credit than he deserved in such a pivotal moment?

Nonetheless, Calcifer was present and seemed to believe he had more to give. If he had faith in him at this moment, Markl owed it to him to truly give his all.

Perseus seethed, looking downward. "You know, that's getting real tiring, old man! One day, I'll figure out how-" Before he could finish, Markl's lightning strike had hit him directly in the thigh. Perseus groaned and bent his knee. His leg convulsed uncontrollably. When he turned to the boy, an array of lightning strikes were already en route.

Two strikes made contact with Perseus before he bolted out of harm's way. He heaved deeper and clung tight fingers around his wounds. Markl refused to take advantage of this small victory, however. He moved in closer and closer with light bombs and bolts and strikes and whatever else he could come up with spontaneously.

Perseus was a surprising master at fighting carelessly with no precision or strategic method. It appeared he hadn't expected his opponent to match his style.

Perseus dodged in a zigzagging pattern, yet a few shots collided against him and forced him down. Markl watched as he fell; he watched as he struggled to stand; but he did not waste a single moment.

Perseus looked up as the boy disappeared in a sprint toward the left. Preparing for another attack from his direction, he was unaware of the ground quaking to his right. Chunks of earth cracked upward from the edge of the peak until he lost his footing in a crevice that unnaturally appeared. The ground beneath him tucked around his center, submerging him like an ocean of rock and holding him captive.

"What the-" Perseus turned around, seeing the verdant wizard kneeling at the far corner with a noxious glare aimed solely at him. Kenta's muscles dug deep into the earth as the ground continued quaking and shaking with invisible tremors. From Perseus' constriction, he noticed a rising heat that nearly surpassed his own fire.

"Lava!" Perseus contorted and pressed against the molten liquid that aimed to disintegrate his newly fashioned body. Kenta held no grin, no sense of accomplishment. He only glared at the demon with a desire for vengeance.

Perseus expelled fire in rapid succession to force himself upward, and gradually he exited the rocky prison as lava spewed upward from his former position. He rested against the uninterrupted terrain, assessing the damage. His pants had burned up to his knees, and his feet and ankles were scorched beyond recognition. His calf bubbled with pink blisters, stinging with a seering pain as the wind blew harshly in his direction.

Perseus sneered at the wizard. "That was a dirty trick, Kenta."

Kenta, now standing firmly at the edge of the peak, stared with deadpanned eyes. "No, taking over Calcifer's body was dirty. I'm just playing the game you created."

Perseus couldn't help but chuckle. His healing powers weren't as potent as his offensive skills, yet he had enough strength to stand again. Once he gathered his energy to fuel his flames, he sparked them in a disorderly manner, as was his general trademark, but Kenta used the surrounding wind to gain favor. He waved them around in a whirlwind safe-haven, watching as the flames joined and created a spinning torrent of fire.

As Perseus sustained his fiery inferno, he halted abruptly as the atmosphere around him darkened. It wasn't the gradual draining of the sun, which at this point had been set for hours, but a stark absence of light. It was absolute nothingness.

Darkness clouded him in ways he had only heard rumors of from the one wizard capable of such a crepuscule.

"I see you've made quick amends with your rivals, Markl." Perseus grunted. "If only I were so easy to forgive my transgressors as apparently you are."

He darted his gaze to every inch of the enclosed space. The gloomy air, void of everything from which he could potentially draw power, narrowed tighter and tighter around him. The mountain peak didn't seem nearly as triumphant with such confined quarters as this. Yet he knew they were just beyond this ruse, and he had just enough internal spark to charge his way out.

On the exterior, Howl and Kenta stood alongside one another, Markl not too far off. His distraction had miraculously overcome the demon, but he worried about feeling victorious so soon. While Perseus was trapped, this could simply be a momentary relief rather than a permanent fix. Eventually, he would find an escape.

Howl extended both arms forward, his fingers twirling in a rapid dance as the shadow prison remained active around its prisoner. "This won't hold him forever. What's your next move?"

Markl turned to Kenta for a moment before realizing Howl was speaking to him. He had asked what his next move was. His plan. His own strategy to end this night right.

Did he even have a plan beyond subduing his opponent like this?

"Markl..." Perseus sung from inside. To the boy's ears, it sounded like a muffled echo, a vicious promise of reprisal. It surely wasn't the wind that paraded chills down Markl's spine. "I guess you just didn't take my warning seriously enough."

Howl bound his spell more securely, straining his fingers in a hardening grip as Perseus began his demolition. He sundered the shadow barricade with fists of flames, punching through with cataclysmic spouts of chaos. One after the other, his strength grew with each throw. The dark exterior walls bubbled with each attack, and no one was sure which blow would finally destroy the restraint.

"Howl!" Markl shouted. He watched with quickened breaths as Howl put his all into one spell. Time was short; when - not if - Perseus broke through his temporary confinement, he'd waste not a single second before tearing them apart.

Then, the stars were his next and final target. And as it were, they were shakes away from plummeting in their direction.

Markl froze. How could he have forgotten that the stars were his end goal from the beginning?

They were always his objective. The stars had been Perseus' since the very start. During his first days in the nightsky - how he must have wished for this day, prayed for it even, that all his patience and endurance would lead him to this very definitive moment in time.

And yet, how terribly cruel life would be if a lowly star such as Markl could erase all of that potential he yearned for.

Maybe, he thought, if they didn't direct their fall to him, to Perseus, maybe we had a shot.

"Kenta!" Markl said with urgency. "Can you change the nature of the clouds? Make a clearer sky so we can see the stars?"

Kenta crinkled his brow, but nodded. He waved his arms in the air, circling them in a strange pattern, and the clouds twisted in unison. As they looped in a perpetual ring, they thinned and spread farther beyond the Wastes than the eye could capture. Their darkness fizzled into the light of the night, and the silvery luminescence was crystalline.

He never realized how brightly they shone. As if a painter had splayed dazzling silver on a canvas, their luster was a dazzle of resplendence. How many nights he stared at their glorious positions in the sky, their dances in the night, and not once felt the familiar pull of home.

Tonight, all of that dramatically changed. All he experienced was their fellowship. All he knew, all he bore, all he suffered for this moment was for this last chance.

They were a wave of hope, a glimmer of faith, and a promise Markl intended to keep.

He closed his eyes, holding his head high. "I wish you would fall to me."

The air was still. With the clouds dispersed, the atmosphere silenced itself. Kenta stood hushed, listening intently as the boy whispered his wishes to the stars above. Howl, though faintly harkening his words, kept his focus on the shadow prison keeping hold of their foe.

Markl raised his arms outward, as if orchestrating a symphony of the lights. "You can choose Perseus or you can choose me. I cannot promise an infinite lifetime or endless power, but I can promise to use your dying light for good. I can promise not to abuse your fear in your final, desperate hour. I promise to give you that choice, one that Perseus would never have offered you."

His eyelids drooped shut. The raging roars of fury behind him vied to tear away his concentration, yet Markl fought desperately to remain focused. In control.

He did not flinch as the shadow prison broke. He did not stir as the brawl ensued. He did not waver, as his trust in Howl and Kenta surpassed all skill and strength Perseus may have had.

The demon groaned like an earthquake. "How pathetic. Bargaining with the dying lights of the universe. Charming, noble even, but pathetic."

Perseus drove waves of green flame from his position to the edge of the mountainside, Kenta and Howl forced to the sides opposite one another with Markl stuck in the middle, a mere runway away from Perseus. And yet, Markl did not give his enemy the attention he yearned. The fear he desired. Markl was a free entity, an unchained and unmoved boulder. Markl continued his wish, persisted in his plea, and all without a single bout of acknowledgment to the demon lunging forward.

Perseus, unhinged and haywire, sprinted toward the boy who had become more of a nuisance than he planned. Green flames flooded from his fingertips, hellbent on decimating that amateur, moldable misfit. He expected a gnat, not a lion. He assumed this would blow away like dust, not a deep-rooted stain that refused to vanish. He had trained this boy, taught him various skills and strategies for vengeance.

He hadn't realized Markl's ability to stave his longing, to kindle his resolve. There was no end to the vibrancy of his spirit. Perseus couldn't help but feel reminded of Calcifer's vigor or Vega's essence next to his own pride during their time in the nightsky.

And yet, fire was fierce.

Fire left a permanent scar, whether on the body or the heart. It was no secret that stars burned passionately above the worlds, and some blessed to burn ferociously on the earth. Fire was his guide; his light; his drive.

His everything.

Fire would burn his mark indefinitely into this hateful world.

Green flames pursued the boy until they collided with a waterfall of blue heat and energy. This power was not so foreign, and it irked Perseus to his core that she had slipped his mind.

Vega, an orb of beauty and might, plunged her power over him, an inescapable wave of spirit that left him trembling in awe and pain.

Perseus grunted upon impact, eyeing a vexed gaze at her. "Vega, you wretched bitch!"

Her laugh was a lilting echo. "Your final words and that's the best you could come up with?"

Perseus scowled. "You're overly confident in that boy."

"And you never considered his potential," Vega replied. "How tragic."

Vega spun her blue flames in a winding circle around Perseus, her pace quickening as if expending the entirety of her energy in this one moment. Perseus could not escape her icy whirlwind. He struggled and fought, but it was as if Vega's own lifeforce had suspended him motionless.

No matter what, she refused to give him any release. He was trapped in her light as he once had been trapped in a fireplace and a cigarette lighter and a godforsaken contract with a power-hungry witch. His freedom, so calculated and strategic and desperately sought after, had only lasted a millisecond in comparison to the eons spent crafting his plan.

Not only was he bound by Vega's persistent magic, but his own legs refused to move. His arms were frozen in place, his feet planted on the rocky surface as if cemented into the terrain. He was no longer in control of his actions - his host was fighting back once more.

Perseus grunted. "You really just can't give up, old man, can you?" The voice in his head was a plague of vengeance. Over and over and over and over again, Calcifer repeated the same obnoxious phrase, yet only now was Perseus forced to listen to his monotony.

I wish that you would fall to Markl.

How Perseus had wished and wished for this very occasion to have a very different outcome. All of those years manipulating wishes, producing evil and exploiting the desires of the imbellic humans beneath him. Now, once his time came for his singular wish to come to fruition, how naive he was to think that the stars above had cared for his intent.

In turn, he was now forced to witness the falling stars in their descent away from him.

Perseus ogled the boy in wonder. He saw how his prize was swallowed up in Markl's embrace, how he welcomed the dancing lights with open arms and a warm aura. The boy was kind; he was a broken soul with questions that fueled anger, and yet his kindness still lasted. After all Perseus and Noe had done to tear at his scars, to amplify his pain, it was as if all their efforts had been erased this single night.

Markl glowed from the inside out, a beacon of shining radiance so delicate and airy, yet brilliantly burning ablaze. He used the falling stars - no, even Perseus couldn't stand to think that way. The stars granted the fragments of their dying lives to Markl, and he accepted their precious gifts.

Markl turned toward Perseus, the stars still flooding into him through his back. His eyes were a silvery grace, no longer blackened by hatred. His anger had been replaced, succeeded by retribution. He meant to end things.

Perseus cackled, still clashing against his compatriot's restraints. "You would kill me knowing it could kill Calcifer as well?"

Markl scoffed. "I think he'd rather be dead than a servant for eternity again."

Perseus twitched his lip. He knew that to be true as well, yet he hadn't thought Markl would truly understand the tragedy of fallen stars. His desperate efforts were fleeing faster than the stars in their descent. "I'll live on in your memory."

Markl, with raised arms and a daunting heart, wasted no more time. "And expect me to kill you there, too. Goodbye, Perseus."