Ida knew what she was doing was stupid. Provoking a demon that took the form of the pure darkness around her wasn't exactly smart. In all fairness, Ida was never exactly called smart.

But smart was different than clever. And Ida was sure as hell clever.

As she ducked about in her ghostly form, the plan became clearer. The only problem was that, as she became more and more tired, the more she phased back into her physical form. Then, the tendril became dangerous. She just had to get Flintgold riled up enough to let down his guard.

She was pulled back into the present by one of the tendrils grabbing her ankle and hoisting her up.

"Rude!" She yelled at the darkness.

Flintgold roared in fury, shaking her around so quickly she nearly got whiplash. Green flames suddenly cut through the tendril, making Ida drop down to the ground. She looked up and saw a familiar red demon running around, shooting flames to anger the darkness. The Pines twins were swinging around from one of the tendrils by a grappling hook. Stan Pines was punching at other tendrils with brass knuckles - a weapon Ida admired. William ran to her and helped her up.

"What in the heavens-?" Ida mumbled, looking at them all.

William smiled nervously. "So, this thing is very, very violent." He said, motioning to the darkness. Ida almost laughed, though nothing about this was really funny. He looked at the rest of the group.

"Did you even have a plan?" She asked.

William crossed his arms. "Did you?" He responded sarcastically.

Ida smiled, patting his head. "Spunk. I like that." She complimented. The demon seemed a bit proud of that.

"In all seriousness, I do have a plan. I just need his guard do-" A near-deafening screech rang through the dark. Ida grabbed William and ducked, dodging a tendril launching at them. William clung onto Ida's arm, staring at where his head had been just moments ago. "His powers are too strong for the spell to work." Ida muttered.

Zace jumped back from another tendril and rushed over to Ida and William. "This isn't good!" He said nervously.

Ida stared at him blankly. "Oh really? I didn't notice." She hummed sarcastically.

"ANYWAY, we need to find a way to weaken his magic." Zace responded.

William reached into his pocket, and took out the gem he'd pulled out last from the cave. "Zace, you found something when you were with Mama, right?" He asked.

Zace nodded. "A magic hotspot." He said. William smiled.

"We found one, too. And messed with it."

Ida looked confused, but Zace understood. "There's only one more hotspot that needs some destruction." He said, an excited grin etching across his face.

"Exactly." William laughed.

"I'll keep you guys covered. Try and help Ben figure out what to do with that hotspot." Zace said, his hands lighting up with flames. And without another word, he ran off to keep the tendrils at bay.

William turned to the ground and called out, "Ben! Does anything stick out to you?"

Been called back,"Looking at the wires! There's one that looks-" His fingers grazed a black-and-gold wire in the machine. Suddenly, cables launched out at the demon. They glowed with magic and had small star-shaped ends.

They wouldn't have scared him, if it weren't for the fact they were apparently trying to attack him.

Ben attempted to swat at them, but there wasn't much he could do in the small crawlspace. He let out a frightened scream as a few wrapped around his wrists and tried slamming him against the walls around him.

Ida and William heard the panicked yell and jumped. Ida knelt down and shouted, "BREAK ANYTHING YOU CAN GET YOUR HANDS ON!"

Ben yelled back,"I'M BEING ATTACKED BY MACHINERY! THIS IS NOT AN OPTIMAL SITUATION!" He grabbed at the metal, dragging himself back toward the wires.

Some of the cables wrapped around his face. One of the ends pressed into his face, the tip of it touching his cheek. It burned into his skin, making him scream through gritted teeth.

"Stop fighting this." A voice hissed into his ear. Ben desperately grabbed for the wire.

"You don't need to do this. I can give you anything you desire." The voice seemed slightly panicked. Ben found the black-and-gold wire and grabbed hold of it.

"I know what you wish for most! I can help you see her! Just let go!"

Ben paused for a moment.

His hand loosened around the wire.

Then, he pulled on the wire as hard as he could.

The wire snapped, and the cables shuddered, letting go of him. The voice screeched in fury and pain. The machine collapsed in on itself, bringing Ben down to the ground with it. He covered his head and tucked himself into a ball.

Above, the tendrils shivered with weakness. Ida laughed, jumping to her feet. "Captionem monstrum!"

William pulled her along as they dodged tendrils.

"Detrahe potentiam suam!"

Mabel froze for a moment, staring at the tendrils as they started missing their attacks.

"Captionem monstrum!"

Yellow light filled the void. Flintgold screeched once more as the darkness - as he - slipped away from the light.

"Patitur eius captis!"

Ida took out her knife and rubbed it on her clothes. The blade became misty from the leftover water on them. "Now, all that's left is to-"

Ida went stiff as pain exploded in her stomach. William stared, his expression that of horror. Mabel held a hand over her mouth and stifled a scream.

The tendril that had hit her slipped away as Flintgold roared with laughter. "YOU THINK A RIDICULOUS SPELL WILL ST-"

He was interrupted as Ida clenched her wound and laughed until she doubled over. The Pines stared, most likely wondering if she'd become delirious.

"What are you-" Flintgold suddenly screamed in pain. The tendrils withered, constricting into a small sphere. And like that, the darkness of Flintgold was trapped in a circle. What surrounded them was a beautiful, golden glow.

"Y-ya see..." Ida stumbled a bit. "My plan was to cut myself with a wet blade and hit ya with that." She coughed a little, wincing. "You did the job for me. Hit my wet clothes, and..." She looked down at the blood dripping from her fresh wound.

She nearly fell, but Zace rushed over and picked her up. "No..." Flintgold hissed. "No, no, no! I've waited too long to fail now!" The golden light started spreading all over him. "I-I'll still be here! I'll still become this family's curse! I'll-"

Stanley Pines punched a demon for the second time in his life. The golden light completely consumed Flintgold, leaving only a fading scream of death.

Ida laughed again, smiling wildly. "I am in incredible pain!" She cackled.

~~~

Elizabetta could hardly breathe when the darkness faded to yellow. A smile spread across her face.

Ford's fingers were covered with small burns from the chains' magic, but even that was overlooked by him. He stared at the glow, wondering what could have happened.

Bill looked across the glow calmly. "He's gone..." He whispered, his voice serene. He looked more at peace than he had in years. For so long, he'd been tormented by a heaviness in his mindscape and body.

Now, it was finished.

The chains crumbled to dust, and blew away with a wind they couldn't feel. "It's over..." Elizabetta half-laughed, her voice choked with joy. Bill squinted, seeing the group that had been sent off up ahead.

From below, Ben finally uncovered his head. The golden glow startled him at first. "Am I dead?" He murmured. The space the cable had pressed against his face still burned. "Not dead." He decided.

On the metal around him, he saw his reflection. A small, white star had formed on his face. His hair was an absolute mess. His bow was hanging loosely from a stray lock.

He hadn't been this glad to be alive in years. He stood and tried touching the golden glow around him. Too high.

He created a vine and let it snake up to the top. Phytokinesis was helpful in times like these. When the vine reached the glow, he was suddenly pulled up. He passed through it and ended up where his parents and Ford were. Mindscapes were weird.

Elizabetta grabbed him immediately and pulled him into a hug. "You did well..." She whispered.

Ben smiled appreciatively and looked around. "Where's Dad?" He asked. Elizabetta looked off nervously and motioned to the side. "He went to the others..." She said vaguely. Ben stepped back. "Then what are we doing here?" He asked. With that, he ran toward where Elizabetta motioned.

~~~

Ida knew that she would probably pass out and never wake up. She knew what dying pain was, but her whole body hurt.

Bill had arrived a few seconds ago. All he felt was fear as Zace carefully handed Ida to him. He tried speaking, wanting to say that everything would be okay; however, no words came to his throat. Ida grabbed his arm, managing a smile.

"It's-..." And everything went dark for her.

The demon held her tighter. "Not again." He whispered.