We returned to the city immediately.
The Illuminati's words echoed in my head: Stop Mazza. Before it's too late.
We gathered in the conference hall.
Jack unrolled the giant locate map across the table.
"If we're going to find him," I said, "we need to track him."
I pressed my palm to the map and let blood drip onto the surface.
Nothing happened.
I cast a spell—mystic smoke—hoping my magic would guide the way.
The smoke rose... and curled directly above me.
We all stared.
"It's tracking you," Flake said.
I exhaled slowly. "My power came from Mazza. The map thinks I'm him."
"But you freed yourself," Cedric said. "His magic isn't attached to you anymore."
"Exactly. Which means we can't use me to find him."
Flake stepped forward. "Let me try. I still carry Amera's magic. If she's with him—"
She cast the same spell.
The smoke rose—and split into two trails.
One pointed at Forsaken.
The other pointed to an unnamed region on the edge of the map. Blank. Hidden.
"That's where they are," I said.
The Team
We couldn't all go.
Someone had to protect the city.
Jack, Jax, and Cedric stayed behind.
Cole, Flake, and I would hunt.
We were the three strongest. The three best fighters.
Before we left, I stopped at the vault and retrieved the pyramid. I didn't know why—but something told me we'd need it.
The Tower
We met at the front gate.
Channeled our magic together.
And teleported.
The unnamed location materialized around us.
A black tower stood in the center of the wasteland—massive, crumbling, scarred by battles long forgotten.
At the top, a figure looked down at us.
Mazza.
Something inside me stirred.
The black smoke returned—crawling up from my core, trying to reclaim me.
But the Illuminati's energy pushed back.
White light exploded through my veins.
My armor shifted—red and white, blazing with power I hadn't felt before.
Flake and Cole transformed beside me. Their armor shimmered with the same divine light.
We were ready.
The Illusion
Amera stepped out of the shadows.
She raised her wand—and the world changed.
The wasteland vanished. The tower twisted. The sky cracked open to reveal something ancient and wrong.
We had been standing in an illusion.
This was the real battlefield.
Mazza descended from the tower, landing before us with a calm, venomous smile.
"Well, well. Look who it is." His eyes locked onto mine. "My greatest killer."
"Shut up." I drew my blade. "We're here for one reason. To kill you. And her."
I charged.
He raised a hand.
I froze mid-step, inches from his face.
"I imagine you're wondering," he said softly, "why we opened a portal to the realm of the dead."
I couldn't move. Couldn't speak.
"We went looking for familiar faces." His smile widened. "Two of them, actually."
He gestured behind him.
And my heart stopped.
The Dead
Cast.
Dixon.
They walked out from behind Mazza and Amera, side by side.
Their eyes were black. Empty. The same hollow gaze I had worn when I was under his control.
Their armor matched ours—but the flames were yellow.
My body started to shake.
The sky darkened above us. Wind howled. Thunder cracked across the land.
I let go of everything.
"I've been waiting for this moment," I said, voice trembling with fury. "For a long time, Mazza."
Lightning split the clouds.
"If you let go of me... I'm going to kill you in ways I can't even imagine."
The Battle
Cole moved first.
He tackled Amera, pinning her to the ground, blade pressed to her throat.
She twisted her wrists—and he dropped, paralyzed by an invisible force.
But Flake was already behind her.
She drove her sword through Amera's chest.
Amera's eyes went wide.
Her mouth opened—no sound came out.
She looked down at the blade protruding from her heart.
Then her eyes closed.
And she fell.
Dead.
Mazza screamed.
He threw his arms apart—wind exploded outward, hurling all three of us across the battlefield.
He dropped to his knees beside Amera's body.
Cradled her.
Tried every spell he knew.
None of them worked.
She was gone.
I pushed myself up.
"Now you know," I said. "How it feels to lose someone you love."
He looked at me, trembling.
"But you'll never understand my pain. You never will."
I stepped closer.
"But don't worry. You'll be with her soon."
The Escape
Mazza rose slowly.
His face was twisted—grief and rage fused into something inhuman.
A single tear fell from his eye.
Blood.
He raised his wand.
Pointed it at me.
Fired.
The spell hit me square in the chest—
And did nothing.
Or so I thought.
He vanished.
Rain began to fall.
Cast and Dixon flickered—and disappeared.
Illusions.
They had never been real.
I dropped to my knees.
Slammed my fists into the ground.
The earth cracked beneath me.
I screamed.
The rain stopped.
The sun broke through the clouds.
And without knowing why, I reached for the pyramid.
Held it up to the sky.
Sunlight passed through one of the red eyes—and exploded out the others in beams of radiant light.
The pyramid glowed brighter and brighter—
And I was pulled inside.
The Falls
I opened my eyes.
I was standing at the top of the waterfall.
Our waterfall.
The place where I first met my friends.
Below, two figures stood at the water's edge.
I dove.
The current carried me toward them—
SNAP.
The White Realm
I stood in a void of pure light.
And before me—
Cast.
Dixon.
Real this time. I could feel it.
Cast smiled softly. "How are you, Zero?"
I couldn't hold it together.
My body shook. My voice cracked.
"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I couldn't stop him. He made me—he made me kill you—"
Dixon stepped forward.
"I know," he said gently. "But that wasn't you. And now... you have a chance to stop him for good."
I looked up.
"How?"
Cast answered. "The pyramid. Aim it at Mazza when the sun reaches its apex. Once he's trapped inside—twist the top."
"That's it?"
"That's it."
I stood there, trembling.
"Thank you," I said. "For everything. For being my friends."
They smiled.
The light grew brighter.
SNAP.
Home
I was back.
Sitting on the ground, the pyramid in my hands.
I whispered to myself:
"Mazza. I'm coming for you."
That night, I sat at my desk, the pyramid before me.
I twisted the top—just to see.
The surface shifted to a night sky color. Stars swirled inside the gold.
I twisted it back.
Set it down.
Lay on my bed.
Closed my eyes.
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
My eyes flew open.
That voice.
My mother's voice.
The Parents
I walked to the door slowly.
Opened it.
And there they stood.
Manner. My mother.
Neuro. My father.
My mother's expression was cold. "There you are. What were you thinking, running off like that?"
My father sneered. "There's the trash. What's wrong with you, huh?"
I flinched.
Old instincts. Old fear.
They stepped inside and closed the door behind them.
"Just as always," my father muttered. "A scared little brat."
He swung his hand at me.
I caught it.
Squeezed.
"You hit me," I said, voice low, "and I will break you."
He stumbled back, eyes wide.
My mother stepped forward. "You dare hurt your father? You dare speak to him that way?"
She slapped me across the face.
I activated my armor.
Red and white flames roared to life around me.
They screamed—scrambled back—pressed themselves against the wall in terror.
"This is what you were hiding from me?" I said. "This power? This curse?"
I stepped toward them.
"You made me run. Made me hide. Never told me anything. And you—" I pointed at my father. "You beat me. Tortured me. Every single day."
My mother's voice wavered. "After everything we did for you—"
"What did you do?!" I roared. "Mistreat me? Keep secrets? Let a murderer live inside me without telling me?!"
My father tried to swing again.
I cast a spell.
He shrank—twisted—transformed.
When it was over, a mouse stood where he had been.
My mother screamed.
The mouse squeaked in fury. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!"
I raised my hand—and teleported them both to the southern territory.
Gone.
Aftermath
Flake burst through the door moments later.
"I heard yelling—what happened?"
I told her.
She listened quietly, then said, "I'm sorry, Zero. That's horrible."
"It's fine."
"No, it's not. But..." She offered a faint smile. "Your life is different now."
"It's better," I admitted. "But I still have problems."
Jax arrived shortly after.
Flake gave us space.
I told Jax everything—my parents, the confrontation, and what had happened inside the pyramid.
Her eyes lit up when I mentioned Cast and Dixon.
I told her about the trap. How to seal Mazza forever.
We talked for half an hour.
Then she left.
And I finally slept.
The Curse
The next morning, I called a meeting.
I told the leaders about the pyramid. About the plan.
They took notes. Wrote ideas. Strategized.
When the meeting ended, I gathered the papers and walked toward the door.
Then—
Pain.
A spike of agony drove through my skull.
I dropped to my knees.
A voice echoed inside my head—cold, ancient, furious.
"You'll pay for what you did. For an eternity."
The pain faded.
I stayed on the floor, breathing hard.
And I realized the truth.
Mazza's spell hadn't missed.
It hadn't failed.
He had cursed me.