Chapter Twenty-seven: Farewell

Marry and Picario quickly leapt to opposite sides as the Diablo raised his foot and tried smashing it down on them. A powerful gust of wind from the force of his stomp alone blew against Marry and Picario hard, kicking up dust in their eyes. The two squinted and then simultaneously took high to the sky. As they gained height the Diablo swung his fist at Picario.

Picario barley managed to teleport out of the way as the Diablo’s hand smashed through part of the sky scraper sending glass and concrete crashing down below. The Diablo was ignoring Marry completely.

Picario had teleported to a level facing the front of the Diablo’s face. He eyed down this red and black skinned devil with horns, and wondered how he was to confront him. He had heard about him before but never actually seen him until now, it was possible this form was just big and not too strong but Picario was about to find out.

Picario began charging up energy in both his hands when the Diablo’s eyes started glowing red. Picario sensed there was a store of power about to be released from his eyes, so he converted the energy he had been gathering into a barrier in front of him. Two massive beams of red energy shot out from the Diablo’s eyes and hit Picario’s barrier dead on. His barrier held strong, but the force from the eye blast sent Picario flying straight through one of the skyscrapers.

The young magus flew out from the other end of the skyscraper in a spiraling motion. He had to use his magic to halt his momentum before he was sent through another skyscraper. When he managed to stop himself he was facing upside down and staring at the ground far below. He straightened himself out and then quickly gathered the energy back into his hands and then flew high over the sky scraper.

The Diablo was surprised when the young magus flew high above the skyscraper he had just been blasted through; and then shot a beam of raw green energy at his face. The blow hit him hard and he stumbled backwards and fell onto his back. The ground shook for miles when he hit down on it.

Marry watched the scene unfold from the top of one of the skyscrapers. She began to doubt Picario could defeat this opponent despite his instant come back. She had fought the Diablo before and lost to him completely. She knew she couldn’t just sit back and watch Picario fight alone but she also knew she could do little against that demon.

By the time the Diablo had got back to his feet Marry had made her decision; she would give everything she had in one strike; to try and blind the demon and give Picario a much needed advantage. She slowly charged up her energy as she levitated high into the sky. She gathered storm clouds around her to use as cover, and a front for her attack. There she waited for her opportunity while gathering energy.

Picario made sure to keep a good distance from the Diablo so he could defend, block, or counter any new attacks from him. However to his surprise the massive demon only tried using his eye beam attack again, but when Picario dodged that easily the demon charged at him. Picario flew around the air dodging the demons many attempts to smack him with his hands.

The first attack came in the form of a right handed jab. Picario easily flipped over it in the air. Then the demon tried hitting him with his left hand as Picario went over the first attack. He simply teleported above that too then, in rapid series of throwing his hands out and pulling them in one after the other, he shot out dozens of smaller energy blasts at the demons chest.

The boy’s attacks had no visible effect on the demon what’s so ever. Before he could try another attack the demon swiftly tried crushing him between his hands. Picario tossed his hands out to his sides creating two invisible barriers that stopped the demons hands from crushing him. He then put much more force into the barriers and converted them into a shockwave of energy that threw the demons hands back away from him.

Picario then teleported far back so the demon couldn’t try that same trick again. And before he realized what was happening, the storm clouds that had appeared above them roared to life and in moments a massive bolt of lightning surged forward racing to the demons eyes. The demon countered the attack with his laser eyes and the two attacks canceled each other out in massive shockwave that exploded the glass of all the skyscrapers around them.

Picario was smart enough to pull up a barrier to guard him from the shockwave. He turned to the clouds to see Marry unconsciously falling down from them. He cursed silently to himself then teleported to Marry and caught her. He held her under his arms and started flying away at great speed but soon heard the demons footsteps quickly chasing after him.

He couldn’t do much while carrying Marry and he couldn’t get her somewhere safe and hidden with his opponent chasing right behind him. The only thing he could think of was his knew spell he had only done a few times before. He had mastered the spell on the third try but it just took time and energy.

Thinking fast Picario flew into the window of one of the skyscrapers and waited inside the middle area. The entire floor was empty, no doors, just a flat surface and windows all around. Picario put Marry down for a moment then walked over to an area and started blasting holes through the floor. He stopped after blasting down 34 floors of the skyscraper; then he picked up Marry again and jumped down the holes.

He landed softly on one of the lower floors and then set Marry down again as he gathered energy from inside himself for the spell he was about to evoke. The demon outside circled the building and looked around for Picario and Marry but couldn’t find them anywhere. Then the demon tore the top of the building off and looked down into it.

When the Diablo saw the holes blasted through the floors he reach down and pulled off half of the remaining building and tossed it aside like it was a small rock. He was still a few floors short of Picario and Marry so he decided to kick through the floors one by one.

Picario saw what his opponent was doing and decided to change tactics a bit. When the floor they were on was revealed in a loud sound of destruction, Picario had already created a vertical portal which he tossed Marry threw then closed. He kept as much of the energy going as he could from the previous portal and made a new horizontal one but much larger.

The Diablo brought his foot up and intended to smash Picario with it just as Picario had finished his new portal. The Diablo’s foot went through the portal instead of crushing the boy like he intended. He stepped down all the way through the portal until just below his knee was in it. His foot stepped down on something soft, like grass and before he could pull his foot back up Picario dropped all energy keeping the portal alive and it closed, taking the Diablo’s foot with it.

The cut was clean and perfect as the Diablo screamed in agony from losing his right foot. He fell on his butt screaming in pain and rage. Before the Diablo’s blood could splatter all over Picario, he teleported far away from him; using the last of his energy.

Picario watched from the distance on the edge of another skyscraper as the Diablo smashed through all the nearby buildings in rage. He was ignorant of his blood loss and before he even realized it he was fading away; having lost the battle. Picario smiled and fell on his back starring up at the clear sky.

The young boy was also fading away; he had used the very last bit of his energy creating both those portals. He had to hope Marry survived her own attack because otherwise all of this would have been for nothing.

Marry watched from the clouds as the Diablo tried smashing Picario between his hands. When Picario had thrown the demon’s hands far away in the shockwave Marry knew this was her best chance. She then aimed the energy she had been silently gathering, and converting into lightning, and channeled it all in one concentrated attack at the demon’s eyes. She suddenly felt very tired afterwards and felt the sensation of falling surround her.

She closed her eyes only for a second then woke up in the dessert plains where she, Ethan, and Picario first started out in when they entered the tournament. She wondered how she got there but soon came to the conclusion that it must have been Picario. She had gotten in his way and probably might have just cost him the fight with her interference; but she wouldn’t know until after the tournament.

Marry searched around for a portal but found none in sight. She had no other choice but to wait around. She sat down, feeling completely exhausted. Time passed and she doodled in the sand to keep from going insane. She let out a sigh of boredom when things started getting much darker. The sun was dimming fast and was soon replaced with nothing but darkness.

Marry stood up preparing herself as best she could for anything that might come. She had been here before and this was the first time the sun in this sky had ever gone out like it did. After a long wait in silence a loud boom sound erupted from far behind Marry. She turned around quickly and saw the explosion of a red firework. Another firework made of yellow colors soon followed. And then more fireworks in the sky made of several different bright colors all went off one after the other.

The sky was soon filled with the fireworks exploding all around. Marry was puzzled by this strange development when soon a massive rainbow colored firework exploded in the sky in front of Marry that spelled out: Congratulations Marry Cromwell. You have won this years God tournament.

After the fireworks faded away a moon began gradually appearing in the sky until finally it was fully visible and its silver light illuminated an expansive empty field of luscious green grass. A gentle breeze flew by and with it carried the sweet smell of spring; a smell Marry could only find once a year in a certain place on earth.

Part of her felt like she could lay down in the grass under the moonlight and enjoy the sweet spring smell forever; but then she remembered that she had finally accomplished her goal of winning the god tournament. Now she could finally find out the answers she had been searching for all these centuries.

Marry got to her feet and turned around to see a rectangular light off in the distance of the grass plains. She headed for it. When she went through the light she came out on floor 100 at the top of the steps; the caretaker’s room was just behind her. She turned around to see inside the room; she saw darkness and nothing more.

Pulling out her amber crystal Marry took in deep breath of anticipation then let it out slowly. She teleported to floor 99 and went straight to the rooms corridor. She stopped in front of the first room and knocked on the door four times. The door opened immediately after the fourth knock. A young man who looked to be about 16 with silver and white hair was on the other side smiling lightly.

“Congratulations on winning the God tournament. I suppose this means you’re ready to learn the secrets about the mansion?” Silver asked.

Marry couldn’t speak, she was too nervous so instead she nodded her head.

“Come inside then.”

Silver moved out of the way for Marry to step through the door, and when she was in he shut it behind him.

Ethan and Picario came back to inside the mansion lobby just like any other tournament. The only difference this time is that their friend, Marry, wasn’t with them like when they had entered the tournament. Ethan turned to Picario and asked, “Well what happened did we win?”

Picario smiled and said, “Yes, somehow we managed to pull it off, Marry was the last phantom remaining.”

“Awesome! Where is she though?”

Picario looked around; he saw no sign of her. “I’m not sure,” he said.

The two of them then rushed off to Marry’s room. When they arrived there they tried opening the door; it was locked. Next they tried knocking on it. They waited and waited but no one answered. The two of them sighed simultaneously then decided to go to Tilly’s to celebrate their accomplishment.

Tilly’s was packed more so than ever, as it was still the New Year’s celebration going on. Phantoms from around the world filled up the shop. Ethan and Picario saw Tilly running around getting to as many orders as she could. “Tilly!” Ethan called out to her.

She stopped and approached Ethan and Picario. “Hi guys,” She said enthusiastically.

“Tilly what’s going why is there so many people?”

Tilly glanced around her briefly and then said, “Because it’s new years of course. My shop is one of a kind and no other mansion has managed to do the awesomeness I have done here. I’m actually booked on tables right now, but if you can get through the crowds you’re free to find whatever you want, but please don’t linger too long there are a lot of customers who want things.”

Then Tilly was off without another word. Ethan and Picario looked at each other and both decided they would go enjoy the New Year’s celebrations instead.

After New Year’s the boys tried going to Marry’s once again but still she didn’t answer her door. They left once more but tried again on several different occasions; still she did not answer. After a couple months they began to grow worried so they looked around for where they might find her.

They tried Tilly’s sweets shop and asked Tilly if she had seen Marry at all, but Tilly said she had not so they moved on. The only place left they could think of to check was with Kelly. They found Kelly in the aquarium part of her shop.

“Hey boys,” Kelly said greeting them with a smile.

They both said hi at the same time and then Ethan asked, “Hey Kelly, have you seen Marry around? We’re starting to get worried about her; we haven’t seen her since the God tournament.”

Kelly’s smile vanished and was replaced with a frown. “I promised her I would wait for you two to ask about her, but I had hoped it would have been right away so that perhaps you might be able to catch her before it was too late.”

“Before what was too late? Kelly what are you talking about?”

Kelly let out a sad sigh and said, “I talked to Marry shortly after the New Year’s party. She told me goodbye was too hard for her to say to you two so she wrote a letter instead.”

Kelly reached into her pocket and pulled out a teal colored folded up piece of paper; it had Marry’s signature on it. Ethan took it then looked at Kelly who just kept her eyes on the letter. Ethan opened up the letter and read it:

“ Ethan I’m writing this to tell you that I have moved on from this place. But if you’re receiving this I’m sure you already know that by now. I have discovered all the answers I was searching for about this place. It’s funny thinking about it now, how wrong I was. I’ll leave you to discover the answer for yourself since mystery is half the fun of both life and death. I will say this however, the mansion is not evil like I had previously suspected.

"I don’t really know what else to say except that my time with you and Picario, and Kelly has been the best time of my afterlife; with love and warm regards ,

MARRY CROMWELL