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𝙻𝚘𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 : 𝚁𝚑𝚢𝚜' 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎
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"What's happening here?" Sylvie moved towards the house carrying a sleeping Valerie on her shoulders. She was returning from the office and there was a crowd in front of Rhys' house.

"Sylvie..." A tired Blaze made his way towards her, leaving the crowd behind.

"Blaze?" Sylvie quizzically looked at him.

"Is she asleep?" Blaze asked pointed to Valerie. Even his voice was tired.

"She is. We're late today, after all." Sylvie said, patiently waiting for him to explain things.

"Give her to me. You need to come inside." Blaze extended his hand and Sylvie passed the sleeping Valerie to him.

"What's going on here though?" Sylvie tried asking Blaze.

"Rhys..."

"What happened to him? Is he okay?" Sylvie asked in a worried tone.

"He isn't... I came to know when he's free so we could hang out but there was already this crowd outside. Apparently, the neighbors saw something burning here and called the police." Blaze stopped coming closer to the entrance.

"Fire? But this place looks pretty clear." True to Sylvie' point, there was no fire or even ashes there.

"I know. When police came, the fire had extinguished on it's own. Everyone was astonished as to what was happening. Since I had the spare key, I went inside. Only to find Rhys badly injured, laying on ground..." They were already inside the house, in Valerie' room.

"But ho..." Suddenly, Sylvie stopped in her tracks.

"What happened?" Noticing that she wasn't following him anymore, Blaze looked back at her. For a brief moment, he saw her platinum blonde hair change their colours. Her bangs had taken the shade of light blue. The flame like colour... He remembered it all too well. It was the power of "Cerulean Conflagration" or the Blue Flames. The power Sylvie was supposed to lose entirely after escaping 'The Sanctuary'. A power which was nothing but a curse for her. A power which created bloodshed in her entire family. Why? Why was this power showing itself?

"Sylvie..." Carefully, Blaze called for her. Nothing. It was as if she had frozen there.

"Blaze..." After a considerable amount of pause, Sylvie spoke in a low voice. Her legs shaking as she tried to stand properly.

"What's it? Your hair..."

"I don't know what's happening. But... My heart... It's burning. The fire... It's coming back..." Sylvie's legs gave up and she fell on the soft mat covering the ground.

"Are you okay?" Blaze hurried towards her. He had already placed the sleeping Valerie on her bed.

"I... There's an energy. Something's lingering in the atmosphere. Something sinister... Something like fire..." Sylvie muttered.

"Are you sure? This had happened so long ago... Maybe it's all... Maybe it's just in your imagination..."

"It isn't. I can feel it. The energy. The negative one. It's stronger than ever. Someone..." Sylvie was panicked. Her voice was heavy. So was her breathing. It wasn't easy to take in the energy suddenly flowing inside her body. This negative energy was so strong and pervasive-she could literally feel it like it were a tangible layer of heaviness on her own body.

"We tend to perceive negative energy as something other people have. Maybe all this has..." Blaze started to make Sylvie understand that maybe it were all a mere figment of her recent imagination. Maybe she was just having a nightmare remembering the past.

"It hasn't. It won't ever convince me otherwise. Don't you know that negativity can be so ingrained in you that it goes unnoticed? Besides this... It's all too familiar." Sylvie commented rather harshly. She knew it as a matter of fact that Blaze was trying to play the 'denial' card on himself.

Refusing to acknowledge that something was wrong here, was Blaze's way of coping with his internal emotional conflict, stress, painful thoughts, threatening information and anxiety. Sure, being in denial would give his mind the opportunity to unconsciously absorb this shocking and distressing information at a pace that won't send him into a psychological tailspin. It was logical and easier to do in such a situation. We all live in denial, some of the time, at least. Part of being human, and living in a society with other humans, is finding clever ways to express - and conceal - our feelings.

But, this situation was different. Rhys was badly injured. Sylvie didn't even how he was or where he was. There was Valerie who could wake up any moment now. Luna wasn't home yet and Sylvie herself was... This was the time to face the reality head on.

"So... You're saying your powers... They're back?" Blaze slumped down on the floor sitting beside Valerie's bed. A little lost... He didn't want to face everything again.

"No. They aren't. They shouldn't." Sylvie said. Afraid that the curse would be back.

"Then, how about the energy..." Blaze started. He knew it was a ride way to put it. Firstly, he was declining whatever she was saying and now, he was straight out helping her remember the brutal past she had.

"This energy... My flames aren't back but, something's definitely here. Within me." Sylvie touched her heart. Her words weren't clear. She was having difficulty in even completing some sentences.

"It's okay. Breathe and relax. We have to go see Rhys in hospital too. I've already asked Mavis to take care of everything there. About the energy... You're right. It's all around us. In every person, in every room. And even though we can't see it, it's still there." Blaze proceeded to stand up, extending his hand to help Sylvie up.

Blaze was indeed right. Energy... It was generally neutral. After all, it was the charge or the intent behind the energy which created positiveness or negativeness. The universe was inherently neutral but in the Earth plane, we all live in duality. Everything here had a charge whether light or dark, positive or negative, day or night, black or white. When the intent behind the energy was to create harm, hurt, division, to conquer, to destroy or to influence someone in a negative manner against their own free will we supposedly call these 'Dark Energies or Black Magic'. Something, which Sylvie could clearly feel resonating inside the house.

These energies never resonate well within our own energy systems, after all. Because the battery of our energy is the soul. The soul is inherently positive, expansive, healing and unifying so, when Dark Energies enter our systems whether by chance or by others then it makes us feel unwell and out of balance. These Dark or Malefic energies eclipse the soul.

Black magic was just a form of energy; it's like electricity. Then, is electricity the divine or the devil? When it's lighting our house, it's the divine. If it becomes an electric chair, it's the devil. It just depends on who is operating it at that moment. And someone sinister was definitely operating things here. The question is, who?

▄︻デ.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷.̷══━一

Number of words : 1206
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Author's Note :

1910 words more to go and the deadline is tomorrow. I'm not sure I can do it anymore but, the journey called 'try' goes on...

So, what do you think is actually happening here? Has someone tried performing black magic on our characters? Or there's something else going on? How's Rhys? And, where's Luna when everyone needs her?

We'll know about these in upcoming chapters... Maybe?

Till the next time. Take care. And thank you so much for reading this book. It means a lot.