***https://www.patreon.com/Nii07/redeem/1F7E6***
The darkness parted with a soft ripple, and Helios stepped through into a space of quiet twilight.
The interior of Merlin's cottage glowed faintly with candlelight most likely a magical item, the soft flickering reflecting off worn bookshelves, jars of glowing dust, and old furniture draped with star-patterned cloths. The room smelled of ancient parchment and burned sage — oddly comforting, even now.
Helios held the girl gently in his arms.
She hadn't stirred since the mansion.
Her face, still and serene, bore no hint of fear or confusion — only fragility, like she existed by a thread. Her breath was so faint he wouldn't have known she lived if he couldn't sense her aura still clinging to a pale ember of light.
Helios stepped into a side room, once his own. Dust had claimed the corners, but the bed remained — old, but clean, its frame carved with subtle magical runes.
He placed her there carefully, pulling a light blanket over her form.
As he stepped back, her hand shifted slightly, twitching.
'A memory or a dream? Maybe both.'
Helios watched her a moment longer, then turned without a word.
Outside, Radiant Garden was still in its slow decay.
Once a beacon of light, it had long since fallen into the grasp of darkness, its edges claimed by Heartless, its castle overtaken by shadows. The streets were cracked. Buildings half-collapsed. The wind smelled faintly of smoke and stone dust.
Helios stood on the overgrown path outside the cottage and raised his palm.
A barrier lit up beneath his feet, spiraling outward around the house — forming a golden dome that shimmered, then vanished from sight.
"The ward should hold for a while," he murmured. "It should also keep the filth away… for now."
And then he walked.
He moved through the broken streets, boots crunching over gravel and fragments of old life. Windows watched him like empty eyes. The further he moved toward the castle, the more Emblem Heartless emerged — crawling from shadows, slinking from alleyways, leering from rooftops.
He did not run.
He did not flinch.
When they began to grow restless—sensing him, sniffing at his aura—he let go.
Darkness spilled out.
His body shimmered, the shadows rushing to him like a tide to shore. His coat blackened, edged with pulsating violet veins. His hair darkened, his eyes glowing gold, and his aura turned from half-light to full abyss.
The Heartless paused.
Then… bowed their heads.
Recognizing him as a superior.
Not as prey.
But as one of their own although higher than them.
They let him pass in silence, parting like a sea of claws and hunger.
Helios did not acknowledge them.
He walked through like a ghost through his own funeral.
By the time he reached the castle gates, the world had fully surrendered to ruin. The once-bright banners of Radiant Garden had faded to black rags. Emblem seals carved into the stone walls now pulsed with corrupted sigils. Thorny vines twisted up the stairwells like scars.
And at the apex, draped across a throne that had once belonged to rulers of light—Maleficent waited.
Her silhouette was unmistakable.
Tall, regal, her horned headdress casting elongated shadows across the throne room walls. Green fire flickered in hanging sconces, casting her in ghastly glow.
She looked down her nose at him as he entered, one clawed hand resting delicately against her chin.
"Well," she said, voice smooth as poisoned honey. "Look what the darkness dragged back in."
Helios stopped halfway into the chamber, lowering his hood. "You've redecorated."
"I was tired of Radiant Garden's old, radiant nonsense," she replied coolly. "The velvet purples and dark greens suit me better."
He glanced around. "I like what you've done with the place. Very 'end-of-days.'"
"You mock, but I sense envy behind your sarcasm."
He shrugged. "A little. And admiration."
Maleficent's eyes narrowed faintly, though a ghost of a smirk twitched at the edge of her lips. "Flattery from you is always suspicious."
"Because it's never just flattery."
"Indeed."
Helios stepped closer, folding his arms. "I came to make a request."
She tilted her head. "And why, pray, would I grant you anything? You've been nothing but a nuisance in the worlds I touch. Killing my minions."
"I'm offering you the chance to be more than that," he said, voice calm. "What I need are two items. Wards of darkness — enchanted objects imbued with anti-fading properties. Similar to your own coat, but refined. Smaller. More… fashionable."
"Why?" she asked. "Aesthetic reasons? Or have your precious vessels started crumbling to the darkness?"
Helios didn't flinch. "No, as you can tell I'm perfectly fine. In fact I'd say you'll fall to darkness sooner than I would. I need it for an acquittance. She has a powerful heart that I need, but she's unstable because… well, reasons."
Maleficent raised an eyebrow. "Most likely due to you correct?"
"Not the point."
"On the contrary," she said, rising slowly. "That is exactly the point. You play with things you don't understand, then come running to me when they slip through your fingers."
Helios sighed. "And yet here I am. Asking for your help."
She tapped a claw against the armrest. "No."
He raised an eyebrow. "No?"
"No," she repeated. "Why would I empower you to protect something I'd rather see destroyed? Whatever you want is dangerous to me."
Helios smiled. "Oh, so we're playing that game," he said. "Alright."
He turned his back slightly, pacing a few steps before glancing over his shoulder.
"Unless," he said smoothly, "you're about to need something from me."
Maleficent's expression froze.
Helios's eyes glinted.
"I know you, Maleficent," he continued. "You don't say no to something you might one day twist to your advantage. You've got something planned. Something big. You always do. And you'll need someone who can walk through the walls you can't."
She folded her arms.
"And why would I ask you of all people?"
"Because unlike your usual pawns," Helios said, turning fully to face her, "I don't break when things get difficult. I don't obey, either. But I do deliver. Look at where you sit. Did I not grant you that seat as promised?"
She regarded him for a long, heavy moment.
Then, finally, her lips curled into something sharp.
"I see," she murmured. "So the broken boy now wants to make deals."
He said nothing.
She stepped down from the dais, heels clicking against the stone, her gown dragging like black flame behind her.
"I'll consider it," she said. "But not here. Not now. There's a price for what you want. And you may not like what I ask."
"Try me."
"Oh, I will."
She turned from him with a sweep of her cloak.
"Return in two days. I'll have your answer—and perhaps your wards. If you're still brave enough to want them."
Helios smirked faintly. "I wouldn't have asked if I weren't."