The Light

The moment the lights flickered out, she knew her time had come.

Not for death, no, she wasn’t scared of death.

But her magic.

That was terrifying.

---

Lucy had been watching TV, flicking through the channels, her mind in a different place. She wasn’t sure where, it was only a floating sensation, the noise from the TV a calming buzz.

Then, the buzz was gone, pitching Lucy forward to the ground. The lamp above her, bright and searing, flickered out, leaving Lucy in what she was taught to fear: darkness.

---

The darkness wasn’t the type that she feared when she was younger.

Not that type of darkness, with shadows moving across the room to you.

No, not that type.

This darkness was suffocating, leaving her alone in the world.

---

“Darn, cat!” Lucy almost tripped over her neighbor’s new cat, as she was shrugging on a coat.The hallway was dark, elevator off. Lucy squinted, trying to find the door to the staircase.

When she finally did, she struggled to open the door, and found that it was because someone passed out against it.

That was the problem with New York City, the only way to get around was to be rough, to ignore the darkness trying to press in and keep traveling in the light.

Lucy ran down the stairs, her sneakers hitting concrete, echoing around the stairwell.

“That’s too loud!” Someone complained from below.

“Shut up!” Lucy snapped back, and ran out into the lobby. She couldn’t afford to be civil, be nice.

The world was going to end if she didn’t get there on time.

---

“Hello again,” the demon said, more polite than you would think a demon would be.

That was the problem, she thought. What she thought the demon would be when it finally came was different than what showed up.

“Older now.”

She nodded slowly, holding her aged hands closer.

“I need you to give me the magic.”

She shook her head, the rocking chair she was sitting in creaking.

“I can save you.”

She shook her head again.

“And your family.”

She squinted, finally seeing what the demon was.

Smoke. The demon was smoke.

“You can still be your granddaughter’s little light,” the demon hissed, holding out what would have been a hand. “What was her name? Your granddaughter? Lily?”

“You know her name.” She finally said.

“Really… Lady, I’m still going to need your magic.”

She slowly shook her head.

Everything smelled like wood.

Burning wood.

---

New York was supposed to be the city that never slept, except now it was in deep sleep, right when Lucy needed it to be awake.

She needed it to be light, someone to bring in the light from the crushing darkness.

Lucy ran, ran as fast as she could, her heart pounding everywhere.

The city was silent.

---

The demon wasn’t burning down her house yet, it still needed her.

“Look, Granny,” it’s voice was like flames caught in a jar, one smash and all would burn. “Your time is up. You’ve protected everyone for too long.”

The demon wasn’t going to burn.

It was smoke, after all.

---

Lucy knew that she was going to collapse before she could get there.

Lucy looked up to the sky, tears of exhaustion dripping down her cheeks and making her shirt wet. She had ditched the coat awhile back, handing it to someone who was shivering.

If they were all going to die, might as well be the right temperature.

“Oh, please,” Lucy silently prayed. She could see the start of the end of the world above her, smoke starting to come down from the clouds.

The people were protected for now, the barrier was still up.

But it could break before she was there.

Lucy started running again.

---

“Why are you protecting them?” The demon wasn’t going to get any closer. She wouldn’t allow it. “They wouldn’t protect you.”

“They might,” her voice cracked, branches snapping in the wind.

“No.” The demon shook its head. “No, they wouldn’t.”

“One could,” she said. She could feel the barrier starting to collapse. She was going to hold on for as long as she could.

---

Lucy wasn’t sure why it was her family that was burdened with this. The magic to keep the light in.

The world wasn’t this simple, but magic was.

There was dark and light magic.

She was light, which was what her grandmother taught her.

Her sister was, too.

Was.

Slowly, her sister had turned to the dark.

Melaine, her Lani, her sister, decided humans weren’t worth saving.

Because they all had light inside of them. Not the magic type, just light.

And they didn’t do anything about it.

---

“They just need to know,” she whispered to the demon. Her hands were clasped together, hiding the growing light between them. “They have the light too.”

“But what do they do with it?” The demon groaned. “They could plant more trees, right? Nope, they don’t do that. Just be kind? Nope.”

“Some of them.”

“Some of them compared to the rest? That’s not enough.”

“Everyone does bad.”

“Sin? Myth. There is no good or bad, there is just existing. Yeah, everyone does bad, but it’s how they learn.” The demon leaned against the wall of her house. “But they aren’t learning from it.”

“There are few, those who will keep us moving forward. Those who are learning.”

“Not enough.”

“There are those who will learn, who are just struggling for their purpose.”

The demon paused. “Maybe.”

“They are just trying to make their way in the world.”

“Why did you let me in? You have complete control on who can come into the barrier.”

“You know why, Lani.”

“Lady, you’re going to die soon,” the demon hissed.

“So are you.”

---

“So are you.”

Lucy heard her grandmother’s last words, and suddenly light blasted through the house she had grown up in.

Lucy fell back, her elbows getting scratched by the pavement.

The next moments were a blur. Lucy stood up, letting the bright light soak into her eyes, going forward into the burning house.

---

She had fulfilled her purpose.

It may not have been what the universe had planned for her, but it was still her purpose.

She chose it herself.

She let go, and she faded, disappearing as the light surrounded her.

The universe had heard her last prayer.

Not to die in darkness.

---

“No!” The demon screeched, reaching for where the old lady used to be. “No.”

“Lani?” A familiar voice said from behind her.

And there was Lucy, her other, better side. Her long, golden hair was fluffing up behind her, and her eyes were the color of the sun.

“Lucy,” the demon started to cry. “She’s gone. I didn’t get it. I didn’t get the light.”

“I know,” Lucy wrapped her into a hug. “It just wasn’t for you.”

“But-”

“They lied,” Lucy whispered into the demon’s ear. “The other demons lied.”

“But-”

“Humans are more like us than we thought,” Lucy kept whispering, still holding the demon in the burning house. “Sometimes they get lost, and sometimes they just need something to look for.”

“Lucy,” the demon sniffed. “It said to do it.”

“Is that what you wanted to do? Really wanted to do?”

“Yes.”

“You want, with everything in you, to destroy humans because sometimes they get lost, just like you?” Lucy stepped back. “Say yes, and I will let you destroy everything.”

“... no,” the demon whispered. “No.”

Lucy pressed her forehead against the demon’s, and closed her eyes.