The Luminosity of Love

Gone at Last

~Mark POV~

I was drowning. Just drowning. In the darkness. Alone. I waved my arms and kicked my legs, trying to propel myself through the water, despite the strong current that was obviously keeping me in place. Even though I couldn't see anything, I could tell that my eyes were clouding over, and the taste of blood soon entered my mouth, startling me so much that I gasped. The ghastly cold fluid poured in my mouth and into my lungs, and more blood entered and exited my mouth, leaving the water around me a slightly warmer temperature. By gasping, I had just ensured my own death. I was absolutely sure this was the end... until I saw him.

James was swimming through the water, pushing towards me, his tiny limbs moving rapidly. As he got closer, he latched onto my arm, tugging me in the direction he just came from. His large eyes were filled with fear as he gripped my arm, and this set off something inside me. I needed to protect James. I needed to save him. And as much as I hated their mother, I needed to make sure that her little boy wasn't going to die. I wrapped my arms and wings around James, then surging forward with help from my newfound energy. Or desperation, take your pick.

Still unable to see anything, except for myself and James, I continued to push forward. With my eyes now closed, and my lungs burning, I reached out with my hand, trying to find the edge of the darkness. A sliver of doubt crept into my mind, but I tried to push it away. Especially when I barreled through the water and fell onto dry ground. I coughed up the water that had entered my lungs, feeling slightly dizzy when I saw the red diffusing with the black water. James sputtered for air and I completely forgot about my own condition, I was just worried about his well-being. I crawled to his side and picked him up, watching as he spit out the last of the water in his mouth. I held him close to my chest as he took deep but heavy breaths, rubbing his back to comfort him. "Are you good now, buddy?"

He nodded, still taking deep breaths. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks to you."

Y/n suddenly jumped on me, enveloping me and James in a bear hug. "You suck at fighting evil doppelgangers," she muttered.

I laughed and kissed her cheek, taking her hand in mine as I stood up with James. The dark water suddenly dropped, quickly running over to ground and disappearing. Dark stood with his hands clenched and his face burned with rage, the color giving his skin a more human look. I narrowed my eyes and squeezed Y/n's hand tighter. I watched as Dark's eyes slowly scanned each of us, his dark irises finally stopping when he saw James. A malicious grin slowly spread across his face, making him look more malevolent than ever before. "So, this is the little rat that saved Mark. Interesting."

I growled, letting James wrap his arms around my neck as he pulled himself closer to me. "Leave Dark, you're not wanted here."

"Who's gonna make me?"

"I am," I said with a completely serious tone.

Dark began to laugh. "You? What can you do without your stupid pencil?"

With one hand, James reached into his pocket and pulled out the broken halves of the pencil. I grinned as I took the pencil from him, then handing James to Y/n. As Dark continued to laugh, I grabbed a strand of light and stuck the pencil together, wrapping the light around its broken center to keep it together. I then drew a longsword, which proved to be difficult seeing as the pencil couldn't make the most fluid lines. As the sword took shape, its weight suddenly appeared in my hand, making me feel lopsided.

Dark almost instantly stopped laughing when he saw the sword in my hand. With a growl, he whipped out his pencil and began to draw. My eyes widened when I realized what he was drawing, but let him finish anyways. I could feel goosebumps form on my arms as I stared at the headless mannequin, which began to move using jagged motions after Dark snapped his fingers. Although jerky in its movements, it advanced on me rather quickly, making me feel even more panicked than before.

As it got closer, I nearly dropped my sword, but I screamed and swung anyways, chopping it in half and running forward before Dark could draw another disturbing fear of mine. He let out a half-squeal half-gasp when I tackled him, my sword over his throat as I kneeled on his chest. He kicked and tried to push me off, but stopped and glared at me when I pushed my sword against his throat. "You," I growled, "are going to leave, and you're not going to come back. Because if you do, I have a feeling I'm not going to be the only one that wants to kill you."

He continued to glare at me with his dark eyes, but he waved his hand upward, disappearing in a black smoke. When I was absolutely sure he was gone, I let out a sigh of relief, letting go of the sword and standing up. Y/n ran over and hugged me with her free arm, holding James with her other. James then reached out and latched his arms around my shoulders. "Let's go find your sister, okay?"

He nodded, giving me a huge grin as I held him. I laughed, letting Y/n show me where Emily was. "So James," I asked, "did you know how to save me?"

He shook his head before resting his chin on my shoulder. I looked over to Y/n, silently asking for her to elaborate. "He just wiggled away and ran to the water. I don't really know what else happened."

I nodded, patting James on the back. "Thank you James, you're a lifesaver."

He leaned back and gave me another toothy grin, making Y/n and I laugh. "James! Mark!" Emily squealed, running up and hugging my legs.

I chuckled and set James down before kneeling and pulling both kids into a hug. "Is scary man gone, Mark?"

"Yes," I said, my voice barely above a whisper. "He's not going to scare you anymore."

"James! Emily!"

The children whined, and I simply sighed. "Okay guys, your mother wants you."

"But we wanna stay with you Mark! She doesn't let us have any fun!"

I put one hand on Emily's shoulder and the other on James'. "Listen, even though your mother is strict and very stubborn, she loves you, and she just wants to make sure that you two are being safe. She doesn't want you to get hurt, okay?"

They both nod, then giving me simultaneous hugs. "Can we play tomorrow?" James asked.

I laughed. "Of course, I'll be in the same spot as always."

They cheered before running to their mom. I stood up, Y/n giving me a hug afterwards. I laughed, wrapping my arms around her and burying my face in her hair. "I guess the luminosity of love is a thing," she said.

"How so?"

She pulled away to look me in the eye. "James came to help you. You wouldn't have survived without him."

I smiled and kissed her forehead. "I guess you're right."

She giggled and grabbed my hand, leading me back to our place. "Toaster's gonna show some luminosity of love when we get home," she joked.

I smiled, gently swinging ours arms as we walked. "But guess who has the most luminosity of love?"

"Who?"

I stopped Y/n and grabbed both of her hands, looking her dead in the eye. "Me, for you."

I then leaned down and kissed her, smiling when she kissed back.

Author's Note

Hey!! So... We're done... Yeah, hey! No! No crying!! (Too late XD -A) I see you! Suzy.. Suzy no! Crying is not allowed. *sigh* ok, fine... I guess you can. But no, John no, you're not allowed to. (Where are all these people coming from?! -A) I don't know, apparently people like our work... XD Anyway, Dark is defeated, he's not dead but he's gone so the world is safe again. XD And Mark was saved by a 5 year old. (A cute five year old -A) Yes, yes he is. Seems legit. Anyway, we hoped you guys liked this book, and well, all the books we've done together. AND WE WILL SEE ALL YOU DUDES... In the next video!!

All in all, Buh-Bye!! -C
Peace! -A