Lilith's Emporium Pt. 19: Dark Ness

"Is she........ dead?"

"No, no she isn't, I honestly don't know what happened Shadow, I wish I did."

Patrick looked all over the house just to make sure she wasn't hiding there somewhere. He even went into the backyard and called her name into the woods but there was nothing. He didn't know how to get back to Agorir's forest either so he was starting to panic a little not know what happened to his wife but he did his best to stay strong for Shadow's sake.

"Where is she!" Shadow said getting aggravated.

"Shadow, Honey," Patrick said comforting her. "Nessira is alive, somewhere, and I promise you, one way or another, we will find her and bring her home, okay?"

"I know Dad, I'm just worried," Shadow said trying to hide her tears.

"Me too," he said before wrapping his arms around her.

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It had been over a week since Nessira had disappeared and Patrick was having a hard time keeping it together. Shadow had continued to go to school in an attempt to keep her mind off of it and Patrick did his best to put on a brave face while she was home but it was getting more difficult and Shadow could tell.

He hadn't shaved since his return and was starting to look scruffy. Shadow was trying to be brave for him as well while he did the same for her but they were both falling apart inside. She thought back to when Nessira had been captured by Ror'gon and how helpless she felt then so she knew this pain well but she didn't have Kevin here to help her anymore so it was becoming more difficult.

While Shadow was away Patrick would open portals and search the earth for Nessira but could find no trace of her. Nobody had seen or heard from her anywhere and when he tried to contact Lilith he couldn't find her either. He had spoken to Chris who had also not seen Lilith in days which he thought was odd considering they lived together.

One day after Shadow had left for the day Patrick was standing in the backyard. He was trying his best not to fall apart but it was difficult not knowing where his love was or when or if she would return to him. It was a beautiful day and he found himself walking up the road to the top of the hill.

As he entered the clearing he began to remember his wedding day. He remembered the moment he discovered that this was the site of Nessira's old house, that this was Raven Hill. He remembered kissing her after Lilith had pronounced them. He remembered dancing with her at the reception with everyone watching. As strange as it was and despite everything he had done before the ceremony, it turned out to be a normal wedding despite what they were and what creatures were there.

A tear streamed down his face as he thought about all of it until he glanced over and noticed a tree. The moment he saw it he knew what it was. He was shocked that it was still there after the centuries since that day. It was the tree Sebastian had been hung from, still standing tall. Anger began to build inside him as he sprouted one of his flaming blades and began walking towards it. He went to swipe at the trunk when he suddenly stopped.

"What are you doing?" A woman's voice said.

Patrick stopped and turned around seeing a woman with red hair and a blue dress standing a few yards away. "Nes...... Nessira?" He said retracting his blade and walking towards her. She suddenly sprouted one of her dark blades as Patrick stopped as he was confused. "Nessira, what are you doing?"

"Stay back wizard, what are you doing here?"

"What? Nessira, it's me, it's Patrick!"

"I don't know any Patrick, so I don't know what trickery you are trying to pull but you should leave now before I take your head!"

Patrick stood there heartbroken and confused by what he was hearing. This was Nessira, in the flesh but she didn't know who he was. He wasn't sure what had happened to her and he did 't know what to do either.

"Ness, please, I am not here to hurt you."

"I'm not worried about that, you may be a wizard but you are no match for the Red Witch of Raven Hill."

"You don't remember Agorir, the forest, the curse, anything?"

"Curse?" She asked with a curious look in her eyes. "Were you sent here by Baphomet, because I am no longer her dark servant?"

"You remember Baphomet, you remember breaking free of her hold over you?"

"No, but I can no longer feel her presence, plus I've been told she is dead."

"Told by who?"

"By my mother, Lilith."

"Where is she, I need to speak with her?"

"That is none of your business," she said before she suddenly rushed behind him holding her blade to his throat. "Now this is your final warning, leave this place and never return."

"You don't want to do that," he said as the blade touched his skin.

"And why is that, Wizard?"

"Don't you feel it?" He asked as she stood silent. "My heartbeat, don't you remember?"

"What are you saying, I'll hear your heart stop if you don't leave!"

"It's your heart!"

"What, that doesn't make any....." she said as she began to feel strange. "What have you done to me?" She asked pushing him to the ground as she realized she didn't have a heartbeat of her own.

"I didn't do anything, you gave me your heart to save my life, remember, I was stabbed by a cursed blade, and you put your heart in me to save my life."

"No, why would I do something like that, who are you?"

"You know who I am, after everything we have been through I know I'm still in there somewhere, buried deep in your mind,"

"Stop it," she said jumping at him with her swords.

Patrick sprouted his and quickly defended himself as he was attacked by this wild succubus. She was good and faster than he was but he was holding his own for the moment. As strange as it was he found himself almost having fun.

"Nessira, you don't want to hurt me," he said still blocking her attacks.

"Shut up, shut up! You don't know me!"

"Yes I do, I know about what happened here centuries ago, I know Lilith trapped you in a statue to punish you for what you did. I know about Victoria and Rick, and Jenny."

Nessira suddenly stopped for a moment as if she was trying to remember. "What are these memories, stop using your magic on me!"

"I'm not," he said getting rid of his weapons. "I am your husband!" He said showing her the ring on his finger. "We got married right here, your mother did the ceremony, you told me this was Raven Hill on that day," he said stepping closer to her. "We have a daughter named Shadow, when we first met I thought you were someone else, you wanted to kill me on our first date, I'm not making these up, they all happened, and I need you to remember."

"No, I can't...... I can't have children," she said seemingly struggling with the information.

"You adopted her, a young creature that shouldn't even exist, and she has grown into a beautiful, intelligent woman, all because of you."

Nessira stood there with tears streaming down her face still holding her weapons before she lunged at him again knocking him to the ground with both her swords pressed against his throat again. Patrick laid there still and waited for her to act.

"You're lying, you have to be......."

"If I'm lying then you should kill me now," he said as his heart raced in his chest waiting for her to strike.

Nessira stared at him as she began to sob. Patrick wasn't sure what was going on in her head but didn't try to escape or fight back. It felt like an eternity waiting for his fate to be decided by the woman he loved.

"You...... called me Jenny," she said breaking the silence.

"Yes, she was a woman whose body you took over after yours was destroyed."

"The family curse, she was your....... ex-girlfriend," she said as if she was finally starting to remember. "You..... forgave me, and....... asked me to marry you."

"Yes, it was on a cliff where you learned to fly."

She stared down at him silently for a few moments until she suddenly threw her swords away and pressed her lips to his. A wave of relief came over him as he wrapped his arms around her. He rolled her over on her back but their lips never parted as he felt her hands slide up around the back of his head.

As he finally pulled his lips away and looked down at her he said: "Ness, are you alright?"

"I...... I remember..... what happened?" She asked as if still unsure of what was going on.

"What's the last thing you remember?"

Nessira was silent for a moment before she said: "Baphomet?"

"What else?"

"You, you and I, defeating her and....."

"And then we put your soul back together," a woman's voice said as they both looked over and saw Lilith standing a few feet away.

"Mother?" Nessira said as Patrick pulled her to her feet.

"What happened to her?" Patrick asked.

"Once you destroyed the piece of Baphomet's influence inside her, Agorir and I merged the two parts of her soul back together, but there was a problem."

"What, what happened?" Patrick asked as he looked back at Nessira.

"Her mind sort of reset, she didn't seem to remember anything after she summoned Baphomet all those years ago, just the loss of Sebastian, and the little pieces I filled her in on since then."

"Why didn't you tell me, about Patrick and Shadow?" Nessira asked.

"Because I didn't want to break your mind more than it was, you needed to remember on your own, and the only way to do that was for you two to finally come together."

"But I could have killed him!" Nessira said with anger in her voice.

"Well, I had faith that you wouldn't," Lilith said trying to calm her down.

"Wouldn't be the first time you tried," Patrick said as Nessira looked up at him.

"Are you saying I couldn't beat you in a fight?

"Oh you definitely could, but that's because you know all my weaknesses," Patrick said taking her in his arms. "I missed you."

"I can see that, you haven't shaved in days," she said feeling the scruff on his face.

"Sorry, had more important things to worry about," he said before he kissed her again.

Nessira wrapped her arms around him as she tasted his lips and ignored the fact that his facial hair was a little sharp. Lilith stood nearby smiling as she watched their reunion. As she watched she suddenly had a thought and snapped her fingers.

There was a flash of light as Nessira and Patrick looked over to see Shadow standing there with a confused look on her face holding her school books. She spun around and saw Nessira and Patrick standing there as she dropped her books to the ground.

"M...... Mom?" She said as tears began to fill her eyes.

Nessira let go of Patrick and ran to her daughter wrapping her arms around her. Shadow began to sob uncontrollably as she was so relieved that Nessira was back and seemingly alright again. Patrick stood there for a moment before walking over to the two of them. As he got closer Shadow grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him in as both she and Nessira wrapped their arms around him.

"So..... is everything okay now?" Shadow asked lifting her head as their embrace loosened.

"Yes Baby girl, everything is perfect," Nessira said as they all stood there on top of the hill still holding each other.

"Um, blue?" Shadow said referring to the dress her mother was wearing.

"Hey, I used to wear this color all the time back in the day."

"I like it," Patrick said looking over her bright-colored clothing. "Does this mean Dark Ness is gone?"

"Nessira raised an eyebrow before she snapped her fingers. A flame started at the bottom of the dress rising up and transforming it into one of the black ones they all knew well that she liked to wear. It was the perfect mix of slutty and classy.

"Ah, much better," Nessira said looking herself over.

Patrick saw something out of the corner of his eye as he glanced to his right. For a moment he thought he had seen a large flying creature disappear behind the clouds. He thought of Agorir and if that was him but he wasn't sure where that forest was or if it was even on earth. He soon turned his attention back to his family before they headed back down the hill towards home.

As Shadow walked with them she heard a buzzing from her phone. She slid it out of her pocket and saw she had a text message from Gavin.

"Hey Shade, you disappeared after class, everything okay?"

Shadow smiled as she looked up and saw Nessira and Patrick holding each other as they all headed home. She was excited to tell them about what had happened with Gavin but decided it could wait for now.

"So, is Dark Ness really gone?" Patrick asked heading down the hill with his arm around Nessira.

Nessira just smiled a little and whispered in his ear. "You'll find out tonight."