The Space In Between 15
Disclaimers: This is a work of fiction. Any similarities between the characters in this story and real people (appearances, names, etc.) are purely coincidental. This story may contain homosexual material, including love and sex, so if material like this is illegal in your region or if it discomforts you, please leave.
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The Space In Between - Chapter Fifteen
Ulysses led Mark through Crooked Forest, their hands linked and safe and secure. Mark could feel the warmth and love and devotion emanating from Ulysses. Ulysses' smile was big and bright, full of happiness. His brown eyes held nothing but adoration, they sparkled brightly with it.
"I love you," Mark had stated confidently, with so much meaning and emotion.
Ulysses stopped and turned, and held Mark's gaze. He could feel tears building in his eyes. He had felt like he belonged with Mark, like their relationship was destiny. He released his hold on Mark's hand, but brought both hands up to Mark's neck.
"I would never be able to express in words to you how much you mean to me," Ulysses said, his voice soft but intense. "I have never felt like this. Feeling this close to someone, feeling this much love is something even the most romantic authors could never imagine. Mark, you make me the happiest I've ever been. You make me feel like the safest I've ever felt. I love you."
Mark placed his hands on Ulysses' waist and held him close. His green eyes welled up as well, he could feel the tears building and building. The intimacy and endearment was overwhelming in the most beautiful way. Mark raised himself up on his tiptoes and pursed his lips.
Mark awoke before his lips met Ulysses' in the memory. He stared up at the ceiling, sad and longing, tears having no chance to pool in his eyes with how quickly they formed. Mark covered his eyes with his forearm as he sobbed, hot tears spilling down the sides of his head. His heart was broken, his spirit in shambles, and his mind racing a thousand miles a second. He yearned for the touch of his love, desired nothing more than to be held by him, sharing a simple peck on the lips.
"My king," a female witch said with worry as she opened the door to Mark's bedroom.
"I'm," Mark began and let another sob out, his arm still over his face. "I'm fine. Thank you, Ellie. I'm fine. It- it was- it was just a dream."
"Is there anything I can do, Your Majesty?" Ellie asked, still concerned. "You're still- you're still crying."
Mark sobbed again, and responded, "I know. I know. I'm sad and lonely and I have all of these memories. But I will be fine. Would you- would you mind leaving so that I can shower?"
Mark walked into his ensuite bathroom and turned on the shower. As the shower warmed, Mark brushed his teeth, staring into his own bright green eyes that held an intense sadness through the mirror. After he spit, Mark returned his gaze to the mirror, and a lone tear fell down his cheek.
Ulysses groaned as he ended the spell on Queen Sofi, extracting himself from her mind. Ulysses fell to his knees, exhausted and breathless. He looked up to the queen, who looked dazed, disoriented, like she couldn't tell what was real, but she hit the stop button on the timer in her left hand.
"Just over four seconds," the queen stated, her vision clearing. "Your longest time yet. My turn."
Still breathless, Ulysses nodded his head and waited. The queen's expression was one of complete concentration, like her life depended on it. Her eyes were hard, focused, and still, like the rest of her body. Ulysses' vision went from sitting before his queen to standing before the before the battle between King Gregoir Deschampes and Sofi Bauer. Sofi created and threw an icicle at King Gregoir who was unaware of the formation of the icicle because he was landing from a teleportation. The icicle flew into his abdomen and he went crashing to the ground.
Ulysses' vision suddenly sprang back reality, sitting before Queen Sofi. The queen slumped back in her seat, exhausted beyond measure.
"Three-point-six seconds," Kiri stated, surprising both Ulysses and Queen Sofi.
"Mom," Ulysses greeted, disoriented.
"The two of you are getting better and better," Kiri said with pride. "I was able to get a story into Dan's mind for three-point-eight seconds. It is draining. You were right when you said that it makes you feel like you'd battled half a dozen practitioners with no assistance."
Still finding his bearings, Ulysses responded, "When Mark does it, there's no disorientation. There's no cloudiness. When we do it, it's like our brains are damaged."
Queen Sofi nodded her head slowly, deep in thought, and asked, "How do you think he does it? When I think about it, I assume he adds a small healing spell. I mean, he has to. His soul magic can be held for ten minutes or so. Soul magic seems to deteriorate the brain, except when Mark uses it. And Uly doesn't seem to be disoriented from Mark's soul magic as long as he is when I do it."
Mark's breathing became fast and sporadic when his feet reached the cold waters of Great Bear Lake. He toughed through the chill, continuing to walk into the lake. When he was waist deep into the cold water, Mark dove in and turned over, floating along watching the stars.
Mark dipped the wand into the bottle of soapy water, took it out, and blew on it. Ulysses was lying on the picnic blanket, his head using Mark's thigh as a pillow, and he lazily poked at the bubbles floating about. It was the week after Mark had told Ulysses that he loved him, and Ulysses had said it back easily a few days after. The sun shone bright and hot and perfect.
"I love you," Mark had said. "I don't think I can say it enough."
Mark could clearly remember the dazzling, happy, emotional smile that Ulysses had as the witch replied, "I love you, too, Mark. I love you."
Mark blew some more bubbles, and with his other hand, he gently drove his fingers through Ulysses' hair. Ulysses once again began lazily poking at the bubbles with one hand, and he raised his other arm above his head to wrap around Mark's lower back.
Five minutes later, Mark closed the bottle of bubbles and said, "Come on, lie down properly so I can cuddle you."
Ulysses lazily turned on his side, and Mark laid himself down on his side as well, cozying up with Ulysses. Mark kissed the tip of Ulysses' nose, to which Ulysses giggled sleepily. Ulysses buried his face in Mark's chest and wrapped his arm around Mark's waist, holding him so tight and secure that Mark was certain that the only force strong enough to separate them would have been two warring tow trucks.
"Mm-hfm," Ulysses had said.
Nearly asleep, Mark smiled and asked, "What was that?"
Ulysses looked upward but his eyes remained closed as he planted a quick kiss to Mark's chin and repeated, "I love you."
Becoming emotional, Mark placed his hand on the back of Ulysses' neck and planted a very long kiss to his forehead.
Both Mark and Ulysses were awoken suddenly, startlingly by a volleyball hitting both of their legs. A female voice had apologized as she grabbed the ball and scurried off back to the volleyball net. Mark peppered a million kisses all over Ulysses' face and neck, making the witch laugh as he embraced the human so tightly.
"Elett, ellet, ellet!" Ulysses cried in his laughter.
(Okay, okay, okay!)
Mark pulled his face away from Ulysses' just the slightest bit, gazing deeply into the witch's brown eyes, and stated, "I love it when you slip into Glip. Now, shall we eat?"
"My king!" Josh's voice rang through the air, bringing Mark out memory lane. "There's been an attack, my king! Our compound in Argentina is completely destroyed!"
Mark teleported out of water, held onto Josh, and teleported the pair of them to a beach in Argentina. Most of the tents were burnt to ash, with two still burning their last embers. Hundreds of bodies were strewn about, lifeless and damaged beyond recognition. A hall dozen survivors sat huddled in the tree line, tears falling from their eyes and whimpers coming out of their throats.
"Mark," Ulysses voice suddenly said from behind him.
Mark swiftly turned and flung an explosive spell. The spell flew through Ulysses and hit the sandy beach.
"I'm not here," Ulysses said with such a bland tone, "obviously. I am sad, however, that you were not here ten minutes ago. It would have been a glorious battle. You--"
Mark grunted slightly with the effort that it took to overtake Ulysses' mind in a fraction of a second. Suddenly the two of them were standing at the top of Mount Etna, thick smoke billowing out of it.
Ulysses laughed darkly and said, "You can even perform soul magic on a projection of myself. Impressive."
Mark's tone was so bland when he replied, "It's soul magic. A projection of yourself is your soul."
Ulysses nodded and responded, "I guess that makes sense."
"How could you, Ulysses?" Mark demanded with a quiet yet heartbreaking tone. "You ambushed a compound and killed everybody."
"Were they all your loyal followers?" Ulysses asked with a shrug of his shoulders. "Then they would have perished eventually. I spared them the fear of battle."
With a slow shake of his head, Mark stated, "You are despicable. Ulysses, you have gone too far."
"I've gone just far enough. All I wanted to grab your attention. Do I have it?"
Before Mark could formulate a response, a wave of transformation washed over the volcano below their feet. A moment later, Mark and Ulysses found themselves standing on the surface of the middle of Lake Byron in Arctic Canada.
Ulysses strode the six feet over to Mark while stating, "I have mastered soul magic, my love. You had better be battle ready the next time we meet."
Mark flinched when Ulysses raised his fist and threw it at him. But when Mark next opened his eyes, he was standing before Josh once more. The familiar and stinging scent of smoke filled his nose, and he once again heard the whimpers of the surviving mercenaries. Mark screamed in rage as he threw an explosive spell at the ocean that sent water flying everywhere.
Ulysses and Capt. Nilsson chose teams for a game of football, each team cheering when someone was chosen. Each team then chose a goalkeep and a match began. The ball was kicked to and fro, each team shouting and cheering, but then a guard officer's foot landed atop the ball and sent him rolling to the ground. The whole pitch erupted into raucous laughter, the loudest being the officer lying on the ground.
Queen Sofi, who was playing referee of the game, grabbed the ball and asked the group if they were ready to resume the game. With much of the group still laughing, they all righted themselves and the queen threw the ball back in the field.
Someone of the opposing team obtained control of the ball and ran with it at her feet. She skillfully dodged her competition, and kicked the ball with great force. A man on Ulysses' team turned his back just in time and the ball hit his shoulder. The man laughed so hard his legs gave out, he sat on the ground with tears falling from his eyes. The woman who had kicked the ball, while also laughing, checked on the man. The game was still being played, so the two witches rejoined their teams.
Some minutes later, Ulysses walked off of the pitch and sat beside his mother. The two eternal witches watched with mirth as the Guard played their game of football. The game was more laughter than contest, as almost no goals were won and laughter was almost never not present.
An hour later, with the whole of the group walking around the pitch with the last bits of laughter on their tongues, Queen Sofi called out, "That was a great game! I cannot thank you enough for suggesting an evening of fun and carelessness! Get some rest, for tomorrow we resume training!"
When the queen sat beside him, Ulysses suggested that the three of them teleport to a favourite restaurant of his. The two women agreed, so Ulysses grabbed their hands and teleported them all to New York City.
"Welcome back to St. Laurent, Mr. Sahin," the hostess greeted the trio jovially. "It has been much too long."
"Ms. Jovan," Ulysses greeted back happily as he grabbed her hand in both of his. "I would like to introduce you to two very important women to me. This is Sofi Bauer, and this is Kiri, my... sister."
"Lovely to meet you ladies. Is Mr. Lillico not dining with you tonight?"
Ulysses' smile faltered just the tiniest bit before he answered, "He is busy of late. Just the three of us."
As Ariel Jovan led the trio to a table, Ulysses asked her how she had been. The young woman regaled the eternal man with tales of her life for the past three months, and her grades in school, and exams.
As she sat after the hostess returned to her podium, Queen Sofi said to Ulysses, "You seem to be popular here."
Ulysses shrugged and responded, "The team here is super nice. You treat them well, they treat you well. The food here is absolutely amazing, I visit here frequently so the team recognizes me."
Mark undressed after a very tiresome day, a day that was filled with nothing but training. He was tired, his feet ached, and his shoulders were tense. He laid down in his bed and turned out the lamp. Mark wiped his palm down his entire face and closed his eyes, ready for sleep to wash over him.
Suddenly, a fabric was slapped over his mouth. A half a second later, his chest and shoulders were slapped with a fabric wrapping around him as well. Panicked and unable to move his arms, Mark coaxed out a sliver of magic to simultaneously destroy his binding and teleport, but found that he could not detect his magical core. Before he could formulate a way out, more suppression binding wrapped around his legs. And then Ulysses fired another suppression binding that strapped Mark's hands to his hips.
Ulysses quickly pulled a sliver out of his core that connected his mind to Mark's. Ulysses tried his very hardest to skim through all of Mark's memories. Still being relatively new to his increased skill in telepathy due to soul magic, Ulysses could only see memories as far back as six days. He saw nothing but training, both physical and magical.
But then he saw another memory. In this, he saw Mark trapped inside of a glass cube that sat in the middle of a beautiful meadow. There were red and pink and purple carnations surrounding the glass, and trees surrounding that. But what baffled Ulysses was Mark. He was sitting on the glass floor with his attention completely enraptured by the Nintendo Switch console in his hands.
Ulysses took a step toward the glass cage but then a blast hit him in the side. Ulysses was ripped out of Mark's mind and fell to the floor of Mark's bedroom. Ulysses swiftly erected a shield that protected him from a lightning bolt. Ulysses suspected that he would not be able to teleport and he was correct, so he tore a splinter of wood out of the floor and threw it at Josh. Josh's right bicep was pierced and he went crashing to the floor, so Ulysses teleported out just as a dozen feet could be heard running down the hall.
"I don't think it's Mark," Ulysses stated with such mirth and astonishment. "You won't believe what I saw in his head. Here, here, see for yourselves."
Both Kiri's and Queen Sofi's telepathic abilities had also grown due to their developing skills in soul magic. So they both connected their minds with Ulysses'.
"What is that?" Queen Sofi wondered aloud, baffled.
Kiri wondered, "Is that the multiple personality disorder?"
Ulysses shrugged and replied, "I haven't a clue. But that's my Mark that's trapped in there. And now we have to rescue him somehow."
"Not necessarily," Kiri rebutted.
Queen Sofi agreed, "Yeah, it could still be Mark. A different version of Mark, but still a possibility."
"No," Ulysses replied still smiling, his smile still decorating his face. "I don't know how I know but I know it's not Mark. We have to save him."
"No promises," Kiri responded. "Protecting the nonmagical is our first priority."
"Welcome to Marda Loop Wellness Clinic," the young man greeted Mark. "Do you have an appointment?"
"I do," Mark answered kindly. "Eleven A.M. with Dharwinder. My name is Markus Lillico."
"I am going to ask you to sanitize your hands and change out your mask for one of ours," the receptionist requested jovially. "Dharwinder is getting your room ready, he will come grab you in a minute or two. Would you like to pay for the session now or after?"
Mark opted to pay immediately. He tapped his MasterCard credit card on the portable card reader and sat on one of the cushioned leather chairs. Just over a minute later, he was collected by an Indian man and taken to a private room. Mark was completely relaxed and serene as Dharwinder rubbed his skin and kneaded his muscles. When the therapist used his elbow on Mark's left shoulder blade, Mark could not suppress the moan that escaped his throat.
Dharwinder chuckled and asked, "Does that feel good? This shoulder blade is very tense. So many knots."
The therapist had spent a whole ten minutes on just that left shoulder blade, kneading and kneading and kneading. Mark's left shoulder blade was now completely free of stress and tension, it was completely relaxed. Mark nearly fell asleep as the therapist soothed his legs. Dharwinder announced all too soon that their hour of therapy was up.
"You have amazing hands," Mark told the therapist with a lazy smile. "I really needed that. Thank you so much. Can I make this a standing weekly appointment?"
After Mark had dressed and said his goodbye to the therapist, he walked out of the building, turned into the alley, and teleported back to his camp. One of his mercenaries greeted him cordially and asked if he would be interested in playing a game of gin rummy.
Ulysses marched into the barracks, his face hard and focused. He stopped at his mother's side, who was tying her light brown hair in a low bun. Kiri smiled minutely and placed her hand on Ulysses' shoulder. Ulysses crouched down and tightened the laces of his right boot. As he tied the lace back up, his mother gently scraped her nails on his scalp.
"I hope you're ready," Kiri stated softly. "Have you checked in with Isak?"
"I have," Ulysses answered and stood up. "We went over the plan one last time."
"Good. Nothing- and I mean nothing can go wrong today."
"I agree," Ulysses responded solemnly. "Isak made sure not use the smallest sliver of magic today. Are you ready?"
"I am," Kiri assured her son with a growing smile. "My hands are ready to cause destruction and mayhem."
"Attention!" Queen Sofi commanded to the packed room. "Remember! You must fight with everything you've got! Everything! These mercenaries are not expecting us! But they will quickly gain their composure! Try not to let them! Aim to kill! I encourage you to find a partner and fight back-to-back!"
Syna sat her hand on Ulysses' shoulder and said, "It is the greatest honour to fight at your side, Ulysses the Endless."
Bashful, Ulysses responded, "The honour is all mine, Syna. My mother has told me all of the battles that you fought with her. All of them. My favourite to hear when I was a teen was the battle of Bloody Falls."
Smiling wistfully, Syna replied, "And what a glorious battle that was. To you, that battle occurred three thousand years ago. To me, it was last week."
Deep in thought, Ulysses asked, "Do you like being an executioner? Only being awoken for wars and battles?"
Now smiling gleefully, Syna answered, "Of course. I was born with immense power- nothing close to yours or your mother's levels, and I enjoy battle. Being able to protect our reigning monarch and the nonmagical gives me a great sense of purpose. And there's something about crushing a new enemy that Egil Lukaro is having difficulty with. Their blood tastes sweeter, their bones more satisfying to break."
"Are you kids ready?" Kiri asked, her smile sadistic.
Queen Sofi instructed every single person to join hands. Once they did, she teleported every last one of them to a desert in Pakistan. Every single officer of The Guard fired spells and curses the millisecond they landed.
Ulysses threw flames at a tent and kept the flames spewing. Screams erupted from the tent and two witches ran out trying their best to put out the fires on their bodies. With the desire to completely end these two witches, Ulysses grasped onto cells in their necks and separated their heads from their bodies. Before Ulysses could pull a sliver of magic out of his core to throw flames at another tent, he was hit in the chest by a bolt of lightning. He fell backward and electric shocks wracked his body.
"Ulysses," Mark's voice said, laced with malice. "Apple of my eye. Light of my life. I have to say that this surprise attack of yours stuns me. I did not see it coming."
Now free of the shocks, Ulysses flung a boulder out of the ground as he sat up. Mark telekinetically grabbed the five-foot tall boulder and flung it skyward. Mark immediately pulled a sliver of magic out of his core and fired a depletion spell at Ulysses. Ulysses teleported to Mark's side, wrapped his arms around Mark, and teleported the both of them. Upon landing in the wooded area outside of Nordegg, Alberta, Mark inserted paralyzer cells into Ulysses' body.
"You fucking bitch," Mark said with a dark laugh as he summoned two knives.
Ulysses did his best to remedy his body, he was unable to move anything but his eyes. No matter what he did, how much magic he tried to pull, his body remained in paralysis.
"Bringing us all the way out here was a major mistake on your part, Uly," Mark told the paralyzed witch, and drove both blades through both sides of Ulysses' ribs.
Finally able to move, Ulysses placed both his hands on Mark's head and connected his mind to Mark's. Inside of Mark's mind, Ulysses threw the hardest punch he had ever thrown at the glass cage holding Mark prisoner. Mark looked up from the Nintendo Switch console in his hands and was surprised to see Ulysses. Mark stood in a panic and banged his hands on the glass. Hopeful beyond any time he'd experienced, Ulysses threw another punch at the glass and it cracked the smallest bit.
"I'll get you out!" Ulysses screamed, his smile growing as tears formed in his eyes.
Ulysses took a step back and gestured for Mark to stand back. Ulysses rushed forward and kicked the glass. The glass shattered and Mark ducked, but then the shards turned to dust. A few moments later, Mark looked back up. His green eyes connected with Ulysses' teary brown orbs. Mark laughed emotionally as he stepped forward.
Ulysses detached his mind from Mark's and shared a kiss with the real Mark now standing before him. Mark gave Ulysses two quick pecks on the lips before he laughed with tears streaming down his face. Mark pressed his forehead to Ulysses' chin, placed his right hand to the back of Ulysses' neck, and his left hand around Ulysses' back. Ulysses cried tears of joy and relief as he held Mark close, and peppered a dozen kisses to Mark's face.
"Get back in my head," Mark said quietly but urgently. "You- you- you have to get him out. Uly. Please."
"Who?" Ulysses asked, fearful. "Mark, who is it?"
"The witch who possessed me. The one from the underground labyrinth in Hungary. You have to get him out."
"What? We didn't- we didn't see anybody there."
"He's from the crystal," Mark told Ulysses with dread. "I- I- I- I found a crystal and it melted in my hand and now I have this thirteen-thousand-year-old witch in my head. Uly, please get him out."
Ulysses quickly reconnected his mind with Mark's and scoured Mark's brain. Ulysses suddenly felt a million nails driving through his skin, so he looked at his arms and found nothing out of the ordinary. So Ulysses changed his sight from magical to natural, out in the real world Mark was sending a million electrical shocks into Ulysses' body.
"I'm trying my best to keep him at bay," Mark told Ulysses with his voice straining from the effort. "He's too strong. I'm sorry, baby."
Ulysses refocused his efforts inside Mark's mind and ran through the corridors of Mark's memories. As he ran, Ulysses grunted and groaned from the pain caused by the onslaught on electricity running through his body.
Ulysses finally found a cluster of altered memories adorning the corridors. The mysterious witch infecting Mark's mind doubled his efforts, sending so much more shocks into Ulysses' body. Inside of Mark's mind, Ulysses groaned as he fell to his knees. Fighting the pain, Ulysses slowly stood back up and threw flames at the artwork-looking memories hanging on the walls.
"How did you not suspect Mark?" the possessing witch asked with malice. "It was all staring at you in the face. Do you know how I got into his head? It was easy. Every person is in a constant dance between awake and unconscious at all times. Even when you are doing something like running from a lion, there is a point-zero-zero-zero-zero-two percent chance that you can fall asleep. That's where I crept in. The space in between."
The pain became so much for Ulysses that he began crying, but he did not waver in his attack. About twenty percent of the memories were now destroyed, but the witch remained using Mark's body to blitz his body. Ulysses began to panic, he felt he was becoming weak from how much pain his body was experiencing, so he screamed in his tears as he forced more flames to spew from his hands.
Forcing himself to multitask, Ulysses used his left eye to peak at the real world while his right eye remained focused inside of Mark's mind. He could see his body becoming black from the charring, he could smell the burning flesh. Refocused fully on the magical task, Ulysses screamed even louder with the effort of tripling the onslaught of flames.
"Baby," Mark begged, crying. "Stop. You- you're dying. Stop. Teleport away. Baby, please stop. Escape. I'll- I'll be okay."
Ulysses' vision was becoming cloudy, he could feel his consciousness slipping. At ninety percent of the memories destroyed, Ulysses fought his hardest to keep the flames streaming out of his hands. Ulysses could no longer cry, he had only enough energy to throw flames and remain conscious. His vision was nearly completely gone, as were the mysterious witch's memories.
"Baby!" Mark shouted as he cried. "Stop! Please! You have to get out of here!"
Suddenly, Mark found that he had full control of his body so he stopped the stream of magic sending electricity into Ulysses. Mark whimpered with happy tears as he looked back down at Ulysses.
Crestfallen, Mark asked, "Uly? Baby?"
Ulysses' big brown eyes were open, unseeing, distant. His body laid in Mark's arms limp, lifeless. Mark whimpered as he called Ulysses' name a few more times, shaking his body. With his heart rapidly breaking, Mark pulled slivers of magic out of his core and restored every cell in Ulysses' body.
I hope that you are enjoying this series so far. I have been working on this series for about two years, it is so new to me. Listed below are my other works of fiction if you are interested.
Car Radio
Connected
Do Not Go Gentle
Near Wild Heaven
The Other Half of Me Unknown
A Quick Fall
Some You Give Away
Somewhere a Clock is Ticking
Strawberry Wine
Tearing Me Apart
You Call It Madness
You Don't Mean to Hurt Me