Cornet finally turned around, drawing his blade once more to block the incoming attack from Himiko. She tried to strike him with lightning but the sword seemed to absorb it wholly. The visible beam of electricity wrapped itself around the sword, and it seemed to be almost elastic, before drafting itself into a shell around it.

  When Kaiya ground to a halt behind him, and tried to affix his legs to the ground with ice, she felt something graze her cheek, barely too far to get a good strike in but on a clear path to her neck. Another zap of lightning came from Himiko, serving to divert him just enough for his legs to become encapsulated in the ice. Up to his thighs, the solid ice kept him from moving, and yet again, they tried running away.

  When Cornet realized there was no way for him to get out beyond simply shattering the ice, he did just that. The sword strapped with lightning struck the crystalline structure surrounding him, and made it essentially vanish as he fell back down into the sand.

  Raleigh made it barely to Amity first, sweeping her up from the ground while taking care not to exacerbate her wound. Along with the rest of everyone, besides Kaiya, they ran right back into the portal, which they saw fading.

  Just on the rocky step to the portal, Kaiya felt something grab the back of her shirt, choking her.

  “You’re not getting away.”

  She coughed, but nothing got through the grasp of the shirt on her neck. The sword that had been used to maim and kill so many was placed against her gut, nearly already getting stabbed by the flailing of her legs.

  Staring at the top of her head, Cornet pressed the sword into her. Not quite impaling, but uncomfortable. Her legs finally stopped, to delay her fate, but she knew it was just that.

  A delay. Rather than anything to stop it.

  Wishing her a final goodbye, he squeezed the sword inwards, pressing down and feeling the skin break.

  Just as the skin barely tore, his arm flung out and his legs slipped out.

  Her back slammed down into him, blowing up some sand as they fell down.

  The sword, with the fresh blood, and the dried remains of the blood from all before, chopped through the air as it fell into the sand.

  The one who saved Kaiya from the brink of death?

  Opening her eyes after the impact, she saw Amity facing to the portal.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Amity, true to her name, extended her hand for her to take. Reaching up, she hoisted herself off the dazed man. The portal was still open, but nonetheless, they hurried to it. The wound on Kaiya’s stomach was bleeding and sent waves of searing pain through her body with every step, rattling her around, but it wasn’t going to stop her. Finally, after it all, they stood on the precipice of the end, and…

  For the first time in a long time. They were all in the real world. The real world.

  It was their real world. Even though they wished it was sooner, it was finally the end.

  The portal is still open.

  Cornet’s scream could be heard through that glowing link between worlds. In a final hope, he wielded his sword for one last swing, and kicked sand up behind him in a calculated effort to muster as much power and speed as possible. Fading away, the opaque entryway was slowly letting more and more light through from behind. By the time he reached the portal, it had nearly completely settled into a state of non-existence. But, he couldn’t tell.

  The dust surrounded him, and in an unnatural amount of time, he lunged forward and into the portal.

  Nearly completely horizontally, his torso cleanly intersected the portal as the group squealed and screeched in fear at the sight.

  Despite what had been assumed, though, he didn’t seem to be severed from his waist down.

  He didn’t seem to be… anywhere?

  It took a few moments to settle in. He… didn’t seem to be here.

  Was he on the other world still?

  It didn’t matter.

  “We…”

  “We’re home.”

  Finally seeing the portal shut from the comfort of Himiko’s bedroom, everyone besides Amity laughed. It was a chuckle of nervousness, then from glee. Finally, after it all, the fight was done.

  Still a little worried, Amity had Kaiya lay down on the bed, the gash seeming to get a little bit worse with each shake from the girl’s gleeful chuckling. She leaned into the power rushing through her, sending it faster and faster, allowing the edges of it to stick themselves back together quickly.

  Once it was done, and Amity made sure everyone was patched up, she finally let herself relax.

  She leaned against the door to the hallway, sliding down it and finally letting the tension out of her shoulders. Katie and Raleigh stood against the opposite corner of the room idly chatting, Kaiya still sat on the bed, and Himiko followed towards Amity. She picked up her hat, and placed it on her lap as she sat next to her.

  “Hey, Amity.”

  “Yeah?” Amity grabbed the hat and held it, still just an inch above her lap.

  “I… wanted to thank you.” The witch looked into the distance, facing the floor. “You helped us so much, and…”

  A hand turned Himiko, who started to blush, to face her. Staring into each-other’s eyes, they both went in for a kiss, finally sealing it. The embrace only lasted for a second before Amity pulled away, and turned the encounter back to what Himiko was saying.

  “And..?”

  “We… really wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

  “Of course, what else was I going to do? But, you really should thank the rest of them. I didn’t do everything, you know.” She gestured to the rest of the room.

  “Right. I… I’ll go do that.”

  Standing up, she adjusted the hat on her head, and went around the room delivering thanks.

  I’m really glad we actually made it out. I don’t know what I would’ve done if we had stayed there, she thought. And, I’m glad that I at least had her.

  Finally circling back around, Himiko had gathered everyone behind her.

  “Amity, wanna go downstairs?”

  “Are we… ready to deal with your parents?”

  “Yeah, we know what we should do.”

  “That is…?”

  “We’ll just tell the truth.” Himiko let out a little flair of fire, and let Amity settle for a second. “If we show this, I think they’ll believe it. Ideally, we leave out the parts where we got attacked, but we can just show them the magic, and it goes down peacefully.”

  She paused, absorbing the plan, then stood up.

  “Sure.”

  Opening the doorknob, they descended the staircase, and walked straight into the empty living room.