Legacy of Darkness

Iceman stood watch over the ruined city that stood outside the doors of Lumina Academy. He stared straight ahead, not even blinking, his once green eyes were now light blue. Deep inside, a small part of Bryan remained. Trapped.

Half a year ago, in the Disceath HQ of Crystech...

Bryan was sat in his office, he had just been official appointed the CEO of Crystech, in the absence of Rychard Pyre. Bryan was celebrating with the others in the office.

In the midst of the celebration, a smartly dressed woman, with short brown hair stepped out of the elevator. It was Myra. She approached Bryan while grabbing a glass of champagne from the sideboard. Bryan looked bemused at this random woman who had walked into the office like she owned the place.

"Um, can I help you? This is a private party, you know?" Bryan chuckled.

"I'm here on behalf of the Senior Partners, they have... a proposition for you" Myra smiled.

"The Senior Partners? I thought Rychard owned the whole company himself?" Bryan asked.

"Unfortunately, thanks to his disappearance, the board of directors had no choice but to sell the company" Myra shrugged.

"To whom? I hadn't heard anything..." Bryan asked.

"They prefer to keep themselves to themselves, they're... silent partners" Myra winked.

"Uh, so then, who are you?" Bryan asked as he sipped the champagne.

"I am Myra Skye, your liaison to the Senior Partners" Myra stated. "Can we go somewhere more quiet?" She asked. Bryan nodded and headed to his office, the two walked through the door and Myra closed it behind her.

"So, how much do you know of what happened at Pyre?" Myra asked.

"Not much, to be honest, I left the city on transport before the battle on the steppe" Bryan said as he scratched his head.

"Hmm, well, you are aware of the transfer students. The ones from Wynd Academy, correct?" Myra asked. Bryan nodded. "Well, one of them, Roisin Luna, she absorbed the power from the Fire Crystal. Which of course caused the eruption of the volcano below the Academy" Myra explained.

"What?! Why?" Bryan asked, looking surprised.

"That's not important. What is important is stopping her, she is en route to the city as we speak, in a stolen Crystech ship. She is dangerous, and likely intends to absorb the crystal here too" Myra explained, as she walked to the window and looked down at Glacial Academy.

"Do you like power, Mr Fyre?" Myra asked, as she turned to Bryan.

"Who doesn't? I didn't step on thousands of peoples backs to get here and waste it" Bryan shrugged.

"Good, because the Senior Partners have agreed on a plan" Myra smirked.

"What kind of plan?" Bryan asked.

"Have you ever wanted to be so powerful, that you could crush your enemies beneath your feet, Bryan?" Myra grinned.

"Not just my enemies, Myra, everybody..." Bryan smiled as he walked over to the window and raised his arms out. "I want to control everybody. Everything" Bryan laughed, as he lowered the champagne glass to his mouth and downed it, before smashing the glass on the floor.

"What if I told you, that was possible?" Myra stated, as she sipped her champagne.

"I'd say, sign me up" Bryan chuckled.

"Could I get that in writing?" Myra asked.

"Of course" Bryan shrugged.

Myra raised her hand over the table, and a parchment, with a long contract written in red ink appeared from thin air on Bryan's desk. Bryan raised his eyebrow.

"Just a simple teleportation spell" Myra shrugged. Bryan also shrugged and approached the contract.

"Do you have a pen?" Bryan asked as he held his hand out. Myra chuckled and grabbed his hand, she slammed it down on the desk and stabbed him through the back of his hand with a dagger.

"Argh! Gods dammit!" Bryan yelled in pain, he looked down, expecting to see a pool of blood, but the dagger, contract and blood were nowhere to be seen.

"Uhhh..." Bryan backed away.

"You look like you've had a little too much to drink" Myra laughed.

"Didn't you just..." Bryan began.

"Enough about that, now down to the details" Myra said, as sat on the desk. Bryan shrugged and nodded, running his fingers over the back of his hand.

"How will you give me that kind of power?" Bryan asked.

"We infuse you with the Ice Crystal" Myra shrugged.

"Is that... uh, safe?" Bryan asked.

"That child, Roisin did it and is fine" Myra shrugged. "Surely a grown man can handle the same power" She added.

"Right, but having that kind of power alone won't help me rule the world" Bryan sighed.

"You are the CEO of Crystech now, Bryan" Myra shrugged. "Figure it out" She said as she went to leave the room. "Get your drones to dream up some magic tech, the sky is the limit" She finished as she left the room and closed the door.

Bryan paused and thought to himself. He thought back to his lab, back in Raryst. He thought of Anya and the failed Droid projects.

"It could work... with time and money" Bryan said to himself.

The wind howled through the Academy. What remained of Bryan was full of regret. He'd let his grief turn him into something he never used to be. He'd sacrificed everything for power. Now he had it and it wasn't his.

He sold the world for nothing.