Too Shameful

Felicia felt hot, holy power swirl from within her chest, spreading throughout her entire body. It intensified in her neck, causing her to clutch her throat as her breathing seized up. She began violently vomiting up a thick, viscous liquid. It sloshed onto the ground, emitting a strange smoke which further made her gag. It was the thing that'd dripped down her throat earlier.

Wiping the tears and vomit off her face, Felicia saw the Pope rise from where he'd slammed into the wall and raise his hands to strike her the same way he'd done to Liam and Alex.

"You disgusting pig!" Felicia snarled, her white eyes locked onto his red ones. "How dare you touch me!? How awful can you be?!

The Pope sneered at her and produced another ball of red fire between his hands. Felicia didn't wait. Propping herself up on all fours, she slammed her hands into the ground. Lightning exploded out of her fingertips. The sharp current shot through the green water and struck the Pope. The man screamed as his entire body was electrified. The electrocution went on and on. The entire chamber filled with flashes of light. The ground and the green water heated as Felicia released more of her magic.

I'm going to kill him!

Throughout the prolonged zap, the Pope's body contorted. His screams got louder and Felicia briefly saw his skeleton outlined by the lightning before he crashed onto the floor. Smoke emitted from him as he lay there, unconscious and badly burned. 

Invigorated by her sudden influx of power, Felicia felt her previous despair wane. Walking over to Liam she carefully picked him up and went over to Alex. Kneeling down she pressed her thumb against his wrist.

"Take us to safety!"

The three of them disappeared in a loop just as the Pope woke up.

----

Back at Lake Joan, three birds squawked and flew away when three figures landed right where they were. Felicia dropped from the tie of the infinity first. The next second both Alex and Liam fell from each hoop. Felicia tried to grab them in each arm, but they were too heavy. Both hit the ground and Felicia scraped her knee trying to lower them gently.

Placing a hand on each man's chest, she flooded their bodies with healing magic. She sensed a deep pool of power in her core. It was different from before. Her magic was stronger. Having been kissed by the Devil had triggered something within her. 

And Alex was never dead! Their connection had been severely dampened when the Pope put his black magic directly into her body. It had weakened her.

She almost got raped!

That man substituted me for my mother. How sick! No wonder she turned against him. Never mind practicing the Devil's magic, his overbearing obsession was enough of a red flag.

Felicia sensed the men's heartbeats grow stronger. Alex was covered in horrific burns and blisters. His clothes were in covered in holes and in some places had burned into his skin. Thankfully, her magic took care of it all and she didn't have to cut his shirt off of his flesh. His skin was shedding and regrowing.

Liam's body snapped, crackled and popped as the holy magic mended his broken broken and internal bleeding. Sensing he was nearly fully repaired, Felicia sent a hard burst of power which jerked him out of his sleep.

Liam groaned and curled into a ball. 

"Welcome back, my love." Felicia beamed with tears in her eyes before turning all her attention onto Alex. 

Unlike Liam, Alex's wounds were not merely physical. The green water he'd consumed while trapped in the bubble had not only burned his insides, but also flooded his body with black magic. As such, she not only had to merge her holy power with his to purify and cleanse him, but the healing was much slower and harder to maintain.

Felicia wasn't deterred. She had tapped into her full power. She didn't need to worry about draining herself. In some ways, the Pope had helped her.

Liam finally steadied his breathing and realized that he wasn't broken anymore. The intense pain was gone and he knew he'd evaded death. Thank the Goddess. Or rather, thank Saintess Felicia.

Shuffling on his knees, he sat beside Felicia. The two made eye contact.

"What happened? Where are we? How did we get here? Where is the Pope?" Liam's eyes looked everywhere.

"The infinity brought us here," Felicia replied, maintaining her magical output. "Just like the last time. It saved us."

"I thought I would die. I thought we'd all die," Liam breathed, touching her cheek. "How badly did he hurt you after trapping Alex in the water?"

Felicia's eyes widened. "You saw that. I thought you were already out."

"That was the last thing I saw before fainting." 

"I wasn't hurt that bad. I just threw up." Felicia said dismissively.

Liam eyes narrowed, taking her in. "Felicia, what is that on your chest?"

Felicia glanced down and saw that there was a tiny red symbol on her chest. It looked like a burn wound. But it was in the shape of one of the Devil's runes. She recalled him pushing his finger into her chest. Really hard. At the time she just thought he was hurting her. She hadn't even noticed the mark. What did this mean?

"Not to worry. I'll deal with it once I'm done healing Alex." Felicia kept her tone light despite the sudden anxiety she felt.

"The Devil placed his mark on you, Felicia. That can't be good news." Liam told her in a grave tone.

"I know. But what could I have done. I was too weak to stop him. Important thing is we survived and we're safe for the time being."

Liam looked around. "This is Lake Joan. Why did the infinity bring us here?"

"This place is important. Being the death place of the last Saintess, I think some of her magic lingered and almost acts like a magnet for us." Felicia replied, finally taking her hands off Alex. He would wake up soon.

"Did you think of this place when you used the infinity?"

"No, I just asked it to take us to safety. It brought us here on its own volition."

"And what does that mean? Is it trying to tell you something? Is the Goddess trying to tell you something?" Liam asked.

Felicia closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "I think there's something for us to do here. Or rather, something for us to find."

Liam looked back down at Alex. "Will he be okay?"

"Of course he will. Holy magic can perform miracles, remember? I restored you, didn't I?"

Liam was suddenly struck by how incredible it was. He'd been grievously injured and Felicia had been able to make him whole in.....

"How much time has passed?" He asked, looking at the sun's position in the sky. Unfortunately it was very cloudy and slightly foggy here so he couldn't see it clearly.

"I'm not sure. The last time we lost hours even though we'd only been here for less than one." Felicia rubbed arms to ward off the sudden chill. All three of them were soaked in varying degrees. "We'll leave as soon as he wakes up."

Another thing occurred to Liam as he pulled her in to share body heat. "Felicia...the last time you healed Alex it nearly killed you. And it was just a physical injury at the time. This time there was black magic involved. How is it that you were able to heal both of us from so much and yet, you haven't drained yourself?"

Felicia tilted her chin and kissed his. "I'm stronger now. The fight with the Pope, the influx of dark magic has made me stronger. I can feel it within myself. There was a tight lock which has now opened."

"How did the Pope's magic do that for you? I thought we'd need the crystal to help further your powers."

Felicia stayed silent. She wanted to kiss him. She wanted to get rid of the Pope's taste from her mouth. Especially that tongue of his! But she remembered that she had also just vomited. She would kiss Liam later.

"Felicia?"

"Can we not talk for a bit? I just want to enjoy a few moments of peace and silence." She turned her face into his neck. The scent of his skin calmed her.

Liam knew she was hiding something, but decided to respect her wishes.

Felicia closed her eyes tightly. She wouldn't tell him the Pope tried to rape her. Not him, nor Alex. She would take this secret to the grave. It was too shameful.