His eyes were like chips of green ice shining in the dark. The girl was sprawled on the floor, hacking and coughing up blood. He stared down at her coldly, watching her struggle in vain. It was pitiful. She was pathetic.
"Don't do this," she pleaded desperately, trying to pull herself across the crystal floor. "I know you're in there somewhere."
He laughed, an ice cold sound splitting the black night. He spread his arms and felt the dark magic rush through his veins, building the strength inside him with every moment. He flicked a hand and a bolt of energy struck the girl, making her body jerk in pain.
"The man you knew is dead," he told her. "What you see before you is all that there is. I thought you would have realized that by now."
"I don't believe that." The girl spat out the words as she glared at him with hatred in her furious brown eyes. She was a burning ember, but her fire was almost out.
"Then you're even more stupid than you look."
He knelt to the cold floor before her and grasped the roots of her scarlet hair, jerking her head up roughly. He pulled her face up to his. Her eyes were full of pain and anger and her face was pale with fear. Her voice shook with the shock of betrayal. She was weak from having fought for so long. If it was any consolation, she had lasted longer and had fought more bravely than any of his other victims. It was too bad it didn't matter at all.
"What do you want from me?" she stumbled, barely forming the words. He smiled cruelly. In the beginning, she had been so full of fire, determined to stop his plans, but as their dance drew on, she grew weaker, and he grew stronger. No one would even recognize the formerly mighty Titania.
He drew her face closer to his; his breath tickling her skin.
"I want you to make me stop having these feelings for you," he told her quietly. "You are nothing more than a worthless pawn." He released her hair, and she fell to the ground. She curled up into a ball, lifting her arms to cover her face.
He stood up and made another gesture, another flash of power hitting her body. She didn't even flinch this time. She just lay on the floor shuddering.
"You're no fun, Erza!" he laughed. "Don't you feel like screaming?"
Erza raised her head slightly and stared at him with animosity plain on her face.
"How much of your life has been a lie?" she hissed. "How many people have you used and hurt?!"
He raised his eyebrows, smirking down at her.
"Who knows?"
He sent more magic at her casually, the power growing wilder with every spell. Every slice of magic and every inch of pain she felt increased his adrenaline and mania on the verge of ecstasy.
He stopped attacking her for a moment, and looked down at her collapsed body. It was covered in bloody lacerations torn through her skin. Erza's hands covered her face, tears seeping through her fingers. The wet trails cut through the filth on her face.
"Do you know what this reminds me of?" he drawled out, stalking around the open tower room. "I remember, when we were children, you were the weakest of us all. Too bad Simon's not here to protect you anymore."
Erza's breath hitched, her throat tightening. With a sudden burst of energy, she launched herself up and attacked him. Her tired fists pummeled away at his chest until he caught them with his hands and jerked them up close to his face. He gripped her wrists tightly and stared at her intently.
Erza stared back, her expression matching one of a trapped deer.
"What happened to you?" she whispered. Before, she had shouted at him for ages about what had done to Simon. It seemed she no longer had the energy. He smiled at her.
"Zeref happened to me."
He released her wrists and watched her fall to the crystal floor. Erza clutched her stomach, guarding a particularly bloody wound.
"You can free yourself, Jellal," she said, her voice barely audible. Her eyelids fluttered, and she sank to the ground in a heap. Jellal fired another harsh blast of magic at her that sliced open the skin on her back. She convulsed and cried out in pain.
"I am free," he told her. "I will create a world of freedom. Without you."
He formed an arrow made out of golden star magic between his hands and flung the energy at Erza. She gasped as it entered her body and struck her heart. Upon impact, the weapon shattered into gold bits of glass-like magic power. Her bright red life-blood melted out of the wound and pooled on the floor. Jellal knelt beside her.
"I tried to warn you," he said. "We could have ruled the new world together. But see where your fleeting freedom takes you."
As Erza struggled to draw breath, Jellal leaned down closer to her.
"I really did love you, Erza," he murmured, stroking her pale cheek with his gloved fingertips. "I'm sorry it had to end this way, my dear."
Erza said nothing, her body focused on survival. Her eyes were screwed shut, and her breathing was ragged, gasping for air. Blood seeped through her fingers as she tried in vain to stop up the wound.
Jellal stood and twisted around, walking away from her. He watched out of the corner of his eye as she bled out on the crystal lacrima; drawing closer to the inevitable with each passing second. A sudden, intense pain shot through his body, as if a piece of glass had been shoved into his own heart. He touched his forehead, feeling his head pound furiously. He cried out in agony as ripping pain wrenched into his every nerve. It was as if his head was splitting in two. His vision went dizzy, and he nearly collapsed.
Remembrance shot through Jellal's head and began chasing away the darkness. He was unable to comprehend what was happening, but he watched. In his mind's eye, the blackness hissed, strengthening its hold on his heart and mind, but then a fiery figure appeared. What appeared to be a scarlet tiger roared, scaring the demon away until it left his body.
Gradually, his thoughts became clearer. His memories flooded back over him, and he fell to the ground, heaving. A pit the size of a black hole formed in his stomach as he remembered what he had done.
"No," he murmured, twisting around furiously. "Erza!"
Jellal scrambled to his feet and raced over to her fallen body. He knelt next to her and took her in his arms, supporting her limp head with his shoulder.
"What have I done?" he asked furiously, burying his face in her hair and holding her tightly. There was a twitch of motion in her body, and Jellal quickly laid her back down on the ground carefully. Her eyelids fluttered, showing dull, glassed-over, unseeing eyes. Erza coughed weakly, but managed to say one word so quiet he could barely hear it.
"Simon."
Her eyes closed, and a small breath escaped her lips. Her body became still as her broken heart beat no more. Erza Scarlet was dead.
Panic shot through Jellal. He shook her shoulders, gently at first, then harder, determined to revive her. He tore his black gloves off and pressed his hands against her wound to staunch the bleeding. He held them there for a moment, then turned his hands up and looked at his palms. They were bright red and dripping with her blood.
"Come on, wake up," he muttered, his eyes wide with fear. He couldn't lose her. He couldn't. "Please, don't leave me."
But she was already gone, the fairy struck down by his own hand. As the minutes passed by, he gave up and collapsed, wrapping his arms around her lifeless body tightly. Tears fell from his eyes and dropped onto her still-warm skin.
Jellal leaned over Erza's face, his tears mixing with her own. He gently cupped her face and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her desperately. After an agonizing moment, he broke away and touched his forehead to hers.
"I love you," he whispered, still crying hot tears. "I'm sorry."
He knew the words wouldn't erase what he had done. She couldn't even hear them. Grief fixed itself in his heart and refused to let go, drowning him in sorrow and regret. Nothing could ever right this wrong. Erza was gone. Forever.
Jellal lay with her a moment more, then got up shakily. Still on his knees, he drew a knife from a sheath on his belt. He touched the tip of the blade to Erza's lips, then dug the point resolutely into the skin above his heart. He waited for a minute, closing his eyes, then plunged the knife into his chest firmly.
Jellal felt a stab of intense pain, and then nothing. His vision blacked out, and he fell into an abyss of emptiness.
His feet were planted firmly in the ground, hidden by the fresh green grass that sprouted up from the dirt. Jellal glanced down at his feet momentarily, then looked around him. He was in a field that was surrounded by nothing but plants and a bright blue sky.
"What happened to the tower?" he asked aloud, if only to hear his own voice. He turned around. "Where is this place?"
He walked through the field for a while, keeping his eyes open. After he had traveled a ways, on the far edge of the horizon, he saw something that looked like a person. Walking swiftly, then running, he raced towards it. As he got closer, he gasped. A familiar girl with long scarlet hair was standing among the wildflowers.
"Erza!"
Jellal ran to her and threw his arms around her shoulders. He held her closely, afraid she might vanish before his eyes. He couldn't believe she was here, safe and alive.
"I thought I lost you," he murmured, leaning his head against hers.
He felt Erza bring her hands up against his chest and suddenly shove him away roughly. He stumbled back, looking at her in surprise. He blinked once, and when his eyes opened again, he saw a different scene.
The girl was no longer standing on the ground, but was covered in chains. She hung from manacles around her wrists that were fixed to the inside of an upright T-shaped coffin. The sarcophagus was purple with many intricate designs carved into the material.
Jellal's blood ran cold. He recognized the structure. The coffin had been his own once. He barely remembered it, but seeing it again brought back a wave of nausea and fear. He had been imprisoned inside of it while in a coma; intended to be used as a weapon.
He stepped forward, barely able to believe what was before his eyes. Erza's body was covered with the wounds that he had inflicted with his magic. Her skin was still bloodstained, her eyes were closed, and she wasn't breathing.
Jellal looked up at her in horror.
"Why are you here?" he asked. "Why are you haunting me?!"
He fell to the ground and covered his ears with his hands. The dead silence was drowning him in emptiness. The green field surrounding him withered away to gray ash and dust. The girl in the coffin faded away until Jellal was left completely alone in a white space.
He knelt on the ground, covered in shadows. Jellal looked up to see a canopy of trees blocking out the sun. He stumbled to his feet and started to run through the dark forest, desperate to leave everything behind. There was nothing left for him anymore.
He heard a scream interrupt his empty thoughts. He slowed down and came to a halt, looking around. There was nothing there but black trees and the forest floor beneath his feet.
"Jellal!" a voice cried out. It sounded as if it was in pain, full of fear.
His head snapped up. It was Erza's voice.
"Erza!"
He took off in the direction it came from, his feet pounding against the forest floor. Other screams echoed from the same place, making Jellal run all the faster. When he finally reached the spot the sounds had come from, he saw Erza crouched in a clearing in the woods. A net of thin chain links was draped over her, trapping her to the ground with stakes in the corners of the net. She was looking up at him desperately.
Jellal ran to her, knelt to the forest floor, and touched her fingers through the net's spaces. She gripped his hand tightly, staring into his eyes.
"Help me," she whispered, looking at him with large, achingly familiar brown eyes. "Please."
Jellal nodded swiftly, adrenaline beating through his body.
"Get back," he told her, rising to his feet. He formed a ball of solar magic in his hand and threw it at the net, careful to not hit Erza. The chains exploded, sending metal pieces flying. Erza shielded herself with her arms thrown in front of her face. She stood up, being careful not to get hit by the metal.
When the dust settled, Jellal looked at Erza. She was wearing a simple white dress that showed off her shoulders, revealing silvery scars trailing all over her body. His heart caught in his throat. They were the same awful wounds he had inflicted on her in the tower, the same ones she had borne in the coffin.
The girl was breathing heavily. She looked up at Jellal with deep gratitude in her expression.
"Thank you," she said quietly. She stepped closer and kissed him lightly. As she pulled away, Jellal wrapped his arms around her and rested his head on hers, holding her tightly. Erza leaned into him, filling his body with a warm feeling. He closed his eyes and breathed out softly. The rigid tension was leaving his body.
A sharp sensation pricked his body. He gasped and broke away from Erza, looking down. A piercing silver knife was stuck between his ribs on his left side. The full wave of acute pain hit him suddenly, leaving him struggling for breath. He looked down at Erza, eyes wide with shock.
Erza grinned cruelly. She reached out and grabbed the knife. She jerked it out of his skin, which in turn released a river of blood. She stabbed the knife back in below the first wound in between a new set of ribs. She twisted the knife against the bones, which sent agony screaming through his body.
"Erza…" he started weakly, but couldn't finish. He collapsed to his knees. Erza looked past her nose down at him. She jerked back her foot and kicked him harshly, sending him sprawling onto the forest floor.
"Murderer," she said, kicking him again. Jellal hunched into a ball, trying to guard himself from her attacks. He did his best to rise, but Erza struck him with a whip that appeared in her hands. She sent him onto his hands and knees with a long welt across his side. The whip sent a fierce burning sensation through his skin, adding to the pain.
"You stay down like the dog you are," she hissed. "You are the center of darkness, and very soon, you will be dead, black-heart."
Jellal felt something warm at the back of his throat. He heaved and threw up blood. His brain went fuzzy, barely able to pull together enough to think. He fell onto his side on the ground and rolled over onto his back.
"I…love...you...Scarlet" he choked out, staring up at her with tears in his eyes. Erza smirked and placed a hand on her hip.
"That's what made it so easy," she said, watching him suffer. "But who's Scarlet?"
She raised her head triumphantly.
"My name is Erza Nighthunter."
"I'm sorry," he murmured quietly, darkness swimming before his eyes. Erza's eyes narrowed.
"I don't care. You don't matter anymore. You never did." She crossed her arms, looking down at him.
"Don't you see? Everything you did can never be fixed. Jellal Fernandes is nothing but an empty shell of darkness. You deserve everything you have coming to you."
Erza stomped down on his arm, breaking and crushing his wrist. Pain shot through his body, the pain of abuse and a broken heart. Jellal lay on the ground, not resisting as she struck him again and again. His vision blacked out and the endless strikes numbed his body.
His soul felt as if it was being ripped from his body. Darkness surrounded him, and soon that was all he knew. But he didn't care. It took away the pain and the hurt. He drifted in the waves; not caring if he ever woke up again.
Jellal shot up, breathing heavily, his heart practically beating out of his chest. He looked at the space next to him in the bed, only to see nothing. He screamed, panic filling his body. He stumbled out of the bed and into a corner of the dark room, heaving as if he was going to be sick. He shrank down to the floor, pulling at his hair and scratching his skin. He buried his face in his hands with sobs racking his body. Gone, gone, she was gone.
A light flickered on outside of the room, and the door opened. Someone walked into the room, but Jellal didn't care. He rocked unsteadily in the corner while facing the wall. His eyes were squeezed shut as he tried to block out the world.
"Jellal? What are you doing?" a kind voice asked him. Jellal twitched, but stayed crouched in the corner. It was just another phantom.
"You aren't real," he whispered. Footsteps walked towards him, but he stayed in the same position. A familiar strawberry scent wafted over him and filled him with an aching longing, but he shook it off. She wasn't really here, no matter how much he wished that she was.
She stretched out a hand, but before she could touch him, he grabbed her wrist and whirled around to face her. He looked slightly crazed, with wild eyes and a haunted expression. She stared at him, her pale face framed in scarlet hair. Her expression revealed a worried and anxious face.
"What's wrong?" she asked quietly. She tried to touch his face with her other hand, but he knocked it aside.
"You aren't real," he said again in a cracked voice. "You can't be real." He leaned forward, staring at her. Her beautiful face was clean, and she had no fresh scars or wounds. "Please tell me you're real."
"I'm real," she spoke softly. Jellal released her wrist, and looked at her for a moment. He reached out slowly and cupped her face with his fingers gently, smoothing her hair back. Then he lunged forward, covering her face with kisses.
Her arms wrapped around him and held him close to her, partially cradling his body. Jellal inhaled, trying to steady himself. He breathed her in, drawing strength from her touch. After a sweet moment of affection, Jellal stopped and pressed his forehead to hers. She smiled at him.
"I love you," she said meaningfully. Jellal closed his eyes and clutched her to his chest.
"I love you, too, Erza," he murmured, finally in control of himself again. Erza coaxed him back onto the bed, and the pair sat on the blankets together. Jellal ran his fingers through her long hair, a habit that helped him to stay calm.
"It was a nightmare," he admitted to her, looking aside and avoiding her eyes. "I dreamed that I killed you."
Erza shivered and held his hand, squeezing it tightly.
"Was that all of it?" she asked him. Jellal huffed and settled into her. She knew him well enough to recognize that he wasn't telling her everything.
"No," he said honestly. He looked away. "You don't want to know."
"Tell me," she insisted. "I want to help you."
Jellal shifted uncomfortably. What would she think of him after knowing what darkness his subconscious was able to come up with?
"We were in the lacrima Tower of Heaven, and I killed you," he told her reluctantly. "Then the dark possession fled me, and I saw you dead as myself. I tried to bring you back, but you were gone." He shuddered and clung to Erza tightly. Reliving the dream was nearly as bad as experiencing it. He had to keep reminding himself she was alive right in front of him.
"I stabbed myself in the heart, and then suddenly I was in a field. I found you, but then you were locked in the resurrection coffin with the same wounds I gave you. After that, I was in a forest. I heard you calling out for help, and I found you trapped in a net. I freed you, but after that Erza Nighthunter stuck me between the ribs."
He touched the skin above the ribs on his left side. It was smooth and unmarred by any wounds or new scars. Erza placed her fingertips on the flesh over his heart, tracing the largest ragged scar left behind from many years of running from the law. She leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
"I think you killed me," Jellal continued quietly. "Then I woke up, and you weren't there. It felt like I was still trapped in the dream. You were really gone."
Erza looked at him with pain in her eyes. Neither of them could stand seeing the other in so much agony.
"I'm so sorry," she whispered. "That nightmare must have been horrible."
Jellal hugged her tightly.
"I spent eight years in a nightmare once," he spoke, his head resting on hers. "I just couldn't live with losing you."
Erza raised his hand and touched her lips to a crystalline red garnet and steel ring on his fourth finger.
"You're never going to lose me," she told him. She touched a glowing blue starlit ring on her own finger. "And I'm never going to lose you."
Jellal nestled into Erza, leaning against her. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders.
"Even if something were to happen to me," she paused. "You can't black out and kill yourself." She squeezed him tightly. "Not just because it would be cowardly and I don't want you to, but you can't leave them alone."
"I know." Jellal held her close. "I won't. I promise." He pressed his cheek to hers and sighed.
"Daddy?" a high-pitched voice asked. Jellal and Erza sprang apart and glanced at the doorway. A little girl with dark red hair was standing on the threshold. She stared up at them with large intelligent eyes.
"Rosemary," Jellal said, smiling slightly. He got off the bed and picked the girl up, swinging her around. "What are you doing up this late?"
Rosemary smiled and giggled as her father swung her through the air. She sobered up a little as he set her on the bed.
"I heard you crying," she said quietly. Her wide eyes teared up as her bottom lip quivered. Erza swept in and hugged her daughter.
"Everything's all right," she told her. "Daddy just had a nightmare."
Jellal studied his daughter. Her dark red hair was long and thick like Erza's, but her dark green eyes were his. He hugged Rosemary tightly and kissed the top of her head. Rosemary squirmed and nestled in between her parents. She looked at her father with keen eyes that appeared wise beyond her years. It was as if she could see into his mind and knew what was troubling him.
They hadn't told her about their past yet, but they would eventually. Their older child knew and accepted it, but Jellal was slightly anxious that Rosemary would reject him once she knew about what had happened long ago before she was born.
"I love you, Daddy," Rosemary told him, clinging to his arm. She snuggled contentedly against him and settled into the bed.
"I love you, too, Rosemary." He tickled under her chin and she squealed, thrashing her little body. When she settled down, she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. He wrapped his arms around her, nestling into his daughter.
Erza ruffled Rosemary's and Jellal's hair.
"Do you feel better?" she asked, looking at him. He smiled slightly and nodded.
"Rosemary, it's time to go to bed," she said. She picked up the little girl.
"Goodnight, Rosemary," Jellal said, releasing his hold on her.
"Night, Daddy."
Jellal lay on his back on the bed in the dark with his hands beneath his head. He did his best to shove the dream out of his head, but the pain and the harsh words refused to leave. He tried to focus on Rosemary's light, but it was difficult.
Erza returned to the room and shut the door. She laid down on the bed under the blankets next to Jellal and turned on her side to face him. She touched her forehead to his.
"Have you forgiven yourself?" she asked softly. Jellal tilted his head, looking at her.
"What?"
Her brown eyes stared at him.
"You heard me."
Jellal sighed and stroked Erza's hair.
"I want to," he sighed. "Sometimes I think I can, but other times...I just hate myself."
He closed his eyes, but horrible images flashed behind his eyes. Children in chains, agony of beatings and torture, dark eyes flashing red, a betrayed Erza in pain, Simon falling, and behind him, the murderer: a menacing blue-cloaked figure whose only goal was to destroy anyone who got in his way.
Erza stopped his flow of dark thoughts with a kiss to his forehead. She placed her hands on either side of his face and looked deep into his eyes for a moment. He blinked and stared back at her.
"There are traces of dark magic inside of you," she told him. His mouth opened in surprise.
"What?"
"I can feel it inside," Erza said. "Ultear possessed you for a very long time. Even when she released her hold, bits of black magic stayed inside your body. Your guilt is haunting you and making it worse with traumatic stress. The dark magic has been torturing you for years. How long have your nightmares been appearing?"
Jellal shifted.
"A few times a year since my memories returned," he said to her. "The nightmares usually appear when you're not here. They were at their worst during the years you were inside the Fairy Sphere."
"You had to deal with it all alone?" she asked, stroking his face with her fingers. He tilted his head away from her, but nodded slightly. She crushed his body to hers and refused to let go.
"You should have told me," Erza said, her voice muffled by his shoulder. "We can visit the guild tomorrow. If anyone can help us get the dark magic out, I know our friends can."
She stared him in the eyes.
"But you will have to come some of the way," she said. "I love you, no matter who you were during the dark years. Have faith in yourself and in us. I forgave you long ago."
"I know," Jellal whispered. "Thank you."
"We accept the love we believe we deserve," Erza murmured. He looked at her in surprise. She smiled slightly and snuggled up against his chest. "You believed that for a long time."
"There's no way in the world I deserve you," he told her. She scoffed.
"If that's true, then I don't deserve you, either," she replied, closing her eyes. "Accept it anyway. I've done things I regret as well. Focusing on the past solves nothing."
He smiled at her and wrapped his arms around her under the blankets. Her body was warm and reassuring.
"By the way," Erza said, opening her eyes, her voice gone serious. "There's something you should know."
Jellal tilted his head curiously.
"What?"
Erza gave a small smile.
"I'm pregnant," she murmured. Jellal gasped, his body stiffening, and flushed, his face matching the pink on Erza's cheeks.
"Are you sure?" he asked, staring at her in shock. Erza nodded.
"It doesn't show yet. I went to a doctor the other day," she told him. "Cana read my fortune and found out. She told me it would be a boy."
Jellal stretched and placed his fingers on Erza's cheekbones; green eyes meeting brown.
"As far as I know, she's never been wrong before."
Erza looked up at him tentatively.
"Is it okay?" she asked with a slightly nervous look on her face. Jellal smiled at her and placed a hand over her taut stomach.
"Of course it's okay!" he told her excitedly. "It's wonderful!"
The first time Erza had told him she was pregnant, he had fainted. He was glad to see he had improved since then.
"What do you want to call him?" Erza asked curiously. Jellal closed his eyes, feeling the pulse beneath the skin on her belly. His son was in there, safe within his mate's womb.
A name popped into his head, although he wasn't sure if it was a good idea. The name had a lot of pain attached to it, but it would be a way to honor the one who had sacrificed himself for Erza.
"What about Simon?" he asked her quietly. Erza smiled, although somewhat sadly.
"Guess what."
"What?"
"I had the same idea," she told him. "I visited Kagura at Mermaid Heel today. I wanted to know if it was all right with her. She was his sister, after all."
"What did she say?"
Erza's hands framed Jellal's face as she stared into his eyes.
"She told me it would be an honor if my child has his name," she spoke, brushing her fingers through his blue forelock. He touched his forehead to hers.
"Of course she did, you're like her big sister," Jellal said, nestling into her. "Though I bet she didn't know it's mine as well."
"Of course she knew." Erza frowned. "She wants our baby to carry her brother's name."
"Simon it is, then," he said, kissing her forehead. Erza smiled, hugging him tightly.
He was about to kiss her again, but was interrupted by giggling behind the bedroom door. Jellal sighed, but got out of bed and opened the door. Reiki and Rosemary were standing outside, grinning up at him.
Reiki was their other child, a handsome red-haired and green-eyed boy of ten. He ran a hand through his spiky hair and smiled devilishly at his father.
"Hey, Dad," he said cheerfully.
"What are you two doing now?" Jellal asked, crossing his arms.
"Rose got me," Reiki replied, resting a hand affectionately on his little sister's head. Rosemary rocked back and forth on her feet, looking up at Jellal with a smile on her face.
"We wanna sleep with you tonight," she told him cheerfully. "Then you won't get nightmares."
Jellal glanced back at Erza, who looked tired, but happy. He smiled and picked up Rosemary in his arms and carried her to the bed.
"Okay," he said, settling her in the blankets. Reiki followed them and squirreled into the bed next to his mother. Rosemary nestled in between her brother and father. Jellal wrapped an arm around her and sighed.
The bed felt warm with the four -technically five, counting the baby inside of Erza- bodies resting in it. The love in the room and the presence of his family filled Jellal with a sense of peace, driving the dark thoughts away.
I love you, Scarlet, he told Erza telepathically. She yawned sleepily and nestled into her family.
I love you, too, Fernandes, he heard her murmur in her head. Jellal smiled, closed his eyes and fell into the peaceful night, dreaming, not of darkness, but of the hope that was alive, and the future that was to come.
The End