A Light In The Darkness:
There she was. That young girl whom Sir Walter Beck had been training for so many years. Though she was no longer just a girl, but a young woman preparing herself for battle to save the kingdom.
A sword bearing blue markings in one hand, whilst the other bore her trusty pistol.
It was time. The darkness had invaded Albion and there was nothing left for them to do but fight.
A whole year had passed since she had become the queen of Albion, though to her, it felt like very little time at all. She didn't know if she was ready to fight this battle yet. Though it wasn't a case of her feeling ready. She had to be ready!
"I guess it's time." Walter muttered from the other side of the room, fastening his own weapons to himself.
She simply nodded and smoothed down the skirt of her Princess dress. It was hardly the attire to go out to battle in, but she wanted to defend Albion looking like their queen as well as being one.
"Look at you," Walter mumbled, "Hailey The Hero, now Queen of Albion." A slight smile played on his lips. It was evident he was proud of the child who stood before him.
"It is time..." Ben Finn called from the corridor.
The Queen, Sir Walter, Ben Finn and their soldiers walked out of the castle, fingers on the trigger, swords unsheathed.
They were ready to face the Darkness, and prepared to face the darkness of death.
They descended upon Bowerstone Market, where The Crawler's powers were already devouring life.
It's children and Dark Minions charged towards Hailey and her army, but they were not going to let the evil win. They had seen what it had done to Aurora, turning it into a desert wasteland. She would not let that happen to her beloved Albion.
Logan would not be stood by her side throughout this battle however. Her brother may not have been the best of leaders when he had control, but now she finally understood the pressure he had been under. He'd known about the Darkness that had arrived all the time he had been King, and was trying immensely hard to prepare for it. Though going about it the wrong way, he had indeed been doing what he felt best for Albion.
A battle cry rang out through the army, and then there was no turning back.
Children ran at them from every angle imaginable.
Hailey threw spells around her, sending most of them away in a wispy vapour.
"Come on, we must save our people." Walter commanded once they had finally defeated them all.
Hailey looked around her to see that all the soldiers were dead. Only Ben, Walter and herself were visible.
She wondered where Logan would be. She could not see him. Not among the dead, nor among the living.
She hoped that he hadn't come out to the battlefield with her, but she had to distract herself from thoughts of her brother's whereabouts. Logan could fend for himself. Albion could not.
They took a run through the alleyways of Bowerstone. The Crawler shouting various threats of death and destruction as they hacked down his minions.
Ben however just complained about how loud The Crawler was, the quality of their armour and his lack of ability to do spells.
The angry winds whipped at her face. It was disturbing how The Crawler had the ability to turn Bowerstone into a pale mockery of the Auroran Wastelands where she had first encountered it.
All at once, it amazed and terrified her. She began to feel almost powerless to it's might. But she knew she had to continue and forget this fear.
Fear would be the only thing holding her back, and she wouldn't let her fear risk the lives of her subjects.
They ran further still, and yet more enemies attacked them. And to make things even worse, yet more of her people were found by her laid motionless and at odd angles on the streets of Bowerstone.
Her heart sank down to the pit of her stomach. After all her efforts, all her good deeds, she feared the worst and that she would lose every life Albion had to give.
Again they continued to run, faster and faster until they came to an arch.
"I can feel it, we're getting close to that thing. Where are you?!" Walter shouted, brandishing his sword ready for a battle with the most deadly foe they were to face. "Show yourself!" He turned his head and was faced with a most ugly sight.
The Crawler in it's true form. It's white face looked as though it was made from melting wax. A melting skull with dead eyes perched in six different places. The head so shockingly white, it's body so thin and black. This creature truly was a thing of nightmares.
"The lost sheep returns to the flock." It said in a rasping voice without lip movement. It's ghostly face almost touching Walter's it was so close. It stretched out a spindly claw and stroked his face. "No one ever leaves the darkness behind." It then leant back and roared, opening it's horrifying jaws wide.
Her heart began to pound like a caged animal inside her chest. Adrenaline pumping though her veins like blood. "Walter, no!" She screamed, throwing herself before him, sending him to the sand covered cobbles beneath them.
The clawed hand it had thrown back behind it's head came forward and grabbed the back of Hailey's, pulling her hair and forcing her to face the sky.
It's chuckles were breathless and malicious. "Even better, possessing the Queen! Love is so weak!" The free hand of the ghostly creature ripped open her mouth and pushed itself inside, down her throat and channelled itself throughout her entire being.
"Hailey!" Walter shouted.
She could see nothing, do nothing, say nothing without The Crawler's permission.
Internally, she was screaming for Walter's help, crying from the blindness and sobbing at her defeat.
The Crawler whispered things – evil things – inside her head. Things that were tearing her apart, and letting the Darkness move deeper into her soul and possess each nook and cranny of her mortal body.
"You have done terrible things, did you think I wouldn't know? Did you think I would allow it?" It hissed in her head.
If she could have cried, she would. She would have screamed and sobbed and let the people around her see the pain and anguish she was experiencing.
But she wouldn't, because that was not part of being a Hero. She had to stay strong and expel this evil within.
The strikes from Walter's blade stung and burned as he tried to attack The Crawler inside her feeble, mortal shell.
The continuous blows lasted for sometime. Too long for her to have known in a conscious state, let alone in this one of blind delirium. She only knew it had ended when her knees buckled from beneath her and she felt the darkness lift from her body as it met with the surprising cold floor.
The pistol she had dropped before her face was lifted from the floor and a single shot was fired, followed by the twisted screams of The Crawler as it disappeared in a swirl of black vapour like it's children had done before it.
Strong arms took hold of her shoulders and cradled her against Walter's chest. "Hailey, speak to me."
She coughed. "Walter...?" She was now blessed with sight once more and gazed towards his rugged face.
His eyes were filling with tears as he gazed down at her. "It's all over Hailey. We won! We beat it together!"
She coughed once more and placed a hand on his chest to feel his beating heart. So much life. And it felt like hers was slowly draining away.
"Do you remember the stories I'd tell you when you were a child?" He whispered.
She nodded, but didn't speak.
"There was a great King once. The mightiest Hero of them all... Remember what you would say?"
She nodded once more and feebly replied: "Teach me to be a Hero."
"You have done me proud, Hailey. You've always done me proud. And shall continue, for this shall not be the end. I shall continue to look after you, and you shall live. Tell me I have been a good Father to you since your own disappeared?" He almost pleaded, willing her to live through his own hope.
"No Walter, you have been so much more," Her shaking hand stretched out to touch his face, "Walter, I love you."
His arms tightly held her as tears slowly fell from his eyes. "Quiet young Hero, save your strength..."
A new darkness came within her, claiming her sight and consciousness as she heard a nondescript shout from a voice that sounded like Ben's...
They stood in the castle grounds, admiring a statue that had been built there in memory of Albion's victory.
Logan gazed at it longingly, with a look of despair plastered to his pasty face. The lines in his brow deeper than ever as he looked at the marble with guilt, pain and sadness filling his heart.
It truly was a shame that his Father had been unable to see this. At least his statue would always look over Bowerstone and protect from any forthcoming dangers.
Hailey hobbled towards the place of gathering, a wooden crutch supporting her. A few broken ribs and exhaustion was all that had ailed her amazingly, though she feared she would never be truly healed of the Darkness that had possessed her. The Crawler may appeared to have gone, but darkness was all around them. The Crawler had only been it's minion, being able to manipulate the dark matter to do it's real wishes. She would always be on guard for a time when a Hero would be needed again to save Albion.
Her allies gave their congratulations on Albion's victory and the work she had done since becoming ruler, swearing blind allegiance to her side through thick and thin.
Then at last, she turned to Walter who held out his hand for her to hold. "You have truly done me proud," He said, "you have been the Hero I always knew you could be."
She took it and smiled, then gazed out towards the horizon.
"A/N: I wrote this because – as you may have guessed – I disliked the fact that Walter died at the end of the main story of Fable III. Also, from the very start of the game I wanted my character to be able to marry Walter and was disappointed when I discovered you couldn't. Please, comment constructively and give me your opinions. Thank you for reading!"