Me: So…er… My first time adopting a story! This is 'How the Story Ends' from Fanfiction Bard. I probably won't be able to write this as well as him, since I've never had a go at writing serious things (horror, yes, but never sad/serious). So if you find this story to be worse than when it was written by FB, I understand. Hopefully, I won't take out anything that you liked about his story though… _ I don't own Maplestory, and, considering that I adopted this, I don't really own this plot either XD Side note: The first 17 chapters will just be me copying FB's chapters and editing certain parts, since if I completely rewrite I'd probably completely change the story.


Prologue

Freud limped over to the altar at the center of the room, most of his remaining strength already gone. Leaning on his staff for support, he was a pitiful sight to see. His robes were burned, his hair singed and painted a wet crimson, and a path of blood marked where he had dragged himself over the floor. Discarding his staff, he finally dropped to the ground, and onto the steps leading to the altar. Von Leon's claws had left a nasty wound on his left lower abdomen, his blood escaping from his scars as if chased by a monster.

He knew he was dying. Even though Freud knew a plethora of healing spells, this was no ordinary wound. Von Leon was a monster, possessed by the demon Marbas. Wounds left by his claws were especially fatal, and the amount of injuries on him was deadly enough.

Why he even decided to haul himself to the altar was beyond him. Perhaps he had hoped that someone would be there to save him, Freud bitterly thought. For someone to fix his failure.

It wasn't supposed to end like this. They were supposed to defeat the Black Mage once and for all, and come out of it alive. Instead, they simply managed to imprison the monster and his commanders, both of their armies wiped out completely, with the five Heroes trapped in ice, cut off from the world, scattered throughout the Maple World, and frozen in time for all eternity.

They didn't deserve that. They were willing to lay down their lives to keep this world safe, but what they suffered was a worse fate than death.

A fate that Freud should have suffered. He hated Afrien for taking the curse for him. That should've been him. Freud made Afrien promise that he wouldn't try to risk his life for him, but the King of Onyx Dragons, curse him, was far too selfless.

For love of his friend, Afrien took the curse and damned himself to the Ice of Time. Freud knew that his friends' sacrifice was in vain. The magic that held the Black mage would not last forever, and when he broke free, the Heroes would not be there to-

Wait a second.

Freud remembered that he was in the Temple of Time, for Rhea's sake! Powers incomprehensible to even a powerful mage such as himself existed here. The Black Mage used the Temple's power to make the Ice of Time Curse, and Freud could use its power to break it.

Freud mustered the last bit of strength he had, and crawled closer to the altar. He managed channeled what little magic he had left. With his injury, casting spells was painful, like having a fire lit in his gut. If he had the strength, he would scream in pain.

However, the agony would be worth it if he could use enough magic to tap into the Temple's power.

The pain was spreading to Freud's lungs, making it excruciating just to breathe, but the pain was interrupted when he felt his magic touch the Temple's power. Finally.

Freud then chanted in the Dragon-tongue, a language that was dead to most of the Maple World but revitalized when he met Afrien. Freud spoke an incantation that connected the Black Mage's prison to his friends'. That way, when the Black Mage's curse would fail, so would the Heroes'. When he was done, he chanted a spell that sent Afrien's egg to a safe place in the Maple World, where it would stay there until a new Dragon Master arose.

There. The easy part was done. Still, using power from the Temple of Time had a steep price. It required a soul that would spend the rest of eternity being a Guardian of the Temple.

With his shaking hand, the mage withdrew a small knife from his belt.

He remembered being a small boy being told stories of heroes and adventurers…

when he went to Orbis and studied magic with the Faerie mages…

when he traveled to Leafre to study dragons…

…with his last once of strength…

when he met Afrien after the dragon saved his life from being devoured by a swarm of wyverns…

when he and Afrien and made the Spirit Pact…

when he and Afrien took their first flight together…

…he brought the blade up to his throat…

when he met Luminous, Aran, Mercedes, and Phantom…

when he cried out in anguish, hurt, and self-loathing once Afrien took the Ice of Time Curse for him…

…And he felt the cold metal slice into the soft flesh, blood dribbling into his lungs, and dripping down from his mouth onto his robes. The pain was fleeting, but not as bad as he thought it would be. Maybe it was just small compared to the other pains he had felt throughout his life.

I have done my part.

Surprisingly to himself, he had a grin on his scarred and bruised face as his dying body disappeared in a flash of blue light. The rest was left up to fate.


Me: … Of course I wasn't too lazy to rewrite the whole thing .-. XD Okay, so maybe I was a bit lazy. But to be honest, I first tried to write it on my own, and it started to take a different direction xP So… the easy way it is! (-u-)b