I know, I know. You should know by now that I can't resist some angsty drama (aka character death XD). Hey, there was almost some fluff in the last chapter, right? Just read on and see what happens to the already half dead hunter.


Forever Yours

She had never felt such a heated rage in her entire life. She watched as Luzien's eyes closed, her handing feeling numbly for the arrow. He couldn't be…he could not be dead.

She slowly lifted her line of sight to the hunter standing a small distance from them. With trembling hands, she reached for her sword, and moved to stand and kill the man. He seemed to realize his mistake in angering the paladin as she charged at him, utter hate gleaming in her eyes. She felt hot tears running down her dirt-smudged cheeks. He'll be okay, she thought. As she approached, the hunter had dropped his bow and was begging for his life. He knew very well that we was no match in close combat. "Please…don't kill me! Please, I—"

"Don't kill you? I have every reason to kill you. Why would I give you mercy when you gave him none?" she asked as she pointed to the priest behind her. It took everything she not to break down and cry. She took a few menacing steps but the hunter stumbled twice as many back. "You're a coward," she hissed.

In the next moment, she broke into a run and tackled him to the hard ground. She threw her sword behind her as she straddled him and wrapped gloved hands around his neck. She wanted to kill him with her bare hands. He tried to speak but it only made her tighten her grip on his throat. Soon, his face began to turn a bluish color and he struggled less and less until he had gone limp. Sobs racked her body as she remained where she was, hands still around the dead hunter's neck.

She felt a drop of wetness hit her cheek that was not her own tears. She looked up at the dismal overcast sky, a feeling of dread and sorrow overtaking her. She felt numb as she stood shakily. She made slow steps back to Luzien, the sight of him so lifeless was the most horrible thing she had ever seen. He had been her friend, her annoyance, her love…what would she do now?

She knelt beside him and pulled the arrow out of his chest, tossing it aside. Leaning down, she put her ear to his chest and heard nothing but stillness. What was truly holding her to this life now? Why should she not just die and begin serving the Lord of the Dead?

Luzien felt light and free of any pain except that which was in his heart. He stood by his body, slowly realizing that he was a spirit. He had watched Angela take her revenge on the hunter and saw her now with her head resting on his former body. Why did this have to happen now? He felt something drawing him away from here to some place of unimaginable beauty and light and warmth. He refused to go. He would sooner spend another lifetime in pain with Angela than a lifetime of Heaven without her.

"Priest…" a voice murmured deeply. Oh God, tell me that isn't who I think it is, Luzien thought to himself. "I am indeed the one you are thinking of." He heard the raspy breath of the being behind him. "You have laid eyes on me before."

"Yeah…" Luzien did not feel the fear he had the first time he saw the Lord of the Dead. "What d'you want?" he asked. He heard the clanking of armor as the Lord brought himself closer.

"The paladin has one weakness and it is you. She will not serve me to her greatest potential the way things are now. I offer you life in exchange for service."

Life…did he want this? It was a simple question yet so difficult to answer. He knew the stipulations that came with such an offer. He would never get to Heaven accepting this offer, but at the same time, he could never leave Angela. The answer was so clear but a small part of him was being tugged in another direction, what would he do?

In a very short time, the once pleasant and optimistic paladin had a very pessimistic view on life. What was the point of it when you could so easily lose the things you loved? She froze suddenly when a hand was laid on her head. Another enemy? No. She felt the slow rhythmic beating of a heart beneath her ear. She lifted her head to see her priest with a stupid smile on his face.

"Hey love," he sighed as he sat up. Sometimes sacrifices were necessary, he had learned. Angela sat in silence, her eyes red and cheeks streaked with tears. It truly broke his heart to have had to see her like this. She was always a strong person but this was wholly new. He didn't want her to hurt like this ever again.

"What did you do?" she asked worriedly. She had a feeling that he may have gotten himself into mess.

"No need to worry about it. I'm okay now." He knew that she knew. He also knew that neither of them approved of what the other had done but now, they were in the same boat. Somehow, it comforted Angela to know that he would be with her forever but she never would have wished such a thing upon him. "Really, Angela, don't worry about anything. I never do things that I don't wanna do. You should know that by now."

She shrugged but still said nothing. After a few moments, she slid her arms around him. "You're not going to leave me again, are you?"

"Nope, you're stuck with me," he grinned. He then remembered what he was going to do before he died. "Um, Angela?"

"Hm?"

"Before all that mess, I was gonna to ask if you wanted to marry me." She went very still for a moment before she pulled away from him with an odd look on her face. Out of nowhere, she punched him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?" he moaned, clutching his arm rather dramatically.

"You pick the worst times to do these sort of things."

"Well, you gonna answer me or what?"

"Yes."

"Yes you'll answer me or yes you'll marry me?" he grinned playfully.

How was it that he could always be in a good mood after something like this? "Take your pick but honestly, this was a terrible time to ask. We have things to do…" she sighed. As she began to walk off, Luzien grabbed her wrist.

"Wait, love. I know I'm perverted, stupid, lacking in common sense and a lot of other things but don't be so cold about it. I just wanted to marry you and have lots of little Luzien's running around and...I kinda thought you did too." He was hoping she wouldn't crush him by saying no to him. They had such a history together and at long last, they had become a couple recently but she just didn't look happy.

"My answer isn't important. Look," she gestured to the field of death before them, "the time is just not right. I love you and you know that, but I almost feel guilty for being even remotely happy at a time like this."

The high priest smiled at her words. She was always thinking about everyone else. He leaned down and planted a kiss on her forehead. A small smile brightened her face. "After this is all over, I'm gonna do this right, okay? Then, after you say yes, which I know you will, we'll get married and have twenty kids. Sound like a plan?"

She could not help but chuckle at his audacity.


A/N: I just couldn't kill him. I luff them all. This was kind of a weird way to end this one.