LXXXI.

Smile.

Soft, sweet, gentle. The smile that she'd practiced so many times in the antique mirror with Faust watching over her shoulder, carefully correcting the unassuming expression again and again until it was perfect. Until it was every bit the pretty smile of a charming Lady who was completely harmless.

Her well-wishers seemed to be equally relieved and unnerved by her smile.

Hm.

... The rumors were certainly spreading faster than she'd expected…

"It's good to see you up and about again, Lady Squalo."

"The pleasure is mine, Vongola Nono." Muted murmurs broke out amongst the guests as the old man approached the little girl with a grandfatherly air. "Though I still insist, this entire celebration held in my honor is unnecessary."

"Nonsense," he gave a warm laugh that didn't quite reach his eyes. Not entirely, at least, though she'd seen a quicksilver slip of the emotion. "On the contrary, I think we have every reason to be celebrating right now."

Small talk. Whisper of voices. Sweet, sweet smile.

Stella was almost tired of it all.

The celebratory banquet thrown in her honor –Stella wasn't foolish enough to think that the Nono wouldn't confront her after this. She didn't like it. And neither did her little brother, judging by how he was continually rebuffing the conversation around him without so much as a second thought, his gaze always cutting towards–

Xanxus.

The young Vongola's eyes held none of the dubious suspicion that the others held in theirs. It made sense, in a way, as he had witnessed the scene when she killed Carmen Bellini…

… But then, why did she feel as if he was seeing through her? As if he could see straight through the pretense of polite chatter and fake smiles that'd fooled even the Vongola Nono?

(But then again, considering the circumstances that he'd seen her in… perhaps it wasn't so surprising after all.)

But. Well.

It didn't matter.

She let her gaze drop from him, and turned to converse lightly with the Lady who'd approached from her left.

In the end, no matter what she thought… nothing mattered.

LXXXII.

"Hey~ Are you Lady Stella Squalo?"

The smiling face of a white-haired boy, holding a smile far more poisonous than my own.

Destroyer of Worlds, He Who Dared to Reach For the Doors of Heaven.

I plastered a small smile over my lips.

"… Yes. What can I help you with, Byakuran?"

"Ahahaha, it's just like what they told me." A lighthearted laugh laced with a dark undertone. Where was Alfredo? "You're not at all like the rumors say you are, are you?"

Silence. And then, with that same cheerful smile:

"I know a way to stop you from dying. Care to bargain with me?"

To bargain with a devil?

"I will heal you," the boy leaned in, still grinning. "I will give you perfect health. But in return, you will give me Marion. So, what do you say?"

LXXXIII.

"Pray stay behind a bit, Lady Squalo. There is a matter I would like to discuss with you."

Alfredo could only stand by in frustration as he watched the little miss leave with the damned Vongola Nono. Couldn't he see that she was still weak? She needed rest, not more mind games in mafia politics.

Then again, it was perfectly plausible that the old Nono was taking advantage of this fact right now.

LXXXIV.

Control: System broadcast. Repeat: system broadcast. The network has been compromised. As of 1100, all operations will be put on hold and all networks are on lockdown until the problem has been remedied. Until further notice, any attempts to breach the lockdown will result in permanent termination. Lockdown will begin at 1100.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?"

LXXXV.

"Stella, what are you doing?"

The silver-haired girl smiled weakly at him.

"Fixing the leak in my network, Faust."

"By putting it all on lockdown?" The man resisted the urge to bang his head against the wall. Repeatedly. "Tell me honestly, what brought this on? You've been acting off ever since getting out of the hospital and getting dragged to that celebration the Nono gave you –wait, did he tell you to-"

"Not now, Faust." He felt a slight twinge of guilt when the girl tiredly rubbed her temples, fatigue all but etched into that simple gesture. "You can scold me all you want later. After… after I'm done taking care of this."

Faust was fully aware that Stella Squalo was more than a little bit of a workaholic –even normal, healthy people would be hard-pressed to keep up with things at the rate she was going, and she was bogged down with a terminal illness that could kill her if she didn't learn to take care of herself.

It was frustrating.

"… Your brother wanted me to pass word that he'll be late today. Apparently, he's taking the Varia's entrance exam."

She nodded, as if she already knew about it. Oh, who was he kidding? Of course she did. "Ah, he told me of that a while back."

"Tch." He folded his arms, "How can you be fine with him joining that assassination squad? The Varia still falls under Vongola's jurisdiction for the most part, even if they're supposedly independent from Vongola."

Stella laughed.

"I think you're misunderstanding something, Faust." She finally set down the cup of tea in her hands, letting the empty cup fall back on the small tray. "While it's true that I'm not particularly fond of the Vongola Nono, I don't hate the Vongola Famiglia itself."

Not like my father did.

"… I don't hate them," her voice was softer this time as she turned to look out the window. "Hate is a dangerous thing, Faust. Too little, and you have no ambition. Too much, and… well, it's what drives us insane, isn't it?"

He remained silent, sensing that there was more to come.

"I didn't know he hated me." She continued on, staring into the distance. He knew it wasn't the Vongola Nono that she was talking about; was it… the so-called 'leak?' "I found him when he was dying. His wife had used him as a stepping stone to kill his Boss… did you know he was screaming? Acid was burning his body, and he cried out not in pain, but in a desire for vengeance, his soul burning with hate … and I heard his voice. He called to me, and so I answered. I gave him new life with my flames, and he swore loyalty to me. In exchange for giving him the strength for his revenge, for saving his life, he agreed to serve me. So… why would his hate for this world turn on me?"

He didn't answer. What was there to say?

"He was the only one who knew about me," the silver-haired girl murmured quietly. "He was the only one I ever met in person. I've checked all of their minds, Faust… he's the only one. He's the only one who's used my flames long enough to know how to hide from my reach like this, none of the others ever… but why would he betray me for him?"

"I can't reach him anymore, Faust. As soon as I placed everything on lockdown and started checking them all, he left me. It's like… it's like having a part of yourself torn way. He took the flames I gave him."

Rage. Fury.

But he kept his voice calm on her behalf.

"… What will you do then, Stella?"

She exhaled slowly.

"After I take care of things here. After I make sure everything is in order, after I complete that favor for Nono… I will go and confront him."

Faust narrowed his eyes at the chilling voice.

"You speak as if you plan to die."

"Everyone will die," she replied matter-of-factly. "I merely wish to clean up matters here before chasing down my little traitor."

Punishment. Retribution. Judgment.

"Tell me when you're leaving. I'll go with you," the offer slipped easily from his lips. "Your brother will probably be too busy settling in with the Varia to run off with you like he's taken to doing these last few years."

The mention of her brother brought a light smile to her lips, erasing the darkness that lingered from the previous topic.

"Superbi… he will become great." A faraway look entered her eyes, "I have no doubt that one day he will be able to bring the whole of Varia to its knees."

"Oh, really?" He teased gently, "Even though he plans to follow that young, hot-tempered son of the Vongola Nono?"

Her smile widened, a wistful touch to the expression.

"Xanxus has beautiful flames."

Faust choked on thin air.

Only you would call something as dangerous as the Flame of Wrath beautiful, Stella.

LXXXVI.

Squalo was used to the familiar sight of his sister working late hours into the night, even if he disliked it.

However, he wasn't used to the sight of her standing up by herself and holding open the draperies of the tall French windows in her room.

"VOI, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"… Superbi, I think you might've woken up half the manor with that volume," his sister chided softly, but didn't protest as he crossed the room in record time and guided her back to her bed; the gentle movement completely at odds with the irritated shout just now.

"Tch, those bastards would deserve it," he muttered under his breath. "What were they thinking, letting you just–"

"Well, to be fair, I waited until they left."

The guilty admission earned her a half-hearted swipe over the head, and she let out a tinkling laugh. Squalo felt the scowl on his face fade away at the quiet sound –ever since she'd been discharged from the hospitals, he'd rarely heard his sister laugh like this… carefree and happy and–

He blinked.

"I'm proud of you, Superbi." She breathed into his ear, her arms wrapped around his body –he still remembered his younger years when she was the taller out of the two, when she would tuck her chin over his head during heavy thunderstorms–

Wait.

He stared at her incredulously.

"I came here straight after that damned entrance exam! They didn't even announce the official results yet; how the hell did you know that I–"

"Silly," she laughed again, cutting him off. Her warm hazel eyes held nothing but affection in its gaze as she looked up at him again. "I never had any doubt in you."

… Well.

Well.

"Aww, is that a blush I see?" She teased gently.

"Shut up," he tried turning away to hide his embarrassment, because anything like this was a sign of weakness. His sister simply reached out a hand and cupped the side of his face and he couldn't move anymore, since goddamnit this was his sister and he didn't want her to think that–

"Don't ever listen to them, Superbi." She whispered, voice low but no less strong; for all the volume that it carried. "They will always, always tell you that you're weak and pathetic and less than nothing, but they're wrong. You showed them all today, didn't you?"

The shark-like grin that briefly flashed across both of their faces was identical.

"Damn right I did," he smirked.

School. Where others spat on the name of their House because of their father, because they viewed them as weak and meaningless, a House headed for its doom. Where he learned to stand on his own two feet and fight back, because if he didn't, then who would? He wouldn't let his sister face all the dangers by herself; wouldn't let her shoulder all the burdens on her own, because they were family and he'd be damned before he left her to stand alone.

It'd taken him so long to get to this point, for her to get to this point –where they were both beginning to finally, finally, finally be recognized by others, when they could finally begin putting the last vestiges of their past behind them and start moving forward–

"I love you, Superbi."

He stiffened.

Something about her tone –it didn't feel quite right, as if she was… but no, she wouldn't… would she?

"Voi. Is that sickness acting up again? Did those fucking doctors mess up something when they–"

"No, there's nothing wrong with me. Stop sounding so suspicious."

An exasperated sigh. But was it real or was it fake? Damn Faust for teaching her how to conceal her emotions so well; even if it was a necessary skill for mingling in mafia social events.

"If you say so," he didn't bother hiding the dubiousness in his tone, and his sister sighed again, this time in a resigned sort of way.

"You're my sweet little brother. Is it so strange for me to say that?" A glint suddenly entered her eyes, "Or would you rather me say it to–"

"VOI!"

"–kidding, kidding. Haha, you look disturbed by the thought."

He groaned, flopping down face-first into her bed.

… In a way, she was right. Stella often pulled him into hugs or whispered other affectionate endearments to him all the time; he hadn't pushed away from any of them because on top of being sick, she was his sister. And… while he didn't have very many memories about their father (and what little memories he had weren't good ones, either), the memories with his sister, on the other hand…

"I love you, Superbi."

This time, he didn't bother protesting or doing anything of the sort as she hugged him, a little tighter and closer than she usually did.

He was definitely going to hunt down Faust tomorrow and throttle the man until he told him if there was something bothering his sister, because if it turned out that there really was something –gods help him; he was going to fucking slice them to pieces.

His instincts were going haywire; and Squalo had learned a long time ago to trust his intuition in this world.

He sighed and rolled over, returning the hug.

LXXXVII.

"Thank you, Iemitsu."

Vongola Constructions. The very same building that she'd entered all those years ago for that first meeting with the Vongola Nono. How long had it been since then?

"No problem; I'll pass it on to Nono as soon as possible. This… this is priceless," the External Advisor shook his head in amazement. "Lady Squalo, Nono told me that he asked you to find new contacts for Vongola's intel network because of your wide social network, but this… how in the world did you manage to wrangle something like this from Marion?"

She smiled.

"Secret."

It was done.

The last of what she had to put in order. The last of what she had to do.

She was so, so tired –her flames were flickering, she could feel them slipping away from her. Ever since that battle with Carmen Bellini, ever since the betrayal in Marion, ever since…

Wistfully, and not for the first time in her life, she wondered what it would've been like if she'd been born healthy and whole.

If she could wake up and not worry about dying today.

If she could smile and run under the sun without worrying about collapsing.

If she could live, laugh, and love without all these concerns that weighed down on her–

"Lady Squalo."

She looked up.

A curt nod from Xanxus, who'd initiated the greeting. She smiled and returned it with a small incline of her head, ignoring Iemitsu gaping at them in the background. "Xanxus. Are you well?"

A small huff and an ill-tempered grunt.

"I see," she laughed, and his gaze suddenly sharpened. Xanxus –maybe even from the beginning when they'd met, he'd been able to see things about her that others had never seen nor bothered to try and see. Maybe, if she wasn't dead and dying… "Congratulations on your induction into the Varia. Please take care of my brother, Xanxus."

Similar to Squalo, his sharp gaze immediately gained a suspicious edge to it. Was she really that obvious? Faust would be scandalized.

(Maybe, maybe if she didn't have to worry about dying…)

Well.

No use pondering on fickle things.

She still had one last thing to do.

LXXXVIII.

He looked exactly the same as she remembered him, not bit different from the first time she saw him –the scars from corrosive acids eating through his arms and hatred glimmering in the depths of stormy gray eyes.

Except, the hatred she glimpsed there was now directed towards her.

"Can you give me a reason, Aconito?"

He sneered, and her heart sank.

"Fucking hell. All this power, and you choose to waste it on a worthless intel network. I agreed to work for you because I felt the power you shared with me and thought you would actually amount to something, not grovel in the shadows!"

"So you betrayed me?" She was almost surprised at how calm her voice was. How steady it came out. How serene it sounded. She certainly didn't feel that way as he spoke."Because Byakuran promised he would lead you to greatness?"

"See? I even hid those reports from you, and you still know! Why won't you ever do something with your power instead of just splitting it with more strays and having us run around like rats? How can you be satisfied with just this? And don't give me that crap about being sick; with this power, even this fragment I received from you–"

He raised an arm; flinging out a wall of indigo flames. Her flames.

"–don't you see? Even immortality is not out of our reach with this power you have."

She studied him for a moment. Watching him tremble with excitement, lost to the thrall of power and distant delusions of glory. Forever wanting vengeance on a world that wronged him.

"You're insane, Aconito."

"No; you're the one who's insane, Marion!" Shrill, strident laughter. It grated on her ears, "Or should I say, Stella? If you won't use the power at your disposal –I will take it, and I will make us great!"

She sighed.

"… This is Control. 001 has been confirmed to be the source of the security breach. 001-Aconito is to be terminated immediately."

And he laughed.

"Try it if you can, Stella!"

Illusions crept forth, twisting and bending at the corners of reality. And then she was falling into Darkness, burning in Purgatory, drowning in the Lethe–

She was perfectly fine.

And she smiled at him when a pensive look crept across his face at seeing her unharmed; a cold, cold smile. Predatory and razor-sharp and out for blood, because she was the one who'd saved him and brought him back from the brink of death, going as far as sharing a spark of her power with him and welcoming him by her side, and he now dared turn against her?

"Good-bye, Aconito."

And with those words, she let her tightly-controlled Mist flames finally, finally burst forth from her rotting corpse.

Reality shattered.

LXXXIX.

"Awww, she broke my toy."

Byakuran gingerly stepped over the bloodstained wasteland –little Aconito had put up a hell of a fight against his former master thanks to the power Byakuran himself had granted him. But even then, it hadn't been enough to wrest a solid victory from Stella Squalo. She was a strange one, alright –he'd studied her powers in various universes before, but something about her always eluded him. And it was strange, wasn't it? That knowing in her eyes when she looked at him, that calm refusal to lend her power every. Single. Time.

But not this time.

Oh, he'd been prepared for little Aconite's complete and utter defeat; even with the heavy modifications he'd made to him.

Whistling cheerfully, he made his way towards the shapeless mesh of flesh and blood that was all that remained of little Aconito. Hm. He needed a different name; Aconito was the one he'd used in her service, after all…

"Well, did it work? Am I talking to a lump of flesh, or is Aconito still here?"

Silence. Then:

I… hurt…M-Master B-Byakuran, it… hurts…

He grinned darkly.

Finally. Finally, he'd figured out a way to keep little Aconito alive. Pseudo-alive, at least. He wouldn't have had to work around things in such a roundabout way for a Mist Guardian if he could just convince Stella to join him, but she always refused, no matter what he did. Killing her brother usually didn't provide much incentive, either, so he'd just given up on her.

(Though that didn't stop him from reaching out a hand to him from time to time, just to see if she'd react differently to his proposal. She never did.)

A weak burst of flames around misshapen flesh; he found himself looking at a grotesque mask made of what little remained of Aconito's body.

I… I have it. A… shard of her power.

"Oh?" Much, much better than what he'd expected. He'd tried to harvest her flames once, but it didn't work if the host didn't willingly part with their flames. Once he'd figured out how she operated her intel network with her agents, though…

(Hmm, that was another thing –find a way to harvest flames even without a wielder's consent.)

But… it's weak…

Byakuran waved a hand dismissively, "Doesn't matter. You can still possess things, right? I hear that skilled holy monks are rather good at healing and nursing flames; I'll find you one and you can use their body to get those flames up to par again."

Th-thank you… Master… Byakuran…

"Good, good." He turned around, still smiling.

The silver-haired girl slumped against the chair she'd conjured, looking ready to keel over at this point. What little remained of her Mist flames swirled around her body restlessly –it was almost disturbing to watch; some parts of her were pale and whole, but others showed only bone and maggot-ridden flesh.

Disgusting, really.

"Regretting your decision now?" Byakuran walked towards the bleeding, volatile girl, smiling, smiling, smiling. "You could've joined me, and none of this would've happened. I would've cured you, y'know."

And the damned girl laughed.

"Liar." The expression on her face mirrored his smile, and he felt a pinprick of annoyance in the back of his skull.

"Oh?" He kept on smiling, "How can you be so sure?"

She chose to bare a bloody grin at him, and then, matter-of-factly:

"You will never complete the Tri-ni-sette, Byakuran."

"Hmm, I don't really like the name 'Aconito.' How 'bout we use something different? Aconito, Aconito… Wolfsbane… hm. Ah, I've got it! From now on you'll be Torikabuto! Mm'kay?"

Yes, Master Byakuran.

XC.

He was too late.

A nightmare that had become reality.

Why, why, why had the stupid girl run off without him? Did she really think he couldn't handle it? Did she really believe that she was immortal?

No, she was always fully aware of her own mortality.

"Stella, you… you idiot girl! What am I going to tell Alfredo? Your brother is going to kill me! How –how could you do this to us?!"

A corpse. One that had, by the looks of it, been rotting for years. The corpse of a girl with silver hair; bloodstained and fanning out in an invisible breeze.

"You… you dare do this to me," Faust let out a choked laugh, fully aware that he was beginning to become hysterical. "You –I've got the mother of all headaches from getting your entire Marion network dumped in my mind. And do you have any idea what your death is going to do to all the alliances you gathered for your house? No, wait –we're going to get a new Lord Squalo who's in the Varia, and the Vongola will swoop in and snatch up everything. You… how can you do this? What in the world were you thinking? Did you plan for this to happen, too?"

No response.

Never another response.

What'd her last words been?

Yesterday. Yesterday, right before dinner, when he was standing by her side as she sorted through paperwork. 'Thank you for always being here for me, Faust. Thank you for letting me be your daughter. Thank you.'

'Thank you for always being here' my ass, Stella. I wasn't here for you, not this time. Fuck!

Stella.

Stella.

Stella.

Why did you have to die?

Didn't you say you loved your brother? Didn't you say you loved us? Didn't you say you wanted to be with us forever?

Why, then? Why, why, WHY?

Why are we not enough to make you stay?


.

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Author's Notes:

Super fast update. And omg. OMG OMG OMG.

Final chapter coming up. :3 Guys, the end is in sight. THE END IS IN SIGHT.

So excited for this. :D This will be the first story I complete. And boy, it's been a crazy ride, hasn't it? But I'll save all this sappy stuff for the next chapter. The last chapter to this (e̶p̶i̶c̶) tale. xD

… OMG I've just killed off my OC but I'm still so happy about it. :D Haha. Anyone expect the thing with Byakuran? Stella realizes that there's a leak in her network because Byakuran knows that she's Marion (Even if this Byakuran found out from his AU counterparts, it would still mean that she has a leak because only the first agent in her network knows her identity and can potentially tell others. Loyalty, indeed.)

If you've still got any questions about the stories or things you'd like explained via story excerpts in the next chapter, speak now or forever hold your silence. :3 Special: I will be accepting THREE character POV requests on the aftermath of Stella's death in the next chapter. You may only choose ONE character whose thoughts you'd like to see explored in-depth. I will choose THREE randomly from the characters that reviewers suggest to me.

For example, 'I want to see what Alfredo's reaction to Stella's death is! 'Cuz he hasn't been getting much screen time lately and he's like her kickass grandpa!'

I will choose THREE character POVs to write out of the ones nominated by readers. You may only choose ONE character you'd like to see the POV of, though, so choose wisely. xD

"Onwards Till Dawn" has also been updated.

… Ahhh, so hyped to hurry and conclude everything. :3 Thanks to everyone who stuck with this story till now! Hopefully the next update won't take too long. Please stay tuned~

Till next time,

XxZuiliu