A sudden burst of lightning struck the ground between Tenebrae and Poseidon, sending them both flying to opposite ends of the courtyard. Tenebrae rose immediately, the skin of his chest bubbling and sizzling, making sickly popping noises as the shadows around his body clung to his chest to heal the wound. He squared his jaw and pushed off his back foot, sprinting towards Poseidon with Vastatoris at his side. A strong arm close lined him, sending him straight to the ground absent of breath. Above him stood Lux, her hair flaming a dangerous red as the light that constantly surrounded her grew brighter.
The few remaining members of the Army of the Golden City cheered upon seeing her, warding off blows of the Army of Shadow as they awaited orders from their patron deity. Lux locked eyes with Tenebrae for a moment before taking a step away from him. From her hip, she pulled her sword of flame, twitching it in one circle around her hand as Tenebrae stood. They began to circle each other slowly, shadow eyes locked with scorching flames. Tenebrae was the first to strike, thrusting toward her. She blocked his blow easily, smirking at his pathetic attempt to wound her. She seemed barely to touch the ground as she feigned a thrust and quickly jabbed her sword onto his arm, slicing neatly into his flesh. Red blood flowed from the wound for a moment before the wound closed.
"I see… you have made your decision." Tenebrae whispered, his eyes turning a deep blue as he sliced at her again, this time slicing her shoulder. She healed as quickly as he did, the blood that had spilled from the cut still on her arm. They exchanged blows, wounding each other enough to where their wounds did not heal quickly. Eventually, Lux grew irritated and took off into the air, her wings still white as snow. Tenebrae followed, the black of his wings contrasting to hers.
The sun began to rise as Lux and Tenebrae flew at each other with incredible velocity, colliding and throwing blows at one another. Tenebrae roared, complete darkness overtaking him. The light that surrounded Lux grew to be brighter than the sun. Once they collided again, the contrast between light and darkness sent them hard into the faded courtyard's floor. Tenebrae lay in the dirt, the rising sun breaking through the clouds. Lux pulled herself from the concrete, yanking her wings from the slab of stone. She had never been so bright, her eyes liquid fire. She pulled her sword from her side and advanced on Tenebrae with hatred in her eyes. Tenebrae barely rose in time to ward off her blows. From his knees, Tenebrae blocked the blows that rained down on him. In one simple moment of hesitation on Lux's part, Tenebrae moved Vastatoris swiftly from its blocking position.
Everything went silent as Lux stared down at Tenebrae with shocked blue eyes. Tenebrae blinked several times and looked down from her eyes to the sword which protruded from Lux's chest. Her blood pooled out onto her body, all of the previous scars she'd ever received opening up and letting her blood pool from them. She opened her mouth, looking down at the sword. She fell into Tenebrae's arms, her white wings stained with rose-red blood. He held her in his arm as he forced the blade from her chest. She gasped and fell limp, her breath quickening and her eyes becoming glazed. She looked into Tenebrae's eyes as he gathered her in his arms and surrounded the two of them with his wings.
"I have always loved you…Tenebrae." His name lingered on her blood-stained lips as the fire died from her eyes and her body went numb. Tenebrae shook her, moving a strand of her hair from her face as he trembled. Ages seemed to pass before Tenebrae gazed up at the sky and let out an agonizing scream. The members of the two armies stared on in shock, unable to move. Tenebrae held Lux's corpse to his body, curling his body over hers as tears fell from his eyes for the very first time.
A heavy rain began to fall, stinging the flesh of all who stood sentry in the courtyard of the Forgotten Palace. The people, however, did not move. They couldn't, they were transfixed on the scene before them. The sky was dark, heavy clouds blocking out the light of the rising sun as rain fell harder and harder as Tenebrae's tears continued to flow.
Lightning struck above the palace, making Tenebrae look up into the sky slowly, his blue eyes unblinking in the falling rain. "Lux?" He whispered.
When he gazed back down at his hands, he found that Lux's corpse had dissipated and was gone, leaving only her sword on the cold ground. Tenebrae stood, trembling from head to toe. Hades and Poseidon were gone, the rest of the warriors left to flee the Forgotten Palace as fast as they could as Tenebrae shed his mortal form and took to the sky in his immortal one. He stood in the very center of the courtyard, the rain barely touching his immortal form. Suddenly Lux stood beside him, her hair a torch's flame.
She gazed up at Tenebrae and he gazed down at her, her white wings extended behind her and his black ones behind him. He took her in his arms, pulling her waist with his strong hands. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, closing his eyes and holding her to him. When she pressed back and accepted the darkness, the buildings crumbled in on themselves and the landmarks the people of Elysium had built exploded into dust. Wings collapsed in a swarm of shadow and the people disintegrated in a flash of light, the land of Elysium forever disappearing in the darkest of light.