Advocate
Disclaimer: CLAMP owns it. I play with it.
Pairings: Split evenly between Seishirou x Subaru and Kakyou x Hokuto
Warnings: Violence, blood, male-male. If you have a problem with shounen ai or blood...you're in the wrong fandom. This is CLAMP, so blood is a given.
Author's Note: This is the longest chapter yet, at about 5500 words. Consider it a gift after taking so long to get this far!
... Advocate ...
Chapter Nine – Endgame
"Do you always dream of your Tree?"
Seishirou stiffened and spun around, eyes narrowing on the dreamseer. "Get the hell-"
"Calm down. I won't say anything." Kakyou's hair whipped about his elfin face, tall, lanky body framed in a white yukata. Seishirou scowled at him. "What business is it of yours what I dream about?" Kakyou raised a single eyebrow and glanced over his shoulder, where Subaru slept at the base of the great sakura tree. Though the branches swayed in a phantom wind, they did not reach to touch the projection of the young onmyouji. Subaru was not there, of course, Kakyou knew he was sleeping on Hokuto's beaten up blue sofa in their front room. It was an image born of this dream, the dream of the man before him.
"You have seen me in dreams before. My presence should not shock you."
"Don't tell me you remember everything from before, too."
"No. I remember only what has happened this time around." Kakyou replied delicately, blinking soft golden eyes up at the assassin. "But you are not surprised to see me, nor did you react when I told you I was a dreamseer – what I am and what I can do does not shock you. I have never stepped in your dream before in my own memory, thus, I must have appeared in yours in your memory, the one that existed in the timeline in which Hokuto...in which Hokuto died."
"You talk too much."
"And you are running away. Tell me, Sakurazukamori, are you content with nothing more of that boy than images your dreams provide?" Seishirou glanced over his shoulder, glowering at the peaceful picture of his old charge sleeping soundly at the base of the Tree, surrounded by sakura petals.
"The Subaru that exists in my head is preferrable to the one who almost hurled me off the top of a building."
This elicited a wry smirk from the dreamseer. He pushed long blonde hair behind his ear, shrouded in the darkness of Seishirou's dreamscape. "I rather think the reaction was justified."
"You would side with him, you're screwing his sister." Triumph flitted across Seishirou's face when the thus far unflappable blonde boy flushed and stumbled over a response.
"That's...I...that is neither here nor there. We're not...we haven't...this isn't about Hokuto and myself. This is about Subaru-kun. Are you really going to run from him like a cowardly dog?"
"I'm not running from him. I'm running from..." And Seishirou found he couldn't voice it. Sudden frustration raged like a furious fire inside him and he snarled. "Get out of my dream, Kuzuki-kun. I am the Sakurazukamori, not some lovesick fool. If I love him, it isn't in any way anyone would ever be able to explain. I have to love him, I know that, he has to inherit my legacy. I don't have to deal with any of the other shit that comes with it. It wouldn't work."
"How do you know? You never tried."
"And I never want to."
Kakyou closed his eyes. "Then you don't deserve him."
"Do you think I don't know that?" There was a hint of enraged desperation in Seishirou's voice. "No, I don't deserve him. We are nothing alike, he is everything I stand against. He's naive, he's foolish, he's so altruistic he hurts himself trying to keep others happy like some sort of pathetic doormat, he..."
"...Is the kindest and most gentle-hearted person you've ever met?"
"...Yes."
... Advocate ...
"Happy Birthday, Subaru..." Hokuto tried to smile at him, and to his credit, Subaru made a good effort to smile back. He sat up straighter and hugged his sister, at least. The room was filled with people he and Hokuto knew, lots of them, too many to list. It was embarrassing, he hadn't known he was familiar with so many faces, but they had all greeted him by name with smiles and affection, and given him presents (even more embarrassing!) to celebrate his and Hokuto's seventeenth birthday.
"Happy Birthday Hokuto." They had exchanged their own gifts this morning – she had given him clothes, typically, and he had given her new books, a CD she'd muttered about wanting, and some flowers. She'd burst into tears, something she'd been doing a lot since Seishirou had vanished three months ago. He winced – thinking of Seishirou was still painful and confusing. He remembered feeling the same after Hokuto's death in That Other timeline, when Seishirou left him. He also remembered wanting him back, and feeling like a traitor to his sister because of it.
Subaru hadn't been all that surprised when Seishirou didn't show his face again, though after several weeks and a curious trip to an empty apartment, it had sunk in that Seishirou had run, for good. It had hurt. Quite a lot, actually, that Seishirou had the gall to run when he was the one in the wrong. It was uncharacteristically cowardly of him. Not that Subaru was under any preconceptions that Seishirou was remotely afraid of him, no, what Seishirou was afraid of (and Subaru and Hokuto had discussed this thoroughly) was himself. The things he had confessed to and the pleading he'd done with Subaru when the onmyouji was still furious with him...it had scared him. Seishirou wasn't used to caring about anyone, and Hokuto's stunt had completely unravelled his carefully laid plans. Not to mention his resolve.
For his part, Subaru was allowing himself to enjoy spending time with his sister he'd always taken for granted. Assuming Hokuto would always be there made it all the harder when she was taken from him, and he was determined to never take his eccentric sister for granted again.
Kakyou sat down next to him, rubbing at his eyes. Hokuto was fairly certain no-one would recognise him from the news, he looked little like his frail self, his eyes and skin brighter, his clothes making a difference to his entire demeanor, his attitude. Still, they were cautious, and Hokuto had spray-dyed his distinctive blonde hair black for the day. He looked striking for it, the soft amber of his eyes bright and creepily reminiscent of Seishirou now that dark hair framed them. He yawned, already tired.
"You're welcome to have my bed if you like." Subaru offered. They were in his apartment for the party, it being the slightly larger of the two – and less cluttered. Subaru was fastidiously neat compared to his whirlwind sister, who left clothes where she stripped them off, materials for clothes-making all over the floor and surfaces and bought more things than could reasonably fit into her apartment.
"I will be fine, for now. But thank you." Kakyou smiled at him serenely, and Subaru envied him for that serenity. He and Hokuto were unequivocably an item, and despite Kakyou's lingering need to stay inside, both for his health and the worry that even after several months, his corrupt family might still be looking for him, they were still going strong after three months, a record for Hokuto, Subaru was sure. He saw the way his sister looked at Kakyou, like nothing else existed in the world. He envied it, it made him miss Seishirou all the more. Not that Seishirou had ever looked at him like that and not been doing it deliberately and falsely to garner a reaction.
Cynical thinking, but the truth. He sighed, letting his head fall back.
"Thinking about him again?" Kakyou murmured, pushing his hair out of his face. Subaru groaned and closed his eyes.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Painfully, I'm afraid. You could go after him."
"Me? Track him down? I don't think so, if he wanted to stay hidden, I wouldn't find him. He's much more powerful than I am."
"I don't think that that's true." The dreamseer sighed, but he didn't elaborate. Subaru blinked and sat forward again, fiddling with a little gold bow that had been attached to one of his presents. He rubbed at his eyes. "...You look more tired than I do."
"Haven't been sleeping." In truth, Subaru's nightmares had returned. Only now they were more confusing than ever. They would start, embarrassingly enough, with Seishirou and himself engaged in...less than mentionable activities..and then they would degenerate into loose-knit groups of memories, memories in which Seishirou hurt him – hit him, killed people he loved...it was worse than ever, really, his subconscious was expanding on those fleeting, half-remembered instances. In some dreams, Seishirou would hold him against his chest, stroking his cheek with one hand and systematically breaking each of his fingers with the other. In others, he would tell Subaru he loved him whilst pushing his hand through Hokuto's chest. All of them were permeated with the sound of cruel, delighted laughter and choked sobs. He shuddered.
"I've seen your nightmares."
"I know you have." Subaru had felt the blonde boy's presence in his dreams, knowing that Kakyou could do nothing about the images he watched. "I'm starting to forget what's real and what's a nightmare."
"That's his doing...he planted the nightmares, before..."
Subaru started. This was news to him. "How do you know?" A fresh stab of hurt went through him, had Seishirou been controlling his life that much?
"I can tell which dreams form from your own mind, and which have not. They feel foreign." Subaru hugged himself, biting his lip.
"I see..."
"Sakurazuka-san is one of the most contrary people I have ever encountered." Kakyou continued stiffly. "But I do not think he doesn't care for you. I've seen his dreams, too." Subaru blined, looking up quizzically, but Kakyou offered no more on the subject, settling down on the arm of the sofa and drifting off to sleep. The younger teenager scowled down at him.
"That was really mean."
"What was mean?" Hokuto chirped, plonking herself on his lap. His arms automatically wrapped themselves around her, and he nuzzled her neck with a sigh.
"Kakyou said he'd wandered Seishirou's dreams, then wouldn't tell me what he'd seen."
"Well, he doesn't tell me what you dream about either. Dreams are private, and Kakyou respects that." She admonished, poking him in the nose. "Now come on, let's go say hello to Mirei-chan, she's been trying to talk to you all afternoon..."
... Advocate ...
The day after the party, Subaru took the morning off, but by the afternoon, he was back to work, he had a callout. He could leave it until tomorrow, but it seemed pretty simple, and he could use the activity to keep his mind off a certain assassin. Hokuto was bemoaning his decision, wanting him to take the whole weekend for himself for a change. "You're going to work? Now? Seriously?"
"I have to go to work, Hokuto-chan."
"But it's a Sunday! And you had such a busy day yesterday..." Hokuto whinged, and Subaru sighed good-naturedly, shaking his head and explaining for the hundredth time that work was work, he took it when he got it, it was his duty. He ignored her pouting and pulled on a black jumper. It wasn't quite cold enough for two layers, but enough for him to want to keep his arms covered. Hokuto scowled. "That is such a boring outfit, can't you wear something prettier?"
"I'm not a girl." Subaru said patiently, ignoring the spluttered protests all the way to his front door. "Love you, onee-chan." He chuckled, kissing the corner of her mouth to silence her as he left. She hung around at the door.
"Hmph! Next time you ignore me I am going to spike your hot chocolate with sleeping pills!" She yowled, hurling her wooden spoon at his head. He ducked it with a laugh and ran for the lift, disappearing from Hokuto's sight. The older twin stared after him, letting out a long-suffering sigh. Now she would have to wake Kakyou for company.
"...Kyou-chaaaaaan!"
Subaru leant against the wall of the lift, printed fax in hand. The callout had come from a man who said his company was trying to bulldoze an abandoned block of apartments. He claimed the apartments were haunted, and wanted them exorcised before he attempted to demolish them. Not an unreasonable callout, but hopefully a fairly routine one. He could be home before dinner if he was quick. He checked his watch. He had arranged to meet the man, Hishiro Miyuki, outside the block at three pm. He had plenty of time to get there.
He walked, as he usually did – he didn't like the underground trains and traffic was far too bad for a taxi – and smiled at people he walked past, as he usually did. He tried to keep his mind off of Seishirou, but it was a lost cause, the assassin was never far from his thoughts, as frustrating as it was. "Ahh...why can't you just get out of my head already?" He worried. Would he not see Seishirou again until 1999? What would he say to him? What would Seishirou say? He shook his head, knowing he needed to focus on work, but still, thoughts of the ambr-eyed assassin's smirk filtered through his determined block and wormed their way into his thoughts.
Before he knew it, he had arrived, and he came to an abrupt halt in front of the address he'd been given. He checked it, then glanced up at the high-rise. It was about forty stories, and had fallen into disrepair, abandoned, Subaru guessed, for about ten years or so. It had that empty feel about it, and several of the lower floor windows were smashed or boarded up. He sighed. No wonder someone wanted it bulldozed. It felt horrid, cold almost. The fax asked him to meet his client inside the building, so Subaru picked his way around the fencing and found a way in – a door that looked like it had been used regularly, and recently. Entering the building, he blinked, finding himself in a shell of a room that might once have been an atrium. From here, he could see out of the other side – the building was a quadrangle, a four sectioned high rise with an inner, private courtyard for those living within. It wasn't a particularly attractive courtyard, little more than a square patch of grass that hadn't seen a lawnmower for years, and a rusty seesaw. There might also have been a slide once, but nothing remained of it but a couple of rusting struts sticking dangerously out of the ground. This place was horrible, Subaru decided, glad it was set for demolition.
"Hello?" He called, voice echoing in the emptiness.
"Sumeragi-san, I presume?"
Subaru jumped about a foot in the air and spun around. "Ah...yes! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there..." A short, formal bow. The man standing by the disused lift nodded back.
"No offense taken. My name is Miyuki."
Just a last name, then. Subaru nodded. "Miyuki-san. You said you were having trouble with some restless spirits?"
A wry smile. "You...could say that. I believe it inhabits the upper floors, several of my workmen have been scared by windows lighting up suddenly, faces, that sort of thing."
"I see..." He couldn't think what might be hanging around a place like this, though it did seem like somewhere people had spent miserable years. It was low-budget accommodation by the looks of it, small rooms, small flats, for those with little or no money.
It was a little disconcerting following the stranger up the stairs, losing the hum of the traffic. He said nothing, not even in response to Subaru's two attempts at conversation. It was a good job he was fit, as thirty floors later they were still going. "How high are we going? I could just use – " Abruptly, the man stopped, and Subaru nearly crashed into him. The little plastic sign told him they were at floor thirty. This floor had been almost completely gutted, by a fire judging by the blackened debris and ceiling. A piece of wall stood here and there, glass was scattered on the ground, and the outer wall, the one that faced the courtyard, was dotted with sets of decrepit looking french doors leading to small balconies, most of which were still intact, save for the odd pane of shattered glass. Subaru winced as he stepped out around Miyuki and walked onto the gutted floor, footsteps unreasonably loud in the quiet. He could faintly hear the traffic below them, but other than that, it was silent up here. Yes, this would be an ideal place to house restless spirits, if anyone had died in the flames. He bit his lip. "Is this – "
"Yes."
Subaru glanced back at the man, only to gasp with horror as he found himself staring down the barrel of a gun he hadn't heard the man pull. He stumbled back. "H..hey, what are you..."
"Sumeragi Subaru-kun." The man pulled an ugly face. "You ruined my life."
Subaru's mind screeched to a halt. "I did...what?"
"You killed my sister...you're a devil, an evil witch..." When the words sunk in, Subaru's mind flew through lists of people who had been killed as a result of his work. It happened, sometimes, people died in suspicious circumstances – those who attempted their own onmyoujitsu and lost control, those who called him too late and were consumed by vengeful spirits before he could save them, people who went on to kill themselves after seeing their loved ones' spirits finally pass on at his hand...
Tears sprung to his eyes. He felt guilt for every single one of those people, and he knew them all by name. There were thirteen, thirteen people who had died in the three years he had been the official head of the Sumeragi clan. Which one was this man referring to? Seconds later, both of them whispered a name at the same time, and Subaru kicked himself for not recognising it, not thinking.
"...Miyuki Mitsuko."
She had been nineteen, only a few years older than Subaru. It had been a year or so ago, Subaru was fifteen. Mitsuko had tried to use magic to get revenge on a boyfriend, and had been obliterated by the backlash before Subaru could intervene. He had been on the scene when the boyfriend had collapsed, and had been hurled to the floor by the force of the magical backlash that had consumed poor Mitsuko. Subaru had hated himself for weeks, he might have saved her if he had been quicker, could have controlled the backlash by placing a sakanagi. But he had failed. He hadn't been able to form the spell quick enough, and she had died. Hokuto had screamed at him a hundred times, 'it wasn't your fault'.
"So you remember her..." Miyuki snarled finger squeezing at the trigger. His other hand twitchd at his side.
"I didn't kill her..." Subaru's voice cracked as he flung up his hands.
"Don't you try anything!" Subaru gasped as Miyuki fired a shot, and had to hurl himself to one side. Self-preservation kicked in, and instead of trying to explain himself, he flung a burst of magic at the other man which tore the gun from his hand and flung it out of the window. Miyuki let out a wordless cry of rage, but didn't move. "I thought you would try some crazy hocus pocus to run from me...so I took the liberty of beating you at your own game..."
That didn't sound good. That sounded like...
With a cried word of summon and a baleful howl, a blood red, fiery inugami burst into life between the two of them.
Onmyoujitsu. Being used by an untrained, rage filled amateur gunning for revenge. It all sounded painfully familiar, and Subaru's heart clenched. "Don't make the same mistake Mitsuko-chan did!" He cried, not moving from where he lay sprawled on the floor. The dog-spirit roared, and pawed at the ground, eyes dripping red fire, tar leaking down it's legs. This wasn't just a spirit wrenched from life, this was a construct, built with old black magic and fire, and more than one restless, vengeful spirit. Subaru didn't have time to wonder where Miyuki had found the spells – or the dog that bound the spirits together – as the thing leapt for him, fuelled by the man's pain and rage.
Subaru began to chant straight away, lashing back at the inugami. He had to be conservative, if he was too aggressive, Miyuki would be killed...but if he let the dog hurt him, the backlash would doubtless be too much for the man to handle. "You must call him off!" He cried after finishing his chant and caging the creature temporarily. "Mitsuko-chan, she tried to use onmyoujitsu to – "
Miyuki obviously didn't want to hear it, seeing his spirit caged he let out a roar of his own and hurled himself at Subaru, tackling him to the ground. The onmyouji hit the floor hard and gasped, winded, as Miyuki's hands scrabbled for his throat. A spark of insanity flickered through his eyes, and Subaru realised there was no reasoning with him. He hissed, fighting back from his vulnerable position on the floor, thanking his Grandmother for her insistance on rigourous martial arts training. They rolled once, then again, and Miyuki grabbed a handful of Subaru's hair and tugged, trying to slam his head into the ground and knock him still. Subaru's fingers burned with the effort of holding the other man's wrist still so he couldn't.
The cage snapped with a lash of magic that drew a shocked scream from Subaru. He felt the spirit tear his spell apart, and before he could shout a warning, the inugami leapt for it's target.
And hit the man in it's way.
All Subaru could do was scramble away and watch in horror as the inugami completely consumed the thin man, who screeched and screamed in denial at his loss of control over the construct. The angry cries became terrified ones, which became agonised ones, and Subaru flinched as he felt Miyuki's life vanish. The dog spirit shook it's great maned head and turned red eyes that bled fire and death on Subaru.
Fourteen.
He didn't have time to mourn, or feel guilty, as he hastily backtracked, trying to pinpoint in his rattled memory the exact moment everything had gone wrong and he had lost control of the situation. He was a Sumeragi, this wasn't supposed to be too much for him. But with the spirit, the shock of Miyuki's anger, the painful reminder of the thirteen people he had failed...fourteen now, any semblance of control had vanished. The inugami howled, and the sound had him clapping his hands over his ears and flinching away as it echoed through his skull, rattling him. The spirit was even more powerful now, this deliberately constructed entity made up of a large number of restless spirits, and bound by the spirit of a loyal pet somewhere along the line...and now, it contained all the rage and fury of it's former master.
And still it grew, snapping at Subaru's heels as he scrambled away. Tendrils of ice-cold fire lapped at his feet, and he cried out, clapping his hands together and sending a swarm of razor sharp white doves at the creature in retaliation. The attack gave him a moment's reprieve – he used it to kick out what was left of the glass on one of the balcony doors and scramble through, ignoring the sting as sharp shards tore through the skin of his legs and shoulders. Seconds later, the fiery dog burst through the doors behind him, giving him no time to attempt an exorcism. It was huge, now, fuelled by Miyaki's rage and hatred, and now that it had eaten it's master, it had no real focus beyond destruction, making it twice as dangerous. A paw swept out of nowhere and flung Subaru to the ground, where he gasped in pain, clutching his stomach. The visible inverted pentagrams he no longer bothered to cover on the backs of his hands glowed and throbbed with pain, and he cursed them in his head. His shirt was smouldering, ripped at the stomach, and the skin beneath blistered. The next swipe forced Subaru to the edge of the balcony, where he pressed himself up against the railings and glanced thirty stories down into the walled courtyard of the empty apartment complex.
The inugami dropped onto all fours, growling, prowling closer and snapping it's jaws. It could sense what he was, it was already capable of intelligent thought, Subaru realised with a shudder. The next swipe saw the railings disintegrate behind him even as he tried to throw up some form of shield against the creature's fury. His stomach heaved as he felt the ground fall away from him, and then, he was tumbling in empty space.
... Advocate ...
Seishirou could feel Subaru's marks burning. He'd always known when the younger was in pain or scared, but this was off the scale. He tried to pretend it wasn't happening, feign obliviousness, but when the mug of coffee he was clutching shattered, causing everyone in the cafe to jump and glance his way, he stopped trying and stood up. "My apologies. It slipped from my hand." He lied easily, dropping a few coins on the table and vanishing out of the door. Within seconds he had disappeared from the patrons' sight, calling up his shikigami. "Find him." He hissed urgently, slamming the door of his new black car shut and starting the engine. He was a long way from the city centre, having avoided it like the plague in case he saw Subaru or his sister, or was tempted to try and return.
He had planned to stay away, but his opposing star was in pain. In pain, and scared, and whilst the last time Seishirou had left, after he had destroyed Hokuto and broken Subaru, he had always ignored any occassion the younger Sumeragi twin was in trouble, this time, it was proving physically impossible. His twenty five year old self had been impetuous and immature, convinced of his own brilliance. Nine years and six months later, though outwardly he looked no different, and the year was still 1991, he knew he had been wrong to lie to Subaru, to convince the boy (and himself) that he had lost the bet they had made when Subaru was still a child, innocent and upset for the souls of the people trapped within the sakura tree.
He screeched through the traffic, ignoring the loud swearing from pedestrians and the sharp honking of car horns as he swerved and mounted the pavement each time he hit a jam. It might have been quicker to run, using the skyline, but his head wasn't even slightly in the right place as the ghost burn on the backs of his hands reached a new crescendo and he imagined he could hear a faint cry of terror rattling through his head.
Then, images from the shikigami began to filter in, directing him. He watched from the hawk's eye as it circled above an old apartment block, falling into disrepair, uninhabited. It screeched once as Subaru tumbled out onto one of the decrepit balconies, a spell dying on his hands as it was released back at whatever he was fighting. And then, seconds later, Seishirou nearly crashed the car when a construct bound by an inugami burst out after the teenager and obliterated the flimsy balcony, sending both Subaru and itself tumbling thirty stories towards the ground.
... Advocate ...
It took several precious moments for his mind to catch up with what had just happened, the scream dying on Subaru's lips. He felt weightless, though he knew it wasn't the case. Twisting himself in midair, he shrieked a spell and one of his doves burst from his fingers, changing shape fluidly and latching onto one of the balconies as it snapped into a vague semblance of a rope. Still clutching the other end, Subaru jolted to a halt with such force that the railing of the balcony snapped clean off. The entire west section of the building was crumbling, folding in on itself as the fire-creature crashed through balconies and set the empty shell alight. His constructed shikigami vanished, but it had done it's job – meaning Subaru tumbled the remaining two floors and crashed into the ground with twenty-eight floors less speed than he might have done.
Which didn't mean it didn't hurt like hell.
His spine exploded with pain, and his head cracked against the dirt floor. Stars spun above his eyes, and glass littered the floor around him. He heard rather than saw the inugami land in a wreath of flames and growling, setting the grass alight with it's thrashing fury. He lay for a second more, until he realised the west side of the apartment block was indeed coming down. He choked, hoping it crumbled cleanly and didn't topple onto a neighbouring apartment block. Subaru rolled onto his stomach, head spinning with pain, hair plastered to his forehead. He could feel something sticky trickling down near his ear, and shuddered, staggering to his feet. He tumbled back to the ground twice before he could balance himself properly, and only just managed to throw himself across the courtyard and plaster himself against the east section as a quarter of the building crumbled to the ground, throwing up clouds of dust scattering debris. Glass rained on him, and he threw up his arms and huddled against the wall. He could only pray to whatever deity was watching him that the west tower didn't bring down the rest of the quadrangle.
He wasn't given time to dwell on this, as within seconds the creature was on him, snapping it's jaws. It was weakened by the fall and Subaru's attacks upstairs, wounds in it's reddish skin leaking fire and black tar. It walked like a man, now, constructing itself using Miyaki's body. It's jaw was still canine, and it was twice the height any man had any right to be. Subaru scrambled back, a spell on his lips, but he couldn't find the words, head still ringing, dizzy with his fall. His thoughts whirled at a thousand miles an hour, he thought of Hokuto, and how she'd be screaming at him to run, to get away.
But he had nowhere to go. The courtyard was closed off, the doors all boarded up. He hadn't the energy to break through one, let alone fight this creature. He stumbled, coughing blood onto the floor, vision swimming. He flung simple, useless spells at it, trying to buy time, but the thing kept coming, swatting his pathetic efforts aside. Miyaki's thirst for revenge was the only thing it could comprehend now, and once it had obliterated the cause of the man's rage, it would go feral.
Subaru tried to tell himself he couldn't let it happen, but he was beginning to realise he couldn't beat this thing. He couldn't find the energy, his head was rattled, and he was losing blood quicker than he body could build it back up. He felt light-headed. All he could do was throw up his arms, stumbling back away as a last ditch effort to defend himself.
... Advocate ...
Author's note: Good job I've written the last chapter already. I don't want people coming after me for that cliffhanger! Final chapter needs editing, but it will be out within a week :)
Please take the time to review and tell me what you think! I hope it was as explosive as I promised! :3