Shadowchasers: Twice-Told Tales
By 7th Librarian

A/N: Let's wrap this up, shall we?

Random fact for today: Lyrius name comes the lyrical way the Queen views his fighting.

Side Story: Librarian's Tale PT3

It was blood and pain that drug her back to reality. Pain that was spread across all of her body, a suffocating pressure that would have a left normal person unable even to scream in agony for fear of the fresh waves of pain the action would cause.

But pain was nothing new to her, no matter how intense or sharp it became. So she used it, used it as strength to push herself into something resembling a sitting position and used it as strength to focus enough that opening her eyes wasn't equivalent to lifting a boulder above her head.

When she had managed to do so, it was with that very brief thought that someone, somehow, had taken the concept of 'pain' and given it physical shape.

The landscape was blackened and twisted, patches of the ground razed mirror-smooth and others jagged and torn. A ring of trees were equally ruined, bent, broken, twisted and all pointing out of the epicenter of the explosion.

The explosion, yes. Right. She and Lyrius had confronted the enemy proxy and their army. Lyrius's men and tactics had kept the enemy pinned, allowing the Champion and the Queen to engage the enemy proxy together. She remembered the grueling fight, remembered Lyrius driving Oblivion deep into the enemy and the surge of power as she poured everything she had into the weapon...

"Glad to see that blast didn't kill you." The voice sounded like boulders cracking and she looked up...and...and up into the towering mass of bleeding magma and black rock that made up her enemy. Steam and pebbles were released with every motion. But even with half a face, it was easy to see it was smiling. "I want to see how scared you look before I tear you in half."

Speaking would have cost her too much energy, so the Queen settled for glaring and reached to draw her magic forth. Except no warm rush came, no eldritch energy surged to life around her, no darkness smashing forth to crush her enemy.

"That's right." The creature spat out magma and stone as it spoke, savoring the dawning, horrified realization in the Queen's eyes. "Magic dead zone. Last surprise in case you actually managed to kill me. I may be dying, but you're coming with me."

Stone ground against stone as it drew back a fist. "And your suffering at my master's hands will be my greatest reward!"

The fist hurtled forwards, faster than she could move or react. And yet, she could see every jagged chunk and cracks as it came, all shifting and spilling magma like a red, roiling spider-web. See the satisfied smile spreading across the proxy's face, even see individual bits of ash as they floated across the air in front her.

And she could see the blur of black as Lyrius interposed him between his Queen and her enemy, Oblivion sinking halfway into the arm. Stone and metal howled in protest at their meeting, but Lyrius slammed a palm into his blade a second before it lost all momentum. With a heavy crack, the arm was severed.

A roar of pain and surprise snapped time back to normal as Lyrius took advantage of the proxy's forward momentum to land a slash that gouged a sharp line of rock from the being's chest. The ground shook as it lurched a step back, foot sinking into the glass-like surface partway. "You-! You should be dead!"

"I have a habit of proving others expectations of me to be wrong." But despite his words, Lyrius was breathing hard and awkwardly, bits of blood trickling out of his mouth in a manner that suggested several of his internal organs were damaged. His right arm was charred, looking more like burnt charcoal than a limb and new gaps appeared every time it moved.

Oblivion tore another piece of rock off the proxy as it charged again and then Lyrius was losing fragments of his right arm as he threw it up to deflect a blow. He grunted, more in acknowledgment of the fact getting hit there again would destroy the limb than from any pain and smashed the hilt of his weapon into the proxy's remaining eye. Stone chips flew and it roared as he followed up with another hit that cracked it even further.

But it was not enough. The proxy's stone body was still stone despite the dead zone and the blows were ultimately simply cosmetic damage. And while Oblivion's otherworldly nature meant that it was still as sharp as ever despite the dead zone, it was easy to see that Lyrius was rapidly losing strength and speed necessary to keep up his hammer-blows and counters. As human as the woman behind him, only his willpower kept him on his feet.

It was a fact that that did not go unnoticed by his opponent. With a triumphant shout, the proxy impaled itself onto Oblivion's length so strongly, trapping it within its body and leaving plenty of openings for which to rain blows upon Lyrius' unprotected head and shoulders with a passion. "What now, mortal!? You delay only the inevitable-I will reduce you to paste before I smash your Queen's head like a fruit!"

"M...M..." Lyrius' grip tightened on the hilt of his sword, blood spattering with every syllable and his legs trembling as he fought to remain upright. "Mugetsu."

Darkness erupted from the base of Oblivion's blade, blasting down the length and into the proxy's body. The magma leaking was evaporated as darkness vented itself through the paths of least resistance. Steam and energy poured from the network of cracks and holes like water from a breaking dam.

But despite the damage, despite the crumbling of its body with every movement, the proxy endured. And a look of satisfaction covered its half-face as it seized Lyrius' throat with its hand, the sound of flesh sizzling against the superheated rock almost deafening. "That technique...you powered it with your own life force. Impressive, but useless. I still win and you will both die before I do. You have failed, Champion and Queen. What say you now?"

"In your next life..." Both the Queen and the proxy gasped as Lyrius suddenly twisted Oblivion, wrenching it hard to force the gab it had made wider. Without hesitating, he seized the edges with both hands and pulled with an impossible amount of strength. Stone ground and groaned in protest, but yielded before him. "Bring a bigger army. You will live longer. By a few moments."

With that, he plunged his hand into the gap and wrenched it back, grasping a bleak-looking gemstone. Unholy light spilled from the cracks on it and it shrieked-whether in protest, pain or both- as the Champion shattered it to dust with a flex of his fingers.

The proxy stared at him, disbelief on its face and then, with a horrible crumbling noise, it began to die. The stone of is body seemed to collapse in on it self in parts, other pieces shattering to fragments and others just simply dropping away carelessly. Finally, with a furious shriek of agony, it shattered utterly into nothingness.

The Queen stared at the scene, Lyrius still somehow on his feet as he drew hard, sharp breaths. Despite the impossible, her Shadow had once again saved her life and given her a victory.

Her Champion chose to celebrate this victory by falling over dead.

TTTTTTT

"I've seen bigger."

Adrian's comment didn't seem to phase the Emperor of Nightmares, Raviel simply looming over the field and seemingly content in its new-found power. Trying to discern any expression on its face was useless, given that it was covered by the skull mask, but the look in its eyes could almost be called...focused, as if it was debating on how best to exert its power.

And down below, Armityle smiled with indulgence at the Librarian. "I have no doubt you have, but Raviel is here and they are not. And a god is a god and a cat is still a cat, no matter their difference in size." The being held up a blue-clawed hand and clenched a fist. "Allow me to demonstrate this fact irrefutably. Raviel attacks your Bloo-D! Rending Terror!"

Raviel stretched out a massive hand, some kind of black ichor dripping down off its body. It splashed on the stone floor of the Temple and then flowed its way over to the Destiny Hero. Bloo-D blasted it with its red lightning, but it was ultimately ineffective as it pooled around him. A half-dozen screaming figures wielding scythes burst forth from it and the anti-hero only had time for a shocked expression as they all sliced him to ribbons with a single swing each. (ALP: 2900)

"Not exactly what I was expecting from your comments..." Adrian slid Bloo-D's card into his graveyard with a small frown.

"Patience...a true nightmare will be upon you soon enough, so savor what peace you have while you can..." Armityle glanced down at his hand of cards and swept a card into the spell and trap slot behind Raviel. "I set this and end my turn."

""Finally back to me-and I am going to topple your so-called god." The Shadow Queen drew and pointed up at the god across the field. "Rid me of that eyesore, Curse Stalker. Attack with Curse's Grasp!"

The mummy moaned in agreement and lifted both of its arms. Impossibly long bandages unraveled themselves and flew towards Raviel, wrapping around his body and pinning his arms to his side so tightly he was shuddering from the force. Armityle merely chuckled. "You think it is that easy to kill a god?"

He held out his arm and his set card flipped up, revealing a trap card. "Divine Fury is a continuous trap card of special note. When a Divine-monster is attacked, that monster not only gains one thousand attack points for that battle, but the destroyed enemy monster has its highest stat deducted out of your life points!" (4000-5000)

Raviel flexed its arms, tearing free of the bandages with ease. The darkness sloughed off its body, zig-zagging its way towards Curse Stalker and the mummy was reduced to scraps and dust as the screaming-scythe wielders burst out of it to attack him. Then they kept going going straight for the Queen. "In other words, you take four thousand points of damage from your foolish attack, which more life points than you have left."

"If only you were so lucky." The Queen slammed a card into her disk, not even flinching as the creatures slashed across her body. "Mystik Wok sends my Lycanthros to the graveyard to give me his attack points as life points." The wolf howled and faded away, becoming energy that flowed into the Queen. (SQLP: 2400-5600-1600)

"I would say you are the lucky one, for having that card right when you needed it most." Armityle looked amused the ground near the Queen rumbled and then a black-and-gold sarcophagus rose up in front of her. "And this come from your Curse Stalker's effect, I assume."

"When Curse Stalker is destroyed while a Zombie, I can activate one Pharaoh's Curse from my deck. It's a continuous spell card, but its power will come into play later." Grabbing a card from her hand, she slapped it down onto her disk and watched it appear in defense mode. Meanwhile, her Stitch Man seemed to collapse in on itself as it reverted back to its regular from and knelt on one knee. "I set one monster, move Stitch Man to defense position and end my turn."

"My move." Adrian drew carefully. A quick glance at his hand gave him a curious expression and he shifted his gaze to his graveyard slot. (If that thing really is a god, I only have a few monsters capable of defeating it...and I'm not quite ready for the one I want...) His two heroes both knelt and crossed their arms over their chest."The Shining and Witch Raid both go to defense mode and I set one card face-down."

"Running scared after all your brazenness and power last turn?" Armityle didn't bother to wait for an answer for his question as he drew for his turn. "Rending Terror!"

The Librarian watched Raviel stretched forth his hand and the shadow creatures slashed his Vision Her to ribbons, before a snap of his fingers caused his set card to lift. A second later, two golden motes of light appeared above the card. "Awakening of Legend activates when you destroy a 'Hero' monster under my control and depending on that monster's level, I place a different number of Legend Counters on this card. Since Witch Raid's level was easily level seven or above, I place two 'Legend Counters' on this card."

Armityle laughed lightly in amusement. "A legend? How trite-your legacy will be but that of the first my new god devours!"

"If you're done gloating about a simple move, I believe its my turn." The Queen snapped and then drew her card. "And during my Standby Phase, my Pharaoh's Curse lets me activate one of two effects. I choose the one that let's me send it to the graveyard to return Curse Stalker to play!" With a groaning crash, the lid of the sarcophagus slid off and out clambered the Terror Villain, though it simply slumped over in an awkward attempt at defense position.

"Interesting...but thank you." Armityle watched in amusement as his two opponent's stared in surprise as shadows began to slid off of Raviel and pool up in front of him. As they watched, the pool shuddered and quivered before launching upwards and morphing into a jet-black, but otherwise identical copy of Curse Stalker. "Whenever a monster is special summoned by my opponent's effects, my God generates one Nightmare Token that is identical in all ways save for special abilities." (3000/2000)

The Queen and Adrian exchanged a glance before she scowled and waved her hand. "I must end my turn."

Adrian drew for his turn and then noticed that Armityle was looking at him with a soft chuckle. "And what's so funny?"

"Why, the amazing amount of help you've given me." The being looked rather satisfied. "Or did you forget what your Doom Lord did to my Sacred Beast not two of your turns ago?"

Adrian's eyes widened in realization. "Oh no..."

The darkness behind Armityle rippled and with a roar of fire, Uria's head emerged from the darkness. With Raviel taking up so much of the space in the temple, that was all that could be visible save for a few of its coils vanishing into the darkness behind him. But even when compared to the Emperor of Nightmares, the Lord of Searing Flames was still an impressive sight. Unspent flames licked at its maw, its red eyes hungry and angry. "Now what will you do?" (0-4000/0)

"I destroyed all three of your little god-wannabes not too long ago and I can do it again...even if one them is a real god now...and decidedly tougher..." Adrian grimaced slightly as he realized the truth of his words. Even someone without magic and who could not sense the divine might radiating off the beast would realize that it was a God Card- and that meant immunity to nearly everything he could throw at it. "I pass for this turn."

"As expected." Armityle drew without really to bothering to look at his card a grin slid across his face. "Now then...it seems to be getting rather crowded in here, so why don't we move to a more appropriate venue?"

There was a blinding flash of darkness and then they were all standing in atop a large, flat stone surface. A chill wind snapped and tore at their clothing, though it hardly seemed to actually affect the three immortals. "There we are...now we have some more breathing room."

"What did you-" Adrian started as he glanced around their new location and saw the green of the Arcadia far below and even the floating city of Glitzville was not much bigger. "We're atop the mountain!"

"I suppose I should be glad that it counts as inside the Palace's boundaries..." The Queen scowled as giant stone pillars rose up in a circle all around them and the sky above began to darken heavily, indicating they were still inside Armityle's field spell. "Why would you bring us here? Wasn't your pathetic temple to yourself enough to satisfy your ego?"

"Space, for one...and for the other..." Armityle smiled savagely. "When I defeat and destroy you both, I will take your power and uproot this mountain as a warning to those would dare oppose me." Uria's head rose up into view behind him, the serpentine being obviously have curled around the mountaintop. "And we are not longer in the Temple of Armityle, we are in the Temple of the Nightmare God."

He laughed at their surprised expressions. "My deck is my very soul and being- why would it not evolve as I did?" He swept out an arm, heedless of the powerful that surrounded them all. "By the effect of the Temple of the Nightmare God, I can select one Nightmare Token on my field and sacrifice, gaining either its attack or defense as life points!" (AMLP: 400-3400)

The Curse Stalker Token shuddered and then blew apart into shadowy goop. But it didn't dissolve away, each bit just growing and doubling in size before they all flew together again. A fresh roar overpowered the howling wind for a moment as great black coils circled the outer limits of the temple and a fang-filled head rose up to flank Raviel's other side. "And by the second effect of my Temple, I can select one monster on my field once per turn and generate a Nightmare Token of it!" (4000/0)

All three titans roared, reveling in their own power and might. The storm above responded, lighting blasting the ground and its pace increasing. "Heroes or villains...it doesn't matter what you are, because my power surpasses them all!"

TTTTTT

To her relief, he was not dead. Only mostly dead.

They were sheltered in a small cave, but still inside the dead zone. The fight with the proxy had destroyed both armies, but apparently someone had allied with the damn thing, as they were out there searching for the pair. And she had no idea if her own forces were on their way or not.

She had been surprised at her own mortal strength when she had managed to pull Lyrius away from the battle site. And resolved that the next time he offered that she learn how to fight without magic, she was going to take him up on it. She had gotten complacent, too reliant on her magic and proxy-status. Oblivion was resting on a rock nearby, but for all its potential, it might as well have been a club in her inexperienced, weak hands.

They were going to be found, she was certain of it. She was no tracker, knew not how to hide their trail and even in the blasted landscape of the area, she had to have left one. And without any magic, there nothing she could do to defend herself.

Or Lyrius.

Her Shadow was breathing shallowly, still unconscious. The remnants of her clothing had become bandages, knowledge of wounds and treatments at least something practical she had garnered over the years-magic could only do so much healing and Lyrius had returned to her side with death at his side so often that there wasn't always time to summon a healer.

But in was a paltry effort, she knew. He was going to die-his wounds were severe and she had no idea how he managed to keep himself alive beyond sheer willpower. But even his seemingly-limitless supply had to have a limit and he would succumb.

That, or they would be found by the searching soldiers and killed, anyway.

She found herself swearing that if they were found, she would shield him with her own body.

She watched him, for there was naught little else to do. Seated back against the rock of the cave, legs drawn up to her chest and arms wrapped around them, she watched him cling to life and felt her chest throb with pain. There was no wounds, but it ached with far more pain then she could recall really ever feeling before.

It was only when she felt dampness on her arms that she realized she was crying.

Nothing matter at this moment- not her Empire, not her power, not her enemies, not her magic and not her status as Shadow Queen- except Lyrius.

He was going to die.

And she couldn't stop it.

It would take a miracle.

"So ask for one, proxy."

Her eyes widened at the deep voice that seemed to fill the cave, yet did not echo or seem impossibly loud. It more 'presence' than 'sound', real, yet intangible. "Lord..."

"You know secrets of arcane lore that many would trade their left arms for, yet you fail to remember something so basic about yourself. A proxy is bond of old, deep magicks. More than any trifling dead zone can revoke. Mortal as you are, you are still my proxy." The voice sounded bemused. "As such, you posses the right ask your patron for favors."

"You would save him for me?"

"If that is what you want."

"I..." She glanced down at her Shadow and felt something inside of her lurch with...fear? Hope? Pain? "I do...he is...important to me."

"You are in love with him."

"What?!" Her head snapped up, as if she could see her master standing before her, but there wasn't anyone to focus on. "Lord Graz'zt, that is impossible! I gave up that possibility- love caused me nothing but pain, so I discarded it!"

"You did. But that magic has been removed from you, proxy. And with its removal, your capability for love has returned, among other things. You do not know it, but he has been in love with you since the day you literally lost your heart to him."

"Then why did he not-"

"Tell you? Because, he is no fool and he is not blind. He long ago deduced the nature of your bargains and powers and knew that admitting feelings for you would achieve nothing. But nonetheless, he loves you and does all he does for you to ensure your happiness."

"It is true that he has gone far beyond what I expected of him and without him, much would not be achieved. But he has been rewarded- a kingdom, knowledge of my secrets, even my body when he wishes such."

"Those are paltry things to him because they are given to him out of your sense of obligation- it is the small things, of when you smile, when you are content and when you show your trust in him, that satisfy him."

The things her Lord were telling her did not make much sense in her head-she knew of love, how it motivated and drove others to great lengths and more, but Lyrius had always seemed too..professional for that desire something so..painful. And foolish- she could not count the number of times one of their plans had exploited people's love for another.

And yet...something inside of her told her that these things were right and true. "I do not...why did this happen?"

A laugh. "Would it be that one should discover how love came to be and the why and hows, even I would kneel in acknowledgment of their wisdom!"

"Save him, Lord Graz'zt." She felt the words lurch, catch in her throat and she had to choke them out. "Please...I need him. I...love him...I do not know why and I find I do not care. I love him and he must be saved!"

"And when we restore your magics and power and again, your capability for love is traded away...? You will forever yearn for something you cannot have, cannot know and its memory will sear you to the bone with agony."

"If he lives, then I will endure such an eternity!" She felt her gaze fall on Lyrius' form and a warmth spread across her chest. "Pain has always been my existence. This agony you speak of...no matter how terrible it is, I would treasure it as a reminder of the love I know I felt once. For this feeling called love is a magic greater and more terrible than any I know."

"Well spoken, my proxy, well spoken indeed. But let it be said that Graz'zt never rewards his faithful nor does not listen to the prayers of the desperate. And let you learn that this day that evil and darkness are not bereft of happiness. Nor common sense."

"I do not-" The words faltered on her lips as she felt a burning sensation on her right hand. She lifted it into view, gaping slightly as a black-and-gold ring wove itself into existence around the ring finger. And a glance at Lyrius showed a similar ring on his own hand "Lord?"

"The bargain you struck with him so long ago was a powerful one, proxy. A marriage bargain that trades power for power, to strengthen through unity. But with your empty capacity for love, it was simply a means to an end. Now, it fulfills its purpose. The Shadow Queen has her King."

"But the rituals-"

"Will be performed as they were a century ago and your power restored. But you were eager then and did not study them as fully as you should have. For you would have known that you could alter them to allow yourself to love others, for they are rituals of power and as you have born witness, love is a great power indeed. Though, like all power, it can be chains as well." Graz'zt's voice grew ice cold. "Remember this."

"Yes, my lord." She bowed her head and then couldn't resist gasping. Her Shadow was breathing steadily and his wounds were gone, even his right arm restored fully. "Lyrius!"

"Healed fully, as you have asked. And your enemies are dead, thanks to my warriors' intervention as well. Consider it a bonus for all your accomplishments in the last century." The demon lord's voice was firm. "But your miracle comes at a price, proxy, as all things must do. A life for a life, will it be. As I have given him new life, so shall you return the favor for me."

"One I will gladly pay." She felt Graz'zt's presence fade from this plane and then focused her attention on her Shadow. A hand brushed his crystalline locks out of his face and he stirred. "Husband, awaken. I have need of you. And you of me."

"Husband?" He sat up, regarding with those passionate eyes and a raised eyebrow. She was inwardly delighted and giddy to see that his eyes were naturally black. "Did we go through the wine cellar contents again?"

TTTTTT

Armityle pointed a claw at the Librarian. "And you, hero-cat, have caused me to suffer and desecrated me...you will die for that now! Nightmare Token attacks and destroys The Shining! Shadow Blaze!"

Adrian brace himself as the dark copy of the Lord of Searing Flames unleashed a torrent of flames that burned his her to ashes in an instant. "By destroying The Shining, you let me select two of my banished E-Heroes and add them to my hand! I choose Ocean and Stratos!" Images of the two heroes appeared behind him as he added them to his, while two more counters appeared over his Awakening of Legend trap.

"They'll do you no good there-you're still open! Uria attacks you directly! Hyper Blaze!" The real Sacred Beast slithered forwards and bellowed, unleashing a powerful tornado of fire from its mouth.

"I still need him, Armityle. So my monster will intercept!" Stick Man charged across the playing field just in time to catch the flames full force, reducing him to ash. "Hmmm...what do you know...he was right. Fire bad."

A growl escaped Armityle as he swung his gaze over to the Queen. "I had forgotten the two of you were in this together...regardless, you will both still die." Raviel didn't even bother to wait for a command, his scythe-shadows racing forth to destroy Curse Stalker with ease. "My turn is over."

The Queen drew. "I activate Trade-In, discarding a level eight monster in my hand to draw two cards. Then I sacrifice this monster to summon Terror Villain- Horror In The Deep." Her set monster was sucked downwards as the ground beneath its feet became a sand pit. There was a horrible crunching sound, though neither Adrian or Armityle could see the source. (2200/2000)

A few moments later, a pair of tentacles poked above the surface of the pit, scrabbling around for something more to eat. Finding noting, they retreated as the Queen slid a pair of cards into her disk. "My turn is over."

Armityle watched the move with a sharp look on his face. "What are you plotting, Queen? Do you think I'm stupid enough to fall for such easy bait or that your pathetic trap can hurt Raviel?"

"Pay less attention to her and more to me, Armityle. It's my turn and if you think you were mad at me before, just wait." The Librarian drew for his turn and held up a spell card. "Legendary Heroics lets me send a HERO monster from my hand to to the graveyard to place a number of counters on my trap card." He slid a card into his graveyard. "Destiny Hero-Dogma is level eight, so I get two more counters."

The two motes of light joined the other, giving him a total of six. "And with six counters, I can activate its real power. By removing the counters and sending it to the graveyard, I can special summon a Legendary Hero from my Extra Deck!"

The trap shattered as the motes of light gathered into a ring on the ground in front of him. With a flash of light, a figure leapt free from the new portal. He was tall, taller than his summoner. His gold and white body was smooth, but muscular and while he possessed no mouth, his eye were brimming with determination. A pair of curved blade-like appendages were on his forearms and a dark red cape billowed in the mountain wind. "Say hello to Legendary Hero- Shine Neos!" (2500/2000)

"Neos...! So even that blasted spaceman isn't beyond your reach?" Armityle ground out, irritation flashing on his face. "But you still Special Summoned him and now I get a Nightmare Token!"

Raviel stretched out his hand, the shadows dripping free to form into a dark copy of the famous hero...only for tentacles to burst free from beneath its feet and drag it under the ground. "What!?"

"That would be my monster. My Horror can once per turn, can destroy a Special Summoned monster so long as its defense score doesn't exceed my monsters attack score." She held out a slender finger and her set card flipped up. "And the continuous trap Endless Hunger can only be used when my Horror is in play- now I can activate the effect again, so long as I have cards in my hand to discard."

"Which means no more tokens for you and which leaves me free to do this. First, I draw thanks to my Deckmaster's ability..." Adrian drew and then tossed a monster card onto his disk. "Then I'll summon Stratos again, use his effect to move E-Hero The Heat to my hand and then have him Contact Fuse with Neos!"

The blue-suited hero reappeared and struck a pose before he and Neos jumped up into the air with a blinding flash of light. Said light faded into a soft glow to reveal Neos' new form as he descended to the playing field. His body was now a mix of blue and flame patterns, cape a glittering pale green. Winds swirled around him as he hovered a few inches above the ground and a pair of turbines floated to either side of him. "Elemental Hero- Gale Force Neos!" (2500/2000)

Armityle glared at the sight of the new monster, as if his sheer dislike of it would make it vanish from the field. Meanwhile, Raviel extended his hand, his shadows forming into a Nightmare Token of the monster that was swiftly yanked underground as the Queen discarded a card from her hand. "And just what does this one do?"

"Allow me to demonstrate-I can once per turn, move any 'Hero' monster from my deck or graveyard to my hand. Like Witch Raid." The Librarian held up the hero in question. "Then depending on the level of the returned hero, I can a number of cards from the field to your hand. And level eight means two! Neos! Hurricane Winds!"

The two turbines began to spin rapidly, faster than should have been possible before two pillars of wind erupted forth. Uria caught one full force, roaring as the wind hurled its bulk back and over the edge of the mountain where it vanished. The second spun itself into a tornado, the surrounding pillars being shredded to dust by the force.

"Now then, to deal with your God card..." Adrian's field spell slot opened and he swept a card into it. Engergy spread out from him, becoming a glittering cityscape of towering futuristic buildings. "City of Legend has plenty of fun effects, but the one I'm interested in is the one concerning Elemental Heroes. Let me demonstrate! Neos, attack his God card! Fury of the Storm!"

Armityle pointed at his Divine Fury trap. "You fool, Raviel will crush your monster and wipe out your life points!" Then a burst of lightning shot across the field and shattered the trap, the pseudo-being roaring in frustration as he glanced over to see the Shadow Queen looking at him smugly, a Mystical Space Typhoon card now face-up on her field.

Neos, meanwhile, was soaring up to be face-level with the deity. Raviel glowered at the much smaller being, a pillar of black flame and shadow erupting from his mouth. But Neos charged up a swirling sphere of energy in his hands as his turbines unleashed their blasts of wind. All three streams combined and the two monster's attacks collided sharply, shadow and energy spilling out of everywhere.

"When a E-Hero battles while protecting the City of Legend, I can pay five hundred life points to double their attack points!" A glow of light surrounded the Librarian and then he flung out his hand, that energy being hurled towards the battling monsters. It struck Neos, the energy burning to life around the hero and his energy attack doubled in size, Raviel's attack suddenly being shoved back hard. (ALP: 2400) (2500-5000)

Raviel roared in angry at its might be defied and then Adrian and the Shadow Queen's eyes widened as the deity reached out, snaring the Nightmare Token version of Uria around the neck. It screeched in sudden, abrupt pain as Raviel tore its head off, the shadows dissolving into the god's body. With a mighty bellow, its own attack grew, enveloping Neos' easily. (4000-8000)

"De-Fusion!" Adrian slammed the card into his disk just in time, his hero glowing and splitting apart into two spheres of light just as the attack ripped through the air where it had just been. The two spheres faded as the attack punched through the clouds, parting them briefly even as its passing left the storm surging and crashing with fresh lightning and thunder.

"At any time, I may sacrifice a Nightmare Token to Raviel to increase his power by its own." Armityle laughed as Raviel punched the ground, the act shredding part of the mountaintop while kicking up shockwaves of black energy that flung his two opponents off their feet hard. "Do you see it now? Do you now grasp it all? I have become a god and god is invincible!"

TTTTTTT

The explosion dwarfed the rising sun in size and brilliance. For a brief instant, the entire island was bright as noon rather than the morning and the apex of the surge of power seemed to surpass the entire mountain in hit, punching a hole through the clouds.

He watched the light die down, the darkness rushing in to swallow up the gap it left. At this distance, the burning buildings and small fires looked like mere embers.

The Queen stood with him on the edge of the observation, her fists clenching as a rage-filled scowl crossed her face. Snarling, she whirled away from the view and stormed inwards. A second later, there was the sound of stone cracking as she slammed her hand against the wall in frustration. "DAMN THEM!"

He watched the smoldering wreckage that was the Fahr Outpost for a moment more and then turned to face her. "They will be coming here next. U'ulgan's death is the catalyst. Without the Company of Malice, we do not have enough troops to maintain order in the cities effectively. Once word of their victory has spread, so will the riots."

"What about the other territories? Send for reinforcements." She hissed.

"They have claimed much of the Empire's lands and while several territories remain steadfastly loyal to us, much of their troops are occupied with the incursions of the Howling Gale and Raging Mountains, as well Grand General Heliophana's armies. We can summon the troops here, but we would simply trade one invasion for another."

She settled on her throne, fingers laced together in front of her broodingly, seething and the shadows in her eyes surging as her mind spun for ideas.

He remained silent, watching patiently.

"How do we beat them?" She asked finally, after what seemed like an endless moment. There was a touch of bitterness in her voice. "How do we make victory a certainty?"

"There is no such a method. The only certainty I can give you is survival."

Her head lifted sharply, fixing him with a look. "You mean to retreat."

"Yes." He matched her look coolly. "Arcadia is the symbol of your power. And they have all but wrested it from you. So raze it to the ground, poison it, call down fire from the sky. However you wish to do so. Let them have a poisoned prize. The territories we control still account for a vast portion of the Empire and by moving there, we can secure a position of power from which to strike back."

"You would have give up my Palace, my Arcadia?! To flee!?" Lightning seemed to flash in her eyes.

"Better to rule a small kingdom than to be seated on a throne in the desert." He countered.

"I will not run!" She stormed to her feet, ice frosting her words. "This is my empire, my prize and I will not give it up to anything or anyone!"

Lyrius did not respond, merely regarded her silently.

"I will never run, never again! I am the Shadow Queen and those who are my enemies will be swallowed by the darkness, rent limb from limb!" She seemed to almost be talking to herself rather than him. "I will crush them!"

"Your victory would be hollow. They have stripped away your armies, your generals and your dragons. Your own island turns on you. Strike them down now and your enemies will feast on the corpse of your Empire like crows on a carcass."

"Stop talking as if I have lost!" She snapped at him, eyes flashing darkly. "If you have nothing useful to say, then keep your words to yourself!"

Silence reigned again as she sat back down in her throne, resting her forehead in her hand and sighed angrily.

She felt the light shift and lifted her head slightly to find him standing in front of her. "What? What do you want?"

He said nothing, but produced something from his pocket and held it out to her. "For you, malentha."

She stared down at the proffered hand. Resting in his palm was a golden necklace. The center allowed a teardrop ruby to dangle from it, while the Dragon's Eye Sapphires she remembered him procuring years ago and two diamonds sat to either side of the center. The remainder of the band were etched with symbols that she recognized as glyphs for 'promise' and 'faith'.

It was a beautiful necklace and she could feel the emotions that Lyrius had put into its crafting, which had to have been something that took him a year or more. But as she stared at it, her anger erupted from where it had been simmering. "You fool!"

She smacked his hand away, sending the necklace flying away to skid across the floor as she launched her feet. "You think me a child, something to be distracted from my troubles and ills by a shiny trinket!?"

A crack sounded as she back-handed him across the face. "Aren't you my shadow!? My general, my Champion!? To know my thoughts as if they were your own!? You know I desire victory, so give me it!"

Her shoulders heaved from her rage and a fist clenched as she watched him simply walk over and pick up the necklace carefully.

"It was to give you reassurance and mollify your pride some, malentha." He said quietly as he examined it for any damage. "You worry so much about your Empire that I felt it would distract you but a moment and put you at ease. And remind you that your Shadow is always with you."

She felt her cheeks flush as her temper returned, though she refused to acknowledge she was angry at herself now for her childish outburst but a moment ago. "I gave you an order, Queen's Shadow! Grant me victory!"

He stared at her, his eyes reflecting the disappointment he felt in her giving into her pride. Nevertheless... "I am confident that I can defeat any one of them single combat. They will most likely attack at noon when you are at your weakest. With some preparation, my elite guard and I can separate them from their Companions and then I will draw one into battle with me after delaying them until noon has passed. The remaining two will not be equal to you and once I have killed one, they will fall to us."

Light glinted off the length of chain as he held the necklace up. "And I will offer this to you again after our victory. Please accept it as a token of love for my malentha, as it was meant."

Then it was gone, stowed away and he knelt suddenly, prompting a gasp of shock from her. "But I will do as..Her Majesty has ordered her Shadow and give her victory."

"Wait!" She strode down the steps, reaching for him as her face fell and something painful lurched in her chest. "Lyrius! Beloved! Wait! I did not mean to- I am-"

But he was gone, the shadows having swallowed him up and her hand passed through naught but empty air.

"I'm...sorry...!"

TTTTTT

Adrian and the Shadow Queen picked themselves up, the Librarian sliding a card into his disk and groaning with the pain the action caused. "Turn...end..."

Armityle smiled, pleased with the obvious pain the pair was in. "Now you understand- this is the power I have sought, the power that will let me finally have my revenge...once all three of my forms have achieved godhood, I will become a god truly and fully."

He drew for the start of his turn. "I came to this palace for that last bit of power...and now, my defeat of you two will give me the power for a second deity to rise! Your Palace will become a monument to my rise and-"

A blast of shadow slammed into his face and snapped his head back.

"Shut up." The Queen's hand still crackled dangerously from the attack she had just unleashed. "I've had enough of your prattling and your speech, wretch. You are nothing but a leech that cannot do anything without the power of another, even your forms are nothing but parodies of something greater than you could ever be!"

The demonic being returned his head to its regular position, a nasty look on his face. "...I think I'll kill you now. Rending Terror."

Raviel roared and raised a massive fist, blue and black energy gathering there. The ground shook as the god took a mighty step forward and swung. The mountaintop seemed to explode, Adrian having to shield himself with a barrier as the energy from the attack blazed. Cracks spread all across the mountaintop and the shockwave shredded the top layer of stone.

"Even if you somehow survived the physical damage from that, your life points are now zero." Armityle's smile faded as he realized that he was not hearing the little sound that indicated that such had happened. "Insect..."

"The correct address is 'Your Majesty.'" The Queen told him as smoke from the attack cleared, revealing her unharmed from the blow. The ground in front of her was neat 'V' of destruction, only the space right in front of her completely safe.

The reason for this was easy to see- standing before her was Lyrius and more surprisingly, Oblivion was in his hands. The weapon was braced by his forearm, having acted a wedge to part the attack.

Armityle stared as Raviel retracted his fist and returned to his spot. Then his face twisted in anger. "How is this possible?! That man is dead!"

He whirled to Adrian, who was watching the whole mess with something akin to amusement. "This is your doing, isn't it!?"

"Wellll...yeah." Adrian admitted with a shrug. "That guy is part of the reason I'm here in the first place and I can't help it, being this multidisciplinary master of all magics and generally awesome, if I thought it'd be cool and nice to give him a body for a bit. Not to mention his sword, too."

He grinned. "The look on your face was totally worth it." He held up a monster card, revealing a golden Kuriboh wearing a red cape emblazoned with an 'L' on it. "And in case you're wondering how she survived the damage, I can special summon Legendary Hero- Kuriboh to intercept an attack, so I did and he was in defense mode. I just thought what happened was more dramatic, don't you?"

The shadows of Armityle's body seethed with rage. "I'll destroy you both!"

"You've already failed in that regard, Armityle. I told you before, you parasite, you're just something to crush beneath my heel!" The Queen snapped a card up as she drew for her turn. "Monster Reborn revives a monster I discarded previously! Terror Villain- Blood Lord, rise from the grave!"

A coffin burst free of the ground in front of her vertically. There was a chuckling and it creaked open eerily, revealing its occupant to be a well-dressed Victorian man with very pale skin. He stepped out and drew his cape around himself, bowing. (2600/2200)

The Queen pointed at her Horror From The Deep. "I activate the effect of my Deckmaster." Doctor Alchemist, who had been standing behind her this entire duel, let out a booming laugh as he uncrossed his arms. Fishing around in his labcoat, he produced a vial of liquid and flicked it at the Horror. The vial shattered and splashed over the Terror Villain, which began to shudder and writhe.

Then it morphed into a sphere that was a mix of black light alongside some kind of shadow mass and emblazoned on the front was a symbol for 'Genesis'. "This changes the name of any Terror Villain I choose into Terror Villain- Genesis Core."

"What good does that do!?" Armityle clenched his fist, while Adrian merely lifted an eyebrow in interest.

"Genesis Core can Contact Fuse." The sphere and Blood Lord swirled together, snapping back to solid shape as one being. The monster resembled Blood Lord, but was a good foot taller. Its ragged hair was blood-red, its outfit was black as the night and white face displayed a pair of sharp fangs via a monster's smile. "Terror Villain- Genesis Reaper." (2500/1200)

"You are foolish-you summoned a new monster and now I will get a Token-" Armityle broke off as Genesis Reaper was suddenly on his field, laughing and feasting on the Token Raviel had just generated for him. Shadows flew as the fusion devoured everything it could fit into its mouth.

"Don't mind him- Genesis Core needs the other Villains to give him bodies and he's not used to being a vampire, either. In game terms, once per game, he can destroy one special summoned monster." The Shadow Queen watched as her monster reappeared on side of the field, wiping his mouth with the back of a hand. "Then I'll banish Skill Successor from my graveyard to give him eight hundred more attack points." (2500-3300)

A wicked smile crossed her face. "If all monsters you control exceed his attack points, he attack your life points directly.

Armityle's eyes widened as suddenly Genesis Reaper was in front of him, wielding a nasty-looking scythe he hadn't had a moment before. With wicked cackle, the fusion slashed him across the chest and left a jagged red slash. Energy exploded from the mark, enveloping him in a crimson shroud of death. (AMLP: 0)

"No..." He stumbled out of the energy, smoking badly and the blue-armored portions of his body cracked. One hand clutched his chest as he staggered. "No...I will not lose here...I will not be denied..."

His body broke apart into motes of black and gold light, flowing up into the titanic form of his god card. Raviel's eyes switched from red to the white of Armityle and the storm above them thundered in response to the god's bellows. "NO! I WILL NOT BE DENIED!"

With a yell of rage, he stormed for his two opponents with energy already gathering at his fists. Then he saw something move in front of him and heard the word 'Mugetsu' right before the air in front of him seemed to open up with an impossibly dense void of darkness.

Adrian whistled to catch the Queen's attention as Lyrius landed from his attack. He reached into his coat and produced a second Oblivion, throwing it her way. "Think of this as a way to make up for our lost dinner."

She caught the blade deftly. "It takes a lot more than this to appease me, Librarian...but its a start. Even if all this is temporary." That said, she turned to her husband who nodded at her.

Armityle regained his footing, his face still smoking and bleeding darkness from Lyrius' blow. Lighting arced into his fists as he stormed towards them. "I WILL DESTROY YOU, YOU PATHETIC INSECTS!"

"You forget yourself, Armityle! This is my island, my domain and here...I reign supreme!" The Queen and Lyrius crossed their weapons, black energy flaring to life around them both before they slashed them forwards, two voices rising as one.

"MUGETSU!"

The combined attack was far more powerful and larger than any single strike could have been. Armityle slammed a charged fist into the on-rushing void and roared in rage and pain as the attack sheared through his fist and arm like they were nothing before plowing into his chest. Stone cracked and crumbled as the giant stumbled back, darkness washed over him, tearing and rending at his body. But still he resisted, one good hand reaching for his enemies. "I WILL...HAVE...MY...REVENGE!"

"Get in line!" The Queen whipped her hand at him, a whip of lighting smashing him across the forehead. It was just enough, part of the mountaintop crumbling beneath his weight. Bleeding shadows and energy, devoured by the void itself and screaming in rage and the damage from the duel-all of it caught up with him at once.

Armityle fell.

TTTTTTT

The Palace was a wreck.

Its magic had kept it from falling apart completely, but as she plodded carefully up the stairwell, she could feel how much had been lost in her imprisonment. Beyond the cracks in the aging stone and damp patches of moss and lichen that had sprung up, the magic of the Palace was sickly. It took the ancient structure actual effort to move rooms around and she was hesitant to attempt to do so for fear of bringing something down on her head. Nor were any of the wards and seals working at full strength.

But now she was free and just as she could feel her power and magic slowly seeping back into her bones, so would the Palace's grandeur return. With time.

Time.

That was something she had an abundance of. Her fury at her defeat may have not cooled at all during her imprisonment, but it had drilled home the lesson of patience and time. She had been impatient, too concerned with immediate results. She was immortal and ageless. If a plan took a hundred years to complete, then it took a hundred years.

If it took her a dozen centuries to rebuild her Empire, then she'd do it in another dozen centuries. And fill the years with the screams and blood of her enemies.

But while she was immune to time, the rest of the world was not. As she pushed open the door to the observation level, she prepared herself to seeing anything that the might have happened on the outside. For all she knew, the island of Arcadia itself has been destroyed by the ocean and all that remained was her Palace. Or even that the Yokai or Vampires had conquered it.

Anything might have happened.

There was a cracking sound as she made it to the middle of the room and she froze in mid-step as a small flurry of stone chips drifted down in front of her face. Then her eyes widened and she whirled just in time to hear a gravelly roar and something gray-skinned and armed with lethal claws dive from the ceiling.

The impact drove the wind out of her and she grappled blindly with the thing, its stony growls deafening as it clawed and struck, tearing open cuts on her skin and gouging out the floor when it missed.

One lucky strike had slashed lines across her face and as she twisted her head in reflex to the pain, she felt the spark of magic long enough to bring to life a fireball between her and her attacker. Heat seared and nearly seared her wounds shut as the creature screamed in agony, stumbling back and off her.

She let the pain run its course, using it to find the strength to get back to her feet. Her attacker desperately trying to beat the flames that covered its body out, she started when she realized it was a gargoyle. Half again as tall as she was, stone-like skin covering inhumanely strong muscle and leathery wings, it was a rare creature.

And more than enough to kill her in her current state.

It finally rid itself of the flames, the gargoyle screeched at her in a rage, revealing fangs that could shred steel. Beady red eyes flashed as it flexed its claws. Then it was moving, so fast that she barely twisted out of the way in the time. Instead of whirling to attack her, it just vanished back into the shadows of the dim room and she could hear the stone cracking as it clambered up the walls like it was a spider.

Desperately, she tired to conjure another fireball to life around her hand, but the magic waned as it only managed a few desperate sparks. And these feeble attempts seemed to compound her situation, as the darkness in the room became nearly absolute. The sound of the gargoyle clambering around the room were loud and impossible to track as she whirled too and fro in response to the skittering.

Then silence fell and she froze, the sound of her own quiet breathing deafening.

Red eyes flashed as the creature emerged out of nowhere in front of her and she tried to jump back, only to feel fear flit through as she only felt the cold stone of the room's wall behind her.

The claws gouged the stone scant inches from her face and those fangs hurtled towards her face...

Only for the gargoyle to freeze up half way there she. She watched it, watched as the red light in its eyes died away, watched as the now-dead creature sagged forwards and hit the floor with a wet noise. Buried in its back between the wings was a single rusty sword.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw who it was standing behind it. A face she'd never thought she'd ever see again.

"Lyrius..."

He was just as she remembered. His dark hair was nearly to his waist, crystalline and glittering like starlight in the slowly returning light to the room. The dragon aspects on his armor stood out in stark relief and his eyes were still the stormclouds that had struck her so deeply oh so long ago.

"Lyrius..." The name was soft, almost a whisper. Cautiously, carefully she stepped closer to him, afraid that for a moment, she was still back in the cell and this was just a dream, a hallucination her madness had created.

He regarded her as he always had, his eyes fixed on her, vibrant and savage. And as he always done when she had reached for him tenderly, he tilted oh-so-slightly his head to the side and forwards so that she might stroke his cheek.

Pale fingers slid over his smooth skin, brushing silken locks and across his lips.

"You're real..." She felt herself trembling a touch, though whether from fear or excitement or relief, she wasn't sure. "You're real...you're here...my shadow...my Lyrius..."

He nodded, his own hand covering her own against his cheek.

Her pain, her imprisonment, the time, her wounds and tiredness, all were forgotten. He was here, that was important.

Her other hand came up, both of them fisting themselves in his hair and she put all the strength she had into the kiss. It was something she had failed to do before that battle, before she had lost him.

Never again.

Then they pulled apart and a frown crossed her face, a hand sliding across his cheek slowly. "Lyrius...you're so cold..."

He nodded again and she felt him press something cool and metallic into her hand. A glance down revealed it to be her necklace, the ruby glittering like a fresh drop of blood. "Why do you-"

Her head came up and she felt something inside of her lurch painfully as she realized she could now see through him.

He was a ghost.

She tried to push the it back into his hand, but it simply passed through him like he wasn't there. However he had used the necklace to give him a brief shape, it was over.

"Lyrius..." The Shadow Queen stared at him brokenly, her hand fisting around the necklace so tight she could feel it digging into her skin. Her whole body felt so heavy, so drained.

She had lost more than she had ever realized. So much more.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

TTTTTTT

"Do you think that he's completely gone?" The Queen took a drink of wine. The pair were seated in her private lounge, the remains of their dinner pushed to the side. The shortness of the nearby candles indicated just how long the pair had been sitting and talking since Armityle's defeat hours before.

"No. A being like him, he'll pull himself together eventually. But it will be a long time before that happens." The Librarian finished writing the last line in the red tome he had in front of him and with a satisfied look on his face, returned the quill to the spine and snapped it shut. "There. It took us nearly five hundred years, but its finally finished."

She took the book from him when he handed it to, noting that its title was in neat, black writing and read 'The Queen's Shadow.' An eyebrow went up at this. "I thought this story was about me, Librarian."

"It is just as much of his story as it is yours." He countered.

"I will not argue with that..." She passed the book back to him. "But why do you desire this, Adrian?"

"It is my job to collect and catalog all of the unique writings in the Multiverse...and to ensure that all I get more than one perspective on story." He hesitated for a moment, his tail twitching slightly. "...and I made you a promise."

"A promise." Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, her tone suggesting she didn't believe it for a minute. "I don't remember you making any promise to me."

"Tell my tale to those who ask. Tell it truly, the ill deeds along with the good and let me be judged accordingly." He picked up the book, staring not at it, but a memory. "Shakespeare said those words, but you said some thing very similar to me once, to make me ensure that the truth of you, your husband and your life would be passed along to someone who needs to know it."

"And this someone is...?" A note of anger crept into her voice. "I do not appreciate having my personal life being used as reading material at the dinner table for anyone."

"The someone is a someone who will remain a someone to you." Adrian informed her, unfazed by the glare she was giving him. "But you know yourself and you would never ask me to do anything like that unless you really meant it."

"Mmmph." She let her angry drop, swirling her wine before taking a drink. "Stop being accurate. Its annoying."

"One of my better qualities." He grinned slightly. "It certainly let me get that book back from you."

"No, that was your stubbornness and the fact you saved me from that...whateveritwas...that showed up during our fight." The Queen told him pointedly. "You and Artorgius destroy my original set of children and then you personally storm my Palace, we battle for a full day...and that thing crashes the party and tries to eat us both."

"It's a gruesome way to go. And I don't like pretty women getting devoured by very ugly eldritch abominations." Adrian said and grabbed his own glass of wine for a drink. "Not to mention, you had stolen my book so you could learn that Spell of Hatred."

"I didn't know it was stolen at the time."

'You had it stolen from a thief!"

"Finders keepers."

"Right..." He drawled, but was smiling anyway. "Come a long way since those days, haven't we?"

"I suppose..." She looked at him for a long moment. "Why did you save me from that creature back then?"

"I thought you could use a friend." He chuckled at as her eyebrow flew up into her hairline, but then his expression grew serious. "Immortality...isn't easy to come by, especially for mortals. And those of us who have it are fewer in number than one might think. I got mine by appointment to Librarian, but in my previous life..."

He sighed and changed tracks. "There are more ways to make a prison than walls and bars. Or magic. Or a home. Power can be just as much a prison as chains, loneliness a cage as much as steel. Call me a sucker for a sob story, but I couldn't just leave well enough alone. I figured I could try to redeem you in some way or learn secrets or something or other- it was a long time ago and I don't remember everything."

He raised his glass of wine in a toast. "But somewhere along the line, we became friends and that's what mattered more than whatever reason I had before." he downed his glass. "At least its a better reason."

"Friends..." She repeated softly and shook her head at him. "You never cease to amaze me."

"Keeps me interesting." The Librarian took the book from the table and stowed it in his coat before rising. "It's time for me go...have you thought about it?"

"Your offer to help me escape without this tournament and Heroes is...nice, Adrian, but I do not want to do that." She gave him a regal look. "I have no regrets for my choices in my life and I'm not going run from them. I am not a coward. And your way to help me is to change me."

"And why would you want to do that, knowing who you really are now?" He finished for her, then gave a slow nod. "I just thought I would offer."

"It is declined." A dismissive wave. "Go. I have things to do that more important than listen to you and your stupid notions. I am the Shadow Queen and that has always been true and will always be so."

"Very well." He turned to leave, stopping partway to talk over his shoulder. "Best of luck with your plan. I hope it goes well for you."

"You offer me luck, knowing what I plan to do?" She snorted in disbelief at him. "You are stupider than I thought you could be."

"Sending salt to the enemy- a noble, old custom." He smiled slightly.

"And what would do you with your well-wishes when I succeed?"

"Then I will be waiting on the outside of that door when you leave and because you are my friend, I will put you down."

"So I shall be sure not to leave by the door, then." A small smile touched her lips as he chuckled. "For what is worth...thank you, my friend."

He tipped an imaginary hat to her and then with a swirl and rustling of pages, he was gone.

TTTTTTT

"Damn them..." Armityle, stuck in the form he had achieved in his duel, staggered down the tunnel, his claws scraping the bedrock. Cracks were spread here and there across his body, remnants from the battle would take more than awhile to heal.

His teleportation had been blind and he had no idea where he was, only that he was alive. And near a source of powerful dark energy. "Damn them...I will be sure to make examples of them once I achieve my godhood..."

He paused as he felt a figure in front of him. Lifting his head, he saw a tall man dressed in a heavy, blue coat that buttoned up from neck to feet. His hair dark and perched on his nose was a pair of thick sunglasses. "What are you supposed to be?"

"Me? I am the speaker of the truth and nothing but. You may call me Trueman. And I speak the truth when I say my master desires your Sacred Beasts for its goals." Trueman raised his arm, revealing a duel disk there. "Prepare yourself."

"So you're working for that aboleth who tried to steal my cards earlier..." Armityle glared and held up his own, his disk duel reappearing there. He had no choice-nowhere to run or hide, only to fight. "Let's duel."

TTTTTTT

The Shadow Queen sat on her throne.

It was not an unusual occurrence, but it was an unusual day that it was happening on.

Outside the faded walls of the observation deck, the sun was slowly creeping its way above the horizon. And just visible in the fresh light was a large cruise ship, heading straight for Arcadia.

And on it where the final piece to the puzzle.

Lyrius's ghostly form appeared alongside and she felt him place his hand on her shoulder. She smiled and reached up, threading her fingers with his own.

"Were we go, we go together."

TTTTTTT

A/N: And that's the Librarian's Tale finished, meaning Twice-Told Tales itself is officially finished. Woo-hoo! Means its my first completed chapter fic ever! Definitely something I'm going to celebrate!

How?

Check back this weekend for a trailer to 'Shadowchasers: Backwater'!

Secret Life of Characters #7: Lyrius Stormcloud, the Queen's Shadow.

"All we have in our lives are ourselves and our choices. To give up your choices is to give up freedom and to regret them is the same as dying."

There's not going to be any fancy description of Lyrius here, since the entire Tale was pretty much his story. I'll talk instead about the character as a whole.

Lyrius is something I came up with way back when I decided I wanted to write a Shadowchaser fic. Wanting to draw more reviews in, I spoke to Cyber Commander about tying Adrian into the battle a thousand year ago that occurred in Thousand-Year-Door. With that okay from him, the thing kind of evolved and grew as I wrote it and debating plot points until reached where we stand today.

Lyrius became the character that I'd like to experiment with. Namely, he is cut from the same cloth that heroes are. The same raw potential for greatness, incredible strength and will, driven to succeed and so on and so forth. If circumstances had played out differently, he could have easily have been one of the Three Heroes rather than facing them.

His development and relationship with the Queen was a mixed bag, but I like to feel I ultimately nailed my objective despite some stumbling blocks. For example, the scene with Doopliss in the last part of the Tale and the following seduction of the Queen's Shadow by Her Majesty and the scene with Graz'zt in this part of the Tale feel like a repeat of the same thing to me, but the former was written without information I didn't have until recently.

Namely, the Shadow Queen gave up her ability to love as part of her deal for power. Which, as you know her character history, makes sense- she lost everything she loved, the world that was supposed to love her hated her and so it had caused her nothing but misery. Many people will often trade away what causes us pain.

I can't profess to know the mind of the Shadow Queen fully, since she's not my character, but I feel that it is important to remember that everything she has ever done has been her choice and with full understanding of it. There's been a lot of discussion in The Thousand-Year Door that Shadow Queen is a horrible parent and the fact she cannot truly love her children as a parent is the reason behind this.

It makes sense that she would choose not to have to redo the entire ritual for a third time (Cyber Commander has informed that this ritual is very time-consuming, costly and painful and best left to the imagination) after her defeat in order to be able to love her children- she had very little power left to her compared to when she was full strength and holding onto what little she had was paramount. It was the same with both sets of her children.

Did this cost her in the end? Yes, of course it did. And its definitely an evil act to choose power over your own flesh and blood.

But does it fit in with her character? Absolutely. She is one of those villains who is evil, not because of a predisposition, like a demon or a devil nor someone who has a sob-story or a reason for 'the world drove me to it, but because it is who she is.

She makes her choices and does so because she found out who she is and how she is like. She dedicated her life to the path that she knows is best for her and so there are no regrets.

Which brings us back to her husband. Lyrius exists as her partner and ultimately, restraint. If she's Chaotic Evil, then he's Neutral Evil. He is not as impulsive as she is and is much more detailed-focused. Even as her Champion and general, he was rarely on the front lines leading the charge- he was the one making sure the troops were supplied, fed and above all, content. He never was especially cruel or harsh, both out of his sense of honor and the fact it made little sense to him to antagonize your own subjects. He was more focused on making sure the Empire would endure- build roads, improved towns, etc, etc. His own personal section of the kingdom, Vronngard, was one of the best places to live at the time and the people there held him and the Queen in high regard. (keep in mind, that in that day and age, if you weren't rich, it didn't made who was really in charge so long as they kept you feed and sheltered.) He kept the Empire's trains running on time, so to speak.

But he was only one man and due to his lack of interest politics, lacked the influence that General Lan'tao had in the higher circles. Lan'tao was an aggressive, 'slash and burn' style general and his policies of expansion are ultimately what did the Empire in- everyone important was too busy leading conquests for glory and those in charge at home grew fat on the wealth of those under them. While Lyrius and the Queen were busy solidifying their conquest of the Howling Gale clan, the Three Heroes were yanking the bottom blocks of their Jenga tower out from underneath them. A Jenga tower of an evil empire run by a woman dedicated to the service of a demon lord.

Al that said, a few people have asked me what would have happened if Lyrius had lived or etc, so I'll answer those quickly.

If Lyrius had survived the final battle and killed the Unicorn Maiden, the Empire would have probably not only reached the size of something like the Roman Empire, but given the fact its two leaders were immortal, stayed that way. Maybe.

If Lyrius had lived, but the Queen had been killed or imprisoned beyond his reach, the Empire would have endured, but at much, much smaller scale than it had before. Lyrius lacks his wife's political mind and so would have eventually wound up as a benevolent dictator of sorts. In the modern age, he probably would have been reduced to only Arcadia as his only holding, much like the Queen.

If Lyrius had been 'restored' life before the tournament, the Shadow Spawn would have much less likely to rebel and lose themselves to their egos. (Provided he was brought back early enough) He would taken the edge off of the Queen's temper and been a far better parent than she was.

Wow, talked more about him than I thought I would. So I'll wrap this up quick. Now, there are several scenes that didn't make it to the final cut- Vivian and Lyrius' seperation, Lyrius versus Vladimir Bloodletter (From the City of Angels), Lyrius fight with the Maiden and betrayal by Lan'tao. They all exist, written in part in some form or another, but the flashbacks are paced with the duel in terms of climaxing and emotional intensity, so wedging more flashbacks in there would overtaken the duel and kept this from being Adrian's Tale, rather than the Queen's Tale.

So thank you all for this- Cyber Commander for letting me retro-canoizing all off this while currently working on Redux, Mei1105 for being a wonderful girlfriend and beta and all you readers and reviewers.