Chapter 14

I couldn't shake the foreboding feeling that something really bad was waiting for us as we entered the central hall. I stayed as close as I could to the Prince as we slowly made our way forward towards the hourglass chamber. And the closer we got, the stronger the feeling became. Finally, I stopped.

Prince, wait," I said. He halted and turned back to look at me.

"What is it?"

"Did you get the feeling of impending doom just now?"

"No, why?"

"I did." I lightly hugged myself to prevent myself from shivering. "I'm having second thoughts… maybe we shouldn't do this." The Prince just looked at me incredulously and approached me, stopping only inches away.

"We didn't just go through hell to activate those towers just to quit, did we?" he demanded, sounding angry.

"No… but—"

"Naomi, you know how I have lived the past seven years. And you know that I have searched desperately for an answer, for a way to change my fate. And now I've finally found it. And now you stand here and tell me to just drop everything and leave?"

"No, but—"

"But what?!"

"I just…" I swallowed hard, avoiding his eyes. "Something bad is gonna happen… I can just feel it…"

"Naomi, I'm not going to let anything harm you," he promised, sounding like he'd told me this a million times already.

"It's not me I'm worried about." He opened his mouth to answer, but he was cut off by a loud roar… and then the Dahaka appeared.

"The Dahaka!" the Prince exclaimed, his eyes going wide in panic, "It has learned to find me in the past!"

"SEE! I TOLD YOU SOMETHING BAD WAS GONNA HAPPEN!" I shrieked, and immediately opened my wings and darted to the other side of the room. The Prince tried to follow me, but guess who showed up to stand in his way? Yep, the Wraith. The Prince growled in irritation, knowing that he was in big trouble.

"I don't have time for this!" he shouted.

"Prince, get out of there!" I screamed at him, "You've got wings, use them!" But I don't think he heard me. In a desperate attempt to get away, the Prince made a mad dash towards the Wraith, intending to dash right by him, just as the Dahaka sent out several tendrils toward him. But the Wraith wasn't stupid. He leapt back as well.

There was a single horrible moment when both the Prince and the Wraith were neck and neck, the tendrils seemingly wrapping around both of them. I momentarily lost my ability to speak and just stood there, watching helplessly as the scene before me unfolded. Time seemed to stop. All sound seemed to mute. My heart skipped several beats and leapt into my throat. It was all still… but at the same time, it was all happening so fast…

I heard a loud yell as the Dahaka caught one of them in its tendrils. It let out a loud roar of triumph and leapt down into the ravine. Did I dare to even look? If I did, who would I see standing there? My Prince? Or the Wraith? Did I even want to know?

No, I didn't think I did. But either way, my body betrayed me and I slowly cracked open an eyelid. My sight was a little blurry at first, from squeezing my eyes shut so tightly, but it slowly came back into focus and I opened my eyes a little more.

I was actually surprised when I saw the dark form of the Sand Wraith standing there, staring back at me, his bright eyes piercing through me. But he only continued to stare for a second until he turned and started fighting to get the mask off. I watched, not sure what to think as the mask came off, the Wraith's skin was shed and there stood my Prince, er, I mean the Prince. And he had the distinct look on his face of a deer in the headlights.

"I can explain!" I said quickly, probably expecting me to freak out and start hammering him with questions. But I didn't say anything. I just walked up to him, looked him straight in the eye, then started walking around him, examining him from head to foot. He watched me a moment. "…What are you looking for?" he asked, confused.

"An off-switch," I replied.

"Uh… why?" I stood back up and looked at him again.

"Because you really need to stop freaking me out like this! I really don't want to end of dead of a heart attack here!" I sighed. "Maybe if I turned you off for a while, I could rest!"

"Well… I can explain. I hope."

"There's really only a couple things I want to know," I stated, carefully taking the mask from his hands and looking it over. "For instance, why am I not with you?" I watched the Prince's reaction very carefully. I know I saw just a smidgen of pain there, and a shoot load of regret.

"I…" he hesitated.

"What?"

"I killed Kaileena. You tried to tell me not to, that it would do me no good at all… but I didn't listen, I was so sure…" he started to explain.

"Because Kaileena is the Sands. And by killing her, you became the creator of your own fate," I finished for him. He looked at my, eye wide, surprised.

"Yes, that's exactly—how did you know?!"

"I know lots of things, Prince. I didn't spend seven years at the Academy for my health, you know." He just gave me a small smile.

"Yes. I suppose so." But his expression quickly changed back to solemn. "After Kaileena died, and I realized my mistake… I almost resigned myself to my death. You tried to console me… and I offered myself to the Dahaka. I would've let him kill me, but you… you pinned me down and screamed some sense into me. You said that if I just gave up and let him kill me, you would never forgive me for it. That I would be leaving you almost completely alone." he looked at me puzzlingly. "Is that true?" I bit my lip.

"Well… I guess in a way… yeah, it is true." I still had Gabby, after all.

"Well," he continued, "that's when we found the mural about the Mask of the Wraith," he gestured to the mask, which was still in my hands, "And we went looking for it, but…" he stopped. I heard his breathing start to accelerate.

"But what?" I urged him on. By now it was way obvious that something had happened to me in that time. He swallowed hard, looked in my eyes and embraced me tightly.

"The Dahaka… it chased us into a dead end," he whispered in my ear, his voice shaking slightly. "I found a place to hide from it, but there was only enough room for one of us. You shoved me in and sealed it off. I couldn't see what happened… but I could hear it. I tried to get back through to help you, but I couldn't. And by the time I made me way around…"

"I was dead?" I suggested, trying to keep my voice soft.

"No. You weren't dead yet. But that beast had beaten you so badly… there was no chance you would have healed." He took a deep breath. "All you said to me was 'I knew you'd come back for me…' then… then…" he sounded like he was having a hard time with the next part.

"Then what happened?" I urged him on, still trying to keep my voice calm. He let out a long, shaky breath.

"Then… you asked me to kill you." Now I could easily see why he was so upset. It's never easy loosing someone you care about, but having to actually be the one to kill them? That's almost a completely different story! Sure, I was standing right here and he was hugging the life outta me, but I could tell that that experience would be burned into his memory for a long, long, long time.

"I refused at first," the Prince continued on, "but you were in so much pain… and you were so broken… by then, letting you die would have been far kinder than letting you live… I had to… I had to." He held on to me for a long time after he said that. I thought for sure he would start crying any second, but he didn't. Men… But he eventually did let go and step back. "When I found the mask, I swore I would change everything. I promised myself that I wouldn't kill Kaileena this time, and that I wouldn't let the Dahaka catch you. And no matter what happens, I'm going to live up to those promises, whatever the cost."

"So then, what are we waiting for, a bus? Let's get going, already!" I pointed towards the hourglass chamber and made ready to leave, but the Prince didn't budge.

"Wait," he said simply, then pulled out a familiar looking necklace. "I still had this… I think you should have it back. I have no more need for it." He dropped an exact copy of the Angel Charm in my hand, and low and behold, it was storing two exact replicas of the lost wings. Well, at least I didn't have to worry about that any more.

"Ok… thanks. Are we done here?" He didn't answer that one, but rather, just gazed endlessly into my eyes.

"…I really missed you, Naomi," he said quietly.

"Huh?" I replied stupidly. He took my hand.

"After your death, the farther I went, the more I realized how much you really lightened things for me. And the more I came to realize that…" he trailed off and dropped his gaze, as though the next thing he were going to say had to be worded just right… or he'd be sorry.

"What?" I urged him once again. Wow, he's really being hesitant today. I guess you can't really blame him, though. The poor guy just went through hell in a hat bag and had suffered physical, mental and emotional damage from it.

"…I…" he bit his lip. I gestured with my hand for him to keep going.

"Yoooouuuu….." Then, seemingly having made up his mind, he stepped towards me, put one hand on my hip, the other on my cheek and in one swift move…

He kissed me.

Naomi: I QUIT! THERE'S NO WAY I'M DOING THIS! NOT A SNOWBALLS CHANCE IN HELL!

Kiri: TOO BAD!

Prince: ...I'm not even going to say anything.

Naomi: ...YOU LIKED IT, DIDN'T YOU!

Prince: uh... well... (sweats)

Naomi: (leers)

Prince: No! No, of course not! heheh...

Kiri: Well, that's just too bad for both of you! Because I'm writing this, I'm a hopeless romantic, and I shall have my sappy love story!

Mike: following in Rhea's footsteps, are we?

Kiri: Damn right!

Naomi: Well, you'll just have to find someone else because the prince and I are quitting!

Prince: Hold on, I never said-

Naomi: (glaring)

Prince: (shrinks back)

Kiri: I shall have my romancy stuff and you will deal with it.

Naomi: Make me!

Kiri: Fine with me. But first, a word to all my lovely readers, you guys are all awesome! The reviews are hilarious! No FAQ today, since I have a shoot load of homework piled up, so sorry 'bout that. and I hope I pleased all my fellow hopeless romantics out there! But do keep in mind that Angels romancing with humans is against the laaaaw... heheh... And the plot thickens! Well, that's all for today... now I have a renegade cast member to deal with... so until next chappy! Ciao!