Dedication: This chapter is for YuuramLover36

Comments: Funny how every time I try to update, something weird happens…The power went out right when I was about to add the chapter. Go figure.

*Two more chapters after this!

Quote of the chapter: The less people speak of their greatness,the more we think of it. ~Lord Bacon

Chapter 25: The Last Night

"What is that thing?" Yuuri asked, starting at a glowing blue stone in awe.

It was small, only about the size of a pebble, but it was gleaming the color of the Caribbean ocean. Wolfram could feel an exceptionally strong aura coming from it, but he couldn't place why. He leaned forward too, though he was blocked by Gwendal who was standing grumpily between he and Yuuri.

"It's called an Eternity Stone." Murata winked at Wolfram. "But it has nothing to do with her, really. As it turns out, we just happened to coincidentally 'find' it hidden in our treasure room…Funny how none of us knew it was there before."

"When did you get this?" Yuuri touched the stone once before looking at the Great Sage. "I don't remember you stopping to pick it up…"

"When we went back to Blood Pledge Castle I found it…" Murata said softly. "It was discovered during the time of my first life, but I thought we had lost it. I had Dorcas search for it through the night."

"This is going to stop Naudhiz?" Wolfram gripped his own stone harshly, unlatching it from his neck. "Er…I have something similar."

The green gem that glowed the color of Wolfram's fiery eyes burned within his palm, glistening just like the blue rock already before him. When placed next to the sapphire pebble, they looked almost compatible. Wolfram reached out his hand and held the blue stone curiously, finding that it was still warm despite the chilly night air. 'Strange,' he thought. 'It's powerful…but I think its owner has long since passed on.'

Murata stared at Wolfram with his eyes as large as truck tires. "How long have you had that stone, Wolfram? When did you get it?"

"I got it from the women who made me sick." Wolfram shrugged. "It was my gift from Eternity…and it also is my major form of communication with her."

"May I?"

With a nod, Wolfram reached out to place the green stone on Murata's hand. The moment the emerald gem touched the Great Sage's skin, however, he let out a wail in extreme agony and fell to the ground in a heap. Murata's first reaction was to grasp tighter to the emerald, but it was the thing that was leeching the life from him. Wolfram let out a bellow of despair before forcing the Great Sage's hand open and pulling out the malicious mineral.

Though Murata was still conscious, he gripped the floor and breathed heavily, his glasses dangling by one ear. Sweat dribbled down his nose, making Yuuri stare at him in extreme worry. Yozak and Conrak helped the boy up, his body shaking, but there was still a small smile on Murata's face.

"I see…." Murata croaked. "You were the only one who could touch it. The stone was made to be your's and nobody else's. It kills whoever tries to take it, with malicious intent or not…The perfect security device."

Wolfram grasped the stone to his heart, feeling as though a great friend had just been insulted. Though he knew it was stupid to take things so seriously, he felt as though his green gem had been his friend. Perhaps it was a little bit like Yuuri and Morgif….

Yuuri was still looking worried. "How's your hand?"

Then Murata extended his pale, thin wrist to show that his entire palm was covered in bumpy, disgusting flesh that looked as though it had been melted. Wolfram stared at it, horrified, feeling somehow that he was personally responsible. 'Eternity told me that no one else could touch it.' he thought. 'I just didn't think that she meant it quite so literally.'

"Maybe we should head to the port." Yozak said. "Won't do us much good to fight Naudhiz without a proper plan anyway…"

When Wolfram began to pout, Gwendal shot him a 'Don't you dare even try it' glare. He 'humphed' and stuck his nose in the air, blonde hair covering the bishonen's green eyes. For a moment Wolfram though that Yuuri was laughing at him just a little, but it must have been his imagination.

"No, we have a plan." Murata grinned. "Don't we, Shinou?"

Out of nowhere and with great drama--like usual--Shinou appeared at Murata's shoulder. His red cape swung playfully behind him though there was no wind, his blue eyes sparkling mysteriously from beyond his head of blonde hair. He was in a good mood again, something that made everyone else a little bit nervous.

"Why don't you try feeding that thing to Morgif?" Shinou smiled. "It's a stone of great power, after all…Not quite the same as the regular insulator, but that's not what we're going for, is it? Of course, if we had two stones it would be better….But I have a feeling that it would end up killing Yuuri because he is not the appropriate owner."

Flushing with rage, Wolfram knew what Shinou was hinting at. 'I tried to tell them that this my duty,' he thought. 'But nobody listened to me....' Perhaps it was the helplessness of his situation that made the Original King love to taunt him even more.

"Wolfram." Yuuri said, though Wolfram was holding his tongue. "I'm sure he didn't mean it that way."

"I didn't say anything, Wimp…." muttered Wolfram under his breath.

Instead of replying, Yuuri merely smiled at him, taking the blue stone from Wolfram. Then a horrifying thought came to him: Where had he left Morgif? Of course, back at the treasure room hanging at its usual home….Yuuri had just been too worried about Wolfram to really think about his sword at all, but now that he noticed he felt as though apart of him was missing.

"I can't believe this." Yuuri hit himself on the head. "I forgot Morgif…"

Wolfram's eyes widened. "WHAT!?"

Murata grinned, shaking his head. 'How can he laugh?' Wolfram thought angrily. 'Every second we delay is a moment that people die…They should have just listened to me to begin with.'

"You may have forgot Morgif." Murata smiled. "But I didn't."

The Great Sage disappeared from the room, holding up his hand in the atypical one minute symbol. While everyone else started talking, Wolfram drew into silence, touching the green stone around his neck now. Who was the blue stone for? he wondered. Already he felt as if his heart would burst if he got separated from his own gem for even a moment, even if it did just scald the Great Sage's hand.

It took a moment for him to realize that people had addressed him in their conversation, and were currently looking at him as if he was nuts because he didn't respond. Everyone was concerned, but Wolfram evaded their looks by staring with interest at the wooden desk at his side.

"Wolfram?" Conrad stared at him. "Are you okay?"

"Oh, for crying out loud!" Wolfram kicked the table leg, causing everything on it to shudder as if cold. "I'm fine, everyone! By the way you act, you'd think that I was ready to drop dead at any given moment…."

No one seemed to find that remark funny, especially Yuuri whose mouth immediately tightened with rage. Wolfram turned up his nose, pretending to not care that he had hurt the king…But he did. His fists balled tighter, and he crossed his arms in his usual position to throw everyone off. Unfortunately his old tricks were about as useless as a broken racket, and he knew that he would have to figure out some new ones soon if he wanted to be effective.

When Murata returned a few minutes later, he seemed to sense the tension in the air and tried to ease it a bit. Morgif was completely oblivious, moaning in joy because he was finally out of the dusty cloth and in the fresh air. Yuuri grinned happily, though rolling his eyes at the same time.

"Morgif!" Yuuri grabbed him. "I'm sorry for forgetting you."

His response was the norm: A moan.

"Now," Murata said lightly. "Let's see what happens when we put that stone in there. Yuuri, since Morgif favors you, will you do us the honors?"

Yuuri nodded, determined.

When Yuuri plunked the glowing blue stone into Morgif's moaning face, the sword gave out a bright, shimmering light. Morgif moaned for a final time before extending a long ray of white that looked like a beacon from a lighthouse. It blinded both Yozak and Conrad, sending them to the floor with their hands over their eyes in a flurry of arms and legs. Lady Cheri giggled mercilessly.

Though no one else could hear it, Wolfram suddenly felt his ears burn as if somebody had blown a high pitched whistle directly into them without stopping. He pushed his hands over his head, falling to his knees before giving a very large tremble. Something was causing his heart to beat fast in his chest, tears streaming down his cheeks.

'Stop it,' someone screamed in his head. 'Make them stop it…'

"Eternity!" Wolfram wept. "What's going on!? What's this emotion!?"

'STOP IT! MAKE THEM STOP!'

Wolfram sobbed blindly, unable to get a grip on the emotions that were not his own. His heart burned in his chest as if he was on fire, causing his mind to ache. 'These emotions aren't mine…' he thought wildly. 'They are the stone's….The stone is crying, and I can't figure out why.'

Yuuri had grabbed a hold of the edge of the sword and sunk his fingers inside it, forcing the blue gem out with a pop. Wolfram sobbed further, coming back to his senses and wondering why he had even wept in the first place. His hand touched his own green gem, feeling the heat of it against his fingertips, his hand shaking.

"Wolfram...." Gwendal said slowly. "What's going on? It was just some light…."

"I…" Then Wolfram ran from the room, not one hundred percent sure of what to tell them.

Wolfram shakily wiped tears from his eyes, feeling his mind ache as he did so. It was almost as if the stone had emotion, and he wasn't one hundred percent sure of what to do about it. His fingers grasped his own gem, his hands caressing the lines that extended outward.

'Eternity,' he thought. 'Come to me.'

In his mind's eye, he felt a familiar presence standing to the right of him. He turned to see nothing in his direct vision, but he knew that he was not alone. 'She's getting weaker,' he though. 'She doesn't even have the ability to fully let herself appear.'

"What happened with the blue gem, Eternity?" Wolfram asked slowly. "Why did it scream?"

For a second the being paused, and Wolfram wondered whether she would disappear from his presence again, escaping from him just like he had done with his family. Right now he was hiding in one of the smaller, dusty, unused rooms in the ship because he figured people would have more trouble finding him there. Crying was something that he hated doing, even when it wasn't his fault to begin with.

An exhale filled the air, but the voice echoed in his thoughts. 'That was the original stone that I entrusted to Dagaz….many years ago….So he could communicate with me.'

Wolfram eyed the floor. "When you were…lovers…."

'That's right…' she whispered, her voice sounding soft and sad. She did not address the fact that she was sending Wolfram on a kamikaze mission, and neither did he. 'He was taken into an orphanage for quite some time during his life. His father was the temple leader, and so it was a basic assumption that he would be too…Though I could sense his hatred, his rebellious behavior intrigued me because he was everything that I was not….I gave him that stone for his power….'

"And he cast it away…"

Eternity's shadow strengthened, and Wolfram began to see an outline of her figure before him. She was becoming mystically more clear, her blonde hair hanging down her back. For a moment Wolfram blinked, and then he realized what was different: She looked far more washed-out now, like a once beautiful painting that had water thrown onto it.

'He could not bear something that would let him be so close to me.' she responded. 'So he cast the stone away and kept Naudhiz instead…He bred what he could…Now look at me, wasting away.'

"This is it, isn't it?" Wolfram said solidly. "After you sent me to Naudhiz in order to destroy him, you were going to run away, weren't you? And it was you that wept when the blue stone was being used, wasn't it?…Your own power, designed for your lover but would be used to destroy him…Of sorts…"

'You are very smart…' Eternity did not smile.

"This gem does not work just one way." Wolfram grabbed it. "Apparently I can see into your mind as well…I no longer have the ability to say that it is a good thing."

There was a moment of silence, then Eternity approached him, resting her hand on Wolfram's head. He looked up at her for a second, and he gave a gasp at how human she seemed then. Her face was getting a wrinkled edge to them, her hair lacking the moon beam sheen it had before. Both of them silently communicated this fact to each other.

'It will not be enough, you know…Dagaz's gem….It is for one purpose only….' Eternity whispered.

"I knew that too." he replied softly. "It's going to be my route to get inside Naudhiz, isn't it? Blow a hole in the creature, and it will bow down enough for me to either go in through the mouth or nostril…That's what it was meant for--not to stop me from doing my deed."

Eternity nodded sadly.

"Eternity." Wolfram said quietly. "I want you to know that….despite everything….I still don't hate you…If it wasn't for this, Yuuri would have been killed by Naudhiz. He is my first priority--I would have given my life a billions times if it was for him. If Dagaz doesn't understand that, then he is a fool too."

"Wolfram…"

In a moment of intensity, Eternity leaned forward and took Wolfram's face in her hands. At this very inappropriate second, Yuuri burst into the room, getting his first full blown look of what a guardian looked like; and, even though she was not up to her usual standards, she was still beyond compare to any living mortal.

"Er…" Yuuri blinked.

Eternity disappeared in a flash, and Wolfram sat there staring up at Yuuri innocently. 'That probably looked really bad,' Wolfram thought sadly, shaking his head. His hand grasped his green stone, feeling entirely too sad. But then, he had a plan….One that would keep Yuuri out of his way when it was time for his life to be sacrificed. 'It is the greatest honor to give your life for the king…and for the person that you love most too.'

Wolfram did his best to smile. "I believe that you met Eternity now, huh?"

"Er…yeah….Holy cow…" But then, Yuuri snapped out of it. "Wait a second! She was going to send you to go kill yourself, and you two were acting all chummy."

"She gave me good news." Wolfram lied, blinking his green eyes frequently in a way that he learned from Greta--Yuuri didn't stand a chance. "The new stone will work, apparently. Everything is going according to plan…."

"That…That's great…." Yuuri looked around darkly. "Though, her methods are worse than anything I've ever seen."

'You have no idea,' Wolfram thought, blinking sadly when a new idea came to his mind: Tomorrow would be their fight with Naudhiz…These would be his last moments, his last times, with the love of his life. Right now all he wanted to do was spend time with Yuuri. Every second that they had together was precious.

"Yuuri," Wolfram said softly. "Maybe we should go to bed a little early today…"

Yuuri, ever clueless, looked back at Wolfram wonderingly. "Why?"

"I just thought…." Wolfram did his best to not let his voice shake. "That maybe we could spend some time alone together." 'One last time,' Wolfram thought in his head.

"Ah, sure…"

Flushing, Yuuri walked over to help Wolfram get to his feet. This time, even when it was a natural reaction to pull back his hand, the bishonen did not let go. He could feel the warmth of Yuuri's palm, it already becoming a bit sticky because of the nervous sweat that was forming. Wolfram didn't care much about that either.

"Let's go."

Neither of them said much as they walked towards the bedroom, Wolfram staring at the floor as he passed everyone that was giving them worried and surprised looks. Lady Cheri had never looked so pleased, but the bishonen wondered what expression she would be wearing tomorrow evening when her son was permanently gone. 'Mother, brother, Greta…Yuuri…I'm so sorry.'

Their bedroom in the ship was small, the bed slightly more cramped than it usually would have been in the castle. But lately Wolfram had not been kicking, his body rigid because he barely allowed himself to sink into a truly deep slumber. Tonight, he knew, would be no different. Probably he would be spending the entirety of it gazing at his fiancé's face.

"Wolfram?" Yuuri said quietly, stepping into the room after Wolfram.

When Wolfram turned around, his eyes questioning, Yuuri gave a shrug that meant 'It was nothing.' The bishonen went over to the clothing dresser, pulling out a nightgown that paled in comparison to his old ones. He pulled it on quietly, walking over to the bed where he sat on the edge anxiously. Though he had wanted to be alone with Yuuri, now he didn't know what to say.

After the king sat beside him, awkwardness filling the room, Wolfram blinked and stared at his fiancé's face. 'These are the last times I'll be with him,' he thought. 'I've got to make the most of it…Even if there's a chance he'll reject me.' With new determination, Wolfram wrapped his arms around Yuuri and expelled a soft sigh.

"Wolfram…" Yuuri blinked, flushing a little bit.

'Here is goes,' Wolfram thought. 'The rejection again.' Straightening up, he smiled softly, pretending that it didn't matter to him. Of course, to him he felt the blow quite physically, straight in his stomach. At least they were in the same bed…He could live with that much, he supposed.

When he settled back into the bed, he was surprised when Yuuri reached out to stroke a strand of his blonde hair. Wolfram blinked in his shock, pretending to be tough when his insides felt as though they had been fed through a food processor. He expelled a large sigh.

"You know," Yuuri commented. "For someone who wanted to spend 'alone time,' you certainly aren't saying very much, are you?"

"I just…." 'Didn't want to be alone,' Wolfram finished in his mind.

Though Wolfram was rigid, Yuuri worked his way across the bed like a caterpillar and grasped the bishonen in his arms. The redness of the king's face had reached an entirely new extremity, and Wolfram wondered whether they had even invented a name for such a hue. He looked up at Yuuri with his green eyes wide, once against unsure of what to say.

Yuuri hesitantly leaned down to kiss him, his lips brushing Wolfram's gently. It felt nice, though it was only feather light, but the bishonen let his personality completely lose control. After all, even though Eternity was diluting his mind a little bit, he was still a passionate fire Mazoku.

His hands reached up and got tangled in Yuuri's hair, and he was well aware that the king was probably the color of a finely picked plum by now. But that didn't matter to him--Being with Yuuri now, being able to kiss him like this, was a heaven sent gift…One that he was willing to die for.

Yuuri pulled away after a minute, panting slightly but smiling. Surprisingly, his face was no longer red from embarrassment, though it was a little flushed from exertion. "Wow, Wolfram…"

It was Wolfram's turn to be a little red. "Sorry…Got a bit carried away…"

"No," Yuuri retorted. "Don't apologize. I liked it…"

Then Yuuri bent down for more.

When the ship approached Naudhiz, Wolfram pretended to not be shaking like mad. His face was probably the coloration of pale alabaster, his green eyes flickering with determination and something pained beneath he surface. Though he was ready for death, it didn't meant that he wasn't afraid of it…In fact, he felt as though his heart had managed to lodge itself in his throat.

Conrad cast him a worried look. "Are you alright, Wolfram?"

Yuuri frowned. "Yeah, you look like you're about to upchuck a baby cow."

Though he nodded, they were approaching Naudhiz on the high seas far faster than he would have liked. Already the dark, looming creature was becoming more prominent, the finer details of the disgusting beast filling themselves in. Also, off to one side floating nearby, barely avoiding the undercurrent that Naudhiz caused, was Dagaz's ship looking far more menacing than it had before.

"Should we tackle Dagaz first," Yozak asked, looking amused. "Or the giant, scaly monster?"

It seemed that everyone had joined Wolfram on the deck now, ready to set the attack on high seas. Even Lady Cheri was in the moment, wearing her infamous battle attire. Though this was the case, she would not be coming with them.

"Don't hurt Dagaz too bad…" Wolfram said softly. "Okay?"

Everyone turned to stare at him, as this was not Wolfram behavior at all. Perhaps it was all beginning to sink in, but he suddenly didn't want to blow up or throw a fit. These were the final moments he had with his family, and he didn't want to screw it up by being angry.

"Shouldn't that be my line?" Yuuri asked, holding the moaning Morgif.

"I pity him," Wolfram replied, avoiding everyone's gaze. "That's all."

As they approached Dagaz's glistening, black ship, they were strangely surprised to find that the man had appeared not to set up any defenses against them. Wolfram's eyes locked on the hull, seeing it empty. 'It's almost as if he wants us to go on…' Wolfram thought, gripping his stone subconsciously as he swayed to the rhythm of the ocean.

"Doesn't look like much…" Yozak commented. "I expected a couple thousands monsters, perhaps a giant squid of some sort. I'm kind of disappointed."

Conrad shot him a look.

Their ship approached the siding of Dagaz's, the hulls almost scraping against one another. Wolfram still saw no one, but he could sense something sinister beneath the surface of the vessel. Instantly his hands closed into fists, his face tense with emotion. 'This is it,' he thought. 'The end.'

Yuuri gently bumped hands with him, smiling at the bishonen as best he could, which Wolfram did not return. His stomach felt as though it had tied itself into knots, and he had to admit that he was a little bit dizzy. Still, he unsheathed his sword, as did everyone else. Lady Cheri surprised Wolfram, however, by wrapping him immediately in her arms and forcing his head into her ample bosom. Flushing, Wolfram started to splutter, but deep down he didn't want her to let go. 'I've got to remember this,' he thought. 'It'll be all that I have left of her.'

When he did not fight her, she gave him a sad look, tears glistening in her eyes. Conrad gave Wolfram a pat on the shoulder before pulling out a long, wooden plank that they used as a bridge, sliding it between the two ships as best as he could with the rhythmic rocking. He was the first to climb over, followed quickly by Yozak and Gwendal.

Murata and Yuuri nodded as each other before clambering onto the siding, pulling themselves across the plank slower than the other three because they were less physically ample. Wolfram turned around slowly, facing his mother who was watching him very careful.

"Be careful," Lady Cheri said softly, way more serious than she normally was. There was no more cheerfulness in her voice now. "...Wolfie."

Wolfram nodded. "Mother, I…Thank you…For everything."

"Don't say things like that." Lady Cheri said, jerking away hastily to hide the way the tears were glistening in her eyes. "You'll be fine! There's a plan…And when you get back, we'll discuss your wedding, right!?"

"I…Of course…" Wolfram smiled sadly. "Yes…I'll see you…"

"Bye, Wolfie!"

When she turned away, Wolfram saw her hands clasp with worry. 'Maybe my mother would have died for me after all,' he thought, sadly shaking his head as he turned around to go across the plank to Dagaz's ship. Even as he followed Conrad down Dagaz's boat's stairwell, he could still see Lady Cheri peering out sadly, a hint of a tear glistening on her cheek in the early morning weather.

Wolfram sadly shook his head, hating goodbyes more than ever. His thoughts were so consuming that he nearly ran into Conrad who came to a sudden stop, and he clenched his fists as Yuuri gave him a funny look. 'I can't let him catch on,' he thought. 'If he does, half the plan is going to be completely destroyed.'

Wolfram snapped, faking it., "Next time warn me before you stop…"

Yuuri gave him a concerned look, making Wolfram want to kick something. But his wanderings were soon interrupted by the sound of a chair moving against a hard wood floor, and the squeaking of a door as the hinges rocked open. All of them drew to a pause as Dagaz stepped out in the hallway, looking very amused with a large grin on his face.

His smile widened when he cause sight of Wolfram's pale, sickly skin.

"Ah, my party has arrived…Though you're a little late. Haven't you ever heard that its rude to make your host worry about you?"

It was Yuuri who stepped forward, not Wolfram, and he looked very angry. The others wore similar expressions, but the bishonen was unsure of how to arrange his features--Apart of him was filled with rage, but that was normal for him…What was different was the pity. He wondered whether it was Eternity's doing, or because of what he had seen from both their eyes…Two sides of a coin, just waiting to be scribed out.

'It's not Dagaz that's sending me to death,' he thought. 'It's Eternity…If this had never began, then everyone wouldn't have died.' Wolfram shook his head, trying to chase away the bitterness that came creeping into his mouth. There was nothing he could about this now, however.

"Stop this," Yuuri said. "No one needs to get hurt…If you halt your monsters, then we'll let you go without punishment."

"Oh, no…" Dagaz laughed. "Every moment I live is punishment enough--that's the funny part about wanting immortality but at the same time loathing every second you breathe. Of course, you wouldn't know about that…You've had people wiping your ass for you since the moment you were born."

Wolfram blinked. "DON'T!"

The man turned towards Wolfram slowly, a grin widening even more on his face. He lifted up his hand slowly, cocking his head as he opened the door behind him leisurely. Ten monsters were behind him, and they looked strangely like an exert from the Frankenstein movie, except that they weren't made into people impersonations.

"The dead men…" Yozak said, disgusted. "And the animal bodies…You used them to make your monsters and then animated them. That's what those are…"

The demented, reanimated creatures had take the form of something that loosely resembled wolves with mismatched skin. They were disgusting, putrid creatures, spewing red liquid that was incredibly thick as they lunged. Dagaz laughed and moved out of the way, ready for his ten beasts to rip them to shreds.

But, as Yuuri had planned, he grabbed Morgif at his side and shoved the stone directly into it, causing a beam of white light that emitted from the sword like a beacon. The creatures screamed and hissed, falling to the ground in great bubbling masses, turning into mere flesh once more. Dagaz simply laughed at this, stepping directly into the churning flesh cauldron.

"That's all fine and good." He grinned, smirking even more than ever before. "But what are you going to do about this!?"

As if on cue, the boat began to shake and rumble like never before. It took Wolfram a millisecond to figure out what was going on: Dagaz was sinking the boat with them on it, and though the crazed man may have had a wicked sense of humor, Wolfram knew that the moment they were inside the churning ocean he would tell Naudhiz to strike them while they were weak.

"YUURI!"

Wolfram grabbed Yuuri's hand, dragging him along the baseboards with everyone close behind. They had to get back to their own ship before it was too late, or else Wolfram would not even be able to save himself, let alone Yuuri.

Behind them, Dagaz cackled wickedly.

'Eternity,' he thought, knowing that they weren't going to make it. 'What's going on!?'

A voice answered him in his head, 'This is Dagaz's plan…He doesn't want to defeat you Wolfram…Deep down, he wants you to kill Naudhiz.'

Wolfram's eyes widened. 'Why?'

'He says it's to make me you hate me…' Eternity responded, echoing in his mind. 'But I believe that he wants freedom from this just as much as you do…'

He was snapped out of his mystified stupor by Yuuri giving him a desperate look, everyone trying to get him to pick up his pace as they ran. Shaking his head in disgust, he continued to hurtle up the stairs, eyes wide as he saw a boat to the left and his own hell to the right.