Chapter XXVIII: Some Sort of Reconciling

Ichimei cradled Dominick's head in her lap. "I'm so glad you're back."

"You saved me." He said. "Thank you."

"...I love you so much."

He smiled. "I know. I love you too." He tried to get up, but he couldn't. "I'm so tired." He murmured.

"Just rest." She said.

"Ah...I can't. I have to finish this fight." He felt around at his pocket. "Hey...there are some Senzus in my pocket...I think. Would you get them out for me?"

"Uh...yeah." She reached inside of his pocket and pulled out the little brown bag.

Dominick meekly reached for the bag. "Thanks." He said.

"Uh - no." She said curtly. "Let me give it to you."

"I'm fine, I can do it myself."

"Oh, shut up. Open you mouth."

"I can't fight you." He said.

She put the Senzu in his mouth and held his head slightly up as he chewed and swallowed.

"You've done this before, remember? Before we were dating. You always come to my side. You're too good to me." Dominick said. Then his emotions began to overflow. He laid his forearm over his eyes and started crying. "I've caused you so much pain. I'm so sorry, Ichimei."

"Don't cry." She said, touching her forehead to his. "Don't cry."

"Okay, that's enough." Shihebi called from above. "I don't buy any of this 'love'."

Dominick wiped the tears from his face and got up. "Are you ready to go again, Shihebi?"

"I'm ready to kill you. I'm just about done with you acting like your morals exceed mine." Shihebi responded. "To be honest, I hate you. Not as a fighter, but from one person to another, I hate you."

"I don't hate you, Shihebi." Dominick said. "I may feel hate toward you in the moment, but I don't hate you. I realize this now. Maybe it's because of the absence of the Black Sclera in my body, but I am able to clearly discern my emotions, now."

Ichimei looked up at him. "Wait, you mean…"

Dominick smiled back down at her. "Yeah. It's gone."

She looked back down and smiled to herself.

"Now, Ichimei, I'm going to finish what I've started. It feels like the pieces of this puzzle are finally coming together. I've learned more about the Black Sclera and about my father."

"Your father?"

"Yeah. When the Black Sclera took over my body, I thought I was dead. He definitely plunged this sword into my heart." Dominick explained. "But then I woke up somewhere else. And I heard this voice - no, two voices. First it was a man's voice, and then it was yours. I'm sure...the first voice belonged to my dad. It sounded so familiar."

"I'm happy for you." She said. "Now go finish this fight for me, okay?"

"I was already going to do that."

She nodded, then ran back to Kibito Kai and Thirteen.

Dominick turned around and looked at Shihebi. "You ready?"

"Of course." Shihebi replied. "But whatever that form was earlier, you shouldn't have come out of it." He showed Dominick his hand. "Look at this. You took off two of my fingers and a good part of my tail. It's no matter. I've lost a lot of power, so the fight will likely still be close."

"Let's go, then." Dominick said. "Don't think I'll go easy on you because of a couple of injuries."

"I thought not."

Dominick lunged at Shihebi, coming with a straightforward attack. Shihebi caught the fist in his own palm, pulled it down, dragging Dominick's body with it, and then drove his knee into his opponent's chin. Dominick planted his free hand on the ground and did a front somersault, bring the back of his legs down on Shihebi's head. Shihebi took his free arm and stopped both of Dominick's feet with his forearm. From the hand that was grasping Dominick's fist, a yellow light began to peer from the cracks behind their hands. Dominick realized what was happening. Shihebi was going to blow his hand off with an energy blast. He blasted the ground with his other hand and was propelled up into the sky. He yanked his feet back over his head and tried to drive his knee into Shihebi's elbow, breaking his arm, but Shihebi blocked the attack while still holding on. He finally let go when Dominick kicked him in the chest with his other leg. Once they separated, the energy dissipated from Shihebi's hand and the two stood still for a while. Sweat was dripping from both of their foreheads now.

"No more games!" Shihebi yelled. "I'm coming at you with all I have!" The black aura around him shot out in all directions as his muscles tensed and bulged. He shot at Dominick with speed faster than anything he had used before. He swung his fist and barely missed the tip of Dominick's nose as he flipped backwards. The Snake took his other hand and shot Dominick in the back with an energy blast, causing him to fall to the ground. Dominick looked up and Shihebi was already on top of him, with his foot pressed on his chest. He pressed Dominick into the ground trying to crush his lungs.

Dominick laughed as he coughed blood onto Shihebi's foot. He grabbed it and pulled it further into his chest. "Is this the best you have?" Her sneered.

Shihebi stepped off of Dominick's chest and grabbed his head. "I'm nowhere near being done with you."

"What are you going to do?" Dominick mocked.

Shihebi scanned the area and found a large cliff in the distance. "Perfect." He told himself. With Dominick's head still gripped in his hand, he took off toward the cliff, dragging him behind. Dominick was not fighting back at all. What is he playing at? It doesn't matter. I'll kill him before he has the chance to enact whatever he's planning. Shihebi smashed Dominick's head into the cliff and scraped it along parallel to the floor. It made a solid rivet in the side of the cliff. He then turned around and went the opposite way, only this time shoving Dominick's head ever further in. Behind him, the cliff began to collapse. After the second round, Shihebi pulled his head up to face him. Covered in blood and scrapes, Dominick was still smirking. "Don't smile at me, you freak!" Shihebi shouted. He threw Dominick into the floor and hopped up the crumbled cliff. "It's time to end this!" He put both hands out in front of him and began a rapid-fire assault of short energy blasts at Dominick, whose head was lodged in the ground. Upon impact, a huge dust cloud billowed up and debris flew hundreds of meters. As he continued, his muscles tensed even further and veins pulsed in his skin, until he suddenly stopped and dropped to one knee, panting and sweating.

"You've gotten slower." Dominick was standing behind Shihebi.

Hiding his surprise, he scoffed. "Impossible. Not at this point. You must have gotten faster."

"Let's stop this." Dominick said. "You're exhausted; the fight is over." He placed a hand on Shihebi shoulder, an action to which the Snake recoiled in a primal rage.

"Don't touch me!" He growled. "I'll kill you."

Dominick frowned. "Shihebi...you've changed. You're becoming more...like an animal."

"YOU HAVE NO ROOM TO TALK!" The Snake billowed as the blackness surrounding him exploded and then retracted into a perfect sphere with him in the center. His scleras now glowed a pale shade of yellow and his brow was stuck in a knot of rage. He then let out a loud, extended yell as he extended his arms out in either direction, his fingers just barely piercing the sphere.

"What...the hell is happening?" Dominick murmured to himself.

Upon piercing the sphere, it seemed to start bubbling, as if what was inside was boiling. Then, the blackness extended in all directions, the bubbles spiking out first, and the the rest of it following, ensnaring everything in pure, dark, emotional energy. It destroyed everything in its path. But when the black reached Dominick, he covered his eyes, preparing to taking the full force of the energy. However, time passed and he felt nothing but a comfortable, familiar warmth. He opened his eyes to see nothing but white, seeming to extend forever.

It has gotten much brighter, hasn't it? A voice said.

"Where am I?" Dominick asked.

This is our world, Dominick. Made by you and me together. You used to not be able to see anything in here, but now…

Dominick turned around to see a broken wooden cross, sitting in the middle of the blank whiteness. "So...this is the same place I've always been. I figured there would be no one left, now that the Black Sclera is gone. You're that one black silhouette I talked to a couple of days ago, aren't you?"

Yes.

"Where are you?"

I am everywhere. Thanks to that creature's absence, I was finally able to crack my protective shell and give light to your conscious. I have become the light you see now.

"I didn't die, did I?" Dominick asked.

No. You subconsciously put up a barrier around you after that attack, using my power.

"Your power? Who exactly are you?"

You must figure that out for yourself. I may not tell you my name without your soul's permission. And you have yet to make that key connection… the voice faded away.

Dominick reached out at the nothingness in front of him, and felt something. Suddenly, the white around him began to crumble away, revealing the familiar night sky in its place. What he felt was Shihebi's body against the rubble from the cliff. Dominick was gripping his sword with his left hand. The glowing white blade was plunged into Shihebi's chest. When did I- He thought to himself.

Shihebi was oozing blood from more places than he had wounds. His hands were purple and swollen, and blood was flowing steadily from where his fingers were cut. He was bleeding internally. He probably bursted many blood vessels with that last attack. He looked up at the moon with glazed, bloodshot eyes that were starting to leak blood from the cornea.

Dominick quickly pulled the sword from Shihebi's body. The Snake did not wince. He then slowly turned his eyes from the moon to Dominick. "I...got...carried away." He stammered in a whisper. "That's...what happens...when I stay in that form...too long...my emotions...run wild...and at a certain point...I lose control of them...and my innermost rage bests me…"

"Don't talk, Shihebi." Dominick said. "I'll get you a Senzu right now." He reached in his pocket.

"Stop…" The Snake whispered. "This is...my punishment...for abusing my power...and using it...for my selfishness." He coughed. "I think...I was jealous...of you...who never experienced my pain...but was able to achieve power even greater...than mine." The was a pause that seemed to last forever. "Why...don't you use your power...to protect...those who don't have it? Do you not...see that...as an obligation? You...have no idea...what people like me went through..!" He strained through the last part. "Look at me...I don't even...have the strength...to lift my arm." Tears mixed with blood welled in his eyes. "It hurts...I won't be able...to protect anyone...from suffering my fate...Detombe is still out there..! Why does it...have to end this way..? It weighs so heavily...on my conscious…"

Dominick, who had been silently listening to Shihebi this whole time, made a decision in his mind. "Shihebi. I know that one day, I will have the power to protect those that you are talking about. Without being a God of Destruction. With my own power. I'll learn how to travel through Universes on my own. I'll be able to sense miniscule powers from all the way across the Universe. One day, I promise, I will complete your goals for you, but I will do it peacefully."

Shihebi managed a weak smile. "I...apologize for...directing my rage at you...it seems...you are a good man...although...I don't think...your idea of peacefulness...will work..."

"You may have convinced me to make this decision, Shihebi. Maybe one day, I'll find a way to bring you back to life, as well."

Shihebi forced a chuckle that turned into the coughing of blood. "I...have a place in mind...of where I want to die." He said. "It's in the headquarters...of the Organization...can I take us there?"

Dominick nodded.

"It takes...no energy to travel...so I can do...at least this much." He weakly tapped the ground with his thumb and pinky at the same time, and a black image of an eye appeared on the ground, then expanded wide enough to encompass the both of them. Then, the floor opened up beneath them and they fell into a void; one that display no color and every color at once. At some point, the falling slowed, then stopped. It had felt like an hour, but in reality, it had only been a couple of seconds. A hole then opened up in the void, exposing a glowing glass floor floating in an empty black space.

Dominick picked up Shihebi and stepped onto the glass. As he turned in a full circle as he walked, he noted that there were twelve bright light sources, each about the size of a blueberry, scattered about the blackness. "Those lights are our Universes, aren't they?"

Shihebi weakly nodded. Then he said, "Just head… for that broken building…"

Dominick looked at what Shihebi was looking at, and felt the lives and deaths of all of the Angels and Gods of Destruction emanating from the building, including Mesui, Axita, and Deis. "I can feel all of them…" Dominick whispered. "I can feel...their emotions."

Shihebi smiled. "You would have been...a prime candidate...for a God of Destruction...ironic…"

Dominick continued to carry Shihebi into the ruins of the building as the Snake guided him with an increasingly shaky voice. Eventually, they came upon what looked like a lounge room.

The Snake chuckled. "It's still in one piece…" He said, looking at a leather couch. "Can you set me down...on the couch?" He asked Dominick. "This is where...Axita and I would rest...after training...the only place...I ever felt...truly...happy. I think...deep down...I didn't want...my days...as a God of Destruction...to end."

Dominick set Shihebi down on the couch, and the Snake breathed a sigh of relief as he let himself sink into his comfort and exhaustion. "I wonder...if I can...see him again…" He smiled sadly at the thought of it. "Being here again...after so long...makes me want to...forget...everything. It makes me feel...that I've made...peace." His eyes fluttered shut as he sank further into the salvation from his pain. "Hey...isn't it weird...how just one person…" He spoke with his eyes closed now. "...can make you...forget...forget….where...who...am I? I don't...want...to...know...anymore…."

His sleep finally engulfed him as Dominick felt his life join the others bound to this building. As Shihebi's presence dispersed and mixed in with the others, Dominick was able to feel Shihebi's bliss as he subconsciously stripped himself of his memories before he died. ...Bliss.