Chapter 50

Vivian stared at the barrier, ears perked, waiting for a sign of life. She had yet to find Tony, and that worried her. Her senses were alert, reducing her risk of being caught off-guard.

Suddenly, the barrier flickered. And then it was gone.

It was then that she heard his heavy footsteps, sprinting towards it. She jumped into action, throwing her body forward and past the tree she had chosen to hide behind. Her legs struggled to keep up with her momentum, and she dared not look away from the path in front of her lest she trip. Her feet carried her over the piles of crumbled stone in the temple courtyard and towards the door.

Tony's hard steps were not far behind. She would have to outrun him and think fast, and one wrong move could cost the lives of both herself and Krystal.

Connor watched the pair of them disappear behind the wall.

Suddenly, a hole appeared in front of him. Through it stepped a beautiful green feathered woman. She knelt beside him. "My, you've really done a number on yourself."

"Would you believe me if I said the other guy had it worse?"

She chuckled. "In such pain and still attempting to flirt, I'm impressed. My name is Dakite. Hold still, I'm going to heal you." Her hands touched his upper back, and warmth emanated from them and into his body.

He grunted in pain as he felt his bones rearrange themselves to be whole again. His wounds closed, leaving smooth skin in their wake. "That's incredible... Where'd you learn that trick?"

Dakite smiled. "A magician never tells her secrets." She winked. "Now, Krystal needs your help. We can't set foot within the temple until she's activated the main power source. Be careful. Your brother is a terrible menace. I am not at my full capacity, and as such, neither are you. You won't survive another fight with him."

He nodded, then got to his feet. "I know what I have to do."

"The portal in the final room... once it is activated, we can save Cerinia. If Krystal steps through it, she will have the deepest desires of her heart. Her family and Fox will still be alive, but it will have to be a world where you and Tony never existed. Now, go. Stop your brother."

Connor nodded slowly. "I understand." Dakite disappeared, and he began to run after Tony.

(Meanwhile...)

The white walls of the room vanished, like a mirage. Krystal found herself standing in a large, plain stone room, matching the aesthetic of the outside of the temple. On the floor in front of her lay all seven staves. Was it all just a dream? Is this it? She knelt and gathered them up in her arms. The room was dimly lit, and the source of the light seemed to be coming from a doorway ahead of her.

She turned and looked back, hearing a strange, faraway voice. There was a long tunnel down from where she had come.

It sounded like someone yelling.

She paused and listened hard.

"Krystal!"

She blinked.

"He's coming!"

"Vivian?"

A muffled sentence. She seemed to be getting closer.

"What…?" She closed her eyes and focused on her ears.

"Hurry up! He's coming!" Krystal opened her eyes and looked down the hall. Her well tuned eyes picked up the form of Tony, bolting toward her with murder in his eyes. Vivian was close behind him.

She ran into the last room and looked around frantically. "There's no door! What do I do?"

"Look out!"

She ducked just in time to avoid Tony's lunge. He soared past her, having over committed to the jump. He used his momentum to carry him through the blow and beyond, landing him several feet away as Krystal backed up to the wall.

Vivian cleared the doorway, and Krystal tossed her a staff. It was the one with purple gems.

"Now, you die." Tony said through clenched teeth.

He lunged forward, and she braced herself for impact. This was precisely what he wanted her to do. He could not hide the hint of a gloating smirk as in one swift motion he snatched the red staff from her arms. It took one second too late for Krystal to realize what he'd done. She dropped the pile, clutching onto the white gemmed staff as he backed up several feet.

"If it's a fight you want, then bring it!" She challenged.

He stepped forward as if he was going to attack, but switched his footing at the last second and threw the staff like a spear. It soared through the air, aimed right towards her.

Before Krystal could even react, she felt herself being shoved from the side. She stumbled to the ground, then turned around and froze in horror.

Pinned to the wall by the red staff that protruded from her rib cage was Vivian, in her place. She wore a terrible grimace.

Connor ran into the room and used the moment of confusion to his advantage. He picked up the green staff and rushed Tony, smashing him in the side of the head with the blunt end. The grown fox dropped like a sack of flour without so much as a squeak.

Vivian stood pinned to the wall, hand clutching the shaft in her belly. Blood seeped from her wound. She knew then that she was done.

With a grunt, she yanked the staff out of her body and dropped it to the floor before falling to her knees.

Blood trickled up into her mouth. She coughed weakly and spit it onto the ground.

"Vivian…" Krystal said softly, crawling over to her.

"It's done… I'm done…"

"No…"

"It's alright. You have to go. You have to save Fox…"

Tears welled up in Krystal's eyes. "I'll save you! I chose my family, it said I can save my family. That includes you!"

She shook her head. "I don't think that's possible… not after everything I've done…"

Krystal shook her head stubbornly. "No!"

"Krystal!" Connor cried, attempting to get her attention. "You have to finish this puzzle. You have to get the barrier down. We can still save her, but this has to be finished."

She stood up, glancing down at her bleeding sister. "I will save you. I promise."

Towards the center of the room were two tall poles reaching from the ground to the ceiling. They were slightly curved, making almost an oval shape between them. Along the poles were foreign symbols and colored stones.

"What do they say? Are there any instructions?"

"I think they have to be powered with the staves." Connor picked up the green staff and held it up towards the green stone. The light from the gems shot out to the stone, connecting the two. The stone grew brighter, and the gems in the green staff dimmed until they were clear.

"Hurry!" Krystal picked up the purple and black staves at the same time. It took several moments for all of the gems to drain. With the last stone lit, a burst of energy was released like a strong wind. Krystal and Connor stumbled backwards.

Behind them, there was a sudden flash of light. A red furred wolf stepped through a rift. He knelt beside Vivian, who was unconscious.

"Hello, Angel."

She opened her eyes. "Shinae? Am...I..."

"You're going to be alright, beautiful. You have a daughter to look after."

Her eyes widened in confusion.

"Our baby... she's alive."

Tears of joy came to Vivian's eyes. "Really?" Her voice was full of hope and happiness.

He pulled her into his arms and stood up effortlessly. "I'll take care of her, don't you worry." He stepped back through the rift and disappeared.

Connor looked around. "The green guardian said they would help us."

Krystal stared at the portal. "Maybe this is it, maybe we don't need any help."

Light streaked from the gems in the oval and met up in the center, creating a brilliant spiraling rainbow of colors.

"It was you the whole time wasn't it." Krystal said.

"Pardon?"

"You. Not Tony. Every apology. Every nice word. Every kiss."

He paused. "No, you're mistaken." She looked away. "Not every kiss."

She looked back at him. "Why did you do it?"

He sighed. "I thought you loved my brother. You took his side a lot. I did it to make you both happy, and... it was the only way I could be close to you."

"But... it's like it wasn't even you."

"But it was you, and that's what I wanted."

She bit her lip. "You lied to me. For years. Why didn't you tell me it was you?"

He chuckled. "I did tell you. You caught me quite a few times. Nothing ever changed. You would catch me, Tony would beat me up, and then we'd start over again. I think you definitely knew, sometimes, and pretended you didn't just to humor me. Other times I wasn't sure if I really had you fooled."

"What about the storm?" She faced him.

He swallowed.

"How can you explain that? I would never have been in such a place with Tony."

Connor sighed slowly. "You told me that you didn't love me. You said that you wanted to be with him. So I let you go."

"I did do that, didn't I." She looked down. "I'm sorry. I was afraid. I wish you could have stopped me."

His lower lip quivered. "It's a little late now, don't ya think? There's not much I can do."

The light at the center of the poles got brighter and then spread to fill the space between the poles. The edges of the oval were white, and the center looked like the starry night sky.

"There's one thing you can do." She said.

"And what's that?" He asked. The emotion in his voice was not lost on her.

She stared him in the eyes. "Kiss me."

The request took Connor completely off guard. He raised his eyebrow in surprise. "You want me to...?"

"Kiss me." She said again.

He hesitated. "You can't be serious."

"Why can't I?" It was then he realized that she was serious.

He swallowed once and then he leaned in and pressed his lips softly against hers. His emotions raged. This was everything he had longed for since he had first laid eyes on her. He had done it before and gone even farther, but to feel her soft kiss once more before he was gone forever was more than he could ever ask for.

A hand grabbed the collar of his shirt and jerked him backwards. The fist that slammed into his solar plexus took him by surprise, and he dropped to his knees.

Tony sneered down. "I may not be able to kill you, but I will make you suffer!" He kicked Connor flat in the chest, sending him onto his back.

"Stop it!" Krystal screamed, lunging at him. Tony caught her by the throat and squeezed, lifting her off the ground. She lashed out with her legs, kicking him several times in the shins. He knelt to the ground and dragged her down with his hand still at her neck, bashing her head into the floor. She dug her nails hard into his arm and hand, desperately trying to get air.

"I can't have you, fine! I've accepted that. But I'll see you die before I watch you be with him!" Tony spat.

"Why don't you die, instead?" Connor said weakly. He picked up one of the colorless staves on the ground and held it firm in his hand. He knew he didn't have the strength to stand up and pull Tony off of her. What he did know was that she needed to survive, and his brother needed to be stopped.

He angled the staff below his rib cage, took a deep breath, and with trembling hands, gave it the slight twist needed to activate the extension mechanism.

The end of the staff punctured through his chest and he shuddered in pain. Tears formed in his eyes. The staff jerked back to its shortened state, and blood poured from his wound.

Tony's grip on Krystal's neck loosened. He clutched his abdomen and gasped, stumbled backwards, and looked over at Connor in horror. "What have you done!?"

Connor gasped for breath and coughed up blood. He looked Tony directly in the eyes. "I told you, I'll kill you if you ever hurt her again."

Krystal scrambled to his side. "No, you can't!" She cried hoarsely.

He shook his head. "It's okay," he said weakly. "You're going to... go through that portal..." He coughed weakly and more blood seeped from his mouth. "You belong with Fox... you'll find him there, and your family..."

She tenderly stroked his cheek. "I'm sorry... I really did love you. I remember, now."

A smile tugged at his lips despite the pain. "I've always loved you... but you were never meant for me. I was never..." he coughed, grimacing in pain. "...supposed to exist."

She bit her lip and shook her head. The lump in her throat hindered her words.

"He will never... hurt you... or anyone, ever again..."

"You didn't have to die..."

"This is the only way to stop him forever. I love you, so much... But, Fox and your family... they are both alive, through the portal..." He strained.

"Shh... it's okay..." She leaned in and kissed him on the forehead.

"Go... Please, don't watch me die."

"Okay..." She squeezed his hand tenderly and stood slowly, trying to maintain her composure as she walked toward the portal. She felt the tingle along her fingertips as she touched the surface and began to press through it.

"Goodbye, Connor…" She said. Her arm had disappeared. The other side felt warm, welcoming.

"Don't forget me, princess." He said softly.

She smiled at him through her tears, and then she was gone.

(Somewhere in a Lost Corner of the Lylat System…)

Colors swirled around like shooting stars. She felt like she was spinning and falling infinitely. Images of her life passed before her eyes, and then vanished. She saw Connor for a moment, and then he was gone. New images began to take the place of the ones that had disappeared. Memories she knew weren't real, of her mother and her family. But they were real, weren't they? Her mother was alive, of course she was. She had always been there. But Cerinia had been destroyed-... or had it? No, that was silly. Cerinia was fine. There was nothing to worry about.

Her family was waiting for her to return. She had run off with a CloudRunner who had begged her for help, and her family was fine.

Darkness approached, and then engulfed her. The blackness clouded her vision. Immense energy built up inside her, and then all at once it was ripped out.

Why was it so dark? Her eyelids were so heavy...

Her eyes were closed. That would explain it.

"Wake up, wake up!" A voice called.

A voice she trusted. A voice she knew. A voice she loved...

No, that was too far. She had no idea who the masculine voice belonged to. She couldn't love someone she had never met, right? It must have been part of her dreams.

She slowly opened her eyes and regained consciousness. What kind of a cramped up sleep had she been in that her back-

Suddenly she was falling. There had been an explosion.

Her arms flailed out in desperation. Panic set in as her memory returned and her mind cleared. She had missed something... something big. But now wasn't the time to think about that.

She screamed, realizing now that the many nightmares she had endured of falling from this prison to her death were about to become a reality.

Air.

Space.

Time.

These had no meaning as she fell. One thought and one thought only forced its way into her mind.

No, not a thought... a voice. A man's voice.

"Don't forget me, princess..."

Her focus shifted back to reality as a shining object flitted in front of her eyes. She reacted in an instant, snatching her arms forward and grabbing onto the shiny, pole-shaped object.

It was her staff.

Her weight pulled the end downward, and for a moment she thought she would still fall to her doom below. But then the staff jerked to a halt. Her hands slid to the edge of it with the momentum of her fall, swinging her precariously on the edge of doom.

Her fear was replaced with a flooding relief. She felt herself being partially lifted and reached out, desperate for solid ground. Her hand grasped onto the cement edge of the palace roof.

She pulled herself to her elbow and released the staff, trading it for the stability of the roof.

Another hand rested a few inches from hers. Until that moment, it hadn't occurred to her that she had been rescued by a being.

And that that being could possibly be Fox.

She looked up into his emerald green eyes and held his gaze. There, dangling on the edge between life and death, she fell in love.

She pulled herself up as Fox turned his attention from her to the head of the Krazoa statue that had come off its post with a terrible rumble. It was slowly starting to circle the raised platform where they now stood.

"I am reborn, the mighty Krazoa god, muahahahahaha! Kneel all those that stand before me!" It shouted at the two vulpine, laughing maniacally.

"We will never kneel to you!" Krystal retorted, stomping her foot for emphasis.

Fox took the staff, still in his hands, and with a few twirls for show, he aimed it at the Krazoa head. It occurred to him that there were better weapons than a thin metal rod, and he stepped back, sliding it home into his backpack.

He stepped back with his arm out, standing defensively in front of Krystal.

She frowned. He seemed so familiar, although she had never met him in person. It was as if she had known him for a long time and then forgotten. Her focus was drawn to the glittering gem in Fox's backpack. "Give me that!" She cried, yanking her possession from his belongings.

"Hey, w-wait!" Fox said in protest as he turned to face her. "Well, thanks for nothing. If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be standing here at all!" He said.

There on the roof, despite the impending doom of this new enemy, she knew that everything would be alright. Her staff was in her hands, Sauria was saved, and a bright future awaited her with her handsome rescuer.

"My staff!" She turned towards the Krazoa with a determined look, aiming her beloved weapon. "You're back..."

THE END

Author's Notes: This is it, the end. Ten years of waiting has brought you this. I love you all, thank you for sticking with me through everything. I hope it was worth the wait.