Reviews:
MagicxMusicxMelody - If these chapters made you sad, then that means I've succeeded! Oh yeah, I missed you there when I introduced the berry kiss chapter. Can't pass on secrets to surviving for ever, but definitely can pass on other important life secrets.
cherry-tree-of-life - Really sad, indeed. To be safe, it's best that Chris and Soon leave everything for Shun to handle. Not exactly taking a shot in the dark...reasons to be revealed soon.
ladyluck1668 - OMG THAT'S HILARIOUS. I never realize that it could be misread as Runo wanting Shun for herself. Same goes for Joe's last prescription. If your primary care doctor passes away...it's time to find a new one. Ren and Fabia would have a royal wedding, so the guest list is a bit unique and limited. I didn't realize that the final scene resembled Sleeping Beauty, but thanks for pointing out!
CookieDecor22 - Yes I tend to make stories like this very busy and packed XD Who knows? Maybe Chris and Soon are ancestors of the two software ladies from a few chapters ago. Shun definitely has a lot of secrets kept to himself that won't be revealed (no reason to). I didn't realize that the final scene resembled Romeo and Juliet as well! Thanks for pointing out! Third kiss scene...? We'll see...
Cup of Violet Tea - And that is exactly why people should leave Vestroia becomes even less safe! If I wanted, Vestroia could just end here and enter the history books immediately. You probably know who the person in black is, but how he's connected to the history at hand is rather surprising.
pretty pretty - I didn't introduce that dead body face reconstuction for nothing! Extended family, it is. You'll be very interested in how Mira's family plays into all this. Considering that I based this off period dramas, hair length doesn't really matter XD Yes, there's a "movie adaptation"!
Sugar Spice Rush - Yes he does! But it doesn't mean anything in present day anyway. Enjoy one last chapter of "mushy" conversations before everything ends!
-x-x-x-
LAST CHAPTER~! We got this~!
Chapter 19: Present Reality
xXx
"How did you manage to survive two thousand years and not die...?" asked Shun while wiping the rest of Alice's blood from his face.
The redhead stared in shock and held her chest in pain. "Two thousand years?! This is all my fault..."
"What do you mean?"
Despite the uncontrollable urge to cough blood, the she pointed to the glass vial in Shun's hand. "Remember when I told you to not underestimate me? I had that vial with me the whole time. It contained extract from some plants with powerful sedative properties. I added some juice from the red berries mask the bitter flavor. I didn't think that the sedative would slow my body functions enough to last two thousand years. The fact that I'm coughing blood shortly after waking up means that—"
"Alice, don't say it..."
"—my time's almost up. I'm sorry that I need to go soon after reuniting, Shun. But how come you're still alive? Is it because of your phoenix pendant?"
He shook his head. "It's a long story, but I traded the phoenix pendant in for something much better. Trust me—"
"This place is open already?!" shouted someone from the platform gate. Shun and Alice looked over and saw a person wearing all black, leading a group of people who held some other people hostage. The leader saw the pair at the gazebo and smirked. "We have unwanted guests."
"You're the unwanted guest," Shun argued.
The hostages recognized the voice and exclaimed, "It's Shun!"
Alice tugged his sleeve and asked quietly, "Who are they? How come they look so familiar?"
"They're my friends from this time period. Nothing to worry about. But the person in black isn't very friendly..."
Dan saw his best friend's face and screamed, "Shun! Where are have you been? What is all this? Is your letter true?"
"Everything's true, Dan—from finding the metal box with a dead body that looks like you to the locating each ring and person using coordinates in the medicine book... I planned everything out carefully."
"So you really are Shun..." snickered the person in black. He noticed the metal box next to the raven-haired youth. "What's that doing here?"
"Because I needed it to open the crypt. Other than that, there's nothing else other than my letter and hand-drawn map," replied Shun unapologetically. "There's no point covering your face anymore. I know who you are and what you want, but you won't get anything."
The person in black growled and rushed forward. "You stole what I needed and gave it to the redhead before she was sealed here forever. I'm here to take what's mine!" He took out a baton and swung it at Shun, who was able to defend himself but not Alice. After baton knocked Alice over, papers flew out of her jacket. The person in black snatched them all and laughed hysterically. "They're mine! They're finally—"
"Not so fast, Spectra." From behind, Shun pulled the heavy layers of black clothing off and revealed the perpetrator's face. "Or should I say...Keith."
The hostages gasped. "Keith was behind this the whole time?!"
"No wonder Mira is the way she is..." Ace scoffed.
The younger sister burst into tears. "I trusted you, Keith! You were my only family member after Father died. Why?!"
"Because this is my destiny! Everything that I did was for locating this secret crypt that contained the final pages of an ancient Vestroian immortality spell. Thank you all so much for helping me solve this mystery!" he greeted sarcastically.
"But Keith, I'm your sister! How could you do this to me?!"
"Shut up! You're only my half-sister with a common father. The only reason why I even cared about you is because you're the descendant of the earth ring owner from your mother's side. Spectra Phantom, my ancestor from my mother's side, used to work in the Vestroian palace. One day, he discovered a spell in the library books that guaranteed immortality to an entire family lineage if all steps were completely correctly. For two thousand years, one person in each of our fifty generations took the blood of twenty people." Keith took out a sharp knife with the words 1000 FOR IMMORTALITY on the blade. "I'm still short by one person. Which one of you will be next?"
"What a family of idiots," Shun insulted. "Two thousand years to take one thousand lives? Get your math straight."
"I almost forgot about you." The blond man pointed his blade at the raven-haired youth, which maintained his calm expression while protecting Alice. "I should kill you since you ruined everything."
"I don't know what your ancestors said, but there are actually six rings associated with the metal box."
Everyone else gasped. "I knew something wasn't right about Chan's poem!" Marucho exclaimed.
"I had a weird feeling about you ever since reading your work profile." Keith commented. "Why wasn't your blood needed for the metal box?"
"As the original owner of my ring, my blood was used to open the secret crypt." Shun pulled his collar and took out a red cord that strung a ring with a green ornament. "There really is nothing else in the box, but I won't tell you what this sixth ring is for. Thank to this ring, I've managed to survive these past two thousand years. There's no way that fate would let me stay here and watch a family of murderers go unstopped. Yet, I couldn't intervene for fear of changing the rest of history."
"Give me that ring, or else!"
"Or else what? I knew perfectly well that Spectra killed Prince Hydron when people began suspecting him for the bizarre murders, lack of emergency aid, travel restrictions, and so on. He then made Alice the scapegoat, but instead of executing her, she was sent here to the crypt for burial because Prince Hydron legally made her his concubine already. I swore that I'll never let Spectra win, and that means not letting his descendants win, either. You'll pay for the pain and agony that you put Alice and me through."
"I've had enough of you!" In an angry fit, Keith pressed the remote that controlled the bracelets on the hostages. They all screamed in fear of death, but soon noticed that nothing was happening. "Why isn't the toxin working?!"
"Do you really expect your remote control devices to work in here? As land surveyor, I designed this ancient place using modern technology. I had all the knowledge I needed to prevent situations like this from happening. Cell phones won't work either." Shun waved his friends and screamed, "Everyone, take those bracelets off and fight back!"
"Got it!"
Alice pulled Shun by his sleeve again and took out more pieces of paper from her sleeve. "I read these papers a long time ago. That person took the pages for the spell, but these pages are for the anti-spell."
"I knew I could you wouldn't—" He felt a change on wind behind him and turned around, stopping Keith in time before the latter could stab Shun with the immortality knife. "Nice try, Keith."
"Hand me the ring and the anti-spell papers now!"
Despite her frail condition, Alice stepped back and read aloud, "The anti-spell spell is simple. Just seal the weapon and spell papers away before the thousandth life is taken—"
The redhead collapsed again, and Shun pushed Keith away before tending to Alice. "Are you okay?!"
"It doesn't matter, Shun." She covered her mouth to cough, and the raven-haired youth saw the red liquid that oozed through her fingers. "I'll be gone soon."
"Don't say that, Alice...especially not when you're in pain." He faced Keith and declared, "I wouldn't mind going against a bladed weapon bare-handedly a third time."
Keith used both his baton and immortality knife against Shun, who avoided every attack and arrived behind his attacker. The raven-haired youth elbowed the blond man's back, who fell forward and dropped his weapons and spell papers. Shun grabbed the fallen items and placed them into the metal box.
He ran over to Alice, who fell again from the vibrating ground. "It's almost over, Alice. I'm this close to ending a disaster that shouldn't have started into the first place."
"I know, Shun." She leaned over and breathed heavily as blood dripped from her mouth. "I shouldn't have lasted this long."
Shun wiped the blood off her mouth and hugged her once more. "Just wait. You'll get to see the end, I swear." After outrunning Keith, the raven-haired youth grabbed the metal box cover and placed it on the box. On the posterior face where nobody paid attention to, Shun inserted his green ring and removed the band, followed by biting his finger to smear some blood. The posterior face glowed green, followed by the entire box vibrating uncontrollably.
"That box was supposed to be mine!" Keith stole the box and tried prying the cover off, but failed. "Shun Kazami, tell me how to open this box again instantly!"
"Why does it even matter? You've hurt so many innocent people because of this. It's over."
After the others fought off their attackers, Mira ran forward and begged, "Keith, forget about it! What's so good about having immortality anyway? Why do you want to live forever at the expense of other's lives?"
"Mira, I have a question."
"Uh...what?"
"Family or love?"
The younger sister gasped, unsure of what to answer. "Keith, why are you asking me this right now?"
"Answer me!"
Mira breathed erratically as Shun whispered, "Answering him might be the only way to calm him down."
"All right." She walked closer to Keith while shaking her head in denial. "You were always my role model when I was younger. Of course I value family. But then you and father both wouldn't let me pursue what I wanted and even kept me away from the person I liked. Then I find out that you're carrying out a stupid plan and was using me this whole time. I think I'm going crazy."
"If that's your final answer, then I only have one response." Keith walked closer to Mira, who stepped back in fear. With one hand, he pushed her back. Shun caught her in time as Dan, Runo, and Ace ran over. "Take her away. I don't want to see her."
Shun handed Mira over to his best friend and whispered, "Take her to somewhere safe. I still have unfinished business."
"Got it, Shun."
The raven-haired youth then saw Alice on the ground again and ran over, only to be stopped by Keith. "I'm not done with you either. Mira is innocent in all this, but you interfered with my family's plans of immortality. I'll take you down by all means!"
"You're the least of my concerns." Shun dodged Keith and kicked the latter's leg, causing the blond fall far away. He ran over to Alice and carried her down the walkway with the glowing box. "Hang in there, Alice. We're almost out of here."
"Shun, I can't—"
The redhead involuntarily let go of Shun and released a hacking cough again, this time spraying her blood on the metal box. The box stopped vibrating at first, but then levitated as iridescent beams of light flew all around. The box then hovered over Keith, who back up in fear. "Get away from me!"
"Shun, what's happening?" Alice asked.
"It seems like the box knows that Keith is the cause of this..."
Eventually, Keith backed up all the way to the gazebo and hit the stone bed. The box levitated closer, and the iridescent light brightened to the point of blinding everyone's eyes. "This isn't over!"
The metal box exploded, causing the secret crypt to shake violently. "Everyone listen up! We need to leave now!" Dan ordered.
Shun shook his head. "You guys go first. I'll be fine." After the others left hesitantly, the raven-haired youth noticed blood stains in his hands and shirt. "Alice, you're losing even more blood."
"Shun, just go. There's no chance of saving me."
"I left you in here alone against my will two thousand years ago. I can't leave you alone here again two thousand years later when I finally opened the crypt."
"Then stay with me until I'm gone."
Those words cut him in the heart like the blade of a knife, but Shun nodded anyway. "All right."
"Can I tell you something? I've never loved someone as much as how much I loved you."
"Same here. Maybe I was too focused on my work that I didn't make time for myself, until I went back two thousand years. I really wish that you can stay here longer."
"Shun, people aren't meant to live forever. As an herbalist and a doctor's granddaughter, I did what I did because I want my loved ones to live long and be with me for as long as possible. But if everyone lived forever, then we would have overpopulation problems. Likewise, if only a few people lived forever, then they would have to endure the pain of seeing loved ones go away. You said yourself that you survived two thousand years. You've probably been through the pain yourself."
"I tried to not associate myself with others because of that, but I couldn't bear the pain of being alone either."
"Exactly... Humans are different because we have feelings. I'm glad you entered my life, Shun. Nothing else can compare to the time we spent together. Now I can leave the world with no regrets."
"Alice..." As the secret crypt shook even more violently, Shun pulled the redhead even closer. "Since you said it already, I suppose I can leave this crypt with no regrets as well."
"I told you so. Goodbye, Shun..."
"Alice, wait! I still have more—"
"...I love you." was the last thing she said before losing her breath.
For some reason, Shun didn't have the urge to cry. Nor was he feeling extremely sad. He checked Alice's pulse and confirmed that she was gone already. I came here, not expecting to see you to possibly still be alive. Therefore, I probably shouldn't have expected to leave this secret crypt with you. Everything I wanted to do is complete, from stopping Spectra and Keith's plans to even seeing you again.
Areas of the ground cracked open as pieces of the ceiling and walls fell down into abyss. The walkway where everyone walked on was slowly falling apart, starting from the gazebo. Shun kissed Alice on the forehead let her go. I love you too, Alice. It hurts me so much to leave you here...
With that said, the raven-haired youth left the secret crypt as the entire mountain collapsed.
"Time to let go..."
-x-x-x-x-x-
"That was the ending? Not even close."
Dan stood up and stretched his arms as he and Runo exited the movie theater into the lobby. "Take it easy, Dan. Shun made a difficult decision to tell producers this story to be adapted into a movie."
"Uh...Runo, I need to tell you something."
"What? Are you going on a business trip again?"
"Actually, no. Joe's application to start an archaeology department in Wardington just got approved, which means I can return home and be closer to you."
"Really?!" The bluenette stopped walking and gave the brunet a strangling hug. "You'd better not be lying to me!"
"I'm not making this up! Ask Joe himself! Although he got approval already, it takes a while to gather everything together. I need to stay in Bayview to finish some more tasks before I can transfer."
"Dan, I'll wait for you, no matter how long."
"Nothing can be as long as Shun waiting for Alice..."
They both sighed at the thought. "Speaking of Shun, where's he now? Today's the opening day of the film adaptation. He wouldn't want to miss it."
"I asked him if he was going to watch, but he said no. He said he didn't want to get involved because it's too commercialized."
"So he gave the concept to the producers, yet doesn't watch because people don't take the story seriously? Then again, people think that this is only a fictional story, yet it's very real. Also, if you're leaving Bayview soon, then who will take your place? And Shun's place?"
"I know Mira wants to take part, now that her brother's gone. She became her normal self again, and Ace was beyond excited. Anyway, it's almost midnight. I'll drive you home."
"Dan, I don't live in the same direction as you. I can take a taxi."
"But I want to be with you..." he begged, holding in to Runo's hands.
The bluenette gave up and held tightly onto Dan's arm as they exited the building. "All right then. I'll listen to you this time."
"Just this time?"
"You know what I mean!"
As the pair approached Dan's car on the sidewalk, Shun sat on the roof of the movie theater and watched everyone leave the building. A female voice asked him, "Wish you went to see the movie, huh?"
He looked to his side and saw Alice, also watching everyone exit. "How did you know?"
"Shun, I'm your imagination. Of course I know what you're thinking."
"So when I can stop hallucinating then?"
Alice sat closer to Shun, and he surprisingly felt her elbow touch his. "I don't know. It depends on you. I also know you left a very detailed critique of the film under some fake name."
"What could I say? The producers missed a lot of important details, so I had to write something to complain about."
"I know. The movie will always be nothing compared to real life."
"Alice, I—" He wanted to grab her hand, but the redhead pulled away immediately. "Sorry. I forgot that you were only my imagination."
"I can't tell if you're imagining me because you either loved me so much, or because you're still not over my death."
The raven-haired youth sighed. "Why can't it be both?"
"Shun, I told you before. Besides, you also can't avoid Dan and Runo forever like this. You can't be alone forever either."
"But I only want you..."
"I'm not from your era, Shun. I won't survive here."
You have no idea how much that hurt me, Alice.
"What are doing now if you don't want to be around Dan and the others?"
Shun sat closer to the edge and let his legs dangle freely. "I resigned. Archaeology won't do me a good anymore, so I went back to doing something that I loved doing the most."
"Which is?"
"Photography." He took out his phone and opened the web browser. "I've always wanted to open a blog and post aesthetic photos of nature and cityscape, but I never had time because of working under Joe. Now I can do what I want. Alice, do you remember this picture?"
Alice leaned closer as Shun pulled open a slightly grainy photo. "That's us! You took it that one time when we both couldn't focus on studying. You still have it?"
"Why would I delete it? It's the only thing I have left of you."
"But why is it so blurry?"
"Maybe... it's because you're not from my era." Shun opened the photo details and read the date. "I never realized that this was taken on the date 0000-00-00 at the time 00:00:00. That's scary."
The redhead looked down below with a distressed face and didn't reply.
"Alice, what's wrong?"
"I...should get going."
"You're leaving?! But not now!"
"Shun, you're back in the present where you belong. Like I said, people aren't meant to live forever. It will only be a painful and disastrous experience. Although a bit blurry, you still have a meaningful photo of us to remember by. Everything's normal for you again, like the way things were supposed to be if you hadn't gone back in time. I think that's enough."
"Fine," he mumbled as he was close to crying. I knew this would happen. Alice is long gone already.
"One more thing."
Shun turned to the side immediately, and the redhead leaned in quickly for a kiss on the lips while wrapping her arms around his neck. Surprised that his subconsciousness would do this, the raven-haired youth closed his eyes and reciprocated. Unlike the first time Shun kissed Alice after tasting the sweet miracle berries, he tasted lingering bitterness in his mouth. What's that supposed to mean?
Alice let go, but their foreheads still touched, with bangs covering each other's face like last time. "You tasted the bitterness, didn't you?"
"But how?"
"The effects of the miracle berries wore off already, just like how it's time for you wake up into reality now."
"I miss you, Alice..."
"Maybe we'll see each other again in the unknown future. Goodbye, Shun."
The raven-haired youth opened his eyes and saw nothing. He looked around and couldn't find the redhead. Goodbye, Alice...
After he stared at the photo one more time, Shun closed his phone screen and glanced at the streets again. Dan's car was still at the sidewalk. I'm pretty sure my imaginary conversation lasted a long time, but how are they still here? He opened his text inbox and was about to tap Dan's name, but closed his screen altogether. Forget it. I said I wouldn't talk to—
Shun's phone beeped in response to an incoming text from Dan. "Runo and I watched the movie already. It was okay. I think the others will go watch on the weekend when they're not working."
That's right...today's opening day but also a Thursday, Shun realized.
Another text came in. "Remember to take care of yourself."
The raven-haired youth stared at the last text for the longest time before finally replying. "Thanks. I'll be fine." After much hesitation, he added, "Good luck with your job transfer."
Dan replied with a thumbs-up and finally and drove off. Shun opened his phone again to look at the photo of him and Alice before looking up at the sky to see a full moon. You're right, Alice. I can't avoid people forever.
The raven-haired youth took a deep breath and got off the building and walked along the sidewalk, unsure of where to go next.
Me: By the way, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I pulled off a quadruple upload! That includes a new story!
Everyone: Oh come on!
Me: Wait, what's wrong?
Dan: I have...withdrawal symptoms.
Runo: That was honest of you to say.
Ace: He probably didn't like the movie...which means Mira and I won't go watch it.
Mira: But Dan isn't the most reliable when it comes to leaving reviews and constructive criticism.
Me: O_O Anyway, thank you all for bearing with me! *palms pressed together* Looks like someone got to see their favorite person one last time before going back to reality. Leave a review and check out my other updates!