Kuon could feel that he was falling, and the darkness around him was suffocating him. He couldn't see anything through it. He had been in a situation like this before when he had jumped off Korosu Terrace. When he had felt so utterly destitute that the cold emptiness of the fall couldn't compare to the frozen hollowness of his own heart.

But unlike back then, Kuon wasn't feeling despair right now. He could feel a warm pair of arms around his neck and realized that he was holding onto someone. His eyes adjusted to the darkness, and he saw Kyoko clutching him as if this was the end, her eyes closed tightly in anticipation of impact.

Although they were coming closer and closer to splattering on the ground, Kuon knew that this was not where they perished. They had fought through so much to be together again, and this was not where it all ended. Kuon wouldn't let it end here.

Fighting against the pain rippling through his body, Kuon spread his wings, catching a breeze and soaring out of the canyon towards the neighboring Water Kingdom. He looked down to see Kyoko's eyes flutter open.

"Hey! Over here!"

Kyoko turned her head towards the voice to see Hikaru waving them over from the other side of the canyon where a gathering of soldiers was waiting for them. Kuon struggled to keep his wings out but managed to fly them over to the Water Kingdom, landing on the ground with a thud. A group of medics quickly gathered around them as Kyoko herself let go of his neck and tried to see if he was okay. Kuon screamed as the darkness penetrated him again, his adrenaline from earlier gone.

"What did he get hit with?" Kuon heard someone ask.

"Some kind of dark magic. I've never seen anything like it," Kyoko responded. Kuon cried out in pain again.

"Leave him to me."

Kyoko raised her head to see that it was Lory who had spoken. "Crown Princess, I promise I'll take care of him. You should get ready. Something tells me that King Reino isn't going down without a fight."

Kyoko hesitatingly nodded, pressing a kiss to Kuon's forehead before standing up. Lory quickly took her place and set to work on trying to soothe Kuon's pain. Kyoko looked around at who had gathered around them and noticed many familiar faces. For one, Hikaru was watching the couple with a gentle smile next to his two brothers, each decked out in armor. Momose and Kijima were also there, wearing their own armor and ready to fight at any moment. Each of Rick's disciples were gathered around them, even Koga who didn't particularly like Kuon.

"Kyoko."

Kyoko straightened up as she heard the cold and strict voice of her mother. The Heavenly Empress herself was there, although she wasn't wearing any armor. Saena wasn't a fighter. She had probably only come to oversee the war preparations.

"Goraku Mountain's disciples will be leading the attack on any ground soldiers that Reino brings to the fight and will be keeping Vie Ghoul at bay. We assume that Reino will try to go for you and Hizuri-san if he comes onto the battlefield, so our soldiers will keep the others away when you battle Reino. Once you suit up, I will give the command to commence our assault on the Ghost Kingdom," Saena said.

"We're going to war right now?!"

"We must strike as soon as possible before Reino has the time to come up with another plan. Hizuri-san mentioned that Murasame-san and Manaka-san were to be spared?" Saena wondered.

"Yes. Murasame-san helped me destroy the doomsday device."

"Very well. Go gear up."

"Yes, Mother," Kyoko bowed.

"And Kyoko?"

"Yes?"

"You successfully destroyed Reino's doomsday device. Good job."

Kyoko's jaw dropped at her mother's simple praise as Saena teleported back to the Sky Palace. The soldiers around her were equally shocked since no one had ever heard Saena praise anyone, not even her own daughter.

Kyoko shook off her awe and looked over to see how Kuon was doing. It seemed that Lory had managed to put him to sleep.

"Are you sure he'll be okay?" Kyoko asked.

"Don't worry, Crown Princess. Reino cast some kind of torture spell on Kuon, but I was able to remove it. Once he wakes up, he'll be fine," Lory assured her. Taking one last worried glance at Kuon, Kyoko entered the nearest tent to suit up.

...

The Imperial Army marched towards the boundary between the Ghost Kingdom and the Water Kingdom as Kyoko rode on a horse at the front of the troops. She could see the Ghost army on the horizon with Reino at the front.

"You ruined everything! I spent tens of thousands of years on my plan just for it to be destroyed by those chocolates! You won't leave this battlefield alive, Kyoko!" Reino's voice carried across the distance between the two armies. Kyoko dismounted from her horse and unsheathed her double swords. From across the chasm, everyone watched as Reino unsheathed a halberd. He raised his weapon, and his army started to charge forward as the celestial army did the same.

Kyoko ran forward to meet with Reino in a clash of weapons. Reino pushed off her swords and thrusted his halberd forward at Kyoko, causing her to take a step back to prevent from being stabbed. She slashed at Reino, but Reino skillfully blocked her sword with the handle of his halberd and pushed her off. As Kyoko came charging forward to attack again, Reino swiped at her feet, but a graceful flip prevented her feet from being struck. She swung ferociously at him with her swords, and Reino was having trouble blocking each swing. With each block came another attack from her other sword, and soon Kyoko landed a slice on his chest. Reino raised his halberd into the sky, and bolts of lightning gathered around its tip as he charged a spell towards Kyoko. However, as he cast the lightning towards her, Kyoko performed a spell on her own sword, blocking the beam of magic from hitting her. Kyoko raised her other sword and added even more power to the spell. Kyoko's magic began to overpower Reino's, and soon, the ball of magic hit him in the chest. Reino cried out as he fell backwards, the magic overwhelming him. Kyoko charged forward to attack again, but Reino was quick to block, rage blazing in his eyes. He wouldn't go down that easily.

...

Kuon woke up suddenly, his brow soaked in sweat. He looked around his surroundings trying to figure out where he was. Was this a tent?

"You're awake. That was some real nasty magic that Reino cast on you."

"Where are we?" Kuon rubbed his back, feeling a dull ache.

"We're in a military camp at the border between the Ghost Kingdom and Water Kingdom," Lory responded.

"Where's Kyoko?"

"Fighting Reino," Lory replied nonchalantly.

"What?! Why didn't you wake me up before she left?!" Kuon stood up suddenly, materializing a sword in his hand.

"You were hit pretty badly by some of Reino's dark magic. Are you sure you're ready to fight right now?"

"I'm not letting her face him alone," Kuon replied before running out of the tent.

...

Kyoko gritted her teeth as she blocked yet another one of Reino's attacks. How was he still attacking so ferociously after being hit by that blast of magic?

"Look out!"

Kyoko was suddenly pushed to the side as Reino cast a dark wave of magic towards her. Her head was crushed against a chest she was all too familiar with.

"Kuon?! Why are you here?!"

"I can't let you fight him alone," Kuon replied. They stood to face Reino together who grinned at them.

"Ah, you've finally arrived, Hizuri Kuon," Reino grinned.

"I have," Kuon responded, tightening his grip on his sword.

"I really enjoyed Kyoko's company the last few weeks."

"I'll never let you near her again," Kuon growled.

"Oh? But Kyoko and I are in love, remember?"

Kyoko felt Reino trying to barge into her head and control her. No. She wouldn't let him! Never again!

"Get out of my head!" Kyoko screamed at him. Her inner demons sprung out at Reino and attacked. Reino cried out as the demons encircled him. At the same tome, Kuon cast a bolt of light towards Reino, hitting him in the chest with full force. Reino was blown backwards to the ground and coughed up blood. He tried to raise himself up on a trembling hand as Kyoko and Kuon approached him.

"It's over, Reino," Kuon pointed his sword at him.

"I knew those grudge spirits could be powerful. They were magnificent and beautiful, just like you, Kyoko," Reino coughed, blood dripping from his lip. "However, now that you've shown your special power, it's about time I unleash mine."

Suddenly, Reino howled, and his limbs began to elongate. His face lengthened into a snout, and the rest of his body suddenly started to grow white fur as his body morphed into the body of a humongous, ravenous wolf. His massive jaw dripped with drool, and he had rows of sharp teeth that could rip someone into shreds. His violet eyes flashed with carnal rage before Reino lunged at Kuon who barely blocked the attack and was pushed onto the ground. Reino snapped at Kuon's neck with his sharp canines as Kuon held off the wolf with his sword.

However, seconds later, Reino was thrown off of Kuon. Kuon sat up to see what had happened and was amazed at the sight. Kyoko had transformed into a black dragon. Kuon was embarrassed that he had ever thought that she was a black snake. If Reino's other form was one of the most horrific beasts Kuon had ever seen, Kyoko's dragon form was one of the most beautiful.

Before Kuon knew what was happening, Kyoko surged forward and wrapped her tail around Reino before shooting them off into the sky.

Higher and higher, Kyoko flew as Reino tried to break free of her tight grasp, but it was to no avail. Kyoko had performed this specific maneuver before when protecting a village from a rogue tiger spirit, and she wouldn't fail even as Reino's jaw clamped around her tail. Once Kyoko was sufficiently high enough, she launched a bolt of lightning at Reino and flung him towards the ground with all her strength.

A few seconds after Kyoko had launched into the air, suddenly Kuon was blown backwards by the force of something impacting with the ground. When Kuon stood up and looked inside the crater that had formed, he saw Reino back in his human form, his limbs twisted in ways that told Kuon that almost everything was broken.

"Seems like your power wasn't as great as you thought, Beagle," Kyoko touched down next to Kuon in her human form.

"It's over, Reino," Kuon pointed his sword at the now pathetic-looking Ghost King.

"Then kill me," Reino responded with a grimace. Kuon threw his sword into Reino's chest without a second thought, and Reino's eyes widened in shock before slowly softening

"I'm not afraid of dying, but I hated that pain," Reino said one last time before his eyes closed. A few seconds later, he vanished as his body faded away into dust.

"Is it really over?" Kyoko wondered. She looked around the battlefield to see that the Ghost Kingdom has been quickly outnumbered by the superior Sky Kingdom soldiers. Even Vie Ghoul had been captured already, and a group of Rick's disciples carefully kept watch over them, even if they were already shackled by magical handcuffs.

"It's over, Kyoko," Kuon smiled at her, wrapping her in his arms and spinning her around with joy before bending down to kiss her. Kyoko eagerly reciprocated the kiss, and the kiss quickly grew more and more passionate. It wasn't until the couple heard the sound of someone clearing their throat that they pulled away from each other.

"You two might want to save that for when you're in private. You've gathered quite the audience," Lory said. It seemed that many Sky Kingdom soldiers had surrounded them, sporting varying levels of embarrassment as they watched the couple's passionate kiss. Kyoko and Kuon smiled sheepishly.

"What do we have to do now?" Kuon asked.

"Reino's been defeated by the heroes, Vie Ghoul has been captured, and the rest of the Ghost Kingdom soldiers have surrendered. The war is over now. I think it's about time for a celebration. What about we mark this joyous occasion with a wedding that should have happened a long time ago?" Lory grinned.

...

When Kuon first saw Kyoko in her wedding kimono, he was brought back to their wedding in their hut in the woods. Although her kimono definitely looked like it was meant for a princess with the intricate embroidery and bedazzling, the structure of the dress was exactly the same as her first wedding dress.

Kuon smiled and held out his arm for her to take, and together they walked through the throne room, towards Saena. Once they reached Saena, they both bowed and knelt down. Standing on the side, Hana beamed at them with a basket of flowers in her hand. She had been elated to act as the flower girl in the wedding.

Kuon didn't really pay that much attention during the ceremony itself. If it had been up to him, Kuon wouldn't have seen the need for a ceremony. In Kuon's mind, they were already married, but they were only doing this ceremony so that their marriage would finally be accepted by the world.

Kuon blew through the motions of the ceremony on autopilot but was brought back to reality when he heard everyone clapping around them. He stood up with Kyoko who smiled at him as she took his hands in her own. She stood on her tiptoes to whisper in his ear.

"I, Mogami Kyoko, ask the gods to bear witness. Starting today I will be married to Kuon and will love him with all my heart for all eternity. I will never part from him regardless of fortune and calamity."

"I, Hizuri Kuon, ask the gods to bear witness. Starting today I will be married to Kyoko and will love her with all my heart for all eternity. I will never part from her regardless of fortune and calamity," Kuon whispered back before leaning down to kiss her. As Ren or as Kuon, he knew this woman would always have his heart. Their love was immortal.

Ahhhh! I can't believe it! We're finished with the main story! More than a year later with 55 chapters and over 180,000 words, this fic is finally finished other than a short epilogue that will come out very soon. Thank you for taking part in this amazing journey with me.

Thank you to anyone who has ever followed, favorited, or left a review on this fic! I love how supportive you all have been! This is the last time I'll be answering reviews on this fic.

Tam2013- I'm glad you liked the twist! I was a little worried that people would think it was too sudden of a twist, but I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it! Thank you so much for your review!

paulagato- Good always triumphs in the end! Thank you so much for always being one of my most loyal reviewers!

H-Nala- Luckily, Kuon was able to get them out of that situation alive, even without there being water! Thank you for reviewing!