SailorStar9: After uploading Chapter 19, I present the epilogue and the end of this fic. For everyone who put this fic on your favorited and followed lists and/or story alerts, thank you, but remember everyone, a lot of authors (myself included) sustain on readers' reviews.
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except for the plot bunny. Heck, even the pairings aren't mine.
Epilogue: TRY again! When All Returns to White!
"The darkness is covering the sky." Amelia gaped, Darkstar's main body finally passed through the gateway, destroying it. "What's that?" she spotted the burning black and red energy pillar in the distance.
"Has the gateway finally been destroyed?" Erulogos inquired.
"Soon Darkstar's true form will come." Sirius added.
"And thus twilight falls across this world." Zelgadis recalled the prophecy.
Valgarv, where are you going now? Filia wondered as Darkstar headed off.
"Even if I used the Giga Slave to take out Valgarv, if Darkstar's completely released, I'll have nothing left for him." Lina cursed.
"Lina, we're going after him." Aria declared, her eyes stilled in sheer determination.
"How?" Lina snapped. "We'll never catch up to him."
"Filia, we'll going to have to use the last of your magic to teleport us." Aria instructed. "I know where he's heading to."
"Could it..." Filia realized the same thing. "There?"
As Darkstar traveled towards the Ancient Dragon Temple, he left a trail of untold destruction in his wake.
"Damn him." Zelgadis cursed. "He's already begun devouring this world."
"Let's go." Filia readied her teleport spell.
"We're coming as well." Sirius informed. "The Darkstar weapons are stabilized when within the same field. It increases their effect."
"An alliance between Gods, Mazoku and humans, huh?" Xellos mused.
Near the Ancient Dragon Temple...
"This is..." Lina recognized the temple. "The temple of the Ancient Dragons."
"Here he comes." Amelia warned as Darkstar approached.
"Concentrate all five weapons at one point." Lina instructed. "Attack in waves."
"He's' getting closer." Amelia frowned.
We won't fire until the last second to maximize the damage. Lina decided. If worst comes to worst, ill cast the Giga Slave.
"Closer now." Amelia cautioned.
"Now!" Lina ordered and four of the five weapons fired off at the same time, merging their power into a single ray of light that shot towards the incoming Darkstar. Aria followed up with a light arrow from the Galveira.
"Second wave!" Lina barked.
"It's working!" Gourry cheered as parts of Darkstar melted away.
"We're beating him?" Erulogos was stunned. "We're really beating Darkstar?"
"Third wave!" Lina ordered. "Attack as I cast my spell. Lord of Darkness of the Four Worlds, on thy bonds I do swear." she chanted. "Grant me all the power that you possess. The amplification spell won't activate?" she gaped when the incantation was cut off. "The talismans have been sealed." she realized. "Shoot first!" she barked as Valgarv came into view.
Valgarv, in Darkstar's form, simply deflected the attack, the shockwave totally decimating the Ancient Dragon Temple. The resultant shockwave also broke the heroes' formation apart.
"Darkstar!" Erulogos roared, Bodigar in hand. "Damn you to hell!" he leapt to attack Valgarv, only be blasted apart for his trouble.
"To break the endless cycle of your eternal competition, to erase the limitless of your eternal struggle, the Gods and Mazoku must both be destroyed." Valgarv declared. "Gods and Mazoku, now know the depths of despair." he let Darkstar's power loose.
"He's wrong." Filia gaped. "Neither the Gods nor the Mazoku feel despair. It's..."
"Here he comes again." Gourry warned.
"Use this." Sirius tossed Bodigar to Amelia.
"What'll we do?" Lina asked Filia. "Got a plan?"
"'There shall come a controller of a dark star who shall call forth the light.'" Filia recited the prophecy. "'And the world shall be flooded with darkness.' The 'dark star has definitely flooded the world in darkness. 'Dragon's blood shall spread and following the power between light and darkness, a single star shall be awakened.'" she recited the next line.
"A power between light and darkness, namely humans, shall call back Galveira, the final weapon." Xellos deciphered.
"'Around the star shall spin five lights.'" Filia spoke the next line. "Are the Darkstar's weapons." she concluded.
"'The power shall be a darkness beyond twilight.' is the power of the Mazoku." Xellos reasoned.
"'A brilliance beyond the dawn.' is the power of the Gods." following Xellos' reasoning, Filia also came to the same conclusion. "And the one to control that power is..."
"A human." Lina frowned.
"He's coming closer." Gourry warned.
"We combine holy and demonic power and transfer them to the five weapons." Lina stated, the others having released their attacks at the incoming Darkstar.
"It may be possible." Xellos agreed. "If I and Aria-san draw upon Ruby-Eye-sama and Ragradia's power respectively..."
"But to activate the power of the chaos words would take someone of enormous capacity." Filia reminded.
"I'll summon Ruby-Eye-sama's power." Xellos offered.
"Guess there's no choice then." Aria shrugged and handed Galveira to Lina.
"Everyone, listen." Lina told the others as they struggled to stand up against the backlash of the group's latest assault. "We're gonna try the final option. Get in a circle around me. When I give the word, attack. Move it!"
"Soon that fragment of Darkstar will rejoin the main body and he will be fully materialized in this world." Sirius cautioned.
"Gotcha." Lina nodded.
Taking their places, both Xellos and Aria powered up.
"Here goes nothing." Lina readied the Galveira.
"The one who controls the power of light and darkness is the human who exists between them." Xellos declared.
"Fire of purification within my wings," Valgarv droned. "Smash everything to dust."
"Born of the Lord of Darkness, five lights which spin around the star." Lina also charged up. "Let the power of darkness beyond twilight and the brilliance beyond the dawn, that we have called here to be joined together. I now let loose a single arrow that will split the heavens apart." she fired the powered up arrow, just as the others released their attacks. "We failed?" she gaped.
"No," Xellos corrected, once the combined attacks hit. "The chaos force created by the Light-Dark fusion is transforming from nothingness into creation. We should see incredible power soon."
The powerful streak of golden light easily overwhelmed Darkstar, completely disintegrating the Dark Lord.
At last, I die... Valgarv was relieved. It all returns to white. He was resigned to his fate. Ragradia-sama, my dearest Master, forgive me.
The blast of golden light then shot across the sea, totally destroying the remaining body of Darkstar.
After the fight...
"Maybe, in the end, it was Valgarv who most wanted to be freed of the endless cycle of fate." Lina mused.
"After so long, we finally won." Zelgadis remarked. So, why does this victory taste so bitter?"
"At any rate, mission accomplished." Xellos was relieved of the outcome.
"Feathers?" Aria frowned, as a rain of white feathers descended on her, the image of Vorfeed appeared in the sky with a shiny orb. "An Ancient Dragon egg?" she instantly recognized the shape of the egg after Vorfeed's image vanished. "Ex-quip: Aqua Fairy Armor!' she immediately summoned her flight armor and flew towards the descending egg. "Welcome back, Valtiera." she whispered, nuzzling the Dragon egg against her cheek.
"Time to go." Lina winked, after they sent Sirius off, along with the five Darkstar weapons.
As the ending credits rolled in, we are given a glimpse of what happened to everyone.
Filia had opened a pottery store, with Jiras and Grabos as helpers.
Back in Seyruun, Amelia was working on her official duties.
Aria had begged off traveling with Lina and Gourry, seeing how the road was not a very conductive environment for raising an infant. Said human incantation of Ragradia was now operating an apothecary store in Seyruun. A ring from the bell hang from the store's door indicated the drug store had a visitor. Aria looked up from the counter where baby Valtiera was nestled in his basket and saw Zelgadis enter the shop. Said chimera pulled out a newly brought packet of teething rusk, removed a piece of biscuit and handed the stick to the teething toddler.
In Zelas' dimension, said Greater Beast was getting debriefed by Xellos.
Elsewhere, Lina and Gourry were stuffing their faces in with plates of fried chicken drumsticks.
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.