I don't own anything
I know, I know, I said this would be the last part, and I know its crappy, but every scene keeps running long, so I'm creating an extra chapter in order to prevent formating problems. As you probably know I'm a very slow writer, but I'll work overtime to get out the conclusion.


My Father's Crown



"I must admit," Claudius said in between bites of mutton. "this is much more entertaining than I expected." He cracked a nine-tailed whip, and nine little streaks of blood appeared among many of their like already on his nephew's raw back.

Tai let out a barely audible moan, there was no strength left in him for anything else. Five hours ago his uncle's guards had tied his arms behind his back and then strung him up by his elbows from the roof of his tower prison. They had left him alone in that unbearable position until an hour ago, when the king had appeared anxious for some sport before breakfast.

"Who knew it could be so much fun to play with a broken toy?" Claudius laughed. "I may even leave you alive so I can start every day like this." He cracked the whip again.

Tai could not even make a sound a pain. The only way to tell he had even been struck was to watch how he lifelessly dangled in a slightly wider arc, and to hear the increased pace of the blood dripping down his feet and onto the floor.

"Is my conversation boring you?" Claudius inquired mockingly. "Maybe you'd like to hear about how your little army should reach their death trap by this afternoon." The king stopped to take another bite from his mutton joint. "Which coincidentally should just about be the time your sister's slave breathes his last.... You know I have a little wager about that with the Lord of Piedmont....You see, he says the princess will kill herself within a a few hours after seeing her lover killed. I say she'll last at least until tomorrow when I slit her throat...What do you think?"

Tai did not respond, but two tears crept from beneath his swollen eyes to mix with the dried blood on his cheeks.

"You're probably right." The king pretended to consider the matter. "She is made of sterner stuff than you... She should be able to last at least a day." He cracked his whip one last time, and gave a satisfied grin as Tai's head jerked backwards involuntarily. "I have to be off now...My head torturer is having some trouble breaking Lord Jyou." Claudius sneered. "Yet another one of your cronies who is stronger than you...Don't worry though, apparently he's afraid of spiders, and I think we can work with that."

Claudius coiled his whip as he moved towards the door. "Oh, and one more thing," He said right before he left. "Don't get your hopes up about a rescue by your friends in the underground, I have nasty little surprise cooked up for them too."

To his credit, Tai waited until he heard the door being bolted shut before breaking down into tears. It was really the last thing in the world he wanted to do, and he was so ashamed of himself for sobbing like a child, but he simply could not help it. He was broken. He was dying. And everyone who had trusted him, everyone who had put their faith in him, were all going to die because of him.

His cries of complete despair filled the room. They bounced off the walls to assault his ears anew with the pathetic proof of his failure. "Please," He choked out to the darkness. "let me die. I can't stand it anymore." He bowed his head and prayed for a merciful end to his suffering.

Nothing answered him, he would have been surprised if something had. So he simply hung there and cried. As time passed the strains of sobs gradually became weaker, and the tears that flowed from his eyes fell slower and slower until they stopped altogether. And the dark, dank room became silent as the tortured prince of Kamiya found the mercy of sleep.

Time passed, though it would be impossible to tell how long when locked in the darkness. At some point a soft blue light appeared from the ceiling. It stayed motionless for a while, as if considering its course of action, but then, with the agonizing slowness of dripping molasses, the light began to trickle down the walls. It picked up speed as it rolled down the scarred stone, and some spectral quality made the dust in the room glitter like stars. The light finally reached the ground, and without any of its former hesitation swept across the filthy floor until it reached the puddle of blood beneath Tai's feet. The crimson liquid and the sapphire light touched, and flowed together in Tai's feverish dreams.

What's the matter with you boy? Tai's eyes fluttered as the loud, commanding voice of his father sounded in his mind. I thought I taught you that there are appropriate times to cry, and the middle of a battle is not one of them!

"It is over." Tai called out in his dream. "I failed."

Bullshit! His father's voice growled. You didn't fail, you gave up! Nothing is over until they plant you in the ground! And sometimes not even after that!

Tai's head flopped back and forth on his shoulders. "No, it's over. I can't win, I can't save everyone.... Please, I just want to die."

Can't win?! His father shouted in disbelief. Look at what you have on your side, boy! You have hope and light, knowledge and reliability, courage and friendship, you have love! Nothing evil can stand against weapons such as those!

Tears once again began to stream from beneath Tai's closed eyelids. "I failed!" He screamed out in anger and sorrow. "I failed you and everyone else, and nothing can ever change that! Now the only thing I want is to be left alone so I can die!"

There was silence for a moment, and then a deep astral sigh blew gusts of wind through the room. You never failed me son. His father's voice was soft and comforting now, full of unshed tears. If anything...I failed you by not being here to lead you through this dark time....And as for death, There was a pause, and a sad, sparkling chuckle filled the air. Well, there's someone out there who won't let you die. Someone who has her heart set on holding onto you forever.

"Sora." Tai whispered. His heart shot warmth all through his body as he remembered her eyes, her smile. His tears dried as he recalled the warmth of her body against his, the sweet taste of her lips. In his soul he suddenly saw a bold rosy light that he knew was her. Far away Sora's love for him shone like a beacon to keep him alive and whole until they could hold each other again.

Tai's eyes snapped open and there was fire in them again. He would live, and he would fight, and he would win. If for no other reason than because he loved Sora with every fiber of his being, and she would not let him fail. He blinked his eyes wearily as the blue light slipped out of the room. His father's voice faded, and as long as Tai lived he would always wonder if it had just been a dream.

She loves you more than anything else son... and I love you too.
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The rescue mission started off smoothly enough. Cody and Sora pulled heavy cloaks about themselves, and slipped through the mostly vacant city streets. They were somewhat startled by a host of workers and royal guards in the city square, but the assorted men were too busy constructing what appeared to be a wooden platform and balcony to pay much attention to anything else. The rest of the way was strangely devoid of any soldiers at all. They reached the castle gates in what they thought would be plenty of time to spare, and finding a dark alley, discarded their cloaks and put the finishing touches on their disguises.

When Sora emerged from the alley, one would have thought they were looking at a young woman who had lived her whole life with the world at her feet. She walked with all the grace and poise of a queen, and people who passed her whispered that she must have been a visiting royal cousin, or some other close relative. In truth though, she was scared out of her mind, and the only thing that kept her from making a mad dash back to her hovel, was the knowledge that she was Tai's only hope for survival.

Cody on the other hand was cool and confident as he trailed along behind her, his head bowed in the humble manner of a servant. He was cautiously optimistic that he and Sora could pull off the rescue without a hitch, and as he noticed that the castle guards seemed to have more interest in ogling Sora than checking their credentials, his confidence naturally increased. Of course he had no knowledge that his trusted informants had sold him out in exchange for not having their hands cut off.

There was one guard stationed near the main hall that seemed suspicious of them, but a quick glance at the signet ring, and a very dangerous (and forced) glare from Sora seemed to remove any doubts from his mind. They quickened their pace as they reached a deserted hallway, and were practically at a full sprint by the time they reached a silver candelabra at the end of it. Cody gave it a quick sideways tug and the wall to their right opened to reveal a very steep spiral staircase.

Cody took the lead as they started down, the wall closing behind them. At the bottom of the staircase was a long hallway, lit only be occasional cracks in the stone. They moved through it quickly, stopping only occasionally so Cody could more easily study a worn and faded diagram of the castle. During these little intermissions Sora's heart would beat so fast she thought it would burst out of her chest. She could not shake the horrible thought that she would not be able to make it to Tai in time.

They kept rushing deeper into the castle's bowels, until at long last Cody gave an excited sigh and pointed to a notch in the wall. In her near panic Sora rushed to the crook and began pressing on it with shaking hands. Cody hastily pulled her back and motioned for her to stay in the tunnel while he investigated.

He slid the wall open just a tiny bit and peeked out, his mace balanced loosely in one hand. The passage opened into a short corridor with a single oak door at the end. Cody should have felt relieved, as everything was as his informants had described, but instead he had an overwhelming desire to run far away and never look back.

"Don't be foolish" He chided himself softly. He looked back once more to make sure Sora was still a comfortable distance away from the opening, and then pulled a shiny silver key from one of his pockets as he stepped out into the corridor. He was immediately seized by the desire to retrace his steps. Something about the corridor, and the door in particular inspired a numbing dread in the young monk. He began to whisper the Lord's prayer as he slowly proceeded towards the object of his fears. Sweat poured down his brow, and he griped his mace so tight that his knuckles turned white. In his nervousness he imagined the door to be the gaping mouth of a dragon, and he had to vigorously shake his head to clear away the haunting thought.

After walking for what seemed like miles, he reached the door and in a hoarse whisper called out Tai's name. There was no answer, but Cody had figured that Tai would be probably be in no condition to yell out if the what was said about the king's cruelty was true. With a great force of will he managed to direct his violently shaking hand to place the key in the lock. He turned it, and in the microsecond before he heard a strange hollow click on the other side, a horrible thought occurred to him; Why are there no guards?

It was this momentary insight that saved his life. For even as the thought flashed through his mind, he was already leaning to his left. And as he heard the soft click, he was halfway to the ground. So when the door exploded in a hellish blast of bright silver flame, that sent shards of burning oak flying through the air, only the lower portion of Cody's trousers were ignited, as opposed to his entire body being burned to a crisp.

The young monk turned to his flaming legs, and immediately recognized the peculiar metallic odor that his monastic education had taught him was the true stench of hellfire. He frantically began ripping at the stiff fabric, doing his best to ignore the painful burning of his legs and then his hands. Sora rushed out of the tunnel to his side, and began trying to smother the flames with the bottom of her dress.

"Don't!" Cody screamed at her. "Its phosphorus flame! You're only making it spread!" He pushed her away with one hand while desperately clawing at the last remains of his lower trousers. He finally flung it away with a last painful yelp, and then instinctively stretched out his throbbing arms and legs, as if trying to push the burning pain away.

"Cody!" Sora gasped with a horrified voice. "Are you okay?... Is there anything I can do?" She extended a hand towards him hesitantly, while using the other to tear strips from her dress that she proceeded to wrap around his hands.

Cody shook his head as tears of exertion squeezed from beneath his clenched eyelids. "Better....people than I... have...borne...much worse." His voice came in ragged pants. He tried to clear his head and focus on something else besides the pain, unfortunately the first thing that came to mind did not serve to make him feel better. "Now...we're in...real...trouble." He grimaced. He carefully reached inside his jacket and pulled out the map of the castle. He held it out to Sora with his shaking thumb and forefinger.

She gently took the paper from his grasp, and her spirits came crashing down as she realized what he meant. The diagram showed an endless number of rooms, halls, and secret corridors, all looping and twisting over one another in an endless maze. They had been counting on Tai to lead them through that maze and to the others, but Tai was not here, and it had become painfully obvious that someone knew where he was and had every intention of hiding him.

Sora turned away. The parchment fell from her hands as the hopelessness of the situation surrounded her. She brought her hands to her face and cried into them a tiny bit. She could feel something stealing Tai, stealing her summer sun slowly away from her, and leaving room for the cold, gray tendrils of endless winter to capture her once again.

But something inside her would not relinquish her hold on summer. She had felt the warm sun on her face, she had held Tai in her arms and loved him. She loved him so much that she would not let anyone or anything dare to think of taking him away from her.

She closed her eyes and let her hands fall lifelessly to her sides. She tilted her head towards the ceiling as if to sniff the air, her eyebrows furrowed in deepest concentration.

"Sora?" Cody called out haggardly. "What are you doing?"

She gave an almost barely perceptible shake of the head. In truth, she had no real idea of what she was doing. She just knew that she was bound to Tai in body, heart, and soul, and deep inside herself she knew she could use that bond to find him wherever he was. All she had to do was let her heart lead the way. So she sent her heart out into the world with a pulse of love, and told it to find her Tai.

Her heart leapt out of her in an invisible wave washing through the castle. It swept through the rooms and corridors, burrowing deep into the stone and wood to find any trace of his laughter or his tears. It stretched out in an ever increasing search area through the miles of passages, and then all at once it stopped, and then came racing back to Sora.

Her eyes fluttered open halfway. "He's here." She whispered to Cody. "I know where Tai is." Then she took off running.

Cody gave her a confused look, but then pushed himself off the ground and started after her, going as fast as he could bear to. He called out her name as he followed her, but she did not answer. The trail she was following to Tai was so delicate and fragile that she needed every ounce of her concentration to keep it from breaking apart.

The two of them raced up stairs, and down stairs, through a never-ending series of rooms and passages. They ran on even as their lungs burned and their legs cried out for mercy. Finally, they came to a staircase that led up into thick shadows, air flowing from the top reeked of mildew and rot, the steps were slippery as ice. But they started up without the slightest pause, only slowing down in the darkest patches. They ran and ran, and just when they thought they could not possibly move another step, they reached an iron door.

Sora threw herself against it and banged her fists on it as if she could break it down. "Tai!?" She called out, her voice laced with both hope and dread. "Tai, please answer me!" She stopped yelling and pressed her ear against the cold metal, praying that she was not to late. Cody leaned panting against the wall, his eyes thick with worry. The world held its breath in a moment of the most complete and awful silence.

"Sora?" Tai called finally, his voice weaker than a child's.

Cody immediately rushed forward, his mace held high above his head. Sora stepped back from the door and pleaded with her eyes for the young monk to hurry. Cody took a deep breath, and brought the weapon down as hard as his bandaged hands could manage. There was an echoing scream of metal, and the heavy iron lock fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Sora jumped forward and flung open the door, then gasped at what was inside.

Tai could barely keep his head raised as he slowly swung from side to side. He was covered from head to toe in grime and dried blood, and only his bright, shining eyes showed that there was still life in him. Sora rushed to him immediately, tears trickling from her eyes. "How could they do this to you?" She asked as she reached up a hand to stroke his cheek. She was afraid it would hurt him if she touched him anywhere else.

Tai's mouth formed the barest hint of a smile. "Its not as bad as it looks." He joked. He was proven wrong when Cody cut him down, he fell to the floor and his knees immediately buckled beneath him. Sora abandoned her caution and threw her arms around him in support.

"I thought I would never find you again." She whispered as she held him tight and covered his filthy face in gentle kisses.

Tai lifted up his arms, and even though he had no feeling in them below his elbows, he did his best to drape them around Sora as he returned her kisses. "Someone told me you were coming." He whispered as he buried his face in her sweet auburn hair, rejoicing in the intoxicating smell of flowers.

"I'll always come for you." She whispered back as she nuzzled his neck. "But if you ever run off like that again without me, I'll make sure you regret it." She gave a tearful giggle and squeezed him tighter.

For a little while the rest of the world just melted away as they just held each other, oblivious to anything except the sound of their hearts beating in time.

Cody slouched against a wall, desperate to take some weight off his throbbing legs. He gave the lovers a curious, quizzical look, and for the first time in his life he wondered if he was missing something by taking an oath of celibacy. "I hate to interrupt," He said, after it had become obvious that Tai and Sora would not willingly return to reality. "but I believe we have some large scale problems to worry about."

Tai winced as he pulled away from Sora a tiny bit. "Oh God you're right.... My uncle knows about everything."

Sora took his hands in hers in a comforting manner. "What are we going to do?"

Tai's eyes burned with volcanic heat. He told himself that he would not fail anyone, no matter how hopeless the situation was. He turned to Cody. "You have to get to Hikari and Takeru. My uncle,..he-he-"

Cody's eyes went wide as a sudden burst of intuition revealed what Tai was trying to say. "The platform in the square?"

The young prince nodded. "Please, you have to get them out of there somehow."

Cody did not say a word, he just turned on his heels and ran, no longer caring about the burns on his legs. Ever since TK and Kari had joined the underground a year ago, he had made it his responsibility to keep them safe. He had a strange feeling that many people would have a special need of them someday. They were also his closest friends in all the world.

Tai and Sora watched as Cody disappeared in the shadows of the stairs, then they turned back to each other and he cupped her angelic face in his scarred hands, he wanted so badly to just lose himself in her cinnamon eyes. He knew what he had to say, but the words would not come out of his mouth. He could not bear to think of sending her into something even remotely resembling danger.

Sora smiled and kissed him softly. She could see what he was thinking in his eyes, and hear it in her heart. "I'll do anything you need me to Tai." She kissed him again. "Anything to insure that we never have to part again, my prince."

Tai almost cried as he pulled her to him tightly and began madly kissing the top and side of her head. He knew now more than ever that it was Sora who kept him going. He sighed and whispered in her ear. "Davis will be leading the troops straight through the forest and to the city gates. My uncle will most likely have his men waiting for him when he enters the field between the city and the forest.... I'm going to take you down to the stables and get you a horse that can get you to Davis in time."

"Do I tell them to retreat?" Sora asked, her voice suddenly very clear and serious.

"No." Tai answered immediately. "We have to finish this now." He paused and looked at her closely. "Do you remember the way to Mt. Julian that I showed you?"

Sora smiled and squeezed his hands. "I'll never forget it."

Despite himself, Tai blushed a little bit. "You can lead them through the forest and to the base of Mt. Julian, then Davis can lead them around and come out at my uncle's back...When the fighting starts you stay out of the way and listen to Davis, okay?" He kissed her with all the love he could muster, and then looked her straight in her eyes. "I won't be able to bear it if anything happens to you."

Sora kissed him back with equal vigor. "I'm more worried about something happening to you...Where will you be while I'm doing all this riding?"

Tai clenched his eyes. "I have to get Jyou out of the dungeon, and then I'm going to kill my uncle." The last part came out as a simple statement of fact.

Sora took his mouth in hers in one long, last kiss. "Don't you dare let anything happen to you."

"Never." He grinned lightly, and then pulled them both to their feet. They hugged each other tightly just once more, and then took off down the stairs.
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Kari fought wildly with the guards that carried her away. She bit the hands that tried to muffle her mouth, she scratched at eyes, and bare hands and arms. She gladly took any opportunity to land kicks and punches to sensitive areas, but none of it accomplished very much. It took the guards very little time at all to throw her in a small apartment and bolt the door shut.

She immediately threw herself against the door, and beat it until her gentle hands were bruised. She yelled out savage threats to the guards outside, promising to tear them limb from limb if they even dared to touch her TK. Of course the guards just laughed at her, and after a while they stopped paying attention all together.

Kari leaned against the wall as tears started to quiver in the corners of her eyes, a helpless panic started to rise in her stomach. She shook her head from side to side, and bit her bottom lip in an effort to keep control of her emotions. She knew she could not do anything if she did not keep her wits in check.

She turned from the door to study her prison, which except for the wrought iron bars covering the windows, was not much of a prison at all. There was a large, four poster bed with a fancy court dress laid out on it. There was a plush couch and a couple of chairs, and there was even a looking glass mounted on one of the walls.

Without really even thinking, Kari noted that she was shivering from cold, and so she slipped off her thin nightgown and put on the much more substantial dress laid out on the bed. On an unconscious whim she turned to study herself in the mirror, and it was when she was staring back at herself that she finally broke down into sobs of despair.

What she had seen in the reflection was something from her worst nightmares. She saw herself, scared and alone, and for the first time in six years TK was not there by her side. He was not there to hold her and tell her everything would be okay. He was not there to kiss her softly until she fell asleep in his arms. He was not there to complete their image of strength, their image of hope and light.

A horrible dread overcame her as she realized that no matter what they tried, they would never be able to break TK. He was too strong to ever give up. So they would just torture him until he died. But Kari on the other hand could already feel herself breaking as she slumped sobbing to the floor. They were breaking her just by leaving her locked up and powerless, while they killed the one she loved more than life itself.

Kari cried all through the night and into the morning. She cried more than she had when her parents had been murdered, and her brother had locked himself away. TK had come to protect her soon after that time. But the horrible shadows swirling about her heart told her that he would not be there to protect her anymore.

It was around noon when the door opened and her uncle strode in, dressed in his finest silks. He smirked at her, taking cruel note of her tear stained cheeks. "Come along then." He said with a manner of boredom. "Its time to watch your lover die."

Kari snapped. She gave a feral snarl, and rushed at her uncle with every intent to tear his head off with her bare hands. Claudius just smiled, pleased with himself. When Kari came near enough, he backhanded her across the face, and threw her to the ground with despicable ease.

"You bastard!" Kari screamed at him, as she fought against the guards who appeared to take hold of her. "I'll have your heart on a platter!"

Claudius grinned like the devil as he glared down at her. "You're not much without your mate, are you?" He remarked. "Nothing but a scared, spoiled little girl."

Kari tried to get up again, but the guards held her tight enough to leave bruises. Fresh tears began to collect in her eyes.

"Of course," Claudius went on. "He's not much without you, just a poor boy with enough hidden nightmares to make even my blood run cold."

Kari gritted her teeth and stared at her uncle with pure hate. "I'll kill you." She whispered through her now falling tears.

Claudius actually laughed. "You are stronger than your weakling of a brother though...Strong enough for me to submit to you, a proposition." He bent down until their faces were mere inches apart. He stared down into her eyes, and his voice suddenly became soft and seductive. "I have come to learn something about that slave of yours, something that makes me think that though you are weak apart, together the two of you could truly be a force to be reckoned with. And in order to see if this flight of fancy is true, I would be willing to set you both free. I would be willing to make you my heirs, and help you to build an empire that will span the known world." He reached out a hand to stroke her cheek, and sneered maliciously as she turned away. "He could be back at your side within the hour." He paused, and his obsidian eyes flashed with unholy light. "All you have to do is take a knife in your hand, climb the stairs to the tower, and slit the throat of your weak, miserable, pathetic failure of a brother."

Kari's heart skipped a beat as she finally realized just what kind of monster her uncle was. He was asking her to sell her soul, and God help her, she loved TK so much that for a tenth of a second she considered it. But she was not a weak little child, as her uncle had suggested. She had more courage and strength then scores of soldiers, and nothing could make her forget that. "Go to hell." She sneered as her eyes lit up with an unconquerable light. She spit in his face.

Claudius flashed his wolf-grin, and slowly wiped his wiped his face with his sleeve. "Have it your way then." He suddenly slapped her hard across the face with enough force to make her head snap painfully to the side. "Take her to watch the show." He said to the guards, who nodded obediently and pulled her towards the door. "A pity I can't be there to see it myself, her grief should be truly epic."