TotM: Chapter 11
Author's Note: The next four scenes all happen at the same time but in different locations.
Ed's heart was pounding out of his chest as he continued to run away from the black dragon chasing him. He could barely tell where he was running off towards, that is until he finally saw a bit of light up ahead. He exited the castle, only to see his surroundings were less than ideal; a courtyard that was surrounded by tall walls on all sides. A dead end.
"Uh oh!" Ed gasped as he turned around to see the black dragon suddenly bursting out of the castle walls behind him.
The dragon shook her head before locking her sights onto Ed, growling a little as she did with some smoke coming out of her mouth.
"Ebony, it's me! Ed!" Ed tried to call out to the dragon, "Don't you recognize me?!"
The dragon roared at him in response.
"I guess not?" Ed questioned aloud to himself. He looked at his surroundings more, he noticed a few, tall dead trees that were lined up against the wall, along with some vines covering one of the trees.
A sudden idea popped into his head, "Hold on Ebony! I'll help you!" Ed chirped, gripping onto the battle-axe in his hands.
Ed dashed over to one of the dead trees and started chopping it down with his battle-axe as fast as he could. He was successful in chopping off a good portion of the tree; a huge piece of it that was about the size of the black dragon's head.
The black dragon roared again, this time the smoke coming from her mouth started to form small embers. She was trying to breathe fire on Ed but could not seem to make it work.
Ed then went over to the tree that was covered in vines and started to climb it while carrying the very large stick in his right hand; he even sat his battle-axe aside for this! He then grabbed onto one of the vines that was hanging like a rope from one of the higher branches of the tree, "Time for me to be a monkey!" Ed shouted as he then jumped off the tree with the vine in one hand and the large stick in the other, swinging over to the black dragon and landing on her neck.
The black dragon could feel him on her neck but could do nothing to shake him off her. The embers in her mouth finally started to turn into flames, she was now properly breathing fire. Ed could feel the heat of the flames, but still held on tight to her as he tried to climb up to her head. Once he finally got to the top, he took the big stick he chopped off the tree and started bonking her in the head with it rapidly like a paper fan, "Ebony! You have got to remember me! It's Ed!"
The black dragon suddenly stopped spewing fire, finally coming to a halt on what she was doing. The dragon lowered her neck to let Ed down to the ground.
"Do you remember now?" Ed asked the black dragon.
She nodded her head in response. Ed could see her eyes held a few tears in them, it made him feel sad.
"I wish I knew what to do to help," Ed stated aloud sadly, "Double D has brain smarts, Eddy has street smarts," he could feel himself starting to tear up, "I'm so useless…"
Ed could feel the black dragon try to get closer, almost as if she was trying to comfort him.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of red light started to envelop the black dragon, blinding Ed for a moment. Once he could see again, Ed could see Ebony standing there, stunned at what just happened. Ebony was no longer the black dragon.
"E-Ed…?" Ebony questioned aloud in disbelief.
Ed made a wide smile, "EBONY!" he cheered as he ran up to her, picking her up and embracing her in one of his trademarked Ed Hugs, "I'm sorry if I hurt you with the bonking stick! Are you okay now?!"
"I'm okay now, thank you," Ebony replied to him as he soon let her out of his hug. As soon as he did, she then embraced him with her own hug, "Thank you so much, Ed!" she then started to cry into his jacket, "I-I thought I was stuck like that forever…"
Ed was stunned at this sudden act of affection towards him. A deep blush soon started to form all over his face. It was weird, he never felt like this before towards anyone. What was this weird feeling on his face and in his gut?
Without realizing it, Ed embraced Ebony again, but much gentler this time than his usual Ed Hugs. They stood there for a few seconds before separating, looking at each other.
"… You know, I heard what you said about yourself."
Ed blinked a little at what she said, "Huh?"
Ebony wiped the dried-up tears from her eyes, "You called yourself useless."
Ed was silent to that, looking down a little at the ground in sadness, "Because I couldn't do—"
"That's not true," Ebony interrupted him, "If it wasn't for your actions earlier, I would still be attacking you."
Ed looked at her in a sad way, "Ebony…"
She cleared her throat, "Anyway, we should try and find the others and help them out."
Ed nodded his head in agreement, "Right!" he then rushed over and grabbed the battle-axe he sat down next to the dead trees, "Let's go!"
Double D was in a state of panic as he tried to climb a small bit of the spiral tower. He could hear the roars of the yellow dragon chasing him from below, she was catching up to him with blinding speeds, almost like a lightning bolt ready to strike the earth.
'There must be something, anything I can do to slow her down!' Double D thought to himself as he continued to run. A sudden gust of wind blew over him, which made him stop in his tracks. The yellow dragon was now directly in front of him on the staircase!
"Eep!" Double D gasped. He was now trapped, "Shayla, please! Do you remember me?!"
The yellow dragon roared at him in response. Her wings started to glow a green color, as if they were charging up an attack.
"Oh dear…" Double D muttered, looking around to see if there was anything he could do to stop her. He looked up to see a huge bell made of iron at the top of the tower, 'This place must have been a watchtower in the past,' he thought.
Soon an idea came to Double D; he needed to get to the top towards that iron bell, 'But how do I pass Shayla without hurting her…?!'
Double D then felt the wind around him being sucked up towards the yellow dragon's glowing wings. He widened his eyes, "Of course! Maybe her cyclone attack can help me jump higher towards the bell!"
The yellow dragon roared at Double D once again, this time flapping her glowing wings towards him. Two gusts of wind clashed together, creating a single strong burst of wind that was heading straight for him. Double D did his best to brace from the impact, gripping onto his lance as he did. Once he felt the strong wind coming towards him, he attempted to jump towards the top of the tower where the bell was. The wind helped him get a lot of height to his jump, more than even he thought he could do!
"Wow, that actually worked!" Double D gasped aloud before regaining his composure from where he landed. He looked towards the iron bell that was to his side, it was almost as big as him. He then tried to lift it back up by himself, "Oh, I wish Ed were here to help me move this…" he started to say, "I'm too physically weak for this!"
Another roar from the yellow dragon could be heard below Double D, she was coming up to him again at a blinding speed!
Suddenly, the stone ground underneath the iron bell and Double D began to crumble; the force of all the wind the yellow dragon was making was taking its toll on the tower they were in. The iron bell was the first thing to fall, landing on the yellow dragon's head, causing her to fall with it.
Double D widened his eyes in horror, "Oh no… SHAYLA!" he cried out. As if on instinct, Double D jumped towards the yellow dragon, falling alongside her, trying to pull the iron bell off her head. He struggled for a few seconds before finally having the strength to push the bell off her head. Double D then held tightly onto the yellow dragon's neck as she fell to the ground below with a very loud thud, Double D was flung off on impact while the iron bell landed a little further away from them.
Double D landed on the ground near the yellow dragon with a small thud, "Oof!" He then started to get up from where he fell, walking slowly over to the fallen yellow dragon, who was breathing heavily from what had happened, "Oh god…" Double D started to say, bending down to her and trying to comfort her, "I-It's going to be okay. I'm here for you! Please, hang on!"
Suddenly, a blinding flash of green light started to envelop the yellow dragon, blinding Double D for a short moment. Once he regained his sight, Double D could see Shayla lying there on the ground in front of him, breathing heavily. Shalya was no longer the yellow dragon.
Shayla groaned a little in annoyance, grasping onto her head as she tried to sit up from where she fell, "M-My head is ringing so badly…"
"Shayla…!" Double D gasped as he then did something unexpected; he hugged her tightly, crying a little as he did, "You're alive! I-I'm so glad you're okay!"
Shayla blinked a little at his behavior before a blush came to her face, "Double D…" she stated aloud, embracing him back, "I never realize you felt this way!"
"I didn't want to lose anymore loved one," Double D stated to her, letting her out of his hug, "Not ever again."
The two of them soon got up from the ground and looked around at where they landed. The top part of the tower they were in was now completely gone, with most of the rubble falling close to where they were. Double D could see the lance he was using jammed into the ground next to them, "It's a good thing that nothing landed on either of us," he stated.
"Indeed," Shayla replied before turning back to the castle, "Anyway, we should go find the others!"
Adam and Olivia were still hidden from the emperor's sights in the throne room. They could see that Belindra was sitting on his throne, watching all three Eds struggle fighting the dragons through a huge dark ball, cackling up a storm as if he was watching his favorite movie. The dark forcefield was still in front of him.
"… Olivia, stay right here for me," Adam whispered to his partner, "I'm gonna try to get closer and get behind him."
Olivia widened her eyes at what he was saying, "No, you can't—"
"I don't see a barrier behind him," Adam started to say, "This might be the only chance to finish him off…" he then grabbed something from his pockets and gave it to Olivia, "Take the amulet, just in case if something goes wrong… Use it on the kids, if it comes to it. Don't waste it on me."
With that said, Adam dashed off towards more rubble and once again out of Belindra's vision.
"Adam…" Olivia whispered with a bit of sadness in her voice as she glanced at what he handed her. It was a Phoenix Amulet, an artifact they found many years ago. She then started to tear up for him, hoping he would be safe.
Meanwhile, back with Belindra, he continued to watch the visions in the dark ball, focusing on Eddy and the silver dragon specifically, "Irene isn't putting her all in fighting Alexander, and yet he's still losing to her?" he observed, cracking a smirk at a thought, "I wonder if I should give the ice powers back to Irene? She might do better against Alexander if I did…" he then raised his right hand towards the dark ball, a frosty blue glow soon came from it, "I guess it wouldn't hurt me that much!"
Adam, in the meantime, was getting closer and closer to the back of the throne room. Luckily for him, there was so much huge stone rubble around the room that it was easy to sneak up towards the back, where the forcefield was non-existent.
'Alright, now to get a good shot…' Adam thought to himself, swallowing his nerves as he surveyed the surroundings again. He went to grab his revolver from his holster.
"Do you think I did not notice you behind me?!" Belindra boomed at Adam, getting up from his throne with his right hand glowing a dark energy, "Meddlesome troublemaker!"
Adam aimed his revolver towards Belindra's head while Belindra's hand was glowing darker and bigger.
"This is for everyone you've hurt, you BASTARD!"
POW!
BANG!
They exchanged potshots towards each other, hitting their targets; Belindra's head and Adam's body. Belindra instantly fell backwards, his forcefield from the front of his throne dwindled. He was finally dead; the bullet went directly into his brain. Adam slumped over forward, but he was not dead. He was in violent pain from Belindra's attack, almost feeling he would be torn apart at any minute.
"ADAM!" Olivia cried out as she came out of her hiding place and rushed over to his side.
"Olivia…" Adam coughed as he looked up to see her at his side, "Please, g-go find the others!" he started to say, "They might have turned back to normal now…"
Olivia was hesitant at his request, "But what about you?!" she asked.
"I-I'll be alright…" Adam replied as he sat up against some rubble, "I'm nowhere near done yet…!"
Eddy's mind and heart were racing with so many thoughts and feelings as he dashed away from the silver dragon that was chasing him. He was heading back towards the entrance of the castle, near where he and the others found their weapons.
"Oh god, what the heck do I do?!" he questioned aloud, franticly looking around for something, anything to help him in this dire situation.
Eddy turned back around to see the silver dragon bursting out of the front doors of the castle, roaring at him as she did. The silver dragon seemed to be moving slowly now for some reason.
"Katrina, you gotta snap out of it!" Eddy tried to call out to the silver dragon, gripping onto his broadsword as he did, "I don't want to hurt you!"
It was then Eddy noticed something very wrong about the silver dragon that made his blood run cold; there was blood dripping from her mouth, "N-No…!"
He failed to notice the silver dragon raising her sharp claws towards him, now covered in a thick layer of ice around her nails. Eddy noticed the attack just in time before the ice claws lashed out against him; he tried to block it with his sword, which shattered his weapon instantly from the impact. Eddy fell backwards onto his back.
The silver dragon roared loudly once again, raising her claws again to try and strike Eddy. Eddy closed his eyes and raised his arms in defense, waiting for her claw to come down. But the strike never came. Eddy opened his eyes to see the silver dragon collapsed on the ground in front of him, wheezing out her breaths very slowly, the blood now spewing from her mouth.
Suddenly, a blinding flash of blue light started to envelop the silver dragon, blinding Eddy for a short moment. Once he could see again, Eddy could see Katrina, lying on the ground, not moving. She was no longer the silver dragon.
Fear suddenly shot through Eddy's mind and heart at the sight before him, "KATRINA!" he yelled as he got up to be by her side. He propped her body into his arms, only to see the blood from her mouth she coughed up was all over her shirt and jacket, "C-C'mon, this isn't funny, Katrina…"
Katrina slowly opened her eyes, looking up at Eddy's face; her eyes no longer had the gloss over them, she could finally see him for the first time. She made a small smile to him, trying to lift her right hand to touch his face. But she couldn't, her hand dropped suddenly before she could. Katrina's eyes were still open, along with the small smile on her face. Her breathing was shallow to the point it was no longer there… The newfound light in her eyes started to fade away.
Eddy's eyes widened in horror, "No… Nonononono!" he pleaded, shaking her a little bit, "Stay with me, please!"
Katrina said nothing in response. She was no longer breathing. Eddy could feel her body getting chilled, her blood had run cold.
She had died in his arms.
The realization hit Eddy like a ton of bricks. He wanted to scream but could not find his voice to do so. He felt like lashing out at something but there was nothing around for him to hit. His body could not stop shaking.
"… Why," Eddy asked in a shaky voice, closing her eyes with his hands so she could be in peace, "Why… W-Why did it have to be her?!"
He finally let loose the scream he was holding back, the tears finally escaping his eyes.
Author's Note: Finally, everything has been leading up to this moment. The next chapter will come soon, I promise! I won't leave you guys waiting for long.