A/N: Well, here we are. The last part of Return to Gaea. ;_; I'm so sad!!!
I have to say, though, I've had so much fun writing this.
Vera: But there's a sequel, isn't there?
Vari: There's gotta be a sequel. She wouldn't dare leave us up on the shelf like an old book!
If you two would be quiet, I'll tell you about it. Anyway, I've got a feeling a lot of you will be very unsatisfied with the ending-
Vera:(grumbling) I know I am.
Vari:(also grumbling) Yeah, really.
-and might want a sequel, or at least an epilouge. If you want it, then either e-mail me at A5whale@aol.com or review and say so. And be sure to mention whether or not you want just an epilouge or an entire series of a sequel, cause I could manage either one. Or both. Whatever suits you. Also, don't flame me if my info is a little off. Well, here it is. The final part to Escaflowne: Return to Gaea... Draconian Daughters!!!
P.S. Credit to the awesome group Creed for the songs I use in this fic for effect:
What's This Life For?
Inside Us All
If you haven't checked Creed out yet, do it! They're awesome!!!
Part 11... Draconian Daughters
Vera slashed her sword and her enemy fell with a heavy thud. His blood flowed freely. Vera could feel her own blood pounding in her temples and her heart pounding unusually fast. Her shoulders ached increasingly with every step she took. Her reflexes seemed to be slowing every second. Michael shook her shoulders suddenly, making her wince in pain.
" Are you hurt?" he asked frantically. Vera shook her head. No, none of her blood had been spilled. She wasn't even bruised. What's happening to me, she wondered. Screams ripped the air around her, aboard the Black Death. Her own words rang in her ears.
" It all comes down to this." she had told Vari. " It all ends here." Her eyes flickered down to the sword she weilded, stained by blood. Her own arms were flecked by blood. Dark red blood, some almost black as it dried. Black like her own wings. Next to her, Michael cried out as a sword caught his shoulder. Vera's reflexes came back to her for a split second as strength born of fear and love forced her to lash out at Michael's attacker and fleck herself with yet more blood. No more pain, she cried mentally, no more blood, no more black, no more!
Vari rounded a corner on the Black Death. Her heart was racing unnaturally fast, her shoulders throbbed in a steady and unexplainable pain, and her legs felt like they were made of lead. But she lunged foreward and ran all the same, searching for the one she knew she must find before it the beginning of the end. The end she knew beyond all doubt was coming. The end she knew she would participate in.
" Vari!" Vera cried from behind Vari. Vari turned to see her older sister running to her. Michael was with her, and bleeding from a minor wound on his shoulders.
" I can't find Solo!" Vari cried in frustration.
" We'll help you find him." Tygris offered, running up behind Vera and Michael with Chuba. The teens ran through the hallways. Vari and Vera began to stumble.
" I thought you said you weren't hurt!" Michael cried, supporting Vera on her shoulder when she almost collapsed in a heap.
" I'm not." Vera said, her voice weak. " It's beginning." she mumbled.
" What's beginning?" Tygris asked. Vari stumbled and cried out as her elbow tore on the floor. Instead of stopping to see how serious the wound was, she stood quickly and continued checking rooms, looking for Solo.
" We don't have much time." she said.
Hitomi breathed in shakily, after watching her daughters disappear with their friends, no doubt to search for Solo. Van rocked in anger at being still too weak to actually take part in the battle and in pain from his shoulders. Hitomi didn't tell her husband that she knew his wings radiated in pain and the built-in attunement to Gaea. Any Draconian left on Gaea knew It had begun. The end had begun. A Draconian, Hitomi knew, was far more sensitive to its planet and tuned into the planet through its wings. The insistant pain Van, Vera, and Vari all felt was because of their wings, which ached to fly from a planet on the verge of death.
Solo ducked a chair flying at his head and hid behind a desk. It was only a momentary shelter, he knew, but it provided a chance to catch his breath.
" You slimy, disgusting dog! You traitorous little rat!" Tygir bellowed, throwing the desk aside, making Solo scramble for cover. Tygir's foot connected to Solo's gut in a glancing kick. Solo winced and groaned, forcing himself to crawl away before another blow could find him.
" Vari..." he moaned to himself, ducking behind a stack of boxes.
" Come out and fight like a man, you wretched rodent! Or are you a woman?!" Tygir screamed in rage. Solo winced as rage rose in his throat and forced himself to stay under cover. Tygir was three times his size and armed, whereas Solo was defenseless. He wanted to fight back so badly! It felt like the whole world was coming down around him.
" I should have known it was you! The whole time, you stinking mole! Of course! It was impossible for them to always know our move without a mole!" Tygir ranted, but Solo tuned him out and concentrated on the door, just to his right. If he could make it-
" Gotcha!" Tygir cried, throwing the boxes out of his way as though they were little more than snowflakes on a breezey winter afternoon. Solo cowered in fear, knowing he was out of places to run. Tygir grabbed him by his neck and lifted him clear off the ground. The room began to spin.
" Vari!" Solo managed to choke out.
" Whose Vari, mole? Your brothel girl?" Tygir asked. " She must be friends with Merle." he growled. Solo lashed out finally, but his arms had grown far too heavy. Just as his vision was beginning to blur, the door slammed open.
" Solo!" a girl's voice screamed. Vari, Solo wondered. Something slammed Tygir in the side and forced him to drop Solo, who slammed to the ground with a choked cough. Something ran to Solo and picked his upper body up. Solo opened his eyes and gazed in disbelief into Vari's earthy red eyes.
Dromada rounded the corner he had seen the teens turn. He followed the sound of yelling down the halls. Dromada was not a vengeful person, but revenge already tasted sweet on his tongue as he recognized Tygir's bellow and followed the noise. He was hardly surprised to find five teens in the same room as Tygir. But he could easily see that with Vera slow and sluggish, Vari busy trying to get an injured Solo out of the way, Michael wounded, and Tygris battling emotions concerning her father, the chances were slim. Dromada insitituted his cat muscles and leaped right over Vera's head, drawing his sword. Tygir turned to glare at Dromada threateningly, uttering a low growl that only a tom cat-man can produce. Dromada answered the challenge with his own growl. Tygris and Chuba scrambled to get out of the way and make sure everyone else did too, knowing that a true battle was about to let loose in a fury. The fight began quicker than the human eye could see, when Tygir lashed out with extended front claws, making Dromada leap back and stumbled on a toppled chair. He regained his balance, and leaped at Tygir, using his superior weight and height to bully Tygir into giving up ground. Tygir ended this with a ferocious swipe at Dromada's eyes. Dromdad ducked and barely avoided Tygir's knee in his attempt to jab Dromada in the chest. Dromada slashed Tygir across the chest with his own claws. His attack left four bright red, deep cuts along Tygir's chest, which made him screech in that feral, cat way as his blood began to flow. Swords clattered to the ground, forgotten by the two battling cat-men. Dromada let his concious mind slip away and became the wild, purely instinctive monster that Tygir had already become permanately. Dromada would never be sure exactly when he tripped and toppled to the ground, or how Tygir picked up a sword and got to his neck so fast. All he knew was that it had happened. Tygir's red orange fur was dotted with blood, both his own and Dromada's.
" Take back everything you've ever said against me and pledge your allegance to me, and I'll let you live." Tygir offered. Dromada expressed how he favored that idea by baring his needle sharp fangs and spitting in Tygir's face.
" What would Tasha say about you now?" he asked. Tygir hissed and prepared to slash Dromada's throat. Dromada squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Tygir clutching what appeared to be a dagger buried in his chest. He was staring at something behind them with an expression of horror and disbelief. Dromada turned his head and saw Tygris, her hand outstreched as though she had just thrown one of her daggers and frozen in her follow-through. She wore her own version of Tygir's horror and disbelief.
" Tygris..." Tygir mumbled stumbling to his feet haltingly. He walked in a confused circle for a moment. " Even you hate me, Tygris..." he murmured. Dromada felt tears well up in his eyes, remembering the happy, cheerful young cat-man he had once known. Then, in a final burst of strength, Tygir hurled himself through a window, shattering the glass. Dromada knew that two things he saw in that moment would haunt him for the rest of his days. The first was the expression on Tygir's face as he threw himself out the window. The sadness in his eyes was so incredible. The second was the dagger that Tygir had wrenched from his chest just as he threw himself out. It was more the blood on the dagger that made Dromada quake in fear than the dagger itself. The blood was black.
Vera caught Tygris as the young cat-girl collapsed into a weeping, hysterical heap.
" I killed him!" Tygris screamed. " I killed him!" Before Vera could try to comfort her, a wave of nausea rolled over her. Quickly she shoved Tygris to Chuba and crawled away, making gagging noises as her body tryed to repel an ailment that wasn't there. Michael came to her to see what was wrong, but Vera waved him away. Suddenly, the remainder of the glass Tygir had hurled himself through that was still whole shattered into a million pieces as the ground far below them rumbled and groaned. Everyone froze, and the stillness in the room could have been cut with a knife. Vera caught sight of the dagger that had recently been embedded in Tygir's chest. The blood on it was black. A terrible gust of wind began to whistle outside. Vera's gagging halted as another dead silence settled.
" Hang on to something." she advised. Her wings ripped from her shoulders in an explosion of black feathers. Suddenly, as though a vacuum had been opened, the wind began trying to suck the people in the room out into open air. Vera tucked her wings to her side and leaped out the window head first, only flaring them when she had cleared all the shards of sharp glass. Vari came tumbling out behind her, instinctively flaring wings she hadn't the faintest clue how to use.
" Vera!" Vera heard Michael scream. She made a point of flying by the window to make sure he saw her, but it was too late. Michael had obviously let go of his anchor and been sucked out into the air. Vera folded her wings and dove after him, expertly catching him by wrapping her arms around his chest. Her poisoned wing muscles screamed in protest. The air began to fill with white and black feathers as Vera became aware of more than just Vari hovering in the air beside her. Uninterested in anything but Michael's safety at the moment, Vera flew him to the the open window and dropped him off. She then dived down to join her sister. Somehow, she was not surprised to find Vari accomanyed by Van and Folken, who seemed to have mysteriously appeared. Vera found herself distantly wondering where he had come from and how he got here so fast, but her attention was drawn to more important things. Something was not right. Vera commenced to swoop back and forth in frustration, mimicking her father's movements while Folken and Vari hovered thoughtfully. Then there was a bright flash of light, followed by screams, including her own, that were mysteriously and suddenly silenced...
Michael sat up suddenly. He was laying in grass. As he sat up, he noticed a large, really old-looking stone with weird writing on it. Around him, other began to wake up. Among them were Hitomi, Allen, Tygris, Chuba, Dromada, Solo, and Merle. All of them looked incredibly confused. Only Hitomi and Allen's eyes lit up in recognition.
" The Valley of Mists." Hitomi whispered in disbelief.
" But why are we here?" Allen wondered. Suddenly, the very ground beneath Michael's feet errupted in flames. The ground cracked and seperated into huge rifts. Over head, Michael could make the silouettes of Van and another winged man flying in tight circles over the ground. Panic coursed through his veins as he noticed Vera was no where to be found.
Vera's eyes opened slowly. Strangely, she was standing up. Her wings ruffled gently at her back, and instinctive movement to shed feathers. Vari stood beside her and the two girls stood atop a great plateau with an ancient tree in the middle.
" This place... It's from the dream I had. The one about Gaea burning." Vera said, turning in a small circle to justify her suspicsions. Vari uttered a small sound of terror.
" Look!" she managed to whisper urgently, pointing out over the plateau. Vera turned to look and screamed. Flames leapt to the sky and seemed to swallow everything in sight.
" Just like my dream!" Vera cried. She tried to turn and run, but suddenly her legs weighed tons. Vari covered her mouth with her hands to stifle any further screaming.
" The blood of the lost soaks the ground and feeds the flames that will eat away the world." a soft, female voice whispered, overpowering the sound of the roaring flames. " The Draconian Daughters will stand in the way of destruction, or go hand in hand with the death of our world."
" This is it!" Vera cried, spreading her wings. " My dream was like a story that had no ending. We have to write the ending now, Vari! Will we let our world be destroyed, or will we fight it no matter what?"
" Well, in a perfect world, I'd say fight it without hesitation, but this isn't a perfect world, so lemme hesitate real quick." Vari answered. Vera let out an exasperated sigh and flared her wings.
" Come on." she said, pulling her sister into the sky. There was another flash of bright light...
Michael blinked. Wherever he had just been, it was gone now. But the fire seemed to have followed them into the real world. Fear leapt up through his body and made him cry out. Van and the strange man circled overhead like vultures, their worried cries faintly audible. Michael ignored them and focused on two winged figures soaring higher and higher into the sky.
" Oh my God!" Hitomi screamed suddenly. Michael looked in her direction and found she had been sitting next Tygir's body. Blood still leaked out of it, filling the air with a putrid smell. The black blood, black as the darkest night, soaked the ground throughoughly.
" Why is the blood black?" Solo asked. Michael had almost forgotten Solo was even with them. Just then, Van and his companion, who Michael now recognized as Folken, Vera's uncle, landed and looked closely at Tygir's remains.
" The blood is black because evil manifested itself in him." Folken said, gesturing to Tygir. " In other words, he was possessed."
" Lovely." Chuba said with a grimace. Tygris let out a mangled sob and then silenced herself. Chuba realized what he had said and wrapped his arms around her. Michael looked up to search for Vera to find her hovering just overhead.
" Look! Vera and Vari!" he cried. Every head turned skyward. Vera and Vari hovered back to back, their wings spread against each other, white on black. Vera doubled over suddenly, as if controlled by a spasm of pain. She began to cough violently, and a fluid that looked like blood flew from her open mouth. It couldn't be blood, Michael realized as a brand new type of cold fear coursed through his veins, it's black! Black like Tygir's blood.
" What's happening?!" Michael asked frantically. A woman somehow appeared in front of them. No one questioned her prescence, no one even really acknowledged her, other than her voice. She had insanely long balck hair and white wings, but no one would even know until after she had gone.
" Vera has been storing up evil powers in her wings, which is why they were turned black. In the past twenty-four hours, the storage was building up so rapidly that her body began to react to it as though it were a commom illness. She probably didn't tell anyone, but she had a high fever, headaches, achiness, drowziness, headaches, your basic commom cold symptoms. Of course, any Draconian was having shoulder pains and dizzy spells, caused by Gaea being so near death. But Vera's was amplified by her role in this whole thing." the woman said as Vera continued to wretch and cough and gasp miserably. " Now, she's using a common defense mechanism to get the evil out of her and into one place for Vari to destroy." Micahel watched in awe as the liquid coming out of Vera gathered together to make what looked like a huge, swirling hole that would suck both girls up in an instant. Michael wanted to scream, but he was held immobile by the feeling of helplessness that surged over him. The world beneath his feet was dying, and he was unable to do a thing in his defense.
Solo's head slammed into the ground suddenly. He felt as though his body were too heavy to left.
" The gravity's messing up!" someone cried. It sounded a little like Chuba, but the pain of slowly being crushed made everything else a little hazy. Suddenly, the weight was lifted off of him, pulling Solo with it right off the ground.
" Yah!" Solo cried shortly as the floating stopped and he fell back to the ground.
" It's that vortex! It's killing Gaea!" Hitomi cried. Solo looked skyward again, worry making his heart pound harder. Vera had stopped vomitting and was gasping hard. She was flapping maniacally to stay in the air. She looked so incredibly weak, tired, and sickly. It was painful to watch her. It was Vari Solo was really watching, so calm and graceful at Vera's side. Her wings begin to emit an unearthly glow. She seemed to be gathering her power up for a final blast.
No one would know what happened next, exactly. Not even Vera or Vari knew. Some would say there was a blinding flash of light, others would say the earth shook to such a degree it might break in half, and still others would say that there was an ear-shattering boom that was so powerful, it had shock waves. In any case, the concentrated black liquid, the very essence of evil itself, disappeared from the face of Gaea that day. The holy, mythical light that resulted pulsated around the planet and struck down the evil-hearted into heaps of dead flesh and cleansed the good-hearted. But the Daughters of Atlantis and all those they held dear paid a price to save their world. The price, they would later conclude, was to relive the one most awful, terrifying, life-threatening, heart-breaking moment in their life, whether they were old enough to remember it or not.
Merle had never seen her mother. She had never known her brothers or sister. She had never known the name she had been born with. She couldn't remember the life before Fanelia. Fanelia was all she had ever known. So, to suddenly be standing in front of a tabby-furred cat woman, two young cat- men with identical fur, a young cat-boy and girl with the same fur, was astounding. Yet the resemblence was unmistakable. In the cat-woman's arms was a baby she clutched to her chest. The baby kept crying for Merle.
" Hang on, Sophie!" the little cat-girl cried. The truth dawned on Merle. This was her family. The family she had known before Fanelia. Then came the fire. And the arrows. And the blood that flowed freely on the ground. Merle watched an entire village burn to the ground. When the roar of the fire and the screams finally faded, all that was left was the bleat of an infant. Merle's own cry of pain echoed against the wails of her infant self in a dark, lonely night.
*+*+*
Hurray for a child
That makes it through
If there's any way
Because the answer lies in you
They're laid to rest
Before they've known just what to do
Their souls are lost
Because they could never find
*+*+*
Dromada had known what had happened to his family. He never had wanted to relive the moment he found out ever again. But he did. The village was burnt. Tygir, younger, happier, and alive, walked up beside him.
" Had to have been Zaibach." he said. Dromada nodded dumbly as he stared at the pile of smoldering rubble that had been the home he had grown up in. He balled his fists and shook. If only he hadn't left with Tygir.
" Don't blame yourself, Dromada. It's not your fault. Things happen. It can't be changed." a female voice said. Dromada, in a small part of his mind, knew he was witnessing the past and was unable to do anything. BUt when he saw Tasha, Tygir's dead wife, peering at him sorrowfully, he wanted to jump and throw his arms around her. But he was only here to watch and relive, not to interfere. Instead he watched the smoldering rubble sadly, and knew that he would never be the same.
*+*+*
What's this life for?
What's this life for?
*+*+*
Tygris watched Tygir and Dromada struggle. She felt trapped in her own mind, as though she was watching from inside her head, unable to interfere at all. Her body made it's own movements. The past Tygris clutched a dagger at her belt unconsciously. Dromada tumbled! He was on his back, and Tygir had a blade to his throat. Tygir muttered something to Dromada and Dromada responded by hissing and spitting. Tygir made ready to slash Dromada's throat. Tygris couldn't actually remember drawing her dagger. It was suddenly in her hand. And she never mad the conscious decision to throw it. It was out of her hand as quickly as it was in it. There was a soft thud as the dagger landed in Tygir's chest, and blood began to ooze out, black as ebony. While all this had actually happened, Tygris had not really known what was going on. Now, she watched with mind-boggling clarity. It was like realizing she had killed her own father all over again. Slowly, the past Tygris realized what she had done. Realized that the dagger Tygir clutched in his chest had come from her hand. She froze as cold fear rose in her throat. The real Tygris moaned mentally. Not again, she screamed in her head, not again!
*+*+*
What's this life for?
What's this life for?
*+*+*
Chuba remember all to well how he had become an orphan. But the clarity in which he saw it all again was terrible. He could see the glimmer of steel that belonged to the sword that ran right through his father's chest. He could hear his mother and older sister scream in terror as they were raped and slashed with knives until they bled to death. And with startling fericeness, he remembered his own emotions. Terror and the will to survive battling his love for his family. Love against fear. Chuba knew that he would like to tell Tygris some day that he fought as hard as he could to protect his family, but as a mere cat-boy, he was overpowered. But that was a straight out lie. The terrible truth was that the day his family was murdered, fear won against love. The most awful part was that Chuba didn't even try to fight. He ran that day. He ran and he lived. But that was the greatest terror of all.
*+*+*
I see your soul, it's kind of gray
I see your heart, you look away
You see my wrist, I know your pain
I know your purpose on your plane
*+*+*
It was too clear. The rain wetting Allen's long hair, making it heavy. The bitterly cold wind nipping his nose and cheeks. That terrible coffin the men carried as he walked behind it. That terrible black coffin. He hated it. It was not suited to his mother. She had always been happy and full of joy. Why couldn't it be white? Or pink, her favorite color? Why did they have to shut her away in the ground, away from him? Why did Celene have to disappear? Why did his father leave them? Why? It was the day Allen realized he was all alone in the world. No one was left. Hate welled up inside him. He hated everything. Why did the others still get to breathe, yet breath had forever been stolen from his beautiful mother? It wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair. The real Allen's heart wrenched as he remembered the loneliness that settled in his heart that day. The anger that still lived deep inside. And the fear. The fear that there was no one left to love him.
*+*+*
Don't say a last prayer
Because you could never find
What's this life for?
What's this life for?
*+*+*
Hitomi was startled to find herself on the Mystic Moon. She was faced with her past self, sixteen years old, in her room. Her past self fingered a bottle of perscription pills her mother had been taking for severe back pain. They were very powerful. Hitomi felt the emotions all over again. The anger, the regret. How she had missed him! How she just wanted to return to his strong arms! How afraid she was that she never would! The past Hitomi opened the pill bottle and peered in. It would have been so easy, the real Hitomi thought as the other hurled the bottle against the far wall angerly. The one day that stood for all the strife and pain she had endured. The day Hitomi had tried to take her own life.
*+*+*
I see your soul, it's kind of gray
I see your heart, you look away
You see my wrist, I know your pain
I know your purpose on your plane
*+*+*
Van was fifteen again. He was shut inside a cell with Allen and a few others, their faces were not clear in the darkness. A scream suddenly ripped the silent air. Cold fear jolted Van as he reached out to grab a soldier, who informed him in a rather annoyed manner that the prisoner had suddenly died in the middle of questioning. Van sat in shock for a moment while his brain processed the information. Realization struck him like a match on flint. Hitomi was the prisoner! Van didn't quite remember gettin out of the cell and to Hitomi, but somehow he was there. Suddenly, he snapped away from his memory and watched seperately. He had become so involved in what he was remembering, it was as though he was actually fifteen again. The pain, even though he had managed to pull away a little, was still very real as he looked into Hitomi's lifeless eyes. As he pumped her chest and begged her to breathe, Van remembered why this day was the one he loathed so much. It was the day he realized how very easily the most important thing in his life could be taken away from him. How vulnerable loving Hitomi had made him. How weak. Yet, with her, he was strong. But love, as Van remembered well, was a weakness.
*+*+*
But they ain't here anymore
Don't have to settle the score
Cause we all live under the reign
Of one King.
*+*+*
Solo was very aware. He was inside a six year old body, his six year old body. He was playing outside. It was a beautiful, sunny spring day. All he had wanted was to play outside, just for a little while. Was that so bad? He had wandered into a secluded part of his parents' garden, searching for bugs. He didn't see the shadow of a large man behind a tree, waiting for him to come close enough. He was far to busy watching a butterfly in fascination than to look around himself. But when the thick arms grabbed him around the waist and threw him over a broad shoulder, Solo somehow knew it was over. The strange man carried him away, kicking and screaming for his mother, a woman he would never see again. His childhood ended that day, Solo realized as he remembered the beatings, the tauntings, the pain that he received from that day on. The last bit of innocence left him that day, leaving him cold, lonely, and frightened.
*+*+*
But they ain't here anymore
Don't have to settle no God damned score
Cause we all live under the reign
Of one King
*+*+
Vari floated alone in darkness. I'm too young to really have any terrible memories, she realized. I wonder what the others a remembering...
Michael watched in horror as a well remembered scene played out before him. Double Edge locked up suddenly and crashed to the ground. Michael began to run toward it, screaming the name of the girl inside it as he went. The enemy aimed carefully, metal claw forming slowly. Hitomi screamed from somewhere behind him. He didn't care. All that mattered was Vera, and saving her. Because he loved her. Because she was his world. Because he needed her. He wasn't thinking logically. He threw himself in front of the metal claw. His mind blanked as cold metal went straight threw his middle. Vera screamed his name in rage and fear. I might have died that day, the real Michael thought, and I never would have seen her again. But she lived. And that's what matters. Love is a weakness that makes me strong.
Vera tumbled uncontrollably after she tripped over a log. Ashes swirled around her as she wailed helplessly. It was so hot! Where were Mamma and Daddy? She forced herself to her feet again and continued running. The fire leapt at her, hissing and roaring in its want to eat her flesh away from her bones and char them black. Her pants leg caught on fire and she leaped about and shook it frantically, trying to put it out. She couldn't roll on the ground, like Mamma had always taught her, the ground was burning too! The smoke was thick in the air and her head began to spin. She stumbled as her steps became slow and groggy. She was vaguely aware of fire on her shoulders. It burned so much! Ahead of her, she saw a figure of a man. Daddy! Vera summoned the last of her strength and ran toward the figure and leaped into his arms.
" It burns, Daddy! It burns!" she screamed.
It was sunlight outside. Two weeks had passed since the Light, as the incident Vari and Vera had been involved in had finally happened. The war was over. Without a leader, the rebel forces succumbed with no resistance. Vera paced her own room in her home, the palace, restlessly. It had all returned to normal. The visions, the dreams, the fear... It was all over. Everything was over. Solo was going to the Wastelands to help the rebels build a new life, because he knew from experience that everyone deserved a second chance. Tygris, Chuba, Merle, and Dromada planned to get out of the main part of Fanelia and build a little village of cat-people out there. Allen and Millerna had already gone back to Austuria. Hitomi and Van were settling Vari into the home she had never known. And Michael...was leaving. Going back to the Mystic Moon. He told Vera he had school to finish. Vera felt terrifyed. Today he would leave. Today she would let go of the one she loved with all her heart and soul, as her mother had done all those years before. It was unclear if they would ever meet again. Someone knocked on Vera's door.
" Who is it?" she called.
" Me. Are you decent?" Michael called back.
" You should know the answer to that by now." Vera said, smiling.
" In body but not in mind?" Michael suggested.
" Correct. You can come in." Vera said. Michael opened the door. He stood there uncomfortably for a moment.
" Today's the day." he said finallt. Vera nodded.
" Yeah. Guess so." she agreed.
" I want to say that I love you, and I will come back to you. Underline the will." Michael said forcefully. Vera smiled, tears welling up in her eyes.
" But you have to go." she finished for him. Michael nodded.
" Yeah." he said. " Will you always wear that dagger necklace? For me?"
" Of course." Vera said. " I want to give you something, though."
" And what's that?" Michael asked.
" You'll see." Vera said. She closed her eyes and sighed as her wings ripped from her shoulders, white now since all the evil had been expelled from her body. A swarm of feathers surrounded the two of them. Vera snagged a feather, clean and white, from the swarm.
" When my mother left, my father gave her a feather from his wings. I want to give you the same thing." she explained, handing the feather to Michael, who had stepped very close. He looked at the feather and the wrapped her up in his arms.
" After all we went through, it comes down to this." he whispered. Vera sighed and breathed in his scent, one last time.
" I guess so." she replied.
" Michael! Time to go!" someone called through the door. Michael sighed and Vera squeezed her eyes shut as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Vera looked about her in awe. It was the very clearing in the forest Michael had first set foot on Gaea in. He hugged her one last time.
" Don't forget me." he demanded.
" I wouldn't dream of it." Vera responded. Pillar of light shot out of the sky and swallowed them up. They were alone now, out of sight from the others, her parents who had come to send Michael off. Vera could feel Michael beginning to lift away. She pressed a last, frantic kiss on his lips.
" That's where I'll be until we meet again. In your dreams." Micheal said. Vera gripped his hands ferociously until they finally slipped from her grasp. She watched until he disappeared from sight. Then, she collapsed into a heap and cried. She cried to make up for all the times she would not cry. She cried for a love to beautiful to let go of, and a lover she had no choice but to let go of.
Vari wrapped her arms around Solo's neck. He held her gently.
" I know we've only known each other for a while, but I really care about you. Come visit me sometime." Vari said. Solo nodded.
" I will." he said. Then, the captain of the airship that was to carry him to the Wastelands yelled at him to get on board. Solo breathed deeply and kissed her. Vari leaned backward and opened her eyes in shock, but then relaxed into his grip. He pulled away from her all to soon, and ran onto the airship. Vari watched him sadly, and then understood what Vera had meant when she said love only hurts you.
Michael stood on his own doorstep, feeling badly out of place. He had every reason to be. He had been gone for nearly a year. Would his parents even recognize him. Summoning his courage, he rang the doorbell. His mother answered the door.
" Hello, who are- Oh my God!" she cried, dropping a bowl she had been drying with a towel when she had answered the door. Michael smiled.
" Hi, Mom." he said. His mother's expression of shock faded into pure happiness.
" Michael! Amano! Michael's home!" she screamed, throwing her arms around him. Michael continued to smile. His shoulders had broadened and her had grown taller. He was not the same lanky, confidence-lacking teen he had been. He had changed inside and out. His father bounded to the door and looked at him in awe.
" Where have you been?" Amano asked finally. Michael let a sad look cross his face.
" With Hitomi and her family." he said shortly, but refused to say another word about the matter after that.
Sometimes at night, he would wonder what would have happened if he hadn't have gone to Gaea? Or what would have happened if he had stayed. He would never know. All Michael, or anyone on the Mystic Moon or Gaea, knew was that he had to get up the next morning and work for that next time he would know Vera's arms and her lips. He missed her. But he treasured her memory.
Well, that's it. I did it. Finally finished the series! (Champagne bottle get popped and fireworks go off. Rogue Fox is seen at a podium about to give a speech.)
First off, I would like to thank my family for supporting my writing (even though they don't exactly like the stuff I write about) and all my wonderful fans. {Fans cheer adoringly.} I would also like to thank Shini and Lauren, you two know who you are, for helping me out when I was at a dead end. Hugs and kisses to you two!
So, I did it. I'm so proud of myself. Don't forget, if you want to see more of Vera and the gang, let me know. Reviews are critical! I need your input, people! Help me out!
Rogue Fox
Vera: But there's a sequel, isn't there?
Vari: There's gotta be a sequel. She wouldn't dare leave us up on the shelf like an old book!
If you two would be quiet, I'll tell you about it. Anyway, I've got a feeling a lot of you will be very unsatisfied with the ending-
Vera:(grumbling) I know I am.
Vari:(also grumbling) Yeah, really.
-and might want a sequel, or at least an epilouge. If you want it, then either e-mail me at A5whale@aol.com or review and say so. And be sure to mention whether or not you want just an epilouge or an entire series of a sequel, cause I could manage either one. Or both. Whatever suits you. Also, don't flame me if my info is a little off. Well, here it is. The final part to Escaflowne: Return to Gaea... Draconian Daughters!!!
P.S. Credit to the awesome group Creed for the songs I use in this fic for effect:
What's This Life For?
Inside Us All
If you haven't checked Creed out yet, do it! They're awesome!!!
Part 11... Draconian Daughters
Vera slashed her sword and her enemy fell with a heavy thud. His blood flowed freely. Vera could feel her own blood pounding in her temples and her heart pounding unusually fast. Her shoulders ached increasingly with every step she took. Her reflexes seemed to be slowing every second. Michael shook her shoulders suddenly, making her wince in pain.
" Are you hurt?" he asked frantically. Vera shook her head. No, none of her blood had been spilled. She wasn't even bruised. What's happening to me, she wondered. Screams ripped the air around her, aboard the Black Death. Her own words rang in her ears.
" It all comes down to this." she had told Vari. " It all ends here." Her eyes flickered down to the sword she weilded, stained by blood. Her own arms were flecked by blood. Dark red blood, some almost black as it dried. Black like her own wings. Next to her, Michael cried out as a sword caught his shoulder. Vera's reflexes came back to her for a split second as strength born of fear and love forced her to lash out at Michael's attacker and fleck herself with yet more blood. No more pain, she cried mentally, no more blood, no more black, no more!
Vari rounded a corner on the Black Death. Her heart was racing unnaturally fast, her shoulders throbbed in a steady and unexplainable pain, and her legs felt like they were made of lead. But she lunged foreward and ran all the same, searching for the one she knew she must find before it the beginning of the end. The end she knew beyond all doubt was coming. The end she knew she would participate in.
" Vari!" Vera cried from behind Vari. Vari turned to see her older sister running to her. Michael was with her, and bleeding from a minor wound on his shoulders.
" I can't find Solo!" Vari cried in frustration.
" We'll help you find him." Tygris offered, running up behind Vera and Michael with Chuba. The teens ran through the hallways. Vari and Vera began to stumble.
" I thought you said you weren't hurt!" Michael cried, supporting Vera on her shoulder when she almost collapsed in a heap.
" I'm not." Vera said, her voice weak. " It's beginning." she mumbled.
" What's beginning?" Tygris asked. Vari stumbled and cried out as her elbow tore on the floor. Instead of stopping to see how serious the wound was, she stood quickly and continued checking rooms, looking for Solo.
" We don't have much time." she said.
Hitomi breathed in shakily, after watching her daughters disappear with their friends, no doubt to search for Solo. Van rocked in anger at being still too weak to actually take part in the battle and in pain from his shoulders. Hitomi didn't tell her husband that she knew his wings radiated in pain and the built-in attunement to Gaea. Any Draconian left on Gaea knew It had begun. The end had begun. A Draconian, Hitomi knew, was far more sensitive to its planet and tuned into the planet through its wings. The insistant pain Van, Vera, and Vari all felt was because of their wings, which ached to fly from a planet on the verge of death.
Solo ducked a chair flying at his head and hid behind a desk. It was only a momentary shelter, he knew, but it provided a chance to catch his breath.
" You slimy, disgusting dog! You traitorous little rat!" Tygir bellowed, throwing the desk aside, making Solo scramble for cover. Tygir's foot connected to Solo's gut in a glancing kick. Solo winced and groaned, forcing himself to crawl away before another blow could find him.
" Vari..." he moaned to himself, ducking behind a stack of boxes.
" Come out and fight like a man, you wretched rodent! Or are you a woman?!" Tygir screamed in rage. Solo winced as rage rose in his throat and forced himself to stay under cover. Tygir was three times his size and armed, whereas Solo was defenseless. He wanted to fight back so badly! It felt like the whole world was coming down around him.
" I should have known it was you! The whole time, you stinking mole! Of course! It was impossible for them to always know our move without a mole!" Tygir ranted, but Solo tuned him out and concentrated on the door, just to his right. If he could make it-
" Gotcha!" Tygir cried, throwing the boxes out of his way as though they were little more than snowflakes on a breezey winter afternoon. Solo cowered in fear, knowing he was out of places to run. Tygir grabbed him by his neck and lifted him clear off the ground. The room began to spin.
" Vari!" Solo managed to choke out.
" Whose Vari, mole? Your brothel girl?" Tygir asked. " She must be friends with Merle." he growled. Solo lashed out finally, but his arms had grown far too heavy. Just as his vision was beginning to blur, the door slammed open.
" Solo!" a girl's voice screamed. Vari, Solo wondered. Something slammed Tygir in the side and forced him to drop Solo, who slammed to the ground with a choked cough. Something ran to Solo and picked his upper body up. Solo opened his eyes and gazed in disbelief into Vari's earthy red eyes.
Dromada rounded the corner he had seen the teens turn. He followed the sound of yelling down the halls. Dromada was not a vengeful person, but revenge already tasted sweet on his tongue as he recognized Tygir's bellow and followed the noise. He was hardly surprised to find five teens in the same room as Tygir. But he could easily see that with Vera slow and sluggish, Vari busy trying to get an injured Solo out of the way, Michael wounded, and Tygris battling emotions concerning her father, the chances were slim. Dromada insitituted his cat muscles and leaped right over Vera's head, drawing his sword. Tygir turned to glare at Dromada threateningly, uttering a low growl that only a tom cat-man can produce. Dromada answered the challenge with his own growl. Tygris and Chuba scrambled to get out of the way and make sure everyone else did too, knowing that a true battle was about to let loose in a fury. The fight began quicker than the human eye could see, when Tygir lashed out with extended front claws, making Dromada leap back and stumbled on a toppled chair. He regained his balance, and leaped at Tygir, using his superior weight and height to bully Tygir into giving up ground. Tygir ended this with a ferocious swipe at Dromada's eyes. Dromdad ducked and barely avoided Tygir's knee in his attempt to jab Dromada in the chest. Dromada slashed Tygir across the chest with his own claws. His attack left four bright red, deep cuts along Tygir's chest, which made him screech in that feral, cat way as his blood began to flow. Swords clattered to the ground, forgotten by the two battling cat-men. Dromada let his concious mind slip away and became the wild, purely instinctive monster that Tygir had already become permanately. Dromada would never be sure exactly when he tripped and toppled to the ground, or how Tygir picked up a sword and got to his neck so fast. All he knew was that it had happened. Tygir's red orange fur was dotted with blood, both his own and Dromada's.
" Take back everything you've ever said against me and pledge your allegance to me, and I'll let you live." Tygir offered. Dromada expressed how he favored that idea by baring his needle sharp fangs and spitting in Tygir's face.
" What would Tasha say about you now?" he asked. Tygir hissed and prepared to slash Dromada's throat. Dromada squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the pain, but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Tygir clutching what appeared to be a dagger buried in his chest. He was staring at something behind them with an expression of horror and disbelief. Dromada turned his head and saw Tygris, her hand outstreched as though she had just thrown one of her daggers and frozen in her follow-through. She wore her own version of Tygir's horror and disbelief.
" Tygris..." Tygir mumbled stumbling to his feet haltingly. He walked in a confused circle for a moment. " Even you hate me, Tygris..." he murmured. Dromada felt tears well up in his eyes, remembering the happy, cheerful young cat-man he had once known. Then, in a final burst of strength, Tygir hurled himself through a window, shattering the glass. Dromada knew that two things he saw in that moment would haunt him for the rest of his days. The first was the expression on Tygir's face as he threw himself out the window. The sadness in his eyes was so incredible. The second was the dagger that Tygir had wrenched from his chest just as he threw himself out. It was more the blood on the dagger that made Dromada quake in fear than the dagger itself. The blood was black.
Vera caught Tygris as the young cat-girl collapsed into a weeping, hysterical heap.
" I killed him!" Tygris screamed. " I killed him!" Before Vera could try to comfort her, a wave of nausea rolled over her. Quickly she shoved Tygris to Chuba and crawled away, making gagging noises as her body tryed to repel an ailment that wasn't there. Michael came to her to see what was wrong, but Vera waved him away. Suddenly, the remainder of the glass Tygir had hurled himself through that was still whole shattered into a million pieces as the ground far below them rumbled and groaned. Everyone froze, and the stillness in the room could have been cut with a knife. Vera caught sight of the dagger that had recently been embedded in Tygir's chest. The blood on it was black. A terrible gust of wind began to whistle outside. Vera's gagging halted as another dead silence settled.
" Hang on to something." she advised. Her wings ripped from her shoulders in an explosion of black feathers. Suddenly, as though a vacuum had been opened, the wind began trying to suck the people in the room out into open air. Vera tucked her wings to her side and leaped out the window head first, only flaring them when she had cleared all the shards of sharp glass. Vari came tumbling out behind her, instinctively flaring wings she hadn't the faintest clue how to use.
" Vera!" Vera heard Michael scream. She made a point of flying by the window to make sure he saw her, but it was too late. Michael had obviously let go of his anchor and been sucked out into the air. Vera folded her wings and dove after him, expertly catching him by wrapping her arms around his chest. Her poisoned wing muscles screamed in protest. The air began to fill with white and black feathers as Vera became aware of more than just Vari hovering in the air beside her. Uninterested in anything but Michael's safety at the moment, Vera flew him to the the open window and dropped him off. She then dived down to join her sister. Somehow, she was not surprised to find Vari accomanyed by Van and Folken, who seemed to have mysteriously appeared. Vera found herself distantly wondering where he had come from and how he got here so fast, but her attention was drawn to more important things. Something was not right. Vera commenced to swoop back and forth in frustration, mimicking her father's movements while Folken and Vari hovered thoughtfully. Then there was a bright flash of light, followed by screams, including her own, that were mysteriously and suddenly silenced...
Michael sat up suddenly. He was laying in grass. As he sat up, he noticed a large, really old-looking stone with weird writing on it. Around him, other began to wake up. Among them were Hitomi, Allen, Tygris, Chuba, Dromada, Solo, and Merle. All of them looked incredibly confused. Only Hitomi and Allen's eyes lit up in recognition.
" The Valley of Mists." Hitomi whispered in disbelief.
" But why are we here?" Allen wondered. Suddenly, the very ground beneath Michael's feet errupted in flames. The ground cracked and seperated into huge rifts. Over head, Michael could make the silouettes of Van and another winged man flying in tight circles over the ground. Panic coursed through his veins as he noticed Vera was no where to be found.
Vera's eyes opened slowly. Strangely, she was standing up. Her wings ruffled gently at her back, and instinctive movement to shed feathers. Vari stood beside her and the two girls stood atop a great plateau with an ancient tree in the middle.
" This place... It's from the dream I had. The one about Gaea burning." Vera said, turning in a small circle to justify her suspicsions. Vari uttered a small sound of terror.
" Look!" she managed to whisper urgently, pointing out over the plateau. Vera turned to look and screamed. Flames leapt to the sky and seemed to swallow everything in sight.
" Just like my dream!" Vera cried. She tried to turn and run, but suddenly her legs weighed tons. Vari covered her mouth with her hands to stifle any further screaming.
" The blood of the lost soaks the ground and feeds the flames that will eat away the world." a soft, female voice whispered, overpowering the sound of the roaring flames. " The Draconian Daughters will stand in the way of destruction, or go hand in hand with the death of our world."
" This is it!" Vera cried, spreading her wings. " My dream was like a story that had no ending. We have to write the ending now, Vari! Will we let our world be destroyed, or will we fight it no matter what?"
" Well, in a perfect world, I'd say fight it without hesitation, but this isn't a perfect world, so lemme hesitate real quick." Vari answered. Vera let out an exasperated sigh and flared her wings.
" Come on." she said, pulling her sister into the sky. There was another flash of bright light...
Michael blinked. Wherever he had just been, it was gone now. But the fire seemed to have followed them into the real world. Fear leapt up through his body and made him cry out. Van and the strange man circled overhead like vultures, their worried cries faintly audible. Michael ignored them and focused on two winged figures soaring higher and higher into the sky.
" Oh my God!" Hitomi screamed suddenly. Michael looked in her direction and found she had been sitting next Tygir's body. Blood still leaked out of it, filling the air with a putrid smell. The black blood, black as the darkest night, soaked the ground throughoughly.
" Why is the blood black?" Solo asked. Michael had almost forgotten Solo was even with them. Just then, Van and his companion, who Michael now recognized as Folken, Vera's uncle, landed and looked closely at Tygir's remains.
" The blood is black because evil manifested itself in him." Folken said, gesturing to Tygir. " In other words, he was possessed."
" Lovely." Chuba said with a grimace. Tygris let out a mangled sob and then silenced herself. Chuba realized what he had said and wrapped his arms around her. Michael looked up to search for Vera to find her hovering just overhead.
" Look! Vera and Vari!" he cried. Every head turned skyward. Vera and Vari hovered back to back, their wings spread against each other, white on black. Vera doubled over suddenly, as if controlled by a spasm of pain. She began to cough violently, and a fluid that looked like blood flew from her open mouth. It couldn't be blood, Michael realized as a brand new type of cold fear coursed through his veins, it's black! Black like Tygir's blood.
" What's happening?!" Michael asked frantically. A woman somehow appeared in front of them. No one questioned her prescence, no one even really acknowledged her, other than her voice. She had insanely long balck hair and white wings, but no one would even know until after she had gone.
" Vera has been storing up evil powers in her wings, which is why they were turned black. In the past twenty-four hours, the storage was building up so rapidly that her body began to react to it as though it were a commom illness. She probably didn't tell anyone, but she had a high fever, headaches, achiness, drowziness, headaches, your basic commom cold symptoms. Of course, any Draconian was having shoulder pains and dizzy spells, caused by Gaea being so near death. But Vera's was amplified by her role in this whole thing." the woman said as Vera continued to wretch and cough and gasp miserably. " Now, she's using a common defense mechanism to get the evil out of her and into one place for Vari to destroy." Micahel watched in awe as the liquid coming out of Vera gathered together to make what looked like a huge, swirling hole that would suck both girls up in an instant. Michael wanted to scream, but he was held immobile by the feeling of helplessness that surged over him. The world beneath his feet was dying, and he was unable to do a thing in his defense.
Solo's head slammed into the ground suddenly. He felt as though his body were too heavy to left.
" The gravity's messing up!" someone cried. It sounded a little like Chuba, but the pain of slowly being crushed made everything else a little hazy. Suddenly, the weight was lifted off of him, pulling Solo with it right off the ground.
" Yah!" Solo cried shortly as the floating stopped and he fell back to the ground.
" It's that vortex! It's killing Gaea!" Hitomi cried. Solo looked skyward again, worry making his heart pound harder. Vera had stopped vomitting and was gasping hard. She was flapping maniacally to stay in the air. She looked so incredibly weak, tired, and sickly. It was painful to watch her. It was Vari Solo was really watching, so calm and graceful at Vera's side. Her wings begin to emit an unearthly glow. She seemed to be gathering her power up for a final blast.
No one would know what happened next, exactly. Not even Vera or Vari knew. Some would say there was a blinding flash of light, others would say the earth shook to such a degree it might break in half, and still others would say that there was an ear-shattering boom that was so powerful, it had shock waves. In any case, the concentrated black liquid, the very essence of evil itself, disappeared from the face of Gaea that day. The holy, mythical light that resulted pulsated around the planet and struck down the evil-hearted into heaps of dead flesh and cleansed the good-hearted. But the Daughters of Atlantis and all those they held dear paid a price to save their world. The price, they would later conclude, was to relive the one most awful, terrifying, life-threatening, heart-breaking moment in their life, whether they were old enough to remember it or not.
Merle had never seen her mother. She had never known her brothers or sister. She had never known the name she had been born with. She couldn't remember the life before Fanelia. Fanelia was all she had ever known. So, to suddenly be standing in front of a tabby-furred cat woman, two young cat- men with identical fur, a young cat-boy and girl with the same fur, was astounding. Yet the resemblence was unmistakable. In the cat-woman's arms was a baby she clutched to her chest. The baby kept crying for Merle.
" Hang on, Sophie!" the little cat-girl cried. The truth dawned on Merle. This was her family. The family she had known before Fanelia. Then came the fire. And the arrows. And the blood that flowed freely on the ground. Merle watched an entire village burn to the ground. When the roar of the fire and the screams finally faded, all that was left was the bleat of an infant. Merle's own cry of pain echoed against the wails of her infant self in a dark, lonely night.
*+*+*
Hurray for a child
That makes it through
If there's any way
Because the answer lies in you
They're laid to rest
Before they've known just what to do
Their souls are lost
Because they could never find
*+*+*
Dromada had known what had happened to his family. He never had wanted to relive the moment he found out ever again. But he did. The village was burnt. Tygir, younger, happier, and alive, walked up beside him.
" Had to have been Zaibach." he said. Dromada nodded dumbly as he stared at the pile of smoldering rubble that had been the home he had grown up in. He balled his fists and shook. If only he hadn't left with Tygir.
" Don't blame yourself, Dromada. It's not your fault. Things happen. It can't be changed." a female voice said. Dromada, in a small part of his mind, knew he was witnessing the past and was unable to do anything. BUt when he saw Tasha, Tygir's dead wife, peering at him sorrowfully, he wanted to jump and throw his arms around her. But he was only here to watch and relive, not to interfere. Instead he watched the smoldering rubble sadly, and knew that he would never be the same.
*+*+*
What's this life for?
What's this life for?
*+*+*
Tygris watched Tygir and Dromada struggle. She felt trapped in her own mind, as though she was watching from inside her head, unable to interfere at all. Her body made it's own movements. The past Tygris clutched a dagger at her belt unconsciously. Dromada tumbled! He was on his back, and Tygir had a blade to his throat. Tygir muttered something to Dromada and Dromada responded by hissing and spitting. Tygir made ready to slash Dromada's throat. Tygris couldn't actually remember drawing her dagger. It was suddenly in her hand. And she never mad the conscious decision to throw it. It was out of her hand as quickly as it was in it. There was a soft thud as the dagger landed in Tygir's chest, and blood began to ooze out, black as ebony. While all this had actually happened, Tygris had not really known what was going on. Now, she watched with mind-boggling clarity. It was like realizing she had killed her own father all over again. Slowly, the past Tygris realized what she had done. Realized that the dagger Tygir clutched in his chest had come from her hand. She froze as cold fear rose in her throat. The real Tygris moaned mentally. Not again, she screamed in her head, not again!
*+*+*
What's this life for?
What's this life for?
*+*+*
Chuba remember all to well how he had become an orphan. But the clarity in which he saw it all again was terrible. He could see the glimmer of steel that belonged to the sword that ran right through his father's chest. He could hear his mother and older sister scream in terror as they were raped and slashed with knives until they bled to death. And with startling fericeness, he remembered his own emotions. Terror and the will to survive battling his love for his family. Love against fear. Chuba knew that he would like to tell Tygris some day that he fought as hard as he could to protect his family, but as a mere cat-boy, he was overpowered. But that was a straight out lie. The terrible truth was that the day his family was murdered, fear won against love. The most awful part was that Chuba didn't even try to fight. He ran that day. He ran and he lived. But that was the greatest terror of all.
*+*+*
I see your soul, it's kind of gray
I see your heart, you look away
You see my wrist, I know your pain
I know your purpose on your plane
*+*+*
It was too clear. The rain wetting Allen's long hair, making it heavy. The bitterly cold wind nipping his nose and cheeks. That terrible coffin the men carried as he walked behind it. That terrible black coffin. He hated it. It was not suited to his mother. She had always been happy and full of joy. Why couldn't it be white? Or pink, her favorite color? Why did they have to shut her away in the ground, away from him? Why did Celene have to disappear? Why did his father leave them? Why? It was the day Allen realized he was all alone in the world. No one was left. Hate welled up inside him. He hated everything. Why did the others still get to breathe, yet breath had forever been stolen from his beautiful mother? It wasn't fair! It just wasn't fair. The real Allen's heart wrenched as he remembered the loneliness that settled in his heart that day. The anger that still lived deep inside. And the fear. The fear that there was no one left to love him.
*+*+*
Don't say a last prayer
Because you could never find
What's this life for?
What's this life for?
*+*+*
Hitomi was startled to find herself on the Mystic Moon. She was faced with her past self, sixteen years old, in her room. Her past self fingered a bottle of perscription pills her mother had been taking for severe back pain. They were very powerful. Hitomi felt the emotions all over again. The anger, the regret. How she had missed him! How she just wanted to return to his strong arms! How afraid she was that she never would! The past Hitomi opened the pill bottle and peered in. It would have been so easy, the real Hitomi thought as the other hurled the bottle against the far wall angerly. The one day that stood for all the strife and pain she had endured. The day Hitomi had tried to take her own life.
*+*+*
I see your soul, it's kind of gray
I see your heart, you look away
You see my wrist, I know your pain
I know your purpose on your plane
*+*+*
Van was fifteen again. He was shut inside a cell with Allen and a few others, their faces were not clear in the darkness. A scream suddenly ripped the silent air. Cold fear jolted Van as he reached out to grab a soldier, who informed him in a rather annoyed manner that the prisoner had suddenly died in the middle of questioning. Van sat in shock for a moment while his brain processed the information. Realization struck him like a match on flint. Hitomi was the prisoner! Van didn't quite remember gettin out of the cell and to Hitomi, but somehow he was there. Suddenly, he snapped away from his memory and watched seperately. He had become so involved in what he was remembering, it was as though he was actually fifteen again. The pain, even though he had managed to pull away a little, was still very real as he looked into Hitomi's lifeless eyes. As he pumped her chest and begged her to breathe, Van remembered why this day was the one he loathed so much. It was the day he realized how very easily the most important thing in his life could be taken away from him. How vulnerable loving Hitomi had made him. How weak. Yet, with her, he was strong. But love, as Van remembered well, was a weakness.
*+*+*
But they ain't here anymore
Don't have to settle the score
Cause we all live under the reign
Of one King.
*+*+*
Solo was very aware. He was inside a six year old body, his six year old body. He was playing outside. It was a beautiful, sunny spring day. All he had wanted was to play outside, just for a little while. Was that so bad? He had wandered into a secluded part of his parents' garden, searching for bugs. He didn't see the shadow of a large man behind a tree, waiting for him to come close enough. He was far to busy watching a butterfly in fascination than to look around himself. But when the thick arms grabbed him around the waist and threw him over a broad shoulder, Solo somehow knew it was over. The strange man carried him away, kicking and screaming for his mother, a woman he would never see again. His childhood ended that day, Solo realized as he remembered the beatings, the tauntings, the pain that he received from that day on. The last bit of innocence left him that day, leaving him cold, lonely, and frightened.
*+*+*
But they ain't here anymore
Don't have to settle no God damned score
Cause we all live under the reign
Of one King
*+*+
Vari floated alone in darkness. I'm too young to really have any terrible memories, she realized. I wonder what the others a remembering...
Michael watched in horror as a well remembered scene played out before him. Double Edge locked up suddenly and crashed to the ground. Michael began to run toward it, screaming the name of the girl inside it as he went. The enemy aimed carefully, metal claw forming slowly. Hitomi screamed from somewhere behind him. He didn't care. All that mattered was Vera, and saving her. Because he loved her. Because she was his world. Because he needed her. He wasn't thinking logically. He threw himself in front of the metal claw. His mind blanked as cold metal went straight threw his middle. Vera screamed his name in rage and fear. I might have died that day, the real Michael thought, and I never would have seen her again. But she lived. And that's what matters. Love is a weakness that makes me strong.
Vera tumbled uncontrollably after she tripped over a log. Ashes swirled around her as she wailed helplessly. It was so hot! Where were Mamma and Daddy? She forced herself to her feet again and continued running. The fire leapt at her, hissing and roaring in its want to eat her flesh away from her bones and char them black. Her pants leg caught on fire and she leaped about and shook it frantically, trying to put it out. She couldn't roll on the ground, like Mamma had always taught her, the ground was burning too! The smoke was thick in the air and her head began to spin. She stumbled as her steps became slow and groggy. She was vaguely aware of fire on her shoulders. It burned so much! Ahead of her, she saw a figure of a man. Daddy! Vera summoned the last of her strength and ran toward the figure and leaped into his arms.
" It burns, Daddy! It burns!" she screamed.
It was sunlight outside. Two weeks had passed since the Light, as the incident Vari and Vera had been involved in had finally happened. The war was over. Without a leader, the rebel forces succumbed with no resistance. Vera paced her own room in her home, the palace, restlessly. It had all returned to normal. The visions, the dreams, the fear... It was all over. Everything was over. Solo was going to the Wastelands to help the rebels build a new life, because he knew from experience that everyone deserved a second chance. Tygris, Chuba, Merle, and Dromada planned to get out of the main part of Fanelia and build a little village of cat-people out there. Allen and Millerna had already gone back to Austuria. Hitomi and Van were settling Vari into the home she had never known. And Michael...was leaving. Going back to the Mystic Moon. He told Vera he had school to finish. Vera felt terrifyed. Today he would leave. Today she would let go of the one she loved with all her heart and soul, as her mother had done all those years before. It was unclear if they would ever meet again. Someone knocked on Vera's door.
" Who is it?" she called.
" Me. Are you decent?" Michael called back.
" You should know the answer to that by now." Vera said, smiling.
" In body but not in mind?" Michael suggested.
" Correct. You can come in." Vera said. Michael opened the door. He stood there uncomfortably for a moment.
" Today's the day." he said finallt. Vera nodded.
" Yeah. Guess so." she agreed.
" I want to say that I love you, and I will come back to you. Underline the will." Michael said forcefully. Vera smiled, tears welling up in her eyes.
" But you have to go." she finished for him. Michael nodded.
" Yeah." he said. " Will you always wear that dagger necklace? For me?"
" Of course." Vera said. " I want to give you something, though."
" And what's that?" Michael asked.
" You'll see." Vera said. She closed her eyes and sighed as her wings ripped from her shoulders, white now since all the evil had been expelled from her body. A swarm of feathers surrounded the two of them. Vera snagged a feather, clean and white, from the swarm.
" When my mother left, my father gave her a feather from his wings. I want to give you the same thing." she explained, handing the feather to Michael, who had stepped very close. He looked at the feather and the wrapped her up in his arms.
" After all we went through, it comes down to this." he whispered. Vera sighed and breathed in his scent, one last time.
" I guess so." she replied.
" Michael! Time to go!" someone called through the door. Michael sighed and Vera squeezed her eyes shut as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Vera looked about her in awe. It was the very clearing in the forest Michael had first set foot on Gaea in. He hugged her one last time.
" Don't forget me." he demanded.
" I wouldn't dream of it." Vera responded. Pillar of light shot out of the sky and swallowed them up. They were alone now, out of sight from the others, her parents who had come to send Michael off. Vera could feel Michael beginning to lift away. She pressed a last, frantic kiss on his lips.
" That's where I'll be until we meet again. In your dreams." Micheal said. Vera gripped his hands ferociously until they finally slipped from her grasp. She watched until he disappeared from sight. Then, she collapsed into a heap and cried. She cried to make up for all the times she would not cry. She cried for a love to beautiful to let go of, and a lover she had no choice but to let go of.
Vari wrapped her arms around Solo's neck. He held her gently.
" I know we've only known each other for a while, but I really care about you. Come visit me sometime." Vari said. Solo nodded.
" I will." he said. Then, the captain of the airship that was to carry him to the Wastelands yelled at him to get on board. Solo breathed deeply and kissed her. Vari leaned backward and opened her eyes in shock, but then relaxed into his grip. He pulled away from her all to soon, and ran onto the airship. Vari watched him sadly, and then understood what Vera had meant when she said love only hurts you.
Michael stood on his own doorstep, feeling badly out of place. He had every reason to be. He had been gone for nearly a year. Would his parents even recognize him. Summoning his courage, he rang the doorbell. His mother answered the door.
" Hello, who are- Oh my God!" she cried, dropping a bowl she had been drying with a towel when she had answered the door. Michael smiled.
" Hi, Mom." he said. His mother's expression of shock faded into pure happiness.
" Michael! Amano! Michael's home!" she screamed, throwing her arms around him. Michael continued to smile. His shoulders had broadened and her had grown taller. He was not the same lanky, confidence-lacking teen he had been. He had changed inside and out. His father bounded to the door and looked at him in awe.
" Where have you been?" Amano asked finally. Michael let a sad look cross his face.
" With Hitomi and her family." he said shortly, but refused to say another word about the matter after that.
Sometimes at night, he would wonder what would have happened if he hadn't have gone to Gaea? Or what would have happened if he had stayed. He would never know. All Michael, or anyone on the Mystic Moon or Gaea, knew was that he had to get up the next morning and work for that next time he would know Vera's arms and her lips. He missed her. But he treasured her memory.
Well, that's it. I did it. Finally finished the series! (Champagne bottle get popped and fireworks go off. Rogue Fox is seen at a podium about to give a speech.)
First off, I would like to thank my family for supporting my writing (even though they don't exactly like the stuff I write about) and all my wonderful fans. {Fans cheer adoringly.} I would also like to thank Shini and Lauren, you two know who you are, for helping me out when I was at a dead end. Hugs and kisses to you two!
So, I did it. I'm so proud of myself. Don't forget, if you want to see more of Vera and the gang, let me know. Reviews are critical! I need your input, people! Help me out!
Rogue Fox