Holmcross Project Deep: Lady Invincible -Love-





Early morning light shone through the open portico leading to the balcony as Cecilia sat wide awake on her bed; the waking fog from the coastal shores blowing into her domicile in a fine cloud. The girl had slept very little, as the smell of blood, evil and Mother permeated her senses from last night's assault. After meeting her ex-friend a third time under trying circumstances, plaguing questions flooded her mind as to why Rudy Roughnight had become so warped with taint.

He used to be her friend--her companion and trusted friend--even though they had only known each other for a week. Something about that courageous, yet innocent glint in his eyes as they met for the first time in Aldehyde drew her toward him…like fate had dealt an active hand in their meeting. She remembered the curious glances he gave her as they battled together as Dream Chasers, when he thought she wasn't paying attention. And she as well…the youthful girl returned sneaking glances many a time behind the guise of curiosity and natural interest. She felt safe around him, a feeling that even Jack couldn't offer her…and she also felt pleasure.

That is why everything up until now pained her so…was it that feeling under lock-and-key in her heart that struggled to burst free back then? Surely she couldn't…

"Love?" Cecilia moaned, the words seemingly echoing. "No…no, but…could it be? Back then? But now, I couldn't possibly have that feeling."

She was right. His eyes had lost the glint she enjoyed; his spirit and his mind were undeniably warped beyond rehabilitation. Now the one who took on his form had become the epitome of terror itself. "Why must he commit such vile acts of viciousness upon us…on me?" she said out loud in suppressed pain. "Where is the real Rudy?"

"Hess no longer himself," came a stern voice from behind her. "I wouldn't fall in love with a beastly warmonger if I were you."

She knew. Jack, who also had slept very little, had been leaning up against the closed door of the bedroom listening to her talk to herself. The girl stood up and turned to address him.

"Oh…! I never heard you come in."

"No problem. Hey, you know the ship will be here in a few hours, right? We're gonna be busy for a while."

"Err, yes," she agreed laconically. "How long have you been there listening to me?"

"Long enough to hear how you really feel about him," he simply said.

"…" She honestly didn't know quite what to say. Eventually, after a few moments of silence, she hesitantly pulled a hair ribbon out of her blazer pocket. "I found this…on the streets, after Rudy and Mother fled," Cecilia told him earnestly, interrupting him. "I thought you might want it, seeing as how it came from the woman he kidnapped."

She walked up to Jack and pulled his left hand open, placing the long head-ribbon in his hand. The man stared down at it in his hand for a few seconds and gripped it tightly, bringing it to his chest. "Elmina…I won't fail again, I promise. My life is my word."

"Excuse me," she said, asking him to get out of the doorway.

"Ahh, sorry. There you go."

Cecilia got around the man and left him in there, cracking the door wide enough so she could get out. Once in the castle corridor outside of her quarters she closed the door and slumped against it. Did Jack truly not understand her feelings? Why didn't he? Elmina was in the same situation. If anything, she thought, he'd be supporting her. She thought it was slightly hypocritical for him to call Rudy that and not address Elmina as the same thing.

But she was torn. After everything he did in those villages and cities she visited, she couldn't understand why she felt like this.

"Why do I feel like this…why are you doing this to me?"

~~~~~

"Why are you doing this to me?" a man asked silently, standing on the second floor of the Mayor's brick house, looking on through the window at the carnage before him. A girl in red silk with long, furry ears lay unconscious in a bed behind him in the background next to an equally unconscious Elmina.

Rosetta Town. Mother in the distance, assimilating people whole into her stomach under early morning light. Her slimy tentacles grasping frantic people off of the ground one by one as she screamed through the buildings of the town…she was truly a literal ball of slime confined within a bionic body. A tall, garbed figure stood in the town square watching along with a light-purple feral dog-creature by his side, doing nothing to stop her. She would absorb the entire world if Rudy let her.

He didn't plan on doing so, however.

Was it the kind side of him rearing its head again? The wicked, cruel version detested the old Rudy; how he let others walk all over him, an especially how others hated him for what he had 'caused'. And especially how the old him would start to ponder like this. The citizens of Surf came to mind immediately as his fury grew ever so stronger, welling up in his body like searing magma prepared to shoot from a volcano. 'They' made him like this by forcing him out into the world. It was all 'their' fault.

"The fools…the ignorant fools did this to me," he whispered, a mix of both personalities coming together. "How I feel pity for them. They'll never be happy with what they have. She'll never be satisfied. They cast out one of their very own for the sake of comfort. Yes, yes…how I pity them."

No, that wasn't right. He pitied himself, along with the rest of humanity and the rest of the Demons. Yes…

His two minds were beginning to lock together, and Rudy knew that the wicked version would completely take over. If that were to occur, drastic terror would reign over the lands, and Mother would be unable to be halted in her search for eternal sustenance. She would feed off of the powers of the Elw Dimension until it became a crumpled shell of what life it once had, then she would move on to the next world. He had never met anyone as cruel as she; her foul, dark demeanor permeated through that porcelain visage of indifference she exhibited…and now no one but himself knew what she was capable of. The Quarter Knights were defeated, and what remaining forces were left in the Photosphere served as nourishment for her seemingly infinite appetite as she awoke from her slumber... He even recalled the promising young soldier named Zed who fell victim to the beast. She was as ugly in her true form as her heart was in its repaired form. All of this was incredibly painful to remember for him. All of this anguish…

"Mother," he said silently. "Mother, how could you? How…could I? We can't do this anymore…never."

He would act against her soon, while his sanity still held. This moment of crystal-clear clarity was his only attempt at righting the wrongs he had committed, or at least stopping the evil from flowing over anymore than it should. However, he didn't know what the repercussions would be for his actions.

Backing away from the view, Rudy returned to the bed and scooped up the girls, one in each arm into his arms. Then he headed down the staircase and out of the building. He would unlock the Elw Dimension tonight. His only prayer as he exited the city behind Mother was that the Darkness Tear wouldn't assimilate his mind fully until his friends arrived. He feared he would fulfill the threat he made to Jack if he didn't make it in time.

"Cecilia…Cecilia, I have faith in you and Jack. While my sanity holds, you must save the world. Deliver me from this soul-warping confinement."

~~~~~~~~~~

The ship ride from Aldehyde to the beaches of the southern continent pushed the sails to their limits to meet the deadline. The ride was tricky and lasted a whole week, almost as if some force in the world attempted to hinder them from arriving. The princess and her warrior hit land under haste, hurrying to stop Rudy and Mother, and also to rescue Elmina from their grasp. Absolutely no time had been wasted on petty trifles as the pair frantically ventured across the lands in search of their destination. Four days of venturing had passed before Cecilia and Jack stumbled upon a town under pre-dawn conditions…

~~~~~

"This is it, right?" Cecilia asked no one in particular. "Rosetta? Is Mother here, waiting to kill us?" She took a few steps further into the city, curious as to why everything was dead quiet around her. "Odd, where are the citizens of this place? Where are…w-wait a minute. This feeling…!"

"…Stay sharp," her male companion told her, taking the lead. He had already held a grip on his sheathed saber, almost anticipating the unthinkable to occur. "Something's here, the power in the air is strange."

Indeed, something was here, waiting in the city for them. Cecilia inhaled the air lightly and dissected the smell for anything strange. Her senses soon stumbled onto something else within their range.

"Wait…wait, Jack. Don't go any further."

"What are you saying, Cecilia?" he responded, adamantly refusing to lower his guard. "Elmina's in danger!"

"…Look. Up there!" she gasped, pointing up.

On the roof of a building no further than 50 feet from the two sat a mysterious wolf-like creature sat looking down over them; it's gleaming lavender eyes fixed on their presence. Its golden leg-cuffs shone brightly even without the presence of morning light. The beast's ears and body were elongated and covered in fur the same color as its eyes, and its nostrils flared heavily while breathing outward.

"Now what in the hell is this?" Jack spoke aloud. "Pretty damned big wolf."

"Yes," a rusty-yet-calm voice said, penetrating the light fog. "Deadly, earth creature. To rip out your gullet in one serrated tear from its bloodthirsty fangs. How outrageously simple it would be to order it to do so."

The duo stood at full attention, realizing that they weren't alone in the abandoned hovel of a town. Frayed nerves clouded Jack's concentration as he paced around the girl, guarding her as if she were a newly-won prize not ready to be parted with. All the while silently signaling her to head for the exit, a giant figure garbed in black clothing stepped forth from behind an adjacent building to the one the wolf sat upon. A man of unbelievable height, this man's eyes were not visible…his emotions were as equally cloaked as he was physically, and a large metallic boomerang rested in a leather sheath that hooked onto his back. Stepping forth into visibility after a short pause the wolf soon jumped down from its perch after an ear-splitting howl, causing a mass exodus of sleeping birds to flee their trees in the village. It soon took its place at the left side of its obvious master while baring gleaming fangs all the while.

"Time to rumble!" Jack said impatiently. "I knew it wouldn't be THIS easy to get Elmina back!" He shook his fist angrily at the night stalker while keeping guard. "Tell me! Tell me, where is Elmina?"

"That girl which you seek? The one whom you abandoned long ago to pursue a life of prestige and 'power'?" the mysterious man countered, arms crossed and beginning again to step towards the both of them with the wolf in tow. "You left her to lead an existence of ineptitude whilst you gallivanted around searching for the very thing you had in the first place...! You cannot comprehend what you have lost once you have forfeited it for all eternity!" He stopped in his tracks and slowly reached for his weapon hooked behind him. "Elmina is no longer of sound mind; she gave up her conscience and her humanity long ago in the obscure chance her dashing hero would save her from the Darkness. Realizing her hopes would be swallowed up in the wave of Queen Mother's insatiable appetite for chaos, she permanently changed into the one you encountered in Timney…"

Jack flinched at his words, but remained in control of himself. "No…no! I can save her! I will save her! There has to be a cure for her tainted heart!"

"Ahh, is there? Then, what would you be willing to do in order to get this 'cure'? That is to say, if it even exists? Would you be willing to sacrifice your own life to save hers?"

"…I…I won't let her die…" Jack muttered sadly.

"You have no choice unless you are willing to die," the man told him, emphasizing each word. "You have attained courage, but you fear that you aren't powerful enough to defeat Queen Mother. That is what's locking your mind up."

"No," he said. "No, no! Where is she, demon?! Show me to her!"

"Hm-hm-hm-hm…really? Is that true? Well then!"

Without hesitation, and in one lightning-quick move, he leapt far up into the sky, above and over the both of them. He landed on the ground a little ways away, near the town's exit. "Lucied! Come!" the man sternly ordered, preparing to leave the two adventurers standing by themselves. Lucied emitted a loud howl and galloped over to his side, passing Jack.

"Hey!" Cecilia exclaimed. "Mother was here, right? I can sense the taint in the land…"

"Follow if you wish to know the truth then," he told her. "What lies in the forest southeast of this town may guide you down the path to truth. What you seek is with the legend of the Elw…"

With those words, both beings made a silent exit. A few minutes passed in silence before Jack placed his blade back in its hard leather sheath and spit on the ground in disgust. "Damnit! You…"

"Jack…" Cecilia softly said, her head hung in confusion. "Should we? You know it's a trap."

"We have no choice! Elmina's with that monster…with her AND Rudy! I'm not leaving her behind any longer!"

"!!!" She suddenly brought her head up to meet his eyes. "No, y-y-you can't mean that you'll…"

"Cecilia, you know what we're gonna have to do eventually. The fate of the world is at stake here, and you're letting your blasted emotions get in the way of what you need to do!" He hesitated for a moment, but stepped toward her soon after. "You know what we have to do. I refuse to let anyone else die if I can stop it! So…let's just get this over with."

With those words, he left to follow after the enigmatic person who had since left their presence. Cecilia begrudgingly followed, tears welling up…feeling how his words stung painfully in her chest and heart. Rudy would most likely get in their way again when they found Mother, and she would have to put an end to his life. This foul reality was not what she wanted, yet it had to be done in order to protect the world. Becoming a woman requires you to make painful choices, as she remembered Anje telling her before she left the Curan Abbey on her birthday. 'You will gain friends in acquaintances throughout your natural life, yet lose others you hold most dear to you. Loss is a sorely painful emotion, but love is what keeps the heart in motion. Do not fall prey to destitution…'

Yes. She lost her father, her subjects and now…this. This is the price of humanity, and the price for having emotions.

She briefly wished she "weren't human", like the one she loved so.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jack and Cecilia had a hard time keeping up with those two mysterious forces leading them to their destiny. A torrential downpour had begun, seemingly appearing out of nowhere as they drew nearer to their next destination. Thunder boomed overhead as nearby trees swayed in the gusty wind and wildlife ran for cover from the storm. The two were already tired, as they had not had a rest since before they arrived at Rosetta, and they wondered when they would reach wherever it is this silent brute was guiding them towards. But with perseverance of mind and body they would make it there safely in less than a day.

Within the southwestern forest slept a serene, widened garden of flowers and amber light; a world where the enveloping darkness of the night sky could not reach. Lucied and its master moved on deeper inside, not even bothering to address the two warriors. As they followed them further in, four sculpted pillars appeared in the distance. Once they had reached the end of the path, all that stood before them was a raised platform surrounded by these pillars.

Along with someone in red collapsed off to the side, that is.

"Miss, are you… …!" Cecilia said, expressing shock as she turned the girl over. The injured girl was lying in a large pool of her own blood, gasping for air.

"What in the hell?" Jack angrily asked to no one in particular as he moved forward to examine her. "Cecilia, the magic. The magic!

"N-No…no, you can…not do that," the girl struggled to say. "Please go…before they~~"

"Shh, save your strength," Cecilia implored her, her eyes filled with sadness. "Please, this will help you. Don't die, please!"

"No…the wound…is too…deep. I am destined…to die here. It is…as the "Great Devourer" predicted."

"Great Devourer?" Jack thought out loud. "…Mother? She was here?"

"A-Aah…my family and my clan are…not safe. That one which…devours all and her knight…will be the ruin of…of…"

"C'mon Cecilia," Jack barked. "You're the only one who can help her!"

"She can't be helped; she is fated to die here," the black-clad man said stoically. "Do as the will of nature demands and leave her to perish."

"Shut up!" he yelled back at him, almost instantaneously. "Goddamn, what do you know?"

"No, he is…right. Unfortunately, for the planet to be burdened under the threat of the Queen Mother again…I cannot go back. I cannot." A sole tear ran down the anguish-filled face of the tanned girl, as everyone secretly knew her situation could not be remedied. Here, yet another innocent bystander lay under the looming hand of death; a cruel sacrifice to attain entry into power yet again. "Girl. Servant to the ultimate powers-that-be of this beautiful world," she said in a strained, weak voice, gazing up into the sky-blue eyes of the burdened sorceress. A partial smile appeared on her blood-stained face, almost as if a great weight were lifted from her. "If you ever meet my brother…Vassim, in the next dimension…tell him that 'Little Sis Mariel' did proper to service the patrons of this planet. Tell him that his adoring sibling is able to rest peacefully with reassurance of hope for the future…"

Cecilia, with Jack rocking back and firth beside her in concern, watched as the final thread of life within the gravely injured Elw frayed and split in twain. She went slack as the glimmer in her almond-shaped brown eyes faded forever from this world.

"No. No, no, no!" Cecilia sobbed in terror, lightly shaking Mariel in the remote hopes of reviving her. "By the Guardians! What does Mother want so badly that she would do this to someone so young?! Why, Jack? Why?" Her lifeless body faded from her arms and disappeared into the skies in glimmering balls of pure light…a sign that she would rest in comfort and peace of her wishes being fulfilled. "Mariel…" she softly uttered, throwing herself into Jack's arms for comfort. He willingly accepted, as he was saddened by the loss to. Even though he just met her fleetingly, he could automatically tell of her kind spirit and her love for this planet.

"Cecilia, I'm sorry," he consoled her while standing the both of them up from the ground. "Blast it. Forgive me, Mariel; this is my fault!"

"…My job is finished," their mysterious guide brusquely told them before he turned his back on them and started to depart with his faithful Lucied. "There is no need for monetary payment. The undertaking which you are about to attempt is more than adequate of a purse for myself. All that is ask of you is that you remember the name of Boomerang, the hunter which aided you in your journey."

"Oh, leaving already?" Jack quickly asked him, letting Cecilia go. "I would think you would be so cold as to see us die like this girl here, Mr. Boomerang!"

Boomerang stopped sharp at those words and turned around to meet his gaze. Even though Jack was much smaller than him, he wasn't afraid. "I should inform you that I am only as cold as those who hire me," he replied calmly. "That girl understood what her purpose was, as she most likely fell into the boy's blade purposefully in order to make way for the 'heroes.' That boy told her--and I as well--before they left that 'heroes' would arrive soon, to put Mother in her grave again; this time permanently." Boomerang pointed and approached the both of them while continuing on, but not menacingly as before in Rosetta. "That machine which you stand before is a portal to her artificial home which Mother wanted access to. The boy had to play along in order to not raise suspicion; right now he has probably made good on his promise by becoming turncoat on her while his sanity holds steady."

"What?" Cecilia asked him, obviously not knowing what he meant. "Sanity?"

"That boy represents two contrasting sides of the same coin. The destructive, twisted side of him surfaces whenever the human, compassionate side is exhausted, and vice versa. They are sovereign influences, but are linked in a co-dominant relationship. One is dormant while the other is active, and they both retain full consciousness as the other operates. They cannot live without one another."

"He's insane?" Jack asked in disbelief. "Split personalities? C'mon, you can't expect me to believe this cock and bull!"


"Oh?" Boomerang countered. "…He and that woman are alike in more ways than one; puppets in servitude to an infinite appetite. Harken--or should I say 'Elmina'-- and the boy act as if they have no free will. This is true, but is still not representative of the entire situation." After saying that, he backed off again and prepared to leave. "It is your choice what you will do with him. If you let him live, he will definitely go insane again. If you choose to fight him, you must kill him so that he doesn't kill again. The choice is up to you."

"Huh? Wait a minute~~!" Jack ordered him.

"That is all I can tell you," he interrupted. "I would be quite remiss if I did not warn you of the repercussions of your choices from hereon out." Boomerang walked away with Lucied, leaving Jack and Cecilia standing confounded in front of the stone dais. "I also have a tiny shred of hope that you will defeat Mother."

With that, the wolf and its master swiftly slipped away into the depths of the forest, out of sight of the two heroes. They knew the truth now, or at least what Boomerang had told them. Rudy's mind had been split into two entirely different entities for reasons unbeknownst to them, and that evil was likely what caused him to kill everyone in Saint Centour, Port Timney and the like. He was under the direct control of Mother and helped invade Aldehyde a second time while like this. But if his words were true, then right now he would most likely be battling against her in order to stop her. Could this ultimately be true? Is he friend or foe to the cause of saving Filgaia from Mother's appetite?

In all actuality, they weren't too sure his word could be taken as truth, or reliable for that matter. But…didn't it mean something to be 'human'?

"Hey, Jack…" Hanpan asked him, scurrying out of his coat pocket onto his shoulder. "If Rudy is really like that, then I couldn't imagine killing him. Could there be a way to save him, like her?"

"Who knows?" was all he said in reply.

Wasting no time after this little revelation, Jack and Cecilia respectively hoping beyond hope that neither Elmina or Rudy were dead, the both of them proceeded onto the gate platform behind them and disappeared in a flow of bright light. Their final destination: the Elw Dimension.

~~~~~~~~~~

An artificial realm in which a different race exists. Upon a miniscule green landmass existing in limbo…those who owned the lands in ancient days retreated to this place and furthered their research into grand machinery infused with magical qualities. The Elw Dimension, where dreams could come true.

"Mother, you want 'that' so badly?" Rudy told himself in his own mind as he drew a sword and stealthily ran toward her from behind. His mind flipped and quivered with fear at what he was about to do. "This, the machine that the Elw can use to control the Ultimate Guardian? You want to destroy this world too, like you did Hiades!"

Another town was currently under assault. Tarjon, a rural Elw village, had been decimated by the influences of Mother. She consumed nearly all of the Elw into her slimy stomach beneath the shell she called a body, and would not stop until she found the man who built the prototype. Mother was in the middle of the town, sweeping people up and directly placing them into a hungry opening in her stomach. "I'll release 'you' for all to see!"

Rudy leapt high into the air behind the Demon Queen, sword overhead clutched in both hands. In one lightning-quick slice, his blade carved a long, deep gash through her arched back. Mother emitted a sharp cry that penetrated the four corners of the artificial space as he landed on the ground behind her. The floating menace's porcelain visage immediately froze into a state of shock as the purple slime contained within her synthetic flesh spilled out of the large gash formed in a torrential gush. Body after body of undigested human and Elw remains spilled out as well, entrenched under the surface of the large slime packet. Rudy tried to retreat from the wave of slime oncoming, yet found himself hooked to a large pseudopod connected to the larger mass that reflexively grabbed at his leg.

"M-My…s-son. You betrayed m-me. My tr-true son…" the slime cried, speaking into his mind directly while inching toward his prone body. Rudy slashed at the material around his leg, revealing it to be quite durable. "Do n-not hurt…your m-mother. You cannot harm your…"

"Get away from me," Rudy cried, struggling to release himself. But it seemed futile.

"Become…a part…me, my child. I love…child. Be…part of m-me, child."

"No…no, get away!" he uttered after breaking the sword on the slime's outer shell. He looked around at the undigested remains of her other meals and saw legions of human and Elw bodies continuing to surface from the slime that was Mother. He knew at that moment he would not live to see another day. "All of your victims, and my victims have massed here before me. You want to devour me."

"Yes…you l-love…mother."

He screamed in horror as the slimy mass screeched overhead his form. Then…

Black. Sheer black.

His demise, in one quick maneuver. Whole was he devoured as he sat paralyzed, enveloping him into its insides, making him into a nameless victim along with the rest of the victims. First he felt the mass envelop him, then the numbness…then immediate nothingness.

"Mine forever. A p-part…me, forever.

~~~~~~~~~~

.

.

"?" [Consciousness? But, I should be~~]

"Are you all right?" a concerned female voice asked, interrupting his thought flow.

"…"

"I hoped beyond hope that you would still be alive. So…"

"Your voice. It is familiar."

"Well, yes. Can you see me?"

"…No. My eyes. They do not work anymore."

"How ghastly. The queen of the Demons ate all of these people?" a high-pitched, mousy voice spoke into his left side. "Aah, your legs…this is terrible."

"Mmph, I-I know that voice. At least, I think I know. But…"

"Rudy…" the female voice solemnly said. "After everything, please do not die. Vassim here…maybe he could find a way to help you get fixed. My magic does not work on machines."

"…" Now he knew who it was. "Princess Cecilia," he strained to say. "I should not be allowed to live. Remember~~"

"Shhh. Your injury has made you weakened."

"Mmmph, it feels numb," Rudy said. "It is fitting that all I can see is darkness, because it is what I worked for. Poetic." He sat silent for a few minutes, then began to speak again. Her voice…he needed to hear it again. "Cecilia. Is the injury so horrible?"

"You look shredded," a gravelly voice said aloud. That must've been Jack. "You're not who you say you are. You're not human, after all."

"I deserve no pity for my actions, but only a quick death. What have I done to this land? To the people who work and cultivate the soil…? I…sacrificed them all! For what? Power? Comfort?"

"Rudy, how could you do those things?" she asked him, staring into his nonfunctional, glassy eyes. "What happened? You aren't yourself? Please, tell me! Maybe Vassim can fix you!"

"Aah," the beaten youth groaned in pain. "Cecilia, before I die here on this foreign land, I'd like to…"

Rudy found himself reaching up to touch her face with his left hand. He felt along her arm, slowly moving up to where he thought her cheek was. It was nice to be around humans again after committing so many atrocities in the name of Demonhood. Perhaps a sentiment of respite filled his mechanical heart as he felt a slight wetness on one of his fingers, followed by a different hand reaching to his cheek. It was soft and warm…Cecilia's hand. It felt good.

"Reach into my pouch," he asked her. "On my left side. You should find the Tear Drop they--we--took from Aldehyde."

Indeed, the vessel of the Guardians' nourishment was there. A soft glow filled her palm as she pulled the tiny jewel from within. It bathed her face in a warm blue light, and brought a smile to Rudy's face as he realized her journey would now officially end now that she had it in her possession.

"Now, bring your Tear Drop to my forehead to…break this accursed cage."

"…Rudy, what is~~"

"I retained consciousness because of you," he weakly muttered as she slowly guided the Tear Drop to his forehead to release the object confining him. A soft, purple circle of light began to pulse, and a flawed jewel surfaced and shattered under the skin.

"W-What is this?" Cecilia asked him. "It feels like~~"

"This abomination? The Darkness Tear…fractured due to excessive power output after the summoning of the Fire Guardian and partially broke the stream of their manipulation of my body. This is what did everything, Cecilia. I was but a mere puppet, bending to their every whim and demand. And even though I saw everything, I did not disobey them. I…I…"

"Do not say anymore Rudy," the girl cried. "I know, I know. I forgive you for everything." She hugged his weakened body tightly to hers. "I couldn't possibly know what you were. Just…don't say anymore."

"I had…hoped you would come to defeat Mother in time, before the Elw village was devoured. I sacrificed my life to kill her. But, it looks like my life is over."

"What?" Jack butted in, kneeling close to Cecilia. "All the things that happened were because you were being controlled?"

Rudy managed to shift his eyes over to his position. "It's no excuse. I know. Even Elmina had the same problems."

Jack stood again after her said her name and brought a frail-looking woman with waist-length red hair close to him. "Elmina. So that's why you hid her away from the village. You…saved her."

"At the cost…of my life," Rudy quickly interjected. He coughed up a purple-colored liquid as Cecilia wiped it away with her hand. "As long as she is safe, I did something good."

"Rudy…" Cecilia cried, hugging him again.

The young man's gasps of air began to get heavier. Everyone knew that death was imminent. Even so, Cecilia felt something strange within her. An image of a beautiful, singing woman clothed in white robes holding a newborn baby appeared in her mind; her smile warming her soul and comforting her in this time of sorrow. The image in Cecilia's mind brought a sense of relaxation and a feeling of tenderness to her heart. She managed a tense smile of compassion as she held and gazed at the beaten man in her arms. A single tear ran down her cheek caused by the sudden torrent of relief the coursed throughout her body and soul. Pulling away from him to allow him to breathe, Cecilia looked down at him one more.

"Cecilia," Rudy said through labored breath as he closed his eyes, anticipating the end. "Be a great ruler. Make your subjects proud. Deliver tranquility and everlasting prosperity unto the kingdom. You have what it takes to be a pillar of respect to the people of the world, and to mend the broken spirits who have been thrust into terror. You can do it, and you will do it because…I believe in you. But most importantly…remember the better times…we had. I'll…love you even in…"

A long silence ensued as Rudy's body went slack in her arms. Jack looked on in disbelief at the demise, shaking his head as to make it all go away. Elmina hugged closer to him and sobbed silently, realizing her own pain he endured was identical to his. She felt as if a member of her family were torn from her. Vassim kneeled behind brought his hand to Cecilia's shoulder to comfort her. But she didn't cry or flinch. Her smile remained because she knew that his torture had ceased. The prison Rudy Roughnight had been confined to have its door flung opened, and now he could rest in peace. A light wind blew in from the west, as to signal and memorialize this tragic loss of life between friends.

"I always love you," the girl whispered to the wind. "Always. Rest well."