Had another title for this but decided against it as it would give away the ending. Now you guys'll just have to read and find out what happens.
I was also planning on writing some big intro thing for this chap, but it just ain't my style and I was too tired to type anything else after I wrote this chap (it's the longest chap I've written for any of my fics). I'm sure you guys don't care either way.
But since this is the last chap of this fic, those of you who don't make it a habit of reviewing, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, deter from your routine and tell me what you think. I really wanna know just how well received this thing was.
Well now,
It all ends here
She didn't want to leave, but Van had not given her a choice in the matter. "Go home, Hitomi! Leave! You're only in danger here." Hitomi had known what the young king was about to do. She didn't need for him to tell her his plan, or to witness it for herself. She had seen it in his eyes and she had tried to stop him. "No Van, there must be some other way. You can't." He had looked at her with defeated tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry Hitomi," he had said ruefully, "There is no other way." "But-" Hitomi had protested, and it was then that the familiar blue light came, bathing the girl from the Mystic Moon in its beam. She had struggled to get back, reaching out her hand, crying to the Gods to let her down, let her stay. It was all to no avail. Hitomi had felt herself being dragged into the sky; torn away from the boy she had loved, the world she had cared for. She was never to return to Gaea; never to see the strong, raven-haired king again...
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~~~Flashback~~~
They all huddled together, Van, Merle, Hitomi, none of them knew what to do or say next. How were they supposed to react to the news that Van had a living double that was bent on killing everyone the boy loved? It was an unexpected twist in the day that was beginning to explain a lot of strange occurrences and answer many puzzling questions.
As the three perplexed teens looked on in wonder, Velannaf strode impatiently back and forth, awaiting some sort of comment from any one of them.
"You just appeared yesterday?" Van spoke at last, voicing his and everyone else's thoughts aloud.
Velannaf stopped and turned his focus to the group. "That is what I said. Is it not?" he stated carelessly. "Try to keep up Van. I know you aren't that slow."
The boy scowled. "I know what you said. It's just that none of it makes any sense."
"Oh? How so?"
"Well...If you are me, why are you doing all this?" Why are you trying to hurt me? Why did you attack my friends...uh...our friends? And why did you need Dilandau if you were just going to kill him anyway?"
Velannaf took a breath, "I suppose I should tackle the question with the most obvious answer first. In fact I'm surprised you haven't figured it out just yet, Van. Maybe I give you too much credit."
The shadow looked down at the long sword he was holding, smiling as he ran his finger along the shaft, taking up the blood that was streaked along it. "Hm, Dilandau...The idiot had no idea. What an easy pawn he was to add to my game. All I had to do to string him along was promise him revenge on you, Van. Of course I would never allow it, but not once did he question my motives or why I kept stopping him before he finished you off. I can't believe you ever found him a challenge.
"And as for the reason why I needed the boy, well...every bad guy needs a dull witted sidekick and Dilandau was a perfect fit. When I decided I wanted to kill Hitomi, I realized I couldn't pull everything off by myself, that's when Albatou came to mind, so I awakened him, much to the dismay of Allen." Velannaf quickly glanced over to Millerna; she had not moved and was still clutching the dead knight, completely oblivious to everything and everyone else in the garden. The shadow grinned and looked back to the group, training his hard ruby stare on Hitomi, "I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. And it would have worked, had the bastard taken orders and stayed in the dungeon." This time he spoke directly to the frightened blond girl, "I'm sure you had your hand in his leaving, bitch. I know you can't keep your nosy little self out of anyone's business. You escaped my wrath once and fucked up my plans, and believe me, I will make you pay for your prying."
Van stepped up, pushing back from Merle and Hitomi, "Like hell you will. You aren't hurting anybody else."
"Not yet at least...I haven't finished answering your questions yet. So calm down...or don't you want to hear why I chose to do this to you?"
Van fell silent.
"Do you?"
"...yes."
"Good," smiled Velannaf. "I will explain and pay attention this time because I do not wish to repeat myself."
All was quiet as Merle, Van and Hitomi waited for Velannaf to continue.
"Well," he said, "I decided to ruin your life for two reasons, Van. Firstly, because I can; I am strong, I can do as I wish. But second of all, and most importantly, I did all this because of YOU. I mean, do you know what it is like to be trapped inside your mind, Van? Do you?" He stared hard at the young king and dismissed him with a wave of his hand and a toss of his head. "Of course not, you couldn't possibly begin to imagine how excruciating it is to listen to your whiny, pathetic thoughts day after day, hour after hour for three long years. I'm sure you haven't the faintest idea just how pitiful you really are. 'Oh, I wish my brother was still life. Why did Hitomi have to go? I'm so lonely. I hate being king. Nobody visits me anymore, blah, blah, blah, Oh, woe is me!' "Honestly," sneered Velannaf, "If you weren't a part of me, I'd have killed you along with Albatou and the rest of your clingy tramps, just for making me listen to that."
Van's ruby eyes darkened. He reached a hand to his shoulder, placing it over Merle's trembling fingers; he spoke, "But what about Merle? I don't think she's ever done anything to me that would piss you off. Why were you trying to kill her?"
"I wasn't really," answered Velannaf, unconcerned, "I made you choose between Merle and Hitomi because I wanted to cause you as much turmoil as was possible, though I never figured you would decide on that wench," he glared at Hitomi. "You're the one who nearly got your friend killed. If you hadn't called out to Hitomi, no harm would have come to Merle. But, no, you decided you didn't want to play by my rules. I told you one of them had to die and yet I see both are still living."
"Well deal with it asshole 'cause I'm not letting you hurt anyone else," cautioned Van.
The shadow chuckled dangerously, his mouth stretching into a disconcerting grin, "We'll see about that. I still have a score to settle with Dilandau."
"Dilandau's worthless," argued Van, "You nearly killed him just now with little effort. Why don't you leave him alone?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that, Van."
'So you think I'm useless do you?' thought Dilandau as he perched behind a tall hedge, watching everything that passed on the other side. Van, Velannaf, everyone was oblivious to his presence there. Nobody had noticed him slip off. 'I'll show you just how worthless I am."
Dilandau choked on a mixture of blood and pain. His insides were a mess, but still he grasped his sword at the ready, painstakingly holding himself upright. Velannaf had wounded him badly but Dilandau tried to ignore the cries of his injuries as best he could. He licked his lips, knowing that in just a little while he would finish what he had started three years ago. He would finally get his revenge on Van.
Dilandau? The mention of the former dragon slayer triggered something in Hitomi's mind. 'No, this can't be...Van!' The blond girl's eyes widened as a sudden vision flashed before them; Van lay dying on the ground, a sword sticking out from his chest, the handle of the blade held by a white haired demon.
Hitomi realized with sudden dread as she looked past Velannaf that Dilandau was no longer where Van's shadow had left him. A thin crimson trail smeared its way across the stones and disappeared in the grass behind a bush. Dilandau was hiding somewhere, waiting to make his move. Hitomi had to stop him or she would lose the ebony-haired king forever.
Merle was scared. There was no doubt about it. Her hands were trembling and she was deathly afraid of what might happen, but she would not leave Van's side. His safety was more her concern. The cat girl had always been there for her friend over the years, and she was not about to stop now. Whatever happened in the next little while, whatever Velannaf decided to do, she would be standing beside Van, until the end.
And there was also one more reason for her hardened resolve. It was for Velannaf himself that Merle stayed. Somehow, it didn't matter to her what the man had done. She couldn't tell why. There was just something strange about Van's dark self and Merle found that she couldn't bring herself to leave.
He acted as if he didn't care about her, but Merle sensed something inside him that made her believe otherwise. Whenever he spoke about his plans, and making Van choose between her and Hitomi, Velannaf never once looked at the cat girl. He always had his eyes focused on either Van or Hitomi. He avoided Merle's gaze at all cost, as if he was ashamed of what he had put her through.
Maybe, just maybe, Velannaf did care about her. Merle hoped this was true, but she was still weary of the man and she would not let her emotions take her guard down.
As she looked on at Van's dark reflection, she was filled with dread. She couldn't tell why, but something was going to happen to one of the Van's. Somehow she could just feel it in her heart.
Merle's ears twitched and she cocked her head to the side, listening intently for strange movements. Her fear did not subside when she heard rustling of leaves and careful footsteps somewhere behind the bushes to Van's left. Someone was behind them, waiting...waiting to hurt Van!"
"Van! Look out!"
"LORD VAN!"
Merle's and Hitomi's voices rang together in a frantic warning; at the same moment as the white haired demon sprang out from behind the bushes. Dilandau's eyes flashed as he realized he would have to go through both girls to get to his prize. In a split second he changed tactics and instead ran towards Velannaf with all his ire.
The shadow was caught unawares. He had not realized that Dilandau was strong enough to launch an attack, let alone move from where he had left the boy, dying. He stood stiff, too shocked to even raise his sword to defend himself, as Dilandau came at him. He set his jaw, knowing he had no time to move, and prepared himself for the assault.
"...agh..."
Velannaf snapped back to reality as he heard a feeble cry escape from, not his, but the lips a child. He looked down and gasped as Merle crumpled in a heap at his feet. Dilandau's sword still pierced her heart. The white-haired slayer backed slowly away as Velannaf fell to his knees, pulling the cat-girl's dying body against his chest.
"...Merle," he whispered, his voice suddenly pained, soft, "Merle...Don't die...please...don't die."
With her last efforts, Merle gave Velannaf one of her brightest smiles, looking briefly into the man's crimson eyes, sparkling with unshed tears before she closed her ocean blue orbs forever.
Van ran up to Velannaf as the man held Merle in his arms. Her strawberry hair hung limply and her face was soft and restful. Van wasn't sure what to do, his heart was pained and yet his blood was boiling. He had no thoughts until the shadow raised his head. There were tears in his eyes, much to Van's surprise. Their dark crimson orbs met and in that small instant, all their rage was channeled into a mutual understanding.
Velannaf looked down for a final time at Merle's peaceful face and set her body on a stone bench. He raised himself to his full height and strode towards Van, stepping up next to him. The young king handed him his sword with a grim smile, his already being drawn.
Without so much as a word or a sign for action, Van and Velannaf both walked casually towards their target. Dilandau saw them come steadfastly towards him and he panicked, shrinking into a bush, trying to blend in with the vegetation, to no avail. As the two raven-haired man approached, they both raised their swords and heedlessly swiped at the former dragon slayer. Dilandau fell to the ground and did not move again.
"Well, I guess that's it then," said Velannaf flatly.
"No," muttered Van, "It's not over yet."
Velannaf looked up with an inquisitive look. "Really? And wh-"
"Van!" Hitomi ran up; she had thought it best to hang back while Van and his dark self were taking up their revenge, but she found herself unable to hold back any longer. Both men turned and she halted in her tracks. Something in Van's eyes told her not to come any closer.
"Go home, Hitomi," he said. The blond girl did not move, though underneath her shirt, her ruby pendant began to glow. "Leave! You're only in danger here."
Hitomi knew in her heart that Van's words were true; he wanted to keep her safe, though, she could also tell that hidden beneath, Van had another motive for wanting to send her away. He didn't want her around to see what he was planning on doing. He didn't want her to get hurt anymore, not by him, not by his dark self.
"No Van, there must be some other way. You can't."
The young king looked at her with defeated tears in his eyes. "I'm sorry Hitomi," he said ruefully, "There is no other way."
"But-"
Hitomi had no more time to protest. Her words were cut short by the soft red glow emanating from her chest. She grasped her t-shirt, holding the pendant in her fist. "NO!" But even as she uttered the words, she was lifted up into the heavens by a beam of light that was all too familiar to her.
From the ground, the dark kings watched her with indiscernible looks on their dark faces. It was the last the girl from the Mystic Moon saw of them, Fanelia and everything she had known on Gaea.
"That was brave of you, Van," admired Velannaf as they both watched the last of the light rays get sucked back into the night sky, taking with them the girl from the Mystic Moon. "Now I wonder what you are planning inside that little head of yours now that we are very much alone."
"Why don't you take a look for yourself?" snapped Van, "I'm sure nothing's ever stopped you from doing that before."
"True," nodded Velannaf, "Nothing has stopped me before...However, this time, I won't bother. I will not waste another second of my existence sifting through that vacant hole you call a mind. I have seen what's in there, or rather, what's not, and I'm quite certain I know precisely what you mean to do."
Van was livid, but kept his cool under the scrutinizing gaze of his reflection. "Go on," he said darkly.
"Why, isn't it obvious?" Velannaf threw his hands into the air, smiling at the young king, "You are planning to kill me of course...Though might I remind you what would happen if you were foolish enough to try?" Velannaf seized his own wrist and squeezed tightly, hissing as the blood ran up over his hands like the juice of an overly ripe fruit. Van howled and as the shadow let go, began to favor his wound.
"There now, you see," leered Velannaf, "You're weak, and you would never be able to go through with it."
"We'll see about that!" Van raised his sword and lunged with all his force at his dark refection. Velannaf frowned and ducked out of the way of the boy's swinging blade.
"Have you heard nothing I have said?" yelled the man, "Are you so dense that you do not yet comprehend?"
Velannaf leapt into the air, jagged ebony wings shooting out from his back. Van watched with amazement as his enemy swooped down at him with his sword held straight out. At the last moment, Velannaf drew back and kicked out with a rough leather boot. Van took the impact in the chest and fell to the ground, skidding along the rocks, same as before.
If Velannaf felt any pain from the attack, he did not show it. He remained air born, glaring as Van collected himself off the ground. He waited for the boy to stand and then continued his ascent. Van followed close behind, beating his own ivory wings. The two shot higher into the midnight sky, neither attacking, both just testing each other's skills in the air. When they were satisfied, and the young king had caught up to Velannaf
Their blades met and for a long moment, they stared into one another's eyes, both flashing with scarlet hate, waiting for the other to back down. Neither would and at last they both withdrew and stood back, panting slightly.
"You see Van. You can't kill me." Velannaf chuckles viciously. It sent chills down the boy's spine. "We're stuck together...for all time."
"Don't be so sure," warned Van, "You still have one weakness that I know of."
Velannaf raised and eyebrow, "Oh? And what is that?"
Van held up his sword, the razor edge gleaming as he pointed it at his own chest, "Me."
"NO!" Even as Velannaf sprang forwards in the air, he felt a white hot pain erupt in his chest. He jerked back, frantically clawing at the gaping wound beside his heart. He muttered inaudibly to himself, pleading with the Gods to stop the bleeding. His eyes were wide in sudden panic as he realized his prayers would not be answered. He was going to die and for the first time since he had come into existence, he felt afraid.
Van fell into shocked pain as he plunged the blade deep into his own body. Almost immediately he felt himself shutting down, but at the same time a peace took its hold, a new light. The raven-haired king was now free from the darkness he had been a prisoner to for so long. Van plummeted to the ground, his wings rustling, his feathers fluttering in the night. The soft white down floated to the garden like a gentle snowfall and they lay there, unmoving, just like their king.
Van watched high above as his shadow's wings folded. His dark self rocketed downwards, connecting with the hard stone with a dull thud. They rested parallel to each other, staring into one another's dying eyes.
"I...die," whispered Van grievously, "You...die..."
With that, the young took his final breath and passed away, the eternal light lifting his soul. His pain was over. The monster was gone.
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Well, how's that for a FINAL CHAPTER?
I hope you guys were surprised by the ending and aren't too upset that I killed ev'ryone. I got a lot of backlash about it before I even wrote the chap, but I stuck to my decision. Hope it turned out alright. Anyways, let me know!!!
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