(blinks and looks about) Guess what everyone! This is the last chapter before the Epilogue. I tried to make it a tear jerker but I think I failed. Oh well, you can't do everything right, right? Anyway just a huge big thank you to all of those who have supported me throughout the writing of this fic. ^_^ I hope you guys won't stop reading my stuff after this is all completely finished!

I actually enjoyed writing this one a lot more than Darkness Falling. I look back on that and think, "Whooooooo! That was CRAP!"

But I digress. Now if these damned pop ups stop, I will continue to tell you all the tale of woe that is Arson's Destiny.

Enjoy, and don't forget…reviews are vital for a writer's life source.

Thank you.

Chapter 21

            Dante breathed out heavily as he felt the first throbs of energy enter his two hands. Kryder's eyes showed no emotion, but then they slowly closed as though in meditation. Dante understood then and there why Kryder had taken to meditating so much. He had simply thought that it was a way to waste time until the fight, but his son had proved him wrong yet again. Lucia's face was a picture of grim determination. Her red hair was blown back by the wind that had struck up. Dante looked up to see Lucia's face take on a look of strain as she concentrated for all she was worth.

            'Dante,' said a voice in his ear. Trish.

            'What is it?'

            'Xy's dead.' Dante simply nodded. He had already realized when he had seen Arson's rage explode into pure power. 'What are we going to do?' she whispered.

            'Pray that we have enough power to take the bastard down,' said Dante, a grim smile on his face. 'Now shut up and start gathering energy. Gather as much as you can, ever little bit will help us finish him off.' Trish nodded silently. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the two combatants carry on their mad charge.

            Arson stretched out his wings before the two collided, took a leap into the air and took to the sky. Craven growled, angry that h had been taken unawares as fire rained down upon him. Arson kept flying higher, determined to keep the fight away from his family and friends.  Craven took flight and pursued him.

            'Fight like a man!' he taunted. Arson shook his head.

            'I can't. I'm not a man. I'm a hybrid. Half demon, half angel. To fight the way man does would be lying to myself.' Craven rolled his eyes but then flapped his wide black leathery wings so then he was above Arson. Arson followed his movement with his eyes and then took off in the opposite direction to Dante and the others, flying as fast as he could. His white wings propelled him onwards, sometimes he rode with the wind, allowing it to carry him forward without exerting himself. Craven flew behind him, taking the bait.

            It suddenly occurred to Arson that if he led Craven too far away from his friends, they would not be able to hit him and strike the fatal blow that would end his life. He'd be out of range. All that energy would have gone to waste and there would not be a second chance to try again. They'd be dead before Arson would be able to distract Craven again.

            Arson zoomed first one way and then the other, sometimes gaining altitude, sometimes dropping down lower purposely as he struggled to keep his enemy confused and distracted for as long as he possibly could.

            Craven soon tired of this game and started flying after Arson for real. The hybrid realised then and there what a fool he had been. He had simply assumed that Craven had already been using his maximum speed, and that he couldn't go any faster. He had been wrong. All these thoughts took place in the space of a second, but even then Arson barely had time to pull in his wings and drop down a few feet as Craven rushed overhead. Arson turned in midair seeing that Craven was flying back towards where the others were positioned. Panic gave way to all sense as he reached out and grabbed one of his wings at the last second. Craven growled out in pain and turned to face Arson, who had tried to make a run for it.

            Arson smiled grimly but then squeaked as he flew against a hard force. Craven. He smirked.

            'You foolish child. Did you really think that you could try and outrun me?' Arson's eyes widened slightly. 'Did you really believe that your speed surpassed mine?' Arson cried out in pain as Craven punched him hard in the gut, knocking the breath from him. Arson gasped and coughed and slowly straightened up, his wings moving slowly but then picking up the pace. Craven smirked again but then paled slightly as white winds began forming, spinning faster. Arson raised one hand towards Craven. The cyclone moved towards him at a blinding speed, too fast for Craven to even think properly about what was happening.

            His world was spinning, he felt sick and dizzy. What was happening to him? Rocks and sharp stones cut him as the wind blasted them back and forth. Craven snarled with rage at his own stupidity. He had underestimated the boy. Using most of his strength, he pointed one hand down towards the ground and shot a large powerful purple beam of energy. The impact of it blasting against the ground was the lift that he needed. His wings spread out as he was cannoned out of the tornado. He hovered there for several moments, trying to pinpoint Arson's position.

            A sudden weight crashed into the back of his head. Craven whirled around, his vision swimming. Arson pounded down upon him, wanting him only to feel the same pain he was feeling deep inside. Craven at last gave vent to another low growl and grabbed his fist as it went sailing past his ear.

            'Playtime's over!' Arson screamed in pain as Craven rained down upon him. Arson tried to escape but Craven suddenly latched onto his wings, pulling on them so then he was dragged back towards him. Feathers flew everywhere from Arson's wings as they became damaged. Arson fell to the ground, a crumpled heap, tears in his eyes. He moved his wings slightly, only to find that it pained him when he did. He winced and moaned. He gasped as he felt the ground leave his body. He was floating. Arson looked around in confusion and then tried to fight the sensation and tried to get back on solid ground. Suddenly, he was blinded with white hot pain. His vision started turning black, he was only aware of the agony that ran through his body over and over again. Craven continued to clench his fist, both he and Arson glowing with a purple aura. Arson screamed again in pain and thrashed about. He suddenly turned rigid at the sound of bones crunching under the pressure. He continued to rise, the only thing keeping him afloat was Craven's power.

            Dante growled as he watched the battle. His arms were shaking; in his hands a huge red ball of energy trembled as it clamoured to be set loose to cause destruction. Kryder remained with his eyes closed, still gathering more energy for his attack. Trish and Lucia stopped the gathering, watching Arson struggle and scream in mid air. Lucia looked at Dante.

            'He won't be able to hold up for much longer,' she said softly. Trish nodded her agreement.

            'We have to act now and put our energy as one and attack.' Dante weighed up the angle as he listened to Trish. His eyes widened. Kryder had opened his eyes, looking at Trish with rage. More energy flowed into the power ball as it fed off his anger and frustration.

            'But from this angle we'll kill Arson too!' yelled Kryder. Trish nodded, her eyes filled with tears.

            'Do you really think I don't know that?' Lucia gasped, a high pitched sound.

            'Can't we change position?'

            'We might lose all the energy that we gathered,' explained Dante, his voice heavy. 'It's now or never.' Kryder looked at him in horror.

            'How can you be so calm? You really don't care, do you?' Dante's jaw tightened and he turned to face him, his ice blue eyes blazing with cold fire.

            'Shut up and don't ever say that to me again.' Dante readied himself and took a deep breath. 'This one's for you, Father.'

            Arson smiled quite suddenly but then started crying out in pain as it worsened. Craven smiled and then moved closer to the hybrid. Arson swallowed hard but could only stay in one place. Craven grinned.

            'You could save yourself some pain if you join me. What do you say? All the power you want. You wouldn't have to fight anymore, Arson. Because everyone would be under your rule. Who knows, I might bring that girl back to life for you.' Arson scowled and spat in Craven's face without a moment's hesitation.

            'I'd rather die than join you! You killed her! She was practically harmless! And you just took her out in one blow!' Craven looked disgusted.

            'You talk too much…very well, wretch. I guess that means I won't let you live.' Craven grabbed onto Arson's neck and started squeezing. Arson could make no move, bound by Craven's strength. Suddenly, the feeling of strangulation stopped. Arson gasped and panted as he slowly opened his eyes. He turned his head towards the direction that Craven was staring at. The tyrant's face had taken on a look of pure disbelief. Craven's arms went up to shield himself. Arson blinked and then screamed out in terror as he began to fall down. He cried out again in pain as he was engulfed by a white light.

            Dante watched for any signs of life from Craven. He could see none. Kryder had come across the body while searching frantically for his son. The corpse was fried, evidently they had done the job well. But one had to be sure. Dante crouched down beside the body and very gingerly felt for a heartbeat. There was none. He blinked and then pulled up a few blades of grass. There was no wind. He held the grass in front of Craven's mouth and nose, watching for any movement. There was none. Craven wasn't breathing. He was deader than a stone. Dante breathed out a long sigh and then stood up. Lucia was behind him, looking pale-faced.

            'We were lucky, no?'

            'Very lucky. Looks like my father found too much energy. Perhaps that's why it backfired on him.' Lucia was about to say something when she was silenced by an anguished cry.

            Kryder fell to his knees beside his son, tears falling out of his eyes. He shook his head silently as he gently cradled his son to his body, sobbing brokenly, rocking with him back and forth in his grief.

            'It can't end like this! It can't!' he yelled hoarsely. Tears rolled shamelessly down his face, landing on the pale cold flesh of his child. 'After everything you survived through, after all that, you can't be…you can't be!' Dante ran up and stopped short as he saw. Kryder heard him and turned his head to face him, his green eyes bursting with raw emotion. Dante could tell just by looking into his eyes that he couldn't see properly; his vision was blinded by tears.

            'Why?! Why?! We killed him…I killed him…I had a hand in this…Oh God…Arson!' Kryder wailed. Dante blinked several times as though clearing something from his eyes but then glared at Kryder.

            'I had no choice! It had to be done!' Kryder rested his son's head against his chest and cradled him as though he were a baby. Sobs continued to wrack his body.

            'Forgive me, Arson…I never meant any of this to happen. Please, please wake up…wake up, Arson!' There was no reply. Arson lay cold and unresponsive in his father's arms, eyes closed, mouth open, his skin losing colour. Trish swallowed hard and looked at Dante as though pleadingly as Kryder continued to mourn. Dante looked towards Trish and shook his head. Lucia stood to one side, her head lowered.

            '…He was…a very brave boy…' she whispered. Kryder shook his head, refusing to believe.

            'Shut up! Don't talk about him like that! He's still alive, he wouldn't let this hurt him. He's got to be alive!'

            'Kryder…' Trish whispered weakly.

            'I'm not giving up on him!' screamed Kryder. His eyes had closed, he was bent low over his son so then his hair covered his face, so that no one could see. Trish looked at Dante again as though begging him silently to do something.

            'I don't have a yellow orb…' he said softly.

            'He doesn't NEED a yellow orb! He's alive!' shouted Kryder, in hysterics. Dante snapped.

            'Look. He's dead okay? Dead. He's not going to wake up. He's not coming back!' yelled Dante. Kryder's whole body shook with grief as the news struck home.

            'No…' he moaned. 'No…not Arson…' Trish fell into Dante's arms, weeping. Dante took in a shaky breath. Though on the outside he didn't look as though he gave a damn, on the inside he felt as though he was being ripped apart. It was hard to believe that the one he had trained and had taken care of like a father was gone. It all had a dreamlike quality, as though he'd wake up and find that everything would be back to normal. But a part of him took it for the truth with a cold acceptance. He had been afraid that Arson was going to be taken from him, and now he had been. He had been taken away from everyone.

            'We…should all head back,' Dante heard himself say as though in a trance. He started to lead Trish away, his feet following a path they seemed to know by themselves. Lucia nodded and followed behind silently. Only Kryder remained. His head raised as he heard something clatter on the ground. He looked back and saw that Dante had dropped a Vital star. Kryder blinked and then reached out for it, looking back at Arson.

            'Dad's wrong. You're not…you're still alive. I know it.' He placed the star on Arson's chest and held it there for several minutes. Nothing happened. Kryder shook his head with a mixture of anger and grief and thumped the star down hard on Arson's chest.

            'Come on! Work, damn it!' Kryder's voice shook and he collapsed, a sobbing heap. Kryder suddenly stopped crying, his eyes flying open as he heard a single word.

            '…Dad...?' Kryder smiled, and rejoiced.