I'm gonna start using my own chapter titles again, if nobody has a problem with it. All those opposed say yea...

No one? M'kay, no problems, then. Ain't democracy great?

Merry Christmas, Y'all! TWO Chapters right after each other!

Lacy things the wife is missin,

Didn't ask fer her permission,

I'm wearin her clothes,

Her pink Pantyhose,

Walkin' round in women's underwear.

In the store there's a teddy,

With little straps like spaghetti,

It hold me so tight,

Like handcuffs at night,

Walkin' round in women's underwear.

In the office there's a guy named Melvin,

He pretends that I am Murphy Brown,

He'll say 'Are you ready?'

We'll say, 'Whoa man,

Let's wait until the wives are out of town!'

La----ter o-----n If you wanna,

 We can dress like Madonna,

Put on some high-shade,

And join the Parade,

Walking round in women's underwear!

Lacy things the wife is missin,

Didn't ask fer her permission,

I'm wearin her clothes,

Her pink pantyhose,

Walkin' round in women's underwear.

Walkin' round in women's underwea--------r.

Walkin' round in women's underwea--------r!

   ~ By Bob & Tom (Whoever the hell they are!)

Hur hur hur, now they've got some funny Christmas joy!


(Agh! I've been GLOMPED! Twice! I always thought that happened to OTHER people! And)

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Chapter XXXIV: The Black Sun Of Jarred Rath

Nothing remained of the tower known as 'The Spire' anymore. A massive globe of darkness floating ominously in the sky was all that remained, a foreboding image of evil. It overshadowed the sun, and tainted what light that came down with a suffocating shadow. The Black Sun of the Shadows, Kahn had called it, a name that aptly fit.

"Oy, Kahn, what's with this almighty prophecy with this 'Prince of Darkness' or whatever?" Cloud demanded. "And what's it got to do with that?!" Cloud demanded, thoroughly pissed off that not once, but twice there was a huge, ominous looking thing in the sky in his lifetime.

The demon shrugged, and spat. He cleared his throat and recited while plodding on behind Shakal.

"Reviled fathers,

Cruel sons,

From your flesh,

Shall be born the dark one.

He will be made of power,

But shall be tempered with mercy,

And the guilty shall cower,

And all sin forgiven.

Gone will be the father's taint,

Restored will be the wanderers be,

And the vile will become far and faint

And destroyed shall be the son's city.

But with the Prince,

Shall there then arise,

The hope of our peoples,

Forgiveness we can all recognize.

Gone will be the father's blight,

Forgiven shall be the son's sight,

Forgotten shall be the brother's flight,

And all shall behold the new-found light."

"That's a roughly translated version of the Prophecy. The fathers are the demons, the son are the Half-Breeds, and the Brothers are the Cetra and their human descendants. The 'Father's blight' is the crater at the Northern peak, where the demon city was destroyed by magic gone wrong, which means that the Prince Of Darkness will heal the land. The 'Son's Sight' refers to the Half-Breeds hatred of their 'fathers' and 'Brothers', and the Prince Of Darkness will remove this hatred from his people. The 'Brother's Flight' refers to the semi-recent destruction of the Cetra and the arising of the human race, and means that the Cetra will arise once more, and human's will be able to use the Planet's power once more. At least, that's one interpretation." The demon explained. "A pessimistic group of people looked at the prophecy, and decided that it could mean just as well that everything would be destroyed, and that a new race and world will arise from the ashes, completely devoid of our 'taint'. Shakal seems to think that her precious Price of Darkness was the person to fulfil the prophecy, and I guess she's right, but it's being done in the wrong way. Jarred, or the Prince of Darkness, is going to try and destroy everything in existence, and create a new one in his vision."

There was a collective silence at the end of this. The enormity of it all didn't really have time to settle in so short a time.

"So, he's going to destroy everything?" Cid ventured warily.

"Yes, that's his general gist." Kahn said slowly, with visible strain.


"What, even space?"

"Does it exist?"

"F-%#¤ yeah."

"Then yes."

the cigarette Cid had been smoking dropped from his lips, and his eyes went wide.

"What the F-&¤#?! How can he do that? Space is nothing! You can't destroy nothing!"

Kahn sighed.

"Everything will be destroyed, Cid. Don't ask me why, just believe it. There are, or rather were, theories about this. The strongest one was that the essence of the Prince Of Darkness is merely the opposing will to the Lifestream, the source of all evil if you will, a will that seeks to destroy everything, and recreate it all in it's own, twisted image." He shouted. "We have to stop it."

More silence. The trees above them shook and trembled, as if they knew what awaited them at the end and they trembled in fear. The black orb shuddered, suddenly, and a pair of crimson triangles formed in it, their bases parallel with each other, short around the top, and long towards the bottom. It hardly seemed apocalyptic, threatening even. Just two triangles. Kahn laughed wryly.

"He's taken up his name, I see." The demon remarked with a grin. "Very confident."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Shadowlord had watched the black orb appear in the sky, his eyes wide and his hands trembling, as he felt the raw magical power erupt from nothing, and then suddenly stabilize and remain. It was exuding a vile aura that a demon could see and fear with a passion. Lesser demons that saw it fell to their knees, begging for forgiveness, some even taking their own lives. Four of the six counsel member's remained Mech-Head and a Faeryn Rath. They were thoroughly spooked, but their stubborn 'love of life' forbade them from such a terrible act as suicide, and their fierce loyalty to him kept their wits about them. Chaos was, of course, still alive, as well as the Galian beast (Probably because he was too stupid to realize that killing himself was an option), but Hellmasker and Death Gigas were dead. Other then them, there were fourteen warriors, all demoralized and unable to fight. They were too busy begging for mercy.

"- Jarred would never do this!" Faeryn said, confusion on her face. "He has too much compassion, too much fire to let himself fall into chaos! Love of battle is all he stands for, not destruction!"

The Shadowlord whirled on her, grabbing her by the throat.

"What would you know, hmm?"

"I, I," She faltered, increasingly nervous. "My soul was used to taint him as a child. Hojo poured my soul into his body, and I empowered him to survive, and eventually I was no longer needed to sustain his taint, and was removed. I thought you knew. You know 'Faeryn Rath' and 'Jarred Rath'. You could say I'm his big sister." She cringed from the Shadowlord's gaze, and prayed fervently for mercy.

After a moment, the Shadowlord dropped her.

"I suppose you can't be blamed." He said reluctantly. "So you say he wouldn't do this."

"Not without careful consideration. He thinks the shortest way is a straight line, but he doesn't realize that isn't as simple as that. He would never want to destroy and create everything again. A child who breaks his toy will not make a new one."

"I suppose yo- Hello there, what have we here?"

The Shadowlord stared at the pale figure and her train of company. He recognized Shakal Na Haxa Immediately, and then Kahn, and finally Kahn. Fuzzily, he thought recognized the damnable Cetra, but it could easily have been a trick of the light.

"Ah, so when things get tough you come crawling back to u-"

"Stuff it, you blown up piece of evil. "Shakal Na Haxa commanded, standing face to face with the demon. "We have bigger problems at the moment, and we need to figure this out. No time for petty differences."

The Shadowlord stood there for a moment, his mouth open. His eyes stared vacantly at the woman before him. Slowly he closed his mouth, and brought his hands to his sides.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

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Nox Seran was dead. He had seen the black orb appear, and had fell to the ground, as if stricken. Malice could feel the demon's life ripped from his body, and sucked up into the vile globe. They had been right below the globe when it had appeared, and it's affect could be felt. All around him, everything was being destroyed, it's very essence sucked up into the black sun, destroying everything around it. Nox Seran had called it the black eye of the destroyer, and had moved on, but when the two triangles appeared, he shuddered, and then he to was absorbed into it. As he died, he muttered a few simple words.

~I bow before the red eyes of the fallen.~ Malice mentally replayed the words through his mind, remembering the fear and anguish in the demon's eyes as he died.

He too, was dying. Malice could feel his energy ripped from him, destroyed, and turned to nothing. His control was going, going...     

...gone.

Reno fell on his back, staring up at the black orb above, as he felt this very essence torn from him. Trees crumbled around him, the ground cracked and the grass withered. Black clouds circled around that vile omen, and thunder brewed.

Reno closed his eyes, and was no more.

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Elena opened her eyes, and found herself laying in darkness once again. Only this time, she was not alone.

Jarred stood tall, his eyes flaring red with such power that you couldn't be sure where his eyes really were. His hair floated upwards, and a smile played across his lips. His arms were crossed, and his axe hung from a loop of cord at it's base. His tattered clothing was no more. He stood with a lack body suit that hugged his body, highlighting his muscles. Tall boots decked his feet and climbed up to his knees, where steel knee guards reached up.

Wraith, Spectre and Ghost were kneeling before him, while Psin stood behind them, his hand on his sword-hilt, and his white cloak fluttering.


"We pledge loyalty, Prince." Wraith said devotedly. He drew his sword, and held it in his hands. He offered it to Jarred, and averted his eyes. "As it was given to me for safe-keeping, so I return it to you."

"I give my life for you, Prince." Ghost said afterwards, pulling a glass falcon. "As it was given to me for safe-keeping, so I return it to you."

"I offer my soul, Prince." Spectre said finally, a crystal dagger appearing in his hand. "As it was given to me for safe-keeping, so do I return it."

Jarred looked at the three objects in turn, and received them gratefully. Psin stood silent, staring intently at Jarred.

Jarred's eyes turned to Psin with such fury and strength that he flinched.


"And you, brother? Do you come seeking forgiveness, or do you wish for eternal darkness?" He demanded, holding Wraith's long sword tightly.

Psin drew his own sword, which glowed brightly. The words 'Betrayer' burned furiously, a beacon of light in the dark abyss of this blackness.

"You know what I came for, Jarred." Psin said slowly. As he said it, Wraith Spectre and Ghost stood and faced him, grim looks on their faces. "I have come to end this."

A deafening silence settled there for a while, and then Jarred laughed. It wasn't a pleasant laugh, though. It seemed devoid of any humour, of any life outside of malice.

"I will bring an end to this, brother!" He laughed. "That's what I was made for! I will end everything, and remake it all!"

"You will die like the scum you are, brother!" Psin roared. "I have renounced your claim on me, and I renounce your taint in me! I am of the light now, brother! I can, and will vanquish your vile taint in this world once and for all!" He through his cloak aside, and stood ready, his weapon held at the ready, with both hands.

Jarred's smile broadened.

"Tell me, brother," He inserted so much hatred and spite into the word that Psin flinched once again. "In this place of darkness, who do you think holds the advantage?!" His hand lashed out, and as if obeying his will, black shadows ripped around Psin's hands, and lifted him off his feet. His arms were spread wide, the sword clanking to the ground noisily. A third shadow wrapped around his feet, binding them fast. "You are a fool, brother, if you thought you could beat me. I am the darkness! I am everything! I am the fear that crawls into your heart, the spite that froths from your soul, the hate that boils in your mind! You cannot kill me without creating me once again!" Jarred spat disdainfully. But he deflated, suddenly, and his shoulders slumped.

"But I will change this. I will take it all away, and make it all anew. Nothing can stop me, not now. It will all be perfect..." he trailed off, a pleasant look on his face. The smile returned, and he turned to Elena. He walked up to her, and offered a hand. The fire in his eyes disappeared, and for a moment she could see the old eyes once more, looking hopeful and gleeful at the same time.

"I promise, Elena. I will make everything better. With my power, I can erase the wrongs, and turn them to rights!" Fearfully, Elena took his hand, and he pulled her up to her feet. He pulled her close, looking deep into her eyes. "But I would never hurt you, Elena. You are precious to me. We will live in the new world, forever, without fear! No pain, no fear, no suffering."

Elena's eyes went wide as plates and she recoiled. Jarred's expression changed to one of confusion.

"Y, you'd destroy everything? To make a new world? Why?" She said in disbelief.

Jarred grabbed her hand once again, and held it close.


"For you. For us. To end the pain, the suffering in this wretched universe! I will make it all again, you have to believe me, but there will be no evil!"

"But if you destroy everything, then what about all the good things in this world? What about Midgar, or Junon, or Calm?!"

"Of course!" Jarred said happily, drawing her close again. His excited breath washed across her face, and his eyes beheld her with such passion. "Anything! Anything for you! We will live in the new world, free of suffering! But first, this world must be destroyed."


There was such sincerity in his eyes that all doubt was dispelled before it had a chance to well up.

"Will you help me, though? Perfect worlds don't exactly build themselves, y'know." He said with a laugh.

"Don't listen to his lies, human! He is the channel of evil! All that he creates is twisted in vile! A world he creates would be an atrocity!" Psin screamed.

Elena didn't listen. Jarred wouldn't lie. Psin would, though.

"I will help you, Jarred." She said, freeing her hand from Jarred's grasp and wrapping it around his shoulders. She planted a kiss on his lips, and smiled internally as he returned it. They broke the kiss, both smiling. "And I will live with you in your new world."

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Whoo- HA! How's that fer a chapter? *I* was pleased with it, I'll tell ya what! But if you're not, well, that's you're problem, not mine. ^_^

All hail the "Imperial Candy-Thief", Slash The Ironman.