Chapter: Chapter Eighteen: The Last Breath

Chapter Author: Beck2

He leaped backwards as the blade slashed in an arc towards his neck. A few hairs were lost to the blade, but he counted them as a worthy sacrifice. He feinted forward and kicked Orick in the chest, causing the man to grow angry and slash at his shoulder. He stepped back and allowed the blade to whistle past.

When Orick had shoved him back at the beginning of the battle, it had taken all of his strength to keep upright. For a man getting on in his years, Orick was a foe that need not be underestimated.

Parrying another thrust from the man, he watched carefully the other man's style and technique. Orick fought with skill and ease, but he would drop his guard in favor of killing blows, which took all his own skill and cunning to escape. But therein would lie Orick's demise, he was too eager to kill.

Deftly slapping the blade away and kicking Orick hard in the stomach, he leaped away from the wall Orick had been steadily trying to push him into. Orick doubled over slightly from the pain but was up again, eyes blazing. Orick jumped after him, slashing again and again, raining blows that were barely blocked.

Their blades locked again, this time in a test of strength, both combatants equally matched, but not so much in skill. Nemo rolled and slammed his elbow into the other man's mouth, causing blood to dribble from a split lip.

"You should give up now. You won't win."

"Nemo, I thought we were two of a kind, we shouldn't allow ourselves words that mean nothing. You know I won't surrender. Though, if you should, I will make your death quick, though not necessarily painless."

"Your offer has been considered, and thoroughly declined."

"So be it." He leapt forward sword raised.

The agony was intense.

He didn't know what was happening at first. At first he thought it had been an attack, someone had shot him in the stomach, and Hyde would kill them.

But the potion had run its course, and now his bones were rearranging themselves wildly, cracking, breaking, reforming. His muscles lost weight rapidly, and he thought he would pass out from the sudden loss of weight. The worst was his back and all of its nerves, horrific, crescendoing pain that never seemed to stop.

He screamed.

He screamed as Hyde did, from the pain visited upon him by that horrible potion.

And as soon as it started it was over, and he was on his knees, Henry Jekyll once more, panting, trying to catch his breath from the change. His eyes were very blurry at first, slowly getting clearer as he found his bearing and realized where he was.

A low groan met his ears. It was strange to hear it. Every time he came back from Hyde, things seemed new. Perhaps it was because he was trapped from the world inside Hyde, and Hyde was trapped inside himself.

"Bloody…'Enry? You have no idea how glad I am to see you, mate."

He just nodded at the jovial thief. His breath was still coming in short gasps, and his body still going through the shock of the change.

"You alright, Doc?"

"I need a few minutes to rest." He squinted out across the building that Edward destroyed, not to long ago either. "Did he…Edward…kill anyone?"

"Too soon to say. Though I must say, lucky break for me, eh? 'E just winged me a bit, think 'e knocked me out." The thief rubbed his head, rubbing off some of the white paint. "If you hadn't come back, I would have been a thief soufflé, I think."

"You're welcome…" He said hesitantly. He could not be thanked for the change. That could be blamed on the longevity of the potion. But Skinner seemed happy enough about surviving, so to only point out his closeness to death would only ruin his cheerfulness.

"I suppose we should go find the others, see if they need our help, though it's unlikely, I've already screwed things up and you don't look so good."

"I'll be fine, I just need to rest…" He grew dizzy and felt darkness steal over his mind.

The last thing he heard before losing consciousness was Skinner asking him if he were alright.

"Why are you not allowing us access? This place is holy, we must watch over it!"

The crowd was growing more and more irate. Most of them were priests and workers, eager to return to the church they had been asked to evacuate.

Mina kept them at bay with only so much patience. She would not interfere in a fight that she could see Nemo was taking so personally. And she certainly would not allow these people to do so.

"Let us in!"

"No! You will stay out here until it has been deemed safe."

"Who are you to say that?"

She turned and glared at the man who spoke. He stepped back, visibly gulping, obviously afraid of the flash of red he saw in those eyes. She passed them over the crowd.

"You will go in when I say, not a moment before. Is that understood?"

The only answer was frightened nods.

"Shallows, everyone out for Naples." Gilly hopped out of the boat and landed in the three foot water. He looked up at the port. "Looks a bit rougher than when I left."

Some of the crew he recognized from the Nautilus began to walk over.

"Your captain's boys are coming. I'll leave you with them, eh?"

"Stop!" One of the men yelled as he turned to leave. Several guns cocked at him.

"Wait I've….changed my mind. Why don't we all go talk to them?"

"Hey, it's alright, he's with me." Sawyer waved from the boat. Clunky was whining and preparing to head for dry land.

The crew splashed into the shallows to pull the boat to shore, and some doctors ran to make sure Sawyer was alright.

He wondered about making a fast getaway, but even though Sawyer had given his approval, the crewmen were still glaring at him. And he had no doubt that they would shoot him if they felt it necessary.

"I think we'll be stuck here for awhile, Clunky m'boy."

The dog whined as it jumped out of the boat to stand by his side.

An antique table was turned into firewood as his slash went wayward. The Indian Captain kept eluding him, forever out of his grasp.

No, not forever.

He knew he should calm himself. But he was past caring. All he wanted was to kill him. He wanted to kill Nemo. If not for Nemo, he would have had the Aurelius, the money, the prestige, the power. It took him a long time to build up those things, and now he had nothing. All because of one man.

Slashing downwards, he caught the wrist of the Indian, and relished in the thin trickle of blood he saw. He considered it payment for a broken lip.

The blades sang a dangerous song as they struck each other, each with their own tainted melody. His was rushed, blow after blow of rage. Nemo's was defensive, parry after parry in desperation.

It infuriated him to no end. Why couldn't the damn Indian Captain stay still?

Then he saw it, as if a way had been divinely given to him. Nemo had dropped his guard, now he could finish this.

"Die!" He thrust the sword forward with all of his strength.

Time seemed to slow as Nemo rolled away from the blade, but not fast enough. The blade went through his shoulder, pinning him against the wall. He would have shouted at this triumph, even though it wasn't the one he wanted, but he realized the grim look of triumph mirrored in the other man's eyes.

It was then he felt the cold in his heart. Not the proverbial cold heart of feelings, but a cold that only comes when a sword pierces a heart.

"You…tricked me…."

"You were too eager to kill. It was your downfall." Nemo replied seriously.

"Can't end like this…always another…day." He felt his life slip away slowly.

Nemo watched him with grim satisfaction. There was no pity in his dark eyes.

"There are no more days for you, Commander Orick."

He felt the tormenting weight of those words as his last breath escaped his lips.

A/N

I know, it hasn't updated in a week and a half, sorry guys, but I think this was earlier than last time! I had some problems getting this chapter written, and I am very sorry for the wait.

Clez: Thank you very much! I really do hope you like the fight scene, I don't usually do fight scenes, and I don't know if it turned out kosher. I hope you like this chapter as well!

Silent Bob 546: Yeah, he was asking for it. Good thing luck was on his side. Thank you very much!

Niani: Thank you very much! Sorry, not very much of any sort of torture, but I hope you love it all the same!

Steffi-333: Well, I hope it was up to your standards, and I hope you do well on your tests! Good luck!

Silversnow: I'm glad you're getting so into this story. Hope you liked this chapter!

Fritz Will Get You: Ah yes, just one more gentle shove to get me back into writing. Sorry for the wait, I know that it's horrible for me to do. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter even though it's late!

Please leave your comments on the way out; especially on anything I can do to improve on the fight scenes should you have suggestions. Thank you all very much!