Author's Note: This is the last chapter!! Thank you SOOO much fro reading
this all the way through everyone! Please continue to read my fics in the
future, I would really appreciate it! My newest is Diamonds in My Heart, a
Harry Potter fic about Remus Lupin. Please check it out! THANKS AGAIN I
LOVE YOU!
Enjoy!!
Part Four
Fall of the Flaming God
Chapter 53
Silver Drops are Falling
"Zhang He! Come quick!" Yelled Sima Yi. Zhang He was sitting near the pond enjoying the sunset as Sima Yi rushed out of the house.
"What's the matter?" Zhang He asked.
"It's Diao Chan. She-" Sima Yi started.
"It's happening?" Zhang He asked, a shot of adrenaline running through him. Sima Yi nodded. The two of the raced into the house. Sima Yi led him down the hall to a spacious room where Diao Chan lay on the floor. The other girls surrounded her and were throwing out encouraging phrases every once in a while. Diao Chan was in labor.
"Are you all right?" Zhang He asked, breathless.
"Get out!" Shrieked Sun Shang Xiang. "Nothing's going to happen for a couple of hours.
"Fine, but when yours comes along I'm not letting Sima Yi in." Zhang He gestured to the protrusion in her abdomen. The three girls got up and pushed Zhang He and Sima Yi out.
"We'll let you know when it's okay to come in." Da Qiao said in a motherly way then snapped the door shut. Zhang He sighed and waited beside the door with Sima Yi. Thy both sat in silence until about dawn.
"I think I'll name him Zhang Shi, if Diao Chan will let me." He said dreamily. Sima Yi chuckled a bit.
"It's a good name." He said. The door opened behind them suddenly and Sun Shang Xiang poked her head out.
"Come in and see her, Zhang He." She said softly. "She's beautiful." Zhang he rushed inside.
"Well, I know Diao Chan's beautiful, of course." He said with a smile.
"No, I mean your daughter." Sun Shang Xiang corrected. Zhang He faltered a bit. All the dreams of him training his son to be a great warrior were suddenly shattered. He hurried over to Diao Chan and kneeled near her. She looked very tired and her hair was a mess. Zhang He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Look." Diao Chan squeaked while wearing a weary grin. In her arm she's held a soft bundle of clothes. Inside was the pink face of a newborn baby. Zhang He smiled. Suddenly he didn't mind so much it wasn't a boy.
Diao Chan and Zhang He spent an entire month obsessing over their newest family member. Everyone was else was pleased as well, but your could never find happier parents than these two. They decided to name her Zhang Rai, after Rai Tso. Zhang He thought it suited her well.
Sun Shang Xiang also gave birth later on, but it was a much less heartwarming experience. From early in the morning they heard her angry bellows and when Sima Yi went to try and comfort her the true pain hit her full on. Zhang He, who was outside, heard her screaming at him.
"YOU BASTARD! YOU DID THIS TO ME! DIEEE!" Sima Yi raced out as fast as he could with Sun Shang Xiang waddling after him waving something sharp. It turned out well, though. She produced a healthy son they named Sima Shi. With Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao and Sun Ce's children on the way, Zhang He thought it best to resign his post as leader and settle down. He said he wanted a quiet life be he actually wanted to escape from ever seeing the Lady in Black again.
But there was no escape as he soon learned and on one windy night in October he began the longest night he would ever experience. Diao Chan and Zhang He had just put Zhang Rai to sleep when Diao Chan spied a dark figure in the courtyard. The trees lashed around furiously and looked ominous in the darkness.
"Oh, Zhang He." Diao Chan said, looking white as a ghost. "I feel so strange. I think. That man . . ." She nearly fainted, but Zhang He caught her. At once a light exploded in the courtyard and Diao Chan opened her eyes wide. "It's happening!" She said in a voice not her own. Something shattered the window beside them and the screamed.
"Come out Zhang He! The time has come!" Bellowed a voice from out of the harsh wind.
"What do you want?" Zhang He yelled back, protecting Diao Chan. Suddenly the wind kicked up and flew into the window snatching up Diao Chan and Zhang He and pulling them outside, dropping them violently in the courtyard.
Guo Tu loomed over them, looking grim.
"It all ends tonight." He said solemnly. Ki was beside him looking pale and dead.
"Guo Tu! Why are you here?" Zhang He asked, clutching Diao Chan who looked terrified. She was staring at Ki.
"I . . . Have to kill you Zhang He. . ." He whispered. It wasn't full of malice and dislike as usual. He almost sounded . . . Sad . . . "Even though . . . you are me . . . If you never leave this Earth Ki can never be brought to life."
"What are you talking about?" Zhang He shouted, feeling bewildered.
"She can have a true soul if you die. Then she can stay with me . . . forever . . . But only if I kill you . . ."
"What? This isn't making any sense." Zhang He spat, getting to his feet, his hair blustering all around. He could hear his child screaming from the window, she must have heard the window break. Was Guo Tu in love with Ki? What in the world was he raving about?
"You are really very stupid. You haven't gotten it by now?" Guo Tu asked, a crease in his brow. "Twenty-one years ago the Lady in Black touched Huang Chen Rai while she was pregnant. The child was affected. All the good in his soul was drained. It was split in two. That child . . . it was me . . ." He said, his face white.
"What?" Zhang He gasped. Guo Tu smiled shallowly.
"I'm Zhang Ren and so are you. I'm your brother, Zhang He." Guo Tu looked straight into his eyes.
"No . . . That's impossible." Zhang He shook his head. "How can you be my brother?"
"You are all the good in Zhang Ren, I am all the evil. If I kill you, some of Zhang Ren dies and Ki is free." Guo Tu said with a halfhearted smile.
"She is not meant to be alive! She must be destroyed! The whole reason we came back to this existence was to kill her!" Zhang He yelled.
"NO!" Guo Tu snarled. "The only one that's dying here tonight is you! We are good and evil, just as Ki and Ko are and this time EVIL WINS!"
"Zhang He!" Said a voice behind him. Sun Shang Xiang, Sima Yi, Zhang Liao, Zhen Ji, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and the Qiaos were all outside and armed for battle.
"Zhang He, what are they talking about?" Diao Chan asked. He couldn't answer.
"Don't you remember?" Guo Tu looked at her. "You're the Lady in Black's sister! You're Sui Ko, you were sealed away for years because She attacked you!"
"What?" Diao Chan breathed. She sunk to her knees a blank look going over her. She went in a sort of trance.
"Diao Chan! What did you do to her?" Zhang He screamed.
"She's remembering. She knows everything now. She could reach her deified form now."
"This is insane! Ki is the same way, isn't she!?" Zhang He screamed. Guo Tu looked scared suddenly.
"Don't you say a thing, Zhang He." He hissed.
"You're the Lady in Black, Ki! You're the evil wraith that's been torturing me!" He yelled at Ki. She had the same blank look for a second.
"What do you mean?" She asked in a sort of drone. "I . . . I . . . can't be . . ." Suddenly there was a rumbling. "THE ONLY REASON I LIVE IS TO KILL!? WHY!?" She screeched. "IF . . . THAT'S WHAT . . . I AM DOOMED TO DO . . . THAN I WILL!!" She rose into the air, her hair spreading out from behind her. Suddenly her neck lengthened and her skin grew white and deathly clammy. Her eyes turned into black pits along with her mouth. She became the Lady in Black, a phantom in a physical form. Guo Tu fell over and gaped at her.
The earth split in two, creating an angry red fissure, belching smoke and hot air. The house they all loved so much split in half and pieces of rubble fell into the abyss.
"Rai! She's still in there, Zhang He!" Diao Chan shrieked, coming back to life. Zhang He made a run for the crumbling home to save his baby, but he fell over onto the sandy ground. Then suddenly the Lady swept over the house and the wailing stopped. It took a few seconds to register. She was dead . . . His daughter was dead before she could walk and talk . . .
"NO!" Diao Chan cried, tears bursting from her eyes. The Lady in Black spread her arms and a wave of fire spread over the Earth from around her. The landscape morphed into a charred black wasteland and the echo of screams resonated through the valley. She opened her mouth and needles as big as trees rained down. One struck Sima Yi right through the middle.
"SIMA YI!" Zhang He screamed, rushing over. Sima Yi looked stunned. He sunk slowly to his knees. Sun Shang Xiang knelt beside him.
"Don't you die. . ." She breathed, clutching his arm. "You'll be all right . . ." Everyone circled around him, putting their hands on his shoulders and back, no one saying a word.
"Sima Yi . . ." Zhang He repeated tonelessly. Then, Sima Yi started hacking again. He coughed violently and a stream of blood leaked from his mouth. He sputtered something inaudible, then collapsed on the ground, sleeping forever in a pool of his blossoming blood. Sun Shang Xiang didn't cry or scream and wailed. She just lay down beside him, her arms around his still chest.
A fierce earthquake rattled the earth and Xiao Qiao fell into the flaming abyss, screaming in a pathetic, high-pitched way. Zhang He shut his eyes and sat motionless on the ground. He couldn't bear it anymore. He just sat covering his eyes as his world fell apart around him. No . . . he couldn't let it end this way. Not like this. He didn't spend his life coming up from his father's farm and working so hard to die now! He would not be defeated!
Suddenly a power rose from within him like never before. He felt as if a warm golden light was enveloping him. Then, without warning a fire burst all around him, encircling him in the flames. The spirit Phoenix rose in its truest and most radiant form. He was ready to fight . . . and win . . . Zhang He soared into the air, ready to bring down the Lady, still burning with ire.
"You can't win!" Guo Tu shouted from the ground, his voice sounding strangely strained. "That power is worthless against one of it's own kind!" Suddenly a wave of black light rippled out from Guo Tu. He was copying Zhang He's magic to make his own Dobutsu. A Phoenix of black light erupted around him and flew up, facing Zhang He's Phoenix. It ripped forward; clashing with the fiery Phoenix to produce sparks. Zhang He swiped his gleaming Phoenix Talons at Guo Tu hoping for a direct hit. Guo Tu's snapped it shining silver beak. They were both scorching one another with their resonating flames.
"You have to do something Diao Chan!" Zhang He screamed down to her, feeling the Lady in Black right behind him. A blinding flash disabled their sight for a few moments and Diao Chan, looking small and helpless rose high into the air. Her hair started to grow longer and longer, then whiter and whiter until it was so long it was on the ground. It was gossamer soft and shone with vivacity of diamond filament. Snow white feather wing sprout from her back and stretched to the size of buildings. Her eyes, though just tiny pin points for so far away shone like Sea Green jewels and cast a transfixing beam whenever you looked into them. She now wore a misty white robes that spread out about seven feet lower than her feet. She put her hands forward and put up an undulating shield of silvery light and moved towards the Lady. The two sides battle, good against evil, Black against white. Below them, the wasteland that was once earth was crumbling and Zhang He could find no sight of his friends. As he was looking down Guo Tu crashed into him and a piercing pain went through his stomach. He slashed back at Guo Tu as he plummeted to Earth. Guo Tu fell after him.
When they both reached the ground they were back to being just regular people. The crashes and bangs and explosions above signaled the Lady in Black and Diao Chan were still fighting with one another.
"Look what you've done!" Yelled Zhang He, motioning towards the sky. "You've killed everyone! Are you happy now!?"
"Shut up! If you hadn't told her none of this would've happened!"
"Oh, so I was just supposed to sit back and die like a good boy, right?" Zhang He snapped back. "Now we're both going to die along with about every other person on the planet! Thanks a lot . . ."
"Wait . . ." Guo Tu whispered, looking shocked. "There's . . . one way we can stop this . . ."
"What? What is it?" Zhang he inquired desperately.
"Well . . ." Guo Tu began reluctantly. "The only way to rid the Lady in Black from this world totally is to bring Zhang Ren fully back and let her remember that someone loves her. . ."
"How do we do that? I mean, we're two parts, aren't we? How is it possible?" Zhang He murmured.
"You're not going to like it . . ." Guo Tu hissed, not meeting his gaze.
"Whatever, if we can stop this chaos and salvage the little bit of life that's still around it would be worth it." Zhang He spat. Guo Tu looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. He bit his bottom lip and furrowed his brow, looking Zhang He painfully in the eye. "What?"
Guo Tu suddenly moved forward with speed, his eyes clamped shut very so tightly wrinkles of skin were around them. He grabbed the back of Zhang He's head and went close to his face. The next thing Zhang He knew, they were kissing. His first instinct was to throw him off violently, but then he noticed something strange was happening. It was as if his chest was deflating. He opened his mouth slightly and a whoosh came and he felt very faint. In the last blurry moments of consciousness he felt his entire body fall lame and crash to the ground. When he opened his eyes the first of many shocks hit him. He saw his own body lying on the floor, looking quite dead next to Guo Tu. He ran over and checked his own pulse. Nothing.
He looked at a pool of water next to him. It was Zhang Ren. He also noticed he felt different. It felt like his and Guo Tu's minds were acting as one. Evil and good, living in perfect balance. The thought made him shudder. He somehow knew what to do. He had all of Guo Tu's memories and thoughts, and Guo Tu had his. It was so strange he couldn't have even imagined something like it.
"KI!!!" He yelled up to the sky. "KIIIIIII!!!" She looked down. When she saw Zhang Ren it was like she was a massive hot air balloon someone had popped. She turned into a mass of black and white shreds that vaporized in air, leaving behind Ki, lowering down to Earth. When she landed on Earth, all eyes on her, she rushed towards Zhang Ren, her arms open wide. He caught her and held her close to him.
"I thought you left me forever . . ." She whimpered.
"I'm always here for you, Ki." His voice was empty. He suddenly felt like he was going to cry, the Guo Tu in im loved her very truly. "It'll be all right. You don't have to kill anymore. She looked up at him. Her tears were clear. Just water. She stared into his soul for a moment then closed her eyes, which looked strangely bright and alive. She put her head on his lap and hummed a bit.
"I always knew you'd come back. Now I can finally . . . be happy . . ." She whispered, her eyes closed. Zhang Ren stroked her ebony hair softly. One last time. Ki nuzzled her head into Zhang Ren's lap gently and went to sleep. She looked so peaceful. Yes, she was just sleeping . . . A shine of light rose from her and a misty silhouette of a woman dress in a white robe rose. She had a metal plate over her eyes and her hair was just like Ki's. She rose up into the turbulent skies and Ki slept the deepest sleep. She would never wake.
Zhang Ren looked around at the burning, arid land around him and felt pitiful. He was alone in the world with the transformed Sui Ko and the dead girl in his arms. He couldn't even get back to his true body. He felt very scared indeed.
Sui Ko looked at him with her surreal eyes and smiled softly.
"You have drawn the poison from the wound . . ." She said in a melodic and resonating voice. "Now it's time to heal . . . "She stood, slowing softly in the sky and closed her eyes. She stretched both her hands out and a white light emanated from them. Then she sang. She sang with her beautiful voice that filled the broken world with hope and light. It was true the words were in a different language but it renewed his faith in human life. Flowers and grass sprouted from the charred ground and the world moved back. The rivers refilled and sang and babbled as before. A dreamlike sensation covered Zhang Ren and he put Ki slowly down and lay down in the fragrant grass.
When he woke up he was in his bed. His lovely, warm bed. He opened his eyes to see everyone around him. Sima Yi, Xiao Qiao, Zhou Yu . . . They were all there and not a scratch on them . . . He looked from Diao Chan's face (Fully restored to it's impeccable beauty) to Sun Ce's and he even saw Guo Tu sitting in the back.
"W-what?" He spoke.
"It's all right, Zhang He." Diao Chan said soothingly. "Order is restored. The Lady in Black is gone forever . . ."
LOVE YOU!
Enjoy!!
Part Four
Fall of the Flaming God
Chapter 53
Silver Drops are Falling
"Zhang He! Come quick!" Yelled Sima Yi. Zhang He was sitting near the pond enjoying the sunset as Sima Yi rushed out of the house.
"What's the matter?" Zhang He asked.
"It's Diao Chan. She-" Sima Yi started.
"It's happening?" Zhang He asked, a shot of adrenaline running through him. Sima Yi nodded. The two of the raced into the house. Sima Yi led him down the hall to a spacious room where Diao Chan lay on the floor. The other girls surrounded her and were throwing out encouraging phrases every once in a while. Diao Chan was in labor.
"Are you all right?" Zhang He asked, breathless.
"Get out!" Shrieked Sun Shang Xiang. "Nothing's going to happen for a couple of hours.
"Fine, but when yours comes along I'm not letting Sima Yi in." Zhang He gestured to the protrusion in her abdomen. The three girls got up and pushed Zhang He and Sima Yi out.
"We'll let you know when it's okay to come in." Da Qiao said in a motherly way then snapped the door shut. Zhang He sighed and waited beside the door with Sima Yi. Thy both sat in silence until about dawn.
"I think I'll name him Zhang Shi, if Diao Chan will let me." He said dreamily. Sima Yi chuckled a bit.
"It's a good name." He said. The door opened behind them suddenly and Sun Shang Xiang poked her head out.
"Come in and see her, Zhang He." She said softly. "She's beautiful." Zhang he rushed inside.
"Well, I know Diao Chan's beautiful, of course." He said with a smile.
"No, I mean your daughter." Sun Shang Xiang corrected. Zhang He faltered a bit. All the dreams of him training his son to be a great warrior were suddenly shattered. He hurried over to Diao Chan and kneeled near her. She looked very tired and her hair was a mess. Zhang He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Look." Diao Chan squeaked while wearing a weary grin. In her arm she's held a soft bundle of clothes. Inside was the pink face of a newborn baby. Zhang He smiled. Suddenly he didn't mind so much it wasn't a boy.
Diao Chan and Zhang He spent an entire month obsessing over their newest family member. Everyone was else was pleased as well, but your could never find happier parents than these two. They decided to name her Zhang Rai, after Rai Tso. Zhang He thought it suited her well.
Sun Shang Xiang also gave birth later on, but it was a much less heartwarming experience. From early in the morning they heard her angry bellows and when Sima Yi went to try and comfort her the true pain hit her full on. Zhang He, who was outside, heard her screaming at him.
"YOU BASTARD! YOU DID THIS TO ME! DIEEE!" Sima Yi raced out as fast as he could with Sun Shang Xiang waddling after him waving something sharp. It turned out well, though. She produced a healthy son they named Sima Shi. With Zhou Yu, Zhang Liao and Sun Ce's children on the way, Zhang He thought it best to resign his post as leader and settle down. He said he wanted a quiet life be he actually wanted to escape from ever seeing the Lady in Black again.
But there was no escape as he soon learned and on one windy night in October he began the longest night he would ever experience. Diao Chan and Zhang He had just put Zhang Rai to sleep when Diao Chan spied a dark figure in the courtyard. The trees lashed around furiously and looked ominous in the darkness.
"Oh, Zhang He." Diao Chan said, looking white as a ghost. "I feel so strange. I think. That man . . ." She nearly fainted, but Zhang He caught her. At once a light exploded in the courtyard and Diao Chan opened her eyes wide. "It's happening!" She said in a voice not her own. Something shattered the window beside them and the screamed.
"Come out Zhang He! The time has come!" Bellowed a voice from out of the harsh wind.
"What do you want?" Zhang He yelled back, protecting Diao Chan. Suddenly the wind kicked up and flew into the window snatching up Diao Chan and Zhang He and pulling them outside, dropping them violently in the courtyard.
Guo Tu loomed over them, looking grim.
"It all ends tonight." He said solemnly. Ki was beside him looking pale and dead.
"Guo Tu! Why are you here?" Zhang He asked, clutching Diao Chan who looked terrified. She was staring at Ki.
"I . . . Have to kill you Zhang He. . ." He whispered. It wasn't full of malice and dislike as usual. He almost sounded . . . Sad . . . "Even though . . . you are me . . . If you never leave this Earth Ki can never be brought to life."
"What are you talking about?" Zhang He shouted, feeling bewildered.
"She can have a true soul if you die. Then she can stay with me . . . forever . . . But only if I kill you . . ."
"What? This isn't making any sense." Zhang He spat, getting to his feet, his hair blustering all around. He could hear his child screaming from the window, she must have heard the window break. Was Guo Tu in love with Ki? What in the world was he raving about?
"You are really very stupid. You haven't gotten it by now?" Guo Tu asked, a crease in his brow. "Twenty-one years ago the Lady in Black touched Huang Chen Rai while she was pregnant. The child was affected. All the good in his soul was drained. It was split in two. That child . . . it was me . . ." He said, his face white.
"What?" Zhang He gasped. Guo Tu smiled shallowly.
"I'm Zhang Ren and so are you. I'm your brother, Zhang He." Guo Tu looked straight into his eyes.
"No . . . That's impossible." Zhang He shook his head. "How can you be my brother?"
"You are all the good in Zhang Ren, I am all the evil. If I kill you, some of Zhang Ren dies and Ki is free." Guo Tu said with a halfhearted smile.
"She is not meant to be alive! She must be destroyed! The whole reason we came back to this existence was to kill her!" Zhang He yelled.
"NO!" Guo Tu snarled. "The only one that's dying here tonight is you! We are good and evil, just as Ki and Ko are and this time EVIL WINS!"
"Zhang He!" Said a voice behind him. Sun Shang Xiang, Sima Yi, Zhang Liao, Zhen Ji, Sun Ce, Zhou Yu and the Qiaos were all outside and armed for battle.
"Zhang He, what are they talking about?" Diao Chan asked. He couldn't answer.
"Don't you remember?" Guo Tu looked at her. "You're the Lady in Black's sister! You're Sui Ko, you were sealed away for years because She attacked you!"
"What?" Diao Chan breathed. She sunk to her knees a blank look going over her. She went in a sort of trance.
"Diao Chan! What did you do to her?" Zhang He screamed.
"She's remembering. She knows everything now. She could reach her deified form now."
"This is insane! Ki is the same way, isn't she!?" Zhang He screamed. Guo Tu looked scared suddenly.
"Don't you say a thing, Zhang He." He hissed.
"You're the Lady in Black, Ki! You're the evil wraith that's been torturing me!" He yelled at Ki. She had the same blank look for a second.
"What do you mean?" She asked in a sort of drone. "I . . . I . . . can't be . . ." Suddenly there was a rumbling. "THE ONLY REASON I LIVE IS TO KILL!? WHY!?" She screeched. "IF . . . THAT'S WHAT . . . I AM DOOMED TO DO . . . THAN I WILL!!" She rose into the air, her hair spreading out from behind her. Suddenly her neck lengthened and her skin grew white and deathly clammy. Her eyes turned into black pits along with her mouth. She became the Lady in Black, a phantom in a physical form. Guo Tu fell over and gaped at her.
The earth split in two, creating an angry red fissure, belching smoke and hot air. The house they all loved so much split in half and pieces of rubble fell into the abyss.
"Rai! She's still in there, Zhang He!" Diao Chan shrieked, coming back to life. Zhang He made a run for the crumbling home to save his baby, but he fell over onto the sandy ground. Then suddenly the Lady swept over the house and the wailing stopped. It took a few seconds to register. She was dead . . . His daughter was dead before she could walk and talk . . .
"NO!" Diao Chan cried, tears bursting from her eyes. The Lady in Black spread her arms and a wave of fire spread over the Earth from around her. The landscape morphed into a charred black wasteland and the echo of screams resonated through the valley. She opened her mouth and needles as big as trees rained down. One struck Sima Yi right through the middle.
"SIMA YI!" Zhang He screamed, rushing over. Sima Yi looked stunned. He sunk slowly to his knees. Sun Shang Xiang knelt beside him.
"Don't you die. . ." She breathed, clutching his arm. "You'll be all right . . ." Everyone circled around him, putting their hands on his shoulders and back, no one saying a word.
"Sima Yi . . ." Zhang He repeated tonelessly. Then, Sima Yi started hacking again. He coughed violently and a stream of blood leaked from his mouth. He sputtered something inaudible, then collapsed on the ground, sleeping forever in a pool of his blossoming blood. Sun Shang Xiang didn't cry or scream and wailed. She just lay down beside him, her arms around his still chest.
A fierce earthquake rattled the earth and Xiao Qiao fell into the flaming abyss, screaming in a pathetic, high-pitched way. Zhang He shut his eyes and sat motionless on the ground. He couldn't bear it anymore. He just sat covering his eyes as his world fell apart around him. No . . . he couldn't let it end this way. Not like this. He didn't spend his life coming up from his father's farm and working so hard to die now! He would not be defeated!
Suddenly a power rose from within him like never before. He felt as if a warm golden light was enveloping him. Then, without warning a fire burst all around him, encircling him in the flames. The spirit Phoenix rose in its truest and most radiant form. He was ready to fight . . . and win . . . Zhang He soared into the air, ready to bring down the Lady, still burning with ire.
"You can't win!" Guo Tu shouted from the ground, his voice sounding strangely strained. "That power is worthless against one of it's own kind!" Suddenly a wave of black light rippled out from Guo Tu. He was copying Zhang He's magic to make his own Dobutsu. A Phoenix of black light erupted around him and flew up, facing Zhang He's Phoenix. It ripped forward; clashing with the fiery Phoenix to produce sparks. Zhang He swiped his gleaming Phoenix Talons at Guo Tu hoping for a direct hit. Guo Tu's snapped it shining silver beak. They were both scorching one another with their resonating flames.
"You have to do something Diao Chan!" Zhang He screamed down to her, feeling the Lady in Black right behind him. A blinding flash disabled their sight for a few moments and Diao Chan, looking small and helpless rose high into the air. Her hair started to grow longer and longer, then whiter and whiter until it was so long it was on the ground. It was gossamer soft and shone with vivacity of diamond filament. Snow white feather wing sprout from her back and stretched to the size of buildings. Her eyes, though just tiny pin points for so far away shone like Sea Green jewels and cast a transfixing beam whenever you looked into them. She now wore a misty white robes that spread out about seven feet lower than her feet. She put her hands forward and put up an undulating shield of silvery light and moved towards the Lady. The two sides battle, good against evil, Black against white. Below them, the wasteland that was once earth was crumbling and Zhang He could find no sight of his friends. As he was looking down Guo Tu crashed into him and a piercing pain went through his stomach. He slashed back at Guo Tu as he plummeted to Earth. Guo Tu fell after him.
When they both reached the ground they were back to being just regular people. The crashes and bangs and explosions above signaled the Lady in Black and Diao Chan were still fighting with one another.
"Look what you've done!" Yelled Zhang He, motioning towards the sky. "You've killed everyone! Are you happy now!?"
"Shut up! If you hadn't told her none of this would've happened!"
"Oh, so I was just supposed to sit back and die like a good boy, right?" Zhang He snapped back. "Now we're both going to die along with about every other person on the planet! Thanks a lot . . ."
"Wait . . ." Guo Tu whispered, looking shocked. "There's . . . one way we can stop this . . ."
"What? What is it?" Zhang he inquired desperately.
"Well . . ." Guo Tu began reluctantly. "The only way to rid the Lady in Black from this world totally is to bring Zhang Ren fully back and let her remember that someone loves her. . ."
"How do we do that? I mean, we're two parts, aren't we? How is it possible?" Zhang He murmured.
"You're not going to like it . . ." Guo Tu hissed, not meeting his gaze.
"Whatever, if we can stop this chaos and salvage the little bit of life that's still around it would be worth it." Zhang He spat. Guo Tu looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. He bit his bottom lip and furrowed his brow, looking Zhang He painfully in the eye. "What?"
Guo Tu suddenly moved forward with speed, his eyes clamped shut very so tightly wrinkles of skin were around them. He grabbed the back of Zhang He's head and went close to his face. The next thing Zhang He knew, they were kissing. His first instinct was to throw him off violently, but then he noticed something strange was happening. It was as if his chest was deflating. He opened his mouth slightly and a whoosh came and he felt very faint. In the last blurry moments of consciousness he felt his entire body fall lame and crash to the ground. When he opened his eyes the first of many shocks hit him. He saw his own body lying on the floor, looking quite dead next to Guo Tu. He ran over and checked his own pulse. Nothing.
He looked at a pool of water next to him. It was Zhang Ren. He also noticed he felt different. It felt like his and Guo Tu's minds were acting as one. Evil and good, living in perfect balance. The thought made him shudder. He somehow knew what to do. He had all of Guo Tu's memories and thoughts, and Guo Tu had his. It was so strange he couldn't have even imagined something like it.
"KI!!!" He yelled up to the sky. "KIIIIIII!!!" She looked down. When she saw Zhang Ren it was like she was a massive hot air balloon someone had popped. She turned into a mass of black and white shreds that vaporized in air, leaving behind Ki, lowering down to Earth. When she landed on Earth, all eyes on her, she rushed towards Zhang Ren, her arms open wide. He caught her and held her close to him.
"I thought you left me forever . . ." She whimpered.
"I'm always here for you, Ki." His voice was empty. He suddenly felt like he was going to cry, the Guo Tu in im loved her very truly. "It'll be all right. You don't have to kill anymore. She looked up at him. Her tears were clear. Just water. She stared into his soul for a moment then closed her eyes, which looked strangely bright and alive. She put her head on his lap and hummed a bit.
"I always knew you'd come back. Now I can finally . . . be happy . . ." She whispered, her eyes closed. Zhang Ren stroked her ebony hair softly. One last time. Ki nuzzled her head into Zhang Ren's lap gently and went to sleep. She looked so peaceful. Yes, she was just sleeping . . . A shine of light rose from her and a misty silhouette of a woman dress in a white robe rose. She had a metal plate over her eyes and her hair was just like Ki's. She rose up into the turbulent skies and Ki slept the deepest sleep. She would never wake.
Zhang Ren looked around at the burning, arid land around him and felt pitiful. He was alone in the world with the transformed Sui Ko and the dead girl in his arms. He couldn't even get back to his true body. He felt very scared indeed.
Sui Ko looked at him with her surreal eyes and smiled softly.
"You have drawn the poison from the wound . . ." She said in a melodic and resonating voice. "Now it's time to heal . . . "She stood, slowing softly in the sky and closed her eyes. She stretched both her hands out and a white light emanated from them. Then she sang. She sang with her beautiful voice that filled the broken world with hope and light. It was true the words were in a different language but it renewed his faith in human life. Flowers and grass sprouted from the charred ground and the world moved back. The rivers refilled and sang and babbled as before. A dreamlike sensation covered Zhang Ren and he put Ki slowly down and lay down in the fragrant grass.
When he woke up he was in his bed. His lovely, warm bed. He opened his eyes to see everyone around him. Sima Yi, Xiao Qiao, Zhou Yu . . . They were all there and not a scratch on them . . . He looked from Diao Chan's face (Fully restored to it's impeccable beauty) to Sun Ce's and he even saw Guo Tu sitting in the back.
"W-what?" He spoke.
"It's all right, Zhang He." Diao Chan said soothingly. "Order is restored. The Lady in Black is gone forever . . ."