Chapter 9: Ulitmus Saltātiō
"It's strange, really, when you look down and watch yourself take your last breath… And find that a tear has been shed for you." Gallows Carradine- Fate Calls, No One Listens.
Key :This is Roka speaking, This is Rnaia, (This is Rsalis), and Gallows and Virginia's thoughts will be put into regular parentheses.
Alone. That was what he was. Alone, in this dark and hellish room, Virginia's name falling from his trembling lips as his forehead silently hit the ground. The tears of regret soundlessly rolled down his face as his hands pressed against the cold floor.
"Why… why must I die…alone…?" he whispered as tiny droplets of blood speckled the ground. He was no longer coherent enough to acknowledge his stiffened knees, which he had fallen to after he watched his counterpart literally fall apart.
(You're never alone… She's through that door… Wait….)
He slowly closed his eyes and focused on breathing without pain,
(I can't die… not now…) With that, his eyes flung open and he focused on the door, which was starting to open slowly. (She's coming.. for me…. )
That's what you think… How do you know that she's not coming to slay your sorry ass? Hm?
"Virginia…" sighed Gallows, a small smile crossing his blood stained face.
Virginia opened the door with a grunt and immediately spotted the form of the fallen Baskar a few feet in front of her. Her heart dropped into her stomach and her mind seemed to slow everything down. The throbbing red lights, her breath, her thoughts, everything was going so slow.
"Gallows…" she murmured , not having enough breath to yell his name. Without another word, she ran to his side and dropped down to her knees, it was then everything returned to its normal speed.
Gallows raised his head, his unfocused eyes zoomed in on her and the slight smile grew a little more.
(He's ALIVE! I'm not to late!) She thought with a smile as she reached out tentatively, her hand shaking all the while. (But I barely made it… Why? Why is he…) She looked down at his stomach and gasped.
"Gallows…What happened?" she asked, stroking his hair, and trying to keep her composure.
"Promised… I would never…." He coughed wetly and another river of blood spurted forth.
"Promised what?" whimpered Virginia, cupping his chin in the palm of her hand, trying to help keep his head stable. To that question, Gallows' smiled faded and his eyes trailed down to his impaled midsection.
"I promised.. That I would never hurt you…." He grunted, his head starting to lull toward Virginia.
(No! He's losing consciousness! I must find a way to keep him coherent! But… That would mean…)
"Gallows.. I'm sorry…" whimpered Virginia, her free hand reaching for the pommel of the sword. Instead of protesting, he nodded his head wearily and rested his forehead against her shoulder, causing the sorrowful young woman to remove her hand from his chin. Tears threatened Virginia with their strong burn as she continued to stroke his hair with one hand while encircling the hilt with the other.
"Go ahead… I'm ready…" he whispered, turning his head slightly so that his warm breath tickled her neck. She shivered a little bit, feeling both fear and pleasure, and then tensed her shoulders.
"I really am sorry…." She sniffed as she prepared to give the Zanzir a quick tug.
"Don't be…" responded Gallows, nuzzling his face to her neck and kissing it lightly. Virginia blushed for a second and then narrowed her eyes with determination.
"Here we go…" And with a strained grunt, Virginia tugged the Zanzir with all her might, feeling the blade cut cleanly through sinew and flesh, extracting a pained gasp from the severely weakened Gallows.
(He can't even scream anymore…) Thought Virginia, feeling both nausea and pity as she lost her balance and fell on to her behind, the Zanzir held lightly in her hand.
"Vir..ginia…" whimpered Gallows as he fell forward helplessly. Virginia, not really thinking clearly, dropped the Zanzir and caught Gallows before he hit the ground, blushing once again when she felt his chest press against hers.
"Don't die on me…." She sobbed, running her fingers through his hair lovingly, no longer denying what she felt. Gallows did not respond, but she felt a warm wetness seep into her shoulder. He was CRYING!
"Gallows…" she whispered, burying her face into his hair and weeping silently.
"…. Is… ault… ead…" snarled Gallows into Virginia's shoulder. With a gasp, and the realization that it was no longer Gallows leaning against her, she pulled away and looked him in the eyes.
"No… Damn you Roka!" she snarled, looking hatefully into two golden orbs.
"Well now, it looks like you dear prince has lost his way… How regretful!" laughed Roka as Virginia let go of him, stood up, and looked down at him balefully.
"Why? Why do you keep making him suffer?! What did he ever do to you?!" muttered Virginia, taking a couple of steps back and reaching for her guns.
(I know I can't shoot him, but I maybe able to distract him long enough for Gallows to regain control)
Roka startled the young woman when he let out a chopped laugh and stood with no problem, ignoring the constant stream of blood that was cascading down his midsection.
"What did he DO? He ruined my life was what he DID! He was what damned my soul to this eternal hell! " spat Roka through blood caked lips. Virginia smiled threateningly and wrapped her hands around her two revolvers, enjoying the feel of flesh, soul, and bone melding into power.
"So you blame your son for your own shortcomings? That's really mature of you, you sorry excuse for a mutt! You don't even deserve the title of "human" anymore!" she spat, spinning the guns around her fingers and then aiming them both at Roka, a superior smile on her face. Roka's face twitched with irritation and he reached for the Zanzir, only to discover that it was not there.
"WHAT?!" he exclaimed, his eyes widening with both anger and surprise. Virginia's smiled widened a little bit, now was her chance to help Gallows!
"Missing something?" she laughed, quickly putting the guns back into their holsters and grabbing the Zanzir that was lying benignly at her feet. She nearly dropped it when she found out first-hand how heavy it was. Roka scoffed at her and bared his teeth, proving to Virginia what she had already known, Roka was no longer sane nor human. His actions bordered on feral and that was what bothered her the most.
(Roka is no longer thinking, he is only doing what comes naturally to any mammal.. and that is…)
"The Zanzir.. it does not belong to you! GIVE IT BACK!" Roka snarled, reaching for her shakily, stumbling, and then falling back on to his hands and knees. Virginia looked at him with pity and tenuously shook her head "no", to which Roka snarled his contempt.
"You will not give me the Zanzir?! Then…" snarled Roka, slowly rising to his feet and lumbering toward her. Virginia took a couple of more steps back, trying to keep her distance from Roka.
(And that is… survival…)
"I SHALL TAKE IT!" screeched Roka, stopping approximately eight feet forward of her and extending a blood soaked hand an arms length in front of him. Virginia gasped when the sword started to shake in her already unsteady hand and almost let go of it.
(Well, Roka, I have news for you. I am going to try and survive this too!)
"Like HELL you will!" she snarled, shakily holding the Zanzir out in front of her, her arms shaking violently under the weight of the sword.
"I… will.. have… the… Zanzir.." snarled Roka, dropping back down to his knees and bowing his head in a seemingly mournful manner.
Virginia watched Roka nervously, she did not know what to expect now.
"Roka…. Why don't you…" the rest of her sentence was cut off by a primal howl coming from Roka's parted lips. A semi-visible shock wave rippled in a circle around Roka and then shot out at Virginia, its velocity being so great that it pressed her skirt roughly against her ankles.
"I WILL NOT GIVE UP!" shouted Roka, looking up, his eyes now glowing red with tendrils of blood streaming from his eyes.
"Don't you realize that this is part of a greater plan?! This world belongs to our ancestors, not to all of you misinformed IDIOTS! You all tried to save the world and guess what? YOU FAILED! Now…" Roka stood up and Virginia watched as the wound on his midsection healed up and was replaced by a screaming face.
" DIE AND LET ME DO MY JOB!" he yelled, once again reaching out his hand toward Virginia.
The Zanzir shook once more, and, despite Virginia's valiant efforts, flew out of her quaking hands and into Roka's waiting ones.
"Damn it!" she snarled, drawing her guns out and glaring at Roka maliciously.
"What are you going to do with those guns, little girl? Don't tell me that you're going to shoot old "Lover Boy" here." Cackled Roka, swinging the sword in a vertical arc with the utmost of ease. The face in Roka's stomach screamed angrily and it was then that Virginia realized that the face was that of Gallows.
" NO!" She shrieked, firing her revolvers in quick succession, watching helplessly as each shot deviated to either side of him. Roka laughed at her efforts and closed his eyes.
"Give up, I know your weakness!" he snorted and opened his blood red eyes, " And you say that love is strength! This is what I think of LOVE!" and with a grunt, Roka lifted the Zanzir up to the heavens.
" O' Spirits of the Lost, come to me in my hour of need!" shouted Roka, looking up at a now glowing, blood red, sword.
"Hear my plea, hold out your hand and let me FEED!" the sound of thunder punctuated each of his passionate words.
" Let my past be your future, let the light of my soul lead you to the land of the living!" Virginia watched in silent horror as bolts of black lightening crawled across the ceiling from the corners of the room , converged together, and then flowed into the Zanzir, turning it dark purple.
"Let me rise and do your bidding!" screeched Roka, the dark aura from the sword surrounding his body.
"No…" whispered Virginia, sinking down to her knees as she watched the shadows that surrounded her funnel into the sword and then form midnight colored wings behind Roka.
Roka let out a harsh scream and then, a shadowy, serpentine form with wings, forced itself from Gallows' mouth and crashed through the floor, taking with it the floor in which a dazed Gallows and a shocked Virginia stood on.
Virginia closed her eyes as she fell head first into the void, a single crystalline tear flying from her eye and seemingly up to the dark heavens which loomed above her. She really felt no fear, she could almost feel the warmth of death's embrace. It was weird, she did not expect death to be such a calm feeling. It felt like the embrace of her father… so warm.. with nothing at all to fret about.. nothing at all...
(I am with you, you are never alone. You taught me that it is possible to fly.. even with broken wings..)
Virginia opened her eyes and realized that the arms she felt around her waist were real and belonged to the person that was speaking to her heart.
"Gallows…" she said, leaning her head against his chest.
"I won't let you die…Your wings maybe broken…. But mine are not…" whispered Gallows, tightening his arms around her waist and taking in a deep breath.
"Gallows…" started Virginia, slightly startled to feel a bizarre energy cumulating around them.
"Trust me… " and as he spoke these words, a warm wind enveloped her and all of the sudden they were no longer falling and were upright, a sound of flapping, as steady as a heartbeat, echoing around them.
"If I must fall then let me… But I will not let the broken fall alone.." and with another gust of wind, they stated to lower themselves slowly down the hole. Virginia was puzzled to say the least, what was slowing their descent?
"Gallows….?" Inquired Virginia, craning her head the best that she could to look at Gallows.
"Yes?" he asked, sounding somewhat winded.
"Are we flying?" to which he answered;
"No…" she could feel his smile against her neck "We're falling with style.."
Virginia laughed and once again leaned her head against his chest.
"Are you going to fight Roka?" There was silence for a few long seconds and then;
"I suppose I really have no choice, if I lose, Roka in his true form, will poses my body and open the seal.. and I can't… no.. I WON'T allow him that pleasure…"
"Gallows… What is Roka? I know he used to be your father.. but what is he now?"
There was no answer to this question as they were now two stories above their target location.
"Roka's soul is that of a Ultiō Drācō or Vengeance Dragon. He was so bent on.. " Gallows' sentence was interrupted by the smell of his flesh burning and the sound of dark electricity humming by him. With a grunt, he pulled Virginia closer to him and said something in a language that she did not understand. The ground seemingly sped up to meet them and pretty soon they were standing on an earthen floor, staring at what seemed to be a mass of writing shadows.
"So you came, my son, I think it is time for you and I to dance…" spoke the shadows.
Gallows put Virginia down and then stepped out in front of her, it was then she saw the blood from the multiple scratches on his back coat bits and pieces of what appeared to be wings of solid energy.
(He has wings…) This fact seemed to coat all of her other emotions with awe.
"So… my incompetent son has decided to make his appearance. You know the drill, Gnshinurca, charge to your death… make my job easier.." quipped Roka, his voice laced with both amusement and venom. Gallows shut his eyes and snorted, much to Roka's dismay and Virginia's amusement.
"I'm surprised that you were not the Dragon of Pride.. it would have suited you so much better…"
Roka did not respond with words, instead, he sent a volley of dark electricity in Gallows' direction.
Gallows merely sighed and Virginia watched as the energy reconfigured out in front of him and caused the bolts to flake away into tiny pinpoints of light.
"Let us not play these simple games, Roka, for I am quiet tired of them. You should know by now that a knight must have a sword of which to slay the dragon… and.. I seem to be missing something.." simpered Gallows, raising an eyebrow in a very irritated fashion.
"Always the witty one, aren't you Rsalis? Well, I must admit, I'd rather have a challenge then a push over.. Fine…" And from the shifting shadows flew the Zanzir, which Gallows caught perfectly with one hand. Virginia was surprised with how easily Gallows both carried and handled the Zanzir.
(It is almost like second nature to him… What the hell is going on?)
"Hm, actually, father, that was not Rsalis.. it was me. You've gone too far…" Gallows slid one leg back and slightly bent the leg in front. " I will not allow you to hurt any of my friends…"
The shadows shifted once again and then illusively sprung forward into a flurry of fangs and scales.
Gallows stumbled back and blocked his knee cap from a shadowy spiked tail with a well timed parry followed by a quick slash. Roka screamed and sprayed a film of black blood across Gallows' face and stepped into the dim light, causing Virginia to gasp in terror, for, in front of her stood a behemoth of a dragon that made Lombardia look small.
(Why is it not destroying the ceiling?! Something of that size should have brought the ceiling down.)
Child, the reason he is not destroying Simulacrum is because he has total control over his atomic structure. In other words, he can make himself into mist if he wanted to and then just as quickly turn back into solid form…
Virginia inwardly gasped at this revelation.
(How can he fight something that can change forms at will? Unless Gallows… or Gnshinurca…can match or exceed that ability, this is going to be one hell of a fight…)
"Stay behind me… Things are going to get ugly.." Said Gallows solemnly, extending his energy wings protectively in front of her. Virginia nodded her head, and watched Roka, in dragon form, sway and distort.
"So, you think that those wings will protect you? What a laugh! I can pierce your heart without breaking a sweat!" laughed Roka, waving his spiked tail with amusement.
"You think so? Well, I guess we'll just have to find out…WON'T WE?!" exclaimed Gallows, clenching his hand around the Zanzir and the swinging it in a wide arc in front of him. A hand of energy emerged from one of his wings and swirled around the blade, making it glow like illuminated blood.
"Wh-What?" exclaimed Roka, backing back off into the shadows.
Gallows simply smiled at Roka's cowardly action and put the Zanzir back into a defensive position.
"Are we going to talk or are we going to fight?" grinned Gallows, shifting his weight from his right foot to his left in a timed manner.
"Seeing as that you are determined to…" The rest of his sentence was cut off by gun shots. Gallows lowered his smoking Coyote and smiled.
"Shut up. I want to finish this…" simpered Gallows, looking at the seething Dragon.
"Very well…" Said Roka, twitching a black leathery wing with irritation.
Roka snarled as he slashed at Gallows with a clawed talon, cursing as he watched Gallows smack it back at him by tensing his arm just as the talon hit the upheld Zanzir.
"Not bad…" gasped Roka, taking a couple of steps back. Gallows' smile faded when he realized what Roka was doing.
The Shadow shifted and melted down into a smaller form… The form of Gallows, wielding the Zanzir, a wicked smile pasted beneath glittering black eyes.
" I must say.." said Roka, closing his eyes and frowning a bit. "Your body is pretty resilient.. I guess it does not hurt to have…" Wings of Shadow flowed from his back like a live cape and fluttered in an ephemeral breeze. "These.." finished Roka, opening his eyes, the cruel smile returning to his face.
Gallows looked at him wearily and lifted the sword in a high thrusting position, throwing his weight back a little so that he could move quickly.
Virginia watched the muscles in Gallows' arm tighten, she felt her heart beat painfully in her chest as she watched a fresh stream of blood pour down the wings and plop quietly to the ground.
(I don't know how bad he's hurt…. Roka healed the critical wound but I doubt that he healed the countless other injuries. After all, Gallows was nothing but a vessel to him… And I think that it was Roka's plan to leave him in a semi-weakened state… ) Virginia narrowed her eyes, wanting so bad to treat the wounds.
"Your wings show the color of your soul…" whispered Gallows angrily, narrowing his eyes and loosening his arm a little in preparation for the attack.
"So it does.." Said Roka, resting the Dark Zanzir on his shoulder and giving Gallows a taunting smile.
"Damn.." muttered Gallows, knowing full well what Roka was planning.
(He's trying to make me move away from Virginia so he can use her against me… Sorry Roka, I have other plans) Gallows dropped the sword to his side and focused hard, his eyes flashing a sky blue, his knuckles whitening around the hilt of the Zanzir.
"Gallows?" whispered Virginia, watching as a light blue aura surrounded him.
"You won't win…. EVER!" And with those words spoken, the transparent wings glowed a blinding white and another set exploded from his back on top of the other ones. Virginia gasped, Gallows now had four, solid white energy wings flapping in unison.
A white hand flew out of Gallows' right hand wing and perched in front of Virginia protectively.
Roka did not have time to react to this action, on the account that his son was charging him full force, the Zanzir held back up in a high thrusting position.
"Gagh!" cursed Roka, parrying the thrust a short second before it connected with his forehead.
"Hmph.." said Gallows, using the swords rebound as momentum and swinging it in a short arc at Roka's midsection. Roka did not have time to react to this motion, and the Zanzir cleaved into his flesh cleanly.
"Give up.." Said Gallows, yanking the Zanzir from his father's side far from gently.
"No.." responded Roka, swinging his sword at Gallows' left, upper, wing. Gallows could not bring his sword up in time and felt a searing pain as a gush of blood soaked the wing red.
"Why don't you just DIE!?" growled Roka, thrusting the sword at Gallows' face, missing by a hair's breadth as Gallows dodge it and swung his sword down toward Roka's ankles, shifting all his strength to his forearm and biceps. Roka blocked with his Zanzir and counted with a sword sweep of his own, which Gallows, in turn, blocked with his sword. Roka stumbled back and glared at him.
"Stubborn BASTARD" He roared, melting into a puddle of shadow.
"What?!' growled Gallows, backing up toward Virginia.
A hand reached up from the darkness and grabbed Virginia's ankle, Virginia, who did not much care for Roka's pawing, pulled out one of her guns and shot at it. The hand released her ankle and sank back into the ground. Gallows gave her an approving glance and then looked around cautiously. Roka could pop up anywhere, and Gallows wanted to be ready when that happened.
"Come on, you cowardly bastard, I don't have all of eternity…" snarled Gallows, resting the Zanzir lightly on his shoulder. A hiss from behind him caused him to whirl around and face what appeared to be hybrid of a hydra and a manticore. It's multiple snake like head swayed back and forth, whilst it's scorpion like tail rested against a taunt, well built, lion's body.
"What the FUCK?!" snarled the enraged Baskar, quickly bringing the Zanzir from his shoulder and slamming the blade about an inch to the ground.
Roka did not respond to his son's enraged reply and instead spat black saliva at his son. Gallows pulled the sword out of the ground and started to back up cautiously. However, he soon discovered that it would do him no good. The spittle morphed into shadowy bats with sharp, wicked looking, wings.
"Ungh!" He moaned as the bats flew toward him in an angry frenzy.
(I must protect Virginia)
Without giving it a second thought, he sheathed the Zanzir, turned around, pulled Virginia closed and unfurled his wings.
Virginia cringed as she heard the sound of flesh tearing followed by the smell of burning sulfur.
(Where.. where did he get the WINGS from?! I know that he did not always have them!)
Virginia's inner rant was pierced by Gallows' pained cry. She felt his arms loosen a little bit from around her and she pulled away.
"Uh… " coughed Gallows, pushing her away a little bit before being lifted several feet off the ground by TWO stingers that were protruding from either side of his chest.
"Gallows!' cried Virginia, pulling out her guns and firing at the twin stingers that were shaking Gallows around in long, bloody, swings. Gallows' brilliant wings started to fade to a dull red and several feathers fell from their perch and shattered on the darkened floor with a mournful shatter.
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He felt his flesh tearing as the two stingers pierced his back and poked through painfully on the other side. His battered lungs screamed their anguish in a fiery voice that ripped through every fiber of his being. And then, he heard his name, followed by gun shots… She was calling him… Calling his name sweetly… An angel…
He opened his eyes and watched as the ceiling tauntingly reached for him and then bounded away. The amount of blood that he was losing was unreal and he knew that if he did not do something soon, he would be dead and no one would be there to protect Virginia.
(No one… WILL BE THERE TO PROTECT MY ANGEL!)
"Damn YOU!" He snarled, feeling the sparks of anger flare from his insane orbs. Pain be damned, he was going to win, even if it KILLED him. Roka snarled and was about to swing him again, when Gallows' wings suddenly flashed to life and started to glow again.
"Ah, so the battered dove does not know when to submit to the scorpion?…" Laughed Roka, starting to separate that two stingers in an attempt to pull the young priest apart.
A string of blood flew from Gallows' mouth and splattered against the floor wetly, but, that did not wipe the smile from his face, in fact, it made it a little bit bigger.
"You picked the wrong day…." Coughed Gallows, shaping the wings in his mind.
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Virginia watched in fascination as Gallows' wings merged together to form one gigantic blade that cut the stingers asunder, and sent him plunging toward the ground. Virginia could only watch the young man's descent, knowing full well that she could not catch him. Gallows hit the ground hard and Virginia heard a sickening crack issue from his right arm. Gallows groaned and rolled over onto his good arm, trying to find the strength to get up. Roka, however, had other plans, as he melted back into the shadows and reformed as a panther with hooked blades as ears.
"Foolish son…" it spat, gracefully walking toward Gallows, a fanged smile cracking its features.
"Foolish?" cackled Gallows as he pulled himself into a sitting position, watching as Roka slunk ever closer.
"Yes.. Foolish. You are already dead, so why not just accept your fate laying down like the worn you are?"
Gallows did not answer this question, instead, he closed his eyes and felt the wind from his wings flutter his disarrayed hair into his face.
"What are you doing?" asked Roka angrily, stopping in mid-stride as he watched a field of energy surrounded his son and Virginia.
"Siea siaen solna la…" whispered Gallows silently, feeling his body rise on its own accord and extend his arm, with a cursed finger ,pointing toward Roka. Roka flew back suddenly and for seemingly no reason as Gallows opened his eyes.
"It ends now, old man, you will not hurt my friends or this body. Do you understand me?" inquired Gallows in a harsh whisper.
Roka, who was still in the form of a panther, slowly rose to his feet and formed back into a shadowy, human like form. He had admittedly been surprised by his son's strength, but that did not mean he was going to hand this fight over to him.
"Come son, show this "old man" what you can do. " growled Roka, forming a double bladed battle axe in his right hand and a wicked morning star in the other. Gallows did not have to be told twice, he held the sword in his left hand, cursing silently at his now broken right arm.
(Damn it, I just HAD to land on my strong arm… I really am a screw up…)
(Do not think like that, Roka wants to smash your spirit, do NOT let him succeed! Believe!)
Gallows smiled a little and took on a shaky defensive stance, his left hand holding the sword perfectly parallel to his bloodied face.
"Come on." Spat Gallows, swinging the Zanzir impatiently. With a battle cry, the shadow rushed forward and swung his implements of war at Gallows' head and torso. With a grunt, Gallows willed the his upper left hand wing into a claw and took both the ax AND Roka's hand away from its owner. Enraged, Roka swung the morning star at Gallows' head and pressed down hard against the sword that had appeared in his path. Roka knew that Gallows did not have the time to make the morning star rebound and, as a result, could not use it to his advantage.
This boils down to your will son… Now… LET'S GET IT ON!
The two weapons ground together in a spectacular show of sparks. Virginia could not help but respect the two men that were fighting in front of her.. Of course she was looking at Gallows more than Roka (And besides, he was but a shadow, nothing really to see there…) but still, to see them fight so passionately sent shivers down her spine.
Gallows pushed the morning star away with a well timed thrust upward, leapt back, and then cleaved the shadowy form in two as he bounded forward again in a fluid motion. Roka screamed as he split in two and melted back into the ground.
"It ends…." Said Gallows, holding the sword into the air and willing the energy from his wings into it. The sword glowed bright red, and then started to crack down the middle.
"NOOOO!!" Roared Roka from somewhere within the depths of the shadows.
"Oh yes…" smiled Gallows, as light shot from the Zanzir and penetrated the shadows with its sharp, bright fingers. The shadows exploded into anti-light and then imploded into a void of nothingness.
Gallows watched this bizarre light show with a strained smile and then turned around to face a rather pale, but proud Virginia.
"We… won…" and, with those words spoken, he dropped the now broken Zanzir and fell down onto his left side painfully, tears of both agony and pride running down his face.
He did not hear Virginia's startled cry as he pressed his cheek against the cold ground and looked blankly ahead. He had won, true enough, but had pushed his body to its limits and that meant.
(I might die.. I knew it all along… but I did not want to accept it… Dying without telling her how I feel..)
He was stopped in mid-rant by a single, glowing, red feather that floated gracefully down in front of his eyes. He reached out for it weakly and then smiled. He was not going to die. He was, after all, the Fasi Mais…
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The moment Gallows fell, Virginia rushed to his side, forgetting completely about the battle that had just taken place. All that mattered to her was Gallows, not his now non-existent wings, not his power, just Gallows. She sat down in front of him so he could see her and slowly intertwined her fingers with his, making sure that it was not the hurt one before she did so.
"I'm.. I'm not going to die…" laughed Gallows weakly, giving her hand a small squeeze. Virginia could no longer hold her tears in and she started to weep, pressing the back of Gallows' hand against her cheek and rubbing against it mournfully.
"Of course you're not going to die… Y-you're my other half…. My other…." Gallows untangled his scraped hand from hers and caressed her face.
"Weep no more, for with the storm comes the promise of a rainbow and a new day.." chuckled Gallows, starting to feel like his old self. The tears started to dry up and Virginia lowered herself to Gallows' side, locking eyes with the young priest.
"You're… you're such a ham…" she hiccuped, reaching over to push a strand of hair from his face.
To this, Gallows chuckled and grabbed her hand as she tried to pull away.
"Yeah, but you know that you like me that way…." He said, giving her hand a small kiss before letting it go. Virginia smiled and got up.
"We need to get out of here, the others are worried sick about you." For a moment she feared that he would get angry, but that fear was quickly alleviated by Gallows' booming laugh.
"Well, we don't wanna have a lot of sick people at the party now do we?"
"A party?" asked Virginia, watching as Gallows painfully stood up.
"Yeah," snickered Gallows, hobbling over to Virginia almost comically. "You don't think that I would do this for free do you?"
Virginia laughed and wrapped her arm supportively around his waist.
"No, I suppose not…" she laughed, looking up at Gallows and then cutting her laughter short when she saw the busted ceiling. Gallows saw the worried expression on her face and laughed.
"Don't worry, little lady, everything's under control." He said with a heavy accent. Virginia couldn't help but laugh at this.
"How are we going to get out?"
"The same way we came in…" said Gallows, pulling her to his chest with his good arm and closing his eyes. The wings once again exploded from his back, this time in a brilliant array of colors and light. Virginia closed her eyes and leaned her head against Gallows' chest, feeling his heart beat in time with the flap of his wings.
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Lasent sao Sin'ka: Written By Heather
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Fiena uono lasent sao Sin'ka, roau yurege ro solan
Sahrin sao mila'al nisant mosan waijo makik wala
Uens saic sahins sao sauino
.Miau muosat ot meo sunta namua sicheir
Kusub, rinsan mu kinyo sai
Kien soei
Kiyala moei
Iu suauan kieo, sin'ka soun fiens, kosin manik
Mu nient sahir mousi eis coga mu ei ki'ola
Mila'al sa runta'la uens ien mikoa
Iele, kin'oy min uens coa, mo resio waijo walais sao kosin sin'ka
Sahins, riens mu kauao
Pien'so ian yoaie
Ok'ien ian yoaine
Ki'uie woam, kis'il noemo
Noemo kin'yain lono oa
Kin'yai iedso saun'tai duenes sao tai
Zuien mo ro'in , uneiter, ine so'nta sin'ka soe ien Sa'ita
Co'an so'nta sahin ine mila'al
Stay tuned for:
Epilogue: Never Alone.
(Hey, this thing has to have an ending you know! And, yes, the wing thing will be explained in detail. Oh, and they made it out alive, but that's in the next chapter, you know? )