As Virginia lay on her back in a small puddle of Jet's congealing blood, she vaguely wondered what the embrace of death would be like. Her body felt stiff all over and achy, her ears straining to hear the sounds of her enemy's boots crunching on the gritty earth as he moved closer to her fallen form. She was not hurt badly, only bearing a deep cut on the side of her face, but her soul had been critically injured by the betrayal of the friendship with the swordsman, and she just had trouble caring anymore, it would all be over soon anyway. Jet and Gallows had been defeated, and soon, herself also. It was so laughably ironic for her to be killed by the person she had respected the most as her father-figure, but she couldn't help but wonder if this was a divine kind of payback for the mock life she had taken from the faded shell of her real father's form, months and months ago. Yes, she smiled a little in the midst of her pain, it was so ironic…

…I guess that if anybody had to kill me, it may as well be a former friend. Goodbye everyone. I'm sorry I couldn't be the leader that everybody needed. And Jet… Jet… jet…

She closed her eyes, and resigned herself to death.

But…

A hand reached out and grasped Virginia's, cold to the touch, but not uninviting. It pulled her up from her spot on the ground and made sure she did not fall again, leaving Kuronegaiken slightly piercing the ground and standing up by itself. Virginia blinked, confused, and brushed more blood out of her eyes, groaning. She had no idea what was going on, and wondered why she was not dead. The demon sighed and adjusted his glasses, but smiled at the same time. "I am so very sorry, Virginia." He said guiltily. "But I had to fight you, and I had to win. If I didn't, those memories of defeat in the past would have haunted me forever, and I could never had stood to be near a human again. It is okay now, I have finally beaten the three human warriors, and that part of my soul can now rest in peace. Virginia, thank you."

The drifter leader blinked, her mind a foggy haze. "But the others… Jet and Gallows… and me. You didn't kill me. You could have, but you didn't. Why?" The swordsman put his hand on her shoulder and gently forced her to sit down, whereupon he did the same right after, plucking Kuronegaiken out of the ground and placing it across his lap. Faint traces of blood still flecked certain parts of the blade, and it was very hard for Virginia to look at. The demon's eyes were closed almost meditatively, and the only movements he made were non-offensive, the rising and falling of his breathing and his tail waving back and forth in thought. Virginia bit her lip. "And you are not Clive Winslett, are you? Tell me, what happened to him? What is going on?

He answered her after a choice few seconds of thought. "I won the match. All three of you are now incapable of fighting me. There is no reason for me to kill you after I have already won. I don't want to kill anymore. That part of my life is over now." He stood up and walked over to Gallows's body, straightening it out and then doing the same to Jet's body that has finally stopped bleeding. "I will explain more, but after I revive these two. I did not injure them badly, merely enough to take away their consciousness for a little while." The swordsman looked over and waved to Catherine, signaling her over. The woman jumped a little but then complied, making her way over to the drifter and demon. Dario stayed where he was, not really tuned into the world around him and obviously traumatized by the horrific things he had seen. He was still shivering a little, and every so often he would curse under his breath.

"Revive!" Chanted the green-haired man over the two laid out bodies, calling upon his fire medium and the raw primal energy it bore. A pulsing blue line of flame traced a pentagram underneath their bodies as he cast it twice, balls of fire appearing at each of the star's different points. The intensity of the fire and light increased to a near blinding point before fading away with a twinkle and a simmer. Jet moaned and his body twitched a little, but Gallows's body stayed the same, as unfeeling and as unhearing as a corpse. Virginia put her arm around Jet's back and helped him sit up, noting that the cuts and gashes all over his body had degraded into more, nearly invisible scratches. The source of the swordsman's magic must have certainly gotten stronger, she thought.

Catherine knelt and shook Gallows lightly, in an attempt to wake him up. Failing in this, she looked up towards her husband and he shook his head, brandishing his sword one more time. "Gallows is no longer in his body," He explained, "He is in here, residing within the cold frightening world that is inside Kuronegaiken's blade. But now… I shall free him." Before anybody could think, or even have time to stop him, the demon had risen the end of his blade over the Baskar's body and had stabbed it cleanly through his chest, making everybody gasp with surprise. Catherine reached out and grabbed the demon's arm in alarm, though there was nothing she could do to reverse what had already been done.

Gallows flinched from the contact and a white light encircled the wound the demon had made, no blood choosing to flow forth from the injury. Holding the weapon there for a while, the swordsman eventually removed it and the white light withered away, where the priest was unharmed and whole. Kuronegaiken had lost a small percentage of it's shine, but Gallows began to cough and heave, rolling over and curling up as if he was extremely cold. His eyes blinked open and the first thing he saw was Catherine's midsection, because he had his head in her lap. The workings of his brain kicked in after a small lagging period and he jumped to his feet, scratching the back of his head and muttering an apology, guiltily looking over at the ex-drifter's husband.

Rubbing his eyes in an almost childish fashion, Jet blinked and set his blurry vision upon a shape that seemed to look like the swordsman who had tried to kill him. At first he was very confused, but then felt Virginia beside him and rubbing his back carefully, bringing feeling back into his arms and legs. His violet eyes were pale and weak, but were now open and showed that he was alive and coherent again. Gallows rubbed his cold arms and nearly sneezed, his mind was a total blank for a very long period of time, but he had an inkling in his heart that wherever he had been sent to, it had been mortifyingly chilly. He never wanted to go back there again. Looking around him, he could see that nobody was injured anymore, and that the demon had halted his onslaught.

He leant against his sword and adjusted his glasses one more time, wiping his hands, which were a little bloody, on his already blood red coat. "I have fought you and I have won. Virginia, Gallows and Jet, I hope you did not take me for a heartless murderer. I would have accepted you killing me as fair play, however, I would have never even dreamed of ending any of your lives. Were I to do that, then I would be no better than what I was two thousand years ago." He fixed his gaze on Virginia, who had only just then noticed that his blue eyes had darkened to it's now unusual mahogany colouring. "It was you, Virginia, who saw through my façade to my true intentions. You did not back down when I rose to strike, and you managed to see through my bluff. It must have taken nerves of steel, you should be proud."

Virginia sighed tiredly and allowed herself to lean against Jet lightly, comforted by his body warmth. She felt so weary and she could also sense that the others were as well, though they chose to hide it in their own way. "Tell us the truth, demon." She had to address him by the name of his race, because the drifter just could not bear to let herself believe that this person who had attacked them was her friend and ally. Even though he had Clive's body, spoke with Clive's voice, and smiled just the same. Maybe she was only being intolerant, but the weakness of her body didn't help her at all to be open-minded. "You didn't deny it when I said that you were not Clive Winslett. If that's true, then who are you? What are you dong here? What has happened to the real Clive?"

He looked at Catherine with an almost apologetic gaze, clearing his throat and preparing to speak. "It is… difficult to say. The truth might upset you. Please, be prepared." He admitted slowly. "The person you know as Clive Winslett no longer exists in this world. He sacrificed his body, his mind and his soul for his family and friends, so that there could be a chance for their lives to be saved. I am so very sorry, but he has passed on towards his next life." His statement had a delayed effect on all of them, but it hit after a few seconds and the silence was deafening, Catherine feeling her knees becoming weak as she sunk to the floor, too startled and too upset even to cry. Virginia opened and closed her mouth a few times, but absolutely no sound came out. The two other male drifters kept their emotions inside, though Gallows was fiercely clenching his teeth.

"Do not be sad." The demon continued quietly, kneeling with Catherine and wrapping an arm around her back for support. "Clive did not want you to be sad. He wanted you to be happy and safe, and think of him without needing to shed any tears. He was smiling as he gave away his soul, knowing that you would be okay gave him the strength to regret nothing and martyr himself for a greater cause. It was his fate, and his destiny. Catherine… Catherine, please look at me." He hooked one finger underneath her chin and tilted it upwards, and saw that her soft grey eyes were brimming over with tears. He brushed each tear away and smiled, hoping to make her smile also.

"Clive is not dead." He announced to the others while still looking into Catherine's eyes, moving his left hand up to gently tap one of the sides of his head. "He lives in here," He then trailed his hand down to his chest, to where his heart continued to beat, "And here. Always here. Always in my heart. I admit that I am not, and shall never be the original Clive Winslett that you all can fondly remember, but his memories, his personality, and his emotions shall always exist within me, and will be remembered in the hearts of others. Catherine, tell me. With all this life and the memories he left behind, how could anybody say that Clive truly has died?"

He embraced Catherine as she fell sobbing into his arms, holding her tightly as if he would never let go again. He didn't try to stop her tears, because they needed to be shed, so that she could continue onward with her life. The demon was well aware of what this group of people meant to the person he used to be, and understood the great lengths Clive had taken to keep them protected. He hoped deeply that he could live up to that expectation that Clive had left with him, and let a few tears of his own leak out of his system. Catherine choked out a few hiccups and found her voice, pressing the side of her face into his chest. "What shall… what are we going to call you now? Who… are you?" She asked unsteadily.

The swordsman was thoughtful for a moment. "I do not have a name," He confessed, "But you can still call me Clive Winslett, if you want. My memories of being called that are the strongest in my mind. However, I shall answer to the name Boomerang also." He smiled happily, but at the same time, sadly. "I've come back. I'm here again. Catherine, it is me. It is Clive. I faded away… but I had to come back… I had to see everyone again. Look at me, Catherine." She glanced up into his dark mahogany eyes and saw a trace of something familiar flicker within them, not in their colour or appearance, but by the way they looked when he smiled. She could see her husband within them, safe and sound, and it gave her the courage to smile back.

He stiffened a little as Virginia hugged him also from behind, wetting the back of his red coat with her own tears. But they were tears of joy this time, because she could see that the most important part of Clive had found a way to come back. Gallows hugged all three of them with his long muscular arms and laughed cheerfully, quickly turning the event into a big group hug. Virginia looked towards Jet who was watching them with a mixed expression and the silver-haired boy rolled his eyes and sighed exasperatedly, pretending to be reluctant as he joined the others. The demon felt the air being slowly squeezed out of his lungs but he honestly didn't care, so incredibly glad to be back with the people that he loved. "We will call you Clive." Catherine cried into his chest. "You are our Clive, and will be nobody else. Promise us this, okay?"

The swordsman felt a huge leaden weight fall away from his heart, surrounded by people that cared. In all his two thousand years of life, he could never have hoped to be happier. "I promise." He said quietly, but then his tone saddened a little, continuing. "But, I cannot help but say how sorry I am. You must have realised by now that my human state was never my original state, though the darkness in my heart has been laid out for all to see." It was hard for him to speak of things like this, but he knew it had to be said. "But, that darkness shall always be a part of my true self… Knowing that, you can all still love me?" He felt one, two or probably all of them squeeze his body harder in the hug, and that was a good enough answer for him.

Clive Winslett closed his eyes and bowed his head, he allowed himself to cry freely amongst his family and friends, shedding tears of joy, because he knew he would never leave their sides ever again.