Red Alert! Red Alert! All hands to battle stations, Defiance Spoiler in site!
Yes, boys and girls, it's another "Defiance" scene. And if you haven't played it yet, then you most definitely do NOT want to read this chapter, as it reveals the ending right off the bat and gets worse from there. So, please, unless you have no intentions of ever playing "Legacy of Kain: Defiance" or have done so already, this chap is not for you, friend. And if you haven't played then....why not?! The price is dropping all the time and Blockbuster's still renting it, so go play it, and THEN come back and read!
Author's Notes: Ah, that's better! (pets 's server) Sorry it's been so long, life has been...hectic, to say the least. Oy. Thanks for the great reviews guys. And to those who reviewed...
Smoke: Hey, sorry I didn't get you last time! You reviewed around the same time I posted Scene 9. Glad you liked the Smurf reference! :-)
Tom T. Thomson: Hey, I've already had to speak to you about those sides once! If they split, I'm not picking up the bill... :-P Yeah, the bloody site was being a pill about Scene 8. And I'm glad to BE writing again, even if it is just fan fiction! Anyway, so glad you enjoyed them both.
Syvia: I have a fangirl!! Yay! (sniffles) I'm so pleased...I'm even more pleased you've enjoyed the fic. It's been a lot of fun to write, but even more fun to know it has been enjoyed. :-)
Killer Doll Prototype 5: I'd love to send it to you, but I'm willing to bet that Silicon Knights keeps the footage of Kain wetting himself in a vault under a lock-and-key system that would rival the Pillars themselves, not to mention 24-hour surveillance. So, alas, we may never see that glorious scene...But the rest of the "cast" has never let Kain live it down, I'm sure.
MortalSora: No Prob, bob, as a friend of mine might say. Onward you say? Onward we go! :-D
Komikitty: Review 1: S'okay. Glad you liked it. :-) Review 2:Yeah, Smurfs...Who would've thought? May it serve you well. nods Review 3: I do weird voices too, but mine are really sucky and I couldn't make money off of them if my life depended on it. Review 4: Oh, I'm glad you liked that part! I was afraid I'd over done it...Thank you, and I'll try!!
And now, in the new and improved if somewhat late (sorry) formula, it's what you've been waiting for...None other than...
Why Video Game Characters Aren't Allowed to Add-lib 10Legacy of Kain: Defiance: Kain and Raziel at the Spirit Forge
Today was perhaps the most important day in all of Nosgoth's history. Today, the vampire Janos Audron has again become the last of the Ancients after rising from his tomb; today, Janos' vampiric son and forger of the Reaver blade, has only narrowly escaped death and will soon go on to make other vampires in a world where their number has dwindled; today, the Pillars of Nosgoth have fallen, and Balance has been totally lost. Or has it? For also on this day, the vampire and Scion of Balance, Kain, and his fallen son Raziel the Soul Reaver have come from the future to change this dreadful past, though they started out not totally aware of that fate. Today, Raziel must sacrifice himself to Kain's Reaver to make it the Soul Reaver blade; today, Kain will come face-to-face with the Elder God of the Ancient vampires, who may have very well arranged the very corruption of the planet; today, the road to set all that is wrong right again will begin...
None of that, however, can take place until after Raziel and Kain are on speaking terms again. And at this moment in the Spirit Forge of the Vampire Citadel, Moebius, the Elder God, director Amy Henning and her staff could all tell that the likelihood of that happening anytime soon was as good as a cold day in Hell.
Director Henning sighed and rubbed her temple as she looked at the two antiheros. Kain and Raziel were standing as far aware from each other as possible in the small area, with their backs to each other and refusing to speak except through one of the other characters and/or staff, including the director herself.
"Boys, please," she pleaded, "Just this one scene...this one scene, and you're done with each other because the game will be over. Just work with me here. Raziel? Kain?"
"Why?" Raziel snapped, his normally white eyes blazing with blue fire as he looked at the only director he ever had. "So I can die and make him look like a righteous hero? Ha! When pigs fly, I'll consider it."
"You want me to kill him, and normally, I'd have no problem with that," Kain said, calmly, "After all, I ordered his execution. But this...Killing him only to make him look noble and selfless in his so-called sacrifice? Ha! When Moebius lays an egg, I might put thought into it."
"That happened once..." Moebius, leaning against his staff, mused. Kain and Raziel turned to give Moebius puzzled looks.
"How that ever happened," the Elder God stated, "I have no wish to know..."
"I don't think any of us do," Director Henning agreed, then sighed again as Kain and Raziel both turned back to their respective walls. "What am I going to do with these two?" she groaned, "If I can't get them to cooperate with each other, we can get the scene, and if we can't get the scene, we can't finish the game..."
"It's your own fault," the Elder God stated, turning his many eyes towards her, "You were the one that locked them up with nine hours of Moebius and that blasted purple dinosaur."
Raziel and Moebius both shuddered. Kain continued to stare at the wall, still unable to see or hear the Elder God's comments. "Don't remind me," Moebius said, "I wasn't even forced to watch it and I was scarred for life..."
"Okay, so, maybe I over reacted a bit," Director Henning admitted, "But I was angry, and desperate, and...Uhg! I wish there were someway to undo it!"
A coffee boy pulled the director's shirt, and she turned to look at him. "M'am," he said, "You...did that to undo...what someone else had done..."
"Yes, that...thing, whatever it is other than a trouble maker," Director Henning shrugged. "So?"
"So...maybe...that redo what she...he...did before?"
Suddenly, Raziel and Kain both whipped around, eyes bulging. "NO!" they shouted in unison, "Anything but THAT!"
But the director ignored them as she considered. "Well," she thought aloud, "He...she sometimes does more harm than good. That bit with Janos, and what happened at Avernus are proof of that...then again...she...he isn't the most violent of creatures in the world, and seems rather patient..."
"Please!" Raziel strode towards Director Heinning, hands clasped together and before him, pleading. "Please, don't do this. I'll do anything...just don't bring that...thing back!"
But Director Henning held her hand up. "I'll hear nothing of it," she announced, "And after all, nothing else seems to be working, and we have to get this done today to stay on schedule." She turned to her crew. "Everyone, clear the set."
"Amy, please," Kain said, pleading as well. Even his normally cold yellow eyes were wide with worry. "Let us be reasonable about this..."
"I tried to be reasonable, Kain," Director Henning said as camera people, assistants and who knows what else began to file out. "I tried to talk to you both, I tried to make you talk to each other...I even had to have the Elder God kick Raziel out of the Spectral Realm to make you two acknowledge each others existence! Which, by the way, failed miserably along with everything else. And besides, who are you to talk about being reasonable, diaper boy?" Moebius snickered, but fell silent as soon as Kain shot him a dark look.
"I'd like to see you hold it any better in that situation," he mumbled, mainly to himself.
Directo Henning shrugged. "In all honesty, you two have left me no other choice." She then turned to Moebius. "You had better leave, too, Moebius... This may not be pretty."
Moebius nodded and began to leave, snickering and muttering under his breath, "Poor suckers." Raziel was tempted to run him through with the Reaver right then and there, but decided to spare Moebius that fate for the moment. The sick bastard would probably enjoy it or something...
The director turned towards the exit herself, but Kain began to follow, not yet giving up hope. "You're not be very rational about this...Maybe we have been a bit hard-headed, but we'll work on it, really...Please, just don't sick that thing on us!"
"Sorry, Kain," Director Henning said, "There really is no other choice." She nodded to the Elder God's largest eye. "You know what to do," she said, and then walked out, closing a large door that read "Backstage: Designers and Developers Only", effiectively locking Kain and Raziel together.
"Wait!" Kain exclaimed, but it was too late. His cry fell upon deaf ears. Sighing, he turned and walked back towards his original place, trying to rid himself of the bitter taste of defeat in the process.
Raziel was thoroughly enjoying the site. It wasn't often that even a director defeated Kain. After all, he had two previous directors who could testify to that. And so it gave Raziel great pleasure to see him in such a state. That is, until he heard the Elder God speak.
"Well, it was fun while it lasted," came the great voice from everywhere. "But this next bit should be even better...So, I'll go ahead and proceed, and hope I still have some popcorn left over from when you killed Rahab, Raziel."
Raziel spun to look at the eye in order to address it, but was instead greeted by a swirl of a bluish, glowing mist as a strange dark blue creature with a long black, braided hair crowned with a silver tiara began to materialize. Its dark, burnt looking body was covered in a sequin blue ball gown, its clawed hands covered in white gloves and white shoes with silver clasps adorned its feet. A beaten looking blue silk veil covered its face just as Raziel's tabard covered his, and a set of glowing white eyes burned in the sockets, as did a pair of useless, battered, and boneless wings fall from its back—both identical to that of Raziel's. This being could only be none other than Raziel's doppelganger from another reality: Razielia the Drag Reaver. Trouble followed her like her own shadow; mischief clung to her like a fowl stench. She was presumed locked away in the Underworld permanently after what was now known as the "Avernus Incident", hopefully never to be heard from again...
Locked away, that is, until now.
"Razielia has entered the building!" she proclaimed loudly in her girlish voice, then propped her clawed hand on her hip as she surveyed her surroundings. Both Raziel and Kain, still not totally sure what to think of the transsexual drag reaver, shrank away from her and tried to remain unnoticed. Their discomfort around her was one of the few things they could agree on these days.
"Where am I?" she asked as she glanced about, "Last thing I remember, I was discussing with a wraith how the Grim Reaper look went out of style sagas ago, and that purple is so last century..."
"We have an...issue, Razielia," the Elder God explained, sounding quite smug about the situation. "Do you recall what you were imprisoned for?"
"Oh, hi, Eldy," Razielia said, turning to face his largest eye, "Oh, sure, hun, I remember. It was for making Raziel and Koein get along with each other when they were supposed to hate one another..."
"Don't call me Eldy," the Elder God groaned a bit. Raziel took note that he didn't bother to correct Razielia on Kain's name. "Yes, well, in order to fix that problem, our director had them endure many hours of Moebius' ramblings and Barney the Purple Dinosaur tapes." Even Razielia shuddered at the thought. "The problem is that it worked far too well. Now, we do need them to work together, and they won't."
Razielia waved her hand at the Elder God's eye and shook her head. "Oh, honey, is that what I'm here for? To make those two like each other?" She chuckled. "Well, doll, you came to the right place! Dr. Razielia Medicine Reaver is on the job!"
"Oh dear god..."
Razielia spun and looked behind her. Raziel turned as well, and was shocked to see that Kain was the one to have spoken. He knew that the vampire had been doing his best to escape notice—same as Raziel himself—but why he would reveal himself now escaped Raziel. Kain stood in a darkened corner, the Reaver strapped in its rightful place on his back, and the vampire's wild yellow eyes were wide.
"You can't possibly be serious," he began, "You can't actually intend to try and...fix us."
"Babe, I have been recruited to do a job, and I intend to do it, Koein," Razielia said defiantly. Apparently, some things never change, no matter what reality your from.
Kain's eyes narrowed. "My name is Kain," he snarled, "I expect you to use it."
"I expect you to shut the hell up," she snapped in an uncharacteristic show of any emotion other than bubbly-giddiness. Her voice deepened somewhat, making her sound more masculine. "And I can call you Jimmy Joe Bob if I so chose and you can't do a damn thing about it."
Raziel felt like smirking if he had the ability to do so anymore. Not just everyone had the courage to mouth off to Kain like that. He somewhat admired Razielia for it, even if she likely wouldn't survive the encounter, which he thought to be quite likely.
Kain drew the Reaver with lightning reflexes and took a few steps towards Razielia, enraged. "Very brass," he said calmly, though his eyes were anything but calm, "Brass, but stupid...what do you think is standing between me and pulling you into the Reaver instead of Raziel?"
"The fact that if you do, the director lady will probably lock you in here for all eternity," Razielia said matter-of-factly in her more girlish voice.
Kain paused and lowered the Reaver, a look of realization crossing his face. "Oh," he muttered, "Right. Damn."
Raziel gave an amused snort. He then widened his eyes in horror as he realized what he'd done, and he spun to look at Razielia to see if she had noticed him.
The excited squeak and clap she gave proved she had. "Razzy!" she proclaimed happily, "Oh, Razzy, I'm so happy to see you again!" She began running towards him.
"Don't even think about it," he warned, and she quickly stopped her advance. Kain grumbled to himself. It was just his luck that he'd end up with a biased negotiator.
Razielia looked between them, and then shook her head. "Well, this is how we're going to do it...I'm going to let one of you talk, without any interruptions from the other. Then the other will talk without being interrupted. Then we'll see about working everything out." Both wraith and vampire were unsure how that would help anything, but they were also aware that they had no choice. "Raziel, you're first."
"Why does he get to be first?" Kain protested.
"Because you can kiss my ass," Razielia replied. Kain sighed. He feared this wouldn't turn out well for him.
"What am I supposed to talk about?" Raziel asked.
Razielia seemed to mimic rolling her eyes, which was the best she could do with her light-filled sockets. "Your problems with Koein, duh."
"Kain," the vampire corrected.
"Whatever," the Drag Reaver shrugged.
Raziel considered. Where to begin? There was so much...So much hatred, so much bad blood. Where could he possibly begin? He looked over at Kain felt his anger boil up inside of him. Suddenly, he knew.
"My wings," he began, "That's when it started. Before then, sure, I had a few problems with him. His style of running a government was crude, to say the least...and his temper was short and unpredictable...I lost many a good messenger to his angry whim. But that was forgivable, because he was my master, my lord...Kain was my father." Raziel shook his head. "But when he tore my wings from my back and threw me into the Abyss...That was unforgivable."
"Now wait a minute!" Kain exclaimed, "You know very well I had no choice in the matter of your wings, and furthermore—"
"And furthermore you had best shut that trap of yours before I decide to go postal on your candy ass," Razielia warned, her voice becoming masculine again. Normally, such threats Kain would ignore, but in this case...Well, he wasn't entirely sure what a drag reaver could do to him, and wasn't very keen to find out. With that thought in mind, Kain fell silent.
As Raziel continued, even he was shocked to discover how much of his misfortune he blamed on Kain. From his transformation to the Reaver of Souls, to his inevitable fate of becoming the Soul Reaver itself. From time hopping through Nosgoth's history, to even the goose chase involving the Heart if Darkness, Raziel blamed Kain. In fact, by the time it was all said and done, the only thing that wasn't Kain's fault was the hole in the Ozone layer which, by some bazaar twist even Razielia's reasoning couldn't comprehend, was placed firmly on the shoulders of a talking donkey named Earl.
"And now," Raziel concluded, "They wanted me to sacrifice myself so that he can have the Soul Reaver back and be the great hero that'll save Nosgoth! Can you believe that?! They want me to give my life up for him! After all he's done to me!" Raziel fell silent, fuming for a few minutes. At length, he finally said, "I think I'm done."
Razielia blinked. "Um...wow," she mumbled, "That...uh...okay. Well, now that we know how you feel, Raziel, it's time we learned about you, Koein." She turned her attention to Kain. "What do you have to say about all this? And how do you feel about Raziel?"
"My name...is Koein," he grumbled, then blinked realizing what he said, "I mean, it's NOT Koein, it's Kain. And I'm sorry about Raziel's wings, I really am...But there was no way around it. The director made me. And I promise, I took no pleasure from it..."
"Wait a minute, you said that you DID enjoy it!" Raziel exclaimed, "At least, that's what you said in the Cathedral..."
"Now, Razzy, I made him be quiet for you," Razielia said sweetly, "You have to do the same for him." Raziel grumbled and crossed his arms. Kain sighed, again reminded of Razielia's biased judgment.
"Well, that was a lie," Kain admitted, "In fact, it pained me quite a bit to that to you. I liked your wings! And who is he to judge me?" Kain looked to Razielia. "Doesn't he realize the sacrifices that I've made for him? The blood I've spilt for him?!"
So Kain went off on how Raziel had always been ungrateful, uncaringly and self-centered. Kain explained how he had placed his last hopes of saving Nosgoth on Raziel, and how the plan depended upon leaving Raziel in the dark about the entire thing; how he had lead Raziel into the Chronoplast in order to change his destiny, and so on. By the time he was done, Kain was obviously convinced that he had done all the things a loving father could do to protect his favorite child in such a situation, and Raziel along with the rest of the world had painted him the bad guy instead.
"After all I've done for him," Kain said, sounding as though he were somewhere between anger and disappointment, "All I've tried to do as well...and yet, he thinks I'm as evil as the Elder God himself!"
"I resent that remark," the Elder God cut it, but the remark fell on Kain's still Elder-God-Proof ears.
There was a brief, somewhat tense silence as Kain thought. At length, he snorted. "I'm done," he proclaimed, glaring daggers at Raziel. Raziel returned the gaze eagerly.
Razielia scratched her head. "Well, I see how this is," she said as knowingly as a transsexual Drag Reaver can, "You two are both suffering from a severe case of miscommunication is all! Why, we couldn't have gotten any luckier boys...That's the easiest thing in the world to fix."
"It is?" said Raziel, Kain, and even the Elder God at once.
She nodded. "It sure it, kiddies. Razzy, come here, I want to tell you something..."
The Soul Reaver looked suspicious, but edged over to Razielia. She leaned in and then, so quietly even the Elder God couldn't hear, whispered into his ear what he had to do to resolve the entire issue. Raziel's eyes widened.
"No," he said, calmly but firmly as he pulled away from her. He fixed his glowing eyes on his double and narrowed them. "And not just no," he added, "but hell no."
"Oh, but Razzy, you have to!" she groaned, "Please, Razzle Dazzle... If you don't, we'll all be stuck here doing nothing but being mad at each other for all of time!"
Raziel shuddered, "Promise not to call me 'Razzle Dazzle' again, and I'll consider it," he said, venom dripping from his voice.
"Okay, I promise," Razielia said, "But you have to say it...Or else you'll be stuck in here forever."
Raziel weighed his options. He could do as Razielia requested and perhaps be let out of the Spirit Forge for a time...Or, he could refuse and spend the rest of eternity locked up with three of the individuals in the universe he liked least. Raziel groaned. It sounded almost as bad as nine hours of Moebius and Barney. And, after all, she didn't say he had to mean it.
"Okay, fine," he sighed, "I submit." He looked to Kain, mumbled something, and then looked away.
"What was that?" Kain said, trying to hide a smirk. He had an idea as to what it was, but he wanted to be sure first.
"I said I was sorry," Raziel muttered.
"That's not all," Razielia insisted, "Go on..."
"Aw, do I have to?" Raziel moaned, sounding like a small child. Razielia nodded, and he sighed and continued speaking, glancing at Kain somewhat. "I'm sorry...for not giving you a chance...for accusing you...for always thinking your just trying to manipulate me...And...I'm sorry...for never forgiving you." As Raziel looked down, a strange feeling over came him as he realized he had, intentional or not, meant the last one. The feeling was old and weak, but vaguely familiar...it was a feeling he hadn't encountered since his execution. But what it itself was exactly, he wasn't sure yet.
Kain blinked and the smirk faded from his face. He wasn't surprised by Raziel's apology; as a matter of fact, he had expected it and was loving the fact Raziel had to do it, since it must have been a great blow to his pride. What had caught him of guard was the sincerity in Raziel's voice as he had finished. Was it possible? After all this time, after all the torture he'd been through...and then Kain had a realization. It was torture Raziel had endured during his years as a wraith, as the Reaver of Souls. It was anything but the noble existence he was used to as a vampire, his hunger now even darker than before. And if what Kain read about Raziel's new master in the scripts was at all true, then yes, these past five centuries and more had been nothing short of torture for Kain's once favorite son. And, as he looked in retrospect, didn't he hold part of the blame?
As Kain considered these things, a long awkward silence fell over the group. Not even Razielia breathed as Kain stood and thought. At length, he began to speak, slowly and somewhat hurt at first, but stronger and with more conviction as he continued. "Raziel...I...I'm touched. And...I'm sorry as well. I hurt you in ways that even I believe to be wrong, and I'm sorry for that. I have done you many great evils for my own gain, and have covered it over saying it was all for your own good. I drug you into a fate not of your own choosing, and I am deeply sorry for it. I...hope that perhaps...you can forgive me someday." Kain paused as Raziel looked up at him, and then added, quietly, "Son."
Raziel's eyes widened. "Father!" he cried out, and ran to Kain. They embraced as though they were long lost friends who had finally found each other after many years of searching. As they hugged, they jabbered out more apologies and laughed about how foolish they had been. Razielia sniffed.
"That's....that's just...so sweet," she said with a breaking voice, "It's just...so inspirational...Oh, thank goodness I can't cry these days, or I'd be bawling the Nile!"
"Here," said the Elder God, withdrawing a small handkerchief from behind a rock with a tentacle. He handed it to her. "Take this, it'll make you feel better."
"Thank you," Razielia whispered and wiped at her glowing eyes, though they were dry as a bone.
The Elder God beheld Kain and Raziel, who now stood apart from each other but were still laughing and talking. "I think we can call the director back now," he said, "I think they'll do alright from here on in...Besides, I've got a Video Game Deity Convention to go to tonight, and Raiden will be pissed if I miss it again this year."