Hi guys, I'm back from my sabbatical! I feel so guilty, I've been a bad, bad girl! I should have updated roughly three months ago, I'm lazy and awful! Sorry guys! I really wish I could make excuses for how lazy I've been, but they all sound dorky and stupid (even though they are TRUE excuses)! The truth is, I really got out of Vampire Game. I just stopped being interested in it. It's pretty hard to write about something your not interested in. Too bad! (By the way, this also explains why some of the characters will be out of character. I can't help it, I just don't have the groove of them back.)

I was planning on doing a chapter in the fighting, but that was going nowhere because I suck big time at writing fight scenes. So eventually I ended up scrapping that second-to-last chapter and just jumping to the last one. But oh my god, am I glad to be done with this!

Hey, Isis-Ishtar, it aint your fault. You are one of my favorite reviewers, I always look forward to reading your comments.

Thank you to all who wrote how much you like this! It really helped me keep going! I know by the end the plot slacked off a little, but I like to think that I am helping the community by contributing a worthwhile piece.

And now, without further ado, I give you

Broken Dreams: Part Two, Chapter Twelve

Conclusion (this time for real!): The Trial

Ishtar looked up into the sky and smiled. The sun was shining brightly, mirroring how she felt. All around her were the ruins of the Zi Alda gate, but even that couldn't bring down her mood. Last night's disaster had been successfully diverted, and no one she cared about had been hurt.

Not everyone had been that fortunate, however. Both sides had suffered severe losses, and even now she could distantly hear the wailing of a woman mourning her fallen husband. She sighed slightly. Just thinking of the rows of carcasses made her feel depressed and slightly queasy.

She brightened back up as Darres approached her. "Ishtar," he said cheerily. He had many cuts and scrapes from the fighting, but they all seemed minor. "I was just out looking for you."

"Not surprising," she said, rolling her eyes in mock sarcasm, "considering that's what we're paying you for. So what's up?"

"Oh, the vampire's trial is going underway. Do you want to be there?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world!" She turned around and stood at attention. "Lead on, captain Darres!"

He shook his head and laughed slightly as he turned. Man, she sure is in high spirits today...

The trial was held in a small reception room that doubled as a makeshift courtroom. The judges sat at a long table: Illsaide, Yuginn, and Seiliez. They had been elected judges because they were the standing rulers of each country.

Light filtered through the many windows, swirling in lazy patterns and making the room comfortably warm. The soft red carpet underfoot only added to the cozy atmosphere, and two minutes after Ishtar sat down she felt herself nodding off, lulled to a dreamlike state. She jerked herself back to reality and focused on what was being said.

"Well, Vampire King, these offenses are serious," sighed Illsaide. "Escape, hiding your identity, attempted murder..."

"Wait a minute!" the vampire shouted irritably. "Just who is this I tried to kill??"

"Saint Phelios."

"Oh."

"Continuing..." said Yuginn, "We have been debating things for a long time. Deceiving us all for so long is a serious crime, but your recent actions must be put into light."

"Yes," agreed Seiliez. "You went out of your way to save our princess. You could have left, but you did not. You could have killed her or held her hostage, but you did not. This much shows you have some sense of decency, as twisted or warped as it may be."

"Also," continued Illsaide. "You helped us defeat the invading army and saved many lives in the process. That requires much bravery on your part."

"But still..." sighed Yuginn. "You are a vampire, and vampires are evil at heart. They drink the blood of innocents and make slaves out of our friends and family."

Duzell glared at them. "Just because we do that doesn't mean we're evil!" He made a move to jump out of his seat in anger, but a spell had been placed on him and all he could do was wiggle around a bit. He did so, in a very angry and indignant way.

"Doesn't it mean anything to you guys that I came back of my own free will? People who are evil at heart don't throw themselves in the path of danger! I came back to Ishtar, you can't take me away from her again!" Ishtar blinked at this sudden outburst. She smiled at the enraged vampire sitting next to her. "Oh Duzie, that's so sweet of you!"

Yuginn coughed for attention. "If you please, this is a court of law, not a forum. Duzell, restrain yourself from any more outbursts. However, we did take note of this loyalty you carry to the princess. It's very odd, is it not?" The other judges murmured assent. "So I must wonder if perhaps he is only using her to find Phelios's reincarnation."

This time it was Ishtar that flared up in anger. "No, you're wrong! Duzie would never do anything like that! He stays with me because we're friends!"

He looked at her calmly. "Are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely!"

"Well then, we shall take that into account. But by all means, princess, if I were you I wouldn't be so sure. He's lied to all of us, he wouldn't find it that much harder to lie to you."

She turned away from him and looked at Duzell instead. The king of the Undead became unsettled when he saw the doubt creep into her eyes. "Duzell, you wouldn't... would you?" she asked quietly.

He didn't reply.

"Anyways... Duzell," said Seiliez, "You understand that this is a very difficult decision. We are half-tempted to allow you to stay as Ishtar's pet..."

"PET!?!" he shouted incredulously.

Seiliez smirked at him. "Yes, a pet. But you do understand that if we rule that way, you must stop this insane search for Phelios?"

Duzell looked dumbstruck. "But... Phelios....he's the whole reason I'm here... I've been chasing him for a whole century... I have to find him..."

Ishtar smiled warmly at him. "Well actually, I think the whole point is you can't kill him. You see, Phelios is pretty important to a lot of people, so I guess they don't want him to die."

He seemed to ponder this for a while. After a moment of silence, he leaned his head back, closed his eyes, and murmured to himself, "Phelios... why? Why can't I hate you for what you've done?" He opened his eyes and addressed the whole court. "You guys have never met Phelios, right? Well, let me tell you about the backstabbing asshole."

Darres shouted out in anger. "How DARE you!!" he shouted as he drew his sword. He started to advance on the vampire, but stopped as Ishtar glared murderously at him.

"Darres..." she growled dangerously, "Sit down, shut up, and listen to the goddamn story!" Surprised at her tone, he complied. Ishtar turned and grinned at Duzell. "Okay sweetie, now go on."

Duzell scoffed slightly. Sweetie? "Well, it all started when I saw Phelios's daughter, Karine. She's your grandmother Ishtar, by the way. She was about your age when I saw her. She had beautiful golden hair and the sweetest laugh you'd ever hear. So naturally, I decided she would make the perfect undead servant. Hey, don't look at me that way!" He said as Darres scowled angrily at him. "It's what all vampires do! Anyways, to make a long story short, Phelios found out. And he got mad. In fact, when I came to retrieve the girl, he found me and kicked the crud out of me." He winced slightly, reliving old memories. "I thought for sure I was going to die that night. But strangely enough, Phelios let me live. He healed me enough so I could return home; he also told me that if I ever came back he would not be so forgiving."

Illsaide cut in, a dreamy quietness to his voice. "Why would he show you mercy...?"

Duzell laughed. "That was exactly what I asked him. He just smiled that oh-so-sweet smile and told me something that I remember, even to this day. He said that even demons deserve to be shown kindness.

"Well, naturally, I was intrigued by this strange individual. I'd never met anyone quite like him. About a week after I'd first met him I wrote him a letter. I didn't say anything really specific in it, I just said we had started off on rather a bad foot and reintroduced myself. I sent it to him via pidgeon, and his reply came back almost immediately. He said I was rather different than what the stories made me out to be. I remember that because I thought it was an odd thing to say. Anyways, we ended up being something of penpals. Diaage especially found it odd, but then again, she never tired of mocking me. But I ignored her tauntings; I loved to hear from the Saint. He always told me wonderful stories of life, and he seemed to find my letters just as fascinating. But it didn't last; after he had his second child he started sending replies less and less. Eventually he just quit; I never heard from him again.

"It was perhaps ten years later when I finally snapped. I was sick to death over my wretched existence, and would have done anything to find some amusement. The only thing I could think of was conquering the world."

Here his story was interrupted. Darres exclaimed angrily, " My god! The world isn't your chessboard, you know!"

Duzell nodded. "I know that now. But back then, it was all a game to me. I didn't have anything left worth living for, so I put it all on the line for a whim. I went to war with the humans, in what you now call the War of Lost Souls.

"However, there was one thing between me and domination: Phelios.

" I met him alone on the battlefield. I realize now that perhaps that wasn't the smartest of things to do, but I didn't think of that back then. I went to meet him." At this point the vampire's voice grew softer, as if reliving some painful memory. "I asked him why. Why won't he step aside, even though he knows he can't win against me? No normal weapons can hurt me, no normal spells can kill me. My army is stronger and larger and would crush the world if I gave the word. I told him this. He just looked at me with a sad look in his eyes and said one thing. He said, 'I'm sorry.'"

Here Duzell had to stop; he was having trouble controlling his unstable emotions. After a moment he finally he regained his composure and continued.

"Phelios was known as a Saint. He did unconditional acts of kindness and bravery, he walked in step with the Gods, and for that people called him a Saint. They said that he never sinned, he was a perfect human being, a perfect leader. But I know better. I know better, because after he apologized to me, he cast his deadly spell- La Gamme. He had even made a ruelle specifically to help kill me. He used the trust I gave him to his own advantage; he used the knowledge he gained from my letters to divine ways of destroying my followers. The bastard betrayed the trust I had in him. And you know what the worst part of it is?" Duzelll laughed hollowly. " I was actually stupid enough to believe he was my friend."

The room was silent as the story was finished. Every sat pondering this turn of fate; this was the truth not written in history books. Even Darres could find nothing to say.

Duzell looked lost in thought. His eyes were clouded with mixed emotions, and Ishtar noticed a confused tear slip out of his eye. He turned his face skyward and whispered quietly, "Oh, Phelios..."

"So do you still harbor feelings for him?" Yuginn looked intently at the vampire. Duzell whipped his head around to stare wide-eyed at the prince; after a moment he blushed crimson and looked away shyly. Ishtar laughed happily and he just turned and even deeper shade of red.

"Oh, Duzie, why didn't you tell us?" she grinned. "Now there's even more reason to find Phelios!"

"Just a minute, the judges haven't decided if he's going to even live or not!" snapped Darres. Ishtar had a feeling that Darres would never completely get over his dislike of the vampire, no matter how saintly and reformed he became. No biggie though, she thought happily. Just make sure not to leave them in the same room alone together.

Seiliez cleared his throat. "Well, if you would care to know, we have come to a decision."

Yuginn continued. " I'm sure that we all agree that Duzell has most definitely changed."

The vampire nodded. "Even Sharlen noticed, and he didn't even know me in my last life!"

"And," continued Yuginn, "we have unanimously decided that you, Vampire King Duzell, may continue to live with the princess Ishtar."

Ishtar jumped up and whooped for joy. The much-relieved vampire grinned; his smile only grew wider when Ishtar leaned over and hugged him fiercely.

"However, there will be certain conditions." The judge paused to let Ishtar retake her seat. " Duzell, you must not harm anyone in the Phelios family."

"Of course."

"Also, if in the future you do meet up with the reincarnation of Phelios, I do not want you to act out of your emotions. You will not raise a hand against him, is that understood?"

Duzell nodded.

"Very well then. If that is all, you may go." Illsaide released the spell binding the silver-haired man to his chair. Every stood up to leave, stretching and yawning.

Ishtar felt like she could sing. In fact, as she reached the double doors and walked out into the sunshine, she did just that.

"La dee daa, dee dum DEE DAA !!" she sang happily. Duzell looked askance at her and rolled his eyes, causing the princess to giggle in delight.

Could today be any better? Ishtar wondered as she skipped off towards her favorite meadow. Darres doesn't hate me, and now everyone knows about Duzell and is okay with it! Life is so great!!!!

Okay, I hope everyone enjoyed that! It's longer than most of my other chapters, as a sort of "forgive me" gift. Now, before I go, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who took the time to review my pieces. It really meant a lot to me, and I was shocked at how many reviews I got! Right now it's at 76" Also, thank you to everyone who was there with me from the beginning!! You guys were some of my truest inspiration!! (I won't name you right now because I'm sure I'll forget someone and hurt their feelings, but you allknow who you are!) I'm so glad I'm finally done with my first fanfic, it makes me feel so accomplished! I hope the ending wasn't too sucky tho- if you point out what is wrong I will be try to fix it!!! And also, now that I am done with this fic you don't need to review anymore, but feel free to. No flaming please, it hurts my fragile, fragile spirit!!!!

One last thank you!!!! Goodnight folks, it was a pleasure! Love to all!! Hug hug, kiss kiss!!!
This is Succorelle, signing off.