The blade liger suddenly came from a full blown run into a mere walk all of a sudden while its occupants were traveling in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing around them for miles, not even the smallest signs of a mountain within the distance.
Van brought the blade liger to a stop and stood up as the canopy opened looking around him. He didn't make a move for a while before he suddenly sat down and grabbed a hold of the controls without a word to Fiona.
"Van? Why is it that you stopped? Are we here yet?" she asked looking around without seeing anything around them. She knew not to judge by the appearance of the place because Zack had an interest in underground bases so no one could be sure if there was one here or not.
She looked at Van and his stern face and her heart reached out to him. She knew exactly what he was feeling because she had lost just as much as he did but he was a lot closer to those he lost, like all the people of the wind colony. Fiona never really knew them since she didn't get much of a chance since they were always on the move. They had both lost their daughter and Maria equally so they were both pained so greatly.
Van rubbed his head while shaking it no. "We aren't there quite yet but it feels like he is on the move. He is doing whatever he can to avoid us Fiona. He has finally accepted that maybe he went too far with his stunts. He knows we're after him," Van said as she started up the blade liger again and shot it forwards at full speed but this time in a completely different direction.
"You mean like he is actually afraid of what we would do if we caught up to him?" Fiona asked and Van nodded his head without looking back at her. "He deserves whatever he gets after what he did Van," Fiona said bitterly.
Van was extremely shocked to here those words come out of Fiona. He didn't know that Fiona could have a bitter bone in her body yet here she is agreeing fully with Van in that he should die and without a single tone of regret. It slightly scared him since Fiona is usually a very kindhearted person but it made him happy to see that she wanted this as much as he did. "I agree with you completely Fiona," he said with a small smirk crossing his face.
"There was a time that I could only dream of this day coming Van. When we could be together without fear. Although at the time I wasn't sure that we could ever be together again. That was just before I learned that I was going to have Kristi," Fiona said as a tear escaped her eyes.
"That is if we are capable of coming out of this battle alive," Van said sternly but he felt a tear of his own fall down his face. He wanted to live peacefully with Fiona and Kristi by his side. She was gone now with his sister. "No parent should ever have to go through the pain of seeing their child die," Van said shaking in both sadness and rage.
Fiona just nodded her head shaking from sadness. "Even from the day that she was born, she was so much like you. Kind, loving, and always willing to say what he was feeling inside. Seeing her everyday all those years made my heart break more and more while seeing what we could have had then," Fiona said with a frown but she knew that she wouldn't trade her daughter for anything in the world. It was too late for everything. She died before she even had a chance to live in this cruel world.
Van saddened even more if it was possible. "If there was one thing that I could do back then to make things better, it would be that I would wake myself up so that I could have stopped you from leaving. I wonder what it would have been like if I was able to do that."
Fiona had a feeling that she knew what would have happened. "I had enough troubles then pulling myself to do what I did. I was so unsure of my decisions. I probably would have stayed if you woke up in time to stop me. You can't change the past though. We can't bring her back!" Fiona said breaking into a fit of tears once again.
"He went way too far in attacking my friends and family. He will suffer in hell for what he has done!" Van yelled as a fierceness came to his eyes that not even Fiona's presence could control. He would only be happy when he saw Zack dead.
Van suddenly had a feeling from a place nearby. He knew what it was that he was feeling. He gripped the controls tightly and pushed it forward towards a town that was a few miles away from them. "Got you!' he yelled.
Zack ran through a deserted town. The old woman's words were really striking deep within him and he didn't know why it was. He didn't know why he suddenly feared Van. He had taken him on multiple times and had come out unscathed.
Every small noise made him jump. He had no idea how it was possible for them to have caught up to him so quickly. They were approaching this village that he had come across and he knew that he wouldn't be able to get away from it fast enough. He knew he would have to fight them.
Zack suddenly came to a stop and a smirk crossed his face and all his fears disappeared. "Why am I running? Just because of a stupid things that some senile old woman happened to mention to me?" he laughed as he stood up straight. "I can finally kill him now and take Fiona for myself just like it should have been.
Flashback
"No!" a voice yelled in a small room that was occupied by. A young Zack stood off to the side watching the argument that was going on. "We can not just hand over our planet to some stupid human," a zoidian yelled slamming his fist down upon the table.
"I assure you that we have no intention of trying to take over your planet. If you will accept our help, we can help to preserve your race!" a human male stepped forward. Zack didn't know much about him but knew that his last name was Flyheight. He hated the man a lot.
"Lies! It is your fault that our race is dying away! If you had never come, the deathsaurer would have never been created and wouldn't have destroyed our people!" the first man yelled walking towards Zack.
"I don't see why we are even arguing over this. We cannot allow our pure race to mix with that of human blood. It is our children that are the future of our race. My daughter will marry and produce a pure blooded child with another one like Zack here. I refuse to see my family's pure blood tainted by that of humans," the woman said calmly placing her hands upon Zack's shoulders.
"Please Amber; you must reconsider your options in this. Our race is dying away; we have no other choice but to allow that to happen. We can all peacefully coexist with each other. Why can't you just allow it to happen?" another zoidian woman stepped forwards pleading her best friend to reconsider.
Amber was appalled that her best friend could actually consider such an option. "How can you consider that sort of option? Don't you have any more pride with our race?" Amber yelled pointing her finger at her former best friend as she stood next to the few humans in the room.
Zack stepped forwards amidst the adults with a smirk on his face. "I agree with Amber. Humans are nothing but a plague to our planet. They should be wiped away to preserve our race," Zack said looking towards the humans who looked at him fearfully knowing that he would be a problem in the future.
Amber stepped forward and placed her hands upon Zack's shoulders with a proud smile on her face. "This child has the right idea for our race. He would make an excellent husband for my daughter in the future," she said lightly pushing him off to the side and stepping towards the rest of them.
Zack took what she said about him to heart. He had always wanted her daughter. Now he even basically had her permission to take her as a wife in the future. He knew that he would always remember that day.
"Well maybe I don't agree Amber!" a male zoidian said stepping forwards so that he was in her face. "I agree with Flyheight here. He can help us protect our race but it will take sacrifices! There aren't enough pure blooded zoidians left to keep our race alive for long. The deathsaurer has gotten rid of all the rest and it is our fault for creating it!" he yelled towards the woman he once considered his wife.
"Almost everyone agrees with their plan but you few are the only ones who continue to disagree. Our races time is nearly finished but I don't wish to see it completely destroyed," the other female zoidian said before she walked out of the room. "My children will see to that even if they are no longer pure blooded," she said as she disappeared from view. Almost immediately, an explosion happened and almost everyone ran out of the room.
Zack stayed behind and watched it all with a smirk on his face. "Zoidians like that don't deserve to live anymore. She got what she deserved," he said before he followed after them with only the thought of the young female zoidian that Amber had basically given to him in the discussion.
End flashback
He had kept that meeting to heart even after hundreds of years since it was finished. The woman that walked out was never seen again and he was glad for that. She could no longer keep to the promise that she made and destroy their race more than they already had.
Zack was taken away from his thoughts when a knife came out of nowhere zooming past his face and jamming itself into a wall. He reached his hand up and wiped at his face on to find blood in his hand afterwards. Anger crossed his face and he turned around to see Van standing a few feet away. Zack was glad that Van didn't have very good aim at that moment or he would have been dead then.
"You bastard!" Van yelled stepping forward towards Zack with Fiona in tow. Both looked highly pissed at him. "You just made the biggest mistake of her life in targeting my family and my friends!" Van yelled suddenly running forward and swinging a fist at Zack. He actually made contact although Zack tried to dodge and it sent him flying backwards.
Zack stood up and wiped the blood from his lip. He was surprised that he failed to dodge that attack since he thought Van was a lot slower than him. At least in their last confrontation when Van brutally dominated. He wished he had taken care of Van then and didn't have to do it now. It had to end because of an interference by Van's friend.
"You just don't know when to give up Flyheight. Your family never did know when to stop. It is a fatal flaw that I intend to rectify right now. You are the last of your family and once I kill you, your family will no longer be a threat to my people!" Zack yelled throwing a punch at Van but he missed.
"I am not as weak as I was last time. I will not allow the outcome to be the same," but was taken off guard when a kick came up and sent him flying through a wall into a building. It accidentally started a fire when a light was knocked over in the process.
Van managed to get up and shook off the attack he saw Zack jump through the window into the room and stare at Van with an intense glare. He caught a kick by Zack and threw it off to the side but it came around and nailed Van in the back. Van hit a wall again and pieces of everything flew everywhere.
Van shook his sore head and jumped when he look off to the side to see a large piece of wood with a sharp end just off to the side of his chest. A few inches over and it would have impaled him. He chuckled nervously as he peeled himself off of the wall carefully.
"It looks like you aren't much stronger than you were the last time we met Flyheight. I hate that name and I will put and end to it now!" he said and then spotted the same piece of wood that Van noticed and grinned before he charged forward at Van.
"Van! Look out!" Fiona said jumping in the way and pushing Van off to the side but not enough time for Zack to notice the charge as he pushed forward and accidentally threw Fiona onto the target that he was aiming Van towards. It impaled directly into his stomach.
"Fiona!" Van yelled in horror upon seeing his wife impaled with the sharp piece of wood. He ran towards her as Zack backed away out of shock of what he had done. He didn't want it to be Fiona that was impaled by it.
It may have been a thing piece of wood but it was still enough to do a lot of damage to a person. "Fiona!" Van yelled again as he carefully pulled Fiona from the wood and placed her on the floor. There wasn't much life left in her and Van knew there was no changing it this time.
Fiona lips quivered as if she was trying to say something. "V-V-Van. I-I'm sorry that I have been so… useless up till now. T-there is no stopping my death now. Please don't let the sacrifices of mine and all the other be in vain. F-finish him o-o-off for everyone," Fiona said cringing with every word that she spoke.
"No! Fiona you can't leave me! Please don't leave me like every one else has!" Van yelled through tears. He saw her look up with sympathetic eyes and he wished she would stop talking so she could save energy.
"You're w-w-wrong Van. They never left you, there are always right here," Fiona said placing her cold hands over his heart. She was smiling though. "I am glad I could do this for you. P-please finish him off for all of us," Fiona said before her breathing suddenly stopped and her hands fell limply to the floor.
"No!" Van yelled as tears swarmed down his face. 'Another one I couldn't protect,' he thought trying to block out the image that he saw when she was impaled. Van pushed himself off the ground and turned towards Zack.
Zack was shocked to see the look upon Van's face. It wasn't one of anger or anything like it but a blank yet determined look. "This is your fault Van. She is dead because of you!" Zack yelled pulling a sword from his belt. It was the same one that Ryan once used to pierce Van with.
"You're wrong," Van said staring at him with his dull eyes. "She died protecting what she fought for. I merely couldn't stop it. Just like I couldn't stop the death of my family and my friends. I can not let them down. If I die, I will make sure you join me in hell," Van said never raising his voice towards Zack.
Zack grew angry and charged at Van with the sword but Van leaned back at the last second and dodged the long blade. Zack did manage to cut open the front of his shirt. He then fell back farther and brought his feet up nailing Zack under his chin sending him flying.
Zack groaned as he once again tried to stand up but got nailed in the side of the head by Van. 'What the hell is going on? I am giving it everything and yet I am losing?' Zack groaned managing to stand up. He looked towards Van and grinned when he saw blood running down Van's stomach where he thought he only cut his shirt.
Van didn't even seem to notice the pain as he stared at Zack with determined eyes. "I can never forgive myself and sure as hell will never forgive you for what you have done to the people of this world," van said dodging another sword attack. He kicked the sword high into the air and caught it before jumping around Zack and slashing his legs with the sword.
Zack yelled in pain as he clutched his cut leg and fell to his knees. He was taken by surprise when the sword came out of nowhere and pierced him in the right side of his chest. He stared at Van before he fell backwards and onto the floor.
Van watched in delight as he finally defeated the man that he had hunted for so long. The one that had killed his family, his friends, the people of Zi, his daughter, and his wife. He suddenly started to feel the pain start to catch up to him in his stomach and he collapsed to the floor. He looked towards Fiona and slowly started to crawl towards her lifeless body leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Van was breathing heavily when he reached his lifeless body. He clutched her hands and smiled. "I-It's over Fiona. Now we can both die in peace," he said before he collapsed onto her and a pool of blood formed around him as it fell from his body.
The sounds of footsteps were heard approaching the room and a few moments later a woman entered it knowing that this was where the fighting took place. It was none other than Amber and she surprisingly held a young girl in her arms.
"What a pathetic man you are Zack. I could probably kill you right now without any trouble. Oh how I would love to do that after all the suffering you have caused," she said as Zack's eyes opened and he pulled the sword out of his chest but he was incapable of standing because of his legs. One was barely hanging onto him. It was surprising that he wasn't dead already. He always was a stubborn man though.
Kristi looked towards the bodies of her parents and her eyes widened as she jumped out of Amber's arms and ran towards them. "Mommy! Daddy!" she screamed as she shook their lifeless bodies.
Amber looked towards the young girl with sympathy. She managed to save her from the attack on the wind colony but she couldn't save anyone else. "If only I had realized it sooner. I was a fool from the beginning thinking I could keep our race pure. I could have saved their lives," she said with regret in her voice.
"You are no better than me old woman. You were the one that began this. I merely followed in the start," he said chuckling but in pain. He looked towards Kristi and his eyes widened. "No, she is supposed to be dead!" he yelled as loud as he could.
"I can learn from my mistakes unlike you. I saved her life when you attacked that village. I am a failure to my family but I know of one way that I can make up for it all. It is something I never knew I would use to save a human," she said with little hesitation.
Zack's eyes widen in recognition since he knew what she was talking about. Her only power, one that was one of a kind, meant for only her. One that came at the cost of her life and also ruin all that he had worked to change. "You can't!" he yelled trying to stand but he fell.
"I was a failure as a wife, as a mother, and as a friend. This will be my last hope of forgiveness from those I love and those that I have come to love. I will give the world its hope back," she said and walked towards Kristi. She was wrong in her assessment of being able to kill him. He still had a lot more energy in him than she had originally thought. So this was her last hope to stop him.
She kneeled before Kristi and placed her hands upon her shoulders. "I can give you back what you wish for by giving them a second chance. I will never sacrifice your life for it though. Only my life is needed to give them the future they should have had. What do you say little one?" Amber asked giving a small smile at the young familiar looking girl.
Kristi looked towards her parents bodies and nodded her head wildly. Amber picked her up one last time and looked at the bodies of her daughter and her husband. "You will never remember but I want to say that I am sorry for my foolishness. I will give you back the time that you lost," she said closing her eyes focusing upon her power.
"It is a power that shouldn't exist, don't do it!" Zack yelled feeling the energy radiating around her, the power of reversal. He felt things begin to warp around him as her power started to take effect. "No!" he yelled reaching out but it was too late as a bright flash surrounded everything around them.
Her eyes sprung open in fright and she sat up in her bed quickly holding a blanket around her nude body. She looked around her and saw Van sleeping peacefully. Her mind was a mess as the dreams continued to haunt her sleep. 'No, this wasn't supposed to happen; I shouldn't have let it get that far. This will only make things even harder for us. Why did I have to let my emotions get the better of me?' Fiona asked herself.
She stood up and started to run around the room grabbing her clothes and putting them on. She couldn't stay but she didn't know what she would do if Van ended up waking up to stop her. She had to leave for his sake.
She got dressed and wrote a quick note. She was about to walk towards the door when she felt a hand grab a hold of her wrist. She was afraid of what she would see if she looked at it but it couldn't be helped. She looked and saw Van with his hurt eyes since he saw her trying to leave. "Why?" he asked her wanting an honest answer. He thought he would be able to make her stop after the night they had.
Fiona couldn't help it and broke out in tears and dropped to her knees with her head falling on the bed, clutching herself tightly. "Van, please," she managed to cry out but all he did was lightly take a hold of her and pull her up into the bed next to him where she once was.
"Please don't Fiona," he managed to stutter out as he held her tightly to him. He didn't think he would be able to let her leave. It was too painful to see her trying to leave. He didn't know what he would do if she was actually able to leave.
She suddenly lost all will to fight and she clutched him back. She knew that even if she was to try that she wouldn't be able to leave. 'If he won't let me leave, then I will just have to protect him,' he thought and slowly fell to sleep within his arms.