(Hey, it seems I'm updating again, and I think it's a good thing too. This chapter's going to be big, and probably hold one of the biggest confrontations yet. It might even be the best chapter yet, as well.)
One Last Chance:
Chapter Twelve
"Move aside foolish boy; my business here is not with you," Kamal stated. The Prince readied himself. "I-I do not know who you are, but you will not enter the palace!" he replied. Kamal grinned and removed his hood.
"W-Who are you?"
"My prince, I suggest you to move."
"I-I will not!"
"I suppose I cannot alter your decision…" He drew his Water Sword and dashed at the Prince.
"This Babylon… it cannot be…" the Prince muttered to himself as Massoud glanced around. "It is almost time…" he stated before approaching a fountain in the plaza a road before the palace entrance.
"Is something wrong?" Farah asked him. He turned to her. "No… I was just pondering over this… If Kamal is here, he might already be at the palace, and then we would have failed."
She smiled. "We should not worry; you must be more optimistic."
"Yes, perhaps you are right."
The clear, blue blade sliced through each of the Persian soldiers which opposed it. Kamal was enjoying himself slightly, knowing that is goal would finally be achieved. "This feeling… it is so exhilarating!" he cried as he wiped out another three soldiers.
"What is this madness?" Farzad thought as two soldiers approached him. "Sir, this intruder cannot be stopped; he is like a demon!" one of them stated fearfully. Farzad grasped his sword. "Nevertheless, we cannot allow this to happen! How will my father be if he came back to his kingdom to see his entire palace slaughtered? Where is my younger brother?"
"We believe he was in the garden, sir."
"The garden? No! The intruder might have already found him! I want you two to find him while I meddle with this intruder."
"Yes sir!" they answered in unison and ran out of the hallway. Farzad ground his teeth and ran towards the entrance chamber.
"Mommy… what's happening?" Saeedeh asked her mother as she set a book on a drawer. "Do not go out Saeedeh; lock the door."
"But Mommy…"
A guard forced the door open, knocking the young girl down. "Take your child and escape through the back entrance with the other servants!"
"What-,"
The guard ran off before Kaileena could finish, but she ignored it and helped Saeedeh. "Come, it is not safe here any longer."
The Prince stood up, clutching his wound. "How… could I have fallen so easily… He slashed me once, only once…" He used the wall as support and entered the palace, noticing a number of scattered, mutilated body. "He must have plowed through them effortlessly… They will never last against this monstrosity…"
Kamal slit another guard's throat as he entered another hallway. "Where is the Empress! This is becoming extremely frustrating!"
He began to run through more corridors, killing each poor soul that interfered.
Kaileena led her four year- old daughter through the crowds, avoiding panicked servants, slaves, nobles, and guards. There was a sudden scream, and then another. The woman hurriedly squeezed her offspring's hand tightly and ran into a large, outdoor garden.
"The eastern gardens…"
"Hmm… finally, I found you…"
She spun around to see a dark figure standing in the doorway. Two guards in the area rushed at him with their spears, but he cut through them easily.
"W-What do you want!" she demanded as he neared them. "Please, Empress, just had me your daughter; if you cooperate, you can live."
"W-What do you mean? I am no empress, and I would never allow my daughter into harm!"
Kamal smiled. "It is hardly harm; I only have to extract the Sands from her."
"Stop!" The Prince ran into the garden, holding a blade in his right hand as he held his left over the wound.
"I see you survived…"
"Yes, and I saw what you did to my brother; he did not deserve that!"
Kamal held the Water Sword ready. "Do not interfere, I will-,"
"Kamal!" The Prince, Farah, and Massoud rushed in through an entryway opposite the doorway to the palace.
Kamal turned to them. "What a nuisance you fools are! Each time I am about to clear an important objective you must always get in the way! However, you did bring me something very crucial…"
"Is does not matter, Kamal! I will kill you! There was no need to run rampant through the palace!"
"Yes… this is exactly how I remember it…"
Each of them turned to see Saeedeh and Kaileena walk through the doorway. The past Prince and Kaileena backed away, startled. "W-What is all of this! You two… are the same as they are, only somewhat older."
Kamal turned to the present Saeedeh. "I see… so you are the shell that was left when I extracted the Sands of Time before…"
"The Sands of Time!" the present Prince demanded as Kamal faced him. "Of course, even if the alternate Empress did not hold her duty, she still held the Sands within her; when her daughter was born, the Sands were passed onto her, so I must extract the Sands from the girl, and for that I require the medallion… correct, Massoud?"
Massoud nodded and reached into his cloak, removing Farah's medallion from it before walking over to him.
"My medallion! You were the one who took it while we were still on the ship!" she snapped as Massoud turned to them.
Kamal laughed. "Yes, in a sense. Massoud was working with me since the beginning; he was the only one I revealed my true plan too; Hesam was nothing more than a tool to grant me my services, courtesy of the Persian kingdom."
The present Prince was wide- mouthed; it gradually morphed into an expression of hatred. "You were using us since the beginning! I would never… have expected you, Massoud! Was our childhood friendship meaningless!"
Massoud began to speak. "I had little choice…"
"No! I should not have been so trustworthy!" He unsheathed the Cobra Sword. "I will finish this now, once and for all!"
(This all came to me, like, yesterday… The story isn't over yet! There's still a lot left, regardless of what happens next time.)
