The Darkest Hour
By Ultima66
Chapter 5
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Everything must come to an end eventually. Fights and wars may mean nothing at all in the sense that nothing makes a real difference, but we still do it.
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I left the forest. A light breeze stirred and the clouds loomed overhead. As I walked the breeze stirred a bit faster, and before long, a light shower began falling. The drops hit my skin, sending a bitter and sad feeling into me. The scent sparked more bitterness, and I was soon standing there turned towards the forest cursing Martel.
"Martel! Cheer the fuck up and leave me alone! You let this happen, and you know it. You could have stopped me, but you didn't. You know you have the power to stop me. Damn pacifist!" I yelled.
Martel appeared on the edge of the woods. Her face was worn and anyone could see it was her sadness that created the rain. She remained silent and stared for a minute. She then looked back towards her forest, then turned around and spoke.
"What do you understand? You don't have any clue why anything happens in this world. You don't know why I let you do what you want, you don't know why Chester had to die, you don't know why you are even here. Do what you want, but don't question my decisions, you hear that?" said Martel. She was angry at me, and I could feel it.
However powerful Martel was, however much I knew she could easily kill me, I felt no worry. Martel was not someone I cared for, and not someone I needed to worry about. She was a wimp, letting her power rot when she could have used it for her advantage. I had no understanding of remorse, and I had no care for others is I had something to gain.
"I'm out of here. Do what the hell you want," I said.
"I'll be watching you," she said.
"Do I give a damn? You won't do anything," I replied, as I turned around an walked off.
Something came from behind me. I felt the wind pick up and jumped to the side. A blade tore across the ground, leaving a cut in the ground. It swerved backwards and veered down, spinning into the ground and sending it flying upwards at an angle. As it turned towards me, I shot it down with a lightning bolt. A sharp crack and a flash of green followed. The blade was sent flying upwards limply, and I caught it. Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a well-crafted boomerang, sharp on the edges and several feet long, crafted from wood but as hard and as sharp as steel.
"What is this? Martel, don't do something this stupid to try to stop me. It won't help. Now leave!" I said, throwing it back at the forest, the blade sticking into a tree.
The blade exploded in a burst of green so bright it blinded my vision, then it vanished suddenly. I moved on towards Totus; I had to find Cless and Mint after they ran off.
I walked all the way to Totus, a lot on my mind. Martel was acting unusually weak, and I was for once doubting her ability. I wanted to see Martel's power but she obviously refused to show it, or otherwise had no more power. Martel, a goddess, acting weak. It was completely incomprehensible, and had I not been driven by the evil that plagued me, I would have lost hope just as Chester had. The battle would have ended, Martel's tears would have put an end to the blood.
But now... rain. Soft rain, a sad and solemn scene. I felt a deep sadness build in me, and I knew Martel wanted me to feel remorse. Sadly, it did nothing against my will, and I continued on. Totus was here.
The sky cleared up, Martel's reach only affected the forest, and she didn't want to cause any distraction anywhere else. I knew Cless was here, I just had to find him.
While searching around Cless showed up in front of me. Brownish blond hair, with a long red cape and armor over his upper-body, a sword at his side. He stared into my eyes, and we knew this was going to end in battle. Mint stood behind him; holding her staff close, knowing what was going to happen. A beautiful figure, blond hair reaching all the way down to her waist, a long white dress with a cross on it, and a white hat with another cross on it.
"Cless," I said, keeping calm despite the enormous tension between us.
"So... Chester is really gone," he said, worry flooding into his voice. Mint gasped in shock.
"Indeed, he gave up and took his death. You should do the same and not waste my time," I replied.
"Give up? Why don't you? You killed my best friend and there's no way of fixing it anymore. I've lost so much because of you, and it's time for me to avenge the ones I lost. Arche, Klarth, Suzu, and most of all, Chester," he said.
"Just because you care doesn't mean I don't. I simply care about killing you two and getting it done for and as long as that happens I'll care all I want about your friends," I said, telling him straight up that I didn't care at all about other people.
"I won't let you hurt Mint, and you know it," he said.
"Indeed, but I also know that I will kill both of you anyways, so there's no point in trying to escape your destiny," I replied.
"How do you know? How do you know what destiny is? I believe it's my destiny to avenge all that has been taken by you by killing you once and for all. At least Dhaos had a righteous cause but you're just horrible," said Cless.
"May I say something?" asked Mint, "Look, I will accept whatever happens but know that I did care. I did care about everything you did. I heard your curses of Martel, and I will tell you this much: Martel is much greater than you will ever hope to be. I don't' care how powerful you are, at least we have a heart, while you are nothing but a horrible automaton bent on senseless murder."
"Tough words, little Mint. Too bad you can't back those up. Why don't' you let the men handle the real fighting?" I asked tauntingly.
Cless pulled his sword. Following suit I pulled mine, and readied myself as Cless charged towards me.
"Lightning Blade!"
"Hammer!"
Nothing happened. I didn't launch a devastating attack, and Mint never followed through with a hammer attack. As Cless jumped at me, I sidestepped and then held my sword up to block.
"What the hell was that?" I asked.
"I'm... not sure. I can't feel Martel's energy going through me anymore," said Mint. She held her hand up to the earring and touched it, "It's not working. Mana isn't working anymore."
"What? That bitch Martel really is doing something. That thing must have been somehow connected to the mana. That explains that green flash anyways," I said.
"I'm not going to try to figure out what you're talking about, but I guess this means you'll have to stay out of this, Mint," said Cless.
She nodded and backed away into a corner. We split and moved off away from each other.
"Fury strike!"
Cless charged up his sword and unleashed an enormous attack. I quickly jumped out of the way and came down with my sword. Cless parried with his own sword. We broke and then Cless took a slash at me. I jumped backwards a few steps, his sword hitting the ground. I jumped towards him, doing in a full turn in midair before swinging my sword and letting the momentum of the spin carry the attack. He back stepped, then struck downwards, sending my sword into the ground.
Pulling it out, I ran to the side and started dashing around, waiting for an opportunity to strike. Dashing behind him I leapt forward with my sword pointed in front of me. Cless held his up and braced himself as my sword point hit right on his sword's broad side. He was knocked back a few inches but was still on the ground. Cless retaliated by slashing downwards at me. I jumped back again, this time bouncing right back with a second stab.
"Lionheart!'
Cless stuck his sword in front of him as an enormous lion head of fire erupted from his sword and struck me. It did minimal damage, but it stunned me enough to knock me back.
"I see how this is gonna be Cless. In that case, let's see what you've really got. Phoenix!"
"Alright. Phoenix!"
Both of us glowed red with fire. We suddenly transformed into blazing birds and took off to the sky.
By now the village was watching the sight, two blazing birds taking off, ready to dive bomb the other at any minute. Taking this to my advantage, I dashed back toward the ground, charging up energy. As I unleashed a storm of fire on Totus, a wall suddenly blocked it.
I saw her: Martel, flying up there, making the shield. She turned towards me.
"The village stays out of this. I will erase this event and move all of them for now. I can't stop this fight, but I'll do what I can to protect the innocent," she said.
In an instant, all the people in Totus except for Mint had vanished.
Come on then. What are you waiting for? We have the whole village to ourselves now.
I heard it. It was Cless, telepathically talking to me because we were both mystical birds now. I shot a bolt of fire at the other flaming figure in the sky, and it retaliated by dashing into it, going right through.
I pulled all the energy I could in a full-speed dash at Cless. At the last moment, he pulled up, leaving me flying past him. I slowed about 50 yards past him and then took my own turn, only to see him turning back and forth, building up his flames for an attack. I tried to dash around but when I saw the firestorm coming at me I knew I had to think of something fast.
I pulled towards the ground at top speed, going for a few seconds as a sonic boom erupted behind me, folding a few of the flames. I went straight into a house, leaving a large hole in it. The moment I hit I pulled as hard as I could sideways to try to level with the ground. I took a gamble and dashed straight for Mint, still going at almost mach speed.
Mint just looked petrified. The phoenix's wingspan was too large to run out of the range from, so I knew she couldn't do anything. Just as I was a few feet from Mint, a heavy force struck me on the back. I instantly demorphed and crashed into the ground, creating a crater several yards wide and sending up dust clouds 6 feet into the air.
I picked up my sword and got up as quickly as possible. I saw the terrified Mint a few feet in front of me, but between us, Cless stood, standing with his sword in his hand.
I ran forward, then jumped. I held my sword in front, charged with fire, and went almost vertical for several feet. Cless back stepped out of the way.
"Firebrand!"
I threw the flaming sword at Cless, sending it spinning towards him.
"Gale Shield!"
Cless dropped his own sword as a burst of wind exploded from it upwards, knocking my sword backwards and downwards in the the ground below me. I dropped and grabbed my sword, as Cless took his up from the ground.
I couldn't use his skills as well as he did, and both of us knew it. This battle would be decided on pure speed and power, because he knew his own skills better and knew how to counter my attacks, or actually, his own attacks. And of course, I had no way of using my magic, with Martel locking up all the mana.
Martel was one thing when she didn't do anything to me, but now she was just being a pain in the ass. I just had to hit Cless hard enough that he couldn't counter it.
"Lightning Bolt!"
Cless ran at me, jumped, and swung his sword, letting out a blade of energy. Suddenly, the sky turned black as an enormous bolt of lightning hit right onto the curved blade which was now right next to me. The force of the blast knocked me to the ground.
"Give up? You haven't touched me yet," he said.
"Cless," I said, now on my knees," I never give up."
Standing up, I focused all my energy together and swung full blast right at Cless. He blocked with his sword, but the swipe sent him flying sideways, right into a building.
"Cless!" said Mint in surprise.
I laughed. Cless hadn't done enough damage to take me down, and now I was ready for him. The tables had turned, and we all knew it.
"Tiger Teeth!"
Cless ran towards me. Right when he was about to run into me, he jumped and slashed upwards with his sword. I tried to jump back to avoid it, but I fell instead. As the second slash of the Tiger Teeth was coming down right at me, I held up my sword to block it. I felt the force of the attack push me down, as the two swords locked.
I slashed with all my might, sending Cless back a few feet. Getting up, I tried again to dash towards him and stab. He blocked with his sword just like the time before, but this time I put more force into me dash, and sent him back towards the building again.
He was still standing, sword at ready. I dashed and used a flurry of spinning jump slashes. Cless could barely block, and was forced back to the building.
"Lightning Bolt!"
I jumped and let out the focus point for the bolt, which hit the side of the building, forcing Cless to jump to the side. A lightning bolt tore through the side of the building, breaking the side's foundation and sending it crashing down. Cless went behind me and slashed, but I jumped, making a full spin and a backwards somersault in midair, landing with me facing towards Cless and the two blades meeting, mine pushing Cless' down. Landing on the ground, I slashed at him, this time him unable to block because his blade was right under mine a split second ago.
Cless fell to avoid the attack, pulling back his sword. He tried to jump back up in a slash, but I met it with another slash, hitting his sword and sending him flying to the side.
"You know, pure power wins battles too. Flashy moves are nice, but when it comes down to it, I'm just a better swordsman," I said.
"You don't even have a soul. What good is skill?" said Cless.
I sneered. Dashing forward, I slashed once more at full strength. This time I veered off to the left, expecting a block. The small opening let me get through my attack, deflecting Cless' sword, which blocked at a sharp angle to my sword, easily gone past with force. The blade continued on forward and sank into his arm, barely half an inch, but it still caused damage.
Mint let out a yell. I slashed again, this time causing Cless to fall back. It was obvious the cut was painful; he lost his focus. Cless got up and slashed at me, but I dodged and struck again, leaving a deeper gash below the original one. Cless flinched, this time grabbing at the wound with his left hand. Blood trickled through his glove, but he eventually released it and stood back up.
"Why don't you just give up now? You're injured, and you know it's only going to get worse from here. What do you say?" I asked.
"You... you know I won't give up," he said back angrily.
I knew he wouldn't indeed. I held my sword up to him, but he swatted it away with his own.
"Hm... I know how to get to you. Cless... I know how to hurt you. Fighting really does mean nothing. Martel may as well as have a point, but hell, I won't stop killing. Anyways..." I said.
I knew what to do to get to Cless. I turned around, looking at Mint. I slowly walked towards her.
"No! Don't touch her!"
He ran towards Mint. Going between the two of us, he stopped, holding up his sword, ready to strike even with an injured arm. I jumped over him and grabbed Mint, holding my sword up to her neck. He dropped his sword, with a worried look.
"Please," he pleaded, "Don't hurt her. Take me."
Suddenly, I was thrown into as much shock as he was. A myriad of things floated through my head, that recurring dream yelling. Yelling, yelling, and yelling. It rang through my head. This was it. This was the scene I dreamed about. What was it, though? Was it a sign? Was it a warning? I had that dream for a reason.
Deja vu flooded through me. I didn't know what to do, yet I did what I knew I would do.
"I will take you both," I said. Strange, I never tried to speak those words, I just knew it. More memories, the scene was driving me crazy. Voices rushing through my head, and I couldn't control myself one bit. I raised my sword up to Cless now.
"You're evil. Damn you. Damn you!" he said.
I regained control of myself. The voices were still plaguing me, horrible voices. The memory was playing over thousands of times in a single second, and I knew by instinct there was only 1 way to stop it. I thrust the blade into Cless' chest and pulled it out, hearing a scream from behind me, as blood poured out. Cless fell to the ground, bleeding heavily, and lay there. Cless was now gone, and I had done it. His eyes had closed for the last time.
From behind me, Mint suddenly changed. I could sense somehow that she knew what was going to happen, and she was finally accepting it. Whether it was Martel twisting this whole scene into some kind of horribly wicked dream or her just realizing that Cless was really gone, I will never know. I just know what followed was not something unexpected, and the voices continued plaguing my brain. I wanted to scream in agony but couldn't; I still couldn't control myself.
"I know what lay ahead for me. My life will end, but that is not end for me. I cannot say the same for you, however. A plagued soul does not rest, and sooner or later, you shall be no more on this earth. Did you ever consider that?" she said.
I felt more evil surge through me. I couldn't do anything; this wasn't right. Martel was doing this to me, and I couldn't doubt her powers any more. I would never again cross the path of Martel; I finally realized her immense power. Inside, I pleaded for Martel's forgiveness, but I knew it wasn't done.
"You talk of saving me when you're the one who is about to lose their life? You are quite pathetic," I said.
I knew something was coming. I felt the voices, the memories, increase in volume. I felt like I was going to explode from all the tension, yet I knew my real body felt nothing. How could I have known Martel could torture me like this? How could I have known that Martel was not to be trifled with? How could I have been so selfish as to disrespect a god? The next phrase, I knew it, the next phrase was going to unlock me from this. It had to...
"Pathetic? Am I? You can say all you want, and do all you want, but there is one thing you cannot erase. Whatever happens..." she said.
And no, it didn't do it. I was still in torture. I felt all of Cless' blood on me; I felt the real world, but I couldn't stop the voices. There was something more, something else had to be done. The darkest hour had to end, and it had to end NOW. But... I couldn't. I couldn't hurt Mint, and again I knew it was Martel continuing to torture me.
"Whatever happens," she said, a tear dropping from her eyes, "yume... wa... owaranai. It means that the dream will not die, and it won't. The dream can not die. Our legacy has been written down in history, and though I know that the rest of the heroes of time have dies, and I will soon follow, our legacy shall never be erased from the earth. As long as there is hope, our reach, Martel's reach, it will never cease to exist. You can kill me, but deep inside I know you have accomplished nothing."
Voices. So many voices, and Mint's words ringing through my head at what seemed like hundreds of decibel. I knew it was time to end this. With a yell I thrust my sword full force through Mint's chest. I saw her eyes close, her head fling back, her hand open and drop her staff. I pulled the sword out, and watched as Mint grabbed her chest, staring down in shock. She closed her eyes and fell to her knees. Then, she limped over as blood dribbled down her chin. She fell to the ground, robes covered in blood. Mint was dead. It was finally over. But... the voices continued to an almost exploding point.
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!" I yelled, flinging my arms back in torture. I yelled as loud as I could, falling to my knees, yelling, trying to drown out the noise. Screaming in agony, writhing in pain. Suddenly... nothing. I fell down. The darkest hour was finally over. That godforsaken quest had been completed, and I had achieved nothing. Nothing at all, but my own torture. I closed my eyes. I closed my eyes.
"Wake up. It's alright now," said a woman's voice.
I awoke. Slowly, darkness, everything, it was all gone. I was laying in the grass near the woods.
"Martel? Martel? What happened? Why did you do it? Why did you torture me? Please, tell me," I said in sorrow.
I heard nothing but the wind. The darkest hour was over, and this was all I had left. It was finally over.