"Take your damn weapon!" The Nasrean guard ordered disdainfully as he forcefully shoved Vyse's blade back into his possession.
Vyse carefully gripped his blades' hilts and studied them: they were in perfect condition. Strange that his enemies would take such good care of his weapons, but he was glad just to hold them again.
"I felt naked without you two."Vyse kissed his beloved blades and sheathed them. "Where are my companions?"
The guard laughed quietly and spoke. "No worry, you will all die together in the arena. You enter in death together with the wenches, so do not fear."
I DON'T fear. But you should.
"Heh, you Nasreans are as stupid as you are weak." Vyse closed his eyes and spoke with a smirk. Perhaps provoking the guard into a fight will help him escape. "We'll escape from here, leaving a trail of your bodies behind where we go."
The Nasrean guard wasn't remotely fazed by Vyse's comments, and laughed again. "I see you are looking for a fight. I suppose we can oblige."
We? I don't see anyone around. Either way, I'll strike him down, and escape here with Fina and Aika in my arms.
Vyse drew his blades with anticipation, and smiled back at the guard. "Okay then, let's dance!"
"Yes. let's"
Vyse's legs tightened as his muscles clenched. He drew and blades and readied his strike. But as he was about to lunge, he sensed it. A presence behind him. As his eyes looked back, the deed had been done. He dropped to his knees and saw the act; the blade embedded into his side. Vyse fell to his knees as the blood puddled below him.
"b...b...bast...ard" Vyse's voice lost its sound as it turned to desperate gasps. "I...I...will not...fall...willl..n...n...not give...in." The pain grew worse as the wound brought forth more blood. As the crimson stain pervaded his coat, his strength emptied, his vision blurred. His sight could only make out a tall figure standing over him.
"Very good men. The perfect trap you laid. Vyse is strong, his pride blinds him." Anakin knelt down to examine the wound,running his hand across it. "Have the wound sewn and administered too. I want him alive so that he can die with all of Nasrad watching."
"Yes, Lord Vera!" The men saluted, and carried Vyse, who struggled to maintain his feeble grasp on life itself, off to the medical bay.
Fina...Aika...Arcadia...forgive me.
Vera watched his men depart, and laughed with twisted satisfaction. "Time to give the Silvite a small 'pre fight talk.' " Examining the blood of his enemy upon his hand, Vera started down the dark corridors.
Fina sat alone in her cell, eyes closed, trying to erase the thoughts of her surroundings. The isolation. The loneliness; it ate away at her slowly. A methodical poison that acted with subtlety. She could feel the cold run through her body, and she began to shiver.
But, from nowhere, a warming arm wrapped around her. Her body suddenly was filled with a warmth as she was enveloped in bliss. Her tears turned from bitter drops to heavenly nectar, as Fina stared into the night sky. She rested her head upon his shoulder, looking up to see the face of Vyse, the face that brought her so much joy.
They gazed at each other, losing themselves in each other's souls. "Vyse...don't let go."
Vyse smiled, and began to speak. "Hello, dirty Silvite!"
Fina bounced back violently from her reverie to a malevolent voice coming from the one standing just beyond her bars. The evil has arrived
"Hope I'm not intruding." Vera spoke with a sinister sarcasm as Fina arose to meet him behind her bars.
"Why, Vera? Why?" Fina's voice actually held a true sense of concern and pity. "Why do you continue to walk the dark paths of your ancestors?"
Vera was mildly surprised by Fina's remarks, and not due to her concern, but of her knowledge. "Ah, I knew that you of all people would know, but yet be so ignorant."
Anakin turned his back to Fina and took a few paces away. "But what do you expect. Now with no foolish elders to hide behind...
"Enough heretic!" Fina's sudden anger forced her to cast an eturnum spell at Vera, Fueled by regret and sorrow.
"Foolish girl!" Anakin easily reflected the spell, and it's power forced Fina to stagger back, who was barely able to keep her footing.
"I could easily kill you now, but you are needed elsewhere." A collection of soldiers amassed behind Anakin, and they drew Fina out of her cell. She went peacefully, but looked back into the eyes of her enemy.
The elders should have finished what they started. Wicked blood surely flows through him.
"You'll think he'll hold up?" The guard examined the bandaged wound, its medical linen already drenched in blood. "Not that it truly matters. The crowd won't see the it, anyway."
"For long enough he will. Either way, he won't survive what he has in store for him." The second guard leaned over Vyse's shoulder and spoke softly into his ear. "You hear that, scum? You're going to die as those around you spit on and defile your corpse. Does that make you angry?" His voiced oozed with perversion as he sought to expend Vyse's remaining energy on useless anger.
Vyse didn't say anything. All he could focus on was staying alive. Despair was not an option.
The roar of the crowd intensified as their beloved Nasultan arose from within the complex to take his seat of honor overseeing the arena pit. He sat down, preparing to address his citizens.
'Lord Vera!" Anakin turned his head as one of his advisors desperately sought his attention. " Admiral Vigoro has informed me that the red head, the one called Aika, has apparently escaped her cell. He said he is currently looking into who allowed her to escape, but he sends his most humble apologies."
"I see," Vera hid his rage well. He had a good idea what had truly happened, but did not take time to brood over it. "Go back to him for further instruction. I'll will have to find a way to break this news to the crowd. Now go."
As the man departed, Vera arose from his throne to a roar of applause. As he bathed in their fervor, he then motioned to calm them, and began to announce over their roar.
"My fellow Nasreans, my brothers and sisters, today we gather for a monumental event, one that will have transpired according to the will of the moons as they continue to bless our sacred kingdom! Today we witness the deaths of crusaders against good, enemies to our people! Those who seek to destroy us, to twist our wills and bring them into their wicked grasps! Unfortunately, the red headed demon has perished in prison, but do not fear. The blood of Vyse and his Silvite friend will still be shed today, and with these deaths, we take another step forward to our predestined pedestal of supremacy and greatness!"
"Go out there and die!" Those were the guards final words to Vyse as he slowly and painfully trudged towards the light of the Nasrean day. He disregarded what he had heard Vera say about Aika; he was certain that she was alive, and free. His intuition would not fail him.
The boo's and jeers of the crowd could surely be heard beyond the moons as he entered out into the open. He hardly acknowledged the trash and waste he was pelted with, as the pain in his side hijacked his consciousness. As he stared across the way, he saw Fina arise from the opposite end, who looked up towards him. That single glimpse would keep him conscious.
They continue to be escorted towards the center of the arena, and as the reached the central point, the soldiers around them formed a ringed barrier on the outskirts of the pit.
"Vyse," Fina could not hold back tears as she threw her arms around him. Vyse could not muster the energy to return the affection; he simply leaned his head helplessly on Fina's shoulder. He felt her hand running down his left side, towards his wound.
No, she can't see it. She can't see what I've become.
Though these thoughts were not spoken aloud, they mind as well have been. "Here." Fina placed her hand on his wound and cast her healing spell. As vigor and life rushed its way back into Vyse's being, they both knew the effect would not last.
"Get her!" The desperate command of the Nasrean security head sounded strongly through the arena halls as the guards sprinted to keep up with their prisoner. Aika ran quickly, boomerang in hand, looking back to see the men behind her.
"You after me? Well here I am?" Aika shouted with pride as she leapt up to hurl her boomerang. The two guards' legs turned to concrete, their hands quivering over the hilts of their blades. Their grips would finally loosen, as they splashed in red on the ground.
"Damn you, bitch! Damn you!" The remaining guard behind them was shaking with the utmost rage and regret. As he saw the bodies of his fallen comrades, salty tears fell into crimson puddles, and he drew his blade.
"I ...I will kill you for this...What Vera said was true! You must die so that the world can once again be pure. I will do this, not only for my fallen men, but for all of nas..."
The following death cry was silent, but yet it seemed to echo throughout the arena. The man dropped over the bodies of his allies, an arrow standing out from the flesh of his back. As he fell, Aika could see behind him a single man, his archer's bow slowly lowering as the man released his grip on the string.
"Who are you?" Aika was neither threatened nor afraid on this stranger; she sensed he was an ally. Never the less, she needed some explanation as to why this man attempted to save her.
"That's not important! All that matters now is that we get Vyse and Fina out of here before they can be killed! Come on! They're doomed without us1" The man snapped back quickly with admonishment, and Aika was fast to agree. As the man sprinted off closer to the pit, Aika quickly accompanied.
Who is this man, and why is he so interested in saving us? I will know, soon enough.
"My brethren! Look upon the mockeries of humanity that stand before you all today! Witness their final hour, as well as Nasr's finest!" Anakin Vera's voice reverberated through the complex, responded to by waves of ferocious cheers and applause. "Now, watch as we purify the world by the blade of one man!"
Vyse and Fina had still not let go, and both looked over to the perimeter of soldiers around them, from behind two, the dreaded admiral stepped forth, his blade outstretched to bathe in the light of the Nasrean sun. The embracing two muttered his name as they viewed his figure. Propher.
"I, propher, first admiral of the royal Nasrean fleets, and champion of benevolence, shall act upon the will of my beloved brothers, and will spill the blood of these infidels for all of Nasr, for Arcadia itself! Today, my blade shall signify the will of the moons, and surely they will bless me, and our entire kingdom, with unquestionable power and glory!"
The crowd responded back with applause, only to signify their insatiable thirst for blood. Vyse and Fina separate, knowing that they still had to fight. Propher laughed and readied into his battle stance. "Draw your blades, Vyse. The girl will be dealt with afterwards. I want her alive so that she can see you suffer,"
"Shut up and fight!" Vyse's anger drove his body forward, and struck at Propher, who quickly parried the attack. A furious series of volleys would follow, as through sweat and blood the two clashed blades.
I can't believe my strength has returned. But the wound still remains, and it won't be long until I am once again cast upon death's doorstep.
Fina looked on helplessly, feelings of rage and helplessness consuming her. She could not stand for what she saw. If Vyse were to die, she would not deserve forgiveness. From Aika, Arcadia, and especially, from herself.
"Stop! Stop!" Fina closed her eyes, forcing out tears she had desperately held back. As energy began to build around her, her rage materialized, as flames began to circle her being. Each movement of her fingertips just as willingly twisted the fires, as the crowds were left to gasp in both awe and horror.
Vyse vied desperately to stand his ground, but he was being consistently pushed back by Propher's unrelenting strikes. His fencing abilities were truly stunning, but he stopped his onslaught and looked to his side, only to learn by pain that he had looked to late.
Propher was left writhing in pain on the dirt below him as Fina's pyrulen spell struck him with remarkable force. The result was an amazing explosion, which left a cloud of smoke, filling the area, consuming nearly the entire pit.
The crowd looked on with panic as they were oblivious as to what now lay beneath the black veil. Vera looked on stoically, simply observing the spectacle.
Vyse shielded his eyes, coughing violently as ash filled his lungs. The smoke slowly cleared, its departure marking the return of comprehension. As it lifted, he could make out a figure, kneeling with two hands on the ground, blonde bangs hanging over her face as she gasped for air.
"Fina!" Vyse quickly ran over to her and slang his arm around her. "Are you okay? Please tell me you are!"
Fina continued to breath heavily, nearing on the verge of collapse. With her remaining energy she was able to look up to Vyse, a tear running over a benign smile. "I...I'm okay...Is he gone?"
The heavy smoke continued to dissipate, but for the moment, they remained isolated from the world. The crowd did not exist, they were not in Nasr. They were once again on crescent Isle, staring into the night sky. But as the smoke around them disappeared, so did their fantasy, and the real world once again claimed supremacy.
"Wait, Vyse! Listen!" Fina's faced showed panic, and Vyse quickly looked into the waning smoke, hearing faint expulsions of breath and pain, followed by speech.
"Heh..you...you FOOLS!" Propher quickly pierced the cloud, and soon stood before two. Vyse stared in horror as to what would happen next. With unforgiving blows, Propher struck Fina in her gut with his knee, and taking his blade in hand, struck her violently with the but of his weapon multiple times, thrashing her to the ground in a bloody mess that must have surely been trying to impersonate her true, beautiful self.
By, now, clarity had once again risen, and the crowd greeted this savage beating with deafening applause. Vyse simply shook with rage, horrified at the site of Fina lying in a state of anguish.
"You monster! How...How can you do that? I'm gonna kill you!" Vyse's rage solely determined his actions, and Vyse struck at Propher with every fiber of his hatred consumed being. Propher laughed and defended against his strikes, parrying them with ease as Vyse's energy quickly departing. His body began to collapse from within, as his blades suddenly became too heavy to grasp. Vyse clenched his wound, and fell to the ground, as darkness began to surround him. The crowd burst with excitement, as Propher placed his blade on Vyse's throat, and tilted it back to strike.
And so this is how it ends. Through all the light I brought to the world, despite all the bright I brought to the shadows of Arcadia, I will perish in the dark of despair.
One truth that will forever stand the test of time is that the darkness of placed can be pierced by light, and as Vyse knelt in the blood stained sands of the arena, this light shed around him. Propher looked back to see one of his soldiers dead, blood streaking down his back. Before the crowd could focus on his death, another fell, an arrow piercing through him. Propher looked around in panic, seeing his comrades fall around him, and with the toss of a boomerang, he quickly joined them.
"Come on!" These words seemed to echo as Vyse felt him body lifted off the ground and carried away. Vyse could see himself leaving the dreaded arena pit as he lost consciousness. He passed out in uncertainty.
The bursts of firearms and the rumble of moonstone engines jarred his consciousness. Commotion surrounded him, as he seemed to be aboard a vessel. A blonde man hollered commands as he slipped back into an uneasy unconsciousness...
Strong gusts tore not only Vyse's fragile coma but his secular surroundings as well. Pieces of the vessel tore away and fell to deep sky. His body shook, as two figures around him scrambled frantically. As the ship finally split, Vyse felt a warming touch, as loving hand clenched his arm and stopped him from falling. It was by this act of love that Vyse would survive, but at the time, Vyse once again passed out. It would later by uncertain tot he once closest to him if he would ever awaken.