Wooo... I actually updated before a month was gone! I feel proud! Heehee... well... Thanks to all my reviewers, and sorry I always take so long to update but first of all, I'm a lazy bum, second, I am more of a lazy bum, third, school's started about a month ago (wrong grammar but I don't feel ike correcting, too lazy)

Anyway, responses to reviews at the end, and I hope you enjoy!

Possessed by a Memory: Chapter 16- Finale, part II, Awakening

Kharl twirled a small, delicate ebony-white sphere in between his fingers.

"It's time again, Garfakcy."

The human helper glanced up for a second, then glanced up again, this time permanently, "What do you mean?"

"It's the final round," the alchemist giggled.

"You mean the water knight and the blue officer? You're activating the spell again?"

The bleach-blond demon looked at Garfakcy appraisingly, "Have I told you that you catch on quick?"

"Not lately," the human grinned.

"Hm..." the white sphere rolled on the table now, revealing it was more egg shaped than round, and had three holes on one side, and another one on the pointed end, "This is it. Their last chance to complete what Nadil's army wants them too. I already have what I needed, so the outcome doesn't matter anymore. But it'll be fun to watch," a chilling smirk crossed the one-winged angel's face. The white, hard, egg shaped object fell to the ground, where it was quickly crushed by the heel of a boot. Fairy skulls were so fragile.

OoO

Rune stood up decisively, smirking darkly. Looking at his body, he flung off the bandages wrapped around his chest that had been placed for support. Looking around for a moment now that he was freed again, he sauntered carelessly over to a glass vase, green sprouting from the top, dotted with star shaped lavender lilies. He stroked one of the velvet soft petals for a moment, then crushed it, leaving a nasty purple bruise on the once beautiful petal.

Laughter spilled out in peals, the remnants becoming a grin that had no emotion, cold and empty, chilling. The door closed with a decisive click, that of one who had a purpose. There was much to do, and so little time.

The elf's dark blue eyes scanned the area for a moment, then decided that the quickest path would be to the left. Plus, there were no guards that way. Not that it mattered, he would quickly and cleanly get rid of anyone in his way. He glanced around, all he needed was a weapon.

A suitable weapon became the object of the water knight's gaze, and another chilling smirk. Rune removed the thin lance from one of the decorative armors in the hall, stroking the needle-sharp point with an almost loving caress. The lust for blood shone brightly in the elf's face.

OoO

Tetheus suddenly doubled over, feeling like he was going to be sick. Next to him, Delte's grip on his arm tightened. She too felt the dark energy, the suffocating, overwhelming presence that bred such discomfort upon them.

"It's the energy... we have to find Lykouleon," He managed to utter, head still reeling. The aura was so powerful...

Lykouleon was the first target, undeniably. Rune was incapacitated, and Rath and Cesia were with him. Kaistern... was with Ruwalk and Alfeegi, right? Demonic intuition told him that wasn't right, but he had an obligation to get to the Lord before going after Kaistern.

Alarm ringing in his head, he took off, full speed, almost forgetting that Delte was next to him, as shaken as he.

"Wait!" she called, fighting to run besides him.

"Find someone!" he responded behind his back, running off quickly and leaving her standing in the middle of the stone hallways.

"Like who..?" she murmured despondently. Her face shot up abruptly. Raseleane, that was who. She needed to get to the queen. She didn't know how she knew, but she did.

Picking up her skirts, she went into a run. She just hoped Tetheus didn't run into anything bad...

OoO

The door to the Lord's study was flung open, the black officer dashing in, breathless. Lykouleon was sitting tersely in his chair, his face immediately swerving to look at the black officer.

"Your Majesty, the presence is back!" Tetheus grated, usual calm rejected into controlled alarm. Always controlled.

Lykouleon nodded, tottering almost insignificantly as he shot up from his chair, "I felt something."

"We have to find Kaistern first, I have a feeling he's the one we have to find," Tetheus wasted no time and was already out the door.

Not questioning his judgment for a second, the Lord was behind him in less that a couple seconds as well. The black officer and the blonde, blue eyed Lord ran like desperation, fear of the unknown driving them mercilessly.

OoO

Cesia laid Zoma gently on his bed, placing a book in his hands and biding his good-bye.

"You should go to sleep soon too if you want your leg to get better," she instructed, waving as she closed the door. The small youkai nodded vigorously and grinned.

The door now firmly shut behind her, she suddenly frowned as she found Rath doubled over, breathing heavily, one hand reaching towards his head, the other grasping his heart.

"Rath? What's wrong?" She knelt in front of him immediately, taking his face in her hands anxiously. His clouded eyes seemed to fade a moment or two, before he finally caught his breath back.

"I- I don't know. There's a strange energy in the air," he muttered, staggering to his feet before she could help him. Cesia's eyes widened.

"Do you think it has anything to do with Rune?" she asked apprehensively. The fire knight's head shot up like a spring, fear lining his diluted pupils.

"We gotta go back," he yelled as he took of running. Without wasting another second, the half-youkai girl dashed behind him, making their way back where the ill elf had been sleeping the last couple of weeks.

Slamming the door open with only the force Rath could possess, the came upon an empty room. Rath's face paled visibly, gray as the clouds that didn't quite herald a storm, his grip on the door handle tightening until his knuckles whitened as well.

"We... were only gone a second..." he whispered, a calling for forgiveness in the hurricane wind and noise.

"Oh dear... Rath, we have to go find Thatz!" she muttered, shaking Rath roughly. He didn't respond, "Stop! Save that guilt crap for later! We have to get Thatz so he can help us find Rune before something happens to him!"

The crimson haired boy seemed to fight within himself for a second before taking her hand and pulling her roughly into a run, as fast as the angel of death flew on that fateful night in Egypt.

OoO

Darkness rolled like a fog, shrouding the entrance to the large underground basements. Ruwalk wandered aimlessly around the area, trying to figure out why he had come here in the first place. Something felt uneasy in the air, and he didn't know what.

There was a dangerous pull in the air, like when you're walking in the woods at night on a dare. Chills rolled down the officer's back, freezing him in his position.

Had he just heard footsteps? He swiveled around, tense. At seeing nothing but lingering shadows, he sighed. He was too paranoiac. Really, it was going to be the end of him one of these days. But he still couldn't let the feeling of foreboding go...

A soft tread of footsteps went almost unheard, almost. This time, Ruwalk knew he'd heard something. He whirled around, and gasped. A figure was in front of him, slow footsteps echoing eerily in the darkness.

Rune slid out of the shadows, a feral grin on his face, teeth gleaming dangerously. A shocking change from the warm grin he normally wore. This grin was lustful, a demonic shadow falling across his pale features. Unable to help it, Ruwalk's hands began shaking, fear breaking out into something close to panic as he noticed the long, sharp-tipped lance in the elf's hands.

"How do you like impalement as a form of execution?" the sly whisper and the knowing sneer made the yellow officer suddenly think of Alfeegi. He was going to die, and he'd never see Alfeegi again.

OoO

Kaistern's darkened lemon eyes narrowed as he darted behind an officer, careful to keep out of their sight.

He knew exactly where he was going. He didn't know how, but he simply did. And he had a mission. A spine-chilling smirk crossed his lips. Oh yes, he had a mission.

His fingers curled around the small vial around his neck, stroking it slightly as he stalked his way on.

OoO

Delte burst into the queen's chambers, forgetting to knock in her haste. The darkened room was only lit with a sparse amount of candles, the curtains drawn to block out all sun.

"Your Ladyship?" the fairy fortuneteller asked, suddenly tentative despite the danger she knew they were in.

The figure in the bed sat up slowly, a hand reaching out to pull the think curtains open, revealing bright sunlight to dance in the room again.

"Delte? What are you doing here?" Raseleane asked, surprised, the heaviness of sleep still clear in her golden eyes.

"My lady, something is happening in the castle–"

"Is my husband alright?" the queen interrupted fearfully.

"Tetheus went after him. He told me to come here," not quite, but close enough, Delte thought, "In any case..." her expression turned serious, "I'm afraid something is going to happen..."

The queen frowned, "Then should we hide?" she asked, quite logically.

"I guess that'd be a good idea..." the sunset-haired faerie cast a glance at the door, "Where, though?"

"There's a secret compartment behind this wall," the dark-haired queen stood from her bed, striding to the corner of the stylishly adorned room and pressed a section of the wall. The white wall gave away, sliding open to reveal a sparsely lit small room.

"Wow. Do all the rooms have this?"

"Some of them, not all though," the queen responded. The both hesitated to go in though.

"What if we're needed?" Raseleane asked, voicing the thought that Delte herself had wondered. She shook her head, short hair flying.

"No, just as Tetheus has a duty to protect the Lord, I have a duty to protect you, my queen."

Raseleane smiled, full of gratitude. Still, the uneasiness lingered in the air, but they both proceeded to close the door behind them as they went in.

OoO

Rath and Cesia continued to run, hadn't slowed down at all since they'd began. Turning a corner, they were both sent crashing to the ground as they ran into another pair of figures.

"Rath!"

"Thatz!"

"Kitchel!"

"Hi!"

The four of them looked at each other with bewilderment and relief before Rath jumped up.

"Rune's gone again!"

Thatz's face ran white, "Where did he go?"

"If we knew, we wouldn't waste time getting to you," the half youkai girl muttered impatiently.

"Thatz felt something odd, so we decided to find you guys," Kitchel explained.

"We don't have time to chat, we have to find Rune!" Rath growled, anxious and impatient.

Thatz nodded grimly, his body tensing visibly and broken into a run behind Rath, as the girls struggled to catch up to them.

"Oh please, Rune, be alright..." Thatz murmured in a strained voice.

OoO

Tetheus and Lykouleon sprinted through the halls, trying to find Kaistern to no avail. The burst into every room, fighting their way through the once so familiar corridors that now seemed to choke them into unfamiliarity, confusing their senses until they were lost in the never-ending expanse of the castle.

"Darn," the black officer muttered, casting a glance around.

"No luck..." The Lord's head hung, partly trying to catch his breath, the other part in guilt and despair.

A high pitched pained wail cut through the air, followed by another shorter, frightened one, and both Tetheus and Lykouleon looked up, fear mirrored in their eyes.

"Delte..."

"Raseleane!"

The whispers were said simultaneously, a feeble prayer in the wind. They started off again, this time panic and dread guiding their way to the queen's room.

OoO

Delte couldn't help but suck in a small gasp as she heard the door creak open, the treading of slow footsteps and the small quiet breathing. Besides her, Raseleane tensed, and they both waited in hope that whoever was in there would leave.

"Come, my queen, I need you out here. I know you're here... I can feel your presence..." the chilling, sadistic whisper tore through their minds in Kaistern's voice. Raseleane's hands clamped firmly over her mouth, restraining the frightened whimper that made its nest in Delte's throat as well.

"Hm... thought you'd hide in there?"

Their bodies tensed, awaiting the worst. A crash was heard, an upturning of the furniture in the room, and both women cringed. A none-too-subtle curse was heard and they both sighed in relief.

"You can't escape me... ah," they could almost see the smirk on his face, apparent in his voice. And the footsteps grew nearer. And nearer. Tap, tip, tap.

And light flooded into their eyes, blocked only by a thin figure, face bathed in shadows. Raseleane tensed, an arm up defensively, and Delte stared, trying to put herself between the queen and the clearly not himself blue officer.

"Move little one," he bid her, voice over brimming in demented confidence.

"N-no," she couldn't betray Tetheus and let something happen to the queen. She'd be strong, and she'd prove herself useful to the Dragon Tribe.

He lunged at her, grabbing her by the throat, and she kicked and flailed, achieving for all her struggles to kick him repeatedly and hinder his progress towards the queen.

"My Lady, run!" her strained voice seemed to dwindle as the hand around her throat tightened painfully. The black haired woman stared frightened, dashing up and trying to exit the doorway, into her room.

Delte managed to distract the blue officer long enough to allow Raseleane passage before she was thrown roughly aside a scream being emitted from her damaged throat, and she lay limply at the base of the wall she'd been thrown into.

Kaistern dove to catch the queen by her feet, tripping her. She let out a panicked cry and fell to the ground with a thud. Pinning her firmly to the ground with an arm and knees, he unscrewed the top to the vial of white powder at his neck.

"You'll love this," he whispered in deliberated tones. Raseleane stared up with wide eyes revolving in fear, "Now open your mouth..."

OoO

Red, dark, crimson red. Darker and more sinister than even Rath's eyes when in demon-hunting mode, lustful for a kill. Splattering a spot on the wall, running slowly down the wall and across the ground, pooling underneath a figure. Blank eyes stared at him, haunting, and Alfeegi knew he was shaking, trembling like a porcelain cup in an earthquake. Because the brown hair was red-tipped, but not with it's usual red-orange color, but with true, maroon crimson colors, matted.

Alfeegi walked in the darkness, the only thing there was in the impending black was the figure in front of him and the blood. Nothing else existed, and Alfeegi himself was floating on nothing. Yet he didn't fall into the infinite abyss below him, but stepped precariously ahead as if there was a floor beneath him.

"R-Ruwalk... Ruwalk?" his tremulous voice was hardly any higher than the flutter of the wind, breaking immediately.

But the body on the ground didn't answer, the eyes still blank, staring straight at him. Lifeless. Pale. Zombie-like in appearance with its blank eyes just staring into Alfeegi's, a thin thread of blood sliding from his partly open mouth. And then the mouth moved, just the barest, just enough to be detected, and Alfeegi's blood ran cold, colder than they had been before, and he shivered violently.

"I'm dead," Ruwalk's mouth said.

Alfeegi shot up in bed, face streaming sweat, his body shaking, just like it had in the dream, violently, unrealistically. He wrenched a heavy sigh, falling back into the bed, a trembling hand over his furiously whipping heart. It wouldn't calm, and hazel eyes swam in nausea at the ever-beating curtain of foreboding that was suffocating him.

"Ruwalk..." he murmured heavily, breathing heavily. He eased himself with trouble out of bed, wavering the next couple steps to the door, where he supported himself, trying to regain his senses. Finally in better control of his body, he slid open the door and walked into the falsely beating atmosphere, almost crawling with a dark energy.

What kind of a nightmare was that? He felt the chills sneaking down his back, his skin raising, eyes still wide. He needed to find Ruwalk, convince himself it was nothing more than a nightmare.

Because that was all it was, right?

He was wrong.

I hope that was okay. I read it over and it seemed fine enough, but when I was writing it, it just didn't seem to flow the way I wanted it to. Does that ever happen to you?

Jak-Daxter: Thanks a lot for your complements! No, that little flashback wasn't in the mangas, wouldn't it have been adorable if it had? I have a thing for making up my own little scenarios, try out my fic 'Bittersweet Sword' for tons of little cute shounen ai flashbacks of Rath's life when he was little and later on. Plus, tons of shounen and non-shounen ai fluff and romance . Shameless publicity in my own fics isn't illegal. Acutally, maybe it isn't shameless. hehe...

Zircon; You don't like Ruwalk and Alfeegi? Waaah! well, sry, you're going to have a good bit of ansgty love between them two, I mean, with Ruwalk dead (or is he?) and Alfeegi going to go through... well, you'll see next chapter. Rune is the best, that lil hunka chunk of cutie pie! O.o And thank you! Finally someone who agrees with me, Kaistern is SO an albino. He's the hottest albino I know. Not that I knwo any... Wow, thanks for liking it so much! flattered

Lexzzz: Thanks for reading, I hope you like the rest as well and reach this point sometime!

Zarame: Thank you! A lot! And yes, thanks for pointing out that I have a screwed up timeline. It's true, this is all afte the whole Nadil thing, cept for no one died or was revived. SO techinically... it's like this, I wanted to keep everything that had happened in the manga there, but I didn't want any of the bishies to die! So I had t keep them alive, and what better comflict for a fic than to have someone try to steal Nadil's head? So yeah... I have screwed up events here, but I guess... eek, you'll have to deal with it somehow... I am so screwed up... Already said that...

Kage Ohkami: Yay, you like my Ruwalk Alfeegi! Woohoo, there'll be plenty of them, mostly angst, but definite them, so you'll be good on that part. And it's no prob for you to have asked abotu why Rath coudlnt' just get Thatz to take the necklace off. It was a good question. It's often the readers that find the plot holes in stories, and that's where we authors inprove out stories, so pointing out mistakes isn't a bad thing. It's called constructive criticism. So thanks for pointing that out. The answer is... rath is stupid! Acutally, it's my fault he's stupid. I didn't quite think of that, and plus, if the necklace was taken off, well, the necklace is VERY important to the story line in the next couple cahpters, so that's why I coudln't get rid of it. But I had to have some sort of reason why Rath didn't just take it off. Guess Thatz thinks Rath's just beign superstitious.

THANK YOU DEAR REVIEWERS hugs So nice of you... anyway... keep in tune for next chappie, more action and heart wrenching dramas coming up!