14: Final Choice, The End of Darkness
"RAGH!" he cried and the blade struck. Lightning cracked, and the thunder boomed. As it all ceased, Enishi was seen on top of Moro, and Moro was beneath him, there was no movement seen. Everyone on top of the hill wondered what was going on! San wanted to run to the scene, she wanted to help in any way, but she held on to Enishi's words to stay put. If something horrible was going on down there, then if she went it would only make the situation worse. She bit her lip and tried to calm herself down by inhaling deeply.
"Don't worry San. Enishi will take care of it. We've grown a strong bond with him, and if Enishi can't save Moro, then we will take action. Just have faith." her brother said to her as he licked her face affectionately.
"I hope so..." San replied as she finally was able to calm down.
Moro was shocked, even the Shishigami was since he began to lose hold of Moro. The sword had struck, the Shishigami thought it was all over. The sword was right beside her face. She looked at Enishi, and he cried and cried. The tears splatted onto her face as they dripped down the sides of her face. Tears began to well up in Moro's eyes, and she cried as well. Looking at Enishi, so weak, so fragile...just like a human. She had told herself that inside her head. He shook all over, his hand was still on the sword. It started to wobble as he began to lose grip of it. Now Moro had taken control, and the Shishigami had no power to resist her force, and so he stayed back until he could regain control over her mind.
"I just...I can't...I just can't do it..." he sobbed. As he finally released the sword, it made a thud on the ground. Moro stared at Enishi, and when he opened his eyes he had thought he had saved her.
"Moro?" he asked hoping it had worked.
"Enishi...why didn't you strike when you had the chance!" she roared and got up and stared at him coldly. He could see only a hint of affection of what he had done.
"I..I-"
"YOU IDIOT!" Moro screamed as tears rolled down her eyes. Enishi gave her an affectionate look and wiped them away. Moro smiled, her eyes were filled with love for him, but then she pushed him back and he stumbled to his feet. She threw him the sword and stood away from him.
"What's wrong?" Enishi cried.
"Just stay back! STAY AWAY!" Moro cried and the Shishigami had regained control. Now Moro was silent, and Enishi had no clue what to do.
"M-Moro?" he asked.
"FIGHT ME NOW OR PERISH!" she shouted and attacked in a fit of rage. Enishi had no choice but to defend himself, and he used his sword to do it. He swung, and blood spilled into the air. Moro cried in pain as the sharp point cut deep into her arm, but she managed to heal it with the power of the Shishigami and gave Enishi a grin. He continued to fight her, and everything was the same. Attack, blood flying, the wound healing, that same grin on her face.
"Moro! If you can resist the Shishigami, then do it! I don't want to relive the times I've almost killed you!" Enishi struggled to say when she was on top of him.
"It's...too...late!" she muttered with a growl and was able to slash him on his already wounded shoulder. He cried out in pain as he flopped to the ground, Moro's shadow was now over him. He was able to roll away from her and get back into position. He gritted his teeth, and gripped the sword in his hand and charged. She charged at him, and the two collided once more. Lightning cracked, and the thunder roared.
"MORO! ENISHI!" San cried as she was being dragged back by her brothers to stay put. No longer though, no longer could she be patient, and she ran at full speed to the area.
Enishi's sword was so close to Moro's throat. If he had gone any closer the sword would have shot straight through, ending all of this terrible nightmare. But he couldn't, even though it was the Shishigami he was facing, he was also still facing Moro, and no matter how he tried to be the hero, he just couldn't. He put his sword back in his case, and gave her a stare. A final stare of goodbye, for the Shishigami would not spare him. There was a long pause, and silence filled the air. Finally, Moro only smiled, and then sighed in dissapointment. This made Enishi puzzled, but he was still ready to face death in the eye.
"Enishi, you are such a fool. You've had three attempts to kill me, and yet you've not yet been able to accomplish that goal...and now, I only regret that you are to die shamefully. Such a pity for you to die without any honor...only humility." Moro started. This made the Shishigami grin in satisfaction, for he had finally won over her mind completely! Or was that what he thought? Had Moro truly been taken over? He laughed greedily and the grin only grew wider and wider, but soon it would be wiped off of his face. 'Finally that boy shall be done with.' he thought.
"For you gave up so willingly, when you've had something all along that could make you a hero." she said to him. "What! What are you doing!" the Shishigami screamed in her ears. Enishi only looked at her with wide eyes, and realized that he could shoot her. After all of this, her final suggestion was for him to shoot her! He had forgotten the rifle that was on his back after all the events that had occured until this very point. Now he was thinking about doing it, about shooting her, truly ending this nightmare but... he couldn't do that, not to her. But what other choice was there? What other choice was there now? Nothing came to mind...
"Do it. Or are you scared? You want to save Iron Town don't you? You want to save everyone don't you? You want to end this terrible threat once and for all don't you? And you do truly want to save your mother, don't you?" Moro asked. Enishi gasped. He had forgotten about his poor mother when he had evacuated everyone out of Iron Town! How foolish of him, he had put his own flesh and blood at risk, the very person who had brought him into this world. Suddenly, Eboshi floated over to Moro's side, now wide eyed in fear. She was staring death in the eyes, and she didn't like it at all.
"Moro..don't make me do this...You know if I do then you'll-" he started but saw that her mother was struggling. Her life was on the line. Enishi didn't know what to do. Already his head was spinning from today, and he felt like he was going to burst any second now.
"E..ni..shi..my...son.." he heard Eboshi cry out to him, and this made his chest tight, and a pang had hit Enishi right in the stomach. He started to, slowly, take his arm to where his rifle was.
"That's right. You want to save her, I know you do. If you don't do what you must, then it's all over for her." Moro said to him. He regretfully lifted it out of it's case, and pointed it at Moro.
"Good boy... Listen, Enishi. This is the only way, the only way to get rid of the threat once and for all. The only way...the only way for me to be free and stop killing innocent people, including you..." Moro said to him as she knocked Eboshi unconcious once more and placed her on the sidelines of this final battle. Enishi gasped and almost lost grip of his weapon.
"You knew this would happen! You planned all of this!"
"I might have...but I let it get out of control, and now so many lives have been taken by my hands, and so much blood have been shed..I cannot live with myself any longer knowing that this has all been caused by my actions..." Moro said and her eyes were filled with sadness.
"Moro no it's not... you just can't..I won't let you take all of this blame I-"
"Sssh. Enough said. Load it and pull the trigger. Don't make me do it for you, please Enishi don't make this harder for yourself." Moro said to him. Enishi slowly did what she told him to, while Moro was fighting inside herself bravely and valiantly.
"NO! YOU TRICKED ME!" the Shishigami cried in her mind.
"Of course I did. You didn't think I would let you get away with this any longer now did you?" Moro replied with a smile. The Shishigami only gritted his teeth, but then smiled and cackled greedily.
"Even if he will shoot, you will die and I will live! I can escape before the bullet is shot!" he cried and laughed maniacally.
"No way. I'm not letting you go!" Moro replied and tackled him to the ground, grabbing him tightly so he couldn't move.
"WHAT! NO! LET GO! HE'LL KILL BOTH OF US! DO YOU TRULY WANT TO DIE?" he asked. There was no reply.
"IF I DIE YOU DIE AS WELL! YOU CANNOT POSSIBLY WANT TO HAVE YOURSELF AND THE LORD OF THE FOREST KILLED!" the Shishigami cried. He began to lose his patience, and soon fear overwhelmed him.
"You are no longer worthy of being called 'Lord of the Forest'..and...if that is the price to pay for saving him, it is all that matters. For without him, my world is nothing!" Moro replied and struggled her hold on him. The Shishigami kept wiggling, trying to break free, fear consuming him.
"W-wait! Instead of letting this happen, why not find another way!" he tried to comprimise.
"It's too late for that! We gave you a chance and you ruined it for yourself! You made me kill innocent lives, you made me almost destory my father, and now you've almost made me kill my only love...It is too late 'Lord of the Forest'! " she screamed to him, and knew this had to be sped up, otherwise she could not hold him any longer.
"Enishi. What are you waiting for? You have it all set, now all you must do is pull the trigger. It is that simple." Moro snapped at him.
"I..I can't do it..Moro please don't make me-" he started, tears running down his face. He felt like he had cried for ages now, and he was almost completely drained out.
"Must I do it for you?" she asked and his hand began to move. He tried to fight back, but couldn't. It was too powerful for him.
"Now all that must be done is for the trigger to be pulled. Don't fight it Enishi, do it." Moro said. Still Enishi did not listen, and so Moro controlled him once more, and the trigger was fired. It hit directly where Moro's heart was, and inside her mind the blast went through both of them. "NOOO!" the Shishigami screamed and disappeared in a mistlike form of the color red. His piercing scream echoed until it was truly over.
"See?...That wasn't so bad now...was it?.." Moro said to Enishi, a smile on her face. Her eyes changed back to brown, but they became dull and lifeless as she fell to the ground. It took Enishi a few seconds to catch himself, and he dropped his rifle and ran to Moro's side. He started to shake constantly, and a feeling that made him sick to his stomach hit him hard, ten times worse than the one he had felt when his mother's life was at risk. He could only cry out her name in sorrow for what he had done.
In her mind, she was in darkness. Nothing came to her, her mind was blank. A lone wolf walked over to her slowly, and nuzzled her slightly. There was no emotion on her face, no movement, no reply, and the old wolf knew that she was dying, and fading fast. Maybe she was already dead. "No" the old wolf told herself over and over, for she knew her granddaughter was stronger than this, and that it would only be a matter of seconds when her granddaughter would be dead.
"Grandma..." Moro whispered. She had to get this message out before she truly died. The old wolf's ears perked up as she listened to her granddaughter speak.
"Please...restore all the lives I have taken..." Moro said quietly, and finally closed her eyes, darkness finally consuming her. She took her last breath, and the old wolf understood her request. She howled in agony at the sight of her granddaughter's death, but did fullfill Moro's wish. The old wolf used some of her life force, and was able to bring back those that were killed in the events that had taken place. Aoshi and Ares looked at eachother, hugged, and cry bitterly. Their mother and father ran up to them quickly and tightly embraced them, happy to see them alive again. As the whole villagers ran up to Enishi, they stopped as they saw him cradling a body.
"Enishi-sama..." Ares and Aoshi said together, seeing their friend's agony and pain. Ashitaka, now awake himself was able to wake up Eboshi, and he gave her support as the two walked over to Enishi. Ashitaka did not want to believe it, but he saw it with his eyes. As he left Eboshi with some of the other villagers, he walked over to Enishi who was crying so bitterly. 'The tears are coming...no more holding back...I feel like I've cried for the longest time, months perhaps, but it's only been one horrible day...one horrible day.. Now they keep coming and will never disappear...What have I done? Why did this have to happen? Moro...' he thought and cried even harder. Ashitaka tried to hold back his own agony, and then San with her brothers close behind, rushed up to the scene.
"Ashitaka..." San said, a great lump in her throat. She couldn't bear to look down at Enishi and the body he held so tightly, lovingly. Ashitaka looked at San, and a single tear ran down his face. This made San cry out in pain as she ran to him and sobbed in his arms. He only embraced her, and the two cried as they knew their daughter's life was taken away. The two wolf brothers howled in agony as well, and everything seemed hopeless...meaningless. As Enishi cried even more, he looked at Moro.
"She knew..." Enishi mumbled. Ashitaka and San looked at him.
"She knew this would happen...she had planned this all along even though it may have been rougher than she had planned...she did this for us. She suffered for us, she sacrificed herself for us, and she fought for us! She should be alive right now, and not dead! This is not right..This isn't fair! After everything we tried to do, save her, save the whole town, it all went in vain! Now she's gone and it's all my fault!" he cried.
"So, from the very beginning her plan was to die for us...Foolish girl.." Eboshi said, and bit her lip as she looked at the ground, hiding her sadness. Enishi sobbed more, and his tears dripped onto Moro's cheek. At this point, something happened. Moro glowed pure white, and she was lifted out of Enishi's hands. Everyone looked in amazement. Moro's eyes opened, and they were turned to yellow. She looked at them, and then to San and Enishi.
"Wipe you tears away boy. You too my daughter." she said to them.
"Mother!" San gasped. Moro only nodded and smiled.
"I have spent many years, even after my death in the forest. I have lived within this Moro, but now I am ready to truly die. So I will give my life up for hers. I am finally able to see the truth." Moro said to them with a smile. As the old wolf's spirit was rising up, Moro's wound was healed, and she slowly floated back down to Enishi. He caught her, and almost lost his balance. Moro opened her eyes slowly, and then looked at Enishi in disbelief.
"How am I..." she started and then looked up to the bright light that was hovering above. It was Moro, in her human form.
"I have overdued my stay. Now, I will go to where all the other gods have gone to when they die..." Moro said to them.
"Grandma! Thank you!" Moro cried.
"Of course. Anything for family. Boy! Take good care of her. None of the wolf tribe would EVER forgive you if something happened to her." the old wolf barked after she transformed back into her true form. Enishi nodded.
"And you two! No more of the endless feud!" she then barked at San and Eboshi, who both nodded with smiles on their faces, ready to start a new life as friends and not enemies. Both Moros now smiled, and the first one then sighed with relief.
"Finally. With peace at hand, and the humans and animals of the forest ending their war, I can finally rest in peace." The old wolf said with a smile, and she finally disappeared and faded to where she belonged, leaving a single howl behind to echo farewell. There was a slight breeze, and the howl ended. Silence was only for a few seconds before the whole townspeople screamed and cheered for Moro. They held her up high as she was praised by them. She only smiled and laughed, she couldn't hold in her amazement and excitement. Enishi was held up high to her and the two smiled, finally able to live a life together.
A/N: There ya go! ;) Chapter 14 is complete! (omg it's actually a really long chapter! yay!) Now just one more and the story shall be completed! Since u wanted to know swn. Now then, I hope you guys have liked the story so far, and I've been workin on it for some time now, and I was thinkin of havin a sequel to it. I'd like some insight on it and some comments to let me know if u would be interested or not. If u aren't, I'll post it anywayz lol who knows, maybe u'll like it ;) . anywayz, again thanx for readin, one more chapter to go! R&R plz!