Chapter 19: Fatal duel.

4:08 pm

Leila was in the throne room and had a grim expression on her face; in the last few hours a series of riots had affected the main cities of the empire: Madrid, London, Rome, Kinshasa, Athens, Cairo, Cape Town, Moscow, Tripoli, Kiev ... Even the capital itself was in the throes of rebellion. When they told her that the people were in full rebellion, she replied:

"The people? Who rebels? I am the people! I AM THE PEOPLE! I voted for the cause of freedom, don't they see it? I sacrificed years of my life for them, I defeated the British! I brought freedom, I! And now they rebel ... This is madness!"

I bet there is Oscar Hammel's hand behind this matter ... Son of a bitch!

She thought, furious.

The situation was so serious that she had to send her personal guards to the city; now she was alone, except for the servants (but simple servants could not keep up with the insurgents).

I'd better get some fresh air.

She thought, heading for the roof of the pyramid.

At the same time Oscar was sitting in his office when he saw Ayano enter, with a serious expression on her face.

"The whole nation is ready to rise, at least we will bring down Empress Leila. I blindly believed in her when she fought the British ... Who would have said that? Now I would do anything to overthrow her. "He said, sorry.

"The same goes for me." She replied.

"The pyramid security systems are deactivated, and the building is unattended. You will be able to enter undisturbed and reach Leila. "

"I'm going now."

"Do you need support?"

"A well-armed team around the pyramid will have to prevent anyone from entering."

"You will have it."

Exiting the corridor she found Sophie, Kate and Shizuka in front of her.

"Are you going?" Asked the scientist.

She nodded.

"I will kill Leila, and put an end to this story."

"Is there anything we can do?"

"You have already done enough. Now it's my turn to act."

"Good luck."

"Thanks, Shizu. And sorry for how I treated you at our first meeting, I was arrogant and rude. "

"You're forgiven." She said, winking at her.

"I'll see you when I'm done." That said, he started.

Leaving the casino, she looked around: columns of smoke rose from many sides and explosions and shootings were heard. Shee activated invisibility and began to head towards the pyramid. During the journey he was able to see for herself the clashes between the rioters and the army. Citizens shouted phrases like:

"Death to empress!"

"Let's fight for Hammel!"

"For our freedom!"

After half an hour of walking she decided to use the crow's flight to reach the building faster, located a short distance from the Eiffel Tower. Landed in front of it she thought:

The showdown is imminent.

"Ayano Kosaka?" Asked a voice.

She turned and saw three armed men heading towards her. Instinctively she put her hand to the katana.

"My name is Maximilien Marat, head of the Brigades in this sector. Monsieur Hammel has warned me of your arrival."

"What's the situation?" She asked.

"We surrounded the building, but the guards don't show up. Evidently they must all be in town fighting the rebels. Some of our snipers stationed on the Tower saw a person on the roof of the pyramid ... Maybe she is the empress herself, but I ordered them not to shoot."

"In fact, it is up to me to kill her."

Having said that, she activated the crow's flight and, under the incredulous gaze of the trio, reached the roof of the pyramid. Here she saw Leila, turned away, looking at the city in rebellion; in one hand she wielded the scepter.

"Leila." She called her.

The blonde turned to her.

"Ah, it's you ..."

"Give me the apple and I'll let you live."

"Give you the apple?"

"She controls you."

"Ah, is that what you believe? I thought I'd check it out. I had never considered the hypothesis that he could control someone. But maybe it is."

"You have been corrupted by the power of the apple."

"Corrupt? Which brings us to an interesting question ... Would you like me to give you the apple to save my soul? Or would you like the apple all to yourself, to control the whole nation?"

"The people must govern."

Leila laughed maliciously.

"Let's not say nonsense! It's an absurd thought but ... Let's admit that I'm controlled by the Apple. Why would it be different for you?"

"Because I would use it for the good of all."

"Owning the apple is as much a burden as a fortune. Tell me: when you get up in the air do you feel like a slave to the people or do you want to become its mistress?"

"The people want you to fall!"

The blonde smiled, mocking.

"You didn't answer my question ... I AM THE ONLY EMPRESS HERE!" She shouted, preparing to fight.

4 luminous spheres appeared around her dancing around her. Ayano activated invisibility and avoided an energy attack and then approached the mad empress and hit her with a punch on the face; Leila pushed her back through the apple. The bright spheres rose to 6, then multiplied, becoming 12. However, the swordswoman was always able to dodge them and hit her opponent, thanks to the powers acquired by the infusion.

"I WILL KILL YOU, FOR WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" She shouted, furious, before being rejected again.

Squeezed Leila pulled out her latest card: she created countless copies of herself to attack Ayano, but this swept them all away through the power of the bear. In doing so, however, she seriously damaged the stained glass window, which collapsed downstairs. Ayano managed to land unharmed thanks to the flight of the crow, while Leila ruined the ground. Looking around, the dark-haired girl realized that she was in the throne room; then he returned to focus on her enemy who, although wounded, took the apple, reached her throne and sat down on it. Then she took her last breath. Ayano looked at her with disgust, spat on the floor, then began to approach her, to steal the apple from her. As he walked he heard voices in her head; the first was from Ryo:

Ayano, I died to drop Leila, but I implore you ... Don't get hold of the apple.

She ignored it and went on.

My daughter, I am so afraid for you! Astral travel has change you, your search for the apple ceases, please!

This time it was her mother who spoke to her, but even now she pulled straight.

Finally she heard her own voice saying:

It's your chance! Get the apple! Take it! JUST DO IT!

When she reached the corpse of Leila, she tore the artifact from her hand.

The first thing she felt was a dazzling light, followed by a thud. When she opened her eyes she realized that she and Leila (alive and well) were in a public park in Paris; it was evening. The two girls, facing each other, stared into each other's eyes. Initially Leila assumed an aggressive expression, immediately replaced by a sad face. She knelt down and picked up the apple, which had fallen near them.

"Leila ..." called the swordswoman.

The blonde stood up, turned and handed her the artifact.

"Take it ... Take it away, I don't want it!" She exclaimed, frightened.

"Nobody should have such power!" Ayano said.

"Throw it in the ocean ... Weight it down! And sink it into the deepest depths of the sea!"

Having said that, the blonde moved away. Ayano saw her run away, as if she wanted to put as much distance between her and the apple as possible.

Now I remember everything ...

She think.

Flashback start

Ayano was sitting on a bench in the Jardin Du Luxembourg, the largest public park in Paris; she was waiting for Leila to arrive, who asked her to meet her there for an unknown reason. It was around 9:30 in the evening.

When she asked me to come here, she was very worried ... What will she want to talk to me about?

She wondered.

At one point he saw her approach. When she stood before her she exclaimed:

"Thank goodness you're here!"

"Leila!"

"I have to face a new enemy! And I fear that I will succumb!"

"What's wrong with you?"

"I need help!" She shouted, agitated.

"Maybe you should sit down and explain yourself better."

Leila nodded and sat down beside her.

"My God. I don't know what happens to me. I am prey ... of strange dreams. I am going crazy!"

"I didn't believe you the girl who lets herself be influenced by dreams."

"You don't understand ... You can't understand! They delude me with fantastic visions. In my dream I'm in Paris during the war."

She got up.

"Except that in my dream there is no war! I stay with my parents, who are still alive, and lead a normal student life. Happy and content. "

"It looks like heaven on earth."

"But they don't stop there: the peace I feel pushes me to ... Then dreams become ineffable. You are there too, Ayano. I think the visions come from this." She explained, extracting a golden metal sphere from a bag.

"What is that?"

"I have no idea ... It comes from the Hoia forest in Romania."

"I remember you went there for some archaeological excavations."

"Exact. It was inside an ancient tomb, where the mortal remains of Bayan, the first king of the Pannonian Avars, ruler of a kingdom extended from the Black Sea to the Danube river."

"I can see it?"

In response, Leila moved away from Ayano, clutching the object so that she could not touch it.

"You act strange."

"You are right. Blame the dreams that come from this sphere."

Ayano came over and touched the artifact, from which an intense light came.

End flashback

So it was all a dream ... Ryo and my mother are alive, I didn't kill those people and Leila didn't become a cruel dictator. Well, thank goodness.

She thought, taking a sigh of relief.

At that point she put the apple in her pocket and went home.