Demise of an Emperor

Tohru's father- the emperor of demise extends his arms.

Ptoom Ptoom
The clouds rally above his head. Lightning flies across all the corners of the city.

Fwoop

There is a loud rumbling noise from the storm. Suddenly portals appear around the city. A stream of blue smoke exits from the portal and wraps around the emperor's skin.

"He's channeling energy from the other world," Tohru says.

I hesitate. His presence causes me to shake my hands. It's like I'm staring at Death right before me.

She notices I'm shaking, "We have to face him, Shiro. I'm not going to run away. I'm not going to let him push me around. Even if he's my father, I have a right to be with you, to be with Kobayashi!"

Her words resonate with me. I muster all the courage in my soul to challenge the Emperor. If I fail, I won't regret it. This is what Kobayashi would want me- no, this is what she would want us to do.

Sparks of ember shaped like cracks appear over his cloak, "I call upon the power of Surtur. Muspelheim."

A volley of fireballs fly in an arc toward us. Elma casts a barrier. As the projectiles slam into her shield, they split into two directions to our left and right.

"T-Tohru," Elma shouts, "I can feel the power coming from the portals. They're fragile. Could you ask your friends to do something about it?"

"Of course,"Tohru shouts down below, "Everyone. Hurry to the portals! Its power is coming from the other world! We need to sever its tie to the other world!"

"I'll destroy all of them, Lady Tohru!" I hear Kanna's voice echo telepathically to us. Kanna flies toward one of the portals. It reflects a volcanic landscape.

"I'm trying to destroy the portal. It's not working!" Kanna says.

I look at the portal. Why isn't it working? I look at the magma rivers flowing from the other side of the portal. Of course!

"The portals are based on different elements of magic. Destroy that portal using water!"

Kanna floats above the portal. She lets out a screech. Stormy clouds wrap around the portal and flood the portal with water.

The portal collapses in on itself.

"The portal is closed, lady Tohru. Please defeat your father. Not just for me, but Saikawa's sake, Georgie, Shiro, Everyone!" Kanna screams.

"Urgh," the emperor clutches his chest.

Kotori stabs him with her sharp claws. He swings wildly at her, but Kotori jumps backwards.

"The battle isn't over, yet. Niffleheim, lord of frost, I summon you."

Another portal appears, its projects a frozen tundra. Hail is spit out of the tundra toward our direction.

Fwoop Fwoop Fwoop

Kotori shields me with her body. The hail is shaped like spears. They pierce her scales and penetrate her flesh. She bears the pain, trying her hardest not to scream in agony.

Lucoa swats away the dark clouds with her wings. The rays of the sun come through. Lucoa absorbs the sun's ray. Her skin glows. She fires a solar beam into the portal.

An explosion goes off in the distance. The hail vanishes.

Lick Lick

Kotori applies dragon saliva to her wounds.

"The Emperor doesn't respect humans. He thinks they're inferior. But I've seen what humans are capable of, the remarkable things they can do when they're motivated. I believe in you, Shiro. I believe in you, Tohru. You can fight him and win! I know it!" Lucoa flaps her wings and descends to the Earth.

Fire latches on to his cloak, he rushes to put it out.

I charge my sword and thrust into his leg.

He rips off his cloak and throws it away. The cape nearly gets in my face, but I sidestep.

The Emperor shows off his thick muscle mass. Veins pulsate from his arms and legs.

"You are only delaying the inevitable, Tohru is going to come back. She is going to kill the humans and the gods."

The world turns pitch black. We look above us and see the sun is being blocked out by the moon. It's an eclipse.

The Emperor disappears under the cover of darkness. He appears behind Kotori and strikes her with his fist. His shadow climbs out from under him. It morphs into a spear. "Huh?" Kotori turns around. That's when he thrusts his spear into her before she can react. Elma grabs Kotori and pulls out of danger, "You're wounded. Go back."

"But-"

"No, buts."

A portal opens. "Good luck, bro!" she jumps into the portal, closing it behind her.

"We need light!"

A swarm of dragons fly toward Lucoa.

"Protect the Emperor!" they shout.

There's a flash of light in the distance.

Vrrrrmmm

Pew

A wall of revolving light tears through the swarm.

"My love!" Lucoa turns around and sees Shouta and Magus helping her.

"We'll protect you," Magus spins his staff around, "Get rid of the eclipse.

A rainbow pierces the clouds. The moon slowly moves out of the way of the sun.

The emperor feels the explosion. Blood is leaking from his chest. Looks like he felt that. He erects a giant stonewall.

He hurls boulders at us from the other side.

THUMP

I jump out of the way a boulder before it crushes me. I breath heavily and wipe the sweat from my forehead, "That was close."

A portal of a badlands with crags and rocky cliffs is on the other side. Fafnir approaches it. He turns into a massive dragon and flies inside the portal.

The wall of stone collapses. It's now nothing but dirt on the floor.

Fafnir flies out of the portal just before it explodes.

"You did it!" I stop, curious, I asked how he closed the portal.

"I'm an Earth Dragon. I merely absorbed most of the magic he was using in the Earth portal," he immediately changes the subject, "Tohru, make this world safe for the humans. I have a game to play with my companions and I also want to be at Comicket when this is over."

I focus on the Emperor, "Hyargh!" I raise my sword.

Swish

Swiiish Swish Swish

Elma pierces the Emperor's skin.

The Emperor breathes heavily. He gets down on all fours and turns into his dragon form.

"That's the last of the portals, Lady Tohru!" Kanna informs through telepathy, "Good luck!"

The Emperor charges at Tohru with his horns facing her. Elma jumps in front of Tohru.

"Hyah!" she lands with a thud. I run over to her and shake her body.

She squirms, "I'm fine…but that hit drained my energy…I have to turn back. Sorry."

She teleports out of the battle. It's just me and Tohru now. He swings wildly at me. I side step out of the way.

Pzzt Pzzt Pzzt

"Shit!" I jump out of the way of a lightning bolt in the nick of time.

Crack

My glasses shatter. I can barely see what's in front of me. It's too blur. I'm screwed.

"Amusing. The last human who defied me also had their glasses broken. This will be the last time a human defies the emperor," he swallows his saliva and spits out a flurry of lightning bolts at me.

I charge my sword. My sword deflected a beam from Kanna. Maybe it can do the same against multiple bolts of lightning.

"Get out of the way, Shiro!" she flies towards me, but a second flurry of lightning bolts head her way.

My eyesight is useless now. But I never needed it when detecting magic. I close my eyes and concentrate. I can see it…I can see it….I tell myself. Blurry waves of light come towards me in slow motion. I raise my sword. The first bolt is absorbed. I tilt my sword at angle. The second is deflected toward the Emperor. I deflect in an opposite direction and parry another one. The last one flies at me really quick. Shit! I swing but it hits me from underneath. I feel a shock go throughout my body and collapse.

The remaining lightning bolts hit the Emperor. It strikes at his legs, crippling him.

THUMP

He falls over on his side. Sparks of fire fly everywhere. When the explosion clears. He's on the floor, unable to move. His chest is ripped open.

"You fought valiantly…Tohru. I'm proud of you."

Tohru kneels in front of him, "Father…Are you okay?"

He coughs up blood, "You have proven yourself. You have shown me you can make a good empress. Are you sure you want to stay in the human world?"

Tohru sees blood squirting from his chest, "Father. Don't speak. You're dying," she places her hands on his chest.

A small source of light jumps from her fingertips into his chest. The blood is still coming out of him.

"You can stay…with the human. I believe you can take care of our family and comrades. You're my daughter and I love-"

Squish. A small dragon bursts from his chest.

"Father!" Tohru screams. She holds him with both her hands trembling, "NOOO!"

The small dragon crawls out of him.

"Who are you. What did you do to father?!"

It laughs callously, "Tohru. Don't you know what happens when a dragon's conscious is troubled?"

"What is he talking about, Tohru?"

Tohru's dad disintegrates until only a ball of energy is left. It floats it way to the giant serpent.

The serpent consumes it, "You really should come home, Tohru. If you refuse to then I will make you come home on his behalf."

She shakes her head, "Father told me I can stay. And you killed him for it," Tohru puts her hand on her chest as if she's in pain, "Argh…"

A voice that sounded a lot like Tohru's shouts from nowhere, "You don't fit in the human world. Listen to your father."

Tohru is shaking. A duplicate of Tohru appears behind her, "Your purpose is to war against humanity and anyone who else stands in their way."

Tohru turns around, "Sh-Shiro. Run"

Tohru is being controlled. If I stay she'll kill me. But I'm not going to run from someone I'm fighting to protect.

"Tohru. You don't have to listen to what that clone is saying."

She grabs me by the neck. She has a chokehold over me.

"F-Fight it, Tohru. Ack..Ack…," I gasp for air Tohru tightens her grip on me.

"You bea-bea-t your father. You can beat these things!"

I pray what I said gets through to her. Otherwise. I'm going to die.

Tohru screams, "No!" she lets go of me, "Sh-Shiro I'm-"

I put my hand on her shoulder, "It's fine."

"So, you won't leave to the other world? Fine."

The serpent grows bigger. It stretches across the sky and floats upward to the sun,

"You will have to come back if there's no human world to stay in," it opens its jaw and digs its fangs into the sun.

It gets dark. I look below me. I see massive tidal waves crash into the barrier protecting the city. Intense gusts of winds slice through the trees below. Suddenly I'm shivering. We look on in horror. Helpless.

We can't let it eat the world. We can't give up. We need to do something. Do something. Do something. I clench my fist. "Is it over?"

"No," I hear a familiar voice respond.

That's when I feel a warm set of fingers hold my hand.

"Huh?" I see Kobayashi in front of me. Tohru sees her, too. She runs over to her and tries to hug her, but she falls right through her.

"Oof," she falls on the floor, "Kobayashi…You're…"

Kobayashi nods, "It's me, Tohru," she looks at the serpent eating the sun, "There's still a way to beat it."

"But how, Miss Kobayashi? It's eating the world as we know it!"

"Your father's soul is still inside that dragon. He's accepted your decision to stay. But his soul refuses to compromise. You have to free his soul, Tohru."

"But how, Miss Kobayashi?"

"I'm more than human now. In the afterlife, I have powers. That's how I can talk to Shiro. It's how I could help him get this far. I'll give most of my powers to you so you can attack his soul and release it from that monster. But…" she rubs her eyes, "I'll use up most of my power. I don't know if I can speak with you again, if I could speak with you at all…."

Tohru cries, "I'm so happy to see you again…I want to stay with you, but I understand, Kobayashi. I'll miss you, but if it means saving the world then let's do it."

"Don't be sad, Tohru," she kisses her.

It lasts for a long minute. But it felt like an eternity.

"I know…," Tohru responds.

"Mom…Let's go," I nod.

My mother opens the portal, "On the other side is your father's soul."

I step into the portal. I stop. I turn around and see my mom waving goodbye.

Tears are coming down her cheeks, but she still smiles, "You made me so proud, Shiro. I'm glad to call you my son. Make sure you take care of Tohru for me, okay?!"

"I will, mom! ….," I rub my eyes, "I promise."

We step through the portal to the other side. We are inside the monster's body. Several souls the shape of crystals are aligned together in a circle. "Which one is the Emperor's?"

A spark of energy flows through us. I open my palm. Energy around me is absorbed. It forms into a giant energy ball. This power…It's coming from Kobayashi. I toss it at a random object. It hit a random crystal.

Ptoom Hiiiisssss

"Lady Tohru, I can feel your presence, but I can't see where you are," Kanna's voice says.

"I'm inside the World-Eater. What do we do?"

Elma breathes into our head, "I feel a part of the serpent's power vanish. Whatever you did keep doing it!"

I look around me. There are eight crystals floating around the souls.

Tohru fires at a second crystal, shattering it.

The interior of the serpent shakes. Some mucus rains down on us.

"Ugh. Gross," Tohru wipes the mucus off of her clothes.

"Keep going!" I shoot two more crystals. We let our shots zip toward the crystals. They all shatter.

"Curse you!"A wall of tentacles wrap around the souls.

"That won't protect you!" I cut through the tentacles.

I feel an intense heat. Sweat pours down my forehead, "What's this feeling?"

"Tohru! Shiro!" Elma calls us, "It's almost fully consumed the sun. Hurry!"

I cut through the tentacles with all the strength I can muster. A small hole opens. I see a large soul on the other side through the gap.

"Tohru. It's on the other side of this hole. Fire!"

"I can barely see it," she says.

"Trust me. We can destroy it."

Tohru holds her breath. She takes aim at the small hole. The ground rumbles ferociously.

She shoots straight through the hole, perfectly.

Vrrrrmmmmm

The ground rumbles. The light on the other side of the gets bigger.

"Err…Elma. We did it, but…."

"I know," she responds, "Now!"

She teleports both of us outside. We see the giant serpent's skin fall apart. Chunks of its body are severed from each other as if it was chopped and diced with a butcher knife. The serpent's body parts slam into the barrier and slip harmlessly to the earth.

"We did it," I raise my sword in the air.

"Hahha…Yes. We did."

"Thank you," we hear the voice of Tohru's father say, "I'm sorry I didn't respect your decision to stay much sooner. No matter what happens, I'll still be your father. Goodbye.

His voice fades. Never to be heard again. I had a lot of questions to ask about Tohru's father. It's best if I didn't ask them. (At least not right now.) Besides, I'm getting tired.

"We won," I said before falling over.

"Shiro!" she grabs me.

Two months later.

I flip through a book on Norse Mythology. It's been a long time since that last battle. Lately I've been studying numerous books to find answers. Elma walks into the classroom. My eyes open wide and I'm at the edge of my seat. She writes down information for us on the wall, "Welcome class. Your teacher is sick today, so I will be your substitute, my name is Ms. Jouii."

When class is over, I don't see Kotori waiting for me at the gate like usual. That's right. I almost forgot that the portal to the other world was left open. Ever since she found out about her parents she would go exploring in the other world the day before every weekend. I hope she finds them. She deserves to see her old family. I shrug and walk home by myself. Magus waves to me. He's sitting with some dragon girls. They kneel in front of Magus.

"Which dragons are the cutest?"

"Chaos!" the other dragon shouts.

"No way. Harmony!"

Magus wraps his arms around the two, "I think you're both cute."

They blush and cuddle with him after hearing his suave answer.

I smile and wave as I pass him. I'm glad they can date a human like him. He's a decent guy. Before, these girls would be hiding from humans…. Now they can talk and go out in the open. They nod as they pass me. The knights are now much friendlier than before. Elma told them to protect both human and dragons at all cost. Occasionally there are some incidents, but whenever they happen either the knights resolve it peacefully or Elma sends me to solve the problem. Tohru is now Empress of the Chaos faction. She helps Elma from time to time. Luckily, a lot of humans have come forward to help us maintain a peaceful co-existence between humans and dragons. That doesn't mean everyone lives happily ever after. How could it be? A lot of humans are surprised to know dragons exist. Some are even afraid. Some troublemakers attack dragons sometimes. It's not all that bad, for every troublemaker there is a decent knight/dragon/mage who will be there to keep the peace.

I stand in front of Kobayashi's grave. I'm glad she got to see Kobayashi again. I let out a deep sigh. I feel my heart ache. It aches because I know that one day… I'm going to die, too. I manage to smile for mom. One day, in the future, my son will be raised by Tohru, too. I think about the times I spent with Kobayashi in the afterlife. I wonder how Tohru and my family will get along? I shake my head. Whatever happens, it'll be okay.

"Thank you for everything, mom," I give her a card and some chocolate before leaving.

Kanna and Saikawa walk past me. They laugh when they see me. This must be their tenth date. I'm happy for them. They finally forgave each other and put the past behind them.

Tohru has been getting busier and busier lately. Ever since her father made her the new empress of the Chaos dragons. I wonder if she may have to leave soon? I pray she doesn't.

"I'm home," I open the door. The living room is empty. The TV and couch are gone. My heart beats. Oh no. I run into Tohru's room. It's empty again. "Kotori?" I call. No one responds. I check the bathroom. Nothing. I run out to the front of the apartment.

Shouta and Lucoa are standing together at the balcony. They see me and notice I'm distraught, "Shiro…About Tohru."

"She's… She's gone again," I lie down on the floor.

"Who's gone?" Tohru's voice asks.

Huh? I turn around and see Tohru and Kotori holding some bags.

"Tohru. I thought you left me."

"Leave you? Shiro. We're only moving into a new apartment."

I let out a sigh of relief.

"Come on. We should be going then," Tohru and Lucoa wave for me to follow.

The new apartment is in a busier part of town. It's on the top floor. There's a balcony with a wide range of flows and herbs. The living room is huger than our old apartment living room. There is a glass ceiling above us. The rays shine down on me.

"Do you like it?" Tohru asks.

I nod.

"Good. It's for your birthday, Shiro."

"B-Birthday?" I stutter.

"Did you forget? Today is your birthday," Tohru and Kotori open the bags they were holding. I look inside each of them stunned by what they give me. It's a brand-new computer.

"You're going to be a grown up soon, like your mother. Unlike Kobayashi, you'll be able to work at home now."

The others jump out of the bedroom, "Happy birthday!"

Everyone is there: Kanna, Elma, Shouta, Lucoa, Magus, Elma, Saikawa, Georgie, Fafnir, and my dad.

They all converse with each other while we wait for Tohru to cut the cake. She slices into it with her claws. A small trace of powder is on her fingertip. She puts in her mouth and licks, "This is good. Enjoy!"

After we all finished eating, Tohru pulls out a camera.

"Family picture! Everyone get together!" Tohru crams everyone close together. She puts a camera on a tripod and sets the timer for ten seconds.

She runs toward us, "3…2…Whoa!" she trips.

Click