The slightest movement from the prisoner would cause the clanking of countless of chains restraining him, to echo to walls of the dimly lit dungeon. The chains suspended him from ground, but he was in an unusually comfortable position. As long as he didn't make large movements, he could just relax. He noticed someone in front of him.
"Phantom, huh? I would never expect to see you here."
"What is this place? Are the others somewhere near?"
"I don't know where they are, but they are likely to suffer the same fate as me."
"Hang on, I'll get you out of here." Phantom held a chain and tugged it; examining where its other end led to.
"It's no use. You can't break these chains by normal means."
"Oh yea? Who told you that?"
"If these were normal chains, I would have broke out of them a long time ago. ***** probably put us here to keep us alive."
"Sorry, who?" Phantom couldn't hear the name that was drowned out by the clanking of chains.
Before Phantom could do anything else, he felt his body being teleported away from the cell.
"Oh crap."
"You should be grateful, Phantom. Now you know that you don't need to hold back anymore," Mihile said.
Phantom's surroundings suddenly changed to a familiar sight. The endless field of flowers, the eerie twilight sky, the dome shelter. He was standing on the fields. Between him and the dome, was a whole orchestra. They sat on their stools, facing the dome, waiting to play a tune. Phantom walked towards the dome, going around the group. He then met the conductor. It was Gaston.
"Welcome back, Master," Gaston greeted him.
"What's all this?" Phantom pointed at the group of musicians with his hand.
"Grand music for the grand finale of course."
"How would you know that this is the end?"
"I don't. But she thinks it is." Gaston pointed to the dome.
Phantom turned to see the Cygnus in purple, practising her dance moves on her own. She stopped and pretended to walk aimlessly when she noticed Phantom looking at her.
"Ah. Adorable isn't she?" Gaston said.
Phantom looked back at Gaston, giving him a weird look. Gaston was now flipping through music scores, preparing to conduct the orchestra. As Phantom approached Cygnus, the music started playing; a grand waltz, truly fitting for a grand finale. Cygnus gestured her hand while looking away, for Phantom to dance with her. Phantom took her hand and kissed it.
"Would you care for a dance?" Phantom asked.
"My pleasure."
It was empty under the dome shelter. They were free to dance under it. For a while, they danced in silence, savouring the moment. Staring into each others eyes, they recalled the events that led up to that moment in their minds. The music helped them recall the roller-coaster of emotions they had experienced.
When the tune changed, Cygnus finally broke the silence between them. They spoke while continuing their dance.
"What brings you back here?"
"Unfinished business."
"Oh. I thought you missed me."
"And that too."
"Ehh?"
"The other you just wasn't the same. Are you really Cygnus?"
"As you should already know, I am the other half of Cygnus. The darkness within her. However, I have a small part of Hilla in me."
"So Hilla is behind all this."
"No. The real Hilla has nothing to do with all this. Well, not directly. Hilla once used the Staff of Hope a long time ago. And as a result, a small part of her soul was trapped in the staff, which fused with me."
"The curse of the staff...and Aria's prayer within the Skaia. The conflicting arcane magic. And the result, this madness, that neither of us had control over. Well, at least you had some control..."
"Madness indeed. And it turns out you were holding onto the real Skaia all along."
"I think you knew that all along. That's why you kept me alive. Purposely trying to make me take out my cane. You fear the Skaia would be lost if you killed me without me taking it out."
"You don't even remember that it is in your cane. So why have you never used your cane during the time loops?"
"I only remembered a rule I set, but not the reason why. 'To not use my cane, if the enemy is unknown.' And Hawkeye had something to do with it too."
"Hah! That won't matter now, even if you keep hiding it. I have already figured out a way to extract it from your dead body. I know how your magic works now. After all, I had many nights to examine it. You don't create your weapons from thin air. You summon them from a magic realm you created in your body, where you store those weapons."
"The Skaia will leave you, if you are not worthy."
"Not if you are dead."
"So what are you waiting for? Are you going to dance me to death?"
"Hah! This place is not the stage for our final battle. This. Isn't even my garden."
"I noticed. This is Aria's garden. And no one can get hurt in this garden. At least not physically. You can't control that rule, but you can control who enters this place."
"Exactly. After all the time we spent here, you've finally figured it out."
"You don't seem so secretive anymore. Why?"
"Because it doesn't matter if I tell you everything. I will still win in the end. Consider it a reward for keeping me entertained for so long."
"You seem awfully confident."
"Returning here was your biggest mistake, Phantom. It's not that I failed to kill you during those countless nights. I didn't even try."
"..."
"Go ahead, ask me more questions."
"Did you make those clones of your commanders?"
"No. I don't care who made them. But they are under my control now."
"What's your objective other than killing me and getting the real Skaia?"
"To be the most powerful ruler of the Maple World there ever was."
"And destroy anyone who opposes you?"
"Exactly! You know, the usual stuff. I will even kill my other half."
"That's it? I've always thought of you as more of a unique villain."
"Okay then, how about, to rearrange the continents to make them spell out my name."
Phantom chuckled and then sighed. "What a whole big pile of mess this is."
They stopped dancing and let go of each other.
"Indeed. I am getting a headache just thinking about it." Cygnus touched her forehead.
"Is there really no other way?"
"You can just give me the Skaia now and then I'll kill you when we leave this garden."
"Ehh? I thought you were going to say something like, 'I give you the Skaia and then we rule the world together'."
"Silly Phantom. Of course I need to kill you. So that you won't be able to cheat on me."
"..."
Cygnus giggled.
"You'll kill me because you love me?" Phantom asked.
"Something like that."
"Then I'll defeat you before that happens."
Phantom closed his eyes and stole a kiss from her. When he opened his eyes, his surroundings faded to white.
When Cygnus came to, she heard the shattering of glass. She was on the floor. She looked up and saw her evil half, holding the Skaia, looking down at her.
The lady in purple laughed. "Why did you even come back here?"
"To stop you," Cygnus replied.
She laughed again. "Stop me? What can you do?"
Dark Cygnus kicked Cygnus in the stomach, sending her sliding across the floor till she hit her bed.
"Weak! You are so weak!" Dark Cygnus walked out of the room, with an evil laugh.
Cygnus grovelled on the floor, holding her stomach in pain. She slowly got back to her feet and stumbled towards the door, chasing after her evil half. Cygnus couldn't see where her evil clone went, but she just followed the same route she took during the countless time loops. She ran through the dark forest and to the gardens. And her clone was there, waiting for her.
"Hah! What are you going to do now? Fight me?"
"No." Cygnus was holding onto the Staff of Hope.
She walked closer to her nemesis.
"There is nothing you can change..."
Cygnus got closer and hugged her evil clone.
"Yes, I am weak. I have been nothing but a wimpy leader. But the first step in changing myself, is to accept that fact," Cygnus said.
"Did you think I would disappear if you just did that?" The witch laughed.
A shadow rose up from the ground and engulfed Cygnus. The witch then absorbed Cygnus' body into herself.
Phantom landed on the bedroom balcony. He took a peek inside and saw the broken mirror. The broken pieces were still on the floor. He turned back, jumped off the balcony and dived into the forest. His mind was clear. He knew exactly what needed to be done. After a few strides, Phantom sensed danger ahead of him. Dozens of arrows were headed for him. He didn't even bother to dodge. He conjured a shield and stood his ground. His enchanted shield deflect all the arrows. He walked out to an open field. Five people stood before him at the opposite end of the field.
"Where's your cane- oh..." Just as Hawkeye spoke, Phantom took out his cane.
"All alone? Not even your butler? I thought you would at least have some sanity to bring some company," Mihile said.
"Unnecessary. After all, I wasn't even using 70% of my strength when I was fighting any of you," Phantom mocked.
"What did you say? Hah! I was only using 50% of my strength," Mihile replied.
"I lied. I was using only 40%."
"30%!"
"20%!"
"Alright! Alright! We get it!" Hawkeye interrupted them.
Without warning, Phantom leapt forward, charging at the five. His forward movement left an after image of a long golden sword pointing towards where he went. His first target, Oz. He launched a torrent of cards at Oz, knocking her backwards to Irena. They both were thrown backwards to the ground. Hawkeye's anchor slammed at Phantom's feet. Phantom dodged it, leaping backwards and throwing down cards which exploded in Hawkeye's face. In midair he threw his calling cards at Mihile who deflected the attack with his shield. Eckhart's shurikens rained on Phantom when he landed, which cut him several places. Phantom now faced Mihile and Hawkeye. With his cane, he let out a barrage of countless jabs at the two before they could initiate. The three of them all leapt away as arrows and fireballs destroyed the ground they stood. Phantom's exploding cards rained on Oz and Irena, which disrupted their attacks. Phantom closed the gap towards Eckhart, dodging through his shuriken attacks. Mihile and Hawkeye chased right behind him, allowing the three knights to surround Phantom. A tornado of cards emerged, surrounding Phantom and damaging the three knights. Hawkeye and Eckhart were thrown back by the attack, but Mihile powered through the storm. Mihile fired an intense burst of light at Phantom, blowing him away. Phantom was blown towards Oz and Irena, who were just recovering from Phantom's previous attack. Phantom unleashed his attack at the unsuspecting two, stabbing them with his cane at blinding speeds. Phantom's continuous attacks were then interrupted by Hawkeye's anchor from behind. The huge swing of the anchor hit Phantom's sides, hooking him away and sending him plowing through the forest trees before landing on the ground. Phantom struggled to get back to his feet. He only got to his knees when he saw the five knights surrounding him. Phantom froze in pain.
"Foolish," Eckhart said.
"What did you hope to accomplish by challenging all of us at once?" Hawkeye asked.
"Idiot," Irena said.
"Don't underestimate us," Mihile said.
"You can't defeat us alone," Oz said.
"Who says I'm alone? Look at your faces," Phantom said.
The knights all turned to look at each other in confusion. On each of their faces, was an X-shaped scar. They were all not in the same position, but they were very visible. Hawkeye touched the cut he just noticed on his cheek. Mihile's was on his chin, Oz's on her forehead, etc.
"When did you..." Oz said.
"What are you planning!?" Hawkeye panicked.
Phantom pointed his cane towards them which started glowing. "My magic isn't powerful. But the Skaia will handle the rest," Phantom spoke with a grin.
Hawkeye rushed ahead only to fall to the ground after a few steps. A pair of hands were grabbing on to his feet, emerging from a black puddle. The other knights had hands grabbing their legs too. And then, the bodies emerged, their originals were climbing out. For a while, they struggled. Until eventually, the originals emerged fully from the shadows and were separated from their clones. The real knights stood together, facing their doppelgangers. Thanks to the markings made by Phantom, the clones could easily be distinguished. It was also used as a catalyst for his magic to release the real knights who were imprisoned in the shadows of their own clones.
"Hnnngg! Two Irenas!" both Oz's said.
Both Irenas shuddered.
"Thank you, Phantom. You can go ahead. We'll take care of this," the real Hawkeye said.
Phantom quickly healed himself with what little healing magic he knew. "Have fun." Phantom waved and slowly walked away.
"Wait!" Mihile's clone said, running towards Phantom.
Mihile moved to stop his clone. Their swords clashed.
"Not so fast! I've always wanted a chance to duel myself," Mihile said.
The real Cygnus knights began their battle with their clones.
Phantom strolled into the garden. Dark Cygnus stood before him with her arms folded.
"You seem to be taking your own sweet time," Dark Cygnus said.
Phantom stopped to pluck a rose and smelled it. This aggravated Dark Cygnus. Phantom walked closer to Dark Cygnus and handed her the rose. Dark Cygnus swatted the flower away in anger.
"Do you intend to repeat this night forever? You know what happens when that bird squawks. Hurry up and hand me the Skaia," Dark Cygnus spoke in anger.
"I'm as eager as you for this to come to a conclusion. But this night won't end so soon. I told my butler to tie up Shinsoo and shut her up," Phantom explained.
"What!?"
Earlier...
Phantom stood on deck of the Lumiere. The ship just reached the point for his drop off.
"Do you require my assistance, master?" Gaston asked.
"Ah, as a matter of fact, I do. I want you to find Shinsoo and tie her up. Make sure she doesn't make any noise."
"Are you serious!?"
"I need you to trust me on this, Gaston. Don't ask me why, just do it."
Dark Cygnus threw a fit of laughter. "You are unbelievable, Phantom. You've just sealed your doom."
"I perform better without a safety net."
"Hah!" Dark Cygnus pointed the Staff of Hope at Phantom.
She started emitting a glowing purple aura. Phantom leapt backwards, distancing himself from Dark Cygnus. Dark Cygnus fired a dark orb at Phantom. Phantom dodged the slow moving projectile. He saw the orb hit the ground, causing the grass to wither instantly. Dark Cygnus started levitating. She raised her arms and casted a spell. Circles of purple light appeared all over the ground. Phantom managed to find a safe spot just moments before pillars of light emerged from the circles. The pillars of light disintegrated everything that came into contact with it. Phantom charged in before Dark Cygnus could cast another spell. Phantom did his signature move, stabbing Dark Cygnus at blinding speeds, with his cane. His attack made contact with her flesh, but she was laughing. Phantom stopped immediately when he felt his attack being reflect back at him. He felt the pounding of his own attacks, which caused him to stagger backwards. Dark Cygnus fired off a few small tornados which spread out from her, carving its trail on the ground. Phantom got caught in one of them and was carried away, taking damage while being in it. The tornado eventually died off and Phantom fell to the ground. He immediately got back on his feet and charged forwards. His movements so sharp, it left an after image of a sword.
"CYYYGGGNNUUUSS!" Phantom repeated the same attack as before, and the damage was again reflected back to him.
"Fool," Dark Cygnus said.
Dark Cygnus casted her genesis attack again. This time, Phantom was caught in the pillars of light, and took significant damage. Dark Cygnus closed her eyes and a chain barrier surrounded her. Phantom stumbled to reach out to Cygnus. To his surprise, his hand completely went through Dark Cygnus' body. He could not touch the image of Cygnus who appeared to be resting.
"Why do you even try so hard, Phantom?" Mihile said.
Phantom looked back and saw the clones of the Cygnus Commanders, with the markings on their faces, emerging from the forest. They were all seriously injured.
"What happened to..." Phantom was interrupted.
"We defeated them of course...cough...and send them back into our shadows," Oz said while coughing out blood.
Phantom held up his staff in an attempt to release the trapped Commanders again.
"Woah! Not so fast!" Oz said before firing her fireballs at Phantom.
Phantom dodged the combined ranged attacks of the knights, causing him to distance himself from Dark Cygnus. Hawkeye slammed his anchor at Phantom's feet.
"You've slowed down a lot." Phantom appeared behind Hawkeye and let out a barrage with his cane.
Hawkeye was taken out instantly. Mihile went in next, swinging his sword at Phantom. Phantom blocked the attack with his cane and leapt backwards, throwing down exploding cards. Projectiles of fire and metal, rained on Phantom, all of which he dodge easily with his dexterity. Phantom teleported close to the other three Commanders, who were standing close together. He marked them with his coat of arms before slicing them multiple times. The three fell to the ground, leaving Mihile, who could barely stand.
"Looks like the real knights put up a good fight before they were beaten," Phantom said while walking closer to Mihile.
"We didn't beat them, we just forced them back into our shadows," Mihile said.
"And then you came here to be beaten by me?"
"I just came here to tell you: you can't win against Cygnus." Mihile collapsed with a smile on his face.
Phantom noticed Dark Cygnus had started moving again and her barrier had dispersed. Phantom dashed to attack her. But when he got close to her, he froze, realising his attacks had no effect. In the heat of the moment, Phantom's mind raced for an answer. His hand somehow found its place on Cygnus' chest. Dark Cygnus opened her eyes and saw Phantom groping her.
Cygnus was submerged in the familiar cold darkness, half asleep. She could hear the faint echoes of her evil twin, who was in the process of absorbing her.
"CYYYGGGNNUUUSS!" Phantom's voice almost reached her.
A while later, Cygnus felt a gentle warmth on her chest. Cygnus suddenly regained her consciousness.
How long have I been in here? It feels longer than usual. What am I doing? This is the same as before. The same conclusion at the end of every time loop. No. It's different this time. I still haven't given up yet.
"What. Are. You. Doing. Phantom?" Dark Cygnus spoke angrily.
"Erm..."
A magic blast blew Phantom away. Dark Cygnus was about to cast another genesis, but stopped halfway. She stopped levitating. A shadow crept up around her body.
"No..." Dark Cygnus said in disbelief.
Phantom sensed that Dark Cygnus powers were weakening. He took the opportunity and attacked her; letting out a barrage with his cane. This time, his attack wasn't reflected back to him. With each hit, Dark Cygnus' body disintegrated into a black liquid. Phantom stopped attacking, seeing Dark Cygnus melting into a black puddle. The real Cygnus floated out of the puddle, and the puddle evaporated. Phantom held the unconscious Empress in his arms. Cygnus suddenly opened her eyes and slapped Phantom.
"Sorry Phantom. I couldn't be the one..." Cygnus said before losing consciousness again.
The defeated clones of the Commanders followed the same fate as Dark Cygnus. Their bodies melted into a black liquid, after which the originals appeared from. They were all unconscious. Phantom extracted the Skaia from his cane and placed it around Cygnus' neck. He then carried Cygnus back to the palace. At Cygnus' bedroom, Phantom met Mercedes, who was wearing a dress.
"What happened?" Mercedes asked.
Phantom placed Cygnus on her bed before replying. "Long story. I don't think I'm in any shape to tell stories."
Phantom's injuries and fatigue finally caught up with him. Gaston appeared, caught Phantom and placed Phantom's arm over his shoulder just as Phantom was about to fall.
"Thanks Gaston. Mercedes, just stay by the Empress' side," Phantom said, as Gaston helped him walk out of the room.
The island's inhabitants all woke up the next day, returning back to normal. Only a handful of people knew exactly what happened that night. A few days later, Shinsoo was attacked by an unknown enemy. Cygnus miraculously awakens her powers and saves Shinsoo. The Maple World will never know of the eventful night, that helped Cygnus to awaken her powers. Since that night, there have been rumours of adventurers travelling to the future to defeat an evil Cygnus.
THE END
EPILOGUE
Gaston entered the room.
"My goodness, Phantom. Already drinking at this time of the day?" Gaston said.
Phantom took a sip from his glass and placed it on the table.
"Yes?" Phantom asked.
"I've repaired your pocket watch." Gaston handed Phantom the watch.
"I'm curious about the inscription on it," Gaston asked.
"It's the date my lover left me," Phantom replied.
"Oh, sorry for asking."
"It's alright. It was her time to go."
Gaston gave Phantom a nod before leaving the room. The inscription on the pocket watch read: 'Don't Forget Oct 3rd'.
Phantom laid back in his chair, both legs on his desk. He twirled the Staff of Hope in one hand. He glanced at the spirit haunting his room. Phantom cleared his throat and spoke to the ghost.
"Is the glass half full, or half empty?"
Phantom finished his glass of wine.
"Well, it's empty now. I don't care anymore. Whether someone made you do it, or you did it yourself, it doesn't matter. All's well that ends well. I don't blame you for what you did. I will just consider it as a blessing in disguise. I'm in no position to judge you. I'm probably just as guilty. Here's what I think happened. You found this staff. It used to belong to Hilla. Trying to make amends for your past mistakes, you decided to help Cygnus mature. You used the staff to test her. You never had your body when you met her. It was just an illusion. You summoned the monsters from that tower to train her. The staff holds immense powers, but it requires a strong mind to use it. It was all a big gamble. Cygnus would overcome the darkness in heart or succumb to it. Either way, she would become more powerful. Which is important for the survival of the Maple World. But you didn't expect the important piece of the puzzle, the Skaia, to be fake. And that, was also my sin. I gave it to her before she was ready. The jewel then returned to me, hiding in my cane. So you wrote that letter to me. To bring me to Ereve. And that night... What a night that was. The curse of the staff, and the magic in the jewel, met. Some ridiculous stuff happened. Cygnus' desire for power, and Aria's legacy, left in the Skaia, caused a strange time loop. And the Cygnus commanders, you created the clones of them. You knew they would surely notice Cygnus' sudden changes. So you replaced them. And thanks to the time loops, you lost control of them. But luckily, everything ends well. Cygnus receives the real Skaia and awakens her powers. Your methods were questionable. But it was probably necessary for Cygnus to grow. Thanks to this experience, she will be ready for the upcoming war. And me? I just happen to be caught in between this strange coming of age ceremony. But what happens now? Do I become a magical girl?"
Author's Notes:
I guess that was okay for a first try. This whole story started from me wanting to try something new. Like, how hard can it be to write a fanfic? I was a bit too ambitious, trying to write a quite complicated story with my poor vocabulary and non-existent writing skills. I was trying to write something less common from normal fanfics. The kind of story where the subtle details in the previous chapters, plays a big/some part of the story later on. So you would need to follow the story closely to get the full experience. A few months later, I'll probably look back at this and cringe at how awful it is. I will probably never write anything again, or at least not anytime soon.
Thanks for reading. I appreciate the comments.
Completed (01 APR 2015)