Chapter 36

Rising Through the Darkness

"In the end, all are alone in the darkness. That is how you die, afraid and isolated. I am that final shadow, the vacuum that strangles your faltering flame. Yield to me, and be consumed."

"For a dead guy, you talk way too much," responded a sharp voice from a short distance away, the sardonic humor almost managing to conceal the shallow-breathed exhaustion the speaker was feeling. Her expansive chest heaving as she glowered at the wraith, Kurumu flexed her bladed fingers, preparing for the next charge. Beside her, Moka and Mizore fanned to either side, also watching Thanatos intently as they fought to come up with another angle of attack. For all of Kurumu's bravado, the wraith's speech had come as a reprieve, but they all knew it would end all too soon.

And end it did, with unforgiving suddenness, as black tendrils lanced up from the shadowed earth, flailing at the four teens like mammoth whips that scarred the earth where they had been standing. Tsukune and his friends desperately dodged the assault, forced to move constantly lest the shadows' wild flailing catch them and smash them to the ground. Though, so far, their evasive efforts had proven successful, the surroundings were not so fortunate, and all around them trees died in splinter-flinging explosions as the tendrils carelessly brushed against them with stone-shattering force.

It was fortunate that they had taken the fight to the forest, Tsukune mused wryly; otherwise, it would have been the Resting Place coating the ground as wooden shards.

Such might be the only blessing from their choice of a battleground, however. During the several minutes that had passed since their battle with Thanatos had begun, the four teens had found themselves being herded away from the shed towards the nearby treeline, but had accepted the direction, believing that the cover the trees provided would make it easier to avoid the wraith's attacks. They had quickly realized their mistake as the shadows beneath the trees sprung to life, the ropy darkness lashing at them from every angle while the wraith himself drifted after them with grave inevitability, effortlessly fending off their attempts to strike back. Now, with their mobility limited and with attacks coming from all directions, the four were scarcely able to protect themselves, let alone form a united offensive against their unyielding opponent. Still, they knew, they would have to take the attack to him soon, or their exhaustion would leave them at his mercy.

"I thought the bald guy in the suit said that this creep would be weak after we took our energy back from him," Kurumu complained, her wings flapping as she dodged backwards and glanced toward the sky. Before she could act on her half-formed plan, a tendril scythed over her head, smashing through the branches there and dropping them towards the succubus. She managed to avoid the plummeting debris only to find herself in the line of another dark whiplash, which ended prematurely as a frozen shard neatly bisected it.

"If this is weak, I don't want to know what he is like at full power," Mizore grunted, her efforts to save her friend leaving her in danger as two shadowed strands attacked from either side simultaneously. Even as she threw herself out of the way of these, more sprouted from the blanketing darkness of the nearby trees, keeping her from regaining her balance.

Despite the unrelenting assault that left Mizore and Kurumu gasping for breath, Thanatos seemingly paid them no mind, instead drifting silently towards another of their group. Moka was the first to realize his intent, her crimson eyes narrowing as she noticed that he had continued to herd them as he drove them deeper into the forest: his attacks had separated them from each other, and one of them in particular had been isolated-

And then Thanatos stood before Tsukune, the feeble moonlight that penetrated the branches gleaming off of his ivory mask as he stared down at the boy with silent intensity. Realizing the danger he was in, Tsukune turned to gain some distance between himself and the monster, but a iron grip at his ankle drew him up short, and a quick glance down revealed the shadowed band wrapped around the trapped limb. Moka growled as she saw this, turning and sprinting towards her friend, but black tendrils speared out before her, weaving together into a net of shadow barring her from reaching Tsukune's side in time. This did nothing to deter her, and she threw herself at the barricade, determined to push through by will and anger alone.

"You are the only one who can reverse my powers. You will not be allowed to persist." With a smooth motion, the wraith drew forth his blade, holding it ready at his side. "If you are consumed, all shall be put to right."

"Do you think so?" Tsukune asked, staring without fear into the empty eyes of the mask. His lip quirked in a half-smile, and it was that confidence that made the wraith pause for the merest moment. "It is the bonds between us that let me remember them. They care for me as much as I do for them. I know they would remember me, whatever you do."

"Then I shall prove you wrong." Charon dove forward, arcing straight for Tsukune's heart, a silver gleam in the shadows- a gleam that was suddenly darkened, as thin black roots erupted from the ground, wrapping around the blade in a manner reminiscent of Thanatos' own attacks. The wraith strained to push the blade forward, the roots creaking under the stress, but even as they started to give way ice formed around them, concreting their hold on the sword.

Thanatos glanced to the side, watching as Mizore and Kurumu fought to reach their imperiled friend despite the constant attacks threatening them. His mask turned back towards Tsukune as he wrenched at the sword, pulling it violently to the side in an eruption of shattering ice and tearing illusory roots. "They will watch as you cease to be," the wraith swore, his emotionless certainty almost shaking the confident smirk Tsukune wore.

Before Thanatos could act on that promise, however, a series of staccato snaps from behind him heralded his new interruption, one for which the wraith seemed prepared. Flinging a hand towards the sound, he sent a wave of darkness surging at Moka before drawing his blade back once more, unwilling to miss this opportunity to end the boy. As the man-high wall of shadows reached the trees, they surrendered with a cacophony of shattering trunks and branches, the earth trembling as the broken mass fell to earth, doubtlessly burying anyone who had been caught by the attack. Thanatos lunged, but Tsukune twisted to the side, agony racing through him as his leg bent unnaturally. The blade rose into the air as Thanatos reversed his grip, ready to stab earthward and drive the blade through Tsukune. His leg painfully twisted and tightly bound, Tsukune was unable to escape, leaving him only able to stare up at the shining sword… and the figure rising into the moonlight just above it.

"Now, Mizore!" Kurumu shouted, sprinting towards the wraith, hoping to distract him enough to keep him from noticing Moka as she descended, her leg outstretched and aimed for the towering monster's back. As Mizore ran beside her, the two drew on their powers for another attack, anything to keep Thanatos from striking Tsukune before they could reach him. Simultaneously, they thrust their hands forward, sending forth illusory tendrils and frozen shards just as Moka plummeted from the heavens. They were almost-

"Stop."

Tsukune gaped as he was forced to obey the wraith's command. Everything around him was frozen in time; even Moka had paused, mere feet above the wraith, hovering in the air. He glanced into the empty eyes of Thanatos and felt fresh despair. Perhaps their efforts had managed to drain their opponent… but it had not been enough.

Charon descended.

Tsukune gasped as he felt the cold race through his body. It felt as if everything inside of him was being drawn into a pitch-black vacuum, as if his essence was being swallowed by the thirsty blade. It was all he could do to keep himself from instantly succumbing to its call as he tore his eyes away from the ivory mask of Thanatos to gaze at the death's head at the hilt of Charon…

And at the pearlescent blade, buried in the earth just scant inches away from Tsukune's side. He shivered, knowing that the draining sensation he had felt came only from the blade's proximity. If he had not managed to roll away, if it had so much as scratched him…

"Even now, you manage to resist my powers." Thanatos straightened, pulling the sword from the ground. "Now, I understand. I see why Fairy Tail brought me here. Our essences, our souls, are… similar. This is why you were able to free those girls from my grasp, and why you now can squirm out of my control. They realized this, and they hoped you could prove to be my undoing. They shall regret their hubris." Tsukune choked as more shadowy forms oozed up from the earth to wind around his neck and limbs, binding him entirely. "And so shall you." Once more the blade was lifted aloft, almost towards the frozen Moka-

Who, suddenly, was no longer frozen.

Thanatos had moved enough that Moka's kick did not strike where she had originally aimed, but instead her ankle landed squarely across his forearm. The abrupt collision jolted the shadowed monster to the side, jarring Charon free from his grasp. Thanatos recovered quickly, raising a skeletal hand towards Moka before she could continue her assault, but she was not the only one freed from his waning magic. The villain's hulking form jerked as ice lanced into it, and thin black tendrils snaked around his limbs. He freed himself all but instantly with a series of loud snaps, Kurumu's succubus powers still not sufficient to subdue him, but Moka had already seized the opportunity that his momentary hesitation had offered. Her foot caught the hilt of Charon and lifted, flinging the blade into the underbrush a short distance away.

The wraith glanced in its direction before turning his attention back to the silver-haired vampire. Moka offered him a tight, wry smile in response, drawing her leg back once more. "Learn your-"

"ENOUGH." Shadows erupted in a column around Moka before she could complete her attack, swarming her instantly and twisting around her form. A quick gesture condemned Mizore and Kurumu to the same fate, both girls captured all but within reach of the still-bound Tsukune. "I have no more time for your games."

Tsukune watched as the wraith turned towards him, one skeletal hand beckoning. Obliging his unspoken command, the tendrils gripping Tsukune extended, pulling him upright. A moment later, he was held aloft just in front of the skull-faced juggernaut, who seemed content to leave his sword aside for the moment. As Tsukune pulled at his bonds, he noticed that they seemed less responsive, their grip loosening. It was almost enough to give him hope.

"Congratulations. You and your friends have forced me to expend all of my power, something no other opponent has managed in the centuries since my creation." Tsukune's eyes widened as he noticed the trembling in the wraith's emotionless voice, the fact that the words were almost a whisper. Even the darkness cloaking Thanatos seemed to have shrunk, slinking around his form in silent exhaustion. "Even if I manage to destroy you now, they shall soon come for me, to finish what you cannot. Thanks to you, I shall never retrieve my phylactery. I shall never again be complete." As he spoke, Thanatos drifted closer to Tsukune, the bone-mask inches from his face. "They will never return my soul, my essence, to me."

"So I shall have yours, instead."

Tsukune jerked as the wraith's words registered, but it was too late. Already, he was sinking into the darkness of Thanatos' empty eye-sockets, bound by an irrefutable will. The sensation was akin to that which he had felt when Charon had nearly touched his side, but at the same time utterly alien. It was as if he were sinking headlong into those shadows, his body growing numb, his mind becoming foggy. Even despite his slowed thoughts, fear still raced through him as he felt his memories being pried away from him. His life withered as Thanatos fought to supplant him, and he could only watch himself be erased. Even as fleeting fragments of his life- his first day at school, eating dinner with his parents, playing with Kyoko, working on the newspaper- were consumed by the wraith's insatiable hunger, he felt foreign images force their way into his mind. He struggled, fighting to preserve himself; he was Tsukune, Tsukune, Tsu-

He could see a woman, with black wings unfolding gently, beaming down at him. Beside her stood a man with a wrinkled face and an awkward grin, who reached out a wizened hand to rub his head-

He stood before a council, one of the first of its kind. All around him, grouped in grudging clusters, were seated monsters - and humans. Coming together, to discuss peace between their kinds. They were the first, but others would come, and he would stand at their head-

He twisted in his saddle, glancing back at the black lines covering the plains. His army, an invincible force consuming all that stood in their path. Soon, they would arrive at another recalcitrant village. Within a day, it, like so many others, would be erased-

He saw the faces of his 'friends.' The three of them hovered around him like flies, feeding off of his chaos, hastening to his commands, bound to his destiny. They howled in chorus as they descended upon the unworthy, feasting on that which had made them-

He saw the hourglass. It was perfect, a symbol of his majesty. It would offer him a way to preserve his soul for all eternity, safe from any wounds, any harm. He only had to complete the ritual, and he would be-

-nos. He was Khron-

"TSUKUNE!"

The single word, cried out by three voices, brought Tsukune back to himself. His mind burst free of Thanatos' grip, and he pulled away from the wraith, yanking at the ebon cords that bound him. His eyes escaping the gaping holes in Thanatos' mask, Tsukune noticed that the smooth form covering the wraith's face had changed. It had began to reshape itself, no longer a skull, but instead a fleshed-out face, albeit still inhumanely white. A familiar face… his own.

"No!" Tsukune howled, desperately ripping his arm free of the shadow's clutch to lash out against the stolen visage before him. His fist collided with the mask, instantly shattering the nose, sending fatal cracks spreading across its surface. Even as he pulled back his bleeding hand, the wraith recoiled, a shrill shriek erupting from deep within its core as it reached up towards the mask, as if to hold it together. It was too late for that; the pure-white shards tumbled one after the other to the cold earth, vanishing just before they struck the earth.

Tsukune himself found the ground a moment later, the black tentacles that had held him fading into the night. Ignoring the shuddering monster for the moment, he quickly turned to search for his friends. A smile spread across his face as he saw them; they were battered and bruised, but all still alive, a mirrored relief in their eyes as they rushed to his side. Only when they all stood together did they turn their attention back to Thanatos, watching in disquieted fear as the creature thrashed against the earth.

"No…no!... this can't be how… YOU! YOU BELONG TO ME! My soul, my soul… I will destroy you, consume you all!"Gone was the emotionless monotone, replaced by reedy shrieks alternately enraged and anguished. The looming form of Thanatos had collapsed to the ground, but still he flailed, trying to force himself back upright. The shadows that had covered him had grown anemic, now a murky grayness, while instead the emptied hole that had held the mask-

Tsukune jerked. It was so faint as to be almost invisible, but he could make out the suggestion of a face. It was like his, but subtly different; twisted in rage and hatred, its lips moved in time with the wraith's ranting.

"-not over! Never! I am the inevitable, the almighty, the… I…."

"Well, well. Who'd have thought it? He still had the scraps of a soul, all along."

The four teens froze before quickly turning to face the new voice. They soon discovered the man standing beside a nearby tree, a wide smirk on his face as he lowered the lighter away from the burning cigarette between his lips. Their caution was only slightly placated when they noticed the black suit the man wore, cut in an all-too-familiar style, and the sunglasses he bore despite the late hour. One of them, however, soon found another reason to feel relief from the man's presence.

"…Sam?" Tsukune blurted, remembering the man who had saved him outside the restroom at the park, during his date with Mizore. The black-haired man nodded cordially, as if pleased to be recognized.

"Got it in one, kid." He stepped toward them, ignoring the cautious stances two of the girls were taking. Only after a nod of reassurance from Mizore did Moka and Kurumu relax, and even then they both tried to split their attention between the newcomer and the still-writhing Thanatos. "If you haven't guessed already, I'm one of the Headmaster's personal guards. They sent me to clean up the mess when you were done, if you know what I mean."

"Figures," Kurumu snorted.

"Why did you only show up now, then? Why didn't you protect us from this-" Mizore demanded, her eyes gleaming.

"Whoa, whoa, hold the questions," Sam drawled, coming close enough to clap a comradely hand on Tsukune's shoulder. "I'm sure the big man will want to give you his answers himself… what he chooses to tell you, anyways." Sam chuckled at that, shrugging helplessly. "Us guardians, we're just his hounds, doing whatever he orders…"

"Fine, then. Tell us how to destroy that," Moka motioned towards the slumped figure of the wraith, her crimson eyes boring into the guardian.

"If it were that easy, don't you think we'd have done it by now?" Sam groused, shaking his head. "Naw, we're going to take him back to the academy, where we can keep him locked up safe and sound until we can figure out a way to eliminate him utterly."

"The phylactery," Tsukune blurted. "The hourglass. That's the only way to kill him… you have to destroy that."

Sam paused, turning to give Tsukune a long, contemplative glance. "Yeah, that. You're pretty smart, kid."

Tsukune nodded absently, gazing at Thanatos as memories warred in his head: his own, words taken from the books that the Headmaster had sent him, and those that Thanatos had forced upon him during their brief mental conflict. "He needs that more than anything else. If he could retrieve that, then he could be whole again. He could become a complete lich…"

"Which is why we're going to take care of things, real quick." Sam interrupted. He forced a smile onto his face as he jerked his head to the side. "But enough chatting. You all have been through a lot these past few days. I'm sure you're dead on your feet… and you probably have some things to sort out, eh?" He raised a leering eyebrow as he placed himself between the teens and the now-still remains of Thanatos. "Take a break, all of you. Enjoy what time you have left… before the Headmaster gets you back into trouble."

Though none of them felt quite reassured, their wounds and exhaustion were enough to finally force the group to acquiesce to Sam's suggestions. Giving Thanatos final glares or worried glances, the four teens turned to make their way back through the forest.

Their part in this battle was over. For now, they could focus on regaining that which they had nearly lost forever. They could, for just the moment, relax… or so thought all of them but one. As Tsukune trailed behind the three girls, warring emotions ghosted across his face. All that he had experienced over the past days had driven him to a conclusion, the choice that he had been avoiding for… two years, perhaps. Now it was time.

With that in mind, Tsukune marched resolutely towards the Resting Place, knowing that the words he bore could mean the end of everything.

As the four teens disappeared into the forest, Sam stepped closer to the ruined form of Thanatos, his smile growing wicked. Already he could hear the chopping thud of the helicopter's rotor blades; their ride would arrive momentarily, and they would be away long before his former comrades could muster any sort of resistance.

"Looks like you failed, pal. A shame, almost." Sam flicked his spent cigarette into the brush as he stood over the wraith. "Fairy Tale doesn't have much use for failures, you know. I'm sure, when they find out, they'll probably want to go ahead and crush that precious phylactery of yours, just like you were saying." A faint miserable ripple spread across the wraith's coverings, drawing a chuckle from Sam. The mirth didn't reach his golden eyes as he leaned down, grasping the ebon shroud in his fist. He pulled the empty hole that had housed the mask closer to his own face, staring hungrily into the emptiness.

"It's a good thing I don't intend to let that happen, eh?" Sam growled in triumph, lifting the wraith's lifeless shape higher. "You will owe me. I hope you remember that, afterwards."

And with that, Sam started walking, dragging Thanatos with him towards the waiting helicopter. Even though he knew that the guardians would race to reach him, it was too late now. He would be returning to the Academy, where the phylactery awaited.

He had already won.

Author's Note: I honestly do not know how to open this section. Shall I loudly proclaim my return, as preemptive as that might be? Should I instead meekly beg forgiveness for turning weeks into months, leaving a story hanging at the cusp of a final battle for long enough that at least some of my readers may have forgotten me entirely? Or should I hastily offer my reasons, a jumble of words to stave off your disapproving scowls?

Bah. Let such notions stand for themselves; instead, I give you this: I am truly sorry.

As some of you may have guessed, my new job has proven… demanding. I find it hard these days to grasp the hours of silence I need to focus on writing, and am instead inundated with demands for my thoughts. Do not take from that a surrender; instead, it is the hopes of writing that drive me onward to each weekend, as I pray that this may be the week I get to release my long-delayed chapter. Finally, it seems, that day has arrived.

It is with a slightly bitter chuckle that I admit that I am releasing this earlier than I had (recently) planned: originally, much of the next chapter would be included with this one. However, I decided that it would be best to conclude here, at the end of this action, instead of proceeding on to the more… emotional… conflict on the horizon. Next chapter, then, you can look forward to that which I promised you long ago: Tsukune's choice.

My personal jury is still out as to whether or not that will be the final chapter (beyond the epilogue, which will serve, once more, as a plot hook). I may choose to wrap it all up in one… but I doubt it. I would like a little time to return to the other side of this tale, the romantic, heart-warming fluff, before I type out 'The End' for this part of my series. Plus, I need to have a little more blush-inducing (for Tsukune, at least) humor, as well. So… we shall see. Either way, I shall strive to have the next installment out to you as soon as I can… though, by now, I know much better than to offer deadlines.

And, to conclude… thanks, all of you, for reading, and reviewing… and for waiting. I appreciate all of your kind words, and shall endeavor to earn more of them in a more timely matter. Wish me luck, eh?

I have said enough. It is time that I take to my sleep… for now.

~Wynn Pendragon

P.S.: Ah, lest I forget… Merry Christmas, everyone!