Finding What's Important
Chapter 8 : Ultimate Sacrifice

This is NOT good… Seiji thought to himself, pain spreading everywhere throughout his body.

"S… Seiji!" Sora cried out faintly, but fell silent again, suddenly weaker. Tears quietly fell from her eyes, staining her sickly-pale face. Her eyelids drooped, and, with growing dread, he knew that Sora was dying.

He had to save her, or else all of Victoria Island, and perhaps the rest of the continents across the Maple world would be doomed.

'My child…' Seiji started, eyes growing wide. What was that voice? Could it be…?

'Yes, my child… It is I, Lady Arianna.' A beautiful purple glow bathed his wound, cleansing it of the spreading darkness.

Rizhet's eyes widened in shock, as slowly, gradually, Lady Arianna herself began to fade into view, standing next to Seiji, an intricately carved staff made of ivory and encrusted with violet jewels in her hand, dressed in a smooth, silky black robe.

"You will not harm this illumancer," she said harshly, raising her staff in a defensive pose. It took a moment for Rizhet to gather his senses, but when he did, he laughed cruelly.

"Oh, really, dearest. I killed you before, and I can kill you again." Rizhet hissed, putting venomous emphasis on "dearest".

"Not if I can help it," Lady Arianna retorted, suddenly gathering a ball of amethyst-colored energy into her hand, and rushing forward.

Rizhet had not been expecting this attack, and no doubt he was surprised when Lady Arianna rammed the energy orb into his chest, sending him flying backwards into a wall, sending dust flying everywhere. Seiji watched in amazement, as Lady Arianna had just demonstrated her awesome power. But as the dust cleared, Rizhet had gotten himself out of the crater in the wall, and was walking unsteadily towards Sora, blood trickling down from the edge of his mouth. Seiji was alarmed. What was he doing? Seiji and Lady Arianna rushed towards Rizhet to stop him, but suddenly he felt himself being thrown back as an invisible barrier shimmered to life between them and Rizhet. He pounded against the walls, not caring even when sudden waves of pain shot through his hands.

Lady Arianna pulled him back gently, whispering, "Stop, my child. Let us see what he is doing." Seiji swallowed uncomfortably, but agreed.

Watching with sudden tears brimming in his eyes, he saw Rizhet go up to Sora. The rest made his brain scream in fury and pain.

Rizhet had suddenly grown two sharp fangs where there were once two normal incisors. He suddenly pulled the already-weakened Sora off of the strange star, and, wrapping his arms around her fragile body, he sank his fangs into her neck, drawing blood out of her. Her eyes widened for a brief second, before suddenly they closed shut. Slowly but surely, her breathing was becoming shallower as more blood was taken from her. And yet, just as she was on the brink of death, Rizhet let go of her, laying her on the ground as he wiped blood from his mouth. He turned to Seiji and Lady Arianna again, eyes opalescent with blood. Sora's blood. The blood had renewed his energy, and, with growing dread, Seiji realized that Demtatrin Rizhet was a vampire.

"I told you," he snarled, "that the necromancer is mine. And she will be, forever." With those words, he used one of his sharp fangs to slit open one of his wrists, and held it calmly over Sora's mouth. Small drops of blood beaded from the wound, and condensed at the middle, where, once it was heavy enough, would drop into Sora's mouth. Seiji watched in horror as one drop of blood fell… two drops of blood… three, four…

SHRIIIIIIEEEEK!
Sora's eyes snapped open, glowing an unearthly, demonic red. Fangs sprouted from where her incisors were, and she bared her new, knife-sharp teeth at Rizhet himself. He pulled back his arm and his slit on his wrist healed in an instant. Sudden, sharp claws grew from her fingers, and, turning to Seiji and Lady Arianna, launched herself at Lady Arianna, tackling her to the floor.

"Sora!" she exclaimed, trying to push her off, yet to no avail. Sora slashed at Lady Arianna, because in her sudden rage of blood-lust, she could not recognize who she was. Muttering an incantation, Lady Arianna teleported herself away from Sora, and left her on the floor, squirming, trying to figure out where she had gone. Turning to Seiji, she sent him a telepathic message.

'My child… I am sorry to say that Rizhet has taken control of Sora now… The only way to help her now… is to kill her.' The words echoed in Seiji's head, ringing in his mind.

Kill… her? For some reason, the words just didn't make sense in his head. I can't kill her… I won't kill her.

'Would you rather sacrifice yourself then? Remember, child, that if you die, she will die as well. There is no other solution.' An idea sparked into Seiji's mind.

That's it! Lady Arianna shot a quizzical look at him, but he did not have time to answer, as he clasped his hands together and slowly brought them apart again, a sudden shaft of light spreading through the gap from his hands.

"I hereby bring an item to this world, an item made from lights of pure, to be held by hands, and I send forth this arrow!" Seiji recited the words aloud in a strong, firm voice; they were the exact words spoken by him to summon the arrow of light while at his house with Sora.

The shaft of light elongated, forming a sharp, golden tip while the other end was laced with silver feathers.

I'm no archer… but I can do this. Holding his hand out, he summoned forth a bow of light, twanging the gold string lightly with his finger. Setting the arrow to the bow, he aimed it at Rizhet himself, and fired.

The arrow sailed through the air in a straight, deadly line towards where Rizhet's heart would be, yet, before the arrow could reach even a hair's width towards Rizhet, Sora had suddenly come into the picture, deflecting the arrow with an abrupt spin of her Shadow Crest scythe. Seiji noticed that she had a sudden change of clothing; ebony black armor covered her chest and arms, and her legs and feet. Dark silver patterns were engraved into her armor.

"You will not harm the master," she said emotionlessly. Falling into a fighting stance, she prepared to defend her so-called 'master' at the price of her own life. Seiji felt something jab sharply at his heartstrings. How could he fight her?

Nevertheless, he brought forth his true weapon, trading out the bow for the Aurora Blade. Preparing himself, he had no choice but to fight Sora.

Rizhet, you demon… the reckoning for this WILL come. Seiji gritted his teeth as Sora rushed at him, twirling her scythe and sending a blast of dark energy towards him. Launching himself into the air, he avoided the blast, his wings lifting him high into the air. There was a sudden "shriiiiip" sound, as Sora's own demon wings tore out from her back, and she took after him in the air.

With a sudden start, Seiji realized that Lady Arianna was no longer with him, and he would have to fight this battle alone. Desperately, he reached out towards her with telepathic communication.

Lady Arianna, you've got to help me! Rizhet's got Sora under his spell, and - The communication stopped short, as Sora rammed full-force into him, sending him crashing down to the ground in a sudden cloud of dust. Coughing slightly, he stood up again, with Sora standing a couple feet away from him, surprisingly unharmed. There was a faint glaze over her eyes, which had now, for some reason, turned permanently crimson red.

To Seiji's relief, Lady Arianna's voice began ringing through his head.

'I am sorry to have abandoned you, my child, but I had to get something that may help you during your battle.' Lady Arianna's form materialized right next to Seiji, and in her hand she held a heavy, black book, with strange, rusted chains wrapped around it. In the very middle of the book was a skull head, horns placed at the top of its head. It grimaced endlessly at him, sending shivers down his spine.

'If you can get close enough to Rizhet to use a binding spell, you can seal him into this book for the rest of eternity… but, like anything else… there is a price. The price of your life.' … rest of eternity…

"… I'll do it." he said to himself quietly. I'll do it…

He took the book from Lady Arianna, and she nodded, stepping back. It was hard to maneuver a sword with a book in your hand; however he could still manage it. Sora growled at him, sensing an aura to the book that was harmful to her 'master'.

'Get the book,' Rizhet whispered into her head. 'Get the book, and kill the illumancer…' Sora gave a slow nod. Kill… she liked to kill.

Tearing towards Seiji at top-speed, she prepared her scythe to cleave off his head in a single swoop. But Seiji was ready for the assault. Holding out one hand towards her, he quickly chanted an incantation.

"I call forth the boundaries of light to create an unbreakable barrier!" A large, cylinder of light suddenly locked itself into place around Sora. She snarled, slamming herself into the walls, but to no avail. Like it said in the incantation, this barrier was unbreakable, reinforced by the spirits of light.

Rizhet turned towards Seiji, a sharp, dark glint in his eye. Holding out his hand, the Shadow Abyss appeared in it, and he put himself in a fighting stance.

"I will not go down without a fight, illumancer," he hissed, brandishing the blade at Seiji. Seiji grinned.

"So be it." With that, he launched himself at Rizhet, aiming a kick at his chest.

Diving out of the way, Rizhet swung at Seiji with his sword, blood erupting from the wound where it bit into his shoulder. Biting his lip to keep from yelling out in pain, Seiji brought his Aurora Blade down on Rizhet's head, only to have it blocked by a rising of the Shadow Abyss. While the two were locked like that, glaring into each other's eyes, Seiji brought his leg up and kicked Rizhet hard in the stomach, knocking the air out of him. Rizhet, who had now fallen out of the two swords' lock, collapsed onto his back. Sora, on the other hand, was suddenly now quiet. Seiji peered over his shoulder a brief second to see what she was doing.

And yet… she was just standing there. There was a dark glaze over her eyes, and she did not move at all. This slightly unnerved Seiji… what had happened to her? The answer came with an ear-splitting 'CRASH'.

The barrier of reflected light that was once around Sora now lay at her feet like broken glass. She had been concentrating hard… or had she?

"Seiji," she whispered, falling to her knees. Her eyes began to well up with liquid, but it was not tears. No, it was blood. Scarlet drops of blood fell from her eyes, staining where they landed with a cloud of red. Seiji was alarmed. What was happening to Sora?

"I… I'm… s-sorry…" she murmured, before falling to the ground with a soft 'thump'.

Seiji's thoughts, however, were suddenly interrupted by a sharp punch to the face. He fell over, wincing. Standing over him with a menacing aura to him was Rizhet, with the Shadow Abyss positioned over Seiji's head, ready to come crashing down to end his life.

"I will end this, once and for all," Rizhet hissed, and he swung it down.

"No!" There was a far cry from the end of the room. Lady Arianna! She flew at Rizhet with blinding speed, and tackled him to the floor, knocking him down.

"What?!" Rizhet's eyes flashed in anger, and he swatted Lady Arianna away with a powerful sweep of his hand. Lady Arianna slid to a stop near the end of the cavern. She did not get up, but it was evident she was still alive.

Rizhet turned to Seiji.

"This means nothing!" he growled, and grabbed the Shadow Abyss again. Seiji, though, by this time, had gotten to his feet, and prepared a spell to immobilize Rizhet.

"I call forth the ancestors of illumancy to lock this shadow in place," he called. Tendrils of light erupted from the palm of his hand, and, with a slight "slither" sound, constricted themselves around Rizhet's body, pinning his limbs together so he could not move.

"No… no, no, NO, NO, NO!" Rizhet fought at his bonds, trying to rip free from the crushing light. Seiji grinned tiredly. It was time to end this, once and for all… But wait. What of Sora? Seiji turned around, and saw that Sora was still upon the floor. Rushing over to her, he turned her over and softly brushed the hair out of her eyes.

"Sora…" he murmured, hugging her close to his body. "Please, wake up…" Sora's eyes fluttered open gently, and she had a faint look to her eyes.

"Seiji… gomen… nasai…" she said softly. He smiled at her; there wasn't much of a need to apologize.

"Can you stand up? I need your help…" he said. Sora nodded sleepily. She unsteadily got up, using Seiji as a support. Seeing the book in his hand, a determined look sparked over her eyes, and she prepared to sacrifice her one and only life to seal the one thing that had caused so much pain to her.

"… Let's do this." she said. I won't regret this…

"To seal this demon, let it be seen, to seal all the pain, for all those who have felt this pain, let it be banished, at the cost of two lives, let it be sealed!" Seiji felt an odd sense of serenity and peace wash over him as a bright, white light exploded from the book and showered over the three. A tendril of white light burst from the pages of the book and wrapped itself tightly around Rizhet's body.

"NOOO!" Slowly, it began to drag Rizhet down into the depths of the book. More showers of white light shone forth from the book, and amidst all of this, Seiji and Sora felt… at peace. Turning to each other, they both felt their life energy being sapped away in order to power the book. But in the end, it would all be worth it.

"Seiji…" Sora breathed, giving him a soft, tired smile. "I love you." And with those last words, before the last of their time, Sora kissed him in their moment of death, their first and last kiss to ever be.

"I'll see you… in Heaven…" Seiji whispered, and with that, the book snapped shut. It had drained all of their energy in order to draw Rizhet in. Seiji let the book fall from his grip with a gentle 'clang' upon the floor. And so they died, gently falling down from their standing point, forever to sleep again, forever their eyes closed.

All, forevermore.

You won't hear the last of me, however. And the skull upon the book glowed red.

D: Story is over now. There will be an epilogue, however. xD Super big thanks to my reviewers, mainly Kal Ancalas. :P Though thankies for everyone who reviewed still. x3