This is the longest of them all, and technically is only a paragraph or so from being done.
Anyone who read Nothing But Trouble will recall me talking early on about a companion oneshot that helped to explain some of Lady's dreams of Sparda. Well, this is it.
Trouble was some discrepancies in the timeline, characters and key points made me drop it. Despite the issues I have with the technical side of it I still love this oneshot because this is the first and only time I've done anything with Sparda or Kalina Anne in it.
So despite being flawed I decided to share it with you guys anyway. Hopefully I did Sparda, Kalina and Lady some justice. The near ending is shaky at best so be prepared to understand this is raw and extremely flawed...lol Even I know that. :D
I'm bending the rules a bit for this story. I'm saying Sparda knew Arkham before he went completely insane. The only evidence I have of this is that Arkham knew how to unlock Sparda's powers in DMC3. It can be explained other ways, but it works for this story if we go that route. I'm also saying that Sparda had NOT been contained until after the death of Eva. He had been away at the time of her slaying. I think that covers what you need to know to go about with this story.
Enjoy!
Unrequited
Sparda was pacing back and forth in the small room. He felt his stomach tightening the more and more he thought of the day's events. After serious thought he had come to a difficult decision that had to be made.
Eva was gone, and his children along with her. The rage and misery he felt at this news was unlike anything he had ever felt before. Normally a calm person he had frightened the few people who knew him with his rage and had spiraled out of control in his search for a way to get his revenge. He knew who had done it, but the problem was that he had confined him to hell himself. He could almost hear Mundus laughing at him, knowing Sparda could do nothing because he had chosen to remain on earth for the love of Eva. He wouldn't die like humans would and so he had a bleak and overly long lifetime to look forward to.
"Sparda please."
He turned to stare at the woman standing still at the other end of the room. Two women fussed about helping Kalina to button and straighten out the white ceremonial robe she was getting into. She looked at him with her grey eyes, a partial smile on her face. He stopped pacing and stood straight, but he couldn't look at her. Not with what she was planning to do...for him.
He had been uncaringly throwing his health away after his family was gone. He didn't want to do anything but torment himself as punishment for leaving them alone. Everyone who knew him had slowly let him go, unable to quell his anger or anguish. The night he met Kalina though had somehow changed his life.
He had been sitting at home as he always did, mulling over books in his obsession to find some way to make Mundus pay. Another book was tossed to the floor angrily as it yielded no useful information, but it grazed a glass and took it down the floor with it. He glared at the shattered pieces for a moment before pushing his chair away and leaning over to pick them up. As his hand closed on a piece someone knocked on the door and startled him. He felt the jagged piece sink deep into his hand and let out a grunt of pain.
He dropped the piece and stood to look at the wound. Nothing that wouldn't heal in time, but then again there was another knock. He glowered towards the door before going to answer it.
Back then Kalina had had short black hair that framed her face. A boyish bob that immediately gave you the idea of the spunk lying beneath the priestess exterior. She had smiled at him confidently with those dancing gray eyes before introducing herself.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, but I'm going about the neighborhood and..."
She paused and gazed downwards with widened eyes. He followed her gaze to a small pool of blood forming on the floor below his hand. A steady tapping noise as droplets joined it.
"Are you all right?" She asked, practically forcing entry into his home. He took a step back and eyed her oddly. "My God, you're bleeding!"
She began unwrapping the tie around her dress before pushing it into his other hand for him to use to stem the flow. She then pulled out a cell phone and began to dial before he stopped her by taking the phone away.
"It looks deep, we should call a doctor or something," she said quizzically as she gazed at him. His brows furrowed.
"I'm fine," he said as he handed the phone back to her.
"Don't be stupid, that is going to need stitches."
The corner of his mouth twitched. Did she just call me stupid? She took hold of the hand without permission and began to stare at it before taking the tie still in his other hand and wrapping it around it.
"Lucky for you I came by. I'm an ace at this kind of stuff," she continued rambling as she looked around the place. "If you're going to be stubborn then I can patch you up. Got a needle kit?"
He opened his mouth, but then closed it again. Who the hell is this woman?
"I don't have all day. Ifyou bleed any more you'll pass out, and as muscular as I may look I doubt I can carry you. Tall bastard that you are," she quipped as she tugged on the tie to make it tight. He growled at the pain. "Easy there big boy. You can handle it."
He glowered at her and she only smiled.
"You stay here, I'll be right back,"
He was going to tell her never to come back, but she hurried out the front door before he could even take the breath to say it. He stood still now that he finally had quiet again and considered locking the door. He didn't move though as he looked at the white velvet turning blood red on his hand. Soon the door was opening again, but instead of the woman he saw a little girl.
"What the?" Sparda asked as he stood back to let the two in. The small child had her mother's black hair, much longer, but her eyes were an odd combination with one magenta and a misty teal one. It caught him off guard as he stared at the girl, who clung close to her mother's hip.
"I'm sorry, I didn't want to leave her in the car. This is my daughter Mary. Mary, say hello."
The girl blinked up at him with those unique eyes before turning her face shyly into her mother's waist.
"I'm Kalina by the way," she said hopefully as she watched him.
"Sparda," he said. It pulled a smile from Kalina who moved further in with Mary clinging as closely as possible.
"Well, let's get you looked at then. You can be my assistant Mary," Kalina said as she moved into the house. She asked him where everything was and soon Sparda was left alone with the young girl who watched him unflinchingly. He thought how odd it was that someone he just met would be so trusting as to leave her child with him. It was foolish to just enter anyone's home, let alone leave the child unwatched with a complete stranger.
"Your hair is pretty." Mary said as she chewed on her small fingers shyly. Pretty?! "Did you color it that color?"
"No," he answered quickly. He tried not to look at her because her wide eyes were adorable and he didn't want to lose the edge on his anger.
"Are you really really old?" She continued. He knew where she got her rambling from.
"Very."
"My daddy is old too, but he doesn't have white hair. You don't look older than him."
He huffed.
"It's just how my hair is. Like my father before me. It's genetics."
"Jen-et-ics?" She asked pronouncing the word slowly.
"Like your eyes."
At this she looked up at him, and then quickly away. Apparently uncomfortable with them.
"My daddy's eyes," she answered quietly, turning her head slightly to rub her cheek against her shoulder. She moved from the area she had been glued to and came to look around the room. He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She was looking at the books stacked on the table, lifting the hard bound covers to peak at the contents. Eventually she hoisted herself up onto the chair and knelt on it to lean over the desk.
"Mary! You get down from there right now!" Kalina said as she re-entered the room and saw her daughter picking through the books. Mary looked timid and she crawled down. "Come help me, OK?"
Kalina set a pot of warm water on the floor along with some others choice tools for patching him up. She sat on her knees on the floor next to the couch and put her hand out.
"You're not the fainting type are you?" She asked with the ghost of a mock smile. He cocked an eyebrow at her in return and it only fueled the smile into showing itself. Mary came and joined her mother as the two worked together.
"Should she really be seeing this?" Sparda finally asked. It was Mary who looked at him as if she'd been insulted.
"I help mom all the time!" She said, but her voice faltered as Kalina looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "I mean, I help her fix other people." Kalina leaned over and kissed her daughter quickly on the cheek.
"I tend to help out in the nursing field whenever I can take time away. Mary here has been healing her stuffed toys since she was three." Kalina added with a smirk.
Sparda highly doubted that healing teddy bears would qualify one so young to see blood and gore. If she had been his child... He felt his chest constrict at this and he turned his face away. It always crept up on him, he couldn't escape it.
"What's wrong?" Mary asked as she crawled onto the couch beside him. The hyper aware child watched him closely with her small hands sitting in her lap. He watched her just as closely, because she was so small that he couldn't help but see his sons in her face. Dante and Vergil had been so tiny when they were born that it had left him breathless just how fragile they were. How precious...
Sparda reached a hand out slowly and took Mary's determined little face in his one good hand. He missed his family, and with Kalina at his feet and Mary next to him he was oddly calm. As if it were Eva on the floor and Dante coming to tell him that Vergil wasn't sharing. He chuckled as he looked at the small girl and it drew a small smile and a giggle from her. He felt his heart melting at the sight of that precocious smile and to hear children's laughter again.
"All done!" Kalina announced, and he turned to see her smiling warmly at him. No doubt seeing the small bond between himself and her daughter. She had that motherly look about her that softened her features.
"Thank you," Sparda said as he lifted his hand to inspect her work, the woman not even knowing it had healed over beneath the bandage already.
"My pleasure. Not everyday I get to see someone go from listless to alive and kicking in three seconds flat." Kalina raised her hand and Mary gave her a high five. "Good job Mary." Mary grinned and he noticed with a small laugh she was missing her two front teeth.
He walked them back to the door almost reluctantly. It was the first time in a long time he had felt something other than anger and sadness. Laughter and joy could be addictive to his kind, considering most devil's had nothing to be happy or laugh about. They were strangers though and he wasn't going to force them to stay.
"Here I came to sell you something and you make me forget all about it. I must be losing my touch," Kalina sighed as she opened the door. Mary was looking up at Sparda fondly and began pulling at her mother's dress. Kalina bent over to allow the little girl to whisper something in her ear.
"Aha... Well, it appears your presence has been requested. We insist you come over for dinner." Kalina said as she stood again. Mary was looking at him hopefully, but he didn't feel comfortable with the idea.
"Please?" Mary asked. Her little eyes of different colors staring up at him pleadingly.
"I won't take no for an answer. Consider it payment for making me lose a sale." Kalina wrote down their address. "We eat at six, and this time you can meet my husband."
Finally he sighed and nodded in response. Mary jumped and clapped her hands together before taking off out of the doorway. Kalina looked at him one more time before turning to go.
----------
It turned out to be fortunate he came to know Kalina, because it was her husband Arkham who would give him the answers he finally sought. Their initial meeting had been interesting as the other man spoke of the traveling he did. Kalina worked to keep them financially stable while he furthered his knowledge for what he called the greater good of man kind.
Over the next few months his bond with Mary and Kalina began to grow and he found purpose in looking out for their best interests. He was protective of them as he could not be for his own family and with Arkham almost always gone someone needed to look out for them.
The more time he spent with Kalina though, the more he began to notice she was an entirely different person when her husband was around. Reserved, careful, and far too quiet to be normal. Mary too seemed to lose her rambunctious luster whenever he was around, and it disheartened him to see it.
"Daddy is mean sometimes." Mary said quietly as the two sat together at her house. Kalina was making dinner and so Mary had asked him to come see her knew doll Arkham had brought home from his latest trip.
"Mean? How?" Sparda asked.
"Not supposed to tell."
He pulled the little girl up to sit on his lap and pushed the hair from her face.
"You can tell me anything Mary, you know that right?" He asked in his softest voice.
"He's a good daddy, but sometimes he's not my daddy. Ya know? Today he's my daddy, but when he gets mad he's not him anymore. He scares me sometimes."
"Mary, it's time for dinner." Arkham suddenly said opening the door. Her eyes flew to him and then back to stare at the ground.
As time went on Sparda could never find a reason to beat Arkham to a bloody pulp, but the young girl's words haunted him. He didn't like that people like Arkham were given good families and could possibly be mistreating them. If Mary or Kalina had said one word to him he would've taken them away and never looked back. However both remained loyal to Arkham and he could never get Mary to talk about it again.
In the mean time Arkham had said he would see what he could find out. In a drunken stupor he had actually told Arkham about his plans for revenge. Neither Kalina nor Mary knew about Eva or his boys and that was how he wanted it. The memories of them were his alone, and he did not want to share them with anyone. He had told her though who he was, and more so what he was. That was something he felt he could not keep from her considering she trusted him with Mary. Luckily she seemed to already know such things existed because of Arkham's research, and didn't shun him because of it.
He had told Arkham though about Eva and since the man had been coming to him with everything he could find that could send him to where Mundus was.
Now though he had found just the thing, but it was at a heavy price. Kalina was staring at him since he stopped pacing, and he wished she would stop looking so calm.
"I can't let you do this," he said in a hushed voice.
"Don't make this difficult Sparda" Kalina said as she came to stand before him. Her once short bob a long flow of black hair cascading over her shoulders. She lifted a hand to press to his cheek with a smile.
"This is insane! What about Mary?"
"Could you kill someone else in my place? Some poor soul who struggles and pleads for their life?"
Sparda turned his face from her. The truth was he vowed never to harm a human, regardless of who they were. Yet Kalina had volunteered for this.
She had overheard a conversation between Arkham and him. Arkham had finally found a method, but Sparda shut it down quickly when he heard a human sacrifice had to be made.
"There has to be another way." Sparda had told Arkham.
"I don't know if there is, and if there is it's not in this world." Arkham replied gazing at him over his fingertips as he pressed them together.
"You'll find another way Arkham, there is no choice about it."
The two were bull headed in their ways and it had clashed enough times for Sparda to come to hate the man, aside from other more obvious reasons. Arkham had little regard for life of those around him unless it somehow helped to advance him self. This idea though was low even for Arkham.
Kalina had caught up with him as he walked back home one night, her small feet sounding on the pavement behind him.
"What are you doing? Go back inside before you catch a cold," he told her with a laugh. She rooted herself in front of him.
"I heard you and Arkham talking," she said. His eyes narrowed as he watched her. "Is it true? You once had a wife and children?"
"Once."
"What happened to them?"
He ground his teeth together and turned to look down the street.
"I really don't want to talk about that."
She slugged him in the arm, and he turned to look wide eyed at her.
"You've known us for a year and we've never kept secrets from you! You never share anything with us!"
"Don't talk to me about secrets," he growled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She asked crossing her arms. He reached out and pulled her arm free, rolling the sleeve back to show one of several bruises. "Stop!"
"Let me guess, you fell? Or smacked into a door, or one of the other million reasons you've given me over the last year!"
She pulled away from him with shame and anger apparent in her eyes and walked off without another word towards her house. The same house where that bastard would be waiting for her. Sparda punched his fist hard into the brick of the wall next to him. Why?
He turned and stalked off to his own place. He hadn't been home for 15 minutes when there was a small tapping on his door. He opened it and there stood Kalina with Mary asleep on her shoulder.
"Can I come in?" She asked in a small voice. He stood aside and let her in.
Sparda offered his large bed to set Mary in, and he stood in the doorway watching Kalina lay her down, cover her up and kiss her goodnight. She didn't move after though, only continued to look at Mary.
"What was your wife like?" Kalina suddenly asked, still looking at her daughter.
"She... ," he began, but paused. He had never had to describe Eva before to anyone. "She was a mystery I'm still trying to unravel."
She finally looked towards him and he gestured for her to come with him. She followed him to the living room where he pulled a silver framed photo out from a drawer and handed it to her.
"The truth is Eva and I started off not liking one another if you can believe that. She was every bit as hard headed as I was, and so we clashed. She told me later on that her initial opinion of me was an arrogant jerk that looked down on her. I admit when I first came to this world that I did. Despite my instincts to protect, I still needed to shed my superiority complex that came with my previous station."
"What changed?" Kalina asked. He came to sit next to her on the couch and watched the fire flicker in the grate.
"She taught me humility, the first person to put me in my place and unabashedly call me on my failings. On the side she devoted a lot of time to the less fortunate, especially children. The pride in me couldn't help but want to show her different, because I hated being wrong about anything. Soon I was spending more time with her, working along side as she helped people through time of crisis and I began to see a different side of her. In a way our interaction changed one another. I learned humility, and she learned that everyone, even devils, can change." He replied as he took the picture from her to stare at Eva. Longing to even hear her yell at him.
"When did you realized you loved her?" Kalina was grinning, her cheeks rosy as she tried to pick his brain. He touched the image and smirked.
"When I couldn't stop going to see her, which ended up being the second time I saw her. I normally don't interact with others outside of my usual circle, but somehow she managed to wedge herself in very shortly after we met. I explained it away as competitiveness in the beginning. Wanting to dominate over her, but when I finally realized there was more there I began to know better."
"I'm sorry Sparda," she said softly as she put her hand on his wrist.
He took a deep breath and changed the topic, not wanting to talk about their passing just yet.
"Tell me about Arkham," he said as he looked her square in the eyes.
"He was a friend of my father's. They use to work together concocting and inventing. Arkham was a brilliant man, and I practically grew up with him. If you haven't noticed there is an age difference between us." She blushed slightly. "I couldn't help but admire him. He would go away for extended periods of times, but always he'd come back with some knew toy for me. Eventually as I grew older it was dresses, and then jewelry. The stories he came back with though were worth far more than any materialistic thing. I missed him when he went away, and by the time I was 16 I was in love with him. He waited though until I was 18 before telling me the feelings I had were mutual. I was so excited."
"In the beginning everything was great. We traveled together all over the world and I became a part of his life. When I became pregnant though he was very protective of me and insisted I stay home for the health of our child. I missed him, but I also knew he was looking out for us by leaving me behind. However, when he missed Mary's birth I began to feel as if something had changed. Since he spends more and more time away. Then...," she paused as she shuffled her hands together.
"He came back from a trip to Europe with a blemish on his face. He told me it was a scar and nothing to worry about, but it doesn't look like a scar. It moved sometimes and the more I pushed him to see a doctor the angrier he became. One day though it disappeared. He said he finally went to the doctor, but I know better. Some days it reappears and with it comes violent mood swings."
"Does he hurt you?" Sparda asked.
"It isn't him... It's like he's a completely different person."
"Why don't you leave him? I don't understand how you of all people can take this."
"Aha, well. Consider it a learned behavior." Kalina replied bitterly. "Sometimes you just have to survive. He's never hurt Mary, and I don't have the means to uproot her and walk away. If I did though... I dread the backlash from Arkham."
"That's easy, I'll kill him," Sparda said. She laughed a bit and slugged his arm.
"Don't you dare!"
"You are so much stronger than this! Stand up for yourself and your daughter. You can come and stay with me and he won't dare come after you."
Kalina watched him with a sad smile as she raised a hand to touch his cheek.
"To think the scary guy I met only a year ago turned into such a softy," she laughed as she came to hug him. "If you love us Sparda, you will let me work this out on my own."
He wrapped his arms around her, collecting her into his embrace. He couldn't stand her stubbornness, especially when it put both her and Mary's life in risk.
"If you love yourself then you'll leave him and take Mary far from his reach," he replied as he held her back by the shoulders.
"Thank you for caring," she said before planting a very small kiss on his lips. Both were still as they looked at one another and soon Kalina leaned in and kissed him again. Sparda was hesitant but she pulled herself against him and wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss. For all his inner turmoil the kiss felt good after so many years of repression. He leaned himself back, taking her with him. He couldn't help but marvel at the feeling of being so close to someone again. To feel the weight of her pressing down onto him filled something he had been missing for so long. Without Eva he had felt incomplete, and as the two tangled together to mold perfectly it seemed to fill the void.
In the heat of the moment he lost control of himself as he hungrily kissed her back, barely allowing breath to escape her mouth. He was drowning in her as he turned her over to take control. Kalina arched her back beneath him and whispered his name. He didn't know why, but Eva popped into his head and he quickly pulled from her.
"I'm sorry, I can't," he said not able to look at her. He sat up leaving her laying breathless on the couch. "You can sleep in with Mary, I'll take the couch."
"O-OK," she said too quickly, guilt and shame very much apparent in her voice as she sat up and hurried to leave the room.
Sparda sat on the couch with his head in his hands, confused as he had ever been. He loved Kalina in his own way, but no one could ever replace Eva for him. Yet he had reacted to her touch just as sure as if it had been Eva in his arms. He waited a long while until the entire house was quiet before sneaking his way to look in on the two girls.
Mary was laying undisturbed in her mother's arms, both facing one another. Sparda noted with a pain in his heart that Kalina had faded tear stains on her cheeks. She was married, and he would never forget about Eva as long as he lived. Maybe he was over thinking the kiss. She had been vulnerable and possibly in the heat of the moment had taken it too far. He touched his lips with his fingers and felt even worse. It hadn't felt like a random kiss, but a silent plea. Love me...
"I'm sorry," Sparda whispered into the dark room before turning to close the door, taking with him the light and leaving the two in darkness.
----------
"I can't let you do this," he said in a hushed voice.
"Don't make this difficult Sparda" Kalina said as she came to stand before him. Her once short bob a long flow of black hair cascading over her shoulders. She lifted a hand to press to his cheek with a smile.
"This is insane! What about Mary?"
"Could you kill someone else in my place? Some poor soul who struggles and pleads for their life?"
Sparda turned his face from her. The truth was he vowed never to harm a human, regardless of who they were. Yet Kalina had volunteered for this.
"You have given me so much. Let me do this for you. Mary understands the choice I've made."
"Understands?! She's just a child!"
"It's the only way..."
"Bullshit!" Sparda yelled angrily. He recoiled from her hand and went to stand by the door. The two ladies who had been helping her get ready skirted out of the room with nervous looks towards him.
"How can you do this so calmly! They're going to kill you! You would lay this burden on my shoulders? On Mary's?" He turned to face her with anger and disappointment in his eyes. Her behavior shocked him. The loving mother and friend throwing her life away. "If you gave a damn about either of us you would step down now."
"I'm doing this for both of you!" Kalina blurted out in frustration. She then quickly covered her mouth and turned from him.
"What are you talking about?" Sparda asked. When she didn't respond he forced her to turn and face him, and for the first time since this whole mess had started he saw the fear in her eyes.
"I want you to be happy, and I want Mary to finally be free. Don't you understand that you will finally have your revenge and he will let Mary go if I do this?"
"I don't understand..."
"Remember when I told you that he had never hurt Mary before? That has changed since... I could take the beatings if it meant she was safe, but when I tried to leave him he went crazy. I knew it was only the beginning and so I made a deal with him. He had asked me to be the sacrifice..."
"What?!" Sparda roared incredulously. Hadn't he told Arkham to find an alternative way of doing this?
"I told him I would, but only if he lets Mary go. I have family left who have come to take her away tonight. Don't you see? I can finally save her like I failed to protect her from him, and in doing so I can give you exactly what it is you need to find peace. I'm tired Sparda, of the beatings and of going through life feeling this way. I want more for Mary then I can give her."
Tears began to fall from her eyes. She had a defeated, tired look and it was the first time he had ever seen the woman cry before.
"We can find another way," Sparda offered softly.
"Can you ever love me Sparda?" Kalina asked. He felt a lump in his throat as he only looked at her. "You can't save us from this fate, and to take more of your kindness knowing it can never be anything more will drive a wedge between us. Where will we be then, and what will happen to Mary when you and I can no longer look at each other?" She reached both hands up to hold his face between them. "I want to remember you this way, and this feeling. I don't ever want to feel bitterness when I look at you and know you won't be mine. I have to let you go, and you should do the same."
He searched for an answer. He couldn't lie and say he loved her when his heart belonged with Eva, but this was insane!
"Let me go Sparda, please." Kalina said in a slight whisper. He tilted his head forward to touch his forehead against hers. She let out a small sob. "Let me go," she repeated.
"I can't," he replied back.
"You will," she said.
He shook his head, unwilling to accept this. She kissed his forehead.
At that moment there was a knock at the door and someone called from outside.
"Kalina, we're ready."
"I'm coming," she called out. She pulled from Sparda and began to gain her composure as she went to the door. Sparda grabbed hold of her and pulled her into a hug. "Y-you're not helping you idiot," Kalina laughed into his shoulder as fresh tears started.
For a long time the two stood quietly holding one another. He was too stubborn to let her go, and she was savoring the closeness while she could have it. The truth was that she had come to love the man without meaning to. Torn between her duty as a mother and wife every time he smiled at her. Even though he seemed a different man now, there was still a part of his heart she could not touch and it was only after hearing about his wife that she began to understand why.
So she had always masked her need with wit and smiles whenever he was around. She had been determined to keep it all under wraps, but her strength had wavered that night unexpectedly and she had to deal with the shame of his rejection since. It was eating away at her internally every time he smiled at her now, and it was painful because she had cherished it so much previous.
But now she could do something for him, save her daughter and end her suffering in a single moment. Her love had always proved her greatest flaw. With Arkham, and now with Sparda and yet standing in his arms she felt the kind of peace she hadn't felt since she was a child. He would set her free...
----------
Sparda stood in the middle of the candle lit room, his hand slightly shaking as he faced Arkham who was checking every minute detail in his book. He wanted to throttle him, half wishing the man were a priestess himself so he could have due reason to kill him on the spot. He had never loathed another man as much as he did this one. He should've taken Mary and Kalina away from him a long time ago. Even if Kalina had fought tooth and nail about it, even if she hated him. At least she would've been saved.
Perhaps it wasn't too late....
His shaken hand was suddenly filled and he turned to see Kalina watching him with scrutinizing eyes. As if she could read his thoughts.
"Let's begin." Arkham suddenly said, making the two look from one another. He tightened his grip on her hand though. "Kalina, come to me please." Arkham put a pale hand out to her and she began to move forward until Sparda stopped her by not letting her hand go. She turned to look at him as he moved forward to place her behind his tall frame.
"No Arkham, if anyone is going to do this it's going to be me." Sparda said giving the man an ice cold glare. He could see Arkham's teeth clench, but not much else of a reaction showed. Sparda turned towards Kalina who was looking at him questioningly.
"If you want out of this, now would be the time to speak," he said as he leaned over to whisper in her ear. Rather than answer she took his hand again and walked him towards the center.
He had hoped she would change her mind, but as always she was too stubborn to yield even to a devil like him. The priestess was needed because he required a guide to where he was going, a human soul of a priestess to light his way to an otherwise dark world. Her blood though would seal the gate behind them, trapping him and his powers for all eternity.
The two knelt before one another and Sparda watched with a heavy heart as Kalina closed her eyes peacefully when Arkham began to chant. Sparda held the blade in his trembling hand as a barrier of light surrounded them. No one could come in or leave until the gate had the blood it desired. It was the point of no return.
"Kalina." Sparda whispered towards her. Gray peeked through her half shut eyes.
"It's OK. I'm OK," she whispered back to him.
He lowered the knife to his forearm and flinched as he opened his own flesh and let his blood flow. The blade would make it so that he would not heal over quickly. He didn't even need to die for this to work. His was the foundation, but hers was the integral part to this plan. He found though that he could not bring himself to do it.
She must've sensed his hesitation, because she opened her eyes to look at him expectantly. His face was lowered to the side, watching as his blood pooled between them staining her beautiful white gown.
Her hand woke him from his reverie and brought his face to look at hers before she leaned close and kissed him softly. He tasted salty tears and it made him pull her from where she sat onto his lap. He pressed her head to his chest, only vaguely aware that Arkham was protesting somewhere beyond the light. He didn't care though. All she had done for him, and was still doing even as she held death in her arms.
He leaned down and kissed her in return more deeply this time, cradling her in his arms as he gave in to this woman who so desired his company and affection. He would give it to her as long as blood still flowed in their veins. He ran his fingers through her hair, pushing it away from her face so he could see it clearly. She was crying, but despite this she looked so at peace.
The knife was clasped against her back in his hand, having almost forgotten it was there. Sparda pulled back from her and searched her face again, unsure if he could really do it.
"I'm ready," she whispered in a breathless voice as she caressed his cheek. He closed his eyes, wishing she wouldn't be so compliant. She leaned in and kissed him, this time pulling her to mold against him by putting her arms around his neck. Almost as if silently saying... I love you... Over and over again he could hear it coming through her.
Sparda pulled the blade back and returned the kiss as he brought it forward again. She cried against his mouth and he could feel the warm blood on his hand. He hugged her tightly, apologizing over and over again.
"Forgive me."
So now it's upto you guys. Which one should I attempt to finish once I'm feeling better? Of course while working on my current stories :D Pressure is on!