Chapter Nineteen: Kagayaku Sora no Shijima ni wa
How can you see through me?
XIX.
Truly this was the hell she had found herself in….
At that single moment….
She thought….
She…
She thought….
She could escape….
Escape from him….
Escape from him…
Marik…
The monster…
The demon…
Born from her nightmares….
And her deepest desires….
Truly he was a demon….
Ad she was his angel….
Contrast….
A remarkable one…
White surrounded….
White surrounded them both….
The Duel Tower…
They were inside the heart….
Where it all began…
Where it all ended….
Where hell rejoiced…
And where heaven wept….
That was where everything had been put to the test…
Everything had been on the line that day.
And nothing was safe.
No one was safe.
They had been ripped apart – in body, mind, sanity, soul…
Everyone.
They had no idea what was going on…
Because by the time they realized – it was already too late.
Too late….
This seeming eternity of….
The Pharaoh's…..
Yami's….
His protection had lulled others into a sense of security and state of mind….
as to think that he….
He would be able to defeat any evil that rose to challenge their time of peace….
And that every time a foe appeared, he would vanquish it….
Of course there was bound to be certain darkness...
That even the Pharaoh couldn't cast out of existence…..
That darkness…
Being called Marik….
The darker half of a tormented soul…
That soul now vanquished….
And erased…
Erased from existence….
He came from the depths of the shadows….
The darkest shadows….
Shadows upon the darkness…
A sheer darkness...
A sheer darkness that had been thought gone….
Gone from the universe for thousands….
Upon thousands of years….
A part of the shadows that had returned from the very depths of Hell…
With the Darkness' arrival…
Upon humanity….
The clash of light and darkness lasted for many an era…
Until the Duel Tower's mark upon the island…
Until the many duels have been won…
One the light's…
And the dark's favor…
Until at last…
The light went out.
Permanently….
The life upon that island…
Faded away forever…
Leaving the universe to sleep and mourn in silence.
All except for one…
One soul…
With one with no soul…
The duels…
Joey….
His friends…
Her friends…
Téa….
Ryou….
Mai…..
Malik…
Yugi….
Ishizu….
The Pharaoh…
Duke….
Tristan….
Mokuba….
Kaiba…
They were all gone.
Everyone…
Gone, gone, gone…..
All gone…
All because of her….
His mouth hovered next to her ear.
"They're gone, Serenity….nothing can change that."
She froze.
The words repeated relentlessly.
Echoing.
Branding itself…
"They're gone, Serenity….nothing can change that."
You only have ME NOW.
They're gone…
Nothing can change that…..
They were all gone…
All of them….
DEAD…..
Her brother Joey…
Téa….
Ryou….
Mai…..
Malik…
Yugi….
Ishizu….
The Pharaoh…
Duke….
Tristan….
Mokuba….
Kaiba…
All gone…
They were all there.
And then there were none.
Tears started to seep out of her eyes unwillingly, the heartache of their loss just too great.
Why did they have to die?
They did nothing wrong; do the innocent go punished when the evil go unscathed?
It wasn't fair….
Why couldn't it have been her?
It was her he wanted….
He should have just taken her and let everyone else go!
At least they would still be alive…
She could have been sacrificed to Ra's fiery wrath…she could have fallen into the pits of Hell and let everyone else alone…
At least they would have been alive…
She would have been a sacrifice…
At least they would have been alive…
Hell…
She was in hell…
For all time now…
The Morningstar…
Exiled…
Banished from Heaven…
A dominion of the pure…
Sent to hell…
Domain of the beasts…
Rebellion…
In hell…
She was in the hell of now…
No past…
No present…
No future…
All is fog…
All is nothing now…
What is left is now empty…
So empty…
So hollow…
Oh how hollow…
Red upon white…
Red consuming white…
She closed her eyes, a warmth surrounding her weak and entire form, the welcoming kind of warmth that enveloped her, wrapping around her securely.
A sun-kissed hand stroked her tear-stained cheek with feigned affection, and trailed down her form, caressing the outlines delicately, as if to sooth her but only to make her squirm even more.
He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to his form, holding her as she collapsed against him. He growled/purred into her ear as a familiarly warm tongue ran along the side of neck.
It was….
It was the Darkness…
The Darkness himself…
The monster…
"No longer…" His voice drifted in and out of her ears as her consciousness was close to fading away.
"…will you be away from me."
No longer would you turn it into light….
A flutter of her eyes…
Blurred….
Spotted and flecked vision….
There was nothing but the darkness.
It was eternal….
Silent and endless,
And she was alone.
In the mists of her blurred vision…
She wondered….
Whether she was in Hell,
Whether she had escaped a terrible fate…
To escape having to part forever
Only to face a separation
Even more eternal
Than the one she had feared.
She was sure of it;
Absolutely sure of it…
She was in Hell…
In that moment….
She felt pain wash over her,
Pain,
Sickness,
Torment and
Hurt…
And…
Fully…
She opened her eyes.
There was a light….
A bright light…
A light so pure…
So…
Joyful….
Something she had not seen in a while.
The light reflected off the many surfaces around her,
All of which…
She realized…
Were white.
She jolted up immediately, feeling sickness seeping in the pit of her stomach.
So she was….
Alive…
But what about….
She turned around slightly
Pain shooting throughout her...
"You are awake…my little one."
His voice again….
It was….
Him….
The Darkness…
The monster….
Right there in front of her…
At that moment, the blackness began to set in, but she really didn't care, because she knew that, it truly was Hell.
The red thread was not crimson any longer.
Oh no….
She was at the dark core of the hellhole known as the island.
She was within the Duel Tower…..
With him…
With him once again…
The red thread has turned into the stretching black string.
She had not seen the light since then…
Not for what seemed to be countless millennia…
There had been only the darkness upon the island….
Only the broken hellish noise…
That had now disrupted the melodious tranquility of her slumber…
An eerie, ethereal song began to fade away…
Fading….
Fading….
Fading…
Until there was nothing…
Only silence and darkness were left….
Silence…
Silence…
A light…
Piercing the blurring blackness…
It was...
It was...
Her awakening…
No…
Not again…
No….
Eyes opened...
"You are awake…my little one…"
His voice again….
It was….
Him….
She was sure….
Serenity had every facet of him memorized.
She knew that he craved the blood of humans, the gods' power, crying and the screaming sheer chaos.
She knew that he loves to hear her cry, not mattering whether it was in pitiful agony when he would mark his blade upon her or in take her in the beautiful, dark pleasure she had not imagined.
She knew that he wore the shell of a boy named Malik, one who was tormented and lost between familial obligation and creating his own destiny.
She knew that he'd never pass up the opportunity for creation, in the form of destruction.
She knew that he liked to take what was good of people and twist it until there was only distortion and terror-confusion all over the place.
She knew how he laughed all the time because when his lust and power-hungry ways were quenched, it was the better way to enjoy it thoroughly.
She knew that he would drink her blood if it was the only sustenance upon the island, and he made that into a reality.
She knew how his eyes lit up whenever he saw something beautiful – woman, darkness, object; it was all the same to him.
Serenity had every facet of Marik memorized, but she knew that he would have seen her taking notice, because he knew every facet of her, whether she liked it or not.
She saw him tower over her, the cape draped over his broad shoulders almost encircling her, staring at her with maniacal blood-violet eyes as she sat still on the cold ground of the fated tower.
There was dried blood on the side of his face, a reminder of when she attempted to injure him when she was trying to run away.
Needless, her escape was thwarted.
Back to where she started…
A step forward…
Her eyes doubled in size…
The Darkness grinned sadistically.
With that, he began circling her with movements likewise of a shark, prowling and stalking with footsteps that made almost no sound.
She felt something that was all too familiar when in the demon's presence.
Cornered.
Threatened.
Like prey.
"You believe that you can escape me so easily, little one…"
He paused then, tilting his head to look at her with glinting blood-violet eyes.
He crouched down to her level, placing his hands on either side of her on the steel wall, locking her wavering hazel eyes with his own, his face close enough for Serenity to feel his breath on her skin.
The pause seemed to go on for an awfully long time, stretching into eternity and the endless darkness beyond.
Hazel into blood-violet….
Blood-violet into hazel...
But the pause finally ended...
"You were sadly mistaken, my dear…"
He darted forward, before she could see what he was doing, and he brought his lips together with in a seemingly perfect web of heat and uncontained lust from the demon.
A searing kiss…
An inferno…
An inferno…
One that had become very familiar to her…
This brought the silence…
The silence of the sky….
XIX.
(A.N: Only one chapter left, folks. Brace yourselves.)
Reviews are love.
Soundtrack:
"Witch" Yuki Kajiura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles OST
"Niko" Susumu Hirasawa, Berserk: Guts' Rage OST
"Murder" Susumu Hirasawa, Berserk OST
"A Sister's Story" Susumu Hirasawa, Berserk: Guts' Rage OST
"Breathless" Yuki Kajiura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles OST
"Ruthless" Yuki Kajiura, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles OST