Happy here! Sorry for the 1 week delay, but the final chapter is finally here. 8,000 words long, seriously? Obviously, this is the longest chapter I've ever made! I'm so excited! Thanks for some of the ideas that you guys gave me, and enjoy the final chapter of Fire & Water. The Epilouge will be up by next friday...anyways...enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: For the 25th time! I do not own Shugo Chara, but I do own John, Ai, and Rika because I'm just that awesome, so I can own things!
***Chapter 25***
***Ai POV***
"Erin! John!" I exclaimed, as soon as the two appeared before me.
"Hey!" Erin greeted with a grin, that only made me expect nothing except good news.
"How'd your battle go?" I asked, playing dumb even though I obviously knew they won by the excited grins on their faces. Erin grinned mischeviously, and patted my shoulder.
"What do you think? Guess!"
"You lost and are both in comas." I stated sarcastically giving her a fake glare. She laughed heartily and smiled again.
"Guess again!" She giggled.
"You won!" I squealed happily and she squealed back. "Are they okay?" I added, feeling strangely worried all of a sudden. Truthfully, I was having second thoughts about this battle. I didn't really want to hurt anyone anymore, but then I keep having quick 5 second thoughts that tell me otherwise.
"So she DOES have a heart." John muttered behind Erin, refusing to make eye contact with me.
It wasn't as if I didn't see him there, because I did. I absolutely can't NOT notice John, which sometimes annoys me, and lately I've been feeling nervous around him. It's all weird and confusing, I don't understand these feelings, but I know what it's not. It isn't hate and it isn't love...i think. Anyways, I remembered that John was still in a friend fight with me, and automatically felt kind of sad. I frowned and turned back to Erin.
"Say something!" She mouthed, while John wasn't looking.
"Umm...so..." I started, trying to think of the right words to say, but after seeing him my mind just went blank. Not Good. "Nice weather we're having today?" I managed, silently smacking my self in the head. Seriously? That's all I could think of? Small weather talk is always stupid and boring, and I couldn't say anything better? Ugh.
I glanced towards his direction and saw a small smirk on his face. For a second I got a bit hopeful and expected the smirk to turn into a small, but my hopes were crushed back down when I looked closely. It wasn't just a smirk, it was a mischevious angry smirk. It was as if he was silently saying 'I hope you lose. You deserve it you freak!' I felt like crying after seeing that. I wanted to sob and sob, and never stop, never face this cruel world ever again.
I could've said something now and starightened out this mess, but I had a feeling he wouldn't listen and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't managed to speak my mind. Actually that's an understatement. I couldn't manage to squeeze out any words on the subject because I was way to scared to even bring it up. I was scared of rejection. Scared so much that it was ridiculous. It was silly and hopeless. If only John could start it first. If he started the conversation, maybe hearing his voice would give me the courage to say what I wanted to. Maybe just maybe. Please talk to me John.
***Rima POV***
"So...Umm....Nice weather we're having?" Ai asked, almost as if she sounded unsure of herself. Wait. Why was she talking about weather to her firends? I thought they were the people she was most comfortable around? Maybe they were fighting? But wouldn't Erin and John have told us? We could've used that too, to our benefit. After all, we needed anything we could get our hands on to survive this. I really don't know. Maybe I could be misunderstanding this. Maybe she was just as nervous as us, and didn't know what to say to anyone anymore?
"Ah! They're here!" Ai gasped, finally noticing all of us up on the rooftop.
"Ha. You know what this reminds me of?" Amu giggled. Was she not nervous either? Did Ikuto coming back make her not nervous at all? Why was everyone so calm at a time like this?
"What?" I asked, not bothering to guess.
"When we defeated Ikuto and the X-egg violin! Remember?"
"Yeah! We were on a rooftop both times, right?"
"Hello?" Ai called. "Weren't we...you know?"
"Right." I agreed, suddenly snapped back into reality. To our luck, Ai seemed kinda dazed right now as if she were focused on something else. She seemed kind of confused and thoughtful. I didn't think she'd be into the fight as much as we expected, at least not by the looks of it right now.
"Rika!" Ai exclaimed. I turned to see the girl make her way up the stairs. Ai must be pissed off now to see that we stole her cousin. Well...not exactly stole, because it was more like she decided to side with us after finding out the truth.
Rika's eyes looked down to her feet, not able to meet Ai's incredulous stare. She looked as if she were ashamed to abandon her physco cousin. I felt kind of sorry for Ai, not that it was as she were all alone in this battle. Ikuto defeated Yuki, Erina, John, and Rika sided with us. But then again, it was her fault for plotting to kill me. Why would you even imagine killing a person? That's just sick and sadistic!
"I'm sorry." She whispered, "But this is something I have to do. I HAVE to protect the weak. It's my repsonsibilty." She apologized, "AND it's also YOURS! So you need to stop this nonsense right now!"
"I can't!" Ai argued. She's so darn stubborn! I nodded towards Erin and John who were behind Ai. They nodded back signaling that they were ready for their secret attack.
"Tightrope Duckies!" Erin cried. Rubber ducks pulling a thick rope, popped out of no where and tied Ai up. Ai looked so shocked and...sad? It was like she was angry and hurt. I couldn't help but feel a lot of sympathy for her, even though this was all HER fault. But still,l she was just betrayed by everyone she considered her ally.
"You! You betrayed me!" Ai sobbed, struggling in the ropes. The tears trickled down her cheeks and fell to the ground. "But I thought you were my friends! I trusted you guys!"
"That's cause what you were doing was wrong." John sneered.
"I can't believe I actually felt something special for you." She muttered under her breath, her tone full of accusations. John gaped in shock and a hint of hope.
"You what?" He asked incredulously as if he wasn't sure he even heard her right.
"It doesn't matter anymore...because...I hate you! I hate you all!" She whimpered. "I just wish you'd drop dead or something." John bit his lower lip and sighed.
"Ditto." She gritted her teeth, letting a few tears escape her eyes.
"Up until now, i thought I was confused about my feelings." She whispered. It sounded more like she was talking to herself rather than anyone on the battle field here. "I was so dumb. Why be confused about something that never was meant to be?"
"Charcater Transformation: Dark Clover!" She cried. She looked like a gothic copycat of Amu. She was all decked out in black, but still wore the frilly Amulet Clover skirt with the puffy sleeves. I didn't know whether it was on the verge of creepy or cute. It was all so weird.
"Cooking Knife!" She summoned. The next few moment were strange and frightening. I expected her to attack with a different version of an attack Amulet Clover has used before, but no. A huge dark knife came from absolutely no where, and slammed itself into the ground, getting stuck into the flooring for a few seconds before pulling itself out and standing upright. It had barely missed us, cutting off a small strand of Amu's hair. Well...at least it didn't cute Amu off.
"What the freaking hell was that?" Amu shrieked.
"My weapon!" Ai grinned, "I call her Naifu-chan."
"Ahahaha it has a face! Look Amu!" Yaya laughed heartily while Amu screamed at her for fooling around.
"Yaya! Stop laughing! look at that! it's a 15 foot tall knife! It can kill us!" Amu screeched. Yaya continued giggling, while Amu started freaking out. Ikuto and Nagihiko sighed, ashamed that our team mates would lose focus so easily.
Without waiting for us to get prepared for the next blow, the knife came down on Yaya. Amu just nearly pushed her away, saving both of them from what could've happened.
"You! How could you do that? You almost killed them!" I bursted out at her. She picked at her fingers, and stared at her feet.
"I DIDN'T. Naifu-chan has a mind of her own. She simply protects her master. Whoever if willing to be my enemy is her's too. Here's a secret...Naifu-chan doesn't have any mercy or hesitation unlike me." Ai explained with a smirk. God, this girl was going full out evil on us. Now I was wishing John didn't say he hated her as much as she hated him. That IS what got her all riled up a few seconds ago. Naifu came down once more, this time scraping Rika's leg. A huge gash formed, and she held the cut together in fear that she'd lose to much blood and grow woozy.
"We're gonna die!" Su screamed in her high-pitched squeal. Ran and Miki as well as the other charas were just as much into0 a frenzy as she was. They were right. We had nothing to save us from the knife. If we WERE going to lose, I just didn't want it to be this early into the fight. It felt awful, like all our efforts were in vain.
"I got this!" A voice called, and I was more than happy to recongnize it.
"Sanjou-san!" Utau exclaimed to the woman stepping up to our ground level from the stairs.
"I heard that you guys were in a pinch and decided to help you out a bit." The older lady winked, "Especially Utau-chan. She has work to do after this ya know?"
"Lightening Strike!" Kairi took the blade of his sword and slashed through Naifu as it moaned in defeat.
"Ah! Cool!" Yaya squealed, hugging Kairi tightly. "Yaya wishes she could do something like that!"
"It was nothing" Kairi blushed. What happened to his feelings for Amu?
"Nnn! You hurt Naifu-chan!" Ai complained, "But that doesn't mean I'm done yet. I'm just getting started. Boiling Pot!" Another huge kitchen accessory loomed before us. This time it was a huge pot, boiling with water. "Tsubo-chan! It's time to do a little cooking!" Ai hinted towards the pot. Unfair! How come all her attacks can move? The pot suddenly grew hands, throwing us in one by one.
"Ah! It's hot!" I screamed as soon as I hit the boiling water.
"Hmm? What should we make today, Tsubo-chan? How about Guardian soup? Doesn't that sound delicious? With a hint of victory!" Ai giggled sadistically. Wow, she was taking our deaths lightly.
"If it gets any warmer in here, we're going to burn up!" Utau announced in horror and panic. "We need to get out! Now!" I started to feel a bit dizzy from all the heat. My body was burning to the point that I just couldn't feel anything anymore. I could only hear my friends screams of panic.
"Got it!' Ikuto announced. Everything suddenly got a little cooler. I've never been more glad that I was alive and well. We almost freaking died in their! Ai pouted and rose her arm slowly.
"I guess this calls for a switch out. Character Transformation: Dark Spade!" She grinned mischeviously. It kinda freaked me out how confident and cocky she was. Meaning that she knew she had a higher chance of winning. If those two attacks were her weakest, imagine what she had planned for us!
"Do you guys like pictures?" Ai asked happily as if she were pretending we were first graders. It made me mad to think that she thought so lowly of us. Seriously? We're not that weak...she was just way too strong. I've never fought something as strong as her ever before. Heck, I've ever seen anyone as powerful as her.
"Umm...yeah?" Amu replied in suspicion of her next move. What was with the random questions?
"Then you're really going to like this! Art Attraction!" Huge black portraits appeared before each one of us. I glared at the one that appeared before me, showing it no fear. Honestly, I expected it to start talking like the other ones, but to my surprise nothing happened. That was, until I started to feel myself getting sucked in. Sucked into what?
I stared in shock at the scenerio before me. There was a castle in the clouds a few miles away, in the distant. The clouds that surrounded it were strom clouds, and I was a flash of lightening take over the sky. It was a pretty normal place, besides the castle in the sky, I was in a field. The only thing that bothered me, was the fact that I was even here. Wasn't I on the rooftop of the new Easter building that Ai bought? Why was I here now. I turned around, expecting to see more fields of nothing, but to my surprise saw Ai, hands on her hips, giggling. Then it hit me like a freaking brick, and it hurt.
"I'm in the painting?" I screamed in shock. With Ai, I just didn't know what to expect anymore. It was all too different, and I could've never expected this. Now how was I supposed to get out again? I turned back towards the castle to find a knight in shining armor heading straight towards me with a lance. I panicked a bit, looking from side to side for something to stop him with.
"Umm....Uh...Juggling Party!" I summoned the juggling pins, and sent them flying straight towards the man in armor. He didn't seem shocked or anything about the technique and kept riding on. The pins hit against his armor with a huge *clang* and fell to the ground as if they were nothing. The attack didn't even scratch him. I bit my lower lip in frustration.
The knight came to a halt as soon as he was right before me, and raised his lance. In one swift movement, the lance came down, just barely missing me as I dodged the attack. The knight grunted angrily, and swung again, missing his target once again.
"How the heck do I get out of here?!"
The knight swung again, harder this time, but once again missed. I winced, noticing that he had scratched my neck a bit with his stupid lance. God, this guy was stupid, either that or blind. "Tightrope Dancer!" The ropes trapped the knight, squeezing around him tightly. He squirmed to get out, but failed.
"Yes!" I cheered happily. I had one...or so I thought. "Hey! I won! Why can't I get out yet?"
"Cause you didn't!" Ai answered in a sing-song voice. I grumbled at her answer.
"What do you mean?" I growled. She said nothing, but pointed towards the back of me with a confident smirk on her face. I whipped around to find the knight struggling in the ropes. I didn't get how she meant that I didn't win. He couldn't get up!
"You didn't finish him off." She explained, "If you leave him like that, he'll break through your stupid attack." Finish him off? How was I suppossed to do that? I couldn't hurt a fly. Besides, Juggling Party would just bounce off his armor.
"I got an idea, Rima!" Kusukusu exclaimed from inside the character transformation. "Just relax, and send all your energy to one place in your body. We're going to try something similar to Ai's Naifuand Tsubo, okay?"
"Like what?" I protested.
"We're gonna summon something!" I did as she instructed, feeling the heat generate to my hands. I could feel something fluffy form there, like cotton candy, although it'd be pretty strange if Kusukusu was trying to summon a huge mass of cotton candy.
"Open your eyes, Rima." I squeezed them tight, hoping for a miracle, before slowly opening my left eye to make sure everything worked out all right.
"Fortune Cards!" Kusukusu giggled. I gaped in shock before screaming my head off at the chara who created this dumb idea.
"How the heck is playing cards going to defeat a knight in armor?" I screamed. She covered her mini chara ears and pouted, while crossing her arms. She kinda looked like Yaya in her spoiled act, when she was trying to get her way.
"Just watch." Kusukusu grumbled. A huge deck of fortune telling cards appeared before the knight, as the knight finally broke through the ropes. The pieces of rope scattered through the air, making me panic even more. Meanwhile, the deck shuffled itself, and revealed another card.
"Joker?" I questioned, staring at the huge card that was specially chosen from the deck. "What's that supposed to mean?" The knight suddenly stopped in its tracks, and fell to the ground, without making a sound. I stood in complete shock. What the heck was that?
*.clap*
"You made it through." Ai congratulated grimly. I glanced around my surroundings, realizing that I was once again where I was suppossed to be on the rooftop.
"Somehow, I did." I muttered darkly.
"That was horrible." Amu agreed. "I just defeated a huge ocotpus! It was insane!" I stiffled a laugh, but I just couldn't find anything funny right now. It was too scary to laugh at, knowing that this wasn't a joke. It was a real life or death situation. Imagine if we were stuck in those pictures forever.
"Hmm? You all got through? What a shame." Ai pouted, noticing that we all returned to the rooftop out of breath. "I thought that at least one of you wouldn't be able to take it, but even the baby got through." Shje added pointing towards Yaya who had tear stains running down her cheeks.
"I even gave the blond devil the easiest one, and she was sweating through it. What a loser." I bit my lip to stop me from pouncing at her and ripping her head off. This girl was seriously getting on my nerves. I can't believe I actually felt sorry for her at some point. "Maybe it's time to kick it up a knotch."
"Is she going to use Dark Diamond or Dark Heart?" Amu guessed, based on the other ones she used.
"Hmph. I actually thought my versions of your character transformations would be strong. It seems that their almost as weak as you." Ai giggled directing her speach towards Amu. Amu gritted her teeth and glared at Ai. "I may have to end up using something stronger. Kengou?"
A black chara floated towards her. It looked as if she were the shadow of something. She was pitch black, and all I could see was the outline of her pigtails, the hem of her dress, and the mask she wore, which was half a smiley face, and half of an evil frown. It looked as if she just stepped out of a horror movie, except she was a chara, and charas are too small to be afraid of...I think.
"The performance has just begun." The chara whispered darkly. Ikuto shuddered, looking as though it reminded him of something or someone.
"Character Transformation: Black Stage!"
Ai was now dressed in a blue dress, with icicles hanging down the hem instead of lace. She had a mask covering her face, identicle to the one her chara had worn. I could sense something strange from her, and I knew everyone else did too. It was as if she had a dark aura coming straight out of her. Suddenly, the room felt ice cold. I hugged my arms, trying to worn them up, but my attempt was futile. Her power was overflowing, and filled the room. It wasn't like anything we've seen before. It was way worse than when we fought Ikuto and his X-egg violin, 1,000,000 times worse. It was frightening.
"No more playing around. I won't go easy on you anymore." She muttered, her voice seething with hatred and scared me, she sounded like she wanted to kill. Like she was going to ENJOY this. I'd never had to deal with something like this before, and it sucked. Sure, I had always had troubles with my parents, but this was something entirely different. This was about a girl wbho wanted to kill, MURDER me. It was no joke, she was serious about it. This was a physco girl that wanted me dead, and wouldn't stop at any cost.
"Let's play out some scenes." She said. I couldn't read her emotions anymore. Her voice was indifferent, and hinted nothing except the words she spoke, while her mask covered her face. I couldn't figure out what the mask was suppossed to symbolize. Maybe, just maybe, if we knew what Ai's lost dream was, Amu could use one of her inspirational speaches and her "Open Heart" and purify Ai's egg.
The rooftop suddenly darkened, and a spotlight shined on Ai. "Let's start with happy scene. That's how the story always starts, right? And it'll end in tragedy." My lips curved into a smile, and no matter how much I struggled to change my expression, it was futile. It was as if she were controlling my body and emotions. I could control my mind and thoughts, but all of a sudden I felt extremely...happy. It was a warm fuzzy feeling, and I was grateful to feel it. Throughout this battle all I've ever felt was nervous, miserable, and anxious. Now I just fel incredibly happy to be here. I actually loved this feeling, and I was grateful Ai had forced it upon me. It was like a break from this reality.
"I can't stop smiling?" Amu exclaimed cheerfully. I nodded, not able to wipe the gleeful smile off of my face. To tell the truth, i liked it. I didn't want to stop smiling. Everyone else wore he same expression.
"I'll be the narrator." Ai announced, " One day there was a group of happy friends, whom called themselves the guardians. But two of them hated each other." I suddenly felt angry, like an uncontrolable crazy wild animal. My hands clenched up into fists, and I glared at Nagihiko. Inside though, I was in panic. What was I doing, I didn't hate Nagi anymore, I loved him. Why was Ai doind this? Why was she playing with our emotions in her own sick re-cap of our lives. I didn't want to re-live it! My body was under the control of Ai, and I walked up towards Nagihiko. I tried to stop my feet from moving towards him, in fear of what my body would do next, but I couldn't stop it, because I couldn't control it anymore. Ai could. I winced as my hand rose and came down quickly, slapping him across the face.
The blood rose to his cheeks, turning them red, and he wore a stunned expression. Even though I knew that I should've felt a pang of sadness and regret for my motions which I couldn't control, I felt angry and like he deserved it. But these weren't my emotions, they were my old ones. I had changed though, I was different now. I know I may have acted like this in the past, but I was wrong. I didn't even give myself a chance to get to know him before. That was my fault, but once I did, everything was different and fluffy.
"But this isn't the story of how things happened. This is a story of how things should've been, so it wouldn't have lead to this. If this was how everything happned, no one would've gotten hurt." Ai explained. Wait? A story how things should've happened from her perspective? Oh please no! God please no! Please don't make this happen! Please!
"Nagihiko used to have a childhood friend whom was named Ai." Ai narrated, stepping into the spotlight. "Everything he did made the girl feel as though she were floating on a cloud. He truly made her happy even in her saddest moments, and it wasn't long before she realized that she was in love."
Nagihiko started smiling at her, and I couldn't help but feel happy. I felt happy that he liked her instead of me, and was out of my way. But this wasn't how I would've felt if I wasnt under her control. I was suppossed to be jealous out of my mind, like I was going to rip her head out, for ever playing with his feelings, let alone mine. But everything wasn't as bad as it seemed, because somewhere in my mind, I was reminded that this was all fake. She was just playing us out to make her happy. This was only a story of how she wanted things to happen, but in reality, you can't always get what you want. There isn't always a happy ending for everything, so you take what you get. But, Ai, was trying to create her own happy ending, that was perfect for her. Didn't she know that after her attack wore off, we'd go back to being ourselves? Nagi didn't love her, and he never knew, no matter how mean that sounds it's the truth.
"But Ai had to move to America, so the two parted ways. At her new school she made amazing friends such as John and Erin, but she knew somewhere in her mind, that she was missing something. She had never gotten that same feeling she had with Nagihiko again. She missed that feeling, and wanted to find it again, so she moved back to Japan to search for her missing feelings." She sucked in a breath and angrily grunted, "But when she returned to her country, she found the girl who hated Nagihiko, seducing him! She was angry and jealous beyond beliefs, and decided that she needed to get him back. Ai culd not live without Nagihiko any longer, so she needed to get him back."
"You see, Nagihiko was delusional with the blond girl's tricks, and actually believed he loved her and she loved him. What a joke, right? But eventually he realized his errors, and fell in love once gain, with the one he was meant to be with." She slowly took a few steps towards Nagihiko and pressed her lips to his. I felt like screaming in rage. This was HER story, this wasn't real. How dare she try and make her fantasies real, even though she knows they're not. She knows that she's hurting other people along the way, right?
I summoned all my strength I could muster up to my legs, and got ready to pounce towards the girl, but couldn't find the power to move. Why? Wasn't her stroy over? Why couldn't I move my body? Why was she still controlling all of us?
"The story will end when I want it to." She explained. "I want to cause pain for all of you. Not just physically, but emotionally too." The next few moments were a blur, I don't know how it happened, but John snuck up to her and punched her in the face. Hard.
"You bitch." He muttered. She held her cheek, and frowned. I suddenly felt like the heaviness on my body had been lifted. I blinked a few times and clenched and unclenched my fists.
"I-I can move!" I exclaimed happily. I stared towards the girl who had fallen to the ground. Her hand were sprawled across the floor, and she stared in shock. She looked deadly, and beyond angry. Was she mad because she couldn't finish her dumb story? Or because everything was reality now, and she knew Nagihiko would never belong to her?
"How did you do that?" She demanded angrily, "Everyone was under MY control, in MY story."
"I wasn't" John said, "You forgot all about Erin and I. We were prepared, although none of us knew what you could do. i admit you surprised me, but your tricks are done. It's over." She squinted and smirked, dropping her mask to the ground.
"That's what you think? It is definately not over. I was about to let you all go...well, except for one, but now I've changed my decision. None of you deserve to leave here anymore." She growled and clenched her teeth. "Especially you." She hissed to John.
"She tapped her slender fingers on her chin, and hummed thoughtfully. "Actually, I think you should be the first to go. Screw our friendship. It was probably fake to start off with." She turned back to the rest of us and grinned an evil smile, "How about I almost kill the one I had planned to kill, and let you all watch your 'friend'" She made gestures to show that she was quoting friend and scoffed "Be the first to go." She ended, pointing towards John.
"Are you ready to end this?" I gulped, as she started pacing towards me, pushing myself backwards. I fell on my butt, and scrambled to my feet, but I had nowhere to go. I was cornered against the wall. I squeezed my eyes shut tightly, and waited for the impact that was supposed to come, but it never did.
"Naifu-chan!"
"Damn it!" Ai cursed loudly. I felt it was safe enough to open my eyes, and gaped at the mess in front of me. Nagi's arm was ripped open, blood pouring out of the cut. Naifu was soaked in his blood, and it hurt to watch the scene before me.
"Nagi!" I cried, running to aid him. Why? Why did he take the attack for me? Oh, dying myself would've been way better than watching him hurt. KI hated this, it sickened me. It made me stomach churn, and made me want to bawl my eyes out.
"How could you?" I screamed to the girl who directed the attack. Her eyes were wide open in shock, and she was dumbfounded.
"That wasn't meant for him." She whispered to herself in anger. "She was meant to be hurt, not him. It was HER fault. HER fault that everything is so wrong." Everyone rushed to help Nagihiko and make sure it was alright.
"I can't heal him!" Rika sobbed, "My power is drained out of me. It's useless." Utau tore the cloth that had covered her wound before, and tied it to Nagihiko's arm, in attempt to make sure he didn't die of loss of blood. All I could do was sit here, tears streaming down my face, completely stiff from the shock.
"Nagi." I choked. I couldn't speak anymore, that was all I could manage. I was speechless.
"I won't miss this time! Naifu-chan!" I flinched and turned towards the huge knife coming down towards me. Again, I missed the impact.
"Everyone!" I screamed, trying to nurse their injuries. Why were they all taking the hit for me? Why? They didn't need to get hurt like this, and I couldn't help but feel like it was all my fault. They were all taking the pain that was meant for ME.
"Damn it! So you all want to die? You'll all die for a weakling like HER?" Ai screamed. "WHY?"
"Don't worry we got this." Utau grumbled to me, "GO. Before she gets any more balistic. We'll find a way out of this."
"What? I can't ditch you guys!" I protested.
"Nai-" Ai started, but John held the knife up, despite the deep gashes forming in his hands. Heck, by now I would've expected his arms to be cut off, from holding up the monster weapon. "What the hell are you doing?" Ai hollered.
"This needs to stop! You're insane!" John argued, "You think this is normal? Trying to kill people just because you don't get your way? That's just stupid! Everyone here knows you're wrong, except you. It's not like it isn't obvious either!"
"It's HER fault!" Ai protested, her eyebrows furrowing in anger. "I don't care what you say. Your words dont affect me at all!"
"Then you're stupid, and don't deserve to live yourself. Cut the crap. Rima doesn't deserve to be here because Nagihiko loves her and not you? You just won't stop until you get your way, will you? Here's a newsflash for you. Nagihiko wouldn't love anyone else even if you got rid of Rima. Especially not a total freak like you!"
"That's it! I won't let someone like you talk to me that way!" Ai shrieked in rage. The dark aura crept back, seething from her body. "Let's finish this, Naifu-chan!"
The knife struck down, following her orders, and sliced through John. It was totally unexpected. It felt like my heart was about to pop out of my chest, and we just all stood in horror of what happened. We were all frozen in the moment.
"Is he still alive?" Amu finally murmured in shock, unable to speak any louder than a small whisper. She wasn't the only one who couldn't find the words to speak let alone mouth them.
"I-I didn't...I-I didn't m-mean t-t-o. N-No...n-no!" Ai stuttered. Tears strated streaming down her cheeks, and it didn't seem as though they'd let up anytime soon. She brought her hands up to her face and cried into them. Her sobs were so loud, they rang in my ears, making them sting. I couldn't hear anything else, except the pain and agony of her regretful sobs.
"John..."
"H-He's dead." Amu trembled, in fear. She started shaking and fell to the ground, falling apart in shock.
"You monster!" Erin accused, screaming at Ai who conintued sobbing. She gasped for air, the sobs taking the breath from her. She couldn't speak anymore, and continued crying her heart out. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorry." She ranted out.
To tell the truth, I actually felt sorry for Ai right now. It seemed like she really cared about John, and now...now she just looked like she fell apart. She was out of her angry trance, and now looked depressed and if I didn't know any better I'd think she'd become suicidal after something like this.
"I'm sorry, John! I didn't mean to!" She screamed at the lifeless body, "I was just so mad at nothing! I don't care about anything! I don't even love Nagihiko anymore! I love you! Please! Oh please! Wake up!" She grasped his dead arm which sagged to his side, and gave it a hard shake "Wake up! Please! Wake up! WAKE UP!" Her sobs drowned out her screams.
"NO! WAKE UP!!"
"He's not coming back, is he?" I asked Nagihiko, sadly. My eyes shot towards Ai who was crying hysterically, still screaming at the dead body as if she expected him to answer her and get up and be fine all of a sudden, even though we all knew the truth.
"I'm afarid not." He answered, shooting Ai a pitying look. My eyes dropped to the ground, refusing to look at the girl who was probably dying inside at the huge mistake she made. She was gasping for air, inbetween the sobs which had refused to stop.
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Amu cried.
"You can't bring back the dead." Ikuto answered grimly. Ai's eyes got wide, after hearing his response. Her arms dropped lifelessly to the ground, and her sobs quieted down. She wore a blank expression and choked back the quiet sobs which hadn't stopped just yet.
"The dead...can't...CAN'T...back..." She whispered to herself. "No...please...come...back...please...don't...leave...me...all...alone...No..."
Amu noticed the dead look in Ai's eyes, and panicked. Heck, It wouldn't surprise me if this girl became suicidal at this second. She was eyeing the edge of the roof strangely and...
*SMACK*
Ikuto held the stinging side of his cheek, which Amu had slapped. "How could you say that?" She screamed. "Do you see that girl? She's on the verge of killing herself over this, and you can only make it worse? You're horrible! What...what if we could bring him back?"
"And how would we do that?!" Ikuto argued/yelled.
"Doesn't Ai have enough power to do anything about it?" Amu screamed through tears.
"I-I don't. I-I c-c-can't do a-anything." Ai stammered. "I d-don't h-h-have the p-power t-to heal."
"I know someone who does." Ikuto whispered, turning towards Rika.
"I'm out of strength." Rika whimpered sadly, "And there's a time limit on things like these. If I could perform the technique now, I could revive him...but if I were to perform it tomorrow...it wouldn't work. I don't have the strength to do it now, I need rest to regain strength."
"So that's it? We're just going to give up?!" I questioned. Everyone looked down, and I could tell they were all drained of hope.
"How could I have been so stupid? Why does it always happen that I realize things when it's too late?" Ai yelled, pounding her fist against the ground, "I don't love Nagihiko...I may have never. I love John, but it's too late now.I can't believe I even started this fight. It's all my fault. If I didn't do something like this, this would've never happened. I-I'm so sorry, John, no, everyone!"
"What...what if?" I whispered. Everyone directed their attention towards me, anticipated what I was to say. Heck, I didn't even know what I was about to say. What if what? I was totally winging this. I settled on saying whatever came to mind at the spurt of the second. We didn't have time to be fooling around, and I'd surely look like a jerk, getting everyone's hopes up for nothing. "What if we could transfer our powers to Rika?"
"B-but...a healing spell is VERY difficult. Very,very,very!" Rika assured.
"Are you saying that you aren't going to try?" Nagihiko questioned, giving her a suspicious look. I squeezed his arm and gave him a look of disapproval. It was just plain stupid. It was as if we were self-destructing, with all the accusations. We weren't even capable of holding trust anymore.
"Stop bullying her. You KNOW that's not the reason she's afraid of doing the spell." I breathed, slightly pouting. I hated this situation. I hate that we didn't know what to do. I hated that Nagihiko could've possibly even thought about Rika trying to betray us. No. She's afraid to do the spell, because she doesn't know if she CAN.
"I'm going to try!" Rika decided lifting her chin up. She nodded in determination, biting her lower lip to stop it from quivering. "I-I'll try, no matter what the consequences are. We can always try, right? Even if...things might happen if it doesn't work."
"Things?" Utau questioned, her right brow raising in partly confusion and part curious. Rika shot her a nervous grin.
"Umm...yeah. You know? There's always that huge possibility that I overexert myself, and end up..." She trailed off, staring at the ground, hands quivering a bit. Her hands finally rose, as she hugged her arms.
"End up like what?" I asked anxiously awaiting her answer. The suspense was building up really quickly, and I couldn't help but be curious of what she was so afraid of. She was afraid to say...to think about this possibility. I had to know what it was that frightened her so much.
"L-l-like...like John." She finally stammered. "But I'll do it. It'll be worth it. To think that someone like me may actually be able to save a life." She giggled nervously, her shoulders shaking uncontrollably. Her giggled soon faded as she shot us all a nervous glance, still trembling nervously.
"Rika...You don't have to-" Amu desperately cried, only to get interrupted.
"I have to." Rika decided among herself, sounding more like she was convincing herself. We all knew she came to a decision, which scared me so much. She was no longer shaking, and her eyes showed nothing but determination.
"But what if John doesn't come back AND you leave us?" I struggled. She gave me a small sad smile. It was as if she were already saying goodbye to us with that expression. I didn't want this. I didn't want any of this. I wish this day never had to come.
"Then that would be a pity."
She was going to do this. She didn't care anymore. She was going to put her life on the line, for the small possibility of bringing a friend back to life. This moment was sick. It was disgusting. But it was so honest and pure. She tossed me a small thin, pale white piece of chalk.
"Draw a circle around the whole surface of the roof. A big circle." I did as I was told, tired of speaking, knowing that nothing I did or said would stop it. It was inevitable. By the time I was finished with Rika's orders, I had drawn a weird picture all over the roof.
"It's a ritual base." Rika explained, "It's neccasary for any type of high level magic, such as this. Do you guys see those little circles in the big circle?" We all nodded slowly. "Well I need each of you to stand on one of the little circles. There's enough for everyone to stand on one circle."
We all did as she said, waiting for her to explain the next step. She stood in a slightly bigger circle in the center, and loomed before the limp body of John. "I need you to all summon up your weapons and hold them in the air, directly in front of you."
She gasped for air, and nervously did as she told me to, knowing that whatever happened next would be something amazing. Something...magical and strange.
"Focus all your energy to your weapon." She whispered. Her eyelids suddenly fluttered shut, giving me no choice but to do the same. I felt my own eyelids droop shut. My breath steadied, and I cleared my mind of anything except the ritual and my juggling pins. I felt a sudden charge of energy. My hands trembled as the energy transfered to my weapon, pumping into the small pins.
"You can all open your eyes now." Rika instructed, "In case you wanna watch this." I looked around the room, sensing an unusual prescence. I could almost taste the power of all of us combined on my tongue. We could do this. I know we could. Rika held her hands to her chest, and took a deep breath.
"Attack me." She ordered. I gasped and opened my mouth to protest. "Don't stall, just do it!" She growled angrily. "Or you might break my concentration."
"Damn it." We all attacked her, staring as the weapons mysteriously disappeared inside her body.
"It worked." She whispered incredulously. "I can't believe it."
"The spell?" I hinted, keeping her on track. She snapped out of her shocked trance and nodded. She started mumbling in some other language, which I couldn't recognize. English? No. Spanish? No. Italian? No. French? No. German? Japanese? Obviously Not.
Her breathing picked up a quicker pace, and she started sweating. She panted and grunted uncomfortably. "I can do this." She encouraged erself, holding her staff high in the air, while a wind started to pick up around her.
A bright light took over the sky, lighting the whole area. The bright light coninued to shine, halfway blinding me. The energy scattered everywhere, and then all I could see was darkness. I had blacked out. Or at least I'm pretty sure that's what happened.
"I'm alive." A voice whispered incredulously. My eyes fluttered open, to face a miracle. John sat upright, staring at his fingers with shock. I would've thought that this was all a dream, but then I remembered the ritual and the mourning, and everything seemed real again. "But how?"
"Nnn..." Rika moaned, struggling to pick her body off the floor. She groaned and clutched her back, before sitting upward. "Darn. Don't tell me it didn't wo-" Her jaw fell open at the miraculous sight before her as her eyes blinked open. Her expression brightened up, and she jumped up and down like a crazy person.
"OMG!OMG!OMG! It worked! Please tell me I'm not dreaming! Someone pinch me!" She squealed, gasping for air.
"No. I'm pretty sure I'm suppossed to be dead." He insisted stubbornly. "The huge knife thingy killed me, am I right?"
"JOHN!" Ai squealed, deafening my ears. She halfway jumped on him in excitement. He fell backwards, and she pulled him into a tight hug. "The spell worked! You're alive! I'm so so so so so SO sorry!" He bit his lip in confusion and shot the rest of us a questioning look.
"Uh...What's going on here?" He blushed, not bothering to pry Ai off of him.
"You died, but we transferred our powers to Rika, so that she could perform a resurrection spell. And...now you're alive!" I briefly explained happily. "Isn't it great?"
"I'm so sorry!" Ai sobbed, "I was so stupid! I shouldn't have done what I did. I didn't even love Nagihiko anymore!" She wiped her runny nose with her sleeve and hicuped.
"You really didn't?" John asked, sounding surprised, although I wasn't as much. I kinda expected this, and lookie here how things ended up turning out. The fight's over, and now they can be friends again...or maybe even more than that.
"Nope. I didn't...don't know if I even ever did." She replied casually. "But I do know who I really love now."
"And who would that be?" He smirked.
"That would be...a secret." She grinned, pressing her finger to her lips. "For me to know, and you to find out!"
"Seriously?" John frowned. "Well...I'm just glad this is all over."
Yeah, so am I and the whole rest of us. Let's hope something like this never happens again. I would hate to face another nightmare like this, maybe even with a worse outcome than the one we faced today. It was horrible, and we'll just make sure this never happens again.
"Let's go home, and forget about this day." I whispered to no one in particular, maybe even myself. "It's better that way, right?"
"But we can't just forget it." Ai breathed, "because this is a piece of our history. You have to cherish every moment, the good and the bad. So instead of forgetting, let's think of the good things that came out of this. The bonds formed, and the misunderstandings sorted out. Let's try and think that way, okay?"
"Okay." I agreed, with a huge grin plastered on my face. "We'll try. We'll ALL try...TOGETHER as one."
CHAPTER: So there it is. Yes, it has a very crappy ending, because its not the very end! I have the epilouge to complete which will end with the ending I want! The one that actually corresponds to the title of the story! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed cause this took me a heck of a long time to write! I personally like it a lot, so I hope you did too! It was really fun to write this series, and I owe most of my thanks to you guys! If I didn't have you're support and reviews, I may not have been motivated to finsih this!
QUESTIONS:
WANTINGFREEDOM/HAPPYJUNJOU
1. Shugo Chara manga is better. SPOILER!! The nex chapter of Shugo Chara Encore is Rimahiko! I read it in raw Japanese!
I hate reading raw, because even though I'm japanese, I can't read in Kanji. I only understand Hiragana, which pretty much sucks for me. I read the Rimahiko chapter! It was so cute, and unlike the Kutau chapter, they took it nice and slow, but it also left me wanting more! MORE!MORE!MORE!
2. I've never heard of Ke$ha.
*Stop ta-ta-talking that Blah Blah Blah. Think you'll be gettin' this? Na-na-na. Not in the back of my car-ar-ar. If you keep talkin' that blah blah blah blah blah* Ke$ha is an american singer with a...urr..."special" style.
3. My favorite season is spring. I like the holdiay Christmas only because I seem to turn into a happier and kinder person full of joy.
Yay for spring! Christmas does make everyone jolly, but it wipes out my money in my purse, cuz I have to buy my sisters' presents. Boo. And my 4 uncles, 2 grandparents, 2 parents, 3 aunts, and 3 cousins. Yeah, so I'm worried about my allowance lasting those holidays.
4. So far the only animes I'm addicted on is Shugo Chara and MariaHolic. I more of a manga person.
Agreed. Manga is usually better, because it's the original. It's more straight foward, doesn't have as many filler nonsense, and the artwork is usually prettier. You can actually admire the drawings, so that's why I love it!
5. I suck at battles. I wish I hadsome idea to help.
Uck. They're always the hardest parts to write about. To draw, not so much. It's always easier to draw than describe.
WHOOT! Ikuto effing pwns!
Duh! Who doesn't love Ikuto? He's a cat man! . *fangirl squeal*
KIDTANTEI/HAPPYJUNJOU
Wow. The creeper's gone. Poor him. I liked those fights!
Me too! They were really fun to write, and really interesting! When Rika fought, it wasn't much of a fight, because she switched sides. But Yuki refused to, because he's just plain messed up in the head.
1. The manga is more straightforward, and the anime has A LOT A LOT of fillers. I think I'll go with the manga.
Tru dat. lol...oh no! I'm going ghetto. But seriously. Manga is way better...in my opinion. Sorry anime lovers! .
2. I like Ke$ha's song, Tik Tok, but it's getting old now. Maybe the $ in her name is just for decor..?
I luv Tik Tok, but if that's getting old, there's always Blah Blah Blah. That's kinda more current now. I still can't pronounce her name. Did you know that she got near perfect on her SAT's but dropped out of highschool to move to L.A? What a waste!
3. Favorite season is Autumn. Holiday is Christmas. It's Easter here in my country of the world.
I see your point. Autumn is great too, but I really like when it's more on the warm side. Autumn is more coldish warm than warmish cold.
4. What's MAR? I'm now addicted to Shugo Chara! XD
It's a manga/anime about a boy who dreams about another world, and in the middle of class a weird huge monster gate appears out of nowhere, and he goes through it, and gets to the other world, but then has to fight to save the world from the evil people. It's really fun to watch! ^.^
5. Hmm, maybe, combine some of Amu's shugo chara's attacks. Say... Heart Canvas!(Heart Rod and Colorful Canvas) Or maybe Starlight Honey!(Starlight Navigation and Remake Honey) Or something.
If you noticed, I did something similar to that. I used Amu's character transformations and created more deadly weapons from them. Like Su cooks, so I made Naifu-chan. Which is the japanese way to pronounce Knife-chan.
ANGELTALES/HAPPYJUNJOU
I like the manga the most because SC Party! Ruined the Shugo Chara! Anime, and there is a Rimahigo chapter in Encore! :'D
I 3 that Rimahiko chapter, and you're right. Shugo Chara Party really did kill any chance of the anime being better, because we all know that everyone hates the Party episodes along with Rikka and the dumb hosts with their robotic movements! Besides, Buono did way better opening songs! .
I don't like Ke$ha but her songs are very addicting and they keep getting stuck in my head! xD
I don't mind Ke$ha that much, but you can't deny that she's a drunk mess! Seriously! All her songs are about beer or drugs. Weird much? .
My favorite season is Summer because I'm going to Egypt!
Seriously? No fair! I want to go to Egypt! I know an egyptian person. Cleopatra!
GRACIE/HAPPYJUNJOU
1. I'm pretty neutral? That is, if you don't count Party or filler anime eipisodes.
The filler episodes bother me so much that I just can't ignore them. It irks me so much when I think about how horrible they are. Why can't they make...better filler episodes? Is that so hard to do these days? All you need are some good ideas.
2. How exactly do you pronounce her name, anyways?
I think it's Ke$ha (K-e-sh-uh) the e dmakes a short e sound. I think that's it.
3. the 4th of July. Its sunny, warm, my B-days' 2 days after, crazed American patriots set off fireworks (I still don't get how that relates to our freedom WHATSOEVER but ah, oh well.) and- AND, its Nagi's birthday. :D
Really? It's Nagi's birthday?! 0.0 *scribbles on calander* What? You act like I'm a crazed fangirl *hides the calander behind my back* What's this? Nothing...but I agree. The 4th of July is an awesome holiday! I love eating and grilling burgers outside, and lighting fireworks at night! .
4. Ooh, what does it stand for? I haven't seen it.
Look at my answer to KidTantei. I explained what it is. You should try watching it ^.^ I like it!
5. Maybe she should be, like, Rima's polar opposite, because she hates her (or used to) so much? Or maybe extremely similar, because if Nagi loves Rima he'd like HER with the right costume (hopefully not. please don't make that happen! D:)
Awww...I could've used that idea too . I forgot...boo...
HAPPYJUNJOU'S ANSWERS:
1. Manga! Less fillers, for straightfoward, prettier artwork. I just luv the manga! . And I especially luved that Rimahiko chapter! If you haven't seen it, just google , and search Shugo Chara Encore! It's the 2nd chapter.
2. Ke$ha's cool. She is a lot of a drunk mess, and sings about beer and drugs, but she's fun and her songs are catchy. I personally like them! I have her album "Animal" on my IPod. My favorite song is Kiss N' Tell.
3. I luv spring. The weather is warm, but not too hot. The nature starts to gather, and the flowers bloom. It's just perfect for someone like me! I just luv that season! It's my favorite! And I get together with my friends a lot during that time of the year.
4. I really like MAR. It's really fun to watch. It's a manga/anime, and unlike other anime's it follows the storyline of the manga exactly. Even a lot of the things the charcaters say are word for word out of the manga. You can watch the japanese version subbed if you google . Then go to the A-Z anime list, go to the M's and look for MAR. There are 104 episodes, and I'm only at 54. You can watch the dubbed english version on youtube which only goes up to 52 episodes. But as you know, dubbed versions usually suck!
5. Well, My ideas are already in what you just read, along with many others that I tried adding. I'm glad I finally got this outcome of an epic battle! Thank you all so much for all your amazing ideas!
QUESTIONS:
I only have two questions this week...
1. Will you read my other story, "Fanboys are Slaves"?
2. Would you like me to continue my questions segment on my next story?
See ya! The next one will be the last of Fire & Water, so I hope you anticipate the big ending! Yay! Bye bye!