Disclaimer: Etcetra, etcetra, etc.

I would do anything for love; as you did.

Outside of Castle Oblivion was nothing but darkness and Mist. The ground was grey and dry, devoid of any life. The sky was filled with purple strokes, green smears and exposed black canvas, all mixing and shifting together to form a kaleidoscopic mess of a sky. It was - and still is - a wasteland where evil strives and only the strongest warriors of light can survive.

Arxzyn stood at the entrance to Castle Oblivion, taking in all of the Realm of Darkness. Arxzyn closed his eyes and threw his head back, inhaling the Mist of the dark realm. 'I can feel the ebb and flow of this forsaken world.' Arxzyn looked forward, eyes open once again. 'It would prove most unwise to perform my task on unholy grounds such as these.'

Arxzyn pocketed his treasure, making sure it was well protected, and raced off down the path of darkness.

Arxzyn stopped dead in his tracks, only a few steps away from his starting point. He began to tremble as alien thoughts began to flood his mind. Images flashed before his eyes. Voices both quiet and thunderous roared in his ears. Experiences he was not familiar with filled his mind.

Arxzyn roared as he squeezed his head, trying to keep his mind from exploding as best he could. "Stop! Stop! O Gods above please make it stop!" Arxzyn fell to his knees, still screaming, still being filled with new knowledge...

Going insane.

With one final roar, "Gods of the Heavens, Gods of the Hells, Gods of the Earths! Stop this insufferable pain, and I will carry any task thou bid of me!" Arxzyn was finally freed from his pain. He dropped his hands to the dirt, and released a sigh of relief.

No new thoughts, no more images, no more stories, no more visions; all of it was gone except for one blessedly simple statement, echoing throughout Arxzyn's damaged psyche.

"Real and yours to keep until you die."

Placing his hands in front of him, Arxzyn pushed himself off of the ground. He looked up, and held his arms outward. "I understand." He calmly called. "This is my atonement and the price I have to pay for my favor." Arxzyn lowered his arms and his gaze, turned around, and ran back into Castle Oblivion, his new goal set.

oXo

Namine and Razyn were still lying on the floor of the flower room, unconscious and beaten. Strewn across the floor, just steps away from Razyn, were strips of metal, leather, and denim. Both had taken quite a bit of damage from The Virtuous Crusader, Arxzyn, and were left to perish together.

Namine's back arched as she took a sharp breath. A quick glance around told her that her vision was slowly returning, and there was a slight ringing in her ear, but she was fine. She was...

"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"

Namine stared at the cavity in her chest, and the object sitting in the middle of the crevice. She gulped, her eyes wide with terror, as she stared at her own heart, the jewel shining brightly in the fake light of the castle corridor.

It was a horrible, eerie sight. Her heart was sitting there, a good third of it snapped off, and everything around it was just scraped away. It looked nothing like what she imagined it would look like. The walls were not solid, they were quivering and shaking as the heart sat there, trembling. There was no blood, there was no meat; there was just her heart, and a shifting black, white, and grey mess surrounding it. Namine closed her eyes as tight as she could and raised her hand to her mouth as she felt bile begin to rise. Why, why, why, why... She felt like she was going to cry if she didn't puke first.

It was when she felt the cold hand on her shoulder did she realize that someone else was in the room with her. She gasped and looked to her left, keeping her right eye closed as her left eye focused on Razyn. He was looking at her with a dejected look in his eyes, as if seeing her like this saddened him more than shocked him.

"Namine, can you try to stand?" Razyn softly asked, holding his hand on her chest, blocking her view nicely.

Namine opened her eye and answered with a simple "Yes." Without needing any help from Razyn, Namine stood, smiling as Razyn gave her the once over. With a sigh, Razyn, now wearing a less worried mask, extended a hand to Namine. Still smiling, Namine grasped the hand, only to be pulled closer to Razyn. "R-Razyn? What are you doing?" Namine pleaded, her blushing face only inches away from her friend's.

"Namine..." Razyn whispered, "Focus on me, okay?" After she mumbled some generic answer, Razyn continued. "Do you remember that piece of paper you said I dropped?"

"Ye-Yeah, of course I do." Namine replied in a hushed tone.

"Do you remember what it said?"

"Yes. I do."

"Could you promise me something? Will you follow those instructions?"

Namine cocked an eyebrow as she tried to register his request. "Huh?" Razyn gently squeezed her hands as he calmly repeated himself. "I... I still don't understand..." Namine admitted as she furrowed her brow in defeat.

Razyn grimaced before smiling again and leaning closer. "Don't Cry." Razyn pleaded to the now-distraught Namine.

"Okay..."

"Promise me, Namine."

"I promise."

"You promise what?"

"I promise that I won't cry."

"..."

Razyn backed up a bit, and gave a sigh of relief. "Just remember: don't cry." He said, sounding different than usual.

"Okay."

"Don't cry." Razyn repeated, sounding less lucid.

"Okay." Namine firmly repeated.

"Don't. Cry." Razyn repeated, this time sounding just... unstable. Namine wasn't sure what was happening, but she didn't like it. She was about to ask him just what he thought he was doing, when by pure chance, she looked down at their feet.

To be more specific, her feet. Razyn's legs stopped at just below his knees, and were disappearing little by little. Not exactly disappearing; disappearing meant that they would be gone without a trace. No, his legs were turning into black sand, and flying straight into Namine's heart...

Namine's eyes widened as realization dawned on her. She looked back up to Razyn's face to find his eyes were closed. "You can't do this!" She shouted, startling Razyn. "There must be another way!" Razyn looked down on her with melancholy in his eyes. He shook his head, and closed his eyes again. Namine gazed down; Razyn's waist was starting to disappear. "Razyn! Listen to me!"

"..."

"Listen to me!"

"..."

"Razyn!"

"Namine," Razyn firmly said, giving his aforementioned friend a start. "You promised me you wouldn't cry, right?"

Namine stared at Razyn as if he had gone mad. "Yes, I did." She answered the still blind teen while trying to pull him by the hands that she was still holding. "But that doesn't matter! I'm going to-"

"Remember your promise, okay?" Razyn said, his voice cracking. Even though he was smiling - almost blissfully - Namine could tell that Razyn had lost his composure; the fact that this was most likely the first time in his life only filled her with further dread.

All notions of this little stunt being a joke were far gone as Namine checked the progress of her confidant; as if he had finally given up, Razyn's disappearing had accelerated to the point where the ash was no longer ash. It was now a string, quickly unwinding from Razyn like yarn and flowing straight into Namine.

Namine reached up, holding onto Razyn's cheeks as he disappeared. "Please don't go," she whispered, bringing the fading face closer, and closer. Maybe she imagined it; maybe it didn't happen; all Namine knew was that that one instance was the single most happiest moment in her life, and that this right now would forever be remembered as the most wretched moment of her life.

Namine fell to her knees, and for the first time ever, roared to the heavens in rage and sorrow, eyes wide and trembling. When she finally stopped, she felt empty.

'If I could change my luck...' She thought after her bout of frustration. Namine chuckled and grinned like a cynic.

Today was crappy. This whole adventure was crappy...

With that, Namine slumped backward, accidentally hitting her head against the white floor of the flower room.

"Ow..."

A/N

Sometimes I think to myself, "Can I write X type of story...? Naw, that's impossible!"

And yet here I am, writing a cynical tale for Namine/Razyn's backstory... By the Gods, I hope the others don't turn out as depressing as this one...

Read and Review!

qinop out.