Well guys, it's official, I'm pathetic lol. It's been WAY too long since I wrote last and the sad thing is, I think I say this each time I post. I've really been looking for inspiration and found absolutely none. It doesn't help we're all back in school either, seeing as homework isn't exactly inspirational except when coming up with ways to send yourself unconscious or into hyperventilation.
All in all this chapter and the next went well in my brain, now whether they transferred from there to paper well is another question entirely lol. I decided since I've been such a loser about posting chapters that I'd write you guys two long ones to make up for all the patient and/or impatient waiting you've done. You guys have been such loyal readers and it means a lot to me, really it does. I hope I can pull this all together, but I really don't want to finish this fic haha. Once this one is done I'll be working on the other one I posted and never went anywhere with (big surprise).
Once again I owe my inspiration to Evanescence's latest album; it really does help to write dark scenes like this chapter. I hope I can keep using it, because I'm not I want this entire story to end happily ever after gag.
Well, here we go. I hope you enjoy what will be some of the last chapters of this fanfic. There will be a couple more after these two, and who knows, maybe five more lol. I'm unpredictable like that, or maybe I just like to change my mind a lot. Enjoy! X3
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Recap…
"And tell me," He said, his voice calm yet frightening. "How is it he's returned?"
"Don't pretend I know!" I threw my words in his face. "You had him killed, I saw it! If anyone should know what's going on it's you!"
I tightened my hands and it was then that I remembered what Sven had pressed into my hand. I glanced down to see a sleek golden bullet in my hand. The Orihalcum bullet…so Sephiria wanted me to kill Creed. But Sven had said she had given it to him to give to me, which meant Sephiria knew Sven was alive…so maybe Creed really didn't know what was going on…someone else was in on this, I just didn't know who.
"Let's finish this," I growled, my hand tightening around the bullet and my determination restoring itself. "One way or another."
"One Way or Another"
"Alright, Train," Creed said quietly as he held his sword up and studied its invisible blade as if he could see it.
"What…?" I asked in a husky, dark tone, almost in disbelief as he seemed to finally find the action he wanted to take.
"I said," Creed replied in a tone that matched my own as he turned his eyes away from his blade to look at me. "Alright."
"This is what you want?" I asked as I pulled Hades up beside my face and slid the Orihalcum bullet into one of the empty slots and filling the rest with regular bullets.
"No," He replied as he lowered the blade and turned to face me entirely. "But it's what you want and that…is what I want."
I couldn't help but to let a cynical smirk cross my face as he took a step back and we studied one another. This was it, the day I could never have prepared myself for and then again I had been waiting for ever since the day he had killed Saya. There was so much tied into this and now I was about to break those ties and destroy it all.
Then again there was part of me that could never do what I knew I had to. There were moments between us I couldn't erase from my mind but then again wanted to. In some ways I wanted to destroy all of that, and in another way it had made me feel somehow human in a way I had never been allowed to before.
I glared at him as he drew his blade in front of him and studied me. I pulled Hades up in front of me and stared him down over the top of the metal piece. This was the last time anything would come between us. This was the last time, no matter what had happened between us that I would have to deal with him.
The clash of metal and the explosion of firing bullets filled the air for what felt like hours. It was a blur of color and pain as we threw ourselves at one another before dodging away to safety. There was no upper hand in this fight, just an unsteady and lethal one.
He shoved me backwards, my feet skidding before my back collided with the wall, before, in a matter of seconds, his blade was slashing at my neck. I bent forward and dodged to the side, missing the invisible blade by what felt like centimeters. I moved backwards, aiming Hades and taking three steady shots. He deflected the first two with his blade, but the third sunk deep into his bicep, not earning a single wince of pain from his maniacal face.
I dodged to the side as he swung his deadly blade again, cutting a nearby pillar in two as the top half slid and crashed to the floor. I ducked again as he swung another time, before falling to one knee and aiming up at him. I squinted over the top of Hades as I tried to aim, my hand unsteady from the several cuts my arm had received from his imaginary blade.
As he came closer, his steps slow and calculated, I took one more final aim before pulling the trigger. The bullet hit his right hand, his sword falling from his hand as he let out a strange shriek of pain.
I got to my feet almost immediately before taking several steps back. I watched as Creed retrieved the sword with his left hand-his weaker hand. He straightened and glared at me, blood dripping down from a cut in his scalp and running down the skin beside his eye.
He literally growled as our eyes met, refusing to look away, before charging at me. I wasn't ready, but I knew I had to be. I threw myself into the attack, rushing at him as well before blocking his oncoming attack with Hades. The sound of metal grinding on metal filled the air as we battled for dominance of the very spot we stood on.
His eyes bore into mine as if in some kind of attempt to weaken me, but I only returned the glare as I pushed back.
"Give up, Train," He growled, his voice higher than normal.
My silence was his only answer as threw myself away from him and ducked behind a nearby pillar as his blade cut through the stone only inches above my head. The large slab of stone turned on it's foundation before falling and crashing to the shining floor, smashing into several large pieces.
I slid down slightly, catching my breath as I listened to the silence that had ensued after the destruction Creed had caused. I stood there in silence, waiting, listening for the slightest sound but everything had gone quiet, even Creed. I wanted to look, to see if he was still standing there, but I knew that would be the first mistake of many that I could make.
Making a decision somewhere in my head I took a deep breath, pulling Hades up next to my face, before pushing away from the stone slab and spinning around to point my gun at…nothing.
I took several quick steps out into the open, making sure to look in every direction possible, aiming this way and that but coming up empty handed. He had disappeared entirely, to where? I couldn't tell.
I took another cautious step out, waiting for him to jump out of wherever he was hiding, sword in hand, but the silence continued to mask the room as if it had been there all along. It was as if Creed had never been here-as if this fight had never begun except for the ruined columns that lay around the room.
I turned slowly, looking up towards the arched ceiling. I took a step backwards, listening hard before glancing over my should. No one was there and it was beginning to drive my nerves insane.
There was a bright flash of lightning from the storm outside, lighting up the room with the eerie white glow, followed by a deep growl of thunder. The rain continued to hammer the roof, echoing in the large room like hundreds of feet running above me.
The noise and light was all too much for my nerves. I spun around, pointing Hades in front of me, my eyes searching frantically for him. Normally I could remain calm in a situation like this, normally I would be just fine, but something about this place-something about Creed was driving me crazy.
The lightning flashed again and I turned, looking into the once darkened corners to see nothing but the stone rooms towering walls. I looked up, over, behind me, in front of me, only to find nothing at all. I jerked and aimed carefully when I heard a noise coming from the direction of the doors, footsteps maybe, I wasn't sure.
I lowered my aim as I saw her standing there, watching me as I stood in the center of the darkened room, looking more than insane I was sure. She never moved, never spoke, just stood there and watched me. I took a step forward before stopping. I wanted to go to her, wanted to see her-it had been so long-but I knew it couldn't be possible…
I could hold myself back. I walked towards her, faster and faster until I had crossed the space between us, her features clear now that I was closer.
"Saya," I said, slightly out of breath. "How-I can't believe-"
I couldn't get the words of my mouth; her face was so clear, so real that it felt like she was really standing there in front of me. I had seen her so many times in my mind, felt her near me, and wished she really was, but here she stood, as real as any other person.
"Saya, I-"
There was a blinding flash of lightning and it was as if the image in front of me melted away into nothing but shadows and air only to be replaced by another figure I hadn't been expected.
Creed stood there, his sword at his side and a strange look on his face. He took a step towards me and it was all I could do not to take a step back. He took another step forward until we were only a few inches away from one another.
"Strange, isn't it?" He asked quietly, his voice barely audible over the roar of the storm. "What the mind can do?"
His hand rose and brushed against my cheek, making me wrench my face away. I felt strange. My chest was tight with all the emotions I had been feeling for the past months, all of them building up inside me as if ready to explode. His hand came in contact with my face again before grabbing my chin and wrenching my face back so that we were face to face.
"You will forget her someday," He said quietly, his face too close-not where I wanted it this time. "There are some things you need to learn to let go, Train."
"Like you?" I asked in a growl, his hand on my chin tightening slightly before it slid down to my throat and held on tightly.
He lifted my feet from the ground, my toes centimeters above the shining floor, before throwing me across the shining floor and into the ruin of a nearby pillar.
"I sacrificed everything for you!" He practically screamed as he came towards me, his sword held threateningly at his side. "I would've given you anything!"
I pushed myself up, trying to stand as he came closer but the pain from the wound in my side and from the new bruises was making me move slower. He pulled his arm back and wrenched it forward, the invisible blade lengthening and slicing across my abdomen. I gritted my teeth and faltered as the pain shot through my stomach and up my chest, not cutting anything but muscle and skin but hurting enough to make a point.
"I thought you of all people would understand, Train!" He yelled again, swinging the blade down and cutting into my right arm. "I thought you would believe in what I had to say!"
His blade swung again and again, cutting into my chest, my leg, my back, and my sides before he hit me hard and flung me across the floor. I stood weakly only to be hit again by the blade. I faltered as my legs buckled and I fell to my knees, my hands hitting the stone floor hard as blood dripped and splashed against it.
I heard his footsteps as he came up beside me before his hand took hold of my hair and yanked me up so that I was kneeling in front of him. He let me go, letting me kneel on my own as my body threatened to fall forward.
"I wanted to create this with you, Train," He said the words he had said so many times before as he ran the blade of his sword down the side of my face almost affectionately. "I wanted you at my side…the only man worthy to stand beside me."
I had no emotion left to throw at him, no words left to say knowing no matter what I said, no matter what I did it would never get the point across to him.
"I don't want to do this," He said, his voice sad as he watched me with softened eyes. "I don't want to end your life."
I continued to watch him as the lightning flashed around us, as the thunder roared and the wind slammed against the out walls of the house. Silence reigned in this room as we watched one another, wondering if these were the last few seconds that would fall between us. There was nothing left to say that hadn't already been said, and there was nothing left for us to do but to end this…to bring it all to a close.
"Train," He said calmly as his blade rose, running along my neck but never cutting the skin. "I think it's time we said goodbye."
He pulled his arm back, his sword glinting in the light, but his face was pained and even sad as the blade swung towards me, cutting through the air and soon to be me.
I could see it almost as if in slow motion as I stared at his saddened face. I could see the blade moving out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sven, and Eve rush the doors on the opposite side, and I could feel my hand moving on it's own as I pulled Hades up, pointing at him at first, before swinging towards the blade.
There was an explosion of sound followed by the clatter of metal as his invisible sword exploded and fell to the ground. His arm had stopped in mid motion, his face shocked as he heard the sound of his precious sword destroyed. He still held the hilt as if the blade were still there, as if it should be lodged in my neck by now, but he knew better.
I pulled myself to my knees, my body weak as I forced it to work against all it had been through. I rose in front of him, Hades falling to my side as I looked into his shocked face. His eyes fell to all that remained of his sword before he let it slip from his fingers. He looked to me slowly; his look strangled as if he couldn't believe what I had just done.
We stood in silence until I pulled Hades up in between us, aiming it between his eyes and cocking it.
"Yes," He whimpered as he pulled himself back to reality. "If this is how it ends I want it to be you that kills me, Train."
He sank slowly to his knees, his eyes closing as if this was what he had wanted all along. Part of me was disturbed, while the other half was screaming for me to pull the trigger. I could end it here, I could finish everything I had been working to these past few months, but another part of me, as small as it may have been, was pleading for me to spare his life.
"I was going to leave here, Creed," I said calmly, my voice low so that only he could hear. "I was going to let you think Chronos had taken me, I was going to let you believe that I hadn't really wanted to leave. For once I didn't want to hurt you, but I changed my mind…"
His eyes opened as if this scared him. For a man who had just pleaded for me to kill him he was acting as though it were all a brilliant lie he was hoping I'd decide against. My finger tightened slightly, my murderous side getting the best of me for a few seconds before I loosened my finger and watching him, my face expressionless.
"I've wanted to kill you for a long time," I said, his face changing slightly as if my words hurt him. "What you did to Saya-what you did to Sven…all of it…I can't forgive you."
"You don't have to forgive me, Train," He said pleadingly as his hands rose and held onto the single hand that I held Hades with. "I don't expect you to. Just stay with me, be with me…you know that's what we're meant to do."
"No," I replied, his hands dropping from mine as he watched me. "You have to pay for what you've done…"
I aimed the gun directly between his eyes and pulled the trigger. The world was silent for a moment. The lightning ceased, the thunder fell quiet, and Sven and Eve seemed to be rooted to where they were standing. Creed's eyes were wide and full of what looked like fear mingling with relief, and I felt as though I didn't belong in any of it.
We stood there in silence as a single tear fell down the side of his face and his hands fell to his side. The gun had gone off, but not how he had hoped. I knew Hades was empty save for one bullet, the one I had been holding onto until this moment…
"Train," He whispered, sounding even more pathetic than before.
I pulled the trigger again, and again, silence ensuing as I knew it would, before I knew the Orihalcum was in place. He watched me with pitiful eyes, not pleading, but not content either. It was as if part of him was ready while the other wanted to hold on, but neither side of me was willing to let him do that.
I aimed Hades between his eyes, all of me behind the gun, ready to see the outcome of this situation. My finger tightened on the trigger, ready to pull it.
"You're no god," I said, my voice suddenly full of anger. "And you never will be."
I turned my hand at the last second, shooting his shoulder where the grotesque arm had once been but the red jewel still lay. It exploded, glass and blood flying as he fell back and hit the ground hard, letting out a strangled cry of pain.
He lay there, blood pooling beneath his shoulder as he screamed out. His powers were leaving him, he would return to the human being he had once been, the one I had once known and still hated. I would never learn to like him, and I would never trust him, but at least now he would learn to be human again-he would forget his dreams of becoming a god of all people.
He would never be the same, and neither would I. We were both changed in ways we couldn't have expected, but I wouldn't regret it all, and I would never forget any of it.
"Train!" He screamed, sounding insane as he writhed on the floor in both pain and what I could only assume was fear. "Why!"
"Because you have to learn to live as the human you were meant to be," I said calmly from where I stood, sliding Hades back into its holster. "You're not a god, Creed, and you were never meant to be."
I turned slowly, my back facing him as I walked away, making my way towards Sven and Eve. I wasn't sure how either of them was here but I would find out soon enough.
"No!" Creed screamed, sounding strangled and deranged. "You can't do this to me, Train!"
A portal appeared in the air beside me and Echidna stumbled out, looking worse for wear but alive. She flew past me to Creed's side. At least someone would help him, but it wouldn't be me.
I continued on my way, walking towards my friends, and away from all of this insanity I had been trapped in for far too long.
