Oh my gosh, we're almost there! I'm so excited! –bounces around-

To be honest, I may post the last three Parts later today... Oh, what 'may?' I most likely will. Or I'll do it tomorrow. Whatever.

"The only thing I hate more than Mohs himself is if I find myself acting like Mohs..." –Sync

Chapter 13.9 – End Game
Part 119

Sync's POV

The minute Noelle let us off the Albiore and Asch sent it back to Eldrant, I had a feeling this wasn't going to end well. We started off into the forest, with Dark leading, since no one trusted Asch not to get lost—not even himself.

That feeling got worse when we found the clearing. How no one had ever spotted the giant green crystal that stood in the center of it was beyond me.

Or, given the almost ceremonial-looking black robe Zion was suddenly wearing and the two assassins guarding Kairi, who had been stripped of weapons—even the frying pan—and was currently tied to the softly-glowing monolith, perhaps it wasn't so beyond me.

Zion snorted. "Looks like you caught up faster than I thought you would. Funny. I thought you needed the Jewel and the Sword in order to free Lorelei? I know that was on your list of things to do in Eldrant."

I scowled, even as Asch stepped forward. "We knew we were walking into a trap. I left the Sword with Luke even before we stepped into it."

Zion looked amused. "Interesting. You allowed yourselves to walk into a trap, allowed yourselves to be separated... You realize, with Star, Arietta, Danté, and Mirage still at Eldrant, it's very possible at least one of your friends has died." He tilted his head to the side. "You would abandon them in a futile attempt at saving a woman who isn't from Auldrant to begin with?"

Reighn had been right. Zion would try to use that against us.

Too bad.

"She's my best friend," Dark said simply.

Gungnir flashed into Jade's hand. "And my little sister."

"A trusted confidant." This one was Reighn's.

"And an open mind," Flick added.

"A protector," Selenia said, threading her fingers through mine. I glanced down at her, confident now.

"A guiding hand."

Asch stepped forward, almost right in front of Zion. "I don't give a damn if she was born on another world. I don't care if she was raised with vastly different customs. I love her, and I'm not going to let you stand between me and the woman who saved me from myself."

Zion looked only mildly impressed.

"So she did tell you. Funny. I'd have sworn from the way Luke was acting that he didn't have a clue."

Asch didn't look amused. "Get out of my way."

Zion sneered. "Forget it."

I hated it when my bad feelings bore fruit.

Selenia released my hand, and I ran forward to help fight Zion. Asch was angry, and not about to let up, but...

Odd. Ryndor was running over to help, but Rhunön hadn't moved.

The reason became obvious after just a moment.

None of us would be able to get around these two and sneak off to free Kairi.

I scowled and drew the Black Rose daggers. Judging from that glowing and the lack of fighting from Kairi, we didn't have a lot of time.

I noticed that Ryndor was heckling Asch for the most part, leaving me alone. Then I remembered what he'd said back in Chesedonia.

"You're not going to have much of a choice, are you Master Ryndor?"

"No. Rhunön and I have our part to play, and we'll play it."

I struck out against Zion. If we killed him, then Ryndor and Rhunön would likely leave in peace. Which meant we'd be able to save Kairi.

Zion seemed to have realized that, though, and he sent everyone flying by activating his over-limit. Then the world faded out, and I cursed. Zion's Mystic Arte...

"O darkened spirit of anguish, seek release and channel thy power unto me!"

I couldn't help it. I screamed as fire tore through my body. Selenia and Flick both yelled, too, and even Jade and Asch grunted. Damn, had he gotten all of us in that?

I glanced at Reighn as the arte faded, and noticed that he was leaning rather heavily on Gold Wisteria.

He then started immediately casting, and no wonder. Selenia, Flick, Dark, and Asch were all down.

Damn... Zion was stronger than I'd thought, if he could wipe out half of us with one Mystic Arte.

"Guide these poor souls that they may rise anew!" Reighn chanted. I breathed a soft sigh of relief. Good. Regenerate wasn't nearly as strong as Dark's Sacrifice, but it was stronger than Tear's Resurrection. It would be enough to get those four on their feet again.

Especially since Dark, our best choice for mass-healing due to his Sacrifice, was one of the unconscious ones.

"Regenerate!"

Dark, Flick, Selenia, and Asch were all still a bit woozy from being knocked out, but at least they were on their feet again, even as I ducked and rolled under one of Zion's attacks.

"Heh, this feels kinda familiar, doesn't it?" he taunted. I scowled. No kidding. That last time I'd fought him alone, Asch had gotten captured, and...

"I'm not letting you kill me this time!" I said as I used a Cyclone Shot. Yeah, it'd launch me past him, but that was fine too.

Zion frowned as he turned to face me. "What do mean? You're obviously still alive."

I snorted. "Only because Mom and Aunt Nephry never let go of my body."

Realization seemed to strike him—and so did my Shadow Daggers. Zion hissed as the actual Black Rose dagger got lodged in his arm. Any doubt that he'd been poisoned?

It didn't take very long for me to decide that yes, Zion was dying whether he liked it or not. Time for one last jab.

"You know, I really hate Mohs. I hate the way he treated you, and the way he treated the rest of us after we were created. The only thing I hate more than Mohs himself is if I find myself acting like Mohs..."

Zion snorted as he spun for a Draconic Soul.

He stumbled as it ended, and I saw as his eyes widened and then shot down to the black and red dagger he'd tossed on the ground. Those eyes then moved up to me, and I couldn't even bring myself to scowl.

"Kairi told us you'd been poisoned by Mohs. Under any other circumstances, I don't think I would have done that. But I refuse to stand by and allow Kairi to die."

Zion's legs gave out under him. "Damn... You're stronger than I expected... if you can poison someone... to save another." He let his head hang, but from the way he'd twisted, it was obvious he was looking at Kairi.

Rhunön and Asch were fighting now, with Reighn reluctantly helping Asch. Jade, Selenia, and Flick were fighting Ryndor still.

Dark was guarding my back.

"It's too late, anyway."

"What?"

Zion lifted his head to look up at me. "The monolith... It started glowing the moment Kairi touched it. She... she stopped responding to Rhunön and Ryndor's comments about an hour before you got here." His head dropped again, and I realized it was just a matter of him not having the strength to keep it lifted. "Rhunön closed her eyes to make it look like... like she was unconscious. It was unnerving her, the way she was... just kinda staring. There's... no going back... once they get past that point. Kairi's gone..."

"How do you know?!"

"Because Kairi isn't the first."

Zion wasn't the one to answer. Instead, it was Ryndor. He flipped back, and then scrambled up a tree and settled in, almost as if he was waiting for something. "But none of the others lasted this long, and the monolith has never started pulsing like that."

I looked back to the monolith. Ryndor's words rang true. The glow would brighten, then fade, then brighten again.

Zion groaned as his grip on his scythe, the only thing keeping him somewhat upright, faltered. He mumbled a few curses before looking up at me. "It's over. You didn't make it in time... and her precious false body... won't be enough... to save her... when it's her very soul... the monolith is... claiming..."

A few more shaky breaths were accented by the sudden lack of fighting in the clearing. I dared to glance over at the monolith.

Rhunön was gone. Where to, I didn't know, nor did I care to find out.

Not with the way Asch was standing in front of Kairi, Ultimatus abandoned a couple yards away.

And I knew that not-completely-there look in his eyes.

Asch was half on the second plane.

I stepped over toward him, Zion and Ryndor forgotten. This couldn't be happening... We couldn't be failing, not after this long...

We couldn't lose Kairi...

The monolith's glow continued to pulse, even as I stepped up next to Asch. His hands were shaking, and rather than ask him what he could see...

I closed my eyes, still standing, and reached out. I'd never tried this before, but I needed to see this. If Zion was right...

Finding my center was easy. Not simply stepping out of my body was harder.

It felt... almost like using my astral projection. Except, right on top of myself. It was a strange feeling, but it didn't really bother me.

The way Kairi's Energy Core was being broken up and drawn into the Energy-drawing monolith, on the other hand, bothered me greatly, and I took a step back.

There was no way to free Kairi, that I could see, without killing her, physically or spiritually.

Either way, she was dead. Or would be for us.

"Asch..."

He shook his head, but didn't budge from where he was holding onto Kairi.

"We should leave... if that explodes like I think it's going to while we're all still here... We'll all be dead," I said. He just kept shaking his head, and as my vision went blurry, I couldn't blame him.

"What about Kairi...?" I heard him murmur. I bit my lip and shook my head, feeling a tear run down a cheek. A year ago, I'd have cared that I was crying in front of these people. Now... Now, I was trying too hard not to completely break down to worry about my pride.

"The only thing that would save even part of her would be to cut her loose, but... If we do that..." I trailed off and looked over at Jade, hoping my expression would tell him what I couldn't force myself to say.

"Whoever stays behind will die as well... There's no way to stop the seal from breaking, is there?" he asked. I looked back at Asch. Jade knew the answer to that. He knew. He didn't have to ask.

Everything we'd worked for to save the Clans was now for nothing... And we were going to lose Kairi. We were going to lose the person who had brought us together in the first place, and I was scared. My sister, my guide, the girl who'd given me a family even before Cantabile had made it official...

"Asch."

I turned and swallowed when I realized that Jade, Reighn, and Flick were back at the edge of the clearing. Jade had been the one to call out, and I held back the sobs that threatened to unleash themselves when I saw his face. The exact same expression he'd worn a year ago, when we first thought Kairi had died. I glanced around for the other two, and saw Selenia near me.

Then I saw Dark. Dark's hands were shaking, but not with grief, as were mine and Asch's.

Dark was holding in rage.

"Asch..." I called softly. Dark was never angry. Tired, exasperated, irritated, and sometimes he'd snap at people.

But Dark didn't get angry, not like this. Not like Asch, whose temper was legendary. Not like Jade, who could and would fly off the handle if you were persistent enough. Certainly not like Kairi, whose anger was almost always in someone's defense. Dark was usually the calm one, the cool, collected one that kept everything together even when it was all going to hell in a hand basket.

Dark had been raised an assassin. He'd become a loyal bodyguard. He hated killing, even if it was his job.

Dark looked ready to murder someone.

Asch turned to look at me slowly, then looked over at Dark a bit more quickly.

He reluctantly stepped away from Kairi, over toward me and Selenia.

Everyone in the clearing froze the moment he drew a gun and pointed it. Not at any of us. Not at Kairi.

At a spot in the tree line.

Danté stepped out, and I felt like I'd been dropped into some sort of alternate reality. Dark was pissed.

And Danté looked like he'd been through hell, come back, and was ready to give up.

"Danté?!"

Flick sounded like she wasn't sure whether to scream, cry, or just run at him and try to kill him.

Danté shot what I supposed was an attempt at a glare at us, and I realized that something must have happened at Eldrant.

"Get out of here."

The soft, monotonic words told me how little fight was left in him, and I swallowed.

"But Kairi—" And Asch was still stuck on not leaving her behind. I couldn't blame him, but... Dammit, I didn't want to lose him too!

More tears prickled in my eyes, and I looked at the ground. Was I being selfish to want to keep Asch with me? Maybe a little. Okay. Maybe a lot.

"I'm going to try to cut her loose." My head shot up. I couldn't have heard that— "But if I fail, do you really still want to be here when that thing explodes?"

Danté was walking over to Kairi's equipment, and while it looked more like a death march to me, I wasn't sure if Dark was going to shoot him or not yet.

Danté bent over long enough to retrieve Silver Clematis. Then he turned those dull, nearly-lifeless green eyes on us, hesitating on Dark.

A moment's pause. Then—

"Let's go."

The gun was put away, and Dark turned on his heel and stalked over to the others, only pausing long enough to make sure Asch was following him. I followed Asch, Selenia by my side. I hadn't noticed when she'd slipped her hand into mine again. Nor did I especially care anymore.

We made it just a few hundred yards into the forest before the green glow behind us suddenly reached a point where it could be considered 'blinding'.

Then the shockwave hit us, followed by debris. I grabbed Selenia and tried to shield her, and noticed Jade doing the same for Flick. Asch, Reighn, and Dark all just hit the ground.

When it was over, I couldn't resist. I ran back to the clearing and gaped at the destruction.

The monolith was gone. Danté was gone.

Kairi was gone.

Silver Clematis shimmered and disappeared, as if taunting me.

And I screamed.

Fun Fact: As I said before, Danté basically wrote this last part for me when I started Dying Embers/A Dying Light. Probably a good thing he did, because Sync was not wanting to do it. At all. But, Sync was more cooperative than Asch, and, well... It just seemed fitting that Sync be the one to kill Zion, since Zion did manage to kill him back in Re:ARitA, technically.