The final chapter of this arc is upon us! I hope you all had a good Christmas!
April 6, X91
In a black, empty void, Sakura was just floating and in some kind of coma.
*Where am I?* Sakura thought.
"Why did you let me die?"
Sakura turned around to see Kuroko floating nearby.
"Why did you let me die, Sakura?"
Sakura turned around again to see Fleuressca there as well.
"Why did you let me die? Why did you let me die? Why did you let me die?"
They kept repeating these words over and over and it was starting to drive Sakura mad.
Elsewhere in the void, Frost was looking around and trying to get a sense of where she was.
"Where's the exit?" Frost wondered. "There has to be a way out of here!"
"Frost…" A pained voice spoke.
"Is that Melody?" Frost tried to swim through the air toward where she heard the voice.
Her eyes widened when she was able to see Melody, who was bloodied and torn in half.
"What… No…" Frost muttered. "This can't be real… It can't be…"
In another part of the void, Jayden was floating in the nothingness.
"So is this it?" Jayden asked himself. "Am I going to die? Heh… It's almost funny… Just when I finally get my freedom, it's short-lived…"
Just then, he could feel a strange breeze pass by him.
"Wind? In here?"
Suddenly, a large number of images appeared in his head. Most of those images were of the Lexus estate and the Phoenix Dawn guild.
"What is this? Wait… Are these… Jason's memories? I see… His life was so full of joy, but also full of sorrow… And that's why I can't die here! I made a vow to live out my life for his sake! I refuse to be the kind of person who can't keep his promises!"
Back in the Lexus estate, Alexander was about to walk away until a portal to the void appeared behind him.
"What's going on?"
In front of Jayden appeared a white light that nearly blinded him at first.
"Is that the exit?" Jayden stepped toward the light, but then turned around. "I've got to find Sakura, Frost and Lionel first."
Jayden made his way through the abyss in search of his fellow guild mates. He first found Sakura who was curled up, crying and clutching her head.
"Sakura…" Jayden gently said.
"I tried my best…" Sakura sobbed. "I did… I didn't want any of you to die… I'm sorry…"
"Sakura, what are you talking about?" Jayden asked.
Then he remembered the words that Alexander said before casting the spell that sent them there.
(Begin Flashback)
"I am casting you all into oblivion." Alexander answered. "You will all wander the abyss for all eternity. Not even I know what awaits you there, but I certainly know that you'll never be able to escape."
(End Flashback)
"The void must be affecting her mind and driving her insane." Jayden surmised. "Sakura. Sakura, calm down."
Jayden placed his hand on Sakura's shoulders.
"What you're seeing isn't real." Jayden said. "And nobody blames you for what happened to Fleuressca and Kuroko. They wouldn't want you to beat yourself up. They'd want you to live the rest of your life to the fullest. Isn't that the duty of the living?"
Sakura finally managed to calm down and lifted her head up to see Jayden smiling at her.
"Jayden…" Sakura said with her eyes still teary.
"We both have lives to live out for others, so let's not die today, all right?" Jayden asked.
Sakura looked at him for a second and her normal look of determination returned to her face.
"You bet!" Sakura replied.
"Now let's go find Frost and Lionel." Jayden said. "Hold my hand so we don't lose each other."
Jayden and Sakura locked their hands together and continued floating through the void.
Back outside, Alexander continued leering at the portal.
"What is going on in there?" Alexander wondered. "Is anything going to come out anytime soon?"
Jayden and Sakura finally made it to Frost. After calming her down, she held onto Sakura's hand and they continued floating through the void until they found Lionel. They helped him to regain his senses and he grabbed onto Frost's arm.
"Now that we're all together again…" Jayden said before looking back toward the light. "We can get out of here."
"Wait, when did that appear?" Lionel asked.
"Yeah, before you came along I couldn't even see that." Frost said.
"I don't know why…" Jayden said before thinking about it for a minute. "Let's just focus on getting out of here for now."
In the mansion's ballroom, Alexander continued watching the portal until he could make something out from inside.
"… There's no way…" Alexander gasped.
Two fists flew in through the portal and clocked Alexander straight in the face, knocking back several meters. Alexander looked up to see that the fists belonged to Sakura and Jayden, who had arrived with Frost and Lionel in tow as the portal closed behind them.
"How did you escape the void?!" Alexander questioned.
"You'd never understand, Alexander!" Jayden said. "You only live for the sake of preservation, to keep your bloodline going. We live because other people need us, even those who have passed on. And by the way, you're a horrible great grandfather."
A gust of wind began surrounding Jayden's arm and he pointed it at Alexander.
"Zephyr Shotgun!" Jayden said.
The gust blasted Alexander and sent him crashing into the wall.
"That's Jason's magic!" Sakura said. "How are you-"
"I absorbed it from the clone Kagura fought, remember?" Jayden asked. "Ready to finish this?"
"Yeah!" Sakura answered. "Poison Forest Dragon Mode!" Sakura became surrounded in poisonous cherry blossom petals.
Jayden formed another gust of wind around his arms and mixed them with water to form miniature hurricanes.
"Void Dragon Rain!"
Laser beams started raining down from above their heads, but Sakura and Jayden began making a mad dash toward Alexander while dodging the laser beams.
"Poison Forest Dragon…"
"Water Dragon…"
Once they were both within point blank range of Alexander, Jayden and Sakura let loose their attacks.
"Storm!" Sakura shouted as she shot out a flurry of pink and purple cherry blossom petals.
"Zephyr Hurricane!" Jayden shouted as he mixed the hurricanes around both of his arms to form a larger one.
The two attacks mixed together and struck Alexander head on.
"Ice Dragon Roar!"
"White Lightning Dragon Roar!"
Both Frost and Lionel shot powerful breaths attacks at the hurricane, blending all of the elements together and creating a powerful elemental tornado that was severely damaging Alexander.
*I can't take any more of this…* Alexander thought.
The tornado was poisoning him, freezing him and slicing and burning his skin.
*Looks like the Lexus line… is over…*
As the tornado died down, the Phoenix Dawn Dragon Slayers witnessed Alexander's body start to disintegrate.
"What's happening to him?" Sakura asked.
"Not only was your combined attack extremely powerful, but my Void Dragon Slayer Magic is reducing my body to nothing." Alexander answered. "When I run out of magic power, I must sacrifice my body to the void. That was the one side effect of this magic I could never counteract. But I guess you're all happy that I won't be around anymore. Your revenge has been satisfied."
"Sorry, but for me this was never about revenge." Jayden said. "This was about stopping you so no one else would suffer from your actions."
"Heh, the Lexus line is dead anyway…" Alexander said. "Once the Magic Council gets word of everything that transpired here, the family will be stripped of their status and thrown out into the streets."
"I should take responsibility for that." Jayden said. "Mr. and Mrs. Lexus, as well as Alfred and Sayoko, can stay in Roseshade with me."
Alexander gave a light smile before finally disappearing and the four young wizards simply fell to the ground in exhaustion.
"Man, am I beat!" Sakura said.
"I feel I could just keel over!" Lionel said.
"It's all over now…" Jayden sighed.
"Wait, Jayden, how do you know the people who live here?" Frost asked.
"I'm not sure." Jayden answered. "I just remember that while we were in the void, I suddenly got Jason's memories. It's as if he came back one last time to remind me to live."
"… Okay." Frost simply said.
April 8, X791
Back in Roseshade, Jayden was waking up in his new home. It was a house big enough for a small family, looked really nice and cost him almost 120,000 J per month. He got out of bed, got dressed and headed downstairs to where Katelyn and Nathan Lexus were having breakfast. Since the Lexus family lost their status due to Alexander's actions, once Jayden got a place to stay he offered them to stay with him until they got back on their feet.
"Good morning, Jayden." They both greeted him as he walked down the steps.
"Good morning." Jayden replied as he grabbed a slice of toast and started spreading peanut butter all over one side. "How's the job hunting going?"
"We're still looking for a nice job." Nathan said.
"Thanks again for letting us stay with you." Katelyn said.
"Well, if I ever bring a girl here and tell her you live with me and not the other way around, I'll still be honest." Jayden said.
"Is there a girl you have an eye on, Jayden?" Nathan asked. "There are plenty of eligible women in town."
"I, uh, actually have someone in mind." Jayden answered while slightly blushing.
"I do hope it's Kagura." Katelyn said. "She was always so pleasant when she visited with Jason."
"Yeah, I remember." Jayden lightly chuckled. "Anyway, I should head to the guild hall and get a job as soon as possible."
Jayden put the toast in his mouth and was about to walk out.
"Wait! Let Mommy give you a kiss." Katelyn said.
"No, Mom, I'm 23 years old!" Jayden said. "It's too embarrassing!"
Jayden arrived at the guild hall and everyone inside turned to face him.
"Jay!" Everyone called out.
Since everyone was used to calling him Jason, they just started to call him Jay in order to avoid confusion. Seated at a nearby table were Sakura, Flora, Spiral, Frost and Cole and Jayden walked over to their table.
"Here are your orders." Sayoko said. She was now wearing a red and white waitress uniform with the Phoenix Dawn emblem emblazoned on the chest and she was carrying a tray of several plates of food. "An order of salad for Ms. Momohime, one plate of chicken for Mr. Yuki, one bowl of spaghetti for the future Mrs. Yuki…"
Hikari affectionately leaned in toward Spiral, leaving Spiral a bit flustered.
"One bowl of cherry sherbet for Ms. Sokolov and a plate of raw fish for Ms. Flora and Mr. Cole." Sayoko finished handing them their orders.
"I also wanted milk!" Cole said.
"I'm sorry." Sayoko said. "I don't recall you asking for milk."
Cole started fondling Sayoko's breasts, much to her embarrassment.
"Wow, they're so soft!" Cole said.
Sayoko angrily slapped Cole on the cheek, but regained her calm demeanor once he was lying on the table.
"If you need anything else, just let me know." Sayoko said before walking off.
Jayden looked over toward the bar where he saw Alfred serving drinks to Tristan.
"Sir, are sure you want to drink this early?" Alfred asked.
"I never drink the harder stuff in the morning." Tristan replied. "That's why I'm just asking for a beer."
"A-as you wish, sir." Alfred said.
Jayden smiled at how lively and happy everyone in the guild was and took his seat by Sakura and Spiral.
A/N: Sorry this one took longer than I intended! I hope you all had a good holiday! Next chapter I'm going to introduce a new character and start the training for the Grand Magic Games, immediately followed by the actual games! I have quite a few things planned! Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next time!