Experiment notes #022
Patience
Month X / Day X
The white in her hair is starting to come in and her eyes have already turned golden.
Her recovery seems to be going along well, albeit slowly.
I inject the demon's essence directly into her body little by little. It's a delicate process, but I mustn't rush or she'll turn into a demon.
You'll wake up soon, dear elder sister...
—
Without another word, Riku walked away from Zero, his thoughts weighing heavy on his mind. 'Every time I stick my neck out for her I just end up paying for it in the end. And Accord said people were changing for the better? Yeah right, that sure was a lie.'
You're catching on.
Riku returned to the campsite to pick up his belongings when he found Mikhail was still awake. "Isn't it time for you to go to bed?"
"I know, but I ...I can't sleep."
As much as Riku just wanted to walk away, for Mikhail's sake, he pushed his emotions aside and sat down next to him. "I know how you feel. You wanna know what I used to do when I couldn't sleep?"
"Uhhh what?"
"I would try to count all the stars in the sky. Never failed to put me to sleep when I was a kid."
"Stars?"
"Those small lights you see in the sky every night. You know, they say for every star up there is another world."
Mikhail's eyes widened. "Really? Where'd you hear that from?"
"Uh- I don't remember."
"That's okay, that's still super cool! There's a whole bunch of stars in the sky so that means there's a whole bunch of worlds too! Maaaybe even a world where there's a lotta dragons like me. What do you think, Riku?"
"It's possible, but you're pretty much one of a kind, Mikhail."
"That's good! I think? Wish I could just fly everyone to one of those stars so we could be somewhere nicer. Somewhere where we can all be happy, there's no more bad guys and-and where we can roll around in the mud without getting yelled at, y'know?"
"That would be nice. Except the rolling around in the mud part."
"Although... flying away would just be the easy way out. We can make this place better ourselves!"
"That's easier said than done." Riku stood up. "I need to leave. Get some sleep, okay?"
"Wh- Where are you going?"
"I'm going to find Three and take her down."
"'Cause you wanna save her like Four, right?"
"Yeah...sure. All I know is that she's not going to win."
'There's something different about Riku. He's scary like Zero now.'
"And Mikhail, let's keep this conversation between the two of us. The others wouldn't get it."
"O-Okay...you can count on me Riku! Uh, good-bye."
"Later."
After leaving the campsite behind, he made his way to the Lost Forest. An accurate description because the forest itself was devoured by a fog so thick, a person could take a few steps in and get lost for hours.
Undeterred by the fog, Riku pushed through, as he expected there were more heartless and hybrid soldiers creeping around the heavy mist than he'd ever faced in the Land of Forests. However, be they heartless or soldier Riku showed no mercy, he plowed through all of them without a second thought, focusing only on finding Three. With the progress he was making, he figured he'd be out of the Lost Forest in no time, but a cry for help pulled him out of the action.
"—Hello?! I-If anyone's out there, I desperately need your help!"
'Someone's in danger.' Cupping his hands over her mouth, he yelled, "Hey! Whoever you are, just keep talking! I'll find you!"
"—Keep talking? I don't get that too often!"
'Is this guy seriously making jokes about it?'
"—Alright then, how about some trivia to lighten the mood a bit? Diiiid you know these demons running all over the place are actually the souls of stillborn babies? It kind of makes you think, doesn't it?
'What is he going on about?' Due to all of his excessive talking, it didn't take long for Riku to find the young man in need who was in the middle of fending himself off against a large body heartless. Once Riku arrived, he defeated it in a matter of seconds.
The young man lowered his sword, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Hah, I was going toe to toe with that demon longer than I care to admit and you took it down like it was nothing! I'd be embarrassed if I wasn't grateful for your help, which begs the question, are you perhaps the famous 'demon slayer' I've been searching for?"
"What if I am?"
"If you are then you just made my job ten times easier!" He bowed down. "The name's Cent, Lady Two's devilishly handsome disciple, and I was 'cent' by Lady Three to retrieve you."
"So you know where Three is?"
"Yes, her shrine's actually not too far off from our current location."
"Take me to her."
"Just like that, hm? By the by, Lady Three also asked me to deliver this message to you as an incentive to meet her."
"She can tell me herself. Lead the way."
"Fantastic! I do love it when things so perfectly fall into place. What's your name anyway?"
"Riku."
"Ah, Riku!" Cent put his arm around Riku's shoulder. "From one good-looking guy to the next, I have a feeling you and I are going to be getting along quite well!"
"You talk way too much for that to happen."
"Nevermind then!"
Anon: Lol niiice spongebob joke XD The Flower runs on low blows. Nothing ruins the mood like demon flowers whispering into your ear :/ Being blunt with your friends is like the fastest way to piss a woman off. I honestly just wanted an excuse to make a bunch of riddles so that's why the chapter's formatted that way, surprised you forgot about the Anchor Raider damn. Loool not mom and dad!
Raximus: Here we gooooo
Gundam-Knight-Chris: Poor Riku :/
Ian12091995: ^_^
Keybladelight: Ya you will see what happens to Riku and the Flower this upcoming chapter actually
"Darkness"
"Is this okay?"
"Yeah..."
"I'm not hurting you, am I?"
"Shut up already. You're ruining it."
"Sorry." Riku lowered his head and pressed his lips onto hers, when he raised his head, he held her face in his hands. "...Feel better now?"
"A little."
"Of course you'd say that. I...wish I could stay with you longer."
"What's stopping you?"
He smiled at her. "You're better off dead, that's why. You already know it." In a sudden turn of events, Riku's hand moved down to her neck and he continued to smile as he slowly strangled the life out of her. "Tonight is the last night you'll see my face."
.
.
.
Zero woke up in a cold sweat and her heart was nearly ready to beat out of her chest. "What the fuck?! Damn it...another nightmare." 'How many of those fucking dreams do I need to have? What do those even mean, that I'm horny AND want to die?' She stood up off the ground. 'Guess I should get my mind off of it for now. Octa's been whining about sex for a while, might as well get it over with.'
"Hey, gramps." She kicked Octa awake. "Get up and make it quick."
"Oh ho ho! Yes ma'am on the double! How I've been waiting for this moment!"
By the time Zero and Octa returned, the others were already awake and getting ready for what the day would bring.
"I said make it quick and it still took an hour," Zero grumbled.
"Oh, hello Zero. Have you seen Riku anywhere?" Four asked.
"He's gone."
"To where? Riku would never just outright leave."
Zero went up to Four, leaning in to speak into her ear. "If you want to keep breathing, then I suggest you stop talking."
"...I understand." 'Riku and Zero must've had a really bad falling out so I better stay on her good side for now. I wonder where he could've run off too though?'
Mikhail got up, stretching his wings out and yawning. 'I'm so pooped, I didn't sleep at all last night 'cause I kept on worrying about Riku. I hope he's okay, wherever he is.'
While Zero and the others were on their way to Three's shrine, Riku and Cent had just arrived at the massive tree. It was undeniably the center of all darkness in the Land of Forests, in fact, the tree itself was dying, all the leaves had long since fallen off and large stretches of bark were peeling away.
"How is it already almost morning? We left at night," Riku said.
"Apologies, we would've gotten here much sooner if not for my abysmal cent-s of direction, ha ha!"
"..."
"Tough crowd, huh."
Riku and Cent ventured inside the hollow tree to find the floor littered with dead animals.
Cent pinched his nose. "Well, that's disgusting. This place gets more cluttered every time I visit."
"Three! Where are you?! The demon slayer is here!"
After a few minutes of waiting, a dark portal manifested from the center of the floor and Three dragged herself out from the darkness. Her appearance was more haggardly than it had ever been. No longer the beauty of the forest, her face was now sunken in and her body was skeleton-like, making her look ancient.
Riku took a moment to analyze the situation. 'If she knows how to use a dark portal, then her heart's already steeped in darkness. Not surprising considering the terrible things she's done.'
"Someone needs to take a bath," Cent said under his breath.
"Excuse the mess. It's breakfast time." Three clapped her hands together and dozens of mutated heartless clawed out of the shadows to feed upon the animal carcasses. She misread the confusion and disgust on Riku and Cent's faces as curiosity, so she elaborated further, "Roy and Hohenheim get cranky if they're not fed on time, then there's-"
Riku pointed his keyblade at her. "Enough. You have a message for me, right? Tell me what it is so we can get this over with."
She grinned at him. "I haven't forgotten about you, demon slayer. Come, let's move somewhere more spacious."
"And what of Lady Two's condition?" Cent asked.
"She's fine. Probably."
He let out a nervous laugh. "Ha...Ha...I do love it when you toy around with my heart."
Three led them to a lofty area where enormous vines dangled from the top of the shrine. She faced Riku. "You're the predator and I'm the prey. I'm sure you're just itching to kill me."
"Not at all, but I am going to stop you from terrorizing people with your heartless."
"Heartless? Hmmm. That's an apt description. The fact that you possess a name for those demons is quite damning evidence, wouldn't you agree?"
"What're you talking about?"
"I didn't tell Riku your message. He wanted to hear it from you, Lady Three," Cent said.
"Riku is this boy's name? Fascinating. Well then Riku, I detest repeating myself, but I will for you," She stared deep into his eyes. "...You don't belong here. Not in this world."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do. Isn't it strange that when the 'heartless' rose, soon after, a demon slayer came who possessed the exact powers to destroy them? I suppose that's mere conjecture, but in a way, you're like me. You're different from everyone."
"So what?! That doesn't change anything, I'm still going to stop you!"
"Mm, my natural enemy indeed. I wish not to have this end in bloodshed so instead, I ask that you join my cause and help me continue the spread of heartless."
"Join your cause?! You're sick! I would never help you turn innocent people into heartless!"
"You're mistaken. All I've done is make my soldiers stronger to the point where they're incapable of death. Is there something wrong with that? Are you saying it'd bad to help someone?"
"You're not helping anyone! You're just causing them to suffer!"
"Heh. On the contrary, my soldiers aren't suffering at all. They feel nothing. Therefore no sadness or pain. I want to share that with the rest of this miserable world as well. A world where no one has to die. No one has to suffer. And I can spend the rest of time with my little dolls. Doesn't that sound better than how everything is now?"
"This woman's crazy," Cent said.
Riku shook his head. "She's too far gone to listen to reason. I'll just have to make her understand!" He ran towards Three, then swung his blade at her.
Three jumped back to avoid Riku's attack. "So you have chosen death? Unfortunate. You would've made a great companion." With a flick of her wrist, the area flooded with hundreds of heartless, she twirled her hand around and they fused together into a Demon Tower.
"And that's my cue to leave. Let me know how things turn out if you survive!" Cent ran away while the Demon Tower spiraled towards Riku.
'These stupid things again.' Riku used flowmotion to ride across the twister of shadows. When he reached the end, he jumped off and cast Firaga, coupling it with Aeroga to intensify the flames. By the time the fire burned itself out, the Demon Tower was significantly down on its health and Riku had no problem taking it out.
"Impressive. Alas, we've only just begun." Three raised her arm and hybrid soldiers rose from the darkness. "Destroy him."
""̸̟̝́̆̈́̎À̵̹ͅş̶̬͍̋͌̕͜ ̸̙̠̦͐ͅy̸̰̖̤̹̍͘ơ̸̺u̵̝̓̈́ ̸̝̮͉͋ŵ̷̜̻̦̔̎͒i̴̧̮͒́̕ͅș̶̳͙͎̕h̷̠̳̪͎̓͑̀ ̸̨̨̡͔̾L̴̢͉̐̾͘ä̵̟̻́̑̏͠d̶̜̜̦̲̓y̶̬͉̕ ̵̢̩̮̽̾T̵͔̐͐̐ĥ̸̘̋r̸͖͝e̸̬̐͒͘͝ḛ̸̈́̋ͅ.̸̜̗͓̝̈́́̓̉ ̶̞̖̓̃N̷̲̦͓̞͗̾ò̴̡̙̓͜w̸̯͚̿͌͛͝ ̵̡̦̝̱̓́̃̾l̷̖̭͑̕͝ẽ̵̯͍̥̦͘t̷͉̓̃'̵̫̝̋̄͝s̵̨̘̼̙̄̀̚ ̸̣̙͚́̚f̸̰̾̐̀̔i̵̡̯̱̐̐̓͜g̸̢͇̘̫͛ẖ̸̗̭̇͋̚t̷͙́ ̶̪͕̀m̴̧̱͕͇̓̔̿ȇ̵̺̇ǹ̸̢̻͔͈̽͛͝!̶͉̘̼̀"̶̥͖̼̩̈̈́"
Faced with an army of hybrid soldiers, Riku fell back on Dark Thundaga to clear out a path for him to reach Three. "THREE!" He interlocked blades with the Intoner, who used scissors of all weapons to defend herself.
"You're...persistent."
They traded blows for a while until Riku overpowered her and backed her into a corner. "Give it up already! You're finished!"
"When you surround yourself in light, you're blind to the shadows that are behind you."
Suddenly, Riku was apprehended by two hybrid soldiers who snatched his arms from behind. "What the hell?! Let me go!"
Three slowly clapped her hands as the soldiers dragged him away. "Good boy, Ravus."
"̸̗̆̚Ï̶̬̝ ̷̮̈́h̷̹͎̽a̵̧̲͛̇v̶͇͓̍́e̷̜͜͠ ̴͈̜̀u̴̠͈͑̃n̸̫̟̅d̶͉̖̈́y̴͙̿͛i̷̛̪ǹ̸̻̏ğ̶̣͑ ̶͈͖͝l̴̼̆ö̶̡̖́ẏ̴̪ǎ̸̡̹̀ḽ̶̿t̶̨̉͝y̷̲̳̍̈́ ̸̛͔̫f̸̯̅̚ö̸̜̩r̸̰͛ ̵͇͆L̵̳̭̍͊ả̸̩͊d̷̯͋ẏ̴̳͗ ̸̦͋T̷̳͐̂h̸̳̔r̶̡̼̊e̸̅͜ę̷̅.̸͕̈́"̸̟̓
Three walked over to Riku, snapping her scissors together. "My offer's still available unless you take pleasure in suffering, that is."
"I already said no!"
"I see." She dug her scissors into Riku's stomach, twisting around just to take pleasure in his pain. "Now let him go."
"Ah...D...Damn it..." The soldiers threw Riku to the ground and a pool of blood formed around his body.
"Hee hee! Worry not Riku, when I'm done 'examining' your body, I'll see exactly what makes you tick and claim your power as my own. So you'll help me whether you want to or not! Won't that be a blast?!" She ran her tongue along the edge of her scissors, tasting Riku's blood. "I can already feel myself getting aroused by the thought alone!"
Allow me to assist you.
I will heal your wounds.
'I don't need your help! I can heal myself!'
"C...Curaga..."
"Curaga?"
Catching Three off guard, Riku snatched her long hair and forced her on the ground. When the soldiers tried to attack him, he cast Thundaga. Three nearly got electrocuted as well, but she narrowly escaped through a dark portal.
"Pity. I might just have to thoroughly mutilate you instead," Three said, re-appearing across from him.
"Bring it on!"
"—WAAAaaahhHH!" Out of the blue, Mikhail fell inside Three's shrine and got tangled up in the hanging vines. "WHOA! I'm still alive!"
"Mikhail? What're you doing here?!" Riku yelled.
"Oh hey Riku, I have no idea! I was on a bridge and it collapsed then I somehow ended up here."
"He's Zero's dragon, is he not? Which means my sister will be arriving here shortly...I'll have to hurry things along then." Three snapped her fingers together to summon another Demon Tower.
"Wait a second guys- don't fight anymore! You can talk things out," Mikhail said.
"It's a little late for that Mikhail!"
"Now for the finale." As her final card to play, Three sang the second verse to her song.
Verse 2-3
Sleep. I shall give thee disaster.
Under the influence of Three's song, the Demon Tower outright exploded and hundreds of them were now flying all over the place. Mikhail used his wings to shield against the heartless and without magic, Riku could only rely on his keyblade to protect himself, but he inevitably got swept up by the wave of darkness.
Do you still refuse my assistance?
'I already told you I don't need your help.'
How foolish.
Are you so afraid of me that you would rather die here?
No wonder you can't save Sora,
You simply lack the strength.
'I keep trying to fight, but what am I even doing any of this for?'
'Why am I fighting?'
'It's not like it changes anything.'
'No matter what I do in this world, people still die around me.'
'What about this world is worth saving?'
Close your eyes and fade away.
'I'm so tired of fighting...'
'I'm so tired of hearing your voice.'
'Maybe I should...'
"—Riku? Riku, can you hear me?"
'Mikhail...'
"Well even if you can't I'm gonna keep talking anyways! You can't give up right now, okay? You gotta keep fighting! Remember what I said last night about making everything better? You're the reason why I believe we can do it! You're so brave and cool and you help people even when it hurts you in the end! I wanna be just like you Riku, so let's make everyone happy together!"
'I remember now. The reason why I keep fighting.'
'I can't give up like this. I need to be someone who people can believe in. That's what it means to be a keyblade wielder!'
Are you done rambling on?
What a waste of-
"Be quiet. If you're going to be a part of me, from now on I'm gonna use every bit of your power so I can protect my friends!" Channeling the Flower's darkness that resided within him, Riku's keyblade transformed into a form resembling Way to Dawn, but with key differences that reflected the Flower's influence. Now, rose thorns adorned the new keyblade, wrapping around its blade and guard.
Revitalized by a new sense of purpose, Riku's magic flowed back in him and he cast Mega Flare, burning every last heartless to ash. All of the heartless except Three that was, he saved her for last. Charging at Three with blindingly fast speeds, Riku slammed his keyblade down on her, shattering through her defense.
"Give it up and surrender, Three!"
"D...Damn it!"
At the worst timing possible, Zero and the others finally arrived inside the shrine.
"Yay! Zero you're here too! Now all of my friends are back together again!" Mikhail cheered.
"Zero?" The moment Riku took his eyes off of Three, she immediately escaped into a dark portal. "Shoot, she's gone now!"
"...I told you to leave, so why the hell are you still here?!"
"I'm not running away. I realized what's important and why I need to keep fighting. No matter what, I'll always protect my friends!"
Zero raised her sword to Riku. "...the target's changed. You're the one who I'm going to kill."
"Z-Zero...how could you?" Mikhail whimpered.
Although Four was terrified to go against her sister's wishes, she wasn't going to keep her head down anymore, not when Riku's life was on the line. She reeled her gauntlet back and punched Zero in the face so hard that she fell on the ground.
"Oh shit," Dito said.
"I'm sorry Zero, but you're not going to kill the man that I love! Please understand!"
Riku raised an eyebrow. "Wait, what?"
Zero wiped off the blood dribbling from her mouth. If she wasn't already pissed before, now she was absolutely livid. "I'll murder both of you and TEAR YOUR FUKCING BODIES APART!"
VERSE 7
I HEAR THE FUCKING SCREAMS OF THE BLACK FLOWER
AND I ANSWER ITS PRAYERS OF BLOOD!
Four grabbed Riku's hand. "We need to go! Zero's invulnerable to attack when she's in Intoner mode!"
"Did you say that you...loved me?"
She started to blush. "Wh-Why are you focusing on that right now?! She's trying to kill us!"
As Zero chased after them, the disciples stood on the sidelines.
"I feel conflicted as to whether I should get involved. Technically, I'm Lady Zero's disciple, but I wouldn't dare lay a hand on Lady Four," Decadus said.
"Pretty sure you'll get in the way. Just relax and enjoy the show, I know I am!" Dito exclaimed.
Octa sighed. "You're a sadistic fellow, aren't you?"
"Stop running you cowards! Stay still so I can KILL YOU!" Zero screamed.
"Oh my god-oh my god-oh my god! I didn't think this through!"
"Four, I need you to go somewhere safe. I'll handle Zero," Riku said.
"No way, we're in this together."
"I know that you, uh, care about me, but I want you to be safe. You've done more than enough already."
"Okay...well you put it like that I guess I can't argue. Just please don't be too reckless!"
Once Four ran back to the sidelines, Riku faced Zero and clashed blades with her. "We don't have to fight, Zero! Just listen to me!"
"Listen to your bullshit pipedream?! That Flower has to be destroyed or we're all dead and that means killing you and every last Intoner in this miserable! Fucking! WORLD!" Zero slashed Riku straight across his chest multiple times, cutting in deeper and deeper as she poured her emotions into each sword swing
Riku blocked Zero's subsequent sword swing, then knocked her sword out of her hands. "I'll find a way so no one has to die and suffer anymore. I won't give up until this world is better!"
"You sound just like a child!" Zero quickly pulled out another sword, a heavier one than her usual dragon sword, but she proceeded with her attack as if it were weightless. "...But if you're so damn sure then tell me! How are you going to make this world any less shitty than it already is?"
"I don't know for sure. That's why I want you to help me find the answer, Zero!"
"You want my help? You're out of your goddamn mind! Every last person in this world deserves to burn in HELL! I've been beaten down all of my life, I don't owe these motherfuckers anything!"
"But you're still fighting! Even if this world owes you nothing, you're still trying to destroy the Flower! That's proof enough that a part of you still cares, so help me out! Help me save everyone who's suffering!"
"For the last time, you can't save anyone! The Flower will destroy you before any of that happens!"
"No, it won't! It'll try to, but I'll always keep fighting it off! I'll use the light to guide me and... I'll use it to save you too, Zero!"
"I don't want you to save me! Don't you get it? I want to die, Riku! That's the one thing I'm looking forward to when the rest of this shit is over and you have no right to intervene! So just give up and let me do that, okay? Let me die so I don't bring you down with me."
"...No, I'm not doing that."
"You...you just don't know what you're talking about! If you knew who I was, then you'd want me to die too. I already know how much I don't deserve to live."
"I don't know what you've been through or what your past was like, but I'm willing to bet you want to move on from it. I'll help you find your light and you can decide what to do for yourself, but I'll be there every step of the way."
"Why would you ever waste your time on me?"
"Because we're friends and friends have to lean on each other once in a while, right?" He put his keyblade down and offered his hand to her. "So what do you say? We can keep fighting and you can die full of regrets or we can find a new path together."
Once upon a time, there was a young woman who was hated by the world.
["You're a worthless daughter. I can't wait until I finally can get rid of you."]
She made a vow long ago to never trust another person,
["You want me to come with you? Please, the only thing you're good for is sex, nothing else."]
To never open her heart up.
["We've finally gotten ahold of you, 'witch with eyes of rose'. You were born with nothing and now you'll die with nothing."]
And yet, she let it happen, over and over again.
"...Fine." Zero's eyesight was getting blurrier and blurrier until Riku looked like a bunch of blobs. She reached out to his hand and when she held on to it, she didn't want to let it go. "But... I won't make any promises."
He smiled. "At least you're getting there."
Now that the bloodshed was over, Four ran over to them, a relieved look on her face. "This is great! I'm happy you two came to an understanding!"
"Rotten bitch!" Zero punched Four in the face to return the favor, then angrily pulled at her cheeks. "I didn't forget about what you did! Put your hands on me like that again and I'll kill you!"
"I'm sowwy Zewo! Pwwease lemme go!"
"Heh, you guys do kind of behave like siblings sometimes," Riku said.
Zero let go of Four, then turned back to Riku. "I guess there's a lot we need to talk about."
"-Hold on! I'm glad you two are done fighting and stuff, but can someone pleeeease get me down from here? I feel really dizzy," Mikhail whined.
"Oh right, forgot about that dummy. Sit tight, I'll go-"
A giant laser blasted out of seemingly nowhere and created a small explosion that left everyone on the ground. Once the dust settled, two armored daemons stood before them, one of them held Mikhail in its arm while the other held none other than Cent in its hand. "Well hello there! I see quite a few old and new faces here, this is a bit awkward, isn't it? In any case, you should be relieved that I'm taking this horrid dragon off your hands."
"You bastard! Put him down!" Zero yelled.
"Riku used his keyblade to stand himself up. "Give him back or else!"
"Or else what? You do realize I'm holding your dragon hostage. Try not to do something stupid."
"Ugh! What're you doing here Cent? You should be taking care of Two," Four said.
"—Who said he wasn't?" A dark portal appeared in between the daemons and out came Two with Three following behind her. Just like Three, Two was also under the influence of the darkness. Her hair was almost completely white and her deep blue eyes were now a sickening yellow color.
"No way...T-Two, is it really you? But I thought you were-"
"I fixed her," Three said. "Be grateful to your older sister."
"Whatever she did can't be good," Riku said.
But it was too late, Four already pulled herself up off the ground and rushed over to Two with tears in her eyes. She embraced her sister, digging her face into her scarf as she sobbed into it. "I- I missed you so much, Two! I-I thought I would never hear your voice again! I'm so happy you're here with me!"
Two reluctantly hugged her back. "Aw, you've always been such a crybaby little sis, but don't worry now, your big sis Two is here!" She stroked her head. "You've must have gone through a lot, haven't you? I can tell how much you've matured since I've last seen you."
"Yeah...b-but it's okay...I'm okay now. It's all thanks to Riku that I've become stronger now."
"Really? I'm proud of you, Four."
"You're...proud of me? That makes me so happy Two."
"I'm glad. Now sleep peacefully."
"H-Huh?"
In a cruel betrayal of her sister's trust, Two sunk her sword into Four's chest. "That's what you get for being a traitor you stupid brat."
"T...Two...why?" Her cheery, upbeat voice and bright smile put Four into a false sense of security when she was nothing more than a wolf in sheep's clothing. Now she would have the pay the price for her naivety. Four fell down to her knees and was about to hit the ground, but Riku rushed over and held her in her arms. He tried to cast Curaga on her, but she was still unresponsive.
"No...Four...you have to hang in there! Don't give up so easily!"
Decadus also hurried to Four's side. "Oh no...normally she would have survived a wound like this but... her Intoner powers are no more...I'm afraid-"
"No! Don't say that! Don't tell me she's dead!"
"Jeez, can you get anymore dramatic? You're acting like she was your girlfriend or something," Two said.
"SHUT UP!" Riku handed Four to Decadus, then charged at Two, but she immediately dodged his attack and grabbed hold of his arm.
"Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong, kid." Two slammed Riku into the ground, holding back just enough of her monstrous strength so only a few bones in his body would crack.
Zero was struggling to get up. "No! Damn it, you fucking cunt!"
Octa held Zero back. "That's unwise Lady Zero, those two possess more power than you know."
"How kind of you to spare his life," Three said.
She smirked. "It's more fun if he lives."
"Whatever you say. It's time for us to go."
"Aww already? Just when I was starting to have fun too." She jumped on the daemon Cent was standing on. "Ha ha, has anyone told you how cute you look when you're angry, Zero? The 'I'm-gonna-murder-you' look totally suits you, then again... a dead look would suit you even better! If you want your dragon back so bad, then you'll just have to come and get it. See ya guys later~"
Life ends.
Tragedy hits.
Smiles fade
But the world goes on
And on
And on
Flowers for the Dead
And on...
