Chapter 4: Domination

[~Hidan~]

Only something short of a miracle could end this was the common thought going through the heads of everyone in the room. Sacryan looked into the demons eyes and could feel something from him, the demon was of Chaos. He laughed lightly. He stepped forwards and handed his sword over to the one who called himself Kani. “This is your place to finish this, and I will die.”

Kani could tell that Sacryan knew something he didn’t, and just took the sword and shook his head in agreement.

“Master of oblivion, servant of chaos, leader of the rift, I challenge your power.” Sacryan said leaping at the demon that stood before him. It did not take much effort for Sacryan to grab the great demon and pull him to the round. Bear hugging the demon Sacryan yelled, “Now is your chance, I give you all the right and freedom to kill this beast while I hold him down for you.”

Kani nodded and the rest nodded to him. Magus unleashed a large dark spell, followed by several dozen hits from Malice’s daggers. Kirby started drawing a massive painting, and Titania unleashed a Holy on the great demon. Sacryan still held tight. Then with the help of his sister Kani flew into the sky and started plunging down towards the head of the demon at full force, hitting right through the center of the demon’s skull. Leaving the sword behind Kani jumped back and then Kirby with a wave of his hands made the drawing come to life. A giant solid rock of pure granite came crashing down on top of the demon and at the last second Kani and Malice grabbed and removed Sacryan from the path of the falling object. The demon screamed in pain but it was not over.

Isea came forwards and after several had gestures cast Ice-nova. “Hit him again wish Holy, the one you can fell deep inside you, the one only the priestess of Ishtar knows. Feel it and cast, it will send him to oblivion, where he belongs.”

Titania came forward and closed her eyes and concentrated. She started to glow a light blue and she cupped her hands together between her hands started to glow a bright white and her hands started to separate slowly. She started speaking very softly in an unknown tongue.

The ice prison that Isea had cast around Azreal started to crack and the demon was slowly able to move little by little.

“Cast it my dear priestess.” Kani said resting his hands on her shoulders and channeling his energy into her body.

‘I feel so warm, just like I did back home’ She thought, a single tear fell into the white light and the power exploded in size and became the full reach of Titania’s body. “Magno Imperus Holy Flare!” She screamed as she rocketed the holy magic at the demon. “Goodbye.” She said sadly.

The bolt of holy magic hit the demon at full force, leaving nothing, not even a black spot to show he even existed. The demon was gone.

(I’ll leave the post story to someone else.)

 

[Zerlina]

((WTH, did you just kill me? *grumble*))

Glenn covered his eyes, trying to shelter them from the blinding light. Even as it faded he refused to look, unable to take in what he knew he would see.

“Gyah!” Titania let out a short cry as she fell forward, catching herself with a bloody, white hand. She coughed, clutching at her stomach and gasping desperately for air- the wounds around her neck shone and bled as if they were freshly imprinted “Glenn…” she managed between difficult breaths.

The knight moved cautiously forward, the demon’s life seeming to have ended all too quickly. His sword still in hand, he knelt by his friend, quiet and cautious.

“Glenn, remember what Syne told us in the cave? Remember how she told us to kill her…”

He nodded slowly, tightening the grip on his sword as he began to feel the darkness thicken about him.

“…we should have listened to her, but now we have a second chance.

Close your eyes.

Pretend that you’re Noah.

It will make it easier for you.”

She coughed once more, and Malice’s dagger fell from her sash, hitting the floor with a fateful clang. The knight stared at the object, his eyes flickering cold against the metal reflection.

“So long as I’m alive, so can Kani be. He sealed my fate along with Malice’s when we fought together that last time. Everything since then has told me I was to perish. Now…now there’s been two great sunsets- the deaths of Magus and of Malice. I am to be the third to die.”

“Thou canst expect me to take thine life, Titania.” Glenn muttered “Thou wilt not make a murderer of me…” his eyes flickered up toward the fading figure of Noah “…not again.”

“You despise me, remember? You’ve damned me to hell!” she whispered in a bitter tone but her voice fell once more “Perhaps I deserve it and you are right. I ask you now that if I have done anything wrong in the eyes of heaven to you or to Noah, let me seek forgiveness now.”

“What you are asking me to do is unforgivable.” He answered “It would mar mine soul for eternity.”

“Then you will let me live and let Azrael revive himself?” she clutched at her throbbing neck “There is no more life for me. He flows through my veins and he will make me his new host. Please, I beg you! Don’t let him take me. Kill me now and spare me the torture.”

Sacrayan stayed where he was, watching uneasily as the demon’s body began to pulse with energy. The people of the past had faded and now only Magus and Malice remained, their solemn silhouettes cast dark against the gray sky.

“Please…” Titania whispered quietly -desperately- tears of blood flowing down her face “Please Glenn…I don’t want to spend the rest of my life under someone else’s control….I don’t want to be cursed to be something I don’t want to be.”

Glenn flinched slightly at these words. With a reluctant hand, he took up Malice’s dagger, bringing it up above his friend but unable to do anything else. Titania fell forward, unable to hold herself any more. Blood poured out of her pale lips as she coughed and coughed again, in pain though wordless about it.

Malice slowly walked and knelt behind her, wrapping his arms around her pulling her up to sit. He nodded to Glenn and held her tightly, pressing his cheek against hers as he whispered in her ear

“Ishtara aeterna...
Eternal Ishtar

Damia glia.
Brilliant lady

Luminous caeliestié.
Light of heaven

Harrenus lia shildé
Hear your children

Ete gasien lia
And guide us to you”

Blood covering her pale face, Titania spoke with him, her own quivering voice barely audible as the dagger plunged hard into her heart.

The dagger held by Malice.

*​

Glenn sat upon the rocky cliffs, watching the sun set behind the shadowy distance. The ocean rushed beneath him- rolling waves growing fat and spilling over in crashes of white foam. To his right lay a clean, white sheet on which rested several tokens that seemed plain -and even meaningless- to any stranger who might have passed by.

There was a scythe -stained with the life of a great and wise mage- the large hilt of a now halved sword –a symbol of a life spent in chaos and ended in the darkness. There was a stone –a piece of the eternally petrified dead- a flute –the song of so much misery- and daggers –the blades of a great warrior that had taken so many lives. Lastly, seeming out of place in the setting was a large, double bladed sword.

The ocean… wrote Glenn in a journal found many years later …is much like time. It tumbles and turns, and footprints we may leave on the shore disappear in moments. We try to run- to escape the strong currents- yet we always find ourselves pulled back at the mercy of fate. The truth is, we are like so much that is at sea- adrift and unable to see where we are going. Lives come and go as quickly as the waves and in moments we are lost- forgotten.

Ages from now, no one will remember our names, but that is the way it should be. Life is for the living, and once we are gone we should not try to linger. For soon –no matter what- we will find ourselves once more at the mercy of the waves and the cycle of the sea.

We exist only for a moment and then are nothing.

He took one last look at each object –the symbols of lives spent and wasted in war. His eyes lingered longer on the Masamune which tempted him even then. With a timid hand, he rolled the sheet up, binding each of the objects up as best as he could.

“Ete gasien lia” he whispered quietly as he threw the package into the ocean.

The waves crashed and turned, breaking any knot Glenn had used to keep the objects together. There was one last burst of foam and blue and then –as if it were supposed to happen- they came apart completely.

Glenn, noble king and founder of the New Gracia, turned away from the sun-red sea, never turning back.

There was a crash of foam and in a moment, the objects had disappeared into the water.

 

[Zeromus_X]

As Kirby walked down the path covered with leaves, he had many thoughts going through his head. His feline companions were also with him.

"So...did you find the inspiration you were looking for?" inquired Sneaky.

"Well...I did make quite a number of paintings, which are selling relatively well. But I just can't get all of this story out of my head..." he said as he tapped the side of his temple with his finger, as if it would settle down his brain.

"Heh, well it looks like that trip did 'ya good after all!" said Dude.

"Yep, I'd agree to that." said Misty.

"Say...have you ever considered writing all of this down?" asked Sneaky.

"Well, it might make more sense to me if I did that. After all, I was only with them for a short time...their feelings seemed so...distant from me. Although, if nobody knows of what happens, nobody will remember them! That'd be like a perfect picture just gathering dust in an attic!" exclaimed Kirby.

"Yes...I should probably write it down." he decided.

"Well, if it's going to be a story, what should it be called?" asked Dude.

"Let's see....how about...The Story of Palis?"

 

[~Hidan~]

(I didnt kill you )

 

[Dark FFnut]

***********************************************
Palis, The Year 14 Glenn, Fallen Spire

Bathoris stood in the center of the ruins of the Dark Spire. "So..." he hissed softly, "...this place is destroyed after all?"

The fox-like woman walked up beside him. "Of course it was," she muttered. "Naturally, this is the only way to leave Palis, remember? Azrael must have built it so he could escape without being destroyed."

The other woman glared at her. "Silence... Ochiri, I believe your name is?"

Ochiri cast a dirty look. "You would be wise to keep quiet yourself... Miss Dustus."

The woman Ochiri was speaking to laughed. "Dustus? No, that's merely my code name. The name I use... while operating."

Bathoris turned. "So... your true name is not Silver Dustus?"

The woman laughed again. "I have no reason to hide my identity anymore. I am an assassin. My name is-"

"So that's why she seemed so familiar, father," whispered another voice. Hector stepped out from behind a large rock. "It's Viola."

"Viola Awrecan," came another voice, this one belonging to Valmarus. "Assassin of the Four... well, the Three now. I wonder why Bathy didn't recognize you."

Bathoris turned towards Valmarus and suddenly the reason became apparent. Ochiri grinned. "My doing. I needed a demon's eyes to utilize my power."

"You seem familiar too," muttered Hector.

"I should. I did rule Palis for a few months. Of course, when your uncle decided that he wasn't evil and Azrael bit the bullet, I was deposed and that knight took over." Venom overflowed in Ochiri's voice.

Valmarus gave a deep hearty laugh and draped his arm over Ochiri's shoulder. "Masuto Ochiri was a legendary demon of the past. You wouldn't have happened to have taken your name from that legend?"

"You could say that."

Valmarus laughed again. "Excellent. With Azrael gone, there's no reason for them to suspect our new uprising..."

"Uprising?" asked Viola, but Valmarus could hear the excitement in her voice. "Well, I do want a crack at infiltrating the New Gracian defense system... you heard they fired Rufin and hired some new guy... Hige Toboe?"

"Hige?" Hector half-screamed.

Bathoris glared at Hector with his eyeless sockets. The sight was enough to unnerve even the demon general. "Azrael agitated and destroyed the crystal pieces... the Pre del Axion, and look at what happened. They might be able to beat us."

"The past isn't on their side this time," said Ochiri. "The Pre del Axion were the pieces of Variel's seal. They broke because it had been seven hundred years. Azrael had nothing to do with them." She sighed. "And to think... Azrael would build the spire atop his ancient binding place. It was no accident that Kani's reborn soul was named Nichi. The name was taken from the mage who sealed Azrael in this shrine to begin with. Azrael destroyed this shrine to build his spire. Now the spire... and Azrael... are gone as well."

Valmarus rubbed his hands together. "So it's agreed then? We five work together to take Palis for ourselves." The other four nodded in agreement. "Excellent." Valmarus turned towards the stone lying on the ground.

The stone Llideah had given to Kani seven hundred and fourteen years ago.

The Stone of Fate.

"The game is not over..." whispered Valmarus evilly, "...until all players have been destroyed."

((And... that, I believe, concludes the Story of Palis. There's probably not going to be a sequel, despite the fact that there's such a substantial evil force remaining (Three generals, an assassin, and the former queen? Holy hell!) but I think I did a pretty good job of wrapping up any characters we missed in the other things. I may lurk for a few more days to see if we add anything else, but... this is my last post here, for good, unless I have a comment about someone else's epiloguing. It's been great being here and working on this story, guys. I hope to see you all on some other boards or some other writing efforts (Zerl, give me the info on Mong's other project he mentioned!) later on.

Remember, though the book may be closed...

...the ending has never truly been written. Thanks, guys.))

 

[Zeromus_X]

As Kirby would say: This is all so confusing. :/ Oh well, at least its finally over...although it's a cliffhanger ending. A little disappointed, but meh. It can't always be a happy ending, I suppose.

 

[Zerlina]

((*clap clap* a year and now it's over. It's been fun guys! And FFnut as soon as i get the chance I'll send you the info for the RP. But right now I'm getting ready to go to Manila.

I'm singing tonight! ^_^))

 

[Zeromus_X]

Can I get more info on this RP?

 

[~Hidan~]

yup good job all. No sequal will come. but good end to it all.