Tales of Cadence

[Desmond the Patient]

Those are neat!!

I'm gonna grab... MMM... Ilia... Harriet... Ilia or Harriet.... Ilia... MMM maybe Elsynne... no Cymbeline!! Nah... MMM... Ilia... Harriet... Harriet or Ilia...

*mumble*
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Avatar by OCR-ED-209

[Kevvie]

Oh, hi. Long time no post?



I'M SORRY AP CLASSES KILLED ME YGHGYTHJTY

Chapterrific chapters, as always. I miss Skykar (vroooooooom) and the mental scars from Glacier. Okay, I don't miss the scars. Harriette seems kinda suspicious imo, but that's just me. Also, I bet the Abyssion-like boss is Caitria, since she's supah powerful.

One more chapter Roadrunnuh, go go go!
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[Avatar: Roadrunnuh][Fanbar: squidmaster64]

[Sir Shrek]

Holy crap those poke-cadence-fusion-sprites are amazing! I forgot you did sprite work, Squiddy.
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Credit to squidmaster64 for the fanbar.

[Roadie]

Master: Ooh, those are so neat! I like the Pokemon you chose to go with them, too. Great work, and thank you!

Kevvie: Don't worry about it, I know the pain of terrible classes. But thank you for catching up and reviewing, you're awesome!

Also, sorry to post two skits in two days. :') I was going through my files (read: procrastinating) and found this, and I realized it needed to be posted before the final chapter so...



Skit: I Want the Truth, Part II

Raven: (I think it’s about time I told Ilia about the ceremony…she deserves to know what’ll happen to us after it’s finished, right?)

Ilia: Hey! It’s good to see you!

Raven: Er…okay?

Ilia: You’ve been locking yourself in your room for the past few days, so I haven’t really had a chance to speak with you.

Raven: You could’ve just come to the room…

Ilia: I know, but I didn’t want to bug you. I figured you have a lot on your mind right now…especially after the fight with Skylar.

Raven: Oh…right.

Ilia: Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about going back home after Elsynne’s all done with the ceremony. Harriette already said we could get a military boat to take us back to Austror. Stephen and Ophelia will be going back with us too, so they can get a ship in Itona to take them to Libra.

Raven: O-Oh, yeah?

Ilia: So it’ll kind of still be all of us, minus Cymbeline, Felix, and Harriette…not that I’m complaining about ditching the three of them for a while, huh?

Raven: Yeah…

Ilia: …What’s wrong? You seem really down.

Raven: (Do I really have to tell her? She’s so…happy about going back home with us. And excited. I should tell her because it’s not fair to just leave her in the dark like that, but I don’t want to… Dammit, what do I do?!)

Ilia: Hey, Raven? Er, Edward…gah!

Raven: I’m fine! I’m fine…

Ilia: You keep spacing out. Are you sure you’re all right?

Raven: Not really…

Ilia: Well, you’re free to come and talk to me if you’d like. You know that.

Raven: …Elsynne’s ceremony-

Ilia: Huh? Are you worried about what Skylar was saying earlier about the black magic stuff?

Raven: Sort of, but you see-

Ilia: Don’t think about it too much, okay? I’m sure everything will be just fine.

Raven: …
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[squidmaster64]

Thanks for the comments. :)

@Shrek: They're just edits; I can't sprite from scratch worth the crap. :')

@Skit: Hey, wait, he didn't tell her... Poor Ilia. God dammit. Maybe it's better if she doesn't know... unless she doesn't actually die and finds out that Raven never told her that she might have... Then she'll be hurt.

I think I'm just growing attached to the Raven/Ilia pairing. That'd work better than Raven/Elsynne imo. o.o

(lol I had to backspace "Gods" back there...)
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Primary Avatar Excellence Theorem: if one has an amazing icon, then it was made by Roadie.
(Clearly, my current is not amazing. :( )

[Roadie]

What you don't know won't hurt you
Maybe the lies are true
Try to remember, try to forget
Those yesterdays bleeding through



lol okay let me know if there's a chunk missing or something. :') I'm incredibly paranoid about this crapter and for some reason I'm afraid I accidentally deleted something...or whatever. Yeah. HATRED ****

Chapter LXVII
Finale

Harriette stood quietly at the door to Raven and Felix’s room, her form wreathed in the pale glow of the inn’s muted lighting. She walked past the threshold and shut the door before she felt her way to the side of Raven’s bed.

Something hissed at her from the center of the room. Harriette shot a glare in Reo’s direction; she couldn’t see the cat, but she could tell by the deep growl that the cream-colored feline had grown to her full size.

“It’s just me, Reo. Calm down.”

The cat hissed again, but it was much softer this time. Harriette smiled and shook Raven by the arm.

He shot up, breathing heavily and clutching his sheets in one hand. He glanced at Harriette, then the agitated cat at the edge of his pillow, and finally, back to the girl standing beside his mattress. Her smile had disappeared and melted back to a sullen frown.

“Are you awake?” she asked, offering him her hand as he reluctantly pushed himself out of bed.

“Yeah, now I am,” he muttered, blinking sleep from his eyes. He glanced cautiously at Stephen’s empty cot and Felix’s still form; to his relief, the boy was fast asleep despite the quiet commotion.

“What do you want? It isn’t even morning yet,” Raven whispered groggily.

“I was looking for my sister. I think she’s gone.”

Raven felt every muscle in his body tense. “Wh...What was that?”

“I think she already left for the resealing ceremony. She went by herself—she wants to destroy the entire Sanctuary.”

“Isn’t that…good, or something?”

Harriette sighed patiently. “She’s going to destroy the Sanctuary while she’s still inside, after the black magic cracks are sealed. And if the ceremony is performed, you know what will happen to Ophelia, Ilia…and you.”

Realization dawned slowly over his tired face—Harriette already seemed to know that he was going to die if Elsynne performed the ceremony.

“Damn it!” Raven cursed, pulling his sword from its space beside the nightstand. “Damn it, Elsynne!”

Harriette listened with mild interest as he stumbled around the room, clumsily grabbing his other belongings before he barreled into the hall with Reo trailing behind him.

“Let me come with you,” Harriette offered, walking quietly into the corridor as she closed the door again behind them. “I can keep your friends from trying to stop you. They don’t want you to go to the Sanctuary, remember?”

Raven quickly turned and gave her a relieved smile as they ran down the hall. “Thank you, Harriette.”

When he turned around again, Harriette’s grin turned cruel. “It’s no problem at all, really.”

Harriette heard Reo growl again, but this time it came from behind them. Raven muttered a curse and knelt down.

“This damn cat’s following us,” he muttered.

“Don’t let her come. If my sister uses Rem, then all of the black magic in the room will be destroyed. Reo could die,” Harriette said.

“How do we get her to stop? What if she transforms and follows us?”

“Give her a dose of black magic. Her body’s already full of it, so a direct hit will act like a sedative for a while.”

The cat mewled pitifully, and Harriette heard a dull thump as she toppled over.

“Do you think Elsynne is there yet?” Raven asked as they continued down the corridor and to the lobby.

“She might be. I saw her pacing around our room a while ago. I assume she must’ve used Rem’s power to transport herself to the Sanctuary, so a train should be waiting for us on the platform. I spoke to the regular conductors this morning and asked them to have one waiting, just in case.”

“Good,” he replied. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the lobby. “Wait…did you know she was going to leave like this? Is that why you had a train waiting?”

“She’s my older sister,” the girl lied. “She tells me almost everything. She was worried about doing the resealing ceremony, so she spoke to me beforehand and wondered if she should just go alone. I promised to keep it a secret because I didn’t think she’d actually go through with it. That’s why I came to you when I woke up and found that she was gone.”

Raven seemed thoughtful for a moment, and Harriette was afraid that he wouldn’t believe her. She held her breath for a long minute, wishing, for once, that she could see the expression on his face. She wanted to know what exactly he was thinking—whether he truly believed her or not. Hadn’t she done enough to gain most of his trust over the past few weeks…?

“Okay,” he finally said. “Okay, let’s go.”

Harriette couldn’t hide her smile this time, but it didn’t matter. Raven was too focused on the job at hand.

‘I’ll kill two birds with one stone,’ she thought deviously, her sly grin widening as they raced down the streets.

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Elsynne stood outside the Sanctuary, trying desperately to keep her hands from shaking. Gray storm clouds were gathering overhead, blotting out the soft, muffled light of the moon.

“Welcome, Miss Neott,” one of the armed guards greeted her uncertainly. “Are you here for the ceremony? I thought you arranged to come tomorrow afternoon.”

Elsynne shifted uneasily. She still wasn’t used to being addressed like an Heir; it felt too stiff, too formal after years of just being a regular citizen of Lavinia.

“Something like that,” she replied, hoping her voice sounded even.

To her relief, the guard only nodded. “You may go inside.”

“Please don’t let anyone follow me…if they come. Even if it’s my sister. I want to be left alone.”

“The priests and priestesses have completed their duties for the night, so you’ll be very much alone, Miss Neott.”

“Thank you.”

Elsynne walked up the dark path, taking deep, slow breaths as to keep herself from getting hysterical. She didn’t want to die yet; she still wanted to travel with her friends or be with her family—she wanted to do anything that didn’t involve her sacrificing everything like this.

‘But it’s my fault that the continents are splitting and the black magic is killing people...so I have to fix it,’ she told herself. She couldn’t help but smile when she remembered that once the world was fixed, Raven and the others could live peacefully again.

But still, she wanted so badly to still be part of that renewed world.

‘It would be better if just one life was lost instead of thousands, wouldn’t it? If I don’t reseal the black magic then so many people will die. And if I don’t destroy the Sanctuary now, this will all happen again in the future…’

Elsynne lifted her head and moved past the soldiers lining the short path to the Sanctuary. She could still remember the day when she visited the monument for the first time with the others; Raven had been sitting beside her on the train, drumming his fingers angrily against the seat while she told him stories about her scriptures and beliefs. He had never believed her then, and she sort of doubted that he did even now, despite everything they had been through together.

Oddly, she was at peace with that fact, even though it had irritated her in the past. As long as everyone was happy...

That thought still didn’t quell the anxiousness in her stomach. With a heavy heart, Elsynne stood at the entrance of the monument, her ritual staff clasped tightly to her chest.

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Raven jumped off the train, staggering once or twice before he came to a halt near the bottom of a grassy hill. He could see the Sanctuary in the distance, silhouetted ominously against a line of harsh black magic. Harriette descended the knoll behind him with deliberate slowness and stopped at his side.

“If she’s already gone in, then the guards probably won’t let us pass,” the girl said matter-of-factly. “We have to be ready to fight them if we want to get through in time.”

“I know,” Raven replied.

Harriette tilted her head lightly in his direction, her gaze curious. “Why are you doing this, anyway? Why are you trying to stop her?”

Raven fell silent. Her question was one he had considered hundreds of times while they had been on the train.

This mission wasn’t something he would have done willingly several months ago. Was he trying to prove something to the others now, or to himself? Was he just doing this because the ceremony would kill him?

What he was doing was wholly spur of the moment; he knew that much, at the very least. He had given all of this so little thought, and he hadn’t consulted the others at all. He was acting entirely on his own, without anyone’s help—aside from Harriette’s, of course.

But hadn’t he always based his actions on emotion, on what he was feeling? Running away after he met Lukas again on the plains of Austror, challenging Skylar by himself in the slums of Carme—

Skylar. It all linked back to that damn elf and his skewed ideals.

Elsynne’s own plan seemed so very Skylar-like, now that Raven thought about it. Skylar had killed people who got in his way whether he liked it or not. And now Elsynne—even though she seemed to base her decision on the notion that she was destroying the Sanctuary to prevent a repeat of the last few terrifying months—was ultimately doing what Skylar did: dispose of what got in the way.

But she was disposing of her own life to make things right in her eyes.

‘It doesn’t seem like something Elsynne would do on her own…did someone put her up to this?’ Raven couldn’t help but ask himself.

“Forget I said anything at all,” Harriette suddenly muttered, completely derailing his bleak train of thought. “Let’s go. We don’t have time for this.”

Raven wordlessly obeyed, pleased that—for once—he wasn’t being forced to explain himself. His mind was already too jumbled for him to make sense of his own racing thoughts.

The Sanctuary was a grim, hulking shape on the horizon, illuminated briefly by a jagged fork of lightning. Raven could smell the thick, warm scent of oncoming rain, and the air cracked with a mix of electricity and unease.

“Good evening, Miss Abella,” said one of the Penna standing guard on the stone walkway. He eyed Raven carefully, tightening his grip on the rifle in his hands. “What brings the two of you all the way out here this evening?”

“We’d like to enter the Sanctuary,” Harriette responded.

“I’m sorry, Miss. The Heir’s inside right now and she requested that she be left alone tonight.”

Harriette’s demeanor of command suddenly faltered. For the first time since Raven had met her, she was utterly speechless.

“I’m sorry,” the guard said again, doing his best to keep a straight face. Raven could almost sense their almost palpable tension; neither of them seemed used to this.

“I, I…” Harriette stammered twice before she shook her head and turned back to Raven. “Go on ahead without me.”

“What?” he said, raising an eyebrow.

“I told you to go on ahead without me.” A sphere of golden light was materializing over her shoulder, slowly taking the form of Tane. “I’ll take care of things here. Just get to Elsynne!”

The soldier raised his rifle, but he pointed the barrel in Raven’s direction. “What the hell are you doing-”

“Tane!” Harriette commanded, throwing out her arm. Her Spirit hit the guard in the stomach with a blast of light magic and effortlessly knocked him out of the way.

The other Penna guards started running in their direction, but Raven saw his opening. He didn’t wait for Harriette’s command to go.

The girl waited a moment while Raven ran down the path, using plumes of black magic to defend himself against the onslaught of gunfire. She motioned to Tane again, flicking her wrist in the direction of the fighting.

“Fend them off. Make sure they don’t get inside with him,” she said. She hesitated briefly before adding, “Destroy the entrance after Raven’s gone. No one will be able to get in or out until this is all over.”

Tane paused for a split second before he nodded. “It abides to your pact, and it will be done.”

The Spirit raised his arm and shards of light emanated from the tips of his fingers. The earth shook as a beam shot from the palm of his hand, striking the part of the building directly above the entrance. Heavy slabs of stone shattered and fell, completely blocking the massive doorway.

Harriette’s grin widened amidst a rush of smoke and debris.

Now the Messenger and the Heir were both trapped inside.

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It was well past midnight but Stephen knew he could never get to sleep. With everything that was happening, his mind was an inevitable flurry of activity; he still couldn’t fathom why Ophelia had decided to just run away.

‘I can still find her when this is all over,’ he promised himself silently, stuffing his hands in his pockets. ‘There’s still time…she wouldn’t do anything rash.’

He didn’t bother looking up when the inn’s front door was thrown open with enough force to blow out the candle in the nearby street lamp. The tiny flame flickered, creating a series of moving, elongated shadows across the sidewalk.

“Stephen!” Felix’s voice interrupted the inventor’s worrisome reverie. Stephen glanced at him, raising an eyebrow as the boy looked up and down the otherwise empty streets.

“What’s wrong?” Stephen asked.

Felix paused to catch his breath before he continued. “I can’t find Raven anywhere. I thought I heard him moving around in the room, but I was half asleep so I didn’t really think about it until later,” he explained. “I even went to check Elsynne and Harriette’s room, but he wasn’t there either. Reo was sitting out in the hall all by herself…and you know Elsynne wouldn’t leave her alone like that.”

“What about Elsynne and Harriette? Were they in their room?”

“No. I went to see Ilia and Cymbeline too, but they said that they must’ve been sleeping when the others left. Stephen, where do you think they went?”

“Oh…” Stephen hesitated thoughtfully, his eyes wandering up the road. “Oh! I saw Elsynne a while ago when I was talking to Ophelia.”

“What about Raven and Harriette?”

“I was looking for Ophelia after she ran off…” Stephen winced when he saw disappointment wash over Felix’s already distressed face. “I’m sorry…I didn’t really think much of it when I saw Elsynne leave. I was preoccupied.”

The inn door slammed open again, but this time only Ilia and Cymbeline walked out into the cool, dark night. Ilia’s eyes were half-closed and there was an imprint of the bed sheets on her cheek, but Cymbeline seemed more alive than ever.

“The others are missing, right?” the dragonling asked excitedly. “Let’s track them down! I bet I could find them!”

“Easier said than done,” Ilia said with a loud yawn. “I have no idea where the three of them could’ve gone together.”

“Elsynne was running toward the entrance by herself, so maybe Raven and Harriette were following her,” Stephen hypothesized, putting a finger to his chin. “But I wonder why?”

“Maybe they went to the train running to the Sanctuary,” Felix muttered. “It would still take them this late at night if Harriette asked permission beforehand.”

“Can’t Rem teleport or something?” Ilia asked. “And if he does, why would Elsynne bother leaving Eirnome to call on him?”

“To avoid catching our attention. She can’t just summon a Spirit like that in the middle of a hotel!”

“But I don’t get it…why would Elsynne randomly go to the Sanctuary all by herself? And why would Raven and Harriette follow her without telling us?”

“I think the three of them are hiding something. They’ve all been acting really strange lately,” Stephen said with a frown. “I don’t know why that is, but it’s definitely got me worried. What’s so bad that they couldn’t share it with the rest of us?”

“Probably something related to all this Heir-Messenger business. Ugh, I’m getting so sick of all these secrets,” Ilia said, scowling.

Cymbeline’s enthusiastic grin slowly faded to a grimace. “Aren’t we going after them? Come on! Before I lose them like I did my brother…”

“It’s not like we can just walk to the Sanctuary,” Felix argued. “And if they did take the train, it’s probably not back yet…”

“I don’t think either of my Spirits can teleport like Rem or Rhett either. What about Avani?” Stephen asked, turning to Cymbeline.

The dragonling shook her head. “No, she can’t.”

“Then I guess we don’t have much of a choice, do we? We’re going to have to walk,” Ilia groaned. “This is going to be a pain…”

“It’s going to take forever,” Felix said. “There’s got to be a quicker way!”

“I could run there, but I can only carry one person at a time,” Cymbeline suggested. “I’m sorry…I haven’t been much help on your journey, have I?”

“No, you’re doing fine,” Stephen assured her. “We just need to think of a way to get to the Sanctuary before any of them do something stupid…and we’re wasting a lot of time just standing here debating it.”

“Oh! Why didn’t I think of this sooner?” Felix said suddenly, snapping his fingers together. “The military can help us get there!”

Ilia looked at him doubtfully. “Why would the military help us? They’ve really only made things worse lately, if you think about it.”

“They have these land vehicles made for quick travel—that’s how they got us from the base to Carme, remember? If we tell them the Heir and her sister are involved then they should help us,” Felix said. “Besides, maybe the fact that I’m related to Elsynne and Harriette will help for once.”

“It’s worth a try,” Stephen said, shrugging. “But will they help us if it’s this late?”

“They’ve always got someone awake at the base here in town. Come on! We don’t know what Raven and the others are up to, so we don’t have anymore time to waste!”

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Raven raced down the long, unlit corridor, trying (with little success) to ignore the painful burns scorching his entire body. He felt even worse than he had the first time he came to the Sanctuary.

The entire hall was murky and covered with a wavy curtain of black magic. Had the mist been there the last time he ran through this hallway? He couldn’t quite remember, but at the same time, something was telling him that this was new.

‘Felix did mention something like this when we were back in Eirnome. The fissure here expanded as well,’ he thought, pushing himself to move just a little faster. Everything hurt—his head, his stomach, his legs—but he had to keep going. Elsynne was only a few feet ahead, performing the ceremony and preparing to destroy the entire Sanctuary at its conclusion.

Something crashed behind him at the main entrance, but he was too focused on his goal to care. He could see a faint, flickering light at the end of the hall. He only had to go just a bit farther, and then-

The agony he felt when he entered the altar room was almost unbearable. Raven’s knees buckled beneath his convulsing body as he toppled over, his eyes glazed with pain. He cursed himself and this stupid weakness of his; he didn’t have time for this! Raven tried to push himself up again, but none of his muscles were responding. Instead he called out Elsynne’s name, hoping that his voice was loud enough to interrupt her.

And, just as he had hoped, a gentle hand grabbed him by the wrist and filled his body with warm healing magic. Raven came to his senses for a moment as the pain inside began to fade to a throbbing, incessant ache. When he looked up he saw Elsynne kneeling at his side with her staff clutched in her hand.

“Raven,” she said, her voice quavering. “Raven, you aren’t supposed to be here.”

“I know,” he replied weakly. He took a deep, shuddering breath. “Did you already start the ceremony…?”

“I did, but I’m not very far,” she replied. “But…why are you here? How did you…?” She hesitated and bit her lip. “Harriette told you I was here, didn’t she?”

“I came to stop you. Your sister told me…she told me that you were going to destroy the Sanctuary while you were still in it.”

“Damn it,” Elsynne hissed under her breath. Raven would’ve been surprised to hear her curse aloud if he hadn’t been so distracted by her erratic behavior already. “She lied to you. She suggested the idea to me in the first place! She told me that if I destroyed the Sanctuary then this would never happen again. The cracks wouldn’t split and people wouldn’t die because of it.”

Elsynne’s words took several moments to register in Raven’s tired mind. “She…lied?”

“She told me that this was for the best.”

“Maybe she changed her mind…?”

“But she wouldn’t have told you a lie like that! Harriette…” Elsynne lowered her head and pounded her fist against the stone floor. “What is she trying to do?”

Raven laid his head back and, to Elsynne’s surprise, laughed harshly. It made sense now—he was ashamed that it hadn’t occurred to him until the last possible moment.

“She wants us both dead. She wants both the Messenger and the Heir to die so the entire cycle will come to an end.”

Elsynne was stunned. “But she’s my sister. She’d never do something like this.”

“Elsynne, do you honestly know your sister? She’s cunning. This is definitely something she’d try to pull.” Raven slid weakly to a sitting position and held out his hand. “Come on. Let’s get out of here while we still have the chance, all right?”

“I…” Elsynne hesitated. “But her plan doesn’t make sense. Even if we died, then my mother and Lianne—the eldest living Heir and Messenger—would still be alive. What if they-“

“I doubt they’d be trying to continue the bloodlines anytime soon. Lianne was scarred by what happened to her husband and your mother’s still in denial about you being the real Heir. And maybe Harriette left some factors out, or…or something, I don’t know. I honestly don’t know. But we have to get out of here before anything happens, okay?”

Elsynne didn’t speak for a long time, and for a while, Raven wondered if she was still thinking over what Harriette had done. He wasn’t terribly shocked by the younger girl’s betrayal; he had never fully trusted her, but he walked right into her trap nonetheless.

‘We’re still going to get out of here, safe and sound. We’re still-‘

“No, Raven.”

Elsynne’s words sent a cold chill racing up Raven’s spine. Was he imaging things, or was the pain and black magic all going straight to his head at this point?

“Elsynne…what did you say?”

She stood, holding her staff closer to her chest. “I’m not going to leave. I have to complete this ceremony…and destroy the Sanctuary. Harriette had a point after all—if I finish it now then the seals can never be reopened as easily.”

“But…”

“Go back outside, Raven. Leave this to me.”

Raven knew he would’ve usually had some kind of comeback ready for a situation like this. But everything—his mind, his voice—failed him, and all he could do was stand and stare. Elsynne’s gaze was resolute, but he could see a harsh flicker of fear in her eyes; she was afraid to go through with this, but she was going to try it anyway.

Harriette’s false promises and her own guilt had completely poisoned her mind.

“You don’t have to sacrifice yourself like this, Elsynne,” Raven finally managed, albeit feebly. “We can find another way to fix things. There’s always another way.”

“Not this time. I have to complete this ceremony or else everything we’ve done up to this point is completely useless,” she said softly. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t-“

Elsynne brandished her staff as a glyph appeared beneath her unsteady feet. “I can’t back down now! And I’ll fight you if it means getting you out of here!”

He narrowed his eyes. “You’ll...fight me?”

“Yes.”

He hesitated again, his jaw set. But he finally drew his sword and assumed an offensive stance, holding the blade firmly in his fists.

“It’s come down to this, hasn’t it? Elsynne, I don’t want to hurt you unless I have to. But I won’t leave unless you’re coming with me.”

“I don’t want to hurt you either, Raven.”

“Then can’t we stop this? Let’s just go back to Eirnome with the others. They’ll help you find a way to fix this.”

“No. I’m going through with my word! I’ll stop the black magic from killing everyone, even...at the cost of my life.”

“Think of how everyone else will feel!”

“Now you’re just being selfish!”

“I’m being selfish?! You’re the one who’s throwing your life away like it’s nothing! I know there’s another way out of this!”

“There isn’t another way,” she insisted. “I started this and now I have to end it! I don’t have much time left, Raven! If I keep waiting around while we try to find another way, then another city may be destroyed. I don’t want that to happen! Don’t make me go through that again,” she whispered hoarsely.

The pain in her voice struck a chord in Raven’s chest. He had always known that she was still suffering because of the accident in Estershore, but at the same time, he never truly knew how deep her remorse was until now. “Elsynne...”

The glyph flared wildly, bathing the room in its glaring yellow glow. “I’ve warned you enough times! Stand aside!”

Raven ignored her. He charged forward, sword drawn, but their weapons met in midair, showering the floor with orange and white sparks. He pulled away and blocked her again, taken off-guard when she pushed him away with more force than he was prepared for.

Raven regained his balance at the last second and spun awkwardly to the side as another magic glyph appeared beneath Elsynne’s feet. His entire body still burned—and it was beginning to hurt more now, as if the effects of Elsynne’s healing magic had already worn off—but he could feel strength welling up from the back of his mind where the presence was still hiding in wait.

‘But if I let it take over at a time like this, it could kill her.’

“Photon!” A white sphere materialized to his left, and Raven jumped out of the way only seconds before it exploded. Wisps of light beat against his skin, stinging him wherever they touched. Raven brushed them off with a quick shake and lunged at Elsynne before she could cast another spell.

This time he managed to catch her before she recovered from her last assault. He hit her stomach with the dull edge of his sword and knocked her to the ground. Elsynne rolled over, springing back to her feet to swing at him again before he could block the attack. Stars burst through Raven’s vision when she struck him hard in the side of the head.

“Damn it!” he hissed, putting a hand to his aching skull. His fingers touched the hot, sickening blood that oozed from the new injury.

Frigid darkness clouded Raven’s mind when he saw his own blood on his fingertips. He knew now that Elsynne was completely serious about fighting him, and she was going to do anything to get him out of the Sanctuary in time.

When Raven looked up at her again he saw another spark of panic pass through Elsynne’s eyes before she reassumed a defensive position, holding her staff between his blade and her body. She said nothing, her white-knuckled hands grasping the weapon even tighter.

The presence pulled at the back of Raven’s mind, softly this time, as if it was willing him to charge forward and challenge her. Raven felt his regular strength failing him—the influence of the Sanctuary was too much, even with the plumes of black magic twisting around them.

Maybe if he borrowed Baldur’s strength for a while, just for this battle-

He shook his head fiercely to clear the fog from his mind. No, he couldn’t do that. It was too risky. Besides, Elsynne relied mostly on her light magic; if he could interrupt her before she cast anything then he would be fine.

Right?

Elsynne didn’t wait for him to make up his mind. A symbol reappeared on the stone tiles beneath her feet, stretching out in an intricate, foreign pattern. Raven tried to react, but his legs felt like lead. He couldn’t jump out of the way in time.

“Holy Lance!”

Spears of light morphed from the glyph, rising several feet above Raven before they drove themselves into his body. Pain exploded from every part of his being, so strong that it forced him back to the ground. The injured side of his head hit the stone floor hard, but he couldn’t feel it anymore. Light magic coursed through his veins, faster than blood, blocking out every one of his senses.

The presence—his other half—didn’t waste any time. He felt a new, fresh wave of strength fill his body, slowly reducing the agony of Elsynne’s attack to a bothersome, ebbing throb. Part of Raven wanted to stop this, but part of him didn’t. It was just like before; anything that took away the pain was completely welcome.

He smiled when he saw the fear grow more pronounced in Elsynne’s eyes. He put a hand to the wound on the side of his head and, with a quick dose of black magic, it was mostly gone.

“You’re back,” Elsynne breathed, trembling lightly. “But I thought you couldn’t come back like this…”

The new Raven—the possessed Raven—flourished the sword in his hand. “I’ve been waiting for this opportunity to come up again.”

Elsynne only responded with a sharp breath. Raven—or at least part of him—saw this as a fight to the death now.

But Elsynne couldn’t kill him—not even if Baldur’s influence had taken over him again. All she wanted to do was get him out of the Sanctuary before the ceremony was performed.

A telltale symbol reappeared as Elsynne began another spell. Raven threw out a burst of black magic, adding to the already suffocating mix in the air. The blast hit Elsynne full in the chest, throwing her off-balance and interrupting her incantation at the same time. Raven took advantage of the distraction and ran forward, stabbing at her with the point of his sword.

A thin, glowing membrane of light deflected his blade. Raven shuddered back, hissing a quiet curse as Elsynne slid back to her feet. She held up her staff again, blocked another strike, and tried to push him away like she had before.

“What’s wrong?” Raven asked, smirking. “Aren’t you going to use Amalthea’s power again?”

“N-No,” she replied, still trying to hold her weapon steady.

“Will you try to kill me like you did before?”

She hesitated for a moment before she responded. “No. I…I can’t. You know I couldn’t do that…!”

“Then you’ll never win!” Raven kicked Elsynne in the stomach and raised his sword once more. Elsynne jumped out of the way before his blade came down mere inches from where her head had been only seconds ago.

Raven waited for her to stand before he hit her with a plume of black magic. But Elsynne was prepared this time—another membrane of light encased her body as she chanted the incantation to a spell.

“Luminosity!” Shining beams cascaded from the space above their heads and pierced Raven in the side. He gasped sharply and threw up his hands, creating a barrier of black magic as the last of the deadly rain came barreling down around him. It ricocheted off his shield and hit the walls, marring them with burning, jagged marks.

‘I have to end this quickly,’ Raven thought, letting his barrier dissipate. He felt the strength of Baldur’s power welling up inside him, spreading out to every limb of his quickly tiring body. He focused that power in his sword; when he raised it over his head, he saw the black magic around them coalescing at the tip, twisting through the air to form an even larger imitation of the blade in his hands.

“ABYSSMAL BLADE!” he cried, releasing all the energy in Elsynne’s direction. The dark mist created a path of destruction in its wake, ripping up stone and flinging tiles at the walls.

Elsynne reacted instinctively this time. Cold terror reflected in her gaze when she looked at him, her expression of mix of wild fear, surprise, and betrayal.

“No!” she cried, holding up her staff. A glyph and a form in the shape of Rem appeared in the air behind her.

Raven instantly recognized the symbol, and the part of him that had been taken over by Baldur knew the fight was over.

“RADIANT FATALITY!”

An explosion of light sent him flying backward. The magic didn’t quite hit him full on—their attacks had met and detonated somewhere between them—but he still felt a rush of pain before he hit the ground and slid backward. The force of the impact pushed him to the edge of the massive black magic crack beside the altar.

Raven didn’t notice how close he was at first; at the moment he felt as though his innards were being torn apart. Shocks of raw, agonizing power rushed through him, ripping through his body like a sharpened knife. The black magic in the air condensed into beads of pale light before they burst into nothingness.

Raven gave a shuddering sigh and put a hand to the corner of his mouth. When he pulled it back he saw familiar, sludge-like liquid on his hands. As he wiped the last of the fluid away with his violently twitching fingers, he was suddenly aware of the gaping, burning emptiness in his chest.

All of the black magic in his body was gone.

Vine-like tendrils of light suddenly shot up from the ground and wrapped themselves around his midsection and neck, pulling him closer to the floor.

‘Fading away,’ the presence was screaming in the back of his mind. ‘I’m…fading…no!‘

The bonds squeezed tighter around his head and stomach. With the tendrils of light holding him in place, Raven felt the grip of Baldur’s presence finally break down. He pushed past the last of it and took a deep breath of humid air. When he reopened his heavy eyes and looked up, he realized that all of the black magic in the room had disappeared as well.

It was all over. He knew it was over. There was only half of him left and he didn’t have much time to live. All of the black magic in his being had been obliterated with Elsynne and Rem’s attack.

“Elsynne,” he muttered weakly, “I’m me again. Let go, please…”

Elsynne stared back at him, silently wiping a drop of blood from her cheek. For a moment he thought she wasn’t going to release him—the bonds around his stomach only seemed to tighten—but, finally, they vanished. Raven forced himself to a standing position, wobbling precariously on unsteady legs.

“Raven, don’t…I’m so sorry…!” Elsynne gasped, taking a few steps closer to him. Raven startled her when he closed the gap between them and took her gently by the hand.

“You have to go back,” he said faintly. “Don’t try to end this by destroying the Sanctuary. Your death won’t solve a thing.”

Elsynne shivered. Raven knew that his touch was probably hurting her as well; his fingertips were stinging where his fingers brushed her warm skin. But he held onto her tightly, hoping that he could convince her to turn back with these last few moments he had.

“Just get out, Elsynne. I’m dying, anyway…that half of my soul was destroyed. I’m not going to make it out of here,” Raven said, his breathing harsh and labored. “Go back to Felix and the others. Forget about the ceremony for now-“

“I’m not going to leave you behind here! You can’t…you’re not dying! You can’t be!”

“The black magic that was keeping me together is all gone.” Raven raised one hand and tried to conjure a plume of mist in his hand, but nothing happened. “I can’t survive without that other half of my soul, even if it wasn’t really mine. But you have to go-“

“But I didn’t…no…that was my fault, wasn’t it?! Raven…!”

“It was mine, Elsynne. I let that monster take over me and I almost killed you. You were just defending yourself. You didn’t mean to-“

Elsynne suddenly shoved him away, the tips of her fingers unintentionally laced with light magic.

“No!” she shouted. “You’re not dying! You’re not going to leave me here!”

Raven felt his entire body go numb. He was already terribly weak after their fight; he thought it was a miracle he was even standing and hadn’t died yet.

But that light magic Elsynne used—although it was small—crashed into his system with the force of a speeding train. He staggered backward, slipping beside the black magic crack that hadn’t yet been sealed.

Just before he fell he saw Elsynne’s wide, terrified eyes. She rushed forward and reached out her hand when she realized what she had done. She grabbed Raven by the elbow and held fast.

His fingers wrapped around her arm. The additional pain was suddenly too great—he couldn’t hold on because Amalthea’s magic felt like poisonous, hot fire in his veins, and even though he was already a dead man he couldn’t understand why it still hurt-

“Elsynne, damn it,” he hissed, instinctively trying to pull away. But that last, dying half of him was too far gone to fight back.

Five seconds of struggling went by too fast. His vision was darkening—Elsynne seemed so far away, like she was standing at the end of a long, lonely tunnel. He was just barely holding on now.

Raven closed his eyes and Elsynne disappeared for the last time. He had to let go of something, and he made his decision in those final few seconds.

He let go of that final thread of life in his tired body.

“Raven!” Elsynne gasped when he went limp in her hands. She forced healing artes through her hands and into his body.

But Raven didn’t respond.

A rattling sigh shook her chest. “No…I didn’t…!”

She didn’t kill him. She couldn’t have. It wasn’t possible. But she couldn’t feel a pulse in his wrist when she readjusted her grip on his arm; that was all the proof she needed, right?

She still refused to believe it.

The realization of it all weakened Elsynne even more and Raven slipped from her grasp. Elsynne yelped and threw out her hands, but she only grabbed air. He was already falling, too far away for her to save. The clouds of smoke that hadn’t settled from their spells separated when he passed through them, his body twisting uselessly as he disappeared into the abysmal maw below them.

And then he was gone.

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The Sanctuary finally came into view, outlined against the pale, watery light of the rising sun. Felix waited for a ramp to lower from the land vehicle they had borrowed from the military before he sprinted to the monument.

And there, surrounded by the bodies of fallen soldiers, was Harriette.

“Hey!” Felix threw his arms in the air and waved at her, ignoring the tug of fear he felt in the back of his mind. “Harriette!”

The girl stood motionless in the dim, almost nonexistent sunlight.

Ilia came to a halt beside him, her eyes wide as she stared at the once-proud building behind Harriette. “Oh, my god…”

Felix followed her gaze and felt his heart stop. The entrance was completely sealed off by slabs of stone, and he could see massive columns of dust and smoke rising from the top of the building itself.

“Raven and Elsynne are still in there, aren’t they?” Stephen demanded, pushing past Felix and Ilia. “Harriette, answer me!”

The girl’s face was completely devoid of emotion. Her sightless gaze was fixed directly on them, cold and detached.

“They were,” she replied after a moment of apprehension.

“Did you kill the soldiers here?”

“Tane did.”

“But you commanded him to, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

Ilia took a long, slow breath. “Did they…get out? Why is the entrance sealed off, Harriette?”

Harriette blinked slowly, betraying nothing. “The Heir and the Messenger are finally gone.”

“No…that can’t be right…”

Ilia dropped to her knees as Cymbeline growled defiantly from somewhere behind them. Stephen cursed under his breath and put a hand to his forehead.

Ilia suddenly looked down at her hands. She could see faint lines going from the tips of her fingers, up her arms, and to the base of her neck.

“These scars,” she murmured fearfully. “I’m…I’m falling apart again…”

“What do you mean?” Felix asked.

“I was sealed together with black magic…and now that it’s gone, I’m going to…I’ll be gone soon, too.”

“No…!”

“The black magic cracks are finally being sealed,” Harriette said abruptly, a small spark of hope finally breaking through her façade. “Everything is going to be…all right now.”

“Everything will not be all right!” Ilia protested, her hands tightening into fists. “It’s not fine! Raven and Elsynne, they’re both…!”

“Come on!” Felix said, motioning to Stephen. “Summon Fiametta and Evadne! We have to get in there!”

“Felix,” Cymbeline began gently. Even she seemed doubtful, but Felix refused to be swayed.

“I’m not leaving until I see Elsynne and Raven! Please, Stephen!”

Stephen’s frown deepened, but he held out his hands and summoned the two elemental Spirits without a single protest. Harriette turned away from them, her face darkened by shadow before any emotion could show.

“The Heir and the Messenger are both gone,” she said again.

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Elsynne pulled back slowly, still watching the darkness with a shivering gaze. Raven couldn’t be gone; it was impossible, wasn’t it? He couldn’t die like this—not here, not now.

But she had seen it with her own eyes. His body went limp in her hands and, with half of his soul gone, his heart finally lost the will to continue beating. And then he fell into the fissure, his body twisting sickly before it tumbled somewhere to the bottom—if there even was an end to these terrible black magic cracks.

This wasn’t like the time in the Tower at all. There was no chance of him coming back. He wasn’t going to wake up later and begrudgingly tell her that he was going to be fine.

She destroyed all of the black magic in his body. The ceremony—even incomplete, with just a small spell—had obliterated part of his soul. Raven’s body simply couldn’t survive without the miasma.

And now he was gone, along with Skylar and all the people in Estershore who had lost their lives.

Elsynne was a murderer.

A choked cry tore from the back of her throat as she put a hand weakly to her mouth. She felt herself sinking into denial, telling herself over and over again that he wasn’t dead, he was going to reappear and pull himself from the fissure and tell her again to get out of the Sanctuary.

But he didn’t come back. He didn’t re-emerge and assure her with that typical scowl of his. He was dead, and it was her fault.

“Why…?!” Elsynne threw herself against the floor, clenching her fists at the edge of the fissure. She stayed there for a long time, shivering violently, trying to see past the blurry, wet haze in her eyes.

Skylar had been right about the effects of the resealing ceremony all along, and Harriette…

The thought of her treacherous younger sister made Elsynne shudder. Harriette had known as well—she pushed the entire thing along from the very beginning. Not only did she want the ceremony to be completed, but she wanted the Messenger and the Heir to die as well.

What are a few lives compared to the entire world?

Elsynne took a shallow breath of air and brushed tears from her face with the back of her dirty hand. She forced herself to her feet and staggered back to the dimming glyph on the ground. She grabbed her staff and stood in the center of the circle, her eyes downcast and weary.

This time her decision was absolutely final. There wasn’t anything left holding her back. The power she had once seen as a solution to all of their problems had just killed Raven and destroyed an entire city. She had to put a stop to things before they got even worse.

Something like this could never, ever happen again.

Elsynne held out her staff and chanted under her breath. She didn’t let her mind wander; she recited the words effortlessly, focusing only on the rhythm of the prayer. When it was finally complete she doubled over, crouching on her knees as the floor beneath her began to shake.

“The resealing ceremony is done. The black magic cracks are beginning to seal up,” Rem said. Elsynne didn’t look up, but she knew the Spirit was somewhere beside her. She could feel his familiar presence.

“What you did was the right thing,” he said presently. “If you didn’t stop him, then that presence in him would’ve killed you without a second thought. You wouldn’t have been able to reseal the black magic. And now there’s no chance of the Tower being unlocked again either.”

Elsynne didn’t respond.

“Would you like me to go through with our plan?” Rem asked after a pause.

“Yes,” she replied quietly. “And destroy the Sanctuary as well.”

“With you still in it?”

“Yes.”

“Very well.”

“And Rem…” Elsynne shifted to face the Spirit. “I didn’t command you to destroy all the black magic in Raven’s body, so why did you-“

“That spell probably would’ve killed him anyway,” Rem interrupted tersely. “And don’t you remember the terms of our pact? You wanted to perform the resealing ceremony to save this world. I am a Spirit…so I must work in the world’s best interest.”

“I…” She lowered her head once more. “Don’t obliterate all the black magic in the world just yet.”

“It’ll still disappear bit by bit even if I do nothing. Your friends who rely on the black magic will die anyway…eventually. It will just take several years.”

“I know…it’s just-“

Rem nodded faintly. “I’ll let the black magic disappear on its own, then. But you must abide to our pact: we will completely close every one of the fissures so no more black magic can escape.”

“All right.”

Elsynne was too numb to notice that the tremors in the Sanctuary were gradually increasing. Pieces of the ceiling cracked and shattered, falling heavily to the ground around her.

I didn’t mean to hurt you…

One fell several feet from where she was kneeling.

I didn’t mean for it to end this way, Raven…

Another stone crashed into the floor only a few inches from her leg.

I’m sorry…I’m so sorry… You wouldn’t have used your power like that if you were still yourself, I know you wouldn’t…and I was only trying to protect myself, but still…Rem…!

Shards of sharp rock pelted her arm.

“Harriette lured you here so she could kill us both and end the bloodlines,” Elsynne murmured, closing her eyes. “I trusted her…she was my only sister…and she lead us right into her trap-“

A large, pointed piece of stone hit Elsynne in the back of her head, tearing a gash across her exposed scalp. She cried out, her hands flying instinctively to the wound. As she fell to the side, she could feel blood seeping through her fingers.

Elsynne realized with a painful jolt that she was, in fact, still afraid to die like this. She searched for Rem beyond the pain, but she could sense nothing. She was alone.

Like Arngon and Skylar, she was going to die alone.

But I deserve this.

Her vision was beginning to dim. Through the fog, Elsynne thought she felt a pair of hands grab her by the shoulders and drag her across the floor, but she knew it was too late. Everything hurt, everything was broken.

There was nothing anyone could do for her now.

The last thing she heard was what sounded like Felix and Stephen calling out her name.

“Harriette-“ she gasped, but she couldn’t hear her own voice anymore. Before everything faded to black, Elsynne wondered briefly if Harriette made it away from the Sanctuary before it collapsed.

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Lianne stood on the precipice of a seaside cliff, closing her eyes as a soft, cool breeze brushed strands of hair from her face. She had left the elven community when she felt a disturbance in the black magic; even though she had never fulfilled her duties as a Messenger, she was still deeply connected with the constantly shifting miasma.

The sun was slowly rising over the horizon, coloring the sky a magnificent shade of orange and red. She noticed now that the bruised color of the black magic wasn’t as dark as it had been the day before—but the change was barely noticeable, even with her sharp elven eyes.

The elf stumbled when a strong, sudden quake rocked the sea cliff. She braced herself against the violent tremors, holding her balance to keep herself from falling into the dangerous water below.

Lianne could hear the sound of rock crashing against rock, and when she turned, she could see the edges of the fissure that had swallowed her husband and former brother slowly move together.

“They did it,” she said quietly, her eyes widening. “They really did it…”

Lianne turned back to the sky and managed a weak smile. Raven was out there, probably in the midst of the conflict—

Something inside her suddenly felt as though it had broken.

Her heart skipped a few beats when a chilling emptiness filled her stomach. Lianne put a shaky hand to her chest; she had never felt this before, but knew instantly what it was. Her connection with the only other living Messenger had just been severed.

A bright new sun was dawning over the restored world, but Lianne felt as though she had lost everything.

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“It took me a long time to finally come to a decision. And now that I’m finally sure…everything is falling into place. I know exactly what I need to do.

I can run away and watch everything around me—the world, my home, my friends, my family—die. Or I can use Rem’s power to set things right again, and everything will be okay.

I’d rather leave knowing that there’s a complete world behind me. I want to know that there are still people I care about there, living and breathing and taking advantage what they’ve been given: their lives.

We always take that for granted, don’t we? We don’t really think about it until times like this, when everything is at stake.

I remember learning the legend of the world from Harriette and the scriptures. They said that the god and goddess were sealed away to protect the world from the miasma—they willingly gave up their freedom to create the powerful seals. But they didn’t last because people like us exist…and we exist because, like my sister told you before, Baldur and Amalthea still wanted a way out.

I know you probably think this sounds awful and cliché, but…that journey we went on together helped me. Seeing the world and the cultures, all the different people…it helped shape who I became, and the decision I made in the end. Everyone we traveled with helped change me too. I’ll miss those times.

I know that this story will probably never be shared with the world. But I know I’ll always remember it…and the rest of you will too, right?

Raven…

I wish it could’ve ended a little differently for us…”
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[Toku]

Wait I have to get this out of the way first...

[Sir Shrek]

...
......
I feel... sad...
. . ...
YOU KILLED OFF RAVEN?! WHY? sadffhfgsd gjdsf Roadie that was possibly the most fantastic ending to a story ever. What with Raven and Elsynne and the magic and... good god, why does it have to end?! I am eternally a fan of yours, lady of the road running.

EDIT: a) sorry for the double post. Computer glitch.
b) I'm in denial that ToC is over. I'm going to re-read the whole story from the beginning to end, one chapter a monday as per Midna/Roadie style.
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Credit to squidmaster64 for the fanbar.

[squidmaster64]

Holy **** god why

But agreed completely with Toku, every last emotion was spot-on... Damn near cried when Elsynne decided to sacrifice herself anyway... ****, Thing.

Raven's little musings at the beginning were interesting--hell, why are you stopping her? Because you like her, you twit.

[0999Silv]

Two main characters are dying. I am sad now.

WAIT!!! There is still the epilogue. Please tell me there is still a chance! There may be a ray of hope. Please tell me the epilogue will give us a happier ending.

I also realized something else. You never got around to explaining what the 'Scale' is. Will that be elaborated on in the Epilogue?

[Swordmaster69]

OMGGG!!! I am so sad right now but I am clapping at the same time. This story was, with not doubt, unbelievably awesome in every way. I just really need something good to read in the epilogue. This is too sad for me.
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Tales of Glory

Judith Avatar by Dimentio
Tales of Candence Rotating Fanbar by Squidmaster!!!

[squidmaster64]

Hm, am I the only fan of torrential angst around here? -.o

[Kevvie]

Bravo!
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[Avatar: Roadrunnuh][Fanbar: squidmaster64]

[Desmond the Patient]

My dear Colette, your long long journey has finally come to an end, how do you feel? :3
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Avatar by OCR-ED-209

[KK Twain]

They died? Elsynne, Raven, and Ilia all die? That's... so sad... You like sad endings, don't you?

Um... Wouldn't Lianne die too, because she's also a messenger who relies on dark magic, or does that only happen if they're exposed to too much?

I wonder what happens in the epilogue...

Looking forward to the next ... to the epilogue, then.