hey, why is nobody commenting?
Anyway. I now have finished the story( about 10500 words). Before reading this, make sure you read the last chapters.
First: Thanks for everyone partcipiating in this story and for those who motivated me. I don't know whether I would have finished this story without you.
Second: Enjoy, comment and rate. Someone rated it with one star and I don't want to have only three stars.
Third: This story got inspirated by some sonata arctica songs. I don't know whether you care about that, but if you want to know it, this is my main inspiration, abandoned, pleased, brainwashed, eyploited:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0qDNXpERaI
Time has come for everyone, to think what we have done.
Open your eyes and see, it's not a dream.
You aim for a common goal, you are one with your foe.
If only we could wake up soon and scream.
and this is another inspiration, The ruins of my life:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=471XEdmJZzI
if you like them, here is one of the greatest songs I like, it just has nothing to do with the story:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDfcnUivQII
I also fought some time against me about whether I want to give Cen's wife a name. I won and now she has one, also from a sonata arcica song
And its also the name of the godness of moon I think. Why I fought? Because I wasn't sure whether the song fits in with the story, but exept of one line it fits pretty good.
@phil: Please don't close this topic within two weeks. If possible I want at least you, Drahcir, sadbahv, Zabobula and another member to comment.
Would be nice if you could turn it into a PDF. I wanted to post the whole story in here, but somehow its too big. It just doesn't work. I guess you will have to copy it from my first post, sry.
I hope I didn't want to post this ending too fast. Maybe wait a week or so to make sure I won't change it anymore.
Now I have a question, and its just a question: How can I get such a cool author award for example Zabobula has? Is it just about quality or also about amount? I don't say that I deserve one, I just want to ask.
I will probably soon make new stories, but not such long ones. Maybe some cool short stories. However I will first dry to sprite a bit again. Spriting Cen would be cool .D
I once knew exactly how to do the epilogue, but I forgot. I hope that it still is good.
I wanted to say some more things, but I forgot which, so just
Enjoy! comment and rate.
Drahcir, Mailliw and Z ran towards the soldiers, waving their swords. Suddenly the door on the other side of the room broke. Vaguely he saw the face of Cen in the mass of bandits, but there were other things he had to pay attention to.
He was running, just running, totally focused on the man jumped of the throne, trying to escape. But there were only these two doors and both of them were bocked by either the bandits or the rebels.
Marc nearly reached him, ready to end all this with a blow of the swords when suddenly Mailliw was hit by one of the soldiers. He sank to the ground, blood coming out of his stomach. His look was saying: “Go on, don't care about me.” But he couldn't avert his eyes.
Neither could Z. He was hit by a sword stroke, too and sank to the ground beside Mailliw.
Marc was stunned. Suddenly the soldiers stopped. He turned his hat around and saw Cen standing in front of a sunk down human shape, the king. The shape hadn't got any similarity to the evil emperor they fought against, Marc nearly felt some compassion.
However Cen stared at him with a cold and untouched look.
Cen seemed very thoughtful while looking at the king, but when he began to spoke his words sounded hard and merciless.
“How long have I waited for this moment? Now you will pay for everything you did. Suffer for the pain you brought over me!”
Suddenly the eyes of the king become a mad glance. From the inside of his clothing he took a dagger as fast as lightning. Cen jumped backwards. The king was turning around his head like a cornered animal, then he jumped over to Marc.
The attack came so fast and unexpected that Marc hadn't enough time to think. Reflexively he killed the king with a blow of his sword.
Blood filled the ground around the dead body. Marc was looking at it, shocked. Images came into his mind, the villagers, all of them dead. How they lied in their own blood, frozen in their actions, sometimes embracing each other. The dead rebels in their camp, after the attack of the army. And now this dead body, killed by his own hand.
“What did I do?”
All those images circled in his mind, faster and faster, not letting him turn away his head. Was he so much better than them?
Without saying a word he took the dagger from the ground and stabbed it into his heart.
Cen was crying. His world was thrown into pieces again. The time got slower and slower as he watched Marc falling to the ground. He was crying. Crying out his pain, crying until nothing else was left.
He knew that this would happen. He knew that they both would die after killing the emperor. But it shouldn't have ended like that. It shouldn't.
The last one reminding him of his old life was dead. Completely dead, irreversible.
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the other rebels entering the room. Fred was the first one.
Cen was perforated by several arrows, but he hardly noticed. No physical pain could stand the psychical one he was now suffering from. He was falling to the ground, seeing the both sides running towards each other and Marc lying next to him.
“Selene...” was the last word of him.
The fight didn't last long. The rebels were much more than the bandits and the army capitulated after it realized that the emperor was dead. So the madness was finally ended. Although there were many victims, a good and happy time for the realm started from that day on. Fred was installed as a new emperor and everything was good and fine.
The end...?
Epilogue - It's time for everyone...
Drahcir was sitting on the ground, next to Mailliw, looking at him with an absent look. He had never cried before, no matter what had happened, but now the tears were running down his face.
Slowly Mailliw raised his head to look Drahcir straight into the eye. When he began to speak, his voice was low and Drahcir had to come nearer to understand what he said.
“When you are going back to our planet... to fulfill our mission... tell them... that I thought the humans... are worth dying for them. Will you?”
Drahcir didn't said anything, but his eyes told it for him. He embraced Mailliw, trying to hold him forever, but he couldn't. Mailliw smiled a last time at him, then he lied back and died. Drahcir kept sitting there for hours before finally loosing him.
After everyone had gone, the light suddenly vanished and a dark shadow appeared. Two scary blue eyes were the only source of light. First the shape looked at the emperor's body, then it shook its head and hovered over to Mailliw. It swung his scythe and Mailliw's ghost came out of his body. He looked at the reaper with calm eyes.
“Let us go.”
Then the shape went over to Marc and Z. Their ghosts also came out of the bodies. Marc was still shocked, while Z seemed very thoughtful.
The reaper was looking at both of them, silent.
Marc looked at him with empty eyes.
“What... what did I do? I killed him.”
Now the reaper began to speak with his cold voice.
“Yes, you killed him. But does it matter? He had to die anyway.”
“It does. It isn't just the result that counts. I killed him, with my own hands. I can still feel the blood...”
“Nevertheless you didn't want to. You couldn't do anything else. But you managed not to kill him for vengeance.”
Marc didn't say anything, but didn't seem to be convinced.
“And remember for what you did it. To free everyone suffering from the violence and cruelty the emperor brought over the land.”
Marc still wasn't saying anything, but slowly nodded.
“Its just... I can't forget the image of him, lying on the ground and me holding my sword. All this blood...”
Now he looked into the reaper's eyes.
“But yes, I accept what I have done. It will hunt me forever, but I know that it wasn't a mistake and that I wouldn't change what has happened if I could.”
The reaper turned to Z.
“And what is with you?”
Z looked up and shrugged.
“I don't know. At the moment I am wondering whether I should be happy or not. I don't have to live on with my past now, but I still know nothing about it. And I don't know whether I can be dead with this uncertainty.”
“I have always wished to get rid of my destructive powers, to be accepted as a normal guy. Now in death I won't have this problem anymore, but I still want to know what happened to me.”
“So what is holding you away from searching for it?”
“Fear. Fear of getting to know something I can't stand. But I don't know what to do without a goal. And I don't want to run away from my past.”
He turned to Marc.
“So will you come with me?”
Marc nodded and both of them walked away together, the two being so different but yet so similar.
They went on with their search. One to lose his past, one to gain it back. And in the time of searching together they were both lucky. Does it matter whether they find what they are searching for?
In the end the reaper was hovering to Cen's body. Like the ones before, Cen's ghost was coming out of it.
The ghost was looking into the reaper's eyes, thoughtful.
“So now it has ended. This wasn't what I wanted to. Why haven't I seen this before? All this cruelty, all this madness... Am I better than the ones I was fighting against?”
“Yes, many things went wrong. But as I say often to died people: Try better next time. Somehow nobody is laughing about it.”
Cen wasn't replying anything. He didn't speak for a short period of time, then he said.
“Will I see her again after death?”
“Who can know? You will have to find out by yourself.”
“So even that is not sure. For what did I throw away my life? What did I expect? Marc has died, I was about to die for bandits taking over the empire. Everything just because someone else shouldn't feel better than me.”
He again was silent.
“Is there something like a heaven for those who have died?”
“What do you think?”
“I think there isn't one for people like me.”
“Are you sure? You did many things wrong, but in the end you at least felt guilty for it, you accepted your mistakes. Much wasn't as it should have been, but its not only what happened that matters.”
“So there is still hope?”
Cen looked up.
“There is always hope as long as you don't throw it away. For everyone who can accept what he did. Now come on.”
The reaper began moving and Cen was following him. In his mind he could see the face of Selene, looking into his eyes with a knowing smile. And this time he understood.