“Yash!” Fairien shouted. He froze, seeing Will. Will blinked, looking a bit worried as the blade pressed against his neck. Azrael and Minerva studied the stranger. They had heard about Yash from Fairien’s accounts, but had never seen him. Yash looked over them coolly.

“Yash! Let him go!” Fairien shouted, “He has nothing to do with this!”

“Oh?” Yash asked raising an eyebrow. “I believe you are mistaken.” Fairien blinked and was about to say something when Yash continued on,

“How ironic to find you three here.” He said softly. “It’s just like before.”

“What are you talking about?” Azrael asked his voice still unnerved.

“Why are you doing this?” Fairien asked. “I thought you were our teacher! Weren’t you? Weren’t you?” he shouted. “I know you were despite what any of them say! I can remember it!”

“I’m surprised you pulled even one small memory from that time. It was very long ago.” Yash mused.

“… So you were our teacher?” Fairien asked.

“Technically I was.” He laughed, “So they told you I wasn’t?” Yash said. “But that doesn’t matter now. My point of no return passed long ago, and now I must do act without feeling, doing horrible things...” He blinked, pausing a moment, then looked down at Will. Yash smiled, “Like this.” And with that he plunged the knife into Will’s throat. There was one sickening moment before it pieced the skin, and then the blade pulled across, slitting the throat open, plunging deep within.

Horror filled them and Fairien screamed, as Will fell, making a weak gurgling noise, helplessly pulling his hands to his throat.

“WILL!” and before Azrael or Minerva could stop him, Fairien shot off. Yash raised his eyes seeing Fairien coming. Abruptly, Fairien felt his body freeze as he tripped and fell, sliding on the smooth floor, coming to a halt.

Fairien took a few spastic breaths and pulled himself up, watching Will’s body hit the floor and lay there, still.

He was clearly dead.

 

 

 

Miles away Nathanael flew frantically through the battlefield, shouting into the wind. He had to find Hazael and the wanderer. If he didn’t, the consequences could be devastating.

Just then, a mountaintop caught his attention. It was tall, tall enough to rise up out of the clouds where Nathanael hovered, watching it. The air was clear over there, the battle having not spread that far. It was the perfect place to hide.

Nathanael narrowed his eyes and shot off towards it.

If Ariel and Eros had any intelligence within them, this would be the place they would have taken Hazael and the wanderer. The only question was, why?

They’re planning something…. Nathanael thought. Something terrible. He flew faster.

 

 

Hazael screamed as Eros plunged another spear into him. Eros, he noticed was being very careful not to hit anything vital. Hazael’s arms and legs were bloody from the pike Eros wielded, and Hazael, having no weapon, was defenseless. Any attacks he might have tried with his own power, Ariel made sure to interrupt. She was keeping an intense eye on him, breaking his power with her mind. Hazael fell, coughing, wanting them to just get it over with. Eros smiled and grabbed his arm, hosting him up.

“Oh no. Not yet. We haven’t even begun yet.” He said.

“What do you want Eros?!” Hazael screamed. “You’ve taken your revenge, ten fold even! And yet you still torment me!” Eros smiled at this.

“Ah, but you see, we must give her a good show.” He said. Hazael blinked.

“A… show?” he asked. Then, looking sideways, he noticed a pair of eyes fixed on him. The girl inside the crystal was watching him. Hazael’s eyes widened.

“No!” he shouted. “You can’t do this!”

“Oh, I don’t think you have much choice about it.” Eros smiled and plunged his pike deep into Hazael’s shoulder.

 

 

“With the life blood of this mortal, I can bring out the true form of the sword…” Yash said moving his hand over Will’s chest. Azrael and Minerva had joined Fairien’s side, watching Will’s body in horror.

“Stop it Yash!” Fairien screamed in fury. His eyes were murderous as he glared at Yash. Yash blinked, watching him coolly.

“It’s good for you to hate me.” He said softly. “It makes things easier.”

“Easier?” Fairien spat. “I don’t care who you are! You’re dead!” and with that he opened his wings, drawing up his full power. Azrael and Minerva gasped, stepping back. Yash smiled, and spread his fingers, drawing the sword from Will’s body. However, this was not the green hilted sword Minerva and Fairien had created. This sword had red vine-like streams of blood running over it, clinging to the blade, while dark encrusted jewels shone sinisterly within the hilt. Yash held it aloft, aiming it at Fairien, looking the blade over.

“It’s nice, don’t you think?” he asked quietly. “It is the other side to your beautiful sword of the spirit, as you call it.” He stepped over Will’s body and walked to meet Fairien. Fairien found himself frozen once more, though he wasn’t sure if it was Yash’s power or his own body betraying him. Yash held the sword higher, touching the tip of it to Fairien’s forehead.

“You three have done enough.” Yash said quietly. “Doesn’t this sword look familiar? Do you not feel odd in this situation? Like you’ve gone through it before?” Azrael blinked.

“Stop it.” He said softly.

“No.” Yash said, his voice taking on a vicious tone. “You will remember! And you will remember before you under go your precious awakening ceremony. Only then will you understand!” He smiled darkly, staring into Fairien’s frightened eyes. A power was building in the sword but still Fairien felt himself unable to move. He gasped feeling it enter him and knew that it was entering Azrael and Minerva as well.

And then everything stopped.

 

 

The hall was dim. Fairien blinked looking around. Behind him Minerva and Azrael peeked out into the cavernous main hall.

“Where is everyone?” Minerva asked.

“I don’t know…” Fairien answered, looking around. Usually, even at night there were people in the main hall. Something wasn’t right.

“We should have just stayed in bed.” Minerva said looking fearfully at the dark shadows.

“What would have been the fun in that?” Fairien asked, trying to sound brave.

“… I’m not sure we should be here…” Azrael said.

“You two don’t have any guts.” Fairien complained, looking at them both. They stared back at him with big eyes. The eyes of children. Fairien blinked. They were children… Just as… he was…

Fairien struggled to breath, to surface out of the memory, but found himself plunged back into it, deeper than before. His mind spun and he was no longer Fairien.

“Michael, you’re an idiot!” Minerva said scolding. Michael grinned.

“So?” he asked.

“Come on.” Azrael said, pulling them toward the far door. “Let’s go ask Sir Michael.”

“What? We can’t just go in there!” Minerva said as they made their way across the main hall toward the ornate door.

“Why not? He’s always glad to see us.” Azrael said.

“Yeah.” Michael agreed.

“But it’s the middle of the night.” Minerva pointed out. The other two ignored her. Minerva pouted, following closely. “You two always stick together…” she complained quietly.

                “Yeah well-” Michael began but stopped. He had seen something out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around, looking, trying to see.

                “Who’s there?!” he shouted.

                “Michael?” Azrael asked. Michael stared into a clump of dark shadows, almost certain someone was hiding there. He frowned and opened his wings, letting the power of his light shine brightly throughout the hall. He heard Azrael and Minerva gasp behind him as the shadows receded and a figure stood before them, looking at them, almost sadly.

                “Yadrisheal…” Minerva murmured.

                “No dear, that’s not my name anymore.” The figure said. Azrael back away slightly.

                “Stay back from him!” Azrael said, his voice growing alarmed. “He’s fallen!”

“What?” Minerva gasped. “That’s not possible!”

“Y-Yes it is…” Michael said stepping away. “He’s different!”

“Indeed I am, children.” Yadrishael said. “And I’m afraid that I do not have time to talk to you. Please step aside.”

“Why?!” Azrael demanded. “What are you doing here?”

“Step aside.” He repeated.

“Azrael… Maybe you should step aside.” Minerva said, looking up nervously.

“What’s going on?” Michael shouted, “I thought you were away, studying the- the…”

“The humans.” Yadrishael finished. “Yes. I was.” He paused, watching them. “All of you, go back to your rooms, now. Or I will kill you.” They all blinked in surprise.

“Y-You couldn’t kill anything Yadrishael…” Minerva said smiling. “Y-You told us… Remember? Remember?”

“I am not Yadrishael.” He murmured and reached to his side. “Go. All of you. Get away.”

“No!” Azrael shouted. “We won’t!” Yadrishael growled and pulled form his side a long thick sword, covered in angry red vines, snaking their way along the dark blade.

“Go.” He ordered. Michael blinked watching the sword in horror. It almost looked like it was covered in blood…

“You’re going to kill Sir Michael, aren’t you?” he asked. Looks or horror registered on Minerva and Azrael’s faces.

“Step aside. I will not tell you again, children.” He said, pointing the blade at them.

“We will not step aside.” Azrael said standing bravely before him. Michael and Minerva stood at his side.

“If that is your intention Yadrishael, then we cannot do as you’ve asked.” Minerva said quietly.

“We have our duty, and we cannot turn from it.” Michael said, staring at the sword. “No matter what the threat.”

“You three know nothing of duty!” Yadrishael screamed, rushing forward, the sword out, ready to kill. The three children stood, not knowing what to do, knowing that any power they had, was futile against him, it being him that had taught them to use that power… And then…

The blade sliced through them in horizontal arches, it swung, burying itself into their flesh, so quickly that within a matter of seconds all three had fallen, their lives claimed by the sword of destruction.

Yash stood back, looking down at the corpses pausing only a moment, then turned to open the large door, so that he could fulfill his mission. But as he did, he stopped and looked down at the sword in his hand. He could feel its power leaking out, at an incredible rate. He shouted, surprised. This weapon was invincible, the very essence of destruction itself, created by the underworlders, brought to life by a blood sacrifice, and yet, the power was draining from the sword before it could begin its appointed fate.

“No!” Yash whispered. He could see it now, the power rushing out of the sword and into… into the three bodies that lay before him. The blood sacrifice had come full circle and now the power was departing wholly from the sword, drawn into the bodies of these children by the power vested in them by heaven.

“Yash!” a voice shouted from behind him. Yash froze, and turned to see the armored warrior guardians of Sir Michael descending upon him. His eyes widened and he knew he had no chance now. Yash opened his wings, and fled.

 

The blackness of the memory faded from their vision as Azrael, Minerva and Fairien became aware of the real world again. They were in the hall once more, into their old bodies and Yash stood before them, the sword pointed at them.

“That memory…” Minerva murmured, still disoriented.

“We… died!” Fairien said. “But-”

“None of that is important. The question is, will you repeat the mistake again?” he asked, holding the blade up. “Or will you step aside?”

“We have changed and the times have changed Yash,” Azrael said, “But our answer remains the same.”

“Is that true?” he asked Fairien and Minerva. Fairien glared at him, his anger returning.

“No, I won’t make the same mistake again,” he growled, “This time, you won’t live to make us repeat this nightmare!”

“You may say that, however,” Yash said. “Somehow, I don’t think you have anymore power against me than you did all those thousands of years ago. In fact,” he smiled, “You all have even less power than you did then!”

Yash raised the sword, drawing its power together. As he did Fairien felt his body respond to the sword, giving up its power to the object. Fairien gasped, remembering Yash saying that the sword he held now was the twin to his sword, but this was the blood tainted version, which sought destruction. Yet, if the swords were connected… Then Yash held Fairien’s life in his hands.

“Stop it!” Azrael shouted in alarm, seeing what was happening to Fairien. But Yash did not stop. Fairien felt his body loosing its struggles to stay upright and he fell, hitting the floor hard as darkness swam before his eyes. His last glimpse was of Will’s bloody corpse, only a few feet away. Fairien felt a tightness in his throat and then the darkness took him.

It was then that he felt the last of his hope evaporate.
  

                 

 

The wanderer watched in horror at the three figures in front of her. One was being brutally stabbed and beaten by another. It was clear that the victim was in considerable pain and once, briefly he turned his eyes to her, meeting them for a second. In that second, the wanderer saw his pain and fear, though it was almost like he didn’t fear the other man, more it seemed his fear was directed at her. The wanderer watched as once again the victims attention was drawn from her, and he was attacked brutally.

 She didn’t want to see this! It was horrible. Inconceivable that people could do this to each other… She wanted them to stop, but she was frozen, forced to watch. Her mind began to spin and she felt sick, her body refusing to move. She was helpless! And it continued, for what seemed hours until finally when the wanderer knew that if she saw one more attack, one more gush of blood, one more twisted expression of agony, she would go insane, a voice whispered to her,

You can end this.

The wanderer stared forward, watching the scene before her. All this pain… She knew the whole world was like this… Pain derived from living… If she could end it… 

You can end this.

What must I do? The wanderer thought.

Give yourself to me. Came the reply.

… Alright. The wanderer agreed. Slowly, her eyes closed and she felt the cool darkness envelope her, taking her away from the horrible scene before her.

She would end it.

 

 

Eros watched in satisfaction as Hazael tried to scream, but found he no longer had the voice to do so. Hazael’s eyes slowly looked up at him, yet they did not hold pleading or any other similar expression, as Eros had assumed they would. Instead they held an acceptance, a slight bit of anger, and buried deeply, even a hint of pity. Eros growled, raising the spear again.

“Eros!” Ariel shouted, “Watch out!” but the warning had come too late, as Eros felt himself hit hard in the head and knocked flat against the rocky ground. He cursed, rolling over quickly to see Nathanael standing over him, looking down at him furiously. He was a bit taken back, to see Nathanael so angry.

“Get out of here.” Nathanael ordered to Eros and Ariel. They blinked, wondering why he was ordering them around. Nathanael turned his gaze to them and screamed, “Go! Or you will die!”

“Don’t tell me you’ll kill me?” Eros growled, his voice slightly teasing. Nathanael gazed at him.

“Not I.” He said, and turned pointing to the crystal. “Her.” Eros blinked and looked over. The girl in the crystal had closed her eyes and drawn a slight aura of power around her. Eros gasped, standing, realizing that he and Ariel had accomplished their mission.

“Come on!” he shouted to Ariel. And with that he opened his wings and shot off, as did Ariel, following his lead. Nathanael moved quickly to Hazael, examining his wounds, wincing at the damage to his wings. Hazael would not be able to fly.

There was a slightly sound of to his left and as Nathanael turned he watched in shock as the crystal began to break. Small cracks wound their way up the side and then, broke off, making small chinking noises.

“Hazael,” he said calmly. “We have to go.” Hazael opened his eyes and tried to breathe. “Do you think you have enough energy to warp?” Nathanael asked.

“Mmm…” Hazael tried to nod. Nathanael reached down and took his hand.

“Then let’s go.” He said. And they disappeared.

 

As they left the final bits of crystal fell away from the wanderer’s body and she stood once more on her own legs. Her eyes slowly opened, but they were not the wanderer’s eyes that looked out. Rather, these were the eyes of something far older than this girl. It knew instinctively that the very need for it to judge had come and that meant trouble for this entire world. Without a word, the wanderer’s body slowly moved upward into the air, hovering above the mountain, looking out of the world below, and the battle, all around her.

Her eyes watched the killing of that battle between winged foes. So, the time had come at last… The time for her action.

She would indeed, end it all.

 

 

 

Yash fixed his eyes on Minerva and Azrael, walking past Fairien’s still body. He had obtained Fairien’s power, the sword. There was no further use for him. Minerva’s eyes widened as she realized Yash’s purpose.

“Azrael! Run!” she shouted. Azrael blinked and realized what Minerva had. Yash needed their power to make his weapon whole.

“You cannot escape!” Yash shouted, lunging forward at Azrael and thrusting the sword at him. Azrael shouted, falling back against the wall as the sword tore into the side of his robe, pinning him against the wall effectively. Yash smiled darkly at Azrael’ frightened expression. Azrael could feel the cold edge of the sword against his side and before he knew what was happening, the sword began to glow, recognizing its lost part, calling to it.

“Azrael!” Minerva screamed, opening her wings to charge at Yash. Azrael felt the warmth in his chest running out of him.

“Get out of here Minerva!” he screamed. “He can’t use the weapon if he doesn’t have your power!” Azrael had good faith that Minerva would obey him. She would see the logic side to this and comply with it. Yash jerked the sword out of the wall, its task completed. Azrael slumped down onto the floor, only dimly conscious.

“You linger Minerva.” Yash said quietly, peering at her, his eyes shining. “Why is this?”

“You don’t deserve to have that question answered.” She said planting her feet firmly. Yash smiled and stepped toward her, holding the sword out.

“You surprise me Minerva. Could you actually have finally grasped the concepts of the heart?”

“You don’t deserve to have that question answered either.” Minerva said. Yash laughed.

“In other words I’m not worth your time?”

“Now you understand!” Minerva shouted, holding her hands out and grasping an invisible power. For a second she reflected that if her power were still in its physical form, in the mirror of truth, she might have had a chance. Nonetheless Minerva opened her fingers and let the power rush forth. Yash, caught off guard stepped back as the power flew out of her, spreading through the room. He shouted, raising the sword into the air, but the power did not come. Yash turned slowly and stared at Minerva’s triumphant face.

“Where is it?” he asked. He could feel it, all around him, yet it did not come to the sword when he tried to draw it. Minerva laughed.

“You should know, you taught me everything I know about physics.” She said. Yash stared at her, anger forming on his face.

“I don’t know what your talking about but you had better give the power up.” He said stepping forward menacingly. Minerva blinked. She had sent the power up above her, into the metal chandelier which was acting as a conductor, pulling the energy around in a closed circuit fast enough that Yash couldn’t get a fix on it, and he couldn’t draw it out, since the sword was apparently not as good a conductor as the chandelier… However, if Yash stabbed her, Minerva theorized that the power would fall from the chandelier and flow back into her, to protect its host… just as the sword had come out to protected Will, when he had been shot.

Having come to this conclusion, Minerva was suddenly even more reluctant to let Yash stab her. Taking a step back Minerva bumped into a large vase. Blinking she looked down at it and turned swiftly, picking it up, dumping the flowers out. She held it before her, aiming it at Yash as a weapon. Yash watched her, almost curiously, then an annoyance set into over his face.

“If you’re trying try make me feel sorry for you it won’t work.” He said. Minerva growled. The thing she hated most was to be mocked, even if at the moment she deserved it. Yash raised the sword thrust it forward, shattering the vase, continuing on, towards Minerva’s chest.

Except that he missed.

The air was filled with a scream as a form plowed into Yash, knocking the sword from his hands. Yash shouted, watching the sword sail high into the air, hitting on of the chandeliers. Seeing this, Minerva screamed.

Fairien, who had been the one to hit Yash watched in confusion as the sword stuck to the chandelier, seeming to be magnetized to it. Yash turned, watching also.

“So, there it is!” he shouted. Minerva fell back feeling the power drawn into the sword. She fixed her eyes on Fairien.

“Idiot!” she shouted. “You just screwed everything up!”

“Eh?” Fairien said. He had awoken to see Minerva being cornered by Yash and being Fairien, he had impulsively flung himself at Yash and saved Minerva’s life. But now Minerva was being anything but thankful. In fact… She didn’t look too good.

“Minerva!” Fairien shouted as she sank down to the floor, fainting. “Hey!” he shouted, catching her. Yash wasn’t paying attention. He had run under the chandelier, reaching for the sword. The handle slid into his hands and he grasped it, pulling it down, feeling the full power of the weapon surging through it.

Fairien watched in horror and felt his energy fail him as it was completely drawn into the sword. He sank down and lay on the floor, losing his grip on the conscious world.

Yash was invincible now.

 

 

Hazael and Nathanael appeared out side the large building. They watched as the bright skies darkened and the battle became more and more frenzied.

“The wanderer is bringing the end.” Nathanael said quietly. Hazael stared at the sky, then turned.

“Come on, let’s go seek advice.” He said quietly. “Sir Michael will know what to do about this. It isn’t time, or he would be out here.”

“Ah, your right.” Nathanael said. He looked over at Hazael worriedly. “Do you want me to heal you?” he asked. Hazael shook his head.

“It’s not bad.” He said and pulled his wings in. Nathanael nodded and pulled his wings in as well. They walked forward slowly, entering the building from the upper level. As they moved inside both stopped immediately and looked down.

On the level below them was Yash, holding the sword of destruction triumphantly, and around him were the weak and unconscious three: Azrael, Minerva and Fairien. And also, there was Will’s body, in the middle of a pool of blood.

“Yash!” Hazael hissed angrily. “He’s taken the sword and killed Will!”

“… Aaahh…” Nathanael said staring. “Wait, look closer.” Hazael paused and looked down, trying to see what Nathanael was talking about. Nathanael closed his eyes.

“Don’t you feel it?” he asked. Hazael blinked. Right now he was having a hard time feeling anything but pain.

“What is it?” he asked in a whisper.

“Will is down there. He’s not completely gone… He can’t go, even though his body has been mutilated… He’s in that sword. He is its blood sacrifice… He is the root of the swords power.”

“A-Are you sure?” Hazael asked.

“Yes.” Nathanael said. “This means we have a hope.”

“Will isn’t conscious of the situation though.” Hazael said. “At least I wouldn’t think he is.”

“No. He isn’t.” Nathanael said. “But that’s where we come in.” he smiled. “We are going to stop the wanderer and we can use Will to do it.”

“How?” Hazael asked. Nathanael closed his eyes again.

“Just follow my lead.”

 

 

Will watched the dark sea and sky. Thunder rumbled overhead and the air was growing colder and colder. It was going to rain soon. He always knew when it was going to rain. He sat outside a shabby hut in the dark landscape overlooking the sea below. He pulled his small legs up to his chest and shivered.

There were sounds from inside the hut. Someone coughing, deep body tearing coughs. Coughs he’d been hearing for a long time. The coughs stopped. Will blinked and picked his head up. There was something he didn’t like about the way those coughs had stopped… Like the body that had been producing them was finally broken.

“M-Mom?” he called, his voice thin and frightened in the night air. There was no answer. Will stood up and was about to enter the hut when he stopped. There was someone behind him. He turned and saw a stranger, clothed in dark robes that covered his face. Will stiffened. He had heard tales of the one that came for the souls of the dead. The stranger stopped and stared at him.

“Go away!” Will shouted, trying to sound brave. “Go away! You’re coming to take her, aren’t you? I won’t let you! She doesn’t want to go with you! She wants to stay with me!” he screamed. The figure did not move. Will took a few shaky breaths, then felt himself burst into tears. “Please! Don’t take her! Please…” he began to sob. The figure moved forward, slowly and knelt down in front of him.

“It’s okay.” The stranger said quietly. Will blinked and found himself staring into a kind faced young man with dark green hair.

“You won’t take her?” Will asked. The stranger looked at him sadly.

“She’s not mine to take.” He said quietly. Gently he reached up to Will’s forehead and touched it. “And while I cannot give her to you, I can give you one night of peaceful rest…” he continued, “But I’m afraid that’s all that I can do.” Will blinked, and then felt his eyes close. He was aware of the stranger lifting him up and knew somehow that he would awaken the next day at a neighbors house, with no memories of the night before, except inexplicably, he would know that his mother was dead.

What is this? A voice asked. The coldness and blackness had returned, but now there seemed to be something else with it.

A memory. He responded, An opened memory. One I didn’t even know I had.

How is it that you remember it now?

I’ve been killed. I suppose that’s why… Though, I am still caught. Something holds me.

Something?

...It hurts.

You are caught because you are foolish. You took risks that you should not have taken.

I’ll take them again. A hundred times over.

Why?

I love them.

Who is “them”?

My friends.

Would you die again?

… If it helps them.

What if it doesn’t? What if it works against them?

Then I want to live.

What if life is unattainable?

Nothing is unattainable. Not if you fight hard enough for it.

That’s an optimistic outlook.

I’ve been called worse.

You should have your life.

What?

And with that Will was alone again in the darkness of his own consciousness.

 

 

 

Yash seized the handled to the large ornate door and threw the doors open. He stood on the threshold and stared within. The room held his assassination victim, the one he was fated to kill. He stared forward, watching. Before him stood a tall figure, which turned slightly upon his entrance. The figure radiated such power that Yash found himself unable to move for a moment as deep golden eyes focused on him. 

“Greetings Yash.” Sir Michael said.

 

 

In that moment, in that moment within the wanderer’s mind she had known as she felt the strange tide of purity ebbing from that soul, as it died, drawn into the instrument that held it.

It was not possible for something like that to exist, especially not as the blood sacrifice that would bring about the destruction. That meant that she had been called forth falsely.

She would not stand for that.

 

 

Building the bridge between the wanderer’s consciousness and Will’s had been a tough job, even with both of them working together. Hazael breathed a sigh of relief as the connection broke, its purpose served.

“We did it.” He said thankfully.

“… We may be too late.” Nathanael said staring down. Hazael followed Nathanael’s gaze downward and saw Yash disappear into the room, still holding the sword.

“We’re helpless against the sword.” Hazael said. Nathanael nodded.

“We know that and yet…” he began. They both opened their wings and jumped down. Hazael, despite his injuries forced himself to fly, and within seconds they were in the room, standing before Yash, their wings spread in front of him in resistance.

Yash smiled and raised the sword.

 

 

“Yash, leave them alone. You’re quarrel is with me.” Sir Michael said. Yash looked through Hazael and Nathanael.

“They prevent me, thus they must die.”

“You killed those who prevented you before, remember how that turned out? Do you want something similar to happen?” Yash paused at this, staring forward.

“Remove them.” He said simply. Hazael and Nathanael gasped and turned behind them, their eyes wide with protest.

“No!” Hazael shouted.

“I’m afraid if you stay you will die.” Sir Michael told them. “I do not want that. Please cooperate.” Hazael and Nathanael were unable to answer. They stared back at him with stricken expressions for a moment. Sir Michael raised a hand, and they were gone.

“Now then Yash. Proceed with your mission.” He said calmly. Yash blinked, not quite sure he had heard correctly. He had been expecting some kind of battle, not… this.

“What?” he asked shakily.

“Proceed.” Sir Michael told him. Yash took another moment to stare then he growled.

“You seriously think I won’t do it? I sickens me that you pretend to still have faith in me.” Yash shouted. “When I know for certain that you don’t!”

“And what have I done to lead you to that conclusion?”

“How dare you ask me that!” Yash shouted raising the sword higher as his anger built.

“You think I would lose my faith in you because you fell?” Sir Michael asked.

“You lost your faith in me long before that!” Yash growled. Sir Michael gazed at him impassively.

“What are you referring to?” he asked. “All I did to you was move your job, fulfilling a request that you made to me. Perhaps I was wrong in granting that request?”

“No, that was fine.” Yash growled. “Moving me from this artificial place was the only thing that could have opened my eyes.” He blinked, catching his breath. “I did love this place. I did! I loved my job too, I loved teaching those children, but I knew that their education wasn’t complete, because I wasn’t complete! You all knew it! You all knew I was failing, and you hid it from me, talked behind my back, plotting how to remove me… So I did the job for you! I left, trying to complete myself, convinced that if there was a way to educate those little brats I would find it! I risked everything for them and lost it while I was crawling around on that filthy human infested earth…” Yash’s breathing became more erratic as he struggled through his words,

 “And when I was in trouble, you couldn’t spare one of your little minions to come help me could you? No! I had to suffer humiliation at the hands of those humans as they probed me, studying me… It was only when you discovered that they could gain understanding from me that you had me removed, rescued as you called it! But it wasn’t a rescue. You didn’t care one bit about my pain. You just didn’t want a security breach…” tears were beginning to form in Yash’s eyes as he continued, his voice pained and furious, “I lost what little respect I still had as punishment for letting myself be captured by the humans… You left me with no choice but to join the rebellion! And now I’m cursed a thousands times over for it!”

“Yash…” Sir Michael said quietly.

“And now you have the gall to say that you still believe in me?” Yash shouted. “How can you say that?!”

“… Because I believe that within Yash, Yadrishael still lives.”

“Yadrishael died.” Yash said angrily. “Yadrishael couldn’t handle the abandonment, the neglect, that’s why he curled up and died so long ago and let Yash take his place.”

“You were never abandoned.” Sir Michael said. “You chose abandonment. You chose to disobey.”

“You say that because that’s what you’re programmed to say!” Yash shouted, “I was abandoned, set aside for those three little brats! Every resource we had was given to them, since they were to be the last of our kind born… Nothing was too great a sacrifice for them, even my own soul, which burned out for them. And then,” he snarled, “and then, when I came back on my mission, they had the gall to stand up in front of me and preach duty to me!” he screamed.

“And for that you killed them.”

“I would kill them a hundred times over if I could!” Yash shouted. “And to top it all off, they couldn’t die like they were suppose to! Instead what happens? They get a whole world created for them and are given power beyond all of our wildest dreams!”

“You envy them?”

“I don’t care about them! I don’t care what they are given… I just seems like out of all the bounties bestowed on them I could have had enough love given to me to keep my soul alive.” Yash said, dropping his voice. “But that, it seems was too much to ask. And so, that brings me to the cursed mission that has been laid upon me.”

“Ah yes.” Sir Michael said gazing at him evenly. “My death.”