Fan Fiction ❯ The Last Tear ❯ Part Twelve ( Chapter 12 )

Title: "The Last Tear"

Author: Antoinette Robins

Date: Wednesday, July 30, 2003

Warnings:

And now, on with the show!

Part Twelve

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Cold, gray, and desolate; the trio ripped through the barrier of the worlds to enter the Demonic Lands. There was no Hell, just this.

RyuuShuu slickly maneuvered through the turbulent skies. Flying over dry and dusty grounds, filthy rivers and streams, and a mostly empty landscape, Amarette couldn't keep her eyes from getting moist. It didn't used to look like this.

The girl's thoughts and new memories were interrupted when she spotted something on the horizon. "What is that?" she called over the wind. Receiving no reply, she assumed that the boys hadn't heard her. She was about to try again when Syth pushed the dragon into a dive.

Syth guided his large friend to the ground. Once everyone had dismounted, he said something to the dragon in its own language and it took off again, leaving the trio on the baron ground.

The twins turned and began walking in the opposite direction. Amarette, thoroughly confused, followed them. She opened her mouth to say something, and then closed it. Opening it again, her mouth abruptly shut once more. This goldfish-like behavior continued until Sin sighed in annoyance and asked over his shoulder, "What is it?"

Narrowing her eyes indignantly and preparing to answer the rude little demon with a miffed remark, Amarette was cut off by Syth's sudden lack of movement. She and Sin looked at the young boy with concern. Amarette noticed that Syth was looking almost wistfully at something to their left and turned to follow his gaze.

The young boy had been staring at the large mass of buildings that had caught Amarette's eye when they had been in the air. Syth nearly jumped out of his darkly tanned skin when he felt something brush his arm. Looking to his right, his eyes met the identical blue-silver gaze of his brother as Sin put a hand on Syth's shoulder and gave him a reassuring squeeze and a sympathetic look.

Amarette looked at them curiously as she was hit with a pang of sorrowful longing. Knowing that it wasn't her, the girl concluded that it was something that both of the boys were feeling. As Syth and Sin continued on, Amarette looked back to the buildings, wondering briefly what their significance was, then she continued to follow.

Hours of walking later, when they had stopped for a rest, it was discovered that Syth had accidentally fallen asleep. After being roused, the drowsy boy began to walk off in the wrong direction. It was at this time that the exhausted Amarette suggested that they make camp.

Glad to oblige, Syth pestered Sin into agreeing and the two set to work. Syth was able to wonder off and come back with suitable materials to build small shelters, while Sin busied himself with making a meal of some sort over a fire he had conjured up. The trio ate and then sat quietly, watching the embers of the fire.

Not after too long, Syth broke the silence that had fallen upon the party by asking, "What happened?"

Amarette, who had been staring blankly at the fire, looked up. For a moment, she wasn't sure what to say, and then decided that it would probably be best to start from the beginning. "Do you remember those dreams I was having? The ones that I told you about?"

Syth and Sin both nodded. "We suspected that those might be memories," Syth said.

"But for all of them to come back in one night...?" Sin pondered. "And without provocation?" he shook his head. "Something is missing from this picture."

Amarette nodded, turning her gaze to the fire again. "Have you ever heard of a Tear Keeper?"

The boys blinked. "They're myth," Sin stated slowly.

"Or at least they're thought to be. None have ever been seen," Syth continued.

"They're supposedly the next step down from the Guardians of Relief that reside within the City of Rain. They're like guards, they keep everything contained and where it should be," Sin finished in a talking-textbook manner.

"What do Tear Keepers have to do with your dreams and memories though?" Syth asked, his young brow furrowed in confusion.

Amarette continued to look into the firelight. "I'm empathic. I can feel other peoples' emotions of pain and sadness," she began. "I suppose that in my sleep, in my dreams, this...ability has a wider range.

"The act of leaving the City of Rain would kill a Tear Keeper, that is why none have ever been seen. Two days ago, a Tear Keeper managed to break through the barrier that still incases the City of Rain. Two days ago, I had the dream where I woke up with jumbled emotions and feelings. The dream I told you of, wasn't really a dream. I was feeling the pain of that...thing," the golden haired girl tore her sapphire gaze from the sparkling embers to look at the boys across from her. "The dream wasn't a memory, it was a warning. Last night the Tear Keeper came to that little house we were at."

"That explains a lot," Syth said. At his brother's confused stare, the boy nearly giggled and explained, "Ydrib was gone, remember? Something like that would be about the only thing that could scare a griffin."

Sin nodded his understanding to his brother and turned back to Amarette. "And?"

"It was..." Amarette frowned, trying to find the words to describe what had happened. "It was cloaked in something. Something terrible. It was afraid. It kept screaming and screaming, I could hear it so clearly inside of my head," unconsciously, Amarette put a hand to her blood-crusted ear. "It was begging for help. It wanted to escape whatever was...whatever was covering it, keeping it from doing its job."

Amarette sighed and put her hand down again. "Because it was terrified, I was as well. I just wanted to get away from it. I wanted to make it disappear, make it stop," she paused here, staring deeply into the flames of the campfire. Studying the girl's expression, Sin struggled to contain an icy cold feeling that was in the pit of his stomach. He hadn't been where he should have. He hadn't been there, that night, to help her.

Amarette looked up to the twins. "I tried to shut it out. I closed all of the doors. But as I was closing the library doors, it managed to slide one -I think it was an arm - through. Whatever was cloaking it was gone. It just vanished," she paused, her gaze having fallen back on the fire. She looked very tired and worn. "I don't remember much after that. I do remember that once it had been released, the Tear Keeper...it...kissed me. And when it did that, it was like something woke up in the back of my mind." With that statement, she had finished with her story.

The three sat in silence for a long period of time. Syth and Sin exchanged nods after a while, and Sin stated what they were both thinking. "Something's wrong." Seeing Amarette's brow furrow in question, the boy sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Why would it do something like that? Come out of the City, come and find you? The only reason I can think of is haste."

"Haste?" Amarette asked, watching the two.

Syth nodded, his generally smiling face now weary with hopelessness, making him look even more like his brother. "That Keeper wanted you to awaken your memories. We did as well, but for something like this to happen?" he shook his head. Turning to his brother he said, "We need to get to the Black City tomorrow. Mondicos will undoubtedly know what's going on. We've been gone for too long."

Nodding, Sin turned to Amarette. "Go to sleep. We leave in only a couple of hours." Too weary to argue with being ordered about, Amarette left the fireside to lie in her makeshift bed that Syth had constructed.

Watching her leave, Sin turned back to Syth and said, "You go too. I'll guard first."

Syth stood up and shook his head. With a voice that had regained his general careless air, the boy stretched and shook his head. "Nah...I'm not tired anymore. You go to sleep, Aniki." Sin cocked his blue-silver head to one side and looked at his one and only brother carefully. Then he nodded and went off to his own cot, leaving Syth sitting alone by the fire.

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The next day the trio awoke extremely early, seeing as how none of them were really able to sleep, this wasn't so surprising. Moving at a quick pace across the barren wastes of the plains, no one spoke. When darkness fell they still continued on their way, led by Sin, who carried a small flame in his hands. Then Amarette began to notice something strange.

Even though it was late into the night, the dark seemed to be getting blacker as they went. Then the reason became clear. Out of seemingly nowhere a black mass loomed from the starless sky. Towering turrets and gothic statues, dried gardens and fountains, the Black City had an air of eternal desolation. And yet it also held its own form of beauty.

"Is this it?" Amarette asked in wonder as she began to lag behind Syth and Sin so that she could look at some of the more grotesquely interesting art.

Coming back to grab one of her wrists and guide her along more gently than one would have thought, Amarette looked down when Sin said, "Yes, come on. It wouldn't be smart to get lost out here."

As they continued on, Amarette's wonder withered into mixed emotions of both content and uncomfortability. There were times when she would quicken her pace to stay near the boys; and there were other times, like when she was in the garden, that Amarette slowed to a near stop and had to be pulled along by Sin. After about four times of having to go back and find the girl, Sin just held his grip on Amarette's wrist and led her gently through dried gardens and open buildings and walk ways.

"About how much further until...wow," cut off in her wonder, Amarette's sapphire blue eyes widened slightly as she tilted her head up to search for the top of a pair of large, decorated stone doors.

Continuing down the corridor towards the doors, Syth explained, "These are the doors that lead to the Seeing Chamber."

"Mondicos, the scholar-priest, uses it for a study," Sin continued, still leading Amarette.

Hearing mention of the scholar-priest, Amarette's attention was brought sharply back to the task at hand. But as she got nearer to the dark stone doors, an alien feeling of nervous anticipation came over her. The three stopped before the doors, and Sin finally dropped Amarette's wrist so that he could assist in opening the heavy doors.

Once contact with the little demon had been broken, panic swept over Amarette. "DON'T!" she cried, but it was too late.

The stone doors swung open to reveal a bright rose-colored light as it came out and blasted Syth, Sin, and Amarette away. Syth and Sin's bodies stopped in mid-flight as a violet bubble surrounded them, their eyes glazing over in an icy lilac. Amarette was not quite so fortunate, as the blast sent her flying backwards and skidding across the cold, hard obsidian floor.

Not bothering to waste time in groaning, the blonde-haired girl bit back tears of pain as she staggered to her feet and began to run in the opposite direction of the doors. At that same moment, four Archangels, in a brilliant flurry of white wings, made chase.

Running as fast as her mortal legs could carry her, Amarette passed the pathways she had been led down and veered off into the blind dark of the gardens. Behind her the four winged beings halted. After a moment's hesitation, two followed the girl, while the others continued on.

It would have been much easier for them to catch her, had she not left the path. You will remember earlier that Sin had warned Amarette against doing this exact thing. It was a few moments later that the panicked girl discovered exactly why.

Amarette had not run that far when she paused in her flight to gasp for breath. Looking around her, Amarette noted, without surprise, that she was completely, utterly, and hopelessly lost. Continuing on at a brisk walk, she kept all of her senses as alert as possible so that she might break into a sprint at a moment's notice.

But as she continued on, Amarette began to relax. The reason was that she had begun to pick up the sound of voices. Familiar voices, from a very long time ago. Her pace slowed until she finally stopped. Before her there was a room where the door stood slightly ajar and soft yellow light poured out. The voices were much clearer now, and Amarette recognized them very well.

"She's not normal, Harry," came a woman's voice from within the room.

"What do you mean, `she's not normal'? What are you talking about?" came a gruff reply from the man.

"Exactly what I say Harry. Haven't you ever watched her? She's always so quiet and somber. That's just not right for a child her age!" The woman said, desperation hinting in her tone.

Harry gave an audible sigh. "What do you want me to do about it Jen? If you'd like, we could send her to one of those child psychiatrists. Would you like that?"

"No Harry!" Jennifer began, but was cut off by her husband's next comment.

"Good," he cut in. "The last thing I need is for rumors to spread that my daughter is a demented little trite."

Footsteps were heard as the voices retreated further into the room. Moving in closer so that she could hear better, Amarette was now just beyond the reach of the light, but the voices were clear once again.

"She scares me Harry," Jennifer whispered.

"Alright," her husband conceded tenderly. "I'll take care of it right now." The clinking of a glass being put down was heard.

It was then that Amarette felt the cold, sinking feeling of terror. Looking at the space around the door, she spotted a little girl, trembling in fear. Amarette's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered what was about to happen.

She took a step towards the door right as it opened to reveal her drunken father, holding his leather belt in one hand. The man spotted the little girl immediately and made his way towards her.

"No! Leave her alone!" Amarette screamed at the memory, taking off at a sprint towards her father right as he raised his arm to begin beating the child before him.

Amarette's sprint was cut short, and as her father's arm fell with the first blow, the scene faded away. Amarette found herself in the arms of two Archangels, being swept back to the Seeing Chamber.

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Arriving back at the Seeing Chamber, Amarette ceased to struggle. The two angels carrying her swept past Syth and Sin, enabling the yo9ung girl to catch a glimpse of what had become of her young protectors.

Encased within a violet bubble, the twins appeared to be peacefully sleeping. A mere three Archangels, all of which seemed unconcerned with their small charges, guarded them.

The young girl was carried deep into the chamber, past tapestries of gold and silver, depicting wars, victory and defeat. Finally, she was brought before the largest tapestry in the room, a magnificent depiction of the night sky.

Here guards releasing her (or rather, throwing her to the floor), Amarette looked around her in desperation. Before she could find any means that might give her situation hope, Amarette heard a set of echoing footsteps and looked up.

Standing before Amarette, illuminated by a double set of brilliant white wings, was Malcolm.

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Author Rambles: Lookie! I'm alive! WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~!!!!! Okay, sorry. I finished Part 12 (w00+x0r!) Sorry it took me so long. I've actually had most of this written for over two months (maybe even three), but I lost my notebook and then when I found it I couldn't write because of school and even my free time was free and blah blah blah blah blah. None of you care, I know, I just wanted to make sure none of you are going to kill me. I make no promises for Part Thirteen other than it will eventually be posted. Well, as always I wish you all a good day and please review!