Fan Fiction ❯ Trancending Death ❯ With Eyes Wide Open ( Chapter 51 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: Soulless Wanderer 
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Fantasy / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.28.2006 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 124 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Fantasy / Angst | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.28.2006 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.0K | Visits: 124 | Status: Completed
Alex casually stepped over the dying woman and stared at the child. In the recesses of his mind he knew that the name the woman had just called, it should’ve made sense to him. Despite all that had happened, even Alex had realized by this point that something had happened to him. He realized that it was becoming increasingly harder for him to reason things out. There were things that he should remember, yet when he tried to, it was as if his mind wouldn’t allow him to. Important things that he felt he needed to know. Things such as, why he was killing these people. He knew at one point he had a reason for doing this, but all he could remember now was the fact that he had to kill them. Alex felt an emptiness at forgetting why he had come here, and why he had just slaughtered all these people.
Alex stopped his progression toward the girl. He didn’t want to take another step until he remembered just why he was doing what he was. He wanted to remember something, but he didn’t know what that something was. There was someone important to him. He could see their outline, but he couldn’t see their face. He knew whoever it was, it was a female. Her physical attributes and curves made that apparent, but still he couldn’t make out her face. Through sheer willpower alone, Alex managed to free himself from some of the fog that clouded his mind. He was barely able to form any coherent thoughts, but he did manage one small one.
Why can’t I remember? Why can’t I remember her? Why can’t I remember the woman I love?
Just as quickly as Alex had managed to break free of some of the fog’s grip on his mind, the fog came rushing back. Alex tried to resist it, but soon his conscious mind was once again turned into nothing more than that of a raging animal. Yet even in the darkness of his own mind, he could still hear a voice prodding him forward.
Kill them. Kill them all. Soon we will be together. Soon. Just kill the girl. She is the last that stands in your way. Kill her, and we shall be together soon.
Alex slowly started to move toward the girl. His body acting on its own. He flexed his hands menacingly as he moved toward her.
The young girl’s eyes widened with horror as Alex started to move toward her. She tried to crawl away from him, but with her injured arm she was unable to. Finally, the girl tried to reason with him. “Please, mister, please don’t do this. You don’t want to do this, I know you don’t. You were so nice before, sad, but nice. Don’t you remember me?”
She’s wrong. You do want to do this. End her miserable life before she fills your mind with more of her utter nonsense!
Alex continued to move toward her. Her words not able to reach his mind, nor were her tears able to reach his heart.
Cherish looked at Alex, with eyes wise beyond her years. “Mister, what’s happened to you? Don’t you remember what you told me? You told me you were looking for two people that were important to you. Don’t tell me you forgot about them too.”
With those words, Alex froze in his tracks. Before Alex could even consider what the girl had just said, the voice in his head echoed loud than ever before.
Kill her, kill her now!
The voice was frantic, but still Alex obeyed it without question. By this time, he was nothing more than a puppet on a string. He started to move toward the girl once more, and this time for some unknown reason, the girl didn’t try to get away.
“In my heart, I always knew. Even though no one would tell me. In my heart, I always knew it was you. I knew. I knew you were the one who killed my parents. Even when I first spoke with you, I knew who you were. Yet, even though I knew all this, I could not hate you. So why, when we have done nothing to you, why do you hate us?”
Cherish saw Alex draw his hand backward. Cherish prepared herself for the impact, at the same time praying that it wouldn’t come. In a blur of motion she was lifted off the ground. A searing pain coursed throughout her small body. A pain so great that she couldn’t breath. Her vision was already blurring by the time she realized what had happened. She was suspended in mid-air by Alex. His right hand was stabbed through her chest, and his glassy white eyes were staring up at her. The girl was barely able to say anything before the pain over took her. The pain was quickly replaced by a numbing sensation, and Cherish quickly realized that she would soon be dead. With her last breath she asked Alex her final question.
“My Lord, why do you kill your own people?”
It is done. Release her, and wait at the front of the village, the voice in Alex’s head ordered. This time, however, Alex didn’t do as it ordered. I said, release her!
Alex stared at the girl with interest. Something to him, just didn’t seem right. It was then that he realized what it was. The girl wasn’t dead. She raised her head up and stared at him once more. Her eyes seemed more stern, more knowing, more filled with pain than he had last remembered. Her words too, were different.
“Alex, the Lord of the Demon Realm, has now been reduced to nothing but a mere puppet. You’ve become so blind that I doubt you even know who you are. Such a sad existence is this. I can’t believe you were so easily succumbed by this Devil’s ploy. Still, this Devil’s power I fear, is far greater than even yours my Lord. It is for that reason that I am here to help you. Open your eyes, Alex. Remember just who you are fighting for. See the truth about this specter that you follow. And know, that even in death, Brittany still loves you and is still waiting for you, even though she doesn’t know it. That girl’s love for you is far stronger than anything I have ever seen. It is for this reason, that you still fight against this Devil’s control over you. The part of you that belonged to Brittany could never be consumed by the darkness. For that reason, I know I can save you. So, return to us Alex, Lord of the Demon Realm, and open up your eyes. Return, and see the truth of your actions,” Cherish said.
No! the voice inside Alex’s head screamed, but it was already too late.
Cherish placed her small hand on Alex’s chest. At first, nothing happened, but then all of a sudden the five pointed pentagram began to shine on Alex’s chest. In an enormous flash of light, Alex’s entire body was consumed with light. Image after image passed through his mind, as the darkness and fog that had clouded his mind for so long, was gradually being lifted away. For the first time, in what seemed like an eternity, Alex could actually think on his own free will. It was then, however, that the truth was finally revealed to him. It was then, in that moment of truth, that he realized just how far he had really gone.
That’s not Brittany, no. No, that’s not her, that’s not Brittany. No, this can’t be right. It doesn’t make sense, none of this does. How could I have been so blind, and so foolish, to have not seen this before. Brittany would’ve never wanted this. She wouldn’t have wanted to be brought back at the cost of other’s lives. I have been a fool, and now as a price for my foolishness, I have the blood of the innocent, the blood of the fallen on my hands. Cherish...oh God, please, no. Don’t tell me I killed that precious child. No! It can’t be true! Please, God, don’t let it be true.
Brittany smiling at him, memories of him and her before she died. All of these came rushing back to Alex in an instant. It was plain for him to see that something was terribly wrong with the Brittany he had known, and the Brittany that only moments ago had been standing before him. He then saw images of those he had killed. The members of the Cult of Rajah, their leader, Senka. When he recalled what had happened between him, Baou, and Rire, Alex couldn’t believe what he had done.
My friends. My God, I butchered my own friends, and I laughed about it. What kind of evil could be so strong as to have possessed me to do that? All those innocent people I killed, and for what? I know in my heart that Brittany would never have honestly agreed for me to bring her back this way. Neither me, nor her have been acting ourselves, and now I wonder if what Raza, Baou, and Rire have been saying was true. Unfortunately, it makes perfect sense now that I can think more clearly. I never knew that someone could control another person just with their essence. Yet, I don’t doubt at all, that, that’s what happened to me. But that means, if I was being controlled by someone, does that mean that all those innocent deaths were for nothing? If the Brittany I was talking to, wasn’t the real Brittany, then how can I honestly know for sure if she wants to be brought back like this? I’m so close to succeeding what I had originally wanted to do, but now I’m even further away from doing it. How can I honestly sacrifice all those souls...I can’t believe I even considered doing this. I must’ve been mad to think that this would actually help things out. Who am I to tamper with a fate such as this? Who am I to decide who lives and dies? Who am I, to take human lives for granted, when it’s the life of a human that I long to bring back?
It was then that Alex remembered the little girl with brown hair and large brown eyes that had captured his heart, even when he was bound by the other essence.
Cherish...no, not you. You were never supposed to die. A heart and soul as innocent and pure as yours was not meant for this world, but neither was it meant to be destroyed at the hands of a monster. I can already hear all the lost souls crying out in anguish at the atrocity I have just committed. The senseless slaughter of all these people. And for what? Still, there are a hundred souls here, I could still bring her back. No, that is the kind of thought that first opened my heart to the influence of darkness. I’m not going to bring her back, not until I can hear it from her own lips that she wants to come back. Not until I’m sure it’s her that I’m talking to. All this time I have been following a lost love. All this time, I have been doing things, all for a Devil in sheep’s clothing.
All those thoughts rushed through Alex’s head in the period of a second. He opened his eyes, just as the flash of light began to subside. What he saw sent shivers down his spine, and tears to his eyes. He stared at the body of Cherish, still hanging from his claws. She was still alive, but barely. Lightning flashed across the eastern sky, and it was in that instant that the mask that Alex had been wearing for what seemed like an eternity, fell off of him.
“My Lord, you have such beautiful blue eyes. I hope...I hope that those who you love, get one more chance to see them,” Cherish whispered.
Alex’s hand was so close to her heart, that he could feel when it stopped beating. The moment it did, Alex began crying like he had never cried before. He slowly pulled his hand out of Cherish’s chest, and kneeled down and began cradling her body in his arms. He cried in pain, but not at physical pain, but at the pain of loss and at the pain of realizing what he had done. Rain began pelting him, but he didn’t care. All he could feel was the lifeless body of the most precious child he had ever met, being held in his arms.
For the first time since he had started this quest to damnation, Alex released his demonic in an enormous shockwave. The sheer force of his contained power leveled the small village. Throwing the mutilated corpses that he himself had created, all about him. Alex could see the souls of the departed begin to slowly disappear, going to wherever souls were destined to go after death. At this point, even though he had more than enough souls now to try the resurrection ritual, he couldn’t bring himself to cast the spell to capture them.
“Brittany, please forgive me. Cherish, my sweet Cherish, please forgive my weakness. What evil is so great, that it can control me? What evil is so great, that it has turned me into the very thing I once fought against. Brittany, can you still love the monster you see before you, knowing that I took the lives of the innocent?”
“Why? WHY?” Alex roared. Tears streamed down his face. His hands were trembling, as was his whole body. A mournful howl escaped his throat. One that echoed throughout the entire realm. “What have I done? My God, Brittany...what have I done?”
“What’s that sound?” one of the soldier’s asked.
“That’s...that’s Alex,” Aurora replied in surprise.
“He’s not to far away. Quickly everyone, hurry and be prepared for anything,” Raion ordered.
As Shadow marched, his mind was constantly at work. Despite what he had told Aurora, still, something just didn’t seem right. Something that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t put his finger on. His mind kept dancing around the idea, but he could never fully grasp it.
What was it that she said? I know it was something important, but why can’t I remember it? Damn it, what was it? I know there’s something’s that just not right about all this, but what is it? She had said that Alex’s heart is connected to the realm. Unless we do something, then Alex’s heart will be overcome by the darkness and in return, so will the heart of this realm. Which means that we, along with everyone else in this realm, will die in the process. Now she tells us that we have to kill him. That there is no other way to save the realm than by killing him. Killing my friend to save the realm...wait...if Alex’s heart is connected to this realm, then that doesn’t make any sense. If we kill Alex, then Alex’s heart would stop and he would die. Which means that if his heart stops, so would the heart of this realm. Which would mean that this realm would die too. Why on earth would Brittany tell us to kill him, then? I mean, if she knew so much about this, surely she would know that killing him, would in the end, kill us anyways. Unless, oh shit. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Unless, she wanted us to kill Alex, just so this realm would be destroyed. Which means that, that couldn’t have been the real Brittany!
Shadow’s thoughts were momentarily shaken, when a long, mournful cry filled the valley they were in. Several of the soldiers fell to their knees at the sound of the cry. That’s how powerful and how affecting the cry was. Shadow instantly recognized the cry, being that was the same sound Alex had made the day that Brittany had died. Shadow quickly realized where Alex was, and who was heading straight toward him.
“Aurora...,” Shadow whispered. She doesn’t know. They’ll try to kill him, not realizing that they are just being used. Dammit, I’ve got to hurry and get to them.
Shadow quickly ran to the front of the military procession, to where he found the two very solemn forms of Yaza and Scriar. Both of which, seemed to somehow know what he was going to say.
“That was Alex, wasn’t it?” Scriar asked.
“Yes, we need to fall the men back immediately. The other group is walking straight into a trap. We’ve got to hurry and warn them before it’s too late!”
Author's Note: So how did I do? Did you like it?
Alex stopped his progression toward the girl. He didn’t want to take another step until he remembered just why he was doing what he was. He wanted to remember something, but he didn’t know what that something was. There was someone important to him. He could see their outline, but he couldn’t see their face. He knew whoever it was, it was a female. Her physical attributes and curves made that apparent, but still he couldn’t make out her face. Through sheer willpower alone, Alex managed to free himself from some of the fog that clouded his mind. He was barely able to form any coherent thoughts, but he did manage one small one.
Why can’t I remember? Why can’t I remember her? Why can’t I remember the woman I love?
Just as quickly as Alex had managed to break free of some of the fog’s grip on his mind, the fog came rushing back. Alex tried to resist it, but soon his conscious mind was once again turned into nothing more than that of a raging animal. Yet even in the darkness of his own mind, he could still hear a voice prodding him forward.
Kill them. Kill them all. Soon we will be together. Soon. Just kill the girl. She is the last that stands in your way. Kill her, and we shall be together soon.
Alex slowly started to move toward the girl. His body acting on its own. He flexed his hands menacingly as he moved toward her.
The young girl’s eyes widened with horror as Alex started to move toward her. She tried to crawl away from him, but with her injured arm she was unable to. Finally, the girl tried to reason with him. “Please, mister, please don’t do this. You don’t want to do this, I know you don’t. You were so nice before, sad, but nice. Don’t you remember me?”
She’s wrong. You do want to do this. End her miserable life before she fills your mind with more of her utter nonsense!
Alex continued to move toward her. Her words not able to reach his mind, nor were her tears able to reach his heart.
Cherish looked at Alex, with eyes wise beyond her years. “Mister, what’s happened to you? Don’t you remember what you told me? You told me you were looking for two people that were important to you. Don’t tell me you forgot about them too.”
With those words, Alex froze in his tracks. Before Alex could even consider what the girl had just said, the voice in his head echoed loud than ever before.
Kill her, kill her now!
The voice was frantic, but still Alex obeyed it without question. By this time, he was nothing more than a puppet on a string. He started to move toward the girl once more, and this time for some unknown reason, the girl didn’t try to get away.
“In my heart, I always knew. Even though no one would tell me. In my heart, I always knew it was you. I knew. I knew you were the one who killed my parents. Even when I first spoke with you, I knew who you were. Yet, even though I knew all this, I could not hate you. So why, when we have done nothing to you, why do you hate us?”
Cherish saw Alex draw his hand backward. Cherish prepared herself for the impact, at the same time praying that it wouldn’t come. In a blur of motion she was lifted off the ground. A searing pain coursed throughout her small body. A pain so great that she couldn’t breath. Her vision was already blurring by the time she realized what had happened. She was suspended in mid-air by Alex. His right hand was stabbed through her chest, and his glassy white eyes were staring up at her. The girl was barely able to say anything before the pain over took her. The pain was quickly replaced by a numbing sensation, and Cherish quickly realized that she would soon be dead. With her last breath she asked Alex her final question.
“My Lord, why do you kill your own people?”
It is done. Release her, and wait at the front of the village, the voice in Alex’s head ordered. This time, however, Alex didn’t do as it ordered. I said, release her!
Alex stared at the girl with interest. Something to him, just didn’t seem right. It was then that he realized what it was. The girl wasn’t dead. She raised her head up and stared at him once more. Her eyes seemed more stern, more knowing, more filled with pain than he had last remembered. Her words too, were different.
“Alex, the Lord of the Demon Realm, has now been reduced to nothing but a mere puppet. You’ve become so blind that I doubt you even know who you are. Such a sad existence is this. I can’t believe you were so easily succumbed by this Devil’s ploy. Still, this Devil’s power I fear, is far greater than even yours my Lord. It is for that reason that I am here to help you. Open your eyes, Alex. Remember just who you are fighting for. See the truth about this specter that you follow. And know, that even in death, Brittany still loves you and is still waiting for you, even though she doesn’t know it. That girl’s love for you is far stronger than anything I have ever seen. It is for this reason, that you still fight against this Devil’s control over you. The part of you that belonged to Brittany could never be consumed by the darkness. For that reason, I know I can save you. So, return to us Alex, Lord of the Demon Realm, and open up your eyes. Return, and see the truth of your actions,” Cherish said.
No! the voice inside Alex’s head screamed, but it was already too late.
Cherish placed her small hand on Alex’s chest. At first, nothing happened, but then all of a sudden the five pointed pentagram began to shine on Alex’s chest. In an enormous flash of light, Alex’s entire body was consumed with light. Image after image passed through his mind, as the darkness and fog that had clouded his mind for so long, was gradually being lifted away. For the first time, in what seemed like an eternity, Alex could actually think on his own free will. It was then, however, that the truth was finally revealed to him. It was then, in that moment of truth, that he realized just how far he had really gone.
That’s not Brittany, no. No, that’s not her, that’s not Brittany. No, this can’t be right. It doesn’t make sense, none of this does. How could I have been so blind, and so foolish, to have not seen this before. Brittany would’ve never wanted this. She wouldn’t have wanted to be brought back at the cost of other’s lives. I have been a fool, and now as a price for my foolishness, I have the blood of the innocent, the blood of the fallen on my hands. Cherish...oh God, please, no. Don’t tell me I killed that precious child. No! It can’t be true! Please, God, don’t let it be true.
Brittany smiling at him, memories of him and her before she died. All of these came rushing back to Alex in an instant. It was plain for him to see that something was terribly wrong with the Brittany he had known, and the Brittany that only moments ago had been standing before him. He then saw images of those he had killed. The members of the Cult of Rajah, their leader, Senka. When he recalled what had happened between him, Baou, and Rire, Alex couldn’t believe what he had done.
My friends. My God, I butchered my own friends, and I laughed about it. What kind of evil could be so strong as to have possessed me to do that? All those innocent people I killed, and for what? I know in my heart that Brittany would never have honestly agreed for me to bring her back this way. Neither me, nor her have been acting ourselves, and now I wonder if what Raza, Baou, and Rire have been saying was true. Unfortunately, it makes perfect sense now that I can think more clearly. I never knew that someone could control another person just with their essence. Yet, I don’t doubt at all, that, that’s what happened to me. But that means, if I was being controlled by someone, does that mean that all those innocent deaths were for nothing? If the Brittany I was talking to, wasn’t the real Brittany, then how can I honestly know for sure if she wants to be brought back like this? I’m so close to succeeding what I had originally wanted to do, but now I’m even further away from doing it. How can I honestly sacrifice all those souls...I can’t believe I even considered doing this. I must’ve been mad to think that this would actually help things out. Who am I to tamper with a fate such as this? Who am I to decide who lives and dies? Who am I, to take human lives for granted, when it’s the life of a human that I long to bring back?
It was then that Alex remembered the little girl with brown hair and large brown eyes that had captured his heart, even when he was bound by the other essence.
Cherish...no, not you. You were never supposed to die. A heart and soul as innocent and pure as yours was not meant for this world, but neither was it meant to be destroyed at the hands of a monster. I can already hear all the lost souls crying out in anguish at the atrocity I have just committed. The senseless slaughter of all these people. And for what? Still, there are a hundred souls here, I could still bring her back. No, that is the kind of thought that first opened my heart to the influence of darkness. I’m not going to bring her back, not until I can hear it from her own lips that she wants to come back. Not until I’m sure it’s her that I’m talking to. All this time I have been following a lost love. All this time, I have been doing things, all for a Devil in sheep’s clothing.
All those thoughts rushed through Alex’s head in the period of a second. He opened his eyes, just as the flash of light began to subside. What he saw sent shivers down his spine, and tears to his eyes. He stared at the body of Cherish, still hanging from his claws. She was still alive, but barely. Lightning flashed across the eastern sky, and it was in that instant that the mask that Alex had been wearing for what seemed like an eternity, fell off of him.
“My Lord, you have such beautiful blue eyes. I hope...I hope that those who you love, get one more chance to see them,” Cherish whispered.
Alex’s hand was so close to her heart, that he could feel when it stopped beating. The moment it did, Alex began crying like he had never cried before. He slowly pulled his hand out of Cherish’s chest, and kneeled down and began cradling her body in his arms. He cried in pain, but not at physical pain, but at the pain of loss and at the pain of realizing what he had done. Rain began pelting him, but he didn’t care. All he could feel was the lifeless body of the most precious child he had ever met, being held in his arms.
For the first time since he had started this quest to damnation, Alex released his demonic in an enormous shockwave. The sheer force of his contained power leveled the small village. Throwing the mutilated corpses that he himself had created, all about him. Alex could see the souls of the departed begin to slowly disappear, going to wherever souls were destined to go after death. At this point, even though he had more than enough souls now to try the resurrection ritual, he couldn’t bring himself to cast the spell to capture them.
“Brittany, please forgive me. Cherish, my sweet Cherish, please forgive my weakness. What evil is so great, that it can control me? What evil is so great, that it has turned me into the very thing I once fought against. Brittany, can you still love the monster you see before you, knowing that I took the lives of the innocent?”
“Why? WHY?” Alex roared. Tears streamed down his face. His hands were trembling, as was his whole body. A mournful howl escaped his throat. One that echoed throughout the entire realm. “What have I done? My God, Brittany...what have I done?”
“What’s that sound?” one of the soldier’s asked.
“That’s...that’s Alex,” Aurora replied in surprise.
“He’s not to far away. Quickly everyone, hurry and be prepared for anything,” Raion ordered.
As Shadow marched, his mind was constantly at work. Despite what he had told Aurora, still, something just didn’t seem right. Something that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t put his finger on. His mind kept dancing around the idea, but he could never fully grasp it.
What was it that she said? I know it was something important, but why can’t I remember it? Damn it, what was it? I know there’s something’s that just not right about all this, but what is it? She had said that Alex’s heart is connected to the realm. Unless we do something, then Alex’s heart will be overcome by the darkness and in return, so will the heart of this realm. Which means that we, along with everyone else in this realm, will die in the process. Now she tells us that we have to kill him. That there is no other way to save the realm than by killing him. Killing my friend to save the realm...wait...if Alex’s heart is connected to this realm, then that doesn’t make any sense. If we kill Alex, then Alex’s heart would stop and he would die. Which means that if his heart stops, so would the heart of this realm. Which would mean that this realm would die too. Why on earth would Brittany tell us to kill him, then? I mean, if she knew so much about this, surely she would know that killing him, would in the end, kill us anyways. Unless, oh shit. I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! Unless, she wanted us to kill Alex, just so this realm would be destroyed. Which means that, that couldn’t have been the real Brittany!
Shadow’s thoughts were momentarily shaken, when a long, mournful cry filled the valley they were in. Several of the soldiers fell to their knees at the sound of the cry. That’s how powerful and how affecting the cry was. Shadow instantly recognized the cry, being that was the same sound Alex had made the day that Brittany had died. Shadow quickly realized where Alex was, and who was heading straight toward him.
“Aurora...,” Shadow whispered. She doesn’t know. They’ll try to kill him, not realizing that they are just being used. Dammit, I’ve got to hurry and get to them.
Shadow quickly ran to the front of the military procession, to where he found the two very solemn forms of Yaza and Scriar. Both of which, seemed to somehow know what he was going to say.
“That was Alex, wasn’t it?” Scriar asked.
“Yes, we need to fall the men back immediately. The other group is walking straight into a trap. We’ve got to hurry and warn them before it’s too late!”
Author's Note: So how did I do? Did you like it?