Demon Times 4: Darkness before Dawn...The Final Chapter?

The world is shrounded in darkness with no end in sight, our hero's find themselves not knowing who to trust. hope seems to be dwindling slowly, and a new evil is preparing to strike. Can something be done to bring the work out of Darkness once and for all?


(Alright, just to clear a few things up, Shinji is still around although his character wont have as big as part in this story, you will see why later, this is mainly for your old chars, but bring out some other ones as well if you wish, just nothing too futuristic plz)

Hiro sat on a rock near Marcus's old house. He drew out his sword and sighed. It had been so long since they started this journey, and all his mental capacity, all his skills came down to this. The end was coming. He knew it easily as he looked around. Their party had suffered through so much, the deaths, the battles, and everything Shinji had thrown at them. They were tired, and even through they all seemed to grow from each battle, he knew that some time soon there would be a point where they couldnt go any higher, he only prayed that it would be after Shinji was finally put to rest. He got up and walked over to the house. Friends had died here... Waterwings... even the first battle he met Derak at. It was all for this. If they didnt win, everyone... would have died in vain. He felt bad for dragging Liz and Talyn into this as well... especially Talyn. She had gone through so much. The grusome episode of Treya still lingered in his memories.
He pushed open the door and went down into the basement, pulling out both his elemental swords and laying one aside, the other he placed in the grindstone and began working, breathing dragon fire on it to warm it up and then sharpening it. They all needed to be ready at all times now. Demons were amassing again and they knew that Shinji was building an army again. No city would help them, for they all had their own problems. They had to fight this battle alone. Or so he thought.

Derak sat outside of the house, the foggy atmosphere making it difficult to see around him. The battles of year's part haunted his memorys, but truth be told, he had be in this war since he was but a child. From the day of his birth he had been on the run, following his father Marcus from hideout to hideout, until that one faithday the Demon King found them. He remembered watching as Marcus was cut down in mere moments, and how he'd been left alive, a mistake the Demon King later regretted. And now, here he was, still fighting...still running. However, something frightened Derak more then all the battles he's been in, more then the countless body's he's seen, something...that lurked within the very reaches of his mind. Something that was growing stronger.

Liz was working in the kitchen, she saw Hiro walk by and didnt really feel like talking to him, knowing that nobody really felt like talking to anyone else anymore. They were friends... once. Now... now she wasnt so sure. Everyone had their secrets still, she even had a few, but it made her feel wary of even her closest, most valued friends. She felt like they all had a reason to leave, or join Shinji. Maybe it was just paranoia, but sometimes it felt really bad. She felt the lance on her back shift and she sighed. She wanted the fighting to end... she wanted to be with Derak alone, like when she made a hottub for them... she shook her head and sighed, she didnt want this anymore... she had made sure never to consieve a child because she didnt know when the fighting would stop. Pouring a cup of coffee she walked out to see Derak, sitting next to him and snuggling into his side, she offered him a drink. "Love... how are you feeling?"

Derak turned to Liz and took the cup of coffee from her. After taking a sip he sighed and leaned back. " Not good. I dont know what to think anymore, I dont even know who to trust, I cant even trust myself. I...I can feel it inside of me Liz, it's growing stronger, and I dont know how much longer I can contain it..." he spoke before turing to her, a worried expression apon his face.

"...im scared Liz...." he admittedly whispered.

Perhaps the most conflicted of all in the group Talyn was off alone, she danced her dance with death, flowing from pose to pose, parrying thrusting and cutting, she no longer felt as she once did, that she and her friends....if they were even her friends anymore...it was hard to tell for rarely did they speak to one another anymore....even her relationship with Hiro was faltering. emotion slipped into the dance and talyn faltered on a step the flowing routine broken causing her to trip up and fall. In battle..that would have been a fatal error but she no longer even cared about that, The fighting endless and useless weighed heavy on her soul and the darkness growing in derak of late did not set her anymore at ease.

Liz hugged Derak close and kissed his forehead. "I just want you to know... that if you cant even trust yourself, trust me. Because I'll always be there for you. I love you Derak. And you know that for a fact." She felt a glimer of happiness inside her, sharing his fear was a big step for him and she honored that, she licked his cheek gently and held him close. "I'm making pasta tonight... do you want any?"

Derak managed to let out a brief smile. " I do trust you, with my life... " he said as he put an arm around her. " As for pasta...I guess ill have some. I havent eaten anything in days...." he joked

Hiro slipped on the grinder and the sword he was sharpening flew across the room, wedging itself into the wall. He cursed and walked over, the other sword finished and back on his belt as he pulled the Ice Sword out of the wall. Something strange happened, the sword froze a bit of the wall where it stabbed into it. It crumbed away and Hiro's eyes widened. Inside he appeared to have stabbed a little into the wood... of a chest. He dug it out hurriedly and looked at it. It had Marcus's initials on it and it wasnt locked. He pried it open and inside were three things, a notebook, a diary that seemed to date back to before he was born... and a letter, addressed to Derak. Hiro dashed oustide and skidded to a halt next to Derak and Liz. "You two, I found this stuff when my sword cracked the wall downstairs. There's a letter addressed to you Derak." (Plot for you)

Liz sat up and looked at the items. "Curious... Marcus seems to leave us clues every step of the way still..." she smirked. "He planned for everything I suppose. I'll go make that pasta." She got up and walked back towards the house, a small smile on her face as she turned back. "You hungry too Hiro?"

Derak slowly took the diary from Hiro's hand. Apart of him didnt even want to open it, because somewhere he knew bad news would follow. After a brief inner struggle, Derak slowly opened the diary, and began to skim through. His eyes widened in surprise.

" This...is a recording of all the events that have taken place since before any of us were even born....and...~he continued reading~ It even accounts our own events...he must have been watching us for longer then we all thought. " he grunted as he reached for the letter, it was addressed directly to him.

" Derak....my son, I know that you will find this journal shortly and when that happens, the world will be at it's darkest hour. There is so much I wish to tell you...so much I should've told you from the day I re-entered your life. However, time is short and I cannot do so. Listen to my words carefully son, I know what it is that haunts inside you, but I also know that it's of my doing. I should have never put you in this position, you weren't ready for it. For that, I am sorry. But I beg you to listen to my words carefully son, we all have choices to make in our lives, you are no different. Soon...very soon, this evil which has been born inside you will surface. There is no way around it. But when it does, the fate of the world will rest on your's, and your friends shoulders. You my son will have to make a decision...I just hope you make the right one...for even I cannot foresee that. With that, I leave you my love...we will see each other again. But for now, I must go...

-a wetspot seemed to fall between the ink...a teardrop-

Love,

Marcus...

Derak closed the book slowly, no words escaped his mouth.

Hiro looked over at Liz and nodded. "Could you make some for Talyn too? I'm going to go see if she'll eat with me tonight... maybe I'll get lucky. I mean, I already found something that could help." He then looked back at Derak and gripped his shoulder. "Marcus was an asshole... but he definitly knows exactly what he's doing. He said he'll see you again, does that mean he still isnt dead? I wouldnt put it past him... but still... how is that possible?"

Derak slowly stood and press the diary against Hiro's chest. " I dont know and I dont care...just, get that away from me..." he grunted as he headed inside.

Liz nodded and walked inside to begin making food, she was sorry to hear that Hiro and Talyn were growing so distant. It was because of all this fighting. She poured the sauce into a pot and ignited the burner under it. "I just want everything to be normal... for once."

Frustrated talyn threw her swords away, the blades clattering to the ground she growled her anger and paced around running through patterns and poses but her anger remained. She sat and meditated before her mind had settled.

*************************************************8
Talyn sat meditating again she had tried to start training again but found she just didnt care...it didnt really matter, she was good she knew it, probably one of the best but the dragoness had lost her empathy...and without it she found the endless fighting became tolerable, the endless lost chances discountable. She meditated now, not to calm her mind and assess the situation but because she damn well could.

Hiro nodded and flipped through the pages of the notebook first. He spotted something and turned back to it.

To Whoever skims this first. You need to know how to finally beat Shinji, yet giving you this information will put Derak at risk. I'm sorry but it was essential that I withhold this information till now. It's up to you all to stop the Demon King. You need to master the technic this notebook will teach you, I recommend that Hiro and Talyn are chosen to do the style because they are the most compatable for the magics that are necessary. Liz may also be able to fill Hiro's spot. Lastly, because Derak will have most likely pushed this aside because of the letter. NEVER SHOW HIM! Practice in secret and make sure he never figures out why this is used. More details will be given at the end of the notebook. Hiro... do not read ahead.

Hiro nearly dropped the book at this, Marcus you bastard... he knew Hiro would find the chest because he was the only one that was ever down there... the asshole.

Derak slowly walked into the kitchen and stopped, his fist clentched tightly as he suddenly punched the wall hard, leaving his knuckles bloody. The pain however didnt seem to effect him at all.

" Damn him. Why is he doing this to me! " he growled before sighing. He moved to a chair and sat down in it, examining the damage to his hand. " Mind healing this for me? " he asked to Liz

Talyn gathers up her swords and heads back to the house with a sour look on her face, she doesnt stop in the kitchen however and simply heads to her room indifferent to her 3 friends getting ready for dinner she closes her door and simply lays on her bed happy to do nothing...at least as happy as a dragoness who simply no longer cared could be

"I'm too nice to let it bleed, but it would teach you a lesson about your aggression..." Liz said as she healed his hand easily. "Your father is a brave bastard. If he's really been watching over us this whole time. I think he must have something major planned for us so we can finally destroy everything Shinji is."

Derak sighed once more as he watch Talyn walk past them, then he refocused his attention on Liz. " Why me? Why involve me! I didnt ask nor want any of this. Why couldnt I have chosen my own destiny, chosen to be who I want to be, instead of being forced into this position..." he grunted as he examined his hand. " Thank you. You ought to teach me that sometime..." he joked

Hiro looked up to see Talyn making her way into the house, not even a hello... he wasnt surprised. He hurried in with the notebook in his hand and knocked on Talyn's door. "Tal... can I come in? I... we need to talk..." he admitted, this was beyond the technic they needed to learn, this was Talyn, his love, in distress.

"If I taught you that you'd never need me around anymore." Liz kissed him gently. "He only roped you in because he knew he had to put things in place for when he came back. I'm sure he wasnt betting everything on you all the time, you asw how he kept watch on us. He must have made sure we all stayed alive as often as he could risk it."

"about what? why should i even care anymore....the fighting doesnt ever end so why care? this world isnt doomed to be enslaved by demons! Its doomed to an endless cycle of war....first the demons come out slightly better, then we come out slightly better...it doesnt stop it doesnt end." she replies obviously jadded

Hiro took this as an excuse to walk in. "First... what about us? Do I mean nothing too?" He asked as he sat on her bed, sticking the notebook inside his jacket as he placed a paw on her leg. "Did something happen during the dance today that got you this upset?"

Talyn remained quiet she didnt feel like talking anymore and she instead buisied herself cleaning her blades all her attention focussing on the task at hand and his words became a blur of background noise unimportanted and so warranted no attention