Velvet Abyss

“Hey, Hey Hideto keep your eyes open,  you hear me.”  Shinobu said placing her hand over Hideto’s gaping wound,  it was a deep cut and the blood was spewing forth from his body at an frightful rate.

“Hold tight I’ll heal you okay…”  Shinobu said her voice shrill and panic stricken,  Hideto was quick to move his hand to halt her attempt at healing him.  

“Ain’t this a bitch,  Looks like… I got… Sloppy.”  Hideto said collapsing to his knees.  

“Hideto!”  Shinobu screamed

“Hey, Hey Hideto keep your eyes open,  you hear me.”  Shinobu said placing her hand over Hideto’s gaping wound,  it was a deep cut and the blood was spewing forth from his body at an frightful rate

“Listen to me Mari, Shinobu whatever the you’re calling yourself now, I don’t have much time left so I want you to follow my instructions to the letter, am I clear?”   

Hideto winced propping his bloodstained body against the stone wall of the tower,  The once great sorcerer was growing cold as his breaths became strained and laborious.  

“In a minute or so I’ll be dead,  nothing can change that now, so I want you to make hear my dying wishes"

“Shut up,  You’re going to be fine… I… I’ll….”   Before she even had the chance to realize it tears were streaming down her face once again.  

  “I’m sorry Hideto,  I'm so sorry, If I... If I hadn't distracted you... You would... You would..."  

“Listen Kid, Life is fragile, so brittle and impermanent that it’s flame can be snuffed out at any time without warning, So it's the duty and the burden of those left behind to pick up the ashes and carry on"

"For someone so young you've suffered so much that it feels like you’re drowning in despair, you remind me of myself,  lost and hurting,  in so much pain that it makes you sick,  You feel like tearing the world apart and hoping you die in the process,  anything to stop the nightmares and the thoughts that eat away at your mind without end"

" Shinobu is dead,  Your friends here are dead,  and soon I will be too.  That's the reality, it's a bitch but it's true,  but you’re still breathing,  You still have a pulse and warmth,  so you owe it to us to keep moving forward.  Walk if you can’t run and crawl if you can’t walk,  Hell squirm on the ground like a worm,  Just Keep Moving Forward,  Keep on Living,  Don’t you dare die on me,  Mari Anno.”  

“I can’t go back I’ve killed so many,  And besides I can’t forgive them,  I’ll never forgive them.”  Shinobu said tearfully 

" This is war and you did what you had to do,  If you feel bad about it than spend the rest of your life atoning,   I can barely keep my eyes open, guess it's time huh?"   

“Hideto… No, No… Please…”  

“They’re waiting for me I can see them clear as day… Mo…Mother… Marcel… Maya…."

For the first time the devil may care prince cried finally allowing his composure to slip,  She brought him closer wrapping her arms around him as her wails grew louder.  

“One last thing,  Mari…  I want you to deliver three messages for me Tell Maya that she should expand her horizons and follow her heart to find her own reason for living and that I love her with all my heart,   To my little sister Mei,   I’m sorry,  for failing you as a big brother,  It's not your fault,     And… To Seijuro…Tell him that I’ll be waiting for him... In Gehenna…

“I believe you can change this miserable story,  So devour me and use my magic to change this worlds fate… I’m sure you can…”

Hideto’s body grew limp  his eyes glazing over and losing their luster,   An overwhelming despair gripped  her and she let out a scream so guttural and bestial that it could scarcely be called human.

Her malice and desire to purge the world had revealed itself for what it really was, a halfhearted and pitiful performance nothing more than a flimsy excuse to get out of this unremitting hell.   

Mari dried her tears took a moment to compose to herself before closing the princes eyes,  this was the second time he had helped her find her way, guiding her to the proper path.  

“Thank you Yoshiki… No Hideto.”  

Hideto Hyogo,  He was quite the specimen  I confess that even I was a little beguiled by his handsome face and that everlasting confidence. Truly a grand loss for this world.   So what will you do now?

 Recalling the first time they met she took Shinobu’s amulet from her back pocket,  it shimmered beautifully under the moonlight.   Her nose filled with the scent of blood and decay, her tears stinging from the tears freshly spilled,  her heart still beating like a chorus of drums.   She brought her hands together and breathed stilling herself.  

A promise to keep with her beloved and a score to settle with her nemesis.

This war might be over, the empire may fall to ruin but she would etch out a victory however small it might be for all of those who have fallen.

“What am I going to do? Easy I’m going to go and see the end of this wretched story with my own eyes.”

“Sleep Well,  Prince”  Shinobu said placing her hand over the lifeless body of one of her heroes,  his death wouldn’t be in vain she’d see to that.  

“Dev…”  

“Mari what are you doing,  Stop!”  A piercing voice shrieked from behind her.

“Maya?”  Shinobu said bewildered