[align=center]?? Folklore ??

One wouldn't believe that they had ended up in a fairy tale.

Once upon a time, you have.

 

There are those in the Netherworld that want to uprise and take over the land of the dead and the land of the living. Led by those from the Overworld, they have grown stronger and stronger.

There are still Messengers and others that can travel to the Netherworld that want to prevent this overrule and restore the balance.

Will both worlds live happily ever after?, or....

 

Rules:

Please, don't:

(( I'm calling him Tom. Just sayin. ))

 

"Are you happy now?" Annabelle asked. "Now, it's just the two of us, just as it should be. We can be together forever." She paused. "... Unless, you want me dead."

"Why are you doing all this?" Eliza demanded. "The way the Netherland is, how people can't die..."

"Because you wished for it," Annabelle answered with a hint of glee in her voice.

"What?" As though to answer Eliza, a scene began to play behind Annabelle. The little brown-haired girl from before ran through the doorway, slamming the door.

As the girl approached (flashback) Annabelle, she exclaimed, "Annabelle, I don't want to leave you! Please, come with me!"

"I can't," Annabelle said sadly. "I'm not allowed to leave the borders of this island."

"No!!" the girl shrieked. "You're my only friend! Please, don't leave me! I wish everyone would stop leaving me!"

"Eliza?" a deep voice called before the scene faded away.

"You didn't even want Death to take anyone from you ever again," Annabelle explained.

Tess got to her feet slowly, wary of the cold expression on her brother's face. She wouldn't have normally been so cautious, but from the way Will was looking at her, she knew he was pretty much inches away from attacking her. She called out his name, sounding oddly desperate- and she could swear she saw his sword hand tremble.

"...Why didn't you do it, Will?" she asked, voice still soft.

"Tessie, you know I couldn't save you," he snapped back, but it came out sounding raw.

"No. I know you couldn't. But you never cried."

Will's eyes widened a fraction, and the sword slipped in his grip. "Wh-what?"

"Not once," Tess took a step towards him, a little of the nervousness starting to fade from her. "What kind of horrible person wouldn't cry, Will? I was dead. And yet you didn't even seem upset!"

"Of course I was upset!" Will broke, nearly screaming the words. He gripped the sword harder, knuckles straining.

 

Raiden kicked out as Tomhis father approached, his foot managing to connect, but only with the man's knee. He soon regretted that when it made little difference, leaving him still lying defenceless on the floor.

Eliza puts the pieces together. That little girl was herself, at the age of four, possibly five. The sad part was that she couldn't remember anything when she was that young. However, she also figured that Annabelle was once her creation.

"Annabelle," she began, "it may have not come to mind, but I was a kid! I would say anything that would make me better."

"But I granted it," Annabelle said, "so I made it better, right?"

"No!" Eliza protested. "Disturbing the balance of life and death only creates more problems! I'm not the only person in the world with a will, you know?!"

Annabelle seemed entirely bewildered. "You're.... not Elizabeth." Suddenly, her mood changed, just as the atmosphere had. "You're not Elizabeth."

 

Evany continued to climb the stairs. He wasn't entirely too sure, but he was certain that he was in the late 20s of levels. However, before he knew it, he had reached the top of the stairs. To his right were the Trees, so he proceeded.

"Still, you never showed it. You just packed up and left, and told me to leave you alone when I finally found you again."

"Because you're not my sister. Tessie is dead!" Will reiterated.

Her face softened. "If I'm not your sister, why the nickname?"

"What?!"

"...Tessie. No one else ever called me that. Not even our parents."

Will froze, startled. "I- you- but-" He looked like he was just about ready to be sick, but as Tess approached him, he staggered backwards, bringing the sword up between them.

 

Raiden swore, rolling to the side, as his father's sword slammed down towards him, cracking at the floor instead of his face. He, halfway to standing up, shoved his shoulder against his father's gut, his entire body weight just enough to shove the man a few feet back for a moment. Grabbing the hilt of the sword as the man lunged at him, Raiden tugged it out of the ground, and swung it up with a scream as the wound in his shoulder threatened to pack in his arm.

(Gah, damn my slow computer. ._____. Sorry for the double post.)

Eliza took Annabelle's anger as her denial, for the next thing that she knew, a fireball of some sort dived toward her. She jumped out of the way just in time, she felt the speed of it brush past her arm.

"Elizabeth and I used to play a lot of games," Annabelle exclaimed as two tank folks became visible, "especially Battles." It most certainly explained her appearance, with the helm and breastplate. Eliza didn't want to fight the poor, confused creature, but at this point, it didn't seem as though she had a choice.

 

As Evany entered the wide, dome-like area, somebody began to applaud at a slow, steady beat.

"Well, well, well," the person on the throne, s'Arina chuckled, "look who's arrived..."

Evany noticed the two Trees. One had the ancient Spear pierced through it, and the other had a sword in it. The latter seemed newer. So, he thought, I just have to remove the sword...

"You really are heartless, Will," Tess sighed, looking down at her feet. While her gaze was directed downwards, Will, ignoring the shaking of his hand, tried to slash out at her with his sword. She ducked, without looking up, dropping down nimbly just before the blade would have sliced at her torso. She giggled, despite herself, at the stunned look on his face.

"We used to play like this, right? You always fell for that one."

"...Tessi-" about to use his pet name for her, Will stopped himself, striking down at her instead, the stunned look on his face being replaced by fury.

She dodged again, ducking around him and tapping him lightly on the back.

 

It took Raiden a moment to register that the sword had struck its target at all- and he only did notice when blood splashed over his arms.

While he'd been taught to spar as a child, back when he was still alive, he'd practised this one move so many times, until it, to him, was as unconscious as a smile.

He'd knocked aside his father's strike. And stabbed him in the neck.

"Fa... Father..." he managed to gasp, the horror that flooded through him a surprise.

It was difficult for Eliza to get a good hit. Whenever she would go in for the first strike, the two Gargantuas would fire at her, making her retreat and use a shield Folk. With any luck, and a lot of speed, she would have her first hit.

During the battle, due to her size, one of the Gargantuas, unknowingly, stomped on Annabelle. Normally, one would scream, but she kept quiet, even though the pain was evident on her face.

 

"Did you know," s'Arina began, "that when our types are killed, they're dead for a minute? I've tested it, more than once. Now, do you think that you can keep me dead for a mere moment long enough to be a hero, boy?"

Flashing a quick smirk, Evany muttered, "Let's find out..." before dashing forward.

Will grew more and more frustrated, his breathing pitching as he kept trying to hit his sister. Tess moved, somehow, every time- and even though he'd got infuriatingly close to hitting her once or twice, it wasn't any compensation for how easily she was evading him. At first, she'd been calm, a little concerned; but after a while, she couldn't help but enjoy herself, even if seeing her smile only made Will angrier.

"Why are you even here? It's not like I ever hang around to bother you. Is this really all some stupid vendetta?" she teased, covering her mouth to hide a giggle when his anger boiled over even more.

Will punctuated his reply with strikes out at her. Every one failed.

"Of course- you being- even half alive- bothers me!"

 

Raiden thought for a moment that his father was somehow already dead, and somehow still standing. But then the man lurched towered him, fingers grabbing tight as his shoulders. He felt something curl in his gut- and then cried out, as what felt like needles started to stab into him. It was excruciating, but almost on instinct, with no help from him, voltage crackled around them both. Raiden's yells increased in volume, since it wasn't just tearing through his father like he would have wished it to- it was hurting him as well.

Why...? Eliza thought, for she was too tired to waste her breath saying it. Then, it finally came to her. Annabelle was created when she was first abused. She was supposed to stay strong for Eliza, even through the worst situation, almost like an older sister.

".... I get it now," Eliza breathed as she came to a conclusion. As another fireball came her way, she summoned a steel folk that carried a giant shield. Summoning it to block the attacks, Eliza advanced.

 

To stop him in his tracks, s'Arina snapped out her whip, creating a line of fire to divide them.

"Tick, tock," she teased. "The longer that you take, the more souls that are doomed." Grunting, Evany held out his palm, which, strangely, blew an icky bubble. When the bubble popped, not only did some of the fire vanquish, but a couple of drops landed on s'Arina's eyes.

"Why won't you fight back?!"

Tess faltered at that, only just dodging Will's next strike. She ducked under his arm, hopping back from him, a slight frown on her face. That only angered her brother more, but it made little difference to her. The angrier he got, the easier it was to dodge him, because his swordwork quickly grew sloppy. He swung at her again, but she didn't need to move; he missed anyway, and she pouted. "C'mon, Will, you know I don't want to fight."

"Why the hell not?!"

"...Because I'd kill you," she answered, simply.

 

After what felt like hours of pain, ripping through his body, although it was actually only a matter of seconds, Raiden was shoved backwards by one last burst of current. He heard the crash as his father fell, not moving, but his own body still felt like it was on fire; his limbs too weak to hold him up.

Eliza continued to advance towards the two tank folks. As she approached one, she blocked one more time before summoning Bargest. However, before the creature could swing its claw, the other Gargantua fired at it, knocking it down. Specks of the shot landed on Eliza. She hissed in pain, but that was it. In order to win, she had to change her strategy...

 

Evany dashed in for the hit. However, despite the handicap, s'Arina caught his fist with her hand. "Small tricks like that won't work on me," she remarked. Still holding onto him, she cracked her whip, slashing at his back with flames. After fighting out of her grip, Evany hastily jumped back.

At Will's next strike, he was taken off guard when, instead of jumping out of the way, Tess caught the sword, digging her heels in the best she could, so she could stop him either hitting her or tugging it back. The blade cut into her paml, but she merely winced a tiny bit, instead focusing more on staring at him, searching for something.

Nodding slightly to herself, Tess let go, and took a few steps back. Her injured hand was shaking, but she curled the fingers into a fist.

"I see why. You don't care what happens, really, do you? The world doesn't matter. Nothing matters to you except yourself, Will."

 

Raiden cried out weakly, curling up on the floor as the last of the voltage left him, the pain from his father's attack still bothering him. Without even trying to inspect it, he knew his upper body was bleeding. But, as he awkwardly managed to crawl a little closer to where his father lay, he felt his stomach curl again. Because he knew the man was dead- but for how long, he had no idea. He himself had to have come back before he'd been brought there- his father never held back, and the punishments before had usually resulted in fatalities for Raiden.

Finally, an idea had occurred to Eliza. Summoning a shell to surround her body, the damage that she had endured wasn't so bad, for the effects of the attacks had halved. She focused on the Gargantua, summoning small, swift attacks from Pouke. After many more hits, as her shell began to crack, the Gargantua fell to the ground, its id lingering around. "One down," she muttered.

 

s'Arina laughed for a moment as Evany checked his wound quickly. Suddenly, s'Arina winced. Her face cringed as she grasped her shoulder. It's the pain of her death, Evany thought, taking this as a great opportunity. While she was distracted, Evany launched his arm, hitting her with some sort of giant claw.

If Tessa had expected Will to scowl or be angry, she couldn't have been wronger. Instead, the anger almost seemed to evaporate from him, hearing that, and he smirked, raising his eyebrows at her. "So what?"

"You always were this selfish, but I thought my death might have changed something..." she mused, stepping back from him again. "You are heartless. You're only in this for yourself. So long as you're alive...!" she trailed off, and glared over at him. Will didn't even seem to notice her shift in mood.

 

(Bleh. Raiden can take a break for a post because I have to switch to my iPod.)

As the shell vanished, Eliza knew she had to hurry. As the remaining Gargantua fired at her, she dodged and sprinted towards it with her life. With a mere yard between them, Eliza summoned Bargest once again. Before Gargantua could fire, Bargest successfully hit it, flipping it over onto its back.Eliza looked over at Annabelle, who was almost as flat as a pancake.

 

Her haunting pain, as well as the recent one she had just endured, knocked s'Arina to the ground. Recovering from her pain, she touched her cheek to realize that it was bleeding. Aggrivated, she glared at Evany, growling, "You runt..." Standing up, she continued, "Cats should never play with fire."

Shrugging, Will took a step forwards, glad for the sudden calming down, really, since before he was probably only being a liability to himself, being so reckless and angry. "Look, Tessie, you already knew all this-"

"And all that crap, about me being dead bothering you?!" she snapped.

He didn't need to answer her. She already knew he put himself first, so why bother?

 

Raiden tried to pick himself up, groaning as the movement jarred against his sore body. He tried to drag himself over to where he remembered the barrier being- from Annabelle's question before, he had guessed- and was hoping- it would have dropped.

Suddenly, Eliza heard something odd. She looked over at the upside-down Gargantua. It began to leak what appeared to be oil of some sort. It was trying to shoot another fireball, but it was stuck. Instantly, Eliza realized the situation was dangerous. She could run to the farthest end to take cover, but Annabelle was right next to the folk. Hastily, Eliza ran over to the little girl, shielding her with her own body as she summoned the tin shield folk. A second later, the Gargantua exploded.

 

s'Arina flicked her whip, summoning three will-o-wisps. Their flames were blue, so Evany had to stay sharp. As one dashed for him, Evany ducked before jumping over the other one. The third made face contact with him, but he was able to dodge out of the way in the nick of time.

"You really don't care-"

Will shook his head, in disagreement, letting his sword arm drop so the weapon hung uselessly at his side.

"Of course I care. But you can't change the past, Tessie. You're dead, and, believe me, it took me long enough to accept just that. But the outcome of this won't affect me, because you're already dead to me."

He could swear he saw her eyes start to tear up, but she bowed her head, lips set in an angry line.

After a long while, the smoke had finally began to clear. Eliza had assumed that her shield folk vanished before it was over, for she had light burns on her arm and shoulder. She coughed, due to the smoke.

".... Why...?" a weakened Annabelle asked. Eliza looked down at the blue girl. Despite appearing to be dead (not that she wasn't in the first place), a shocked expression was on her face. "Why did you protect me?"

"Elizabeth needed a friend to keep her safe," Eliza explained after coughing a bit. "She gained a friend that would take all of the damage for her without any complaints. Now, Elizabeth grew up and found a better life. She can now protect her friend." Annabelle lightly gasped, her eyes almost visible.

 

Before Evany could hit her, s'Arina shot her leg up, kicking him in the stomach. Before he could crash back onto the ground, she flicked her whip, which wrapped around his neck, and tugged it, making him stumble forward. Before she could conjure fire to run to the very tip of the whip, Evany was able to get out of its grip. After gaining some distance, he grasped his neck, breathing heavily.

([/postingandactivityfailure])

 

"I'm dead, and you're alive, and that's the end of it?" Tessie twisted a clump of silver hair between her fingers, refusing to look up at her brother. No way was he going to see her cry. She didn't need to glance up to know that he'd nodded, or that his expression would have finally turned grave, serious.

"You still haven't accepted that you're not human anymore," Will stated, an edge to his voice that for once wasn't anger or sarcasm.

"But YOU are," she hissed, and, quick as a whip and far too fast for him to follow, dashed forwards, towards him.

 

Will didn't have time to do anything but stumble a step back, sword still lax at his side.

To both of their surprise, a small digit of Annabelle's skin lifted up into the air, disappearing from existence.

Suddenly, a calm expression settled on Annabelle's face. "There is no more need for me anymore," she stated, as more small particles of her body drifted away. She looked up at Eliza. "Dear Elizabeth, please right what my blind eyes have wronged. I hate to leave, thinking I've failed you."

Suddenly, Eliza found herself crying. She covered her mouth, as though she wanted to hold in her whimpers and whines. She was unable to find any words to say. Finally, she cried, "I will... I will..." As her tears crashed onto the ground where Annabelle's body once was, the border of the room vanished.

 

"Come on, boy," s'Arina called, "the night is thinning. Would you really wait a whole year just to come back here and fight me? All of my plans will be accomplished long before then." Suddenly, despite being crouched down on the ground, holding his neck, a small chuckle escaped from Evany's lips. In a moment, the laughs crescendoed, and it begin to irritate s'Arina. "What is so funny?"

As Evany stood up, trying to subside his laughs as he said, "What's funny is your inaccuracy." When s'Arina raised an eyebrow, he continued, "I won't be waiting a whole year, because this all ends tonight. No, correction-- It has already ended."

"What are you--"

"I specialize in tactics in that of a black cat. As far as everyone's aware of, cats are quite the sneaks."

"Wha--" Suddenly, it had came to s'Arina's realization that a small pile of some black powder sat in front of her. Getting out a giant claw, Evany scratched the ground next to it. The spark caused by it caught the powder on fire. Before s'Arina could react, the pile exploded the size of a small dome.

When fingernails pricked at his throat, for a small moment, Will wasn

Eliza didn't know how long time had passed. Whether it had been seconds, minutes, or more, she sat there, unable to control her tears. However, a sudden burst of self confidence helped her get ahold of herself. As she stood up, she squinted big droplets out of her eyes before leaving the platform.

Back on the stairs, she sat back down. She was so exhausted. If only she could take a nap right then and there, she would be able to gain back all of her strength--

No. Eliza had rested enough, and she knew that. As the crying had ceased, her tears drying up on her cheeks, she pushed herself up and continued up the stairs.

 

Finally, the smoke had subsided. As it did, Evany examined the area. s'Arina laid on the ground. Most of her body was scorched, and her eyes were wide open. Sure enough, she was dead... for the moment. "I've got to hurry," he muttered. He ran hastily to the Tree with the sword in it. Cautiously, he grabbed the hilt. Taking a deep breath, he tugged furiously. It wouldn't budge one bit. Even with his advanced strength, it wouldn't move at all. At this rate, it'll never come out! he thought.

"You see, Will... death hurts. But this way, hopefully, you won't feel it so much..."

Tessa caught at him, sinking to the floor as he lolled against her. She sat down with a thump, practically cradling Will in her lap. For one small moment, one tiny affectionate gesture, she brushed the tangles of his hair out of his eyes. They were half-lidded, drugged- she wondered if he could even hear her. It wasn't like she'd used it on a human before, and she didn't know how much weaker one could possibly be. Then she tugged at his belt- she knew he kept a knife there- and, once she found it, levelled the blade just above his chest. His heart.

"Tessie..." he groaned, voice thick, and she tightened her grip on the knife.

 

Too exhausted to move, Raiden just sprawled there, mentally trying to nurse his injuries. Not that it would work, but at least he could thank his lucky stars he'd managed a flight of steps or two before giving up. He couldn't have much time, but at least his father would have to find him first.