Pain Purity and Apocalypse

Chapter 15: A Win For A Loss

Sunday, May 24, 1993
(Location: Outside RORO)

   Every soldier watches from below, the Scarlet Reaper descends from the dark clouds. Every breath is held in their aching chests. As the aircraft touches down, and a huge cloud of gritty dust cascades towards them, they shield their eyes with their hands, Demon and Reaper alike feel an instant drop in the pits of their stomachs. Walking down the side ramp, grief glaring in the eyes of the returning team, missing one member and following behind Lok, Trinity, and Xander, an old friend from the past.

The dust clears, there's no clap of congratulating ecstasy from this successful mission... Their General has lost his existence, and it's all due to this bloody war, and his hatred and anger he felt. It consumed him quite literally. To keep them, and the people of Pensilva safe, Victor took it upon himself to end Sebastian's suffering... He did it the only way you can.

He stabbed the Rogue in the heart with an Angel blade, a short, curved blade bejewelled with emeralds and a diamond cross down the side. A gift from Sebastian long ago. A gift that ended his life, and saved the lives of those he cared for most. Although Victor protested against it, Xander, Lok, and Trinity insisted on watching their friend die. They watched his squirming, inhuman, demonic form disintegrate to ash, and dissolve into the flowing, warm winds of the fresh forest.

Staggering through the awestruck bodies of his fellow soldiers, Malachy faces the teens and Victor. His sharp, red eyes glisten with clear tears, until he knows the truth— that for sure Sebastian is gone— they won't fall.

"Is he dead?" Trinity's head sinks low, her eyes averting to the dry ground, and she walks right past him, descending the stairs to RORO's underground base. Malachy looks to Lok now, a pleading look in his eyes.

It's not true, tell me he's alive!
Lok reads every word clearly, and not even he can utter the truth the Demon so desperately wants to hear.

"Sorry... I... I have to go find Trinity..." Malachy spins on his thick heeled boots.

"No, wait! You have to say something— it's cruel to keep us hanging like this!—"
"He's dead, buddy, there's nothing else to it!"
"He's what?" Alarmed chatter erupts in the crowd. Xander's teeth clench, and his eyes flash bright gold as he grips Malachy by the collar of his black t-shirt, bringing the Demon's face down to meet his own.

"What the fuck don't you understand? He's dead, I don't want to say that again... So don't make me." His words clearly display aggression, and Malachy pushes him down with an inhuman force, so strong that Xander hits the ground and slides across the dry, cracked dirt. A few feathers trail down the scrape marks to where he lays now. He rolls to the left, Malachy's clenched fist collides with the ground, and Xander jumps back to his feet.

"Will you two get ahold of yourselves, Sebastian wouldn't want this-"
"Shut it, old man. This is my fight, not yours."
"Fine—" In seconds, Victor's jagged knuckles rake across Xander's right cheek, slicing small slits and drawing blood.

"Malachy, go inside—"
"You're not the boss of—"
"I'm the adult here, now tie up your pride and go. That goes for all of you." The soldiers all file into the square entrance, leaving Xander and Victor outside, alone.

Xander sits up, a hand gripping his wounded face. Victor takes a few steps towards the shaking boy, and sits beside him.

"It's not fair to others, to displace your anger on them. Malachy is a Demon, a powerful Demon. He may be on our side, but he's still a Demon."
"I just— if he's a Demon, why doesn't he act like one? Why is he so carrying— so kind? He should act like what he is, and stop whining like a little boy!—"
"Before going and taking your anger out on someone twice— even three times as strong as you are— and for the reason of anger, think first before you act. He could have easily killed you if he decided so."
"But, I'm the son of Jude Grail, he should fear me!" Xander's veins glow a dim orange, he raises his hand, blasting a ball of fire from his palm into the distance. His golden eyes follow the flames until they dissipate.

"That may have worked in Asherwood, but you aren't there anymore, boy. You are no big shot here, and if you won't show others respect, then there ain't no place for you here."
He stands, and just before he descends the stairs, looks back at Xander.

"This is your choice, kid, help us, or lose us. Simple as that. And I know what you're about to say, and yes, I'm taking charge because I have experience, skill, and was the closest working person to Sebastian. I'm not doing this because I feel entitled, I am doing this because Sebastian had the audacity to actually mean something to me. I've never loved anyone, but the friendship he and I had, was the closest I think i've ever felt to actually being appreciated for once in my damn life. I did terrible things, and it's fitting that a Demon was the one to bring me to a better place in my life."
If he could shed tears, Victor would.

"There will never be another man like him, never... It's my job now to finish what he started. If not, what did he die for?" Xander has no words, watching the stone man clamber down the steps. He is now completely, and utterly alone, with the sky behind fading into streaks of dark pink, vibrant orange, light yellow, and eventually, becoming shadowed by the darkness of the star lit night cascading above in streams of exhilarating, white pulses of twinkling light. His hands brush across the dirt, he can feel the grit in his hands. He looks into the sky, and lets out a devastating, screaming cry into the void above.