Black Crystal Part 1 - The Origin

Chapter Twenty Nine ~ Finale

It was dark outside by the time Garen and everyone left the pub and headed for the temple. The rain had seized for the moment. It was silent. With each step forward taken, as they got close to the temple, fear began creeping through Garen like a spider crawling over his shoulder. Every step made a shiver run down his spine. Suddenly, he stopped walking. It was as if his body was paralyzed by some unseen force. His throat closed up and he felt like he'd throw up. He could hear his heartbeat; it seemed to drown out all other sounds around him. For just a second, his vision blurred, pulsing along with the sound of his heartbeat.

"Garen."

Quickly, Garen snapped out of his daze at the sound of Xander's voice. He had a hand on Garen's shoulder as he looked at him. "I-I'm fine..." Garen stammered, quickly shaking his head. "Let's keep making our way to the temple." Xander nodded and took his hand off Garen's shoulder while they continued walking forward.

They approached the temple, however, they were stopped at the door by something they did not expect to see. Peter's lifeless body was lain flat on the ground right in front of the temple's door, his eyes pale and wide open, with the stab wounds on his chest and stomach out for everyone to see. Rin gasped audibly, and Garen felt dizzy, seeing his friend's body like that. Nohr hastily put a hand on Garen's shoulder gently and spoke quietly. "There was nothing we could do..." Nohr said. "Garen, this was not at all your fault, okay? Remember that. This was not your fault." Garen began to tremble. He fell to his knees and wrapped his arms around Peter's body. After a moment, he sat up and closed Peter's eyes, finally getting back up to his feet.

"I'm going in," he said. "I'll talk to him, and the rest of you can attack him from behind. While I talk to him, I'll try to turn his back to the door, so you'll all have a much easier time getting him."

"Garen..." Rin's sorrowful voice came out softly, but Garen just closed his eyes and shook his head.

"We've come this far. I'm not letting this stop me, Rin. If we kill Bartholomew... when we kill Bartholomew, no one else will have to suffer with all of this." Without another word, Garen opened the doors to the temple and walked inside. As soon as he did, he looked around. It almost looked like everything was as he remembered it. He walked in further and sighed. "Bartholomew," Garen said out loud as he looked around. "I saw what you did to Peter—come out so we can talk." The temple remained silent. "I have my mother's sword, but I have no intention of using it on you. Let's just talk, okay?" Before long, Bartholomew stepped out from one of the rooms in the temple, his sword in hand. He looked the same, but he was covered in blood.

"It looks like you've learned a lot in your time away from home," Bartholomew chuckled. The two of them stood face-to-face, but they both remained static. Bartholomew grinned, but he wore a malevolent expression on his face. "Did you appreciate seeing your best friend greet you at the door? I'm sure he was so happy to see you!" Garen remained silent. "Oh, come on, now. Don't play the silent protagonist here, Garen. You were the one who wanted to talk, so let's talk."

"I know you took my father's name," Garen said.

"That wasn't the only thing I took," Bartholomew giggled giddily, almost like he was a child. "You see... that sword you carry, you know, the one that belonged to your dead mother? That was a trophy of mine." He put his hands behind his back, even still carrying his sword, as he paced around the room. "Yep! 'Twas one of the spoils I gained when I finally struck the famous Anita Leonhart down!"

"What reason did you have for killing her?" asked Garen, trying his hardest to keep a calm mind. Once again, Bartholomew giggled.

"Why else?" he asked. "To make the people of the Oregon Province lose hope. It's the same reason why I killed your best friend in the whole wide world, Garen!" Bartholomew advanced on Garen with his despicable grin. "To make you lose hope." Garen began backing up, trying to lure Bartholomew towards the door.

"So, that's it, huh?" Garen scoffed. His eyes were ablaze with rage, but he kept calm. "All you want to do is fill people with despair?"

"Bingo!" Bartholomew exclaimed excitedly. "My little pets, you know, the ones running all about town, causing chaos, killing innocent people and all that? They feed on that despair, just like me. In fact, you could say it's like a drug to me. That's why I have so many worshippers. And once I strike down the members of the Royal Family, starting with your beloved Lenora, the rest of the Oregon Province will worship me too. I'll be their god, Garen! Isn't that exciting!? You're in the presence of a divine deity, a demigod if you will. Isn't that, uh, what do the kids say nowadays... cool?"

"What the hell has got you so screwed up in the head?" Garen chuckled, unsheathing his sword. Once he did that, Bartholomew scoffed.

"You can't kill a god, idiot," he said with a glare, brandishing his own sword. Garen smirked.

"I know," he replied. "But like you just said, you're a demigod."