Love Conquers All _The Sequel_

Chapter Eighteen - Memory

Niall's POV:

There she is. Like a Sunday dawn on the high banks of the river, with the sun cast across the land, glimmering.

I remember.

She killed me, and I remember it all. Everyone else has forgotten, or been brainwashed, but... I remember. And that is the deepest of my sorrow, the curse of my existence. To know that not only did she kill me, she did it for her true love. And he isn't me.

The pain is heart wrenching, and although she may not believe me, I love her. I tried telling her, begging for her to understand, but she knocked me out and murdered me. Now's my time to bring things to a conclusion.

She stares at me, wide eyed, probably wondering how I'm even here. She's clutching Michael's hand, still clad in her wedding gown, and I imagine what it would be like to be in Michael's place. Wonderful, I imagine. Tex stands behind them, saying nothing as he watches this eventful new scene unfold. Why am I condemned to such a worthless fate?

"Niall...?" She asks. What really kills me is the disgusted look on her face. I thought what we had was special, but apparently the feelings were all one sided.

"I'm alive Mary. And I remember what you did to me. And I still love you." I can feel tears leaking from my eyes as I explain myself to this magnificent creature.

Michael looks confused and upset as he looks at Mary and at me, then back to Mary again.

"Am I missing something here?" Michael asks, his tone of voice a bit harsh.

Mary sighs, rolling her eyes, and says, "Right before I killed Niall he confessed his undying love for me. Of course I knew it was bull crap..."

"No, Mary! Let me prove it to you!" I plead, my emotions overtaking my body.

Michael's expression now reads "worried," and Mary looks at me, not amused.

"Mary," I say and take her hand. She pulls away, much to my sorrow.

"I know what must be down," I say. I can already tell they're both annoyed by me, but I think this is perhaps my only way to remedy things...

I get down on one knee.

"Mary, marry me." I look up at her in all seriousness and she cringes.

"What? I literally just got married to someone else... What the heck, no," she retaliates in anger.

"I think you better move on," Michael says, taking a step towards me.

"I... I can't," I murmur, looking down at my feet. Even in death, Mary was the only thing in my mind.

I fell in love with her the instant I saw her, almost dead, on our porch. The way her blood scabbed over, and dried in clods... It drives me crazy how beautiful it is.

"No, Niall, I'm sorry," Mary says, and for once she looks sympathetic rather than hateful.

"Fine," I say. "I guess it was a foolish idea in the first place." I look down at my feet, trying to seem as pitiful as possible to win Mary's heart.

"Yeah, it was," Michael says, looking down on me as he waits for me to walk away.

So I leave them.

But this won't be the last they see of me.

And as I walk through the gates of Neverland and head away, I already begin to plot how I will make an impactful return.

What now?

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Michael's POV:

Back at the house, we sit in a room with Tex, readying to inform him of what has happened while he was dead.

"Tex, there's no way to put this lightly," Mary says. "But you have to promise to stay calm and to remain on good terms with me."

Tex nods, looking happy. For now, at least, until he hears what we have to say.

"Tex... You know how I have my powers?"

He nods again.

"Well um. Michael is back alive because I killed everyone in the world, and turned them into clones and somehow it resurrected him... I killed you, too.... You just don't remember because when Michael and I kissed at the wedding it somehow fixed everything. Neither of us really know how," Mary tells him all at once.

Tex looks a bit shocked.

"So, what I remember as you inviting me to the wedding, is actually you killing me? Wow. I never thought I would fall for anything like that," he says, sort of to himself. "Well, things are fixed now right?" He asks.

"We think so," I say, and Mary nods.

"Pretty much," she adds on.

"Sweet," Tex comments, "just don't kill me again please."

We all laugh.

Finally, things feel at ease again. The three of us together as once before, the people of the world restored, and everything happy.

"Well, I'm gonna go to bed," I say.

They all agree on going to sleep, and before lying down I walk over to my dresser, picking up the candle sitting atop.

I planned on lighting it, but as I look around, I can't find any matches, and it makes me sort of angry.

I poke at the wick of the candle idly, upset that I can't light it and smell the sweet scent.

I poke at the wick once more and suddenly something sparks. Confused, I blink.

"Michael, oh my god!" Mary gasps.

The candle is lit now. Did I do that?

"Michael, your finger! Fire came out of your finger and you lit the candle!" Mary yells excitedly. "You have my powers!" She claims.

And it's all very confusing. Somehow...

I momentarily had the ability to control fire.