Chapter 15

All too often we mortals must make sacrifices. From the early days of our paganistic past when we would ritualistically murder our bretheren to imagined gods and goddesses, all the way up to these modern days when we sacrifices our dreams and hopes for practicality and daily bread, we have done nothing but give up what we love for something we feel is more important.

Isn’t it about damn time we sacrificed the ancient art of sacrifice itself to seize what we truly desire?

----------

Tabatha’s screams of anger and anguish soon dissipate as she vanishes from the beach. With a wave of his hand, Tanin teleports his old friend away from the newly-baptised battlefield. In the same motion, his swordhand swings around and rises above his head, his sword now in an offensive position.

Still caught up in memories of decades-old promises, Seryph’s blade hesistates momentarilly before bringing itself down below his waist into all-too eager defensive stance.

“Don’t do it, Tanin.” Seryph growls. “You won’t survive.”

Tanin smirks. “I was about to say the same to you.”

“Then perhaps this is for the best.”

Tanin’s blade crashes down towards Seryph with violent momentum. With an artful step, Seryph glides to the side and pauses as Tanin’s blade punctures the sandy beach. A geyser of sand erupts forth from the ground, blinding both opponents ever-so briefly to the other’s actions.

Both men strike out through the falling sand, their blades meeting one another as the sand dissipates back into its former position. With each man’s steel tasting the other’s for the first time in true combat, they each lower their weapons into a readied position.

“Its not too late, Seryph.” Tanin says as he begins to levitate off of the ground. “I read the passage. I’m not the brightest of people, but I think I understand.”

Seryph laughs. “Understand? Sure. You can understand the years being apart from the one you love. You can understand the pressure that comes from being some sort of cosmic pawn needed to keep things in check. But this,” Seryph draws his sword back into his sheath while still keeping his hand on the hilt, “there is no way you can comprehend what I had to do. Just kill me, if you can.”

Seryph dissapears from Tanin’s view. While Tanin’s eyes are unable to keep up with Seryph’s movements, Tanin’s ears are fast enough to hear Seryph’s footsteps as they rush forth. Tanin instinctly teleports away, just as Seryph’s form slows down to where Tanin’s eyes can comprehend his movements. Even as Tanin’s form is teleporting, he can feel the sting of Seryph’s blade as it passes through his shambling body as it wavers between the physical world and the Timestream. When Tanin reappears from his short hop, while no visible wound appears on his body, he can feel his insides wretch with pain as they feel the physical aftereffects of Seryph’s strike.

Tanin smirks, hiding the pain as best he can. “I have to wonder. Is that your power actually manifesting itself, or...”

“I’m just that good.” Seryph interupts, demonstrating an arrogance Tanin has never seen in him before. “But, as you already know, you’re just as good.” Seryph points to his broken sheath lying on the ground and reveals the wound in his side made by Tanin’s parting strike made in mid-teleport. “Had either one of our blows blows been made in full combat, neither one of us would still be standing.”

“Reminds you that you’re still alive, doesn’t it?” Tanin says with a laugh.

Seryph forces a smile. “Yeah. It does, doesn’t it.” Seryph throws his katana to the ground.

“You know I can’t exactly forgive you for what happened.”

“I don’t expect nor deserve forgiveness.”

“But you also know I can’t hate you after everything we’ve gone through.”

“I’d do the same if it were you.”

“But you do know what I want to know.”

Seryph walks over to the same rock and sits next to Tanin. “Why I did it? Why I believed in a prophecy that I knew wasn’t true? Why I thought that killing a woman that I knew was innocent would make things better? And why am I giving up so quickly when mere moments ago I was practically begging for you to kill me? I’m just a desperate, confused man, Tanin. I no longer know what I’m supposed to do in this Universe. Perhaps I’m just looking for any sort of answer I can find.”

“You should know better by now. The only answer we’re ever going to get is that we have to do what we’ve been chosen to do. We can question the reasons behind our duties, but in the end what matters is that we carry out that duty. If we don’t carry out that duty, and let ourselves get consumed with questioning our duty, we aren’t very good heroes, now are we?”

“That’s how I felt up until last week. Until last week, even though I was hiding my identity from the world, I was still striving to do what was right for the Universe. That was until I found out he was still alive. When I learned that Lovecraft was still pursuing his plans I thought I’d thwarted all those years ago, my world was all but crushed. It was as if all of my friends 50 years ago died for nothing. We may have halted his advances for a brief ammount of time, but he was still alive while they weren’t. And then to see you starting to become yet another victim of the ‘curse’ that she spoke of in her ‘prophecy,’ something within me almost died. I just wanted the battle to end.”

“Ours is hardly a battle that has an ending, man. We fight until we can no longer fight, and when that day comes we have to make sure there’s someone left to take up our place.”

“Then perhaps its my time to stop fighting. Tonight has shown me that I’m no longer fit to be the so-called Avatar of the Universe.”

Tanin sighs sadly. “Do you think he’s ready?”

“Were you ready when you had the mantle of Avatar of Light given to you? Was I ready when I had my own mantle given to me? Being ready for such a responsibility is impossible.”

Tanin nods his head solemnly. “Its for the best, I guess.” Tanin’s gaze then turns to the fallen form of Eva. “And what about...”

“My conscience tells me I should turn myself in. I’m nothing more than a murderer now. No better than Lovecraft or any of the wretches we have faced in our years as heroes. But in giving myself up, I also deny myself to the Universe. Neither you nor I could carry out our destiny locked away for commiting a crime that, while utterly dispicable, is also nothing more than a mere drop compared to the evils that need to be thwarted.”

“I don’t like this at all.”

“Neither do I, but this is one sacrifice that has to be made. I made a mistake tonight that I can never be forgiven for. I knew that while she told me that passage was a true prophecy, it was nothing more than a test. She lied to me all those years ago because somehow she knew an event like this would come to pass. Whether she meant for me to pass of fail this test, and whether she intended me to carry out her false prophecy or not, I can never know. What has happend has happened. I can only hope that somehow Eva understands.”

Tanin shakes his head. “That might just be a hope and nothing more.”

----------

Yushiro stands at the front door of Seryph’s house. He knocks on the door. No answer. He rings the doorbell once. Twice. Still no answer.

“Damn.” Yushiro mumbles to himself. “His car is here. Why isn’t he answering?” Just as Yushiro begins to try the doorbell again, a faint light shines through the small window on the door and Yushiro hears a thud come from inside. Without a second though, Yushiro kicks down the front door. Expecting to see one of his teacher’s enemies waiting to strike him down, Yushiro is surprised to see three women sitting in Seryph’s living room.

The oldest of the three women stands up and speaks before Yushiro can react. “Seryph and Tanin have stepped out for a few moments. Business with some old friends I believe. We let ourselves in. I believe you and I need to speak.”

“About what?” Yushiro asks, his eyes fixating on the woman before him while his mind fixates upon the blades adoring Seryph’s walls, all too ready to strike the woman down.

“About fulfiling your destiny.”