Raindrops.
Rain fell in Deletrius -- lost rain, and with it, a lost girl who was afraid, unsure of what she would be from here. That bastard... It destroyed them... It destroyed everything. Temar... Terraguove... What the hell was he? She knew the answer. Revenge had been a monster.
Her body hit the metaphorical ground of Deletrius roughly, and the already wounded Ayame found herself coughing up blood. Pain had long ago flooded her body and she hadn't the energy to move. She'd been worried, lying on the ground of that cold planet before, when the rain had began. But when she came here, the rain stopped. She was wet, alone, and dying... But the rain had stopped.
She heard a sound behind her. Had he found her at last?
...No. She could feel that something was wrong. She felt... Something dark behind her.
"That was quite the fight. Well done. Well done indeed."
The voice was male... And it sounded sinister.
It continued. "I must admit. I didn't think you had it in you. Betraying your friend like that. Not after what she did to save you."
Ayame managed to force her vocal cords to utter some instance of sound. "She lied to me!"
"And you didn't lie to her?" it replied amusingly, "Is that so, Amy?"
...Who was this and how did they know her name?
"E... Eric... Mann?"
The voice erupted in laughter.
"Eric Mann!? Still on that!? Please. Eric Mann's dead, you crazy bitch."
She could hear the figure approaching her. Before, she would have thought logically about this. She would have fought. She would have remembered her training. She would have done what it took to survive. But now? She was weaker. She was... Scared. For the first time in a truly long time, she felt fear. She was afraid.
The figure reached her, and using it's foot, it roughly kicked her over onto her back so she could see it, face to face.
"Y-you," she managed.
"Me," it replied.
"J... Jay."
"Not exactly," it replied, "We're related."
Shift grinned as he stomped his boot into her face. She cried out in pain.
"Come on, bitch. I've been with you for weeks now. Right. Here." He pointed at her brain. "And you still don't know my name!?"
"That... vision," she managed, "You... not Eric."
"That's right. Very excellent of you," Shift replied, "I made you think you saw Eric Mann... Because I needed you to survive. I needed you to survive because I needed to use you to destroy that embodiment. Revenge. Well, you didn't exactly kill him, but that little friend of yours did, now didn't she? And you helped. Or rather... I helped."
"Y-you manipulated me," she replied.
"That's right. And now, I'm going to kill you."
Shift grinned, looking in her eyes, basking in the pure fear she showed. It was moments like this that Shift lived for! Yes, the feelings he fed off of were all here! Hate, fear, pain.... It was like an all-you-can-eat-buffet, and he was loving it... And now, it was time for what was ultimately his favorite part.
Holding up his hand, a dark, red aura surrounded it. Pulsing. Dust began to float up from the ground into the air near his hand, atoms and molecules slowly combining until in a moment the red aura was gone and a large blade floated in the air -- one much like Jay Styder wore.... Only different. This one was.... Darker, and the metal was made of pure black.
"Farewell, baby," Shift uttered as the blade began to fall, its velocity quite fast, towards Ayame's chest.
Goodbye, loves.
Clink.
Ayame's eyes were closed when she realized that she was still alive. Slowly opening them, what she saw was truly... Amazing. Shift's blade had been deflected. It was lying on the ground, about three feet away from either of them. Standing over her, face to face with Shift, was Nek. Anger radiated in his eyes as he stared straight at Shift, who was more than surprised.
"Ayame. Grab on."
Ayame mustered up as much energy as she could and grabbed onto Nek. Before Shift had even fully processed what was going on, Nek and Ayame were gone.... No. That was inaccurate. Shift could feel something troubling -- something very troubling. That energy.... It was him, but it was, at the same time, light. Too light... A warrior of the light.
Turning, prepared, Shift saw what he was afraid of. Behind him, a gust of wind blew. About ten feet away, they were there. Nek, with Ayame in his arms. Inari, her hair blowing with the wind. And... that man. Shift's worst nightmare... Jay Stryder. His other half, who looked at Shift with an unsually serious expression. This... Was about to end.
"Well... I can't say I'm surprised," Shift broke the silence. "I knew it was coming. I knew you were coming. I just didn't know win. That's the thing about being a Templar, isn't it? Being able to sense your own destiny... Have you ever done it? Just, take a peak into your own future?"
Jay did not respond, and only watched as Shift held out his hand. The whiteness of Deletrius began to shift, to change to darkness. The landscape around them began to swirl.
A silver bubble surrounded Ayame, and she floated lightly into the air, protected by Nek's temporal energies. Nek drew his blade.
"Nek," Jay finally spoke. "Inari. This is my fight."
"Master," Nek replied, trying to reason.
"We want to help!" Inari added.
"Not this time," Jay replied, "I've let him go free for too long. He's killed.... way too many people. This is my burden to bare. This is my own fight to have. You can't help me this time. The place Shift is about to take me... This is the one place that you can't go. I'm sorry."
"Jay... What are you saying?" Nek replied.
"Watch out for her, Nek. You found a cute one," Jay said, managing one of his old fashion smiles. "Inari. Your compassion is your greatest weapon. You care for others more than you care for yourself. Don't stop. Don't ever stop."
Jay turned and peered into Inari's eyes, and found himself lost.... He embraced her, and the two shared a passionate kiss. Jay knew that he might not have another chance to tell her -- no, show her -- how he felt about her. Or, well... How he felt about anyone.
"Go... Now! Hurry!" Jay shouted.
"Jay, please, don't-"
"Go!"
The darkness surrounded Jay, and he was gone. Deletrius returned to its normal, white self. Shift and Jay had vanished... But Nek and Inari couldn't bring themselves to do what their master had said. Their feet were glued to the ground. They couldn't bring themselves to leave.
And then a voice whispered...
"You should have listened to your master."
Turning sharply, Nek and Inari looked for Shift, but he wasn't behind them. It was Shift's voice coming from... Ayame's body, inside the bubble.
"Now, you're mine," Shift laughed.
The bubble began to collapse in on itself, the temporal energies of it being absorbed into Ayame's body.
I have to fight it.
Ayame was still alive. She was still inside somewhere. And she was fighting for her life. This bastard thought he could control her body!? She wouldn't let him. She couldn't let him. She had to fight. She had to live. She had to... Be... FREE.
You can't stop it, Shift told her. I control you.
She no longer heard Eric Mann's voice. She realized it now. She was free... Eric Mann was dead. Her course was unwritten. Her destiny was unclear. She controlled herself. Shift did not control her. She... Was not going to die today. No. And while she could feel her body tugging away at the temporal energies that surrounded her body, she knew that she couldn't let it be her end.
She could hear Nek's voice.
"Ayame! You have to fight it! The temporal energy is like a poison to your body in it's raw form... Normal beings weren't made to see the face of time... You have to push the energy out! Fight it!"
Shift was trying to stop her. He was trying desperately to stop her. She could hear him yelling in her mind, but she silenced him out. She ignored him. She wouldn't fall prey to his ways. She would be free... Or she would die. No. She wouldn't die. Not now.
So she locked the Temporal energies away. Instead of letting it consume her entire body, she picked one place.... Her eyes. She couldn't get rid of the temporal energies. But she could concentrate it. So she did. She concentrated all of the temporal energies... Into her eyes. And Shift's voice inside her head? That too.
...And then, she sealed it there.
...Silence.
And at last, Ayame realized.... She was free.
Her eyes closed.... It was time to rest now.
At last, her body entered the rest she needed -- she fell into a coma.
