The Finals

I wrote this piece because the story didn't seem complete. This chapter contains no sex, but it concludes what happens to Zera after chapter 1. So, enjoy!

When they woke up the next morning, it wasn’t what they expected. One would think it would be morbidly awkward, but it wasn’t. They had to fight the urge to do things to each other as they cleaned themselves off and got dressed. They went to town to find their friends; they hoped they weren’t too loud yesterday, but when the neighbors waved to them it was obvious that they didn’t know. That was a relief to both of them.

They walked over to Will’s house to find everybody already there; they all seemed relieved that Senel was okay now and seemed to have no idea of what happened yesterday.

Meanwhile…

A carnivorous bird flew through the air. He flew through his domain in the forest searching for breakfast. After flying a couple minutes he spotted human prey and swooped down. The human turned at the last second and grabbed him by the neck. The bird squawked in surprise before the human snapped its neck with his thumb.

“Well, looks like bird for breakfast.” Zera said, examining the dead bird in his hand. He set up a fire and cooked it. All the while he was plagued with thoughts of Senel; how he beat him. He knew he got careless and overconfident, that’s why he lost. He ate his meal and got back up. He popped his back and headed back to Werites Beacon. He reached the gate when some people were leaving; he recognized them. They were in the cheering section.

It was Chloe and Jay. They walked a bit into the forest and stopped; Zera remained hidden from sight.

“Okay Jay, don’t feel as if you need to hold back!” Chloe drew her sword.

“This will be quite the morning exercise,” Jay said, knife in hand.

Zera watched to study them. They were obviously companions of Senel and he had to admit that Senel was strong; who knows how strong his companions were. He watched and wasn’t really impressed by the sparring match and got bored. He drew his sword and thought that he’d kill them so they wouldn’t interrupt his rematch with Senel.

Chloe swung her sword at Jay and he avoided it. He leaped over Chloe and took a swing at her and just nicked her back. Chloe turned around then froze, face white and fear in her eyes. Curious, Jay turned around and saw a man with long red hair and a big sword. He took a step back.

“Where’s Senel?” he demanded, walking to them with his sword in his hand.

“Why should we tell you that?” Chloe said, raising her sword. A smile crossed Zera’s face, but he didn’t say anything.

“Back off, there are two of us, after all.” Jay said.

“So you better attack me at once, maybe then one of you might actually injure me,” he said before he charged. He moved with such speed that his image was slightly blurred and Jay couldn’t ready himself fast enough. He swung the sword at Jay and the tip of his blade grazed Jay’s chest. Then without missing a beat, he relayed by striking Jay with the dull side of his sword. Jay was thrown off to the side and Zera kept charging for Chloe. She raised her sword and blocked Zera’s. She then attempted to strike him but he back stepped, Chloe didn’t stop however. She swung her sword again and cut Zera’s shoulder open. Zera, not even fazed, swung at her. She ducked and rolled herself behind him and slashed him along his back. Zera spun around to face her and at the same time to gain momentum to swing his sword. Chloe blocked but the force knocked her sword out of her hand.

Zera raised his sword above his head and right before he could strike her, Jay ran behind him and stabbed his back. Chloe jumped back and ran to get her sword. Zera turned around and swung at him; he jumped over the sword but Zera kicked him aside. He rolled across the ground until he hit a tree. Chloe, now with sword in hand, ran up and impaled Zera in the back. The blade of her sword coming of Zera’s chest; Zera didn’t move.

Chloe thought that she had gotten him until Zera let a deranged chuckle escape his throat. She took her sword out of his back and jumped back.

“W-what’s wrong with you?” Chloe said, surprised that he laughed at her attack.

“Is that all there is?” Zera asked. He turned to face Chloe, red eyes wild with excitement. He charged and Chloe blocked his first attack. She swung and cut his stomach open, but he attacked as if that didn’t happen. She dodged it and ran forward, attempting to impale him in the chest, but he was too fast for her. He grabbed her throat with his right hand and lifted her off her feet. Chloe dropped her sword in surprise and he smiled at her.

“Beg for your miserable life, little girl,” he said.

“No, I won’t,” she choked out. “Do your worst!”

He smiled and put his sword on his back. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe; with his thumb he flicked the cap off. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“Lets just say this, I don’t know how it will affect you,” he said. He took the needle and pierced Chloe’s skin then injected the strange colorless liquid into her arm. Chloe shut her eyes from the pain and when he was done he took the needle out and dropped her to the ground.

Jay, now having caught his second wind, ran to Zera, but he vanished at the last second. He looked around a bit and was sure Zera was gone. “Chloe, you all right?” he asked. Chloe didn’t answer. Her body was heating up, her skin turned red and steam came off it. She couldn’t find the strength to stand either. “Chloe?” he knelt down next to her.

“It feels like my bones are melting…” she weakly said. She then felt her chest throb and coughed up a bit of blood.

Jay picked her up and went back into town; she was hot to the touch. She went back to Will’s house and was relieved to find him in the garden outside.

“Will, we have a problem!” Jay went up to him. Will turned and immediately saw Chloe swung over his shoulder.

“What happened to Chloe?” he asked.

“We encountered Zera. He did something to Chloe.” he said. Will led them inside and they put her on the couch. Her chest throbbed again and she coughed up a decent amount of blood.

“Her temperature has risen too high and she’s coughing up blood,” he said.

“She said it felt as if her bones were melting.” Jay explained. “Zera asked us where Senel was and attacked up when we wouldn’t reply.”

“Tell the others, I’ll see what I can do to help Chloe,” Will said. Jay nodded and ran out of the house.

Chloe wanted to say something to Will, tell him about the syringe, but she couldn’t speak. She could hardly breathe. Pain circulated throughout her body and Will told her to calm down. He said he’d be back after getting some medical books but Chloe grabbed his arm before he could turn to leave.

“You need to rest, I’ll be right back,” he said. He pried her hand from his arm and turned around to go to the study. Chloe wasn’t deterred. She tried to go after him and ended up just falling off the couch. She didn’t feel the pain from the fall because her nerves already felt like they were on fire. Will ran to her. “You have to wait here! Don’t try to move.”

“Will…” she choked out. Her chest throbbed again and she coughed up a few specks of blood. ‘Something’s wrong with my heart.’ she realized. She lifted her arm up and showed Will the small hole in her skin where Zera had injected her with the strange liquid.

“What…? Did he poison you?!” he asked.

“Y-yes…” she replied weakly. Her chest throbbed again and she hacked up more blood.

“Okay, knowing that makes things easier!” he left her on the ground and ran to his study, knowing every second was crucial. He threw the door open and ran to the shelf. He tore books on poison and disease onto a pile onto the table. Harriet, who was dusting, jumped surprised.

“Dad? What’s wrong?” she asked. Will explained the situation and told her to go to Chloe to comfort her. She ran downstairs and saw her on the ground. The volume of blood on the floor scared her but she still ran to her side. After she helped Chloe back onto the bed she got an icepack ready and put it on her head. Steam still radiated off her skin and a puff of steam came from the icepack.

“Chloe?” Senel, Shirley, Moses, Jay, Norma and Grune burst into the room and ran to the side of the couch. Chloe couldn’t even turn her head; it was far too difficult to move her body. She took sharp gasps and was covered in sweat. Her eyes were getting blurry and the room seemed to spin.

‘Am I…going to die?’ she wondered.

Will ran down the stairs with a large stack of books in his arms. He dropped them on the table and took the one on the top. “All of you, take a book!” he ordered. They all grabbed some books and Will said to look for something about a poison or bacteria that affects the body in this way. Will had never seen nor heard of these symptoms before and was worried they wouldn’t find anything.

Time passed and Chloe’s constant coughing had started to become less frequent. She was still very much alive and in pain however; she could not see nor was really sure if her eyes were open or not. Her body still felt as if it was on fire and she still had an abnormal fever; steam radiated off her body. The group had undressed her to her undergarments and even resorted to spraying her with cool water to keep her temperature at somewhat of a stable level.

Hours later they didn’t find anything. “Damn it!” Senel slammed his fist down onto the table. “Why can’t we find anything?!”

“JJ, did Zero leave anything behind that could give us a clue?” Norma asked.

“I can’t imagine what,” he said in a defeated tone.

“There was a needle mark on Chloe’s arm, did you see Zera with a syringe or a dart?” he asked. Jay’s eyes went wide.

“No, I’ll go back and check!” he ran to the door.

“I’ll go with ya,” Moses ran after him. They ran through the town and into the field. They frantically looked around for anything that could help them.

Back at Will’s house, Will and Senel had gone back upstairs to look for anymore books with possible answers while Shirley, Grune, Norma and Harriet stayed down to try and cool off Chloe. They dumped cool water and ice cubes on her, but the ice melted pretty quickly. Her skin still steamed and was a violent shade of red.

“Maybe we can use ice eres to cool her off,” Grune suggested. The others glared at her. “Um, is that a no?”

Chloe could barely hear the others conversation. She was in so much pain that she couldn’t even comprehend her own thoughts. To her, every word she heard was gibberish.

Jay and Moses came bursting into the room. “We found somethin’!” Moses yelled. Jay held the syringe in his hand.

“Teach and Senny are in the study!” Norma said. Moses and Jay ran upstairs.

The next few hours Will, Senel and Jay used the little bit of poison left in the syringe to devise an antidote. After rigorous testing they finally completed it. They immediately ran back and Will carefully injected it into Chloe’s arm.

They stared at Chloe, the steam stopped and her skin began to slowly go back to its original color. She was still in bad shape though. She then coughed a large quantity of blood onto Will’s knee.

“Is C going to be okay?” Norma asked.

“Let’s hope. At this point that’s all we can do.” Will sighed. Shirley let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong, Shirley?” Senel turned to her.

“I just feel a bit sick, that’s all.” she smiled.

“Oh my, you’re looking a bit green.” Grune pointed out.

“If you’re not feeling well…” Senel began.

“No, I’m fine. Chloe’s the one we should be worrying about.”

“Yeah, but still,” Moses said.

“Don’t worry about me,” she laughed. In truth she felt like she was going to throw up.

“Ugh…” Chloe groaned.

“Chloe!” Senel and the others rushed to the couch’s side. She opened her eyes.

“Everyone…? Where am I?” she asked weakly. She was still running a fever but her skin was back to its normal color. She sat up and rubbed her head.

“Oh, thank goodness!” Grune smiled.

“C, you’re okay!” Norma hugged her.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t prevent what happened to you.” Jay said.

“I’m so relieved.” Shirley sighed.

“Glad you’re okay.” Senel smiled.

“Thanks…what happened to me, anyways?” she asked.

“Poison!” Grune exclaimed in a chipper voice.

“Huh?! Wait, I remember now,” she said.

They spent the next few hours planning their next course of action. Zera would obviously attack again and they needed to be ready.

“Say, Shirley,” Moses started, “you’re lookin’ kinda green around the gills.”

“I’m just tired…” she lied.

“Well, we all need rest. Let’s call it a day, you especially, Chloe.” Will said.

“I’ll walk you back, Shirley.” Senel said.

“Thank you,” she replied.

The next morning…

Shirley woke up feeling like crap. She felt dizzy and ran to the bathroom to throw up in the toilet. She already knew it wasn’t going to be a very good day.

They met at Will’s again. Everyone immediately noticed Shirley wasn’t feeling good, but she just smiled and said she was fine. They decided the next course of action was to find Zera. They informed the town and none had seen him since the tournament. Zera wasn’t stupid enough to just waltz into town to find Senel apparently.

They decided to divide into teams and look. The teams were: Senel and Shirley, Chloe and Will, Moses and Norma and finally Jay and Grune.

“Now keep in mind: even though Zera has incredible physical strength he’s a crystal eren, and he doesn’t need to gather energy to cast crystal eres.” Will said. They all nodded and they set out.

Senel and Shirley walked through the forest. They kept their eyes and ears open and snuck glances at each other when the other wasn’t looking. It was official: they were a lovey-dovey couple.

“Shirley, you want to stop and rest? You really don’t look well right now.” Senel finally said.

“No, we have to keep going. I’m fine, don’t worry,” she smiled.

“Well still, if…” Shirley’s face suddenly became serious. “Shirley, what’s wrong?” he turned and saw him: Zera with his sword drawn. Senel took his stance and Shirley took hers.

“Senel…!” Zera roared. The black mist began seeping from his body. “I will KILL YOU!” He ran towards him and Senel stood his ground. Zera swung his sword, but Senel blocked it and threw it aside. Unarmed, Zera punched him in the face and sent him flying backwards. Shirley tried to catch him but ended up getting knocked down. When they got back up Zera had already gotten his sword back. He was about to charge when suddenly a barrage of spears fell from the sky. They pierced his body through his chest, shoulders and legs, but he didn’t flinch.

It was Moses and the rest. The plan actually was to look as if they split up but since Zera was after Senel, they’d follow him and wait for Zera to show up.

“How can Red’s attack not even faze him?” Norma asked.

Zera chuckled with the usual insane look in his eyes. “I use eres to increase the adrenaline in my body so much I can’t feel pain anymore!” he laughed.

“…Resulting with an unstable personality.” Will finished. That was why Zera was crazy.

The black mist was still radiating off his body. Jay and Chloe ran to him and he ignored them to go after Senel. When Jay and Chloe were right in front of him he merely jumped over them and charged Senel. Senel stood ground.

“IMPACT!” he shouted as he clashed his fist with Zera’s sword. Zera’s sword broke and the blade flew up into the air; it fell a few feet away. Zera stared at his broken sword then his face twisted into the most demonic glare Senel had ever seen. The mist around his body became intensely thick; Senel even gagged on it and backed up.

The mist spawned into a jellyfish-like creature and the party backed up. “No way, those can’t combine with humans…can they?” Norma asked. The creature attached itself to Zera’s body and he howled in pain. Wings sprouted from his back and the muscle in his arms grew to the point in which his shirt tore off. His hair turned white and his skin went pale. He teeth became sharp looking and he finally dropped what was left of his sword. His new form looked so angelic, yet so demonic at the same time.

The group was speechless. Zera opened his eyes and he had a very calm expression in them. Moses threw a spear and it bounced off the air a foot away from Zera.

“Huh? What happened?” he asked.

“A…barrier?” Will realized.

Zera looked at his hands. “What happened?” he asked. There was a pause. “Well, for whatever reason…” he turned to Senel. The group took their stances preparing for the worst. “I have no interest in you anymore.”

“…Huh?” Norma asked. Everyone else was silent.

Moses broke the silence. “Oh no you don’t!” he threw another spear and it bounced off Zera’s barrier. Zera raised his hand and pointed it at Moses. Suddenly Moses grabbed his neck as he was levitated into the air. The group watched unsure of what was happening as Moses made gagging sounds. Zera then made a throwing motion with his hand and Moses flew backwards to the ground.

“What…?” everyone turned back to Zera. Zera spread his wings and flew off.

Zera left his enemies and flew high into the sky; he needed to get his thoughts straight. He looked down on the Legacy. “What have I become…?” he asked aloud.

“You’ve become a god,” a voice behind him said. He turned and saw a cloud of mist form into a woman. She was clothed in armor that even covered her eyes.

“Who are you?” he asked.

“You may call me Schwartz,” she said.

“What do you mean, a god?” he asked.

“The world’s savior. You have the power to liberate the world of their pain by ending their lives.” she said. Zera didn’t respond. “Point your hand to the ground and send your energy there. It will cut into the Legacy and destroy it. You then will save them from themselves.”

Zera did as he was told. The energy hit the ground in the form of a beam from his hand. “It will take time, but you are the only one who can do it.”

Schwartz disappeared in a cloud of black mist. Zera continued his attack. “Why do I feel compelled to do as she says?” he wondered aloud.

Meanwhile…

“What is Zero doing?” Norma asked.

“Apparently attacking the Legacy.” Will said.

“Did I see someone else up there?” Shirley asked.

“I didn’t see anyone.” Senel said.

“Well, what do we do now?” Jay asked.

“We should spit up into two teams. Shirley, go to the Village of the Ferines and the rest of us will go back to Werites Beacon. Senel, you go with Shirley.” Will said. The group nodded and split up.

Senel and Shirley headed for the Village of the Ferines, a few romantic words and suggestive giggles exchanged between them as they went. They both knew it was serious situation, but they couldn’t help it, not after two nights ago when they slept together. They were both hoping for another night like that, but it would have to wait until the current mess was cleared up.

When they arrived it appeared they noticed Zera and were talking about it. They saw Maurits talking to two other Ferines. Maurits saw them.

“Senel, Marines, what are you doing here?” he walked up to them.

“Well…” Senel pointed into the sky at Zera.

“You know what that is?” he asked. Senel and Shirley explained to Maurits and another Ferines who Zera was and how he became that angel thing.

“So it’s another destructive Orarines, figures.” the Ferines next to Maurits commented.

“Thomas, watch your tongue!” he glared. Thomas rolled his eyes. Maurits turned back to Senel and Shirley, “So, what’s our course of action?”

“We haven’t decided yet.” Senel said.

“Well, Thomas and I can come back to your town to discus it,” he said.

“To and Orarines village?! Are you on drugs?!” Thomas glared at Maurits. Maurits glared back. “I mean…good idea.”

Later…

Senel and Shirley entered Will’s house to find the rest of the group there. They were about to say hi when Maurits and Thomas came in after them.

“It’s a nice town you have here.” Maurits commented.

“Thank you…I didn’t expect you to come here,” Will said.

“Hello!” Grune cheerfully exclaimed.

“And who’s the ray of sunshine that followed you?” Norma asked.

“My name’s Thomas.” he said.

“Hi Thomas!” Grune cheerfully exclaimed.

“Shut it, Orarines,” he replied.

They spent the next half-hour talking about the problem. In 36 hours Zera will have dug deep enough to destroy the Legacy. Thomas also tried to kill Norma for giving him the nickname Tommy. After the long conversation Maurits suggested something that shocked the rest of them.

“The Nerifes Cannon,” he said. Everyone’s jaw dropped except Thomas’.

“We can extract energy from four Ferines per shot without any risk of killing them. It really is the only way.” Thomas added.

“Are you really going to do this?” Will asked.

“We’ll use volunteers,” Thomas said. “Naturally, I’ll be one of them.”

“As will I,” Maurits said.

“I will too!” Shirley said. The group looked at her.

“Shirley!” Senel said.

“Senel, please. I’ve done it once before, and it’s for a good cause.” Shirley said.

“But…” Senel began.

“That just means we’ll need to find one more volunteer. That shouldn’t be too hard.” Maurits said.

Later…

The group traveled to the Bridge. The two containers connected to the Nerifes Cannon stood there and Maurits and Thomas went inside them. Another Ferines named Aura operated the machine. After the tank was half full they got out. Aura went into one tank and Shirley took some steps for the other.

Senel grabbed Shirley’s arm. “Shirley, I just can’t let you…”

Shirley turned around and kissed Senel. The group went quiet and Aura whistled from inside the container. She broke the kiss.

“Don’t worry Senel, I’ll be fine.” she walked into the other container and she and Aura nodded to Thomas to say they were ready.

After the needed energy was drained from them, Aura and Shirley staggered out of the container. “Shirley, are you okay?” he ran to her side.

“Yeah, it wasn’t nearly as bad as the first time.” she smiled.

“Well, the Nerifes Cannon’s ready.” Jay said as Thomas prepared to fire it. He aimed it and locked onto Zera.

“Die, Orarines bastard!” he shouted as he fired the cannon. A huge blast fired and went straight for Zera, but when it got to him he raised his hand and grabbed the beam and threw it upward. The blast flew upward and Zera remained unharmed.

Everyone in the bride could only stare. “Dammit!” Thomas kicked the computer.

“We need to rethink this…”

The new plan wasn’t much better, but other than the Wings of Light, this was the only way. They would use the Nerifes Cannon again, but two Ferines using their teriques to fly would distract Zera. The two Ferines were Aura and Thomas.

The next day… 24 hours remaining…

They got more volunteers to sacrifice energy to power the Nerifes Cannon. Aura and Thomas needed to be in top condition to fight Zera and when Shirley woke up she was pale with a slight green tint and spent five minutes throwing up in the toilet. This meant that Shirley wasn’t healthy enough to power the Nerifes Cannon.

Maurits and three others powered the cannon and Aura and Thomas had headed out to Zera. One of the Ferines who volunteered was a doctor and she was taking a look at Shirley in the next room with Will. Senel was pacing back and forth worried about her.

After what seemed like forever, the doctor, Shirley and Will came out of the room. Senel tried to walk up to her, but Will stepped in his way. Shirley had her head low and looked quite troubled, Will looked at Senel with a demonic glare and struck him on the head.

“What was that for?!” Senel demanded. Will only hit him again.

“What’re you hitting Senny for?” Norma asked.

“Well…” the doctor began, “Shirley’s pregnant.”

Moses gagged on the breath of air he was inhaling, Chloe and Norma’s jaws dropped, Senel’s face went white and Jay’s eyes went wide.

“What’s ailing Shirley is morning sickness,” the doctor finished.

“Congratulations, Shirley!” Grune said.

“Thanks, Grune,” she muttered, ashamed.

“You wouldn’t happen to have had anything to do with that, would you?” Will glared at Senel. Chloe and Norma also glared.

“Coolidge…?” Chloe stared.

“Senny…you didn’t…” Norma crossed her arms.

“I…I um…” Senel backed up.

“Senel…” Moses shook his head. Chloe drew her sword.

“Coolidge, this is very much called for.” she walked up to him. Shirley ran between them.

“Wait, it’s my fault too!” she said. Chloe stopped.

“No Shirley, it’s all my…”

“No it isn’t!” she turned to him. “It’s just as much my fault as it is yours!” there was a long awkward silence.

“People,” Maurits said, “we have more important matters to deal with now. Thomas and Aura have reached Zera.”

“Senel, when this is over we are going to have a long talk.” Will said before they focused on the screen showing Zera fighting Thomas and Aura.

Aura was backing off readying a crystal ere and Thomas war relentlessly attacking with a halberd. Zera blocked each attack with one hand and kept the other focused on blasting through the Legacy. Aura then casted his ere and golden light appeared around Zera’s wrists and ankles. The light then bonded his arms and legs together and he couldn’t brake free.

“Now!” Maurits yelled. The Ferines operating the computer fired the Nerifes Cannon and Thomas and Aura retreated. The blast hit Zera and he used his shoulder to block it. The blast pushed against him and the barrier cracked. Zera’s barrier shattered and the blast hit him. He shrieked as the Nerifes Cannon incinerated his body.

Thomas and Aura appeared on the screen again, there was a long pause. Then they turned to them and Aura did a thumbs-up. Everyone in the Bridge cheered. The mission was a success.

Since everyone was exhausted at this point, Will’s talk with Senel was postponed.

The next day…

Senel and Shirley were in Will’s house. Will was with them and the door was locked; this was a private talk. Will even sent Harriet outside so she wouldn’t hear the things discussed. Both Senel and Shirley had their heads hung low as Will scolded them.

“Do you understand now that what you did was foolish?” he asked. They both said yes of course. There was a pause. “Senel, are you going to take responsibility for your actions?” he asked.

“Of course!” Senel lifted his head. Shirley lifted hers to look at him.

“I’m not talking about a punishment, I’m talking about fatherhood. This child will grow up knowing both his or her parents.” Will said. There was another silence.

“I knew what you meant when I said yes,” he said. A big smile came across Shirley’s face. Will let out a long sigh.

“In that case…I give you my blessings,” he said.

“Huh?” Senel and Shirley said together.

Will explained himself with the words Shirley used after she woke up and realized what she had done. Will said: “Nothing we can do about it now.”