58. The End Chapter 3

Mike's POV

I lunged at Damon with a roar.

"Shouldn't there be something that you should focus on?" He said. "The lunar eclipse is about to descend."

"What are you saying?" I seethed as he locked me in a chokehold. "You had her killed!"

"And? What's at stake here, little Guardian? Avenging her or stopping everything from being rewritten?"

I paused. I watched as Dark Shadow consolidated all the hearts into a gem before starting the process of inserting it into Imagination. The glass window overhead showed the moon moving into Earth's shadow.

"Once that process is done, there's no going back. So, listen to me, you bring her body closer to Imagination while I distract them."

"Shouldn't this be something that you want?" I asked him.

He made no answer. Instead, he threw me towards Omen's body. With a roar, he unleashed his true demon form and dashed straight at Dark Shadow and Countess. I looked at Omen's lifeless body, my tears dripping as I dragged her towards where Imagination was. Perhaps, Imagination might have a way of bringing her back.

Strangely, as I got closer to Imagination, the hole in her chest started to close. Tiny golden tendrils began to drift into where her heart should be. Yet, I could not feel her soul. I looked over to Dark Shadow, who focused on merging the items. I have to stop him.

"Traitor!" I could hear Countess's screams. "After so many preparations, you would stab us in the back?"

"Why would I not?" Damon scoffed. "I'm a demon. And I don't take kindly to lies. Dark Shadow has lied to me."

I aimed at the man who brought death and destruction to all the realms and universes—the man who insisted on this dead path.

"And how have I lied? By the way, you forgot there's a rat here." I gasped as a hand clasped over my throat suddenly. "Ah, Ravenna's successor."

No.

My bow was knocked askew, and the arrow flew off course. Laughing clowns flooded the room. A laughing clown was holding onto me, but Dark Shadow's voice was coming out.

"As expected, only puppets are loyal." Both Countess and Dark Shadow were pinned down.

"Dark Shadow!" Damon roared at him. "You were the one who killed my lover!"

A dark chuckle reverberated across the room while the lunar eclipse descended upon us.

"Yes, I did. She wasn't meant to die in the story, but I wanted your power. Of course, you didn't disappoint me." At his command, the Clowns stabbed through them. Countess gave a shrill scream before it died. Dark Shadow, who was preoccupied with Imagination, stared at me maliciously. "It is commendable that you managed to show Damon the truth, but it's too late. Now, you shall be the only audience to witness the birth of a new story."

I struggled against my captor while summoning my bow. With a swift movement, the Clown broke my legs.

"Argh! …That wasn't me!"

The gem, together with Countess and Damon's hearts, merged with Imagination. The ball of light turned a bloody red.

"Oh ho, that is a surprise. Then how did my demon know of my true actions? Well, never mind, he is dead. What matters is my goal."

A sudden roar came out from the ball of light as the lunar eclipse descended upon us. I dropped my hands and helplessly looked at what he was doing. The Laughing Clown was too strong, and there was no way to stop this from happening. A string of words was uttered from Dark Shadow as the ball reacted to him, shaking more and more furiously as he went on. Suddenly, I saw Omen's fingers twitch in the corner of my eye.

I held my breath as I watched closely. Yet, there was no reaction after that. It was simply a trick of the light.

"What are you thinking? Don't we need to save the world?" There was a whisper beside my ear. That was impossible. She's dead, and the one holding me is a Laughing Clown. "Mike, I need you to get your bow while I distract him. There's no time!"

I choked back a sigh of relief. Somehow by miracle, Omen was alive. I watched as the Laughing Clowns around the area were slowly being taken over by Omen's psyche. There was a slight jerk in their limbs before they stared at the man in the centre, who was too preoccupied with the things at hand.

Immediately, I lunged for my bow. Without hesitation, I shot at the ball in his hand, effectively disrupting the ceremony.

"NO!" The madman roared as he watched his life's work disintegrate before him. "NO! No, no, noooo..."

He slowly sank to the ground, grasping at the ashes of what was once Imagination. Black tears flowed from his eyes as he slowly turned towards me. I could feel the rage emitting from him as he sent Shadows after me. However, the numerous Laughing Clowns stood in front of me to block his attack.

"Did you know what you did, you foolish boy?" Zacharius Smith screamed. "You Guardians have denied me the chance to see my family again! Time and time again, I have been ripped apart from them. By Death. By Ravenna. BY YOU!"

With every sentence, he pelted his attack against the Laughing Clowns that stood in his way. Every attack was heavier than the last, killing off the Laughing Clowns until there were no more. With my legs broken, I was unable to escape.

"It was the work of fate for the first time. You died, unfortunately. Ravenna stopped you because the dead could never interfere with the living. She never wanted to tell you about the family you left behind because you would act this way."

I said bluntly as I edged backwards.

"I stopped you because you were making an irreversible mistake. At the expense of everything, because you can never reunite with your family, you want to raze this whole thing to the ground?"

I spat at his feet with disgust. He stopped right where the spit was as he glared at me malevolently.

"You are the selfish one. You could have watched over them like a guardian angel. You could have done anything but this. Do you think your family would have wanted to see you like this?"

"… You don't understand," Dark Shadow choked up.

"Papa?"

We froze when we heard a child's voice.

"Is that you, papa?"

We saw a little girl being projected by the light. However, the angle could have been more comfortable because we seemed to be watching her from afar. She was standing among the tombs and was looking around for the source of her father's voice.

"C…cupcake?" Dark Shadow's voice shook. "Is that you, my girl?"

"Papa! Mama was right! You are in the sky!" The girl's eyes lit up as she laughed at the sky. "Do you miss me, papa? Mama and I miss you, but mama said we shouldn't miss you too much."

"Why is that so?" The man chuckled as he crouched beside the projection of his daughter. He tried to pat her head, but it went through.

"Mama said that if we do, you will be worried. We have to be strong. We have to show you that we are living."

"Then, are you?"

"I can put on my shoes. I even did the knots myself! See!" The child lifted her foot and pointed at the ribbons on her sneakers. "And… and I can recite my ABCs! Aren't you proud of me, papa?"

"…Very, very much so. What a good girl. You have grown so big and strong." He choked back tears. "What about mama?"

"Mama… mama cried a lot." The girl said quietly. "But mama is getting better now. See, she took me to your grave with uncle. She wanted to tell you that she's doing better and moving on."

"Moving… on?" Zacharius gasped. "Does mama not want papa anymore?"

"Mimi?" A soft voice called out from behind the girl, and from the projection, we saw a forty-plus-year-old woman with another man. She picked up the girl and affectionately nuzzled her. "Who are you talking to?"

"Papa! I heard his voice."

The woman and the man shared worried glances.

"Mimi, I know you miss him, but papa can never return. He's gone far away and cannot come back here."

"But I did! Papa! Say something."

Zacharius smiled wryly. "What do you want me to say, cupcake?"

The woman gasped. "Z…Zach? How… how can I hear his voice?"

"I'm always here. I've been trying to get back to you. I didn't want to die," He sobbed. "I didn't want to leave you guys behind. I truly wanted to spend the rest of my life with the two of you."

A tear trickled down the woman's cheek.

"I… I just need…"

"No, Zach." The woman interrupted him. Dark Shadow looked up in shock. "You cannot. You are dead. This is fate, and fate is so merciful to let us have this last talk. But, Zach, I have moved on. I did have that dream with you in it, but you died."

"But I'm here!"

"… I know. But the dead cannot live among the living. Zach, I'm happy with you… just as I'm happy with this man with me. Move on, my love. It's not worth it to cross the threshold of life and death. When the time comes, I will join you."

"No. NO!"

He lunged at the images, but the projection ended there. Not far from where the projection appeared, it was Omen standing with a ball of light in her hands. Her eyes were eerily glowing, just like her heart which Countess ripped out.

"Do you see now? There is no way for you to tear the barrier between life and death forcefully." Omen coldly stated. "Your wife sees this clearly. And the shadows… it would be best if you let them go. The past cannot and should not hold you down. The future is unknown, but the present is a gift. Must we all suffer for you to get your wish?"

The man stayed quiet. His expression was unreadable. So, Omen approached him with Imagination in her hand, determined to purge the Shadows out of him. Yet, the moment her hand reached out, he grabbed the ball. Omen immediately twisted herself out of his grasp and aimed her magic at the shadows.

However, it seemed that the shadows were merged with him, for when the shadows burned, he yelled in pain. He gradually turned to ash and disintegrated into the air. Towards the end, Dark Shadow never gave up on making his way to Omen. Despite the pain, he still reached out for that orb of light to make his wish.

Yet, he never did.