Aidex and Xyta were gone...my mission was complete...and yet still I lingered. As though I INVITED Xerebus here...awaiting our eventual and unavoidable confrontation.
"RaXi!!" I heard from down the hall...the familiar voice belonging to Nyx. I turned quickly, relief flooding over me in waves. She had made it...as promised...Suddenly her face changed as she saw me and she halted. Her smile vanished and turned firm and she appeared to take a defensive stance. "You..." She uttered lowly.
"Nyx?" I questioned moving closer. Why...why was Nyx giving me such an expression?
"RaXi! Fight it!" She shouted at me. I laughed in sudden realization. "What? You're...laughing?" Nyx dropped her defense and looked at me questionably...
Putting up a wall of ice, I formed it into an ice mirror. Gazing into it...I saw for myself. While this was not all the markings of my berserker form...I now had two very distinctive marks on my face. Proof of our union. Therefore, they would always remain. This was the new me.
"Nyx...I've conquered her." I explained with a relieved smile. "We are now one person...these marks...are proof of that."
Nyx looked surprised but smiled and out of nowhere hugged me tightly. "I'm so glad RaXi...you're free...and you're alive..."
"Alive?" I questioned pulling away. "What do you mean by that? What happened to you Nyx?!"
"Nothing!" She denied quickly, but I could tell she was lying. Then, as if remembering something she looked at me seriously. "RaXi, do you remember Tanex?"
I took a deep breath and turned away. "I do." I answered honestly. "I have not only remembered him...but the others as well...since my confrontation with Marlex in China." I admitted. "I just fail to remember the "specifics" of certain memories...there are gaps still."
"What?!" Nyx nearly shouted. She seemed to look at me with despair filled eyes. "All of them? But why...can't I remember them all...I've only just remembered Tanex and he...he was..."
"Big Brother Tanex." I smiled. "I remember all too well his kindness and how you went on about him. I also found myself conversing with him on more than one occasion." I remembered back to when I'd first met him...back when his presence in the castle had been a secret. "But those times are in the past Nyx...we can't do anything about that now. All we can do is decide what actions to take based on what is happening NOW. Even though..."
"You don't feel this is right either...do you?!" Nyx exclaimed. "RaXi!"
"What do you WANT me to do Nyx...do you want me to sabotage this mission?" I pleaded. "You know I would do that in an instant...I have no loyalty to that man and yet...somehow I don't think this will do ANYTHING to them. I have this gut feeling...this attempt is doomed to failure."
"Then why do you go along with such a mission RaXi?" Xakiah interjected as she casually made her appearance. Her eyes lingered on my face but a moment.
I smiled. "It is not my job to ensure the mission's success. My mission is complete....I have subdued Minx as promised. Therefore, I no longer have any obligations to fulfill."
"I see. That's true, but...what of us?"
"We helped RaXi...we aren't in the group chosen to attack. That means we are also released...right?" Nyx hoped.
"Yes. That's how I see it...but before we go..."
"You WON'T be going." A man interrupted. It was Marlex...he stood at the end of the hallway, approaching slowly.
Xakiah prepared to attack, but it was I who grabbed her this time. My hand on her shoulder, I slowly shook my head from side-to-side.
"Marlex please! We don't want to fight you...you have to get out of here!" Nyx shouted impulsively. It was the kindness in her that forced her to warn him...for if she didn't...she would be consumed by her guilt should he die in the blast.
"So then Marlex...I take it you and Verex have settled things." I overruled Nyx's cries. "What? Come to try and stop me? You're too late..."
"That's right. I've settled things. Verex is dead...how does that make you feel RaXi? I KILLED him." Marlex stated smugly.
I smiled. "Impossible."
Marlex was slightly angered by my response. "Why do you say that?" He stated clenching his fists. He continually grew closer and closer to our position. "Do you really have such FAITH in that man?"
"No such thing. I just know he cannot DIE by your hands." I answered and started walking forward to meet him. "What is your infatuation with me Marlex? Perhaps I haven't regained that memory yet...but I could swear you WANT something from me. Why else do you CARE so much what I think?" I stated coolly analyzing him.
He was silent and we stopped...standing face to face.
"RaXi..." Nyx mumbled from behind. I wondered if she KNEW something... I signaled her to stay back with my left hand. I would settle this...NOW.
"Tell me Marlex...what do you want from me? Hmm? Out with it."
"I...I want..." He stumbled, looking to the side.
I KNEW what he expected of me...the one thing I rejected...love. The same as Verex. Impatiently I gripped him by his collar and shoved him to the wall. Perhaps harder than I intended...but I was no longer my former self. Everything about me had seemed to increase...just by the slight influence of my berserker merging. I could even feel her emotions seeping through...her cold cruelty. I brought myself within an inch of his face.
"Is this what you want Marlex? Me?" I whispered. "My embrace, my love, my....kiss?" As I said the last part I drew in closer. He seemed to relax, as though waiting in expectation. I stared into his eyes coldly, just from my expression I knew he realized my response. But I said it anyway. "If I gave you what you wanted...I would freeze you from the inside out and you would turn to dust and fade away. Your love is suicide...therefore, I can NEVER grant you your wish Marlex. Give up on it...unless you seek death." I pulled away and left him there stunned.
As I returned to Xakiah and Nyx's side, I avoided eye-contact with both of them. I didn't need to hear their judgment of my actions. Marlex had to know that his wish was futile. Whether it was the coldness of my dark side coming out...or just a reflex on my part...it was the truth.
"We return to Oblivion. The rest is up to the others. We no longer have any part of this folly." I stated opening a portal. Xakiah stepped through immediately but Nyx hesitated.
"Marlex...just get out alright?" She called out. It was hard to tell if he heard her... She then turned and followed us through.
There was no time for Nyx to confront me on my cruelness. The moment we stepped into Oblivion we both seized our heads in our hands. Receiving a lost memory from long ago...
~RaXi
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Kira: TT~TT YOU ARE SO MEAN!!!!! SOOOO MEEEEEANNNN!
RaXi: Hey...he had to know the truth. *shrugs* Want me to kill him?
Kira: No but....you broke his heart... TT-TT
RaXi: Did not. We don't have hearts! >XP
