Dromio

[Anne Porter]

A million and more doves, blindingly white, flew up out of the dark trench in the earth. Anne gasped; she watched the bright moonlight shine off each of their small, delicate bodies as they frantically rose higher and higher into the night sky from within the univiting darkness. Anne spun around, she felt the presence of someone behind her. James. Intstantly, she remembered what Serayna had said.....
"If you would finally admit that you're memory wasn't as it used to be and take that stupid potion that i keep making you, maybe things like this wouldn't happen." Serayna said. Anne looked at her.

"You keep making a memory potion? I've never got it." Anne muttered.

"I keep giving it to James. Telling him that this will help you." Serayna said, confusion was clear on Anne's face, and Serayna suddenly realized.

"Anne, are you sure that it was that one dude that cursed you like this?" Serayna whispered.

"James wouldn't do something like that. He loves me." Anne smirked. Serayna gave a weary smile.

"Are you sure that he's not trying to hide something? He's powerful enough to do that." Serayna said. Anne wracked her brain for evidence that it wasn't James' fault, but she couldn't find any. There was no evidence stating that it wasn't James...

Anne stared sadly at James, tears welling up in her eyes...
Could it really have been his fault?
No, no. It couldn't... Could it?
I thought he loved me...

She didn't know what to think. Anne closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and then let it go slowly. She opened her eyes, tears spilling down her face as she looked at James, and whispered "I love you."
"I love you too." He replied, relief weighing heavy in his voice.
"Prove it." James didn't know what to do. He watched as Anne broke down crying in the darkness... She fell to the ground, head in her hands, sobbing alone in the middle of nowhere. James ran to her side and wrapped his arms around her. He wasn't going to let himself lose her again. He sighed, again with relief, as she wrapped her arms around him in return.
"You do love me..." She whispered, choked by tears of joy and rememberance. She hugged him tighter as he pulled her closer. He whispered, "Of course. I love you with all my heart. More than anything in the world, don't ever forget that." He kissed her lightly on the top of her head and pulled her closer still.

After a few minutes, Anne raised her head to the heavens and shouted, "Serayna! We need you! Please don't go! You're my best friend and we love you!"

[Serayna Joel Evi]

The voice screamed in her mind... the first thing she remembered. ' Serayna! We need you! Please don't go! You're my best friend and we love you!' It meant something. It said something. But what it was escaped Serayna. The darkness closed in around her... the deafening silence dazed her.

As the bright morning sunlight woke her up, Anne remembered what had happened. She sat up quickly and yelping slightly. She frowned and a tear rolled down her face as she remembered everything that had happened.

Yesterday had been Serayna's memorial service. And right after the final song played and the guests retired to refreshments and old memories of the late Serayna, Anne and James had left. Traveling across the hills and the fences, they reached the edge of Palace. They hadn't decided whether they would leave and live as normal people, or travel along the border until they found something better to do.

So they made camp at the border to sleep on both ideas. Slightly literally. And now they lay, beneath the stars that shone bright, and thought about how they would live their lives. In rejection or boredom. To be Magic or not to be Magic... that is the question.

Anne looked around and realized they were in the forest they had been in not five days ago. It was the morning of Serayna's death. It looked and smelled exactly as she remembered it. Was this a dream? A memory? A nightmare that would haunt her forever? Or were the last five days a dream? A foresight? Would she live in a loop for the rest of her life, watching Serayna die over and over again, would she have to go to her funeral over and over again too? Had she gone insane?

No, there was something different about this than five days ago. As Anne looked around, she saw something that scared the crap out of her.

"Hey Anne! Eggs or rabbit? How about eggs and Rabbit." Serayna said a bloodied bunny in one hand, and a pan of eggs in another.

"Serayna! You're alive! But you were dead! i saw it! You chased Caliban over the edge of that cliff over there. He tried to blame the murder or unmurder of Panthris on you! But you didn't do it! I did." Anne said realizing that maybe she was being given a second chance... maybe she had been guilty of murdering Panthris and now this is what it came to...

"But you didn't murder Panthris... he's right here... Panthris!" Serayna called. And Panthris appeared. Alive as she was.

"Morning Anne. Hey Rayna, I'm gonna go find some firewood to make a fire. I know that all four of us can make a fire appear out of thin air, but it would help keep the fire alive to have wood." Panthris explained to a look Serayna had given him. She rolled her eyes, and sighed as he walked off into the forest.

"Anne, that dream... remember silence until the time is right. Without the details you won't be harmed, so i can't explain. But it will all become clear to you when you remember what happened." Serayna whispered into Anne's mind. Anne furrowed her brow, confused as all hell. Serayna smiled, then went off to wake James.

Five Days Previously...

Time go back, time return,
let me see my life.
let me live forever more,
alive like i once was.
Time go Back, time Return
Give us second life.
All at risk, all's life
Allow the hands to turn,

[Anne Porter]

NOTE: This takes place FIVE DAYS before the previous post because, as you can see in the previous post before it finishes with the spell/poemy thingy... It says "five days previously"... Just thought I'd make sure that was clear.


The winds blew strong that day and dark gray clouds from the west surfed along the currents with a strong promise of rain. Head held high, she stepped nearer to the edge of the cliff, not stopping to look down. Finally, she reached the edge... and kept walking. Right over the side. She walked on forever, into the vast nothingness that soon engulfed her and transformed into another world. His world. She looked around the beautiful meadow she'd just jumped into. This world was his for her, now all she wanted was to destroy it.

Tears of awaiting closure and accomplishment welled up in her eyes as the words poured out between her lips; like venom from the deadliest snake bite.

I’m so confused,
I don’t know what to do,
Lost in the dark,
Glad I’m here without you.

The large, beautiful expanses of grass of which this world was built upon began to die and dry out, whithering away in silence.

I love you,
But even more, I hate you,
The darkness in my heart,
Is hungry for you.

The skies turned a fiery orange. Then temperature dropped to absolute zero.

I’m waiting,
That’s all I can say.
Time for separate ways,
Today’s the day.

The surrounding trees all caught fire; smoke rose into the darkness, glowing in the sky.

You never really cared,
It was all just a lie,
I know this now.
You’ve just been,
Hiding behind your hideous deceit.

The butterflies that skittered by merrily all vanished in a single puff of ash and were replaced by bats and spiders.

All this time,
You’ve been lying to my face,
Passing me as a fool,
Your mind must be out of place.

A giant heart formed in the clouds and turned bright red from the fiery ash that rose into the sky.

I’m smarter than that,
You, of all people,
should know it is true.
I guess I was wrong,
But I thought I knew you.

The heart, now more glass-like, shattered in the darkened skies. The fires went out. The grass was completely withered away. The bats and spiders sank into their dark homes. All was silent. All was calm.


They always said the calm after the storm would bring happiness and joy to those around... This was the exact opposite. This was the calm before the end. Anne stood in the middle of the empty expanse of land, completely calm, finally at peace. She took a deep breath, her lungs filling with the icy air that swirled around her. Absolute zero. That was her favorite number of all.
Absolute zero. The exact temperature her heart had felt for all those months.

Absolute zero. The exact number of anything she had left.

Absolute zero. All that she was.

Absolute zero. This was the time. The zero hour. The time to end all the rest. This was the end. The end of sorrow. The end of joy. The end of Percival vincent. The end of this world; his world.

The end of Anne Elizabeth Porter.

Goodbye

[Serayna Joel Evi]

When Anne got rid of Percy's world... Her heart became black with despair and desperation to seperate herself from him. And in the doing, she accidentally severed her's and James' connection and it "killed" him...
________________________________________

Serayna jolted, and opened her eyes. She looked around, found that Anne was gone. That all she had said was true. A cry came from somewhere behind her. Serayna sighed and ran towards the noise, to find James kneeling in the leaves, his head bowed, his mouth agape and his eyes bulging.

Groaning, he keeled over, lying sideways in the dirt. He started to scream, pain shuddering through his body. Serayna leapt forward, but was held back as Anne appeared, holding her arm out.

"Serayna... this is not a matter you should worry yourself with." Anne muttered. Her voice was cold, her eyes were steel, and her heart... was shattered.

"I see you've destroyed it. Perhaps you've destroyed more than you meant to..." Serayna said, looking at her best friend.

"I destroyed what i could... it was needed." Anne murmured looking away from Serayna.

"Anne... this is not the path meant to follow. Neither of us are killers. Even if it is within our own hearts and minds. You and i both know that anything destroyed, can be used against us. And will." Serayna said stepping in front of Anne. Anne looked Serayna straight in the eye, her frown searing into Serayna's mind... a painful memory it would be.

"Serayna... this was meant to happen. Percival... is no longer in posession of my heart. I have taken it away." Anne whispered.

"He never had it to begin with Anne. But with destroying his world, you destroyed something you can't build back. You've not only severed the bond between you and Percival." Serayna started. Over head the clouds grew dark, and a storm started to grow.

"You've destroyed the bond between you and all men..." Serayna cried. Anne just shook her head, her eyes cold and silver. The tendrils of her hair whipped around, the wind throwing debris through the air.

"You've destroyed the bond between you and James! You've broken his heart." Serayna screamed, trying to make herself heard over the howl of the wind. Anne shook her head still. But her eyes became glossy, tears welling up.

"I did nothing to him. He destroyed my memory! He broke my heart." Anne bellowed back. Serayna grimaced.

"Ever think that maybe... his heart wasn't yours to break... That maybe he didn't break your heart to destroy you... but to protect you? Think about it Anne." Serayna called. Anne staggered back. Behind Serayna, James screamed on the ground writhing and cringing.

"Anne you're destroying him! You're killing him!" Serayna screamed, rushing to James side.

"You! You fix it! I can't do it!" Anne yelled, not daring to look at James. Not wanting to feel his pain.

"Anne, it is not my problem to fix! Even with my healing powers, it is beyond my control. He's fate is in your hands..." Serayna cried. Anne shook her head.

"I can't do it!" Anne muttered.

"Anne look at me... Look at me! You can do this. You can heal him!" Serayna screamed, grabbing Anne by the shoulders.

"I can't do it! I can't!" Anne started to cry, she staggered away, into the forest.

"ANNE! YOU MUST SAVE HIM! HE'LL DIE IF YOU DON'T!" Serayna screamed as Anne stumbled into the forest. The storm started to calm, but a deep tone continued. A death bell.

"Rest in peace James. May the torture you have endured today leave you at peace in heaven." Serayna whispered, as James' body stopped writhing. His pulse slowed, and came to a halt. "Rest in Peace..." She muttered, waving her hand over his head.

Anne... he's dead. You've killed him.
But today is a new day, a new month, a new year.
You can start over. We all can.
Let us rest... and start anew in the morn.
For over this next year, we will go on adventures...
That we might not and probably won't retrun from.
Let us rest. And enjoy today's peace and serenity.
And continue with our wars, and killings later.
Let us rest. And fall away tomorrow...

[Anne Porter]

Anne woke up screaming at the top of her lungs. She screamed until her throat was raw; painfully achieving a heartbeat along her own as the pain thudded throughout. She screamed until she was gasping desperately for life itself, only to take in another deep breath and start at it again. She screamed until her face turned blue, until she was silenced by the pain of a throbbing migrane, until there was nothing more to scream for...

She screamed for James... Until she blacked out from loss of air... Loss of hope... Loss of everything she once held dear... Again.

48 hours later

She was in the same spot she had been two days ago when she fainted... She had been untouched for two days. Unmoved, un-thought-about, not looked at, not worried about... She had layed there and just was.

Anne jumped herself frightfully into consciousness with that last thought still running through her head. James was dead. James was dead and it was all her fault. Because of a stupid mistake. Because of one mispronounciation... Because she choked on words too meaningful to be spoken... Because Percival had been right all along.

He had been right when he had said all of those things to her... All of those terrible things that she had pushed into the back of her mind for a forgotten amount of time... All that she now believed she was... All that she amounted to... All that she knew and felt she could trust now... Now that the only person she ever considered as her world was gone... James was dead.

"All you are and all that you have ever been amounts to nothing in my eyes and the eyes of everyone that has ever been unfortunate enough to even know your name. You are nothing and will always be nothing. You are a stupid idiot who deserves no say in simply anything and also anything you may do. You have no purpose. You are weak, you are fragile. You will break under the slightest amount of pressure; and you should suffer miserable for the horrible thing that you are and always have been."

Percival's voice cut clear through her mind as tears stung her already cry-swolen eyes; she couldn't stand to hear him anymore. So, she began to scream...

She screamed until her throat was raw; painfully achieving a heartbeat along her own as the pain thudded throughout. She screamed until she was gasping desperately for life itself, only to take in another deep breath and start at it again. She screamed until her face turned blue, until she was silenced by the pain of a throbbing migrane, until there was nothing more to scream for except the only man she ever really loved......

She screamed for James... James... The man who was her world, her only light through the darkness of her memories... The one person she would give her life for... The only person she truly had left one-hundred percent of the time... And now he was gone, too.

She kept screaming. She screamed until she blacked out from loss of air... Loss of hope... Loss of everything she once held dear... Again.

[Serayna Joel Evi]

Serayna heard the voice in her mind; her thoughts were painful to listen to. The dreams she had... torturous. And those last few lines... What did they mean? And how could she think that it was true?

Suddenly Serayna realized what Anne's thoughts were amounting to. Serayna jumped up and ran towards Anne. It may have been a few miles, but still she ran like her life depended on it. And even though it wasn't Serayna's, a life did depend on it.

Time go back, time return,
Give him second life.
All at risk, all her life
Allow the hands to burn...

Serayna ran and ran... hoping it wasn't too late.

I need help... Selena! Anna! Damien!
Return to present life!
Return to who you were!
Return as creatures of the Night!

[Anne Porter]

Selena ran through the forest, she was hot on the trail. She had to get to Anne before... Well, before Anne got to Anne. Of course, Serayna knew she would get there in time... If time was on her side... Which it normally wasn't.

Meanwhile, Anne sat in the hills waiting, watching, wondering, thinking... Even though she had no idea at all what she was doing; it was anything she could do without having to move that didn't take up the energy she just simply didn't have anymore. She felt sick to her stomach, she was actually sick in the head. She crouched by a rock wall near the entrance of a small opening in a hillside and stared blindly into the forest below her. She rocked herself back and forth a few times, wondering what she would convince herself to do next. She'd already listened to the voices when they told her to just taste the rock... What harm could it really do?... Besides choke her and nearly make her keel over and die... She had also managed to convince herself to scream anything she wanted into the skies, then have a full-on conversation-argument with the echoes that came back her way. Oh, yes. She felt today had been more prodctive than yesterday... And, quite frankly, it really had.

Serayna, now running faster, was panting with exhaustion; it had never been this hard to find Anne! She thought she'd be able to catch her right off the bat, especially with her bit of extra help... Honestly, she only called on the shadows of some of the most powerful Magics in the universe... But, hey, no big deal if they were all total failures, right?

[Serayna Joel Evi]

Serayna was walking for the first time in two weeks, unable to find Anne. They had searched everywhere. Four great minds searching Palace... How hard could that be? Apparently really hard. Serayna got fed up with trying to cooperate with Selena, Anna, and Damien and told them to go get drinks at the bar and relax; while Serayna searched for Anne on her own.

"crap! You know what? Magicos Delinqous Serayna whispered. And something appeared in her hands.

Miles away, Anne felt it appear in Serayna's hands. She hissed and screeched, acting like many a wild animal.

"Find her now, find her then.
Show us where to find our friend.
Take us there, take us back.
Look into every crack.
Tell me where, tell when
Tell me how to find my friend." Serayna whispered, and a map appeared. Miles away Anne could feel herself glowing. She smiled, the civility she lost days ago, showing just a bit.

"So you finally remember this. Dear Serayna... maybe it is you, who's memory is failing!" And with that Anne screamed a thousand and more words in Transylvanian... the Unforgivable Curse.

Serayna's body went rigid... but only just a little. She whispered the words that would whisk her over to Anne. To show her what she had done. Serayna could subdue the tremors and curse until then.

"Anne... look what you've done. You've killed your only love... You're killing your best friend... You're torturing yourself. What are you doing Anne?! What are you leading this up to?!" Serayna screamed as she appeared before Anne. Bellowing with pretend agony, for it didn't really hurt.

"Serayna... you've held me down too long! You've ruined my life with your wisdom! With your advice... and now... you'll never hurt anyone again!" Anne screeched, turning up the power on the spell. Serayna screamed in agony, this time it was real.

"Anne! Stop! This has got to stop! You're killing yourself! You're turning into one of them... You're turning into a... SITH LORD!!!!!!" Serayna screamed. Anne suddenly stopped and stared at Serayna like she was crazy.

"Sorry... This moment just reminded me of that movie so much. Anyways... You're turning into one of them! Into... A MONSTER!!!!!!! You're turning into Daiex!" Serayna yelled. Anne stopped laughing, and turned around, her back to Serayna.

Am i really turning into a monster? Anne asked herself. But before she could answer... A sound came from behind. A gurgling sound that hurt Anne's ears. The sound of death. Anne turned around and Serayna was dead.

Later that night...

Aielon, Xavier, Panthris, and Caliban... along with a few others, took Serayna's body to a temple. Deep underground, the temple was gold and ancient. An Egyptian temple of the High Priest of Osiris. The only person who could bring back the dead. Weirdly enough, after his death, he had been resurrected and made High Priest.

"Serayna Selena Phoenix Allete Joel Evi Dracula Jones I return you to your body!" The man screamed. And Serayna's eyes snapped open. YOU!