The blonde man moved slowly as he walked, just a pace behind him moved the black haired woman who wielded darkness as her weapon. Yet, right now she didn’t seem like someone capable of tearing entire buildings to shreds with shadows, whose edges were sharper than even the finest of blades. In fact, now she seemed more like a lost child with every step leading her further and further away from the right path. Indeed, she was walking towards what was almost certainly an inevitable death but to say that it was wrong to walk this path was nothing but insane. As Oda looked at her, he could not help but get the feeling that she had matured over these past few weeks. The Alice of old would surely have run away, not even showing up to meet him before heading to the final battle. But she didn’t, instead she was now walking next to the blonde ready to face her destiny whatever that might be. He had thought about comforting the girl, but quickly realized that would just be demeaning at this point.
As such, they kept walking like that through the city of Pandemonium. With every moment that passed, the anticipation was building. Wanting to do something to ease the mood, not for Alice’s sake but his own, Oda would put his hands behind his head and lean backwards. “Damn, this whole end of the world stuff sure is inconvenient.” Alice would turn her head and look at the blonde man like he was insane. It took the black-haired girl several seconds of looking at Oda for him to follow up on what he had just said. “You know, I wanted to watch television today but instead I’m out here, stopping the end of the world. I even heard they would be running a special comedy show today. Sucks how things turn out sometimes.”
She would look at him with a confused expression for several moments before breaking out in a quiet chuckle. It seemed like his joke hadn’t completely missed its mark. With a triumphant look on his face, the blonde man would continue walking alongside Alice. The eerie stars hung above them in the night sky like thousands upon thousands of curious spectators. As he stared at them, Oda thought about what a grand display of violence and carnage he would bring the stars as he fought Junsei. Their epic battle would probably lay waste to the better part of Pandemonium. He would catch himself chucking softly, that was a dream scenario for someone like him. After their last encounter, their overwhelmingly powerful opponent would most likely go all out from the start and he would be reduced to dust in the blink of an eye. Evelina’s ability to weaken others was only temporary and the wound he himself had delivered most likely had been healed by now. But, dreaming did not cost anything.
After a few minutes, they came upon a scene both of them had seen before. For Oda, it had been a common route for him that he often used as he roamed the city of Pandemonium. For Alice, it was a place she had only visited once before, with Evelina. On the other side of the wooden bridge, they could see two silhouettes that had been forcefully etched into their memories. Slowly walking forwards until they were right at the bridge, the two people who were standing at the other side were now clearly visible. The woman in black armor, Shi Ishin, and the man in the white suit, Junsei Seijin. Junsei was the first to step forwards, he looked Oda straight in the eyes, completely ignoring the black-haired woman’s presence. “So you have come to face me again? Truly, you are a brave man…” The way he looked at the man before him as he spoke with a silk smooth voice made it sound like he was expecting Oda to introduce himself. “My name is Oda Kaguri and I am here to take your life.” He would say while looking Junsei straight in the eyes. Alice would step forward, being the first of the four to set foot on the bridge as she introduced herself. “I am Alice Yuki.” Looking at the pale girl, the similarly colored man would chuckle a little, like he did not even see her as the slightest threat. He would speak softly to his companion. “Kill them.” The order he had given to the black knight could only be interpreted in a single way, she would slay both Alice and Oda if she was loyal to Junsei.
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"Yes, my lord." The words that Shi spoke were not loud, nor were they anything that should have drawn his attention. But for Junsei, hearing the armored companion who he had assumed to be mute speak for the first time in over fifty years, and with the voice of his long-dead lover no less, was enough to break the eternal expression of calm that he had on his face. Quickly turning his head around, the rest of the blonde man's body would be unable to move before it was pierced with a black spear from behind. The black spear went right through his chest, protruding from the other side, covered in pure white flames, the weapon looked like something out of a legend. Turning his head around with considerable effort, the blonde would look back at the knight who had now removed her helmet. Seeing the pristine face of his long lost lover, who he had believed to be dead, Junsei was unable to say anything. He simply remained in that position, watching her, for what felt like an eternity.
He could feel the obsidian spear piercing through his body, feel the flames burning his life away, feel how hot blood was running down his clothes from the wound. As their eyes met, he would stare into them for several moments, their crimson outline was the complete opposite of his golden irises. “Shi…” The name he spoke was quiet for the man did not have the strength to speak loudly. He looked at the woman in the corner of his eye, unable to process the situation he had found himself in, he would let out a question that sounded more like a soft whimper. “Why?” Shi’s determined expression did not waiver as he looked at her.
“The Junsei I knew is dead.” Her voice was cold and emotionless as she spoke, yet if one listened hard enough there were hints of pain mixed in it as well. “Now all that remains is a murderous maniac dead set on ending the world.” As she continued speaking, it was almost like her voice was starting to break. When she pronounced the last word, it was more like she was shouting than speaking normally as all the pain and grief that she had suppressed over the better half of a century came bubbling up to the surface. Junsei himself was not unfazed, for the eternal smile that rested on his face was exchanged with a visage of sadness, tears started to well up in his eyes as he looked back on Shi. “I- I-” He tried to say something but stopped himself, closing his eyes, the blonde man would spend a second composing himself. “So, your feelings for me are dead now?” Shi answered almost instantly, pure anger seeping through her words. “They have been for over fifty years, the bond we shared, the moments we spent together. There is no going back to that now.”
Averting his gaze from the woman, the blonde man looked up towards the night sky, despite the heavy clouds hanging above one could see the occasional star shining through their cover. “And so the world takes away everything from me once again.” As she heard those words Shi would shout at the man she once loved as her grip of the spear tightened. “The world? You did that yourself!” Looking back towards the sky, Junsei would say something quietly. It was not meant for anyone but himself, yet the black haired woman could hear the words clearly.
“If but for a moment, my world held meaning.”
In that instant, Shi looked down on the spot where she had pierced Junsei. What was running down his back was no longer red blood, but water. Two great white wings, like that of a dove, emerged from the blonde man's back and with the new wings he took to the sky. Turning around to face Shi as he ascended, half a dozen arrows made out of white light appeared and pierced through the woman instantly. Multiple of them hitting vital spots and she collapsed to the ground almost immediately as a result.
Watching the scene before them in horror, neither Alice nor Oda could muster themselves to move for the first few moments. Eventually, the sorry state of the dying woman became too much to bear and one of them started moving.