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Once upon a time, in the land between reality and dreams, lived a beautiful village girl. She spent her time in servitude of a female fire mage, who degraded her, and made her think she was not the pretty girl she was.
This changed one night, when a great warrior, the general of the greatest army in the land, battled to become the new King. He found her by chance in a tavern and rescued her from her fate. The girl became his maiden, and eventually, she became the Queen.
She stood by her king fiercely. Through bloody wars with his blood brother, his greatest rival in the kingdom, and with his own self. She even stood by as a spell of change was casted upon him, as he battled the one who gave him his sword. The King and Queen of the land were adored by all.
One day, the King was corrupted by a fallen Seraphim, the highest choir of Angels. His golden tongue convinced the King that he should rule his kingdom with an iron fist. He then gathered the warriors. The great Philosopher from the streets, his closest ally, the Reborn Firebird, the Master Manipulator, and the Mercenary. When the group had assembled, this cadre maliciously ran one of the lords of the kingdom out of his territory, and the King assumed his throne in that area. His rule was absolute. However, the man who gave him his sword challenged and defied him. They dispatched of him, and in one night, a new man joined them...the Shadow Ninja.
The rule was unquestioned now, until the day that he signed his kingdom to The Seraphim. The Seraphim had delivered on his word, it was only fair. This was the case, until the day his Spitting Image returned. The decisions were clouded once more. Should he regain his crown, or stay aside the Seraphim?
The Spitting Image was always his closest ally. They spilt blood together in battles. He loved the King like a brother.
The Seraphim gave the King a purpose. He and the Queen had been happy before him, and after him, they had more. The Seraphim spoke words of truth, and words of prophecy.
In this world of black and white, who was the truly evil one?
The Spitting Image left this plane for months to recover from a battle. The King believed him dead, and grieved him.
The Seraphim has berated the King in the past, but always believed the King was destined for greatness. That the King would fufill a great Prophecy. He would be the one that would be the most beloved King of all time. He would lead the land into renaissance.
Finally, with the help of the Philosopher he betrayed, the Spitting Image overthrew the Seraphim and the King. The King was just a warrior once more, and the betrayal was complete. The King stayed away, coming back with an Alchemist and a Scholar. The three of them had to face The Philosopher (now the new general, and heir apparent), and his new ally, the King's one time Spiritual Advisor.
With the chips falling into place, and the Seraphim seemingly ready to forsake the King, what was to be?
We open the portal to the other side of the land to watch them. "One step in the dark It had only been a couple months since she found out that she was pregnant - since WE found out. I think she's feeling the effect of the changes in our life. Michael coming back, her pregancy. Our lives have been flip flopped. She misses home, and I think she feels more distant than ever. I've stood by him so many times. I've seen so many different fires in his eyes, but this is the first time I've seen none. I've never seen him as the type of person to just give up, but it seems that he just may. Kyle's tried talking to him, Johnny, myself. He won't take calls anymore. I just see him sleep, or walk around in a haze. I wonder if he even remembers that it's almost been one year for us. One year ago, we fell in love, and he rescued me. Now he's sleeping, or trying to. At what cost will it take to awaken him from the nightmare? I can't live without her. She's made my world ten times better, but I can't give her a thing in this state of mind. I'm slipping out of touch with her, and my world. What would I give to make her world perfect? What cost would I make to make her the Queen again? What lengths would I go through just to make her world perfect again? Don't know how she gets by I don't know why she stays. It feels like it's just because she needs someone to affirm she's everything I've said she is. I know we probably don't have the most perfect relationship, but I don't know if I'm really who she needs. There's something about him. I don't know what it is exactly, but I know it's killing him. It's changing him from the inside, and it's swallowing him alive. That change scares me. I used to be able to feel his heartbeat when I held him, and I barely hear it anymore. It makes me wonder what's wrong with him. The vacant city street is harsh, and the weather is agony...but still I run. I'm trying to find the way out of this agony, and face my demon on my terms. Know thy enemy, I say. He has no face, only a form. I find a place, and this other person approaches me. I can't see him, but his voice...his face. He's familiar. It's like I've known him forever. "I know the answer, Jon. Let me help you." Kyle Solomon. My friend. My ally. Then I watch him fall victim to his katana. I watch the stranger offering me assistance fall, and it scares me. His halves now slide away from one another, and the stranger stands there, a cheshire cat grin creeping over his dark face. "Stop running...now." "Why should I?" "Because it's time for judgement, King of Violence." I hate court. I was in a courtroom once. I went 75 in a 40. I'm such a bad boy, you know? There's the jury of my peers. Here comes my judge. The only one who knows how to judge me. "Welcome home, Jonathan." "Anything you say, Shawn." "Have you anything to say to the court before we hang you?" "Of course I do. You're a fucking idiot. This is my world. These are my boundaries you live in." "Wrong. This WAS your world. You gave it away. You gave it to someone else."
"Who?"
"Him."
The shadowy figure. He's here. He owns my world?
"How did this happen?"
"I can answer that question, Jonathan. It's because you're a fucking idiot. You didn't listen to yourself. You sold your soul for an answer - the one thing you already knew. Now you're mine, and with it, your world.
I watch in horror as the guard bring me closer. Gavin and Buck, once friends, they bring me to my executioner. As the mob calls for my death, the figure leans closer and whispers to me.
"I am very disappointed in you, Jonathan...VERY."
This is only a dream, this is only a dream....
"And this is very much NOT a dream, Jonathan...trust that."
Liar.
"Jonathan? Jonathan? Wake up! Baby, please..."
I knew it.
"Huh? Yeah...Hel?"
"You were having that nightmare again, honey...you were tossing and turning. I was getting scared."
"It's okay, Helena...it happens. Go back to sleep...I'll be okay, and I'll be right here to protect you if you need it."
[For the next seven days, you become the bane of my existence.] [Do you know who I am?] [I AM the King of Violence.] [What gives you that right?] [What makes you think you can walk into my kingdom and take my crown from me?] [What do you think it would take for you to become what I am? It would take you more than you could possibly imagine. This isn't a fucking game, Rino. This isn't you coming around for two weeks, and disappearing until you show up again.] [That's an appropos feeling. Jason Rino - The HWF's answer to the menstral cycle. You should get along fine with those Angel bitches.] [Jason Rino.]
[You just don't have a clue.]
[I've seen him hurt. I've seen him cripple...I've seen him kill.]
[You're just the first in a long line of pretenders trying to tear the crown from his head. The pretenders have all fallen one by one before. No change now, trust me.]
[So why do I have something to say?]
[Because I love him, Jason. Because no matter how dark the world becomes, he's still the rock in my world. He's the most stable thing in my life. Him, and our child.]
[And you? You're just one more person trying to pretend.]
[Give it up, Jason...because no matter what frame of mind he shows up in, you're still going to hang.]
[And you'll be the first crown jewel on the way back to the throne.] Once upon a time, in the land between fantasy and reality, stood a war-torn former King. He lost his crown, his life, his essence. There he laid, a beaten and broken shell - victim of betrayal by his closest allies. There, unexpectedly, the fair maiden ran onto the battlefield with the Alchemist and the Scholar. He was dying. He felt his life leaving him, a victim of a battle with the Spitting Image. He was broken mentally and emotionally - and he was no better physically.
He laid there looking at his maiden, as her tears stained her silken gown. The Alchemist could not look, having not seen his King like this ever. The Scholar looked away, emotionless. She leaned down and kissed him, hoping it would give him some spark. It did. His eyes opened, and he placed his bloodied and dirt-ridden hand on her cheek to wipe away the tear. "Don't fear, my maiden...nothing lasts forever in this world. I'll be somewhere better." "That somewhere is your crown, King. If you leave this coil now, then this will have all been in vain. I know that one of them must go. The Seraphim or the Spitting Image. Please, beloved - stay here, stay on this realm, for me. Win the crown back. If not for me, for our prince." And she gave him another kiss, and the wounds began to heal. The Alchemist and Scholar could not be happier. This was the beginning of a fairy tale ending. As he slowly rose from his own ashes, she ran to his arms, and reaffirmed her love. "I could break  |