Song: Holding On and Letting Go by Ross Copperman
Author's Note: I hope you like my story! Feel free to voice your opinion, ask any questions and point out any mistakes I make.
Nia's POV
This is it. The last battle against my aunt. She has to die, the world deserves to be free of her poison.
"Hello my heir, your powers truly have no limits if you can teleport across realm barriers with someone. Teleporting while traveling between realms is very difficult anyway, but to four with a passenger? It's practically unheard of." Cora evilly smiles at me.
My heart pounds in fear. What if I lose control? I could potentially hurt a lot of people, which scares me. I don't want to be an emotionless killer like my aunt, I won't.
"You can't distract me with talk of my power. You are simply jealous that I am more powerful than you." I taunt, hoping that my impulsive decision to make my aunt angry and lose control will go correctly.
"Nia, what are you doing?" Saber worriedly asks mentally.
"Trying to get Cora lose control so she slips up and I can kill her." I reply "Don't worry about it."
"But Nia..." I cut him off, focusing back on my aunt.
"Me? Jealous of you? That's funny. You must be more arrogant than I thought." Cora sneers, but I can see the anger brewing in her eyes. I snort in disbelief, pulling off the best acting I've ever done.
"Yeah, sure." I say sarcastically, acting sassy and bratty "Admit it, you want my strength under your control, and it annoys you that you were so close to achieving it, but I slipped away. It annoys you that I have the courage to stand here and taunt you, since I know that you can't really hurt me, you're too weak." I smirk, noticing her clenched fists and tense body language.
Cora screeches and leaps at me, pinning me against the wall. I knock away my strong façade and let my fear show through, so Cora will become confident and keep me pinned here... hopefully. None of this is really planned, I'm just going with the flow. I put my hands on her shoulders, acting like I am trying to push her away but I can't, when the reality is I am draining her life force and powers, adding it to my own.
"Who's weaker now?" Cora shouts in triumph. Her skin is starting to become paler, and I can feel her strength adding to my own. Soon, Cora becomes frightened and tries to pull away from me, but I dig out my claws and dig them into her shoulders so she can't move.
She lets out a blood-curdling screech that echoes throughout the whole room, and I roar in rage, power and relief as the last shrivel of Cora's powers and life flow into me. I listen intently for her heartbeat, and discovering that it's gone, I retract my claws.
Her body drops to the ground like a stone; no sense of life is left.
The reality of what I just did comes crashing around me. I killed my aunt. She might have been evil, but still, she was related to me. Just knowing I killed someone is hard, the guilt floods me. I lean against the wall and slowly slide down it while silent tears fall out of my eyes. What will everyone at the house think of me? What about Ivy, or Aunt Meredith and Uncle Alaric? What will my parents think of me if I ever meet them, knowing that I killed my aunt, my mother's sister? What will Saber think?
Then, my mind starts to feel emptier as my tears become full sobbing. I don't know why it feels this way, it just does. I feel things slip away, but I can't remember what they are. I think there is something I am supposed to remember about what's happening, but I can't. I start to feel the emptiness increasing even faster, until there is one image, one name, one feeling that my mind and heart struggles to hold onto.
Saber, my connection mate, my love. His beautiful face fills my line of sight as he looks at me concerned, and I lean forward to kiss him one last time before I forget him. I kiss him passionately, throwing all of my sorrow and love for him into it. I dive into our connection one final time, and I pull down all of my walls. His fall down too, and I am hit with all of the emotions that he has ever felt for me.
Slowly, the memories of him start to fade as well. Tears that had seemingly dried up now streak down my cheeks as I mourn our love that I am now losing to my new role as queen. But, I feel them rush through our connection, like the memories will be kept in Saber's mind until I reopen our connection somehow and can retrieve them.
The thought of Saber being the first thing I remember warms me as the last memory of him drifts away into the kiss, and I am pulled into darkness.
Saber's POV
I walk into the castle with Nia, standing my ground at her side. I will always protect her, no matter what. I will always be by her side, no matter what we go through.
Her aunt appears, and Nia starts taunting her dangerously. I see the anger flickering in Cora's cold dark eyes as she glares at Nia, denying the taunts thrown her way, even though it's obvious that she is being affected.
Apparently it's apart of Nia's plan though, so I leave her to it. I trust her, and her judgement, no matter how crazy it may be.
Coming from one of the halls, I smell and hear Dark Warriors. I won't let them interfere with the fight, and try to injure or capture Nia. Getting ready to fight, I turn into a chimera and sit in the opening to the hall, seeing Dark Warriors rushing to me with some Dark Hounds loping down the hall.
I growl, shooting fire into the wooden floor in front of me. The Warriors stop, but the Dark Hounds leap over the fire and attack me as I hit them with my massive paws, launching them into the wall with a loud bang upon impact.
I turn my attention back to the Warriors' and I swing my paws over the fire to hit the ones in the front. They quickly understand however, and move back out of range as they start to fire arrows at me.
Turning into a tiger, I leap over the flames to attack the Warriors, knocking their bows out of their hands and smashing them under my feet while I run. I then leap around, pushing people down and knocking them out in different ways as I go.
With blood dripping down my sides and a slight limp, I exit the hallway, after effectively knocking out the whole of the force sent against us. I slowly walk back to Nia, feeling extremely exhausted.
When I get back to her, Cora is dead. It is obvious that she was crying, but she isn't any longer. I turn into my human form and look her in the eye, wondering if she still remembers me. Recognition flickers through Nia's eyes as she quickly leans forward, capturing my lips in a kiss. She wraps her arms around my neck, deepening the kiss. I can feel her love for me and the sorrow that she feels as her memory slowly drifts away. She lets her walls down, and I get hit with all of her memories of me.
I put my walls down as well, pouring everything I feel for Nia into this kiss, knowing full well it might be our last.
When Nia pulls away, her eyes flicker shut, and our connection closes as tight as a bomb shelter. The pain I feel with the loss of the connection is excruciating, and tears quickly fall out of my eyes as I study Nia, the love of my life.
I know that when she wakes up, she won't have her memories. I also know that I will still be by her side, no matter what. Even if Nia falls in love with another, I just have to be near her, even if I'm not with her. I will be happy as long as she is, even if she's not happy with me. If the man she ends up treats her right, like the perfect, beautiful and powerful woman she is, then I am okay. I have to be okay... for her.
I will never leave her, not voluntarily.
I stay by her side, cradling her in my lap until she wakes. When Nia wakes up, she looks at me confused.
"Who are you?" She asks, getting up off of me. My arms immediately miss holding her, but I simply stand up, brushing off the feeling.
"I am Saber, a Dark Warrior you recently recruited. You were about to officially have me join when you passed out." I say in a monotone voice, struggling not to show any emotion.
"Oh, okay Saber." Nia says, placing her hand on my chest. I feel Darkness launch itself into my heart, intertwining with my soul, binding me to Nia for the whole of my life. I am now her Dark Warrior, for as long as I shall live.
Hearing footsteps behind me, I step in front of Nia, but I sidestep as soon as I see it's just Dark Warriors and the Dark Hounds coming to show their loyalty to Nia, the new queen.
"We all swear our fealty onto you, my queen, signing our lives over to you, for you to use us as you wish." One of the Dark Warriors steps forward, bows deeply and states.
"Thank you Warrior, what is your name?" Nia replies smoothly, sounding like a true regent.
"I am Donovan my queen."
"Alright Donovan. I pledge my loyalty to you and all of my Dark Warriors, know that I will try my hardest to be a just and fair leader that will listen to your concerns and strive to fix any issues. Thank you for your loyalty to me, and as long as you are loyal to me, I will be loyal to you." Nia booms, projecting power with every syllable spoken. The Dark Hounds rise up on their paws, howling into the sky, showing their loyalty as well. Now that I am a Dark Warrior, I can slightly understand the Dark Hounds, but barely, since I am new.
I hope this goes well.
Nia's POV
I look over all of my loyal Dark Warriors and the Dark Hounds that just howled their fealty to me, and I smile. I may not remember anything before this moment, and I may not know anything but the necessities and the fact that I am the Dark Earth Queen and very powerful, but this feels right, natural.
This is my kingdom.
This is my home.
This is my life.
I am the queen.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Author's Note:
My goodness this chapter is emotional. Also my kittens, as you have probably guessed by the title, this is the last actual chapter of this book. There will be an epilogue and an author's note with more information on the next book and the spin off, but this is the end of The Twins. So, as the final chapter, I just have to ask...
Question:
Be honest... did you like my story? It's fine if you didn't, I know not everyone has the same opinion. Though why you would be here if you didn't like it, I have no idea.
I know that I loved writing this story, and I really enjoyed it. Yes, sometimes it could be hard, but I stuck to my goal of a chapter a day. Some of you will probably know that wasn't my original goal, if you read the author's notes, but I am glad that I was able to upload more than every two days like I first thought. On the weekend I'd even sometimes upload twice, since I had nothing better to do, and I love writing!
Anyway my kittens, thank you for reading. Love you all!
~Cat Queen