End of an Era (spoilers)

[Innle]

AN: For the later manga. I think they're fairly minor ones, though. Nothing that will make you scream in horror at having clicked this link. (Unless you're a REALLY BIG fan of manga!Marco, or Faust VIII.) I don't know where this came from, and it's not connected to my other works, so... I guess this is canon-based, for once! Holy crap! Warning, this has Ryu x Lyserg....

Story:

“I’ll take back what’s mine, thank you.” Hao rises from the stone chair he’d been seated on, and extends his hand towards me. Towards the Spirit of Fire, and he pulls.

It shatters, after a few seconds. I’m falling again, like that time in hell... except here I won’t be growing wings. I’m going to die. I’ll hit the ground hard, and break my neck. Strangely, this doesn’t frighten me.

Maybe I’ll see Marco again. The ground’s rushing up to meet me, and I’m not worried. I’m perfectly calm. I guess since I can’t do anything about it, I’m accepting my death.

It only hurt for a second... and now, fade to black....

***

“NO!” Ryu screams. Guess he still had something for Lyserg, after all. I screwed up by having him bring the Spirit of Fire here, he didn’t need it. Tactics were never my strong point... I’d usually just go in swinging and hope to come out the other side of the fight.

Hao’s my brother, but he isn’t even close to the one I used to wish I had. He isn’t caring, at least not for anyone who isn’t him. And he just killed one of my closest friends.

I didn’t want it to turn out this way. I didn’t want anyone to die... after Faust I didn’t want anyone else to die. Damn it.

I take advantage of the pause we all seem to be in, and run forward. Anna’s going to kill me if I end up dead....

***

It’s a shame about Lyserg. He was stronger than me, and this fight won’t be any easier without him. Not that I cared about him, or anything like that. A Tao doesn’t mix emotions with battle.

Or anything else, for that matter. I’ve never even met the girl I’m promised to. Yoh’s lucky, in a way... he at least knows his fiancee. I can’t remember the name of mine, and I’ve never seen her face. Worse, she isn’t a shaman.

Ancestors forgive me, I just sounded like Hao. Early on, he wanted me to join him... I wonder how things would have turned out if I had.

Speaking of Hao, he’s aiming an attack at Horohoro. Another friend lost, I suppose. Ice can’t win out over fire. Yoh stopped running for some reason, why? Does he pity his brother, think he can be changed?

***

Why does it have to end here? If I was killed fighting against developers, I wouldn’t care. But this? It seems pointless. I’m not helping anyone by dying here. I’m not going to be remembered.

How long can this shield hold? How long before it melts? I can’t see past it, but from the glow Hao’s got to be increasing the size of the flames he’s sending at me. I might as well drop it, at least then it’ll be a quick death.

The Horohoro who met Yoh wouldn’t have said that. The Horohoro who met Lyserg, maybe. He was still naive. I’m not, not anymore. I’ve seen people die, people I had befriended. Faust might still be around, but he’ll never heal anyone by himself again.

I can’t stand waiting. I’m dropping the shield. Gods willing, Kororo won’t be caught in the flames. She shouldn’t suffer for my idiocy. Why did I ever think we could beat Hao? He’s impossibly strong, now.

***

Shit. Even fighting the cops back in New York, I at least knew I’d survive. This isn’t so sure. Even if we win, Lyserg and Horohoro are both dead. It’s something I hoped never to face, a fight I know I won’t win. I never wanted to know I’d die.

I never wanted to see my friends die around me. Friends, not fellow gang members. Not people who would shoot you if they thought it would give them something, friends. Then again, I’m not the one actually seeing this. It’s Mic. Not me.

I’m blinded. There’s a joke in there somewhere, but I’m afraid to make it. Blind for my sins... something to do with religion... I can’t joke at a time like this. I need to concentrate on the fight. Yoh’s within striking distance, why isn’t he doing anything?

Why can’t we do anything? Why can’t we stop him? Why can’t real life be like a comic for once? Why can’t the heroes triumph in spite of their friends' deaths, and then revive them two issues later? Life isn’t a comic, though. Not even our screwed up lives.

***

He’s dead. Rizerugu. No, Lyserg. He’s dead. Why didn’t I tell him that... that I cared about him? Now he’s dead for good, and I never told him my real feelings.

Not that he would have returned them. He was brought up to be a proper, woman-loving, rich British gentleman. Even if he had, Lyserg would never have been happy with me. I’m not good enough to keep someone like that happy.

Even if I was good enough, it doesn’t matter now. He’s dead, and he won’t be coming back this time. Horohoro, he’s dead too now. Burned to a crisp... but by a Hao, not a doggy. How can I be making Hellsing thoughts at a time like this?!

Lyserg... oh, my love, why didn’t I ever tell you? Why didn’t I tell you when I had the chance how I felt? It might not have changed anything, but at least I wouldn’t imagine a future that is impossible now....

***

Why are they still fighting? Two of their number are dead, and yet they’re resisting me. Did I martyr the two who died? I can’t have done that. They died for no reason.

It’s becoming harder for me to fight... the Great Spirit is realizing what I’m doing. This is not good at all. Not at all. Not at all. Get out of my mind! I dominate you, not the other way around!

I don’t submit to -

HE WAS WRONG. RISE, FALLEN WARRIORS. YOU WILL BE NEEDED YET.

[Useless]

Great story, Innle. Cool how you revealed everyone's thoughts in the battle, and still showed all the action happening. Hopefully, you are going to add more to this story.

[Innle]

Author's note: Yes, Useless, I am adding a part two. And there will probably be a part three. I know it's awful to post a WIP, but... I want to get this out there. Sorry for not including everyone, but this is all I have for part two. In regards to the bit with Yoh and Hao... I'm extrapolating from what Yoh backstory I have, and my view of the character. Sorry if it conflicts with canon!

Story:

Lyserg moaned. His head hurt, and it felt like someone had tried to snap his neck and most of his ribs. What had happened? He shouldn’t be alive, he fell during the fight. “Is anyone there?” he asked, voice weak and raspy.

“Lyserg! You’re awake! Thank god,” Marco said, pulling the now-startled boy into a tight hug. He thought better of that fairly quickly, and settled for holding the battered young man loosely against his chest. “For a while there I was afraid that you weren’t going to wake up.”

“I-I... you... how? You were dead, Luchist shot you... did Hao revive you?”

“Yes. We owe him our lives.” Marco sighed. “Even Jeanne. I’m glad not to be dead, though.”

“What do you mean? I thought heaven was supposed to be someplace you didn’t want to leave,” Lyserg said.

“It wasn’t heaven, where I ended up.” Marco smiled bitterly, stroking Lyserg’s hair. “I don’t remember much, but I definitely prefer being alive, with you and Jeanne.”

There wasn’t really a good response to that. Or if there was, Lyserg didn’t know it. He smiled faintly and replied, “I’m glad. I really missed you.”

“Do you have my glasses? I’d like to be able to see clearly again... Hao didn’t fix my eyesight, and I didn’t bring a spare pair.” Wordlessly Lyserg handed Marco his now-cracked glasses, hoping that the older man wouldn’t notice that he’d been keeping them tucked inside his shirt. “Thank you.”

Ryu burst into the room. “RIZERUGU!” he shouted, falling over. Amused, Marco stood up.

“If you two want to be alone, I can leave,” he said, winking slyly at Lyserg, who blushed.

“Marco!” he gasped, embarrassed more than he should have been by what his teacher had just implied.

Marco laughed gently at the boy’s expression. “I doubt he’d hurt you, but don’t do anything strenuous. You’ve been unconscious for nearly a week.”

“What do you mean, strenuous?” Lyserg asked, aghast. Was Marco really implying what he thought he was implying?

“I mean what I mean,” Marco said, and slipped out of the room, smiling broadly.

***

Horohoro sat up, and coughed. He shouldn’t be able to do that, he realized. He should be dead. Burned and dead.

“Feeling better?” Hao asked, smirking.

“You,” Horohoro snarled at him. “You brought me back. Why?”

“I didn’t bring you back. The Great Spirit did that. I just sat aside like a good little host body while it did.” He smiled bitterly. “Apparently I’ll need you alive. Your sister was worried about you. You know, you’re lucky to have people who care about you....” He looked sad, for a moment. How could he, Hao Asakura of all people, be sad? He was Shaman King, he could remake the world however he wanted. Hadn’t he had people cheering him on, fighting alongside him?

“Yes, I did. But the last supportive family I had died quite a long time ago, with my Patch self,” Hao answered. “Take care of her and your father.” He stood, and exited the room, turning back to say, “Your spirit is fine, as well. She’s currently talking to the others.”

He left Horohoro sitting there, taken aback. Well, until the door slid open again (slamming into the other side of the door frame) and his sister tackled him. “Oniichan?” Pilica asked, clinging tightly to her brother. “You're really okay, right? When they brought you back it scared me. I was afraid you were dead!”

“Hey, I’m indestructible, remember?” Horohoro said, smiling fondly. “Don’t worry about me, you’ll get old too quickly.”

“You scared me,” Pilica said, glaring at him. “You’re getting extra training because of that.”

“Oh no!” Horohoro answered, pretending to be terrified. “Anything but that!”

“Extra training, and you’re getting cooking lessons from Ryu.”

“Well, cooking won’t be so bad... but do I really need more training?” he asked her, trying to look cute enough to get out of that punishment. “I mean, the Shaman Fight’s over.”

“Hao said he’d need you to be one of his soldiers. So you have to stay in practice!” Pilica told her brother, smiling wickedly.

Horohoro wept quietly. He’d been so close to freedom....

***

Yoh sighed. Everyone had been asking him questions. “Why didn’t you strike, Yoh? Why didn’t you stop him?” he asked, mimicking two of his friends. “Maybe because I didn’t want to kill my own brother. Did anybody consider that?”

“So even after what I did to you and your friends, you consider me your brother. Why?” Hao asked, genuinely curious.

Yoh jumped, startled. “I... well, you are my brother. I didn’t mean for anyone to hear what I said,” he told Hao, looking embarrassed. “I used to wish I had an older brother, someone who’d tell the kids who picked on me at school to stop. I know this sounds stupid, but I remembered that when I was about to try and attack you. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, not then.”

Hao smiled. No, not a smirk. He smiled, the genuinely happy expression taking a while to form on his face. He hadn’t had cause to smile for so long. “I’m glad you didn’t do it. I... I want to make up for lost time. It’s not like the Great Spirit will let me do what I originally planned to do, so I might as well figure out what it’s like to be... normal?” He laughed. “You of all people should realize that people like us can’t be entirely normal.”

“Yeah, but we can try. That’s why I’m friends with Manta, he’s about as normal as normal gets,” Yoh said, smiling back. “He’s my role model for being normal!”

Hao laughed at that. “Well, at least now I know why you keep him around!” He stopped. “You cover your pain with an easygoing persona. Why?”

“Because I don’t want to become like you were. I don’t want to spend my life in pain, so I let it pass.”

Yoh was surprised when Hao embraced him. Stepping quickly back, he told his twin, “I never meant to cause you any pain.”

“You didn’t!” Yoh said.

Hao smiled again, this time sadly. “You’re lying. You wondered if there was something wrong with you because of the way I acted during the tournament. You wondered if it was somehow your fault. It wasn’t.”

[Drave]

I love the way you write Marco <3. Or: instant fangirl over this beauty of a fic.

(didn't end up in Heaven, eh? poor guy.)

[Useless]

Nice job, Innle. Hope the next installment is as good as the previous two. I agree with Drave, it is funny that Marco, a man with an angel spirit and a follower of a holy girl, ended up going to hell instead of heaven. And pardon my lack of manga knowledge, but is Lyserg old enough at this point for Ryu to be doing what I think your story is implying?

[Innle]

Er, I think Lyserg's about fifteen by this point (immediately post-end-of-manga), maybe sixteen. So yes, he's a year under the age of consent in Japan if the first age estimate is right. Somehow I doubt that would stop Ryu and his hormones... but he would never do anything to Lyserg against his will. (Random Fact: Lyserg would definitely be underage in his country of origin, as England has a separate age of consent for... er... the kind of sex most gay male couples have. It's eighteen.) But whether or not the Resident Prettyboy of Shaman King is physically mature enough to do such a thing is another question entirely. (And my Lyserg muse hates me now....)

Either way, they most definitely won't "play sex" (to borrow an amusing phrase from a book a friend lent me) any time soon, Marco was just making a joke to embarrass Lyserg.

Anyway, I'm working on part three now, and should have it up sometime in the future. (Just say no to deadlining yourself!)

[Secretofmana]

Wow...I feel ashamed for not reading before....This fanfic rocks so far!! *eagerly anticipaites part 3* You have great emotion and everything, and the Hao annd Yoh happy moment was so happy! Great work, Innle-sama! *bows*

[Innle]

Author's note: Thank you! ::blushes:: Don't call me "Innle-sama!" "Sama" is reserved for people who deserve it! Anyway, here's part three... I do hope I haven't royally screwed up Ren or Jeanne, as I don't usually write them. I apologize if my characterization is off... and Anna refers to Yoh as her husband because they've engaged in an act that in certain cultures counts as a marriage ceremony. Three guesses what, and the first two don't count.

Story:

Jeanne yawned, and blinked sleepily at the room she’d awoken in. Traditional Japanese, to be sure... but that meant she could be almost anywhere. The En Inn, the onsen at the tournament site, Asakura’s house in Izumo, to name a few possibilities... this was not good. With that realization, Jeanne was fully awake.

The door slid open, and instinctively she leapt into a defensive stance. Marco laughed. “It seems you remember the martial arts training I gave you, then.”

Jeanne blushed. “I...” She would have said more, but then realized something: She wasn’t wearing anything. And there was a man in the room with her. (Granted, one who had raised her, and had seen her naked before, but the principle of the situation was completely mortifying.) Blushing even more, she grabbed the blanket she’d been lying under, and threw it over herself. Voice muffled, Jeanne continued, “Yes, I remember that. He revived you, did he not?”

“Yes,” Marco said. “Er... I took the liberty of purchasing a few dresses for you, they’re in the closet.”

Untangling the blanket from her head and hair, Jeanne smiled at him. “Thank you. I trust that they’re comfortable?” Marco nodded, slight confusion evident on his face. “If Hao has truly reformed, then there is no need for me to continue torturing myself, no?”

“Er, no. No, there isn’t,” Marco said. “You’ve grown to be quite pretty, I think the dresses I selected should compliment that well.”

Jeanne glared at him. “If that was a proposition of some sort....” She let him imagine the consequences of attempting to seduce her, and smiled at his blushing, mortified expression and furious attempts at rephrasing what he'd said. Some things were best left unchanged... her relationship with Marco was one of them.

***

Anna stared at the pot of water in front of her. “So I put the noodles in when it’s boiling, wait for those to cook, and then add the flavoring?”

Chocolove nodded. “Yeah. Trust me, this will let you spend much more time tormenting Yoh. Besides, instant ramen’s dirt cheap, even here!” He shifted sideways, feeling uneasy at the battle aura Anna was producing.

“Are you calling the Japanese overpriced?” she asked, voice deadly sweet.

“N-no! Not at all!” he stammered, remembering Yoh’s horror stories about the Wrath of Anna.

“Good. Now, I want you to go get my husband, and tell him I’m cooking dinner.” Anna shoved a Polaroid camera into his hands. “And be sure to get a picture of his reaction with this.”

Chocolove grinned. So she had a sense of humor after all... Yoh was going to be shocked beyond belief at that revelation, not to mention the fact that his wife was actually cooking. “You know, this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship,” he said, turning back from the doorway.

Anna half-smiled. “Oh, shut up. And go scare my husband.”

***

Ren sighed. Everything was over. Everything. He’d have to face Father with the news that not only had he lost, Hao would require his constant presence. He’d have to face those strange feelings that being near certain girls caused. “I guess it was too much to hope I’d be able to go home and marry some random second cousin of mine,” he said, sarcasm biting the empty air.

“Th-that isn’t really what you want, is it?” asked a quiet voice. Ren turned and saw, of all people, Tamao.

“No. Why are you out here? Do you pity me?” he asked in return. She flinched.

“I-I... well, according to kokkuri-sama there was someone out here feeling like I do,” the pink-haired girl replied. “Lonely and confused, I mean.”

Ren snorted. “I’m not lonely.” He turned back to the view of the garden, and sat down, scuffing a line in the dirt with one foot. “Confused, though... I’ll give you that.”

“W-well, if you need to talk, I won’t tell anyone anything... it’s not like they’d listen to me anyway,” she said, voice breaking slightly on the last syllable. “After all, that’s what Anna-san’s for. She’s the one everyone listens to. After all, she’s the one marrying Yoh-sama, so she must be worth listening to.”

The sudden bitterness in Tamao’s voice shocked Ren. “You shouldn’t let them get to you. Just because she got Yoh doesn’t mean she’s better than you are.” Why was he being so kind? This girl didn’t mean anything to him. He sighed again. “You’re quite pretty. I’m certain once you start going to an actual school, you’ll have young men throwing themselves at your feet.”

Tamao blushed a shade of pink darker than her hair. “I-I-I... th-thank you,” she stuttered, hugging the planchette she carried to her chest. “You shouldn’t put yourself down, either,” she blurted out, feeling as if she should say something in return. “Yoh-sama thinks you’re a great person, and he’s right.” Where had that come from?

Ren smiled slowly. “Thanks. Sit down, there’s plenty of room here. Tell me about yourself....”

He might sound like an idiot, but why was that important? She was someone to talk to. Someone who had actually sought out his company. This “friendship” thing was proving to be quite interesting.

[Useless]

Wonderful story, Innle. Nice that you ended the story, but left some things to imagine about for the future of the Mankin characters. By the way, since you mentioned something about Hao needing soldiers, are you hinting towards a sequel for this story?