Okay guys so I kept you waiting long enough I think. Granted the story isn't technically done on paper, so I'll just have to finish it on here. I also have some other great news: I'm trying to take up guitar again, but on the flip side it's easier said than done. I'll keep you guys updated on that as I post more stuff. Anyway, on to the story
Broken Crown
By: Shadow Hound
Touch my mouth,
And hold my tongue.
I'll never be,
Your chosen one...He kept his place in central park. Where else could he go? He almost killed a Tamer, a potential savior of this world. A world he once lived in. At the thought, Mana tightened his grip on the ring that contained his power stone, or as the humans called it, his Tracking Stone.
Looking over all that had happened, Mana found himself regretting nothing. Well, except losing the one who had, once upon a time, mattered most. He stared out at the snowy fields, struggling with something he couldn't name. It was a constant fight, and the poor man inside could never win against the might of the monster he had become. It was a terrible existence, and it hurt. It hurt to remember, to even try to get a snippet of a memory.
I'll be home,
Safe and tucked away.
Well you can't tempt me,
If I don't see the day..."Theia..." he muttered with a sigh.
His tamer, like all of his female descendants, were named after her. But in his mind, they were merely copies. None of them would ever rival the original. HIS Theia.
It was his fault she had died. If he had never met her, none of that would've happened. But then, would all this be happening now if he hadn't? Mana found himself doubting it. This world, he'd once been a part of it, he remembered. So many centuries ago...too many to hardly remember. And now it was in danger.
But could he save it? Was it even worth saving anymore? It hadn't been back all those centuries ago. Times had changed, but human nature hadn't. If Kalmaged didn't destroy them, humanity would inevitably destroy itself with its savagery. It'd been a lesson he learned too long ago.
The pull on my flesh,
Was just too strong.
Stifled the choice,
And the air in my lungs...He remembered that he woke in her hut to the smell of candles and mint. Ah yes, mint. He remembered it was her favorite scent. His head hurt at the memory, as he struggled with it. Mana remembered wanting to hate her, wanting to condemn her, burn her as a witch.
He remembered the dagger, long and silver and sharp. He remembered how tempting it had been. She was vulnerable in her sleep, and all it would've taken was a single slit as she slept.
Mana, no, Simon Hatcher, had hesitated.
The clang of the silver brought him out of his reverie long enough to realize the ring was sinking into the skin on his palm. Mana opened his hand and the ring made its way back to the surface, covered in what looked like black blood. He watched in slight awe as the blood retreated, leaving the ring clean as the day it had been forged.
"Theia..." all he could bring himself to say was her name.
He remembered green eyes wide with fear and the dagger leaving a burn on his hand. She had disarmed him with nothing but her eyes.
"Incredible" he had said but remembered thinking: "Beautiful".
Better not,
To breathe than to breathe a lie.
'Cause when I open my body,
I breathe a lie...One thing had led to another.
It'd started out a shaky alliance. Turned into an understanding. Then it blossomed into friendship. And somehow, by some miracle, it had turned into love. He had tried to fight it. He tried to keep that heart locked away. But it wanted what it wanted, and no man could deny his heart's one desire. No man could escape his fate. And it seemed this witch would be the death of him.
What it wanted, what it needed, was her.
"Theia..." he shook his head clenching his free fist in either sadness or anger, he wasn't sure which.
I will not speak of your sin.
There was a way out for him.
The mirror shows not,
Your values are all shot...He remembered berating himself harshly. He asked how had this happened, and with a witch on top of that! Mana remembered Simon hating himself. He had strayed. The man was a hypocrite, a liar.
"Heretic!" Mana hissed, his mandibles flaring all the while.
Still though, he didn't feel an ounce of regret. Why?! He should've. Theia had ruined, wrecked him. She had torn his soul apart and now here he was.
He wanted to hate her.
That darling.
That monster.
That angel.
That demon...
"Heretic! Liar!"
But oh,
My heart,
was flawed.
I knew my weakness...Mana shook his head, a breeze calming his anger. What was he so angry about? Already he'd forgotten. He looked around, as if waking from a dream.
"This isn't a dream. Or if it is, it is a nightmare" he growled, "A never ending nightmare".
He looked back down at the ring, the stone barely visible in the darkness. But Mana felt its power. It burned, like the blade he'd used to try to kill a witch once...
So hold,
My hand.
Consign me not to darkness...Then he remembered again. "Theia..."
His Tamer.
His lover.
He didn't know which to reside with. What could he do? Returning to the Tamers would cause only trouble. But if he stayed out here, Mana was sure he would go mad. Well, as if he wasn't already. Once again it was a question of whether or not he wanted to save a world that he felt didn't deserve it.
A world that had spurned and rejected him. It had been a world of fear. Fear it was that he strived to destroy. Fear and sin. But now what he had once sought to eliminate, he now incited.
"Hypocrite..."
So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down.
I'll never wear your broken crown.
I took the road,
And I fucked it all away...A crunch in the snow set his senses on high alert. He turned quickly, one of his arms elongating into a mantis like claw.
"Easy!" a voice called, "It's just me".
Standing there in the snow in a read coat with matching boots and a hat was his tamer. Mana calmed himself, allowing his arm to return to normal.
"Theia..." god how many times had he said that name tonight, "You'll catch your death out here".
"I can say the same about you".
"Why are you here?"
"Lordi thought it'd be best if I came to talk to you. This was where you were hiding out before. So...here I am".
"What do you want?"
"For you to come back to the funeral home".
"Fat chance".
"Why's that?"
"Why should I save a world that wants nothing to do with me?"
Now in this twilight,
How dare you speak in grace!Theia closed her eyes and shook her head with a sigh. "I would've asked myself that too. All my family has ever done is live life as hermits. The world probably didn't even know about us. Hell I'm shocked Shena was even able to find anything about us, much less about you".
Mana looked at her suspiciously. "As hermits? Why?"
"Because that's how she lived. Theia, your Theia".
"Because she was a witch".
"Witch is a harsh word to use for a woman you loved".
"Love".
"what?"
"I haven't stopped loving her. Chances are, I never will. But it's a shame...I can feel my memories of her fading away with the centuries".
Theia gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine what that's like. Maddening I'm sure".
"Ha! Mad?! I'm already there. Some will speculate I always have been".
The red clad tamer shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe there's a madness in me too. But look, you can't solve all this by yourself".
So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down.
I'll never wear your broken crown.
I took the road,
And I fucked it all away!"And teaming up with you and them...that can?"
"It's better than being alone I suppose".
"It's better to be alone. When you're alone nothing can hurt you. No one can touch you. You're your very own worst fear".
"But nobody should have to live like that. I'm sure if we talk to Shena she can help with your memory issues. I mean seriously, of all the Tamers, I think she's the go to girl for these kinds of things".
"Her partner would never let me anywhere near her".
"Ha! If I'm there and have something to do with it, Ox won't have a choice. Simon-"
"Mana. Simon died centuries ago".
"Mana...Look, you're more than just my partner. You're my family. In fact you're the only family I have left. Don't save this world for anything if that's what you want. But this is my home, and I'll be damned a thousand times if I'm gonna let some weak time traveling self copying sorcerer take it from me!" Theia turned and faced her ancestor, "We have to fight this. Please Mana, I can't do this alone. Don't do it for everyone else. You may think humanity isn't worth saving, but aren't I, the last of your bloodline, aren't I worth saving?"
Now in this twilight,
how dare you speak in grace!She was his only family left. He was all she had. And now she was putting him on the spot, and it made Mana rather uncomfortable. She was human, but she shared his blood. She was a part of the race that hated him, and yet she still called him family. It was a hard decision to make. She was offering her hand, to help him with his memories and his madness. But he had nothing to give her.
"What do you want in exchange for your help?" he asked finally.
Theia looked at him confused. "I don't want anything from you. You're my family. I'm helping you because that's what family does. You may be my like what, a million times great grandfather, but still...I'm not leaving unless you come back with me. I don't wanna be alone, and I don't wanna watch this world fall apart knowing that I could've done something about it. Without you, I can't do anything. Thousands of innocents will die unless we stand together against Kalmaged".
"What innocents?! Humanity is not innocent, it never was! I don't know where you get that idea, you naive child!"
"I am not a child! But you know who is an innocent?! That little girl Clarissa! Her family was brutally murdered by Kalmaged's Icari. And then Jane killed her own parents, Clarissa's aunt and uncle, which left that poor girl with nothing! And what has she done, at eight years old, to deserve that?!"
"I never said she did!".
"But by standing here and doing nothing, that somehow makes it better?! I will not be made out into a coward because you're too scared to fight for a world that was once yours!".
"And now it no longer is".
"You're a coward".
"I'm honest is what I am. Humanity will eventually destroy itself. Why wait for that?".
"Because not everyone's bad".
"Yes they are".
"I'm not, and neither are the tamers. Shena's not even pissed about what you did. She understood that you did what you had to do".
So crawl on my belly 'til the sun goes down.
I'll never wear your broken crown.
I can take the road,
And I can fuck it all away... Mana growled and looked away from her. This was his only chance. He needed his memories back, in their entirety. He didn't want to be at war with himself anymore. But going back would mean fighting for a race he didn't care about, something that not even his final descendant could change. She didn't understand, but perhaps he could make her. Mana looked around and seemed to take her words into consideration, along with the drive to prove her wrong.
"I'll go back with you" he decided, "But you'll soon see. Not everyone is how you believe they are".
"Thank you. Now c'mon, it's late and I'm cold. Clarissa will be expecting me back soon" Theia brushed past him but stopped right when she was in front of him. The tamer turned and looked at him, "Thank you".
Theia walked on. Mana hesitated a little before finally going after her.
"In this twilight, our choices seal our fate..." So what'd you think? Not bad for my first Mana centric story. See, his issue is that he was nearly dead when he chose to become a monster, and so he's just barely holding on to his humanity while the monster side is eating at what's left of him. Simon Hatcher, in case you guys forgot, was the human name I came up with for him. I don't own the song Broken Crown. That' belongs to the band Mumford and Sons. Hope you guys liked it. I'd appreciate comments, reviews, whatever. Have fun
-Amari the Hellhound