Chapter 32

In The End

Arrian sat in his back yard watching Larelle teach Sarah the basics of her powers. Two days had passed since they had returned. The first day was a big blur; after having dealt with the imposter, he came home after telling everything about his trip, Cindi included. That had brought on a round of teasing, which had Arrian stammering and blushing. Larelle was a major shock to everyone when it was explained that she was the book that Ashley had purchased.

They were further shocked to learn that Larelle was herself a 'Tarqa.' Kailynn pointed out that Larelle was not only a different kind of being from them, but also different from Arrian as well.

"No, Kai." Arrian said. "She is not a Tarqa, nor is she an Elemental. She is described as a Hybrid. When she was gifted to me, and I brought her energy spark back with me, I made some changes. I added my own energy signature to her energy. As long as my powers are awake, she can find me anywhere. Also, I gave her powers similar to my own."

"So she is a cross between two races?" Kai asked.

"Yeah," Arrian said as he looked at the still confused faces of the people in the room.

He held up his hands. In one, an orb of water rotated and in the other an orb of fire rotated. Holding up the water orb he said "This is Larelle as a Tarqa." Then raising his other hand he said, "This is my Elemental signature."

He brought both orbs together and slowly they mixed. The fire followed the same current as water, and together both elements co-existed in the same place. They were stronger together than by themselves. Arrian closed his hand and the orb ceased to be.

"That is what she is. Aside from being my 'servant', she is your guardian and protector. I can't always be around and although I may be only a breeze away, she can be with you at times when I can't," Arrian said.

It's good to be home, Arrian thought.

Yurei, leader of the Kurei people was enraged at Omni's explanation for her both her lack of progress and the reason for that lack. Who would have thought when Omni was sent back with the knowledge to build the fusion technology that an experiment would be her downfall.

Yurei was obviously male; he had the features of a muscled elf. He had Pointy ears, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes, with long white hair.

Even in the darkness of his chamber aboard the Nephilim, his anger was tangible. They had invested too much in Omni and the Elemental fusion process for that effort to be wasted. Still, it was interesting that Omni was beaten by the blasted experiment. Who would have thought the Amni-Ra had such potential. Well, he had thought of it and that's why he had wanted one to experiment with. The Elementals were so easily fooled; it was shocking how easily they were fooled. To be honest the Kurei were the best race at what they did, and soon they would have the keys needed to bring the Sacred Four under his power.

Omni was already on the trail of the failed experiment; she would find him and summon them with the coordinates of the exact location.

"What do you want from me? Why not go to Arihah himself?" Zareas said.

"He would not understand, and there is a slight risk with doing that. It may cause unknown damage to his mental health to know he is nothing more than an experiment," Sairi said sadly.

"So who killed off the Harbingers?"

"It was both Arihah and someone else," Sairi said.

"Who else? There was no one left on Nariel when Arihah decided to move us across several dimensions before we landed here."

"I am not entirely sure; we have few enemies since we mostly kept to ourselves until Omni took over. Our only known true enemy are the Kurei who fought with the Sacred Four in eons past for control of the Elements. But they were wiped out. There are no known survivors of the Kurei, but they were a mysterious race and little is known about them, much like the Amni-Ra."

"That is great! So you want me to fight him and push him to his limits to prepare him for Omni and what else may come after that, knowing full well that he is going to kill me in the process?"

"I never said it would be easy, but you are the only other Elemental alive who even comes close to matching his powers, and the only remaining Royal Elemental. You must do what must be done. These people, this planet, this dimension shouldn't be forced to pay for our mistakes."

"What do you mean, the only remaining Royal? He is Caliph; so he is royal."

"Azrael, you and Omni are descendants of the Sacred Four. That is the reason why you and Omni are the strongest of our race. In terms of purity, Arihah is outside these facts since he is not a pure blood."

"All I have ever wanted to do was to rule this world. Why did you awaken all this information in me when I released the seal Arihah placed on Farael and my being?"

"I have told you. This is your responsibility now. I cannot physically interfere, I am just energy now."

"Can we talk?"

"Sure, Kai; here?" Arrian asked.

"Can we go into the backyard?"

"Yeah."

Arrian followed Kailynn into the backyard and sat down in the grass. She sat next to him and leaned against him.

"Arrian ... I don't know how to say what I want to say," Kailynn said nervously.

"Kailynn, I love you. I don't know what it is you want to say to me, but at the end of this conversation I am going to still love you. So calm down and tell me."

"I'm not ready." She blurted out.

Arrian looked at her with a raised eyebrow, not quite understanding what she meant.

"You and mom, and Cindy have all ... you know..."

Realization dawned on Arrian. 'I'm not ready' was a reference to having sex with him.

"Kai, I would never push you past the point where you feel comfortable. You control the speed that we move forward ... If you ever wanted to stop and find someone else, I would understand; I really would."

"You don't want me anymore?" Kailynn said on the verge of tears.

Arrian looked down at her and was going to respond, when he noticed she looked like she would cry at any moment. He reached over with his hand and caressed her cheek, which brought Kailynn's head up slightly. Whatever she was going to say died out as Arrian brought his lips over hers and so softly kissed her, a loving kiss, more for love than passion.

Kailynn reached around to hold Arrian tightly as she pressed her lips and her body tighter to Arrian's. Arrian held her and kissed her. While holding on as tightly as she could with one hand she reached with her other hand and grabbed his hand and brought it down to rest on her ass.

Arrian's first thought was to grab a handful, but maybe that wasn't the best course of action at the moment. So instead, he gently did a combination of rubbing and squeezing. He realized she liked what he was doing when she softly moaned into his lips.

Slowly he traced his lips over her face, watching her as he did so. He leaned down and lightly nipped her ear.

"Nice ass," He whispered in the huskiest voice he could muster.

Kailynn blushed and giggled. She gasped and moaned when he gave her rear a firm squeeze, and lightly licked her ear before biting her earlobe.

After another soft kiss, Kailynn got to her feet and began to walk back towards the house.

"Nice ass," He called out.

She turned and in a fake pout said, "Pig!" The grin on her face took all the heat out of her exclamation.

Arrian smiled and watched her walk back inside paying special attention to the excessive sway Kailynn put into her hips.

Inside, Helen looked at her daughter walking into the house and said, "I hope that brother of yours wasn't molesting you in the backyard."

Kailynn's blush answered her question several times over.

"Did you find what it was you went looking for?" Helen asked as she approached Arrian.

Arrian smiled at her, "Yeah, I did."

"So it's over?"

"No, I'm afraid it isn't even close to being over. I have to deal with Zareas. Then it will be over. I worry, that I am stretching myself too thin. I have so many people to protect that matter so much to me, and if I fail, I don't even like to think about that..."

"You shouldn't think about it."

"It isn't that simple. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst," Arrian said.

Helen nodded as she recognized the phrase Derek often said when something was troubling him.

"What did you tell your sister?"

"Which one?" Arrian asked.

"Point taken. What did you tell Kailynn?"

"Not much, I just complemented her on a 'nice ass' mostly," He said with a grin.

Helen chuckled, as the air around them suddenly turned cold.

"Sarah, stop that!" Arrian yelled without turning.

"Sarah?" Helen asked as she shivered.

"She is mixing wind and water and compressing it, making it cold out here. She is also hiding in the clouds above us."

Helen was about to say something when faster than she thought possible a cloud fell and a giggling Sarah rolled off it. When she had control of herself, she gave a small pout.

"How'd ya know it was me?" Sarah asked.

"Sarah, I will always recognize you. You are my daughter, just like I am sure you can recognize me when I use my powers, right?"

Sarah gave a giggle and nodded.

"Come on, let's go inside; I'm feeling hungry." Arrian said getting up off the grass.

"Boss, what the fuck is going on?" A man yelled.

"Watch your tone, Jeff," Stuart warned.

"I just don't understand, boss. Why are you shutting down all the prostitution businesses we have set up, and the drugs we have in production?"

"Jeff, question my decisions again and I will have your head on a plate. What I do with my business is my concern. Not that it will matter but soon, everything that is legally mine will soon belong to someone else."

Jeff blanched at his boss's threat but was even more shocked when Stuart mentioned giving away his legal businesses.

"So who gets everything?" Jeff asked not hiding his hope very well.

"That is none of your concern Jeff. Just know it won't be you."

"But boss..." Jeff stopped at the cold look in Stuart's eyes.

Jeff quickly left after that, leaving Stuart to his own devices.

"That was interesting. I have always been more than a bit puzzled by the human need to 'own' things to show their worth as individuals."

"How so Sairi?" Stuart asked.

"That man that just left, Jeff I believe. He wanted what you are signing over to Arihah. He didn't hide his disappointment. He wanted your 'legacy' for his own reasons, none of which were worthy of anything. Just greed ... yes, greedy is a good word to describe human behavior, greedy and selfish."

"I can understand greed, but why selfishness?"

"They live on this planet, but do nothing to protect it, to nurture it so it can thrive and in turn thrive with it themselves. Nariel, was similar to this planet, however we have always been conscious of our planet's well being."

"Nariel was beautiful, but the war between Omni and Arihah left much of the planet in ruin."

"Not as much as you think. What was more damaging was Arihah's decision for us to abandon our home planet. I can understand his idea of starting over elsewhere, but Nariel is our home, no matter what plane or dimension we exist in. Nariel is headquarters, no questions asked."

She stood at the hill and watched as the breeze lifted and moved petals of flowers and pollen around without mercy or as much as a second thought. She had never much understood what exactly an Elemental was; after all, how can anyone or anything control the Elements. The idea that it was possible seemed so distant and yet, although not understood, not misunderstood either.

The Caliph Arihah was as much a mystery to her as were all Elementals. She had met him and his brother and the difference in them was more than just flesh deep. At that time, Arihah looked much as he did now; tall, well built, a darker more caramel complexion topped his physical features then. It was a relief to see him now, mostly unchanged. Still being the same kind person he was then.

She had grown fond of him. He was a remarkable individual, and although he was King of Elementals, or Caliph ... She had a hard time figuring why he didn't just use the title 'King... ' She watched him treat everyone with respect until something else was merited. She had met several Elementals in her long life, and none seemed so perfectly in place and yet out of place as Arihah. She was certain there was more to him than met the eye and that was what impressed her most. She wanted to see a true battle of Elementals, masters of the elements, to do battle and hold nothing back. She was certain it would be a sight to behold, and such a battle would never be forgotten.

Still, she had to wonder why he had left their home in search of a new one. Did he face a similar scenario to hers and her family's? Or was there more to this, and she was only just touching the surface.

It was such fun to be here and watch from a distance as the events in this plane took place. A noise behind her caused her turn to stare into the eyes of a deer, which looked at her with a cocked head as if appraising her before continuing its walk.

She giggled at the creatures' actions before disappearing in a flash of light.

Ashley found Arrian in the study, sitting in a reclining chair with his eyes closed.

"What's it like?" She asked.

"What is what like, Sis?" He asked, never opening his eyes.

"Being you? Having all these powers and stuff?"

"You want the truth or the answer mostly everyone expects?"

"The truth; I expect no less."

Arrian smiled with his eyes still closed.

"It can be ... difficult at times."

"I thought having powers would be awesome and liberating."

"Yeah, it can be that. At the same time though, I have family and friends I have to protect. Have you ever seen the movie 'Spider-Man?'?"

"Yeah, it was nice."

"Do you remember what Uncle Ben told Peter about power?"

"With great power, comes great responsibility," She quoted.

"Exactly. Because I have these powers, I have a responsibility to those that don't. Also, it's hard at times because you never know what the powers will bring your way. I just wanted to lead a normal simple life. That went out the window when I accepted the powers Fujin supposedly gave me. I think I have always had them to some degree."

"Are you going to die?" She asked.

The silence after she asked the question was maddening.

Arrian sighed before speaking.

"I think that anything is possible, and while I hope it doesn't happen that way, I can't really say one way or another."

Ashley walked to where he sat and ran her hand through Arrian's long hair a couple of times.

"Don't die," she said as she turned and walked out of the room.

"I may not have a choice," Arrian said to the empty room in what can only be called a whisper.

Larelle was watching over Sarah in the living room, trying to keep the youngster out of as much trouble as possible.

"Larelle?"

"Yes, Sarah?"

"Do you love my daddy?"

"What do you mean exactly?"

"Do you love my daddy, like my mommy does?" She said giggling.

"I love your daddy, Sarah. Just not the same way your mommy, grandma and aunties do. He is my Master; he has looked out for me, since I came to be in his care."

"Huh?"

"I love him, just not the same way they do. I love him like you do, like a daddy of sorts. Mine is far away, and I have lived so far from them for so long I had lost hope of seeing them again. When we stayed with them in that place, I remembered who I was and where I came from."

"Oh!" You could almost see the light bulb go off in her head. "Patrick is your Daddy!"

Larelle couldn't help but grin. "Yeah, he is just a big dork, but I love him."

Yurei was screaming at someone on the other side of his communication screen.

"You listen to me, you sorry sack of shit! If we could engineer the project to work one way, then you should be able make it to go backwards!"

The hazy figure on the communication screen looked liked it would rather be somewhere else than facing the ire of the Kurei commander.

"I want everyone working on this, forget everything else. Get this done soon!"

"Sir, that will require subjects to be put through the original process before we attempt to reverse it, and if what Omni said is true, not many survived that procedure."

"I don't give a fuck about where you get the subjects. Get it done and for your sake it best be soon!" Yurei said menacingly.

"Master?"

"What is it, Larelle?"

"What do you plan to do about all those people we brought back from that despicable creatures clutch?"

"I gave that responsibility to Miranda, I figured it would give her something to do, Now that you mention that though, I have to check and see what assets he was hiding and see about making reparations to all of the people he has hurt."

"I see; good idea about putting Miranda in charge."

"Larelle?"

"Yes master?"

"Tell me, before I sealed you away, did I ever mention something called, 'The Reaper'?"

"No; not that I remember. Why do you ask?"

"The Reaper is a legend about the first true Elemental. It was said that he was so powerful, he feared his own power. To protect others from his power, he sealed himself away using four energy sources to power the seal. Over time, the sources disappeared from existence."

"Sounds impressive, and more than a little dangerous."

"To my knowledge only three beings have come close to having the power necessary to unseal The Reaper and use his power: Omni, Azrael and myself. We have never used the ability to break the seal because we don't know what would happen after we did and..."

"Are you planning on using it now?"

"No, I don't have a clue where to get the four energy sources."

"But you just said that Omni, Azrael and yourself were the only ones to have the ability to unseal it."

"Yeah I did say that. I didn't say I knew how to unseal him though, did I? There is a difference between having the knowledge about something, versus knowing how to do something."

"True, but your instincts are pretty sharp. If anyone can figure this out it would be you."

"Larelle, I have to ask you for something."

"What is it Master?"

Arrian sighed; he knew as soon as he spoke the words his mind they would come to pass, but he would not go into that void without first having made proper accommodations.

"I need you to do two things for me. I want you to train Sarah, both in martial arts and to control over her powers."

"Why? I mean, wouldn't you want to do that?"

"I would love to Larelle, but my reason for not doing it is tied with my second request. Bear in mind that, I am asking, not telling you to do this for me."

"You mean I could refuse?"

"Yes, you could, but we have spent a lot of time together and the simple act of asking instead of telling you will convince you to do as I ask."

"So why am I doing this?" Larelle asked with a big smile.

"I'm going to die," Arrian said—his face deadpanned.

Thinking he was joking, Larelle burst out laughing. That laughter didn't survive once she saw the look on his face; he was dead serious.

"Master?" Larelle questioned with a trembling lip.

"In the core of my being, I always knew that in the end, I would die. I may have ignored it and tried to push the thought to the recess of my mind, but it was always there. I will not survive the end."

"But Master..."

"No, you must not give this away. My last decree with you is simple; you will be free of your servitude to me, when you deem Sarah to be competent with her skills."

"I don't want you to die Master. I won't let you!"

"This is not for you to decide. Things are the way they should be. My family will be in your hands, that is why I ask you to do this. I trust you."

Larelle didn't know what to feel. She felt honored that her Master would trust her with his entire family and the training of his daughter However, those things came with a price; his life.

"If there was a way for me to live through this, believe me, I would try just about anything, but that is the outcome I am preparing for,"

Larelle's eyes went wide, and a smile adorned her face.

"I will do as you ask, Master."

Arrian eyed her with suspicion. First she was crying, now a blazing smile was on her face and she was accepting of his death. He wasn't fooled for a second; this cute little servant was up to something.

"It goes without saying that this conversation was for our ears only."

"Of course, Master."

"By the way, you mother is here," Arrian said.

Larelle had a confused look on her face, "You mean..."

"Yeah, Elizabeth is here."

"How do you know?"

Arrian smiled.

"Well, first off, I have recovered about ninety percent of my memories and powers, so I remember what her energy and presence feel like and it feels like before. That means she is here."

"Can you bring her here?"

"I have a better idea, I am sure by now she has felt my powers around her; so it only fits, that she is waiting for us."

"Can we go now?"

"As soon as you let everyone know we are leaving."

He had barely uttered the last word before she was a flash heading out the door.

Elizabeth stopped moving and looked around. Although she could see now one, but she sensed that there was someone definitely watching her. When Arrian and Larelle faded into view she smiled brightly.

"Your Highness," Elizabeth said as she bowed.

"I didn't like that eons ago and I don't like it now, Liz," Arrian said.

Liz smiled at his words, and suddenly, she had her arms filled with an overjoyed fourteen year old.

"Mommy!" Larelle cried.

"Why are you crying, Sweetheart?"

"We didn't get much time together when My Master and I went to your plane, and I just thought that we might not see each other again for a long time," Larelle said through her tears.

"Baby, I may be 'dead', but I'm always around in one way or another. Besides, you might see the rest of our family sooner than you think."

"What do you mean? I have to be where my Master is, until he releases me or he dies; you know that."

"True, I do. What I meant was that your 15^th birthday is coming up in our plane. All the girls' 15^th birthdays are coming up, and you need to be there for a special ceremony."

"Is that why you came here or is there more to it than that?" Arrian asked, not for a moment believing that was it.

"Don't believe me?" Liz asked with a giggle.

Arrian's eyebrow arched up.

"Fine, I wanted to see you and that brother of yours fight, I was hoping to finally see a true Elemental battle. Satisfied?" She said as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"I doubt this battle with Zareas will go that far. I want to limit the damage we do to this planet. Unlike on Nariel, I can't have the battle go all around the world."

"Nariel ... I don't think you have ever mentioned the name of your home before; why now?"

"I guess since you're here now, I should let you know as well. I am going to die in this coming battle. Larelle already has instructions on what to do when I do, and once she completes my last wish, she will be free to return home to your family."

Liz looked confused.

"I thought you Elementals didn't die in battle between your own kind, or that you healed faster than your wounds would add up damage?"

"No, while it's true that we heal at an obscenely fast rate, we can still die. We are not immortal in that sense. Unlike you, when I go kaput, I will stay that way."

"Master, you don't heal any faster than we do," Larelle said pointing to herself and Liz.

"No, Larelle. I don't heal as fast in your world as I do here. In your world my powers were inhibited; I did not have full access to all my power. A wound that would heal instantly here would take minutes there."

"So ... what's this about you dying? Cindi won't like that very much; she will be heartbroken, you know," Liz said.

"I know."

"It has been a long time since I was last on 'The Destroyer' Yurei," Omni said.

"I did not bring you here to reminisce! I brought you here so we could complete your procedure," Yurei scowled.

"What do you mean? You of all people know I cannot undergo the procedure again; it would undo all we have achieved."

"We have made advancements by leaps and bounds in that particular field. It is infuriating that the same cannot be said of reversing the project," Yurei said with more than a little heat.

"Why would you want to reverse it?" Omni asked, confused.

"Do you think a lone Amni-Ra could stand up to you once you have undergone the procedure once more?"

"No, I don't think so. But, we are not dealing with an Amni-Ra anymore, he is something else completely. Even his eyes showed how different he is, so much like an Elemental, but different as well."

"Why do you speak so hauntingly?" Yurei asked, curious.

"You may not believe this, but facing off against him was the most frightening thing I have ever experienced. He came so close to unmasking me on more than one occasion with his blasted 'Raikiri' attacks. Aside from the power he has, or his fighting ability, the thing that I found most frightening was his smile," Omni said.

"What the hell do you mean his smile?"

"While we fought, as our wounds poured out our blood, he was smiling. It was like he relished the fighting, the blood and gore of battle. To see that gleam in his eye while he battled me was something to cause me to pause and wonder."

"Could it be the Amni-Ra in him is trying to exert itself over its Elemental counterpart?"

"Maybe. I have waited a long time for the chance to pay him back for having 'killed' me."

"I have been curious about that. How did you survive if he thought you were dead?"

"The closest I can figure, it is that when he drilled me into the soil of Nariel for the last time, my body went into extreme survivor mode. It slowed all my vitals to nearly nothing, but with no energy my body wasn't going to last long. I think I unconsciously, I began to draw energy from both the soil I was in and the darkness that engulfed me. As you well know, I am quite adept at using Dark Elements."

"We are truly fascinating specimens. Still, you are very lucky that I desire that blasted Amni-Ra, otherwise I would kill you where you stand," Yurei spat.

"What is the plan?" Omni asked.

Miranda was tired. She had spent the entire day organizing the captives and finding out their information. She was amazed with the house Arrian had chosen to house them. It was as close to a mansion as you could find in Thoran city.

Sixty women and children had been held by that despicable excuse for a human being. All of the women had been raped. Only a few of the girls, maybe one in seven, were not abused or molested, mostly because they were under the age of twelve.

Men and boys numbered t about fifty-six. Some boys had been were molested, but for the most part women and girls bore the brunt of the abuse.

There were thirty captives in a dungeon underneath the house. Arrian told her to leave them be with no food or water, or bathroom breaks for that matter.

Of all the rescued people, one girl was constantly with her. The girl would occasionally, say two or three words as she got use to speaking again.

Her name was Lindsay and she had just turned twelve years old. The older girl that had scowled at Arrian the previous night was Rachel and she was seventeen years old. She was also Lindsay's big sister.

They both had tear-filled faces when questioned about their mother.

"The Imposter killed her, two years ago because she spilled some wine on him," Rachel said.

Miranda kept the girls close to her for the remainder of the day. They learned a lot that day. The imposter was very wealthy along with his order.

"Arrian, that despicable man and his cohorts were incredibly rich. He had over a million dollars in property and I'm nowhere near finished itemizing," Miranda said as she walked into the living room and noticed Arrian sitting with Sarah. She kissed him as she sat next to him.

"That's what I figured. Did you find everyone a place to stay until we could distribute the assets evenly?" he asked.

"Yeah ... luckily for everyone there was more than one motel nearby. But they need more than a place to stay."

"I know; that's why the sooner we know exactly how much money and property was owned by that thing, we can work to get everyone the help they need."