The Icebound Chronicles Finale ? What Impends
Riku and Reina?s blades worked furiously, both of them standing back to back and taking turns with hacking and slashing at creatures. Reina ducked low and turned while Riku spun around for a wide sweep with his blade while Reina rose back up and stabbed at one that seemed like a cross between a at its body and a snake at the neck and head. The blade slipped right in between its eyes, and Reina quickly pulled away, while Riku took the ducking role this time, bashing a wolf in the head with the butt of her blade.
Kakashi and Shikamaru worked equally as fluently. Kakashi swiped once with the kunai he held tightly in his hands and in his other hand lightning formed, making a chirping noise as it did.
?Raikiri!? he yelled out, and with unbelievable speed, he quickly dashed through a row of them, turned, and then rushed through another.
Shikamaru was using one shadow jutsu after another. Quickly, he knelt down and made handseals. A large shadow went out in front of him, and then quickly split into several others. The dark ground made the jutsu practically invisible, and so none of the creatures saw it coming when they were stabbed in the heart with a thin, dark shadow.
Deirous was circling overhead, the clay bird spitting out giant explosives as sections that weren?t near his friends, but were certainly closing in on them. Raiden was using a similar tactic, but was instead holding both of his hands out and repeatedly shooting a giant blast of lightning from each.
The battle was becoming overwhelming, and from his position, Deirous could see that more of these things were pouring out of the tower. That could only mean one thing...
The entire tower knew that they were there.
~
Tenzu and Reaver watched the battle from the giant gate, more of Kabuto?s ?experiments? pouring out of the tower from either side of them.
?We?re only losing more of our army the longer we wait, they won?t be able to hold them off for long,? Reaver observed.
Tenzu shrugged, ?Then perhaps it?s time someone intervened.?
~
They fought for only a while longer before everything stopped. No, it didn?t just stop, the creatures retreated. Did they win?
Riku stopped as his arm fell limply to his side, not knowing if they should give chase or wait for a while and then try to sneak in. All thoughts of them moving anything forward, however, was diminished as Riku, Reina, Kakashi, and Shikamaru, all standing nearby each other, watched a man in Akatsuki robes approach. Red eyes lit up behind his cowl.
?It?s been quite some time, hasn?t it Riku? A year? More? Less?? Tenzu asked teasingly.
?Where is he?? Riku asked.
?You mean your beloved master? Probably in the torture room around now,? Tenzu said, offering a grin.
Riku let out a guttural growl and rushed towards the Uchiha, until he heard Reina scream from behind him. Whipping himself around, he saw another Akatsuki member behind her. He wasn?t wearing a cowl, and looked like some sort of messed up clown. He held his hand up to Reina?s neck, and each of his fingers, replaced by steel blades, tapped menacingly on her throat.
?What?re you screaming for?? he whispered in his ghostly, though deadly, voice, ?I haven?t even cut you yet...?
?I wouldn?t attack if I were you,? Tenzu said, nodding towards Reaver.
?What do you want?? Riku asked through clenched teeth.
Reaver opened his mouth, as black smoke came out from over Reina?s shoulder, the mist hit against the ground and then rose up, rising slowly and ominously through the air. Riku swooned as the mist came towards him, and behind him he could hear Kakashi and Shikamaru collapse. Riku reached up and grabbed his forehead as he stumbled from left to right.
However, when he looked up towards Tenzu, his vision blurred, he heard clearly the words that he spoke, ?What I want, is for you to open your eyes.?
~
You have seen the truth...
So why do you hide from it?
So why do you hide from it?
Riku?s eyes opened with a start after he heard those words. He looked forward, and was confused by where he seemed to be. There were wide, grassy plains on either side of him, and he was standing on a tan pathway, that gently slopped up and down from the rolling hills that it was on. He looked down for a long while, clenching his forehead, not knowing what in the world was going on.
He looked up slowly and saw Reina in front of him, only a few feet away. Her hand was held out towards him, and a wide grin was on her face as she stared at him. Slowly, Riku looked on either side around him as he saw other people fading into view, walking at his sides in various directions. They were all people that he knew, or at least people that he saw and knew were allies. Shinru, Deirous, Raiden, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Naruto, Neji, all of the sages, everyone that he could ever remember meeting was there.
Something compelled him to walk towards Reina, his arm outstretched. He reached out slowly, his hand shaking, but he didn?t know why. The place seemed so perfect, so peaceful, so tranquil. He reached out with a sweating palm and grasped for her hand.
Suddenly, lightning struck in front of him.
When it struck, Riku felt him grabbing onto a hand of stone. Everything went dark, no, not dark, gray. It was as if time had stopped for all things but him. He could practically feel it as the plants around him disintegrated, fading into nothingness. The sky around him wore a shade of gray, everything around him had gone from carefree and joyful to melancholy and wraithlike. He looked up to Reina, and saw that she, too, was this sad gray color. Her face could hardly be seen because of the cement-like appearance, but he could see her expression. It had gone from the happy, brightening look to one of sorrow; one of fear.
Looking around, Riku saw that everyone else, everyone that walked with a lively step at first, was now frozen in place. They all seemed as though they were panicking, their posture showing Riku that they had been running, but in no specific ways, all different directions, some of the cement statues seeming to be rubbing against each other, like the whole place had been in a panic. Riku looked up and watches as what seemed to be blackish gray leaves fell down on him. Everything just seemed so... dead.
The grassy plain was now a dead wasteland of fearful people.
This is what will happen...
Riku heard the voice and spun around, and then felt Soul Eater come to his grasp as he stared at Tenzu, further up the barely visible path?almost everything was the exact same gray color?at a slightly more elevated area than Riku. He stood there, but when Riku heard the voice, it was as though it was coming from everywhere. In fact, it didn?t even sound like Tenzu. It sounded more... proper, sophisticated perhaps, but it held a very noticeably eerie edge to it, like an ethereal voice. Riku heard him as he spoke more.
Cataclysm
?What are you talking about!?? Riku demanded, leaning in forward and pushing his arm out wide.
When he answered, the vagueness, him basically skipping Riku?s entire question, of it made Riku feel almost as if this was some sort of automated message, and Riku was simply, and futilely, talking to a machine.
Where is the purpose of fighting without winning?
What is the point of trying with the constant knowledge that you will, ultimately, fail?
What is the point of trying with the constant knowledge that you will, ultimately, fail?
Riku seemed to take the questions seriously, looking towards Tenzu with a stern gaze, ?Hope,? was all he could say, though through a faltering, unsure voice, ?When there?s hope, there?s always a purpose.?
Even as you speak, I know that you don?t believe yourself. You have seen too much to possibly believe that. Where was hope when Shinru was captured? Where was it when you watched your home village burn to the ground? And most importantly: Where is it now?
Riku felt himself falter for a moment, as if, just for a moment, he had given in. He looked down at the ground and then looked back up, tightening his grip on Soul Eater and charging in at Tenzu with his blade held up high overhead. He went in for a heavy strike at Tenzu?s head, but the attack just faded through. Picking up his blade and bringing it around, he went for a series of frustrated, horizontal strikes, all of which faded through Tenzu helplessly. As Riku continued to attack, he could still here Tenzu?s voice, or whoever the ghostly voice belonged to, speaking to him.
You fight a battle that you cannot win. A battle with only one, definite ending. A battle that you have known the outcome of for years.
If it is hope that so blindly guides you, then I must conclude that hope is redundant. It is a fool?s quality. It is a thing that will, in the end, be the death of you.
If it is hope that so blindly guides you, then I must conclude that hope is redundant. It is a fool?s quality. It is a thing that will, in the end, be the death of you.
?Shut up!? Riku roared out, continuing his barrage.
It is simple logic. Akatsuki is powerful. Our enemies are weak. So we will inevitably win.
No matter how strong you yourself become, have you so blindly ?hoped? that your allies have become that strong? Or do you think that you can defeat all of us yourself? You may believe that you are powerful, but you are still as weak as you have always been. How can you call yourself powerful when you still cannot conquer the truth? The factual side of it? The side that proves that if we were not searching for you, then you wouldn?t have these ?friends? that you do now, that they would all overlook you as trivial.
No matter how strong you yourself become, have you so blindly ?hoped? that your allies have become that strong? Or do you think that you can defeat all of us yourself? You may believe that you are powerful, but you are still as weak as you have always been. How can you call yourself powerful when you still cannot conquer the truth? The factual side of it? The side that proves that if we were not searching for you, then you wouldn?t have these ?friends? that you do now, that they would all overlook you as trivial.
Frustrated, Riku let out a roar as he charged to, and the through, Tenzu, rolling on the ground as he came to Tenzu?s other side, panting and kneeling on one knee.
Tenzu continued speaking, not moving from his position to even face Riku.
There is a simple conclusion to this story: Akatsuki will prevail. Nothing can change that. You fight valiantly for the losing side. No matter how much you kill, how much you destroy, how much you try, you will lose.
Tenzu did move now, he reached into the collar of his cloak and when he took his hand out, there was a ring in it. The Akatsuki ring. Tenzu put held it up so that Riku could clearly see, but still did not turn toward him.
It?s funny, really. By accepting this small thing, you could avoid this fate. It will happen, all of this, so why wouldn?t you join the winning side? The side that blatantly will prevail?
Riku turned towards Tenzu, still in his kneeling position, with a curious look on his face.
A true question for you, Riku. Why do you fight?
Riku thought for a moment. It was, in truth, a difficult question to answer. In the beginning, he was simply fighting to get Akatsuki off of his back, but as of late... it grew into a much larger conflict. He finally spoke, giving a hesitant answer, ?For peace...?
And you think that, somehow, by defeating us, you will obtain that peace? Are you not bringing more bloodshed? More pain?
?The word is justice,? Riku countered, ?By defeating those who stand in the way of peace, we get closer to it.?
You speak as though you know everything, but another question: do you know our true goal? If you do not know our goal, then how do you know that we stand in the way of peace? How do you know that we are not actually expediting how quickly it may be obtained?
?Anything that involves murdering and destroying as much as you guys do cannot possibly ?expedite? how close we get to true peace.?
And do are you not trying to kill and destroy us at this point? Just now, I would have been cut into ribbons had any of your attacks worked.
Riku let out a guttural growl while spinning around to face Tenzu, ?Quit talking in riddles! There?s no way that you guys are possibly doing anything to bring peace to the world, so quit it!?
On the contrary, we are. As I said, even if we were getting the way of peace, even if you did by some miracle defeat every one of us and destroy all of our bases, do you really think that it will end there? As long as there is evil in a single heart, even a slight glimmer of it, peace will never come. The problem is, this darkness is found in every heart. Even in yours, I can see it clearly.
?So, since you?re apparently so wise and I know nothing, what do you plan to do about this, eh??
Why do you think that we are trying to fulfill this prophecy? As I said, this...
Tenzu motioned his arm out wide, indicating the barren wasteland of frozen, cement statue-like people around them.
This is what will happen. For each and every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. And so cataclysm, the ultimate of all destruction, will produce peace.
Riku stared at him for a long moment, ?I don?t think I?ve ever heard anything more twisted in my life.?
Sixteen years is not a very long time. Surely not long enough to know how to achieve peace. Or what ?peace? truly is, for that matter. There is something that the former Akatsuki, the original one, failed to see. You cannot force people to accept peace, or any such ideals. If people cannot accept the exact same method to achieving peace, then we will all disagree, which will lead to violence, ironically turning peace into chaos. It is simply human nature to put down anything that we fail to understand or that we cannot accept. In fact, you only prove this point right now, as you constantly argue but on no true foundation on which to do so. If people cannot accept the same method, then they must be obliterated. It is as simple as that.
Tenzu, still holding the Akatsuki ring in the air, continued, seeing that Riku was finally, truly, listening.
And from there, a new world will be born. A new world where the same ideal is passed down through generations. We will erase and rewrite history itself. And this... this simple ring, could allow you to avoid the fate that all the rest, those who will not accept peace, will inevitably face.
Riku stayed in his position for a long while, breathing heavily, and then suddenly he realized what Tenzu meant, and then he growled while taking out Soul Eater, ?Never...?
Riku could hear Teznu laugh, but that, too, was in the ethereal voice. He brought his arm down, but he still looked up above, staring up at the scarlet moon above them. His arm was now limply at his side as he laughed.
Then you will end up like the rest.
Riku started to move, but was suddenly paralyzed in place. He could feel cement, the very cement that encased all of the others into their statue-like state, creeping ups his feet, up his legs. Tenzu was still taunting him.
How will you fight when your enemies overwhelm you?
Riku felt Soul Eater disappear from his grasp, fading into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
Where will you run when we are at every corner?
Riku turned quickly to the side as he saw all of the cement statues on one side of him burst in explosions, and the remnants of them disintegrate as they blasted into the air.
Where will you hide when everything is obliterated?
Riku watched as all of the statues on the other side of him did the same, and felt the cement now at his shoulders.
Who will you turn too... when everyone is gone?
Riku watched, feeling tears streaming down his face violently like giant bullets of rain, as Reina, Tenzu fading from sight in front of him, blasted into bits, those bits disappearing, and then everything was gone. Riku felt the cement encase him, binding him in complete darkness. And within that darkness, he could hear Tenzu?s final question.
Will you make the right choice?
