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Love is Cruel

Chapter Eleven

In Essense

Alas, everything got straightened out. Soulcatcher was explained and Nox was, once again, defeated. However, this defeat was a bit strange.

I won't go into detail with the explantion because it's boring. I'll state was you must know.

Raven was never explained. No matter how many questions were directed to his idenity, he always replied with "I'm just a friend." However, the side way glances he gave Crystal made Kevin uneasy.

Bella and Crystal were fuming that they had been so…helpless during the whole thing. Bella wanted a shot at the forvalaka that Lucky, Kiora, and Amphrite killed.

Lucky was eating a Whopper the whole time.

Kiora had stolen her fries.

Remembering the black box, Tracy was to send Raven back to his own realm as his real self, Shapeshifter.

At least, that's what they all thought.

It was one of those strange days. The sun was out but it seemed like it was going to rain. Raven stood on the room of the castle, letting the wind blow his black hair around.

"Shapeshifter?" Tracy appeared on the roof with the black box in her hand. "Are you ready?"

At first, it seemed that Raven didn't hear her. But then, he turned around. "Yeah, I guess so."

"First, I want to ask you something." She seemed to hesitate for a moment. "What's up with Crystal?"

Raven arched an elegant eyebrow. (*cracks up* Again, the inside joke..) "What about Crystal?"

"Why is it that you keep on looking at her? You're making Kevin jealous."

A smirk crossed the man's face. "I'll tell you. Your code name is Kitty, isn't it?"

There was silence. Tracy blinked several times. "How do you know?" See, during the years Tracy was with the Black Company, she had never met Shapeshifter directly. She had heard about him and cummunicated with him, but she had never told her his code name. The others never mentioned her in front of any Taken other than Soulcatcher.

Raven shrugged. "The black box does strange things Kitty. I'm not Shapeshifter. When…Shapeshifter transformed into me…I became me. I don't know how, it just happened."

"Anou…okay, then." Tracy didn't exactly find it hard to believe. She knew that Shapeshifter could act, but she knew that he wasn't THAT good.

"That's why I wasn't able to use powerful magic in the battle. Those enchanted blades drained me."

"And what does Crystal have to do with this?"

Raven stared at the setting sun; the color of blood. "She reminds me of Darling."

There was more silence.

Tears slowly began to streak down Raven's cheeks. "It's so strange, ne? I mean, who would have thought that…Darling… Well, I ran away once she told me that she loved me in a way more than a friend. I was scared."

The tears came faster now.

"God, I was so self-centered then. Overblown ego. The Lady, One-Eye, Goblin, and Silent shouldn't have bothered to get me out of that trap. Hell, I'm not even sure Silent wanted me out."

The tears stopped.

"And then, when I tried to take Darling back, she hated me. She hated me so bad." He turned to Tracy who was speechless. "That's why I was staring at Crystal. She reminded me of Darling."

Tracy opened her mouth to speak but no words came out.

Raven held out his hand. "Just take me back to the damned realm."

A flicker of pity sparked in Tracy's eyes, but it was gone. "Alright," she whispered. She tossed the black box to him.

Inside of catching it, Raven let himself fade into the box.

And he wasn't there anymore.

Tracy walked over to pick the box up. As she tossed it in the air, her heart felt heavy. "You're wrong Raven," she whispered. "Darling does and forever love you. However, she's so hurt right now."

"You pity him." Tracy felt Tobias's arms at her waist. Tobias leaned his face over her shoulder. "But isn't he the one who faked his death by drowning in a public bath?"

Despite herself, Tracy began to laugh. "Yeah, that's the one."

"Raven…now I know who he is," he murmured in her ear. "But…" his voice softened, "Is his essense…"

Tracy shook her head. "No, I don't love him like that. Can't be a transformation."

"I'm sorry for that…"

Tracy glanced back at him, surprised. "Why are you sorry?" She smiled. "Raven's essense will forever belong to Darling." But Darling's essense already belongs to Silent. God, love is so…

"Love is cruel, isn't it?"

Tracy blinked. What exactly was Tobias trying to point out? "Na~ni…?"

The holder of Amon-Ra continued, as if he hadn't heard her. "I mean, Nox risked all that just for Chaos's love," he said calmly. "I'm willing to bet that he doesn't even like her anymore. I'm willing to bet that he loves some one else. Nothing the dark goddess can do will change that."

Tracy just flat out stared at him. "How… How would you know?"

Tobias closed his eyes and rested his head on her shoulder. "I just do princess, I just do."

~Owari~

Credits

Production

Air Guardian * Isabelle

Sources

Glen Cook (Black Company)

Garth Nix (Charter Magic)

Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman (Dragonlance & Darksword Trilogy)

Marion Zimmer Bradley (Darkover)

Melanie Rawn (Dragon Prince Triliogy: Sunrunner's Fire)

Special Thanks To:

Aucifer ~ Yuki

(He does wonders on inspirations. *rabid fangirl* XD) (Not Kaikan Phase but the Yuki there is based off of this Yuki, eh? He's cute too...the only thing is...he's not real...)(O.o If Kaikan Phase is all based off of Aucifer...does that mean Makoto is a pervert? *sharp things get thrown at her from Makoto fans*)(WHAT?!?! Survivial from GLAY was the opening!?!!??! *eyes widen* And that's one of my favs on the CD!!)(*sweatdrops* E.M.U. is Aucifer's rival? *more sweatdropping* ...I seem to like Sotsugyou M and Kaikan Phrase the same...thank god...it's all linking...this is kinda scary...)(Ahh...Yuki looks so awesome in Kaikan Phase...)(I know I'm ranting...)

Crystal, Lucky, Bellanca, Sabriel, Kiora

L'arc~en~ciel: Hyde / Hideto Takarai (Again...the inspiration from staring at my Hyde desktop and screensaver for several hours...)