A/N: And now, everything ends! The world blows up!
No, not really.
Disclaimer: I don't own Tales of Vesperia! Leave me alone! *sobbing*
Thanks to Yuri's distraction, most of the corridors were empty as Flynn jogged silently along them. He could hear the echoes of their shouted cries, but they were far enough that he didn't need to worry.
"Alert the Emperor! We've caught the intruder!" someone shouted.
Flynn turned in surprise, biting his lip. Yuri...
If they were going to tell his uncle, then they'd probably end up going to the throne room instead. He started down a different corridor, now more on his guard. They would probably still keep Yuri surrounded, but if they realised he was in the castle too...
It seemed his worries were unfounded, however, as he managed to sneak to a side door leading into the throne room.
Slipping behind one of the long drapes that was hanging next to the wall, he peeked out from behind it. A moment later, the main doors opened, and he felt his blood boil as his uncle entered the room with three knights around him.
"What is all the racket about? An intruder? What do I care about an intruder?" Kane snapped, scowling.
"It seems he's the Prince who slipped through your grasp three years ago, my Lord," one of the knights said, bowing.
Kane paused, glancing at him. "Oh...The son of that idiot, Zane? Interesting..." For a moment he was silent, then he nodded, turning. "Call him in," he ordered.
Two of the knights hurried back towards the doors, stepping out for a moment. Flynn watched, frowning, as a few minutes passed.
Suddenly the doors were thrown open, several knights coming in. Flynn blinked as he caught sight of Yuri fighting against them, trying to tear himself from their grasp; and, from the looks of it, the knights were having a hard time keeping a grip on him.
"Restrain him!" Kane ordered. The knights forced Yuri to his knees then pressed him against the floor, keeping his hands behind his back and pressing his head against the floor. He gave a snarl, trying to force his hands from their grips.
Kane walked over to him, frowning.
"You caused me a lot of trouble, Prince Yuri," he said, fingering the hilt of his sword.
"Good. Who'd want to make a bastard like you have an easy life?" Yuri snapped back, trying to kick out at one of the knights behind him.
"Would you like to know something?" Kane asked in a sickly sweet voice. Yuri glanced up, confused, and Kane knelt down so that they were gazing into each other's eyes. "I killed your father, that idiot Zane."
Yuri stiffened, his eyes widening, then clenched his teeth to force the tears down. There had always been a chance...slim, but a chance, that he was alive...
Kane stood up, wheeling away. "I must say though, it was rather a pity. I wanted to kill you infront of him, but you ran away before I could."
"You're a sick bastard. I hope someone stabs you in your sleep one day," Yuri snarled.
Kane shrugged, then pulled his sword from it's scabbard. Flynn blinked as he recognised Dein Nomos, the sword which would only show it's true powers when weilded by a true heir. In the past, it had been used by the Kings of both countries to show the new heir. It had also been used by two kings on the newer king's coronation to show they were linked. It was not surprising Kane had gotten his hands on it, but it angered Flynn that he would dare touch such a priceless relic.
"I have no more use for you. With you dead, this sword shall truly belong to me," Kane murmured, pressing the sword against Yuri's neck. Yuri stiffened slightly, then glared at Kane, refusing to show fear.
Kane lifted the sword to stab it through Yuri's neck. Flynn quickly reacted, leaping forward and drawing his sword, pressing the edge against Kane's neck.
Everyone went still, staring at Flynn.
"Don't you dare touch Yuri," Flynn hissed, venom in his voice.
"Oh? And who might you be?" asked Kane calmly, certain that his subjects would never dare kill him.
"You don't recognise me, Uncle?" asked Flynn.
Kane froze, and the knights around them stared.
"You...Flynn? But...you died!" Kane cried.
"Maybe you should have been more thorough," Flynn replied. He glanced at the knights holding Yuri down. "I suggest you get off him; whether you have any lasting respect for my Father, or for the safety of your Emperor's life."
Slowly the knights backed off, releasing Yuri. He pushed himself up, hissing in discomfort.
"Took you long enough," he muttered to Flynn.
"Sorry. I meant to step in a little sooner," Flynn replied.
Kane suddenly attacked Flynn. The blonde leapt back, easily avoiding the blow, and got into his stance. Yuri quickly pulled out his own sword, standing on the other side of Kane.
Kane scowled. "It seems two ghosts returned from the dead. Tell me, how did you survive?" he asked coldly.
"I believe it's called 'fate'," Yuri replied cockily.
"Then it shall be 'fate' that you both die here by my hand!" Kane shouted, lunging at Yuri. Yuri skipped backwards, knowing he had the disadvantage of a shorter weapon. He was hesitant to use his dagger already though, knowing it was his secret weapon.
Flynn leapt at Kane while he was still facing Yuri, thrusting his sword forward. Kane managed to block him, throwing him to the side. Flynn stumbled slightly before regaining his footing, ducking under the strike from Kane. Yuri jumped forward, slipping under the slash from Kane and kicking upwards at him.
Kane staggered back, only just avoiding the blow, and the two boys leapt back, standing again. They shifted slightly, gripping their weapons tightly.
"His weapon has more reach than ours," Yuri murmured.
"Obviously. He can handle a bigger blade."
"What should we do? Attack together or separately?"
Flynn bit his lip, then glanced at Yuri out of the corner of his eye. "I have more reach than you, and more power. If I do the main attacking, can you cover me?"
Yuri nodded, and Flynn's gaze slid back to Kane. The two stiffened slightly before Flynn darted forward, slashing at him. Kane blocked, the two struggling against each other. Kane started pushing Flynn back, and looked about to overpower him; Yuri suddenly darted in, slashing at his chest, and Kane disengaged his sword to block Yuri's attack.
Flynn stepped back, panting, as Yuri started attacking Kane instead. He lashed out with kicks and punches as well as attacking with his sword. As Kane went to slam Yuri's sword from his hand, Yuri threw it into the air. He went onto his hands, kicking at him before flipping and grasping his sword with his other hand, sending a wave of power flowing at him as he somersaulted back out of the way.
Flynn went back to attacking before Kane could recover, giving a low slash that lightly nicked him before lunging. Kane managed to force Flynn's sword to the side, reversing the blade and bringing it at Flynn's hand.
Flynn yelped as the sword cut his hand, causing him to drop his sword. He nursed it a moment, glancing up as Kane lifted his sword to slash down at Flynn, before Yuri was back, lifting his dagger to trap blades.
"Are you alright?!" he called to Flynn as he struggled against Kane.
"I'm fine!" Flynn replied.
"Good! Then get your sorry ass back in this fight!" Yuri ordered, lunging with his sword, his dagger still trapping Kane's sword.
Kane managed to dodge to the side, the sword missing him, then kicked at Yuri and sent him stumbling back. He leapt forward to bring his sword through Yuri's heart, before Flynn drew his other sword, batting Kane's to the side and just missing Yuri.
The two boys leapt back to a safe distance, but Kane charged after them, not giving them time to rest. They went different sides, easily coming to the back of Kane. Yuri darted in for a surprise attack, managing to get a brief slash on Kane's back before he turned, swinging his sword and catching Yuri's arm. The raven head jumped back, panting as he tried to regain his breath.
Kane paused, gazing at them. These boys were...odd. Their styles to begin with had been obvious; long sword for Flynn, and shortsword for Yuri. But now Yuri had two weapons, and Flynn had a shortsword, and they both looked comfortable using them. To swap styles half way through a battle...
"Who taught you to fight? He must have been proficient if he could even get you two half-decent," he taunted.
"If we're half-decent, you must be absolute rubbish," Yuri replied coolly. Kane glared at him, lifting his sword.
"I am the greatest warrior that ever lived! None can match my fighting prowess!"
Flynn suddenly rushed forward, attacking Kane and catching him on his hand. Kane gave a yell as he dropped his sword, it being too heavy to weild one-handed.
He glared at the boy. "H-How dare you! You cannot disarm the Emperor!" he shouted.
"Well, you did to me," Flynn pointed out, raising his hand. Then he reached down, grabbing the handle of Dein Nomos.
As he lifted it, it glowed, aer rushing down the blade. He gazed at it a moment, confused by how light it was, then held it out towards Yuri. Yuri glanced at Kane then sheathed his knife, walking forward and taking the handle of the sword as well.
Dein Nomos glowed even brighter. Everyone around them stared, then one by one the knights dropped to their knees, silently accepting that the two boys were the true heirs, and not Kane.
"What are you doing?! Stand up! Arrest them!" Kane shouted. No one moved, and Kane scowled before bowing his head in defeat.
"You've overstepped your boundries, Kane. You shall be stripped of all nobility and banished from Zaphias and Evalicia for the rest of your life," Flynn said coldly. This is what he had waited for. Since that day Kane had set the knights loyal to him on his family, chasing them from the city, and causing the death of his mother and father...finally, he was getting what he deserved.
Kane stood, head still bowed, as several knights came forward to take him away. Before they could grab him, however, he suddenly leapt towards Flynn, drawing a knife.
"If I shall go down, I'm taking you with me!" he snarled, lunging. Suddenly he was thrown off course, pain flaring through his side.
Flynn blinked as Kane hit the floor, Yuri above him. His sword was buried deep into Kane's side, and the older man struggled for breath as his lungs filled with blood. He choked, blood dribbling out of his mouth, then went limp.
Yuri straightened, gazing at the still figure of Kane, then glanced at Flynn. "Sorry. But I wasn't going to let him hurt you," he said quietly.
Flynn gazed at the body, then looked away. "It's alright. Someone like him would have tried to return anyway," he murmured.
"What should we do now, Your Highness?" asked one of the knights, saluting to Flynn.
"Highness?" Flynn asked, confused.
"Right. You're the Emperor now, remember?" Yuri pointed out, grinning.
Flynn hesitated, then shook his head. "Evalicia will be returned to you, Yuri..." he said.
"Nah, it doesn't matter. I don't have anything to return to anyway, and I prefer not being bound down like that. Besides, I'm so used to having you here, it'd probably be weird being apart!" Yuri replied.
"So you'll be staying in Zaphias?"
"Sure. If you'll have me."
"Of course we will. Are you sure you don't want us to split Evalicia from us, though?"
Yuri sighed. "I'm sure. With someone like you ruling them, they'll be in good hands," he replied.
Flynn gazed at him, then nodded, turning to the knights. "Alert all knights that Kane is dead, and I am the one in charge now. Free everyone in the dungeons and escort them to their homes, no matter how far they are. Begin distributing food and money around all the towns under the Empire's control, and arrest anyone who is known to have harmed or abused their power over others."
"Yes sir!" the knights replied, before filing out of the room. Flynn sighed, then turned to Yuri, smiling.
"It's been a long night," he noted.
"You can say that again. Come on, we've got a new bed, let's go try it out," Yuri said with a grin before happily heading out of the room.
Flynn paused a moment, gazing at the body of Kane. He was his last relative...Now, both he and Yuri were completely alone.
"Flynn? You coming?" asked Yuri, poking his head around the door.
Flynn glanced up at him then nodded, walking to the door. Well, not entirely.
I mean, he still had the stupid idiot of a Prince with him, so he guessed that was good enough.
A/N: Super long chapter, attack! Take no prisoners!
So, yes. A very, very long chapter for having two short chapters before this. However, this also finishes off this little ficcy.
I hope everyone enjoyed it. I quite liked writing this, actually, though I'm not sure what I'll write now...
And, for all those Fluri lovers out there...The likelihood they end up getting together after this is extremely high. I just can't write Fluri. But please, allow your imaginations to run wild.
(For the none Fluri lovers, hey, they don't have to get together. They could just live happily in the same castle the rest of their lives)
Thank you for reading this. I hope everyone enjoyed it.
I'm taking a break from posting things because
1) I need more stories to post, and I only have another finished ToV fic...
2) I'm still settling back into school, so everything's a little hectic.
Until then, no more fics from me for a little while (shouldn't be too long, at least...) Thanks for your patience!
Review? And thanks!