Resignation

Well folks, it's been fun, but all journeys must come to an end. And now, ours has. I have left the Diovni Arms and Protection/Birth of a Guardian project to work on my own things. Personally, I hope Senio, or Draguss, or whatever I should be calling my boss continues with the DAP bransh without me. I have grown attached to these characters, which is kind of weird considering what scumbags they are. Well, except for Mirn. I gotta admit, I wish I could have finished her story happily, but maybe cutting it off now is for the best anyway. Anyway, time for another shameless self-promotion pitch. In my last chapter, I requested that you all check out Midnight: Return of the Vampire on fictionpress. That request still stands, and I would appreciate the support. I have also written a few chapters for my Devil May Cry fic, Bane of Lilith, which I would also like for you to R&R. And now, for a single, totally unrelated chapter (unless Draguss decides otherwise, but I doubt it) so that I can say goodbye to the characters I've been working with for so long. As dorky as this sounds, I really will miss you.

Goodbye

Smoke curled up from the remains of Diovni's fortress, crashed into the mountainside. Leek stood on the mountain top, his blue shawl whipping up in the air around him. Raize trekked slowly up the bouldery path from the destruction to stand beside him.

So this is it... Leek glanced at him, then turned his gaze back to the wreckage he had called home all these years. The base is destroyed, the connections to the rest of the company cut off. For the first time in his existance, Raize chuckled. And we're left here, alone.

Leek nodded. "Looks that way." Turning, he led Raize down the mountain to where the other Warlords were waiting.

"Well?" Duke asked, getting up from his seat on a boulder. "How bad is it?"

Without realizing it, Leek began laughing. The others just stared at him as he fell back onto his butt and rested his hand in his left hand. "Oh, it's bad," he managed to get out, gasping for breath. "Let's just say we're stuck here. For good." He got his amusement under control and looked around.

Ichirou was the first to say what everyone was thinking. "So whadda we do now?"

Leek stood, brushing himself off. "It doesn't matter. The base is gone, Diovni is dead, and the company's not going to hold together now that they have no way of communicating." He sighed, turning towards oncoming storm clouds. "I guess we just do whatever we want now." He started walking into the wind, dust kicking up around him. They watched as he drew away. Raize began walking after him without a second glance, falling into perfect pace.

Half a mile into the march, Leek heard a voice on the wind. Turning, he saw Ichirou running towards him and Raize, his long black overcoat flapping out behind him like a pair of dark wings on the landscape. "Wait!" He called out. Leek and Raize stopped their walk and watched him as he approached. "Where're you going?"

Leek shrugged. "Wherever the winds take us I guess."

Ichirou looked back at Liam, Duke, Laurel and Mirn, still watching them. "Can I come? I don't have anywhere else to go."

Leek smiled. "I'm not gonna stop you." and the three of them settled into a brisk pace, soon dissapearing from view.

Duke

After Diovni Arms and Protection fell, Duke quickly resumed his old habits of excessive drink and gambling. He spent the remainder of his life an outlaw, running from one ruined city to another, winning money, wasting it on booze, losing what was left and being run out of town. Twice, he married, but it never lasted, his addictions to powerful to overcome. He was buried in a nameless grave.

Liam

Liam used his considerable connections to create an underground drug and mercenary ring. He became known as the Corrupted Saint, a ruthless ruler who commanded the loyalty of thousands. Unfortunately for him, it could not last. He married and had a son whom he named Maxwell, in memory of his former lord. He devoted the majority of his time to caring for his family. Enemies within his organization saw this as a chance to seize power, and he was murdered in the night.

Laurel

Laurel traveled with Duke for a time, but left after she decided the life of a drifter wasn't for her. She became the favorite guard of a local dictator who rose to power in the confusion following Diovni's death. However, she soon suffered a mental break down and was admitted to an asylum where she lived out the remainder of her days, two personalities fighting for a single body.

Ichirou

Ichirou traveled with Leek for several years. Eventually, they came upon the town that Ichirou had grown up in, persecuted for his abilities. Now, however, the locals greeted him with open arms, having heard rumors of his power and of the people he had saved since joining Leek. Leek and Raize disappeared in the night, leaving him in his village. He took over as the magestrate of the town and became their protecter. His angry nature was calmed by a young girl named Rebecca, whom he married. They had two children, a son and a daughter.

Leek

Leek journeyed the world, traveling from city to city, fighting back the insurgents and rogue Diovni soldiers that began to terrorize the areas. It is said he met quite a few of his former Svanimii agents doing the same thing. He assembled a small army and defended settlements for almost ten years before mysteriously disappearing along with all his followers.

Raize

Raize remained with Leek. After the destruction of DAP, Raize contacted all the Shadow's Claw, via telepathy, and freed them from the tormented lives he had created for them, allowing them free will and the ability to feel remorse for their crimes. Most Shadow's Claw operatives found themselves at an old monastery, where they devoted their lives to peace, in order to pay for the atrocities they had committed. Whether Raize decided this on his own, or if Leek made him is unknown. He disappeared when Leek did.

Mirn

Mirn settled down in Lymir, the most populated settlement left. There, she joined in a movement to provide the survivors of Diovni's wars with medical aid and to repair the devastated planet. While working, she met another doctor named Nathniel Gert. The two of them worked side by side, and soon fell in love, married, and had a young boy whom they named Ulric. The day of their wedding, light shone through the clouds covering the planet for the first time in almost fifty years.

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Author's Note: Wow, I actually got a little teary eyed writing that. God, I really am going to miss this. But, I guess this is how things need to go down. Remember, check out Midnight: Return of the Vampire on fictionpress, Bane of Lilith right here on , and keep reading Birth of a Guardian.

So long, enjoy the stories, find some that you would want to suggest to me (real stories, not self insertion or one shots unless they are really good), and never, EVER stop writing. Peace, pssssht.