And now for Porom...who's had woefully little screen time in this one. ^^;; Something I'll amend in the next fic.

This might seem a little..disjointed from last chap..trying to show another side of it entirely and well..not sure how well I did. =/

From the moment we entered this place...my heart was in my throat. Every step echoed through the darkness with the leaden finality of a tomb door closing...

One door for every Porom, Palom and Cecil to ever enter this place. Maybe these last three steps I take are the ones that close OUR doors....

That thought stops me, locks my feet to the floor as I look to Cecil who has also stopped.....but even as I look to him......he's fading. Everything around me is fading. Cecil, Palom, the hall- everything-

"NO!"

I try to move, try to grasp Palom before he vanishes completely...but my fingers touch only air..then cold stone. I blink as the darkness begins to receed once more- and then I can't help myself. I scream....

For the stone I touched was that of a headstone..rising out of black sands...and the name, written in old Mysidian?

Palom. I'm standing on my brother's grave....

"No...no- he's alive. he's alive-"

"Is he? You've seen his body several times already, little mage..."

His body.....yes...I saw so many Paloms on the way here...and myself....but he had also been beside me. Where he always was in times of trouble....Always.... I turn to see who is there now... and my heart returns to my throat. Golbez...clad in dark armor to match Cecil's crystal armor....

And Cecil is with him...armor and cloak dusty and covered with black sand. His eyes are closed and the sword he had weilded against Zeromus..is gone. The sand on his breast-plate remains in place....he isn't breathing....

"Oh powers.....you....you killed him...? But Golbez....WHY?!"

The wizard moves past me...throwing the limp body against a stone with Cecil's name on it as well. The sands begin to draw it down into their embrace....even when I try to dive to the side of the grave and haul him out. It's like trying to fight the wind..impossible...pointless...

"WHY Golbez? Aren't you the one who brought us here? Aren't you the one who was trying to show us how to SAVE our world? Why did you kill him..?"

He simply watches the body disappear...then he turns to me. I'm not sure what I expected. Anger? Mockery? Disdain?

Any of that..but not what I saw there. Not that sadness....

"I wanted to save it.....I always have, Porom...but it simply won't allow it..."

"Won't allow it....? ..You're not making any sense, Golbez!"

I push myself back to my feet, stumbling on the too soft sand to stand before Golbez...This man had nearly destroyed our world once. And now...he was aiming to do so again. But it just didn't make any sense. WHY?!

"This world exists at the cost of everything else, Porom...and it has struck down every attempt to save existance. Every Harbringer- or Fiend as history dubs them- every power ever sent to right the wrong the Lunarians committed has always been cast down and the very heart of existance further shattered.. I've been shown this clearly.."

He continues to look down at me a moment- then takes my shoulders in his hands with unexpected gentleness, turning me to look over the distance...where the ruined worlds Cecil, Palom and I had crossed drift.

"What you see here...it's the removal of a limb that's been poisoned beyond repair...With this...existance willl heal itself and begin again. This will have never happened...not all of the death, not all of the pain. Can't you see this is the better road? To continue this path..it will only destroy everything to the point existance itself will die, Porom..."

"I..I don't understand.....please, Golbez! Stop this! You're stronger than any of us alone- can't you find a better way than this? There HAS to be!"

The hands on my shoulders tighten a moment....then loosen at a sigh.

"You are no different from Cecil...even if your heart's truer than his was. In the end..it is still selfish...still self absorbed."

I try to shake his hands off- but only succeed in turning to glare up at him..I can feel the tears running down my cheeks...the thought of everything just..vanishing, even if it's to heal the heart of it all... I can't accept that. I can't accept that everything we did will just....vanish. From the hurt to the joy-

"If our hearts can exist with scars, Golbez- then so can existance! This world doesn't have to die- NONE of these worlds did! Perhaps it's selfish....but I don't want to vanish and I don't want everyone else to vanish too! Why can't you understand that we all have that right- no matter how wounded the heart of all things? Let it heal naturally- don't cut it's body apart just to suit you!"

The hands tighten on my shoulders once more- then begin pushing down. The sands begin to slip from under me, letting me slide in as surely as Cecil's body had-

"NO!"

I grasp at his armor, catching the belt and holding, even when the sands begin to all but tear at my legs to try to haul me in...

"There HAS to be another way Golbez! What did you see to make you do this? Tell me!"

"I saw the original mistake made for this world. And now I'm finally correcting it. Good bye, Porom.....I'll send you to rest beside your brother and friend....it's a courtesy I never gave the others. I am..sorry it came to this. You were just a pawn in a game you couldn't even begin to understand..."

The sands drag harder- each grain like a minute razor now as I continue to resist their pull. Golbez pulls my hands free- but I then simply grab hold of his arm, wrapping mine around it desperately...

"Golbez- this isn't the way! Death- killing- they never solve anything! I thought you learned that- I thought you all did- ten years ago....please....PLEASE, Golbez!"

And his only reply? To slap my hands away- though he remains kneeling by the sand-trap as I finally sink into it, my hands held out to him....what could he be thinking with those sad eyes..?

Was the fearsome "Man of Darkness" something else entirely....?

I close my eyes as the sand sweeps over them, just barely catching a glimpse when Golbez rises, something in his hands...

A crystal sword..

A fading, glittering light.......

"Porom!"

(Continued in: Puppets)

Mm...so what you guys think? Good? Bad? Should I pull it down and redo it or was this good?