Date: Sun, 9 Jul 2000 13:44:59 EDT
From: Morbddream@aol.com
Subject: Crimson Tears - 14

Disclaimer: This story is not meant to imply anything about the sexuality
of any of the members of Nsync. If you are too young to read this, please
leave. Illegal, do the same.

Note: Yeah, yeah ... I said the fifth, but now it's kinda not the fifth. I
suddenly realized I get two holidays, and didn't tell ya'll! My bad! Sure
they're spaced, but I decided to wait 'till after my birthday to finish
this up, unless I finish it this morning (The 8th ... Day before I get
old... yay! <G>). I hope you all understand, and on with the gore ... err
... story!  (I'm a big fan of magical everything, Rob Zombie, Vampires, and
all things dark, and brooding.  Gore is gore is gore is gore ... and I just
love it.. <EG>) Now, I must, on this slow 'puter, go to nifty to retrieve
the last part of 13 ... so maybe I'll just reword it! Yeah.. OK... Have
fun!
*******************************************************************************
From 13:
	Luke stepped into the center of the room. "Everyone get back. This
is my fight."

*******************************************************************************

Chapter 14:

	Cronos laughed heartily, and stood from his seat. "Brother, I will
give you one chance to let your friends die with you. It will make it
harder on them if you let yourself get killed." Luke scowled at
Cronos. "You were always an idiot, Cronos. Get your ass down here, now!"
Cronos smirked, and flipped off the ledge. "Very well."

******

	Cronos lunged at Luke, slashing the air with his claws. Luke
quickly side stepped his attack, and tripped him. Cronos rose to his feet,
and drew a curved scythe. The blade was stained with blood. The black
leather of the handle tapered down to a silver base. A small red gem was
placed in a small hole, glowing almost menacingly. He slashed, seemingly
slicing the air around him. This shattered any doubts we may have had about
his time controlling powers.  He once again lunged at Luke, slashing his
arm, causing a line of blood to begin dripping from the wound. Luke grabbed
the wound, screaming in pain. Cronos laughed once again. "You know me
better than that, brother! Are my blades ever only blades?" Luke looked up
at his brother, terror on his face. "No, it can't be! The blood..." Before
he could finish, his eyes twisted, coating themselves in what looked like
stone. His ears, too, became coated in stone. "Thats right . The blood of
an ogre. Very hard to obtain, but very effective. Now, you will die." He
raised the sword above his head, ready to strike. I made a move to save
him, but was stopped by Alexander. I looked at Luke, who was now on his
knees, awaiting the blade. Cronos slashed down.  The blade came within
inches of Luke's head, but Luke's hands shot up, catching the blade before
it could connect with his skull. "Cronos! Do you not remember?" He began to
rise off the floor, staring through his brothers with stone eyes. "You
tried this once before! It was the only time I ever defeated you." Fear
crossed Cronos' face. He sheathed the blade, backing away from his brother,
who kept pace with him. Cronos then smiled, stopping in his tracks. He
waved his hand in the air, freezing Luke.

	"Now, you will all witness my power!" He vanished, without
vanishing. He was moving with incredible speed. So fast, only those of us
with sight beyond sight could track him. Lance, Alexander, and I followed
them, ignoring the confused stares of the rest of the group. Justin
eventually caught on, and changed into a were-eagle. A normal eagle
would've left him vulnerable, so he had to improvise. The four of us
relayed Cronos' movements to the rest of the group.  Appearing to the rest
of the group, Cronos stopped suddenly. "Sight beyond sight? Impressive, but
not nearly enough!" Luke was still frozen in time. The coat of stoned
blocking his senses faded, showing him the world in which he could not
interact. Cronos moved toward Luke, ready to strike. Anthony mindlessly
wandered forward, glowing slightly. In shock, no one made a move to stop
him. I looked at Gail. "He is sixteen?" I asked. She nodded, slowly. "I
forgot completely. I don't know what power he has, but we should probably
take cover. Any power burst can be nasty." I nodded, and pulled the few
that didn't comprehend along with me. We knelt behind nearby statues,
hoping they protected us enough.

	Anthony was still mindlessly walking toward Luke. Cronos had
stopped, ready for the new enemy. He was poised to strike as soon as
Anthony got close enough. Anthony never did, however.  He stopped twenty
feet from Cronos, and Luke. The slight glow around his body grew brighter,
flowing into Luke. Luke fell to his knees, looking around violently. "I
told you to stay back!  This is my fight!" He screamed. Gail poked her head
from behind the statue. "It's a power burst!  Get over here, now!" She
yelled to Luke. Luke looked at Anthony, and stood. He ran to where we were
hiding, and peeked around one of the statues. Anthony turned to Cronos,
whose face had suddenly twisted into mortal terror. "What are you?!" He
screamed.  Anthony's voice echoed itself, like he was possessed. "I am what
you see. Your power is mine, and will forever be in my hands. You, Cronos,
have misused the powers of the darkness. The darkness is evil, but you know
it does not tolerate you destroying family, unless that family is
threatening it's existence. The darkness will do with you what it pleases,
but as for you punishment from the light. That is my place to decide."
Anthony raised his hand, palm up. The glow flowed into a ball in his palm,
and vanished. "Your power is mine. You are nothing but a drone. Good-bye,
Cronos." With that, Anthony turned and walked toward the door. He reached
the iron gates, and fell. Gail ran to him, followed by the rest of
us. Cronos fell to his knees, screaming incoherently. Luke turned to him,
and watched in horror as the darkness passed it's judgment. A gray cloud
surrounded Cronos, flashing with electricity. From within the cloud Cronos
could be heard screaming in pain, and anguish.

	The cloud slowly faded, showing Luke what had happened to his
brother.  The blood stained body of the once great vampire lay lifeless on
the floor of the temple.  The large pool of blood was littered with
internal organs. The heart lay beating, pumping more blood onto the cold,
unforgiving marble.  *****************
	After we had cleaned the temple, the torches lit, ridding the
temple of all darkness. A soft female voice carried through the temple like
dust on the wind. "I give you my thanks, brave warriors. I am Gabrielle."
Vincent stepped further into the temple, from his position at the
door. "The creator?" He asked, obviously not believing what he had
heard. In the throne Cronos once tainted with his presence, the form of a
beautiful woman could be seen. Her white robes covered the arms of the
chair. Her platinum hair stretched down to her shoulders, untouched by the
soft breeze blowing through the temple. Her crimson eyes were blazing like
hot embers of an autumn fireplace. Her sleek form sat perfectly still in
the throne. "No, Vincent. I am not the creator. I am only the first
creature he made to inhabit this world. I was sent with a message for all
of you. You will see him in exactly one month. I do mean exactly. He is
never late. This temple houses great power that all of you must use to win
the war of souls. You will not see this power for quite a while, but it
will always be there. You are the only humans to ever see the inside of
this temple. You will know where to go when you get inside."

	She vanished in a flash of light. The wall under the throne creaked
like huge rusty gears. It sounded as if the door had not been opened in
thousands of years. The wall separated, revealing eleven frames around gray
discoloration's on the walls. We stepped into the middle of this room. I
looked around, trying to take in the entire room. The white marble
vibrated, making various sounds. Spirits moaned as we walked into the
room. They seemed get happier as we approached the center of the room. The
floor was exquisitely decorated with various paintings.  Golden dragons,
and moaning spirits. Each of the paintings swirled from the center,
creating small circles. I looked at one of the paintings. It was of a small
boy amidst destruction. A single tear flowed down his cheek. On closer
inspection, I saw this tear was the only thing that wasn't painted in
gold. The bottoms of his eyes were lined with tears, creating a crimson
glow in his eyes. Only one tear made it down his cheek. A single crimson
tear. I walked to the circle, and stood facing the framed gray spot on the
wall. I looked around, and noticed everyone else standing in the eleven
circles around the room, facing the walls. The wall in front of me pulsed,
as the guardian of the cave at the academy stepped through.

	"Hello, Jacob." He stared at me, not taking his eyes off of me for
a second. "I see it really was you. I am sorry I did not believe you,
then. I am the God of Life. That should answer your question as to why I
stood by that bed." He smiled, and turned toward the wall. His figure until
this point was always blurred, making it impossible to truly see him. He
did not look as old as he once did, instead he looked to be in his mid
thirties. I think he changed his form a bit, because his hair was gray,
where it was now glowing many different colors. His hair shifted every
color of the rainbow.

	He reached out to the wall, touching it lightly with his palm. The
wall pulsed again, and changed into a deep blue. The waves of white that
were flowing through the blue were hypnotizing.  He turned back to me, and
motioned for me to walk tot he wall. I cautiously stepped up to it, not
knowing what to expect. I touched the wall, and my hand went through it. I
looked at him, and he smiled warmly. "Go ahead. Enlightenment is the key."
I raised an eyebrow, and stepped through the portal. I looked on in horror
as I began reliving my past.

TBC...

****************************************************************************

That isn't too short, I hope? I just wanted to get this out since I passed
my little *almost dead line thingy* .. :) Should his entire past be it's
own chapter, or not? E-mail me, make a suggestion, please.. :) I got STUCK
completely when the not so old old man told Jake what God he was ... cause
that whole God thing is starting to become a rip-off of Nsync Saga's
Guardian element. *I promise, Rune, that is not my intention! It's just
hard to write these magical stories without adding Guardians, and Gods!!*
:) See ya next time! Bye-bye.