~~~~~~~~~Sage's POV~~~~~~~~~

It took a while, but we managed to come up with a decent plan. Since I was the one who was suppose to end it, I was in hiding, waiting for the right time to strike.

Aiden and Iv were taken by guards back to the main room, where Ryan sat on his throne. I had snuck to the ceiling, invisible and inaudible to everyone, starting down at the scene. Noah was right outside the room, keeping an eye on Alyse, or in case anything got too out of hand.

"So, it seems you're stronger than I gave you credit for." Ryan was usually cocky, in a creepy way, but now he was just plain cold, glaring daggers at Aiden.

What happened between them...?

"Even after all these years, you still can't seem to find my weakness." Aiden shot back with the same seriousness.

Ryan's eyes flashed to black for a split second, walking over to Aiden. I tensed up when he pulled out a knife, but Aiden didn't flinch. He didn't even move.

"Not physical pain. Not blood. Not broken bones." He pressed the knife against Aiden's neck. "No, that doesn't scare you. You've grown out of it after all you've seen, haven't you?"

Aiden stared back at him. "I have you to thank for that."

Ryan chuckled. I formed a dagger, jumping onto the ground and slowly made my way over.

Right for the neck.

I raised my arm, preparing to attack. However, just as I struck, Ryan turned around, harshly grabbing my wrist as I turned visible, my eyes wide.

I tried to pull it away, grunting in pain as he squeezed it tighter. "L-let me go!!!"

He harshly kicked my gut, sending me back and crashing against the wall. I groaned in pain, but quickly got up, seeing the twins fighting against the guards who had a grip on them.

"You all just don't know when to give up, do you?!?" Ryan yelled as a terrifying grin spread across his face.

Aiden looked at him, and soon after, a long blue crystal sword formed on his hand. "No, I guess we don't."

I myself formed my own sword, running over to Ryan as Aiden did the same. Not to my surprise, he fought against us very well.

Luckily, we had backup, right?

Just as I thought that, Noah was pushed into the room, keeping Alyse with him to protect her as two familiar figures stood by the door. I groaned, this is just what we needed...

After a while, I managed to find an opening for an attack. Quickly going behind Ryan as he fought with Aiden, I tightly grabbed his shoulders, sinking my fangs into his neck. Knowing how cocky and relaxed he always was, I grew confident when he tensed up, trying to struggle.

I began to suck out as much blood as I could. What can I say? Part of the family.

His skin was slowly turning pale, and I was going to finish the job. But before I could, I felt a sharp pain erupt in my side, making me yell at the sudden pain as I backed away, seeing a dagger where the pain surged from.

I heard Aiden yell my name, and before I could do anything, he was already by my side as I now leaned against him for support. I ripped out the dagger as I flinched, gripping Aiden's sleeve. He gently placed a hand over my wound, slowly healing it.

We all turned to Ryan as we heard him start to a menacing chuckle, soon turning into a hysterical cackle that sent chills down my spine, his eyes flickering rapidly between black and green.

"You really thought it would be that simple?!?" His laughter kept growing louder and more disoriented. His voice soon became demonic as a dark aura began to block him from view.

The mist around him grew up five times the size of what he was, and my eyes widened as it cleared.

A giant black and dark green cobra with giant fangs, laughing hysterically at all of us. I knew he was insane, but I never knew he could do this...

"̸̷̹̻̝̪̤̦̫͓ͬ͗͌̐̿̃̂Ô̰̯̫̮̙̪̤̇̒̎̾ͫ͘h̠͙̭͓̹̔́ͩ͑ͩͮ̈ͯͤ͡ ̣̙͙̪͖̺̣͔̆ͦͮ̇̏ͥ̄ͤ́ͅl̸̛̯̰̗ͫ́͋̒͆̚͞o̵̡̻̣̳͓̜ͥ̒̓̀̋ͫ̓ͥ͂v̗̳̣̫͓̭͚̙͇̅ͭ̎̅͑͘e̘̺͐̾̒ͯ̀s̝̪͓̙̮͌ͥͭ͌͑̋̋̿́͟͜,̴̱̤͚͙̫̰̭̟̒͗̊̔̌ ̡̗͖̠̬̪͚̀̈́̓̅ţ͖̦̻̓̉̃͛́̚h̝̜͆ͦ̒ͭ̈́̇̋͟͞ë̻̲̣̼͋̿͗ͣͧ͋ͩͯ͘ ̷͕̣̰̥̩̳́̄̓̇̽͜͜s̶̱͚͙͓͕ͦ̓̓ͫͣͯ́́͢h̵̯̖̦̗̲͈̘̩̒ͤ͗̿͆͛́ͧ͌͜o̙̻̘̭̓ͩ͂͟͢w̽̃̎ͤ҉͕͚ ̸̴̼̲̭͇̅̐̐͟h̺̲̞̖͉͖̳̑ͮ͒ͧ̽ͧ͒̽̀̚͝a̿̆͑̀҉̼̦͓̲̞̰s̢͇̰̫̖͖̝͚̻͐ͯͤͣ͌͋͛̾̌ͅ ̧͎̬͖̱͗͗ͧ̑̅͆̉̎͜͞o̶̼̝ͧͦn͎̮ͤ̅͛̔͆ͦ͑ͧ͜l̶̘̩̮̤̈̑y̡̛̫̙͎̙̥̜̠ͫ́͝ ̷̛̛̝̻̲̟͕̜̄̊̇ͅj̶͈̦͉̑̄̉ͧ̎ͮ͌̀̀u̢͉͎͉̲̟̫͇̱ͮ̒ͧ̑͘s̵̡̳̱̞͙̝͔̗̮̰̓ͧ̇͒ͯ̑̇̍̃͡ţ̛͕̮͓̦̩͚̥̄̓ͮ̚͜ ̅͆̂̅̈́̃̄ͨͮ҉͚̠̦̬͓̕͡bͥͬͤͥ͑̈́́̽ͪ͏҉̷̖̯͚̖ͅẻ̡̘͉̠͕͈͉̫͔̾͂ͦ̐̿̌͢͞g̃͋ͨͣ͑҉̸̥̠̠̯u̖̬ͪͧ̊ͪ͘͞n͚̗̬̘͋ͯ̾ͮ͒̓ͣ̓ͥ͜!̵̝̪̪͈̜ͯ͐̉̾̈̒͋̇̚!̃̅̿͟͏̭̳͙͔͚̺̗͎!̴̘̪̘̜̦̮̼͍͂̃̀ͥ̓͗̒"̨̻͕̘̦͕̰ͦ̀ͧͮ̃ͭ̋ͬ͑͝ ̟̮͍̺̭̫̿̈ͥͬͬ̌̀̚͡͠

He harshly slammed his tail against the ground, long cracks appearing in the ground before us. Jesus! Even with little energy he still manages to do all of this!

The cracks kept parting the floor more and more, the empty spaces soon falling with lava. We all backed away from the cracks as they grew, boulders from the walls and ceiling starting to fall down.

I noticed Alyse staring at the lava, alone in a small space, unable to escape as some debris was about to fall.

My eyes widened before making my way over, managing to pick her up and jump to another area, both of us unharmed. "You ok...?"

Alyse buried her face on my shoulder, her lip slightly quivering. I looked at the others who were trying to fight against Ryan, though it wasn't as easy to get to him since Savanna and Alexa fought against them, too.

This was good though, Ryan's blood actually gave me a lot of energy, and he lost a lot of his, meaning we could have a chance after all.

"I-I want to help." I heard her say.

I looked down at her, shaking my head. "No, it's too dangerous."

"B-but I can't just s-stay here and do nothing!" She tried to speak as she held in sobs.

I thought for a while before placing her down, kneeling to her eye level, whispering something to her. I pulled away as I told her my idea. "Think you can do that...?"

She waited a few seconds, her glassy eyes shifting over to the battle scene, biting her lip before looking at me with a nod.

I placed a soft kiss on her forehead, standing back up. I didn't want her to get hurt. I always wanted a sister, and now that I finally have one, I'm not letting that dangling noodle do anything to her.

Or anyone in this family.

I rushed over to the others as a sword formed in my hand. As I did, I felt the ground underneath me change, looking down and seeing the large vine that I was walking on. I smiled in determination.

Good job, Al.

I managed to jump onto Ryan's head, harshly stabbing my sword into it and through his eye. He let out a loud roar of pain as he slammed his tail on the ground, knocking everyone off balance, though it did give us the advantage and I saw Noah wrap them both in chains, unable to move.

However, before I could get off, he moved his head away in a snap, causing me to fall off before I felt his tail harshly hit my back. I crashed into my brother as we both fell on the ground, knocking the air out of me. Iv had gone to stand in front of Alyse, ready for any attack.

Ryan glared straight out me, his grin only widening.

"THE MORE YOU TRY, THE MORE YOU FAIL!!! ONCE YOU'RE EXHAUSTED AND OUT OF BREATH, I'LL GET MY GUARDS TO TAKE YOU TO THE SEWING ROOM, YOUR LIMBS WILL BE CUT OFF AND SEWN TO DIFFERENT PARTS OF YOU, AND YOU'LL BE CONSCIOUS THROUGHOUT IT ALL!!!!! YOU'LL BE SORRY YOU EVER MISSED WITH THE WRATHS OF-"

The room suddenly grew freezing cold; the walls, ceiling, and floor were all covered in a layer of blue ice. I shivered at the sudden change of temperature, rubbing my arms for warmth, but really confused to what happened.

I felt Noah nudge my arm, making me look back at Ryan, my eyes widening at the sight.

A large sword went through his chest as black liquid oozed from his fresh wound. Slowly, he returned back to his human form, the sword as wide as his chest and stomach together.

Aiden stood behind, tightly gripping the sword's handle as he trembled, tears desperately falling down his cheeks.

I felt my heart sink, I knew he still cared so much about him, I knew he'd never wanted him to die.

I had offered myself this role because I didn't want him to be the one to carry this burden...

Ryan let out a cough, his mouth stained with the same black liquid from his chest wound. Aiden ripped out the sword, letting Ryan fall on the ground.

"I... c-can't... regenerate..." He harshly let out. I guess the lack of blood, or whatever he's made of, did help us after all...

Aiden fell to his knees, his sword falling beside him with a loud clash as he gritted his teeth, stopping himself from sobbing.

Ryan's head leaned over to Aiden's direction. There was something unfamiliar, some sort of... spark...

"H... heh... not bad, little b-brother..." He said, his eyes soon drifting closed. "N-not... bad at... all..."

His chest grew completely still. It wasn't long until Aiden finally gave in to the grief that quickly grew inside, crumbling down into loud sobs.

He buried his face on in his hand, trembling in horror at what he had done. "I-I'm sorry, I'm s-so so sorry!!!"

I quickly ran over, trying not to slip on the icy floor and tightly wrapping my arms around him. He didn't hesitate to hug back, tightly gripping my shirt as he cried into my shoulder.

I gently pet his hair, my heart aching at the scene. "It's okay, Aiden... it's okay... it'll be okay..."

...

"It's over, now..."

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

❤️❤️❤️