Ahrimans Whispers
Summary: Completed. One shot, beware the spoilers, they strike when you least expect it. My heart constricted, my light, my love had gone, Ormazd had betrayed us and now I had only one choice left, Ahriman.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Prince of Persia but if I did he'd have more gold and donkeys than he'd know what to do with. All of Ahrimans' whispers interpreted from the game.
My heart skipped a beat, Elika's whisper still rang in my ears as I watched her pour the last of her life's energy into the tree of life 'I'm sorry', sorry for what? Stealing my heart then sacrificing your life for a god who cares so little that he won't step in when his people are dying and Ahriman is trying to escape. I couldn't be angry at Elika, she was doing her 'duty', standing for her morals, even if I didn't believe in that crap it was a part of Elika and one of the things that made her so attractive to me. The concubine had warned me, Elika valued her duty above anything else, nothing else was important when it came to stopping Ahriman.
The blue tendrils connecting Elika and the tree began to fade as I rushed forward to her, fearing in my heart what my head already knew, she was dead. She had given her life to prevent his escape, to restore the trees and the land. She had already died once wasn't that enough for you Ormazd, or are you going to keep demanding that Elika proves her resolve to you; she isn't like her father, she will stand and fight for her duty. I scooped her up into my arms, tears beginning to sting the back of my eyes but I wouldn't let them come, I had to be strong just like Elika had been. I couldn't cry in the cesspit of Ahriman's prison, in the place where the last of the Ahura had died.
I walked up the stairs with Elika cradled in my arms, my fingers brushed against her skin, it was so cold and it shone like polished marble as all the colour and life seeped out of her corpse. She had been so strong yet so fragile, so easily broken when she sealed Ahriman, he had killed her in the end.
No it was Ormazd.
I shook my head slightly, I didn't like the idea of Ormazd, he had abandoned his people after the fight with Ahriman but surely he wouldn't let the last of his people die and leave Ahriman unguarded, he must have known Elika and her father were the last Ahura left in the City of Light. I walked out of the room that housed the tree of Life and walked down the corridor with Elika still in my arms. The crash of the doors slamming shut sent a shiver down my spine. Ahriman was sealed, that was definite now but at what cost. I looked down at Elika, so lifeless, so inanimate, it nearly broke my heart, it was such a high cost but was it worth it? Was Elika's life worth Ahriman being sealed? I didn't know and I didn't care I just knew that when Elika died so did part of me and I didn't think I would recover.
I had never told her how I felt, I had always hidden behind jokes, she had been right I never did let anyone get close and now I regretted it. If I had been nicer, more open then maybe Elika would have reconsidered, no that wasn't true and her duty would have driven her on, no matter what the cost. The outer doors of the temple slid open letting the sun shine through warming my skin but not my heart, nothing could do that.
I set Elika down on the tomb of her mother. Two strong women both cut off in the prime, two women who deserved to live more than anyone else. I brushed the hair out of her face and looked out on the desert. The four trees shone with light, feeding the temple the energy it needed to keep Ahriman trapped, all the hard work, blood and sweat me and Elika had put into giving them back their lives and now they had taken the life of the only woman I will probably ever love. I was starting to feel bitter but Elika had made her choice and I would have to live with it. As I moved my hand away from her face the visions that had haunted me and Elika rushed through my head. Her father making that deal with Ahriman to bring Elika back. That was one way to bring back Elika, otherwise I would have to face the darkness alone without her.
"What candle will shine in the darkness now that she has gone?"
The voice whispered in my head, so seductively, I knew what it wanted and I knew it was tempting me, but it was right, who will guide me through the darkness now that Elika was gone, no-one. She brought out the best in me, some goodness inside me that I had long since forgot. I always thought I only cared about me but Elika…Elika changed me. I couldn't go back to my selfish ways after all Elika had shown me but now I would have to because she was gone. No, I couldn't submit, it would go against all Elika had stood for.
"The power of this place wanes, and when I will be free, she will already have been forgotten."
Not by me. I walked down the temple stairs feeling the wind ruffle my clothes. This place, these people have already been forgotten, abandoned to the sands of time and fallen into decay but it will live on in my mind, Elika will live on in my mind. I could never forget all we had done, all the corrupted we had defeated together, it had had too much of an impact on my life, changed my view of the world ever so slightly. I still didn't believe in Ormazd but Ahriman, now he was real. I had seen what he could do, how much he could hurt people.
"What injury have I done to you that you have not done to me?"
That was true, I had gotten involved in this before Ahriman had even begun to try and kill me. Then again what had Elika done to him, he had hurt her before she had hurt him. It was her people who had kept him imprisoned not her on her own.
"Mine has been the imprisonment, mine has been the pain."
I'm in pain, I don't care about yours. Elika is dead and you're still there Ahriman, whispering in my mind. She had sealed you, but you still have a way to escape, through the minds and souls of others. Her sacrifice meant nothing, she had only postponed your returned, she hadn't stopped you for good.
"She is dead, dead for eternity, but I will be free."
My heart constricted, my light, my love had gone, Ormazd if he was real had betrayed us and now I had only one choice left, Ahriman.
"Fear not the night for it is the dawn that brings the pain, the night that brings the dreams."
I don't fear you Ahriman but I certainly don't trust you. I looked out over the desert once more, it was peaceful without the taint of corruption Ahriman would bring, but why should I care, no-one lives here, Ahriman could have this place for all I care, as long as I could have Elika back.
"Choose life, Choose death."
Is that my choice, let Ahriman stay sealed and loose Elika, or choose life and have Ahriman run riot over the city of Light and the rest of the world.
"I shall be free and where then will the light be"
I shook my head. I was on one of the platforms by a tree with my sword out ready to chop it down. How had I got here? I was preparing myself to cut down the trees, reverting to my selfish nature. The desire to have Elika back with me was selfish, I loved her too much to let her go, I was risking the world for my own happiness, sullying Elikas' final sacrifice.
"She has blinded you with her light, burned her will until it became yours."
I swung down my sword, easily slicing through the trunk of the tree. The ground beneath me changed colour as the power flow from the fertile ground to the temple was severed. Ahriman was still whispering but I couldn't hear it over my inner panic, I had weakened his prison, making it easier for him to escape, I couldn't go back now. There was no remaining Ahura with the power to restore the fertile grounds or the trees now that Elika was gone. I had to carry on cutting down the trees to release Ahriman; I had to bring Elika back if only to undo what I had done.
"Reclaim your destiny."
What destiny? If I had one, it had died with Elika and I don't even believe in that type of thing.
"I will be free."
I don't care, if it brings Elika back, she will put you back in your prison but I won't let her die this time, I'll find a way to keep her safe.
"She burns so brightly, a shining star for Ormazd."
Anger once again flowed through my veins as I jumped down from the second trees platform watching as the ground withered and died. Ormazd didn't deserve the loyalty of Elika. He had let her die when he could have intervened.
"Is he prepared to make such sacrifice or has he let his followers fall for him, fallen in his place."
The third tree was dead, the life draining out of the earth. Ormazd had turned his back on the world long before Elika was even born but I didn't care about that, I only cared that he could have saved her, he gave her the powers to stop Ahriman, but he must have known she was going to die, who would guard Ahriman now she is gone or doesn't he care. He let my love die and now he's prepared to let the world die.
"You seek justice then banish Ormazd, free me."
One tree left before I can set Ahriman free. It's what he wanted but if I get back Elika the world can go to hell. That was very selfish of me but why go against nature. I didn't know how to banish Ormazd and frankly I didn't care, he had already turned his back on the world, he wasn't interfering but if he thought Elika was going to die for him again then he was mistaken. Elika was my light, not his.
"The light burns, the darkness soothes."
No, that is not true, Elika was my light and she soothed my heart and soul, the darkness tears them out, the lack of Light, my light was tearing out my heart and I needed to fill the hole back up. I needed Elika back, I had to choose like you said before Ahriman, choose life or choose death. I could kill myself and join Elika and leave the Earth in peace, would that be a better choice.
"The choice is not yours, the choice is not yours."
I felt the dead earth crunch beneath my feet as I walked back towards the temple, the fourth tree destroyed on the platform behind me. No, the choice was not mine, not anymore, I had killed the four trees, even if I stopped now Ahriman would get out easily. I might as well finish the job and get Elika back.
"Offer me your soul, Offer me no resistance."
You don't get my soul Ahrian, Elika has it but I won't resist you anymore. The temple doors slid open as I walked through determined.
"I can be your beginning or your end."
Not my beginning, Elikas beginning. The new beginning of Elikas life and the end of my conscience. I won't care after Elikas back I'll deal with it then but until then it doesn't matter what everyone else will think about me. I know what I'm doing is right for me. If that makes me worse than Ahriman then so be it.
I looked at the tree of life, the thing that stole Elika from me and tighten my grip on the sword raising it in the air and brought it down through the trunk, cutting the chains that bound Ahriman and the barrier between me and Elika. The essence of life glowed from the remains of the tree of life as I picked it up in my hands. Walking back down the corridor I was struck at the similarity between this essence and the light seeds that we collected on our travels to stop Ahriman, this may offer some explanation as to why Elika grew stronger with each light seed she collected, they fed the essence of life that was used to initially revive her.
Holding my open palms over Elika I watched as the ball of light infused her, bringing her back to life. Her eyes burst open as she took a gasp of air:
"Why?"
She had to ask? I picked her up in my arms and took her away from the temple. The further away I took her from this place the further away I would be taking her from danger and the longer it would be before we had to face Ahriman again. She was watching me, I knew that and I knew she disagreed with what I had done. Her life was the price for the worlds safety, but it was too high a price for me.
We walked through the desert hearing the temple crumble behind us, the winds started to rise bringing with it corruption. A shockwave started behind us signalling the beginning of hell on Earth and the finding of my heaven.