Title: Couldn't live without you
Date first posted: Today
Author(s): Ulti/Rael

Summary: Mel is deadly injured by Malco and Flinch and Seth is willing to do everything to help her.
Main pairing(s): The main pairing is Seth/Mel.

Main character(s): Seth, Melosa, The Mage, and Erik, Kara and Adam, but they are only mentioned.

Genre(s): Mostly romance and drama.

Time period: After the Megalith is destroyed and the Ethos is sealed away.

Rating: I'll put T, just to be sure.

Warning(s): I don't think there is any that is required.

Completion status: Oneshot so it is finished.

Word count: 2716 words.
Chapters: 1/1

Couldn't Live Without You

She lays there, the life painfully leaving her body, now as cold as the ice her attacks were made of. Seth watching her sleep, sorrow all over his face, on which tears were falling down. Erik and Kara had left about an hour ago, unable to watch the pale face of their light blue-haired friend.

He didn't leave, for was unable to let her out of his sight, fearing something worst could happen to her. He held her hand with his, trying to keep her from getting colder than she already was. If only it wasn't for Malco and Flinch, he wouldn't be there. Suddenly, rage took over him the second he thought about them.

He clenched his fist in pure rage, making his knuckles go white from the pressure. All his though were toward Malco and Flinch. Even if the entire save-the-day journey was over, they continued to follow them wherever they went. And that time, their actions went too far...

The battle was hard, and Malco and Flinch's primary target seemed to be Seth. They were slowly getting his shield down, though Malco's attacks were more effective. Soon, Malco used his shield breaker, and lying defenceless, Flinch prepared to attack.

"Your end has come!" yelled Flinch before casting a deadly attack aimed at Seth, who lay on the ground, coughing. Before the spell could hit him, though, someone jumped in the way.

"Seth!" yelled Mel, before the attack hit her, piercing through her shield and hitting her. Seth stood there, wide-eyed, her actions slowly sinking in his head, as it did to the other persons present.

Seth was frozen on the spot as he watched the body of his blue-eyed friend fall to the ground, smoke slowly rising from it. Some seconds later, once the entire scene finally sank deep into his mind, he forced his body to rush to his friend's form, embracing her motionless body as tears began to run down his cheeks. Flinch was the second to regain his senses, but once he did, he said something he would regret later.

"I can't believe it! We finally got one of them!" he yelled. That's when his gaze met Seth's, and he froze once he saw the pure rage coming from deep within his soul. His satisfied grin turned into total fear when the desire to kill him showed in Seth's eyes.

Malco, on the other end, wasn't really scared, but he still wondered what the leader would do. Without any other though, Seth took out the Nova stone, gift of his father, and a red fire-like light appeared around his hand, as it did so many times before. But the red light slowly turned into a black light, sending shivers through the 2 older men.

Erik wanted to stop Seth, but he, too, was afraid of what could happen to him if he tried to stop Seth. In an impressive speed, Seth shot the stone at them. In a desperate attempt to save their lives, Flinch and Malco gathered their shield together to face the attack, which hit them hardly.

A blinding flash of light appeared, and when Kara and her brother could see again, their enemies were almost dead. They managed to escape, thanks to the fact that Seth was focused on Melosa again. He carefully took her in his arms and stood up, then walked toward his friends and told them to get the sigilstormers ready.

"We'll go to the nearest town, so we'll be able to find something to cure her." They knew it was impossible for her to heal, because such a blow would even be a hard job for the Nexus, which was at least a month away from where they were. But seeing the distress and sorrow in his eyes, they could do nothing else but pack their belongings and leave for a nearby city.

The painful memory continued to haunt him, day and night, from the very moment their feet touched the ground of the little town, three days ago. It was now night, and everybody in the village was sleeping, everybody except him.

He couldn't sleep. Not with her in this state. Not knowing she could die at any moment. And he knew why. It was so simple, he couldn't help but wonder why he never noticed it before; he loved her. It was so simple and clear in his head now... He heard footsteps behind him, and knew who it was instantly.

A friend they had met long ago, he could do all sort of things, always more impressive than the previous one. One thing Seth knew he could do was to predict future, look into the past, and open window to alternate universe. Seth turned around to see his suspicions were true.

"I would ask what there is new in your life, if I didn't already knew..." he said sadly. Seth just turned his attention back to Melosa.

"I know," he answered, looking at Melosa again.

"I will go straight to the point Seth," started the old man. "What happened to your friend wasn't planned."

"Explain."

"Each choice someone makes is like choosing from hundreds of door that leads to other hundreds of door," explain the mage to Seth. "However, as I said before, the death of your friend isn't planned. It is like creating another door, and in this case, instead of hundreds of possible futures, only 2 remains."

"And how does that concerns me in anyway?" asked Seth, still looking at Mel.

"Because now, the fate of Rados rests in your hand," explained the mage, and Seth sighed in exasperation.

"Find someone else to save Rados, I don't care anymore," answered Seth, his eyes not leaving Mel's lying form, and now, it was the other man's turn to sigh.

"I did not come here to inform you that you are to save Rados. I came here in order for you to not destroy it," finally admitted the man, and that caught Seth's attention.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Seth.

"I shall show you," said the mage before a crystal ball, full of smoke, appeared in his hand (I know, it's an overused thing, but it still works). Once the smoke finally faded, the sight that met the 2 conscious men in the room was full of ruins, devastated forests, rains of blood, corpse lying everywhere and so on. Seth almost puked.

"What the hell is this place?!" yelled an horrified Seth.

"That, my friend, is Rados, in 1 of the 2 possible future you hold in your hands," informed the hooded man.

"What?! But who would do such things?! It's worst than when Nazmul…" he started but was cut by an answer he really didn't need.

"That is your creation, Seth, or your older self if you want," informed the mage sadly.

"And all this is only because you will want to kill those who killed her." continued the mage while looking at Mel.

"No! I would never…" he started but didn't finish his sentence. The mage let the crystal ball disappear before he spoke.

"It is unfortunately true," started the older man in the room. "But remember that there is a second path you can choose."

"Is that path better?" asked Seth, hopeful.

"Judge by yourself," answered the mage before the same crystal ball appeared in his hand. Only, this time, once the smoke faded, they saw a completely different vision; green fields, a beautiful sky, animals, rivers, houses, people and…

"Mel? She is alive?" asked Seth with hope.

"Yes, she is," answered the mage.

"Really?" asked Seth.

"Yes."

"That's great!" he said enthusiastically. "How can I make this happen?" he asked.

"There is one thing you must know before making that decision Seth," informed the mage. "Though she is alive, I unfortunately must inform you that you are not," finally finished the mage. He expected Seth to yell something, but instead, Seth spoke with an expressionless voice.

"Just tell me what to do for this to become reality," said Seth. The mage thought about asking him why, but he already knew the answer.

"So your love for her is so strong that not even death would be enough to stop you?" said the mage, more a statement than a question.

"Look at her face..." said Seth, looking at the vision of the future the mage still held in his hand. "She looks so happy, so free... so alive..." he continued. "How could I possibly think about taking all that from her just because I want to live?" he finished. The young leader and the old mage looked at the joyful face of the future Melosa, walking down a road with who they assumed were Erik, Kara and Adam.

"So, it shall be like this," said the mage. "I'll heal her, but at the end of the day, I will need a life to keep the flow of the soul stable. There is an old mine not far away from here. Be there in twenty-four hour, in other words midnight tomorrow. Until then, do whatever you wish. Farewell my friend." finished the mage.

His staff appeared in his hand, and he aimed it at Mel. A golden light appeared around her body, engulfing her in its warmth. Once it faded, her skin slowly recovered its original colour, the expression of pain on her face disappeared as well. Seth nodded to the wise man, which left.

Walking toward his beloved friend, he took a seat next to her. Taking her hand in his, he waited for a few seconds before he felt a little pressure. Looking from her hand to her face, her saw her eyelids slowly open, her blue eyes almost instantly meeting Seth's grey ones.

"Hello, sleeping beauty," said Seth teasingly, earning a yawn from Mel.

"Good morning Seth," she answered sleepily. He waited some minutes for her to get a better grip on consciousness before he got straight to the point.

"Mel, I'd like you to tell me the last thing you remember," said Seth.

"Okay. I remember Flinch casting a spell at you then..." her eyes went wide in realization.

"Seth! Are you..." she began before she yelped in pain when she tried to get up. Luckily for her, Seth caught her in his arms before she fell off the bed, holding her tightly.

"Owww... It hurts," she complained.

"Hey, don't push yourself too much okay?" he asked her gently.

"Okay..." she said sheepishly. "Thanks for catching me..." she continued.

"It's okay. But we need to talk about what happened. Why did you take the blow for me?" he asked.

"I... I just couldn't stand seeing you being attacked when you weren't even up and..." she said before some tears began to make their way down her cheeks.

"Shhh... Stop crying Mel," Seth said, holding her tighter. She cried in his chest soaking his shirt, but he really didn't care. She was alive, and that was all that mattered.

"... Thanks Seth..." said Mel once she finally stopped crying. Seth gently pulled her back on the bed.

"I'll go and tell Erik and Kara you're awake," Seth told Mel before he left the room to look for the youngest and oldest of the defenders. He found them by the river, moping.

"Why do you are outside at night?" he asked, hiding his cheerfulness as best as he could. Erik and Kara sighed.

"We just couldn't sleep, so we decided to come here..." answered Erik. Seth thought about an evil plan. Short, but evil.

"Why can't you 2 sleep?" he asked.

"You should know." said Kara.

"No, I don't," said Seth.

"Mel's not gonna make it..." said Erik with sorrow.

"She's not gonna make what? Breakfast? I already knew that." said Seth.

"Seth, stop joking, it's not funny at all!" said Kara, looking at him.

"You are wrong. It is really funny," he said with a smile.

"How can you say that Seth?!" said Erik, surprised. Seth took a matter-of-factly tone.

"Huh... let me think..." he said pretending to think. "Maybe because you 2 must be the only ones not to know that Mel is awake and going to make it," he answered casually, making the other 2 defenders gasp.

"Really?!" they asked at the same time. Seth nodded, then he led them to Mel, who was getting impatient. There started the last day of Seth, even though nobody but himself knew it.

Talking, laughing, playing games; that was what they did all that day. Mel asked about what happened after they took her here, and they simply told her that she was kept under medical attention but that not a lot of people kept hope of her survival.

Then there came the time when Kara and Erik left to go to bed, but Seth, knowing he hadn't long before leaving, didn't. They talked about several other things before only 1 hour was left for Seth before he would leave.

She had managed with help and difficulty to sit up on her bed, and Seth wouldn't let his last chance slip away. When she turned her head at him, she saw him staring at her, and she stopped to speak.

Leaning closer, Seth slowly touched her lips with his own. Mel was shocked, to say the least, but after some seconds, she, as Seth did seconds ago, closed her eyes, kissing him back with as much love as him. they broke for air, but Mel was almost instantly being kissed again.

Not that she complained. His hands were around her waist, and she had managed to slip her arms around his neck. They continued for about half an hour, before Seth broke the kiss.

"I love you Mel," he whispered in her ear, and before she had time to do anything else than shiver under his breath, he got up and left the room. Mel didn't understand. She tried to, but was unable.

After some minutes, she finally got up and began to run as fast as she could, so not really fast because of her wounds. She ran toward the room of Seth, but found it empty. She started to run again and was about to leave the house when she bumped into Kara.

"Kara!" yelled Mel.

"Mel? What are you doing?" asked the younger girl.

"Where is Seth?" asked Mel.

"I saw him going toward the old mine why?" said Kara, earning no answer as Mel started running again.

"Thanks!" she yelled back at Kara and then continued to run toward the mine. When she reached it, twenty minutes later, she entered without hesitation in the dark cave. After some minutes, she finally saw him. She was about to call him when she heard another person speak.

"It's time Seth. Are you ready?" asked the person, obviously the mage.

"I am," said Seth, looking as the mage aimed his staff at him.

"Good. Now, don't move," he said.

"I have no other choice," answered Seth.

"I could break the deal," said the mage, clearly not pleased by the thought of killing one of his few friends.

"No. Now, do it," said Seth.

"Farewell. Fireball!" he said as fireball escaped the staff to hit Seth in the chest. Seth fell on his back from the impact. Unable to stand the sight of his young friend dying any longer, the mage disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Mel took the opportunity to show up, running toward him, screaming.

"Seth!" she yelled, and Seth opened his eyes a little.

"Mel... I didn't want you to see that..." he said, already feeling his forces leave him.

"Seth! Why did you do that?!" she asked, angry and worried at him as tears fell down her cheeks..

"Because I had to..."

"What are you talking about Seth?!" she yelled.

"You wouldn't have survived after the blow Flinch gave you. So, I accepted to give my life for yours..." he said with a small smile.

"Stupid behaviour! What's the matter with you?" she asked.

"I love you Mel..." he said with trouble.

"I love you too, stupid..." she said with a little smile.

"I won't live much longer...".

"No... don't die..." she begged him.

"If I don't, you will..." said Seth.

"I don't care!" said Mel.

"I do..." said Seth, before coughed.

"Stop it you 2!" a voice said, surprising the 2 teens. "It hurts me enough like this to deal the fatal blow, I can't stand seeing you 2 doing all the "Don't die" thingy without feeling even more remorse," said the mage, finally appearing.

"You! Please, help him!" she pleaded the mage, feeling Seth's hand become motionless.

"It would change the future, and I'm not sure I'm allowed to do so another time..." said the mage.

"But I'll do anything!" Mel begged.

"That's not the problem. If ever I keep him alive, there could be a lot of trouble for the two of you," said the mage.

"But I don't care! I just want Seth to live, no matter what it takes!" said the blue-eyed girl before she embraced Seth's soon-to-be dead body.

"Would you 2 give everything to stay together?" asked the mage.

"Yes!" Mel replied.

"Everything..." was Seth's faint response before his eyes closed.

"My healing spells are good, but you'll have to heal most of your pain by yourself," said the mage, casting the golden halo once again, this time on Seth, before he disappeared. Some minutes later, it was the "Fearless Leader" who woke up, his head on the Wizard of Yan's lap.

"Good morning Seth," said Mel.

"Good morning Mel," said Seth, before his tone became more serious. "I love you Mel."

"I love you too Seth," she said, before she leaned down and kissed him. "Let's go back to the town, Kara and Erik are probably wondering where we are."

"Yeah... good idea..." Seth agreed before Mel helped him stand up, even if she wasn't completely healed herself, before they headed out of the cave, toward the village.

Edit : Edited on March 8th, 2008