There was no way you could beat him. You knew you were supposed to lose, but if you lost, you wouldn't be able to defeat Abraxas. You needed the Piper's help, but the Piper was lost. Lost somewhere within his own form, but you knew, he had to somewhere in there fighting his own battle with Abraxas.

"Come on, do something!" Abraxas said, taunting you by kicking some rocks your way.

"No!" you screamed. "I won't hurt the Piper!"

"Oh, is that what this is about?" Abraxas asked, his voice sinister as it reverberated off the rock ways, echoing in your ears and your mind. "The Piper never cared for you. The Piper's job is to bring you to me. They succeeded."

You scoffed at the thought that the Piper never cared. You mind jumped to the Piper holding your hand when the roots trapped you, the way the Piper bandaged your foot, how the Piper always turned to look back at you. You knew that somewhere this new form of the Piper cared.

"Tell me what's going to happen then? I'm weak, I don't care to fight. Will I become the Piper, too?"

"Maybe," Abraxas said. "It all depends..."

The Piper's form seemed to shift awkwardly, cutting off Abraxas.

"Evil..." another voice said. It was a cry that sounded through the massive room. Rocks crumbled from somewhere at the top and rained down on you. "Run."

The form shifted again, his eyes turning black.

"Ah, my stand corrected," Abraxas said. "It looks like the Piper might have some feelings for you. Well, that certainly is a first. And will make this all the more fun."

The Piper's form raised its arm and your feet came off the ground with it. You reached for your throat as you felt a force begin to wrap around it. It was slow, Abraxas wanted to squeeze the life out of you like the juice from an orange.

"No!" the Piper screamed out. You dropped onto the stone ground. You were sure one of your bones snapped, but you didn't feel the pain. You weren't sure if you were still numb from when the Piper took your pain, or you were simply so close to death that pain didn't matter anymore.

The Piper hovered over you. His heart shaped lips pursed in concern. He reached up and moved the hair from your face, singing it off with his touch.

He seemed surprised at the combustion, pulling his fingers away, a hopeless look in his eyes. Before either of you could say a word, his eyes rolled back in his head, turning black once again.

"Ah, I think you could be the one," Abraxas said. "The weakest one I can defeat to prove I'm worthy."

"Worthy?" you asked, standing up.

"Worthy of becoming a god again."

Abraxas laughed and began to move towards you slowly. His hand out stretched.

"He wants to touch you," Abraxas said. "He's begging to touch you. I think I'll let him."

The black eyes cleared, back to the Piper's comforting brown ones. They were filled with fear.

"No!" the Piper said, "That was before I knew...before I knew I would hurt her..." He grasped his other outstretched arm with his free hand, attempting to stop himself, trying to stop Abraxas controlling his limbs.

The black eyes were back as well as a smile that was too big to be genuine. His hand met your shoulder. It burnt. Unlike anything you'd ever felt before, every pad of his fingertips and every line of his palm burning into your skin.

The Piper pulled his hand away. He gazed at it and back at your shoulder where the imprint of his hand was raw and red.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I'm so sorry."

He dropped to his knees and peered down at his hand for what felt like several minutes. It seemed as if Abraxas was dormant for the moment.

"I-I was the first one," he eventually said. "Abraxas made me the Piper and for years I lured people. People he thought were weak and that he could beat, as if beating a human would somehow prove to the gods he's worthy of the status again. But, when it didn't work, he just kept making those lured into a different form of the Piper. There's hundred of us. But, I see everyone, I defeat everyone. But you, you have someone fighting for you. Someone fighting for you on the inside. You aren't doing this alone."

The Piper looked down at his hand. He rubbed his fingers together and they began to spark, as if they were made of flint. Soon, his whole hand went up in flames.

"The forms of the Piper aren't dead. We are simply between life and death," the Piper said, raising his engulfed hand. "Remember that, Abraxas can't use you if he kills you. And, you can't defeat him if you're dead."

The Piper took his flaming hand pressed it to his chest. He let out a scream that made you want to run and extinguish the flames, but you stayed still watching as his whole body went up in flames.

xXx

The morning after had been sunny. You were surprised to wake up, having thought for sure you were going to be the Piper's victim. Your bare feet touched the cold ground and you felt a shiver run through your body.

You dressed and planned to join the rest of the crowd to find out who had been taken. You knew everyone would think it was you. You thought so too.

The sun blinded you as you moved towards the center of town. The central gazebo—where your father and Taehyung had been whipped was on fire—a lightning strike had punctured straight through the middle.

A few curious glances were thrown your way when people realized it wasn't you. No one seemed to say anything, simply looking out towards the Piper's field where the victims were always lured.

"Taehyung," someone said in the crowd. "It was Taehyung."

You collapsed.

xXx

The flames began to die down but sparks still flew. But the sparks were lighter and sounded when they hit the stone floor. Electricity.

The new form emerged and you felt your knees grow weak.

"Taehyung."

A/N: I know! I know! I'm sorry to leave you on a terrible cliffhanger, but the next chapter is the finale! I will be posting the first chapter of Birds of a Feather at the same time. This means it will take a little longer than usual, but I'm hoping to have them both posted sometime next week. Thank you for all the lovely comments and support.

Also, happy birthday to my hope and your hope, J-Hope!

Follow the sound of the flute~

-FarFromSuga