Arc 3 Chapter 1: The Spawn
The Os-Nàdarra Sentinels
ARC Three:
The Overlords
Chapter 1: The Spawn
-Unknown location in Egypt, Midnight of August 15th, 2010,
Eastern time-
The moans that echoed through the
halls of the ancient city would send chills down the spine of even the most
stalwart man. Souls of the dead making their way to an unknown location as they
wandered through the darkness of the corridors, visible to the red gleaming
eyes of a figure cloaked in shadow, seated in a throne with energies of dark
violet flowing around him as he weaved a spell to open the gateway to the realm
of Duat; the Egyptian land of the Dead.
Darkness, emptiness, silence except
for the wails of the dead greeted him as he opened the way. The souls descended
into the infinite black pit stretched out before him, vanishing as the way
became clear. The red eyes watched them as they descended; normally he would
not need to handle so many, but an incident in the deserts in a nearby land had
caused quite a number of fatalities, leaving the wayward souls in need of a
guide to the afterlife, and this dark being was that guide, sending the souls
to Osiris' Hall of Judgement.
The guide was Izrail, the Servant of
Anubis.
Created in the likeness of the
Egyptian Lord of the Dead, Izrail was the guide of the souls of the afterlife,
and the defender of the Underworld Passage in the city of the dead known as
Hamunaptra, hidden within the vast deserts of Egypt by the forces of nature...
and a little sorcery. Of course the city hid more than just the passage to the
underworld; it also hid vast riches of wealth and knowledge -trivial things a
being such as Izrail had no interest in. His only concern was the passage to
Duat.
Of course, to some, the interest of
Hamunaptra was academic. Like the white, eight-tailed fox standing at his side,
garbed in a golden kimono. Despite all the dirt and grime of the ancient halls,
the fox and his clothes were untouched, as if nothing more than an illusion. A
pair of gleaming, pupil-less and white-less golden eyes gazed from under a head
of silver scalp hair, grown very long -almost down to his waist, and his
perfect, ageless features only further strengthened any assumption as to what
this fox really was; a Kitsune.
Or rather, a Nogitsune; the fox was
known under the name of Yaiba Akatsuki -in Japan, although in the west his name
would be the other way. Translated in English, his name literally meant 'Blade
of Dawn'; appropriate, as he was a Celestial Kitsune, a being of Light, born of
the Goddess of Harvest, Inari. Although, being a Nogitsune meant Akatsuki had
left behind any allegiance he bore to Inari, and now he served Izrail as a
fellow protector of Hamunaptra; payment for his pursuit of the knowledge within
the walls of the city.
"A most grim task, my master,"
Akatsuki said to Izrail, glancing at the jackal-headed demigod. "To watch the
souls of the dead enter the afterlife realm."
"It tends to lose its grimness after
twenty millennia," Izrail replied plainly as the last of the spirits vanished
into the darkness. "And it is what I was created to do."
"Of course," returned Akatsuki,
turning and stepping away from the pit. "I shall return to my studies."
Izrail turned around shortly after
Akatsuki did, and began to make his way towards the corridor as he had, intent
on going to check the protective shield around Hamunaptra, to ensure it was
still functional after such an influx; sometimes countless souls passing into
the underworld all it once could cause disruption of the protective barrier
that hid the city from all kinds of eyes, including the machinations of mortals
called 'satellites'.
The city had to remain hidden;
outsiders could not come here.
But just as he stepped away from the
pit, a sensation washed over him; a feeling of dread and that of imminent
disaster, so strong and so vast it was like he'd been struck by a tsunami... a
tsunami made of fear. He froze dead in his tracks as that sensation found him,
and he saw, ahead of him, Akatsuki stopping in place as well; clearly Izrail
was not the only one who had sensed that anomaly.
It carried on for some time; when it
became clear that it was not simply going to go away, Izrail began walking
again, faster this time, driven by the need to find out what that strange
energy he had just felt was. When he sprinted past Akatsuki, the eight-tailed
fox suddenly became alert and watched as his host fled down the corridor. "Lord
Izrail, what was that just now?!" He called after him, but Izrail did not heed
his voice; he broke into a run as well, following Izrail to find out what
distressed him so.
Izrail strode down the hall for what
felt like a hundred kilometers before he finally came to the room he was
seeking, making a sharp turn through the door and striding to a strange diagram
in the middle of a large circle, drawn in chalk in the middle of the floor.
Sitting next to the circle was a basin full of clear water, which remained
still even as Izrail entered the room, passed the basin and made for the
circle. He stood at the very center of the circle, his feet upon the eye-like
drawing in the chalk, and the moment his feet were placed there, the white
chalk suddenly glowed, becoming a pale, pinkish colour, and glittering spheres
of matching colour rose up from the circle, ascending to the ceiling where they
seemed to vanish into the stone above.
Izrail turned to face the water
basin, putting his palms together, and began to chant strange words in an
unusual language; Akatsuki arrived in the room just as the demigod began to
speak the strange words, unable to decipher them; although he could read
Ancient Egyptian, the language was something else entirely, and only a few
words rang clear in his ears -too few to know what it was Izrail was trying to
do with the spell circle and ancient words.
Then, as the kitsune watched, the
pool of water in the basin began to stir; his golden eyes averted to the pool
as it swirled about like a whirlpool, suddenly rising out of the basin as a narrow,
swirling stream that arched towards Izrail, stopping inches from his face
before it began to widen, becoming a thin wall of water before his very eyes.
It expanded until it appeared wide enough to swallow him whole, and became as
dark as ink, save a single white slit from the tip to the bottom in the very
center.
The slit widened as well, opening
like an eye, and within it, a blanket of white that soon became swirled with
colour. The longer he watched, the colour began to form a picture, like an
animate painting, blurry and unclear until his chanting continued. In moments,
it was then like he was watching a mortal's 'motion picture' or 'movie',
showing him a place far from his home, on the other side of the world; a modern
city with buildings of iron and glass, streets of liquefied stone hardened and
worn from the use of automobile transports... and a scene of destruction.
A battle was underway within the
city; a giant wyvern of steel, battling a host of elementals and mortals alike,
clashing over and among the buildings. Among the ones who battled this
iron-clad beast was a green and blue avian, launching flames of chaotic fire,
while the beast fired beams of pure electronic energy. Izrail watched as the
battle continued, raging on for several moments, until a titan-sized spike of
solid ice was brought down upon the creature, impaling it and staking it into
the ground, ending its existence. Izrail zeroed in on the green and blue avian
once again; he was certain that he was the source, but who was he? The spell
was still too unclear for him to identify the winged boy...
Suddenly, just as instantly as it
appeared, the sensation of infinite fear ended; within the window, the boy's
colours suddenly changed, becoming bright red and gold colour scheme common among
phoenixes of the Fire Element. Izrail's lost track of the very energy he'd been
sensing, as if it had just vanished from that very plane of existence. With no
reason to continue watching, he manipulated the water back into the basin and
let it fall flat, returning to its boring, unassuming state.
Izrail let his hands part, letting
them fall back to his sides as he spread his stance to retain his balance.
Akatsuki stepped forward to help him, but a raised hand from the demigod
stopped him in his tracks, and he dared not advance. Izrail stood perfectly
still, eyes on the floor for a moment, but drawing no breath -his body was
merely a construct and did not require breath- and contemplating everything he
had just witnessed in that vision.
"My Lord... what did you see?"
Akatsuki asked. "What was that horrid sensation?"
"A phoenix," replied Izrail.
"Young... impulsive... but strong of will and body, battling this giant,
mechanical beast; they were in a city, far away in the west. That boy is
carrying something within him; something I thought vanished centuries ago...
but it was reawakened temporarily."
"What was it?"
Izrail turned, looking at Akatsuki.
"The essence of the one who brought destruction to the known world over five
thousand two hundred years ago," he replied. "The one the ancients named
'Lucarinai'."
Akatsuki's solid golden eyes widened
to the roundness of dinner plates, tails stiffening as those words sunk in.
"But... that is impossible. He was destroyed by The Great Four; the Necroslayer,
the Demon Hunter, the Spirit Dragon and the Orphan -they eradicated him! How
could he still be alive?"
"He isn't," replied Izrail. "But
even death cannot always claim those whose power surpasses even that of the
gods; Lucarinai is not alive, but his essence was so strong, it appears a
fragment of it lingers in this world still, and that unfortunate youth now
carries it within him, and it sleeps, waiting to be awakened." Izrail stepped
down from the circle, passing Akatsuki to exit out to the corridor and walked
down the hall. "Somehow, he awakened that power only briefly, but enough of it
for its mighty backlash to reach even here, on the other side of the world."
Akatsuki eyed Izrail quizzically.
"Other side?" He repeated. "Where did it originate?"
"The north-western most continent of
the world, known to most as 'North America'," replied Izrail. "But it was too
brief for me to sense its exact location; I do not know which of the two
nations there it came from. Even if I did, both of those countries are vast...
it could take us many months to find it, assuming it were to remain there."
"What will you do then, Lord
Izrail?" Akatsuki asked. "Shall I go west for you and seek this youth?"
Izrail did not take long to answer.
"No... not yet," he replied. "This essence has hidden from me for eight hundred
years; if it could remain concealed for that long it will not be so easily
found; we know it's out there, but it will not stay in one place for long. We
can only wait until it awakens again, and then when it does... we will seek it
out, and purge it from this plane of existence indefinitely."
"What of its host?" Akatsuki asked.
"One life, given to guarantee the
continuation of all life in this plane of existence," Izrail replied plainly
and without hesitation. "It is not a difficult decision to make."
~~~~~
-Unknown-
Darkness...
Laughter...
It was everywhere around him; Volcan stood -or rather
floated- without the use of his wings, in a void of infinite nothing. He could
see no heat, no light, no sign of anything in this darkness with him; just him,
and the feeling of a cold grip around him. No limb or hand held his body that
he could see, but it still felt like something was trying to crush him, and
every cry of pain he elicited only intensified the pressure, followed more by
that sadistic laugh that was haunting his ears.
"Where are you?! Where is this place?!" He cried, his
voice seeming to echo endlessly into the dark. "What do you want from me?!"
Out of the darkness, a white shape appeared; light? No;
it was smooth and glassy, and it was not purely white. In its very center was a
circle of rippling shades of purple, and in its center, a smaller black circle.
It didn't take Volcan long to know what this was; it wasn't a light of any
kind, it was an eye, belonging to an unknown entity. A purple eye starting at
him, larger than he was and carrying his own reflection within it, void of any
emotion and chilling Volcan down to his very soul. The appearance of the eye
was soon followed by a voice that sounded so much like Volcan's, but filled
with a mad thirst he couldn't comprehend.
"I'm coming out..."
~~~~~
-Early morning of January 4th
2011, Unity Falls, AB-
Beams fired from Volcan's eyes as he
sat up, filling the room with red light as the rays of concentrated heat
erupted from both orbs and scorched into the wall in front of him. By the time
he realized he was not attacking his intended target, he shut his eyes,
clapping a hand over them to contain the rays of heat until they abated,
keeping them back until he got them back under control.
Uncovering his hands from his eyes,
he looked around the room, seeing familiar surroundings and forcing himself to
calm down; using several breathing exercises, he managed to ease his tension
and calm his troubled mind enough that he didn't accidentally fire off another
elemental projectile at the next shadow that twitched in that room.
When he was steady enough to turn to
look at his wall, he eyed the fresh new burn marks left by his concentrated
heat beams, seeing them smolder alongside the six more that he'd put into the
wall already. "Kim is going to freaking kill me when she sees that," he said,
fully accepting that he was probably facing the loss of his entire damage
deposit and then some - including but not limited to eviction if he didn't fix
those burns as soon as possible.
To no great surprise, his smoke
alarm in the hallway outside of his bedroom began to sound off as the smoke
from the smoldering paint reached it, filling his ears with that horrible,
high-pitched beeping noise that had sounded off every night for the past week
whenever this had happened. Irritated he jumped out of bed, storming out into
the hallway to reach up and shut it off by tapping the battery slot, popping it
open and silencing the device.
"Fucking piece of..." grumbled
Volcan, ears ringing from the smoke detector. He peered into the guest room,
checking for Vinge -only to mentally kick himself when he remembered the Ice
Phoenix had been released from his custody and moved back home almost two
months ago. Good timing, thought
Volcan; he'd hate to see how Vinge would react if the Ice Phoenix walked into
Volcan's room one morning to check on him while he was having a nightmare and
end up roasted by his eyes.
But what was wrong with him? He had to try something -anything, to get
answers. But he didn't want everyone else to know about this; something like
this would only terrify them.
Well... maybe one could know... one
who might be able to help him find an answer.
Turning and going back into his
room, Volcan headed over to his dresser, not even bothering grabbing a pair of
jeans as he put on a shirt and grabbed a winter cloak, keeping his wings tight
against his back as he wrapped it around himself and left the bedroom, picking
his keys and wallet from the basket and keyhanger in the foyer and headed out
the door, locking it behind him before he turned and headed for the stairs,
briskly descending them and running outside into the winter night...
~~~~~
Bapbapbapbapbap!
Obsidian's ear twitched as she heard the tapping, turning a little in
her sleep but choosing to ignore it, believing it to just be part of her dream
as she lay comfortably in her bed, warm underneath the covers of her soft
blankets...
Bapbapbapbapbap!
She stirred again, one eye opening slightly as the second knock
sounded. Rolling that eye to look at the clock, she let out a low moan at the
time it displayed and tried to hide her head under her pillow. "God, don't let
that be a homicide call..." She pleaded, voice muffled by the pillow over her
face. "Just go away, please..."
BAMBAMBAMBAMBAM!
"Alright, alright!" She cried in defeat, throwing the pillow aside and
sitting up, rubbing her eyes as she threw her legs over the side of the bed and
stood up from the bedside. Picking a bathrobe that was hanging on the back of
her bedroom door and wrapping it around herself to use as a cover, she stormed
out of her bedroom and into the hallway.
BAMBAMBAM!
"Keep your shirt on, I'm coming already!" She called scornfully as she
approached the door. Someone better be
dying or someone's going to get a kick right where it hurts! The
amethyst-scaled dragoness growled in her mind.
Approaching the door, she looked through
the peephole, and was shocked to see Volcan standing outside. Eyes narrowing
with curiosity, she unlatched the chain lock and the deadbolt before she opened
the door, letting in the cool night air as she stepped into the doorway to
address the phoenix. "Volcan? What're you doing here this time of night?"
"Hey 'Sid," returned the phoenix;
his voice sounded weak, and tired... now that Obsidian considered it, his eyes
looked kind of... dark. Or was that shadows from the porch light? "I'm sorry to
just drop by like this."
"Well, Volc; you know I'm always
happy to see you," returned Obsidian, but despite her reassuring voice, she
couldn't stop looking at his eyes. "But..." She paused, unable to look away
anymore. "Volcan... tilt your head back."
Slowly, he did, letting the porch
light illuminate his entire face; Obsidian nearly gasped with shock as she saw
how dark the sockets of the phoenix's eyes were, and the whites of his eyes
were pink with irritation, the dark bags making them stand out even more.
"Oh my god, Volcan; haven't you been
sleeping?"
"Not really..." The phoenix replied.
"'Sid... can we talk?"
"Of course," replied the dragoness,
stepping aside and pulling the door open wide to allow him in. "Come in."
Volcan carefully stepped into the room
his shoulder bumping the doorway as he did, but the phoenix barely acknowledged
it, passing through the entry hall before making a turn into the living room.
At Obsidian's insistence, he took a seat on the couch, and she seated herself
right next to him, her eyes never leaving him. Volcan ran a hand down his face,
groaning and leaning back against the back of the couch.
"I'm so tired..."
"Volcan, why haven't you been
sleeping?" Obsidian asked.
He looked at her weakly, reading her
face for a moment; she was clearly concerned, maybe even afraid for him, and
probably wasn't going to let him leave without giving an answer... not that he
intended to. He'd come there for her help, after all. With only brief
hesitation, he began to fill her in on what was happening.
"I've been having these... horrible
nightmares lately," Volcan began. "In it, I'm floating in this infinite
darkness; I can see nothing in it, except for this... eye, I guess is what I'd
call it, which appears in front of me. I don't know who it's supposed to be,
but every time it appears, I suddenly hear a voice saying 'I'm coming out' and then I wake up... for the past week shooting
Pyro Glare from my eyes, and I've scorched my wall in several places. It's a
miracle I haven't burned the whole complex down."
Obsidian studied his face as he
explained the situation to her. "So these nightmares are throwing your powers
into flux?"
"No, I think it's more than that;
they feel so real that I keep waking up feeling like I'm being attacked,"
replied Volcan. "At the same time though I've had nights like that before; it
also feels like someone else is trying to use them."
"That doesn't make any sense; who?"
"I don't know, but those Pyro Glares
are going off involuntarily, not because of my reflexes," Volcan explained. "I
need to focus my elemental essence into my eyes to use them, like creating a
circuit with some wires and a battery, only I can control if something is using
that circuit; it's not so simple as just staring straight ahead, it takes
focus, and with my mind so scattered while dreaming I shouldn't be able to use
them."
"I don't understand, Volcan; what're
you saying?"
Volcan looked at her, a serious
expression on his face. "I think someone is in my mind, trying to control me,"
he replied. "And I think it may be that 'other side' of me. That's why I'm
here; I need you to look inside my mind, try and find out what's causing it."
Obsidian regarded him for a moment,
clearly considering his request, but she didn't take long in coming to a
decision. "Okay," she said. "But what do I do if I find it?"
Volcan hesitated with the answer,
eventually having to admit he didn't know... regardless, Obsidian turned more
to face him, reaching up with both hands to place her fingers on his temples,
both of them shutting their eyes. Volcan opened his mind to the dragoness, and
she telepathically projected her conscious into his mind, feeling herself
entering Volcan's mind as it left her own; in a way it almost felt like diving
into a swimming pool, only without the splash or sudden rush of cold from the
water.
Renewing her concentration, she
continued through his thoughts, seeing within the confines of his mind,
containing windows of memories and thought patterns seen as projected ideas -it
amused her how somewhat cartoonish some of Volcan's thoughts appeared to be
sometimes, imagining all kinds of different scenario's he could encounter, but
they were moving very slowly this time -probably a side-effect of his fatigue,
having not slept properly in days or even weeks.
Continuing her trek through Volcan's
mind, she entered a new area; something was different about this one. It seemed
like some pieces were missing; glancing around and remembering other times she
had entered someone's mind, she remembered that this area was where emotions
were centered, spread out like a mural of colours. There was a lot of bright
red in Volcan's mind, differing in shades only slightly -remembering her
psychology classes in high school, red was considered a colour of passion,
courage, or rage, depending on its shade; the darkest red was the emotion of
lust, the next shade being the emotion of hatred, and there was very little of
that in here; Volcan's mind was dominated by the brightest red, the colour of
Passion in abundance, seconded only by the colour of Courage, which was just a
slightly darker red -roughly the colour of a red apple, while the colour of
passion was like the colour of a strawberry.
There was also a great deal of
sky-blue, which was a colour to symbolize loyalty, and there was very little
dark blue -the colour of sorrow. However, she found a surprising about of
yellow; the colour of fear was surprisingly vast in Volcan's mind, and it
seemed to actually be... widening, among the mural of emotional colours she
could see.
"Now what could this mean?" She
asked.
And then, she saw it... a dark spot,
on the yellow area, lingering like a wart amidst the yellow, and completely
still. Looking closer, she saw it was a deep gray, darker than charcoal, and
though it was unmoving she knew it didn't below there; Black was not a colour,
but a shade, serving as the symbol for emptiness, the hue of space -an empty
void, which is why so many associated it with evil, because when referring to
someone to have a 'black heart' they essentially are saying there's no heart at
all, which wasn't far off; usually people with this much 'black' in their minds
had no emotions at all, or had suppressed them to the point where...
She mentally slapped herself in the
head before shaking it. "Now's not the time to be playing analyst, 'Sid; your
friend needs your help," she said, and continued on, wanting to get a closer
look at that dark spot.
Floating through Volcan's mind, she
slowly approached the blackness, seeing it scurry across the yellow, leaving a
trail of more black behind it, almost like it was feeding on the yellow...
Curiosity was becoming increasingly hard to suppress as she followed the black
spot further, watching it continue to consume the yellow. It didn't make sense;
emotions didn't consume each other like some cannibalistic feeding frenzy...
which probably meant that inky ball was not an emotion at all, but Obsidian's
intended target.
"Found you," she said with a firm
voice, before she chased down the blackness. It tried to scurry away from her,
but she headed it off, sending it left towards the blue area.
Continuing to pursue, she prevented
it from veering off, but didn't want it to reach the blue area. Unfortunately,
she wasn't quick enough; consuming much of the yellow before reaching the blue.
Unlike the yellow though, this inky sphere did not seem to feed on it, but
rather absorb some of it, not taking it away. It caught a fair chunk of it
before veering off towards the green -another area which wasn't exactly in
abundance, meaning Volcan wasn't the envious type. Obsidian continued to try
and pursue the darkness, chasing it across the green before it suddenly halted
and went back, right at her!
She instinctively avoided it, seeing
it trail back down across the blue area before trying to make a beeline right
for the yellow again. "Oh no you don't!" She growled ferally before chasing it
again, faster this time. She cut it off from continuing across the yellow, and
to avoid her, it veered off in another direction, still leading her on a merry
chase.
This time, however, it ended up in
the darkest red area, shooting across it and to its slightly brighter
counterpart, but it stopped before the second-brightest red -the courage, and
dropped away, falling towards another area. Obsidian watched as it dropped,
seeing it fly through the openness of the mind, sprouting a pair of deformed
wings as it once more made a beeline for the yellow once more.
"You've got a one-track mind!"
Obsidian scorned the greed of the strange, invasive conscience as she once more
moved to intercept it, delivering a telekinetic bolt that knocked it off
course, and it crashed down into the Gray area at the very bottom of the
emotional sphere. "Good; colour of neutrality. Nothing to take down..." She
paused.
Gray wasn't just the colour of
neutrality; it was also the colour of traditionalism and intelligence, varied
in shades like many other emotions were. She'd seen this thing was actually
devouring the fear in Volcan's mind but it seemed disinterested with anything
else, only absorbing small amounts of it, like a sponge would absorb water. Now
she'd just knocked it into the gray area; what was going to happen?
Suddenly, the blob of darkness began
to move again, spreading itself out over the gray and consuming some of it. But
just as Obsidian rushed towards the blob to try and stop it, it suddenly
condensed again and launched itself off of the gray area, flying right at her!
She halted in midair, but it was too close; it burst into a swarm of tentacles
that immediately grabbed for her; she tried to swat them away with her
telekinesis, but her projected form was quickly entrapped by them, and she
could swear she felt them physically as the bound her legs and arms, choking as
she felt one on her neck as well.
The blackness closed around her;
still she could feel her bonds but now she could no longer see the other
colours of the emotional sphere as the darkness formed a new sphere around her.
She nearly panicked as she realized she could not call back her telepathic
projection back to her own mind; it was trapped! She was trapped! Struggling to break free, she fought the darkness,
demanding with her mind's voice "Who are you?! What're you doing to Volcan?!"
As if to answer her question,
something began to take shape in front of her; she looked straight ahead as she
saw something forming out of the darkness, seeing what appeared to be the head
of an avian materializing in a form of grey matter like a swarm of a billion
insects around the head of a statue -or even the head of a person, as this
shape was animate, releasing a moan that made Obsidian's heart stop as it
formed and peering at her with a pair of violet eyes that made her blood run
cold -even here, in her telepathic projected form, she could feel her body
trembling.
"It's not polite to interrupt my
meal," a voice that sounded oddly like Volcan's, but more distorted and
almost... spirtual, in a way, spoke from the beak of the hideous shape in front
of her. "Even as I am now... I still must feed, my sweet."
"What in the hell are you?" Obsidian
asked, almost forgetting she was bound by this thing inside of Volcan's mind.
The avianic face grinned back at
her. "I'm the one who'll claim this one's body... soon as I am strong enough to
do so," he...she...it, replied to the dragoness, seeming to actually move
closer to her. "And when I am done... there is one more thing I shall claim
before this day is out!"
Obsidian felt her body being
attacked; something was grabbing it and pushing it against a hard surface! She
had to break free, but this thing had her in its grasp, and she could not get
loose. She felt physical pain coming from her body, and mental pain as she
continued to try and get free but the bindings were becoming stronger, refusing
to let her go.
With no other choice, she tuned out
the pain coming from her body and focused everything into her mind, and with
one mighty telepathic blast, she attacked the strange entity; all around her it
expanded, stretched so thin it looked like a bubble, before it suddenly burst
open, and she went flying through the confines of Volcan's mind, out of control
as she was launched from the sphere of emotion. Regaining control, she steered
herself back to the frontal portion of Volcan's mind, where she'd made her
entry, and hurriedly returned to protect her body.
Someone was on top of her. Someone
had her pinned to the floor; a large heavy figure with powerful arms pinned her
down against the hardwood floor and were pulling open her bathrobe, exposing
her half-clothed form underneath, before grabbing onto her shirt, trying to
tear it off...
She gasped as she realized what was
happening; whoever was attacking her was trying to molest her!
The police training kicked in at
that moment; not knowing or caring who it was attacking her, she thrust her
knee up into the scrotum, making them grunt with pain and tense up, arching
their back towards the ceiling. With them stunned by the attack on their
crotch, she pulled both legs up to her chest, placing her feet on the torso of
her attacker and pushing hard, launching them off of her with all the strength
her dragonic legs could muster. They flew through the air a short distance,
hitting the wall between the living room and the entry hall and nearly going through it as they smashed the wood and
drywall with their weight.
Obsidian was on her feet in a
second, putting up her fists as she prepared for what was undoubtedly about to
be a fight... until she saw who it was she'd just kicked away, and she froze
dead in place, eyes becoming as round as dinner plates as she recognized the
person. Volcan was standing popped up against the wall, holding his head where
it had hit the wood, and groaning as he opened his eyes and looked at the
Dragoness, utterly confused.
"'Sid... what just happened? How'd I
get over here from there?" He asked, looking at the couch, which was a good
three meters away, but he only recalled being there; he didn't remember
standing up...
Adrenaline and horror were still
gripping Obsidian as she replied however. "What the hell is the matter with
you; why'd you attack me?!" She screamed at him, her brow furrowing with rage.
"Attack you?" Volcan asked, shocked.
"But I'd never...!" He stopped, eyes widening in horrid realization as it
dawned on him just what he'd been doing, especially when he saw Obsidian's
shirt was torn over her belly, and some of the fabric was caught on the talons
of his left hand. He stared at that hand for a moment as if it wasn't his, his
breathing intensifying as he turned back to Obsidian with realization.
"Obsidian..." Without another word he turned and ran for the door, knocking
over a vase with his wing in the process. "I'm sorry!" He called back as he ran
into the door, adrenaline-backed superhumanoid strength causing it to go flying
off of its hinges.
He regretted the damage, but not as
much as he regretted what he'd just tried to do! Something was wrong with him;
he wasn't in control of his actions, and now they had just endangered someone
he cared deeply about. He had to get away from there, away from the city -away
from everyone! He wasn't safe; he was a threat to them all!
Obsidian, snapping out of her
adrenal-induced trance, ran for the front door. "Volcan, wait!" She cried,
realizing it was not his fault now that she'd managed to get her second wind,
but the phoenix was already airborne, flying off through the howling cold wind
-that alone was a sign he wasn't himself, as that wind could cause him permanent
harm if he flew through it, but he wasn't going to stop; nothing would stop
him, and he'd never forgive himself for what he'd just tried to do to her.
Turning and running back into the
house, Obsidian strode to her room, finding her cellphone on the nightstand and
looking at the numbers in her contact list, able to think of only one person
she could call about this. She found the number, pressed 'Call' and held it to
her ear. "Come on, pick up, please...!" She begged.
Lighris turned over in bed as his
phone started ringing, letting out a long groan as he rubbed his eyes, followed
by a pained yelp as he accidentally rolled onto his wing and compressed it. Now
cranky, he sat up and spun around in bed, throwing off the blankets as he
reached for his cell phone on his nightstand, looking at the caller ID but
barely able to read it through sleepy eyes, so he simply hit the 'accept'
prompt and held it to his ear.
"This better be good," he groaned.
"Thank
God! Lighris, quickyouhavetogetup; something'sgonewrongwith...!"
"Hey, whoa! Slow down; who is this?"
He asked, somewhat sharply. "I'm still waking up here."
"It's
Obsidian!" The caller replied.
"Obsidian?" Lighris repeated.
"You've never phoned me before; you didn't write me a parking ticket or
anything, did you? Or seatbelt; I get one more and..."
"Will
you shut up and listen?!" She snapped through the phone. "I'm calling about Volcan!"
Lighris froze. It was never a good
sign when a cop was calling you about a family member, he knew. "What happened
to my brother?" He asked, a low growl in his voice.
"Something
is happening to him; I don't know what it is but, he was just over here, and...
ugh! Nothing makes sense!" He practically heard claws grinding against
scales as Obsidian was most likely scratching her head in frustration.
"Okay, calm down, officer," stated
Lighris. "If it's easier to explain in person, what's your address? I'll come
there."
"No;
it'd take too long. You'd have to go across the border gates and there's only
two open this time of night. Meet me at C-Plaza; it's about halfway."
"Okay, I'll meet you there. Just
keep your head cool when I arrive, alright?"
"I'll
try... thank you."
With that, both sides hung up.
Lighris got to his feet and walked out to the living room of his house, heading
over to the window and peering off in the direction of the city. "Shit, bro...
what've you got yourself into now?" He asked, deep concern in his voice...
~~~~~
Obsidian stood, uneasily, in the
middle of C-Plaza, in the park located next to the parking lot of the night
club, 'Casa 'Del Gato', which was nearing closing time; customers were being
given their last call for the night and were coming out in droves, those sober
enough to drive heading for their cars -and some not, but of course there were
a couple of cruisers driving by looking for just that, so Obsidian didn't need
to be concerned about them... not that she was. Most of her thoughts were only
on Volcan, fearing for his life and his sanity as she impatiently fidgeted,
waiting for the others.
After phoning Lighris she had
contacted Rikyuu, Pavan and Vinge as well; Rik wasn't even bothering with the
meeting, and was already out looking for the Fire Phoenix. The other avians
hadn't arrived yet though, Tsume and Brent hadn't answered their phones and
Obsidian didn't dare call the police -not yet... not until she could be sure of
what they were dealing with, and what was happening to her friend.
As she sat on the park bench,
waiting, she felt the wind picking up, and heard a pair of feet touching
ground, followed shortly after by a second pair. She turned in the direction of
the sounds, and saw two avians, one pale white and the other a light brown, immediately
recognizing them as Vinge and Pavan respectively.
The dragoness leapt to her feet,
walking over to them. "Thank you both so much for coming," she bade as the
hugged the two phoenixes.
"Like we'd do any less for my
buddy?" Pavan asked, patting Obsidian on the back.
Vinge held her gently with one arm
for a moment until she stepped back from him, keeping a hand on her shoulder as
he asked. "'Sid, are you okay?" He asked. "On the phone you sounded
hysterical."
"I'll explain when Lighris gets
here," Obsidian promised.
A rumbling, mechanical roar was
heard up the street, almost as if on cue, and the three turned to see a blue
pickup racing into the plaza, narrowly beating the red light of a corner
intersection, before making a beeline for a parking stall on the street,
skidding to a stop -clearly double-parked, but the driver, Lighris, leapt out
after barely taking time to activate the parking brake and cut the engine.
"There he is," Pavan jested.
"Not now," Vinge whispered sternly.
"He looks ready to blow a gasket."
Lighris strode over to the three,
his wings barely tucked in as he sprinted down the sidewalk towards them,
coming to a stop with his eyes fixed on Obsidian; his face was hard, clearly
holding back anger, but it was clear in his voice. "Obsidian, what happened?"
He asked, his voice a little shaky. "Where's my brother?"
"He came to my house a little while
ago; just under an hour," Obsidian explained, trying to keep it short. "He said
that he'd been having trouble sleeping and that his powers were being set off
involuntarily, so he came to me for help."
Pavan looked at Vinge. "Aren't you
still living with Volcan? Court order or something?"
"They revoked it after the Cyber
Wyvern attack," returned Vinge. "Allowed me to go home after a five-month term;
I moved back home two weeks ago, just before Christmas."
"Did you see him behaving strangely
at all, prior to you moving?" Obsidian asked.
"A month ago, he started distancing
himself from me, always coming up with some excuse to head out, and staying in
his room whenever he was home," replied Vinge. "A few times I confronted him
about it, wondering what was wrong but he never gave me a straight answer, and
seemed in a big hurry to get me back to my place when the term ended. Since
then, I've barely seen him."
"Same here; barely answers his phone
either," added Pavan.
"So what else happened?" Lighris
asked. "If he was just having sleep issues he should've gone to a clinic."
"It was more than just sleep
issues," replied Obsidian. "He said something about feeling this... other mind
inside of his own, speaking to him. He asked me to scan his mind, to try and
find it." The dragoness shuddered. "God, I found it alright..."
"You're speaking of that dark half
of his?" Vinge asked. "But it's mindless -pure primal instinct. How can it be
taking him over when he has a clear mind?"
"Because this wasn't some primal
intelligence," Obsidian returned, her voice breaking as she held back tears.
"It was sentient, alive; it spoke to
me, in words! It attacked me in Volcan's mind, trying to hold me back and..."
"What; did he hurt you?" Pavan
asked.
"Volcan... He tried to molest me,"
replied Obsidian, almost losing control there.
"Impossible!" Lighris shouted, all
too loudly. The volume and tone of his voice as he pointed an accusing finger
at Obsidian made her recoil, while Vinge turned about and put both hands on
Lighris' chest, holding him back; the very thought of someone claiming his
brother would try to rape someone was the final straw for him. "My brother
would never do that to anyone! Not in
a million years!"
"I know he wouldn't; that's why I know it wasn't really him," Obsidian
replied, defensively. "I pushed him off, and when he realized what happened he
ran out of my house; I tried to stop him but he took off before I could catch
him... and now he's out there somewhere -I don't even know where to look!" She
finally lost control, the tears forcing themselves to her eyes. Pavan stepped
forward and held her as she began to tremble and sob, her tail curling around
her legs as her body shook like the tail of a rattlesnake, leaning into the
Wind Phoenix.
Vinge allowed Lighris to calm down,
while Pavan comforted Obsidian, and then turned to face the lightning hawk, his
ice blue eyes meeting the bright yellow gaze of Lighris. "You know what this
means, don't you?" He asked. When Lighris couldn't come up with a response, the
Ice Phoenix continued. "We both know Volcan is not a schizophrenic -not in the
conventional manner. This can only mean that other presence inside of him, that
'Black Volcan', is trying to take control. It must've done so when he was at
Obsidian's."
"But how?" Lighris asked. "Volcan's
had that evil inside of him for eighteen and a half years; how could it be
taking control of him now when it couldn't before?"
"I don't know," Vinge admitted. "But
however it's happening, we need to find Volcan and try to find some way to stop
it." Vinge raised his left hand to the tip of his beak, biting his index finger
ever so slightly as he paced around. "After what happened at Obsidian's, no
doubt guilt will be driving him now; he won't want to be found. You're his
brother; do you have some idea as to where he might go?"
Lighris tightened his fists
somewhat, his frustration making him want to yell at Vinge, although he didn't
really have any reason to do so; maintaining his composure he considered the
question for a moment. "Unfortunately I don't," replied the lightning hawk.
"Overwatch is always where he'd go to clear his head or just relax but he knows
that's the first place we'd look for him. There's no shortage of places to hide
outside of the city; this side of the border there's nothing but wilderness from
here to Calgary or Lethbridge."
"And he knows this area pretty darn
well," Pavan added, resting a hand on Obsidian's back as she managed to stop
her crying and step back from him. "And he might not even be on the Canadian
side if he left from 'Sid's house."
Vinge looked at Pavan. "You've known
Volcan the longest, and you know the area around the city. Go to every place
you can think of he would go -start with Overwatch, and work in the surrounding
area first; those who are running from something will not usually linger far
from anywhere they feel safe."
"How could you possibly know that?"
Lighris asked, unconvinced.
"Basic psychology," replied Vinge. "Now,
Lighris; you and Obsidian look through the city, dividing between the Canadian
and American halves. Check everywhere you can."
"Hey, who died and made you captain,
frosty?" Lighris growled.
Vinge leered at him with such a look
that it actually made Lighris flinch. "Do you want to massage your ego or do
you want to find your brother?"
Lighris made no retort.
"Where are you going to look?"
Obsidian asked, wiping her eyes with the back of her arm as she looked at
Vinge.
"I'm going to go look in the
forest," replied Vinge. "Volcan could hide somewhere down low too; somewhere
with lots of cover, and I know a few places out there he could try." He took in
a deep breath as he continued. "Now... I know most of you will not want to hear
this, but remember; Volcan is not himself right now, and he could be dangerous
if that other side of him takes control. If you find him, do not try to
confront him without the rest of us." He looked between each one of them,
studying their expressions as they let sink in what he said. "Understood?"
Obsidian and Pavan nodded
immediately. Lighris did too, with some hesitation.
"Alright; let's go!" Vinge
commanded.
The group scattered. Lighris went
back to his truck and Obsidian to her car while Pavan and Vinge took to the
skies; Pavan was the first above the city buildings, turning to the north-west and flying as fast as the wind
could carry him. Vinge cleared the buildings in time to see Pavan fade out of
sight, and peered to the east to see the sun beginning to creep over the
horizon, signalling the approaching dawn.
"Volcan... wherever you are, hang
on; we'll find you." He silently promised.
~~~~~
(Play 'Fight Inside' by RED'
Volcan stumbled into the clearing,
his vision blurred behind tears and his confused mind, barely navigating where
he was going. He'd lost control mid-flight and nearly crashed in the forest as
a searing pain shot through his whole body; he hugged himself with one arm,
trying to dull the pain with no success. He walked across the clearing, making
it only halfway before another jolt of pain sent him dropping to his knees,
wings hanging slack him and propping himself up on his hands to keep himself
from face-planting into the ground.
"Urgh! Fuck; what is happening to
me?!" He demanded, despite knowing there was nobody around to hear him, or give
him an answer to his question.
Volcan felt sick... sick down to his
bones as he recalled what happened back at Obsidian's place. One moment he's
seated on the couch next to her, letting her read his mind to try and find the
source of his nightmares, and the next thing he knew she'd kicked him off of
her, finding out that he'd tried to force himself on her... how could he do that?!
To her of all people; why would he do something so horrid? Once more he found
himself crying in guilt, a sting in his heart as he silently apologized to the
dragoness again and again.
'Yes...
keep that guilt, and all that sadness. Makes it easier for me...'
A voice! Not his but eerily similar; he sprang back to his feet,
putting up his fists as he turned about, searching the clearing for any sign of
the owner of the voice, grinding his beak through another moment of pain.
"Grgh...! Who said that? Where are you?"
A chuckle... 'You can't see me with your eyes, idiot. I'm already behind them.'
"Be... behind them?" Volcan asked.
'Still
haven't figured it out yet? I'm peering through your own eyes right now... or
what will soon be my own eyes.'
It was him...
"You..." Volcan whispered.
'He
can be taught,' the evil voice
said, sarcastically. 'I just wanted to
say, before I take over, I really appreciate all the time we've spent together;
you've been a good vessel, and your body will make a fine one for me when it's
in more deserving hands.'
Another jolt of pain, and once again Volcan was doubling over, barely
catching himself on his hands before he hit the ground. "H-How is this even
happening?!" Volcan demanded. "For all of my life you've been nothing more than
a mindless monster; you could never do this before!
'Don't
you remember six months back, when we merged into one against that wyvern? The
voice asked. This all began back then;
back on that day when you and I became one. Our minds, our spirits, our
essence; all of it joined. Ever since then, I've learned some interesting
things, including how to free myself from the confines of your mind.'
"Like hell you will!" Volcan returned. "You're staying right in there
where you belong, you bastard; I won't let you come out! I've held you back for
eighteen years; I'll keep holding on for the rest of my life!"
'Even
you do not have the will to contain me for that long,' the voice continued
to mock him. 'Especially not with all the
fear rampaging in your mind.'
"Fear of what?! I'm not afraid of you!"
'You
don't have to be, because you're afraid of what I'll do when I come out,' the
voice carried on. 'Your family, your
friends, the people of Unity Falls; it terrifies you what I'll do when I am
free. But the one you fear for most is Obsidian, isn't it?'
Volcan's eyes widened in horror as
he knew what his other side was implying. "No... you stay the hell away from
her, or I'll end my life right now!" He warned, his anger rising. "Even if I
can't stop you by will I can by force; if I die, so do you!"
'Nice
bluff. But you don't have your sword, nor do you have the gall to kill
yourself,' the voice carried on. Suddenly, to Volcan's horror, he felt his
beak moving involuntarily, and his vocal cords vibrating as he spoke, but it
was not of his own volition, realizing too late that his rising emotions were
only worsening his situation -it had always been his anger, fear and sadness
that had unleashed this demonic presence before, and now it was allowing it to
seize control of the phoenix.
"Don't worry," the strange voice
said... with Volcan's own vocals. "I'll take good care of your city... and
especially her."
Volcan, regaining control of his
voice, could only grab his head and scream to the sky, flames erupting from his
wings and igniting the land around him as he lost control...
~~~~~
Izrail jolted as he felt it... the
same sensation that had struck him six months ago was back again, this time
with a vengeance. Sitting up in his sandstone throne, the demigod let the
feeling sink in for a moment before he rose from the seat and strode down the
hall to the scrying chamber, making for the magic circle in the middle and
casting his spell on the basin of water, letting it rise up to form a window in
front of him.
Upon the watery wall appeared a
forested area, with a phoenix lying in the middle of clearing, seemingly
battling with himself as he rolled, tumbled and thrashed about on the ground,
flames erupting from his body as he battled with whatever demons were causing
him such distress. Izrail watched for a moment; besides his unusual behavior
the boy appeared normal, but there was something off about him...
And then, he saw it. Peering closely
he saw an image, like a projection appear around the boy -a projection only his
eyes would see, of the face of a horrifying creature with a skeletal face, almost
human but not, with a mouthful of scythe-like fangs, wild tangled hair and
blank yellow eyes, laughing in right in Izrail's face as if the strange entity
could see him, before it suddenly changed form, becoming an avianic face. This
face was similar to that of the boy he was watching through the scrying
spell... but different. Different colours -black feathers replacing red, and
violet replacing gold, along with matching violet eyes that glowed like stars.
The sudden change disrupted Izrail's
concentration, sending the water splashing to the floor and soaking his feet.
He paid it no heed as he sprinted down from the dais, stepping out into the
corridor and calling out at the top of his lungs -if he actually had any.
"AKATSUKI!" He roared.
In a matter of seconds, the
eight-tailed fox was sprinting into view, turning a corner and running up to
Izrail, garbed in Japanese lamellar armour and carrying a nodachi sword as if
he was expecting a fight. "My lord, what troubles you?" He asked.
"That presence we sensed months ago;
it's back," replied Izrail. "And now I know where it's coming from; it's in
Canada, near the city known to mortals as 'Unity Falls'." He held out his hand,
and with a flash of red light, a curved, ebony-coloured scimitar materialized into
his grasp. "It is trying to escape from its host; we must go and prevent the
demon beast from running free, else the world shall be destroyed just as it was
in his first coming." He turned away from nogitsune, unexpectedly slashing at
the air.
A line of crimson formed in midair
along the path the sword slashed along, glowing brightly and illuminating the
gloom of the hallway, before it widened, opening like an eye until it was wide
enough for a person to fit into. In the eye was an infinite sea of red, nothing
else within, filling the dark corridor with its light.
"My lord," Akatsuki stated, boldly.
"I may know another way."
"Another way to what?" Izrail
inquired.
"To destroy Lucarinai's essence
without killing its host," replied Akatsuki. "I believe I have found a way to
exorcize it. We can purge it from the host body without that host having to die
in the process."
"It would be swifter to simply kill
the host," Izrail pointed out.
"I understand that, master, but I
have considered that," Akatsuki stated. "If death was not enough to stop
Lucarinai once, killing a host it is possessing may still not kill it."
Izrail eyed Akatsuki expectantly.
"So you're saying that we would not eliminate the problem by slaying
Lucarinai's host?" He asked, a stern look on his face.
Akatsuki nodded. "I fear that
Lucarinai is still too powerful to simply be killed. Like myself he can only
die if his core essence is eradicated, and the best way to do that as he is now
is through exorcism."
Izrail considered Akatsuki's words,
a ring of truth in them; Izrail was so hasty in his choice to kill the phoenix,
he did not consider that the heroes of the ancient world had tried doing just
that once before, and yet Lucarinai was still out there despite being slain by
four of the most legendary heroes on the endless sea of time, their names known
across the ages. But if even they had not truly killed Lucarinai, how would
Izrail's life-leeching sword accomplish any more than they had? Demigod or not,
it had been proven that such primitive means, however effective they remained,
would not work.
Izrail looked at Akatsuki again.
"Very well," he agreed. "We shall try it your way. Though I cannot help but
question your motives for spending all this time studying this method?"
"The host is young; he has barely
had a chance to live," replied Akatsuki. "You have lived for thousands of
years, I have lived for seven centuries. I have seen the world, and it
continues to change, making me want to live through the ages to see it
continue, which is exactly why I left the side of Inari and her loyalists; I do
not wish to become a guardian of my own world, I wish to see how this one
continues to evolve." His gaze became more determined. "And that youth -any
youth, deserve to see how it continues as well."
Izrail actually allowed a wry smirk
to appear on his face at Akatsuki's words. "Well said, Akatsuki," he returned.
"Your sentiment is what separates you and I, and it is a worthy belief. Lord of
Death I may be, but life belongs to all." He turned back to the eye of red
before him. "Now come; time may be against us. Let's go."
~~~~~
Vinge sprinted through the trees as
he heard the scream; he didn't know who or what had been the source of it, but
he knew it meant trouble. A deep feeling in his heart told him it was Volcan,
but survival instinct was telling him it was something he did not want to see.
He believed both feelings, but he continued to press on, hand on his sword but
not drawing it, eyes forward and focused so that whatever he was heading
towards, he'd see it first.
And then, he reached the clearing,
stepping out of the shadow of the trees to see the burning grass and
surrounding pines ablaze as a figure rolled and tumbled all over the clearing,
the flames spewing out from their body. Vinge knew the figure was Volcan; the
fires spilled forth from his wings and arms, even from his beak when he opened
it to scream again.
"Volcan!" Vinge cried, trying to run
to the side of his friend, only to nearly swoon from the heat and force himself
against his judgement to back away. "I... I can feel the heat?" He asked,
quizzically; Volcan, like all phoenixes, had a passive innate ability that was
triggered psychologically -people Volcan considered friends or loved ones could
not be hurt by his flames even if engulfed them in an inferno, yet at that very
moment Vinge could feel the heat as if he were standing near a blast furnace,
making him pour sweat...
No, not sweat; his feathers, more ice than organic,
had started to melt from the heat. Five seconds in there, and the Ice Phoenix
would have fallen into a coma! He forced himself to keep backing away to the trees, unable to
handle the intensity, despite his ever-present desire to help his friend.
Vinge reached into his pocket and
produced his cell phone, trying to tune out Volcan's cries of agony as he
continued to flail across the ground. He lifted the phone to his ear until he
heard his expected recipient answer; Pavan's voice spoke through the earpiece. "Hello?"
"Pavan, it's Vinge; I found Volcan!"
Vinge informed.
"I
think I did too; I can see fire in the forest. Is that his doing?"
"Yes; he's fighting for control of his body with that other side of
himself, and he's setting the whole forest ablaze! Find Lighris and Obsidian,
hurry!" Vinge ordered.
"On
it!"
Vinge felt more heat coming up alongside him as flames brushed against
the tree he was ducking behind for cover. Immediately he strode away from it,
getting behind another before the previous tree went ablaze. "Dammit, if we
don't stop this now the whole forest will be burned down!" He could already
picture fire-fighting crews in his mind, on their way to the forest and using
an aerial sweep to spray over the woods. If Volcan was caught in that, it
wouldn't matter even if his dark half took over; the air-sweep would kill him
once they dropped their payload of extinguishers over the area.
Perhaps that was just what the
phoenix was counting on...
Minutes passed, and Vinge felt a
rush of air forcing its way through the trees. He looked up to see Pavan and
Lighris, with Obsidian carried on his back, dropping down from the air above
the canopies. They landed a few feet away from Vinge, who stepped over to greet
them. "Glad you guys got here so fast."
"Thank Pavan for that," said
Lighris. "Made a heck of a tailwind for me to fly on."
"Where's Volcan?" Obsidian asked.
Vinge looked over his shoulder and
pointed towards the clearing where the flames were at their thickest. "Over
there," he stated.
"Whoa! Is that Volcan or is that a
freakin' thermal bomb going off?" Pavan asked. "How do we get near him?"
Without even answering the question,
Obsidian tried to run towards the fire, but Lighris seized her by the shoulders
and held her back. "'Sid, are you insane?!" He demanded. "Dragon or not those
flames will turn you into charred meat if you go in there!"
"I have to try something; it's only
because of me he's in this state!" Obsidian retorted.
"This is not your fault!" Lighris snapped at her, turning her to face him.
"The only one to blame here is that monstrosity that lives inside of Volcan; it attacked you, not him! But Volcan
can't see the difference; that's the only reason he feels so guilty about it!"
"Then what're we supposed to do;
can't you hear him?" She inquired as Volcan's screams reached her. "He's
suffering in there!"
"That's why I'm going in," stated
Lighris.
"Did you hit your head or
something?" Pavan asked. "You can't survive those flames!"
"I'm the only one who can survive in there, because I'm a
hybrid," returned Lighris. "Volcan and I are brothers in blood; I have my
mother's blood in me, and that hybrid blood gives me natural resistance to
fire." He turned to Pavan. "Those flames are too intense for me to get through
fast enough though; can you create a wind strong enough to blow some of it
away?"
"Not without blasting you too,"
Pavan warned.
"I'll handle that part," stated
Obsidian. "I'll use my telekinesis to hold Lighris in place against the wind
and divert some of it off of him."
"And I'll throw some snow into the
wind; when it melts in the heat it might be able to sprinkle the flames enough
to put some of them out," added Vinge.
"Can you do that without hitting
Volcan?" Pavan asked.
"They won't be enough to hurt him."
Lighris nodded. "Then let's get
started. I'm going in!" He said urgently, turning and sprinting towards the
inferno.
Obsidian faced Lighris' back,
holding out her hands and casting a telekinetic barrier around him, the
semi-transparent shield forming around him, deliberately forming a cone-shape
with the point aimed behind him for what came next; Pavan waved his arms around
slightly before thrusting both palms forward, sending a gale-force wind towards
the flames; the wind rushed around Lighris, Obsidian's barrier successfully
protecting him from being swept right into the fire. When Vinge mixed in some
snow generated from his wings into the wind, the fires died quicker, creating a
path through the flames.
With his opening made, Lighris
charged; Obsidian continued to generate the barrier to protect him as he ran
through the fire; though he could still feel the heat through the barrier the
flames themselves harmed him little, especially as they were pushed aside by
more wind. Grinding the edges of his beak together against the pain as he
continued to push through with an arm over his eyes, blinking back the tears
induced by the heat.
And there he was. Lighris saw Volcan
straight ahead, and his eyes widened with horror as he saw the state of his
brother. The phoenix had rolled around so much his body was covered in dirt,
burnt grass and bruises from hitting hard objects, but that was not the worst
of it; the left half of Volcan's body was already in the process of
transformation, the feathers as black as ink and his left eye already turning
violet. The dark half known only as 'Black Volcan' was nearly in control.
Lighris pushed forward with greater
determination, yelling out to his brother. "Volcan! I'm here, bro!" He shouted,
not sure if Volcan could hear him or not, but he carried on. "You have to keep
it together, man; don't let that monster take hold of you!"
Volcan continued to thrash around,
the heat radiating from him enough to make even Lighris swoon, despite being
highly tolerant to this. Lighris put up both arms protectively as more flames
spewed forth from his brother's body, forcing him to step back. Dammit, I can't get any closer! He thought,
angrily.
And then, over Volcan's screams,
Lighris heard a sound more horrifying than anything else happening at that
moment. The sound of a plane, approaching fast and flying low over the forest
and coming closer by the second. At that second, Lighris felt a sharp yank
around him, and went flying backward out of the flames as they intensified
again, feeling himself in cooler air and hitting the ground with a bump as he
was pulled away from his brother, grunting as the impact with the ground knocked
the wind out of him.
He wasn't down for long; he flipped
over onto his front and pushed himself up on his hands, leering at Obsidian.
"Why'd you pull me out? I was almost to him!"
"Because there's a fire fighter
plane coming!" Obsidian replied. "Those chemicals they use will suffocate you
too!"
"But if they drop those chemicals
now, they'll kill Volcan!" Lighris bellowed. "Can't you call them off?!"
"I'm a police sergeant, not chief of
the Fire Brigade," Obsidian returned, her expression pained. "I can't stop
them..."
Vinge looked towards Volcan one
more, his expression hurt but intrigued at the same time. "I may be reaching
here... but think Volcan planned this from the start."
~~~~~
'Ah...
I can hear now, too. Your screams are getting annoying though; why don't you
stop this now and...' A pause. 'Wait...
what is that sound?'
That would be the local Air Spray team, Volcan returned in thought,
knowing now that his adversary could hear his thoughts if he direct them at it.
They're coming to put out the fire we've
started. Any second now they'll carpet this clearing with potent chemicals
that'll rob the air around us of oxygen and completely choke the fires, and us.
'Are you grinning?! You actually planned this, didn't
you! But how did I not know?!'
Sharing a body doesn't mean we share a mind; if I don't
aim my thoughts at you, then you can't hear them. And you thought I didn't have
the will to end my own life.
'You idiot! Those chemicals will do such harm to our body
you won't even be able to come back to life; you'll die indefinitely!'
That's the idea... you'll never hurt anyone again.
'I will not let this happen!' Volcan felt his dark half
already doubling his effort to seize control, desperately clawing his way
towards his goal.
You're
too late. Now this all comes to an end.
'No... no! Not now!'
FLASH!
A crimson light appeared in front of
Volcan; both he and his dark side froze in place, looking up at the light in front
of them; until something stepped out of the glow. A figure, dressed in ancient
egyptian garbs of the like a Pharaoh might wear, with a skirt-like leg wrap and
a golden mantle worn on the shoulders and collar. He had the head of a jackal,
glowing eyes of bright red, but he was not an anthro; his body from the neck
down was human in appearance, with the legs and arms of a human man, with
strong bodily features, and a wicked Arabic-style scimitar slung through a loop
in a silk belt he wore.
At the side of this stranger stood a
white fox -not white like an Arctic fox, but white like a cloud, with eyes of
solid gold, glowing like small lamps. He had silvery hair, worn long and combed
straight as it hung around his shoulders. He was garbed in Samurai-era Japanese
lamellar armour, painted blue and polished to a shiny luster. On his back
rested a nodachi -a long sword resembling a Katana, but far longer than one,
measuring easily four and a half feet in length if not more. He stood a hair
shorter than the jackal-headed figure, but was no less imposing.
"Who... who are you?" Volcan asked.
(Play 'He who brings the
Night' by Two Steps from Hell')
The plane swept overhead; Vinge,
Pavan, Lighris and Obsidian ducked under the canopies for cover as the plane
dropped its payload, spraying the harsh extinguisher chemicals over the fires.
Obsidian hid her face in Vinge's chest, unable to look at what would surely be
Volcan's death, suppressing the urge to scream out to him as the sizzling fluid
blanketed the area, and the fires rapidly died.
The sizzling was loud, and seemed to
drag on for much longer than it should have, but before too long it stopped,
and the four slowly stepped out of hiding to peer out into the clearing, which
was still full of smoke from the extinguished flames, obscuring their vision.
Though none of them felt even a speck of hope, still they watched, until it
finally began to clear enough for them to see.
They saw a glowing blue sphere,
around where Volcan had been prior to the carpeting by the Air Spray. The harsh
chemicals ran like water around the sphere, which upon closer inspection was
actually transparent, and inside of it, the group could see Volcan and two
others standing in the middle of the clearing, completely unharmed by the
extinguisher.
"What the... who the hell are those
guys?" Lighris asked.
"I don't know but it looks like they
just saved Volcan," replied Vinge.
Suddenly, the darker one of the two
pointed his left index finger at Volcan, and seemingly out of nowhere chains
appeared around the young phoenix, surprising him with their unexpected
appearance and the sudden tightness around his body. Volcan struggled against
the chains, trying to break them to no avail, until the white-furred fox
touched Volcan on the forehead, and he went still.
"Hey!" Lighris bellowed, taking to
the air and flying out into the clearing. "Get away from my brother!"
Ignoring him, the barrier was
dropped, and as the white fox picked up Volcan and slung him over his shoulder
as if he were weightless, the other slashed at the air with a sword he drew
from his belt. With that, a crimson opening appeared in midair, both of them
stepping into it with Volcan in tow. Lighris, despite not knowing where the
portal would be going, pursued, and right on his tail were Pavan and Vinge, who
had Obsidian on his back, and the three dove into the strange portal,
surrounded by infinite red for a few seconds before passing through another
opening.
They fell into a gloomy hallway
that, upon exiting, turned out to be too narrow for wings. The tips of their
outstretched limbs scraped against stone, and in pained reflex the avians
folded their wings, falling to the floor painfully and tumbling in a heap. Obsidian
was thrown clear off of Vinge in the tangle, and hurriedly used telekinesis on
herself to levitate to safety, although was still caught off guard by the
sudden change and bumped her nose painfully against a column, holding it with a
mild whimper.
"Get off me!" Lighris growled as he
pushed himself up with his hands, throwing both Vinge and Pavan off of his
back.
Pavan fell onto his back, Vinge
tucked in his limbs and rolled, grunting as some pressure was put on his
wingjoints before he hand-sprang back up to his feet. Lighris stood up quickly,
his eyes glowing bright white as he surveyed the hallway. "Where are those two
sons of bitches; I swear if they harm one feather on my bro's head I'm going
turn both of them inside out!"
"That way, tiger," Pavan remarked,
pointing down the hallway with his toe.
Straight ahead were the two
strangers, still carrying Volcan with them, into another chamber; the white fox
had glanced back at the group, noticing them, and looked back at the other. "It
appears we have stowaways, my lord."
"Leave them; we'll deal with them
later," the second replied, both of them speaking in English but with voices
heavily accented. "Lucarinai is the main concern here, not those mortals."
"As you say," the fox returned as
they entered the next room.
"Get back here!" Lighris hollered, breaking into a run.
Vinge and Obsidian were quick to
follow, ignoring that they were in a strange place and focusing on the matter
at hand, which was rescuing their friend from this dark, creepy place. Pavan
sprang back to his feet and ran ahead, using a wind tunnel around himself to
increase his speed, dodging around the others as he made a beeline right for
the chamber entrance.
"Here I come, to save the day!" He chimed as he neared
the doorway...
He hit something... an invisible
wall that seemed to cave somewhat under his impact before snapping back in the
direction he'd come from, launching the wind phoenix through the air. He
babbled random nonsense, mixed in with several yelps of surprise, as he was
sent soaring backward through the air. The others ducked under the wind phoenix
reflexively, sending him back-flipping over their heads, until Vinge turned
back and cast a wave of snow down the hallway from his hands, forming into a
thick drift where Pavan fell into a landing, the snow successfully breaking his
fall -although still leaving him somewhat winded.
"Ow... what the hell was that?"
Pavan asked, rubbing and shaking his head, trying to clear it. He looked
towards the door he'd tried to go through, and repeated his question with a
southern U.S accent. "I mean, what the hell
was that?!" He asked, the 'I' sounding like 'Ah' and the 'Hell' like 'Hail'
with the imitated accent.
"Pavan, you're from Britain, not
Texas," Vinge stated.
"It seems they don't want us
interfering with whatever they're doing," Obsidian stated.
"Tough titty; I'm going in there!"
Lighris barked as he returned to his sprint, charging at the door armed only
with his fists, crackling with lightning as he drew back one to punch at the
unseen barrier.
His arm hit, the lightning
discharged, and his own hand bounced back hard enough to nearly dislocate his
shoulder and throw him off balance. Stubbornly he refused to fall off of his
feet, and proceeded to pound on the barrier with both fists, rage driving him
on. But it held strong, seemingly no damage being done to it.
Within the room beyond the barrier,
the intruders could see Izrail and Akatsuki placing the young phoenix onto what
appeared to be an altar. As soon as he was placed upon it, the chains around
his body vanished, and his limbs were suddenly pulled by forces unknown to
parts of the altar; his legs were pulled together towards the right, his arms
towards the corners at the left, and his wings simply held down at his sides,
and just like that the fire phoenix could not move another inch, except for his
head.
More of the blackness had spread
over the phoenix by this point; some of his bright yellow feathers had begun
turning purple, and both of his eyes by this point were violet. Even his beak
had begun to change from orange to gray, showing he was even closer to losing
himself to the darkness within him.
"We must act quickly," stated
Izrail, his palms locking together. "I will keep him restrained and the barrier
up to keep the intruders out; you must perform your exorcism quickly. Purge
Lucarinai from this boy!"
"I shall," returned Akatsuki, his
armour vanishing an being replaced by a sky blue kimono as he circled the
altar. "My lord, do we know this boy's name?"
"This form's name is Volcanoran
Skilerain," replied Izrail. "Descendant of the ancient MacAingeal Clan of
Scotland."
"Truly an honorable lineage," said
Akatsuki, the name of the Scottish clan being known even to him, stepping over
to the front of the altar. "Volcan, I promise on my honor that I will rid you
of the curse, and you shall have the life you deserve," he stated. Volcan made
no response, too focused on fighting back the evil that tried to claim him, to
even hear what it was that Akatsuki said to him.
The eight-tailed Nogitsune put his
hands together, and began to chant in a language older than even himself, his
voice echoing through the halls as he spoke the incantation, stepping around
Volcan and placing his pawed hands upon Volcan's lower back. His paws began to
glow, and the light flowed from his paws in the form of small tendrils, sliding
across the body of the phoenix and entering his flesh like leeches.
Immediately, Volcan started screaming,
feeling the magic cast by the strange fox filling his body and battling with
the darkness that was already trying to claim him. He struggled against his
unseen bonds, though it was unclear which side was in control and doing the
struggling at that moment; the bonds held firm, but Izrail was forced to divert
most of his focus to keeping the phoenix restrained, else he harm himself
attempting to break free of the binding spell.
Outside the room, Lighris had
stopped hammering on the door after running out of breath. Vinge, Pavan and
Obsidian all stood at his sides, staring into the room as the strange
eight-tailed fox began to recite the strange spell, none of them able to
understand what he was saying -although Vinge knew what language he was
speaking. It was some form of Egyptian, not a form he recognized -not that even
he could speak the language, perhaps older than all of them combined, older
than even the one speaking it, perhaps.
But Volcan's scream spurred Vinge
from his curiosity, and he drew his sword and tried to stab it through the
barrier stopping them from gaining entry. He pressured it with all of his
strength, pushing and pushing until it almost seemed like steel would triumph
where lightning and speed had already failed.
Until...
SNAP!
The blade broke; three inches of
metal broke away from the sword and the small metal fragment shot back, cutting
across Vinge's arm and making him recoil, looking at his broken ropera with
shock while also holding where the tip had cut him, hearing it clatter into the
hallway behind him. Cursing angrily he sheathed his sword and held out his
arms, forming two ice spikes around his fists and punching at the barrier with
them.
Inside the chamber, Akatsuki
continued the spell, and it seemed to be working. The blackness spreading over
Volcan was beginning to recede, returning his colours to normal as they seemed
drawn towards where Akatsuki's paws were placed. At first, the nogitsune
thought maybe the darkness was trying to gather where it could claim him as its
new host, but it was making no such attempt. Before he could ponder it further,
he felt the purging magics beginning to fail; the darkness wasn't becoming
weaker, and the phoenix on the altar suddenly jerked as if something had hit
him from the belly, his back arching slightly.
"Akatsuki, what is happening?!"
Izrail demanded.
"Something's wrong; the darkness is
not dying!" Akatsuki returned. "It's too powerful for me to purge!"
Volcan screamed again as his body
was involuntarily pulled up by something, his skin visibly pulsing from it,
making both Akatsuki and Izrail freeze, eyes on the spot where Volcan's flesh
had seemed to move on its own, around where the blackness was concentrated. His
friends outside, seeing this as well, all stood in stunned silence as they saw
the involuntarily actions of the phoenix, Obsidian gasping as she saw it happen
again, that center of blackness actually rising up from Volcan's back.
"Oh my God," Obsidian whispered,
covering her muzzle with both hands.
"What the hell is happening to him?"
Lighris demanded.
"I have no idea," returned Vinge,
equally shocked by what he was witnessing.
A shower of blood exploded from
Volcan's back, and from his flesh, a hand consisting of pure, dark energy,
erupted from his flesh.
The phoenixes' scream could have
shattered windows...
Pavan felt his stomach churn,
covering his beak before he turned to a corner and started throwing up; a
perfectly understandable thing to do. Lighris and Vinge both stared in horror
as that hand reached out of Volcan's back, and Obsidian clenched her eyes shut
and covered her ears as Volcan's horrific scream of agony echoed through the
halls of the strange building. The arm grew in length, reaching out from the
back of the fire phoenix, grasping for whatever hold it could find before more
of it began to emerge; every portion of the darkness that climbed out expanded
until it was roughly the size of an average person, and still more emerged.
(Play 'Black Blade' by Two
Steps from Hell)
Izrail and Akatsuki, awestricken by
what they were witnessing, stood frozen as they watched the darkness continue
to emerge, until finally it stopped, falling to the floor and propping itself
up on two hands that emerged from its mass. It was like a shadow -an inky,
black shadow with violet eyes, and every second after its emergence from
Volcan, its body was becoming more and more humanoid; legs were growing from
its lower mass, and from its back two more masses were growing, like wings in a
newborn state before the feathers grew.
"By Odin, what the hell is that?!"
Vinge questioned, his mind unable to fathom what he was witnessing.
"Did that thing just come out of my brother's body?!" Lighris demanded.
The creature of dark matter turned
to face Akatsuki, and then Izrail, and then towards the exit, which was still
protected by Izrail's barrier. That did not seem to hinder it, however, as it
made a beeline right for the exit, sprinting down from the altar and trailing a
dark fog behind it as it ran.
"Akatsuki, kill it!" Izrail
commanded, focusing all of his attention on the barrier to contain the
creature.
The eight-tailed fox reached for his
weapon, but as his hand grasped the sword, it transformed; raising it from his
back, the weapon was revealed to have been changed to a Yumi -a Japanese long
bow that stood taller than its wielder, which Akatsuki aimed at the dark
creature, pulling back the string. No arrow was notched in the bow, however...
at least not until, in a flash of light, an arrow materialized against the
pulled string, and with its appearance, Akatsuki released the string, sending
the arrow flying straight for the back of the inky-black mass.
The creature spun around, a golden
light appearing in its hand as it turned. The light extended, forming a long
staff-like shape, before its two ends began to form separate shapes; the base
formed into a leaf-shaped spearhead, sharpened on all sides, while the tip
formed into what resembled a four-pointed cross, except for the loop on its
tip. Vinge recongized the shape as an Ankh, an Egyptian symbol of immortality
pre-dating the Christian Bible, used by the Pharaoh's of old, and on old
carvings it was often held or worn by one of the Egyptian Gods as well, as a
testament to their eternal life.
The arrow struck the staff, and
completely disintegrated as if it were made of powder. With the attack blocked,
the creature turned back towards the door, leaping towards the
barrier-protected exit and jabbing its staff into the shield. A sound, like the
shattering of glass, filled the corridor; the Os-Nadarra members beyond the
shield hurriedly leapt out of the way as the creature smashed through the
barrier, flying past them with a mighty leap.
As it passed, the four of them got a
look at its face -dark as night and void of expression, but its shape... that
shape, all too familiar to them. Even though the features were largely
untraceable, the form of the creature's head was identical to Volcan, even in
the way it moved -it sprinted the same way that the fire phoenix did, with long
strides and wings tucked in tightly to its body to increase aerodynamics.
Izrail suddenly appeared in front of
the creature, blade drawn, and swung at it. Sword met staff, and the two were
in a stalemate, until the creature opened its mouth and breathed fire -violet
coloured fire with black outline, right in Izrail's face. The anubite recoiled,
and the dark creature leapt for the ceiling, driving its staff into the stone
and smashing into it to expose the daylight beyond. With that it soared out
into the open air, spreading its stubby wings and taking flight; despite the
wings clearly not being completely grown, somehow it managed, and fled from the
city.
Akatsuki, the shock of the recent
events finally passing, turned to Volcan. The phoenix was lying prone, unmoving
and unresponsive on the altar, his blood staining the stone slab around him and
his eyes, half-lidded, stared off into nothing, but not yet faded. He was still
alive, but was barely clinging to life. Quickly, Akatsuki rushed to his side,
placing both paws over the wound in his back -a grotesque opening in his body
that although did not seem as deep as it looked, bled like a stuck pig, the
muscles beneath shredded and twisted in ways they should not have been.
Light poured forth from Akatsuki's
paws, shining over Volcan's wound as he poured all of his energy into the
phoenix. "I promised you the life you deserved; I shall not let you die now,
until you have lived that life!" He growled. "My word is my bond!" The light
around his paws intensified with that, tendrils of light as big around as his
forearm entering Volcan's body and encircling the inside of the wound on his
back, making it and the blood flowing from it glow brightly.
Slowly, the blood receded, returning
to its host body -not all of it, just that which had not already begun to dry,
and the wound began to close...
"YOU!!"
Akatsuki looked up with a start, barely in time to see the electric
blue figure leaping at him, seizing him by the throat and dragging him across
the room from the altar until they reached the wall. The enraged lightning hawk
slammed Akatsuki against the wall heavily; had his body been real and not
merely a shell hosting his spirit, it would have knocked the wind out of him,
but the ribs -real enough, as it were, groaned dangerously under the impact.
"You are not going to lay another hand on my brother!!" Lighris bellowed as
he drew back his left fist, charged with electricity and ready to smash in
Akatsuki's skull.
A powerful hand gripped the back of
Lighris' neck; that touch somehow released the tension of all of his muscles,
forcing him to let go of Akatsuki as he was pulled back from him. "Begone!"
Izrail bellowed as he hurled Lighris across the chamber, sending him flying
over the altar, onto the stairs of the dais and tumbling down to the far wall.
A flash of silvery-white across his
eyes, and Izrail suddenly felt the cold sting of a sword edge at his neck.
Slowly, he followed to blade to the hand holding it, then gazed over the hand
into a pair of ice-blue eyes that eyed him with contempt. Izrail showed no
concern at the blade, briefly glancing up to see the dragoness and wind phoenix
running over to Volcan's side, cringing as they saw the gaping wound in his
back.
"If I were you, boy," Izrail began.
"I would not interfere."
"You owe us an explaination," Vinge
stated firmly. "Who are you, what did you do to Volcan; start talking!"
"Or what?" Izrail asked. "You will
kill me? You do not understand who it is you threaten, mortal."
"I know that an Anubite can only be
killed by decapitation," Vinge returned, pressing his broken sword harder into
Izrail's neck. "And my ropera is still sharp enough to do the job even with a
few inches missing."
Izrail's hard stare turned to one of
intrigue as he continued to stare into Vinge's eyes, seeing no bluff or
hesitation in his stare; the Ice Phoenix was fully prepared to kill him, even
if he really could not do so. Not permanently anyway. It was beneath the
demigod to bequeath to the wishes of a mortal, but there was truth in Vinge's
words; they had grabbed Volcan without warning, so it was only natural his
friends would be concerned.
"Well played, young one," Izrail
complimented. "But I think you should demand the explanation after Akatsuki has
stabilized your friend."
"That eight-tailed freak isn't
laying another hand on my brother!" Lighris yelled, back on his feet.
"Then Volcan will die," stated
Izrail. "In his current state, the phoenix cannot be moved, and no mortal
doctors can treat him; even the healing tears of another phoenix cannot heal
him now. Only Akatsuki's mighty Light powers can save him. So let him pass, or
say your farewells; this damage is too extensive for even a phoenix to come
back from."
Vinge watched Izrail for a moment
before he dared a look over his shoulder to Lighris, nodding to him. "Let him,"
he stated.
"You actually trust this bastard?"
Lighris demanded. "After what he just did to Volcan?!"
"We have no choice! He's dying!"
Vinge reminded, looking at Akatsuki. "Do it!"
Akatsuki nodded to him, and stepped
over to Volcan. Pavan and Obsidian stepped aside to give him space, and the
eight-tailed fox held his paws over Volcan's back, re-casting his previous
healing incantation, filling Volcan's open wound with his light; it had begun
bleeding again, and the damage was still extensive and deep, but surely it was
healing with Akatsuki's power, the might of the Light Element sharing its life
with the phoenix.
"Your friend is strong," he stated
to the other Os-Nadarra. "The fact he is even still alive after that experience
is a miracle, but he will never be the same as he was before."
"What do you mean?" Obsidian asked.
"With the separation of that entity,
he will not be the same person anymore. He'll remain coherent and, after some
time to recover, he will eventually be as strong as ever, but his mind, his
thoughts, and his personality; all of it may be changed," explained Akatsuki.
"He could be the bravest being on earth, or the biggest coward, a genius or a
fool; it is hard to say. This was not merely a cancer he has been cured of; an
entire second entity he was bound with, body and soul, has now parted, and the
damage it has left behind will be deeper than this wound."
"Will he ever recover?" Pavan asked.
"Time never fails to heal all
wounds," Akatsuki replied. "But it shall be quite a while before this phoenix
returns to full strength. At the very best, I can say a year."
"A year?" Lighris repeated. "You
mean he has to stay bedridden for an entire year?!"
"Not bedridden... but he must not
fight until he returns to his full strength," returned Akatsuki. "Even then, he
may not be exactly as he was before."
There was a long silence throughout
the chamber as Akatsuki continued to heal Volcan. Nobody said anything for a
while, until Pavan suddenly fidgeted and turned to Izrail. "So... what is it
exactly you guys did here?" He asked. "And who the heck are you guys anyway?"
Izrail turned to the Wind Phoenix,
looking at him with an expressionless gaze, saying nothing for a moment as he
considered how best to answer the question. The eyes of the intruders were on
him, now, waiting expectantly. "So be it," he stated. "First, allow me to
introduce myself. I am Izrail, Sultan of Hamunaptra and Keeper of the entrance
to Duat, the realm of the dead. I serve the God of the Dead, Anubis, and the
God of Judgement, Osiris, as their agent, the keeper of their secrets, and the
guide of those whose time has come."
Vinge's eyes widened. "You're... a
demigod?" He asked, surprised. "An avatar of Anubis himself?"
"Wait, that means the Egyptian Gods
are real?"
"Yes," returned Izrail, before
gesturing to Akatsuki. "And this is Yaiba Akatsuki from Japan, the scholarly
Swordsmaster of the Rising Sun."
"A Samurai?" Pavan asked.
"An actual Samurai," Vinge added.
"And, judging by his many tails... I'm guessing he is a kitsune?"
"Nogitsune," corrected Akatsuki. "I
have left the order of Inari to pursue my own curiosities. I serve Izrail now,
not the Goddess of Harvest."
"Akatsuki assists me in protecting
this city," explained Izrail. "And he researches the secrets of the city at my
behest."
"I see," returned Vinge, turning back
to Izrail. "Now... why did you come after Volcan; what was your interest in
him."
"Not he," returned Izrail, shaking
his head. "My interest was on that entity dwelling within him."
"You were after Black Volcan?"
Lighris asked.
Izrail scoffed. "A poor title to
describe the thing your brother contained. Within him was the essence of a
demonic beast known as Lucarinai."
"Luca-whozzits??" Pavan asked.
"Lucarinai," Vinge corrected. "But I
thought Lucarinai was a myth."
Izrail shook his head. "No. He is
very real. Or was, until his death eight centuries ago."
"Wait, hold up," Obsidian
intervened. "You just said Volcan was carrying the essence of... Lucarinai, but
now you just said he was killed eight hundred years ago?"
"He was, but Lucarinai is such a
powerful demon, that didn't stop him," returned Izrail. "A fragment of his
essence somehow has been wandering the world for the last eight centuries,
searching for a new host, and it appears that he found it within your friend,
and has been harbored inside of him for his entire life."
"So that thing we saw," Pavan asked.
"That was this demon you're talking about."
"It was... and yet at the same time,
it was not," replied Izrail.
Lighris scowled. "Please don't start
talking in riddles; they annoy me."
Izrail leered. "I am speaking very
clearly; only those of limited intellect would not understand my meaning."
Lighris' eye twitched. "Limited...
intellect?" He repeated.
"Let it go, Lighris!" Pavan pleaded,
patting the lightning hawk's shoulders.
Vinge stepped in before things could
escalate. "So that thing we saw was Lucarinai's essence, embodied, and now
somehow sentient; is that what you're telling us?"
"Precisely," returned Izrail.
"Lucarinai was very primal, driven only by basic motor functions due to events
pre-dating recorded history. To give the short of it, he is nothing more than a
wild animal, bent on destroying everything in sight."
Lighris, having now calmed down,
frowned at that. "So Black Volcan was running off of Lucarinai's mindset."
"Yes," returned Izrail. "However,
now the essence has somehow become sentient, intelligent, and now is running
wild out there in sands of Egypt."
"Do you want us to help you catch
him?" Vinge offered.
Izrail shook his head. "He can do no
harm here. Akatsuki shall seek him out, and deal with him accordingly,"
returned the demigod, glancing over at the nogitsune. "After he has rested some."
The eight-tailed nogitsune was
sitting down by the altar, having finished his work on Volcan. The phoenixes'
back was sealed, but no feathers were re-forming on his back where the dark
essence had emerged. In place of those feathers was a lump of flesh, warped and
twisted as if churned in a mixing machine. Obsidian walked over to the
unconscious phoenix, and gingerly touched that spot on his back; it felt dry
and lumpy, like dead flesh; Volcan made no movement to her touch, but he was
breathing albeit labored.
"He shall carry that scar for the
rest of his life," stated Akatsuki. "But he shall live."
Obsidian looked at Akatsuki, and
allowed herself to smile at him, tears in her eyes. "Thank you," she stated.
Akatsuki acknowledged her gratitude
with a nod.
Vinge was standing in silence, his
head lowered and eyes narrowed, biting the tip of his left index finger in deep
thought. After a moment of this, he turned to Lighris. "There's one thing I
don't understand," he stated. "How did this essence even land within Volcan?
And why; why him?"
Lighris shook his head. "I don't
know, Vinge," he admitted. "I've known that darkness was in my brother since we
were kids... but I never found out how he received it. The only one who might
be able to answer that is my mother."
"I would suggest you go to see her
then," stated Izrail. "And Volcan will need to be left in someone's care until
he is able to get up and walk on his own again." He drew his sword and slashed
at the air, opening a new portal. "Now it is time for all of you to leave.
Akatsuki and I have done our parts to help your friend; the rest is up to you."
Lighris looked ready to protest, no
doubt wanting more answers from the demigod, but Vinge put his hand, shaking
his head, before pointing at Volcan and starting to walk over to him. Lighris
grunted, but followed the Ice Phoenix to the altar, where the two of them,
slowly and carefully, hoisted Volcan up with his arms slung over their
shoulders, and gently dragged him to the portal. Pavan and Obsidian followed
closely behind, both of them glancing at Izrail and Akatsuki once more before
they followed Vinge and Lighris through. With that, Izrail held up his open
palm, closing that hand into a fist, and the portal shut behind them.
~~~~~
Having escaped from the city deep in the desert, the
dark form had spent several hours fleeing across the sands, all the way to
Cairo. With the city in sight the figure plunged out of the sky, diving into
the darkness of an alley where nobody could see it, and hid behind some piled
trash, gasping for breath and propping itself up with its staff, exhausted by
the strenuous flight, and still growing accustomed to this new form.
He placed a hand on the ground to steady himself as
he stood up, and saw in that hand some familiarity. Raising it to his face, he
studied it; it had become flesh, not pure dark matter, and besides having dark
grey skin, it closely resembled the hand of his host body from before. He
studied each finger and talon with interest, before looking at his other hand,
the one gripping his new staff as well, and found the hand was the same as his
first, organic and strong.
Turning to the trash pile, he stirred some of it
aside with his staff before finding a broken piece of mirror. He reached down
and picked it up with his hand, holding it up to his face to see his
reflection. In that broken glass, he saw the face of his former host, exactly
the same in everything except colour; as opposed to the red and gold of his
host, he had feathers as black as ink, and the streak running from the tip of
his crest, down his face and the front of his neck, was a bright purple. His
eyes were the colour of amethysts, and his beak was the same colour as his
hands, a dark grey.
He stared at the picture for a moment, and then felt
something... looking down, he noticed something else had appeared on his body;
a cuirass, inlaid with ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, and even open at the
back for his wings. He did not know when this had appeared on his body, but it
appeared to be made of the same material as his staff -solid gold, and carrying
some form of enchantment no doubt. Besides that, he was still as nude as a
hatchling fresh from the egg.
The creature grinned widely. "How very fascinating,"
he said, with a voice all-too familiar. "I never imagined this would happen
when I broke free." He began to chuckle sinisterly, the laugh steadily rising
by the moment, until he heard a can being kicked around the corner. Flattening
himself against the wall, he stood in complete silence, waiting as a pair of
footsteps drew closer. A turban-wearing figure emerged around the corner,
glancing about. He called out in Egyptian, questioningly, having evidently
heard the dark phoenix and thought it may have been someone in trouble.
He turned towards the dark phoenix, and that is when
he struck, stabbing the butt-spear of his staff through the neck of the man
before he could say anything; the eyes of the human went wide as blood spewed
from his mouth, sputtering on the red liquid as he tried to call for help, to
no avail. The phoenix lifted him up with the staff, carrying him the way he'd
struck him into the darkness of the alley before letting him drop to the
pavement, dead.
"Cannot risk detection just yet," he stated, looking
around the corner to see if anyone had followed the man. Thankfully, no one
had; he was still safe for the moment.
Realizing he needed some means to disguise himself,
he looked at the man he'd slain, studying the loose-fitting clothes he wore.
"Looks about my size," he muttered, and knelt down to begin removing the man's
clothes. "Once I'm done here, I'll be heading to the docks, to find a ship
heading for North America."
~~~~~
Degra ran for the door quickly after
seeing the crowd approaching through her window -most especially her youngest
son being carried between the lightning hawk and ice phoenix at the front.
Pulling it open she gave the three room to come inside, and gasped in horror
when she saw the scar on Volcan's back, that twisted lump of flesh nearly
making her sick at the mere sight of it.
Turning to Pavan and Obsidian when they reached the
door, she asked, firm-toned. "What happened to him?"
"We'll explain, but do you have
somewhere we can put him?" Obsidian asked.
"Yes; his old room," replied Degra,
turning to Vinge and Lighris. The latter nodded back to her and led the way
over to the stairs, taking Volcan himself for a moment due to the stairs being
too narrow for three to climb simultaneously, with Vinge bringing up the rear in
cast Lighris lost his balance, and they carried the unconscious phoenix to his
old bedroom, where they would lay him out on the single guest bed in that room.
Degra led the way into the living
room, accompanied by Pavan and Obsidian, who seated themselves on the couch as
she took a spot in the armchair, facing them and eyed them expectantly with her
sharp blue eyes -the exact same colour as Volcan's and filled with just as much
strength, if not more, fixed on the two as she waited for the explanation.
"I'll start from the beginning,"
Obsidian opened, folding her hands in her lap.
"'Sid, none of this is your fault,"
Pavan reasoned.
"I know... but at the same time I
can't help feeling I was somehow part of it," returned the dragoness. "I'm the
one Volcan went to for help and I failed him." She looked at Degra, and began
to fill her in on the details of what had happened to Volcan the night before,
when he'd come to Obsidian's house to ask for her help.
From there, the story carried on to
the darker parts. Vinge came down to rejoin the group, even filling in some
blanks on the events in the woods until the rest had arrived. The explanation
then carried on to the arrival of Izrail and Akatsuki -to which at first Degra
seemed skeptical, but as the conversation carried on further, her attention to
the subject became much more focused. The explanation concluded with Obsidian
telling Degra of Izrail sending them back to Unity Falls, and when they brought
Volcan to her door.
Degra's expression soured and she
put her face in her hands, sobbing slightly. "Oh my poor boy..." she said. "Why
did this have to happen to him?"
"Degra," Vinge stated, walking over
to stand by the phoenix woman. "I know this may be a touchy subject... but how
is it Volcan came to possess that evil inside of him for so long? We're all
happy it's finally gone from him but it'd be easier to understand if we knew
how it came to be. Izrail told us the essence of his dark side came from a
creature known as Lucarinai; were you aware of that?"
Degra shook her head. "I didn't know
where it came from," she replied. "To this day it never mattered; I wanted only
for my son to be free of it..." She let out a long sigh. "I suppose that the
time has come I pass on the secret." She raised her gaze, meeting the eyes of
the others and beginning to speak. "I was still carrying Volcan when it
happened; I had not lain his egg yet, but I was out for a walk one afternoon,
in Lakeview Park. It was a normal, spring afternoon; I saw no reason I
shouldn't try to keep fit, so I went out.
"There were not many other people
around that day so, I was enjoying that walk for the solitude, and let my mind
wander. But that's when I walked into it; a strange... aura, I guess would be
the best word. I couldn't see, hear, smell or touch it, but I felt it was
there, and I got back out of it as fast as I could. Unfortunately... I was not
quick enough to stop it from placing a part of itself upon my child." She
sobbed again, placing her hand over her stomach. "If I had only been quicker..."
Vinge placed a hand on her shoulder,
eyeing her sympathetically and with some understanding as he spoke. "Some
things are far beyond our control," he said. "Elementals we are, Gods we are
not; our fates can be turned in another direction by the most unforeseeable of
things... something I know all too well."
Degra looked up at Vinge briefly,
and then turned to Obsidian and Pavan. "Thank you all for being there for my
son," she stated. "But I can't help but feel responsible for all of you having
to g through this..."
"Hey, Volcan's my pal," Pavan
stated. "I'd go to hell and back for the guy."
"I owe him just as much," added
Vinge.
"And I couldn't really call myself a
cop if I stood by and did nothing, could I?" Obsidian added. "Especially for
someone I care about."
Degra smiled at them, and then
looked up as footsteps were heard at the stairway; the others followed her
gaze, and spotted Lighris standing at the top of the steps. "Hey guys," he
called. "Volc's awake."
At that, the entire group stood up
from their chairs and made a beeline for the stairway. Joining Lighris at the
top they followed him down the hall to Volcan's room, where he shouldered open
the door an stepped inside, and revealed the inside. Volcan was lying prone on
the bed, on his stomach as most winged beings slept, his eyes half-lidded with
fatigue. As the door opened he weakly turned to look at the others as they
entered.
Degra was at his side in seconds,
placing a hand on Volcan's back and already starting to cry again. "My poor
son," she whispered.
"Hi mom," the phoenix rasped.
"Hello," returned Degra, smiling
wryly.
"Is everyone alright?" The phoenix
asked.
Vinge knelt down at Degra's side,
letting Volcan see him without having to strain himself to look. "We're all
okay, Volcan," he assured the fire phoenix. "This may be a dumb question but...
how are you feeling?"
"Like I'm made out of iron,"
returned Volcan. "Can't move...a muscle."
"Don't," Vinge stated as he saw
Volcan's wings twitch. "Don't try to. You have been through an experience that
should have killed you, and still may if you aren't careful." He touched
Volcan's shoulder. "You need to rest. It may be quite a while before you can
walk again, but it has to be done."
"Couldn't get up now even if I
wanted to," Volcan returned.
"You'll heal fast, buddy," Pavan
remarked, appearing at Vinge's side and grinning at the fire phoenix. "When
you're back up what say we shoot some hoops or something?"
"Happy to," returned Volcan, before
looking at both Pavan and Vinge sadly. "Although... our band might suffer a bit
if I can't play..."
"Let us worry about that," Vinge
semi-scolded. "You just focus on healing."
"Right..." Volcan returned, and then
his eye rolled around, searching for something. "Is Obsidian here?"
"She is," replied Vinge getting up
and stepping back from Volcan, looking over at the dragoness.
Obsidian swallowed nervously, but
stepped forward, taking Vinge's place at Volcan's side, and her gaze met that
of the downed phoenix, both of their expressions turning guilty and remorseful.
She noticed the fingers of his hand twitch, and she gently grasped it with her
own hand. It felt cool... not a feeling she expected from a fire phoenix, as
Volcan's body temp was normally very high, but his palm felt no warmer than an
ordinary avian's palm would. Nevertheless she gripped it firmly with one hand,
stroking the top of it with her other.
"'Sid..." Volcan rasped to her. "I'm
so sorry... that I hurt you..."
She shook her head at him. "You didn't," she stated, her tone
assertive. "I know you'd never do anything to hurt me; I never believed for a
moment it was you."
Volcan managed to crack a grateful
smile to the dragoness, and with that smile she silently swore his hand became
warmer. "I'm glad..." Was all he managed before his eyes started to close, and
his breathing slowed to low and labored, and entire body becoming limp as he
slipped out of consciousness.
"Blacked out," muttered Degra,
stroking Volcan's back. "Poor baby..."
"We should go now," said Vinge. "We
need to tell everyone else what happened; I imagine Rikyuu is still out there
looking for Volcan."
"I texted him," intervened Pavan,
holding up his phone. "He knows he's safe. Just the same, I'll head to see him
when we're out."
Obsidian leaned toward Volcan,
planting a kiss on his forehead as she rested his hand at his side, a tear
trickling down her face as she pulled back. "See you soon," she whispered to
him before she looked at Degra, who gave the dragoness a reassuring look before
letting Obsidian use her for support and return to her feet.
"I'm going to stay for a bit," said
Lighris. "He's my kid brother, after all."
Vinge nodded. "We'll see you soon,"
he said, and slowly left the room.
Obsidian was the next to leave, rubbing her eyes and
sniffing slightly. The last to go was Pavan, who clapped a hand on Lighris'
shoulder and nodded to him appreciatively before he too left the room, stuffing
his hands into his pockets as he followed Vinge and Obsidian to the stairs and,
eventually, to the front door, where the three left in silence.
~~~~~
The dark phoenix sat on the top of
the smokestack of the massive cargo ship bound for Japan, staring out to the
ocean as the massive vessel made its way to the East. Having been unable to
find a boat bound for Canada or the
United States, he decided to make do with this, intent on finding passage back
to Canada from Japan. Already, the gears were turning in his mind; what he
would do when he got back to Canada, and what should be done about his
look-alike, who assuming hadn't perished with their separation, was still out
there in the Western Hemisphere.
This could not be allowed... there
had to be only one of them.
But, his powers were still not at
full strength; if he were to confront the Os-Nadarra, even deprived of Volcan
as they were, he would fall at the hands of the other members, who would no
doubt protect the phoenix -if he were still alive. Even if he wasn't, the mere
sight of the dark phoenix would spur all of them into action. He knew this...
he knew them. All of them...
everything his former host knew about his friends, this dark phoenix knew too.
They shared memories up to their final moments as one.
The dark phoenix chuckled. Maybe he
could make use of these memories. But for now, he wondered what he would find
in the Land of the Rising Sun...