Tales of a Lost Sword 31

Episode 31 Turn off the Dark 2
Kunai drops to his knees, as his clone’s sword cuts straight through his shoulder, leaving a dangerously deep wound in place. Blood immediately begins to splatter all over Kunai’s shoulder and onto the ground as Dark Kunai pulls back his sword.

Dark Kunai sneers triumphantly, his eyes glittering with malice. “As I thought, you’re nothing without my strength. You don’t even have half my power. And you expect to defeat me?! You expect to take back Myou?! Huh?!”

However, Kunai does not reply, but merely slumps forward, and lies facedown on the ground silently. He remains motionless there, the light from his eyes slowly disappearing.

Something hard presses against Kunai’s chest as he lies on the ground. It glows dully, emitting a faint warmth and spreading throughout Kunai’s body. Suddenly, the entire scene—Dark Kunai, Rill, Xavier, and the surrounding darkness of the Night World—disappears from Kunai’s eyes as a blinding white light fills the battlefield.

A certain weightlessness enters Kunai’s body, as he continues to lie on the ground in a state of wonderment. Without warning, a bright figure steps into range of Kunai’s view from the ground. He first stares at her feet, covered in a pair of worn boots. Then his eyes roam to her legs, her body, and then her face. Kunai’s eyes widen in recognition.

Ayame steps forward and stretches out a hand to Kunai on the ground. She smiles warmly, her pale hand solidly in front of Kunai. Hands shaking, Kunai reaches forth and takes her hand. He continues to watch Ayame with wonder. ‘Her hand…it definitely is real!’

Rather easily, Ayame helps pull Kunai to his feet, who stares about him. The two of them are standing alone, surrounded by nothing but white light. As his eyes adjust to the heavy volume of light, Kunai slowly detects the faint outlines of a boxed room, filled only with the light.

“Where…are we?” Kunai asks, his voice echoing despite the relative smallness of the room.

“You are in a special space right now, Kunai,” Ayame answers, her voice strangely not echoing. “It seems Takuya’s Anti-Paradox has temporarily connected us, so that we may now speak with each other.”

Kunai jerks in realization, his eyes widening slightly. “Then, don’t tell me you’re—”

Ayame nods. “Yes, I’m the fragment of Ayame’s soul from whom you borrowed power from long, long ago. Normally we cannot converse with each other, but Takuya’s Anti-Paradox has allowed us the opportunity to communicate with each other, it seems.”

A brief silence falls. Kunai raises a hand, pointing at Ayame uncertainly. “Then…” he mutters. “Then does that mean our souls have been fused through Takuya’s Anti-Paradox?”

“No,” Ayame answers, shaking her head. “It does not seem as though we’ve been permanently fused. Just think of this as a temporary connection by chance. I have been watching you for a long time, Kunai. Every time you draw forth my powers, I have been watching over you and protecting you.”

“Y-You have…” Kunai stutters. He suddenly notices his shoulder, which has completely healed and is pain-free. “My shoulder! It’s healed…”

“Yes. That is because you are in a special space. You have to be in soul form, a separate form from your earthly body, to see me. However, since we’ve been given this opportunity to speak with each other, we mustn’t waste it.”

“Waste it?” Kunai asks questioningly. “What exactly do you—”

Without warning, Ayame suddenly walks up to Kunai and slaps him across the face. Kunai stands still in shock, his face red where Ayame hit him.

“Why have you been hesitating so much lately, Kunai?” Ayame demands sternly, all signs of warmth now gone from her face. Her eyes merely glow with a dull determination. “Why can you not fight to your full potential? You are losing to your clone out there, despite being stronger than him.”

“I’m the stronger one?!” Kunai cries cynically. “He’s the one with the sword! He’s right, he’s the one who gave me the strength back then to fight all those—”

Ayame raises her hand again, and Kunai flinches. But Ayame does not strike him. She merely stares at Kunai, frowning. “Yes, you’re the stronger one. You are his originator, you are the one who created him. Therefore, you are stronger than him. He may be superior in physical strength, but you are superior in spiritual strength. It is your will that is stronger. You must take command of him by imposing your will on him. That is the only way you will win.”

“My will…” Kunai repeats softly in an awed voice.

Suddenly, Ayame reaches out her hand again to Kunai. The latter stares at it. “Come,” Ayame says, “you’ve run out of stars. Please borrow my strength. Alone you couldn’t overcome him. But together, we will defeat your dark side. Take my hand, and we will win together!”

Kunai nods, a fiery determination alit in his face once more. He stretches out his hand to take Ayame’s. But at the last minute, he hesitates, drawing it back slightly.

Ayame looks at Kunai inquiringly. “What is wrong?” she asks.

“I have to ask you one question before I leave,” Kunai hisses in a low voice, his eyes averted towards the ground. Suddenly, he raises them, looking Ayame directly in the eyes. “You’re Ivy’s sister. Is this the right thing, what I’m doing? Moving on without her? Taking back the power that she sacrificed so much to get rid of?”

Her eyes returning to a state of warm gentleness, Ayame suddenly steps forward and wraps her arms around Kunai in an embrace, surprising him. “Of course it’s the right thing,” Ayame whispers in Kunai’s ear, her eyes sad nonetheless as she stares past Kunai in their embrace. “I’m sorry, Kunai…I’m sorry that the three of us can no longer be there for you in the earthly world… However, we will always be watching over you, even though our souls no longer exist.”

Kunai nods as they end their embrace. The two stare at each other for several seconds. Finally, Kunai stretches out his hand, taking Ayame’s hand and clasping it. “All right, thanks for everything you’ve said! Let’s defeat my other self together!”

The cold night air hangs still, as Dark Kunai, sitting against a large boulder, watches Kunai’s body lie on the ground loathingly, the blood seeping out from under it finally starting to clot. He rises to his feet, swinging his sword violently through the air.

“Time to finish this,” Dark Kunai says, preparing to swing back his sword. Suddenly, he stops, as Kunai gives a tiny groan.

With some effort, Kunai finally manages to pull himself off the ground, dried blood plastering his shoulder. He stumbles weakly, but manages to collect himself. He stares at his clone, a look of resoluteness in his eyes.

Dark Kunai’s mouth twitches slightly. Abruptly, he bursts out laughing. “Hahahahaha! So it seems you’ve still got some will to fight, huh, Kunai?! That’s good…it means the fun still isn’t over for me!”

Sighing wearily, Kunai places a hand around his claw, and removes it, casting it away into the darkness behind him. Dark Kunai looks at him skeptically. “Hm?” he mutters. “Throwing away your claw, eh? Are you just going to surrender instead? That’s no fun!”

“Sorry,” Kunai grunts, “I’ve no intention of surrendering quite yet.” He reaches under the collar of his shirt, where a Sai dagger is hung on a necklace. He retrieves it, and wrings the dagger off its necklace with one jerk of his arm.

Kunai points it at his clone. “This battle is just getting started!”

His clone grins, and then starts cackling deviously. “Hahaha! Indeed, so you’ve got that kind of a surprise up your sleeve, eh?”

Nodding, Kunai raises the dagger to his eyes, inspecting it grimly. “Thank you, Ayame. I will win this battle for you, and Lily, and…Ivy as well.”

Dark Kunai growls impatiently as Kunai speaks. Suddenly, he bursts out in a rampage. “Y’know why you can’t beat me, Kunai?!” he scowls. “Ya don’t have the spirit to leave everything behind and crush me, maim me, kill me! You’re still thinking about the past and that’s why you can’t win against me! When you’re fighting…all you can think about should be to crush your enemy! Nothing else matters!”

Kunai’s eyes flash menacingly. “That may be the case,” he replies solemnly, “and it may be true that you have to leave everything else behind when you battle, but it is equally important to have something to fight for! A reason to fight! And that’s why you can’t defeat me!”

“We’ll see about that!” Dark Kunai screams.

At the same time, both Kunai and his clone sprint towards each other, weapons raised. A massive explosion rocks the desolate Night World as they collide into one another.

As they break apart and the dust settles, both Kunai and Dark Kunai are bloodied up. They breathe raggedly, blood jumping out of their various wounds. A fine streak of dark red blood runs down Dark Kunai’s forehead, flowing right between his eyes. Kunai gasps for air too, as blood flows freely from either side of his body.

Suddenly, Kunai is the first to break the stalemate. He leaps forward, stretching out his dagger with blinding precision. Dark Kunai raises his sword to act as both a weapon and a shield, but Kunai slides past the sword, piercing his clone multiple times with a Savage Blow attack.

The two separate once more, as Dark Kunai pushes himself backwards, more blood flowing now from his body where Kunai has stabbed him. He shakes himself, blood splattering onto the blade of his sword. On the shiny metal is reflected his own image, breathing raggedly and covered in blood.

“Impressive,” Dark Kunai says, gasping for air, “just a minute ago your blows and attacks were hesitant and afraid. Now, your attacks are on target and filled with intent to kill.” He chuckles. “Haha! I like it!”

“I’m not done yet!” Kunai hisses, disappearing in a flash.

Dark Kunai stares about, desperately trying to locate Kunai. He raises his sword to block Kunai’s attack just in time, as Kunai reappears directly in front of him. His Sai clangs against Dark Kunai’s blade, the sound of metal and metal ringing in both of their ears.

“Assaulter.” Kunai disappears once again past Dark Kunai’s sword. He slides around, slashing a wide wound across Dark Kunai’s side.

Dark Kunai is forced to slump over, grabbing his side in pain. Blood spews out from the wound in between his fingers, staining his gloved hand with its dark red color. He holds out his sword weakly in front of him, in case of another attack by Kunai.

In the meantime, Kunai turns around after the attack, inspecting the damage. He narrows his eyes, raising his Sai for attack again. He raises his heel, ready to launch. “This one should finish it.”

Kunai steps forward. “Assaulter!”

The wind rushes through Kunai’s ears as he approaches his clone once again. Everything around him becomes a blur, as Kunai flies at lightning speed towards Dark Kunai, his Sai poised to strike the final blow.

At last, Kunai reaches Dark Kunai. He stretches his Sai forward, making contact. Except the blow is matched by an equal force and diverted at the last second. A powerful flow of energy rushes against Kunai, jolting him backwards. He stumbles slightly before regaining his balance on the rocky ground.

“Refract!” Dark Kunai screeches, swiping his sword through the air. The energy from Kunai’s attack is rerouted and explodes on a distant rock behind Dark Kunai.

Dark Kunai sneers with satisfaction. “Did you forget what else Azuma taught us down there in the Underworld? I won’t be defeated so easily, Kunai!”
—END THIRTY-ONE—
Oops. I almost forgot to post a new chapter today. ToaLS has totally not been on my mind lately due to the coming of finals.