Episode 51 Captured in the Doom Bringer’s Nest
Zack slowly inches forward, using all his willpower to endure the pain in his shoulder until he can reach his staff. The staff painfully comes closer and closer, until finally his fingers clench around the coldness of the Kage. “Got…cha!” he gasps, as a weak envelop of green light engulfs his body.
From afar, Recelo turns his attention back to Zack, spotting the weak attempt to cast Heal out of the corner of his eye. He pulls his Doombringer out of Cynthia with his right hand and stomps towards Zack, his left hand in his pocket. A malevolent gleam shines in his eyes.
“Well, well, persistent, aren’t we?” sneers Recelo, looking down on Zack from above. He inspects Zack for several seconds. The spell is hardly working, the wound closing with the most agonizing gradualness.
“Damn…it…” hisses Zack, the frustration clearly showing in his battered face. He clenches his teeth as Recelo reaches down, pulling him up by the collar. The Kage falls to the ground with a weak clatter. “You…gonna kill me?”
Recelo gazes into Zack’s eyes for some time, only hatred reflected in his own dark eyes. Another sneer lights up his face. “Don’t worry,” he whispers, “I won’t kill you…yet.”
He reaches down, recovering Zack’s Kage from the ground. He stares at it. “No, I won’t kill you for now. You’re too valuable. Instead, I’ll use you. You’ll be bait and once your friends eventually find out you’re missing, they’ll come out like moths to the flame. Aren’t you happy? You and that girl will get to live just a little while longer. Your friends, too. You’ll get to all go to hell together!”
Zack scrunches up his face in an attempt to show defiance, but even that fails. Instead, he weakly exhales, unable to do anything else in retaliation.
Recelo bursts into wild laughter. “Hahaha!” he roars. “How does it feel?! To endure the wrath of the Fatalists…this is your retribution for attempting to cross fate!”
With sudden forcefulness, he hurls Zack to the ground, slamming him harshly onto the floor on his back. Zack grimaces, but does not do anything else in protest, as blood continues to leak out of his shoulder wound.
Recelo casts his Doombringer aside for the moment as well, as he brings his hands together in a strange formation. He begins chanting a spell in strange words. “…Entombment!” he yells at last.
A massive black box in the shape of a coffin appears around Zack. The tomb surrounds Zack, obscuring his body on the ground from view. With a click, the tomb closes, hiding Zack’s entire body. Several long white bandages surround the coffin, holding it shut. A pearly white skull appears at the front of the box.
Turning around, Recelo casts the same spell on Cynthia’s motionless body. Very soon, two large black coffins stand on either side of Recelo, their surfaces gleaming eerily in the day’s sunlight.
“All right,” Recelo mutters to himself, casting another spell to force the two tombs to levitate. “Capture successful. Now to report back to His Majesty!”
The two black coffins follow Recelo as he sails through the air on his way back towards the castle overlooking the world below. The wind whistles in Recelo’s ears as he takes one massive flying leap from the ground to land on the veranda just outside the throne room.
Recelo dusts himself off, as the two tombs land with a thud on the marble floor next to him. The eerie white skulls glitter slightly in the sunshine, their mouths gaping open as if in laughter.
Recelo briefly glances at the two tombs next to him before he turns, hearing footsteps. Another Fatalist steps into view, his skull mask removed. Recelo narrows his eyes. “Oh, it’s just you, Fain.”
“Yes,” Fain mutters in a low voice, inspecting Recelo’s work, “I have been watching your battles from afar.” However, he does not make any further comments.
Slightly annoyed, Recelo presses. “What do you want, Fain? As always, we’re on the frontlines risking our lives for His Majesty while you’re hiding in the shadows watching.”
“Do not be so quick to pass judgments, young one!” Fain scolds sternly. He turns his attention to the tombs. “I am no longer so young and reckless that I rush into the hands of the enemy coming for me.”
Fain places a hand on the tomb nearest him, feeling its smooth surface in his gloved hand. “However, I applaud you for your ability to capture two of the enemy. That is more than can be said for some of your companions. Your recklessness has served you well in this case.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Recelo grunts, picking at his ear absentmindedly. “If you’re done, I need to see His Majesty about these prisoners.”
Recelo squeezes his way past Fain, the two tombs following him silently as they slide along the cold marble floor. Fain watches Recelo go silently, as he watches the world below him from the veranda.
Finally, Fain speaks as Recelo reaches the closed doors of the throne room. “You will not be allowed entry into His Majesty’s throne room, young one.”
Recelo turns impatiently now, a frown on his face. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that His Majesty will not receive you. He has condescended to join the battle against the intruders from the false dimension.”
Recelo’s eyes widen with surprise. “What?!” he cries, stepping forward and joining Fain at the edge of the veranda. He stares at Fain, his eyes bulging slightly. “His Majesty is on the battlefield himself?!”
“Yes,” Fain murmurs darkly, with the slightest hint of mystery in his voice. “Even as we speak, he is on the battlefield engaging the enemy, his former ‘allies…’”
The stream beneath the pier chimes merrily underneath the warm sunshine. Birds chirp in laughter some place faraway. Everything stands in stark contrast to the tension suddenly building on top of the wooden panels carving a path over the river.
Kunai and Ryuu stand side by side, their faces tensed in deadly concentration as the leader of the Fatalists reveals himself before them. Arai smiles mysteriously, the faintest grin on his face. The wind causes the bangs over his eyes to gently sway back and forth.
Ryuu suddenly bursts into a dangerous grin himself. “Just the exact person I was hoping to see…”
“Oh?” Arai smiles in reply. “I am honored that you would make the trip all the way here just to see me. It has been quite some time indeed, Kunai, Ryuu. Let’s see…the last time we were all together like this must have been…in the Underworld?”
“Yeah,” Ryuu snarls, “even though you’re just the person I was looking for, and I don’t know why you’re alive… There’s no time to reminisce about old times… This will be it. As the leader of the Fatalists, Kunai and I are here to kill you.”
“Oh my,” Arai smiles, a faint glitter in his eye as well now. “Can you really do that, Ryuu? Kill an old ally? A…friend?”
“Don’t you dare call yourself my friend after everything you’ve done!” Ryuu howls, drawing his sword at last. Ryuu’s sword bursts into flame, eagerly awaiting its opportunity to exact vengeance.
“My, my,” mutters Arai, a frown appearing on his face for the first time. He draws his staff, a Blue Marine. “I suppose there really is no choice, then!”
“Damn straight,” Ryuu retorts, his own sword flaring eagerly in response. A determined grin lights up the old Joukai member’s face. “This is no time to hold back! Here I come!”
—END FIFTY-ONE—
This chapter sucks because I was saving all the action for next chapter.