Episode 58 Fain
Their footsteps echo as they journey through the darkness up the staircase. The staircase spirals endlessly, as the hallway below where the corpses of the stone gargoyles lie grows fainter and fainter.
Rill leads the way again, holding a ball of lightning alight in his hand. Ryuu, Kunai, Silver, Wake, and Fayvard follow him in that order.
“Hey…” Kunai says suddenly but hesitantly, his voice echoing slightly, “how’d you get back to us so fast, anyway, Rill?”
“I was able to recognize where I was and find a way back to where you guys were…” Rill responds.
Ryuu’s face remains expressionless as he trudges on. “Are you sure this is the right way, Rill?”
“Yeah. I’ve no doubts about it. With any luck, we’ll be able to sneak into the main castle without them noticing us for a while.”
“‘For a while,’ huh…” repeats Silver under her breath.
Eventually, the staircase comes to an abrupt end. The group emerges in a dark and stuffy room, almost completely devoid of any light. A muffled silence hangs over the room, which does not appear to be very large. Warm, suffocating air makes it very difficult to breathe.
“Where is this place?” Wake asks in awe, as he enters the room and looks about.
“I see…” mutters Rill. “We must be inside the ‘Anthill.’”
“Anthill?” the others repeat.
“Yeah,” Rill replies in a low voice, “I’d only heard them mention it a couple times while I was here. The Anthill is apparently an underground maze of sorts that they use to house prisoners and confuse intruders.”
“Prisoners?” Fayvard chimes in. “Then…”
“Yeah,” Rill says again, “there’s a strong chance this may be where they are keeping Zack and Hyacinth.”
“All right,” Ryuu mutters, grabbing his sword as he orients himself through the darkness, his eyes having finally adjusted. He turns towards the nearest exit, a dark hallway leading into further darkness.
“Wait,” cries Rill, holding out a hand to stop Ryuu. “It’s very dangerous. We have to be careful. Who knows what they might have prepared for us.”
“If it’s called the ‘Anthill,’ then…” Wake ponders. “B-Bugs?! Gigantic ones?!” He suddenly cowers on the floor, hugging himself in the fetal position.
Kunai glances lamely at Wake. “What an unexpected phobia…”
Silver sighs. “At any rate, the longer we stand here, the less favorable it is for us. We should get moving, regardless of what remains ahead of us.”
“Yeah,” Ryuu replies, leading the way as he unsheathes his sword just in case. The others follow him as they venture into the hallway beyond.
Only Wake remains stationary. He stares at the retreating backs of the others, suddenly smiling slightly to himself. “Heh heh…if it was Tide, Silver would’ve kicked his ass for pulling something like that…”
The ground steadily tilts back down as the group continues onward. All around, the ground and walls slowly begin to fade from stone to a more fibrous and organic material in the semblance of the home of some large insect-like creature. A mysterious liquid oozes from the walls and ceiling.
“You sure we’re heading the right way, Rill?” Kunai asks, staring about at his surroundings. Rill merely nods. Ryuu remains emotionless, but Fayvard suddenly snaps impatiently.
“It is the right way, right?! If you’re trying to pull some trick on us, I swear I’ll…”
Rill suddenly stops in his tracks, turning to face Fayvard with malevolent eyes. “Hey,” Ryuu interrupts, stepping in between the two, “not this again. Rill’s on our side, Fayvard. I trust him as much as I trust you.”
Kunai frowns, but does not say anything as the air remains tense between the two. ‘Frankly, I don’t know if I trust either one fully right now…’
“Don’t worry,” Rill says suddenly, jerking Kunai out of his thoughts, “I’m on your side. I would never work for the Fatalists.”
Ryuu turns to Fayvard. “Is that enough? At least apologize.”
Sighing heavily, Fayvard relents nonetheless. He nods. “All right, all right… Sorry.”
The issue resolved, the group continues on again. Only Kunai remains still this time, lingering slightly behind the group. ‘Never work for them, huh?’
Arai rests comfortably in his throne as he watches the movements of the intruders in his castle through a large, ornate mirror. With a wave of his hand, the images of Kunai, Ryuu, Fayvard, Rill, Silver, and Wake making their way through the Anthill disappear.
A heavily bandaged Midori stands behind him on duty. Her face is obscured by her Fatalist mask, though her green hair shines even against the brightness of the throne room. “Your Majesty…is it all right to leave them on their own like that?”
“Yes,” Arai answers brightly, chewing on a muffin. “Rest assured, Midori, everything will go according to plan. Although one of our own may not have the patience to leave them to their own devices…”
“Fain?” Midori suggests.
“Yeah. But I will allow him to do as he pleases. However, he may find that our guests are much tougher than anticipated. After all, they did defeat even me…”
“With all due respect, Your Majesty, that is nonsense! You weren’t even serious—” Midori begins.
Arai raises a hand to stop her. “No, they defeated me fairly. You may leave now, Midori. I wish to have some time alone to think.”
“V-Very well…” Midori bows low to Arai, before departing through the front doors of the throne room. They slam shut behind her.
Alone at last, Arai sighs, sitting hunched in his throne with his arms wrapped around his legs. A bittersweet smile is on his lips. ‘At this rate…’
Outside, Midori stomps about in frustration, the noon sun shining down upon her on the veranda. His face unmasked, Recelo suddenly appears on the veranda, holding an envelope in his hand. He stops as he sees Midori.
“Hm? Midori?” he mutters. “What’s wrong?”
Without warning, Midori bounds forward and punches Recelo directly in the face. He topples backwards, stumbling about before coming to a stop by grabbing the railing. “WAH!” he shouts, grabbing his nose. “The hell’s your problem?! Is that how you greet someone who just saved your life yesterday?!”
Midori breathes heavily. She grabs the mask on her face and casts it aside onto the ground, revealing her wrathful face behind. “At this rate…we’re going to lose this war!”
“Huh?!” Recelo cries, his jaw dropping. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I…I…couldn’t beat one of those filthy humans! And now even His Majesty Arai lost to two of them…” Midori chokes, suddenly sobbing despite herself.
Unexpectedly, Recelo steps forward and wraps his arms around Midori, surprising even her. Midori’s eyes widen as Recelo holds her close to his chest.
“I know you don’t like losing, but…” Recelo whispers in her ear, “there is no way we’ll lose this little affair against the other dimension. Not with His Majesty guiding us.”
Wordlessly, Midori pushes Recelo away from her, shoving her way past him and disappearing. Recelo watches her leave, a self-satisfied smirk on his face. He suddenly turns back to the envelope in his hand.
“Ahh…” he sighs to nobody in particular, “I’m the only one who actually won a fight against those intruders and His Majesty repays me by making me ferry around all these memos…what a bother.”
The path downwards comes to an abrupt end. The group finds themselves in another stuffy room devoid of any light at all. It remains eerily quiet and humid inside, the air deathly still.
“Where are we?” Kunai asks.
Rill raises his hand holding the ball of lightning, illuminating the dark space around them. The six of them find themselves in a circular, nest-like room. An unsettling silence permeates throughout the chamber.
“Welcome,” a gruff voice suddenly says in front of them, “to the Trap Zone.”
Rill turns to face the voice, the light from his hands pouring forth to reveal the man standing in front of them in Fatalist robes. He appears to be a middle-aged man. His face is unmasked, but a fedora hangs low over his head, shrouding his face in darkness nonetheless.
“That voice…” Ryuu growls, recognizing it at once.
The man turns at once to Ryuu. Behind him is a passageway leading up and out of the room. A slight breeze blows in from passageway behind him, causing the Fatalist’s robes to rustle slightly.
“Ah,” the man says breezily, “so you have not forgotten me, have you?”
“Of course not,” Ryuu hisses back, shaking vehemently, “how can I forget the man who killed Shuriken? Fain!”
“Oh, I had forgotten about that poor lad,” Fain reminisces. “Yes, I did kill him. As a matter of fact, he was the last person I killed…”
“Another fight…” Kunai mutters resignedly, raising Myou.
“Hold on,” Fayvard booms, “you’re seriously gonna consider fighting all of us at once, old man? You wouldn’t stand a chance.”
“Yeah, why not?” Fain retorts, raising his Dragon Shiner. Even in the dim light of Rill’s lightning ball, the finely carved features of the bow glimmer menacingly.
“Wait,” Ryuu roars, raising his own sword in front of himself. “You guys go on without me. A fight will only slow you down. Right now, you should focus on rescuing Zack and Hyacinth. I’ll take care of this guy.”
“No way,” Kunai protests, “it’s too dangerous!”
“Do you have that little faith in me, Kunai?!” Ryuu shouts back. “I can take care of him. We have some unfinished business between the two of us anyway. You guys should go make sure the others are okay.”
Kunai remains hesitant. “But…”
Fayvard suddenly places a hand on Kunai’s shoulder, squeezing it. A mysterious smile is on his face. “Relax, kid. Ryuu can take care of himself. Let’s do as he says and rescue the others.”
“You think I shall let you pass?” announces Fain threateningly.
“Calm down,” Ryuu quips, a smirk on his face, “fighting just me is gonna be tough enough, old man.”
Without warning, Ryuu leaps forward, swinging his sword. Fain is forced to step out of the way in order to avoid Ryuu’s attack, leaving Ryuu now standing guard in front of the passage out of the room.
“Hurry! Go!” Ryuu cries.
Silver and Wake rush into the passage first, followed by Fayvard. Kunai follows as well, though he turns worryingly to Ryuu, staring at his back.
Without turning his back to face his comrades, Ryuu speaks into the air: “Remember—if anything should happen to me, Fayvard is second in command. You will obey him as the leader.”
“Ryuu!” Kunai cries, scrunching up his face. “You better come back alive.”
Only half-turning to Kunai this time, Ryuu flashes him a smile. “Hmph! Of course I will. I’d never forgive myself if I died at the hands of a Fatalist.”
Kunai nods, even though Ryuu cannot possibly see it. “All right. See you, Ryuu!”
Without another word, Kunai takes one last look at his friend and mentor before turning around and disappearing into the darkness.
—END FIFTY-EIGHT—
Oh, it’s Friday again. FRI–