Episode 83 Designed to Kill
Kunai’s eyes slowly widen at the sound of the new voice behind him. Jaw clenched tight, he slowly turns his head to allow his eyes to fall upon the person now standing there.
“Welcome, Kunai,” the voice sneers, “you are in a special space.”
All at once, the room that was completely white turns absolutely dark. Kunai finds himself staring up at a starry black sky, surrounded on all four sides by soaring groves of bamboo trees. Directly behind him is a still, murky pond.
Dark Kunai creeps up from behind Kunai, his lips curling into a sneer. Immediately, Kunai slides away, scuttling backwards from his clone. “What are you doing here?!” he asks suspiciously.
“Aren’t ya glad to see me, Kunai?” Dark Kunai asks sarcastically. “The Anti-Paradox called me out, and all you can do is treat me like some bad friend…”
“The Anti-Paradox did…?” Kunai mutters to himself wonderingly. He looks around as recognition dawns upon him. “Isn’t it usually Ayame who greets me in here, then?”
“Hahaha!” Dark Kunai screeches. “Maybe. After all, I am just one of the many beings hidden within the depths of your soul. Though perhaps this time you saw me first because I am growing stronger.”
“Growing stronger?” Kunai repeats breathlessly. He narrows his eyes. “What are you talking about? What do you mean you’re growing stronger?”
Dark Kunai takes a seat in front of Kunai on the ground, folding his arms around his legs. “Oh? Haven’t you felt it? Your headaches are not just there for fun… Yes. The stronger your Fatalist powers grow, the stronger I’ll become as our souls are intertwined with each other. It makes me so glad to see that you have been borrowing my powers so often lately!”
His breathing heavy, Kunai looks down, his face darkening with resolution. “I understand. Then that means I can’t use my Fatalist powers any longer.”
Dark Kunai leers at Kunai with haughty disbelief. “Are you sure you can defeat the Fatalists without my help?” he jeers, his canine teeth showing like fangs. “You cannot—”
“SHUT UP!” snaps Kunai, his voice rising uncontrollably. Without a word, he rises to his feet, turning away from his clone. He looks frantically around, but the stalks of bamboo form an impenetrable wall on all sides.
“Listen, Kunai,” Dark Kunai says seriously in a low voice, “you may not like me, but even you, dim-witted as you are, must realize that you need my help to win against your current opponents. Besides…if you stop developing your Fatalist powers, you’ll never get to see them again.”
Kunai spins around as Dark Kunai falls into a sneering silence. “See who?” he asks, his voice barely above a whisper.
Without warning, Dark Kunai sprints straight at Kunai. He grabs him by the collar, and with brute force, hurls him into the very edge of the pond, face first.
Kunai lands face down on the dirt, coughing heavily as he spits out clouds of dirt. As he raises his head an inch above the ground, he stares into his reflection in the calm water. His eyes immediately widen.
Jumping back into a crouching position, Kunai pores over the dark waters of the pond, but the image in it has disappeared. Frantically, he turns back to his clone. “What was that?!” he asks shakily.
Folding his arms and sneering again, Dark Kunai walks to Kunai’s side by the edge of the pond. “They’re still faint, but I’ve been sensing their presences for a while now. Last time in your battle against Fayvard, you managed to draw them out momentarily, but it wasn’t enough. Your powers aren’t strong enough yet for you to call them out effortlessly, but if you keep practicing, eventually you’ll be able to do it. Eventually they’ll take shape and form. Eventually you’ll see them.”
“What are you talking about?!” Kunai spits, his voice wavering ever so slightly. “What are Ivy and Ryuu doing in there?!”
Sighing, Dark Kunai steps away, gazing up at the starry heavens himself. “Beats me if I would know,” he drawls, “one day I just suddenly felt their presences in here. Luck of the draw that this is what your Fatalist powers came to be, I guess. They say that those powers do reflect the type of person you are.”
As silence falls between the two of them, Kunai returns to his feet. He stares adamantly at Dark Kunai’s back. “What is the meaning of this? Why are Ivy and Ryuu in here?”
“If ya do me the favor of finding out, then you’ll know.”
“What?” Kunai persists impatiently. “You’re not making any sense at all.”
“If you’re gonna do it, then stop blabbering at me. Your opponent is outside, not in here,” Dark Kunai intones. He glances over his shoulder at Kunai, sneering, his eyes glowing with gleeful malevolence. “If you want to win this war, then you’ll need the help of all of us. Just don’t forget that I’m in here as well.”
The two of them lapse into silence. After several more seconds pass, Kunai finally nods, a determined resolution glowing in his black eyes. “All right. Please. Lend me your power. I don’t like it, but I have no choice but to work with you if we’re going to defeat the Fatalists.”
Kunai reaches out his hand. Glaring at it with a sneer on his face, Dark Kunai nods as well. He reaches forward and takes Kunai’s hand. Immediately, the entire scene begins to collapse, fading away and scattering into tiny little pieces like a broken puzzle.
Fayvard looks over in Kunai’s direction, momentarily dazed by confusion. The bright light surrounding Kunai gradually fades away, until only the light of the swiftly setting sun remains. Kunai remains deathly still, crouched low on the ground as he holds Ayame’s necklace in his hands.
Next to Fayvard, Recelo returns to his feet with a tremendous heave, blood splashing down his sides even as he does so. Favoring his shoulder, Recelo nonetheless picks up his Doombringer again with his good hand, stumbling steadily towards Kunai.
“Bastard…” he heaves. “Give the Anti-Paradox back!” He pulls back his Doombringer, aiming to throw it straight at Kunai.
Fayvard quickly rushes into action, moving to cast a spell in lieu of his sword.
Before Fayvard can even react, however, Kunai sprints into action, abruptly jerked out of his momentary trance. His sword sings into action, its blade flashing brightly in the dim sunlight. In an instant, Kunai passes Recelo, lowering his sword as blood drips down its blade.
Recelo’s good arm lies on the ground, useless. The Fatalist stares at his side, his eyes widening with horror as he notices his missing limb. Spinning, he sees his disembodied arm, lying on the ground in a pool of blood, still clutching his Doombringer.
“Ahh!” Recelo screams, looking with sickness at the blood pooling around his feet.
Kunai and Fayvard stand side by side, staring coldly down at the two pitiful Fatalists on the floor. Recelo drops to one knee, unable to stand any longer, blood still pouring profusely out of his severed arm. Meanwhile, Midori lies face down on the ground, motionlessly, Fayvard’s sword still rising vertically out of her back.
“Damn it…” gasps Recelo hoarsely, his eyes clenching with desperation. “It can’t end like this…the Fatalists…shall never lose! We can’t…!”
Fayvard bows his head as Recelo collapses to the ground at last. “You guys must’ve had one hell of a reason for fighting so hard,” he mutters. “But our need was greater.”
Silently, Kunai and Fayvard stride past Recelo’s body on the ground, their faces grim. As the two of them pass by Recelo, he begins to speak from the ground.
“Don’t fuck around with me…” he murmurs. “It ain’t gonna end like this! I have to fight…for everyone’s sake…! I still have to fight!”
Pausing momentarily, Kunai glances at Recelo’s broken body on the ground, a frown on his face. Fayvard stops as well. He places a hand on Kunai’s shoulder. “Hey. Come on, let’s go. No time to feel sorry for the en—”
The two of them quickly swivel around to face the castle again, as the clip clop of boots upon the stone bridge sounds. A new Fatalist is now striding calmly towards them.
Her face is hidden behind a pearly white mask in the shape of a skull. Behind the mask, her long black hair is bound up in a bun behind her head. Kunai and Fayvard both stare in awe as she approaches, though she ignores them.
“Oh? You still have to fight, you say?” she asks, addressing Recelo.
—END EIGHTY-THREE—