With the door to the crystal castle pushed open, Riku slowly walks inside, leaving the mannequin of the nuclear human behind him as she shut the door tight and began to scan the area around him. The area seemed like a normal foyer in a castle, complete with a large staircase leading up to a hallway and a lot of pillars supporting the ceiling. The pillars did not have a smooth surface to them, and their jagged, lifeless forms stuck out more than anything else in the room at the moment. "…I expected to run into another mannequin right when I entered the castle." Riku states quietly.
Riku began to step forward, being cautious not to activate any traps that may be hidden on the ground. While walking, he glanced to the left and looked out the windows, where he saw that the castle was passing by a large blue sun. The light of the sun was quite beautiful amongst the atmosphere of red space and white stars, and Riku had to stop for a moment to enjoy the beauty of space outside before he realized something rather crucial about the innards of the castle. Holding his right hand out after turning towards the staircase, Riku recognizes the fact that there was a breathable atmosphere.
"I can't believe it…" Riku says as he drops the barrier of air around his body and takes a breath in, finding that the air was incredibly clean, as though he was on the surface of a normal planet. But when he sensed this atmosphere, he could only blink suspiciously and remark "…But why is this here? There's no life forms in this castle…" "Maybe the later mannequins require air to activate their powers. That nuclear human didn't need it, after all…" Takashi remarks.
Riku folds his arms together and says "I don't think that's a good assumption…That mannequin we just fought defied nuclear physics, after all." "Hmm…You know, did you ever assume that maybe you just can't detect the person who runs the castle? That 'Cryxis' person could likely still require air to survive." Takashi theorizes, but Riku shakes his head while parting his arms and saying "No, I would definitely sense that person…But then again…"
Thinking back just a few minutes to the beginning of his fight with the mannequin, Riku says "The mannequin knew me by title. Maybe Cryxis knows how to hide his presence from my powers…Or perhaps…" With another theory coming to mind, Riku holds his right hand out and quickly summons a pillar of stone through the crystal flooring, which causes him to breathe a sigh of relief since his powers weren't at all neutralized. "I definitely would have left if I couldn't use my powers here…" Riku then remarked.
"…Riku, before you move on, can I say something to you?" Sodenko suddenly asked, which surprised both Takashi and Riku. Riku nodded his head though to approve her request, and the dragon of light explained "I think I am starting to remember something about this 'Cryxis' person…Or at least, I remember stories told to me about him while I was still a part of my tribe." "What? Our tribes may have focused on differing elements, but there's no way I wouldn't have learned about the same stuff you did, sister."
"Our tribe focused on telling nightmarish tales to the children to teach them how to utilize fear when they properly gained the powers of darkness…The so-called legend of Cryxis was one of the more commonly spoke tales." Sodenko mentioned, and Riku insisted "Please, I'd like to hear what you know." "…The legend goes that every now and then, a castle made of pure crystal would appear above a planet, but without doing a thing to that world the castle would vanish…People would go to investigate the castle sometimes, but very few would return from their travels."
"The most common thing that would happen is that they would say the name 'Cryxis' and nothing else…They could never describe the appearance of that person, for no one has ever made it to him. The legend then spoke of a rare instance where the castle would appear above the planet, and in a flash said planet would become covered in crystal. No matter what anyone tried, the planet would not be reverted until a year had passed, and no one was aware of what had happened to their world."
"And the scariest part about this castle is that as time passed on, it became harder and harder for the 'higher-ups' to keep track of this castle until eventually it simply became invisible, and thus no one ever bothered trying to find it ever again. Though I wonder if perhaps the original Elemental Overlord did try and find this 'Cryxis' person…" Sodenko finished her story, and Riku found himself rubbing his chin in intrigue at the story before he remarked "So basically, it was supposed to be a galactic bogeyman story…But it seems as though the legend is true."
"So it seems…" Sodenko remarks in a melancholy tone, with Takashi stating to her right away in a bothered tone "You know sister, you could've told us this when we saw that crystallized planet." "I thought the planet's state was a coincidence until I heard that mannequin say his master's name. By that point Riku was too deep into his battle for me to explain the story…" Sodenko explains her delay in telling the truth, and Riku says "I'm not too worried about that part, I'm just glad to have more knowledge regarding our foe."
"But a man who can hide himself from the 'higher-ups'? There are very, very few people in this entire universe who can manage that, but that doesn't necessarily mean he utilizes the same tricks that the others do…Especially since as far as Sodenko's story goes, it was a gradual process." Takashi remarks, and Riku says "I don't care if he can hide himself from the 'higher-ups'…I was able to find his castle, which means it's not an absolute concealment. I should really get to exploring further into the castle now…"
Though Takashi recognized Riku's moment of impatience, he felt the need to state "If a planet is restored after a year, then do we really need to face Cryxis?" Riku glared behind his shoulder into the realm Takashi was in and stated "I know what it's like to be trapped in an inanimate state for more than a year…It's a horrible feeling, even if Kirby will awaken without any knowledge of what has occurred." "…True, I had forgotten all about that. I won't hold you back any longer then, Riku."
With Takashi no longer holding him back, Riku nodded his head and advanced forth through the castle, walking up the staircase to see what else he could find. Despite how much room could be filled within this planet sized building, Riku's path through the castle was rather straightforward. All he had to deal with was staircase after staircase for the most part, with the occasional hallway breaking up the pace ever so slightly. Riku actually felt a bit worried about the stagnation of the environment, as there wasn't even a change in the colors of the crystals nor any windows past the ones at the lobby to break up the mood.
"Why would anyone create something like this?" Riku comments on as he lays one hand against the wall beside him and stares up at the stairs he still had to climb, noting how it went so high up that it began to go into the darkness. "A planet-sized castle, empty and devoid of life…With only some mannequins to act as it's inhabitants…" "It makes appearances only occasionally, and it seems to do nothing to the worlds it goes near expect for the times where it does choose to freeze a planet in a crystal state for no discernible reason." Takashi remarks.
"…You know, just because we heard those mannequins talk about a Cryxis figure doesn't mean that they exist…What if they are protecting the memory of the man who inhabited this castle?" Riku theorizes as he continued to climb the stairs, with Takashi remarking bluntly "I really wish we didn't have to keep throwing out theories here…" "A castle cannot go on forever, especially if it's as straightforward as this one. Eventually we'll find something…" Riku says in a confident tone.
Riku then resumes climbing the staircase, at which point Takashi comments in a rather puzzled tone "…You could just fly up to the top of the staircase, you know." Riku responds with a smile "Nah, if I do that I bet a trap will activate to drop me back to the bottom. That sounds like the type of thing I'd run into." "Even though you haven't run into a single trap so far…" Takashi remarks bluntly, and this causes Riku to mention to him "I told you already, I'm going to be cautious…You seem to be really antsy right now, Takashi."
"I'm just getting a really bad vibe from this castle…The deeper we go, the stronger this feeling gets." Takashi remarks after a momentary shiver, and Sodenko is turn mentions "Have you not sensed this feeling at all, Riku?" Riku shook his head as he continued to climb the stairs, mentioning to both dragons "Whatever feeling you guys are getting, it's not hitting me at all. But I'll keep that in mind for later…"
After quite a few minutes of ascending the stairs, Riku finds the first window he's seen in this castle since the beginning. Out in the depths of space, Riku could see some planets cluttered around a moon larger than them all combined, and each planet had a tiny sun that helped to sustain life on those hospitable worlds. "The wonders of the universe…" Riku remarks in awe with a smile before he turns around and leans against the wall beside the window, taking a momentary break after using all that energy to climb the stairs.
With one hand laid against his chest, Riku says "You know, I wonder if someday humanity will ever gain the technology to make it to places like those planets I just saw…" "Anything's possible, really. After this journey of yours, nothing really seems impossible, does it?" Takashi comments in a rather docile tone, and Riku nodded his head and grinned half-heartedly before remarking "You know…It's really surprising to think that it has been two years since I was born…I've seen so much in my life that I honestly would feel satisfied if I were to just drop dead right now."
"Please don't start talking like that again, Riku…" Takashi remarks with a scowl on his face, and Riku laughs a moment before waving his hand out and mentioning "Relax, I'm not going to go for that type of behavior ever again…I'm just pointing out how I feel about my journey. You've been helpful through a lot of it, both of you…Though I'm sorry I dragged you into some tough situations." "Well the fact you've kept us both alive throughout all of those problems is something we are very appreciative for." Sodenko remarks honestly.
"I've tried, but you've saved my necks just as much as I've saved yours." Riku admits, and after folding his arms against his chest and pulling away from the wall he remarks "…It's been a year since your brother was freed from the chain, Sodenko. Once we're done dealing with Cryxis, I'm definitely going to break that chain of yours, and the two of you can go where you want in the universe." "Do you really think we're going to just leave your side, Riku?" Takashi remarks with a chuckle.
Riku glanced up a bit and grinned, telling the two dragons honestly "Not really, no. Honestly, considering Takashi's ability to open rifts that would allow you to travel quickly through the universe, the two of you could come see me again anytime you wanted. But you both should go out and explore the universe up-close instead of lingering behind me in that dark realm." "…I don't know what to say, Riku." Sodenko gently remarks.
"I'd say you've earned it. Traveling with me for a year and having to deal with all that stuff that you had to seems to have mellowed you out quite a bit." Riku remarks, and after pulling his arms away from his body and giving them a good shake to loosen the muscles he continues on through the castle while Takashi mentions "Heh, if my sister starts acting up again, I'll make sure to discipline her." "You can try, brother…" Sodenko says in a sincerely playful tone.
"Hahah…Siblings…" Riku remarks, which leads to him hanging his head slightly and thinking about his brother, the person who brought him into this world as his clone. The two had only interacted the day he was created, and he had no idea just how his brother was doing in the slightest. The playful remarks between Sodenko and Takashi brought on these thoughts in Riku's mind, and a part of him wished to have fun with his brother if he ever managed to make his way back to his Earth.
"…That's for the future to decide if I make it back or not…" Riku murmurs as he finds himself walking into a room bathed in a heavy darkness, which grabs his attention due to the heavy contrast from the pale light of the stars he experienced before. But when the teenage Overlord raised his head up he was shocked by what he found. Spread out as far as the eye can see are multiple panels of various sizes and shapes, each one containing a different being trapped within a crystal shell that was composed of a brighter crystal than everything Riku had seen so far.
From the entrance of this room alone, Riku could see at least fifty of these statues, but there were likely many more spread about. When Riku takes one step forward, a wall of crystal crashes down in the doorway behind him, sealing him into this room much to his surprise. He flinched and glanced back, but found himself dealing with the nearly-blinding darkness in the room before he could even see the wall for a second. "Hmm…It seems Cryxis wants me trapped in this room…Or he doesn't want me to consider turning around." Riku comments.
"…Riku, you should probably look at that statue to the left of you…" Takashi remarks, while Sodenko could be heard shivering uncontrollably beside him. Riku turns his head to the left, and when he glances at the statue standing right beside him he looked a little bit surprised by what he found. Trapped in crystal was a being made of a bodiless cloak riddled with bullet holes and two chains crossing in front of it in an X-shape. The being wielded two pistols with barrels as long as half of it's height, and both guns were raised up as though it was ready to attack.
"I know this creature…It's called a Reaper…But it comes from a different world than the Reapers I've actually seen." Riku remarks, and Takashi mentions "You shouldn't take about it like it's part of a species. There is only one of these Reapers in the entire universe…They are hunters, seeking out only those who would defy their deaths. I've only seen the Reaper once before, and that was when it was pursuing the original reincarnation of the Elemental Overlord."
"The original is marked for death? …That's something I'll have to remember if I ever encounter him, but I have to wonder just why this statue of the Reaper is inside of this castle." Riku's curiosity causes him to walk towards the statue and reach his hand out to try and touch it, but Sodenko suddenly exclaims much to the disdain of Riku's heart "Get away from that!" Riku pulls his hand back without hesitation and blinks twice in surprise before Sodenko explains in an unhinged tone "I-I've never sensed so much death in a single area…Even though this Reaper is crystallized, he still exudes his aura of death…If you touched him, you'd likely die, Riku."
"…Thanks for the timely warning, Sodenko." Riku says as he shifts stares between his hand and the crystallized Reaper. Riku then swung his arm out and stated "…Now that you mention it, I'm starting to feel the presence of death in this room. Could it be that all of these statues are beings that represent death in some form?" "I can only recognize the Reaper at the moment, Riku…It's up to you to identify whichever statues you can." Takashi states.
"Hmmm…I guess now would be the best time to utilize my knowledge of other worlds. I should also be on the lookout for Thanatos' statue, since judging by the theme of this room he has to be here somewhere…" Riku remarks, and the dragons go into a state of silence to allow the boy a chance to concentrate on the statues surrounding him. At first, Riku goes forward through the statues to try and identify them, but it takes him at least half a minute of slow walking before he finds the first thing he recognizes.
Suspended above the air was a heart-shaped mask with spikes around the edge and a wooden, unnatural pair of eyes at the front. "This is Majora's Mask…I can understand how this would fit the theme of death…" Riku remarks, feeling good knowing that if this mask existed here, that means the land of Termina did not suffer a terrible fate. Moving on, Riku eventually finds another familiar figure. It was a cloaked skeleton wielding a deathly scythe that was suspended in mid-air and appeared ready to attack a figure.
"This is Death…More specifically, the being named Death from the world of vampires and living castles." Riku remarks in an intrigued tone, and then he turns to the right and notices another creature close to Death. It was a nineteen foot tall winged creatures with sharp talons on it's wings and tail, and behind it's head was a mane of grey fur. To the right of this creature was a fourteen foot tall draconic serpent with wings consisting of black tendrils and yellow-grey spike protruding from the sides of it's body.
"Yveltal and Giratina…The Destruction and Renegade Pokemon respectively…I got to admit, if it wasn't for how serious this situation seems to be, I would've gotten a laugh if the two were trapped in crystal PokeBalls…" Riku says, but with a puzzled tilt of his head he then notes the appearance of Giratina by saying "Either this castle can cross into other dimensions, or Cryxis made a personal visit to the Distortion World to grab this Pokemon…"
"Hmmm…So it's not just limited to death, is it?" Takashi says in regards to the presence of the Giratina statue, to which Riku shakes his head and remarks "No, I can see how Giratina fits the theme…Just barely though." "We could be at this for a very long time, Riku…Is there really any point to checking all this when the theme is quite clear?" Takashi points out as Riku turns away from the Pokemon statues and continues on.
"I'm just identifying what I can while I'm looking for Thanatos' statue…I can't imagine how other worlds are being affected by the lack of death on their worlds." Riku ponders while folding his arms together, and Takashi mentions "More than likely the 'higher-ups' are managing the departed souls, though considering you and Pit slew the Lord of the Underworld they are likely dealing with quite a lot more work than they were beforehand. Though now that you're here, they SHOULD know about Cryxis and have immediately retaliated against him…"
"I really don't want to bother thinking about that. Besides, I'll be dealing with this problem myself…" Riku comments, and Takashi went oddly silent after that point, which Riku makes a priority of addressing as he lifts his right hand up and asks "Takashi, don't you have anything to say about this topic?" "…Sorry Riku, I don't have anything else to really say about this whole matter. I only know so much about the 'higher-ups', after all…"
After the black dragon's response, Riku says in a lamenting manner "Yeah, I guess we're both just as blind when it comes to them…" He then turns his head back towards the depths of darkness in front of him, and at long last he runs across the statue of Thanatos that he had been seeking. The goofy, lovable lord of death from Pit's world was stuck in a rather awkward pose since he was captured after being soundly defeated in battle. "So this is where you were taken…To think that Cryxis' castle was right above the planet at that point and no one even knew." Riku quietly comments on.
"So now that you've confirmed his presence, is it time for us to move on through the rest of the castle?" Takashi inquires, and with a nod of his head Riku states "I just need to find an exit through the darkness, which shouldn't be too-" Riku stops himself from talking as he turns his head, noticing something that he just could not believe would be here even in spite of the theme of death amongst the statues thus far. With his eyes widened a bit in fright, Riku murmurs out the rest of his prior sentence "-hard…" before he steps towards the particular statue he found.
This statue was the biggest of them all so far, and it consisted of a core with a series of thin, ethereal bone hands and arms stretched out like a web around the core. Just looking at this statue caused Riku to feel unwell, as he found the air around him feeling heavy, thus making it harder to breathe. Riku had to back off a bit just to get a hold of himself, but as he laid one hand on his chest and held his mouth agape with a pant Takashi remarked in a bewildered tone "Riku, what's going on? Just what is that monstrosity?!"
"That…That's Nyx…But it shouldn't be possible for it to be here…It's not something that exists on a physical plain of existence…It's a concept, impossible to touch or kill…And yet this Cryxis person managed to capture it in crystal…" As Riku explains these details to Takashi, he couldn't help but grin a bit in intrigue, saying to Takashi after laughing in a partially unhinged manner "This Cryxis person…He's definitely a very interesting opponent. Creating beings via mannequins, hiding himself from the 'higher-ups', capturing beings that represent death even if they do not exist on a physical plain…"
"Are you excited to face such a foe…? Or perhaps…you feel fear?" An echoing, raspy voice that doesn't belong to the two dragons enters Riku's eardrums, and as he lifts his head up after finishing his recovery against the presence of Nyx's statue he looks around for any signs of the being that voice belonged to. "Who's there?" Riku inquired calmly, at which point he noticed that the darkness in this room seemed to become a little bit thicker.
"I am here, I am there…I am everywhere in this room. I have no name, but I am the second of Lord Cryxis' guardians." The voice stated, and despite at first thinking that he was facing the very darkness in this room the things that voice said made him quickly comment "So, another one of his mannequins, then?" "Fufufu, you're quite certain of that, aren't you? Elemental Overlord…You act so sure, but you cannot see me let alone comprehend the form I currently take…Just because the gatekeeper was a mannequin does not mean I am."
The mannequins remark is then followed by the darkness in the room increasing further, which makes Riku begin to doubt his assumption regarding his foe's true form. Without any knowledge of where to look and his vision dimming with every second, Riku hesitated to draw his sword. "With just a thought…I can free all these aspects of death from their status…And you, who should not exist in this world, will become their immediate target. You will die in many ways, Elemental Overlord…"
"…Are you trying to make me experience fear, mannequin?" Riku says while closing his eyes and trying to stay calm. "I am doing nothing of the sort…The shivers in your spine, the goosebumps on your skin…That's all just a natural reaction to your inevitable demise. You are outclassed against my master, you cannot survive against the aspects of death that exist…Feeling fear is completely justified in this situation, and I am just someone observing your little breakdown into a state of unending panic."
The mannequin's remarks makes Riku quickly respond with "I hope you got more tricks up your sleeves than this, because you aren't making me experience anything but annoyance." "Your bravery is cute, Elemental Overlord…But I am not playing any tricks." "…Yes you are. I can sense the fear toxins in the air, and I'm currently pushing them away with a barrier of air." Riku remarks rather quickly, sighing once due to how predictable the mannequin was behaving.
"…Hmm, I did no expect you to figure out that trick so quickly. But there is more than one way to inflict fear upon a person besides the natural reaction in a body or a toxin affecting your nerves…" Once the mannequin sounded briefly arrogant, Riku had to say to him "What exactly do you expect to do to make me bend to your fear? If all you plan to do is try to scare me by exploiting a fear of death, then you've already lost. Every being fears death, no matter how far they go to deny it…If you want to make me fear something, you will have to go far deeper than that, but I doubt you have the strength to force yourself that deep into my mind." Once Riku has calmly boasted, the darkness surrounding him thickens to the point that he can no longer see his body, and the mannequin laughs rather slyly before saying "Like I said…there is more than one way to make one feel fear…"
"I know where you are at all times…And you are within my grasp! It's time to face every fear in the known universe!" The mannequin then fires off a blast of magic from behind Riku's current location, and the teenage Overlord quickly crumbles onto his knees as he feels everything that can ever be feared. Paranoia, fear of death, fear of heights, all those fears become one with Riku's mind, and all other noises are shut out in his head as he lays on his hands and knees and trembles uncontrollably.
"Crumble apart, Elemental Overlord, by the fears of the entire universe. There is nothing you can do now." The mannequin boasts calmly, feeling assured of his victory. But even with all the fears plaguing his body, Riku still was able to use rationality to determine one particular thing. These fears, for all they were worth, were not a true part of Riku's psyche. As such, he could get a hold of himself just enough to lift his right hand up and summon his sword, quickly concentrating on it in order to change into his Light Form within the darkness.
Then, after charging the diamond blade of his katana with plenty of light, Riku stabbed it into the ground and unleashed an explosion of light to cover the area around him, dispelling away the darkness as the bright light goes straight for where the mannequin of fear was at. "Impossibleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" The mannequin is consumed by the light, screaming out in fear and agony as he is completely disintegrated by Riku's power, which causes the magic gripping Riku's mind to dispel almost instantly.
Riku pants while recovering from the grip of fear, and as he lifts his body up he slams his katana back into the hilt beside his body before reverting back to his regular form. The darkness goes back to it's normal density, and Riku is back onto his feet not long after that. Once recognizing that the voice of the fear mannequin was gone, Riku stated quietly "…I…I'm glad I took care of that quickly…"
Riku then turns around and walks past the Nyx statue, going until he reaches the spot where the mannequin stood, and finds the exit out of this death filled room. "…This must be the way to Cryxis' throne room." Riku says, using his left foot to push the crystal mannequin out of the way without looking down at it. "…You know, Takashi, Sodenko…I get the oddest feeling we're not dealing with a man named Cryxis here." Riku brought this up rather suddenly, and Takashi remarked in a surprised tone "What? How could you suspect that he's someone else?"
"This room…Why would anyone go out of their way to capture JUST beings that represent death? I have a theory as to who Cryxis truly is, but I need to the see the man himself before I can confirm the truth." Riku explains while laying one hand on his chin. "Then keep going. If you know who Cryxis is, then perhaps we can exploit a weakness in order to secure a victory after all." Takashi urges, and as Riku stares into the lit up hallway ahead of him he states "…If only it were that simple, Takashi." He then continued onward, leaving the room of death behind him entirely…
Next Time: A Reflection