"Then tell me," she said quietly.
I took a deep breath and prepared to relay what sinister facts I knew. "Well, my family-…" I was interrupted by a cold cackle coming from somewhere off in the distance. The trees above rustled, then a large, dark figure dropped in front of us.
Sung took a step back in alarm, her hand grasping a sword once again.
"Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?" a slimy, malicious voice broke the darkness.
I moved in front of Sung before confronting the intruder with a hand on my hip. "Yes you were, actually. The polite thing to do would be to go away now, while you still remain in one piece."
I could see the figure moving towards me slowly, and from behind me I heard the metallic whisper of Sung removing the sword from its sheath.
"Well, I was going to apologize, but that wasn't very nice of you to say," the adversary remarked.
I glanced sideways and realized that we were far away enough from the door that no one inside could see us. I reached behind me and withdrew my own sword. "Who are you and what do you want?"
From the shadows emerged a giant of a man, covered from neck to torso in tattoos, and a nasty smirk on his scarred face. "It's not important who I am, but I did hear you managed to scare off one of my colleagues without even swinging your weapon."
"Yes, I suppose I did…" scowling at the realization it was another one of Zeke's followers.
"Well, I won't frighten that easily, and I brought much more reliable back up. This time, we'll make sure you can't say no.
"Bason," I said, my guardian ghost appearing in full form beside me, "I thought we had made it very clear a long time ago that we will never ever join any group affiliated with Zeke." Bason grunted his agreement and made ready to fight.
"If you value your life, you'll reconsider, and meet me on the hill to the west at midnight with your decision." And with that, he vanished into the darkness again.
"Oh, I'll have a decision alright."
Sung:
"Why?" I breathed. I was slightly shaken from what just happened. "Why are all these bad people after you?
Len smirked and brushed it off casually. "Don't you worry. They're just envious of my power."
"A-are you going to face them?"
"Of course I am," I replied. "I need to show them that when I say no, I mean no."
My eyes followed him as he strode back into the lounge. Glancing down at my sword glimmering in the moonlight, I began to feel like this was all my fault.
That thought simmered in my mind even long after I had gone back inside myself, my head hung in shame. I distanced myself from Len for the remainder of the evening, too frightened to interact with him. It seemed like he had not told the others what had happened, for they were all settling in to get some sleep.
I must have fallen asleep myself, for I was startled by a clattering near me. I opened my eyes to a pitch dark room, the only light was the reflection of the moon on Len's blade as he snuck out the glass door. An uneasy stirring erupted in my stomach, a feeling that was urging me to run after him. I got him into this mess so I felt obligated to get him out.
I held my swords in my hands as I stepped into my shoes so as not to make noise. As soon as I was outside with the door closed behind me I took off running in the direction of the hill. I'd waited long enough that I was certain he would already be there. As I got closer to the hill, the sporadic flashes of light indicated I was right. Upon approaching the peak, I hid behind a tree and slid the swords through the leather holder around my hips. I couldn't hear any distinct words, only shouting and the clash of metal on metal.
I peered around the tree trunk to get a glimpse of what I was up against. Len was certainly putting up a valiant fight against what appeared to be an army of three gigantic stone soldiers. All at once, they lunged at Len, even from their considerable distance from him.
"Mei Shao!" I shouted as I performed spirit control with my guardian ghost.
In doing so, I bolted toward the gap between Len and the enemies, swinging my swords at just the last second. A rush of energy exploded on contact with the first one, and before it could knock me off my feet I jumped backwards and landed near Len. The force sent all three of the stone giants flying.
"Sung? What are you doing here?" Len asked in shock.
"I've come to fight with you of course," I replied defiantly.
"You shouldn't be here! Go back now before you get hurt!"
The deafening roar of air being displaced by an enormous stone fist peaked my awareness then, and Len and I dashed out of the way just in time to avoid being crushed.
"Oh look, now your little girlfriend has come to save you! How cute!" said the tattooed man who threatened us earlier.
My landing was less than graceful, and to avoid falling on my face, I slid backwards a short distance, digging one of my swords into the ground. No sooner had I come to a stand-still that another one of the stone giants hurdling towards us. My furyoku flared, inducing my Long Swords Spirit Control. I braced myself for the hit by crossing them in air, standing as strong as I could. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Len dart behind me, positioning himself to make a fatal blow. I waited just long enough for him to get above me before swiping my swords to side to let him pass. There was another blinding flash of light, a rumble swept the hillside, and the rising dust as the giant crashed to the ground. All I could see was the outline of Len in front of me with his glowing spear bared.
"That's one down, and only 2 more to go. Who would like to be annihilated next?" he shouted triumphantly.
"You! That's who!" the tattooed man yelled in response. His stone giant drew back with surprising speed, and swung at me and Len. We weren't able to get out of the way in time, and we were clobbered by huge fist. I groaned in pain as I attempted to pick myself up after smashing to the ground. Len was also getting back to his feet, just a few yards away from me.
"Are you alright?" he called with concern.
"I'm fine!" A blur of motion caught my eye at that moment. "Len look out!"
Regaining my Long Swords Spirit Control quickly, I lunged at the on-coming giant, side-checking it into the cliff side.
"Bason! Rapid Tempo Assault!" Len growled, springing high into the air and aiming his attack the giant I had just downed. He landed in front me, facing the tattooed man. "Looks like we've taken down another one of your little side-kicks. Did you really think you were any match for me? Perhaps once we've soundly defeated you, the rest of you morons will get the point I will not ever be joining you."
The tattooed man let out an unrelenting cackle. "They told me you'd be a difficult one to handle, they certainly weren't kidding. I've watched you fight many times, which is the only reason I'm here. Your power and your guardian ghost will be of great benefit to us, but it would also be a sinister opponent. So if you won't join us, I'm afraid I'll have no choice but to get rid of you all together.
"Heh," Len snickered. "Sorry, but I don't see that happening today."
"We'll see about that!" the tattooed man yelled loudly, preparing his Spirit Control.
The ground under us started to quake violently, and another stone giant, more than twice the size of the last two, rose from the ground underneath him.
"Wow…" I whispered as I watched the scene unfold.
"MOVE!" Len bellowed, grabbing my arm and yanking me out of the path of the super giant.
"What do you think now Len?" the tattooed man shouted down from the super giant's shoulder.
"I think you're still no match for me! Bason! Giant Spirit Control!" He kept his grip on my arm as Bason's power swelled, rising just as high if not higher than the opponent.
Len and I could see eye to eye with the man from Bason's chest plate. Len immediately engaged in full swing combat with me keeping my balance for dear life. The power struggle ended with Len victorious, getting a lucky knock down swing on the giant.
"Hang on Sung," he warned me, turning Bason to face the giant once again. "Let's end this now Bason! Ultimate conquest!"
I shielded my face with my swords as we rushed towards the enemy, hopefully for the last time. There was an earth shaking explosion as Bason made contact with the giant, but in the end, we were the ones left standing. The tattooed man rolled limply down the hillside, his spirit control crushed.
Len and I landed easily on the grass below as he himself released his Spirit Control. He did, however, keep his sword brandished as he approached the man who was sprawled lifeless at the bottom on the hill.
"Let that be a lesson to all of you," he stated, "that my friends and I are not a force to be reckoned with, and I will not hold back."
With that, he turned and walked back towards the hostel, leaving me standing there, staring after him admirably.