The First Generation

S-Michael

Chapter 5:

Painted Black

Isley was shocked. "You think that...whatever did this...killed Arthur?"

"I'm not ruling anything out at this point," Rubel said. "I'm hoping for the best, but fearing the worst. Like I said, you're going up against an unknown opponent. This is why I'm sending the four best fighters and the guy with preternatural healing." Alexander had the unique ability to recover from would-be fatal wounds, end even regrow limbs. Why he had this power was unknown, but no one else amongst his peers had it (although, one of his batch-mates showed signs of a similar ability), and only three of the trainees, including Andre. "You are to follow this map to Aerinth, and investigate this strange phenomenon. Find out what happened to Isley, and if he's alive, bring him back. If he's not...give him a proper burial. Remember that a warrior's sword doubles as his headstone." The warriors nodded. "And...one more thing...Emily?"

"Yes, sir?" asked Emily.

"You and Arthur are the closest friends I have amongst the warriors," Rubel said, uncharacteristically vulnerable. "Don't get killed, and bring him back alive. Please."

Emily smiled, but it wasn't a joyous thing. "See, that's what you get for making friends amongst the rank-and-file. Warriors die, it's a fact. You've got to start thinking of us as expendable. We'll get on that job, now, sir." She left, and the other warriors followed.

"One of these days, you're going to have to tell me what the hell that was about," Isley said.

"Maybe one of these days I'll tell you," Emily said. "Is everyone well-rested?" Everyone nodded. "Good," she said, sensing that they had nodded. "I'm thinking that if we run for six days straight, we can rest up and eat before entering the territory of the destruction on the seventh."

-

Six days later, they settled down tor rest. "Alright, four hours of sleep ought to be more than enough for you people. Isley and I will take the first shift, and then Rigald, Duff, and Alexander will take the second shift. We'll approach at dawn."

"You sure you two won't bee too distracted?" Rigald teased.

"We'll save all that distracting stuff for when we're off-duty," Emily assured him, punching his arm.

"That ought to make an entertaining show, " Rigald said, going to sleep with his back against his blade, getting in the final word.

Everyone was asleep. Isley stoked the fire for a while. "Is this shift thing really necessary? I mean, we're not humans."

"We have no idea what it is that we're going up against. Better safe than sorry. Also...I sense...something...coming. It's still too distant for me to tell what it is, but it's yoma energy is enormous," Emily said. She grinned, "Besides, I wanted to get you to myself."

Isley grinned back. "Now, now. We promised the others that we wouldn't do anything distracting, you naughty girl."

"Yeah, well, I lied. There is nothing even remotely close enough to our location to cause us trouble, human, yoma, or wild animal, so I'm going to have my wicked way with you. Don't make me use force...unless you're into hat sort of thing," Emily said.

"I don't know...it sounds kinky," Isley said.

"Alright, then," Emily said, and then she did exactly as she had said that she was going to do. After they had done it and cleaned up afterwards, Emily said, "Uh-oh."

"What?" Isley asked.

"The thing I sensed earlier...it's coming faster than I thought," Emily said. "It's still miles away," she assured him, "but still, it's...disconcerting. This has got to be one of the fastest as well as one of the most powerful yomas ever."

"Great. Double threat," Isley said. "Still, we are five warriors of the Organization. Surely one yoma can't stand against us, right?"

"Surely," Emily agreed doubtfully. "Lets eat something before we go to bed," she changed the subject. If they were human, the food supplies they'd brought would have lasted them all of two days, but they weren't human. This meager fare could last the warriors of the Organization for months. Emily pulled out a "stick" of beef that had been dehydrated and seasoned to preserve it from becoming bad, and forced into an unnatural shape, presumably to make it easier to pack. Isley tore into the tough beef jerky, and all but physically winced from the taste of too many preservatives. Still, he ate more than a warrior of the Organization usually ate, for he hadn't eaten in days. Each stick of jerky was a foot long, two and a half inches wide, and three sixteenths of an inch thick, roughly; Isley ate damn near half of a stick. "Lets leave the food out. It'll drop a hint for the others."

Isley grinned. "You're just lazy," he accused.

Rigald, Duff, and Alexander got up exactly as their shift started, removing their swords from the dirt and sheathing them. Emily dug hers into the dirt and rested against it. Isley chose instead to rest against her. "Well, that's awfully cute of you," she muttered.

"What, you're not going to entertain us?" Rigald asked.

"You don't need any distractions," Isley grinned, and shut his eyes to rest. When the first rays of dawn hit him, he awoke, but it seemed an instant since he had gone to sleep. He and Emily stood, and Emily sheathed her sword.

"Alright, did you guys eat?" Emily asked.

"Yeah," Alexander said.

"Alright, then. Lets go. But be on your guards, people; I sense something huge coming, and it could be on us at any time," she ordered, and then the five warriors headed out. They came to what had once been the town f Aerinth, and gawked at the sight, but also at the smell. It was exactly as they had been told, and more. There wasn't a building in town that hadn't of had a hole in it, usually a large hole, many of the buildings rend in half or completely demolished, and there were bodies, or at least pieces of bodies, everywhere. In the streets, skewered on signposts, in the roofs when there were roofs. And what's more, these bodies had been here for weeks--they were thoroughly decomposing. "Gods. I'm glad I can't see this," Emily said. "Remind me to watch my step."

Suddenly they all froze, for they could feel an immense amount of yoma power suddenly burst onto the scene. It was immense, like nothing they had ever felt before, and yet...somehow familiar. "It's here," Emily said. They turned to the direction it was coming from, and out of the woods stepped...a man. He was a tall, strong-looking man, on the handsome side of average in looks but just barely with jet black hair and brown eyes. They had never seen him before in their lives, and yet, he looked familiar.

He smiled. "Hello, friends," he said. "You've finally got uniforms, I see. They look spiffy." His voice sounded familiar, as well.

"Who are you?" Emily asked.

The man grinned wider. "What, you don't recognize me? I guess it would be hard. After all, my voice is no longer raspy. My flesh is no longer withered. I no longer tremble when I walk, or even stand still, I am no longer in constant pain. I am more powerful than ever before. I also no longer have blonde hair or silver eyes, but you can't see that. Still, I wouldn't think that all that would fool you, Emily. What I think has you fooled is my newfound confidence. The spring in my step, more than the fact that my step doesn't tremble."

"A-Arthur?" Isley asked.

"That's right," the man said, grinning again. "It is I, Arthur, my young friend. And, for the first time in more years than you have been alive, I feel absolutely marvelous!" He spun three hundred and sixty degrees on his heel in some sort of bizarre dance maneuver and pelvic thrusted. "Yeah!"

"How did this happen? Where have you been? What happened here? We've been worried," demanded Isley.

"Huh? Sorry I haven't been back, I've just been feeling so marvelous, and wanted to try my new body out," Arthur said. "It's so wonderful! The one downside is that I'm always hungry, but after years of having to force down even the teeniest scrap or morsel, even that feels absolutely wonderful. Everything is wonderful and new, and I feel like I've been reborn.

"As for what happened, well...it seemed like a normal hunt at the time. I was ordered here to find and kill the yoma for these people," Arthur gestured at the corpse-strewn roads. "I found a yoma, and attacked, but then four more came charging out of the crowd. A whole fucking family of them were living here, can you believe that? The nerve of some creatures. I thought I was screwed, but was determined to go down fighting, and so I powered up. To maximum." He smiled again, this time wistfully. "And in doing so, I unleashed more power than I knew that I had, and completely transformed my body. It was...it was an awakening, really. That's the only way I can describe it.

"Emily, you could get your sight back," Arthur said. "Don't you want that? Don't you want more power? After all if this could happen to me, imagine what could happen to you! Each and every one of you is stronger than I was. These reserves of power are completely untapped. Imagine the possibilities."

"That is intriguing and tempting," Rigald said, "but, you haven't really answered...what happened here?"

"Hmm. I guess I got a little carried away," Arthur said disinterestedly.

"You did this?" Isley demanded.

"Yeah. Impressive, no?" Arthur grinned.

"The Arthur I know would never be so callous," Emily said. "The yoma inside of you has taken over."

"And if it has, would that really be so bad?" Arthur asked. "Why should we be the pawns of humans, when we are ever so much more powerful than they are? Why should we fight and die for their sakes? Why shouldn't we be free? Come and be free with me, my friends. We can even go back to Sutafu, and see if we can't convince our comrades to awaken to this brand new world, as well." The warriors of the Organization all drew their swords, almost in unison. "Oh, so is that how it's going to be?" Arthur asked. "Well, I can't say that I'm not disappointed--especially in you, Isley. I thought you wanted power." He drew his claymore, which didn't have a sigil on it because he hadn't been back to Sutafu recently.

"Not as an end in itself," Isley said. The warriors attacked their former comrade and former friend, but Arthur moved swiftly and skillfully, avoiding their weapons.

"Tell me, Emily, why did we never date?" Arthur asked conversationally as he blocked several attacks almost-lazily.

"You're a good friend, but I was just never sexually attracted to you," Emily said.

"And are you now?" Arthur asked.

"You're evil now," Emily said.

Arthur sighed dramatically (and loudly enough for it to be heard over the clinging of blades), "It's always one thing or another with you, isn't it, Emily? Well, no matter. The truth is, I wouldn't have been able to stand all the sleeping around you do. I try to be laid back, and happy-go-lucky, but the truth is, I wouldn't have been able to share you." Suddenly there was a hole in Emily's body. As Isley had once seen Van do with a bandit, Arthur had ripped her guts out. "Now I don't have to share you with anybody." He took a bite out of her guts, and spat it out. "Note to self: the guts of our people tastes horrible." Doing some slight-of-hand, he was now holding Emily's still-beating heart. "Sorry, Isley, but I stole her heart." Arthur laughed at his own bad joke.

Isley and the others powered up and charged him. "Oh, you're getting up there. Of course, you'd better be careful--you might awaken on accident, the way you're going." They actually had him on the defensive for a while. And then: "Impressive, but you're forgetting something; I'm holding back, too." And then he unleashed his yoma power, and he transformed into a giant green six-armed monster. Arthur struck out with his fingers, and skewered Alexander. He struck out at Isley. Isley blocked with his sword, but Arthur had five more hands, and skewered him, as well. Duff and Rigald fought valiantly, but they were down as well.

"I'm going to let you four live, but there is something you must do. Go back to the Organization, and tell them of how easily I beat their greatest warriors. Tell them also that I am willing to leave them in peace--hell, I won't even attack any human villages--but anyone they send after me will die," Arthur said. Alexander stood to attack again, but Arthur skewered him. "Oh, right, you're the freak who can heal. I had forgotten." Arthur moved the hand that was skewering his abdomen like an egg beater, back and forth. "That ought to keep you down for a while." And then the monster who had been Arthur left. Isley would never see him again.

Isley pulled himself over th Emily's body, still healing from his injuries, and checked her for a pulse, but he knew already that she was dead. There was not even the hint of a pulse. Do not cry, he told himself when the grief washed over him. She wouldn't want you to cry. And that was true, too. If Emily could somehow come back in spirit form and see Isley crying over her corpse, she'd probably kick his ass for being such a wuss. Screw you; I'm going to cry. You were just too important to me for me to do otherwise. And so Isley cried, for the first time since his family died, and for the last time that anyone is aware.

The survivors healed their injuries, and buried their dead mentor. They marked her grave with her sword, as Rubel had claimed was their custom. "Guys?" Alexander said.

"Yeah?" said Rigald.

"If I ever turn into one of...one of those things, I want you to hunt me down and kill me. No, screw that; if I'm ever on the verge of turning into one of those things, I want you to kill me. I don't want to become a monster. Ever."

"Of course I will!" said Duff. "You can count on me."

Isley and Rigald looked at each other, silent for a moment. Rigald nodded. "Yeah," said Isley. "We're in, too." Isley sliced his hands on Emily's gravestone. "Let us swear a blood oath," he said. "That if ever one of us should, uh, 'awaken,' the others will hunt him down and kill him." Each of the others sliced themselves on Emily's claymore, and they all clasped hands. "So shall it be. Now come. Let us get out of this godforsaken place."

-

Venus bit her lip as the spasm ran through her body. "You're doing very well," the woman assured her. "You're very strong."

"Of course I'm very strong, you idiot! I kill yoma for a living," Venus said, and then stiffled a cry. "Goddamnit, get this thing out of me."

"Now, now, just push," the woman continued. Rubel walked up to see better, but the woman ignored him. For some reason, she had been giving him the cold shoulder this entire time. Something about a birthing not being a proper place for a man. "And here it comes...Congratulations! you are now the mother of a beautiful baby girl."

Rubel snatched the baby from the woman's hands, and studied its face. "I was afraid of this," he said.

"What?" Venus and the woman said almost in unison.

"I need to speak to Venus in private," Rubel said.

The woman looked at Venus. "Go!" Venus ordered. "What is it, sir? What's wrong with my baby?" Rubel brought the infant to her mother, and showed her her face. Like her parents, she had silver eyes. "I still don't understand what the problem is."

"Your child and others like her are a potential threat to humanity much greater than the yoma," Rubel said. "Think about it. Yoma are 'better' than us in almost every way imaginable. They're stronger, faster, more generally more powerful, some have even said that they're smarter than us. So why is it that we build cities, when they don't? Society is why. We have it, and they don't. The reason we have a functioning society is because we have consciences, morals, and the genuine desire to help one another, especially when in pursuit of the greater good. We are even capable of sacrificing ourselves for the good of our communities. Yoma are not, and that's why they live in caves. But what if there came along something new? Something that has all of the powers of a yoma, much less all of the powers of a yoma only stronger, and the human ability to come together for a cause, to protect one another, and to avenge one another? They would surely dominate the world, and push the two other species off the map. If half-breeds such as yourself can produce more half-breeds naturally, then what is there to stop them from taking over, especially a couple of generations down the line, when they don't feel so beholden to the Organization anymore?"

"What are you saying?" Venus asked.

"We have to kill your baby, Venus," Rubel said.

Venus was shocked, and didn't say anything for a good minute and a half. Rubel watched her, as the emotions wrestled across her face. And then she nodded. "Yes. For the sake of humanity."

Rubel squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "You truly are a courageous woman."

-

Isley, Rigald, Duff, and Alexander entered Sutafu. Rubel was waiting for them. "I have bad news, Alexander. Your child was stillborn." He's lying, thought Isley. But why would he lie about something like that. Isley looked at Rigald to see if he had picked up on it, and saw that Rigald was more disturbed than he would have expected. Yeah, the lost of a child was bad news, but Alexander and Venus weren't even good friends of his, as far as Isley knew.

"What?" Alexander asked, his knees trembling.

"I'm sorry to tell you that. You should go see to Venus," Rubel said sympathetically. "The rest of you, tell me what happened." Alexander left, and Isley, Rigald, and Duff reported on what had happened. "So Arthur has turned into a yoma, and Emily is dead," Rubel summarized briefly.

"What are we going to do?" Duff asked.

Rubel sighed, and thought. "Emily's dead, and Arthur is worse than dead. We will have a eulogy tonight. As for whether or not to go after Arthur, I'll have to talk with the others, but I don't see the point. He's just a wild beast now, and sending people after him would be suicide, anyway."

"How did he get so powerful?" Rigald asked. "To take down Emily and Isley and myself so easily...He never seemed that strong. What if someone with real power 'awakens'?"

Rubel shrugged. "Arthur had a horrible disability when he was one of us. He struggled for many years to be a worthwhile warrior. No doubt a good deal of his new strength comes from the fact that he is now free of that. Perhaps even all of it. Perhaps other people wouldn't gain any sort of power advantage when they turn into yoma. I don't intend to find out, however."

-

Rubel spoke: "We gather here today to mourn the loss of two warriors, both outstanding in their own way: Emily and Arthur. Emily was always a fighter. They were locals of Sutafu, only children when the Organization first formed and arrived here. They witnessed what happened to the first ones, and still, even with that hellish possibility still very real at the time, they would later agree to become half-breeds in order to protect humans from yoma. Of the first four warriors after the original three, were as sick as Arthur, one was blind, and one was blind and sick. Still, Arthur courageously agreed to become a test subject, and he paid for it dearly. Every day was pain for him. Every small task a torture. The condition in which he has lived his life for the last several years, ever since he was seventeen, would have broken lesser men. How he could stand to be so frail and sick, I do not know, but in spite of it all, he always tried to be up beat. He was a wit, a friend, and an inspiration to his fellow half-breeds.

"Emily followed in his footsteps a few years later, when her aund, uncle, and cousins in another town were slaughtered by a yoma. At sixteen, full of fire and rage, she braved the procedure, and lost her sight in the process. In spite of the disability, she honed her other senses until they more than made up for her loss of sight, and trained in her swordsmanship until she became the legendary swordswoman we all knew and loved. They were amongst the first, when the opperation was decidedly more hit-and-miss, and if it wasn't for brave souls like them, you wouldn't be able to enjoy the good health that you do. Tonight, I want you to pray to whatever gods you worship for them. I certainly will be." Never again, thought Rubel. Never again will I allow myself to get so close to the warriors. It is as Emily said--they are expendable.