TWO OF A KIND

by Ulquiorra9000

Chapter 7

Steel-gray clouds gathered overhead as Tai-sa Chodama's army set out across the Sokenzan Mountain range, the samurai, cavaliers, and kami tamers all keeping vigil for an enemy ambush as they went. Morrel and Mizuki stayed near the head of the procession, both riding horses near Chodama's armored mount.

"You both have my thanks, Mizuki-san, Morrel-san," Chodama told them briskly, glancing back at them. He wore a horned red helmet over his black hair, hiding his samurai hair knot. "My tamers will be essential for taking down our target, and retrieving them was a lot to ask for two outsiders."

"It was nothing," Morrel said humbly, dipping his head. "We're allies. It was only natural to help." All that hard work had better pay off!

Chodama nodded his approval. "Good. Now, we are nearing our target's approximate range. We can't cross these peaks unless we have the proper mount, but my tamers are ready to change that."

"Oh, yeah?" Mizuki wondered, and Chodama motioned to halt the procession. He motioned with an armored hand and the tamers split from the army, clustering together in a particular formation. At once, they clapped their hands together and murmured a chant, golden mana glowing to life at the men's and women's hands. Morrel watched with curiosity. Back at Oboro's castle, they leashed kami with their taming magic, but I don't see any kami here. Just how will – by the angels' grace!

Morrel's horse, indeed most of the horses, snorted and reared up in alarm as the rocky surface of the mountains cracked and crumbled. A great force from within started to shove its way out, and Morrel's jaw dropped as a monstrous worm creature emerged from the mountain rock, its armored head a similar color to the reddish-gray stone. In fact, the creature's whole body had the same color scheme, with a hard gray back and a dark red belly. Its worm-like nature became apparent as it continued to emerge, settling onto the rocky surface and stretching out for hundreds of meters. Its whole body was protected by a thick, rough carapace, and several green mana orbs floated around its head, an indicator of its kami divinity.

"You know, that thing looks like a siege-maw kami," Mizuki commented, shielding her eyes from the sun as she looked up at the huge kami. She tried to sound casual but Morrel could hear the awe in her voice.

"This is a mountain crawler kami," Chodama explained as the kami fully emerged, snapping open its beak-head. "It is related to the siege-maw kami, but usually lives underground and, as you can see, is much larger."

"How... how can anyone possibly control or tame it?" Morrel cried indignantly. "I saw that siege-maw kami's ferocity and what it was capable of. This is on a whole different level!"

"For clarity, Morrel-san," Chodama said, "Mountain crawlers are of a much calmer disposition than siege-maws, and they can be guided by groups of tamers working together. This beast shall be our ferry across the mountains, and make a fine mount into battle."

The mountain crawler kami opened its beak wide, its glowing yellow eyes like two sentient suns. The monster rumbled at the sight of so many humans but otherwise made no reaction. Morrel was led along with everyone else up the creature's back, able to use its tail as a ramp. From up here, Morrel still couldn't see the other side of the mountain, but he had no doubt that this creature would do its job well.

"Whoa!" Morrel yelped as the crawler lurched into motion. As soon as everyone settled down and grabbed a hold on the kami's plate edges, the crawler wriggled forward like a startled snake making a break for cover. Morrel hung on for dear life as air whooshed past his face from the speed, and the crawler swiftly but expertly navigated the rugged mountain range, leaving the horses far behind. Mizuki whooped her elation, excited by the kami's speed.

"How can you find this fun?" Morrel shouted to her over the wind, praying frantically to not get thrown off and splattered on a rock.

"How can you not?" Mizuki responded, a wide grin on her face as she laughed. "This is the best thing we've done yet!"

Morrel had to fight to keep his breakfast down as the mountain crawler kami slithered higher up the mountain range, then it bent its body and started to crawl down the other side of the mountain range. Morrel beheld a vista of plains, hills, and forests beyond the mountains, a sprawling natural landscape that awed him with its beauty. A number of large towns dotted the landscape, too distant for Morrel to view the inhabitants just yet.

Then trouble came.

The mountain range itself seemed to come to life, with glowing red lava starting to ooze from the crags like hot blood. A few of Chodama's warriors turned and saw the sudden calamity, raising the alarm. They could do nothing, however, as the lava bubbled and seeped further across the rock, and then a number of bulky shapes began to emerge. Morrel squinted for a closer look, and he thought he saw rocky tentacles slither up and out of the raging lava. Wait. Those are tentacles! Is it an elemental? Morrel wondered, but then he saw a number of lumpy heads emerge, each gnashing a pair of jaws. The tentacles belonged to the assorted lava-creatures that seemed at home on the molten rock.

Morrel nervously tugged on Mizuki's sleeve. "Are those kami?"

She glanced at the emerging beasts. "Yeah. They're the souls of magma. Get your shield spell ready. I don't think they appreciate the intrusion."

"What -" Morrel gulped, then he felt a thrill of awe as the magma kami flailed their tentacles in the air, catapulting dozens of globs of hot lava at the mountain crawler kami. The crawler paid little attention as globs of lava exploded on its ultra-thick hide, but Chodama's men cowered from the onslaught, a few of them getting vaporized or knocked off the crawler's back. Morrel felt the air heat up as he quickly recited the incantation for his Hindering Light spell, and both he and Mizuki hid under the gold-blue shield like an umbrella against the lava onslaught.

At the crawler's head, Chodama stood and thrust his great sword toward the towns down below. "Be strong and brave!" he roared over the wind and explosions of lava. "The kami we seek must not be far. We will endure!"

We had better! Morrel thought as the mountain crawler slithered down the side of the mountains, toward the forested lands below. He winced as several more of Chodama's men were liquidated by the magma kami, but he pumped more mana into his shield and it endured the next several lava globs that hit it. Mizuki manifested her right arm's curse and clung to the mountain crawler's plates with her giant claws.

Then, just as the mountain crawler slipped out of range of the souls of magma, the crawler squealed and buckled on the rock. Leaning over the beast's edge, Morrel saw cracks and fissures crumbling the mountain slopes underneath, an unknown agent collapsing the rock from underneath. The crawler slowed down as its plates got caught on rocky fragments, and a number of new kami from under the rock suddenly emerged. They had lumpy gray bodies with many clawed arms on their backs, and each one was in a frenzy to tunnel right under the mountains' surfaces and destabilize the crawler's progress. The crawler rumbled in anger as it tried to slither its hard body through the rough, jagged field that the gorgers had created.

"And that type?" Morrel asked Mizuki.

She folded her arms and pursed her lips. "I swear, Morrel, you think I'm your tireless tour guide. You can see what kind of creature that is! A tunneler that lives in mountain ranges. The kami here are showing a lot of coordination. That could only happen if they had a great leader nearby. Something like..." Her narrow eyes widened.

"The kami we seek?" Morrel finished grimly.

"Tai-sa! We're sensing a powerful kami presence nearby!" a tamer roared to Chodama. "It must be the target! It's near the closest town!"

"Then take us there! No delays, no hesitation!" Chodama ordered. Morrel dissipated his Hindering Light shield as the mountain crawler surged down the rest of the mountain base and toward the edge of the thick, rough forest below. Flames rose from the large wooden buildings of the town, and Morrel heard the thousands of screams of fleeing citizens among the roars of marauding kami. Now out of range of the magma kami and the gorgers, the mountain crawler kami was guided by the tamers, settling by the town and letting everyone rush off its back, down its tail, and to the forest floor.

Careful not to stray from Chodama's men, Morrel and Mizuki waded through the forest as the samurai and tamers took on the kami, searching for their target. A number of branch-like creatures pounced on their prey, each one with two wooden arms and moss on their backs. Samurai swords proved only marginally effective, but the flaming arrows of Chodama's archers took down the beasts in short order. However, the other kami slaughtered many of the humans who got too close, their vicious claws and magic showing no mercy. A number of stout kami raised their arms with green life-magic, their powers creating kami out of trees and soil to fight on their behalf.

"Let's get to the town! Kami just love to massacre humans where they're concentrated the most," Mizuki shouted over the din, tugging on Morrel's arm to bring him along. "Our target's bound to be right there with them. Are you ready?"

Morrel clenched his free hand into a fist. "More than ready."

A nearby building collapsed, weakened by its fires. A number of short goblin-creatures skittered about, flaming sticks in their hands. They tossed those sticks onto the human dwellings, setting them to fire with a single touch. "Those are akki, possessed by the kami," Mizuki commented. "They -"

"Wait!" Morrel shouted as a wooden kami pounced on Mizuki from behind. She croaked in surprise, not sure what to do. Morrel leaped into the air and spun, his heavy roundhouse kick knocking the twisted wooden kami to the ground in a confused heap. Catching on, Mizuki raised her giant cursed arm and slashed her talons down, tearing the tree-like kami into shreds.

"We'd better watch our backs," Morrel huffed.

"I guess," Mizuki admitted. "Nice save, but I -"

She was cut off again as another presence roared onto the battlefield, knocking down every tree in its way. The forest battleground became a clearing as the new creature slashed down the trees in its rage. Morrel felt a thrill of shock as the new, enormous creature crawled into the town on its many clawed legs, its bright orange eyes hungry. The beast looked like a black-skinned lizard, but it had a long body with ten legs, and its skin was a hardened carapace like a beetle's. Its pointed lizard head opened its toothless mouth, revealing three long tongues. The creature's spine was covered with a number of pulsating sacs. Several glowing red spheres of divine magic hovered over the kami's head.

"Is... is that it?" Morrel said faintly to Mizuki as the battle raged around them.

"That... is it." Mizuki's eyes hardened and sparked fire. "That's the creature that ruined my life and slaughtered my village, then gave me this cursed right arm that made me a pariah of every society I've ever seen!"

Without any further warning, Mizuki shouted a battle cry and vaulted into the air, pouncing on the kami like a predator. Looking up, the kami lashed out its three tongues, trying to swat her down from the air. Mizuki jumped off of one tongue, then batted a second tongue aside with her giant arm and dodged the third. She slammed her giant claws on the kami's head, talons grating against its carapace with loud screeches. The kami squirmed, then caught Mizuki with one of its front paws, sending her sprawling on the ground.

Morrel hurried after her, whipping out two throwing knives as his heart raced with adrenaline. The lizard kami hissed and raised a paw to crush Mizuki, until Morrel hurled his knives at its paw and sent a surge of red mana into them. The two explosions singed the kami's paw and made it recoil from the heat, giving Mizuki time to recover and get out of its reach.

The kami took a step back. I know you, Mizuki, a heavy, ethereal voice suddenly emanated from the creature's mind and into Morrel's head. He could tell that Mizuki could hear it too, from how she winced and held her head. The lizard kami snapped its jaws. And you brought a friend with you, as well as a whole army! You came here for vengeance, is that it? For the curse I gave to you?

"Get out... of my head!" Mizuki grated, her normal hand clawing into her hair. "You're a liar and a killer!"

I tried to recruit you to my side, Mizuki, but you're a tough one, a free spirit, the lizard kami chuckled. But today, you brought yourself to me for another round! How delicious!

Morrel raised his arms into a defensive posture, but the lizard kami didn't move. Instead, as thick gray clouds started to assemble overhead, the lizard kami brought its own army to bear. The cysts on its back exploded and a number of red-skinned lizards scurried out, their talons long and their tails ending in blades. The lizards, over two dozen of them, pounced on the survivors of Chodama's army and tore at their flesh, reducing Chodama's army to only a tight band. The rest of the forest kami and all the akki had perished, but the lizard's new army decimated what was left of the town's people and Chodama's forces.

The lizards came after Morrel too, and he didn't let them get close. One of them leaped for his throat, and another went for his left flank. Sinking a knife into the flanker's throat, Morrel ducked the throat-seeker and seized its arms, keeping it from getting away. He slammed his booted foot into its gut, sending it crashing into its fellow. A third lizard seized him from behind, claws digging into his leather armor and then into his skin. Biting back a cry, Morrel grappled with the lizard on the ground, but the red kami's strength astounded him. Another one pounced on him, and together they went for Morrel's heart.

Morrel tried to recite the verse for his Oblivion Ring, but the pressure of the two lizards crushed his throat and the words wouldn't come out. Desperate, Morrel shoved his hands into one of the lizards' chest, white mana glowing on his fingers. With a flash, the disk-shaped Oblivion Ring emerged and swallowed up the lizard, banishing it from existence. Staring at the white magic ring pattern, Morrel realized what had happened. I cast my ring without the verse! I... how did I do that?

The other lizard recovered from the shock and snapped its jaws at Morrel's throat, but Mizuki's cursed arm slapped it away and slashed it to bits. "You okay, Morrel?" Mizuki huffed, her body bruised and covered in small cuts.

"Y-yeah," Morrel panted back, staggering to his feet and trying to clear his mind from losing so much breath. He clapped his hands together and re-summoned the banished lizard kami, hurling a knife into its throat as soon as it emerged. The giant black lizard kami shuffled forward, its surviving followers clustering around its head. You're much stronger than the terrified, rain-drenched little girl I met back then, the giant kami taunted.

Mizuki snarled and brandished her cursed arm. "You gave me this, creature! Now I'll kill you with it! Get over to me and fight me personally!"

The giant lizard only chuckled. That's not how it works, my little friend! Then, more cysts emerged from its back and popped, releasing another swarm of red lizards. Morrel backed up to rally his fellows, but his heart seemed to turn to lead at what he saw: every tamer and samurai was dead, and Chodama was the only survivor, injured and staggering to Morrel.

"Morrel-san! There were too many of them," the samurai commander gasped. "We have to retreat and -"

A trio of red lizards pounced on him, tearing him to bloody pieces. The giant kami rumbled its amusement and crawled forward on its ten legs, its red followers skittering about. Then they swarmed forward as one, trying to take down the two remaining human prey. Years of combat training kicked into gear inside Morrel's head as the swarm approached, and his fists lashed through the air, expertly countering attacks and sending lizard spirits crashing to the ground. His kicks and knives took down a few more of the beasts, and Mizuki defended herself ferociously with her giant arm's talons and her black mana tentacles. Morrel and Mizuki pushed closer to the giant lizard kami, sustaining light injuries along the way.

"Cover me!" Mizuki roared, swatting away a lizard spirit with her giant arm. She tensed her legs in a crouch, then sprang into the air toward the giant kami's head before it could spawn more red lizards. Two red lizards pounced after Mizuki, but Morrel's thrown knife stopped one and his spinning mid-air kick knocked away the other. Roaring, Mizuki swung her talons down on the giant kami lizard's head. The giant black kami hunkered its head and let its carapace take the blow. Loud screeches rang in Morrel's ears as Mizuki's giant claws raked against the hard carapace, but she could not cut through.

Idiot girl! To think you can defeat me with the curse I gifted you with! The giant kami laughed, then it slashed its tail through the air, slapping Mizuki to the forest floor. It kicked her away with a leg, then scampered toward the largest building in the town, a multi-story shrine. The remaining lizard spirits pounced on Mizuki, but her tentacles of black mana impaled two of them and made the rest hesitate.

"Are you okay?" Morrel cried, hurrying over. He collected his scattered knives and threw one into the ground, blowing it up with red mana. The lizards cowered.

"I... I'm fine," Mizuki grunted, staggering to her bare feet. She was a little wobbly but the fire in her eyes still burned. "Morrel! We have to take the kami down together and get through its armor like we did with the siege-maw kami. It's the only way."

"Yeah. But I wonder what it's doing, anyway?" Morrel wondered, giving the giant black lizard another look. Rain started to fall from the overhead sheet of clouds as the giant kami began bashing its way into the large temple. Wood and stone collapsed at the kami's touch, revealing the treasures and rooms inside. However, as soon as the walls started to collapse, Morrel suddenly felt... something.

"You feel that?" Mizuki asked as she stood with her back to Morrel, while the red kami circled them for another attack.

Morrel swallowed. "Yeah, like a tingling? There's something powerful and magical in that temple, and the kami wants it. What if the source will strengthen our target?"

"Can't let that happen," Mizuki growled as the sensation intensified. "Let's go!"

Rain soaked into Morrel's clothes as he and Mizuki sprang into action. The red lizards lashed out with their claws and fangs, and Morrel grimaced as a lizard's claws raked his left arm. The beast swung with its other arm, but Morrel seized the arm and heaved the lizard into another one. Morrel landed a knife into the thrown lizard, and when he poured red mana into it, the resulting explosion vaporized both lizards. Then, Morrel ducked and spun quickly, his booted foot sweeping a lizard off its feet. Mizuki's talons flashed through the air, shredding it into pieces.

"Now!" Mizuki cried, leaping after the giant kami once again. Morrel was right behind her, one knife held tight in each hand. The temple collapsed as they approached, and a rainbow of magic seeped out, the air coming alive with millions of colors. Morrel's curiosity burned to know what was going on, but he had to focus.

I've found it! Azrael, I have found your prize! Now you will give me power beyond my imagining, as you have promised! The giant lizard kami mentally bellowed, and Morrel hesitated for just a second. Is this lizard a vassal for someone else? Just who is Azrael, and why is this mana source so important?

All the same, Mizuki slashed down with her claws and Morrel hastened to help. Mizuki's giant arm and one of the lizard's paws clashed, each being struggling against the other's might. The giant lizard whipped its tail through the air, but Morrel was faster. Quickly reciting the chant, he summoned his Hindering Light and the gold-blue shield stopped the tail slap cold. Mizuki used this distraction to wrench the lizard's paw away and cut her talons between the paw's armor plates, drawing blood.

Damn you both! You could have served me, Mizuki, but you chose to run! The kami raged. Opening its mouth, its three tongues slapped Morrel and Mizuki to the ground, both landing hard and getting bruised.

"You slaughtered my village and promised me power to bring the people back. Instead, you gave me this horrible curse! I'm the victim!" Mizuki screamed. "Morrel!"

"Yeah!" he nodded firmly, scrambling to his feet as Mizuki did the same. The giant lizard reared up and slashed repeatedly with its many paws, forcing Mizuki and Morrel to focus on evasion and lose their chance to attack. A tongue slap disoriented Morrel, but when he saw a paw coming to cleave him, he acted fast. Once again, he raised his hands for an Oblivion Ring and the ring materialized without the verse. The kami's leg was vaporized from the elbow down, trapped in the ring's magic.

"Looks like you don't need the verse when the action's hot enough!" Mizuki commented. Her black mana tentacles speared into the lizard's armor cracks, drawing more blood. She grated her talons against its armor, but she still couldn't get through. Another tail slap whooshed through the air, so Morrel conjured his Hindering Light to counter it. However, the kami rumbled and red-adjusted, now shooting its tail forth like a spear. The focused attack pierced Morrel's shield, slicing into Mizuki's flesh and making her collapse with a cry and spurt of blood.

Furious, Morrel detonated a knife against the kami's armor, but his blow changed nothing. Time to die, Mizuki! The lizard roared, and it lashed out with its three tongues, wrapping Mizuki up and snapping her into the kami's mouth. Morrel hurled his knives but he was too slow. The knives bounced off the kami's closed jaws as it swallowed, sending Mizuki toward its stomach.

And now you! The kami glared at Morrel. You killed off the last of my spirit spawns. Well, I don't need them at this point. I will swallow you up too!

Morrel tensed as the kami approached, but he felt rising panic and sadness well up inside him as the rain kept pouring. Mizuki! She's gone, she's gone! The kami got her just like that! I have to kill it fast and try to get her out, or else...

The lizard kami hesitated, its eyes widening. What the...? the kami rumbled, then its neck suddenly bulged from the inside, straining the black carapace plates on its skin. Morrel gaped as the kami bulged even more, and then with a final strain, its neck exploded with a shower of blood, carapace bits, and storms of black magic. From the center of the fray came Mizuki, her giant right arm raised high. She tumbled to a halt on the open ground, the rainwater washing away the grime from her clothes and body. The kami's headless body collapsed heavily and the head lay motionless, the orange eyes now glassy and still. The Oblivion Ring vanished, the banished limb re-appearing and falling uselessly to the ground.

"You... you killed it! Mizuki, it's done!" Morrel told her, elation rising in his voice. He knelt by her, helping her get up to her knees. "It's all over. The kami's dead, and you're free of its curse."

Panting, Mizuki held out her right arm and manually shrank it to normal size and color, a smile slowly spreading across her lips. Then she wrapped Morrel in a tight hug, beside herself with elation.

"It's done, just like you said. I dealt the last blow, but you really helped me on the way," Mizuki admitted. Morrel felt a thrill as Mizuki embraced him, then he gently moved her back and took hold of her right arm.

"The curse really is gone, now isn't it?" Morrel smiled, running his hands along Mizuki's delicate fingers. "You can use these hands for happiness and creation, not crime."

Mizuki burst out laughing. "Enough nonsense! One thing at a time, damn it. Your Journey of Souls is over now, right? You did it?"

"Yes," Morrel said with pride. "My brother, my king, everyone will be proud. They -"

Mizuki groaned, suddenly clutching her stomach and doubling over. Morrel gripped her shoulders. "What is it?" he asked. "Did the kami poison you?"

"N... no. This heavy tingling sensation... like it's in my whole body..." Mizuki moaned, then all of a sudden, her right arm lashed out. Morrel yelped in shock as her right arm once again grew huge and black-skinned, its blow sending Morrel sprawling onto the rain-drenched dirt. He stared, horrified, as Mizuki slowly rose to her feet, holding up her giant right arm with shock.

"No! No, no, no! This isn't supposed to happen!" Mizuki threw back her head and roared, her right arm's talons gouging into the thick mud over and over. She repeated "No!" with each strike, each blow more powerful than the last as she slashed the earth in her fury. Morrel stood back, not wanting to get hit.

"Mizuki, uh... maybe it takes time to undo the curse?"

Gasping, Mizuki lowered her arm, incredulity on her face. "I... I don't know! I feel a certain rage and power whenever the curse activates, but now that sensation is even stronger! Killing the kami only increased my curse's appetite for killing and chaos."

Maybe that inner rage is what makes it manifest, Morrel conjectured, remembering the times Mizuki had accidentally activated her curse whenever she felt anger or stress. It controls her as much as she controls it! Well, there's something else...

Morrel wandered over to the ruined temple, hope rising in his gut again. "There's still the source of this multi-colored magic. Why don't we see if it can help?"

"Doesn't hurt to try," Mizuki said faintly, still furious at her fate. She wandered over, dragging her giant right arm. She squinted. "Hey. Is that... a crystal?"

Upon removing some of the temple's debris, Morrel saw what she meant. What looked like a piece of a quartz sphere lay in the ruins, its surface giving off the multitude of mana colors. A strange humming sound came from the sphere, and Morrel felt the tingling sensation grow rapidly as he approached the sphere. "Um... I'm afraid to even touch this thing, really."

"Oh, don't be such a baby. I'll do it," Mizuki smirked, reaching out with her cursed arm to take the crystal.

"Don't touch, my dear. That doesn't belong to you!"

Both Morrel and Mizuki whirled around as a young woman's energetic voice rang out across the forest clearing. From the trees emerged a woman a few years Morrel's senior, her long black hair bound up in a long ponytail. Two thick strands of hair fell by her cheeks, and her leather armor bared her shoulders and midriff. Her tight pants accentuated her curvy figure and her feet rested in tall leather boots. In her hand she held what looked like a whip handle without the actual whip cord.

"Who are you?" Morrel demanded, reaching into his cloak for two knives. This could be bad. Is this the "Azrael" person the lizard kami talked about? He had to admit that she had a seductive beauty about her, from her figure right down to the tone of her voice and the excited gleam in her eyes.

"Me? My name's Maretta," the young woman said politely. "And you?"

"Morrel, a battlemage of Akrasa and bearer of one sigil," Morrel declared, raising his chin.

Mizuki raised her right arm to eye level. "I'm Mizuki, the one who'll tear your head off unless you do some explaining!"

Maretta laughed lightly. "Oh, you're a feisty one, aren't you? Well, you're trying to interfere with my boss's plans, so I have to either chase you two off, or kill you both! It depends on how cooperative you are."

She snapped her wrist, and a long cord of bright blue mana snaked out of the whip handle, white sparks flying from the blue cord. Maretta flicked her right wrist and the mana whip slashed into the ground, making a loud hiss in a burst of sparks and smoke.

Mizuki glanced at Morrel. "She's in the way, and I feel like blowing off some steam right now. How about it?"

"Well, on the side of reason, it's true that she's after the same object as the kami we slew," Morrel whispered to his ally. "They're both in league with someone named Azrael."

Maretta lashed her whip again, taking a few steps closer. "Well? What do you say? Run, or stand in my way?"

Morrel shot her a contemptuous look. "Come and get us!"

*o*o*o*o*

Cards in this chapter... Mountain (John Avon), Soul of Magma, Hindering Light, Ore Gorger, Forest (Rob Alexander), Moss Kami, Soilshaper, Akki Raider, Oblivion Ring, Tendrils of Corruption