Why hello again so soon! Thank you for the prompt reviews, and as a reward I give you the newest chapter in less than two days. Hooray for draft-typing fever! XP Also, it's very likely that a least a couple of chapters will also come in fairly quickly sucession, probably more.
This chapter has a little bit of everything in it, from fighting to puzzle-solving to mysteries yet to be solved. This also wraps up the second quest. And it's pretty long too, or longer than usual anyway. I just hope the puzzle-solving part makes sense.
Disclaimer: If I owned the King of Bandits, I'd have him steal all of Santa's toys from the elves' workshops. But he's not, so all of Santa's toys are safe. I do own Falcon and "Raze", however.
BTW for future reference, "Raze" is pronounced Rah-zay, not like the word "raise".
And so the story continues at a surprisingly early time...
27th Shot: The Bird of Prey Against a Black-Winged Chimera
It only took an instant for the rabbits to transform from docile creatures to blazing blurs of white. They zeroed in on the albatross attached to Jing's arm, latching onto him to bite and gnaw.
"GET THESE THINGS OFFA ME!" Kir yelled, flapping his enlarged wings frantically.
Jing, meanwhile, was busy fending off the hares that weren't attacking Kir. Unlike the ones the dark avian was left to deal with, these bunnies fought much like their master did, with punches and kicks. While their punches may have not have had as much force behind them as Falcon's did, the sheer number of them made it hard to counter them all effectively. Even those with blade wounds were still as voracious as ever. The fact that Jing was weighed down on his right side by both Kir's transformed state and the hares fastened to him didn't help much either.
Falcon, meanwhile, stood back and watched the chaos with a proud look on his face.
"Now, what was that about a bunch of stupid hairballs?"
Jing set his cool gray eyes on his opponent and merely smirked. A few moments later Kir detached from the raven-haired boy's arm, and he and the pile of bunnies that had been chewing on him all fell down to the ground, falling on top of the rabbits that had been attacking Jing. The Bandit King fished the black avian out of the sea of confused white fur with his good left arm. Jing's partner was covered with bites and scratches, but he still had the fighting spark in his eyes.
"Oh, we've still got a few tricks yet," The gray-eyed boy replied.
Once again Kir glowed, but the dark bird attacked himself to Jing's back, his wings growing even larger than before and his ribcage clamping onto Jing's ribcage. The excess backbone swished back and forth on its own, as if it was a flesh appendage. As both began to give off a green light, Jing's pupils narrowed to slits as they began to glow especially bright.
Allright, let's do this Jing!
The Bandit King flew high up into the air, swatting away any attacking rabbits with his arms and backbone tail. The vine-bound hares stood on their back legs with their front paws curled into fists, their eyes locked onto their aloft opponent.
"Hey! That's not fair!" Falcon whined.
This coming from a shrimp who uses a bunch of hairballs to attack
Yep, Jing answered back mentally to his partner. Telepathy could be so convenient sometimes. Then he gazed down at his Chesirian opponent.
"What's the matter?" The winged gray-eyed boy questioned. "The son of Dionysius can't withstand a single flying foe? That's seems pretty weak for a godly being. Perhaps you're the result of one of those mortal love affairs?"
"Damn you, chimera!" the cobalt-clad fighter yelled, bouncing on and off the walls of the temple in rapid execution to reach his obsidian-winged enemy.
"So I was right?' the shining Bandit King asked playfully.
Leaping off the walls once more, Falcon rocketed towards Jing with a flying kick. The demonized boy merely lowered himself slightly to avoid the attack, leaving the Chesirian with the vine-crown to strike nothing but empty air. The fair-haired fighter quickly changed position so he could and against the wall safely, and once again launched himself at the Bandit King. Once again his assault was easily evaded and Falcon readjusted himself so he could prepare another attack. This time, instead of merely moving out of the way, the boy with onyx wings instead simply captured him in midair with his bony tail.
As the blond Chesirian realized he'd been caught and began to squirm and bite the tail to no avail, the rabbits below were going nuts, frenzily jumping and hopping to try to reach their trapped master. Some attempted to jump up the walls like their human leader, but couldn't sustain enough long leaps in succession in order to reach him. Others tried as well but ended up knocking themselves out by crashing into the walls in the wrong positions.
Their efforts to get to Falcon grew even more hectic as the boy with slitted irises curled his hand downward to summon his blade.
The fair-haired fighter abruptly stopped struggling when the sha of the weapon fully extending, and his eyes greatly widened at the sight of the cold metal.
"H-Hey, wait a sec-" he stammered frantically. "You ain't gonna stab me with that, are you? C'mon, that's taking it way too far. I mean, you shouldn't take this so seriously. It's only-"
At this moment the blade swiped down.
An instant later, the slashed vine fell from the blue-eyed boy's brow, dissolving into brown dust even before it reached the ground. There was not a scratch on the boy, as Jing was pleased to see. How could he have been so sloppy earlier as to cut something that he hadn't intended to cut? He was Jing; he had no weakness. He was Jing; he had no fear.
"Huh?" Falcon blurted out, blinking a little. "Hey! What happened anyway? Where's this? And what are you anyway?! Some kind of demon?! Did you bring me here?! You better not be planning to eat me, or you'll be sorry!"
"Easy there buddy," Jing assured. "I'm not a demon, and I'm not gonna eat you. You can call me Jing. Now let's get you down…"
"Uh...okay…" the blonde replied, relaxing slightly in the grip of his tail. He looked down at the white rabbits, returned his gaze to the winged Bandit King, and then suddenly jerked his sight back to the hares patiently waiting below."
"AAAH! WATCH OUT!" he yelled, his arms clinging to the spine tail. "My rabbit buddies are still all possessed and stuff! They'll eat us alive!"
"Oh yeah," Jing responded casually. "Let me fix that."
He flew over to top of the stairs at the end of the room and landed, and then let Kir transform from his flight form to his gun mode. The sudden withdrawal of the spinal tail abruptly plopped Falcon down onto the hard floor, something he wasn't too pleased about as he got up and rubbed his back. It took him a moment to realize what the thieving duo was doing.
"Hey, wait - !"
"Give me a Kir Royale!"
The energy blasts exploded down below, blowing up the floor and scaring up some white smoke and dust. When the cloud of debris settled, knocked out hares lay all around, the vines on them more or less burnt off.
"There you go," the obsidian-haired boy stated calmly.
"You didn't have to go that far!" Falcon yelled, getting right up the steel-eyed boy's face.
"Yeah, we just saved your butt from eternal stupidity!" Kir snapped, flying right between the two Chesirians. "If this is all the thanks we get, we've should've left you thinking you were the son of that Dionysius guy."
"…Yeah, you're right. I'm sorry," the cobalt-clad fighter apologized, looking away. "…Wait, I seriously thought I was some kid of a drunk guy?"
"Yep," Jing answered. "More importantly, though, I'm guessing that this god's grapes are lying somewhere just beyond this point."
"Uh, yeah," the fair-haired Chesirian answered distractedly. "Wait! That stuff will make you goes nuts and – hey, where'd you get one of Neirnyx's talismans?"
"Hmm?" Jing responded, looking down at the golden hexagon hanging from the string around his neck. "This? I picked it up on the train. But who's this Neirnyx?"
"Huh? Oh! Uh, just some person I know. Forget about it," Falcon babbled hastily. "But anyway, those vines seriously screw with your head. Even getting near them fries your brain. I dunno how you'd get any without it taking you out first."
"Well, can we get close enough to take a look at it?" questioned the Bandit King.
"Yeah, I think so," the fair-haired fighter answered. "It's just down this hallway. Follow me."
Jing let the blond Chesirian lead him the way down the hallway.
"By the way, you seem to know an awful lot about this plant,' the black-haired boy pointed out as they followed Falcon. "You didn't try to steal it earlier, by any chance?"
"Uh…yeah I did, actually," admitted the blue-eyed boy, turning around and giving a sheepish grin. "That stuff nailed me on the spot though."
"I see," replied the Bandit King. "It sure seems like me and Kir have been running into a lot of thieves lately."
" Really? Weird," Falcon answered casually. "Well, we're here. Come take a look."
Data Set 28th : The Perfect Anti
As the next room came into view, the thieving duo couldn't help but pause in awe.
The room was like a giant field, every inch filled with nothing but the legendary vine itself, the grapevine of Dionysius. The entire ground below the vines was swamped with white wine. The colorless plateau, some good ten feet above the field, was the only place that could be considered sterile of the vine's effects. To the left side of the plateau was a set of spiraling stairs that eventually led to the vines below. To the sides of the entrance were two torches with brilliant blue flames, even though their light wasn't needed.
"If we get any closer, we can kiss goodbye to our minds," Falcon stated, eyeing the field. "Believe me, I know."
The gray-eyed boy studied the field for several moments.
"Hey Falcon."
"Yeah?"
Jing dug his hand into his right-hand pocket, and pulled out a small glass bottle of a pale green liquid.
"Do you know what this is?"
The blue-eyed Chesirian looked at it closely, then shook his head.
"It's prickly pear cactus extract," the Bandit King explained. "I picked it up at the store at Thebes. People use it whenever they wanted to be just a little less lost in the prison of the grapevine that is Bacc. It seems to have quite a sobering effect if you take it, and also seems to help fight intoxication so you get less drunk."
"Oh yeah, I've heard of that," Falcon replied. "But there's no way that it's strong enough to protect you from close contact with the grapevines. It might last five seconds, but that's it."
"That's true," the gray-eyed boy answered.
"Then why did you bring it up?" asked the fair-haired Chesirian.
Ignoring him, Jing popped off the top and drank all the extract in one gulp. After wiping the mouth on his sleeve, Jing then took off the necklace with the talisman on it.
"And then we have this," the Bandit King continued, undoing the string that bound the golden hexagon to the necklace. "Perhaps it's a true talisman, perhaps it's not. But it had seems to serve me well on this quest, so I assume that it holds some kind of sobering power."
"But even if it is a real talisman, that still won't protect you from the grape's effects," Falcon pointed out.
"Also true," answered the boy in the blazing coat. "While this may ward off some of the grapevine's effects, at this rate on concentration it would be of little use."
"That's just what I said," stated the blond Chesirian.
"Not on its own, on the outside anyway," Jing added, now completely freeing the talisman from the string's grasp.
"Huh? Whacha mean Jing?" asked Kir, flying over.
Jing set the talisman on his thumb, like it was a coin that he was about to flip into the air.
"I mean, Kir," began the gray-eyed boy, "…That it order in unlock all the talisman's power…"
The thumb flicked the talisman into the air.
"…you have to…"
Jing opened his mouth wide…
…caught the talisman into his mouth…
…and swallowed.
Kir's eyes bugged out as he let out a surprised squawk.
"…You have to eat it."
"WHAT?! JING, ARE YOU INSANE?!" the black albatross screeched, flying right into the raven-haired boy's face. "DON'T YOU REMEMBER WHAT THOSE TWO BACK THERE SAID?! THEY SAID THERE WAS SOME KIND OF SEED INSIDE THERE THAT TOOK OVER YOUR MIND! AND YOU JUST ATE IT!!"
"Ah, but that's the thing," the Bandit King answered calmly. "They didn't eat it. Now that it's being digested in my stomach, the protective power of the talisman is being spread through my blood stream, and any power being sealed inside it is released too. And if there is a seed in there that would like to take me over, it doesn't stand much of a chance against stomach acid, especially if it's a seed as tender as a grape seed. Plus, I already have the cactus extract in me, which should help boost the effects of the talisman."
"Well, now that you've eaten the talisman and got this cactus juice in you, you think you can get these grapes of Dionysius?" Falcon questioned, leaning against the wall.
"Well, not yet," Jing stated. "My body needs time to process what I've put in it. The cactus extract will peak in about five hours, so I guess that'd be the best time."
"You guess?!" barked Kir.
"Anyway, so for now we'll just relax until five hours is up," the Bandit King answered, turning back into the hallway. "Well, I'm gonna go take a nap. You two can do whatever."
"W-Wait! Jing! Are you sure?!" questioned the black avian.
"Yep."
Kir sighed and worriedly followed the raven-haired boy.
IIIIIIIIIII
Jing was fast asleep on the tallest statue back in the now war-torn area before the final hall. Falcon wasn't far off, playing with his bandaged bunnies like a little kid. Kir was perched on the statue right next to where the boy in the blazing coat dozed. Four hours had passed.
I sure hope Jing knows what he's doing… Kir thought to himself, looking over to the peaceful-looking Bandit King dozing away.
A flash of memory, back to when they were riding the train and a delirious Jing was threatening to hurt the doctor, feverish rage in his eyes.
A flash of memory, back to another time when Jing was feeling particularly ill, maddeningly slashing at a tree before finally sinking to the ground and falling asleep against it.
A flash of memory, back to a time when Jing was locked in a small gray room, lying on an iron bed, wearing a generic bright orange outfit. His eyes were distant as he muttered over and over:
Dae uso Jing
Ista nu motimo
Dae uso Jing
Ikas nu motimo
Kir sure hoped Jing knew what he was doing, because he didn't think he could handle it if the plan went wrong. At all.
IIIIIIIIII
Five hours passed.
Jing stood near the edge of the plateau, gazing down upon the seemingly endless field of grapevine. Kir hovered over his shoulder somewhat uneasily, while Falcon leaned against the wall right next to the left torch, one of his rabbits perched on his head.
"You still gonna do this, Jing?' asked the black albatross.
The gray-eyed boy turned his head upwards towards the black bird.
"Well, there's not much point in waiting, is there?"
The Bandit King leapt onto one of the guardrails and slid all the way down the spiraling staircase, eventually disappearing into the myriad growth. Other than a few faint rustles, no other sound was to be heard for minutes.
Kir lingered as near to the edge as he dared. Falcon too carefully approached the boundary of the plateau, though he seemed much calmer about it.
Then the two of them noticed an orange blur shoot out of the thick of the field, rushing erratically up the steps and finally landing on front of the blond and the bird. The boy in the blazing coat said nothing and kept his head low.
"Jing?" asked Kir.
The boy did not move.
"Jing?" Kir repeated, creeping closer.
The boy still said nothing.
The black avian glided right in front of the boy's face.
"Hey…Jing?"
"Ukak lai…" the boy whispered, almost hissed.
"What?" Kir questioned, not liking the tone in his voice, nor the sound of the Chesirian used.
Falcon also seemed to appear uneasy at his words.
"Usaya…Dae uvav ta ukak lai Kir!" the boy shouted, grabbing one of Kir's legs with his left hand.
"WAAAAAH!" the black avian screamed. "No Jing! It's me! Me! Your buddy! You wouldn't-"
His panicked words were cut off by low laughter and chuckling.
"Eh?"
Kir looked down to see that Jing looked up at him with an amused smile on his face, and was in fact perfectly sane.
Falcon relaxed.
"Jing! You're…" the black albatross began, before angrily furrowing his brow. "How dare you do that to me, Jing! Making me think you went nuts on me! I thought I was gonna die!"
The Bandit King continued to chuckle.
"That wasn't funny Jing!"
"Oh, I dunno…" the black-haired thief answered, still smiling.
"I said that wasn't funny!"
"So I assume you got the grapes?" questioned the fair-haired fighter, walking over to him.
"Yep," Jing replied, bringing out the golden apple container that once contained the power of youth. "They're right in here."
"Can we see them?" asked Kir.
"Only if you swallow your talisman and some cactus extract and wait for five hours," the Bandit King answered. "The only reason it's not affecting you now is because this golden apple was made to contain highly magical substances and doesn't let any of the excess power out."
Kir crossed his arms and let out an Hmph.
"Well, there's nothing left for us to do here," stated the Bandit King, turning around to leave. "Except…"
He grabbed one of the torches with blue flames.
"I think these plants are far too dangerous to exist in such numbers, don't you Kir?"
Jing moved to the edge of the plateau.
"H-Hey wait a sec!" exclaimed Falcon, running over to Jing. "If you do that, the whole place will burn down!"
"And who will miss it?"
The obsidian-haired boy dropped the torch and watched it fall into the field, when it almost instantly began to incinerate the plants.
"Let's go."
The three of them, hurried rushed out of the room.
29th Shot: Off in the Shadows of Distilled Insanity
Jing rode triumphantly through the desert of Bacc on the rather beat-up, but still running, motorbike of Postino's. While he traveled he noticed many of the so-called Maddened Ones were now wandering aimlessly and harmlessly in confusion, having no idea where they were or how they got there. After the Bandit King has passed flocks and flocks of such people, he briefly passed through the town of Thebes.
Already signs of rebirth were taking place. People along the streets had regained their soberness, and were now beginning to realize what a sorry state the city was in. Not many had actually gotten around to starting the repairs yet, but there were a few, even if they were rather unskilled at doing so. Among those helping with the reconstruction was Tia, who was currently repainting one of the smaller stores along with a couple others.
"Tia! Oh, how I missed you!" exclaimed Kir, rushing over to her. The Bandit King slowed down and parked the motorbike to follow his avian partner.
The black avian's sudden exclamation startled the green-haired girl, causing her to accidentally dump some paint on herself. Then she turned around, revealing a couple of white smudges on her face.
"Oh, Jing, Kir! You're allright!" she chirped happily. "Well, I kinda figured that you were, after everyone here began to act normal again. But I was still worried…"
"Ah, it wasn't so bad," Jing answered, lifting up his goggles. "I see you're helping out."
"Well, yes," Tia stated, turning around to continue painting the store. "Everything here really needs work, and I don't have anything else to do, so I might as well."
"But you could come with us!" Kir offered. "And we can have loads of fun on adventures and stuff."
Tia turned back to the black albatross.
"Really? Would that be allright?"
"Why yes, of course, of cour-"
"But don't they need your help here?"
The jade-eyed girl set her gaze on the boy with dust-hued eyes.
"Huh?"
"You want a place to belong, right? And you want to make a difference in the world," the black-haired boy stated. "Well, what better way to help others and find your own place than to help rebuild this grand city so it can reach its former glory?"
"Jing! What are you-"
"Me and Kir will most likely come back Bacc someday," the boy in the blazing coat continued, ignoring the dark bird. "I hope when we come back that this place will be even more magnificent than ever before. And I'm sure you will be able to play a big part in this, right?"
"Oh! Y-Yes of course!"
The boy with dust-hued eyes smiled.
"May you be one of its most honored citizens."
Kir stood aghast.
"B-But Jing-"
"C'mon Kir, let's go," Jing responded, grasping the albatross's arm with his left hand and dragging him back to the motorcycle with him.
"Well, goodbye Jing! Goodbye Kir! Have a safe journey!"
"Don't worry my love, I'll be back for you!" announced Kir, still struggling somewhat against Jing's grip as the two of them got on the bike. "I promise!"
The boy with dust-hued eyes, meanwhile, gave her a simple salute with his free hand before finally starting up the engine and driving off once more.
IIIIIIIIIII
"Jing! What was that for?! I almost got a girlfriend that time!" whined Kir, sitting at the edge of the seat and forlornly looking back to the swiftly disappearing city behind them.
"Sorry Kir, but we can't afford to have extra companions on our journey," Jing replied. "Not in the long run anyway."
"Aw, c'mon Jing, we have girls fawning over us all the time, but you always leave them behind without even saying goodbye!" complained the dark avian, turning around to face the upcoming horizon. "Well, they really mostly fawn over me, but some of them like you too Jing. Like that Stir girl, for instance…"
"Kir, we can't just go pick up any girl just because she likes us," the black-haired boy pointed out, keeping his gaze focused on the road. "It's too dangerous. Besides, most of those girls wouldn't stand a chance in a fight. We won't be able to protect her at all time."
"Ah, but that Stir knows how to fight real well," Kir countered. "And she's royalty, a real find. You don't see girls like her every day."
"It still wouldn't be worth it," the dust-eyed boy replied, just slightly quieter than usual. "Even if she can defend herself, that still doesn't guarantee…"
"Now don't be shy," Kir chuckled, smirking and nudging Jing's back with his elbow. "I mean, think about it, you could even boost your notoriety. Think of the headlines: Bandit King Steals the Beautiful Princess of Zaza! Or maybe you were already planning to do that and just didn't want to tell me? After all, you do seem to be constantly trying to get back there…"
"That's only because Zaza's people come from many different parts of the country, and therefore are a good source for rumors," replied the boy in the blazing coat. "Stir has nothing to do with it."
"Oh, I'm sure…" the black avian grinned mischievously. "Aw, c'mon, she'd love it, going from place to place, beating up bad guys, seeing the sights…"
"Just like someone else we knew."
"Yes, just like someone else we - " Kir began before abruptly stopping short and lowering his head. "Oh…yeah…that…nevermind then."
The dust-eyed boy sighed.
"C'mon, we're almost at Pan's and the train station."
IIIIIIIIIIII
"Oh boy…"
Falcon stared and the charred and ashen remains of the temple of Dionysius, a couple of his rabbits frolicking at his feet.
"Well, guess it's all over now…" he told himself, searching his pockets for something. "Guess I better call 'em…"
The cobalt-clad Chesirian pulled out a small cellphone with light blue and gold coloring, and flipped it open, causing all the buttons inside to glow briefly.
"About time I got one of these things…" he muttered to himself as he punched in numbers and then held the cellphone up to his ear. He didn't have to wait long.
"…Hey Raze! Uh…we kinda got a problem…the temple's…kinda gone now…No, it wasn't my fault!...last one threw a torch down into the grapevines and burned the whole thing down…so now what'll…Huh? It's done? Well then it isn't so bad then…though we'll still have to rebuild it at some point…where are you?...Wow, you're there already? You must be raring to go…oh, well that kinda figures too…"
IIIIIIIIIII
Leaning against the one of the many wooden pillars that held up the city above, admiring the feathery, fiery sunset streaking behind a ruby-red sliver of sun, was a lengthy reed of a young man wavy orange-gold hair down to his chin. He wore a deep ginger hat and a plain white shirt, as well as a deep green vest and baggy orange pants. His right eye was a cerulean blue, while his right eye, which also had a thin scar going straight down across it, was a stark orange. His right hand held a gray-and-blue cellphone to his ear.
"…Yeah the real fun's gonna begin in a jiffy," the lanky young man spoke cheerfully, keeping his gaze focused on the wildfire sky. "Lots of 'em were here already. Lots of our guys are here too, for that matter. Dal's here, I know that. He says it's gonna be a spectacular heist! So you better get your dogs down here or you'll miss the show! Besides, that girl you're stuck on is here, right? That one you saw in the last tournament they had here, that made all the guys there look all wet?...Hehehe, oh, you carry a torch for her and you know it…You do know that denying it just makes it more obvious, don't you? Hahahahahaha! Well, hope your trip's swell. Later!"
The young man with the orange-gold hair lowered his cellphone, snapped the cover shut, and stuffed it into his pocket.
"Oh yeah, this gonna be plenty of fun, I just know it. I can hardly wait."
And with that, the tall and lean young man swiftly leapt from beam to wooden beam, well on his way to the city waiting above.
And there we go! The second quest is all wrapped up, and there's a little set-up for the third quest as well. Though the next two chapters will be the in-between for the quests...more on that in a sec...
As a quick note, when Jing was saying "Ukak lai…Usaya...Dae uvav ta ukak lai Kir!", he was saying "Eat you...I said...I'm going to eat you Kir!" XP Luckily for Kir he wasn't being very serious about it, heheh. Not that Kir knew what he was saying, but Falcon did. So I guess Jing was messing with Falcon too. As for the chant in the flashback, it will be translated next time.
NEXT CHAPTER: Jing and Kir get sidetracked into exploring an unusual cave whose only resident is a rather forgetful old woman...or is she forgetful at all? Jing may be the Bandit King, but can he hang onto himself as visions and voices that make little sense begin to seep into his mind and senses?
Happy Holidays once again, for the best of luck!