Ch. 9 Ryan's Trial: Part 1

"I can't believe I'm doing this for Adam." Ryan continued down his tunnel. "After all the pain he's caused in my life, I'm still doing his dirty work."

"What is your name?" The voice echoed through the tunnel.

"What the heck?"

"What is your name?"

"I am Witty Ryan Dodger. Assassin and pirate." Ryan activated his hidden blades. This had better not be a trap.

"I am the Guardian. Are you ready for your trial?"

"I'd rather not put up with something as trivial as this to find a clockwork, but I'll bite." The cave shook, rocks falling from the roof of the cave.

"You do not seek this clockwork. You'd rather see it destroyed."

"Call it the result of some bad relations." The floor came out from under Ryan, who stuck his blades into the wall to keep from falling in. "And you'll have to do better than that to take me out."

"I have seen your heart. It once had pure intentions, but is now beset by wickedness. Why do you refuse to help those who rely upon your support? Would their deaths make you feel better?" A flash of light blinded Ryan and he fell into the pit. He landed with a loud thud.

"Ow. My head." As he stood up, he brushed the dirt off his clothes. He examined the terrain. It's a pitfall trap. I just need to climb out. He reactivated his blades and began to climb. He neared the top, but a blast of wind sent him flying back down. "Again?! Seriously?!" The assassin attempted to climb again with the same results. "Fine. I'll play your game 'Guardian.'" The assassin sat down and waited for whatever came next.

I told you that I'd be seeing you soon. Ryan stood up and activated his blades again.

"Show yourself!" Footsteps moved behind him. He turned around as a white figure moved in the shadows. "Who are you?"

"Does my voice not give it away?" The figure continued to travel in darkness. "After all those years together, you forgot me so easily?" Ryan stood his ground and the figure came out of the shadows. "I'd have thought our wedding night would have made our love eternal." The assassin deactivated his blades.

"Autumn?" He reached right hand to touch her face. It was warm. "Is that really you?" The spirit rested her head on Ryan's shoulder.

"Yes. It's really me." She smiled.

"But, why?" Ryan pushed her away for a second. "Why are you haunting me? Adam should be the one haunted by you. He got you killed."

"Did he, Ryan? Did he really?" Autumn's body seemed to solidify the closer she was to Ryan.

"He got Will killed. He got you killed."

"No, he didn't! You know that." Autumn pushed Ryan away. He was shocked. "He tried to protect us. He wanted us all to have a home on Skull Island. You know the truth." Ryan couldn't look her in the eyes. "Flint got us killed. It was his lieutenant's bullet that killed Will. It was Hannah's sword that killed me. All of them serve Flint."

"You wouldn't have died if Adam had just surrendered."

"Really?" Autumn extended her left arm and a flash of light filled the pit.

"Where are we?"

"Skull Island. If Adam had bowed to Flint's will." Ryan saw every building burnt to the ground. Wooden spikes extended toward the sky. Upon each spike rested a head. He saw his face, he saw Autumn's face, and everyone else's face, resting upon each spike. Adam knelt in front of Flint.

"As fun as this has been, I'll be glad to be rid of you." Adam didn't say a word as Flint's sword severed his head from his body. His head rolled across the ground, stopping at Ryan's feet. The assassin kneeled to examine his former comrade's head when he started to talk.

"Why did you leave? Did you hate me that much?" Frightened, Ryan fell to the ground and scrambled away. Adam's decapitated corpse rose, picking up its head and placing it back on its neck. "I needed you, and you abandoned me." As the body moved closer, the setting changed to the hospital Ryan had last seen Adam in. Seeming to know what Ryan was thinking, Adam's body changed to match the setting. His right arm, eye, and left leg disappeared and he laid on a hospital bed. "I have been torn apart. Maybe I would have ended up like this either way, but maybe not. You left. You said that if we'd surrendered, everyone would have lived. You were wrong." Ryan activated his blades and charged the mutilated pirate.

"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" He tried to stab Adam, but he ran right through the cripple. Autumn grabbed Ryan's shoulder, turning him around. "What!? He is egging me on!"

"He's telling you the truth." Autumn burst into light and Ryan was transported back into the pit.

"What the hell was that?" Ryan had broken into a cold sweat.

"You wanted to know what would have happened. That's it. We would have all been dead. Adam may have lost me and Will, but he saved everyone else." Ryan was already trying to scale the pit. "If I may, try using this." The phantom privateer held a pure black sword with a silver outline. "Its name is Dark Elucidator." Ryan took the sword and the answer to his predicament became obvious.

"I need to teleport out of this hole." The assassin's aura surrounded him and he found himself back in the main tunnel. He continued down the hall, the sword seeming to guide him the right way. Ryan entered a large chamber, a bit smaller than the central one. "If this is all that my trial is, I can live with that." He scanned the room and noticed it was empty. Where's that clockwork?

"He's not here." Ryan steadied the sword and faced an armor-clad Autumn. "You didn't think it'd be that easy, did you?" Ryan lowered his guard and Autumn struck. Her sword opened an old wound on his left leg. He reached to cover it, but readied his sword.

"You?" Autumn paced around her husband. "Why you?"

"Because," Autumn stated, "I'm the one who haunts you the most." Autumn charged and sent Ryan flying into the wall with a blast of gravity. The swashbuckler took a defensive stance.

"I won't fight you, Autumn." The privateer swung her sword through the air.

"That's a problem, because you have to beat me to find your answers." Autumn drew a pistol and opened fire.