Orrean Chronicles
We have two guest appearances in this chapter! Just decided to throw two of my best and favorite evil characters in here!!
Chapter Ten: Hymn
Antauri had struggled a while, but he finally managed to free the swords from Chiro's hands, but not without gaining a few wounds himself. Antauri now had Chiro's head pushed into the ground, with his hands behind his back. The boy glared ahead, gritting his teeth.
"Stand. Fight." Emarelda's voice rang through the air.
Chiro jumped up and grabbed Antauri's wrist, spinning around before releasing the dizzy monkey.
Emarelda approached the fallen monkey, placing a foot on his head, before looking to the starry sky. "Come to me, Shruikan! I know you're here!"
A black, clawed hand sprung from Emarelda's own shadow, landing a hard punch on her cheek, causing her to fly back. Chiro, and the other three Keystone Keepers suddenly fell to the ground, unmoving.
The hand then grabbed Emarelda by her snout, throwing her through the air and off into the distance.
The shadow remained, but did not move after that.
Emarelda returned, walking back calmly. She rose up on two legs and smirked. "Hiding in my very own shadow," she muttered. "Impressive. I see you have learned some new tricks, Shruikan."
But, suddenly, there was a sharp pain in her neck. She cried out, feeling pain for the first time. But, only one being could do that…
Shruikan dug his sharp, blood-stained teeth into Emarelda's neck, and the green dragon fell to her knees. Silhouette rose up from the ground, grinning as everyone ran up to her.
"That was cool!" Otto said.
"I didn't know you could do that," Jupiter remarked.
Silhouette smiled. "Shruikan taught me a lot of things after I was made."
In the black monkey's hand was the Shadow Keystone. She held it up menacingly as it glowed, absorbing the light coming from Emarelda. The green dragon looked up with weary eyes.
"Leave Earth now," Silhouette said quietly, menacingly. "Leave these poor people alone. You've caused enough suffering."
"It is they who have caused the suffering on this world," Emarelda said. But she didn't move.
"I'm not so sure about that," Shruikan said. "Maybe you're right. Maybe you're wrong. If you hate them so much, leave them be."
Emarelda smiled. "You two have outsmarted even me. Very impressive. It's never been done." She then looked off into the distance. A black glass orb appeared in her hand. "Another for the collection," she murmured. She tossed the orb to Silhouette, who caught it and handed it to Shruikan. Bidden by an unspoken signal, Emarelda finally stood and spread her wings.
"This planet is doomed anyway," she said. "More fun to watch them kill themselves and hope they turn around than to give them no chance at all." Then, she flew away. But not into the sky. She flew just over the ground before elevating into the air, flying over the horizon, to where the sun was just beginning to rise.
Chiro groaned and sat up, putting a hand to his head. "What happened?"
Antauri kneeled next to him. "Emarelda controlled you. You don't remember anything?"
Chiro sat still for a moment, the memories finally coming back. He had taken the lives of many people. Some still escaped from a mercy his controlled mind still knew.
Even Emarelda had mercy, if very vague.
Silhouette flew off in her dragon form to aid Ausa, Dniw, and Fero. They were still out there, and still alive. Shruikan looked calmly into the dark orb he held. A familiar face was trapped inside, banging on the glass.
As Silhouette returned with the three, Shruikan said, "Well, you must be Temhota. We are well met."
"Emarelda trapped him?" Silhouette said, looking into the orb. "Are we gonna put him in storage?"
"Storage?" Chiro echoed.
"Emarelda and I were partners for a while, capturing the most diabolical demons, shadows, and manifestations of energy in the universe," Shruikan explained. They were now on Aether, repairing the Super Robot.
The giant laser Emarelda had tried to use was lying on the ground, in a damaged heap, destroyed beyond repair. It still looked as menacing as it did when it fired the beam intended to kill every human on Earth. The place where the Keystone Keepers were contained was destroyed, shattered glass everywhere. Only Shruikan could walk on the ground without feeling pain.
"But we soon parted ways, until she needed the Shadow Keystone to power her newest creation—Silhouette. On a whim, asking me for two monkeys from Shuggazoom. She even told me the colors and attitudes of the two monkeys—calm, and protective. She told me they would be brothers. And I found them. They were you two, Quint and Jupiter." He looked at the two of them. "She said a sister you two had when you were infants had died, and you would not do anything without a sister. So she made Silhouette." Silhouette looked to her feet. "I did this for something in return. Emarelda gave me two evil spirits she had in her possession. One I thought was destroyed, but the other was supposed to be sealed in the Shadow Keystone."
Antauri blinked.
"I do not force shadows on Amere to obey me, but such is their nature to need a master. So, I allow them all to live on Amere—the shadows of the dead. But some evil ones try to take them away, and they fight. A lot. I grew tired of it, so I capture the evil shadows and contain them in my castle."
Antauri blinked. "Do they have names?"
"They do," Shruikan said, nodding "That is why I will take you to them—to the World of Shadows, Amere."
The black dragon nimbly led the Super Robot through space, guiding it with his own thoughts—there was a path it had to follow for the veil around the light-less world to let them in. Safely getting them to Amere, the Monkey Team gazed in amazement at the world of shadows.
It looked like a void. No stars, no light, nothing. Almost like a black hole.
"We've been in this region of space before!" Gibson exclaimed. "How have we not seen this?"
"A puzzle, if you will," Shruikan said slyly, not saying anything else.
The 'black hole' of a world seemed to open up, swallowing the Super Robot up.
"I'm blind!"
"Sparx, hold my hand. There's just no light."
Sparx felt around before Silhouette grabbed his hand gently and squeezed it. "Can you see?"
"Yes, I can see here," she answered.
Sparx held her hand and grinned, even though no one could see it.
"Form a line, everyone," Shruikan instructed. "Otto, grab Sparx's Gibson, grab Otto's and so on. Silhouette, guide them to the castle. I'll be there."
With that, he flew off. But only Silhouette knew. The air was deathly still, as it always was.
"One foot, then the other," Silhouette said. "Walk at a medium pace, and do not try to stray away from me. Do not speak to loudly, and do not activate any light."
She began to walk as the others clasped hands, forming a line with Chiro in the middle. Silhouette walked onwards, the others' footsteps unconsciously following the pattern of her breathing. This went on for almost hours, then the black monkey stopped.
It was even more silent for a moment, and Silhouette said, "When I say go, run inside."
There was the sound of a door creaking open, and suddenly screams filled the darkness as the sound echoed across the land. Dim light poured out, revealing black monsters following closely behind the group.
"Go!" Silhouette said. The group ran inside, and Silhouette closed the door, jumping upwards.
The group stumbled into the dimly lit room, falling on top of each other. The calm, red eyes of Shruikan greeted them. "Glad you made it."
Silhouette jumped through a window and fell to the floor below, landing in front of Shruikan. "I was created here," she said thoughtfully. "Emarelda was granted space here to work in the shadows."
"And now I regret it," Shruikan said. Silhouette felt a pang in her chest, because the great black dragon was saying he wished she wasn't created, but he continued, "The shadows of this world must have corrupted even Emarelda."
"So, where is this collection you spoke of?" Antauri said, not really believing that this dragon had a collection of evil spirits.
"Come." Shruikan spoke, walking off.
As they walked, Silhouette told them another story. "I would be in containment with the evil spirits if it weren't for Shruikan."
"What?" Sparx asked.
"When I was created, I was fully robotic, and I still am. My robotic mind could not decipher right from wrong, and I began to destroy everything. Shruikan gave me the Shadow Keystone—and, thus, a true mind." She looked to her feet. "The Keystone keeps me sane, in a way, but I kept that under control once it was stolen. That's why I was always so tired and weak. It takes a lot of energy to resist the urge to destroy."
"And that one glitch is still in her," Jupiter claimed. "The Keystone may be 'alive', but it does not understand strong emotions. If she gets too angry, or too sad, it sort of shuts down."
Sparx draped his arm reassuringly around Silhouette's shoulder, but Shruikan said, "Here it is."
It was a large door, stretching to the ceiling of the tall hallway like a cathedral. Shruikan stood there, and began humming a tune. After a few seconds, the large door creaked open inwards. As everyone stepped inside, Shruikan stopped Chiro and stood him in front of him.
"I do not want you to worry about what you will see inside," the shadow dragon said to the human boy. "I know you have trouble in the past, so don't worry."
Chiro cocked his head, confused, but nodded.
In the room, it was a bit brighter than the rest of the castle—in fact, it was a bit too bright. Everyone's eyes adjusted, only to see many glass tubes, like the recharging chambers Emarelda had for Silhouette and her brothers, stretching from the floor to the ceiling. The tubes were filled with black mist—the spirits hiding, muttering in solitude. Whispers filled the room, along with yells of the evil beings hoping to condemn them to the void.
Chiro approached one tube, and noticed engraving on the marble floor in front of it. His blood froze when he read the words.
Skeleton Prince.
A mocking laughing sound came from the tube. "Well, look who decided to join the fun. I thought I would never see you again, Chiro."
The mist inside the tube formed into the form of the evil demon prince that had possessed Chiro long ago. It looked like him, only with white hair, inverted clothes, red gloves, scarf, and shoes. He also had a red streak through his hair, now on the tips of his hair. It laughed almost insanely, watching and grinning at Chiro's horrified expression. "See what has become of me? This is the fate I was left to!!"
The Prince jumped forward, trying to attack Chiro, but the glass prevented him from doing so. Instead, the Prince clawed at the glass.
Chiro stammered, "W-W-What are you d-doing here?"
The Prince merely chuckled. "Like anything, we cannot be created or destroyed. We just are. You thought I was destroyed, but I was not. I had been captured by light and trapped in shadow. So here I am."
Shruikan turned and gave a menacing roar in the Prince's direction. The Prince stumbled back, pressing his back against the glass behind him, eyes wide with fear. Shruikan grinned, and the Prince composed himself. He sat on the floor of his cell and wrapped his arms around his knees, muttering incomprehensible words.
Chiro pressed a hand over his rapidly beating heart, backing away from the cell. "I thought we destroyed him," he whispered to Shruikan.
"He spoke truly," the black dragon said. "Nothing can be created or destroyed. So he is here. Don't worry; he will not escape."
"Don't count your blessings yet, old dragon," another voice said.
Shruikan approached the cell next to the Prince's. The Prince watched with apprehensive eyes as the black dragon came closer, but he turned to the opposite cell. The Hyperforce approached the cell as well.
"I would not speak, evil demon," Shruikan said. "You tried to destroy worlds. I trapped you in the Keystone, but it wasn't good enough."
The mist formed into another familiar face—the Obliteration. The ghost-like being crossed his arms. "Thanks for my life story."
"No problem," Shruikan said.
"Well, Hyperforce," the Obliteration said. "We meet again. I'll spare you the fancy greeting. I believe my friend over there already told you of our predicament."
"I didn't tell them you were here," the Prince said. "You know them?"
Right now, even to Chiro, the two demon spirits seemed just like regular cell mates, just talking amongst themselves. He stayed several yards away from them, just in case.
Silhouette came up to the cells. "Oh, it's you," the Prince said, glaring daggers. "Here to taunt us again? I thought we were finally rid of you for these past years."
Silhouette just smirked. "Nope. I came back. So, what insults have you come up with for me?"
"No new ones," a different voice said, probably one of the other spirits contained.
"Just the usual," yet another voice.
"So how long have these being been in here?" Antauri asked the black dragon.
"Many centuries, but the Skeleton Prince and the Obliteration were just recently caught," was the answer.
"How old are you?" Gibson asked.
Shruikan chuckled. "Hundreds of years old, my friend."
"Has Emarelda helped you catch these things?" Nova wondered.
"Yes, for most of my life she has helped me."
"Wow," Sparx commented.
"I believe she is not evil, but vengeful," Shruikan announced. "She is the last of the Light Dragons. The others of her kind were wiped out…the last of which was killed by humans. From Earth."
An uneasy silence lingered in the air.
"I know of only one punishment that will suffice for Emarelda," Shruikan said. "But we must wait for the right time."
Light lit up the darkness. It was darkness that had never seen light in thousands of years. The creatures hiding ran from the light; ran far away. The light continued to move, up until it came to a castle. The light seemingly melted away at the door, allowing the being to step inside.
The being entered one room. There were numerous glass tubes stretching from the floor to the ceiling, and this being approached the nearest one. It contained a young-white haired body. He looked at her with blazing red eyes.
"I have a proposition for you and all your little friends, Prince," the being, a green dragon, said to the boy.
The boy paused for a moment, then smiled. His laughter was echoed by every other being in the room—all one thousand of them.
Spooky…
I'm planning a sequel, called Ancient Legacies. Look for it!
And thatnks to my only three reviewers on here... You'veBeenJayed, Duskblood, and OrangeChima!
As for you other peoples...was this story that bad?