-Disclaimer- I own nothing. Nothing at all. Or do I...? No, no, I don't.
((A/N: ?! YES! MWAHAHHA I MUST HAVE UPLOADED THIS BEFORE MY PC DIED MWAHAHAHAHA! NOW I DON'T HAVE TO REWRITE THIS CHAPTER HAHAHA! Anyways! Thanks for the reminder Hazza, have been refining this since I got it back and then completely forgot about it. I'll still be updating this, but not as often as before. Anyways, LE REVIEW! Eh, that does… kind of happen on this planet; there are two main ones that she goes to in this story: one before she gets twisted, and one afterwards. At least, you know, there were, but I'm probably still doing that. Remember, though, that she can't feel love. She can care for people, but can't actually be in love with them, as is later shown with Cantus. My friend hates me for that XD Anyways... Happy 50th Anniversary Doctor Who, and to the story and such.))
Haze
General Shin kept her steady pace throughout the mountain, leading the way to the exit. The dim lights of the few torches cast our shadows ominously on the dark walls, the sounds of our footsteps the only things to hear besides the crackling of the flames. It was slightly... unnerving, honestly.
When the three of us had reached a certain part of the mountain pass, General Shin stood back, and then looked at Shadow.
"Are you going to open it, or are we just going to wait here…?" she asked sarcastically.
Shadow sighed in exasperation. "Sorry, alright?! I'm just… thinking."
She raised an eyebrow. "About…?"
He shrugged. "…Nothing."
She smirked. "You're not the only one with an issue on your mind… though, I assure you, my 'issue' is far more important than yours…"
"…Oh? Never mind… We have more important things to be dealing with at the moment…"
Great, what could they not be telling me...? Hopefully not something important, though I wouldn't put it past them...
Shadow formed his dagger again, carving the same symbol into the mountain as before. A terrible grinding sound filled the cavern as the door opened for us, revealing the outside world. I tilted my head.
"Why are you the only one that can do that…?"
Shadow shrugged, turning his head to look at me. "Because I'm the only one with this dagger, of course. It's been blessed by the Guardian."
"Ah, I see," I said, only slightly understanding. Why did he get a magical dagger...? My weapons only couldn't harm me, and his could open nonexistant doors... "Can anyone else use that thing…?"
I saw the odd look General Shin gave me, but Shadow either didn't notice or didn't care. "Any of the Guardians, I'd assume. I believe that it can be used by whoever earns the right to wield it; not quite sure what that would mean, though."
"Al…right…"
Without much time, we all exited quickly, letting the door grind to a close behind us. Good; Chaos wouldn't be able to get out, now.
General Shin noticed me watching the door close. "Something the matter?"
I shook my head, looking at her. "No, of course not. Why?"
She smirked, her eyes tired but still showing her intelligence. "No reason; I still just want to make certain that you're not going to betray us…"
Shadow looked back at me for some reason, and I smirked. "And looking at a door makes me guilty…? You guys have a screwed up definition of right and wrong…"
She rolled her eyes, turning and walking towards the fortress looming in the distance. "It's not your actions that worry me; it's your thoughts. A person's true darkness lingers only in their mind, and is never visible even to those that are deft at reading others. It's only when someone feels completely without control that they show who they really are…"
I slowly followed her, the red gravel crunching underneath my every footstep. Thanks to the lack of stealth that the gravel granted, I heard Shadow start to follow us before I spoke. "Don't worry. I'm not a traitor; I'm far from it. I want Chaos dead just as much as you. Actually, most likely quite a bit more."
She nodded, not even looking back at me. "I'll hold you to that. But if I ever find out anything that undermines something you've said, or if I find out something that completely labels you as a traitor, well… I know people that can make even an Ayanumi tell the truth. Do you understand me?"
Shadow smirked. "She's lying, but-"
General Shin spun around and slapped him across the face, and he looked shocked. But he continued anyways. "But that doesn't mean that she can't get you to tell the truth. Goddess, Mara, will you ever let me finish a controversial sentence?! You're painting yourself as the bad guy here; I'm just trying to say that that's not true…"
She rolled her eyes, grabbing him harshly by the shoulder and all but dragging him off to the side. She hissed something into his ear, and he looked at her. "You don't think that I've thought of that?! She didn't kill him; I can tell."
I glanced at them, nearly intervening but deciding not to. I sighed, looking around the barren red landscape while the two of them talked. What would I do if they found out about what I was being forced to do…? There was no way they'd ever help me if they knew the truth…
What was going to happen if they didn't find out, though? What would I do? There was no way I'd go along with Chaos' plans; no matter what he threatened to do to me, I wouldn't kill the Guardian of this world. Of any world. That was just that; there was nothing short of absolute insanity that could ever change my mind. But would the Guardian really help me…? Could I tell him the truth? Would he just turn his back on me? No… surely not. Even if it was only for his sake, I had no doubt that he would help me defeat Chaos. But when? And, more importantly… how? Shadow and Mara both seemed certain that Chaos would kill them…
Lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize that they had walked back up to me. General Shin tapped me on the shoulder. "Hate to barge in on your thought process, but we should get going before we're ambushed."
I jumped slightly, turning to face her and Shadow. "Ambushed…? By Chaos, you mean?"
She glanced at Shadow, and then shook her head. "No," she said, not offering any more of an explanation. With that, she turned and headed towards the keep in the distance. I smirked slightly, and then followed, watching Shadow quickly fall into place behind me.
We made our way along the shallow, drying river that wound its way through the valley, following it until we reached the walls of the looming fortress. I glanced back at the river, and then looked at General Shin. "Where do you guys get your water from, anyways…?"
She shrugged. "There's another river that flows through the mountain that has yet to run dry, luckily. We still have enough people to make a full town, and it's hard to keep them up. We try to grow grains and such, but it's hard in this terrain nowadays… I don't even get how Chaos has managed to kill this planet so much, but he has indeed. And now, it's affecting all of us. …Most of us, at least. The others are affected mentally far more than physically, though I'm sure this has taken its toll on them as well..."
I nodded at her. "You mean the Guardian?"
She nodded. "And his makeshift Protector, yes. Because he lost his true Protector, he had to turn a human immortal. I assume that you know about the Guardians' companions, correct?" He. So Mara wasn't the Guardian. Good to know, at least; perhaps, though, she could still lead me to him…
I nodded slightly, recalling what Cantus had said. "Yeah… The Guardian – or Ayanumi, of course – is capable of making one animal immortal. But… turning a human immortal instead…? Is that even possible?"
She smirked. "We were shocked when he told us that as well, but, after all, humans are animals as well, hm?"
"Yeah, I guess so… Do either of you know who it is that he turned immortal?"
Shadow shook his head. "Unfortunately not. He's kept his – or her, but likely not – identity a secret."
Both General Shin and I both glared at him, saying at the exact same time, "What would be wrong with it being a woman?!"
Shadow quickly jumped, completing the anime-like scene. "Um, uh, nothing! Nothing at all! I was just saying, since the Protector was male, this person might be as well?"
We both kept our glare on him, two soul-piercing gazes too much for him, and he quickly darted to the side. "Uh, can we go?! Please? Before I get killed?"
General Shin and I glanced at each other, sharing a triumphant smirk before turning and following Shadow. He kept his head down and waited for us to pass, following us into the dismal fortress.
I looked around. "What are we looking for, exactly…?"
General Shin took a few steps forward, her boots making solid thumps as she walked, her sapphire eyes darting around, looking everywhere that someone could possibly hide. "More like who. You can already assume that our world has recently been ravaged by a war; that much is fairly obvious by now, I'd assume. Our side won, more or less; however, there are still those that try to find out the location of our new 'town' so that they may destroy us. Chaos has driven them to insanity, unfortunately; they are beyond saving, now, which is something that I rarely say. Anyways, they like to hide out here; we must weed them out from time to time. Now that you're here, we can be more thorough; perhaps even find out where they themselves are stationed. Alright? So, just find any that you can, and take care of them."
I sighed unhappily, nodding. "Understood…" I hated the 'beyond saving' thing; nobody was ever beyond saving. If only anyone would ever just understand that…
She nodded curtly. "Let's split up, then. Each of you take a different way, and report back here in twenty minutes. Er, or, since that may be hard, just report back when you've scoured the area."
Shadow and I both nodded like soldiers, walking quickly off in separate directions. I noted that General Shin had said something with a slight laugh before taking off on her own. I turned my attention back to the fortress, which was actually larger than I had first realized. Another thing that was continuously drawing my attention was the large, circular structure in the center of the entire place. It was solid black stone, its mere presence giving the area a feeling of dread for some reason. What was in there, anyways…? Also, just so you know, later on, I couldn't tell left from right, so don't blame me that I don't recognize that it's this building… That'll make sense later; I promise…
The entire fortress city seemed completely empty; I could hear myself walking, and I was barely making a sound. Surely we hadn't come out here for nothing…
I started pacing around after a while, getting a bit lost in thought. No matter what I tried to think about, though, my mind always drifted back to what Chaos could be planning. Mainly, what he could be planning for me. I knew about how he intended to take down the gods, but he had never once expressed his plans for me. He had said that I would see his side of it, and I would have to be alive to do that, of course, but yet he was always hinting about killing me if I disobeyed. Or… Were his hints not about killing me exactly, but…? I felt myself shiver at the thought of him possibly torturing me if I disobeyed, but… would he really do that…? Well, since I wasn't exactly following his rules, I knew that I'd probably find out pretty quickly… Hopefully, though, I would be able to find the Guardian and defeat Chaos before he tried to harm me – or anyone else, for that matter. Would I have the time to do so, though…? Hopefully…
Then, suddenly, I heard something from behind me. It was no more than the quietest scratch on the dry ground, but I could hear it easily enough. I turned around to find a man clad in full armor, swinging a sword at me. He would have hit me, had I not leapt to the side in time. I shook my head, confused, but he tried yet again to hit me. For the first time, I realized that he was muttering incoherently to himself. How could I have possibly not noticed that...? No matter. Hadn't Mara said something about this…? This must have been one of those men that Chaos had affected...
I whipped out both of my weapons immediately, blocking another attack. The sharp metallic clang echoed around the barren black and grey walls that had been abandoned for far too long. Should I call out for help…? No, of course not; I could handle this.
The battle was quick, and I easily overpowered the insane man. He fell harshly to the ground, throwing up red dust into the air as he tried to get up. I jumped backwards, but he fell back to the ground. Huh… Now what?
"Something wrong…?" How?!
I glared viciously at Chaos, who looked quite amused. "How did you possibly get out?!"
He chuckled slightly. "How do you know that I was ever in anywhere…?"
"Uh… I talked to you?"
He smiled slightly. "Are you sure? Perhaps the stress is getting to you, Ayanumi… Or, perhaps it wasn't even me… Remember that we have incredibly powerful allies…"
I covered my face with the palm of my hand, shaking my head and looking at him through my fingers after a moment. "Was it you or not? You're driving me insane…"
"Heh… That's the point… Anyways, I'm not here to argue with you… Are you going to kill this man or not? It's in your power to do so, and yet you hesitate… Why?"
"Because I'm not like you," I snapped, tightening my grip on my weapons. His crimson eyes darted to my swords, but he didn't seem at all worried. I shook my head, the dry wind toying with my hair and yet not distracting me in the slightest. "This man was driven to insanity because of you; it's not right to condemn someone that's had no control over their fate!" I yelled the last part of my sentence, the words echoing around the ghost town.
He rolled his eyes. "You're going to have to learn to kill eventually if you're going to be working with me… No, you're going to have to learn now. Understand?"
I smirked. "Never. You're just a powerful monster, Chaos; you're alone in this universe. And I'll never be like you."
He shook his head. "I'm not the only one; learn a little lesson from me, hm? You've tasted power before, and now that you're in control, you can't tell me that you don't want to at least know what it's like to take a life…"
I glared heatedly at him. "No. I never want to know what it feels like, to do such a terrible thing…"
He chuckled slightly. "You're in denial, you know. When you say you've never wanted a taste. I know you, perhaps better than you know yourself. I can see the hunger in you. In your every action. You crave dominance, and power over all others. You crave perfection. I can give you that, but first, I need to know that you are willing to do anything to get what you want..."
I looked down at the man, who was still frozen in place; whether from fear or the magic that Chaos could somehow use, I did not know. What could I do, honestly…?
Chaos smirked, then. "I see your hesitation, but also your acknowledgment that my words ring true. For now, I believe you've learned enough; I'll let my words sink in and take effect before you kill someone… After all, I want it to be your own doing…"
He summoned his massive sword, impaling the man without effort. I gasped sharply as the crimson painted the ground behind him, the man's body twisted in a paroxysm of agony for the second before he fell limp. His body became ashen, then, as though made of smoke that was absorbed readily by Chaos' voracious blade. It all happened in an instant, and I could only stare at the ground in front of me for a moment. In a daze, I looked up at Chaos. He merely grinned at me, then was gone in much the same way the man had disappeared, though Chaos' vanishing act was of his own doing. How could he so easily use magic on this world...?
I took a deep breath, and then cautiously walked back towards where the others would soon be, making certain that there wasn't anyone else nearby. I kept on looking back, making sure that I wasn't being followed. Luckily, I seemed to finally be alone, if only until Shadow and Mara came back…
I dragged my feet as I walked, deep in thought. Or, rather, just trying to keep my mind off of what had just happened. Not because it had been horrible, no. Not because I knew that Chaos could follow me basically everywhere; not because I now knew that he was playing mind games with me… No, none of that mattered. What mattered was that I realized with horror that Chaos had been right: I had watched what he had done, seen the power and control in taking a life, and I… I had, if only for a moment, wanted to know what it felt like. To know that sense of dominating another to the point that you can take their life… I wanted to know what it was like. I could deny it, but… yet, at the same time, I couldn't. Chaos' games were starting to work; he was driving me towards madness. And now, it was only so long until I finally broke, and became exactly what he wanted me to be…
