"Rizo…"
"How long's it been, Cy?" Rizo said with an arrogant grin. "About a week since we graduated? Man, gotta be honest…you look like hell."
"What the hell are you doing here, Rizo?" Kyra asked as she brought her Soul Crushers up like she was ready to fight. "And why are you working with the Seraphim Society?"
"What? Can't a son help his mother out, sweetheart?"
Kyra was ready to punch Rizo's lights out after that remark. Rizo cackled at Kyra's reaction and continued, "Relax, baby. I know you're just resisting my charm and all, but there's no need to get all flustered about it!"
"Out of my way, Rizo," Cyrus quietly said as he grabbed Inferno and rested its shaft horizontally on his shoulders.
"Hey, what the hell, Cy? You trying to wreck my moment, here?" Rizo retorted. "Truth be told, I couldn't care less what my mother does. I just see this as an opportunity."
"An opportunity? For what?" Taizen inquired as his hand went for Griffin's Heart's hilt.
"For power and glory, of course!" Rizo said as if Taizen had just asked him a completely stupid question. "Why do you think I bothered attending Garden in the first place? It's all about power…those who have it rule those who don't. And now that I have all the power Garden has to offer, I don't need this SeeD crap anymore."
"'SeeD crap?'" Cyrus replied, anger slowly creeping into his voice. "That's all that meant to you?"
"Oh, and I suppose you're one of those hard-line honor and duty types, huh Cy? Don't make me laugh. Honor and duty and ten Gil will get you a cup of coffee. Strength is the only thing that matters…the only thing people will respect. And that's why I'm here."
Rizo started walking towards the SeeD trio as he unsheathed his Gemini Blood Swords. "When my mother told me about her plans and the people she was working with, I saw an opportunity to take my piece of the pie. Namely, I'll looking to gain whatever power the Seraphim Society has to offer. Unfortunately for you, that means you gotta die!"
Rizo finished his sentence with a blazingly fast lunge at Cyrus, who stopped Rizo's swords with Inferno's shaft. As he struggled to hold Rizo back, he shouted to his teammates, "What are you doing? Take out the cultists and get inside!"
"Say what? Cyrus, we're not leaving you alone out here!" Kyra protested.
"Go, damn it!" Cyrus ordered. "I'll take care of Rizo. Just get moving and find Caraway!"
Kyra was about to argue again until Taizen grabbed her arm and explained, "Cyrus is our captain, and he gave us an order. Besides, I have faith in him. Don't you?"
Despite her pissed-off expression, Kyra finally relented. "Fine, but you better not die, Cyrus! Kick that bastard's ass and come find us!"
Cyrus nodded as he forced Rizo back and settled into his ready stance. Likewise, Kyra and Taizen bum-rushed the Seraphim cultists and knock them out before they could retaliate with magic. As Kyra and Taizen ran inside the Palace, Rizo simply glanced back before facing Cyrus again.
"You know, they aren't half-bad Cy," Rizo said in a half-praising, half-mocking tone. "Especially that Kyra chick…nice."
"Shut up," Cyrus said through clenched teeth as his grip on Inferno tightened.
"Oh?" Rizo replied quizzically. "Have you already laid claim to that lovely lady? Well, too bad…for you that is. There isn't a lady alive who can resist a Malachi man!"
"Shut up!" Cyrus swore as he rushed at Rizo with Inferno held high. He viciously brought the scythe blade down as Rizo used both his blades to block the strike. Surprisingly, he smiled as he said just above a whisper:
"Good, get angry. I don't want the Cyrus that cheated at the Dueling Circle…I want the real Cyrus Ranto. Stop being such a sissy about it and fight me. Come on, Cy…give me the challenge I know you can bring me!"
With that, Rizo parried Cyrus's attack and started attacking with quick slashes with both of his blood swords. Cyrus, knowing full well how fast Rizo's attacks were, matched his speed with equally quick blocks with Inferno. After a minute of playing defense, Cyrus decided to switch gears as he used Inferno's blade to block and push Rizo's swords to the left as he used his scythe's staff to strike Rizo's chest. As Rizo tried to catch his breath, Cyrus took to the offensive with large, powerful swipes with Inferno. It took everything Rizo had to stop his opponent's increasingly powerful blows from reaching their target.
Rizo, realizing he was in a bad way, retreated a few yards away as he conjured up dark energy into his clenched right hand. He pointed and opened his fist at Cyrus as he shouted, "Demi!"
Cyrus, immediately recognizing Rizo's strategy, retreated back far enough to avoid the gravity magic. After it finished its twisting and swirling and dissipated, Cyrus stared down Rizo with fire in his eyes. Rizo, meanwhile, couldn't stop cackling as he raised his hand high up into the air and shouted:
"You did learn, Cy! Nice…hate to think you'd fall for the same trick twice. Guess that means I can stop playing around and get down to business. The Seraphim Society won't give me what I want unless I bring you to your knees…and I know the perfect way to do it. Diablos! Get out here!"
With that, the familiar sphere formed above Rizo's head as Diablos oozed out of the bottom, spread his wings, and hovered above his summoner. Cyrus, contemplating what his next move was going to be, heard a familiar voice inside his head:
"Cyrus! Summon me!" Ifrit shouted from Cyrus's mind.
"Are you sure, partner?"Cyrus questioned the GF.
"Yes…my strength has returned. And I have something to say to Diablos. So please, let me do this."
Cyrus nodded. "All right. Ifrit, come forth!"
The now-familiar pillar of flames erupted from the ground, and once scattered to the winds it revealed the Demon Lord of Flames. Ifrit looked up at Diablos, sizing up his opponent before questioning the Dark Messenger.
"Diablos! Why do you stand against my summoner? Why side with those who capture and use us? Where is your pride, Master of Darkness and Time?"
Diablos, with a forlorn look on his face, replied in a gravely, menacing voice, "You know my reasons, Ifrit. The will of my summoner is all that matters…not my pride, not my desire. My summoner wishes the destruction of yours, and I will follow his command until he releases me or death comes to him."
Ifrit was dismayed at Diablos's willingness to submit, but nodded his head in acknowledgement. "Very well. If that is how it must be, then I must break you!"
With that, Ifrit conjured up a series of fireballs and telekinetically sent them flying through the air at Diablos. Diablos, with a wave of his hand, summoned a miniature black hole to swallow the fireballs and send them to another dimension. Enraged, Ifrit leapt into the air and hurled himself at Diablos, wrapping his arms around the Dark Messenger and driving him into the ground with incredible velocity.
Meanwhile, Rizo took advantage of the chaos and rushed Cyrus. Cyrus, immediately reacting to Rizo's latest assault, countered Rizo's rush by lunging at the swordsman himself. The two continued to exchange slashes and blows as their Guardian Forces continued their struggle in the background. Fire and gravity spells continued being cast and thrown around with utter abandoned as the mortal warriors and the immortal spirits kept fighting with everything they had.
Finally, after close to fifteen minutes of grueling conflict, all four combatants were suffering from exhaustion, as Cyrus and Rizo were using their respective weapons to keep themselves on their feet. Ifrit and Diablos, on the other hand, were both suffering from deep lacerations from claws and magical attacks as the Dark Messenger hovered several feet above Ifrit.
"Forgive me…" Diablos muttered as he raised his claw and summoned his ultimate attack: the enormous Demi spell called the "Dark Messenger." Ifrit, still suffering from the injuries from his previous encounter with the Seraphim acolyte, struggled to move or even cast magic to defend himself.
Cyrus, holding off another of Rizo's attacks, noticed that Ifrit wasn't able to move out of the way of Diablos's attack. Reacting quickly, he pushed Rizo aside and to the ground as he turned and pointed his open palm at Ifrit. Cyrus then focused his energy and shouted, "Fira!"
The fiery whirlwind surrounded Ifrit as the GF absorbed the spell and used it to heal his wounds. Then, without a second to spare, Ifrit jumped up into the air and dodged Diablos's Dark Messenger. Ifrit then responded by summoning his Hellfire and ramming it into Diablos, powering the demon to the ground and forcing him to retreat back to Rizo's mind.
Cyrus, however, didn't have time to enjoy his guardian's victory as he felt cold steel pierce his side from behind. Looking down, he saw the blade of one of Rizo's Gemini Blood Swords covered with his own blood. He turned his head and saw the smirking face of Rizo as he held his second blade up high, aiming to slice Cyrus's head clean off.
"Damn it, Cy. You just had to lose focus and kill the epicness, didn't you? Well, that's just disappointing. Not sure why the Seraphim Society thought you were worth the trouble. Hell, I figured handing them SeeD on a platter would be enough to satisfy those cultists."
"What…did you say?" Cyrus said, his voice a mixture of pain and rage.
Rizo shot Cyrus a mock-confused look. "You serious? Well, guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you…I told the Seraphim Society everything they needed to know to launch an attack on Balamb Garden. Like I said, I got what I wanted from Garden, so I really didn't care what happened to it. Chances are your precious school is nothing more than a smoldering husk…"
Cyrus had reached the limit of his patience. "You…you BASTARD! Kyra just asked me to kick you ass, but now? I'm going to KILL YOU!"
With that, Cyrus turned his body and the blade stuck inside it 180 degrees and faced Rizo. The arrogant swordsman looked on in shock as Cyrus grabbed a hold of Rizo and focused energy in his hand. He then whispered to Rizo, "Go to hell. FIRA!!!"
The energy in Cyrus's hand coalesced into flames as the Fira spell exploded, sending both fighters flying backwards with incredible speed. Fortunately for Cyrus, Ifrit leapt behind him and caught him before he landed on the ground. Rizo wasn't so fortunate, as his momentum send him flying into the wall surrounding the Presidential Palace grounds. His body hit the concrete barrier with a sickening splat as the wall cracked and splintered under the force of Cyrus's attack.
As Ifrit tended to his summoner, Cyrus was shocked to see Rizo stagger to his feet. His hair and clothes were a mess as he sheathed the Gemini Blood Sword he still had in his hand and croaked out, "Well, well…looks like neither of us are in any condition to continue. What say we finish this another time?"
With that said, Rizo staggered out of the front gate. Ifrit made a move to pursue him, but Cyrus held him back by saying, "No. There'll be another time. Right now, I have to find Kyra and Taizen."
"Then you had best let me heal you…partner," Ifrit quietly said as he drew upon Cyrus's reserve of Cure spells to heal the sword wound and restore Cyrus's energy. Once the wound had closed, Ifrit returned to Cyrus's mind as the scythe-wielding SeeD stood up and ran inside the Presidential Palace.
"Hang on," Cyrus muttered as he continued to run.
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Cyrus wasn't sure where President Caraway was holed up, but he could easily determine where Kyra and Taizen were heading by the trail of destroyed furniture, broken bodies, and general carnage. Cyrus continued to step over the corpses of unfortunate Caladbolg rebels and the occasional Seraphim cultist as the trail of destruction ended at what Cyrus recognized as one of the Palace's many conference rooms. Cyrus took a deep breath as he kicked the door down, only to be greeted by Griffin's Heart to his throat and Demon Fangs to his stomach.
"Cyrus!" Kyra exclaimed as both she and Taizen sheathed their respective blades. Kyra then noticed that Cyrus had been injured as she ran to help support him. "What happened? Where's Rizo?"
"Bastard ran away," Cyrus simply explained as he continued to lean on Kyra. "Looks like this just got a whole lot more complicated."
"That's quite the understatement, young man," the familiar voice of Fury Caraway shouted from the other side of the room. Cyrus turned to look over where Caraway was and recognized the man standing next to him. Despite the beating he had taken just minutes ago, he had to smile as he staggered over to greet that man.
He extended his hand and said in a respectful tone, "Good to see you again…Dad."
The older man returned Cyrus's grin and shook his hand. "Damn it, you look like hell…son."
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Author's Notes:
Is there anything more heartwarming than a family reunion...in a city under siege? So Erik Ranto makes his grand appearance...but what's he doing with Caraway? Stay tuned for Chapter 22!
Man, so many reviews and so many people to thank! Not just for this story, but for my first story "The Rise of the Repentant." Can't believe that it's still getting traffic! Special thanks go to the Duelist of Dawn, Ally Todd, and the newest reviewers Hiiro Mizutani, Taeniaea, and butcherthegirl. You all are eight ways to awesome! Keep it up!
Don't fear the Reaper...unless you don't review. Otherwise, you should be scared shitless.
See you on the Long and Winding Road,
"The Exile" Cyrus Truth