Hi once again! Here's the next chapter! Once again, not terribly long, but a lot of stuff happens in it. Remember to review!
63rd Shot: Almost the Real Thing
Guessing wrong at which fragment was the person's core did not bring the whole world down on everyone head's. The strings simply withdrew without anything happening. For this Dalios was grateful. Otherwise he would have destroyed everyone several tries over trying to figure out Jing. He had tried a burglar Jing, a womanizer Jing, the magician Jing he had been watching earlier, and a poker-playing Jing, to name a few. He felt tempted to blame Kir for it (he was following his advice after all), but he knew the Bandit King had never been an easy person to read under normal circumstances, much less anything like this.
After another miss, this time with a royal Jing, Dalios and Kir slumped against the wall and sighed. Rolly laid down at Dalios's feet.
"We gotta be missing something here," Dalios muttered, folding his arms. "Hey Kir, what's Jing's strongest passion, as far as you can tell?"
"That'd be treasure, of course," Kir chirped, before his expression grew more somber. "Well, really it's more like the act of stealing, over the actual treasure…or maybe it's more like outwitting everyone else? Having fun by defying the odds?"
"Hmm…" Dalios replied, holding his chin. That's the real problem. Neither of us are really sure what Jing's passions are, at least right now. He took his old memories pretty bad…
"Dangit, maybe I should try fusing with some of these guys," Kir muttered to himself. "…Then again, the transformation was backfiring even when Jing was in one piece, so…"
Dalios turned to Kir in alarm. "Wait, what do you mean backfiring? You mean the two of you can't activate Gun mode anymore?"
"Yeah," Kir explained. "The energy gets all screwed up and Jing ends up getting fried. It was sorta working for a while in Razekar's world, but not really…It was a different kind of Gun mode, one that was a lot bigger and more powerful, but also a lot more unstable. Jing was getting hurt, but he insisted on using it anyway…."
Dalios frowned. Damn, that's bad. Burdensome Gun forms and compatibility are determined by the person's mental state. Burdensome Guns are made to adjust to minor shifts in the mind, so they stay in sync with their owners over a long period of time. But Jing…if his mental state has changed so much that Kir's body no longer recognizes him as the same person…It's like a stranger strapping on Kir and trying to use him. No wonder Kir Royale keeps backfiring!
"What's up?" questioned Kir.
"…I think Jing's the wrong one to start with," Dalios finally answered. "We need the others in one piece first. After that we can figure out Jing together."
Dalios went into the next room, which was a gym. Dalios thought this was strange, as he was sure this door led to a dining hall. It was full of treadmills, weights, punching bags, and trampolines that bounced their users almost to the ceiling. Several lines of blue mats circled the room.
There were several Falcons, of course, striking the punching bags or dashing around the track. Also present were many Razekars, doing push-ups or electric target practice. There were quite a few Jings, doing various things, but they were everywhere anyway. There were smatterings of Stir and Cassis as well, but what amused Dalios the most were a Stir and Cassis paired together near the weights. They chatted about boys and thrilling fights they had seen recently.
So some part of them get along, thought Dalios. They're pretty similar, really. Sure, one's a princess and the other's from the country, but both of them are stubborn but caring at heart. They probably would get along pretty well if they both didn't like the same guy…Hmm…I wonder…
"What're ?" asked Kir, noticing Dalios's long silence.
"Just gonna check something real quick," Dalios replied, raising his hands up. The silver threads slithered out of the floor, causing the ground to ripple.
"Huh?" asked Kir. "You think those two are-"
"It's worth a shot," said Dalios, keeping his eyes focused on the two girl buddies. "Haven't destroyed the world yet for being wrong, so…"
With two twists of his twists, the mystical fibers bound themselves to the Stir and Cassis. Another two twists and the other end of the strings sought out all the other girls present. Dalios snapped both fingers.
Suddenly the other girls melted into colors and flowed toward the ones at the center. Two liquid cocoons formed, and they slipped away to reveal the true Stir and Cassis.
"…Huh?" Cassis asked drowsily. "…What happened this time?"
"I…don't know," Stir answered, just as dazed. "Maybe…we're out of Valium's world now?"
Then both girls got a good look at the multiple clones of Jing, Falcon, and Razekar walking around them.
"…Nope…" said both of them dryly.
"Well whaddaya know, you were right!" exclaimed Kir to Dalios. "Gee, I dunno why you even bothered to bring me along. You're doing just fine by yourself, Dal!"
"Don't call me Dal…" Dalios retorted dully.
"Why not? Everyone else does."
"I know, and I hate it…" Dalios answered. "It sounds so…childish."
"Hey, can you two explain what the hell is going on?" asked Cassis, arms folded. She once again glanced to the clones. "…Or do we even want to know at this point?"
Dalios took a deep breath, knowing that he would probably have to give this explanation several times more before it was all over.
IIIIII
"…So basically everyone else is a walking jigsaw puzzle?" asked Cassis, as they searched for an exit out of the gym. They swore they had seen one before. "And now we hafta round 'em up and figure out how to put them back together?"
"Well, if we can find out which piece is the person's core, then it's easy for me to pull them all back together," Dalios explained, carrying Rolly in his arms. "The problem is figuring out who's the core among all the fragments."
"I see there's no shortage of Jing to go around," Stir noted dryly, looking over to where the Jings were talking, sleeping, and exercising.
"Yeah," Kir agreed. "Looks like there's finally enough Jing for the both of you."
Both girls silently scowled at Kir. The black albatross smiled nervously, but said nothing more.
Dalios began to chuckle when the room dissolved into psychedelic colors again. As before, the distortion only lasted for a few moments before the area was reformed into a different room.
The new incarnation of the space was dark, the only light coming from weaved figures of silver string. There were thousands, stretching far into the distance of the blackness.
Neirnyx's room, thought Dalios, noting that he owed the others an explanation for where they were. Then he owed them an explanation as to why he never told them about the truth of Pharos's palace in the first place…
He took a deep breath, turned around, and found that no one else was behind him. Even Rolly had disappeared.
"…Guys?" Dalios called uncertainly. "Hey guys! Princess! Blondie! Kir! Rolly! Where are you?"
There was no reply, not even an echo of his own voice in the vast space.
They must've gotten taken somewhere else…thought Dalios. Damn, this is going to be a pain…
Somewhere in the wide darkness a door opened, a long ray of white light stabbing the blackness. Through this new opening entered Pharos, Neirnyx, Valium and himself. None of them looked much younger than they were now, except that Valium's hair and beard were gray instead of white. They were all laughing, chattering about some poor saps they had pulled tricks on, and how the mind was such so easily influenced by fantasy and wishes.
Dalios had no time to move aside, but it didn't matter. All four merry figures passed right through him, as if he were nothing but a human-shaped cloud.
"Oh, that was so worth it!" chortled Neirnyx, who turned to the other Dalios. "Wasn't it, child?"
The other Dalios laughed. "Wind rye, blight bye."
The others, including the real Dalios, gave the emerald-eyed boy a blank stare.
"What was that now?" asked Valium, smirking a little.
The other Dalios appeared cross. "Great straight fire frame by time spend! Bend?" It occurred to the real Dalios that he was probably shifting through multiple languages too.
"Neirnyx, he's speaking gibberish again," stated Pharos, glancing at the sinewy red bird.
Neirnyx's feathers ruffled up and burned at the tips, as she emitted a trill of frustration. She began to stalk over to the other Dalios, who merely gazed at her in confusion.
"How many times do I have to fiddle with you before you speak properly?" she hissed, her graceful neck bent low as she glared at the other white-haired boy.
"…Lie so fast?" answered the other Dalios uneasily.
"Now now, Neirnyx, practice makes perfect," Valium spoke, wagging a finger at her.
"Shut up beak-nose," she retorted.
"You're one to talk," he replied smoothly.
Neirnyx made more angry warbling sounds, and then spread out her wings suddenly. Silver strings swarmed everywhere like worms desperate to reach the sky. They quickly bound and lifted the now-frightened other boy.
What happened after that changed everything.
IIIIII
Somewhere in the darkness, the real Valium grinned.
"Now will you understand, familiar one?"
Moments later, a certain white-haired boy appeared behind the lanky old man. He looked up to Valium with hard eyes.
"Tell me everything."
IIIIII
"Hey Dalios! Dal! Where'd you go?" called Kir, as he traveled with Cassis and Stir down a twisty hallway. The entire passage was shaped like the curving path of a snake, and was coated in green-and-purple splotches. Diamonds glittered on the black ceiling like faux starlight.
"Dammit, we need him here if he's the only one who can pull everyone back together," Stir muttered, folding her arms.
"Well, he can manipulate stuff here, right?" asked Cassis, who was trying to calm an excessively whiny Rolly. "So if he really needs to get back to us, he will, right?"
"I suppose," Stir replied. "But that also means any of us could get split up at any time. That's the last thing we need."
"You've got a point," Cassis answered, picking up and petting the anxious Rolly. "But in the meantime we still need to find our which people are the cores. Even if Dalios isn't here right now, we could bring the cores to him later, or at least point him in the right direction."
"Yeah!" replied Kir, flying in circles around Stir and Cassis. "Between the three of us we should be able to tell, right?"
As they went around the sharpest bend yet, the end of the serpentine hallway came into view. There was a bright orange door with black trimming and a purple doorknob.
"Right," Stir agreed, as she went ahead and opened the door. "We can do this."
The light flooding through the doorway was blinding. As soon as everyone stopped seeing spots, they noticed the quaint little white town before them. Flowing through that little white town were hundreds of Jings, their orange coats like a hurricane of ginger leaves.
The three non-Jings couldn't help but stare.
"…You have got to be kidding me," Cassis muttered.
IIIIII
"Which core should I track down now?" Dalios muttered blandly, as he ambled down yet another hallway of doors. Like everywhere else, the myriad collection of objects on the walls made the place narrower than it should have been. "Does it even matter?"
Fragments of the others occasionally passed him, but he didn't pay much attention to them. They didn't have near enough power to be one of the cores. Power…of course the core would have the most power. Why didn't he think of that before? Though perhaps power wasn't quite the right word for it…but it was close enough. If only the connecting strings weren't so tangled, he could easily use them to trace the cores.
A teal door creaked open three doors down.
Dalios paused. "There's a strong one. And a weaker one too."
An angry Falcon dressed in bright red pushed the door aside, dragging a laughing Falcon behind him. The two of them entered the cobalt door straight across from the teal one.
"…But is it the core?" Dalios wondered quietly, as he too went into the room with the deep-blue door.
Upon entering, Dalios found himself in a swarm of Falcons. The red-dressed Falcon left seconds after coming in, and the laughing Falcon went to join the others. It seemed impossible that so many golden-haired Chesirians could fit into one stone-walled room. All of the talking, shouting, crying, and snoring threatened to give Dalios a headache as he tried to calculate all of their power levels.
Why are there so many Falcons in one place? wondered Dalios. Even if they started in the same spot, which is unlikely, they should have dispersed by now…There doesn't appear to be anything preventing them from leaving…
The red-dressed Falcon returned, this time pulling along a sad-eyed Falcon, and then slammed the door behind him as he once again went outside.
Unless…has that Falcon been corralling all the other Falcons here? Dalios thought. There have been less and less Falcons wandering around the longer I've been here…
The red-dressed Falcon threw open the door once more, tossed in a yawning Falcon, and then solemnly closed the door. He went up onto a small wooden stage at the front of the room, chased off some performer Falcons, and took his place at the edge of the platform.
Yes, he must be-
"Hey! Listen up!" shouted the red-dressed Falcon. "Hey!"
The other Falcons abruptly hushed, as they turned toward the red-dressed Falcon.
"You guys are pathetic!" hissed the red-dressed Falcon, his ice-hued glare set on the crowd. "How could we fall apart at a time like this? Everyone needs us!"
There were apologetic murmurings among the other Falcons.
"Quiet!" snapped the red-dressed Falcon.
The others immediately complied.
Why am I waiting? wondered Dalios. Was he that interested in what the core had to say? There was no doubt that this was Falcon's core, both by his superior power level and his overwhelming influence over the other Falcons.
"We don't want to be alone again, do we?" questioned the red-dressed Falcon, starting to pace slowly as he kept his ice-blue eyes on his submissive audience. "Remember when we wandered aimlessly through the countries alone? No, the rabbits don't count as people. Remember how we wanted to be with other people, but there was no one to be with? Do you want that again?"
The other Falcons shifted uneasily.
"But now we've got people to be with, people to protect," the red-dressed Falcon went on, stopping his pacing. "If we don't protect them, we'll lose them, and we'll be alone again. We don't want to lose them." At this the red-dressed Falcon paused, as his eyes lowered and his expression softened. "We…can't afford to lose them."
The other Falcons quietly nodded in agreement.
Then the red-dressed Falcon turned to Dalios, his gaze mildly irritated. "…That includes you too, you know."
Dalios's eyes widened. How did he-
"Alright everybody! Let's go! Let's go!" commanded the red-dressed Falcon, grinning and pounding his fist sideways into his palm.
The other Falcons dissolved into living color, which wrapped around the red-dressed Falcon like a liquid eggshell.
"W-What?' Dalios murmured, staring as the hues willfully gathered together. "But I…didn't do anything…"
The cocoon of shades reformed into the real Falcon, who blinked and looked about in confusion.
"Hey Dal, what happened?" he asked, turning his wide gaze to the white-haired boy.
"…I'm still not sure," Dalios replied.
IIIIII
"Here's the real Jing!" Cassis shouted.
"No, I telling you, this is the real Jing!"
"Uh, ladies, please…" Kir said, hovering uneasily above the bickering girls, each with their own Jing in tow. Stir's Jing wore white knight armor under his coat, while Cassis's Jing wore a baseball uniform beneath his coat instead. Both Jings looked bored. Rolly was lying on the ground a few feet away, whining with his tail between his legs.
"Oh please, like Jing's any knight in shining armor," Cassis retorted, eyeing the Jing behind Stir and smirking. "Believe me, I should know."
"Well, I didn't know Jing was such an avid baseball fan," stated Stir, folding her arms and leering at the other Jing.
"Oh yeah? We used to play baseball together all the time with the other boys," Cassis answered with a smug grin, also folding her arms.
"He probably did it because you threatened to bash his head in with your baseball bat if he didn't," Stir responded coolly, shaking her head. "So tactless."
"He played because we were friends!" snapped Cassis, pointing her bat at Stir. "We've been close ever since we first met back when we were little kids! You knew him for, what, two days? Then he left you, just like all those other girls before you!"
"Hey girls, wait a -" Kir began.
"Neither of us really knew him until we got a glimpse into his head," Stir replied, pointing her sword at Cassis. "He's not the innocent child you think he is. He stopped being that long before you met him."
"And he's not the Prince Charming you think he is either!" barked Cassis. "All that smooth talk was just him pretending to be the cool-and-perfect Bandit King of legend! Maybe my Jing doesn't exist anymore, but yours never existed at all!"
The two girls leered at each other, their weapons still raised. Unnerved by the sudden tension, both the knight Jing and the baseball play Jing slipped back into the migrating crowd of Jings around them. It took both girls a few moments to notice this. Then they lowered their weapons and turned away from each other in a huff.
"Fine. I don't need your help anyway, princess," Cassis growled, keeping her back turned as she rested her baseball bat across her shoulders. "C'mon Kir, let's go find Jing."
"Huh? Uh…" Kir said, looking back and forth between Cassis and Stir, before finally following Cassis. "Wait up!"
Stir never turned around herself. Instead she looked down at Rolly, who was now quietly sitting at her feet. "So it's just you and me, huh?" She and Rolly began walk in the opposite direction. "I'll find you yet, Jing."
IIIII
Her Jing was gone, Stir had said, had been gone long before she had ever laid eyes on him.
Cassis wouldn't believe it.
Even though the flood and the loss of his mother had devastated him, he still walked on. Even if he had to use the legend of the Bandit King as a crutch, he could still stand. Even if those demons poisoned his past and present, he could still smile.
The Jing she knew was…
As Cassis narrowly avoided getting run over by a mailman Jing on a motorcycle, she noticed a young Jing peeking around the corner. He was about ten years old, his gray eyes wide and bright.
Cassis froze. That's him. "Heeey, Jing!"
All the passing Jings paused and turned to Cassis, their gray eyes puzzled.
"Uh, Cassis…" Kir began.
"Dammit, that's right, everyone's Jing here," Cassis muttered to herself. "Hey, kid! Over here!"
The young Jing yelped, disappearing into the alleyway.
"Wait!" Cassis called, running after him while Kir followed.
When they went into the alley, psychotic graffiti smeared across the walls in eye-searing neon colors. Phrases such as Ho! Ho! Ho!, Everything precious, even your life, I am Jing, I have no weakness, and Bandit Kings don't need heaven or hell were plastered everywhere. Dozens of wide-grinning, swirly-eyed cat faces were scrawled between and even overlapping said words, and even each other.
Cassis and Kir stared at it all, the feline chimera of brightly-colored smiles and words.
"God, this is just like…" Cassis began.
They heard impish giggling and spun around. The young Jing was sitting on the wall above them, smiling. An orange cat tail swished back and forth behind him like an impatient snake.
"…Jing?" Cassis asked.
The child's smile grew wide, too wide, as his tail fluffed up. His pupils turned into catlike slits.
"Watch out!" called Kir.
The feline youngster pounced on Cassis, knocking her down. He snatched her hat, bounced off her, and then scampered down the alleyway.
"Hey, get back here!" snapped Cassis, getting back onto her feet and sprinting after the cat-tailed boy. She had only gotten a few feet when all the psycho graffiti peeled off the walls and blocked her way. The cat faces grew fangs and cackled into high-pitched voices as they grew closer, while the words grew larger and larger.
"Outta my way!" yelled Cassis, charging forward with her bat held high. She smashed through the insane swarm of words and cat faces, smashing several per strike. They fell onto the ground in confetti-like pieces, melting into colorful droplets as they touched the dirt below. Several minutes later she stood leaning on her bat, as the last face finally fell in pieces and splattered on the ground. She bore several cuts and bites from the mob of crazy living art.
"…Okay," Cassis gasped to Kir. "Okay, let's…"
Then some of the paint splattered on her slipped off her body, rising into the air like reverse rain. The paint on the ground rose too, and in moments the words and cat faces were reforming anew, more psychotic than ever. Cassis stared in disbelief as the mass of madness started rushing toward them.
"This ain't gonna work, Cassis!" Kir called. "They're just gonna keep regenerating over and over! We gotta get outta here!"
Cassis snarled, but eventually fled out of the alleyway with Kir. She heard giggling and jeering behind her as the mob of graffiti chased them through alley after alley. Only when the laughter finally faded away did they stop to lean against a building and catch their breath.
"Man, that was close," Kir stated, flying over to Cassis. "Guess we'll hafta find that brat later and get your hat back."
Cassis looked up at the flawless blue sky, her gaze distant. "It was just like…that time…"
"Hmm?" asked Kir.
"When me and the boys came to save you guys from prison," Cassis explained. "Only…"
"Me and Jing were already long gone, right?" replied Kir, hovering over her shoulder.
"…Yeah," Cassis answered, still staring upward. "Me and the boys had all these elaborate plans and back-up plans and back-up-back-up plans and everything…But by the time we actually got there, the gates were blown apart and there was no one there at all." She paused, still not looking at Kir. "You guys made a real mess of things. That shabby little place had more holes in it than a sieve. And there was that cat-faced graffiti splattered everywhere, and that Ho Ho Ho! graffiti, and a bunch of rambling graffiti that made no sense whatsoever…It was all over…Especially in that solitary cell…"
"Yeah, I remember that," Kir answered. "We were each kept in solitary cells…Well, mine was more of a traditional bird cage, but you get the idea. Didn't see him for a few months. Then he finally figures out how to get out and gets me out too and…well, you saw the results yourself. We went a little nuts…but man, it was so great to wreck that place. Everyone always considers Seventh Heaven the worst prison ever, but that place was the worst for us."
"I could tell," said Cassis. "The boys thought it was the most awesome thing ever, of course. They wanted to make it our base away from home…"
"Well, I wouldn't want to go back there myself. I know Jing wouldn't," said Kir. "But hey, it was our real start. After that was when we started getting real good at stealing stuff, you know. Didn't want to get caught ever again. So I guess it's a monument of sorts."
Cassis nodded numbly. She was still thinking back to that cell, cats and cat faces etched into the black walls, with the words You are Jing. Fear does not exist. You are Jing. Weakness does not exist and its Chesirian equivalent scratched on top of it all. It covered the walls, the ceiling, and even the door and the floor. Dae uso Jing. You are Jing. Ista nu motimo. Fear does not exist. Dae uso Jing. You are Jing. Ikas nu motimo. Weakness does not exist. You are Jing. I am Jing. I am Jing. Weakness nu motimo. Fear nu motimo. Jing. Jing. Jing…The Bandit King is Jing. The Bandit King is -
"So whad'ya guys do after you discovered we were already gone?" asked Kir.
"…Huh? Oh. We looked for you, of course," Cassis began. "We started traveling, not far first, but eventually we left Amarcord altogether. We had problems getting by sometimes, but we all loved the adventure of it, and we couldn't wait until we found you guys and we could all explore the world together, then come back to Amarcord famous…" She smiled a bit at this thought.
"But then when you finally did find us, all this crap with Pharos happened, and now we're stumbling around in mind-mazes," Kir commented, sighing. "Man, I haven't even thought of what we're gonna do about Pharos yet. This Valium guy's tough enough as it is."
"No kidding," Cassis replied, also sighing. "And…everything's just changed so much, even before we got stuck in this place…" Jing's changed so much, even before we got stuck in this place…The boy I found, he wasn't the one I'd lost. She began to walk down another colorless street.
"Cassis?" asked Kir, gliding after her.
"…Where are you Jing?" Cassis asked tiredly. "I want to go home."
IIIIII
"Rolly! Rolly, come back here! I command you!"
Not a drop of Cassis's royal blood mattered when an orange corgi mutt was in hot pursuit of an orange cat. The fleeing feline zigged and zagged through the white streets and white alleys, with the eager mutt and flustered princess not far behind.
If only Dalios was here, thought Stir in frustration. Then that stupid dog would listen…Where is he anyway? If he can manipulate the world to some extent, shouldn't he have reunited us by now, or at least sent us some kind of sign of what's going on?
The cat found itself face-to-face with a tall white wall. Rolly charged forward.
"Behave…yourself…Rolly," Stir panted, as she leaned against a wall. "We have more important things to be doing than chasing cats."
"Like what?"
Stir looked up and saw a Jing standing before her, wearing the typical dark-gray clothes under the long orange coat. He was holding a very surprised and confused Rolly in his arms. The cat, if there had been any cat at all, vanished.
"…Where did you come from?" Stir questioned warily.
"From the country of Cheshiria," the Jing answered casually, petting Rolly a few times and then putting him down. The orange mutt calmly laid down a few feet away, his back turned to both of them. "Though it seems Valium's origins are far murkier."
"I don't see how knowing where Valium comes from would-" Stir began, before she stared at the Jing. "Wait, how do you-"
"-Know who Valium is?" finished the Jing, smirking. "Though a heart can be broken, it can never be destroyed."
Stir's eyes grew wide.
"It's been a while since I've stolen both your mask and your sorrows," Jing said, as he began to saunter toward Stir. He summoned the Vintage Smile from nowhere, and then made it vanish just as easily. "You have come a long way since then."
"And I still have a long way to go," Stir stated, still watching him carefully.
"Knowing that proves your progress, doesn't it?" Jing answered, suddenly behind Stir.
The silver-haired princess spun around, only to be caught in an embrace.
"But it's alright now, princess," he spoke, resting his forehead against hers. "I'm here to steal you away from this place."
Stir closed her eyes, and then extracted herself from his hold. "…You're not the real Jing."
"…Oh?" he asked, sounding amused rather than insulted. "What makes you think that, princess?"
"You're that Jing that was in control when we were in Razekar's mind," Stir stated, looking straight at him. "You're the fantasy."
Stir heard the Bandit King chuckle.
"And what's so funny?" asked Stir crossly.
The Bandit Jing shook his head, still smirking. "Have you ever heard of the tale of the man and his shadow?"
"A long time ago, when I was little," Stir answered. "I don't really remember it though."
"There was a man and his shadow," the Bandit King began. "The man wanted his shadow to have life, so the shadow was given life, though it was an inferior life to its master's. But as time passed, the man relied more and more on his shadow, so the shadow became more and more real. So it went on for years, until the shadow became a man himself. Meanwhile the man became the shadow, and by the end he was not even that, discarded by his original shadow." The Bandit King grinned. "Interesting story, don't you think?"
"I always thought it was a stupid story," Stir growled back.
"Is that so?" questioned the Bandit King, still smiling. "And yet it holds more truth than most stories I know. I see it happening to people almost every day."
"I suppose you consider yourself the shadow that became real," Stir stated coolly.
"Of course," he responded unapologetically, bowing. "My other self couldn't face reality without his mother -" The purple-and-green cat mask materialized in one hand. "-So I became his mask," he finished, now donning the false feline face. "The more he fled, the more I became his true self. After all, there is no room in this world for cowards, right princess?"
"My name is Stir," she stated firmly, leering at the Bandit King. "And there would be no shadow if the man himself did not exist. Maybe you should consider that, Bandit King."
"Ah, but do you remember why the shadow was able to become fully real?" asked the Bandit King.
"He left his master," said Stir. "No, the man sent away his shadow to investigate something, and the shadow didn't return until years later. By then he was rich, dressed up in fancy clothes, and was only visiting the man because he felt like it."
"But he was still a shadow then, although he appeared human," the Bandit King corrected. "And he was very self-conscious of this incompleteness, despite his success and the man's continued failures. He knew that, despite his immense triumphs, there was still something else he needed to be truly real."
"So what was it?" Stir asked.
He took off his mask, and smiled. "He met a beautiful princess, and adored her. Only because of that desire was he able to completely sever his ties with the man, and become a real being."
Stir stiffened in shock. Was he saying-
"I love you, my princess," he said, lowering to one knee and holding the cat mask to his chest. "It is because of you that I sincerely exist. You are the true timeless treasure of the world."
Stir's eyes widened, and then narrowed. "Could you really love anyone other than yourself?"
The Bandit King looked up with a smirk. He pounced up and seized her, his lips locking onto hers. Before Stir could comprehend what was happening, the quick but passionate kiss was over.
"I've done more impossible things," he said, rubbing up against her cheek. "And you should consider which of us you really have feelings for. And which of us has feelings for you."
Then, instead of a Bandit King holding her, there was a bright orange cat with gray eyes sitting on her shoulder. The feline meowed, gave her a lick on the cheek, and then leapt off her shoulder and disappeared over the wall.
The instant the cat was gone, Rolly snapped out of his apparent stupor and began barking wildly, dashing about in a frenzy.
Stir's daze, on the other hand, had only just begun.
IIIIII
Yeah, things are starting to escalate now. The next chapter will be a little while, as I have to write a little rough for it. Depending on how much rough needs to be written, there will be either one more or two more chapters to go in this part. Then we'll go to the finale, which will be 2-3 chapters.
Thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story so far! There isn't that much more to go.
Cya!