CHAPTER 29: Dark History
Tarun stared for a very long time. He knew he was probably being very rude, but he couldn't stop himself, and he figured that the situation was dire and weird enough that a little rudeness could easily been forgiven. The man, Shuten (or Anubis...Tarun thought he liked that name better) looked more amused than anything, still giving that faint sort of smirk, his blue-green eyes narrowed slightly. Finally Tarun put a hand on the back of his head, regarding his visitor with a great deal of curiosity. "Hold on a sec," he said, and Anubis raised his eyebrows mildly. "How do I know you're not really a warlord? Dais can do illusions!"
Anubis chuckled, seemingly even more amused, and nodded his head. "This is true, small one," said he, "I fought alongside him for many years. I know his abilities well."
Tarun blinked again—of course he had! No wonder he seemed creepy and reminded Tarun of a warlord—he used to be one! It was an unsettling thought!
"I do not know how I can ease your suspicions, my young friend. But I do know that your enemy is far greater in number than you, and though I can offer little physical help, I am able to fight the Nether Spirits and offer advice. And as you have gotten separated from your group, and seem to be far less suspicious than your older friends, I chose to approach you."
Tarun finally laughed. 'How could he be a warlord?' he thought, 'I already knew he didn't have armor! I'd feel if he had armor!' "Okay," he finally said, and then his eyes went wide. "Oh! Hold on a sec! The others, I gotta tell them!" Anubis merely nodded, and Tarun lowered his gaze, his vision going vague as it usually did when he mind spoke. Xan! Amaya! Kento! Cye! Guess what?
There was a chorus of slightly startled "what's" and an "are you capable of talking quietly in this mind link so you don't scare the hell out of me each time?" from Xan.
Tarun laughed a little sheepishly. Sorry. But guess what? Someone came here to help us. Guess who it is!
The boy rolled his eyes and laughed when Kento guessed, What, did Superman come to help or what? Buddha?
Nooo! You dork, said Tarun, and laughed when Kento said Tarun was a bigger one. No, it's Anubis!
A startled silence greeted this declaration, and Tarun glanced up at Shuten, who returned his gaze mildly.
Yasuo's ancestor? Are you sure, Tarun? asked Amaya. Are you sure it's no trick?
Pretty sure! He doesn't have a armor orb. He's kinda creepy though, and he's got this creepy staff thing with rings that makes chiming sounds.
The Ancient's staff! Kento exclaimed. But—but Anubis is a spirit, kiddo—and not solid, like us. What could he do? Not that I wouldn't be glad to see him. Last time I did, it was before Talpa got his grimy hands on us.
He says he can fight spirits. That's good for the Nether Spirits!
Keep us informed, will you? asked Cye. Perhaps he can help us locate one another.
Hey that was a good idea! Tarun said that he would, and looked up at the red-haired man. "Sorry, I was mind talking."
"I could tell."
Tarun took a big breath, looking around before settling his gaze back on Anubis. "Well, we all got split up after those jerks attacked us and we're tryin' to find each other. I can run really fast so I got far away. But we gotta make sure the warlords don't find us, either, because they know about where we are and prob'ly know we're going to Talpa's palace to rescue our friends, and they're gonna wanna stop us. Or capture us. Or kill us..." Tarun sighed. The adventure could be fun, but it could also be depressing, thinking you knew someone who really wanted you dead!
"Easy, my young friend," said Anubis. "I can help you find the rest of your brothers-in-arms. For the moment you will want to head south; you have been going the wrong way, I'm afraid."
Tarun gaped in disbelief. "No way!" he exclaimed, slumping his shoulders in mild dismay. "Awww, man! And I went a long way, too!"
Anubis smiled his unsettling smile again. "It's all right, Tarun. We'll get there. For now, let's walk, and we can discuss the Dynasty. I know a great deal about them and perhaps can offer some insight as to how to fight them."
Now that was a good idea! Tarun nodded agreeably and grasped the handles of his stroller. "You want something to eat?" he asked. "I only have some snack and canned stuff though."
"Thank you," he said, smiling that mild smile again, "but I do not need to eat, and could not eat here in this realm if I wanted to. I am here only in spirit, Tarun."
Anubis reached out a hand towards Tarun as if he were going to ruffle his hair, and Tarun let a startled squawk as the hand passed right through his head! He stopped short, his eyes wide, staring at Anubis. He seemed so solid! He reached out his own hand and passed it through Anubis's arm, and laughed in astonishment. "Wow—that's so weird!"
"It is quite normal for me," chuckled Shuten quietly as Tarun finally began walking again. "But I understand how strange it would be to one who's never encountered a spirit before."
"Oh, I 'countered one before," said Tarun grimly. "Nether Spirits. I got possessed by one before too, I hated it! But they're not anything like you are. I think they're a different kind of spirit."
"They are," said Anubis. "Do you know how they came to be?" Tarun shook his head, curious. "The Nether Spirits were once humans. When last the Dynasty attacked this place, the soldiers rounded up the people, taking them from the mortal world and into the Nether world, is that right?"
Biting his lip, Tarun nodded. "Yes...but this time they've got 'em all working. They made slaves out of 'em."
"I know," said Anubis quietly. "But not all of them. There are a good many he has taken into his stronghold. He has towers and spires around his fortress, places of pain and despair, places where he imprisons mortals. He keeps them there, alive, every minute tormented by pain, both body and soul. For years upon years when he can. They are kept alive only by dark magic, and their minds are twisted into insanity. And finally their spirits are as well. With the dark energy of the Nether World, their spirits slowly become a part of Talpa's evil. Only then does he let their mortal bodies die, leaving only their twisted spirits behind."
Tarun stopped walked again, suddenly shaking, staring again in disbelief. It wasn't something he could grasp the full understanding of, but he knew down to the bottom of his own spirit the magnitude of this atrocity. The horrible image of one of his friends being put in one of these towers forever and ever made him clench his teeth, and he started to cry.
Anubis turned, his own haunted expression softening as he looked at Tarun. "I am sorry, little one," he said quietly. "It is not an easy thing to hear." He held out a hand as if he were to grasp Tarun's shoulder or put an arm around him, but stopped, perhaps realizing it was impossible. "But the more information you and your have, the better armed you will be."
Hey, kid, you okay?
Xander. Tarun wiped his eyes, hissed in startlement as his metal gauntlet thunked against his forehead, and banished his riot gear, using a clean bit of his bloody shirt to wipe his eyes. Y-yeah, he said. Anubis told me about Nether Spirits.
He felt a sudden surge of both anger and sympathy from Cye and Kento and suspected that they already knew how a Nether Spirit was created. Tarun thought about telling Amaya and Xan, but he didn't want to even think about it, much less repeat it. Kento came into the link then, saying he and Cye could fill the others in.
Thanks, said Tarun. It's horrible.
"It is small consolation, Tarun," said Anubis, "but it is very unlikely that your friends have been put into one of these towers. I don't think that spirits that have aligned with the armor can be put in. At least not without taking a risk Talpa would never take, that they could somehow destroy the towers and free their prisoners."
Tarun shook his head and began walking once more, re-donning his riot gear. "No, Kento says they're in that purification chamber, wh--" He broke off as Anubis's expression suddenly darkened, his striking eyes narrowing to slits, and his brow furrowing together. His hand tightened on the staff he carried, its metal rings jangling the slightest bit. For just a moment, Tarun knew what it was like to face Anubis, Warlord of Cruelty, and it scared him.
"Yes," said Anubis quietly. "I have been there, when my loyalty to Talpa began to waver."
"Me...me too," Tarun finally said, resisting the urge to take a step away from his strange traveling companion. He didn't think Anubis would hurt him even if he could, but it was still intimidating. "I mean not about the loyalty part, but being in the chamber."
Anubis's expression darkened yet further, and he shook his head. "Arago is an abomination," he said.
Tarun didn't know quite what an abomination was, but it didn't sound like it was a good thing. And it was true, too! Talpa was definitely not something good. Tarun wondered what it was like to have worked for him, and afterwards realizing what horrible things you'd done. For that matter, what horrible things had Anubis done? Did Tarun travel with a man who had killed or tortured? It was a very unsettling thought, and Tarun felt a twinge of sympathy for Anubis. It could not be an easy thing to live with.
The conversation steered into less grimmer waters then, as Anubis began telling Tarun about the safeguards and traps he knew of in Talpa's palace, and in his territory. Tarun began relating the things he was being told through the mind link, the others silent as they listened (with an occasional vehement or disgusted remark).
Tarun could not stop thinking about the Nether Spirits. In a way he was flattered that Anubis was not talking down to him, or omitting information because of Tarun's youth. It was rare to find an adult, especially one that was as powerful and had done so many things as Anubis had, that would treat a child as an equal. But Tarun was not sure he wanted to know what Anubis had told him. He couldn't get the image out of his head, the image of hundreds of people suffering constantly, not able to move, or to gain comfort...unable even to die. And then, once death did take them, they still could not be free of Talpa, perhaps did not even want to by that point. After years, how could anyone ever remember their humanity? He had loathed the Nether Spirits for their cruelty, remembering the endless hours in the purification chamber, the horrible pain of their draining his energy...but now he almost felt sorry for them.
"Anubis?"
Anubis looked down at Tarun, smiling a little. "Yes, small one?"
"Can a Nether Spirit ever be saved?"
For a long moment, Anubis did not answer, and Tarun wondered if anyone had ever asked him that. Was he, too, remembering long hours in the purification chamber? Was he thinking of innocent people being tortured for years upon years? "I don't know," he finally said. "I cannot think that it has ever been done. Or attempted. I think that if it were possible, they would need to be drawn from the Nether World first. But it is my opinion that it's not possible. I think that once they have been transformed, that even if they could be changed back, it would be a cruelty in itself for the spirit."
Tarun did not like that answer! He didn't think there should be things that could not be fixed in one way or another; there was always a way to fix something! Maybe not perfectly, but there was always a way, even if a person never found out the way! He did not ask about the Nether Spirits again, and even managed to push the matter to the back of his mind. But he did not forget it completely. It was not a thing easily forgotten.
"When you are able to breech Talpa's defenses," said Anubis, briefly explaining what the phrase meant when Tarun asked, "I will be going in with you. I will be able to help hold the Nether Spirits back...but I have another task to perform there as well."
"What's the task?"
"To destroy Badamon."
Tarun felt his eyebrows go up as if they had a mind of their own. "I know that name! Kento and Cye said he's the jerk that grabbed him and the other Ronin and sucked them into the Nether World!"
Yes." The word was grim and final. "I have fought him once before, and will destroy him this time. He is the one who leads the Nether Spirits, and is one himself, the oldest of Talpa's Nether Spirits. He had caused suffering for countless centuries. As long as he exists, Ryo and the others will be in danger, even if...when...we manage to get them back to their home."
How did one destroy a spirit? Could they even be destroyed? They were already dead! He asked Anubis if it was possible.
The man gazed at the chimes on his staff for several moments before nodding. "Yes," he said, but didn't offer any more details. Tarun decided he really didn't want to know.
The two of them walked in silence, and Tarun wondered why Anubis had not come before this. He was about to ask when he heard a high-pitched shriek, and stopped cold, looking wildly about. For a moment he wasn't sure where it had come from, and saw that Anubis looked around alertly as well, and then the cry came again. Tarun looked back towards where they'd just come from and saw the shadows of Dynasty soldiers. "Hey..." Tarun said quietly, feeling suddenly shaky, his first instinct to rush in right then and there and attack the group, his second instinct to run.
"It may be best to avoid them," said Anubis, frowning, "depending on how many there are. But there's something..."
Tarun thought so too, at first, though it only seemed to be a small group of them, and Tarun wondered what they were doing there. He panicked for a moment thinking they were after him, but a moment later the high-pitched shriek came again, and Tarun's eyes went wide. They were chasing down a very young human.
It was no longer a question, whether he should go in and fight. Tarun clenched his fists, began sprinting at the group, calling his armor as he did. One of the armor soldiers glanced up, and Tarun yelled at the top of his lungs, "HEY! Let him go!"
That got their attention. There were six of them, and as Tarun yanked his sling from its pouch, he doubted for just a moment whether he'd done a wise thing. But he remembered fighting the Dynasty soldiers, and they were not difficult to destroy—and he could no more leave some child to their mercy than he could walk right up and surrender to them!
The first one that had noticed him let go of the child's arm—Tarun saw the kid was a boy, maybe five years old, who ran away sobbing in fright. The soldier lifted a weapon that looked like a scythe with a mace and chain on the end, and Tarun charged into the fight.
