Ancient Legacy
Chapter 29
"You want to join us?" Leo asked the armored demon standing before them.
"Yes."
"Well, that's strange." said Mikey.
"The story of our lives." Raph commented.
"This requires some serious thinking." said Donnie.
Keeping their eyes on the demon, the mutants stood close together and talked in low voices about what to do.
"What should we do?" Mona asked.
"I'm not sure, we need to know if we can trust this guy before deciding." said Leo.
"Don't tell me you're actually considering this. He's a demon!" said Raph.
"He also saved my life, and we could sure use whatever info he might have on the rest of them. If he's sincere about this, then we could gain a powerful ally."
"That still requires that we find the answer to the question if we can trust him." said Tyroth.
"Whatever we're going to do, we'd better do so fast. Someone will come and investigate the explosion eventually and we shouldn't be here by then." said Sephie.
"I think I have an idea." said Donnie "If some of us take our 'guest' somewhere else, the rest of us can go back to Mutopia and ask for advice."
"The role of guide would fall to me then." said Tyroth.
"Why?" asked Mikey.
"Think about it. In case he tries something, whoever guards him will be at risk, to minimize that risk, only those that are immune should guard him. That means me, Mona and Sephie, but Mona's injured and the rest of you need someone that knows the city and since I'm the strongest."
"We get it." said Leo "Where do you suggest that we take him?"
"How about the old slaughterhouse down by the 35:th? You can get in there straight from the sewers, it's offside and nobody pays it any attention." said Sephie.
After a bit more discussion about the details, the turtles and lizards headed back to Mutopia once Tyroth had escorted Raithior out of the immediate area. During their journey to the slaughterhouse, Tyroth kept close watch on the demon, ready to cut him down if he would try to attack or run away.
It took twenty minutes for the two to reach the manhole leading into the slaughterhouse. Keeping his eyes on Raithior, Tyroth climbed the ladder, removing the lid slightly, he quickly checked that the building was empty then climbed up. To his surprise, Raithior followed him up the ladder without any objections.
The room they were in had white tiles covering the floor and walls, hooks on chains hanged from a rail in the ceiling. Two large doors stood ajar, leading to a large fridge and freezer long since shut off. Old workbenches attached to the walls were covered in dust and all windows were boarded up from the outside.
Leaning at one of the benches, Tyroth continued to keep watch over Raithior, as he investigated the room from the opposite side of the room. Minutes of silence passed before Raithior spoke.
"You do not trust me." he said.
"No. Up till now, everyone of your kind that we've met has tried to kill us. One even brainwashed me and almost made me kill those I care about. So, what reason, other than what you could fake, do we have to trust you?"
"None, and with all right."
"Then why? For what reason have you decided to turn your back on your own kind? I'm not saying that I trust you, but you saved my friend, so I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt."
"The reason that I want to join you, is to bring change to my people."
Raithior's statement peeked Tyroth's curiosity. That kind of reason was not what he had expected to hear from a demon, even under falsehood.
"Do you know of our origin? Of what we were before?" Raithior asked.
"No, the only thing I know about you is that you serve the Evil One and seek to free him."
"By finding the key hidden on this world, yes, but we have not always been in his service. Once we had a world of our own. It was not a perfect existence, with the corruption within our government, but at least we had no war. We looked quite different back then, more like what your people believe that these 'angels' look like, judging from the statues I have seen."
"According to some religions, demons are believed to be fallen angels." Tyroth let slip.
"Such irony, as that is just what we are, those that have fallen." Raithior chuckled with a hint of sadness. "Forgive me, I digress. As I said, our existence was not perfect, and it got worse. When I was but a boy, the Evil One came to our world and we could do little to stop him. We were not fighters and any who tried to fight were wiped out together with anyone else in his wake, including all of my family save for my older brother, but the worst was still to come.
One among us, Xazahl, a corrupt member of the government, pleaded to our destroyer, begging him to spare his life. In exchange, the Evil One would be given a loyal army to do his bidding, Xazahl gave him our entire people in hopes to save his own life. We were twisted into what you have already seen, as were Xazahl. He was to be our lord, in order to follow our 'master's decree. Over the eons, we laid waste to many worlds, slaughtering countless so our master could feed on their souls.
When he was imprisoned several went their own way, but Xazahl kept most of us in line, seeking to free the Evil One. We then found your world, I think you know what happened next."
"The war between dragons and demons."
"Yes. When they sacrificed themselves to create the field that forced us away from this world, we noticed that it was flawed and that, in time, it would weaken enough for a few of us at a time to journey inside, and now it is quite weak hence our invasion. But there was one thing that few of us noticed, with our master sealed away, he had no influence over us any longer.
We simply continued to serve him because that was all we had done for such a long time that most of us had forgotten our past. We may not even have been under any influence to begin with, and all the atrocities we have committed have been out of our own will.
When I discovered this, I did not know what to do, so I bided my time and studied your people for many of your years. You have evil amongst you and yet there are those that fight for others that can not, seeking to end injustice. And then, there is you and those like you, outcasts. Despite being feared and even hated by most, you still protect them the best you can. You fight for them, even though you get nothing in return, save for a few kind words.
You have a spark. You never seem to lose that which my people since long have lost, that which I believe that I have found again after watching you. You have got hope, hope of a better tomorrow, hope of a world of peace, hope of love. What I fight for is to bring hope to my people, to show them that we can live a new life if we just try, a life without the Evil One.
If I have to fight them to show them the error of our ways, if I have to die for them to understand, then so be it, at least I have tried."
Walking towards Tyroth, Raithior fell to one knee in front of him, keeping his head tall.
"Now you know why I wish to join you, I believe that we can save both our people from their dark fates. You now hold my life in your hands, will you let me join or shall I attempt to convince my people on my own? Or is it death that awaits me? I will abide by your decision and I thank you for taking your time to listen." Raithior lowered his head, looking as knight waiting to be dubbed.
"That's not for me to decide, at least not alone and not now, but for what it's worth, a part of me believe you."
As Raithior stood up, the lid to the manhole was pushed aside from underneath. Both warriors instinctively reached for their weapons, but relaxed when they saw Leonardo climb up out of the hole. The blue-masked turtle was followed by Sephie, Raphael, Splinter and George.
"I think I am getting too old for these sort of things." George complained.
"I take it everything went well." said Tyroth.
"Yeah, Mona is in the medical-room together with Donnie, getting her wounds checked." said Sephie.
"She is in good hands with your doctor." said Splinter "Now on to the task at hand."
"So your elders are the ones that will decide my fate." said Raithior. "Then I suppose they want to hear the same story that I told you."
"That won't be necessary." said Tyroth and held up his shell-cell. "They've heard everything we've said since we got here, thanks to this."
"Good thing that you can choose whether to transmit or receive, in addition to the standard two-way communication." said Sephie. "And smart of Donnie to suggest it."
"Technology... fascinating." said Raithior, not quite sure how the device worked.
Splinter walked forward to Raithior and locked eyes with him, giving the demon a stern look. Raithior didn't back away, he simply stood there while the old rat looked into his yellow eyes.
"Your eyes show that you carry a lot of guilt and regret for what you have done in the past." Splinter said after a few minutes. "I also see doubt and sadness, but deeper within you there is both good and honor."
The mutants walked aside for a short while, discussing the fate of Raithior. As they talked, Raithior waited patiently and while he didn't show it, he was feeling a bit nervous. But, no matter what they decided, he would honor their decision. Nearly ten minutes passed before they were finished.
"We've come to a decision." said Leo. "We have agreed that you can join us and stay with us in Mutopia."
"You honor me with this decision and I humbly thank you." Raithior said as he bowed.
"You do understand that we will be letting you come with us to our most sacred place and that we place a lot of trust in you. I pray that we have not made a mistake." said George.
"You will not regret it. I swear on my honor that I will let no harm come to you, your home or those that live there, while I still draw breath."
"We'll be watching you anyway." said Raph, still skeptical to the whole idea.
"If that's all, then we'd better get moving. It'll take a while before we get back." said Tyroth.
The seven figures made their way down into the sewers and started walking. Leo, Tyroth and Sephie kept checking Raithior, just in case he had lied, but Raph never took his eyes of their new 'ally', all but convinced that they couldn't trust him.
The team gets a strange new ally, but is he truly trustworthy or is it all just a lie? Will Raphael do something rash as his suspicions grows? And how will Raithior react to Mutopia?
Find out next time.
