Chapter 36: A Fallen Wizard

A/N: Thanks for waiting patiently these last few weeks, my exams are finally over and I have plenty of time left over to finish this fanfic, although technically I still have one week off but I had this chapter waiting on the sidelines. I have worked out all of my future chapters, though I won't say how many there will be, just know that there's still a lot to go. I'm also wrapping up the last few back stories for the villains and this one took me a while to figure out, had to take ideas from Fairy Tail and monster concepts from Middle-Earth lore. On a side note I have updated the OC bios on my profile and now their skills can be known, though not all are there. Anyway, I hope you continue reading this and enjoy it.

The rain pelted down hard on the steel roof, outside was dark and cloudy, such was the weather at that time. Leanbox was known for its fine weather despite a few rain showers every now and then, but this time the rain had lasted longer and was more heavier than before. Inside what appeared to be an abandoned factory that had been repaired stood a tall man with grey robes, a mask and a curved spiky sword in place of his right arm, he stared at the weather from a cracked glass window and uttered not a single word. Silence reigned in the place. Finally it was broken as another tall person, a woman, walked up beside the masked man known as Kharzark the Interrogator.

"The whole country of Leanbox will be covered in dark clouds and rain," said the tall woman. "I think even parts of Planeptune will be under this rainfall."

"Nothing dampens your spirits does it, Arfoire?" replied Kharzark. He took a moment to look at her attire, which was something he didn't usually do. Arfoire had a gothic appeal, was dressed in black with hints of purple, she appeared to be grey-white skinned with blood red eyes, had dark make-up around her eyes and lips and a very big witch hat with a golden leaf and thorn purple rose spiralling around. Her outfit consisted of a bustier like top with thick bands/strings going up the centre to hold it together, along with unattached sleeves and noticeable clawed nails. The hair was of a purple colour and was shoulder length with very short slanted bangs and hair framing her right cheek. Overall Kharzark found her to be very weird, but he had seen weirder things before.

The witch had been recruited by Agandur's Right Hand a while back not long after he had encountered Abnes. The old hag, as the Right Hand had first called her, was at first unsure about the concept of joining sides with a group from another dimension, that was until she heard about their plans of world domination. She was quick to sign up. But Arfoire had never expected to be teamed up with Kharzark, she had been warned that the tall man gave off a frightening scent and when the gothic witch arrived in the Zune District she soon realised what they meant, Kharzark appeared barely human due to his appearance, yet Arfoire knew that there was more to him than meets the eye.

Afoire grinned at him before returning her gaze to the weather outside. "This place brings make memories, though not very fond ones. I almost managed to kill the Goddesses around here on this island before their damn little sisters and their friends came and rescued them."

"A pity you didn't manage to kill them when you had the chance, sounds like you're weaker than I thought."

Arfoire shrugged. "Whatever, you're lucky that I'm not going to to tear your tongue out after I rip that mask of your face. Though I must say, your female friend utterly failed with her task in Lowee, she was an absolute wreck when I found her."

"Oh, you mean Severia? I heard about what happened up there, must say I was surprised at first that she failed, then again she did what most people did in certain situations: underestimate the enemy. It seems that the Shadow Walker and his companions were more than she bargained for."

"Tell me, this Shadow Walker that Agandur's Right Hand talked about a while back, is he tough in battle?"

"Sort of, he is unpredictable and is able to dish out heavy attacks yet his body seems frail without the use of Share Energy. I find it strange that the Right Hand wants him alive for the return of the Dark Lord, can't see how that boy can do anything for our master. Although, his friend is on a whole different level." Kharzark's spine shivered and he shuddered as he remembered the time he saw Angel and Iris Heart together in battle, their sadistic nature leaving a permanent mark on him.

"Interesting, it seems like you have a fear of something then, I'm rather surprised that a man like you actually fears that boy." Arfoire couldn't help but snigger at Kharzark, causing the masked man to look at her and snarl viciously.

"Shut your mouth, or I'll tear your head off!"

"Fine then, seems like I can't have a bit of fun around here." As Arfoire turned around and walked away she stopped and looked back at Kharzark, her face filled with questions. "What is behind that mask of yours? Let me guess; did you suffer a severe accident? Or perhaps something else entirely?"

Kharzark looked away from Arfoire, the atmosphere turning grim and silent. "I'd… rather not answer that. Now get lost, there's work to be done."

Arfoire took one last look at the tall man and silently snarled at him, she hated being ordered around and felt weak because of it, but she would not allow her pride to overtake her emotions and decided, bitterly, to go along with Kharzark's words. Kharzark heard Arfoire's footsteps go away down one of the factory's corridors, to where he did not care, his mind was thinking about something else: his past. The masked man sighed and continued to watch the rain pelt down onto the ground from his position at the large window.

"They will never understand, no one will understand," Kharzark mumbled to himself quietly. "True, all of us Dark Captains have had some sort of drama in our past and each story is different, including mine."

It was another sunny morning day in the Empire, the sun was high in the sky and was shining brightly upon everyone, there were little clouds and the wind was bare. Altogether it could be said that it was a good yet warm day. In a town known as Tylis there was a commotion occurring in the town centre where a travelling wizard had just arrived and was showing off his skills to the populace, it was none other than Kharzark. The travelling wizard was well known in the southern lands of the Empire for his unrivalled skill in fire magic, not to mention his handsome looks that made many women fall head-over-heals, even married women had a hard time resisting his charms. It had been known that Kharzark would usually try to avoid any harem situations at all costs when it came to relationships, he would even avoid one-on-one relationships, in fact it had been rumoured that Kharzark would sneak away from his stage acts once finished due to this problem. IT was true that he was shy at times.

The town centre was filled with all manner of market stores, shops, a blacksmith and a small wooden stage out in the open, the surrounding buildings were made of stone and wood. In the centre of the stage stood Kharzark. The tall man had shoulder length dark blue hair without any bangs covering his forehead, grey robes with long sleeves and also covered most of the area around his legs, gold lining was also included along the rims of the sleeves and robe. Black pants could just be seen underneath his robes and dark brown gloves were on his hands. His face was clean and bright, his grey eyes were gazed upon the large crown in front of him and a grin was on his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you all for turning up to see me embarrass myself in front of you by showing off my magic skills," roared Kharzark in a loud voice that everyone in the town centre could hear clearly, even the partially deaf. "Today I intend to awe you with something I haven't tried as of yet: fireworks and creating creatures purely made of fire."

The crowd was silent with amazement just from hearing what he was going to attempt for them, they were also confused as to what fireworks were, they had not heard of such a thing before. As Kharzark rose his right hand in the air he took a short moment to look at the oversized crowd of people that had arrived from all around the town and even the countryside to see what he had in store. There were many people of all ages present, even members of the higher classes were there to watch him, what amazed the tall wizard was that commoners and the rich were intermingled in the crowd side-by-side. As Kharzark looked over to his left he saw a small group of people huddled together near the tavern, they here hooded and cloaked plus they also seemed to be staring straight at him, despite it all Kharzark chose to ignore them and continue with his performance.

The fire wizard held his right hand high in the air and a red rune appeared just above it, then bright red jets of fire shot forth into the air for miles and miles until they collided, huge sparks of fire burst together in the sky and so the people of the imperial town of Tylis were the first to see the wonders of fireworks. The crowd cheered as the display entered its final stage and they clapped their hands as the fireworks continued to occur in the sky while Kharzark bowed to them. The fire wizard stood straight and a large smile was on his face, clearly he was very happy with the response that he got from the crowd.

"I thank you all for enjoying that, took me a while to master it," said Kharzark with the smile still intact. He could hear the yelling of women and feel the jealous glares from the men, after years of performing his magic tricks he hadn't been able to get used to it. With a light chuckle he scratched the back of his head.

"Well then, let's get on with the next act," spoke Kharzark. "Next up I will be creating creatures from all over the Empire and beyond with my fire magic."

Many people were keenly interested in what Kharzark was going to create with his fire, they knew of many creatures that lived in the Empire but they had only heard rumours of what lived outside the borders to the north and west. Kharzark raised both his hands together and shouted in a loud voice that could be heard by anyone in town.

"Fire Serpent!"

A rune appeared in the palms of his hands and out came a long snake-like fire dragon, its jaws wide open and teeth bare for all to see, its fire scale skin flared in the morning sun and its claws were large. It glared at everyone in the crowd and roared at the top of its lungs – if it had lungs at all. People began to panic and were prepared to disperse until Kharzark got their attention once more.

"It's alright, he's harmless, that is until I tell him to go wild. But do not fear, that is not going to happen," Kharzark explained to them in a calm voice. The fire serpent growled and sniffed the air, for some reason it looked over to the group huddled outside the tavern and growled even louder, causing Kharzark to stare at them suspiciously. He knew that whenever his fire serpent stared and growled at someone or a group of people it meant that trouble was near. The fire wizard quickly decided to ignore it for now and continue with his tricks.

"This fire serpent is usually used for combat, and he has a good scent whenever trouble is nearby," explained Kharzark, throwing a glance at the group by the tavern, the group looked up at him and he could sense their snarls. "Anyway, time to create more creatures made of fire, hope you like them."

The fire serpent disappeared and Kharzark raised his hands in front of him once more, another rune appeared in the palms of his hands and fire erupted from it, the fire took many forms of different animals and creatures that roamed the lands of the Empire and beyond its borders. There were rabbits, ducks, wolves, dogs, cats, different types of birds, deer and fish, then there were the creatures that were rumoured to live far to the north in an area where not even barbarians dare live. These creatures ranged from ogres to trolls, even snake-like dragons that roared in high pitch squeals. The crowd could only wonder how Kharzark knew of them, had he perhaps seen them with his own eyes? That would be a fair guess as the travelling fire wizard was known to go adventuring across all parts of the Empire, even perhaps outside the borders as well.

The day wore on as Kharzark kept up the fireworks and the fire creature summoning, the crowd continued to be dazzled with the magnificent display of magic that Kharzark threw at them for their enjoyment, many began to call him the greatest wizard in the Empire to his own embarrassment. The fire wizard was quick to explain that he was not the greatest as the emperor's battlemage was meant to hold that title. Finally the town bell rang its noonday tone, causing Kharzark to stop his performance.

"And that concludes my performance," he said in a cheerful tone. "I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I might come around here again to do something different, or perhaps not, I can't make any promises."

The crowd cheered and shouted his name in praise. "Kharzark! Kharzark! Kharzark! Kharzark!"

The tall fire wizard flushed red in his cheeks and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, this is a bit embarrassing."

The late afternoon sun began to fall over the horizon to the west, leaving a red/orange sky in its wake. On a stone cobble path with many trees and bushes along the sides walked Kharzark the Fire Wizard, he walked on the path to the north-west towards another town that happened to be nearby, a place called Larissa. A backpack was on his back and his hands were still at his sides, his eyes glanced everywhere in his sight before him and he listened to his surroundings. Kharzark was being cautious. Ever since the performance the fire wizard had been on his guard due to his fire serpent spying out a suspicious band of people that happened to be watching him, it was obvious to Kharzark that someone was after him.

"But I wonder, who might be after me?" Kharzark asked himself. "I am sure I haven't upset anyone out there in the magic community, I'm not that good a wizard to be much of a threat. Then again, it could be some rogue wizard with a band of ruffians, they're becoming a bit more common now."

Everything in the Empire was not all that well at that time. The eastern coast had been suffering from pirate attacks for a few months already under the command of a pirate queen, then there had been talk of strange summons from the Northern Wasteland, by whom no one knew, of course there was talk of the Nameless One and his approach towards the northern border of the Empire. The barbarians were also restless and there had been talk of a small army going to reinforce the border, but that wasn't going to happen for a while, for a month at least.

"Well whatever is going to happen, let it happen. I'm ready for anything!" boasted Kharzark.

"You sure about that, fire wizard?" asked someone from the densely covered trees and bushes.

Kharzark stood his ground and raised his hands in a defensive position. "Who's' there? Show yourself!"

"You honestly don't recognise my voice? Such insolence, to think you are known to be the greatest wizard in the whole southern region of the Empire, not to forget your memory is not what it used to be." The owner of the voice came forward from the shrubbery and let Kharzark look. It was a man looking to be at least in his thirties, he had swaying green hair with bangs that covered his forehead and sides of his head, his eyes were ice blue, he wore what appeared to be leather armour on his chest, arms and legs underneath a dark grey coat. Kharzark's eyes widened in shock and he immediately became angry.

"Why are you here, Gismarick?" growled Kharzark.

"Isn't it simple? To take you back home for punishment, it was because of you that my father is in prison, it is because of you that everything was taken away from me, you are to blame for everything Kharark! Or should I say, Brutus," replied Gismarick.

"I'm to blame?! I was a slave for sixteen years to that bastard you call a father! Do you not remember that slavery was banned by emperor Aetius the Pious over two hundred years ago?"

"Yes it was banned then, but the Black Market has boomed with slaves ever since that day. You should have been grateful that my father took you as a slave, your barbarian mother and traitorous imperial father left you to your fate. But you just had to escape and tell the local governor what was going on, and because of that I lost everything while my father is still incarcerated! I'll make you suffer."

Four more men came forth from the undergrowth bearing weapons ranging from swords to spears to bows, they were clad in leather chainmail armour and stood next to Gismarick. The green haired man had a wicked grin on his face as he stared at Kharzark. "Now then, come along quietly or else," Gismarick warned the fire wizard.

Kharzark quickly raised his right hand at Gismarick and shouted. "Fireball!"

A large ball of fire launched from the palm of Kharzark's right hand and flew straight into Gismarck's face, causing the man to scream out in pain and hold his hands over his face. His armoured companions rushed forward to avenge their leader and attack the fire wizard. One of them held a two-handed sword and swung it at Kharzark, the fire wizard dodged the attack and swiftly pressed the palm of his right hand against the chest of the sword bearer.

"Fireball!"

The sword bearer was hit with the full impact of the attack and sent to the ground in pain. As Kharzark ducked and weaved he managed to avoid getting hit by a spear and an arrow, but he was then hit in the face by the pummel of a sword, sending the wizard to the ground. Undaunted, the fire wizard threw himself to his feet and raised his hands in front of him and a rune appeared as he ran around the place to avoid getting pierced by arrows.

"Fire Serpent!"

Out came Kharzark's battle companion, the fire serpent, it glared viciously at the attackers before breathing fire out of its mouth and onto the archer, roasting him alive. The others looked on and grimaced grimly as they charged into the thick of combat once more, this time accompanied by Gismarick who now had the right half of his face burnt. The green haired man snarled at Kharzark and brandished his steel sword along with a small round shield with a spike in the centre, he then charged towards the fire wizard.

Kharzark threw more fireballs at his opponents and managed to hit a few of them, yet he could tell that time was against him, the wizard had used up a lot of his magical power back in Tylis and was slow at replenishing it. With a slight growl he ducked a swing from a sword and barely managed to avoid getting pierced by a spear. His fire serpent was under heavy attack by Gismarick who was a lot more quicker on his feet than Kharzark had first thought, it was going to cause him problems. Gismarick sidestepped the fire serpent and swung his sword through the long neck of the creature, slaying it and sending it away in shards of fire.

"Heh, is that all you can manage?" taunted Gismarick, he grimaced with pain as the smouldering ruin of one side of his face continued to release smoke.

The fire wizard looked at the attacking group with annoyance. "Fine then, if it is a close combat fight you want then I'll give it to you. Flame Cloak!"

Kharzark became engulfed in fire and his eyes glared fiercely, now he was almost untouchable and his scary demeanour made him fearsome to behold. Gismarick snarled and charged into combat once again. Kharzark threw another fireball at Gismarck but missed the target and instead hit the spear wielder in the chest, causing the man to cry out in pain as he had been wearing very light armour, he fell to the ground and was hit by another fireball, this time killing him. Kharzark dodged attacks and would reply with fireballs and the usual kick or punch, however, he sensed that his time was almost up and all of his magical power was drained. After punching someone in the face the fire wizard knelt on the ground in exhaustion and the flame cloak disappeared.

Gismarick, undaunted and almost completely worn out, ran up to Kharzark and swung his sword straight through the fire wizard's right arm, severing it from his body. As the fire wizard yelled out in pain Gismarick kicked him in the face, sending Kharzark to the ground flat on his back. The green haired man looked down at the former slave and a wicked grin appeared on his face.

"Now then, it is time to take you away, we have got a lot of catching up to do," Gismarick said in a frightening tone.

Night had fallen over the land and yet everything was anything but peaceful deep in the Catulonian Forest, inside an abandoned villa screams could be heard if anyone was to get near the ruined mess. Outside a room stood the surviving comrades of Gismarick, they stood guard at the door and listened the painful screaming that was coming from the other side. It was obvious as to what was happening: Kharzark the Fire Wizard was being tortured by Gismarick.

"Come on! Scream for me! Feel the pain, slave!" yelled Gismarick as he continuously punched Kharark in the face.

Kharzark, who had been chained to the wall in the cellar, had been undergoing Gismarick's torture all night and felt numb in his legs, arms, chest, gut and very soon his face was about to go numb from all the pain he was enduring. The green haired man grinned and held a large piece of iron, the tip of it was burning hot and was aimed straight at Kharzark's face, it was clear what was going to happen next. The fire wizard felt it was ironic to be tortured with the very element he was supposed to control.

The burning piece of iron was smashed against Kharzark's face and the pain he felt was beyond anything he had imagined, the sizzling of flesh rang through the ears of the fire wizard and Gismarick, the green haired man was smirking wickedly. After what seemed like an eternity the iron bar was removed from Kharzark's face, then Gismarick peered at it with great interest. The face of Kharzark barely resembled the once great fire wizard. The severe punches and the hot iron had reformed Kharzark's features until he was almost unrecognisable to anyone. The thought of that happening brought a smile to Gismarick's face.

"Heh, you're almost unrecognisable you know, but we are not done with our one-on-one time here," chuckled Gismarick. The green haired man got close to Kharzark, so close that the fire wizard could feel the man's breath on his ruined and scarred face. "You like fire, don't you? Well I'm going to give you more of it-!"

In an instant Kharzark head-butted Gismarick in the face and broke the green haired man's nose, as he fell to the floor yelling in pain Kharzark's remaining hand opened up and a magical rune appeared in the palm. "Fire Cloak!"

Gismarick looked up and saw a frightening sight, Kharzark remained chained to the wall but was engulfed in a dense fire, the chains were starting to overheat and melt, causing much pain to the fire wizard. Kharzark's appearance was what Gismarick would call intimidating and frightening. Eventually the chains melted and the fire wizard fell to the ground in front Gismarick, the green haired man looked up when Kharzark stood up and immediately became filled with fear, it seemed to him that he was staring at the most fearsome being he had encountered. Thus the Interrogator was born.

"You… I will make you suffer in hell!" yelled Kharzark.

The heavily scarred fire wizard picked up Gismarick with his remaining hand and let the flame cloak engulf around the green haired man, but instead of it acting as a shield it was burning the flesh off him. Gismarick screamed in pain and tried to get out of Kharzark's grip but to no avail, it wasn't long until Gismarick had turned into fried meat. With a satisfied sigh Kharzark threw the corpse down to the ground and looked at the door where two voices could be heard, it was the remaining companions of Gismarick.

"Fine then, guess I'll just have to kill them too," grumbled the fire wizard.

Kharzark walked up to the door and knocked on it, on the other side the remaining two companions looked at each other with surprised looks on their faces, both of them were highly unsure why someone was knocking on the door from the inside. One companion, a person who wielded a two-handed sword, opened the door and peered inside, he got a fist covered in fire smashing into his face in response by Kharzark. The hit sent the man flying into a wall head first, snapping his neck. The surviving companion of the now deceased Gismarick was too slow to avoid his own death at the hands of a savage Kharzark, it was a gruesome death.

The once proud fire wizard had been reduced to a shadow of his former self, he stood in the ruined villa with the corpses of his enemies around him and a solemn appearance on his face, he gripped his wrist tightly and stared ahead of him. The torture session had not only altered Kharzark's appearance but also his mind had snapped, the last vestiges of his original personality became a smouldering ruin underneath a more savage and brutal mind.

"Agony, it's all I can feel," mumbled Kharzark to himself. "By the name of Hell itself, what am I supposed to do now? I won't disappear because of this, I cannot do that. But, I'm changed beyond believe. Grrrr, what am I supposed to do?!"

The rain began to falter away and the clouds parted enough to let Kharzark see the full moon in the late night sky, surprisingly it gave a soothing feeling to him and he welcomed it. The clanking of metal against metal stirred Kharzark from his silence, he turned around to see a few Dark Followers either trying to sleep or were building some strange machines – at least in Kharzark's eyes. From what he could get out of Arfoire earlier in the day the machines were supposed to be turrets designed to fight and kill their targets, a strange device the once proud fire wizard thought, but useful nonetheless. They were preparing the island for a defensive battle.

"Guess they are useful for something after all," mumbled Arfoire, who happened to be nearby observing the whole endeavour.

"You could help them you know," Kharzark attempted to reason to the gothic witch.

"And why would I do that?"

"Respect of course."

"Respect? Take a look at yourself, people don't respect you, they fear you. That is why you are called the Interrogator, is it not?"

Kharzark growled at Arfoire. "Yeah, I know that. But deep down I want to be respected, even though I know that won't happen any time soon with the way I am."

Arfoire looked at Kharzark with a confused expression, but shrugged it off and walked away, leaving the fire wizard alone by himself at the window, although he could hear the witch mumbling to herself about using eggplant creatures for the defence of the island. He looked outside to see the rain had finally stopped, the cracked window was covered in rain drops and water was leaking through the crack. Kharzark decided to resume his attention to the night sky that laid outside, despite the loud noises that occurred around him he kept quiet and continued to stare outside, at what no one was sure, not even Kharzark himself. The night was long and the sounds of the construction of machines rang from the old ruined factory through the air, the seeds of war were being planted.