Chapter 121: An Unlikely Rescuer
Pierce woke up to find himself in chains.
Looking around, he was restrained to the wall of some kind of massive cave. His fellow wizards were arranged in a line in either side of him, Sarph at the far end and Erik next to him. "Erik?" he hissed, hoping that the Poison wizard's enhanced hearing would function even while he was asleep. "Wake up!"
Erik's mouth twitched, and Pierce heard his friend's voice in his ear. "I'm awake. Pretending to be unconscious. Throwing my voice. No one's come in but there's four people in the next cave. Said they're waiting for Sarph to wake up. Grace is up and threw a tantrum but was ignored. Chains are Vengestone. Can't use magic. Weapons are in the corner,"
Pierce scanned the room and saw Sarph's sword, Boomer's boombox and his flute piled together at the far end of the room. How had they gotten his flute? . . Right, he'd Requipped it before passing out. "Kit? Raya! Anyone?!" he shouted, desperately trying to get the attention of his beasts. With the crack in his flute, they could summon themselves.
Intellectually, Pierce knew it was pointless. His beasts couldn't hear anything from outside the flute. The only way to get their attention was to tap his finger against the lacrima inside the flute. But he couldn't give up, he wouldn't let his friends suffer!
It was a few minutes, but eventually Sarph stirred. The knight immediately winced, looking at his arm. His left arm was a bloody mess, and even twitching it sent pain running through his body.
"Keep still. They've been waiting for you to wake up. I'm throwing my voice," Erik hissed in his ear. Sarph imperceptibly nodded. "Four people in the next cave. Two men, two women. One's the lady from the train station. Entropy. Also that man who knocked us out. His name's Thick,"
"He's awake," A voice echoed through the cave, and through one of the two openings that Pierce could see, four people entered.
The first was the same man who had knocked them unconscious. Thick. The second was Entropy, her green and purple fan of hair clashing wildly with her pixelated red and black dress. Behind her was a woman with vibrant red hair, wearing a maid's outfit and black leather boots. If Pierce were to guess, this would be Nino Servhardt, the woman they'd been looking for.
And, bringing up the rear, was the tallest human they'd ever seen. At least eight feet tall, he wore form-fitting blue armour reinforced with silver, halted near the guard, whose head was on the same level as his elbows. His head, protected by three beetle-like spikes that extended from each shoulder and his back, was covered by a smooth mask with amber-coloured eyeholes. Sarph inhaled.
"So. You must be the Swordmaster of Destruction," Pierce greeted the massive warrior. But he ignored the wizards, and the three took up positions of an honour guard around Entropy.
"Did you kill him?" Entropy quietly asked, eyeing Pierce.
". . who?"
"My creature. The train. Did you kill him?"
"Yeah. What did you expect, sending a monster after us?" Erik demanded, abandoning his pretence of unconsciousness.
"How dare you?" the woman quietly asked, turning her focus to Erik.
"Excuse me?" the Dragon Slayer retorted.
"What gives you the right to take something so precious as a life and destroy it?" Entropy demanded.
"Oh, don't even try!" Everyone turned to see Cal, next to Grace, disdainfully glaring at Entropy. "You think you're such a, a, a paragon of goodness? Your mind-controlled flunkies there might beg to differ!"
Entropy scoffed. "Nino? Thick? Swordmaster? Am I controlling your minds?"
Nino demurely shook her head, and Thick scoffed. "Try again, buster," The Swordmaster was impassive, but behind those emotionless amber eyepieces, something seemed to regard Calvin with irritation.
"Tell me, do the rest of you know who he is?" Entropy suddenly addressed the rest of the group, looking only mildly interested.
"He's our friend!" Grace immediately retorted, to a smug grin from Calvin.
"I see. Pity. Well, it doesn't matter," the witch sighed to herself.
"What, are you going to kill us?" Pierce questioned.
"And reduce myself to your level? Hardly," Entropy sighed again, shaking her head. "Look. I don't know what you've been told . . but I'm not the villain here, and I don't want to be your enemy. That said, I can't exactly have you lot interfering any further, so I'm just going to leave you all here for a couple of days while we finish our business. They won't send anyone else after me as long as you're alive, I'm sure, so it's win-win. Don't worry, if you're all half as tough as I'd expect, you'll survive for a day or two without food or water. I'll send someone by to release you all once everything's over and done with. Enjoy your stay," she declared, turning back towards the exit.
Pierce digested this.
But then the Swordmaster coughed. Entropy paused, and the massive warrior gestured with his chin towards Sarph. "Oh, that's right. You said you thought he could be helpful. Very well. Thick?" In an instant, the bulky man crossed the cave and unbolted Sarph's shackles, ignoring the large knight's struggles and half-dragging him to join them.
"Oi! Let us out right -" Erik started, but Pierce interrupted. "Stop!" He addressed the command to both Entropy and Erik. Erik paused, and Entropy raised an eyebrow.
"You say you're not a villain. So how about you explain exactly why you're here and what you want,"
"And let go of Sarph, too!" Grace instructed. Sarph nodded, but focused on Pierce. The Tamer had the right idea.
Entropy raised both eyebrows in pleasant surprise. "So you can be reasonable. I suppose it couldn't hurt to share my side of the story,"
Pierce grinned, casting a sidelong look at Erik. Being professional really paid off sometimes. But Erik seemed distracted, his head cocked. Was he hearing something?
"I'll assume that you all already know of the Canopy," the self-proclaimed Mother of Mischief started.
As one, the Phoenixes blinked. "Canopy?" Boomer parroted.
". . No. We don't," Pierce shook his head.
"You don't?" Entropy seemed genuinely surprised for the first time. "Ah," A sudden smile graced her lips. "Well,"She pronounced the word with fresh vigour.
"Everybody!" Suddenly, a new voice interrupted again, and the eleven people in the room all looked, surprised, to the nearby cave entrance. Where an immediately recognisable person stood. Draped in white robes and eyes glinting with insanity, Aberforth the Assassin had his rifle out. "Put your hands in the air like you just don't care!"
A moment of silence followed this declaration.
"I assume he's with you?" Entropy addressed Pierce.
"No, we hate that guy," the blond assured her. "What the hell are you doing here?" he demanded of the Assassin.
Aberforth shrugged. "Beats me. I just go where I'm told,"
"Told? By Yurei?" the Tamer guessed.
The assassin looked blank. "Who?"
Suddenly, he stiffened, and his eyes glowed green. "Please don't challenge his delusions. I've spent a long time making sure he's the perfect vessel. And I see Kitsunetsuki found a loophole," Yurei spat through Aberforth's lips.
"Yurei?!" A more familiar voice echoed through the cave, and, eyeing his flute, Pierce was gratified to see a familiar white shape emerge through the crack. "Pierce, what's . . oh, holy moly," Kit gasped, suddenly taking in the scene.
"Sorry for not getting you, but I'm kind of tied up," Pierce apologised.
"Yurei?" Entropy repeated, staring at Aberforth in shock and what seemed to be approaching fear. "Y-Yurei?"
While they were distracted, Kit crossed the room and was on Pierce's shoulder. "You aren't as clever as you think you are," he growled.
"I don't have to be clever. I just have to win," Suddenly, Aberforth's body convulsed. Fangs erupted from his jaw, and his eyes turned reptilian. Everyone gasped, watching the forcible Yokai Unison overtake the Assassin.
"Now," Yurei hissed. "Tell me where my father is, or I will turn your human friends' blood into acid and let them slowly dissolve into a puddle of their own entrails,"
"Your father?" Pierce asked. "Why would we know where your father is?"
"Pierce, he's not talking to us," Kit whispered, gesturing to Entropy, who looked positively shellshocked. Shudders wracking her body, she raised a hand at arm's length as though trying to push the sight of Aberforth away. "N-no. Stay back,"
Yurei squeezed the trigger. The bullet shot forth, past Mister Thick's arm, and into Entropy's hand . . and passed through her body like she wasn't there, vanishing into the cave wall behind her.
Yurei tched, and the gun vanished into Requip magic. "Oh, that's right. This gun's bullets pass through anything that isn't alive. I suppose that means it's useless against you,"
"I . . you . ." Entropy, for her part, seemed to be too busy having a nervous breakdown to react. Thick took notice. "We've gotta get the boss out of here. Big guy, take this lug," he commanded the Swordmaster, throwing Sarph at him.
"If your reasons were any less pure I would kill you for deigning to give me an order," The Swordmaster lifted Sarph in one hand and cradled Entropy's shaking form with the other, taking them both. "Nino, watch the wizards. Thick, take Yurei down. We'll rendezvous in the Fissure," With that, he took off at a full-tilt run, vanishing in seconds into the other exit to the cave.
"You heard him. Requip!" Thick commanded, pounding his meaty fists together, before materialising the massive spiked weapon that he had used to injure Sarph. "The Mobster!"
"Hey, wait, I'm not here for you," Yurei hissed, baring his fangs, but Thick hit him like a bulldozer, driving him backwards. The struggling men vanished into the cave.
Nino watched them go, before turning to the Phoenixes. "Mistress said to leave you alone . . but the situation's changed . . what would she do?" she mumbled to herself. "Yurei threatens mistress . . Swordmaster protects her . . Thick is capable, but can he beat the Prince? Should I help him?"
"You . . aren't good at making decisions for yourself, are you?" Tyria piped up for the first time, and Nino looked at her. "I just want to help Mistress Entropy . . she's been through so much and she needs me,"
"Could you let us down, then? We want to help our friend too," Pierce gently suggested, but the maid's eyes locked on him and she suddenly looked murderous. "Mistress said you stay here, so you stay here! That's what she'd want me to do! Make sure none of you leave!"
"Ah. Sorry, but that doesn't work for us," Suddenly, Pierce jumped down, the shackles falling away. "Kit let me out while you were distracted. I'm going after my friend. If you try to stop me, then that makes you my enemy,"
Nino looked at him coldly. "So be it. If I've failed, mistress needs to be made aware. Goodbye," She span and sped out of the cave, following the direction that Swordmaster had taken Entropy and Sarph.
The Phoenixes plus Calvin watched her go. "She seems a few sandwiches short," Boomer observed as Pierce and Kit busied themselves removing the chains from their friends.
Once everyone was free, they looked to the team's leader for guidance. But before Pierce could start, the blacksmith spoke up. "They said they're meeting at the Fissure. I know where that is. We can pursue them,"
"Great," Pierce smiled at the new recruit. "But I don't like leaving Yurei and that other guy running around. We need to rescue Sarph, sure, but if we leave them alone they might ambush us,"
"Then we need to split up," Tyria declared.
"The Sonic Boom's back in town, and you know I'm at half strength without it anyway," Boomer agreed. "I can go grab the Sonic Boom, take out those two, and meet you in the Fissure,"
"Not alone you aren't," Pierce nodded assent and considered the group. 'I want to send Erik with Boomer, but that guy and Sound magic are a bad mix. Not Tyria or Grace. But Calvin is still an unknown quantity . . I can't leave Tyria or Grace alone . . but there was no other choice . . Tyria could take care of herself for a bit, right? . . Right? . .' "Tyria, go with him. The rest of us will go after Sarph,"
Erik raised an eyebrow, realising Pierce had forgotten, again, that he was privy to his leader's internal monologue. He was being protective, overprotective even. He needed to talk to Pierce about that.
"Got it," Tyria mock saluted and grinned at her boyfriend, and Pierce responded with a slightly nervous smile, before his two teammates sped away. Before anyone could say anything, Grace moved for the other exit. "Come on!"
"She's got the right idea, we should go," Calvin agreed, following her.
Pierce nodded and made to chase after them, but Erik caught his shoulder - the one that Kit wasn't clinging to. "Hold on. We need to talk,"
The Tamer was surprised, but nodded. "Sure, but let's walk and talk. Sarph's in trouble, we can't just leave him,"
Erik nodded as the two made to catch up with their youngers. "That attitude's what I want to talk to you about,"
". . . Huh?"
"Since the start of this mission, you've been acting weird. You're being overprotective of your friends. Did something happen while I was in jail?"
Pierce paused, and a flash of fear briefly overtook his face. "No, but it could have," he mumbled, before starting to run again.
Erik lightly kept pace and his eyebrow twitched. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Yeah. Talk to us," Kit interjected, looking uncharacteristically serious.
". . I'll tell you later. We have to focus on the mission," the Tamer declared.
"Alright, but this isn't over!" the redhead warned him, before plucking Kit by the ectoplasmic scruff from Pierce's shoulder. "Do you know what's going on with him?"
"Sorry. Not a clue," the yokai admitted.
-[CoT]-
Meanwhile, Tyria and Boomer followed the signs of fighting out through the other cave, and were surprised to find themselves on a hill. A cliff face reared up behind them around the cave, the sun shone down, and they had a spectacular view of the Demuri Estate countryside.
Also, Aberforth and Mister Thick were fighting just below them.
Thick had his spiked weapon out and was lunging at Aberforth, who was still in Yokai Unison with Yurei. The man's white cloak billowed around him as he leapt out of the way of a thrust from the spike, and struck at Thick's head with a long wooden staff.
"Should we just let this play out?" Boomer suggested. "Two of our enemies are fighting each other. This is a rare chance to have a free win,"
"No. They look like they're trying to kill each other, and if one of them dies we won't be able to question them," Tyria pointed out.
"Yeah, I guess you're right," Boomer produced his boombox and aimed it carefully, declaring, "Sonic Blast!" A shockwave of sound raced down the hill and hit both combatants, knocking them off balance. Yurei was thrown into the air, while Thick stumbled and touched his weapon to the ground, using it to support himself.
"Switch!" Tyria half-jokingly declared, charging towards them. "TechType: Tectonics!" Both of her fists swelled into massive metal clubs, and she struck both their assailants with a massive punch. Aberforth went flying and hit a puddle of mud at the bottom of the hill with a splash.
Thick stumbled again, his weapon knocked to the ground, and he steadied himself on the slope, perfectly balanced and aiming the spike at Tyria. "It's rude to interrupt men in the middle of a dispute," he declared. And then the weapon discharged, launching a massive metal spike with a flash of golden magic, striking for Tyria's chest.
The dark-skinned bluenette barely managed to deflect the assault with a metal hand. The spike retracted as she dug her black boots into the soil, steadying herself, and Tyria gazed at the weapon with interest. "Hey. What is that thing? I want one,"
"This is whatcha call a pile bunker," Mister Thick grinned, proudly hefting the massive weapon.
Tyria blinked. "A pile bunker?" She suddenly thought back to the letter she had received during Penny's last interview with the guild. It had questioned if she was going to create a TechType: Pile Bunker. She had thought it referred to becoming an actual building at the time . . oh.
"Yeah. It shoots out a spike on the end of a rope like a cannon. I can punch through anything with this beast," the bulky white man declared.
"Impressive. Is that your only weapon?" Tyria asked.
"It's the only one I need,"
"Great. TechType: Jetpack!" she commanded, releasing her Tectonics and launching into the air. "TechType: Machine Gun II!" And Mister Thick found himself under a hail of bullets. He held up his weapon, using its broad side as a shield. A stray bullet caught his foot, and he screamed, stumbling.
Then a word rang out. "Switch!" The sonic force of the word, amplified by Sound Magic, knocked Mister Thick off his feet, sending him crashing to the ground, where his own weapon fell on him and pinned him.
Tyria landed and reverted. "That was easy," she observed with a smile.
"It's not over yet," Boomer warned, seeing Aberforth staggering towards them.
The Assassin's white cloak was covered in dirt and filth. The green glowing eyes and fangs demonstrated that he was still being directly controlled by Yurei. "Look at what you did!" he roared, gesturing to his coat. "I'm never going to get this clean again!"
Tyria and Boomer stared at him for a second.
Yurei sighed. "I suppose I should expect nothing less from Phoenix's Eye. Now, why are you here, anyway? I'll assume I'm not your target, since that hag and her cronies had you captured before,"
The two Phoenixes exchanged a glance. Keeping their guard up, Tyria answered, "We're on a job. The guy with the big blue armour, you saw before? He's our friend Sarph's old teacher, who turned bad. We're supposed to track him down and bring him to justice. It looks like this is bigger than a swordsman with an axe to grind, though,"
"Wouldn't he be grinding a sword?" Boomer chuckled.
"Oh, ha ha," Tyria rolled her eyes.
"Is that so?" Yurei mused. "Well, I'm here looking for my father. I think Entropy knows where he is,"
"Yokai have fathers?" Boomer asked. "I thought you were just spirits,"
"We're still alive, we can reproduce. Besides, I am the Yokai Prince, son of the Yokai King, the mightiest of all yokai," Yurei declared, looking as dignified as a man with snake teeth covered in mud could look. "The King has been trapped for centuries, and I've been trying to free him. That's the reason that I allowed Aberforth to join Kairos End several years ago, to be honest. I hoped having access to their resources would give me some leads. I didn't get anywhere, though,"
"Wait, why should we believe anything you say? You tried to kill Sarph, and Masquerade!" Tyria hotly protested.
"Actually, that was Aberforth. He's a loose cannon, to say the least. I try to keep him in check," Yurei sighed, looking tired. "Besides. They both survived. Did you wonder why that is?"
Tyria blinked. "Wait, are you saying . ."
"Say what you want about this psychopath, but he's a very good shot. If I hadn't clouded his judgement on where to aim on those occasions, the consequences would have been a lot more lethal, I assure you," Yurei looked grave.
"Why are you telling us all this, anyway?" Boomer suspiciously asked. "You don't seriously think we're going to team up or something,"
"Actually, that's exactly what I'm hoping for," Yurei freely admitted, raising his hands. "I know this area and I know our enemies. You don't. You need me,"
Tyria frowned and exchanged a glance with Boomer.
"There is an extra seat in the Sonic Boom," he pointed out. "Besides, I think either of us could take him out if he betrays us. We might as well give him a chance, especially if he's telling the truth,"
Tyria mulled this over for a second, and nodded. "Alright, fine. We'll let you tag along. Don't make us regret it, though,"
A smile made his fangs twitch. "Thank you. But before we catch up with your guild in the Fissure, we should take your car and go pick up a friend of mine," the prince declared, and was about to continue.
But Boomer interrupted with a surprised question. "You have friends?"
Yurei nodded, glaring. "Trust me, I think you'll very much want to meet him,"
A/N
A/N
Oh, thank goodness! I'm away from home and the wifi is absolute garbage, if you're reading this it means I finally managed to get a good enough connection to post. I'll be back home next weekend, but in the meantime . . damn cheap hotel internet . .
As for the chapter, nothing much to say this time around. I guess not all Author's Notes can be winners. Peace!
-[CoT]-
Boomer looked at the Sonic Boom's upholstery. He then looked at Aberforth's filthy white cloak, still dripping with mud. "No. No no no definitely not. That cloak is not getting into my car,"
Yurei eyed him for a second, and sighed. "Fine. I was going to have to replace it anyway," With a flourish, he let the stained fabric fall to the ground, revealing, for the first time, Aberforth's full body.
Aberforth was tall, with bowl-cut blond hair and a thick beard. He wore a green chainmail vest over his brown undershirt, and grey trousers. His eyes still glinted green, and fangs protruded from his mouth.
Tyria groaned, thinking to herself, Damnit, he's hot.