Chapter 123: The Rise And Fall Of The Yokai King
Previously, on "Crowns of Thorns" . . .
"So, we're here to meet your friend?" Boomer checked.
"Yes. I think you'll be very interested to meet him," Yurei assured him. Tyria and Boomer followed, finding the Yokai-possessed Assassin banging on the door of the building. "Hey! It's me, open up!"
There was a thunk and the wood swung away to reveal a scruffy boy with black hair, wearing a brown jacket and tan shorts. He had a sword in his hand and was holding it in a guarded position, watching the three of them carefully.
"Who are you?" Tyria asked, regarding the young boy inquisitively.
"The name's Calvin Jones. But my friends call me Cal. What's it to you?"
-[CoT]-
One month earlier . .
It had been a bit over a month since his mentor and guardian, the enigmatic warrior known only as the Swordmaster, had vanished without a trace. But Calvin Jones wasn't worried. Swordmaster was the strongest man he'd ever met, probably one of the best swordsmen in the world. If anything, Cal was more worried about anyone the Swordmaster faced than the man himself. And Cal could, after all, take care of himself.
A knock came on the door, shortly after lunch. Cal glanced at the front door, when led directly into the living room, and called, "It's open!"
The door swung open, and suddenly a harsh wind kicked up. The boy flinched, but it was only the first warning of things to come, as the light streaming in through the windows turned red. There was a rushing noise, like a waterfall, and red smoke billowed in through the door.
A shadowy form strode into his house. Red and pink flares of magic power swarmed around the newcomer's smoky, ethereal body. Every step kicked up kicked up ambient magic from the ground, leaving white trails behind its feet that were rapidly absorbed by its aura and turned red. Cal could feel it sucking in ethernano from the world like a black hole.
And then a face emerged from the humanoid red cloud of magic. It seemed to be made of burned red metal, with dancing ethernano playing across it. Two carved, unblinking eyes with slotted pupils fixed on him as the creature dragged itself across the room with menacing purpose.
"What are you?" Cal snatched up his sword and levelled it at the creature. "What do you want?"
"Subject l0cated. 1n1t1at1ng fluctl1ght dupl1cat10n," the creature droned, and red lights shot from its eyes and flashed over Cal's body.
And then the smoke shifted colours, and compressed, turning into skin and shrinking to a build that perfectly mirrored the thirteen-year-old. Cal's jaw hung open as the creature shifted and reworked itself, until he was staring at his own living mirror image.
The creature looked his new body over. "Fascinating. I've never been this young before,"
"What the hell is going on?!" Cal demanded.
His double's eyes raised, and fixed on the human. "And now to dispose of the original," Suddenly, the same red magical mist swarmed around his hands, and he raised them, spraying the magic towards Cal's feet.
"Dispose?" Cal echoed, watching the red mist start to pool around his feet.
"Be grateful, human. Your demise will further the goal of the TFEI," Red Cal droned.
So Cal did the first thing that came to mind. The only thing he could think of that had any chance whatsoever of affecting whatever was going on. "Mimic!" A white magic circle flashed around his hands, and he focused it on the red mist that was enveloping him.
His duplicate's face changed. "What?"
And suddenly the red mist was on his hands too, as though his hands were encased in cotton candy. It hissed and shivered, sending electrical darkness running through his body, but it obeyed Cal's probing thoughts. It was like a magical extension of his will.
Get me out of here, Cal told it.
Get me 0ut 0f here, it responded.
And suddenly he was rocketing upwards, propelled by his hands, breaking straight through the ceiling and flying upwards. His doppelgänger watched in shock as he vanished, screaming.
Cal went soaring through the sky in a sprawling mess, flying over the town. Frantically, he dismissed the Mimic and the red stuff vanished from his body.
He landed on the spread awning of a cafe in town, bounced off it, and hit the ground in a heap.
-[CoT]-
"I rounded up a couple of friends and went back to take it on for real afterwards. But by the time I got home again, it was gone," Cal explained. He, Yurei (still in Aberforth's body), Tyria and Boomer were seated around Cal's living room. Looking up, Tyria saw a shabby patch in the ceiling, confirming the story.
"A little while later, I came here looking for the Swordmaster of Destruction. I've been on Entropy's trail for months, watching her and hoping that she'd lead me to my father," Yurei explained.
"Who's your father?" Boomer asked.
Yurei shot him a half-lidded glare. "I'm the Prince of Yokais. Did Kitsunetsuki not tell you that? Who do you think my father is?"
"Who's 'Kitsunet-whatever?"
The snake sighed. "The King. My father is the Yokai King. The most powerful of all yokai,"
"So his name is Kitsu-whatsit?"
"No - Kitsunetsuki is the white fox yokai that you know. I hear you call him Kit. Though I don't know why he allows that. If you must know, the name of my father, the King, is Long,"
"How long?" Boomer raised an eyebrow.
"Excuse me?" Yurei looked at him incredulously.
"How long is his name? Ten syllables?" the Sound wizard guessed.
"Don't be daft, it's only one syllable,"
"Sounds pretty short to me," Boomer shrugged.
At this, Tyria and Cal could no longer hold in their laughter, and both burst out in fits of giggles. "Boomer. The Yokai King is named Long. L-O-N-G. That's his name," Tyria finally clarified.
"Oh. Well, why didn't you just say so?" Boomer questioned.
Yurei just groaned. "I need to see him again, so that I can apologise for what I did when we last saw each other. But that's not your problem or anything. What Cal met, and the 'Cal' that you two have known for the past couple of days, is a creature called a TFEI. An artificial, immortal being made of magic that can mimic being human. They work in service to an organisation called the Sky Canopy Dominion, and . . well, I guess I should start at the beginning,"
-[CoT]-
When Pierce came to, he found Entropy up and about. He, Erik, Cal and Grace had all been bound, Grace and Cal with Vengestone cuffs to cancel their magic. Kit was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh, good, you're awake. I was rather hoping we could continue our earlier conversation?" Entropy directly addressed him.
"Well, aren't you popular?" Sarph was awake too, it seemed. His gaze was fixated solely on the Swordmaster of Destruction.
Pierce nodded, remembering what Entropy had said before. She wasn't a villain. Or at least didn't see herself as one, and she'd been perfectly willing to explain her position before Aberforth and Yurei showed up. "That sounds fine to me. I have to admit, you aren't behaving like a good guy. Mind-controlling people, stealing and killing to further your plans, it's . . not exactly hero behaviour,"
Entropy blinked. "Killing? Did someone die?" She looked genuinely concerned at this, which startled Pierce.
"The old man up there murdered about thirty people when he stole the Blind Sun from that museum a couple of weeks ago," Sarph growled.
Entropy looked annoyed. "So that's why you're all here, is it?" She turned and glared at the Swordmaster, adopting a tone like a disappointed mother. "I told you, no killing! We are going to talk about this later,"
Pierce was stunned into silence by thus, and the older woman sighed and shook her head, looking back at him and Sarph. "I really am sorry about that. I swear, I never meant for anyone to die,"
"What do you want?" Sarph pressed.
"I want to be reunited with my husband," the greenette immediately responded.
Both Phoenixes paused. " . . Explain," Pierce demanded. So Entropy wasn't trying to end the world or take over the country? Seeing her husband again seemed completely reasonable.
"I'll start at the beginning, then," Entropy nodded to herself. "Please, keep all questions to the end?" Once Pierce and Sarph had nodded to this, she began. "I was never supposed to know all those things most people do. Parents, a family, friends . . love. No, I was born for one purpose; to be a cog in a machine,"
-[CoT]-
Indeed, the first thing Entropy ever remembered was waking up, fully grown and fully formed, to an alien face staring at her.
"Was the experiment successful?" the creature asked, staring at her with tiny, close-set eyes, a squashed, triangular nose, lips like a sinkhole leading into a dark and dismal abyss.
Distressingly, the creature - who she would later learn was called a human - seemed to be addressing her. "I repeat, was the experiment successful?"
"What are you -" She started at the words coming out of her mouth.
"Recite your individual code?" the thing asked.
"Code? What are you talking about?"
The monster looked disappointed. "You have no data? No knowledge?"
"I-I don't think so . ." she whimpered.
"Unfortunate," the thing grumbled. "But we prepared for this," He reached out and raised a retractable metal rod from the metal slab that she was lying on, before reaching over and unfastening the shackle around her waist. It was only now that the woman who would come to be known as Entropy realised that she was bound. Or, indeed, that she had limbs. Concerningly, it seemed that she was a thing not dissimilar to the creature interfering with her, as he fastened her left hand to the pillar.
Then the horizontal bed rotated and raised until she was upright. She was taller than her apparent captor, she realised, but that didn't stop him from wheeling her like a cart, arm still outstretched, through a large door and into a more massive room. The room in question was full of what looked like inert, humanoid figures, each seeming to be made of thick, grey dust, with a range of features, sizes, proportions and shades of grey. The common element was that they all had metal masks for faces.
Entropy was bound so tightly that she was unable to move, so she could not resist as she was wheeled towards the closest of the unliving creatures.
Her outstretched palm pressed against its flesh, and Entropy was aware of the feeling of something transferring from herself to the thing.
The monster exploded into life, the grey matter bursting into flame and exploding outwards into a humanoid maelstrom of red magic. It opened its eyes in the metal mask, breathing in sharply.
And then the thing who had been attending to her suddenly forgot all about her, instead attending to the newly awakened being. "Recite your individual code?" it commanded.
"TFEI/R-0001," it immediately responded.
"Excellent," the first thing nodded.
"Who are you? What's going on?" the wretch who would soon call herself Entropy questioned.
"Silence, errant," the first creature commanded, kicking her tray away. She slammed into the wall, sending tremors through her body and giving her her first experience of pain.
"Errant?" The newly awakened thing, TFEI/R-0001, questioned.
"You understand the designation?" the man sharply asked.
"Of course. But I am curious as to why she merits it,"
"The Perpetual Data Emission experiment was partially successful. It is functional, but lost its fluctlight in the process. It is flawed. We currently possess insufficient Data Material to try again, so it will serve. But it is erroneous. It is classified an errant," At the first monster's words, TFEI/R-0001's face hardened, no longer bearing even the slightest twinge of sympathy. "Understood,"
"Report to Clockwork for briefing," the thing commanded and TFEI/R-0001 nodded, striding towards the door. And then Errant - for that was the only name she knew at the time - 's apparent captor took up her trolley again, and wheeled her to the next unliving creature, who gasped to life at her touch.
"Recite your individual code?"
"TFEI/R-0002,"
The process went on for Errant couldn't say how long, only that she was exhausted by the end of it. Every time she awakened a TFEI, she felt more of her strength leave her, until she honestly wished to simply cease to exist, she felt so empty. But her protests went unheard, for she was Errant, and her voice did not matter.
And after the final TFEI, TFEI/R-0296, was awakened, Errant's arm was released. Her first desire was to strike her captor, but she was too weak and could hardly move her body. She offered no resistance as her hand was fastened back to her side, and her trolley, with her still bound to it, was stored in a closet and left alone.
After a while, her strength returned, but Errant was aware of a lingering emptiness within her chest. It was a feeling she had had since awakening, but only now did she become fully aware of it. There was something fundamentally flawed about her, something empty, something . . errant.
Writhing in her bonds, Errant soon discovered that trying to escape was pointless. So she sighed, trying to relax and pressing her palms to the flat metal slab.
But then the table shifted. It writhed, the metal bending and buckling, and bent forwards, returning her to horizontal. Suddenly, the clamps released themselves, twisting and bending - and, with a violent motion, the table threw her off it. Errant crashed through the door and fell into the corridor adjoining her closet. As she stumbled to her feet, knowing to mimic the posture of the human, she caught a glimpse of the table. Its seams had burst and grown metal teeth, its base had split into legs, and the clamps on what was now its back were twitching and shaking like claws. The living table growled and sniffed at her inquisitively.
Using the table, which seemed to be friendly to her, as a support, Errant got to her feet. "Did . . I make you?" she whispered.
The table looked questioning, but after a second, slowly nodded.
"I . . how can this be?" Errant questioned, before recalling the TFEI. Her touch brought them to life . . she could make things come alive by touching them . . anything she touched came to life. That was . . she didn't know what to make of that.
She patted the attentive table inquisitively, and found there was . . a film, of sorts, on its skin. Curiously, she tried to grab at it, and peel it off. The table shivered, and some strange sort of tangible green mist came away with her fingers. "What in the world . ." The table grew still, and the green mist coalesced, wrapping around her arm. A pair of red eyes emerged as the mist reached out a tentacle . . no, a head.
"Mistress?" the mist creature whispered.
Errant squeaked. "What are you?"
"I . . don't know. What do you want me to be?" the coiling being questioned, looking itself over as it wrapped around her arm.
"I don't know. I don't know anything . ." Errant trained off. She had no idea what this was, or what it could be . . or anything, really.
"That sounds like it's a problem," the being pointed out. "Shall we fix it?"
"I suppose we ought to, yes," Entropy agreed. "And . . I think that starts with us leaving this place,"
"Makes sense," the being who was her first friend agreed, nodding its smokey head.
So Errant, along with her new friend, left the table and the closer behind and started walking. They passed through the room where all the unliving TFEI had been, and followed the route that Errant remembered them taking.
And then she found herself in a large room, at the back of a crowd of red mist creatures. These were the TFEI. And the man who had wheeled her around to animate them was at the forefront of the crowd, talking. "As TFEI agents in service to the Sky Canopy Dominion, you will be expected to engage . . the errant?" he trailed off, frowning and noticing Entropy's presence.
Two hundred and ninety-six metal masks turned to look at Errant. "Um . . hi," she offered.
"Subdue it!" the leader commanded. His army rose to their feet, eyeing her with lethal intent.
Errant blanched, taking an involuntary step back. What was she going to do . . what were they going to do to her . . she couldn't go back to the closet!
She wouldn't go back to the closet.
"Stop!" Her voice rang out, and she raised an arm, letting her palm rest a centimetre away from the smooth wall of the doorframe. The TFEI, naturally following orders, stopped. And the man at their head froze, instantly reading her intent. "Anything I touch comes to life, yes? What do you think would happen if I turned this entire building into a living creature?"
The man, who she now realised had become her enemy, only thought for a second before making his decision.
"Kill it!" her Enemy commanded.
The TFEI lunged.
Errant's skin made contact with the concrete.
The building shook, and a dull roar echoed through the structure, before a sudden door shot down, shielding Errant from the Enemy.
"Mistress," a massive, booming voice echoed through the entire building.
"Impossible," the Enemy whispered from the other room.
"Get me out of here!" Errant commanded, panicked, and the lights in her corridor turned orange. "Follow me," the massive, booming voice commanded, and Entropy ran down the corridor. Emerging back into the massive rooms, she saw a door she had not entered before with orange lights beyond it. "Keep going, mistress!" the green creature on her arm encouraged, and Errant nodded, charging through the door. And she went, following a path of orange lights for what seemed like hours even though it was only a few minutes, until suddenly the light outside a door was warm and golden and there was no other way to go and she couldn't slow down so she just pushed through and suddenly . . .
There were green, soft things under her feet, which she would later know to call grass. Errant stopped, staring up into the endless blue expanse high above, which she would learn was called a sky. She turned and saw that she had just exited a massive white building, and the ground sloped away before her, leading down to a couple of dozen smaller buildings below.
"Goodbye, mistress," the massive building behind her rumbled through the door.
Errant turned and looked up at the massive building that she had brought to life. "No. You're coming with me," she declared, pressing a hand to the wall and feeling, just as she had expected, a thin film of magic covering its surface. She gripped it, gathering it in both hands, and then ran down the hill, towards the distant buildings, pulling the magic with her like a stretchy strand of taffy. "Come . . on!" she growled, reaching the bottom and pulling even harder on the rope of orange energy
And, with a strange, sticky sound, the energised mist left the building, collecting and pulling itself together. Short hands that ended in large claws manifested, as the clump that was becoming the metaphysical head split into a mouth and grew teeth, red dots for eyes, and a long, black stripe along its back emerged from the orange form. The massive, long, serpentine being took full form as what some might recognise as a Chinese dragon, and towered over Errant and her misty companion, smiling down at them.
"That's awesome," the creature on her arm hissed, sounding focused, and it suddenly seemed to look more solid, growing green scales and shaping itself into a long, twisting body.
"We're not safe yet," the massive creature declared, lunging forward and picking them both up in a massive claw, before lunging into the air. Errant gasped, clinging to the semi-intangible being with a death grip, as they took off into the sky, flying at incredible speed away from the building they had left.
All the while, Errant ingrained into her mind the thought of what they had escaped. TFEI, the Canopy. Her Enemy.
-[CoT]-
They flew for days. Across plains and oceans, over mountains and valleys. As time passed, both of her companions became more solid and defined; the small green one coalescing into an emerald-green snake, while the massive orange one became what would later be called an oriental dragon.
Eventually, they landed in a crevice between mountains. "I can sense that there are caves here. It will be a good place to hide," the orange creature suggested. "There is a settlement nearby,"
Errant nodded wordlessly.
"Mistress?" the green suggested. "Might I suggest something?" Both the others looked at the small being, and he continued. "If we are to live, then we ought to have names,"
"Names, yes. I have heard the humans using such things below us," the largest agreed.
"I suppose my name would be Errant, then," the woman mumbled.
"You don't like that, though," the larger observed.
"No," Errant admitted.
"Then we will search for a new name together. I believe that I would like to be called . . Long," the orange dragon declared.
Errant nodded. "And you, little one?"
The snake looked thoughtful. "I . . I think I like the sound of . . Yurei,"
-[CoT]-
"Wait, you're where yokais come from?" Pierce burst out in shock. He knew that yokais could reproduce - Kit had occasionally mentioned long-lost parents - but he had somehow never thought to ask how the species had begun.
Entropy nodded, looking stiff. Just saying Yurei's name had sent shivers through her body. "Indeed. I told you, some like to call me the Mother of Mischief. It's quite a literal name,"
-[CoT]-
"You were the first yokai?" Tyria exclaimed, looking at Yurei in surprise.
"I'm more than a thousand years old," Yurei pointed out with a retributory tone.
"Then shouldn't you be the King?" Boomer asked.
"Maybe I should. But it's an empty title; even if I am a few minutes older, my father is much more powerful. Frankly, he deserves it,"
-[CoT]-
So the three refugees settled into the caves under the mountains. It was like a natural mansion, far too vast for the three of them. It wasn't long before Long, Errant and Yurei considered one another akin to family. Errant and Long became Yurei's mother and father. Yurei became Long's son. And Errant realised that she had fallen in love with Long's gentle caress.
In the cold world of the Enemy, he was reliable. He loved her and took care of her. He was her husband, and he made her happy.
Furthermore, other than Yurei and Long, nothing else that Entropy touched had come to life, be it fruits fallen from trees or stones underfoot. Perhaps her power had evaporated when she left the place of the Enemy?
They cold not, however, ignore the outside world. Yurei had a thirst for knowledge, and Errant soon felt hunger. Inquiries into the nearby village indicated that humans used money to pay for food and other commodities, of which Entropy and her family had none.
Yurei, however, also proved to be an adept thief. "I've got fruits, bread, and a couple of these 'books'. I wonder how you use them?" he questioned, the green smoke of his magic wafting from his serpentine body and lifting the cover of the book.
Errant quickly started eating, while the massive form of Long regarded them inquisitively. "It can't be that hard,"
"A History of Ishgar," Errant read, and both Yokai looked at her in surprise. "You can decipher these human symbols?" Long questioned.
"A-apparently," Errant shrugged helplessly, reaching out and taking the book. But the moment her fingers grazed the leather cover, a spark fled from her being and infused the book. She let out a soft gasp, and the book fluttered to life, an invisible aura surrounding it.
Immediately realising what had happened, Errant punched the film of magic between her fingers and ripped the new life free of the book. "Oh dear," she observed, holding a newborn yokai between her fingers; a tawny, tan-coloured plume of magic that was rapidly shaping itself into an owl.
"Huh?" Yurei was shocked, but Long was more pensive. "Another creature? Fascinating,"
"Who are you all?" the owl asked.
Over years of trial and error, the rapidly-growing family discovered that Errant's abilities would not animate anything natural. Only artificial objects, things that had been made, were able to be animated. Furthermore, once an object had been infused with life and a yokai born from it, Errant was able to interact with it all she wanted and it would not spring to life again.
One such acquisition was a book known as a dictionary, a compendium of words with all sorts of meanings. For a time, Errant amused herself greatly by reading through it and expanding her vocabulary. Until she found it; the one perfect word.
"I've found it," she told Long, feeling breathless. "The perfect word,"
"What's that?" the dragon asked, addressing his beloved with a smile.
"Entropy. It's used to refer to knowledge lost in the passing on of a message," Errant explained. "It sounds . . right for me,"
"Is that so? Alright," Long bent down and kissed her. "My love. My Entropy,"
-[CoT]-
"Hey, wait. That's not what Entropy means. It refers to the inevitability of social decline and degeneration," Sarph interrupted.
"I'm a thousand years old. That's a lot of time for words to change their meaning," Entropy retorted. "Besides, I can't change it now. Otherwise Long might not recognise me when I see him again,"
"She's got a point," Pierce agreed, and Sarph looked at him irritably.
-[CoT]-
Before anyone knew it, twenty years had passed and an entire country had sprung into being in the caves, populated by small, ghostly animals born of Errant. Long was given the unofficial title of the Yokai King - it turned out that the larger an object a yokai was born of, the more large and powerful the resulting yokai would be. Long, as the result of an entire complex, was indisputably the greatest of all yokais. Yurei, as his son, thereby inherited the title of Yokai Prince. And Entropy was known as Mother to all yokai. Some of her 'children', in honour of the chaotic and mischievous nature most yokai shared, lengthened her title and addressed her as Mother of Mischief. Finding this epithet amusing, Entropy accepted it.
But unlike his parents, Yurei never forgot where they had come from. And he made it his quest to seek out and understand the people known as the Sky Canopy Dominion, and the TFEI. He would spend months on end exploring and searching. Because his parents may have been content to live in their secluded little underground civilisation, but he knew that the Canopy was a threat. They had to know who they might someday have to fight.
And, at long last, he laid eyes on a TFEI. He saw it after years of chasing rumours and tracking magical scents, he finally saw one of those red creatures with their metal masks for faces, in the act of cornering a human. But, more importantly, it saw him.
"And now to dispose of the original," the TFEI declared, ignoring the terrified village mayor's begging. A vortex of pink and red magic appeared around his feet and rapidly consumed him, Yurei watching, terrified, as he vanished into the ethernano.
"Now," The being turned, a cruel, inhuman smile stretched across the bearded face of the man he was using as a mask, and focused directly on the corner where Yurei hid. With a flourish, he knocked away the barrel, revealing the incorporeal form of the snake. "What on earth are you?"
"Are you Sky Canopy Dominion?" the Prince demanded.
The TFEI quirked an eyebrow. "Yes, I am with the Canopy. TFEI/R-148, at your service. Now how do you know about my masters? And how much do you know?"
"I know you made my mother," Yurei pointed out.
"Your mother?"
"Entropy, the Mother of Mischief. Though I think you called her Errant," Yurei pointed out. "What's going on between her and the Canopy? Do you want to kill her?"
"Errant?" R-148 paused for a second. "Oh, yes, now I remember. Errant! We don't want to kill her. She's a friend of ours, or, well, she was,"
"Huh?"
"See, Errant used to be part of our group, the Sky Canopy Dominion. Though most of us just call it the Canopy. She volunteered for an experiment that was supposed to give her incredible powers. And it did, since I assume that she created you. But as a side effect, she lost all of her memories from before the experiment,"
"Is that what happened? So you aren't our Enemy?"
"Of course not. Actually, we'd all really like to see her again - wait. 'Our'? How many creatures like you has Errant created?"
"She calls herself Entropy now. And I don't know? Hundreds? Maybe a thousand?" the green serpent guessed.
"Hundreds?" A calculating look entered R-148's eyes. "And where have you all been hiding?"
"I'll take you there," Yurei naively suggested.
"Sounds like a good idea. Just let me contact some friends of mine first. They'll be very happy to hear the news,"
-[CoT]-
"Here we are!" Yurei had led R-148 to the entrance to the massive cave system that was the home of the Yokai.
"I see. So this is where she's been," R-148 observed with a smile.
"She'll be inside somewhere, I'll -" Yurei was cut off as Entropy emerged, looking surprised. "Yurei? Son? Who is this?"
Yurei quickly explained, R-148 nodding encouragingly and doing his best to be pleasant.
"Oh, um, I see," Entropy looked wary, but nodded. "I, um," Noticng that her shyness was swallowing her ability to talk, Yurei suggested, "How about we go find dad?" His father's influence should help, he reasoned.
"G-good idea," his mother nodded, leading the two into the cave.
It wasn't long until they reached the 'throne room'. As they moved, the TFEI in their midst looked around curiously, finding most of the yokai around him to be just as small and weak as Yurei. "This is what you've been using your abilities for? Creating these amusing little beings?" he asked Entropy, a tad incredulous.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" Entropy asked, not liking his tone.
"No. Not at all," R-148 smiled darkly.
And then they reached the throne where the massive form of Long, the Yokai King, resided.
"Oh, I see," the TFEI observed. "He's the King because he's the most powerful, hmm?"
"Well, yes," Entropy confirmed.
"Entropy, darling. And Yurei, I'm glad to see you're back at last . . who is this?" Long asked.
Before either of them could answer, R-148 chuckled and said; "Thank you, both of you, you've been an immense help," And, suddenly, he raised an arm and threw a powerful blast of red magic into Long's shifting coils.
On instinct, the mighty drake opened his massive mouth wide, and swallowed the magic whole. It briefly flickered inside his body, and vanished. "What is the meaning of this?"
Entropy tried to speak, but R-148 interrupted her. "Oh, are you surprised? You're the only one of these pathetic creatures powerful enough to actually pose a threat to the Canopy. And, thanks to these two, I can destroy you before that happens. So just die already!" he suddenly roared, throwing a volley of magic projectiles in his direction.
Long dissolved into golden mist.
The blood drained from Entropy's face, and she mouthed, "No,"
But the mist moved, swarming across the ground and engulfing R-148, wrapping around him. His feet started to break apart. Long was pulling him to pieces on a molecular level.
"No!" And suddenly R-148 exploded, his flesh and bone dissolving into red mist, a metal face emerging from his chest as he exploded back into his normal TFEI state. Entropy, having not seen such a creature since the first day of her life, shrieked, falling back and going limp. Her breaths came short and sharp, a sudden panic attack claiming her mind.
Golden and red smoke clashed, the other yokais of the cave watching helplessly as Long battled the invader.
"Give up!" R-140's voice echoed through the cave. "You can't win!"
"I do not take commands from you!" Long roared back at him, golden magic washing against the TFEI from all sides and compressing it back into a point. "You call me a threat to you? I think it's obvious that I am!"
"No," the metal mask hissed, red lightning crackling across it in the shape of a smile. "You can't win because my friends will be here right around . . now," On cue, five more TFEI emerged from the passages leading into the throne room, all already formed into masses of mist with metal masks for faces, and bellowed aggression.
"You brought . ." Long reformed into his oriental dragon form, looking around, until his eyes rested on Entropy and Yurei. "You brought them,"
The smaller yokais had begun to flee, escaping through the walls and around the feet of the TFEI. Long watched them go, his jaw setting. "I have not a friend in the world. Even my family betrays me,"
These words shocked Yurei out of his trance. "What? But - Dad -"
"Silence," And the royal authority of the Yokai King overrode Yurei's body, forcing his mouth shut. A very inopportune time for that ability to trigger. But that was not enough for the enraged King of all Yokai. "Begone!" he shouted. "All of you!" His voice carried, echoing through the tunnels and reaching every one of the yokai. Involuntarily, compulsively, they began to flee. Yurei was the only one with the willpower to fight, and against every fibre of his being, he stayed to help his father in any way possible.
As the TFEI closed in on him, Long made a decision. "If this world holds only my enemies . . then I shall leave this world,"
And, suddenly, green energy flashed in his body, and he shot through a gap between the assailants, plunging into the wall. A magical shockwave shot through the cave, splitting it open and creating a massive underground ravine in the already huge throne cave, kicking up mounds of dust and dashing the TFEI against the walls and into the adjoining caves.
When the dust cleared and Yurei could see again, his father was gone, and there was a twisted green scar in the wall.
R-148 was first to recover, moving over to inspect the wall. He cursed. "That monster created a pocket dimension!" he cursed.
"A what?" Yurei asked.
Suddenly remembering that the phantasmagoric snake existed, the TFEI leader turned and looked at him. "He's created a tiny world inside that rift where he's the only thing that exists," The monster chuckled. "But he messed it up! Really, it's perfect. He sealed it behind him without any way to get out. He's stuck in there, forever!" The chuckle turned into an outright laugh. "It's perfect; he's as good as dead, and definitely not a threat to us any more,"
Yurei went pale. "What? Dad's . . gone?"
"Yes. Now we'll just take Errant back to our master, and this entire mess will be over," R-148 moved towards Entropy, but Yurei got between them. "I won't let you!"
The creature snorted and kicked him so hard that the snake went flying into the wall and several metres underground, before scooping up Entropy. "Let's go!" he commanded his fellows.
As soon as R-148 left the caves, though, he was jumped. A hundred yokais, all gathered together, assaulted the TFEI. Though they were weak individually, by working as one the creatures beat him away long enough for an eagle yokai to swoop in, snatch up their mother and take off into the sky.
As the yokai dispersed across the land, unwilling to return to their home and with their King's final command to stay away still echoing in their beings, Entropy was carried to safety, away from the only people she'd ever loved. Meanwhile Yurei sat alone in the cave, staring desperately at the fissure where his father was now trapped. "What . . what have I done?"
-[CoT]-
"And that's the whole story," Yurei and Entropy spoke simultaneously.
"Whoa . . Kit, did you know any of this?" Pierce asked the white fox, who had materialised nearby at some point during the story. The yoke shook his head. "Nada. My mother told me stories of the Yokai Nation and Prince Yurei's betrayal, but I didn't know any of that," he admitted.
"Right, so yokai were originally created by you, but they can reproduce," Pierce surmised.
"How old are you?" Entropy asked with interest.
"Two hundred and eighty-five. Two-ninety-one if you count the time travel," Kit explained.
Entropy nodded. "If I had to guess, you're a fourth-generation yokai; I would have created your grandparents or great-grandparents. That's a lot of time for details to get lost or forgotten in the retellings,"
"What about you?" Sarph demanded, gesturing at the Swordmaster. He grunted, the motion inflaming the wound in his shoulder. "Did you partner with a Yokai?"
"I'll explain everything to you after we complete our mission," the Swordmaster assured him in that same rasping, dehydrated voice.
"I trust you won't try to stop us now?" Entropy asked.
"Yeah. Don't worry about us. I'll reserve judgement on your man here, but go ahead and fire up that drill. I don't want to keep you from your husband," Pierce assured her.
Entropy nodded her gratitude. "Thank you," she smiled.
"Wait," Sarph frowned, squinting at the eight-foot warrior. "You sound dehydrated," he observed.
Entropy, Pierce and Kit looked at him in confusion. "So?" Kit questioned.
"When I knew him, Swordmaster always wore that armour, and he knew how hot armour gets in warm climates like this. He would always make a point of staying hydrated," Sarph suspiciously explained.
"Some things are more important than hydration," the armoured knight replied, staring at him with unblinking amber eyes.
"My master is called the Swordmaster because he is the perfect swordsman. He would never allow anything to get in the way of his hygiene, his fitness, or his fighting ability. And staying hydrated is one of the basic aspects of one's physical condition. If you were him, or even a yokai genuinely bonded with him, you would know that. I can only assume that you have taken him over by force,"
There was a moment of silence, during which Entropy stood and turned, eyeing the man. "Is this true, Thraidey?"
"Thraide?" Pierce parroted. "That sounds familiar for some reason," Grace agreed.
The Swordmaster paused, then shook his head. "I'm sorry, mother. But to be honest, I don't really care about the King, or any of your little story. All I want is revenge, on Phoenix's Eye,"
"What? Why?" Pierce spluttered.
"Because you destroyed my family! I know you, Pierce Blastreyne, and as leader of your guild, I blame you!" Thraide roared through Swordmaster's mask. "I am the End of Friday, the fifth member of the Ends of Days! Six years ago, you and your guild destroyed Kairos End, the only family I'd ever known. And with you and yours here before me, I will take my revenge!"
A/N
A/N
Whoa, massive chapter. So much plot. I won't lie, this took me absolutely ages.
Long is insanely powerful, if that wasn't apparent. He started the entire isolationist culture of yokai kind with a few poorly chosen words.
I'm sorry if the worldbuilding's gotten a bit messy. I changed a lot of things before settling on the final version of events. So some of the previous chapters might not line up exactly with events as they are portrayed here. Future chapters will have retcons explaining the inconsistencies. Peace!