Fractured – Chapter 7

I could smell the tangy, coppery scent of blood in the air. Renly, Leina, and I had been following the spiders and had ended up here, in this new chamber. We held our weapons ready in case the beasts were inside. We held our breaths, listening for any sounds of skittering legs or chattering clicks, but everything was quiet. Our group spread out, scouting the area. Looking around, there were faint traces of firelight from the sconces along the walls and a few candles inside a recessed pit. As I stepped closer to the pit, the scent of blood increased. Inside it was a red circle, with symbols and patterns that were revolving slowly. Dark patches covered the floor and it didn't take much imagination to figure out what they were. Renly frowned as he stepped up next to me, looking in as well.

"Guys! Over here!" Leina called out. Renly and I jogged along the pit's edge and joined Leina at the opposite side. She was crouched over a cocoon, which had soft moans coming from it. "I think we may have a survivor here." She pulled a dagger from her waist and began to cut away at the sticky threads. A few minutes later, messy brown hair in two half ponytails was revealed. As the webs fell away, two big blue eyes stared up at us.

"Kirito?"

"Ronye? Thank the goddesses," I sighed with relief. "Hang on, we'll get you out." Leina continued to saw at the thick webs as Renly pulled them away. I stood watch. Within minutes, we had the girl freed.

"What happened?" I asked her.

"I…Pontifex…Eugeo…" Ronye cried.

"Hush," Leina went to console Ronye, wrapping her arms around the frightened girl.

"Ronye, was Eugeo here?" I cut in quickly.

She continued to sob into Leina's chest.

I felt my eye twitch. I could understand what Ronye had been through was difficult, to say the least, but we really didn't have time for this. I felt myself growing increasingly angry, and my head began to pound. My eyes flashed gold and I grabbed Ronye by the arm, tearing her from Leina's grasp.

"Kirito?!" Leina was shocked.

I shoved Ronye up against a wall, holding her there with my hands clenched around her upper arms. "Where is he?" I growled. I began to squeeze my hands tighter. I could feel the bones underneath her skin, thinking how easy it would be to snap them.

"That's enough," Renly held his blade tip against my back.

"Stay out of this," I ground out.

"Can't," he replied flatly.

Purple haze began to envelope me, and I drew in its power. Glancing behind me, I used it to fling Renly away, right into Leina. The two landed in a jumbled heap. I turned my golden gaze back to the girl.

"Kirito, you're scaring me," Ronye squeezed her eyes shut.

I didn't care. We were this close to finding Eugeo and I needed to know where he was. Now. "Eugeo," I began again. "Where. Is. He." I was so focused on Ronye that I didn't see the fist that was sent flying into my face. It hit me hard, and I staggered away from the girl. Leina went up to Ronye, taking the girl into her arms once again.

I narrowed my eyes at Renly. Wiping away the blood from my nose and lips, I said, "I'm trying to get some answers here!"

"Not like that you're not," Renly countered. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"We're running out of time," I snarled.

"She'll talk, just give her a few minutes to compose herself," Renly replied calmly. "Just in case though," he raised his twin wing blades, "we'll give them some space." He then began herding me in the opposite direction.

I fingered the sword hilt at my waist. Renly kept a close eye on me, as I did him. We sized each other up, but neither made a further move.

Leina warily observed us. She hoped we wouldn't start attacking one another. We didn't need to fight amongst ourselves. Ronye's crying turned into muffed sobs. "There, there, you're alright now."

"I…saw his eyes," she sniffed. "His power..." Suddenly, the girl turned her gaze up towards Leina, and smiled coldly. "I want it."

"What?" Leina took a step back. Frowning, she continued, "You're not Ronye."

The young girl smirked. "You're right, I'm not."

"Kiri…" Leina began.

"None of that," the Ronye impostor cut her off abruptly. "You alert the boys, and there will be consequences worse than death."

Leina snapped her jaws shut.

"Tell me, what is that strange power he just used?"

"I'm…not sure," Leina furred her brows.

"Don't toy with me," the Ronye impostor snapped.

"It's true. It happens sometimes, and it turns him, well…different."

"Hmm…"

"What happened to the real Ronye?" Leina cut in.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" the imposter replied smugly. "I do enjoy watching the three of you. Do continue your little trek to find me. I'll have a special surprise when you do." The imposter then vanished, leaving Leina to stare dumbly at the vacant space before her.

"Leina?" Renly turned, raising a brow. "Did you have any luck with…," he glanced around. "Ronye?"

That was my opening. I grabbed the sword from my hilt and swung it in my hand. I charged Renly. He'd just raised him weapons to defend when I slid right by him, continuing to rush forward. I headed towards Leina, then sidestepped her, raising my sword to deflect against our newcomer. Our weapons collided with a sharp 'clang.'

"I'm surprised you saw me," Sheyta replied stoically.

"I'm not the only one," I replied.

Renly already had his weapons flying through the air. They were headed towards two young girls with their poisonous daggers. Two more deflections were heard as they struck each other.

"Aww, he saw us," Fizel huffed.

I pushed Sheyta back with my sword and slid into an attack pose. Renly drew up next to me, his weapons twirling between his fingers.

"Could that have been the Pontifex?" Leina thought. She could sense the woman's power and presence, and it scared her. Could they really defeat such a foe? Snapping out of her daze, she withdrew her own two-handed sword, ready to enter the fray. She'd do whatever it took to help bring that woman down and avenge the lives of the people she took.

OOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Pontifex led Eugeo from the resurrection chamber and headed down a new tunnel. She could barely contain her excitement. Her hunch had been right. Eugeo had been merged with his beloved Blue Rose Sword, making him an incredible weapon. She'd have the Underworld back in the palm of her hand in no time, and this time, no one would stop her. Glancing back at Eugeo, he seemed less than thrilled. He narrowed his eyes, saying nothing. The two continued in silence until they reached a small, circular room.

Eugeo looked up and could see moonlight spilling into the room through a small opening in the high ceiling. It shone down onto a stone altar, which held a set of chains at both ends. Underneath that was a circle, filled with symbols that glowed blue. It rotated slowly. He hesitated.

"Well?" Pontifex turned and said, "Remove your shirt and go lie on that."

Eugeo swallowed his nervousness. He couldn't control the power inside of him, and he would not destroy the Underworld because of it. If this was the only way, then so be it. Reaching down, he grabbed the hem of his shirt and went to pull it over his head. He tossed it to the floor, and stopped as Pontifex was staring at him, desire shining in her eyes.

"Very nice," she murmured, eyeing his lean, toned chest. Blue tendrils pulsed and glowed. Stepping up closer to him, she traced a finger over a tendril, following its twists and turns along his skin.

Eugeo felt his face flush. Pontifex had touched him like this before. Though maybe if it wasn't the Pontifex…perhaps Alice or …, it might be a good thing. Though knowing her, it was anything but. "Stop it," he flatlined.

"Stop what?" she replied innocently.

"You know what I mean," Eugeo muttered. He pulled away from her, sidestepped her, then headed towards the altar. Just what was this? He eyed the chains warily at either end. At the head of the altar sat the piety module, highlighted by the moon's pale rays. Taking a deep breath, he slowly went to lie down on the cold, hard stone altar. His eyes squinted against the moonlight.

Pontifex loomed over him. "Raise your arms above your head." Eugeo complied, wincing as the chains were snapped into place around his wrists. She went to move towards his feet, snapping the second pair of chains around his ankles. Climbing on top of Eugeo, she surveyed him with her lavender eyes. She leaned in and placed her hands on his chest. "You know, when I put in the piety module, you won't be able to experience much of anything anymore. Perhaps before I go through with it, we should…"

"Don't even…," Eugeo began, before he was cut off by soft lips pressing up against his. Pontifex deepened the kiss, her tongue slipping into his mouth. Coming up for air, she pulled back slightly, adjusting her position as she led a stream of kisses down Eugeo's neck, collarbone, and finally ending up over his heart.

Eugeo couldn't go anywhere, pinned between her and the altar. "I said, no," he ground out.

"I'm in control, not you." She placed her ear against his heart. "My, my, how it beats. This will make a lovely spot for the new piety module."

Eugeo paled. "What are you saying?"

"You see, the old piety module affected your memories, which are stored up here," she pointed to his forehead. "This time, I want it to control everything." Reaching above Eugeo's head, she took hold of the modified blue piety module. "Now, shall we begin?" Pontifex began to chant using strange words. Though a few reminded him of ones that Kirito had caught himself saying. Eugeo may have been quiet sometimes, but he was very observant. Why did she and Kirito know of the same words?

A blue light began to illuminate from beneath them. The circle was starting to spin, sending up a wall of sacred power around them. "Gah!" Eugeo clenched his teeth. He could barely concentrate as every tendril across his skin began to glow and he felt like he was on fire.

With one hand, Pontifex held the module directly above Eugeo's heart and began to press down slowly. He shifted against her.

"You're resisting," she said sternly. "You must accept this willingly and let it do its work."

"It hurts," Eugeo ground out, not sure what was worse, the module being shoved into his heart or the searing pain across his body.

"No one said it'd be pleasant," Pontifex retorted.

The module began to slip further and further into his heart. Inside his mind, Eugeo watched as his memories slowly began to dissolve and fade. The years he spent cutting down the Gigas Cedar, his journey to find Alice, his time at Swordcraft Academy, even his fights with the Integrity Knights and Pontifex. He saw his home, his family, Selka, even Alice herself, slip away into nothingness. When it came to his best friend though, Kirito stood defiant before him.

"Don't look at me like that, you know I don't have a choice," Eugeo said defensively.

"You always have a choice," I countered. My grey eyes bore into his green ones. "Promise me. Even if it's the smallest moment or feeling," I told him. "Hold onto it. When I find you, and I will, we'll figure this out. Together." The final vision faded away, leaving Eugeo completely alone.

"Wait! Kirito?" It was eerily quiet before the ground began to vibrate. It shattered as icy blue vines rose up, creating a barred cage that surrounded him. Eugeo took a step back. More vines shot up from beneath him, wrapping themselves around his arms and legs. He struggled against them, but they only wrapped themselves tighter. He felt sharp thorns pierce his skin, injecting something cold into his body, making everything seem lethargic. He felt the temperature drop around him. Darkness enveloped him and he lost consciousness.

Giving a final push, Pontifex completely shoved the module into Eugeo's body. He screamed.

She barely avoided the vines and shards of ice that had erupted from inside the barrier. They were slamming against it in order to get at her. "You're a little late, sword," she sneered. They continued to ram it, and Pontifex could see cracks forming in the fiery walls. For a quick beat, she panicked, thinking it wouldn't hold. Then, the vines shuddered. Both them, and the dangerously sharp ice shards ground to a halt, then fell to the ground, shattering.

As the blue barrier began to disappear, Pontifex peered over to where Eugeo was. He was simply lying there, eyes glazed over. She noticed a lovely blue rose tattoo had formed over his heart, the tendrils across his skin receding back into it. She went to touch it, her hand pulling back at how cold the swordsman's body was. She let her hand hover over the mark, and she could feel the intensity of the power it held. It felt contained, at least for the moment. Pontifex leaned down and slowly undid the chains around his wrists. The click of them unlocking seemed extremely loud in the now silent chamber. She followed with the ones around his ankles.

"Come," Pontifex sat down on the altar next to him. She patted the spot next to her, and beckoned him to rise.

Eugeo's blank eyes turned towards her and he rose to a sitting position. She reached up to touch his face, her hand cupping his cheek. Eugeo didn't react, just simply stared.

"Look at me," she murmured. Eugeo did as he was told. "What do you recall?"

"Nothing."

"What do you feel?"

"Nothing."

"Good. Now, hold out your hands," He did as he was told, and the Pontifex held them in her own. It felt like she was holding ice. "I brought a little gift for you," she purred at him. She reached behind her and took out two identical, unusual accessories. They were links with chains attached to them. First taking his left hand, she snapped the links around the base of each finger, which connected to a larger link that went around his wrist. She took his right hand, and repeated the process. Eugeo's hands dropped back into his lap. "One more thing," she took a leather strap, engraved with tiny symbols, and tied it around his neck. "These will help you to channel your power and focus it."

Eugeo looked at the Pontifex then down at his chains. He bent the fingers of his right hand, and a swirling mass of icy, thorny vines appeared. They then extended outwards, narrowing and reshaping themselves into a very familiar looking sword. The tip grew sharp as it stopped just shy of Pontifex's neck. Eugeo gripped the hilt, icy vines sprouting from it to enter into his forearm. He then thrust his sword into the tender part of her throat. Sticky, crimson blood poured down her neck, onto her ample bosom. She gasped, trying to catch her breath. It was true no steel blade could pierce her, but the Blue Rose Sword was a divine object, not made with conventional materials. She'd deflected it before, but this time, something else was driving the blade. Something she hadn't encountered in nearly three hundred years. Her beautiful face turned ugly with anger.

"This…is…impossible…" she ground out.

Without a word, Eugeo turned the blade in his hand, ripping more tendons and flesh. From the sword's tip, sharp icy shards sprouted, and the Pontifex's head was severed from her body. Her body slid off the altar and landed in a heap at Eugeos' feet. Before her head could drop, Eugeo entangled his fingers in her hair, raising her up, so that their eyes met. Hers were wide with shock, his dead and expressionless. Try as she might, she could not cast sacred arts fast enough to heal her fatal wound. She was supposed to be the ruler of the Underworld, unstoppable, invincible.

"I should thank you…" Eugeo spoke softly.

"Thank…me?" Pontifex croaked out.

"For bringing me this body."

For the first time in her long life, Pontifex was facing a definite death. Though it was better than living with the terror that had awakened.

OOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Renly, Leina, and I stood with our weapons ready. I'd dealt with Linel and Fizel before, but this knight in gray was new to me.

"That's Sheyta," Renly muttered. "She's been missing for awhile now. Same with those other two girls." Renly narrowed his eyes at them. "Something's off."

"Have they been re-synthesized?"

"I don't think so. This is…different."

"Enough talking," Sheyta drew her weapon up. "It's time to fight."

"Yeah!" the two young girls chimed in.

"We can't hold back," I growled. "Not when we're so close."

Leina glanced at me, frowning.

"What?" I asked, clearly annoyed.

"Your eyes. They haven't changed back yet."

"So?" I snapped.

"Nevermind," Leina flatlined. We were staring hard at one another, neither backing down.

Renly could sense the tension building between us. "What's our plan?" he cut in.

Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd kill them. In the most brutal way possible. Just thinking about their blood coating the ground thrilled me in ways I never thought would. The purple haze around me thickened and I could feel its power enveloping me. "I'll take center, the two of you head to either side. There's an opponent for each of us, so we'll divide and conquer," I said instead.

Leina and Renly nodded, taking off to the right and left sides respectively. I charged against Sheyta, going in with a Sonic Leap attack. She deflected me, then spun, giving a hard slice into my side. I felt the pain immediately. The cut was small, sharp, direct, and deep, made with a precision even I didn't possess. I held my side, my hand coming away red with blood.

Meanwhile, Renly had gone after Fizel. He flung his twin winged blades at her, their dangerously sharp edges twirling rapidly. She was a small target, dodging and flipping out of the way. Her movement was almost inhumanly fast. Honestly, it was frustrating to continue to miss her with every attack. After his blades returned to him, Fizel rushed him, dagger raised. She leapt at Renly, her dagger coming down hard. Renly brought up his blades to cross in front of him, effecting blocking her attack. They both hit the ground, Fizel on top, her blade continuing to press down at Renly's throat. He could see the poison dripping off of it. Some of it dripped down, landing on his green armor. It sizzled as it burned a hole right through it. "That's going to be your pretty face soon," Fizel said.

On the other side of the chamber, Leina had taken off towards Linel. She had her two-handed sword raised, swinging it above her head. "Hiya!" she cried, bringing it down at the younger girl. Linel smoothly rolled out of the way. Her eyes followed Linel as she scampered around the chamber. There was no way her heavy sword could catch this one. Luckily, she had a trump card. Reaching towards her back, she felt for another familiar weapon. Grabbing onto its hilt, she pulled it out, not unraveling its cord yet. She knelt down, fake panting, waiting for the girl to get close to her.

I charged Sheyta again, this time using a Horizontal attack. She leapt backwards, then brought her sword up to slice at me. It nicked me on my cheek, the cut once again very precise. She went to jab at me again, this time hitting me in the opposite shoulder, not once, but three times. Her attack pattern reminded me very much of Asuna, as she too wielded a rapier. I ignored the sharp stabs of pain from the wounds she'd given me, as it would take a lot more than that to stop me. I could feel my sacred arts building, and I gripped my sword with two hands. "Enhance Armament!" The purple haze gathered and built around my sword, purple circles and symbols glowing briefly. The power it wielded shot out from my sword, landing a direct shot at my opponent. It hit her hard, sending her flying. Sacred power continued to pour from my weapon, pushing her body harder and harder into the stone wall. I approached her slowly, like a predator, pushing my will and strength into crushing her completely.

"Kirito, no!" Leina called from her crouched position.

"You really should worry about yourself," Linel popped up in front of her, dagger raised. She went to strike, but Leina ducked, leaping out of the way. She unleashed her whip, flicking it with her wrist, its leather strap extended, wrapping around Linel's feet. It constricted, then knocked the girl to the ground.

Leina pulled her whip back, which caused Linel to drop her blade, and began dragging the girl across the floor towards her. Once she was close enough, Leina took the rest of her whip and used it to tie up the young girl.

"Get off!" Renly shoved hard against Fizel, tossing her from him. He jumped to his feet and threw his twin winged blades into the air. The young girl was eyeing them intently to see where they were going. Which worked to Renly's benefit as he plowed into her, knocking them back towards the ground. His blades returned to him, catching them with ease, and he held them across the girl's scrawny neck. He held them there threateningly for a moment, then pulled one back. Swinging it down, he knocked Fizel out. She collapsed to the ground, eyes spinning. Renly wasted no time as he got to his feet, then headed over to where I was closing in on Sheyta.

I couldn't help but smile at the carnage I was imposing on Sheyta. She was being shoved into the stone wall, the crater she was making growing deeper and deeper. She was gasping for breath, blood was pouring from her body everywhere, and she couldn't move against the strength of my will. Her bones were snapping against the pressure I was forcing on her. It wouldn't be long now. My ears pricked up as I heard Renly call out "Release Recollection." I heard the whipping of blades heading towards me and I flipped backwards to avoid being hit. Once my concentration had been broken, my own sacred arts fizzled out. I collapsed to the ground, panting. Renly stepped past me, and looked in on Sheyta. He grimaced, then turned away.

"Was that really necessary?" Renly muttered. His golden eyes looked down at me.

My hand went to my head. I felt it pounding. I looked back up where Sheyta had been, though what was left of her wasn't identifiable anymore. I paled, then turned my head and heaved. True, I had killed people before, but not like this. What was I doing?

Renly refused to look at me, instead choosing to glare over at Linel.

"I'll never talk," Linel huffed.

Leina held her blade above the girl.

"You think you can kill me? Think again. Fizel and I have died hundreds of times. We always come back."

Renly and Leina shared a glance.

"That's ridiculous," Renly glowered. "Tell us what you know."

"Or you're what?" she mocked.

"You saw what Kirito did to Sheyta. Can you say with certainty you'll come back from that?"

Although rebellious at first, Linel soon gave us a few useful bits of information. After that, her body shuddered and she slipped into a comatose state. Renly and Leina began discussing what they'd learn.

As for me, I was lying on my back, my eyes staring at the ceiling. Renly wasn't including me at the moment as he was clearly irritated by my irrational behavior earlier. Can't say I blamed him. My mind wondered to Eugeo. I really missed my best friend. Suddenly, my eyes glazed over and I felt myself go numb.

OOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

Higa was rubbing his eyes. He'd been staring at the monitor screen where Eugeo's and Kirito's mind patterns were humming along in sync for days now. The memory transfer was nearly complete as the past caught up with the present. Overall, things were going pretty well. It was nearly time to implant the memory chip and wake up their lab rat.

A high-pitched whine sounded from the monitor. Higa looked closely at the screen before him. Eugeo's mind patterns had completed flatlined. His soul ID went from a unique string of numbers to a jumbled mess of random symbols. All memories that were being transferred started to grow fuzzy and become distorted until they stopped completely. As for Kirito, his mind waves were fluctuating randomly, ranging from extreme highs to dangerous lows. Warning! System Error! flashed across the screen, then everything went dark. A few seconds later, emergency lights had activated, filling the cavern with pale green light.

Higa jumped up immediately, heading to the STL bed where Kirito was lying. His hands were searching along the machine, looking for the switches to convert to auxiliary power. He audibly sighed when he was able to reboot the bed. Glancing at Kirito, he saw the boy's body flinch, not knowing if something, if anything, had happened to him in those precious few seconds he'd been cut off from everything.

Frustration was etched across Higa's face, but there was also a trace of fear. What the hell happened?

He looked to where Eugeo's real body was, floating inside the glass tube. He headed to the control panel for the tube, hoping to switch it to a backup source as well. He hissed at how cold the slot felt, but was able to open it, startled to hear ice cracking as he did so. Peering inside, he saw the wires were frozen and broken. "Shit, I can't switch power sources." he murmured.

Near the bottom of the tube, red numbers were illuminated. They started with three minutes and began to count down.

"What's the timer for?" Rinko asked nervously.

"That's how much air he has left. If we don't get him out, he'll die," Higa frowned. "If he dies, so does Kirito." Rinko gasped. "Then, Kikuoka will kill me for letting it happen."

OOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

"A resurrection chamber?" Leina was shocked.

"What this woman is doing is just…wrong," Renly shook his head. He felt angry seeing how he had blindly followed Pontifex's orders and believed they were protecting the human realm. Instead, she had people be sacrificed, for her own selfish gain. She'd been absorbing their life and vitality in order to build her strength and return to her former glory.

"I spoke to her, you know," Leina's voice dropped to a whisper. "The Pontifex, I mean. She wants us to find her and there's a surprise waiting."

"We'll find her, and regardless of what this 'surprise' will be, we'll be ready," Renly growled. "At least we know what happened to our missing people. When this is all over, we'll have to figure out who was here and get word out to their families and loved ones. Pontifex will pay for the lives she's destroyed." He clenched his fists. "As for now, we need to keep going. That girl told us the Pontifex went that way with Eugeo." He looked over at me. "Come on, Star King," he drawled. "We're moving." I didn't move. "Star King?" Renly said again. He approached me slowly, "Kirito?"

I lay on my back, arms outstretched, eyes dull and blank.

Renly circled my body cautiously.

"Renly?" Leina asked in alarm. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know, he's not responding," Renly furred his brow.

"Could it be the poison?" Leina knelt down beside me.

"Not sure," Renly murmured.

Suddenly, my eyes came back into focus and I jolted upright. I blinked at Renly and Leina, who were both staring at me dumbfounded.

I scrubbed my hand through my hair, and shook my head. "What happened?" I asked.

"You tell us," Renly said, brows furred.

Leina wasted no time in hugging me, clearly relieved.

"I'm fine, really," I said.

"Are you?" Renly asked, not convinced.

"You worry too much," I told him. I rose to my feet, gently removing Leina's tight grasp. "We should get going." We stowed our weapons and continued onwards. Although I said I was fine, I was anything but. I had felt for a brief moment, what Eugeo had felt the day he died. Death had come for me, and even now, I could still feel it lingering.

End Chapter 7