Chapter 19
"Shadow shift: Athena's Spear!" Karen launched her own shadow transforming it into a spear targeting the girl standing by the elevator. She responded by cart-wheeling aside gracefully. Karen's shadow missed and wheezed past leaving scraped markings on the elevator doors.
"Heh." The girl scoffed after evading the attack flawlessly.
Karen only replied with a smirk. "If you're taunting me, then you obviously don't know who I am."
"Really? That was honestly too slo-" The girl paused. She felt her thighs and noticed a slit a few inches long cut through her maroon sweatpants, she could feel her blood dampening the cloth of her garment. The cut was somehow deep. "Hmm.." She tried processing what had happened thinking that she missed something.
Karen retracted back her shadow and launched a series of attacks in quick successions. "I honestly don't know how you manage to move inside my Kronos' sphere, but I'll make you regret that decision! Athena's spear!"
The girl kept on evading, spinning and jumping from tables to chairs barely even touching the laboratory apparatus carefully laid out and assembled. "Woops, can't have myself making a huge mess of this place." Her short and slender body, acrobatically outmaneuvering Karen's attack like it was one big child's play.
Karen maintained her composure, kept her eyes sharp and her concentration at its peak. She was never the type to easily let her emotions get the better of her especially in combat. Going for a different approach, she sent her shadow forward branching into three separate attacks.
"Shadow shift: Poseidon's Trident!"
Even with the dim fluorescent lighting of the laboratory, the girl was still able to outmaneuver Karen's three-pronged attack. Karen was honestly impressed. She admitted to herself that the girl was one experienced fighter. But everything was still going according to Karen's plan, she's just mainly buying time so she could include Zoey's body and the half-blood's body into her ethereal form and escape.
"How long do you intend on dodging?" Karen questioned. "You'll just end up dead." The girl stood up slouching, her thighs and arms now full of scratches. Even her sweatpants and sleeveless shirt was riddled with slashes. "Come attack-"
"Now I get it." She interrupted Karen.
"Really?" Karen replied almost amused, her lips curving up a little.
"Evading your shadow attacks isn't enough. There's more to them you sneaky lizard." She then stretched her shoulders and cracked her knuckles. "Time to test it out." Her body outline started emitting a bluish light. She charged at Karen hurdling through laboratory tables and apparatus.
Karen jumped further back, alarmed by the girl's much more agile and faster movements suddenly. "Shadow shift." She regrouped her shadows back again into one elongated large spear "Athena's spear!" She sent the attack that made the girl spin acrobatically sideways grabbing an empty beaker and throwing it at the fluorescent light above her immediately turning it off.
"What?" Karen blurted out.
With barely enough time to respond from shock, the girl finally managed to close the distance and propelled a spinning round house kick her leg emitting a bluish green aura.
"Impale of Anubis!"
Karen didn't know why her body suddenly froze. She swore that she was just moving fine a few minutes ago despite carrying two bodies. Karen was left no choice but to turn to the side and let the girl hit her in the back. Karen gritted her teeth as the impact from the kick released an azure wave strong enough to break all the nearby glassware. She staggered a few centimeters but still managed to withstand her kick barely kneeling down.
The girl cautiously jumped back with a reverse somersault. She made it sure it was a powerful attack so seeing Karen still standing puzzled her. Seeing someone still standing after getting hit with her Impale of Anubis was an amazing feat.
Karen panted. "Shadow shift: Ares' chain.."
The girl saw a file cabinet to the far east bent heavily as if it was hit by a rocket launcher.
"I see..." She rubbed the adhesive bandage on her nose bridge. "This ability of yours. That means you're Karen Blake. Rank A devil Nyx." She spat blood, her shirt getting more and more damped and sticky with her blood from the earlier slashes. "So the reason you were still able to hurt me despite dodging all of your attacks is because of my shadow. You were trying to make me think that it was me you were targeting but all along you were hitting my shadow, and that transfers damage to me."
"You learn fast. I'll give you that." Karen commended. "So that's why when you jumped to the left you also broke the light above you so the florescent lighting to the right will move your shadow to your left."
"Your observation skill is impeccable. Praiseworthy." Karen added. "And I guess that attack of yours is the reason why I couldn't move earlier?"
"Yep, hihi." She grinned. "Once you're in range of my Impale of Anubis you can no longer move. You know, like mummified." The girl looked again at the heavily dented filing cabinet. "Also, If I'm not mistaken you misdirected my kick to that cabinet. I assume you can also mitigate damage through your shadow?"
"Ares' chains allow me to spread my shadows around. Any damage I'll take will be directed instead to the surrounding objects, or people, my shadow have shackled onto." Karen explained. "Quite amazing isn't it, Maylene Lillis?"
"Yep yep. It's cool. Rank A for a reason I guess, but how did y-"
"Don't underestimate my intel." Karen cut her off this time with a sneer. "The GAS newest vice pillar. This isn't the first time I've heard of that move. Who would have thought that this mission would led to this fateful meeting. Funny right? I've been looking for you."
"I ain't laughing though." Maylene tilt her shoulders. "What do you find funny about it? And why would you look for someone like me?"
"Because you GAS scums never fail to amuse us with your endless tricks!" Karen leaped backward, regaining her composure. "Shadow shift: Athena's Spear!"
Instead of jumping away understanding that she couldn't fully dodge the attack, Maylene grabbed a nearby wooden table and used it as a shield. Unfortunately for her, Karen's attack was strong enough to break the object in half throwing Maylene back crashing to a stack of monoblock chairs. This, however, didn't affect her one bit. She jumped back up, skipping almost happily. "Whew." She whistled in relief. "Ouchie."
"I don't know what you're doing here or who's body you're carrying. If ya tell me, then I don't mind telling ya also why I can move inside your sphere. Sounds good?"
Karen thought that she was insane. The cuts and bruised Karen had done on Maylene's body did not seem to have any effect on Maylene's movement. If ever, she just got faster, ecstatic even. Karen started to question what this bluish light Maylene's body was starting to emit.
Karen relaxed her breathing, her observation on Maylene starting to worry her a little. But the time was up. "I'd love to chat more with you but I guess we'll just leave it at another time." Karen's shadow pooled below her. "If you do know me then you could have at least anticipated this." Karen's body slowly descended down the darkness right beneath her. "Ethereal form complete. Shadow shift: Janus' Portal."
"Eh? Wai-"
Maylene was caught off guard at Karen escaping so easily. "Seriously?! Come oooonnn.." She groaned and fell on her knees. She clawed her short pink hair in frustration. The bluish light her body emitted slowly dissipating. Her body finally felt the pain and sting of all her cuts and bruises. She managed her breathing, slowly collecting herself. It was the first time she had real combat ever since becoming part of the GAS. She examined all her cuts that now pulsated pain. She lowly regained her strength and stood up. "Volkner is so gonna be pissed at me failing." She sniffed.
She then heard the elevator door ring echo throughout the entire dark basement.
"Lady Maylene! Lady Maylene!" She heard a familiar voice frantically calling out to her. She assumed that the sphere has already been dispelled.
"Oh my god Lady Maylene!" Maylene looked back and saw Roark, her personal guardian, rushing over to her side. "Damn damn damn damn damn." Roark panicked at seeing the cuts all over Maylene's body. He hurriedly removed his blazer and laid it over her shoulders.
"Hehe. Sorry. But I'm fine." Maylene sheepishly laughed. "I know I promised ya and Dad not to overdo it, and I totally did not overdo it! But it was Nyx!" She huffed, still catching up her breathing. "I didn't expect her to be behind all of this."
"Plus, this is just a flesh wound." She jested.
"Just stop talking okay? Saved it." Roark hushed her and offered his back to her. "Climb up. You can report to Lord Volkner by tomorrow. For now let's tend your wounds first."
"Rooooaaaark." Maylene whined. "Piggy back? Seriously... you can do better you know." Yet she slowly climbed on his back knowing Roark wasn't taking in any of her jokes. She shifted her weight on him, exhaustion now fully blanketing her entire being. She yawned, she wrapped her arms around Roark's neck and laid her head. Her eyes drooping slowly. "Why do you have to be so boring?"
"Bridal style isn't that bad you know I swear." She whispered, trying to squeeze another joke through the fatigue. "Aren't I a young and proper lady already?" But she soon closed her eyes in defeat.
Roark cleared his throat. "Just rest Lady Maylene." Roark uttered, pushing up his glasses. "I'll prepare all your favorite chocolates once you awaken." He stood up as doctors, nurses, staff and other GAS personnel started flooding through from the elevator panicking at what just happened.
...
"Dad?" Maylene excitedly hopped down the flight of stairs. "Daaaaad?" She called out a second time. "Can we get that chocolate you brought last time? Dad?"
"Yes Lady Maylene?" Roark perked his head from the kitchen door in his usual formal wear tied with a yellow apron. He was wiping a cup with a cloth. "I'm still doing the dishes but I may be able to help you with what you want."
"You're not Dad obviously Roark." Maylene rolled her eyes. "I'm looking for him."
He was about to say something about where he last saw her father when he noticed that she was still in her pajamas. He cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow. "What did I say about wearing your pajamas late in the morning? You'll be turning sixteen in two months time. You should start acting like a young and proper lady." He pushed his glasses up, unamused.
Maylene stuck her tongue out. "Stupid! Roark! I can wear anything I want!" She clipped her hips. "As if I can even go outside bleeeee. Stupid Roark!" She ran back up the stairs stomping.
"Hey Lady Maylene! Hey!" Roark called out after her, almost dropping the cup he held. "What did I say about running the stairs?!" He sighed. "Seriously..."
"Stupid Roark... Stingy stupid Roark... Who cares if I wear pajamas until evening? It doesn't even matter if I can't go outside anyway." Maylene grumbled heading to her room when he heard whispers coming from his father's room just across hers. "So dad was in his room all along?" She grinned completely forgetting Roark's earlier remark. "Hey dad!" She was about to open the door when he heard that his dad was not alone, he was talking to someone else Maylene recognized as their family doctor.
"Is there really no other way doctor?" She heard his weary and distressed voice on the other side of the door. "She is all that I have left. I can't lose another member of the family."
The light around Maylene gradually turned dim. She automatically knew who his father was talking about. She lightly propped open the door seeing his father and their family doctor through the slit having the conversation.
"If this keeps up, she might not be able to reach her sixteenth birthday." The doctor her father was talking to replied. "It's not just her kidneys now, its also affecting her liver. At this rate, her hypoglycemia will just get worse. Her medication can no longer keep up with her worsening condition."
Maylene heard her father broke an anguish cry that made her clutch her chest unconsciously. Her father's cry was hurting her more than the fact that she might not be able to turn sixteen this year. Her chest caved in with such gravity that it made her dizzy and nauseous.
"But our last resort still stands Mr. Lillis." The doctor said. "This might just be the only way to save your daughter. Are you willing to give this another try?"
It took a couple of minutes before her father gave a reply. "I can't have Maylene go through what my wife went through. But..." His voice shook with withheld grief.
"Here is Dr. Thornton's number." The doctor gave his father a small piece of paper. "I'm sorry it had to happen to your wife, but this is just in case. Think this thoroughly with your daughter."
Maylene left and went to her room. Despite being sick of crying at the same problem again and again, she embraced her pillows and screamed out all her frustrations.
Promising one day, she wouldn't have to cry at this ever again. And more importantly, his father won't have to cry at her again.
...
Maylene slowly opened her eyes one by one. The early rays of the morning sun seeped through the glass windows of her room creating spotlights on her ceramic bedroom floor. She tried getting up only to feel her body sting with pain. She then remembered her encounter with Nyx last night.
I'd love to chat more with you but I guess we'll just leave it at another time. If you do know me then you could have at least anticipated this. Ethereal form complete. Shadow shift: Janus' Portal.
The mere memory of it was enough to irritate her. She clicked her tongue. The dream she just had played again in her mind.
I can't have Maylene go through what my wife went through. But...
Here is Dr. Thornton's number. I'm sorry it had to happen to your wife, but this is just in case. Think this thoroughly with your daughter.
She didn't know why she dreamed of it, it felt random. She looked at the bandages on her fingers. She guessed that maybe after all this time, being able to experience being alive past her sixteenth birthday still seemed unreal to her that it still felt unbelievable.
Whether it was the best decision or not, she still couldn't tell even after a year has already passed. The only thing in her mind was that she made the decision that made her father happy. It was all she ever asked for, a risk worth taking. And just like she promised, she never once cried over it again.
Maybe it wasn't much of a random dream after all.
She then heard a knock on her door knocking her out of her stupor.
"Lady Maylene?" Her personal guardian called out at the other side of the door. "Lord Volkner is here to see you."
"Okay Roark!" She replied. She thought of changing herself out of her pajamas, but knowing it was just Volkner she threw the idea off the table. He's seen her in her pajamas too many times to count and care. "Let him in, I've changed already." She lied, hoping Roark wouldn't catch her lying.
Volkner greeted in his usual navy blue jacket and black pants. "Guess someone still hasn't changed." Volkner remarked. "That may have been either literally or figuratively. Your pick."
"Oh please. I don't have the appetite to deal with stingy Roark this early in the morning." Maylene crossed her arms.
Volkner was about to retort that it was already thirty minutes past ten in the morning, but seeing the cuts and bandages on her fingers and wrist stopped him from commenting forward. He just went straight to what he came here for. "I've heard you encountered Nyx last night. I'm glad you're safe." He just stood a few centimeters from the door. "I've brought you sweets, it might help you recover faster. I gave them to Roark."
"Oh, thank you. I appreciate it." Maylene pointed him to a nearby chair. "Take that please and do sit."
"Don't mind if I do." Volkner bowed. "Don't sit up, just stay in your bed."
"Okay. And yes I did fight Nyx last night." Maylene answered. "I'll write a report on what I've found out."
"Good good." Volkner breathed in. "Thornton and I also had an encounter with Pugilist last night. Your report was accurate. They were indeed the one behind the scourging of Hearthome Academy, though he and Nyx was no longer there in the school when we arrived. It was just that unknown devil rampaging and devouring everybody. They might have something to do about that too."
Volkner rapidly drummed his fingers on his lap in an anxious manner. "Who knew something like that existed just under our noses. It took an entire squadron to take him down. I even had to be in enlightened form to stop him."
Getting a glimpse of the memory of what happened at the school last month, a cold shiver ran down Maylene's spine. "Yah.." Was all she could reply, realizing her mouth was parched from sleep.
"We talked about it with Thornton and we're about to have a council meeting with the other pillars and vice pillars." Volkner bit the inside of his cheek. "We've never placed a devil at a rank higher than S before, he might be the first one to be ranked SS."
"For now, we have decided to give him the code Reaper." Volkner sharpened his eyes. "Ranked SS Reaper."
"I see... So I'm guessing he was the one Nyx was after last night. She and Pugilist might really have something to do with that devil." Maylene shuffled uncomfortable under her bed sheet, her failure at stopping Nyx now stung more painfully than her recovering wounds. "Damn... and I let her get away."
Volkner ruffled his blonde locks. "Don't worry. Thornton has already worked on that boy. It's not a total loss on our side. For now lest focus on having a better scope, we have to be extra careful. We are the only region here who still lacks a second vice pillar." He said thoughtfully. "We are still working on it."
Maylene recalled that the GAS in the other three regions, Kanto, Johto and Hoenn have two vice pillars supporting the one and only main pillar. It was only in Sinnoh that they had only one vice pillar, being her alone.
"Dr. Thornton has already worked on him? What do you mean?" She asked. "Oh by the way." A sudden realization hit her. "Nyx was carrying two bodies last night. Who was the other one aside from Reaper?"
"Don't mind it for now." Volkner said. "I'm here to give you your new mission." Volkner scooted his chair closer to Maylene's bed and gave her a picture. "You know this girl right? She was in your class."
Maylene was lost for words. She was so shocked that she almost choked on her own saliva.
"That reaction means you do know her." Volkner raised an eye brow.
"Yah." Maylene gave him a tiny nod. "I do know her." She was about to say that she was a friend, but cut herself off. "She's an acquaintance." She said instead.
"Then that makes you perfect for this mission. I want you to keep an eye on her. She's Dr. Thornton's latest patient. This girl is Reaper's essence vessel. The reverse scourging wasn't complete, there were some complications." He stood up and gave Maylene the picture. "That's what I mean it isn't a complete loss. What Nyx took might just be somewhat of an empty vessel if not less. Well, hopefully. We will still get him back regardless."
The information Volkner spoke of knocked Maylene's world out of the orbit. Maylene couldn't almost believe it herself. It was just too sudden.
He stood up and straightened the lumps on his jacket. "By the way, that girl will be discharge from the hospital today so she won't suspect anything. Just stick with your mission and monitor her. I'll take care of Nyx and Pugilist. Until we get a second vice pillar, I suggest you don't engage in combat. Same goes to me, I still haven't fully recovered from using enlightenment."
He slowly walked towards the door. "Exceptional work on your very first mission by the way as an undercover student for Hearthome Academy." He then left the room.
So much questioned floated inside Maylene's head that she barely heard Volkner talking and leaving.
"I can't... I can't believe this..." Her breath got caught in her throat. She felt the picture's glossy texture with her bandaged fingers. "Latest patient? Essence vessel? Incomplete reverse scourging?"
Maylene looked at the swaying curtains, feeling the December chill drift by to her room.
"What have they done to you Dawn..."
...
*Netherworld Johto*
"Ladies and gentlemen!" An announcer yelled through the microphone he held, his forked tail wagging excitedly. He was wearing a long sleeved polo under a red vest tucked with striped shorts. His announcement was quickly followed by an uproar of madness from the surrounding crowd. He continuously jumped up and down rocking the chained concrete platform he was standing on from sheer joy madness at seeing the result of the ongoing execution. "Looks like this gladiator game is a wrap!" His greasy voice hollered through device. "A new champion is born!"
Right below him stood a boy in plain green shirt and cargo pants. He was clad under a silver tattered hood stained heavily with blood, his face covered with a plain metallic mask. He pressed his right foot on the chest of a barely breathing devil. Its legs completely frozen.
"Wha...what..are you waiting for?" The devil heaved. "Just..finish me already..."
The boy just stood there with his foot still on the devil's chest, feeling its labored breathing through the sole of his sneakers. The more he pressed on its chest, the more frigid the ice on its lower body became. The devil convulsed, reaching hypothermia. The crowd around them jumping and shouting madly like one insane flock of red eyed maniacs. The masked boy looked up and stared at the topmost cot seeing Prince Lance sitting with his head on his palm and legs crossed. He seemed a little more amused than the usual. His eyes seemed a bit more sharper today.
Lance ruffled his red hair and stood up. He walked a bit forward, his red cape scraping the cement of the floor making a screeching noise like it was made of steel. He leaned on the railings and raised his right arm forward and pointed his thumbs down, signaling execution.
"And there you go folks!" The announcer bellowed. "The prince, our beloved arbiter, has passed judgement! It's execution time!" He shouted in twisted glee that came out as insignificant as a whisper underneath the even more twisted clamor of the crowd. "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
The masked boy looked down at the devil beneath the sole of his sneakers. Its eyes were closed, its body trembling from the temperature. He took one last look around the arena, where all other devils he defeated earlier caged in ice. He heaved a deep burdened sigh.
"Lance...he'll pay for this tyranny..." The devil shivered, its breath forming frosty puff under the low heat of the overcast wintry sky. "He will burn in hell..."
The masked boy raised his fingers.
"Do you hear me!" Even though its red animalistic skin has turned bluish under his ice, even its lips has already been drained of any existing colors, he couldn't believe that the devil still had that much remaining strength to shout. "He will burn in he.." The ice on his lower extremities crept up now totally encapsulating its entire body. The structure framing the devil's horror and hatred filled visage.
He held his breath.
"Break."
He uttered as the body he pressed his foot on as well as the other frozen bodies around him exploded one after another sending scarlet snowflakes raining down simulating a miniature winter inside the arena, a miniature hellish winter.
It's December already after all.
His ears almost popped open with the crowd's gibberish and deafening uproar. He breathed in deeply, slowly feeling the fatigue finally washing over him from continuously fighting everyday in this dome for a month killing over three hundred devils.
He opened his palm and saw the blood snowflakes instantly melt on his skin.
"So so so.. Mr. Solstice!" He heard the chains rustle behind him and saw the elevated platform slowly leveling down. The announcer hastily jumped down in excitement almost tripping himself over. "Your victory in this year's gladiator game has been phenomenal, flawless and exceptional!" He exclaimed. "And dare I say? Chilly." He wiggled his scarred eye brows, even feigning a shiver to add to his jest. "Who would have thought that a newcomer like you would be able to slaughter all our seasoned warriors single-handedly and-"
But he just ignored him blabbering when he saw the prince motioning him to come closer. He pushed past the announcer and made his way to the stairs climbing all the way up to Lance's cot. With every step he took, he could feel mixed emotions shooting at him from the crowd: anxiety, fear and awe.
"Solstice! Solstice! Solstice!" The crowd roared as he climbed up, the arena still raining down blood snowflakes. He knelt with his left knee once he reached Lance.
"It's good to see you prove your worth." Lance remarked. "You might really be the promised one."
The masked boy stayed in his position kneeling and bowing down.
"I haven't told my sister and brothers yet about you. Or actually..." Lance cupped his chin. "I don't want them to know about you, and keeping you here might be troublesome so I got a mission for you."
"If the legends are true, there should be seven of you. Find the remaining ones and bring them to me." He took something from his pocket. "Here." Lance threw a birth stone when the masked boy looked up. "You'll be needing that. Seeing Williams busy in upperworld Sinnoh, I suggest you start your search from there."
The masked boy caught the object in midair. "Got it." He stood up and walked past him to the bronze door all the way to the back just a few meters.
"I believe you know where you stand." He heard Lance's grim remark, almost sounding like a warning. "Don't disappoint me Gary."
Gary balled his fist causing his metallic mask to freeze then shatter to bits revealing the crimson iris of his right eye. He continued walking, not looking back, not even bothering for a reply. He removed his blood stained hood and threw it on the ground.
He pushed open the door. "Solstice! Solstice! Solstice!" The cheering of the crowd died as the door behind him closed shut.
Chapter 19 End: Friends or Foes?
...
Nutellagirl: Thank you for the comment! As for Paul, he will be returning soon, very very soon!