PART 6 of *it's going to be a bit longer minna, gomen ne*
Andrew turned the wheel to open the gate as quickly as he could. He
kept looking down the hallway and began to think that he may have a
chance of escaping his alive. He did not want to fight that madman
nor witness the unholy sword again. And then, the footsteps were
silent. Andrew continued to open the gate... it was now a foot off the
ground.. . just a little more and he would be able to escape and rouse
the rest of the Royal Guard.
And then that sound arose again. The sounds of a hundred, nay, a
thousand anguished souls. Falken stepped around the corner, the dark
blade already loosed from its sheath. He walked forward in a slow
stride. He was intent on his prey, and knew that he would make it to
Andrew in time...
"You should not have seen that boy..." spat Falken. "If you hadn't,
then you may still have lived."
Andrew turned the wheel operating the gate with a renewed fervor. Just
a little bit further...
Falken ran forward, throwing his jaw down and howling an angry howl.
Andrew let go of the wheel and ducked, allowing Falken's sword to
whistle through the air above his head. Falken grinned, for he had hit
his mark. The rope was now in two and the gate came crashing down.
Andrew rolled his body towards the gate, hoping that he could still
make it. The gate crashed down and buried itself back into the ground,
cracking the cobblestones beneath it. Andrew breathed a sigh of relief
and allowed himself a moment to relax his body.
Falken gripped the gate with both hands and grunted. The gate began to
shake as he tried to lift. And then it came crashing up. The metal
sparked as it grated against the stone to either side, and buried
itself into the top of the gateway.
Andrew, wide eyed, was already running across the courtyard. And this
time, Falken angrily gave chase...
Meanwhile...
Two figures stood alone in a dark room. A single torch hung from a
bracket on the cold stone walls, giving the only source of light for
the room. But the light didn't matter; both Yoma could see as clearly
in the dark as at midday.
"Ssssisssterrrr, whatsss think you of our gamessssss?" said one Yoma.
"These humans are so boring, brother," replied the second figure, in a
thick british voice that rang of aristocracy.
"Wheressss are your pawnsssssss?"
"Ah ah ah, dear brother. We agreed not to reveal any of our moves in
this little game of chess."
"Yesss, yesss, I ssssupossse we agreedssss ssssoo..." The voice trailed
off.
"I will warn you though. I have many trump cards... I believe the game
is thus far, mine."
"True sssissster, but you havesss brokensss our rulesssss." The Yoma's
eyes flared bright red for a brief second.
"Brother, I have done nothing against the rules. My pawns have stepped
out of line on their own, and that is the one provision that we agreed
on."
"You musssst keep controlssss of yoursssss. It issss a sssign of
weaknesssss."
"True, but to play a game, sometimes it is necessary to leave some
things to chance. If you control every action with an iron grip, one
wrong move can throw your entire game."
The other Yoma scowled. "Ssssissster, I must take my farewellsss. I
dare not leave my pawnsss for too longsss." He melted away into the
shadows, his eyes the last to fade away.
The remaining Yoma smiled a crooked smile before also fading into the
surrounding shadows.
Serena stirred. Her normally bright blue eyes were clouded as they
fluttered open. Serena found herself cuffed to a wall. It was cold
and humid, wherever she was. Serena's eyes took a few moments to
adjust to the darkness around her. As far as she could tell, she was
in a small room. Thin tendrils of smoke rose from a small dish in the
center of the room. Serena tried to look at the contents as best she
could, but found that she couldn't stretch far enough to see.
Voices flittered from down a hallway and into Serena's confined room.
She immediately slackened her body, pretending to have not yet awakened.
Echoes of footsteps floated into the room only a few moments later.
Somebody fumbled with a set of keys outside the door. A key turned in
the heavy lock and a thick oaken door creaked open. Light flared in
from a torch carried by one of the men.
Usagi forced herself to remain as if she were lifeless.
"What have you done to her?" Serena recognized the voice of the man
that had spoken with her earlier. Footsteps approached her rapidly,
and the man knelt in front of her. He put his hand gently on her chin
and raised her head.
"My dear Usagi, what have they done to you?" The man laid her head
gently back and stood quickly. "This was not called for. First, you
put her down here, not in her room, and now I find her nearly dead!"
"My apologies, your majesty," smirked a muscled man as he bowed.
The king turned and walked out of the room. "I expect her to be moved
to her room and her wounds treated. And this time, do it without
unnecessary violence!"
The door swung closed and locked. Serena sighed and began working
furiously at freeing her hands...
Andrew ran across the courtyard in a blaze, Falken only a few yards
behind him. Andrew's lightweight armor felt heavier and heavier as he
sprinted. Ahead grew a small grove of trees, which then led into the
castle gardens. Andrew knew every twist and turn in that maze and knew
he would be able to lose his pursuer there...
Smoke was filling the room at an alarming rate. The only way for air
to escape was through the ceiling or the door, and Darien had already
barricaded the door. Darien ran frantically about the room, trying to
discover another exit, but it was too late. His eyes watered as they
filled with the acrid smoke. And at last, Darien had inhaled too much.
By the time he hit the ground, he had lost conciousness...
The city had fallen, but to whom nobody knew. Their would-be queen had
been kidnapped, the king was nowhere to be found, and the guards were
in such a scramble to get their forces together that they were virtually
useless. They were pawns, unknowingly playing in a deadly game that
meant no more than a means of passing time for those who controlled it...
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PART 7 of *now you decide... ^^*
The room had long since filled with smoke. Darien lay unconcious on
the floor. His breathing came in ragged gasps.
The old door, reinforced by the various tables by Darien, buckled
slightly as a large weight was thrust against it. The barracade
grinded against the floor as it gave way with each successive ramming.
Darien coughed violently and his eyes shot open. Through watery eyes,
he watched as his reinforement lost more and more gorund. Darien
pulled himself to the wall and sat up against it. He painfully drew
his sword and prepared himself. It was hopeless, he knew, but Darien
rationalized that he would not give up. He would see his persuers'
deaths before his own.
The door shattered inward. Wood cut the air with such force, it buried
itself into the surrounding structure. Darien instinctively threw his
arms up and looked away.
Fresh air flooded into the room. A solitary shadow stood in the
illumination from the front from the front door.
Darien steadied his sword and prepared to strike with all of his energy.
And then a familiar voice spoke.
"Darien? Are you in here?"
"Andrew?" coughed Darien.
The familiar smile of Darien's best friend entered the room as Andrew
peeked around the corner.
"Darien! What happened to you?" shouted Andrew, who rushed to aid his
friend.
As Andrew ran to the aide of his friend, Darien was overwhelmed with a
sese of nausea and faltered. Andrew caught him and quickly helped
Darien from the smoke-filled guardhouse.
"Thank you Andrew," managed Darien as he slumped to the ground just
outside.
"It doesn't look like anyone is left. How did this happen?"
"They were here before. They came in several days ago, posing as
merchants, guards, citizens -- whatever. There wasn't any way we could
have stopped this."
"Wha...?" asked Andrew.
"See for yourself," replied Darien, gesturing to the guardhouse. "The
bodies inside are days old. They must have been killed and stored in
here while our assailants waited to this opportunity to attack."
Andrew blinked in disbelief. "I can't believe that we were overtaken
so easily..."
"We have underestimated our enemy," replied Darien solemnly. "Come
Andrew, we must raise the forces that we can and rally to our King."
"Darien... the castle is vacated. Everyone living has evacuated. The
queen has been taken. Our city is gone, we must move on..."
Darien stood to his full height. He was an impressive sight. He bore
the look of a natural leader.
"Then we must regoin our king and find what he desires our next course
of action."
"Darien, wake up!" yelled Andrew. "It's over! Everything is gone!
We should just give up now!"
"No Andrew! If hope is lost, then all is lost."
Darien grabbed Andrew's shoulders and looked directly into his friend's
eyes.
"Talk sense! You've never been this pessimistic before! We still have
a chance! We may have underestimated them, but now they do us! Don't
you see? Once man can change the tides of war!"
Andrew grinned. "Very well then, if I can't convince you to give up
this silly escapade through friendship and common sense, I suppose a
little violence is in order."
Darien's eyes widened. "Andrew?"
"Do not refer to me by that name... your friend is dead now. Lord
Falken has taken care of that, I'm sure..."
Darien tried to pull back, but found that he had no control over his
own limbs. The figure before him grinned wickedly, revealing a row
of jagged teeth. Its eyes glowed red and lightning arced into
Darien's body. It took only a few seconds before Darien lost
conciousness and found himself submerged into his own subconciousness.
Suddenly, Darien found himself standing on a grassy knoll. The day was
beautiful, perfect for a picnic. Sitting at the top of the hill,
underneath a lone tree, sat a couple who looked very much in love.
Everything felt so familiar to him...
And then everything was dark and the female figure stood encircled by
silhouettes. She faltered and fell to the ground and the shadows
encompassed her. She screamed. The creatures left and she stared
directly at Darien. Her eyes were deep and sad. She was so familiar.
And then she fell to the ground.
An elderly man appeared and walked over to the young woman, who had now
been treated and was laying in an enormous bed. The old man picked up
her hand and held it to his cheek. Tears flowed freely from the man's
eyes.
"My sweet Usagi," he said. "If only I could fix the circumstances of
these past few weeks... ever since you appeared in that light. You
were a gift from the gods..."
Darien's eyes widened. The blue light...
Memories flooded into this mind. A picnic... *flash* he was with
someone... *flash* "I love you"... *flash* a familiar smile... *flash*
and then a bright blue light... *flash* "Mamoru!" screamed a female
voice...
Darien threw his hand out to the black emptiness. "Usagi! I will come
for you! I remember my promise!"
A familiar blue light shot from the sky and encompassed Darien's body.
So intense was the light that Darien's assailants turned away and
sheltered their eyes. The light dimmed, and Darien's body was gone...
The man laughed. His guise as Andrew faded away, revealing the
countenance of a mage.
"Sir?" asked a soldier from the opposite guardhouse. "What shall we
do?"
"Nothing for now," smirked the mage. "This game has suddenly become a
lot more interesting..."
And on the other side of the continent, in the Terindya kingdom, a door
opened. An old man with a crown perched upon his furrowed brow entered
the room, followed by two very fancily dressed imperial courtiers. An
old woman, stooped with age, bustled in behind them.
The parade came to a halt at the foot of the huge bed which occupied
roughly half of the room. The young woman in the bed stirred and sat
up. Her eyes remained half-closed from sheer exhaustion.
The old woman continued further into the room, until she stood at the
side of the bed. A frail, withered hand reached out from the thick
folds of robes and gripped Serena's wrist. Serena's eyes shot open and
she stared at the old woman, a mixture of horror and surprise on her
face. The old woman began chanting something mysterious and Serena
found herself staring into the old woman's eyes. Those eyes glowed a
mysterious red as the woman continued chanting. Serena lost herself into
a world in her subconciousness... a world she had forgotten existed.
A picnic... a man... no, a boyfriend... Mamoru?... who was Mamoru?...
And then she felt like she was being pulled out from icy water and back
onto dry land. Serena shivered, and pulled the warm blankets tighter
around her. She wanted to run, to escape this place... she wanted to
be with the one she loved. But she was so confused. Who did she love?
Everytime she thought of her life with Kashue, she somehow managed to
find herself lost in the eyes of the handsome young lieutenant.
"The magic is strong," announced the old woman. "To undo its effects,
I will require a lot of time."
"Whatever is necessary," replied the king.
The old woman smiled. Nobody stood close enough to peer into the cowl
of her robes where a very sharp-toothed grin formed.
The gardens were nearing. Andrew's heart pounded in unison with his
footsteps. His pulse beat in his ears, and his breathing came in
ragged, quick gasps. A cracked cobblestone was all it took to shatter
Andrew's hopes as his foot caught the corner of it and he tumbled to
the ground.
Behind him, the footsteps of Lord Falken slowed as he found his prey
now trapped and unable to escape in time...
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