Part 5: The Scion Of Sorcery
The Scion of Sight, all seeing and all knowing but ultimately defeated under the mighty sword of justice. The Scion of Strength, strong of arm and quick of movement, but ultimately a being of evil crushed under the light of goodness. The Scion of Sin, the embodiment of everything Jack was even now fighting against, oppression, evil. Even it had fallen under his blade when its own evil had turned in on itself, betrayed it. Now there was only the Scion of Sorcery, who wielded powerful magic he probably couldn't begin to guess, but he was confident even it would fall.
The trip to Regallis had been a long one, and hard on all of them. Despite their determination upon leaving Cyrus Station, their enthusiasm had been dwindling steadily. Reggoth seemed worn by more than just the stump where his arm had once been, weighed down by a persistent nagging certainty that even if they took down the final Scion, Aku himself would destroy them all. Sarah was the only one of them to remain in good enough spirits, though even her young soul was deeply burdened. She had done unspeakable things that Jack didn't even want to know of, and he didn't know if she could ever truly cope. Keela seemed the most depressed of them all somehow...
"Jack... are you still planning to return to your own time after we defeat Aku?" She asked him plainly. Reggoth and Sarah were at the front talking, leaving him and Keela alone near the back of the ship.
"I must, Aku must not be allowed to perpetuate this... evil." Jack looked up at Sarah near the front. She should have been lighthearted as any child, but instead there was nothing but pain and memories she would have rather been without.
"But why go back... you're correcting everything NOW, why go back then and risk everyone's future? As far as you know without Aku, we might all have been destroyed by now." Keela pointed out.
"I must free my people, it is my duty and my destiny." Jack replied as calmly as ever.
"But they're dead already Jack... they have been for thousands of years, but you've already helped countless people here and now... They may not be your people but they ARE people! You've already done more good here and now than you ever could have back then!" Keela exclaimed vehemently, raising her voice, almost sounding desperate. "You could make things right, right here..."
"I failed my people, they put their faith in me and I let them down, I cannot simply walk away from my duties to my people... my family. I cannot let them fall to such injustices." Jack replied. Keela suddenly let out a loud growl, slamming her fist into the small table between them. Jack, normally so calm and composed, looked over at her in surprise.
"Your people! Your people! Your people used you Jack! They used you as a crutch! They knew Aku could come back but they did nothing to prevent it! Someone else could have used the sword, they could have all revolted! ANYTHING! But no, they sat back and let YOU do all the work! They waited patiently while they molded you into this THING! Do you know what happiness IS Jack!? I doubt it, you've been too busy dedicating your life to 'your people'! They used you to try to save themselves..." She was practically in tears now, of frustration and anger.
"And you still want to go back and save them, after all the good people you've saved here and now, who may just be DEAD if you do change the last several thousand years!" She gripped the table, staring him down, her face and eyes turning red from the tears. "You want to talk about something unjust... if you ask me you're more of a victim of that than ANY of 'your people'..." She slammed her palm against the table again before she whirled to stomp into the back of the small jet where they'd set up the small cots.
Jack stared after her for a few minutes, dumbfounded. Finally he turned back to the front to see both Reggoth and Sarah looking back at him. "Don't worry about her Jack, I think it's just hitting her that this journey is almost over." Reggoth told him calmly.
"I know she is nervous, but I cannot believe it would be anything but better for none of this to have happened." Jack replied seriously. Reggoth simply grunted in agreement, but Sarah looked back at him for a moment before she jumped off her chair and approached him.
"Maybe she's just afraid of what this change would bring." Sarah told him with an understanding far beyond her years in her voice. "The hardest thing for a person to do is to lose control of their life, maybe she thinks you changing history would take her life out of her own hands." The little girls suggested, taking the seat Keela had just vacated.
"Control of ones own life... is there really such a thing?" Jack asked, not expecting nor receiving any answer from the child seated beside him. He'd never known any control over his own life, everything was the wish of another.
"Whatever y'think, it's time t'make a decision now, we're approaching Regallis... y'wanna turn around and head back, or go in?" Reggoth announced from the front, looking back at the Samurai still sitting in the chair.
"I will not back down no matter what, take us in." Jack replied determinedly, watching the planet approaching fast. They would have to find the Scion of Sorcery once they got to the planet, but he knew one they would, and then he would eliminate him... after that... there was only Aku.
He looked over to the seat beside him, finding Sarah still staring deep into his eyes. He looked back for a moment, then turned to watch the planet approaching fast, the vast blue water covering the majority of the surface. It looked very much like Earth actually, except it was still mostly pure, unlike the Earth which had been infected by Aku's evil. On the almost perfect surface, he could see one dark spot beginning to spread, and infect the rest. The Scion's influence.
"At least w'have a place t'begin." Reggoth commented, his one arm effectively navigating the controls to bring their heading onto the tainted area of the planet. They would be there soon, it was only a matter of waiting, something Jack found was fairly common when traveling the vast reaches of space.
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The cold water splashed over Keela's face, cooling down the heat that she had felt building, as well as masking her tears. She didn't know why she was so upset really, there was something wrong, she could feel it. Wrong about all of this, why should Jack have to fight to save a bunch of people who were too weak to stand up for themselves... why should she have to lose him to them...
"Oh God..." She lifted her face to look into the mirror, her shimmering pale skin and blue eyes staring back at her in stark contrast with a normal human face. How could she have let this happen, how stupid was she... why was this happening. What was it about him, what pulled her to him so strongly? She'd thought she could never love again, why now...
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The ship came down steadily. There was no risk of any of the Scion's minions recognizing it, this was Sarah's ship from Cyrus Station, nobody would be able to recognize it. The door on the side opened vertically, a flight of stairs descending down to the floor of the open topped hangar. Jack and Reggoth started down them, but the samurai stopped and turned back when he heard Sarah following.
"Stay here." Jack told her firmly.
"No." Sarah replied. "I can help you gather information... I have more ways than you." Her voice wavered slightly, but she was obviously determined to help.
"Ways I don't want you using anymore." Jack told her more gently, staring into her eyes. "Besides, I would feel better if someone was watching Keela for me... could you?" He didn't use the normal condescending tone one might normally hear when one was asking a child a question. Instead he sounded more like it was a genuine concern and wish.
"Okay... I promise." Sarah replied, nodding and reaching just inside the ships door to raise the steps that would have let her out of the ship. "We'll be waiting here, you two be careful." She said seriously.
"Good, we will return shortly." Jack replied, turning to head into the nearby city with Reggoth walking by his side. They entered to find it a bustling town full of merchants and shopkeepers, not unlike the crowded center Jack had found aboard Cyrus Station. This one however didn't have the stink of corruption and evil about it, just the dwindling hope and growing desperation of all lands that Aku and his minions had spread their evil into.
Silently Reggoth tapped Jack's shoulder, gesturing to what looked like an old, worn bar on the side of the street. The samurai nodded and they went inside, finding it to be only slightly less dirty than the outside had been. Only a few patrons were at the tables set up around the room and the bar in the back. The bartender eyed them suspiciously, but didn't say anything.
Jack and Reggoth approached the bar and sat down, each of them ordering. Water for Jack, and some kind of drink for Reggoth that the warrior had never heard of before.
"Let me ask him." Jack told Reggoth while they waited for their drinks.
"Fine b'me lad, g'ahead and give it a try." Reggoth replied.
"What has happened to this place?" Jack asked the bartender when he set the water in front of him.
"Same thing that's happened to all places." He replied with a sharp sneer. "Since Aku's little minion came around, been all kinds of people through here, with more than one traveler looking to unload some... strange things." The bartender looked down at the sword still on Jack's hip.
"It's not for sale." Jack told the man without even raising his hat to see the man's face. "The minion to speak of, it's the Scion of Sorcery, is it not?" The samurai asked.
"Of course, you can just look at this place to see the rot those things carry with them everywhere they go." The bartender sighed wistfully. "Of course, it gives me business, this place is actually more full now than it ever was before he showed up."
"Can you tell us where the Scion stays?" Jack asked, not one for beating around the bush or pandering.
"Well I don't know, there's a high price to pay for going up against one of Aku's Scions." The bartender told him, rubbing his index finger and thumb together in a very clear message.
"I have nothing." Jack admitted.
"Then I don't know anything." The bartender replied.
"Come on now." Reggoth chimed in merrily, though he had yet to finish even his first drink. "We're like brothers here, w'all want t'see the Scion leave, don't we?" He pulled the high caliber weapon from his belt that he'd gotten from the station before, setting the bottom part against the counter. This obviously made the bartender quite nervous. "We'll b'out o'your hair as soon as w'get what w'need."
Jack stood before the bartender could even respond. "No, leave him be, we shall look for other sources of information." The warrior told him sternly.
"Why bother? W'have this one right here all ready t'talk." Reggoth shot back.
"Threats are not the way to get help." Jack turned, to see at least two dozen men standing in a perfect formation, staring them down. "Besides, it looks as if our presence here has already been uncovered." Reggoth looked over at the small army, then glared back at the bartender who was trying his best to look innocent. Still, they could see the small switch on the ground that had been pressed.
"I'll deal with you later." Without warning Reggoth whirled with gun in hand, firing several shots into the crowd of guards before he leapt over the bar, kicking the bartender to the ground and taking cover before the guards could retaliate in kind. Jack Leapt back over the bar as well, kneeling down just before the soldiers returned fire, tearing the wall behind them into little more than a big hole.
"How come w'always wind up being ambushed instead o'sneaking in like w'plan!?" Reggoth shouted over the roar of the gunfire.
"Distract them." Jack told him, slinking toward the other side of the bar.
"Sure, I'll just stick up a bottle or something." Reggoth shot back, shaking his head and looking around. All he could find were shards of broken glass and spilled liquid... and the bartender cowering and shielding himself against the falling glass. "Come here." Reggoth grabbed him and hauled him up over the counter. "Don't shoot if you want him alive!" The gunfire stopped for only a moment before it came again, tossing the man back over the counter, limp this time. "Guess not."
The sound of the enchanted steel of Jack's blade leaving its scabbard cut the air sharply as the samurai leapt from behind the bar a distance away from Reggoth. He held the sword to the side until he came within striking distance, severing one of the guard in half in one single blow. A shrill scream erupted through the room as the guard split, but the two pieces formed into a dark shadow.
"What's this?" Jack took a step back as the screaming shadows pulsed before they moved together again, taking the shape of the guard after only a few moments. Jack lunged again, tearing into the ranks of soldiers with expert swipes of his sword, but every one he cut down returned while the others still kept pressing in on him, giving up their weapons for a hand-to-hand approach.
"Get back you shadow dwelling bastards!" Reggoth stood straight again, firing his weapon into the mass of soldiers. The bullets simple plunged through their bodies, leaving small holes of darkness for a second before they closed again, leaving the soldiers unscathed. "They can't b'invincible something has t'kill them." He muttered to himself, still firing.
He stopped firing however when he felt something come up behind him out of the floor, like a shadow stretching over the daylight. He lowered the gun and turned around slowly, looking up at the dark form of the final Scion, it's entire body pulsing with dark crimson power as its eyes whirled with infinite shades of red. "That's right, we're here for you now, y'might as well give up." He raised the gun again quickly... but could not fire.
[Death to the enemies of Aku.] The scion raised one dark tendrils from its body, Reggoth rising into the air without anything else even touching him. The crimson power flowed from the scion and into Reggoths body, sending his muscles into hideous spasms. Reggoth screamed as he lost all control over his own body, but there was little he could do.
"What? Reggoth!" Jack whirled when he heard Reggoth's screams, trying to reach him, but the soldiers kept pressing in on him, tearing into him with their almost claw-like fingers. He brought his sword around to fight back, tearing them in half with every swing, but still they continued to press in on him while Reggoth was still in the Scion's grasp.
"You want t'kill me... just d'it already s'I don't have t'keep looking at you." Reggoth muttered between clenched teeth, his body still rigid and pulsing with the Scions crimson energy.
[As you wish.] The Scion's eyes pulsed as Reggoth screamed even louder, the crimson energy intensifying until finally in one violent surge the power cut through his body, shutting it all down. Reggoth let out one more scream before his body went completely limp hanging in the air, his lifeless eyes staring at the Scion.
"REGGOTH!" Jack tore through the shadows, lunging for the Scion with a fierce scream. The shadows lunged in his way however, one leaping into the air and kicking him to the side, sending him slamming into the ground hard. The sword flew from his grasp, arcing through the air until it embedded itself in the wall with a thud.
Jack lunged to his feet in time to avoid several more strikes from the soldiers, but he managed to strike back, taking one down with a well paced kick and get around the others. He whirled on the Scion in time to see a crimson light just before it enveloped him, just as it had Reggoth moments before.
[Fighting without your sword is futile samurai.] The Scion of Sorcery remarked with a victorious tone in his voice. [Your assault against us will end here and now.]
"You may be able to kill me, but you can never kill justice." Jack struggled to try to move his own body, but the crimson power held onto him too tightly.
[Kill you, oh no, that would be too good for you. After all the trouble you've caused my master, he asked me to give you a special gift.] The scion raised one claw-like arm that began to pulse bright crimson, the power building steadily within it. [For all eternity you will live, samurai, in the darkness you despise so much!] He thrust his hand forward, sending the power tearing into Jack's face, ripping into his eyes, mouth, and ears.
Jack let out a piercing scream, his entire body felt like it was on fire. The crimson energy surged through his eyes, scorching them beyond repair. They burned his tongue, destroyed his ears in a magnificent blast. It surged into his head, destroying anything they came across, but what it came across seemed surprisingly selective. After what felt like an eternity, the Scion let Jack crumple to the floor with a thud... and everything was black.
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"Son, come here." The little boy whirled in place, smiling and running into his mothers arms as she opened her arms to give him a big hug. "I love you..." She told him softly, holding him tightly to her. Her voice seemed softer than usual though, distant and almost sad.
"Is something wrong momma?" The little boy asked, pulling back in her arms to give her a worried look.
"Everything will be fine... I'm sure of it." She replied with a warm smile. "I wish I knew what your future holds, but I'm sure no matter what... you'll be able to handle it." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and he again settled into her arms, smiling as contentedly as ever.
"Look out!" The screams erupted all at once, sounding through the small village as a shadow loomed tall. His mother looked up in horror at the great shadow, clutching the boy even more tightly to her. Its eyes almost seemed to be on fire, burning out of control as it attacked the city, destroying it piece by piece and laughing at their pain.
"You must be safe son... please." His mother hugged him tightly before he was taken from her, rushed away from the city to begin his long training. From boyhood to manhood he dedicated his life to fighting for his people... but never once did he have a moment to do anything for himself, his life was completely theirs... was that really right?
While he was training, his people were forced into the mines underneath their once proud city. They were forced to work endlessly, ever tiring but never resting, if any did try to take a break, they were punished accordingly by Aku's evil law. They had done nothing to deserve this, they had fought and been defeated... as he would be years later when he tried to free them.
No matter how little happiness he'd had in his life, it could never justify him abandoning his people, he would never stop fighting for them. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't several thousand years in the future... they weren't all dead, they were still slaves. Slaves he again swore to free, with all of the determination of his pain-wracked mind.
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Jack could feel himself regaining consciousness, the aches and pains in his body told him he was back among the living, but opening his eyes, he discovered he could see nothing. He pushed himself up from the ground, feeling the cold wooden panels he still lay upon, the dust floating in the air, disturbed by his movement. He couldn't smell the dust however.
He groped in the darkness, trying to push himself to his hands and knees, and realized he couldn't hear his hands or feet against the floor, not even the slight hum of wind passing by his head. He moved his hands against the wooden floor, looking for anything familiar for him to get his bearings on. He felt something in a moment, so he moved closer to feel it more thoroughly.
It was Reggoth, his face still and cold under the samurai's light touch. Jack let out a sigh, signified only because he could feel the wind passing through his chest and over his lips. He allowed himself only a few moments to grieve before he finally pushed himself up to his feet, beginning to stumble blindly in the dark.
The air around him was musky, with the dust settling down lightly on his skin, but from one direction he could feel warmth, sunlight from outside most likely. He moved in the direction of the warmth, leading with his hands. They touched the doorframe slightly and he moved a few steps outside. He could feel the wind blowing through his hair and his robes, carrying the dirt and filth of the city with it.
He moved forward again, but he forgot about the step up to the bar and tripped, hurtling face first into the ground, painfully hitting the pavement. With his head against the ground, he could feel a strange steady rhythm growing louder, like someone's footsteps moving toward him. He waited in silence, beginning to push himself to his hands and knees again, but something slammed sharply into his side, sending him down again.
Whoever it was, they weren't friendly. The steady thumps in the ground split into two directions, each circling him in a different direction, their feet stirring up dust more than normally blew through the city. Jack waited a few moments for one of the pairs of footsteps to stop, feeling the dust swirling away from him in that direction as his attackers foot was raised backward.
The samurai rolled on the ground, catching his attackers foot in mid-kick and lashing out with his own foot, making his other knee buckle. In a flash he twisted the ankle he held in his hands, feeling it snap under the swift, precise movement. His victory only lasted a moment before the other attacker started kicking him in the face, or anywhere else he could reach. Jack tried to fight back, but the kicks were coming too fast for him to concentrate.
In a moment he felt himself yanked up off the ground by the front of his robe. Air brushed over his face and cheeks in a steady pattern, someone was yelling into his face. He could practically feel the man's anger growing the more he spoke, the words beginning to resonate slightly in his brain despite that he couldn't actually hear them.
Jack took a moment to rest before he planted his feet firmly against the ground and batted his attackers hands away, his fists flying in a series of lightning fast strikes over his attackers stomach and chest until he finally slammed one fist into the guys head, feeling the thud through the soles of his feet as the attacker his the ground.
He whirled when he felt two more pairs of footsteps approaching, putting his hands up into fighting positions, but the footsteps just stopped. Everything was completely still, nothing gave any evidence that these new people were moving. In a moment he felt the dust in front of him stir just slightly, roused by this newcomer moving one foot toward him.
Curiously he relaxed one hand, reaching it in front of him steadily until he felt it touch something. He felt a face, soft and almost slick with moisture, her lips moving, her vocal chords rising toward the end of her speech in a question he didn't even need to hear to understand.
"Keela..." He said, though he couldn't even hear it. He knew it only by the vibration of his own vocal chords. "I've failed... The Scion killed Reggoth and took my sword... along with my senses..." Jack confessed, clenching his eyes and free fist shut in frustration. He felt her speak again through his palm still near her throat, her hands pulling him into a gentle hug. He didn't need to hear her words to understand them now... she would help him. He feared nothing in the universe could help him now... but nonetheless... he welcomed her comfort.
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There was little Keela could do to help Jack now, she could only watch him lying on his bed with his dark eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling of the small ship that was all the shelter they had. They had no money to afford proper housing, and even if they did, she now didn't trust the locals to keep away from them for a good nights rest.
They had found Reggoth in the bar, every joint on his body bent at an unnatural angle. On top of that, Jack barely replied to her except for one sentence, and his sword had been taken by whoever had attacked them. As if that was a big mystery though... there was only one being on this planet who could have done something of this magnitude where so many others had failed...
"What now?" Sarah asked the silent question hanging in the air between the three of them. With Jack unable to fight at full strength and his sword missing, pursuing the Scion any further was pointless. They had no clues to the swords whereabouts and if possible even less to the scions whereabouts.
"Now... I suppose... we leave." Keela replied, looking down at the samurai lying on the bed. If she could only see what was running through his mind, know exactly what was happening to him and how to help. Only he could find his sword, but then only if he could see, and hear.
"Keela..." Jack said his voice sounding uneven and wavering though only slightly. She stood and walked over to him. Obviously he felt her coming, because his hands reached up to run, by accident, up her chest to her throat and lips. "We must find my sword..."
"We can't, we don't even have anywhere to look." Keela replied, speaking very deliberately into his hands so he could feel her words. "Even if we did, you're in no position to fight, and me and Sarah couldn't fight the Scions soldiers alone if you and Reggoth failed."
Jack seemed to consider that for a moment, concentrating on something she could not sense. "I can feel it... my sword, somewhere. Its vibrations are like an earthquake." The samurai told her. "I can lead us to it... I am sure of it."
"Even so, what then?" Keela asked. "What are we supposed to do even if we find the sword? You could barely use it."
"We'll do whatever we can." Jack replied firmly, his voice giving no hint of weakness or that he was unsure. His determination, despite her own misgivings, gave her some semblance of hope and courage to move on. She helped him up from the bed and out of the ship, taking her gun and Sarah bringing her knife. She wanted the little girl to stay, but she refused.
Jack walked ahead of them, following some silent beacon only he could sense. Keela kept her hand on his elbow, guiding him around obstacles and the citizens who dotted the landscape around the city. Periodically Keela would put Jacks hands to hr lips and throat to ask if the sword was nearby, drawing curious stares from those who saw the procedure.
"Perhaps they took it off the planet." Sarah suggested.
"Then Jack wouldn't feel it at all." Keela reminded her sharply. Jack still couldn't hear them, thus was unable to join in any conversations, but he still led the way without hesitation. Even with his eyes shut and walking like a blind man, he had a kind of dignity about him that few could hope to mimic.
"It's close." Jack said, slowing his pace. "Up ahead..." They had left the city proper nearly an hour ago, so it came as little surprise to her that they would be hiding out here. Keela moved ahead of him, peering into the distance. She saw a small wall on the other side of a courtyard surrounded by trees. There was a depression to one side leading past the wall, but there were two guard pacing along the top.
"It must be in the fortress..." Keela said, looking back at Jack. She took his hands and placed them against her throat and lips, speaking very deliberately. "Are you sure it's close by?"
"Yes... I believe so." Jack replied after a moment's thought. "I am unused to this... but I can feel something from nearby up ahead."
"That figures." Sarah muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked up at Keela, quirking an eyebrow. "Should I take care of it?" She asked. She didn't say what she would do, but judging from her past, Keela was sure she would not enjoy it.
"No, I'll take care of this. Take shelter behind the forest on the front side." Keela replied, reaching up to slide her shirt off, handing it to the bewildered girl. "Take Jack with you, and wait for my signal." She stripped off the rest of her clothing, handing it all to the highly confused girl. She took the gun out of her holster, taping it to her stomach and testing to make sure it would stay. She looked over at Sarah when she didn't move. "I said wait by the forest cover!"
"Oh... right! Come on Jack!" Sarah exclaimed despite that the samurai couldn't hear her. She dragged him by the hand over to the edge of the forest opposite the guards, hunkering down to watch her.
Keela knelt down by the grass, keeping an eye on the soldiers as her flesh began to change, the pigment in each particle of skin altering to reflect the ground directly opposite. She put her stomach inches against the ground as she crawled forward like a spider, keeping as low as possible both to hide the weapon taped to her stomach and keep her shadow from being a dead giveaway.
She made her way, inch by inch, across the courtyard, keeping an eye constantly on the pair of guards on the wall. Fortunately they looked overconfident and inattentive, sure they could see anything coming from that kind of vantage point. Normally they would have been right, but it took more care to spot a chameleon.
When she was a few feet from the gap in the wall she paused, looking up at the guards to make sure their attention was diverted before the leapt into the gap. She moved through the wall, looking cautiously around the corner. There was a small fortress on the other side of the wall, as she'd suspected, but it didn't look big enough to be a hideout for the Scion. It must extend underground.
She looked up the side of the wall again, spotting the guards and two ladders extending up from the ground to the top. She crept up and watched them to make sure they weren't looking before she began her quick descent. Her chameleon ability was useless on a ladder, she had to be fairly close to something to assume its color, and the ground was too far.
She clambered up to the top, poking her head just over the ladder. One guard stopped right in front of her, staring out across the field in front of the fortress. She steadied herself a moment, then flung herself onto the wall from the top rung.
She shoved the guard roughly from the top of the wall, sending him plummeting to the ground with only the ghost of a scream having time to escape. Grabbed her gun and ripped it free from her stomach, whirling on the second guard on the other side of the wall. He barely had his gun up before the soft twip of the weapons silencer sounded, sending a bullet straight into his chest.
As the guard collapsed to the wall she turned toward the front, letting the pigments in her skin return to their natural color while she waved Sarah across the field. She rushed down the ladder to meet her and get dressed.
"I never knew you could do that." Sarah sounded almost in awe as she watched the older woman getting dressed. Jack stood by her side since he couldn't see or even hear them anyway.
"Its just part of my species, nothing special." Keela replied. In a few moments she finished getting dressed and turned toward the inner building, walking up to the door. "Any ideas on how to open this?" She asked as she put a hand on the cold steel door. There didn't seem to be any handles or control panels nearby.
"Here, let me see." Sarah dropped Jacks hand and rushed up to the door, putting her ear up against it. She rapped her knuckles on the surface in various places, listening intently. In a moment she drew her dagger and let the tip hover over the metal, tapping it in various spots. Finally she drew the steel weapon back and plunged it into the door, sending it straight through the seemingly solid steel.
"How the Hell... it looks and feels solid to me." Keela said, confused.
"Yes, but I used to keep an eye on them making these at Cyrus Station, in case I ever needed to get past one." Sarah replied, running her dagger down the door and cutting a large slit as though it were tinfoil. "Cheap fast and sturdy was what they always wanted, fortunately sturdy doesn't go with cheap and fast. There are different strips on the door that are hollow, though they are hard to find and impossible to detect if you don't know they're there."
Keela had to admit to being impressed as the little girl cut the door in half, pushing the side on hinges in and leaving the rest of the door still hooked to the wall. They entered the small complex, finding themselves in a simple room with an elevator set in the far well.
"Its nearby... we're almost right on top of it." Jack said. That confirmed Keela's suspicion that this had to be where the sword, and likely the Scion, were hidden. They approached the elevator and climbed in, waiting a moment before pressing the bottom floor. She grabbed Jack's hands and put them over her throat and lips.
"Tell me when you feel it level with us." She told him quickly. Jack nodded, keeping his eyes closed and his head down as though concentrating on something. They waited as the elevator descended even further underground than they would have ever suspected. Jack kept his head bowed, waiting for something.
Without warning the entire elevator rocked wildly, throwing them against the walls and to the ground. "What the Hell was that!?" Sarah exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling fearfully. She didn't have to ask, there was only one thing it could be.
"We have to get out of here!" Keela jumped to her feet, leaning against the wall and pushing herself into the center. She pulled Jack and Sarah with her, watching as the walls began to pulse crimson. The power crept through the walls, spreading to the floor.
"Jump!" Keela jumped and grabbed the bar on the roof, wrapping her legs around Sarah and hefting her off the ground. Jack had apparently reached the same conclusion somehow, because he leapt and made a wild swing, one finger catching the bar so he could get a firmer grip.
The crimson energy began to creep along the roof toward them now that the floor was covered. Keela kicked at the ceiling desperately, managing to slam her foot into a concealed hatch and push it open. She flipped her knees over the side of the hole, yanking herself up out of the hole.
"Come on Sarah!" Keela reached back down to pull the little girl out of the elevator. Before she could go back for Jack the crimson power surged over the entrance, slamming the door shut. "Jack! No!" She slammed her fist into the door, tr6ying to force it open again.
[Goodbye, samurai.] A dark voice spoke in her head before the elevator rope snapped, sending it flying down the shaft. Keela, grabbed the end of the shorn rope, the other taking hold of Sarah's hand before she could follow.
"Jaaaack!" Keela screamed, though she knew there was nothing she could do now. He was trapped in the elevator that would slam into the ground in only a few moments. She closed her eyes, her entire body shaking against just the sound of the steel elevator scraping against the walls. She could not watch, she just hung there helpless.
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[Alone now, warrior.] Jack could hear the Scions taunts in his head, which was throbbing with uncontrollable pain. He shook his head to try to remember what had happened, but all he could remember was an almost weightless feeling as he fell with the elevator but then... he couldn't remember anything. The pulse of his enchanted swords power rang through his mind, so close he could feel it in his hands.
"I will defeat you, no matter what you do to me... you will never win." Jack said proudly, though he could not hear his own voice.
[I was willing to let you go free, trapped in the darkness of your own mind, but now you can stew here forever, tormented by the freedom you could have had, the key so close at hand, condemned to the darkness you chose when you went up against me.] The Scion of Sorcery's taunts penetrated even the closed mind Jack had been forced into since the bar.
"I'll defeat you!" Jack stumbled toward the pounding surge of power that he knew was his sword, but he was halted by a barrier. He tried to go around, but it always remained between him and the sword. He tried to break it with punches, kicks, anything he could do, but nothing seemed to be able to penetrate the substance.
[Try, try for a while, until you realize hope no longer exists for you.] The Scion's taunts rang like a bell in his head, the only sound that existed to him. [Until you break down like all mortals will once they realize, there's nothing they can do. Their fates are sealed and you... warrior... your fate is worse than any other.]
"Silence..." Jack growled darkly, his hands clutching at the barrier between him and his weapon, which had the power to resist the Scion, and grant him all of his senses once again.
[Always here, always alive, always trapped, always helpless... always alone and eternally a failure, no matter what time you're in.] The glee was clear in the Scions tone of voice.
"Be quiet! I will defeat you!" Jack pounded his fists on the barrier wildly, unable to find any other ways out, there could have been a door mere feet away and he would never know... he was truly helpless. All he could do was pound on the barrier, and pray that it eventually gave way... but somewhere deep down he knew that it never would.
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The clank of the steel dagger plunging through the crack in the elevator doors echoed through the now empty elevator shaft. Keela grunted with the effort of prying the solid steel apart, collapsing to the ground from the ladder she had managed to climb up. She sat on her hands and knees, clenching her eyes shut against the tears brought up by both the smoke from the wreckage and the knowledge that he had been in there...
"What... do we... do?" Sarah asked, collapsing to the ground beside her, panting heavily. Keela didn't respond, sitting against the wall and leaning back, her head aiming up at the ceiling though her eyes were still closed.
"It doesn't matter." She replied softly. "There's no point in fighting now."
Sarah eyed her for a few minutes, raising one eyebrow. "You got by well enough before you met him, what's changed?" She asked.
Keela glared back. "Just get away from me..." She hissed like a snake, putting the back of her head against the wall.
"Don't you think there's a chance he's still alive?" Sarah asked.
"You saw that thing hit the ground the same as I did." Keela shot back. "Nothing could have survived that crash."
"Either way... I'm going further down into the complex." Sarah replied, standing up.
"What's the point you brat? He's dead, why bother with that?" Keela shot back. Despite her harsh tone, she wasn't really angry with anyone but herself. Jack had been trusting her to guide him through the complex, and she'd left him behind to save herself... how stupid was she?
"Just shut up!" Sarah exclaimed, surprising Keela out of her self-pity. "I killed my parents when I was two, so I could go to work for those people who would let me do what I wanted! They didn't succumb to the Scions influence because they loved me, and I killed them for trying to get me out of there!" Sarah shouted, her little fists trembling by her sides. "In the last two weeks since I joined you people... Jack's been a second father to me. I will not leave him here." With that the little girl whirled and stomped down the hall away from the elevator.
"Hey... hey come back!" Keela jumped to her feet and followed her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "I know how you feel but... but there's no hope now, what would be the point...? We'd only die too and... and we both know he'd hate us if we died for him."
"I'll get him out alive... or I'll die with him here." Sarah replied, looking up at her. She had begun to look more like the child she should be, but now there was nothing but a grim determination and fiercer loyalty than Keela had ever seen in anybody's eyes. Keela didn't stop her from turning and heading deeper into the complex, stunned.
Sarah was right, without Jack, there was really no point to escape. Aku's influence would remain eternal, and if Jack was dead, there was no point in living anyway. If there was a chance he was alive down there somewhere though... hope wasn't gone.
"Let's go then." She said, following the little girl through the halls with an increased respect. For the first time she realized just why Jack was fighting. This little girl did nothing, her life would have been nothing but better without the Scion of Sin's existence... and this entire time she'd only been praying her own time with Jonathan, her only happy memories, remained intact. She was quickly coming to realize just how stupid and shallow she really was.
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Jack leaned against the solid barrier with his back, his head resting on the solid glass or whatever it was separating him from his only weapon against the Scion. Still he could hear it in his mind, taunting him mercilessly, slowly driving him to the point of insanity. Undoubtedly Aku would love to see him like this, weak and helpless, unable to even attempt to fight a being this powerful.
He felt something moving along the ground toward him steadily, the footsteps vibrating the steel plated ground he was sitting on. He looked up, though he could still see nothing. He didn't resist when one arm grabbed him by the neck of his robe, hauling him off the ground roughly. He didn't bother fighting back, having given up after what seemed like hours of banging on the impenetrable barrier.
[Yes samurai... I can feel your spirit weakening, so close to your goal and yet unable to get to it, your own weakness haunting your consciousness.] One cold finger stroked Jacks cheek almost gently, surprising him. [I'll give you one chance samurai, will you fight with me?]
"Kill me, devour my soul, corrupt my mind and body if you wish, but I will never call Aku master." Jack spit back, unable to even hear his own words.
[I didn't really think so, Aku simply wanted me to ask. Come then, it's time for your torment in the land of the living to end, and your torment in Hell to begin.] The scion dragged him away from the barrier and his precious sword, dragging his sandaled feet along the steel floor. Jack let himself be dragged, concentrating on the feel of the plating under his feet, memorizing the route they were taking by which way he was turned and how long before he turned.
Left, right, left, left... he kept it up, praying he had it all right when they apparently reached their destination. The Scion flung him to the cold steel floor, tossing him down on some contraption he couldn't identify.
[Don't worry samurai, this will be very, very painfu-] The Scion was cut off suddenly by a shockwave that penetrated deep into Jack's heart. For a moment he thought the Scion had struck, but then realized he wasn't injured, his body had just been shaken violently. An explosion, somewhere in this underground complex. He must have been right, because the Scion didn't speak again, and he didn't feel its presence in the room anymore. It must have gone to investigate, he only wished he knew what it was.
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Sarah kept her arms up and her body down, shielding herself from the shrapnel that erupted from the detonated shield of thick glass that had surrounded Jack's enchanted sword. They had found the central control room for the complex after a lot of searching. There didn't seem to be any guards. This rang a lot of alarms in both hers and Keela's heads, but it was either chicken out and run or push ahead, and they weren't giving up now.
Sarah finally stood up straight to gaze at the now free enchanted blade, sitting on the pedestal that had been holding it far above Jack's head even if he'd managed to get through the glass. A cruel prank undoubtedly, but she supposed that would be the Scions favorite kind.
[Well well, a little girl.] Sarah froze when she heard the voice sound through her mind, so much like the Scion of Sin she for a moment thought it had come back for revenge against her. [Nice idea using a bomb, but you weren't quick enough to get the sword itself, a pity.]
"Scion of Sorcery..." Sarah turned slowly, looking up at the pulsing dark form that almost looked like the shroud of Death. She couldn't keep a slight waver out of her voice. "The last of the scions." She amended herself.
[And the last thing you'll ever see, girl.] It lifted one dark claw, crimson power pulsing through it like an electrical surge.
"T... tell me something first..." Sarah stammered, almost losing her composure. She wasn't used to feeling fear, or any emotions for that matter. "Why aren't there any guards around here? Do you think you can defend this whole place?" She asked. The Scion stared down at her, its crimson eyes narrowing as it lowered its claw.
[You're stalling for time... what are you hiding?] The Scion looked past her, focusing hard on the pedestal for the first time. Sarah looked back as well, hoping she'd stalled long enough. A shimmer erupted in the air as something wrenched the sword from its prison, leaping through the air with a loud warlike yell. Keela's completely bare skin was gray to match the pedestal, giving her enough time to get the sword before she was noticed.
She wasn't the warrior Jack was, even with the sword, but surprise proved to be a formidable ally. The blade slashed through the Scions chest, sending him reeling back against the steel wall, clutching it with one claw to keep himself on his feet as he clutched at the wound.
"You definitely made a mistake by not hiring some help, I'll finish you off, then go find Jack so he can finish off your master." Keela hissed gleefully, her skin returning to its natural, pale hue.
[A Chameleon, I didn't know there were any of you left.] The Scions replied. [Still, it doesn't matter, I have all the help I need right here.] The Scion lifted its hand, pulsing with crimson energy. Immediately more than a dozen dark shapes burst through the steel flooring. In a few moments they formed into dark guards, with black uniforms and glowing crimson eyes.
"I think we know how they got Reggoth..." Sarah commented, backing away from the shadows. Keela moved toward her, holding the enchanted blade in front of her like a shield. She couldn't wield it effectively, their only option was to retreat.
"Sarah, come on... NOW!" Keela lunged toward one of the shadows, cutting it clean in half with one wild swing of the blade. Sarah followed, leaping between the two halves before they came together again, forming into the soldier once again.
They darted through the hallways, trying to outdistance the soldiers. Finally Keela turned a corner and whirled into the door frame beside one of the huge doors, pulling Sarah in front of her and handing her the sword, facing the corner of the frame.
"Don't breathe..." Keela whispered as her skin once again changed pigment, mimicking the wall in front of her, shadows and all. Sarah held her breath as she heard the soldiers coming up behind them moments after Keela completed her pigment change. Most of the shadows darted past them, a few lunging into the door right beside them to search for them.
Sarah waited in tense silence, waiting for the shadows to dart back out of the room, passing right by them without a second glance. Nobody expected them to hide in the open, they were looking in the more obvious hiding places. They ran down the hall, searching in doors and nooks and crannies.
Keela opened the door and whirled inside, hauling Sarah and the sword in after her before she shut it behind them. "We made it... oh my God I can't believe that worked..." She panted, putting a hand over her heart.
"Remind me... never to play hide-and-seek with you..." Sarah said, leaning against the door and panting heavily. "What do we do now? How are we supposed to find Jack now that we have the sword?"
"Maybe..." Keela looked down at the sword, her grip loosening somewhat. "We can find him with this..."
"What?" Sarah asked. Keela looked down at the sword and stood up, holding it out in front of her. She turned slowly, the middle of the blade balanced in her hand carefully. Slowly the blade turned in her palm, pointing to the left from the door. Sarah stared in surprise while Keela grinned.
"Jack could find his way toward it, so there's some connection between them, it had to make sense the sword could find him too." Keela said, tossing the blade up and grabbing the hilt. "Come on, lets get moving while the Scions occupied looking for us elsewhere."
They set out into the hall, moving cautiously in the direction the sword had pointed. Every so often Keela brought the blade around again to make sure they were still going the right way. They were on their way, Jack would be with them very soon.
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Jack waited in the unbroken darkness, knowing something was happening but being completely unable to do anything about it. He didn't know what struck him most deeply, his helplessness, or the fact everyone else was doing his work for him. He only wished he knew where Keela and Sarah had gone, were they still out there looking for him?
His breath caught in his throat when he suddenly realized the sword was moving toward him, he could feel its power pulsing through his body. Someone was bringing the sword to him, and they were almost there. Once he had the blade, he would be able to see and hear again, the swords magic countered that of the Scions.
[Expecting a rescue?] His blood ran cold when he heard the Scion speaking into his mind. [Go ahead and hold your breath, you need to die anyway.] Jack stood helpless, unable to stop them from coming or fight the Scion... he was just a piece of bait now.
The pressure in the room shifted as the door opened to his right, two pairs of footsteps darting into the room.
"Give me the sword!" Jack exclaimed, starting to move toward them, but he was shoved back violently against the steel wall more than twenty feet away with a hard thud. He could feel the strands of power releasing him from their grip, his sword moving clumsily through the air, probably to ward them off.
Jack felt strands of dark power touching him, the Scion was right in front of him, its voice speaking into the minds of everyone present. [Give up, this is futile, you're no warrior, and your only hope is defenseless now.] The Scion taunted, the power around Jack pulsing at an even faster pace... he was building up for a discharge.
"Leave them alone!" Jack howled, throwing himself into the air at the Scions head. He latched onto its back, his fists driving into the side of its head hard enough to do probably a little damage. He attacked until he felt an incredible surge of power run through him, throwing him to the ground heavily with a gasp of pain.
The swirl of quick movement and the pounding of two pairs of feet on the steel floor was all Jack could sense other than his sword, being flung about the room between the two pairs of feet. Pulses of pure power surged through the air as well, making the hairs on the back of Jack's neck stand up.
Suddenly he felt the sword flying high through the air in his direction, but it fell just short, embedding itself in the steel ground. Jack lunged from the wall as fast as he could, the hair on the back of his neck rising...
The samurai leapt into the air in a summersault, the burst of the Scion's power surging right underneath him as he flew. One hand reached out once the surge was gone, reaching for the familiar pulse that was so close he could almost feel it already in his blood.
The first sound he heard was the sound of the metal blade being yanked out of the ground as he landed on one knee, gripping the pommel in his hands. Pearl white power surged through his body, and he could feel the blocks on his senses being loosened.
"... id it... you did it Jack!" Keela's voice was a welcome break from the omnipresent silence that he'd known before. He kept his eyes closed as he stood, turning around with the sword in front of him and opening his eyes. The Scion was glaring at him in a rage, his hands pulsing with deadly crimson energy.
"It's the end for you." Jack hefted the blade in front of him, feeling its power pulsing through his body as never before.
[I've beaten you once with that sword warrior, I will do it again!] The Scion raised one hand, sending several shadows leaping from the ground right at the samurai. Jack leapt forward without hesitation, the enchanted blade tearing through the shadows without difficulty. The battle was fast and heavy, as the samurai was forced to dodge attacks from all sides.
Finally Jack tore from the pack of shadows and leapt at the Scion, the blade clutched at his side as a furious yell erupted from his throat. The Scion raised one clawed hand, crimson power surging out from it in a magnificent wave. Jack swung the blade in a wide arc, the sword colliding with the crimson energy with a crack, as if thunder had made its way underground.
For a few moments Jack hung suspended in midair, the pearl white power of his blade mingling in his body with the crimson strands of the Scions own power. Finally the power detonated between the Scion and the samurai, sending Jack hurtling back to the other side of the room, putting the shadow soldiers between them once again.
[You will fall again samurai, and this time, I will kill you where you stand!] The Scion shrieked, his claws pulsing with power.
"I never make the same mistakes twice. You will not defeat me again!" Jack exclaimed, leaping forward. He tore one shadow in half with his blade, kicking back and using a third as a jumping stool, flying over the heads of the rest. The Scion let another surge of crimson power surge toward the samurai. The blade came up in a wide arc, batting the surge aside and dissipating it instead of colliding this time.
The Scion didn't have time to move out of the way. Jack came down with the fatal blow, the sword slicing through the dark form of its body as easily as if it wasn't there. The Scion gave a mental gasp of shock, stumbling back into the wall, glaring at Jack hatefully.
[Well played... samurai...] The Scions eyes narrowed as it studied Jack. [Learning from your failures... so that is your secret... you adapt.]
"Yes." Jack replied simply. "Good has the ability to adapt to tricks, while evil knows only one set of tricks... easily overcome with study." He brought the blade over his head, staring at the Scion steadily. Without another word he brought eh blade down, cutting the Scion clean in half. The Scion gave no scream or shriek, simply closing its eyes and looking up, letting itself be pulled into the shadows around it as though it never existed.
"Jack... you did it... and you're alive..." Keela said, her eyes brimming with tears that had been held in since she'd found he was alive. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him. "And we did it... we destroyed all four Scions!" She exclaimed.
"Yes... but it's not over." Jack replied, staring down at her. "Aku still remains... and the time has come for me to find him and end this... once and for all." His eyes didn't betray any hint of emotion as he stared into Keela's. She seemed disturbed by this, but she said nothing. His only goal now was to destroy Aku, and that he would, no matter what he had to do.
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The wind blew through the small city, now freed from the Scions hand but still feeling its influence. Jack stood on a small hill, looking down at a spot on the ground whose only piece of decoration seemed to be a small headstone. On it read the words "The Scions last victim: Reggoth".
"Rest well, I will destroy Aku soon, and then I will set all of this right." The samurai said, before he turned to head back to the ship. He didn't waste any time with mourning, no matter how his heart felt. Time wasn't on his side, if Aku heard all of his Scions were gone, he may try to run from Earth, where Jack would likely never find him.
"Jack... I..." Keela began as he passed, but he didn't look at her. She stared after him steadily, then followed. Sarah followed the both of them a ways behind, not wanted to come between them. Jack only knew his journey would finally come to a close very soon, and his destiny would at last be fulfilled.
TO BE CONTINUED
The Scion of Sight, all seeing and all knowing but ultimately defeated under the mighty sword of justice. The Scion of Strength, strong of arm and quick of movement, but ultimately a being of evil crushed under the light of goodness. The Scion of Sin, the embodiment of everything Jack was even now fighting against, oppression, evil. Even it had fallen under his blade when its own evil had turned in on itself, betrayed it. Now there was only the Scion of Sorcery, who wielded powerful magic he probably couldn't begin to guess, but he was confident even it would fall.
The trip to Regallis had been a long one, and hard on all of them. Despite their determination upon leaving Cyrus Station, their enthusiasm had been dwindling steadily. Reggoth seemed worn by more than just the stump where his arm had once been, weighed down by a persistent nagging certainty that even if they took down the final Scion, Aku himself would destroy them all. Sarah was the only one of them to remain in good enough spirits, though even her young soul was deeply burdened. She had done unspeakable things that Jack didn't even want to know of, and he didn't know if she could ever truly cope. Keela seemed the most depressed of them all somehow...
"Jack... are you still planning to return to your own time after we defeat Aku?" She asked him plainly. Reggoth and Sarah were at the front talking, leaving him and Keela alone near the back of the ship.
"I must, Aku must not be allowed to perpetuate this... evil." Jack looked up at Sarah near the front. She should have been lighthearted as any child, but instead there was nothing but pain and memories she would have rather been without.
"But why go back... you're correcting everything NOW, why go back then and risk everyone's future? As far as you know without Aku, we might all have been destroyed by now." Keela pointed out.
"I must free my people, it is my duty and my destiny." Jack replied as calmly as ever.
"But they're dead already Jack... they have been for thousands of years, but you've already helped countless people here and now... They may not be your people but they ARE people! You've already done more good here and now than you ever could have back then!" Keela exclaimed vehemently, raising her voice, almost sounding desperate. "You could make things right, right here..."
"I failed my people, they put their faith in me and I let them down, I cannot simply walk away from my duties to my people... my family. I cannot let them fall to such injustices." Jack replied. Keela suddenly let out a loud growl, slamming her fist into the small table between them. Jack, normally so calm and composed, looked over at her in surprise.
"Your people! Your people! Your people used you Jack! They used you as a crutch! They knew Aku could come back but they did nothing to prevent it! Someone else could have used the sword, they could have all revolted! ANYTHING! But no, they sat back and let YOU do all the work! They waited patiently while they molded you into this THING! Do you know what happiness IS Jack!? I doubt it, you've been too busy dedicating your life to 'your people'! They used you to try to save themselves..." She was practically in tears now, of frustration and anger.
"And you still want to go back and save them, after all the good people you've saved here and now, who may just be DEAD if you do change the last several thousand years!" She gripped the table, staring him down, her face and eyes turning red from the tears. "You want to talk about something unjust... if you ask me you're more of a victim of that than ANY of 'your people'..." She slammed her palm against the table again before she whirled to stomp into the back of the small jet where they'd set up the small cots.
Jack stared after her for a few minutes, dumbfounded. Finally he turned back to the front to see both Reggoth and Sarah looking back at him. "Don't worry about her Jack, I think it's just hitting her that this journey is almost over." Reggoth told him calmly.
"I know she is nervous, but I cannot believe it would be anything but better for none of this to have happened." Jack replied seriously. Reggoth simply grunted in agreement, but Sarah looked back at him for a moment before she jumped off her chair and approached him.
"Maybe she's just afraid of what this change would bring." Sarah told him with an understanding far beyond her years in her voice. "The hardest thing for a person to do is to lose control of their life, maybe she thinks you changing history would take her life out of her own hands." The little girls suggested, taking the seat Keela had just vacated.
"Control of ones own life... is there really such a thing?" Jack asked, not expecting nor receiving any answer from the child seated beside him. He'd never known any control over his own life, everything was the wish of another.
"Whatever y'think, it's time t'make a decision now, we're approaching Regallis... y'wanna turn around and head back, or go in?" Reggoth announced from the front, looking back at the Samurai still sitting in the chair.
"I will not back down no matter what, take us in." Jack replied determinedly, watching the planet approaching fast. They would have to find the Scion of Sorcery once they got to the planet, but he knew one they would, and then he would eliminate him... after that... there was only Aku.
He looked over to the seat beside him, finding Sarah still staring deep into his eyes. He looked back for a moment, then turned to watch the planet approaching fast, the vast blue water covering the majority of the surface. It looked very much like Earth actually, except it was still mostly pure, unlike the Earth which had been infected by Aku's evil. On the almost perfect surface, he could see one dark spot beginning to spread, and infect the rest. The Scion's influence.
"At least w'have a place t'begin." Reggoth commented, his one arm effectively navigating the controls to bring their heading onto the tainted area of the planet. They would be there soon, it was only a matter of waiting, something Jack found was fairly common when traveling the vast reaches of space.
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The cold water splashed over Keela's face, cooling down the heat that she had felt building, as well as masking her tears. She didn't know why she was so upset really, there was something wrong, she could feel it. Wrong about all of this, why should Jack have to fight to save a bunch of people who were too weak to stand up for themselves... why should she have to lose him to them...
"Oh God..." She lifted her face to look into the mirror, her shimmering pale skin and blue eyes staring back at her in stark contrast with a normal human face. How could she have let this happen, how stupid was she... why was this happening. What was it about him, what pulled her to him so strongly? She'd thought she could never love again, why now...
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The ship came down steadily. There was no risk of any of the Scion's minions recognizing it, this was Sarah's ship from Cyrus Station, nobody would be able to recognize it. The door on the side opened vertically, a flight of stairs descending down to the floor of the open topped hangar. Jack and Reggoth started down them, but the samurai stopped and turned back when he heard Sarah following.
"Stay here." Jack told her firmly.
"No." Sarah replied. "I can help you gather information... I have more ways than you." Her voice wavered slightly, but she was obviously determined to help.
"Ways I don't want you using anymore." Jack told her more gently, staring into her eyes. "Besides, I would feel better if someone was watching Keela for me... could you?" He didn't use the normal condescending tone one might normally hear when one was asking a child a question. Instead he sounded more like it was a genuine concern and wish.
"Okay... I promise." Sarah replied, nodding and reaching just inside the ships door to raise the steps that would have let her out of the ship. "We'll be waiting here, you two be careful." She said seriously.
"Good, we will return shortly." Jack replied, turning to head into the nearby city with Reggoth walking by his side. They entered to find it a bustling town full of merchants and shopkeepers, not unlike the crowded center Jack had found aboard Cyrus Station. This one however didn't have the stink of corruption and evil about it, just the dwindling hope and growing desperation of all lands that Aku and his minions had spread their evil into.
Silently Reggoth tapped Jack's shoulder, gesturing to what looked like an old, worn bar on the side of the street. The samurai nodded and they went inside, finding it to be only slightly less dirty than the outside had been. Only a few patrons were at the tables set up around the room and the bar in the back. The bartender eyed them suspiciously, but didn't say anything.
Jack and Reggoth approached the bar and sat down, each of them ordering. Water for Jack, and some kind of drink for Reggoth that the warrior had never heard of before.
"Let me ask him." Jack told Reggoth while they waited for their drinks.
"Fine b'me lad, g'ahead and give it a try." Reggoth replied.
"What has happened to this place?" Jack asked the bartender when he set the water in front of him.
"Same thing that's happened to all places." He replied with a sharp sneer. "Since Aku's little minion came around, been all kinds of people through here, with more than one traveler looking to unload some... strange things." The bartender looked down at the sword still on Jack's hip.
"It's not for sale." Jack told the man without even raising his hat to see the man's face. "The minion to speak of, it's the Scion of Sorcery, is it not?" The samurai asked.
"Of course, you can just look at this place to see the rot those things carry with them everywhere they go." The bartender sighed wistfully. "Of course, it gives me business, this place is actually more full now than it ever was before he showed up."
"Can you tell us where the Scion stays?" Jack asked, not one for beating around the bush or pandering.
"Well I don't know, there's a high price to pay for going up against one of Aku's Scions." The bartender told him, rubbing his index finger and thumb together in a very clear message.
"I have nothing." Jack admitted.
"Then I don't know anything." The bartender replied.
"Come on now." Reggoth chimed in merrily, though he had yet to finish even his first drink. "We're like brothers here, w'all want t'see the Scion leave, don't we?" He pulled the high caliber weapon from his belt that he'd gotten from the station before, setting the bottom part against the counter. This obviously made the bartender quite nervous. "We'll b'out o'your hair as soon as w'get what w'need."
Jack stood before the bartender could even respond. "No, leave him be, we shall look for other sources of information." The warrior told him sternly.
"Why bother? W'have this one right here all ready t'talk." Reggoth shot back.
"Threats are not the way to get help." Jack turned, to see at least two dozen men standing in a perfect formation, staring them down. "Besides, it looks as if our presence here has already been uncovered." Reggoth looked over at the small army, then glared back at the bartender who was trying his best to look innocent. Still, they could see the small switch on the ground that had been pressed.
"I'll deal with you later." Without warning Reggoth whirled with gun in hand, firing several shots into the crowd of guards before he leapt over the bar, kicking the bartender to the ground and taking cover before the guards could retaliate in kind. Jack Leapt back over the bar as well, kneeling down just before the soldiers returned fire, tearing the wall behind them into little more than a big hole.
"How come w'always wind up being ambushed instead o'sneaking in like w'plan!?" Reggoth shouted over the roar of the gunfire.
"Distract them." Jack told him, slinking toward the other side of the bar.
"Sure, I'll just stick up a bottle or something." Reggoth shot back, shaking his head and looking around. All he could find were shards of broken glass and spilled liquid... and the bartender cowering and shielding himself against the falling glass. "Come here." Reggoth grabbed him and hauled him up over the counter. "Don't shoot if you want him alive!" The gunfire stopped for only a moment before it came again, tossing the man back over the counter, limp this time. "Guess not."
The sound of the enchanted steel of Jack's blade leaving its scabbard cut the air sharply as the samurai leapt from behind the bar a distance away from Reggoth. He held the sword to the side until he came within striking distance, severing one of the guard in half in one single blow. A shrill scream erupted through the room as the guard split, but the two pieces formed into a dark shadow.
"What's this?" Jack took a step back as the screaming shadows pulsed before they moved together again, taking the shape of the guard after only a few moments. Jack lunged again, tearing into the ranks of soldiers with expert swipes of his sword, but every one he cut down returned while the others still kept pressing in on him, giving up their weapons for a hand-to-hand approach.
"Get back you shadow dwelling bastards!" Reggoth stood straight again, firing his weapon into the mass of soldiers. The bullets simple plunged through their bodies, leaving small holes of darkness for a second before they closed again, leaving the soldiers unscathed. "They can't b'invincible something has t'kill them." He muttered to himself, still firing.
He stopped firing however when he felt something come up behind him out of the floor, like a shadow stretching over the daylight. He lowered the gun and turned around slowly, looking up at the dark form of the final Scion, it's entire body pulsing with dark crimson power as its eyes whirled with infinite shades of red. "That's right, we're here for you now, y'might as well give up." He raised the gun again quickly... but could not fire.
[Death to the enemies of Aku.] The scion raised one dark tendrils from its body, Reggoth rising into the air without anything else even touching him. The crimson power flowed from the scion and into Reggoths body, sending his muscles into hideous spasms. Reggoth screamed as he lost all control over his own body, but there was little he could do.
"What? Reggoth!" Jack whirled when he heard Reggoth's screams, trying to reach him, but the soldiers kept pressing in on him, tearing into him with their almost claw-like fingers. He brought his sword around to fight back, tearing them in half with every swing, but still they continued to press in on him while Reggoth was still in the Scion's grasp.
"You want t'kill me... just d'it already s'I don't have t'keep looking at you." Reggoth muttered between clenched teeth, his body still rigid and pulsing with the Scions crimson energy.
[As you wish.] The Scion's eyes pulsed as Reggoth screamed even louder, the crimson energy intensifying until finally in one violent surge the power cut through his body, shutting it all down. Reggoth let out one more scream before his body went completely limp hanging in the air, his lifeless eyes staring at the Scion.
"REGGOTH!" Jack tore through the shadows, lunging for the Scion with a fierce scream. The shadows lunged in his way however, one leaping into the air and kicking him to the side, sending him slamming into the ground hard. The sword flew from his grasp, arcing through the air until it embedded itself in the wall with a thud.
Jack lunged to his feet in time to avoid several more strikes from the soldiers, but he managed to strike back, taking one down with a well paced kick and get around the others. He whirled on the Scion in time to see a crimson light just before it enveloped him, just as it had Reggoth moments before.
[Fighting without your sword is futile samurai.] The Scion of Sorcery remarked with a victorious tone in his voice. [Your assault against us will end here and now.]
"You may be able to kill me, but you can never kill justice." Jack struggled to try to move his own body, but the crimson power held onto him too tightly.
[Kill you, oh no, that would be too good for you. After all the trouble you've caused my master, he asked me to give you a special gift.] The scion raised one claw-like arm that began to pulse bright crimson, the power building steadily within it. [For all eternity you will live, samurai, in the darkness you despise so much!] He thrust his hand forward, sending the power tearing into Jack's face, ripping into his eyes, mouth, and ears.
Jack let out a piercing scream, his entire body felt like it was on fire. The crimson energy surged through his eyes, scorching them beyond repair. They burned his tongue, destroyed his ears in a magnificent blast. It surged into his head, destroying anything they came across, but what it came across seemed surprisingly selective. After what felt like an eternity, the Scion let Jack crumple to the floor with a thud... and everything was black.
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"Son, come here." The little boy whirled in place, smiling and running into his mothers arms as she opened her arms to give him a big hug. "I love you..." She told him softly, holding him tightly to her. Her voice seemed softer than usual though, distant and almost sad.
"Is something wrong momma?" The little boy asked, pulling back in her arms to give her a worried look.
"Everything will be fine... I'm sure of it." She replied with a warm smile. "I wish I knew what your future holds, but I'm sure no matter what... you'll be able to handle it." She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and he again settled into her arms, smiling as contentedly as ever.
"Look out!" The screams erupted all at once, sounding through the small village as a shadow loomed tall. His mother looked up in horror at the great shadow, clutching the boy even more tightly to her. Its eyes almost seemed to be on fire, burning out of control as it attacked the city, destroying it piece by piece and laughing at their pain.
"You must be safe son... please." His mother hugged him tightly before he was taken from her, rushed away from the city to begin his long training. From boyhood to manhood he dedicated his life to fighting for his people... but never once did he have a moment to do anything for himself, his life was completely theirs... was that really right?
While he was training, his people were forced into the mines underneath their once proud city. They were forced to work endlessly, ever tiring but never resting, if any did try to take a break, they were punished accordingly by Aku's evil law. They had done nothing to deserve this, they had fought and been defeated... as he would be years later when he tried to free them.
No matter how little happiness he'd had in his life, it could never justify him abandoning his people, he would never stop fighting for them. As far as he was concerned, he wasn't several thousand years in the future... they weren't all dead, they were still slaves. Slaves he again swore to free, with all of the determination of his pain-wracked mind.
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Jack could feel himself regaining consciousness, the aches and pains in his body told him he was back among the living, but opening his eyes, he discovered he could see nothing. He pushed himself up from the ground, feeling the cold wooden panels he still lay upon, the dust floating in the air, disturbed by his movement. He couldn't smell the dust however.
He groped in the darkness, trying to push himself to his hands and knees, and realized he couldn't hear his hands or feet against the floor, not even the slight hum of wind passing by his head. He moved his hands against the wooden floor, looking for anything familiar for him to get his bearings on. He felt something in a moment, so he moved closer to feel it more thoroughly.
It was Reggoth, his face still and cold under the samurai's light touch. Jack let out a sigh, signified only because he could feel the wind passing through his chest and over his lips. He allowed himself only a few moments to grieve before he finally pushed himself up to his feet, beginning to stumble blindly in the dark.
The air around him was musky, with the dust settling down lightly on his skin, but from one direction he could feel warmth, sunlight from outside most likely. He moved in the direction of the warmth, leading with his hands. They touched the doorframe slightly and he moved a few steps outside. He could feel the wind blowing through his hair and his robes, carrying the dirt and filth of the city with it.
He moved forward again, but he forgot about the step up to the bar and tripped, hurtling face first into the ground, painfully hitting the pavement. With his head against the ground, he could feel a strange steady rhythm growing louder, like someone's footsteps moving toward him. He waited in silence, beginning to push himself to his hands and knees again, but something slammed sharply into his side, sending him down again.
Whoever it was, they weren't friendly. The steady thumps in the ground split into two directions, each circling him in a different direction, their feet stirring up dust more than normally blew through the city. Jack waited a few moments for one of the pairs of footsteps to stop, feeling the dust swirling away from him in that direction as his attackers foot was raised backward.
The samurai rolled on the ground, catching his attackers foot in mid-kick and lashing out with his own foot, making his other knee buckle. In a flash he twisted the ankle he held in his hands, feeling it snap under the swift, precise movement. His victory only lasted a moment before the other attacker started kicking him in the face, or anywhere else he could reach. Jack tried to fight back, but the kicks were coming too fast for him to concentrate.
In a moment he felt himself yanked up off the ground by the front of his robe. Air brushed over his face and cheeks in a steady pattern, someone was yelling into his face. He could practically feel the man's anger growing the more he spoke, the words beginning to resonate slightly in his brain despite that he couldn't actually hear them.
Jack took a moment to rest before he planted his feet firmly against the ground and batted his attackers hands away, his fists flying in a series of lightning fast strikes over his attackers stomach and chest until he finally slammed one fist into the guys head, feeling the thud through the soles of his feet as the attacker his the ground.
He whirled when he felt two more pairs of footsteps approaching, putting his hands up into fighting positions, but the footsteps just stopped. Everything was completely still, nothing gave any evidence that these new people were moving. In a moment he felt the dust in front of him stir just slightly, roused by this newcomer moving one foot toward him.
Curiously he relaxed one hand, reaching it in front of him steadily until he felt it touch something. He felt a face, soft and almost slick with moisture, her lips moving, her vocal chords rising toward the end of her speech in a question he didn't even need to hear to understand.
"Keela..." He said, though he couldn't even hear it. He knew it only by the vibration of his own vocal chords. "I've failed... The Scion killed Reggoth and took my sword... along with my senses..." Jack confessed, clenching his eyes and free fist shut in frustration. He felt her speak again through his palm still near her throat, her hands pulling him into a gentle hug. He didn't need to hear her words to understand them now... she would help him. He feared nothing in the universe could help him now... but nonetheless... he welcomed her comfort.
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There was little Keela could do to help Jack now, she could only watch him lying on his bed with his dark eyes staring sightlessly at the ceiling of the small ship that was all the shelter they had. They had no money to afford proper housing, and even if they did, she now didn't trust the locals to keep away from them for a good nights rest.
They had found Reggoth in the bar, every joint on his body bent at an unnatural angle. On top of that, Jack barely replied to her except for one sentence, and his sword had been taken by whoever had attacked them. As if that was a big mystery though... there was only one being on this planet who could have done something of this magnitude where so many others had failed...
"What now?" Sarah asked the silent question hanging in the air between the three of them. With Jack unable to fight at full strength and his sword missing, pursuing the Scion any further was pointless. They had no clues to the swords whereabouts and if possible even less to the scions whereabouts.
"Now... I suppose... we leave." Keela replied, looking down at the samurai lying on the bed. If she could only see what was running through his mind, know exactly what was happening to him and how to help. Only he could find his sword, but then only if he could see, and hear.
"Keela..." Jack said his voice sounding uneven and wavering though only slightly. She stood and walked over to him. Obviously he felt her coming, because his hands reached up to run, by accident, up her chest to her throat and lips. "We must find my sword..."
"We can't, we don't even have anywhere to look." Keela replied, speaking very deliberately into his hands so he could feel her words. "Even if we did, you're in no position to fight, and me and Sarah couldn't fight the Scions soldiers alone if you and Reggoth failed."
Jack seemed to consider that for a moment, concentrating on something she could not sense. "I can feel it... my sword, somewhere. Its vibrations are like an earthquake." The samurai told her. "I can lead us to it... I am sure of it."
"Even so, what then?" Keela asked. "What are we supposed to do even if we find the sword? You could barely use it."
"We'll do whatever we can." Jack replied firmly, his voice giving no hint of weakness or that he was unsure. His determination, despite her own misgivings, gave her some semblance of hope and courage to move on. She helped him up from the bed and out of the ship, taking her gun and Sarah bringing her knife. She wanted the little girl to stay, but she refused.
Jack walked ahead of them, following some silent beacon only he could sense. Keela kept her hand on his elbow, guiding him around obstacles and the citizens who dotted the landscape around the city. Periodically Keela would put Jacks hands to hr lips and throat to ask if the sword was nearby, drawing curious stares from those who saw the procedure.
"Perhaps they took it off the planet." Sarah suggested.
"Then Jack wouldn't feel it at all." Keela reminded her sharply. Jack still couldn't hear them, thus was unable to join in any conversations, but he still led the way without hesitation. Even with his eyes shut and walking like a blind man, he had a kind of dignity about him that few could hope to mimic.
"It's close." Jack said, slowing his pace. "Up ahead..." They had left the city proper nearly an hour ago, so it came as little surprise to her that they would be hiding out here. Keela moved ahead of him, peering into the distance. She saw a small wall on the other side of a courtyard surrounded by trees. There was a depression to one side leading past the wall, but there were two guard pacing along the top.
"It must be in the fortress..." Keela said, looking back at Jack. She took his hands and placed them against her throat and lips, speaking very deliberately. "Are you sure it's close by?"
"Yes... I believe so." Jack replied after a moment's thought. "I am unused to this... but I can feel something from nearby up ahead."
"That figures." Sarah muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. She looked up at Keela, quirking an eyebrow. "Should I take care of it?" She asked. She didn't say what she would do, but judging from her past, Keela was sure she would not enjoy it.
"No, I'll take care of this. Take shelter behind the forest on the front side." Keela replied, reaching up to slide her shirt off, handing it to the bewildered girl. "Take Jack with you, and wait for my signal." She stripped off the rest of her clothing, handing it all to the highly confused girl. She took the gun out of her holster, taping it to her stomach and testing to make sure it would stay. She looked over at Sarah when she didn't move. "I said wait by the forest cover!"
"Oh... right! Come on Jack!" Sarah exclaimed despite that the samurai couldn't hear her. She dragged him by the hand over to the edge of the forest opposite the guards, hunkering down to watch her.
Keela knelt down by the grass, keeping an eye on the soldiers as her flesh began to change, the pigment in each particle of skin altering to reflect the ground directly opposite. She put her stomach inches against the ground as she crawled forward like a spider, keeping as low as possible both to hide the weapon taped to her stomach and keep her shadow from being a dead giveaway.
She made her way, inch by inch, across the courtyard, keeping an eye constantly on the pair of guards on the wall. Fortunately they looked overconfident and inattentive, sure they could see anything coming from that kind of vantage point. Normally they would have been right, but it took more care to spot a chameleon.
When she was a few feet from the gap in the wall she paused, looking up at the guards to make sure their attention was diverted before the leapt into the gap. She moved through the wall, looking cautiously around the corner. There was a small fortress on the other side of the wall, as she'd suspected, but it didn't look big enough to be a hideout for the Scion. It must extend underground.
She looked up the side of the wall again, spotting the guards and two ladders extending up from the ground to the top. She crept up and watched them to make sure they weren't looking before she began her quick descent. Her chameleon ability was useless on a ladder, she had to be fairly close to something to assume its color, and the ground was too far.
She clambered up to the top, poking her head just over the ladder. One guard stopped right in front of her, staring out across the field in front of the fortress. She steadied herself a moment, then flung herself onto the wall from the top rung.
She shoved the guard roughly from the top of the wall, sending him plummeting to the ground with only the ghost of a scream having time to escape. Grabbed her gun and ripped it free from her stomach, whirling on the second guard on the other side of the wall. He barely had his gun up before the soft twip of the weapons silencer sounded, sending a bullet straight into his chest.
As the guard collapsed to the wall she turned toward the front, letting the pigments in her skin return to their natural color while she waved Sarah across the field. She rushed down the ladder to meet her and get dressed.
"I never knew you could do that." Sarah sounded almost in awe as she watched the older woman getting dressed. Jack stood by her side since he couldn't see or even hear them anyway.
"Its just part of my species, nothing special." Keela replied. In a few moments she finished getting dressed and turned toward the inner building, walking up to the door. "Any ideas on how to open this?" She asked as she put a hand on the cold steel door. There didn't seem to be any handles or control panels nearby.
"Here, let me see." Sarah dropped Jacks hand and rushed up to the door, putting her ear up against it. She rapped her knuckles on the surface in various places, listening intently. In a moment she drew her dagger and let the tip hover over the metal, tapping it in various spots. Finally she drew the steel weapon back and plunged it into the door, sending it straight through the seemingly solid steel.
"How the Hell... it looks and feels solid to me." Keela said, confused.
"Yes, but I used to keep an eye on them making these at Cyrus Station, in case I ever needed to get past one." Sarah replied, running her dagger down the door and cutting a large slit as though it were tinfoil. "Cheap fast and sturdy was what they always wanted, fortunately sturdy doesn't go with cheap and fast. There are different strips on the door that are hollow, though they are hard to find and impossible to detect if you don't know they're there."
Keela had to admit to being impressed as the little girl cut the door in half, pushing the side on hinges in and leaving the rest of the door still hooked to the wall. They entered the small complex, finding themselves in a simple room with an elevator set in the far well.
"Its nearby... we're almost right on top of it." Jack said. That confirmed Keela's suspicion that this had to be where the sword, and likely the Scion, were hidden. They approached the elevator and climbed in, waiting a moment before pressing the bottom floor. She grabbed Jack's hands and put them over her throat and lips.
"Tell me when you feel it level with us." She told him quickly. Jack nodded, keeping his eyes closed and his head down as though concentrating on something. They waited as the elevator descended even further underground than they would have ever suspected. Jack kept his head bowed, waiting for something.
Without warning the entire elevator rocked wildly, throwing them against the walls and to the ground. "What the Hell was that!?" Sarah exclaimed, looking up at the ceiling fearfully. She didn't have to ask, there was only one thing it could be.
"We have to get out of here!" Keela jumped to her feet, leaning against the wall and pushing herself into the center. She pulled Jack and Sarah with her, watching as the walls began to pulse crimson. The power crept through the walls, spreading to the floor.
"Jump!" Keela jumped and grabbed the bar on the roof, wrapping her legs around Sarah and hefting her off the ground. Jack had apparently reached the same conclusion somehow, because he leapt and made a wild swing, one finger catching the bar so he could get a firmer grip.
The crimson energy began to creep along the roof toward them now that the floor was covered. Keela kicked at the ceiling desperately, managing to slam her foot into a concealed hatch and push it open. She flipped her knees over the side of the hole, yanking herself up out of the hole.
"Come on Sarah!" Keela reached back down to pull the little girl out of the elevator. Before she could go back for Jack the crimson power surged over the entrance, slamming the door shut. "Jack! No!" She slammed her fist into the door, tr6ying to force it open again.
[Goodbye, samurai.] A dark voice spoke in her head before the elevator rope snapped, sending it flying down the shaft. Keela, grabbed the end of the shorn rope, the other taking hold of Sarah's hand before she could follow.
"Jaaaack!" Keela screamed, though she knew there was nothing she could do now. He was trapped in the elevator that would slam into the ground in only a few moments. She closed her eyes, her entire body shaking against just the sound of the steel elevator scraping against the walls. She could not watch, she just hung there helpless.
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[Alone now, warrior.] Jack could hear the Scions taunts in his head, which was throbbing with uncontrollable pain. He shook his head to try to remember what had happened, but all he could remember was an almost weightless feeling as he fell with the elevator but then... he couldn't remember anything. The pulse of his enchanted swords power rang through his mind, so close he could feel it in his hands.
"I will defeat you, no matter what you do to me... you will never win." Jack said proudly, though he could not hear his own voice.
[I was willing to let you go free, trapped in the darkness of your own mind, but now you can stew here forever, tormented by the freedom you could have had, the key so close at hand, condemned to the darkness you chose when you went up against me.] The Scion of Sorcery's taunts penetrated even the closed mind Jack had been forced into since the bar.
"I'll defeat you!" Jack stumbled toward the pounding surge of power that he knew was his sword, but he was halted by a barrier. He tried to go around, but it always remained between him and the sword. He tried to break it with punches, kicks, anything he could do, but nothing seemed to be able to penetrate the substance.
[Try, try for a while, until you realize hope no longer exists for you.] The Scion's taunts rang like a bell in his head, the only sound that existed to him. [Until you break down like all mortals will once they realize, there's nothing they can do. Their fates are sealed and you... warrior... your fate is worse than any other.]
"Silence..." Jack growled darkly, his hands clutching at the barrier between him and his weapon, which had the power to resist the Scion, and grant him all of his senses once again.
[Always here, always alive, always trapped, always helpless... always alone and eternally a failure, no matter what time you're in.] The glee was clear in the Scions tone of voice.
"Be quiet! I will defeat you!" Jack pounded his fists on the barrier wildly, unable to find any other ways out, there could have been a door mere feet away and he would never know... he was truly helpless. All he could do was pound on the barrier, and pray that it eventually gave way... but somewhere deep down he knew that it never would.
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The clank of the steel dagger plunging through the crack in the elevator doors echoed through the now empty elevator shaft. Keela grunted with the effort of prying the solid steel apart, collapsing to the ground from the ladder she had managed to climb up. She sat on her hands and knees, clenching her eyes shut against the tears brought up by both the smoke from the wreckage and the knowledge that he had been in there...
"What... do we... do?" Sarah asked, collapsing to the ground beside her, panting heavily. Keela didn't respond, sitting against the wall and leaning back, her head aiming up at the ceiling though her eyes were still closed.
"It doesn't matter." She replied softly. "There's no point in fighting now."
Sarah eyed her for a few minutes, raising one eyebrow. "You got by well enough before you met him, what's changed?" She asked.
Keela glared back. "Just get away from me..." She hissed like a snake, putting the back of her head against the wall.
"Don't you think there's a chance he's still alive?" Sarah asked.
"You saw that thing hit the ground the same as I did." Keela shot back. "Nothing could have survived that crash."
"Either way... I'm going further down into the complex." Sarah replied, standing up.
"What's the point you brat? He's dead, why bother with that?" Keela shot back. Despite her harsh tone, she wasn't really angry with anyone but herself. Jack had been trusting her to guide him through the complex, and she'd left him behind to save herself... how stupid was she?
"Just shut up!" Sarah exclaimed, surprising Keela out of her self-pity. "I killed my parents when I was two, so I could go to work for those people who would let me do what I wanted! They didn't succumb to the Scions influence because they loved me, and I killed them for trying to get me out of there!" Sarah shouted, her little fists trembling by her sides. "In the last two weeks since I joined you people... Jack's been a second father to me. I will not leave him here." With that the little girl whirled and stomped down the hall away from the elevator.
"Hey... hey come back!" Keela jumped to her feet and followed her, putting one hand on her shoulder. "I know how you feel but... but there's no hope now, what would be the point...? We'd only die too and... and we both know he'd hate us if we died for him."
"I'll get him out alive... or I'll die with him here." Sarah replied, looking up at her. She had begun to look more like the child she should be, but now there was nothing but a grim determination and fiercer loyalty than Keela had ever seen in anybody's eyes. Keela didn't stop her from turning and heading deeper into the complex, stunned.
Sarah was right, without Jack, there was really no point to escape. Aku's influence would remain eternal, and if Jack was dead, there was no point in living anyway. If there was a chance he was alive down there somewhere though... hope wasn't gone.
"Let's go then." She said, following the little girl through the halls with an increased respect. For the first time she realized just why Jack was fighting. This little girl did nothing, her life would have been nothing but better without the Scion of Sin's existence... and this entire time she'd only been praying her own time with Jonathan, her only happy memories, remained intact. She was quickly coming to realize just how stupid and shallow she really was.
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Jack leaned against the solid barrier with his back, his head resting on the solid glass or whatever it was separating him from his only weapon against the Scion. Still he could hear it in his mind, taunting him mercilessly, slowly driving him to the point of insanity. Undoubtedly Aku would love to see him like this, weak and helpless, unable to even attempt to fight a being this powerful.
He felt something moving along the ground toward him steadily, the footsteps vibrating the steel plated ground he was sitting on. He looked up, though he could still see nothing. He didn't resist when one arm grabbed him by the neck of his robe, hauling him off the ground roughly. He didn't bother fighting back, having given up after what seemed like hours of banging on the impenetrable barrier.
[Yes samurai... I can feel your spirit weakening, so close to your goal and yet unable to get to it, your own weakness haunting your consciousness.] One cold finger stroked Jacks cheek almost gently, surprising him. [I'll give you one chance samurai, will you fight with me?]
"Kill me, devour my soul, corrupt my mind and body if you wish, but I will never call Aku master." Jack spit back, unable to even hear his own words.
[I didn't really think so, Aku simply wanted me to ask. Come then, it's time for your torment in the land of the living to end, and your torment in Hell to begin.] The scion dragged him away from the barrier and his precious sword, dragging his sandaled feet along the steel floor. Jack let himself be dragged, concentrating on the feel of the plating under his feet, memorizing the route they were taking by which way he was turned and how long before he turned.
Left, right, left, left... he kept it up, praying he had it all right when they apparently reached their destination. The Scion flung him to the cold steel floor, tossing him down on some contraption he couldn't identify.
[Don't worry samurai, this will be very, very painfu-] The Scion was cut off suddenly by a shockwave that penetrated deep into Jack's heart. For a moment he thought the Scion had struck, but then realized he wasn't injured, his body had just been shaken violently. An explosion, somewhere in this underground complex. He must have been right, because the Scion didn't speak again, and he didn't feel its presence in the room anymore. It must have gone to investigate, he only wished he knew what it was.
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Sarah kept her arms up and her body down, shielding herself from the shrapnel that erupted from the detonated shield of thick glass that had surrounded Jack's enchanted sword. They had found the central control room for the complex after a lot of searching. There didn't seem to be any guards. This rang a lot of alarms in both hers and Keela's heads, but it was either chicken out and run or push ahead, and they weren't giving up now.
Sarah finally stood up straight to gaze at the now free enchanted blade, sitting on the pedestal that had been holding it far above Jack's head even if he'd managed to get through the glass. A cruel prank undoubtedly, but she supposed that would be the Scions favorite kind.
[Well well, a little girl.] Sarah froze when she heard the voice sound through her mind, so much like the Scion of Sin she for a moment thought it had come back for revenge against her. [Nice idea using a bomb, but you weren't quick enough to get the sword itself, a pity.]
"Scion of Sorcery..." Sarah turned slowly, looking up at the pulsing dark form that almost looked like the shroud of Death. She couldn't keep a slight waver out of her voice. "The last of the scions." She amended herself.
[And the last thing you'll ever see, girl.] It lifted one dark claw, crimson power pulsing through it like an electrical surge.
"T... tell me something first..." Sarah stammered, almost losing her composure. She wasn't used to feeling fear, or any emotions for that matter. "Why aren't there any guards around here? Do you think you can defend this whole place?" She asked. The Scion stared down at her, its crimson eyes narrowing as it lowered its claw.
[You're stalling for time... what are you hiding?] The Scion looked past her, focusing hard on the pedestal for the first time. Sarah looked back as well, hoping she'd stalled long enough. A shimmer erupted in the air as something wrenched the sword from its prison, leaping through the air with a loud warlike yell. Keela's completely bare skin was gray to match the pedestal, giving her enough time to get the sword before she was noticed.
She wasn't the warrior Jack was, even with the sword, but surprise proved to be a formidable ally. The blade slashed through the Scions chest, sending him reeling back against the steel wall, clutching it with one claw to keep himself on his feet as he clutched at the wound.
"You definitely made a mistake by not hiring some help, I'll finish you off, then go find Jack so he can finish off your master." Keela hissed gleefully, her skin returning to its natural, pale hue.
[A Chameleon, I didn't know there were any of you left.] The Scions replied. [Still, it doesn't matter, I have all the help I need right here.] The Scion lifted its hand, pulsing with crimson energy. Immediately more than a dozen dark shapes burst through the steel flooring. In a few moments they formed into dark guards, with black uniforms and glowing crimson eyes.
"I think we know how they got Reggoth..." Sarah commented, backing away from the shadows. Keela moved toward her, holding the enchanted blade in front of her like a shield. She couldn't wield it effectively, their only option was to retreat.
"Sarah, come on... NOW!" Keela lunged toward one of the shadows, cutting it clean in half with one wild swing of the blade. Sarah followed, leaping between the two halves before they came together again, forming into the soldier once again.
They darted through the hallways, trying to outdistance the soldiers. Finally Keela turned a corner and whirled into the door frame beside one of the huge doors, pulling Sarah in front of her and handing her the sword, facing the corner of the frame.
"Don't breathe..." Keela whispered as her skin once again changed pigment, mimicking the wall in front of her, shadows and all. Sarah held her breath as she heard the soldiers coming up behind them moments after Keela completed her pigment change. Most of the shadows darted past them, a few lunging into the door right beside them to search for them.
Sarah waited in tense silence, waiting for the shadows to dart back out of the room, passing right by them without a second glance. Nobody expected them to hide in the open, they were looking in the more obvious hiding places. They ran down the hall, searching in doors and nooks and crannies.
Keela opened the door and whirled inside, hauling Sarah and the sword in after her before she shut it behind them. "We made it... oh my God I can't believe that worked..." She panted, putting a hand over her heart.
"Remind me... never to play hide-and-seek with you..." Sarah said, leaning against the door and panting heavily. "What do we do now? How are we supposed to find Jack now that we have the sword?"
"Maybe..." Keela looked down at the sword, her grip loosening somewhat. "We can find him with this..."
"What?" Sarah asked. Keela looked down at the sword and stood up, holding it out in front of her. She turned slowly, the middle of the blade balanced in her hand carefully. Slowly the blade turned in her palm, pointing to the left from the door. Sarah stared in surprise while Keela grinned.
"Jack could find his way toward it, so there's some connection between them, it had to make sense the sword could find him too." Keela said, tossing the blade up and grabbing the hilt. "Come on, lets get moving while the Scions occupied looking for us elsewhere."
They set out into the hall, moving cautiously in the direction the sword had pointed. Every so often Keela brought the blade around again to make sure they were still going the right way. They were on their way, Jack would be with them very soon.
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Jack waited in the unbroken darkness, knowing something was happening but being completely unable to do anything about it. He didn't know what struck him most deeply, his helplessness, or the fact everyone else was doing his work for him. He only wished he knew where Keela and Sarah had gone, were they still out there looking for him?
His breath caught in his throat when he suddenly realized the sword was moving toward him, he could feel its power pulsing through his body. Someone was bringing the sword to him, and they were almost there. Once he had the blade, he would be able to see and hear again, the swords magic countered that of the Scions.
[Expecting a rescue?] His blood ran cold when he heard the Scion speaking into his mind. [Go ahead and hold your breath, you need to die anyway.] Jack stood helpless, unable to stop them from coming or fight the Scion... he was just a piece of bait now.
The pressure in the room shifted as the door opened to his right, two pairs of footsteps darting into the room.
"Give me the sword!" Jack exclaimed, starting to move toward them, but he was shoved back violently against the steel wall more than twenty feet away with a hard thud. He could feel the strands of power releasing him from their grip, his sword moving clumsily through the air, probably to ward them off.
Jack felt strands of dark power touching him, the Scion was right in front of him, its voice speaking into the minds of everyone present. [Give up, this is futile, you're no warrior, and your only hope is defenseless now.] The Scion taunted, the power around Jack pulsing at an even faster pace... he was building up for a discharge.
"Leave them alone!" Jack howled, throwing himself into the air at the Scions head. He latched onto its back, his fists driving into the side of its head hard enough to do probably a little damage. He attacked until he felt an incredible surge of power run through him, throwing him to the ground heavily with a gasp of pain.
The swirl of quick movement and the pounding of two pairs of feet on the steel floor was all Jack could sense other than his sword, being flung about the room between the two pairs of feet. Pulses of pure power surged through the air as well, making the hairs on the back of Jack's neck stand up.
Suddenly he felt the sword flying high through the air in his direction, but it fell just short, embedding itself in the steel ground. Jack lunged from the wall as fast as he could, the hair on the back of his neck rising...
The samurai leapt into the air in a summersault, the burst of the Scion's power surging right underneath him as he flew. One hand reached out once the surge was gone, reaching for the familiar pulse that was so close he could almost feel it already in his blood.
The first sound he heard was the sound of the metal blade being yanked out of the ground as he landed on one knee, gripping the pommel in his hands. Pearl white power surged through his body, and he could feel the blocks on his senses being loosened.
"... id it... you did it Jack!" Keela's voice was a welcome break from the omnipresent silence that he'd known before. He kept his eyes closed as he stood, turning around with the sword in front of him and opening his eyes. The Scion was glaring at him in a rage, his hands pulsing with deadly crimson energy.
"It's the end for you." Jack hefted the blade in front of him, feeling its power pulsing through his body as never before.
[I've beaten you once with that sword warrior, I will do it again!] The Scion raised one hand, sending several shadows leaping from the ground right at the samurai. Jack leapt forward without hesitation, the enchanted blade tearing through the shadows without difficulty. The battle was fast and heavy, as the samurai was forced to dodge attacks from all sides.
Finally Jack tore from the pack of shadows and leapt at the Scion, the blade clutched at his side as a furious yell erupted from his throat. The Scion raised one clawed hand, crimson power surging out from it in a magnificent wave. Jack swung the blade in a wide arc, the sword colliding with the crimson energy with a crack, as if thunder had made its way underground.
For a few moments Jack hung suspended in midair, the pearl white power of his blade mingling in his body with the crimson strands of the Scions own power. Finally the power detonated between the Scion and the samurai, sending Jack hurtling back to the other side of the room, putting the shadow soldiers between them once again.
[You will fall again samurai, and this time, I will kill you where you stand!] The Scion shrieked, his claws pulsing with power.
"I never make the same mistakes twice. You will not defeat me again!" Jack exclaimed, leaping forward. He tore one shadow in half with his blade, kicking back and using a third as a jumping stool, flying over the heads of the rest. The Scion let another surge of crimson power surge toward the samurai. The blade came up in a wide arc, batting the surge aside and dissipating it instead of colliding this time.
The Scion didn't have time to move out of the way. Jack came down with the fatal blow, the sword slicing through the dark form of its body as easily as if it wasn't there. The Scion gave a mental gasp of shock, stumbling back into the wall, glaring at Jack hatefully.
[Well played... samurai...] The Scions eyes narrowed as it studied Jack. [Learning from your failures... so that is your secret... you adapt.]
"Yes." Jack replied simply. "Good has the ability to adapt to tricks, while evil knows only one set of tricks... easily overcome with study." He brought the blade over his head, staring at the Scion steadily. Without another word he brought eh blade down, cutting the Scion clean in half. The Scion gave no scream or shriek, simply closing its eyes and looking up, letting itself be pulled into the shadows around it as though it never existed.
"Jack... you did it... and you're alive..." Keela said, her eyes brimming with tears that had been held in since she'd found he was alive. She lunged forward and wrapped her arms around him. "And we did it... we destroyed all four Scions!" She exclaimed.
"Yes... but it's not over." Jack replied, staring down at her. "Aku still remains... and the time has come for me to find him and end this... once and for all." His eyes didn't betray any hint of emotion as he stared into Keela's. She seemed disturbed by this, but she said nothing. His only goal now was to destroy Aku, and that he would, no matter what he had to do.
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The wind blew through the small city, now freed from the Scions hand but still feeling its influence. Jack stood on a small hill, looking down at a spot on the ground whose only piece of decoration seemed to be a small headstone. On it read the words "The Scions last victim: Reggoth".
"Rest well, I will destroy Aku soon, and then I will set all of this right." The samurai said, before he turned to head back to the ship. He didn't waste any time with mourning, no matter how his heart felt. Time wasn't on his side, if Aku heard all of his Scions were gone, he may try to run from Earth, where Jack would likely never find him.
"Jack... I..." Keela began as he passed, but he didn't look at her. She stared after him steadily, then followed. Sarah followed the both of them a ways behind, not wanted to come between them. Jack only knew his journey would finally come to a close very soon, and his destiny would at last be fulfilled.
TO BE CONTINUED
