Author's Note: Fun fun, the 6th chapter! I actually do not know how many more chapters I have but they're getting shorter aren't they?
The Lost Protector
This story is dedicated to Chichirui for she is the reason for most of my inspiration and without her these stories wouldn't be half as fun! So this one is for you my hyper active friend! Keep the hyperness alive!
Chapter 6: War BeginsKat, Alex and Nicole all stood in Dilandau's throne room in front of him. The room was large and empty, a sitting lion statue pushed back against a wall, between the lion's paws a seat was welded and that was where Dilandau sat, looking at his soldiers. Next to the larger lion statue was a smaller lion, lying down with its mouth gaping open, holding Dilandau's deadly sword.
Dilandau hated this. He hated what he had to do. He knew that Kat would forever be angry with him and that he had pissed off Nicole and Alex by not telling them of Willow's sudden appearance. I only did it because I thought I would be protecting Kat from harm… he thought.
Shaking his head mentally, he looked at his troops. The Dragon Slayers were also assembled behind the Protectors, blank looks on their faces. They knew what was going to happen. They knew how the girls would react. Dilandau then eyed each of Protectors. Would he try to gauge their response?
Nicole looked worried and angry, glaring at him as if wishing a hole would appear under him and swallow him up. He could tell that the thoughts inside her head ran along the lines of, "how could he keep this from us? Did he really think he'd be doing us a favor? Willow is our friend and it's our duty to help her!"
Alex looked amused, worried and a bit shocked. Her anger was placed inside her eyes, burning like a flame as she also glared at Dilandau. He knew she wanted to pound his face in right then. Out of all the girls, Alex reacted the most to secrets being kept from her. "That bastard! He thought he could go around our backs and do us a favor? He doesn't even know Willow so why's he trying to play the hero?" She thought.
Finally Kat looked sad, worried and angry. His eyes drifted over her, as she was the only one who didn't look at him. He couldn't tell what she was thinking, whether she was mad or sad, disappointed or just shocked. Out of everyone she was the hardest to read. "So, I hear we've found Willow. Is that true?" Kat asked, her voice monotone.
Dilandau carefully thought of his response. He could tell her it was a fluke in the systems, but this was after all Zaibach. Nicole and Alex wouldn't back him up. He had to come clean so he nodded.
Kat's face contorted into something unreadable. "We have to go get her, now," she said, her voice strangely calm.
"Why?" Nicole asked, looking perplexed. She knew Willow was close to Kat but would Kat really charge into an unknown situation to save Willow?
Kat turned and faced them-her friends, her best friends in the world. They had been through thick and thin, helped each other heal emotionally and physically. They were like sisters, even closer then sisters. Kat couldn't bring herself to lie to them.
She sighed and looked them straight in the eye. "I've found out that Willow has powers, like us. Only her power is the power to control light, meaning she can do about anything. Including destroying a whole planet in less then a heartbeat. All it takes is a little edging and the right thoughts for her to do it. Don't ask me how I know because even I don't know, but I can tell you I'm positive of it.
"I've also discovered, since last meeting with her, that she had changed. Her aura is different; it's not the same as last time when I…. it holds an evil presence to it. There's something lurking in her mind, something bad," she explained. "This thing is controlling her and if we don't get to her before midnight by tomorrow night, everything we know is going to die." Kat looked at everyone's pale faces. "Because that's when Willow will destroy our world."
"How do you know?" Asked Alex.
"I don't. I can just tell you to trust me. I… I think Willow wants me to know this. I didn't know before but now it's like I do… just, trust me on this, okay?"
Alex and Nicole each held a look of understanding. They knew what Kat was talking about; they had researched and used logic. While Kat had been looking up myths and legends, they had been looking up psychology and medical conditions dealing with magic. It was the only way they could even possibly figure out what was wrong with Willow. They both knew what had to be done.
"So let's move!" Alex yelled, pumping her first into the air.
There was a grim nod as the Slayers filed out of the throne room. Kat brought up the rear and just before she closed the door she glanced over her shoulder. Everyone was out of the room including Dilandau who had obiently obeyed Alex's command-which was totally strange. "Staying or coming?" She asked the lone figure.
"Coming, just give me a moment," a whispery voice replied. Kat smiled and nodded. She shut the door behind her and silently wished the figure luck.
Willow sat in the darkness, alone and confused. She didn't know what time it was, or how long she had been sitting there. All she knew that she had managed to get control over her own body. Her horse had thrown her long ago when they had run into something and she had stayed in the same spot where she had been thrown not really caring. "Why do you even fight me? You know you can't win. The time is oh so close," a voice whispered in her ear.
She had been haunted by that voice for so long. It told her things and then she did them, not really aware of what she was doing. Did she fight it? Did she win at times? What was it? The thoughts plagued her and at times she couldn't even remember who she was.
Willow shook her head. "I'll die before I let you have my body again. Kat will come and rescue me; she's smart. She's bound to know about my "condition" all ready. I bet that she all ready has a cure for me!" She said smartly. She had a vague memory of her best friend from long ago and she knew that Kat wouldn't give up on her.
The voice snorted in disgust. "Whatever you think will help you, little girl. But just remind yourself this, who has been in control of you all these years? Who knows you better then yourself?" It asked.
"Master Folken, of course," Willow whispered as a floodgate was released and everything came flooding back to her. The wind suddenly picked up and gently blew a strand of her red hair into her face. She smiled as she let memories come flooding back to her.
FLASHBACK
Willow was only sixteen when the cloaked figure came into her room and grabbed her roughly. She had never seen it before in her room except for the time when it told her of her future. She had just finished working out and was about ready to change, her clothes lying out on her small cot, when the figure entered. "What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" She asked, her voice quavering with fear. She had a bad feeling about this.
"Somewhere special," was the only reply she got.
So Willow kept her mouth shut; don't fight your superiors. She watched as the figure, known as Master Folken, dragged her deeper and deeper into the corridors. Soon fear was replaced by pure, instinctive panic. She began to fight Folken, but only failed.
Her eyes soon became unfocused and unseeing; the only thing she was going by was sound, heat and her panic. Folken took her and threw her into a single dark room, without anyway of escape. Willow began to scream and pound on the solid door that confined her to that room. What was going on?
Outside Folken smiled and pushed a button in the wall. He winced slightly as a needle suddenly jabbed him, inserting deep into his chest, but once the needle was removed his disappeared. The needle was transferred through the door and injected its contents into the panicking Willow. Willow gave a final scream before she blacked out.
From then on the voice in her head had been slowly taking over her body. She had no way to stop it or even fight it. It was either struggle or give up. But being as hardheaded as Willow was she wasn't about to give up. So she had dealt with it, cooped the best she could and fought to keep her body.
But she had failed. Even as she grew up and trained, the voice had been playing her, making people think she was different. It made her the ultimate weapon. At times she was herself but it still controlled her. Beneath everything she was no one-she was the voice.
Yet
she really wasn't, it was all a muse to get her to Gaea again. It worked.
Once she set foot on Gaea, the voice became more powerful and soon
Willow lost all control. Like some sort
of twisted game she had been playing hide and go seek with her own body. She still had fight left and she had barely
managed to get away from Van before the voice started to become too strong for
her.
END FLASHBACK
The second the voice became too much I would've
attack anyone close to me. Since Van
was always around, it would've been his death, she thought. That's what it wants. She could feel the evil fighting for control
in the back of her head, but she wasn't about to give up so easily. She would hold on until the very last
breath.
Author's Note: WOW! That was interesting wasn't it? Did I confuse you? Maybe the next chapter will help! Until then!
~The Shadow That Takes as a Kat~
~~ShadowKat~~