Chapter 8: Duel in the Falling Darkness
"We can beat you before this castle even begins to descend." Picard said to the duo of Shin and Huan.
"This castle's decent will be nothing more than a short drop and a big bang." Shin explained. "By destroying the Violet Crystal, the castle will fall eventually. But for the castle to fall, its levitation ring must be destroyed."
"What are you getting at bird face?" Keja asked angrily.
"With the Violet Crystal destroyed, the Levitation Ring has lost it's source of power. Therefore the Levitation Ring that holds the castle will slowly decompose. Once the Levitation Ring is gone, the castle will come down like a meteor and explode on contact with the ground." Shin continued.
"I can already hear it begin to crack." Huan said as he put his hand up to his ear.
"We go down. You go down." Keja said in his angered tone.
"Perhaps." Shin said unsheathing his needlepoint sword. "But I doubt you will live to feel the descent. Or will you somehow win by a fluke. Like the incident on that ship."
"Tsunami did not kill Kojikocy on accident." Picard explained.
"Ah but that is where you are wrong." Shin said. "Capitan Kojikocy is still very much alive."
"That's impossible." Ameph said. "That Fortress Whale swallowed him whole."
"Yes and because he was swallowed whole he did not die instantly." Shin continued. "After Capitan Tsunami set sail the whale swam off. Kojikocy then ripped his way out."
"How. He would have suffocated somehow. Wouldn't he?" Keja asked in puzzlement.
"Capitan Kojikocy is the Trinity Master of Water." Shin answered. "He can not die so easily. Neither can I."
"What the hell are you talking about?" YQ asked. "I've heard tales of that man. He is supposed to be an Earth based monster. What does he have to do with the power of Water?"
"Kojikocy has an inscription carved into his right palm." Shin said as he showed his palm to the four in front of him. "Much like this one."
"That's a Scroll of Bewitchment." Keja pointed out.
"Good observation." Shin said as he put his hand down. "As long as we have these inscriptions carved into our hands, we are have a different base element then we would usually have. Kojikocy's Scroll makes his base element Water. Mine makes my base element Wind."
"So you're a Wind monster as long as that thing is on your hand?" Picard asked.
"Correct." Shin said. "Now. As I was speaking I was wasting valuable time. So why don't we get this over with?"
"Fine by us." YQ answered for the group as they all got in a stance.
"First." Huan said. "Why don't we begin by doing this?" Huan held out his hand toward YQ. A dark mist began to crawl from his arm and flow toward the Dark Magician Knight. "Magic Jammer!"
With that, YQ became enshrouded in the mist. After a few seconds, the only thing visible was the mist that covered him. Huan pulled his hand back and the mist left YQ. When YQ became visible he had reverted to his normal self. He was no longer the Knight he had transformed himself into.
YQ fell to one knee and began to breath heavily. "Great. Just friggin' great."
"Now." Shin said. "You shall perish."
Shin jamp down from the platform he was standing on and began to clash swords with Picard. Huan had jamp down toward Keja who was caught in distraction and threw his Kunai down in attempt to slash him. Before connecting with the blow YQ threw his staff in front of Keja and blocked the attack.
Keja turned his attention to Huan who was still in a struggle force with YQ. Keja thrusted his staff into Huan's chest cavity and knocked him back. Huan had the wind knocked out of him for a brief moment. YQ jamp at the young man in attempt to belt him across the side of the head with his staff, Huan ducked the attack.
Shin threw his sword down on Picard several times, driving the Buster Blader back to the wall. Ameph went to tackle Shin but was met with a backhand punch to the side of the head. Shin pulled his sword out of the battled with Picard and spun it around in a counter-clockwise circle, afterwards Shin stabbed Picard in his right shoulder.
Picard dropped his sword and held his wound. Shin directed his attention away from Picard and toward Ameph. Shin walked over to the Dark Magician Girl and threw a downward slash at her. Ameph blocked with her short staff and elbowed Shin in the gut. Shin held his stomach and took a few steps back.
Suddenly all the warriors where thrown towards the ground. The Castle's Levitation Ring had almost finished decomposing.
"It seems we had less time than we thought." Shin said as he got up. "We'll have to continue this another day." Shin and Huan jamp back to the platform they had been standing on previously.
"You're not running away!" Keja yelled. "We're finishing this."
"And so we shall. However if we do plan of finishing this at all we must do it elsewhere." Huan said. "And know we are in need of Transportation." Huan pointed his open hand upward. "Show me that sky." Huan launched a black orb at the ceiling and tore the roof off of the dying Castle. "Shin. Your up."
"K, A, Z, E, J, I, N!" Shin spelled as he pulled a medallion from his neck and raised it toward the sky. "Let me control the power I have within! May he come down a use his smite! Let him vanquish with Wind's might!"
In an instant, Shin was struck by a large green thunderbolt. He began to laugh a bit here and there as a large figure began to take shape under the two.
"I love being the Trinity Master of Wind." Shin said.
"What the hell is that?" Picard asked.
"This here is Kazejin the God of the Winds." Shin explained. "As the Trinity Master of Wind, I control this beast you see here. Now if you will excuse us. We have places to go, things to collect, and people to kill."
The large green monster began to rise from the ground and exit the castle. Shin waved at they soared off to the west.
"Great!" YQ yelled. "We'll never get out of here if we go through the passage ways!"
"I'm already working on that." Keja said as he jamp into the air and pointed his staff downward. "You might want to get out of the way!" YQ, Ameph, and Picard all got out of the way. "Blitz Bomb!"
Keja shot a huge spiral beam into the floor of the Castle. His attack faded and so did the dust from it. When all was clear a way straight down the middle of the Castle was opened. Keja landed on the floor beside the hole.
"Let's go." Keja said as he jamp into the way out.
"Alright!" Picard yelled as he followed and was then followed by Ameph.
YQ stayed behind for a second. He looked at the shattered remains of his former companion and looked back into the hole. Before jumping in after the others he picked up the small staff once used by the Time Wizard.
They all touched down around the fountain directly under the castle. Immediately they ran out of the way as the remainder of the Castle's Levitation Ring exploded and the Castle came crashing down just as Shin had said.
An hour passed. Keja, Picard, and Ameph all gathered on top of a nearby hill and observed the ruins of the fallen castle as they rested.
"After all that and my mother wasn't even there." Ameph said.
"Don't worry Ameph." Picard said.
"Yeah. We'll find her." Keja said before letting out a sigh. "We just have to follow my brother.
"Where's YQ?" Picard asked.
"He said he'd be back." Keja answered. "He didn't say where he was going."
YQ stood in front of a line if black and violet staffs sticking out of the ground. He let out a long sigh as he walked over to the gathered weapons.
"That's one more that's been added to the list." YQ said as he added Clock's staff to the line. "One too many." He stared back at the wreckage of the castle and turned back to the staffs. "Thus ends the Castle of Dark Illusions."
End Part 2
"We can beat you before this castle even begins to descend." Picard said to the duo of Shin and Huan.
"This castle's decent will be nothing more than a short drop and a big bang." Shin explained. "By destroying the Violet Crystal, the castle will fall eventually. But for the castle to fall, its levitation ring must be destroyed."
"What are you getting at bird face?" Keja asked angrily.
"With the Violet Crystal destroyed, the Levitation Ring has lost it's source of power. Therefore the Levitation Ring that holds the castle will slowly decompose. Once the Levitation Ring is gone, the castle will come down like a meteor and explode on contact with the ground." Shin continued.
"I can already hear it begin to crack." Huan said as he put his hand up to his ear.
"We go down. You go down." Keja said in his angered tone.
"Perhaps." Shin said unsheathing his needlepoint sword. "But I doubt you will live to feel the descent. Or will you somehow win by a fluke. Like the incident on that ship."
"Tsunami did not kill Kojikocy on accident." Picard explained.
"Ah but that is where you are wrong." Shin said. "Capitan Kojikocy is still very much alive."
"That's impossible." Ameph said. "That Fortress Whale swallowed him whole."
"Yes and because he was swallowed whole he did not die instantly." Shin continued. "After Capitan Tsunami set sail the whale swam off. Kojikocy then ripped his way out."
"How. He would have suffocated somehow. Wouldn't he?" Keja asked in puzzlement.
"Capitan Kojikocy is the Trinity Master of Water." Shin answered. "He can not die so easily. Neither can I."
"What the hell are you talking about?" YQ asked. "I've heard tales of that man. He is supposed to be an Earth based monster. What does he have to do with the power of Water?"
"Kojikocy has an inscription carved into his right palm." Shin said as he showed his palm to the four in front of him. "Much like this one."
"That's a Scroll of Bewitchment." Keja pointed out.
"Good observation." Shin said as he put his hand down. "As long as we have these inscriptions carved into our hands, we are have a different base element then we would usually have. Kojikocy's Scroll makes his base element Water. Mine makes my base element Wind."
"So you're a Wind monster as long as that thing is on your hand?" Picard asked.
"Correct." Shin said. "Now. As I was speaking I was wasting valuable time. So why don't we get this over with?"
"Fine by us." YQ answered for the group as they all got in a stance.
"First." Huan said. "Why don't we begin by doing this?" Huan held out his hand toward YQ. A dark mist began to crawl from his arm and flow toward the Dark Magician Knight. "Magic Jammer!"
With that, YQ became enshrouded in the mist. After a few seconds, the only thing visible was the mist that covered him. Huan pulled his hand back and the mist left YQ. When YQ became visible he had reverted to his normal self. He was no longer the Knight he had transformed himself into.
YQ fell to one knee and began to breath heavily. "Great. Just friggin' great."
"Now." Shin said. "You shall perish."
Shin jamp down from the platform he was standing on and began to clash swords with Picard. Huan had jamp down toward Keja who was caught in distraction and threw his Kunai down in attempt to slash him. Before connecting with the blow YQ threw his staff in front of Keja and blocked the attack.
Keja turned his attention to Huan who was still in a struggle force with YQ. Keja thrusted his staff into Huan's chest cavity and knocked him back. Huan had the wind knocked out of him for a brief moment. YQ jamp at the young man in attempt to belt him across the side of the head with his staff, Huan ducked the attack.
Shin threw his sword down on Picard several times, driving the Buster Blader back to the wall. Ameph went to tackle Shin but was met with a backhand punch to the side of the head. Shin pulled his sword out of the battled with Picard and spun it around in a counter-clockwise circle, afterwards Shin stabbed Picard in his right shoulder.
Picard dropped his sword and held his wound. Shin directed his attention away from Picard and toward Ameph. Shin walked over to the Dark Magician Girl and threw a downward slash at her. Ameph blocked with her short staff and elbowed Shin in the gut. Shin held his stomach and took a few steps back.
Suddenly all the warriors where thrown towards the ground. The Castle's Levitation Ring had almost finished decomposing.
"It seems we had less time than we thought." Shin said as he got up. "We'll have to continue this another day." Shin and Huan jamp back to the platform they had been standing on previously.
"You're not running away!" Keja yelled. "We're finishing this."
"And so we shall. However if we do plan of finishing this at all we must do it elsewhere." Huan said. "And know we are in need of Transportation." Huan pointed his open hand upward. "Show me that sky." Huan launched a black orb at the ceiling and tore the roof off of the dying Castle. "Shin. Your up."
"K, A, Z, E, J, I, N!" Shin spelled as he pulled a medallion from his neck and raised it toward the sky. "Let me control the power I have within! May he come down a use his smite! Let him vanquish with Wind's might!"
In an instant, Shin was struck by a large green thunderbolt. He began to laugh a bit here and there as a large figure began to take shape under the two.
"I love being the Trinity Master of Wind." Shin said.
"What the hell is that?" Picard asked.
"This here is Kazejin the God of the Winds." Shin explained. "As the Trinity Master of Wind, I control this beast you see here. Now if you will excuse us. We have places to go, things to collect, and people to kill."
The large green monster began to rise from the ground and exit the castle. Shin waved at they soared off to the west.
"Great!" YQ yelled. "We'll never get out of here if we go through the passage ways!"
"I'm already working on that." Keja said as he jamp into the air and pointed his staff downward. "You might want to get out of the way!" YQ, Ameph, and Picard all got out of the way. "Blitz Bomb!"
Keja shot a huge spiral beam into the floor of the Castle. His attack faded and so did the dust from it. When all was clear a way straight down the middle of the Castle was opened. Keja landed on the floor beside the hole.
"Let's go." Keja said as he jamp into the way out.
"Alright!" Picard yelled as he followed and was then followed by Ameph.
YQ stayed behind for a second. He looked at the shattered remains of his former companion and looked back into the hole. Before jumping in after the others he picked up the small staff once used by the Time Wizard.
They all touched down around the fountain directly under the castle. Immediately they ran out of the way as the remainder of the Castle's Levitation Ring exploded and the Castle came crashing down just as Shin had said.
An hour passed. Keja, Picard, and Ameph all gathered on top of a nearby hill and observed the ruins of the fallen castle as they rested.
"After all that and my mother wasn't even there." Ameph said.
"Don't worry Ameph." Picard said.
"Yeah. We'll find her." Keja said before letting out a sigh. "We just have to follow my brother.
"Where's YQ?" Picard asked.
"He said he'd be back." Keja answered. "He didn't say where he was going."
YQ stood in front of a line if black and violet staffs sticking out of the ground. He let out a long sigh as he walked over to the gathered weapons.
"That's one more that's been added to the list." YQ said as he added Clock's staff to the line. "One too many." He stared back at the wreckage of the castle and turned back to the staffs. "Thus ends the Castle of Dark Illusions."
End Part 2