A/N: Here's what you've all been waiting for. The climax! A long one too.
Just think, now there are only two more chapters to go. ^^ Enjoy.
Warning: Torture, subtle shounen ai, and a very roused figment.
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THE DARKNESS
The red eyes smiled at the firebird. "You cannot comprehend how long I have waited for this moment, my dear. I have waited eons for someone like you, and now finally you have come. Please, do come closer. Let me have a good look at you." An unseen force drove him forward towards the darkness. "Ah, you look just as you did when I first laid eyes on you. Do you remember that? I'm quite sure you do. You must. It was only little more than a week ago. You were peaceful slumbering and I infested your dreams." Kai grew angry, wrath welled up within him and the darkness laughed. "I knew you'd remembered. Dreams of you becoming mine are no longer fading, distant fantasies. They shall soon become reality."
"I doubt that. I will never be yours."
Laughter resonated around him. "Oh, I've heard that before. On the third time I came to you. You still have that fiery, unconquerable spirit. I am glad my little minion did not spoil it with his antics." The voice suddenly became cold and the eyes' red light illuminated the boy, who bowed deeply.
"My apologies, my Lord. As you are well aware, rarely have I had control over my counterpart. At the times of which you speak, it was most difficult to restrain him. I solemnly vow never to let it happen again."
"Good." The eyes hovered over Kai, curved in an obvious smile. A dark hand extended forward and he dodged its touch. The darkness asked, "Why do you fight me, Kai? I can be anything - give you everything – you have ever dreamed of and some things you haven't." The hand stroked his face, and though Kai tried to stop it, he found himself unable to move. The hand slowly went down his neck, to the bandages tied about him, and as if cut by scissors, they fell to the floor around his feet. A burning cold embraced him, zeroing in on his healing injuries. After a few moments, it subsided and he could move freely. He felt his back and not a scratch remained.
"See, and that is only a part of what I can do for you." The red eyes dissipated and suddenly softly lit torches illuminated the room. Kai found himself standing at the bottom step of a set of stairs leading up to a satin divan draped with silk and furs, rich beyond the wildest imagination. Upon the divan lay a dark figure, which slowly revealed a young man, older than Kai by a few years, strikingly handsome with a dark beauty, and irresistible. Kai couldn't help but stare in awe at the person before him.
The young man asked, "Do you find me appealing or would you rather..." The darkness resumed and in the man's place was a woman with long hair, dark as midnight, lips blood red, and a shapely body any man would die for, yet despite her lustrous beauty, her eyes shone deep crimson. Slowly she approached Kai, taking her care on each of the stone steps, keeping her eyes on him. He was trapped within her gaze. She clicked her long, black fingernails together then ran her index finger down Kai's cheek. Even the lightest tough of that nail sliced his skin, sending a bolt of pain through Kai, just to be quickly eradicated by the darkness' strange healing.
Twirling her dark hair around a pinky finger, she casually brushed invisible dust off her revealing, skin-tight outfit made of black leather with hints of dark red and rusting armor stained with blood. Though the armor was not appealing, the rest of her was, and she very well knew it. She was aware that Kai was figuring it out as well.
Kai forced himself to look away, suddenly feeling emotions he never felt before. He cursed himself. Years I've spent to push aside petty emotions, and now all that training is nothing against...
The woman of darkness strode over to him and said, "There's no way you can fight me. I have the invincible weapon of choice: using your human nature against you. Ingenious, isn't it? Not even the strongest man in the world can resist me. I can become every desire, and more than anything anyone could ask for."
Kai would not allow himself even a glance of her; nevertheless, even when not looking, her face lingered in his mind and sent flashes of white, hot pain through him. He held his sides and staggered around the room, trying to get as far away from her as possible. Jamming himself in a corner, he breathed heavy, wincing at the delicious pain flowing through him every second.
"It is pointless to refuse my Lord." A voice from his left spoke.
Kai turned to see Zeo's alter ego standing a few feet away from him.
"Why's that?" Kai inquired, struggling to talk, to even breathe.
Zeo's alter ego's dark eyes enlarged and glimmered briefly sea green. A small smile came to his lips and he replied, "Because the longer you resist, the more tempting she becomes. See for yourself."
He glanced quickly over at the woman of darkness heading his way and saw that indeed she had become more beautiful than the last time he had laid eyes on her. Although everything he had taught himself begged him not to ask for help, he did so. "What should I do?"
The boy's eyes returned to being narrow and dark, yet the smile still lingered on his lips. "Succumb to my Lord's wishes, of course."
Kai gritted his teeth, unappreciative of the answer given. He curled his lip and hissed, "Never." He straightened slowly and stared directly at the darkness approaching. "I would rather die than succumb to anyone, especially you."
She ran a hand down to her hip and let it rest on her voluptuous curves. "You talk tough, yet your words are filled with nothing but air." She let out an amused laugh. "You're all bark and no bite, my little pet."
As she continued to advance, Kai, despite his efforts to remain resilient, found himself weakening with every step she took. Clutching his waist, he fell to his knees before her, gasping for breath and grasping for strength. He hardly found either.
Nudging his chin with the tip of one of her pointed-toed boots, she forced him to look up at her. Entwining her fingers in his hair, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. As soon as her lips touched his skin, without thought and without his consent, he wrapped his well-built arms around her neck. The woman of darkness began to outline his distressed facial features with her fingertips, delicately so that her nails did not slice his skin. The softness of her hands made Kai squirm with hatred and desire at the same time. Never before in his life had he ever felt so many emotions running through his body simultaneously.
Her fingers slid down to his bare-chest, upon which she lazily drew invisible circles. Then, pushing him flat on his back, she straddled him with a smile playing on her lips. "You're definitely going to enjoy this." With channeled force, she pressed herself upon him.
He cried out in internal agony, and then chided himself for allowing her the ability to control his emotions. He could not – would not – allow her to attain what she desired of him. Never. He would rather die, and he would prove those words true if necessary. With all the strength he could muster, he released himself and kicked her from off him. She hurtled backwards towards the granite walls of the rooms. However, she never was thrown against it for she had extended her right leg to break the impact.
Her eyes burned fiercely red in the surrounding gloom, reminding Kai of what the woman truly was beneath her fair visage. Breathing heavily, she glared at him in full contempt. "If rough is how you want to play, rough it shall be." She turned to her attendant and snapped her fingers.
The boy's eyes glowed eerily, and suddenly, he held the fidgeting form of Zeo. Kai gawped at what he had just witnessed. It was impossible for two halves of the same person to be standing apart from each other, and yet there they were.
Fearfully, Zeo glanced about. His bright eyes caught sight of Kai and he shook within the handcuffs he wore. "Kai! You have to get out of here or he'll..." He gasped, finally noticing the woman of darkness looming nearby.
She nodded once at Zeo's twin, who in turn lifted the boy up by the chain connecting the shackles he was wearing and threw him against the wall. Regrettably, he was not as fortunate as the darkness had been and crashed into the stone with considerable force. Whimpering in pain, Zeo curled in on himself as his twin approached.
Kai tensed up and shouted, "Leave him alone! You've already done enough damage. Don't hurt him!"
The lady glanced over her shoulder at him, chuckling at his sudden outburst. "Has this child really changed you, my darling? Has he melted your frozen heart? Hear what I propose. In exchange for this little brat's life, you'll willingly become mine."
"Don't listen to her Kai. I'm not worth it. Save yourself!" Zeo's pleads were silenced by his twin's deadly grip on his throat.
Kai took a glimpse of Zeo, then confidently faced the darkness. With his mind focused on saving poor Zeo, Kai no longer was held captive by the darkness' irresistible beauty. By means of Zeo's innocence, Kai was able to see right through the darkness' fair visage and at the cruel, malicious creature it really was. "So, now you're trying to bribe me. Well, it's never going to work."
"We'll see about that. After this little cretin gets injured a bit more seriously, we shall see if you still think you will not be affected. Raku," the name reverberated around the room with dark echoes, "you know what I expect."
Raku smiled, holding Zeo up higher. "Yes, my Lord, nothing but the worst. I shall gladly inflict any amount of pain on this child who would not obey me, who defied your evilness." The handcuffs brushed against the wall and held fast, making Zeo hang from his wrists like he had when Kai had burst into his room.
From the side, Raku removed a long, braided whip, which he stroked reverently, and grinned with a spiteful joy. Zeo's eyes widened with horror at the sight of it and screamed in utmost terror.
Seeing how deathly afraid he was, Kai felt a strong sense of camaraderie. Shooting daggers the evil twin's way, he threatened to break every bone in Raku's body if he dared to lay that whip upon Zeo.
The darkness grumbled in its womanly form, "I knew that little horror would get in the way of my plans. He has chipped at that stone heart of yours I found so endearing." To Raku, she declared, "Finish him off. Better that he be dead than interfere with the union of my dear and I."
"No!" Kai protested.
Raku held back his whip to strike and released his deadly weapon, but it never made contact with Zeo's petite frame. Instead, the whip painfully struck Kai, who had stepped in between Raku and Zeo, blocking the attack. He stood tall and strong before Raku, wincing not in pain as the blood dripped down his right arm.
"Stupid fool," muttered Raku, as he slashed his whip seemingly at Zeo again, missing once, then finding Kai's flesh on the second lash. It sliced across his cheek. Kai ignored the stinging pain and continued to guard Zeo's trembling body. The next slash caught Kai on the wrist. From the smile on the evil boy's face, it was apparent that Raku no longer had any interest in destroying Zeo, but instead, focused all of his torture on Kai. The darkness did not seem to notice.
"You evil child," Raku began, coiling up his whip for another assault, "you stole the affections of my Lord. Those affections rightly belong to me, the loyal servant, not to you, a meaningless insect. I will squash you like the pest you are!" He lashed out yet again with more force than before, but this time, Kai was prepared. Holding out his right arm, unafraid, he allowed the whip coiled around it like a snake. Raku's eyes widened as he realized that he had made a terrible mistake. Using all of his might, Kai yanked the whip up and over his head, sending Raku flying whip-less across the room.
Kai turned, never letting his back face his adversary. Looking down at Raku, he wondered if the boy had had enough. His question was answered when Raku launched himself forward on the floor and spun, sticking his foot out and causing the unexpected Kai to trip.
Falling hard, he hit his head on the solid flooring. Raku was upon him before he could even lift his head, and slammed fist after fist violently onto Kai's face. He continued punching repeatedly, all the while saying: "My Lord is mine, and mine alone. He belongs with me. He is my Lord!"
Kai, at this point, was fighting unconsciousness. However, he mustered up his strength and blocked Raku's next punch. Just as he had with the lady of darkness, he kicked the boy off, throwing him quite a ways. Slowly, he rose and wiped the blood from off his face. He glared at Raku, who was rising from the floor, but who could not get up all the way. He rose only on his hands and knees, holding his gut with one of his hands. The boy weakly met Kai's gaze, who said, "Your Lord means nothing to me. Hold no grudge against me. I did not do anything to receive your Lord's affections. Therefore, hate him instead of me, the way I loathe him to my very core."
As he was about to turn away, Kai noticed the boy was not holding his stomach, but grasping tightly onto an object. Upon a closer inspection, Kai discovered it was the crystalline ball! With lightning fast thoughts, Kai, almost as quickly, snatched the ball from the boy's bleeding, unsuspecting hands. For a moment, Kai made eye contact with Raku. The boy's dark eyes were filled with shock and dread. The boy knew what Kai planned to do, but had no power remaining to stop him. Faintly, he called to his Lord, "My Lord, stop him. He holds the ball of crystalline."
Finally, the darkness seemed aware of its surroundings and with what appeared to be fear in its crimson eyes, tried to dissuade Kai from any unreasonable actions he might take. "Now, my dearest one, please, don't do anything irrational that you might regret. Return the crystalline ball to Raku. That would be a good darling. Afterwards, I can heal you so you will feel no more pain. Would you not like that?"
Evidently, the darkness knew as well. Don't want to disappoint them, thought Kai. Therefore, with a great might, he hurled the ball to the ground, where it exploded, shattering into innumerable shards of light.
The darkness screeched in pain as Kai took this opportunity to slice Zeo off the wall using the whip and sheer force. As soon as the boy was free, Kai grabbed his wrist and asked, "Do you know how to get out of here?"
"Well, you broke our easy way out, but I'm pretty sure that there is a secret passageway beyond these walls." Zeo replied, running a hand along the farthest wall.
"How are we supposed to break through?" Kai wondered aloud.
"Don't you have anything strong enough or powerful enough to do the job?"
Kai thought for a moment, then noticed a bulge in his left pant pocket. Reaching in, he felt his Dranzer blade! He was not even aware that he had it with him! During all of the chaotic events of the past week, he had been too preoccupied to remember his loyal Dranzer that he kept with him through the good times and the bad. He kissed the blade and immediately, sent it soaring into the wall.
Ecstatic to be released, Dranzer emerged in a ball of red light, causing the darkness further undeniable misery, and cut through the granite wall as if it were paper. When the dust cleared, a hollowed tunnel was expose, through which Kai and Zeo hurriedly ran, knowing that the darkness would soon be after them. They scurried through the blackness; the dim glimmer of Kai's Dranzer and of Zeo's eyes faintly illuminated the way.
The tunnel seemed to continue forever and the ominous presence of the darkness grew to a point that it inevitably permeated the air. In time, the dim lights that had faintly guided their path became obscured. Even their vision was impaired to an extent that neither adolescent could view their hands in front of their faces.
Fearing separation, they groped for each other's hand and held fast to them in the dark. Kai did not intend to scold the boy now; he was too intent on finding their way out before the darkness found them first.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Kai inquired, as Zeo lead him to the left and down a winding pathway.
"I'm pretty sure," Zeo hesitantly replied.
Kai, ready to now to admonish him, stopped himself when the ground beneath him rose n an incline. They ran faster up the slope until Zeo cried out, "We're almost there! I can see the moon in the sky!"
As soon as Zeo spoke those words, the opening of which the blue light shone through was concealed and both boys were left in total darkness. Before them, crimson eyes emerged and shone fierce. Kai gritted his teeth and holding tightly onto Zeo's hand, pulled the boy up and through the darkness' blockade. Hands reached out from within to grab him as he past, but he kicked them aside. Nothing was going to stop him from leaving that underworld. Nothing.
Within a few seconds, an angel and a firebird emerged onto the cool desert sands of an unknown world. Zeo sat upright and fearfully gazed about him. His quivering eyes met Kai and he said, "We must keep moving. I feel the anger of the darkness rising, as well as the journey of the creeping evil to meet us. We must keep moving."
Kai agreed fully. Brushing the sand from off him, he rose and held his hand out to Zeo. "You ready?"
The boy smiled and gratefully took it, and the two lads soared across the desert as if there were wings attached to their feet. They met no perils for quite some time, and soon Zeo began to believe that what he felt was nothing but an illusion, when suddenly, the writing arms of the creeping evil rose from the ground and tightly wrapped around his torso. Swiftly, he was yanked away from Kai.
"Help!" He screamed. "Help me! Please, Kai! Save me!"
"Zeo!" The wind whispered dark forebodings into his ears as well as the chilling laughter of the darkness. Kai growled. "Do you have control over this monstrosity as well? If so, release him at once or I'll..."
"You will do what? What power do you have over me? Despite the fact that your cold, reclusive, and domineering energies have caused me to be attractive to you, that still does not mean you have the kind of power that I have over you. I can make you do anything I desire you to. Back in the realm, I wished you to give me your affections willingly, but now it appears that I must resort to force." The darkness, suspended in the sky above like a black, thundercloud, slowly floated down and rested itself next to Kai. "If you do not comply, the brat will be consumed in a most unpleasant fashion."
Kai glanced over at Zeo, who, hanging by a leg in the air, was dangling over the thrashing beak of the creeping evil. It appeared as though the darkness did have control over the monstrous beast, as Zeo was, centimeter by centimeter, lowered towards the plant's gaping mouth
Heart-wrenching cries of utmost dread emitting from Zeo's aching throat devitalized Kai's resilience. As the boy's small body came nearer and nearer towards the snapping jaws of the otherworldly beast, another conflict ensued within Kai - this time, it pertained to matters of life and death. He had to consider what was more important: his life or Zeo's. Even if he did comply with the darkness' demands, he had no guarantee that Zeo would be spared. The boy might still become a midnight snack for the creeping evil. Kai could not allow that tragedy to befall the kind, yet somewhat weird, Zeo, he had grown to love like a friend. Besides, the boy had saved him on more than one occasion; Kai owed the boy his life.
Abruptly, Kai, struck by a thought, called out, "Zeo, why aren't you able to paralyze it like you had when we first met?"
Zeo's eyes began to glow, yet it had no effect. "I don't know. I guess because I don't have Raku's level-headedness anymore I'm too afraid to concentrate my powers to hurt it or..." Zeo gasped, "Maybe I never had those powers to begin with."
"What are you talking about?" Kai asked, starting to feel anxiousness.
"Did you actually believe that little brat contained that power himself?" The darkness scoffed. "He is nothing but a mere mortal, just as you are. My servant, Raku, infested his body when he arrived here after being summoned, as you were, to this world. Raku is the flitting shadows of the night as I am the consuming darkness. Weaker than me he was, but a faithful servant nonetheless. The powers he had were portrayed through that child but nothing more than that. Zeo was merely a puppet in the scheme of things, a tool used to get you to reside here long enough for me to plan a way to tempt you into becoming my own."
Now feeling miserably helpless, Kai slumped and bowed his head, "Then, I guess..." Just as he was about to say the words of submission, he noticed out of the corner of his eye the moon heading towards the horizon. Dawn was fast approaching. When the morning came, the sun would rise, proclaiming the start of a new day. Kai anxiously calculated how close Zeo was to being consumed over how long it would take the sun to come up. Not a lot of time. Only a few seconds, but he had to make those seconds count.
Cursing himself for what he was about to do, he strolled slowly towards the darkness, keeping an intense gaze upon it. He stood before the darkness and said, "Change into your womanly form. There is something I wish to tell her."
The darkness smiled and whispered, "If it is easier for you to speak with that form than with my present one, by all means, I will transform, my beloved." The darkness swirled briefly like a tornado, before quieting down and revealing the woman of darkness, more scantily clad than before. She leaned towards him expectantly. "Yes? What is it you wished to tell me?"
Kai peered over the darkness' shoulder and saw a faint, golden outline on the horizon. "I wanted to say," Kai began with a smile, "'good morning' and 'goodbye.'"
The darkness blinked rapidly, confused at what she heard. "What?" Then, she turned around, eyes wide, and shielded her face as the sun peeked over the distant horizon. "No!" She screamed, her pitch perfectly matching that of the creeping evil as it dropped Zeo and began to slither under the shelter of the ground. The darkness' eyes blazed at Kai and she roared, baring dagger-like canine teeth, "This is not the end, Kai. I assure you. You will become mine. Make no mistake about that. We will meet again." With that said, the darkness descended into the depths of the sand, but its piercing red eyes remained prominent in Kai's mind.
Exhausted from the events, Kai collapsed and laid breathless on the ground, glancing frequently at the boy to make sure he was all right. After some time, the sun warmed Kai's body and he crawled over to Zeo. His long green hair had come undone in the ferocity of the creeping evil's assault. Other than that, he appeared to be fine. Gently, Kai shook him awake, and Zeo groggily asked, "Did we win?"
"The battle is not won yet, or so the darkness said, but," Kai sighed, after looking in the boy's worried eyes, and said, "yes, for this portion of the battle we have conquered over the darkness."
The angel gave him a lopsided grin and said, "I'm glad," before rising to his feet. "Now, though, we have to find a way out of this place. Do you remember where you came into this world?"
The location had been imprinted into Kai's mind the day he had set out to find it and had been attacked by the creeping evil. Without fail, he led Zeo past the lone mangled cactus to where he believed he had fallen and looking up at the cloudy sky of green, he said, "This has to be the place. Only one cactus can be as mangled as that one. Yet, I still don't see anything that could possible denote that this is a portal to our world." As Kai finished speaking, Zeo's whole entire body began to glow vibrantly white.
"What's going on?" Kai asked, uncertain of what he perceived.
"I don't know. Maybe some of Raku's power is still left within me. Oh, no, that's not it." Zeo laughed gaily. "I do know. Remember how I said I was the bearer of the crystalline ball."
"Yes."
"Well, I think that has a double-meaning. Only I could activate the ball, but what if the physical ball itself didn't opened the portal to the Realm of the Forgotten. Maybe I was the key! That's it!" He held out his hand to Kai. "Come on! We're going home!"
"I hope you're right." Kai took his hand and watched as the boy closed his eyes and chanted, "Come away, come away, come away with me to the valley beyond. Come away, come away, come away with me you can't e'er go wrong." Suddenly, the light emitting from Zeo grew brighter and shot upwards through the clouds and high into the expanse of heaven. With the light soared Kai and Zeo, hand in hand, ever higher, rising up to greet a speck of blue light. They ascended into a world of blue and their journey finally ended, as they blue turned to black as they instantly fell unconscious.
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Gradually, Kai opened his eyes. A light from above blinded him and he squinted in its brightness. Soon, his eyes adjusted and he saw a sun...his sun...high in the sky above him, shining down lovingly with warm rays. The ground beneath him was cobblestone; he ran his hands over the bumps and through the grooves. Above him and to the right was a stone fountain of a maiden dumping the contents of a pail; water quietly trickled into a well basin at her feet. A smile consumed Kai's face. Overwhelmed with happiness, an emotion he now allowed himself to have until this very moment, he woke up Zeo and said, "We're home."
THE DARKNESS
The red eyes smiled at the firebird. "You cannot comprehend how long I have waited for this moment, my dear. I have waited eons for someone like you, and now finally you have come. Please, do come closer. Let me have a good look at you." An unseen force drove him forward towards the darkness. "Ah, you look just as you did when I first laid eyes on you. Do you remember that? I'm quite sure you do. You must. It was only little more than a week ago. You were peaceful slumbering and I infested your dreams." Kai grew angry, wrath welled up within him and the darkness laughed. "I knew you'd remembered. Dreams of you becoming mine are no longer fading, distant fantasies. They shall soon become reality."
"I doubt that. I will never be yours."
Laughter resonated around him. "Oh, I've heard that before. On the third time I came to you. You still have that fiery, unconquerable spirit. I am glad my little minion did not spoil it with his antics." The voice suddenly became cold and the eyes' red light illuminated the boy, who bowed deeply.
"My apologies, my Lord. As you are well aware, rarely have I had control over my counterpart. At the times of which you speak, it was most difficult to restrain him. I solemnly vow never to let it happen again."
"Good." The eyes hovered over Kai, curved in an obvious smile. A dark hand extended forward and he dodged its touch. The darkness asked, "Why do you fight me, Kai? I can be anything - give you everything – you have ever dreamed of and some things you haven't." The hand stroked his face, and though Kai tried to stop it, he found himself unable to move. The hand slowly went down his neck, to the bandages tied about him, and as if cut by scissors, they fell to the floor around his feet. A burning cold embraced him, zeroing in on his healing injuries. After a few moments, it subsided and he could move freely. He felt his back and not a scratch remained.
"See, and that is only a part of what I can do for you." The red eyes dissipated and suddenly softly lit torches illuminated the room. Kai found himself standing at the bottom step of a set of stairs leading up to a satin divan draped with silk and furs, rich beyond the wildest imagination. Upon the divan lay a dark figure, which slowly revealed a young man, older than Kai by a few years, strikingly handsome with a dark beauty, and irresistible. Kai couldn't help but stare in awe at the person before him.
The young man asked, "Do you find me appealing or would you rather..." The darkness resumed and in the man's place was a woman with long hair, dark as midnight, lips blood red, and a shapely body any man would die for, yet despite her lustrous beauty, her eyes shone deep crimson. Slowly she approached Kai, taking her care on each of the stone steps, keeping her eyes on him. He was trapped within her gaze. She clicked her long, black fingernails together then ran her index finger down Kai's cheek. Even the lightest tough of that nail sliced his skin, sending a bolt of pain through Kai, just to be quickly eradicated by the darkness' strange healing.
Twirling her dark hair around a pinky finger, she casually brushed invisible dust off her revealing, skin-tight outfit made of black leather with hints of dark red and rusting armor stained with blood. Though the armor was not appealing, the rest of her was, and she very well knew it. She was aware that Kai was figuring it out as well.
Kai forced himself to look away, suddenly feeling emotions he never felt before. He cursed himself. Years I've spent to push aside petty emotions, and now all that training is nothing against...
The woman of darkness strode over to him and said, "There's no way you can fight me. I have the invincible weapon of choice: using your human nature against you. Ingenious, isn't it? Not even the strongest man in the world can resist me. I can become every desire, and more than anything anyone could ask for."
Kai would not allow himself even a glance of her; nevertheless, even when not looking, her face lingered in his mind and sent flashes of white, hot pain through him. He held his sides and staggered around the room, trying to get as far away from her as possible. Jamming himself in a corner, he breathed heavy, wincing at the delicious pain flowing through him every second.
"It is pointless to refuse my Lord." A voice from his left spoke.
Kai turned to see Zeo's alter ego standing a few feet away from him.
"Why's that?" Kai inquired, struggling to talk, to even breathe.
Zeo's alter ego's dark eyes enlarged and glimmered briefly sea green. A small smile came to his lips and he replied, "Because the longer you resist, the more tempting she becomes. See for yourself."
He glanced quickly over at the woman of darkness heading his way and saw that indeed she had become more beautiful than the last time he had laid eyes on her. Although everything he had taught himself begged him not to ask for help, he did so. "What should I do?"
The boy's eyes returned to being narrow and dark, yet the smile still lingered on his lips. "Succumb to my Lord's wishes, of course."
Kai gritted his teeth, unappreciative of the answer given. He curled his lip and hissed, "Never." He straightened slowly and stared directly at the darkness approaching. "I would rather die than succumb to anyone, especially you."
She ran a hand down to her hip and let it rest on her voluptuous curves. "You talk tough, yet your words are filled with nothing but air." She let out an amused laugh. "You're all bark and no bite, my little pet."
As she continued to advance, Kai, despite his efforts to remain resilient, found himself weakening with every step she took. Clutching his waist, he fell to his knees before her, gasping for breath and grasping for strength. He hardly found either.
Nudging his chin with the tip of one of her pointed-toed boots, she forced him to look up at her. Entwining her fingers in his hair, she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. As soon as her lips touched his skin, without thought and without his consent, he wrapped his well-built arms around her neck. The woman of darkness began to outline his distressed facial features with her fingertips, delicately so that her nails did not slice his skin. The softness of her hands made Kai squirm with hatred and desire at the same time. Never before in his life had he ever felt so many emotions running through his body simultaneously.
Her fingers slid down to his bare-chest, upon which she lazily drew invisible circles. Then, pushing him flat on his back, she straddled him with a smile playing on her lips. "You're definitely going to enjoy this." With channeled force, she pressed herself upon him.
He cried out in internal agony, and then chided himself for allowing her the ability to control his emotions. He could not – would not – allow her to attain what she desired of him. Never. He would rather die, and he would prove those words true if necessary. With all the strength he could muster, he released himself and kicked her from off him. She hurtled backwards towards the granite walls of the rooms. However, she never was thrown against it for she had extended her right leg to break the impact.
Her eyes burned fiercely red in the surrounding gloom, reminding Kai of what the woman truly was beneath her fair visage. Breathing heavily, she glared at him in full contempt. "If rough is how you want to play, rough it shall be." She turned to her attendant and snapped her fingers.
The boy's eyes glowed eerily, and suddenly, he held the fidgeting form of Zeo. Kai gawped at what he had just witnessed. It was impossible for two halves of the same person to be standing apart from each other, and yet there they were.
Fearfully, Zeo glanced about. His bright eyes caught sight of Kai and he shook within the handcuffs he wore. "Kai! You have to get out of here or he'll..." He gasped, finally noticing the woman of darkness looming nearby.
She nodded once at Zeo's twin, who in turn lifted the boy up by the chain connecting the shackles he was wearing and threw him against the wall. Regrettably, he was not as fortunate as the darkness had been and crashed into the stone with considerable force. Whimpering in pain, Zeo curled in on himself as his twin approached.
Kai tensed up and shouted, "Leave him alone! You've already done enough damage. Don't hurt him!"
The lady glanced over her shoulder at him, chuckling at his sudden outburst. "Has this child really changed you, my darling? Has he melted your frozen heart? Hear what I propose. In exchange for this little brat's life, you'll willingly become mine."
"Don't listen to her Kai. I'm not worth it. Save yourself!" Zeo's pleads were silenced by his twin's deadly grip on his throat.
Kai took a glimpse of Zeo, then confidently faced the darkness. With his mind focused on saving poor Zeo, Kai no longer was held captive by the darkness' irresistible beauty. By means of Zeo's innocence, Kai was able to see right through the darkness' fair visage and at the cruel, malicious creature it really was. "So, now you're trying to bribe me. Well, it's never going to work."
"We'll see about that. After this little cretin gets injured a bit more seriously, we shall see if you still think you will not be affected. Raku," the name reverberated around the room with dark echoes, "you know what I expect."
Raku smiled, holding Zeo up higher. "Yes, my Lord, nothing but the worst. I shall gladly inflict any amount of pain on this child who would not obey me, who defied your evilness." The handcuffs brushed against the wall and held fast, making Zeo hang from his wrists like he had when Kai had burst into his room.
From the side, Raku removed a long, braided whip, which he stroked reverently, and grinned with a spiteful joy. Zeo's eyes widened with horror at the sight of it and screamed in utmost terror.
Seeing how deathly afraid he was, Kai felt a strong sense of camaraderie. Shooting daggers the evil twin's way, he threatened to break every bone in Raku's body if he dared to lay that whip upon Zeo.
The darkness grumbled in its womanly form, "I knew that little horror would get in the way of my plans. He has chipped at that stone heart of yours I found so endearing." To Raku, she declared, "Finish him off. Better that he be dead than interfere with the union of my dear and I."
"No!" Kai protested.
Raku held back his whip to strike and released his deadly weapon, but it never made contact with Zeo's petite frame. Instead, the whip painfully struck Kai, who had stepped in between Raku and Zeo, blocking the attack. He stood tall and strong before Raku, wincing not in pain as the blood dripped down his right arm.
"Stupid fool," muttered Raku, as he slashed his whip seemingly at Zeo again, missing once, then finding Kai's flesh on the second lash. It sliced across his cheek. Kai ignored the stinging pain and continued to guard Zeo's trembling body. The next slash caught Kai on the wrist. From the smile on the evil boy's face, it was apparent that Raku no longer had any interest in destroying Zeo, but instead, focused all of his torture on Kai. The darkness did not seem to notice.
"You evil child," Raku began, coiling up his whip for another assault, "you stole the affections of my Lord. Those affections rightly belong to me, the loyal servant, not to you, a meaningless insect. I will squash you like the pest you are!" He lashed out yet again with more force than before, but this time, Kai was prepared. Holding out his right arm, unafraid, he allowed the whip coiled around it like a snake. Raku's eyes widened as he realized that he had made a terrible mistake. Using all of his might, Kai yanked the whip up and over his head, sending Raku flying whip-less across the room.
Kai turned, never letting his back face his adversary. Looking down at Raku, he wondered if the boy had had enough. His question was answered when Raku launched himself forward on the floor and spun, sticking his foot out and causing the unexpected Kai to trip.
Falling hard, he hit his head on the solid flooring. Raku was upon him before he could even lift his head, and slammed fist after fist violently onto Kai's face. He continued punching repeatedly, all the while saying: "My Lord is mine, and mine alone. He belongs with me. He is my Lord!"
Kai, at this point, was fighting unconsciousness. However, he mustered up his strength and blocked Raku's next punch. Just as he had with the lady of darkness, he kicked the boy off, throwing him quite a ways. Slowly, he rose and wiped the blood from off his face. He glared at Raku, who was rising from the floor, but who could not get up all the way. He rose only on his hands and knees, holding his gut with one of his hands. The boy weakly met Kai's gaze, who said, "Your Lord means nothing to me. Hold no grudge against me. I did not do anything to receive your Lord's affections. Therefore, hate him instead of me, the way I loathe him to my very core."
As he was about to turn away, Kai noticed the boy was not holding his stomach, but grasping tightly onto an object. Upon a closer inspection, Kai discovered it was the crystalline ball! With lightning fast thoughts, Kai, almost as quickly, snatched the ball from the boy's bleeding, unsuspecting hands. For a moment, Kai made eye contact with Raku. The boy's dark eyes were filled with shock and dread. The boy knew what Kai planned to do, but had no power remaining to stop him. Faintly, he called to his Lord, "My Lord, stop him. He holds the ball of crystalline."
Finally, the darkness seemed aware of its surroundings and with what appeared to be fear in its crimson eyes, tried to dissuade Kai from any unreasonable actions he might take. "Now, my dearest one, please, don't do anything irrational that you might regret. Return the crystalline ball to Raku. That would be a good darling. Afterwards, I can heal you so you will feel no more pain. Would you not like that?"
Evidently, the darkness knew as well. Don't want to disappoint them, thought Kai. Therefore, with a great might, he hurled the ball to the ground, where it exploded, shattering into innumerable shards of light.
The darkness screeched in pain as Kai took this opportunity to slice Zeo off the wall using the whip and sheer force. As soon as the boy was free, Kai grabbed his wrist and asked, "Do you know how to get out of here?"
"Well, you broke our easy way out, but I'm pretty sure that there is a secret passageway beyond these walls." Zeo replied, running a hand along the farthest wall.
"How are we supposed to break through?" Kai wondered aloud.
"Don't you have anything strong enough or powerful enough to do the job?"
Kai thought for a moment, then noticed a bulge in his left pant pocket. Reaching in, he felt his Dranzer blade! He was not even aware that he had it with him! During all of the chaotic events of the past week, he had been too preoccupied to remember his loyal Dranzer that he kept with him through the good times and the bad. He kissed the blade and immediately, sent it soaring into the wall.
Ecstatic to be released, Dranzer emerged in a ball of red light, causing the darkness further undeniable misery, and cut through the granite wall as if it were paper. When the dust cleared, a hollowed tunnel was expose, through which Kai and Zeo hurriedly ran, knowing that the darkness would soon be after them. They scurried through the blackness; the dim glimmer of Kai's Dranzer and of Zeo's eyes faintly illuminated the way.
The tunnel seemed to continue forever and the ominous presence of the darkness grew to a point that it inevitably permeated the air. In time, the dim lights that had faintly guided their path became obscured. Even their vision was impaired to an extent that neither adolescent could view their hands in front of their faces.
Fearing separation, they groped for each other's hand and held fast to them in the dark. Kai did not intend to scold the boy now; he was too intent on finding their way out before the darkness found them first.
"Do you even know where you're going?" Kai inquired, as Zeo lead him to the left and down a winding pathway.
"I'm pretty sure," Zeo hesitantly replied.
Kai, ready to now to admonish him, stopped himself when the ground beneath him rose n an incline. They ran faster up the slope until Zeo cried out, "We're almost there! I can see the moon in the sky!"
As soon as Zeo spoke those words, the opening of which the blue light shone through was concealed and both boys were left in total darkness. Before them, crimson eyes emerged and shone fierce. Kai gritted his teeth and holding tightly onto Zeo's hand, pulled the boy up and through the darkness' blockade. Hands reached out from within to grab him as he past, but he kicked them aside. Nothing was going to stop him from leaving that underworld. Nothing.
Within a few seconds, an angel and a firebird emerged onto the cool desert sands of an unknown world. Zeo sat upright and fearfully gazed about him. His quivering eyes met Kai and he said, "We must keep moving. I feel the anger of the darkness rising, as well as the journey of the creeping evil to meet us. We must keep moving."
Kai agreed fully. Brushing the sand from off him, he rose and held his hand out to Zeo. "You ready?"
The boy smiled and gratefully took it, and the two lads soared across the desert as if there were wings attached to their feet. They met no perils for quite some time, and soon Zeo began to believe that what he felt was nothing but an illusion, when suddenly, the writing arms of the creeping evil rose from the ground and tightly wrapped around his torso. Swiftly, he was yanked away from Kai.
"Help!" He screamed. "Help me! Please, Kai! Save me!"
"Zeo!" The wind whispered dark forebodings into his ears as well as the chilling laughter of the darkness. Kai growled. "Do you have control over this monstrosity as well? If so, release him at once or I'll..."
"You will do what? What power do you have over me? Despite the fact that your cold, reclusive, and domineering energies have caused me to be attractive to you, that still does not mean you have the kind of power that I have over you. I can make you do anything I desire you to. Back in the realm, I wished you to give me your affections willingly, but now it appears that I must resort to force." The darkness, suspended in the sky above like a black, thundercloud, slowly floated down and rested itself next to Kai. "If you do not comply, the brat will be consumed in a most unpleasant fashion."
Kai glanced over at Zeo, who, hanging by a leg in the air, was dangling over the thrashing beak of the creeping evil. It appeared as though the darkness did have control over the monstrous beast, as Zeo was, centimeter by centimeter, lowered towards the plant's gaping mouth
Heart-wrenching cries of utmost dread emitting from Zeo's aching throat devitalized Kai's resilience. As the boy's small body came nearer and nearer towards the snapping jaws of the otherworldly beast, another conflict ensued within Kai - this time, it pertained to matters of life and death. He had to consider what was more important: his life or Zeo's. Even if he did comply with the darkness' demands, he had no guarantee that Zeo would be spared. The boy might still become a midnight snack for the creeping evil. Kai could not allow that tragedy to befall the kind, yet somewhat weird, Zeo, he had grown to love like a friend. Besides, the boy had saved him on more than one occasion; Kai owed the boy his life.
Abruptly, Kai, struck by a thought, called out, "Zeo, why aren't you able to paralyze it like you had when we first met?"
Zeo's eyes began to glow, yet it had no effect. "I don't know. I guess because I don't have Raku's level-headedness anymore I'm too afraid to concentrate my powers to hurt it or..." Zeo gasped, "Maybe I never had those powers to begin with."
"What are you talking about?" Kai asked, starting to feel anxiousness.
"Did you actually believe that little brat contained that power himself?" The darkness scoffed. "He is nothing but a mere mortal, just as you are. My servant, Raku, infested his body when he arrived here after being summoned, as you were, to this world. Raku is the flitting shadows of the night as I am the consuming darkness. Weaker than me he was, but a faithful servant nonetheless. The powers he had were portrayed through that child but nothing more than that. Zeo was merely a puppet in the scheme of things, a tool used to get you to reside here long enough for me to plan a way to tempt you into becoming my own."
Now feeling miserably helpless, Kai slumped and bowed his head, "Then, I guess..." Just as he was about to say the words of submission, he noticed out of the corner of his eye the moon heading towards the horizon. Dawn was fast approaching. When the morning came, the sun would rise, proclaiming the start of a new day. Kai anxiously calculated how close Zeo was to being consumed over how long it would take the sun to come up. Not a lot of time. Only a few seconds, but he had to make those seconds count.
Cursing himself for what he was about to do, he strolled slowly towards the darkness, keeping an intense gaze upon it. He stood before the darkness and said, "Change into your womanly form. There is something I wish to tell her."
The darkness smiled and whispered, "If it is easier for you to speak with that form than with my present one, by all means, I will transform, my beloved." The darkness swirled briefly like a tornado, before quieting down and revealing the woman of darkness, more scantily clad than before. She leaned towards him expectantly. "Yes? What is it you wished to tell me?"
Kai peered over the darkness' shoulder and saw a faint, golden outline on the horizon. "I wanted to say," Kai began with a smile, "'good morning' and 'goodbye.'"
The darkness blinked rapidly, confused at what she heard. "What?" Then, she turned around, eyes wide, and shielded her face as the sun peeked over the distant horizon. "No!" She screamed, her pitch perfectly matching that of the creeping evil as it dropped Zeo and began to slither under the shelter of the ground. The darkness' eyes blazed at Kai and she roared, baring dagger-like canine teeth, "This is not the end, Kai. I assure you. You will become mine. Make no mistake about that. We will meet again." With that said, the darkness descended into the depths of the sand, but its piercing red eyes remained prominent in Kai's mind.
Exhausted from the events, Kai collapsed and laid breathless on the ground, glancing frequently at the boy to make sure he was all right. After some time, the sun warmed Kai's body and he crawled over to Zeo. His long green hair had come undone in the ferocity of the creeping evil's assault. Other than that, he appeared to be fine. Gently, Kai shook him awake, and Zeo groggily asked, "Did we win?"
"The battle is not won yet, or so the darkness said, but," Kai sighed, after looking in the boy's worried eyes, and said, "yes, for this portion of the battle we have conquered over the darkness."
The angel gave him a lopsided grin and said, "I'm glad," before rising to his feet. "Now, though, we have to find a way out of this place. Do you remember where you came into this world?"
The location had been imprinted into Kai's mind the day he had set out to find it and had been attacked by the creeping evil. Without fail, he led Zeo past the lone mangled cactus to where he believed he had fallen and looking up at the cloudy sky of green, he said, "This has to be the place. Only one cactus can be as mangled as that one. Yet, I still don't see anything that could possible denote that this is a portal to our world." As Kai finished speaking, Zeo's whole entire body began to glow vibrantly white.
"What's going on?" Kai asked, uncertain of what he perceived.
"I don't know. Maybe some of Raku's power is still left within me. Oh, no, that's not it." Zeo laughed gaily. "I do know. Remember how I said I was the bearer of the crystalline ball."
"Yes."
"Well, I think that has a double-meaning. Only I could activate the ball, but what if the physical ball itself didn't opened the portal to the Realm of the Forgotten. Maybe I was the key! That's it!" He held out his hand to Kai. "Come on! We're going home!"
"I hope you're right." Kai took his hand and watched as the boy closed his eyes and chanted, "Come away, come away, come away with me to the valley beyond. Come away, come away, come away with me you can't e'er go wrong." Suddenly, the light emitting from Zeo grew brighter and shot upwards through the clouds and high into the expanse of heaven. With the light soared Kai and Zeo, hand in hand, ever higher, rising up to greet a speck of blue light. They ascended into a world of blue and their journey finally ended, as they blue turned to black as they instantly fell unconscious.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gradually, Kai opened his eyes. A light from above blinded him and he squinted in its brightness. Soon, his eyes adjusted and he saw a sun...his sun...high in the sky above him, shining down lovingly with warm rays. The ground beneath him was cobblestone; he ran his hands over the bumps and through the grooves. Above him and to the right was a stone fountain of a maiden dumping the contents of a pail; water quietly trickled into a well basin at her feet. A smile consumed Kai's face. Overwhelmed with happiness, an emotion he now allowed himself to have until this very moment, he woke up Zeo and said, "We're home."