Whoa, two in one day! I'm on a writing roll!
Chapter 23: Concerns
Hope broke the awkward silence. "Max… are you back to normal?"
"Back to normal? What's that supposed to mean?" Max inquired.
"I'd take that as a yes," Will stated.
"Can someone explain what the hell is going on here?" Max said impatiently.
"In a minute," Draken replied. "We need to get back to cover first."
Max stared at Draken disbelievingly. "Whoa, wait a minute. Aren't you dead?"
"I was… can we discuss this later?" Draken requested, looking over at Rue and Ruecian.
The swordsman's armor was punctured in several locations, and he was still bleeding from the areas where he had been bitten. Rue was at his side.
"Ruecian? Please, say something! Or if you don't want to talk, at least tell me somehow that you're alive!"
Ruecian weakly tried to stand, but collapsed instantly.
"Don't try to move," Rue ordered, and then he looked over at the others. "We need to tear up that Prohibition Order."
"That's right," Hope realized. "Hang on." Steeling herself, she reached into the bloody corpse's pocket and brought out the magic card, tearing it in half as she did so. "There, that should take care of things."
Rue immediately brought out a Red Potion and used it on Ruecian, who was barely able to drink the liquid. Although the change was small, Hope noticed that the wounds seemed to not be bleeding as fiercely as before.
"It's no use," Rue stated, shaking his head. "These injuries can't be healed with cards alone. You guys can go to Hope's house, but I'm not leaving until Ruecian has healed."
"Why not bring him there?" Larka asked.
"The Red Potions may not seem to be doing a lot of good now, but if he keeps taking them then he should heal a lot quicker," Rue explained. "Besides, he's too weak to teleport now."
"About how long do you think it would take him to heal?" Will inquired.
"If I kept giving him Red Potions… he would be able to leave tomorrow morning. Maybe he wouldn't be fully recovered, but he would be well enough to teleport out."
"We can stay for one more night," Draken decided.
"We won't leave until tomorrow," Will agreed.
"Thanks guys," Rue replied.
"First things first, we need to get back to that tunnel," Miles stated. "So shall we get going?"
"I'm lost," Max complained.
"Don't worry, we'll catch you up on things," Will assured. "Can you carry Brandi?"
"Of course."
"I'll carry you Mana, if that's ok?" Larka inquired.
"Sure."
"Darche and I can help Ruecian," Gaston volunteered. Darche nodded in agreement.
"Come on Gen," Miles said. "I'll be your support again, I suppose. Fell, you need help?"
"I'm fine," Fell stated, walking off in the direction of the tunnel.
"What a talker," Miles muttered.
Hope looked over at Zack. "Zack… are you ok now?"
The whole time they had been talking, Zack had seemed distracted. He turned to her. "No. I doubt I ever will be."
Hope shook her head sadly. "Well, can you come with us now? If not for yourself, then for us. We care about you, and… well, I have another reason. Please, just stay with us for now."
Zack sighed. "Alright. For now."
The slow procession made their way down the hill. Although Max was still limping slightly, he was able to keep up with the others.
"When are we going to get to this place?" Max questioned.
"Soon. It should be nearby," Will told him.
Neo looked confused. "It's odd. I thought we were closer to it. Still, we should be there any minute... AHHHHH!"
Distracted as he was, Neo failed to notice the hole in the ground until it was too late. With a yell of surprise, Neo fell straight into it.
"Good going Neo!" Will called down sarcastically. "You found the tunnel!"
"It's not funny!" Neo shouted back. "How did this hole get here?"
"That must be how Heather entered," Draken realized. He reached down and picked up a magic card that was laying on the ground. "Miraculous Finding. That explains. Neo, get back out here, I'm going to seal that hole!"
After Neo climbed out, Draken tore the card in half. The tunnel instantly sealed itself off.
"Well, that works," Miles commented as they continued on.
They finally arrived at the tunnel entrance. Gaston held up a hand. "Hold on. Darche, will you come with me?"
The two Soul Monsters jumped down, and in a few minutes were back. Gaston carried the corpse of Heather, while Darche was holding Ash.
Daine and Malon instantly began digging two more graves. After a few minutes, they were ready. Darche gently set Ash into one, and Malon was soon kicking the dirt back onto it. Gaston laid Heather into the other grave.
"Hold on a minute," Zack requested. He gave Heather one last look, and then shook his head. "She wasn't like this… the need for revenge made her a whole new person." Then he backed off to let Daine and Malon bury her too.
When the two Soul Monsters were done, the group descended into the tunnel and walked back to the very end. Gaston and Darche leaned Ruecian against the wall, while Max laid Brandi nearby the wall. Mana chose to stay with her, while Rue started trying to heal Ruecian. The others sat down too. Max brought forth a Dark Piercing Light and activated it, lighting up the room.
"So now can someone explain what's going on here?" Max asked.
"All you had to do was ask," Miles joked.
"Hope, why don't you explain?" Will suggested. "After all, you were the one who found him."
Hope nodded. "Alright then… Max, I found you eleven days ago, in an alley. You were unconscious and injured badly. Olympion was nowhere nearby. I called an ambulance, and went to the hospital with you. When you woke up, the doctor discovered that you had amnesia. Oh, speaking of Olympion, here you go." Hope handed Max Olympion's Soul Card. "I was keeping this for you until you got better."
He accepted the card. "Amnesia?"
"Yeah. You don't remember?"
"The last thing I can remember… I was walking down an alley with Olympion, and then I saw someone. A man, wearing a white cloak that concealed his features. He wore a huge, gold cross."
"A Commander of Heaven!" Rue inferred. "So Miles was right…"
"Of course I'm right," Miles said. "You doubted me?"
"Possibly," Rue teased. "So what happened after that, Max?"
"After that…" Max shook his head. "I have no idea. Olympion doesn't know either. It's like someone has taken our memory…"
"That's really odd," Will commented. "And you don't remember anything during the period of time you had amnesia?"
"Nothing at all," Max replied.
"Where was Olympion?" Hope inquired.
I woke up to find myself in a forest, with heavy injuries. My sense of direction was off as well. When I saw a newspaper that said Max was suspected to be in Illinois, I went there, and soon found him.
"What the hell was that?!" Miles exclaimed.
"Olympion talks telepathically," Max explained. "So what's been happening while I've been out of it?"
"We made new friends," Rue said.
"I can see that," Max responded. "I know you, Draken, but how the hell are you alive now?"
"God brought me back to life, as he brought you and the others back," Draken answered.
"Ok, that's great, but who are these others?"
Miles decided to introduce himself first. "I'm Miles, and my Soul Monster is a White Thief. His name is Gen. I was a Commander of Heaven. I stole all of their decks, got my own head served on a platter in a duel, and proceeded to join their group, becoming a traitor to the Commanders of Heaven. Nice to meet you."
"So basically, you're the new joker of the group," Max concluded.
"Yeah, I am… hey, wait a minute!" Miles shook his head. "Geez, that quiet, sensitive guy I knew has suddenly turned into a jackass."
"I love you too," Max replied, turning to Zack. "You aren't human, are you?"
"At one time, I was. Now I'm a cyborg. I was hired by the Commanders of Heaven to slay all of the people in this group, but I lost in a duel. Hope spared my life, and without anywhere to go I just decided to stay with them. I'm called Zack. I have no Soul Monster."
Max raised an eyebrow. "A cyborg… that's something you don't see every day." He looked over at Larka. "And you are…?"
"Larka. My Soul Monster is Lost Dog Malon, Malon for short. I'm glad to see that you are better," she smiled. "Hope discovered my brother and me in a park when we were injured. We have no home, and with the lack of anything to do we decided to try and help as we could."
"And who would your brother be?"
Larka indicated to Fell. "His name is Fell. His Soul Monster is a Mad Dog of Darkness, but he prefers to be called Daine."
Max stared into Fell's eyes, who gazed back without showing any expression.
"Do you have a problem with me?" Fell said softly, with a threatening hint in his voice.
"Yeah-I don't like you," Max responded shortly.
Larka broke the uncomfortable silence. "So… you want to know about the Commanders of Heaven?"
"Yeah. What kind of a conspiracy is this? Is there a group for every religion out there?"
"We really don't know much about them," Hope frowned. "They have often tried to kill us; why, we have no idea. They even joined up with the officials to try and arrest us."
"Nice situation we have here," Max said sarcastically.
"Indeed," Will nodded. "Despite several close calls, we've survived. That duelist that Olympion killed-Ian was his name-had used a Prohibition Order on us, making it so that support cards were off limits. Also, we couldn't leave Teknisk Wereld. So for the past few nights, we haven't been able to exit. We're lucky that it wasn't any longer, or else we'd be dead from dehydration."
"We can give you more specific details later, but we need rest now," Hope told him. "I don't blame Brandi for collapsing-she was hurt pretty badly, and she hasn't gotten a chance to rest for quite some time. In fact, none of us have. And many of us have been injured. Gen was caught in an explosion, Fell blasted by a cannon, Mana hit by a bullet, Ruecian bit by Agro, and Brandi exhausted herself fighting the officials."
Max got up. "Then Olympion and I will keep watch. I feel fine, except for some injuries that I have no idea how I acquired."
"I'll tell you later," Hope assured. "Thanks for volunteering."
"It isn't a problem."
Mana had been silent up to this point, but now she remembered something important. "Hey, Max! When you were found unconscious, most of your cards were gone. Matt rebuilt your deck." She reached into Brandi's pocket, brought forth the deck, and handed it to him.
"Oh, thanks. I was wondering where it went." Then Max and Olympion walked off down the tunnel.
"Let's get some rest," Will agreed, laying down. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm extremely tired."
Soon after, everyone was asleep, except for one mischievous pup…
Malon couldn't fall asleep. He whined softly, trying to close his eyes and relax, but it was no use. He wanted to play more than sleep. He got up, and with a soft yip, nudged Larka.
Larka muttered something before turning over. Malon could tell she was asleep.
Malon's ears drooped as he stared at his friend, wondering what to do. Then he remembered Max, who had gone outside.
Giving Larka one last look, he ran outside.
Larka slowly opened her eyes, hearing a soft patter of claws. Looking around, she saw that Malon was nowhere nearby. She quickly got up and went down the hall way.
-----
Max sighed, looking off into the distance, where the sun had just set.
"Nice view, but I'm in no mood to enjoy it," Max commented to Olympion. The Soul Monster had no response to that.
A small yelp caught his attention. Max turned around to see Malon jump from the tunnel, to land right in front of him.
"Hi there," Max said, petting Malon. "Why did you come out here?"
Malon yipped a few times, and ran a few feet back, wagging his tail.
"You wanted to play with someone?" Max realized.
Malon barked in response.
"Malon! What do you think you're doing?" Larka scolded, coming out from the tunnel too. Malon whined softly at her. "Max is trying to keep watch, and he can't focus with you trying to play with him!"
"It isn't a problem," Max interrupted. He scratched Malon under the chin, and the little dog's tail began wagging almost too fast to see. "I like dogs a lot."
"I'm glad to hear it, or else Malon would probably drive you insane." Larka paused for a minute, before asking the question that had been bothering her. "Why don't you like my brother? I might be able to understand if you had gotten to know him, but you just met him."
Max shrugged. "Just instinct. He reminds me of myself when I was younger-and that isn't something to be proud of."
Larka stared at him. "Something's wrong, isn't it? You seem distracted. What's troubling you?"
Max sighed. "Look at me. I've been completely useless in fighting these Commanders of Heaven. My own sister fights to a state of collapsing, and what have I done? Lain in bed, being no help whatsoever. One man took out both Olympion and me. I failed, because I was weak…"
"Weak? No way," Larka said firmly. "I have just met you, yet I can tell you are strong. Only if you keep telling yourself that you are weak will you really be weak."
When she saw that he didn't look convinced, she tried another tactic. "You haven't dueled in some time, right? Maybe you just need practice. Let's duel now, without Duel Disks or Deck Masters. I've heard that you are a great duelist, and I'd like to see it for myself."
Max shrugged. "Alright then. But prepare to be disappointed."
Max: 8000
Larka: 8000
"How about you go first?" Larka suggested.
"If that's what you want. I lay one monster in defense mode, and end my turn."
"I'll start off by summoning Blade Knight. (1600/1000) Then I play Shine Spark, which is a field magic card. It raises all Light Main-Type's attack by 500, and lowers their defense by 400. (2100/600) Blade Knight attacks!"
"It's my X-E-N-O. (200/100) Its reverse effect allows me to take control of one of your monsters."
"Sorry, but as long as Blade Knight is the only monster on my field, all of the reverse effects of the monsters he destroys are negated. I'll lay two cards down, and end my turn."
Max looked at his card. "Another monster in defense mode, and then I end my turn."
"I'll summon Volt Girl. (2400/400) Blade Knight attacks your defense monster."
"My Gil Gars… (1800/1200)"
"Volt Girl attacks directly."
Max: 5600
Larka: 8000
"I lay one monster in defense mode, and that's it."
Larka couldn't take it anymore. "What's with you? All you've been doing is playing monsters in defense! You aren't even trying!"
"Why bother trying when I know I'll fail?" Max stated.
"You will fail if you keep believing that you will! Whatever happened between you and that Commander was not your fault! I'm sure of it! Now start believing in yourself!"
"I have no reason to," Max told her. "Why should I believe in myself? How does it benefit me?"
"Anyone can do anything they put their mind to, including you!"
"But why would I want to?"
The last amount of patience Larka had was gone. "Because it benefits to you! Even if you don't want to have the best life possible, then you could at least do it for your sister, and Hope!"
"Hope? What does she have to do with this?"
"Well, you love her, don't you?"
Max was caught off guard at the accusation. "What? Whoa, wait a second. Where did you get the idea that I was in love with her?"
"You said so yourself! I didn't mean to overhear it, but when Hope asked you about why you saved her from Zack, you said you loved her!"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
That was when Larka remembered. "Oh, I see. That was when you had amnesia. Hope was nearly killed when Zack attacked her with his switch blade, but you tackled her to the ground, causing him to miss. You saved her life. When she asked why, I overheard-don't worry, I'm the only one that did overhear-you say that you loved her."
Max shook his head slowly. "Impossible. Why would I say that? There's no reason for me to say that…"
"Really? You don't care about her at all? You wouldn't care is she had died on that day?"
"Maybe a little, but to the point of love?"
"I think you're hiding your true feelings to yourself. When you had amnesia, you went to Illinois, instead of South Carolina. Why? Because Hope lives there. And you only recognized one person when you had amnesia. You didn't remember her name, but you recognized Hope." Larka stared at him. "I think you care about Hope a lot more than you show."
That can't be, Max thought. I've only cared about my mother, father, and sister, nobody else. Rue and Will could be called friends, maybe, Matt is of course a friend too, and Olympion is connected with me through a bond that all people and their Soul Monsters have. But love? Why would I love Hope? Normally, I would have dismissed the idea as ludicrous. But… something is making me hesitate to ignore this thought…
"Max, you're back to your true self. The only problem is that you have lost your confidence. For the sake of the others, get back into gear! I'll summon X-Head Cannon. (2300/1100) Blade Knight attacks the set."
"My Demon Soldier. (1900/1500)"
Volt Girl and X-Head Cannon attack too."
Max: 900
Larka: 8000
Max looked at the card he had drawn. "So you want me to fight back? Very well, but you will regret it. I'll start by playing Black Hole, destroying all of your monsters. Then I activate Cyclone on the card to your left."
"My Holy Barrier-Mirror Force…"
"Next, I play Raise Dead, on your Volt Girl. Then I sacrifice her for Great Demon Gaazetto. (0/0) His attack is double the amount of the monster I used to sacrifice for it. (4800/0) Then I equip my Gaazetto with Demon Axe, raising his attack by 1000. (5800/0)Then I'll remove X-E-N-O, Gil Gars, and Demon Soldier to special summon Dark Necrophia. (2200/2800) Now both of my monsters attack."
Max: 900
Larka: 0
"Well, I asked for it!" Larka laughed. "They're right-you are a good player. You mislead me by just playing monsters in defense mode!"
"I wasn't trying to," Max shrugged. "I wasn't planning anything… you gave me a reason to fight back. Thanks for helping."
"I was happy to," she told him. "Malon! Let's get back inside. We need some sleep!"
Malon yawned, further emphasizing her point. They climbed down.
"Good night!" Larka called as they left.
"Same to you," Max replied.
-----
Larka tried to enter silently, but was not quiet enough. Fell looked over at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she whispered. "Did I wake you up?"
"…No."
"What are you doing up? You must be tired."
"…Just can't sleep."
"Were you worried about where I had went? I would have told you, but I thought you needed some rest."
Fell shrugged.
"Is there something you want to talk about?"
"…No." He closed his eyes, leaning against the wall.
"Alright then. Good night, brother." She laid down, and was soon asleep, Malon at her side.
-----
Max rubbed his arms as the wind blew by again. "I should have brought a sweater… Olympion, I'm going down into the tunnel entrance. Tell me if you need anything and I'll be up instantly."
Olympion nodded, and Max leapt down.
-----
Hope sat up quickly, panting.
Just a dream… just a dream… but why? Why do I keep dreaming of Satan? She shuddered as she remembered the pitchfork entering her flesh. I'll never fall asleep like this. I'll just go outside and get some fresh air.
She walked down the tunnel slowly, thinking over the events that had happened that day, when she caught sight of something at the end of the tunnel.
It was Max, but surrounded with a soft, red light. But it was like nothing she had ever felt before. This was… this was something she had only felt twice. Once was in front of Juno. The other was with Satan.
Pure evil.
And something else… the intent of murder.
Then she heard something. A word, so quiet that she nearly missed it.
"Kill."
As she heard it spoken, the aura suddenly flashed with a fiercer, more violent red.
Then again she heard the word, this time a little louder. And again, the aura flashed, this time more brightly…
Again and again, the word was spoken, and again and again, the aura flashed. Hope couldn't stop herself from shaking. It was evil... so evil… it had no right to exist, this evil… Satan she could understand, but why Max? Why…?
Then it suddenly stopped. The aura vanished instantly, the voice was gone.
Max looked over to her. "Hope? What's wrong?"
"Um… nothing. I just couldn't sleep. I'm going back to try again, good night."
She left quickly.
What was that? It's gone now… but what was it? Oh God, please let it not come back…
Max stared at the retreating girl. What was with her? She seemed worried about something… but what?
-----
Max walked into the cave to see that only two people were awake.
"Morning," Max commented.
"Same to you," Zack nodded. "Did anything occur last night?"
"No. It was pretty boring, but I was in no mood to sleep."
"I wasn't either," Zack said. "Too many thoughts… none that I want to consider."
Fell was as silent as ever.
"When should we wake the others up?" Zack asked.
"How about now?" Max suggested. He walked over to Rue and kicked him in the back.
"OW! What was that for?!" Rue yelped, jumping up.
"I needed to wake you up."
"You didn't have to kick me, damn it," Rue growled. "I forgot how much of a pain you could be to hang around with, in more ways than one."
"Just get up before I feel the urge to kick you again."
Rue stood up quickly, waking up Hope by shaking her shoulder. "Come on, get up."
"Alright, I'm up," she said, rubbing her eyes.
Max had proceeded to kick Miles.
"YEOW! What the hell did you do that for?" Miles complained as he got up.
"I save that for the most moronic people."
"I'm honored," Miles replied shortly.
"Don't worry, he did it to me too," Rue told him as he shook Draken awake too.
"I already knew that. Why would he target me and not you?"
"Hey!"
Miles roused Will, and Fell got Larka to wake up. Brandi also got up when Max came over.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Yeah… I'm so glad that you're ok," Brandi said to him.
"Same to you."
"Let's save the pleasantries for later," Will advised. "Rue, is Ruecian up for teleporting out?"
Rue had gotten up a few times in the night and managed to coax Ruecian into drinking some more Red Potions. He looked over him, and nodded. "Yeah, he's ready."
"Then let's get out of here!" Hope proposed.
The suggestion was agreed with by all. In a matter of a few seconds, there was nothing to say that they had ever been in the cave.
-----
"Matt Leo, the case has been decided. The officials are guilty as charged. Privileges previously granted to them will be taken away, and they will be harshly punished for trying to arrest and execute these innocents. What exactly will be taken away is still to be decided, but you said you were in a hurry to leave, so we just wanted to give you the facts that we had."
"That's great, thanks!" Matt replied to the judge. "You're right, I do need to be leaving. You'll give full details to the public later?"
"Correct."
"Then I'll keep an eye on the news. Thanks again, bye!"
Matt jumped back on his motorcycle, and was soon off, heading back to South Carolina.
To be continued…