Chapter 16:
"Okay guys..." Zanus began as he and Adel stood opposite of Daisuke and Satoshi who were standing between them, "We only have one shoot at this...so don't screw up..." He said firmly glaring at the two boys.
"Are you ready?" Adel asked with an optimistic smile.
"Yeah!" The two said and nodded with excitement.
"This might feel a little odd...like your body is falling apart and then being put back together again when you land...you might be a little dizzy and even vomit since you haven't done this before...but you'll be okay." Zanus replied and raised hand to the two standing with his feet firmly placed upon the ground as if someone was going to knock him backwards.
"Um...what's with the stance?" Daisuke asked as he looked over at Adel who was in the same position.
"Well...we never really practiced this spell much on multiple people before and the last time...I nearly flew out a window..." Adel said with an embarrassed smile and blush.
"And the people we teleported...didn't look so good either after that..." Zanus added with a bit of a nervous look.
"Why...what happened?" Satoshi asked now having second thoughts about this.
"Well...let's just say...they didn't quite materialize properly..." Adel replied.
"Mostly their body parts..." Zanus replied casually, "Okay here we go!"
"Wha! Hang on a second!" Satoshi started but was cut off by Daisuke who was...kissing him!
This wasn't a dream! Daisuke was kissing him! He was actually kissing him! It was just like he imagined it...soft and warm...it felt so good. Suddenly his mind melted away...all he could feel was that kiss; unconsciously he was pulling Daisuke closer to him, pressing their bodies together. Then he could feel the air around them becoming colder and all of a sudden it became burning hot! The world around them was swirling and images were flying by fast, but through it all, they never broke their kiss. Satoshi never wanted to break it, he wanted it to last forever, it was complete and total bliss...heavenly bliss! He had moved his hands down to Daisuke's waist and wrapped them around the red haired boy pulling him into a loving embrace. Then the moment was broken as the spinning suddenly stopped and the two broke apart and fell to the ground from about ten feet up onto their backs.
Satoshi fell with a thud away from Daisuke and groaned at the annoyance of the fall, but mostly because it broke his moment with Daisuke, "Ouch..." He moaned and slowly sat up rubbing his head, "Dai...Daisuke...are you okay?" He asked looking over at Daisuke who had his legs spread out and he was also rubbing his head, he looked so cute he thought.
"Yeah...I'm okay..." Daisuke gave a short gasp and blushed! The memory of the kiss had just occurred to him and his face turned completely red, "Uh...uh-um-ah..." He stuttered and looked over at Satoshi completely shy and embarrassed, "Um...s-s-s-sorry!" He yelled quickly and jumped to his feet and bowed bashfully.
For what, Satoshi thought. "Oh..." He said softly to himself and blushed a bit as well, "Um...that's okay...really..." He said standing up and not making eye contact with Daisuke. During the kiss it felt so good, but now...he felt kind of awkward.
"Well...well I just didn't want to think about...being rearranged into different pieces...and I thought that if we were...this was my last chance to...I mean!" He said with a start and blushed even redder, "I mean...I didn't want you to back out or anything...because...I really want to save Dark and Krad and-and-and..." He rambled on and on.
Satoshi tried to keep himself from laughing. Daisuke looked so cute when he wore that embarrassed face, his skin turned redder then his hair. Daisuke was still in his bow and looked to be yelling at himself inside. Satoshi stood up and walked over to Daisuke and crouched down to put his face to his and Daisuke's eyes got really wide.
"Don't worry about it..." Satoshi replied and smiled up at Daisuke who was still red in the face and shocked, "I plan to see this through to the end too."
Daisuke's shocked expression was replaced with a smile and another bow, "thank you Satoshi-kun!" He said happily.
Finally after pulling themselves together they looked at their surroundings. They were standing beside the south wall of the palace of Madria. A huge black stoned wall that stretched up to as high as Galseran Palace...though tragically, the palace was burnt to the ground and no longer stood tall and majestic. The grass and vegetation around the palace had withered up and had died years ago it seemed, and the air smelled dry and dusty. The rest of the landscape was dying trees, and other dead plants that were stretched out over about a two-mile radius that stretched from the gate that separated the palace from the city, to the large and black castle that they now stood beneath. There were no birds chirping, or laughter and joyful sounds like in Galseran...only the sounds of crowing scavenger birds and the wind blowing the dust around as if it was bored of the decollate realm.
"...What a depressing place..." Satoshi commented as he looked over the on...Dark and Krad are here...so we'd better get them out...I don't want to be here any longer then we have too." Daisuke replied and shivered due to the cold atmosphere.
Satoshi shivered too, something about this place felt so cold...and it wasn't just the temperature, "Right..." He said and looked up to see an open window, "There!" He said pointing up, "We can climb in through that window."
Daisuke looked up, the window was almost twice his height, "Are you sure?" Daisuke asked.
"Here..." Satoshi said, and cupped his hands, "I'll boost you up. And once you get to the top you can help me up."
"Huh?" Daisuke asked turning around, he felt like someone was watching him and shuck off the feeling, "Right!" He said.
Daisuke looked up at the window and then jumped up as high as he could with the help from Satoshi. He barely reached the ledge, but was able to pull himself up. "Ah...I'm up!" Daisuke said and reached his arm back down to help Satoshi.
Satoshi was about to reach for it when he heard a voice the seemed to come from everywhere.
'Welcome...'
He quickly turned around...no one was there...to his left or right either. He stared out for a moment as cold sweat ran down his face. The voice sent shivers up his spine that for a moment seemed to send his world into darkness and then back to reality in an instant. There was defiantly a great evil in this place...but they had to find Dark and Krad...before that evil...what ever it was finds them.
Satoshi turned back up to where Daisuke was and found him...gone!
"Ah! DAISUKE!" Satoshi called out.
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Daisuke had sunk to the floor with his knees to his chest and his hands over his ears shaking terribly, "No...stop it! Stop it!" Daisuke kept yelling in his head. His eyes were clenched shut and tears were falling from his face.
In Daisuke's head, quick flashes of images were playing in front of him. Dark screaming in pain, everyone he'd ever known and loved...dying right before his eyes! His mom, his grandpa, Riku and Risa...everyone! All dying or dead! The images came so fast and vivid and everyone was calling out his name, crying for help and he couldn't reach them! And to top it off, someone was laughing...laughing at his helplessness, his fear, his hopelessness...it was an overwhelming sense of guilt and horror. He couldn't take it and was about to scream, his body shaking terribly, and then he opened his eyes wide back to the world of reality. His gaze was averted to the ground; a pair of black boots entered his vision, a dark cape hanging down behind them, and the air around him gave off a dark chill that gave him goose bums all over.
"Hello Daisuke..." Said a dark voice, the same voice in Daisuke's head...only now...he was in person and speaking to him!
Daisuke didn't want to look up. He didn't want to see the face of the evil that the most powerful mages of this world, Adel and Zanus feared. He didn't want to see the face of the one whose voice and sadistic images played over and over again in his head.
"I've been waiting for you..." He said, then he knelt down, and Daisuke's terrified and innocent eyes meet with malice red ones, "the final piece to opening the seal...and you came earlier then expected." He said with a grin, "Not that I mind dear boy..."
Daisuke couldn't speak, all of a sudden his voice lost him, he wanted to scream out for Dark and Satoshi...but he couldn't, he could barely breath! He sat there motionless starring into those blood red eyes...he looked exactly like Dark to everyone else...but Daisuke saw them...as nothing alike.
"You know...you might have been better off just asking Zanus and Adel to transport you home...and saved yourself...Hmph, foolish child...you should have left the others to die." Verruckt replied kneeling down on one knee and only inches away from Daisuke.
Suddenly, anger boiled up in Daisuke, his expression went from terrified to rage... "I'm not leaving without them!" He said with an anger filled voice at the mere thought of abandoning those he held dear to him. He was either leaving this world with them, or die trying...but there was no way in hell he was going to just run away when they needed him most.
"Oh, found your courage have you?" Verruckt asked with a laugh, then he moved his hand over to the side of Daisuke's face and stroked it gently, "Brave...I must say, not many would be brave enough to raise that tone to me...but then again..." He said and grinned at Daisuke sinisterly, "The ones who did met with an untimely end..."
Daisuke quickly found strength in his legs again and knocked Verruckt's hand away with his own and jumped up taking off down the hallway, as far away from Verruckt as he could, no matter where that took him.
Verruckt stood still a moment and turned to the direction Daisuke had run to and smiled, "And so...you shall too..."
Daisuke ran as fast as he could through corridor after corridor. Amazingly enough, there was not a signal soldier in the castle! But he didn't care right now...he just kept running. All he wanted to do was get to Krad and Dark and go home! He had run down several stairs that must have lead to underground because it was so cold, and the air was thicker and musty. They spiraled downward and must have been at least a few thousand steps down because he must have been running for some time and still saw no end! Finally he came to a stop and tried to catch his breath. He was tired...no exhausted, who knows how far he ran! He now remembered that he had left Satoshi somewhere outside the castle, but there was no way to get back to him now! He had no idea where he was, but any where away from the blood eyed man was fine with him!
He was about to collapse on the ground but caught himself against the wall. It was freezing cold and damp, he was so tired and scared. He couldn't believe what he had just done! He stood up to the mad man that had put him and everyone else into this situation...he wasn't sure if it was guts of stupidity...but it put a smile on his face. Wait till he told Dark and Satoshi! What would they say? Such thoughts helped him calm down a little and helped him breath easier...but his moment of rest wouldn't last long... A cold and firm hand turned him around harshly from behind, and then a strong grip wrapped itself around his throat and held him up above the ground. He couldn't breath at all and grabbed the hands that held him trying to break free, but to no avail.
"Don't worry Daisuke...you won't die...at least not now...not before you've served your purpose." It was Verruckt! But how, Daisuke had left him so far behind him! How was this possible! "You'll get to see your precious Dark before your life is ended...I promise..."
Daisuke was barely holding onto consciousness, he could feel the lack of blood and oxygen going to his face. It hurt so much, then just before he blacked out, the pressure on his neck released and he felt himself falling forward into cold arms. Verruckt had caught him and wrapped him in a cold embrace and held him for a moment before beginning to carry him down the stairs.
"You might want to stay awake a little while longer...or else I can't keep my promise..." He said coldly as Daisuke gasped for air trying to fill his lungs.
The sides of his neck hurt from where he was nearly strangled, and the only thing going through his mind was a cry for help... 'Anyone...please...help me...'
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Satoshi had tried to call out to Daisuke several times but no one answered. He knew something was wrong. He was finally able to reach the edge of the window and hang there for a moment trying to find a good grip. After a few minutes he was able to pull himself up and through the window. And just as he did, strong vibe of magic filled the room from below! It startled him as he was rubbing his sore arms. Suddenly he realized that the dark energy had sealed the window shut. There was no way of getting out of here now...
He looked around for any sign of Daisuke, and found none! Completely deserted black marbled halls. But what seemed odd about this palace were...the walls and floors were bear! Completely naked, bear, and empty walls...Satoshi closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on Daisuke's energy signature...but the dark aura was everywhere and making it impossible to detect anyone with such a low magical energy!
"Damn it...Where are you Daisuke?" Satoshi said leaning his head back against the wall. He was going to have to do this the hard way and look for Daisuke without the use of his sixth sense. He brought himself to his feet and decided to head down the hallway to the right of him, since to the left was blocked with a locked door.
Walking along the black hallway, he noticed that no tapestries hung here either. Strange for a castle of this size to be so barren inside...though the outside wasn't really that decorated either...and the lack of guards also puzzled him. Suddenly Satoshi felt himself stepping in something wet and liquid. He looked down to see the floor stained...in blood! Fresh from under a large door to his left, there was so much blood coming from under the door, there had to be a large animal of some kind producing it...or worse...a large body count of some kind.
He walked over to the door and thought a moment about pulling the handle...and for some reason he was compelled to look. The large wooden door creaked open and as Satoshi peered inside the smell of dead flesh overwhelmed him, he put one arm over his nose and mouth and the door swung open.
His eyes grew wide at the sight of at least a half a hundred dead bodies piled in the small room! All wearing the black armor...Madrian soldiers! The sight was sickening and the smell even worse...Verruckt had killed his own soldiers! There was no other explanation! How could someone possibly not know of genocide of this magnitude in his own home? Satoshi felt sick and quickly slammed the door shut and coughed harshly trying to keep himself from vomiting.
"Oh...my God..." He gasped, "How...how could he? ..." he asked still feeling sick.
He put his head down to the floor and then noticed something...red foot prints! Someone had tracked through the blood, a set of small large apart ones, like someone running...then a set of larger ones that seemed to be taking there time.
No doubt about it now...Daisuke had been down this way...and someone else that was after him and judging by the wetness of the blood, it was resent. Satoshi quickly overcame his sickness and ran down the hall. Following the bloody footprints as far as he could. Daisuke must have been frantic! The footprints showed he was running obviously blind to where he was going. That worried him greatly...but another thing that scared him was that the blood that Daisuke was tracking was becoming thinner and thinner, fading more and more with every step.
"Oh please Daisuke..." Satoshi moaned running after the fading footprints, "Please be okay!" He felt a horrible sense of guilt and fear. If only he had gone first through the window instead of Daisuke!
Looking down though he noticed that the larger foot prints had vanished completely, where as Daisuke's could faintly be seen. Then...they were gone...the foot prints ended at a four-way hallway! Satoshi couldn't tell which way Daisuke had traveled! Damn...he'd lost the trail! No telling how large this castle was or where Daisuke on...this can't be possible..." He growled to himself in frustration.
Down each hallway lead to a door, and there were three to choose from. After calming himself down, he decided he had no choice but to try one. He ran down the right hallway and stopped at the door. He couldn't have second thoughts! He had to find Daisuke now! He opened the door and it opened to a large shaft that seemed to go on forever! But upon opening the door he felt a strong energy pulling him downward and he fell off the edge and down into the drop.
"AH!"
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Dark had become extremely concerned about Krad...though neither had talked for a while; the only sound he could hear was Krad's breathing becoming more labored and shallow. How much he wish he could have gone to him and comforted him...maybe easing the pain if only a little for him. It was tearing him up inside that he couldn't do anything. He wanted to say something to Krad but he couldn't find words...there was no use in joking around with his normal cocky attitude, and conversing about the past might only make the thought of dying even worse. His head was filled with so many things now; mostly about the things in life he'd done wrong to deserve this. If this was punishment for everything he'd done then find! Let the gods punish him for it! But not Krad...or Daisuke...even the creepy detective kid...they didn't deserve any of this. He'd been the one to pull Daisuke into this mess he called a life, and Satoshi's only real reason he wasn't allowed to live a normal life was because of his and Krad's existence...and it was his fault that Krad was created at all...maybe if he hadn't ticked the Hikari's off so much...Krad would have never lived to endure this pain. Blaming himself was something he had never done in his life...but thinking back on it all now...he felt like everything was his fault. The mere thought of himself sickened him now; about how immature he really was about life and how he never took anything seriously! How could he have been so blind to the world? Not that it really mattered now...he didn't feel sorry for himself...he was mad at himself. He'd put everyone in danger...and his own damn pride dropped them into this world in the first place!
He closed his eyes not really wanting to see his dismal surroundings...and he didn't even want to look at Krad...he was to ashamed. So this is how the Great Dark Mousy would meet his end huh? At the hands of some madman strapped to a damn rock, a very uncomfortable one he might add, completely helpless and hopeless? Hmph, the great Dark Mousy indeed.
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Satoshi was falling faster now through the shaft and just as he has braced for impact with the ground, surely killing him, he suddenly felt himself breaking through something soft and it slowed his decent greatly without harming him much at all! Then he crashed into something wet and liquid, even water from such a height would have killed him...but...why was he still alive? He could think, feel, and his lungs cried for oxygen...why didn't he feel a hard impact? Suddenly he opened his eyes and was surrounded by red water? He quickly swam to the surface and broke through it taking in a deep breath of air. He looked up to where he had fallen first and saw a web like substance that he'd broken through...obviously a magical net of some kind to keep things out...but from that height and speed he must have broken right through it. His luck, and then he looked down at the water...clear clean water...with a hint of red...blood. This water had blood running into it another door to the side of the large spring was sealed shut...and red liquid was dripping down from it...he had a good idea what it was...but didn't want to confirm his suspicions...
He swam over to the side of the spring and climbed out. He was completely soaked and dried himself off as best he could; glad he was still alive to get wet in the first place! He cleaned his glasses off and looked around, he was clearly underground, and this must have been the main water source for the castle since it was so large and deep. He looked around and saw another door that must have lead out of the room, and hopefully not to anymore bodies.
He walked over to it now mostly dry after finding some old cloth to whip himself down with. He placed his hand on the handle and felt a sharp zap to his hand. He quickly recoiled it, a magical lock? Someone really didn't want anyone in here...but he had to get in some how...and avoid going to the room he was sure was filled with bodies.
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Suddenly Krad came to with a start, "S...Satoshi's..." He began still trying to overcome the horrible pain surging through his body, "Satoshi's here...."
Dark looked over at him firstly shocked he said anything, and then at what he had said, "What?"
Krad was still having trouble breathing, "Sa-Satoshi is here...uhh..."
Dark looked around and saw no one, "Um...Krad I think you're delusional..." Dark replied raising an eyebrow.
"You fool! The seal...on the door...h-he can't get in..." Krad replied bitterly.
Dark looked over at the door that lead outside of the room, yeah, someone was defiantly there, and trying to get in. But if it was Verruckt, he could have easily entered, "How can we let him in? Unless you've got a magic password, opening that door is damn near impossible." Dark replied with a sarcastic scowl.
"Heh...my magic is useless in this condition..." Krad said with a smirk as blood still ran slowly from the side of his mouth, "But with any luck...you might just be able to break the seal...I-it's a lower...magic spell...you should have enough to do it..." Krad said with effort as another spasm caused him to clench his teeth again, "Or is the great phantom thief to frightened to take a risk?"
Dark looked over at Krad, clearly this might be the only chance they had of getting out of here...but what could the creepy little bastard do to free them when even their own magic failed? But at this point...he was willing to try anything...to at least save Krad, and prove to him that Dark Mousy wasn't afraid to take any risk.
"Okay..." Dark said taking a deep breath. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate one a seal-dispel counter curse that was taking a strain on his body, but he continued the spell regardless.
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Satoshi on the other end was trying to ram the door down with his should and the resistance was becoming less. Then preparing to ram the door again he ran forward and just as he was about to hit it the door swung open and he skidded to a stop almost losing his balance and catching himself by falling on his knees then quickly standing up.
"Hey, thanks for dropping in creepy one!" Dark said with a grin, "Just thought I'd get the door for ya!" Even though Dark had felt completely out of it earlier and had used up most of his remaining energy, he was still able to make a laugh, "Man have I never been so happy to see you kid..."
Satoshi looked over at Dark, he didn't look so good. Even though he was still able to laugh at him, he could see that he took quite a bit of damage, then he looked over at Krad...the curse of his family line for generations, the terrifying and immortal Krad...he looked...almost dead. He was so pale, and there was evidence that he was coughing up blood. He must have had internal bleeding and his breathing was irregular and short.
How many timed in the past he'd wished he could have killed Krad with his own hands...but now...he felt terrible. Ever since Krad had switched back with him he'd changed. He wasn't as cruel or possessive...they actually had civil conversations now, he final had felt like he excepted Krad as part of his life...and now...he could tell he was in great pain...fatal pain...
"Krad-sama..."
Notes From The Author:
OMG! 10 pages long! Gasp this is the longest chapter yet! Hope I didn't leave to much of a cliff hanger! Well about 2 or 3 more chapters to go! And it's a school night and waaaaaaaaay past bed time (yes a senior with a bed time) so ta-ta for now! Bows AND THANKS FOR READING!!!