Chapter 17:
"What are you doing here Sato-Kun..." Krad asked masking his pain with his demanding and harsh tone of voice.
"I came here with Dai-chan to rescue you two..." Satoshi said knowing that Krad really wasn't angry with him, just hiding his happiness to see him, "Zanus and Adel, the two sorcerer's of the other kingdom sent us to find you and send us home."
"Hmph, one problem...Not even Dark can get out of these restraints...so how the hell do you plan to accomplish this..." Krad asked as if he were annoyed with Satoshi's presents, which on the contrary...he was glad to see him. Slowly and little by little...just have Satoshi here was easing his pain...and Krad was able to breath easier.
"Do you have to rub it in!" Dark yelled feeling embarrassed about not being able to disarm the bounds, especially in front of Satoshi, changing the subject... "You said you came here with Dai-chan...where is he?" Dark asked curious.
Where was Daisuke? ...Even to Dark...he didn't want to tell him he was gone...He had lost Daisuke's trail some time ago...and worse, he was being chased!
"Uh..." Satoshi began and looked down at the ground and rubbed his arm nervously.
"...Satoshi...where is Daisuke?" Dark asked now sensing something was wrong. "WHERE'S DAISUKE!" He demanded.
"I DON'T KNOW!" Satoshi screamed clenching his fists and taking the defensive of Dark's accusation. "I LOST HE WHEN WE ENTERED THIS PLACE!"
"Lost him...?" Krad asked.
"What do you mean you lost him?" Dark demanded, his patience growing short with the detective.
"When he entered the castle there...there was like this mental black out and then...no matter how many times I called his name he wouldn't...answer..." Satoshi finished feeling the guilt arise in him again, "Then there was feeling and then...like a heavier atmosphere, and then the exits were blocked with a dark magic...I tried to find Daisuke I really did! I lost the trail of foot prints that Daisuke had tracked through some blood in...there was another set going after his...but then I fell down into a room with no floor... and landed here..."
Dark and Krad stared at him in shock...they knew what must have been after Daisuke...they just didn't want to believe it...especially not Dark.
"You...Grrr, YOU MORON!" Something in Dark just snapped! The thought of that maniac anywhere near his innocent Daisuke...if anything happened to him... "HOW COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN? YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE LET HIM OUT OF YOUR SIGHTS! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO PROTECT HIM! YOU BASTARD! ..."
"ENOUGH!" Krad screamed, this shut Dark up but he continued to glare at Satoshi with a burning rage, "Even if Satoshi had been there to see Verruckt take Daisuke, do you think he'd stand a chance against him!" Krad asked firmly and glaring at Dark who dared to assault his host verbally.
"No..." Satoshi said calmly, "He's right...I should have been there to save Daisuke...and...I'm sorry..." Wait... Satoshi Hiwatari...apologizing to Dark?
"...Your apology means nothing to me if anything happens to Daisuke..." Dark growled in a threateningly low tone, "And I swear...even if it's from my grave...I'll throw you into the pits off hell if any harm has come to him..."
Satoshi continued to look at the ground, he couldn't blame Dark... If anything happened to Daisuke...he would never forgive himself either...
"Why would Verruckt need Daisuke..." Krad asked almost to himself. He had Dark and Krad...all he had to do was kill them and he could enter the other world...why go through the trouble of kidnapping Daisuke?
"That mage..." Dark growled, "Before we left that castle Verruckt was talking to a mage...he looked just like Satoshi..."
Satoshi looked over at Dark, "Zanus?"
"I wasn't listening for a name..." Dark said looking down on him harshly and turning to Krad, "He said that he was suppose to kill 'the children and then the spirits'..."
Krad looked over at him his eyes narrowed, "He was referring to Daisuke, Satoshi and us..." He replied.
"Anything to stop Verruckt from entering our world..." Dark finished.
"Damn it...they knew we were coming the whole time!" Krad growled, "Everyone seemed to know but us!"
Dark hung silently for a while feeling like the last person to get the joke, a joke that really wasn't funny.
Suddenly, a chill rose up Krad's spine, he was coming. "Satoshi...hide quickly. And no matter what happens...don't make a sound or your presents known..."
Satoshi looked up at Krad confused, but Krad was paying no attention to him now. He looked like he was waiting for something to come through the door, and Dark was no longer glaring at Satoshi but at the doorway as well. Satoshi quickly hid behind the slab of stone that Krad was chained to and stood as still and out of sight as possible.
Suddenly the room became colder and a tall man in black armor entered. He had Daisuke!
Verruckt had entered holding Daisuke a bit off the floor with his arm wrapped around his neck from behind, Daisuke had woken up more now and was struggling to get free from Verruckt's grip, but was unsuccessful.
"Daisuke!" Dark called out and looked at Daisuke glad to see he was still alive.
"D-Dark!" Daisuke said through gasps and groans as Verruckt tightened his hold on the young boy.
"Let him go! He has nothing to do with this!" Dark demanded.
"Oh...but he has everything to do with this..." Verruckt said with a smile and slowly walked farther into the room as the door swung shut behind him and magically sealed itself once again. "I see you managed to get the door open...a lot of good it did you when you're strapped to those rocks." He said with an eyebrow raised.
Dark glared at Verruckt and his smart-ass remark.
"And what does Daisuke have to do with this?" Krad asked curiously.
Verruckt looked over at him, "Of all people I thought you'd have figured it out...as the last remains of Xilef in the living world..." He said with a smirk, "As I said before...when a light dies, the shadow dies as well...and vise versa...and since Dark's here..." He said turning to Dark grinning at his anger and frustration, "I my light...killing him would only work to my...disadvantage..."
"How the hell does Daisuke fit into this?" Dark demanded watching Daisuke struggle to breath.
"Before you came to this world...you broke this rule of light and shadow...because you were bonded...with this lovely little creature..." Verruckt said running his free hand through Daisuke's hair lovingly.
"Get your hands off of him..." Dark demanded.
"...Soon enough...but first...I have to sever the ties between you and I..." Verruckt replied and stroked Daisuke's face sweetly, "With him..."
"What?" Dark demanded losing his patients.
"To sever the bonds between you and I... you must be returned to your original bond...which means, you're living form...has got to go..." Verruckt stated calmly.
"Grrr...what the hell are you talking about?" Dark growled wanting nothing more then to rip this guy limb from limb while he was still alive so he could feel every single agonizing slice.
Verruckt turned his attention over to Krad, "Has the question as to why your still alive accrued to you yet?" He asked.
"What?" Krad replied glaring.
"The cursed bond of Darkness and Light says that when one dies, to maintain to balance of order the other must perish too. Which means you should have been dead long ago." Then Verruckt smiles, "But alas...you're still here...wonder why? It is because you're slowly returning to your original bond...the one with the child..."
Satoshi's eyes widened, how could he have known about that? He'd never met this freak before...and what did he mean by... 'Returning to your original bond'? Hadn't he and Krad always been bonded?
"Once you entered this world, you and the child were split from each other, hence why your now have a mortal body of flesh and blood..." Verruckt stated, "Your bond with the kid ended and your bond with Xilef began. And now that Xilef is dead...you should have been into contact with your other little self again has caused your old bonds to reconnect...lucky for you isn't it?"
Krad couldn't believe what he was hearing, he knew about Satoshi...how? But what he was saying did, strangely enough, make sense...he was right, he should have been dead. Even his pain had lessened to nearly nothing now! But did this mean...that Krad would return to Satoshi once their bond was completely reconnected? Krad actually liked having a body of his own for once...he didn't really want to go back to simply having to use a host's body, which he rarely got to do anyway... He shook his head and tried to concentrate on the present...not the future...that he hoped he still had one.
"So where does Daisuke fit in?" Dark demanded again.
"Hmph...you really are pretty slow aren't you..." Verruckt asked smirking at Dark, "Daisuke was your original bond. Which means to return you to him with break ours. Get it now?"
"Great, so stab yourself and I'll be very happy." Dark growled.
"Haha!" Verruckt laughed, "Actually I was think of doing the reversed order...Heh," Verruckt grinned, "Instead of killing the darkness...I plan to kill the light."
Krad starred at Verruckt in disbelief. "What? No way you can't!"
"I can and I will..." He said turning his attentions back to Dark; "Once you're dead you'll return as nothing but a spirit to the boy. Then the pact between our souls will be shattered." Verruckt replied.
"But you need two great sources of energy to sacrifice, and if I'm dead..." Dark began then stopped, "Wait...YOU WOULDN'T!"
"Precisely...your powers will once again have returned to the kid...so sacrificing him...will be exactly like sacrificing you." Verruckt replied without a hint of doubt in his voice, "Just without the side effects of me having to for fit my life." Verruckt then patted Daisuke's head, "But don't worry, as soon as your mortal body has died...you should be back to full health inside of your host once again..."
"I WON'T LET YOU HURT DAISUKE!" Dark yelled with the up most determination.
"And what do you plan to do about it?" Verruckt asked curiously, "Without magic more powerful then mine...you're powerless to stop me."
"Trust me...I always find a away...AND WHEN I DO I SWEAR I'LL RIP YOUR HEAD OFF!" Dark yelled back.
While Dark and Verruckt were dueling it out verbally, Krad could see that Daisuke's strength to hold onto life was waning. Verruckt must not have realized that his grip was too tight on the young boy's neck. He had to do something fast, he didn't want to see Daisuke die...he still owed him for trying to kill him when he and Dark had switched bodies, and he didn't want to see Dark die...he never wanted that by anyone's hands but his own.
Satoshi was still standing behind the rock Krad was chained to, his anger was rising, and the sword that laid on the alter beside him was looking like a good object to run through the man who dared to harm Daisuke.
'Satoshi...listen to me...' Krad said, his power to speak with Satoshi mentally had returned to him, 'I know how this situation makes you feel...but you have to restrain yourself...'
'But...' Satoshi began glancing over at the sword, 'The sword is right there...it's the only way to save Daisuke!'
'NO!' Krad shouted mentally, 'Listen to me...don't touch Verruckt...you couldn't even strike him no matter how much you want to!' Krad replied glancing over at the bloody sword as well, 'Do you remember Verruckt saying, that if Dark dies he returns to Daisuke?'
'Huh?' Satoshi asked confused, 'Yes...'
'The bonds between us and the bonds between Dark and Daisuke are the same correct? The relationship of Spirit and host?' Krad continued.
'Yes...but what...' Satoshi asked.
'So this means if I die...' Krad began, 'Then I return to you as well...'
'What are you saying?' Satoshi asked looking over to Dark again, not quite sure what Krad was getting at.
'Take the sword and strike me with it.'
Satoshi's eyes widened and he looked to the back of the rock, 'You want me to...what?'
'You only have one shot at this, so make it one quick and clean strike that'll take my life instantly. And use the sword beside you, got it?' Krad replied closing his eyes to reassure himself that this would work.
Satoshi was speechless; Krad wanted him to kill him... 'That's insane!' Satoshi replied loudly.
'Grrr, THINK SATO-KUN!' Krad yelled back at him, 'Look, this body of mine, no matter how much I want to keep it is never going to leave this rock! But at least I can return to you and maybe we might have a chance of taking Verruckt down before he sacrifices Dark and Daisuke! Do you want that to happen, would you prefer to just sit back and do NOTHING?" Krad demanded.
Krad was right...and no he didn't want anyone to die...even if it was Dark...but if he died then what was to stop Verruckt from killing Daisuke? Satoshi looked down at the bloody sword on the alter...all he had to do was grab it and run it through Krad...a while ago, he'd have done it without a second thought...but now...things were different. He swallowed his doubts and grabbed the hilt of the sword hesitantly. The sword was giving off a clam pulsing sensation, almost like it had a heartbeat of it's own... it was...kind of calming. He removed the sword with his hand while Dark was in an intense shouting contest with Verruckt who was winning. He expected the sword to be heavy...but it was light as a feather! Holding the sword, he ran through his mind again about what he had to do...
Krad was quiet a moment and glanced over at Verruckt, 'If you want to do this we have to do it now...Satoshi?' He asked and turned around to in front of him, Satoshi stood there with the sword in his hand. The expression on his face was determination and sadness, the face of a guilty executioner.
'Hmph...' Krad said with a smile, 'hope you're not having second thoughts?'
"Goodbye Krad..." Satoshi said raising the blade.
"See ya around...Sato-kun..." Krad replied with a grin.
Verruckt, who now held a sword to Dark's throat, and Dark had turned around towards Krad as Satoshi drove the sword into his chest!
"KRAD!" Dark shouted.
Then the room filled with a blinding light and everyone, including Verruckt, shielded their eyes from it, turning away from the flash. It lingered for several moments, several moments without vision, and then it vanished completely. Verruckt was the first to recover; he turned directly to the Ritual Table...the now empty Ritual Tablet with nothing remaining on it now but a large...and fresh bloodstain.
"What the hell happened?" Verruckt demanded and dropped Daisuke onto the floor; the young man was now unconscious.
Suddenly, Verruckt felt a sharp sting of warmth on the side of his neck; he could feel the dripping of warm blood running down the side of his throat.
"Xilef once held this sword with the intent to kill you...and I plan to finish what he started..."
"Krad!" Dark called out in shock. He just saw Satoshi run a sword through his heart, yet here he was standing behind Verruckt with the same sword used to kill him, at his neck!
"...You had the boy kill you...to return to him...to finish your fallen light's dirty work?" Verruckt asked with a soft chuckle, "How touching..."
"The second your filthy hands touched me...you made it personal...so don't think I'm doing this for him..." Krad growled drawing a little more of Verruckt's blood from his neck.
"Hmph...I thought you enjoyed that..." Verruckt said with a smile, "All you've done now is made my work a little more difficult...because now...I have to kill Daisuke...and Satoshi. Think you can stop me with a dead man's sword and some tough talk...you thought wrong..."
"We'll see..." Krad said with a grin and quickly jumped back as Verruckt spun around his own sword in hand and narrowly missed slicing through Krad's mid section.
"So we shall!"
Notes From the Author:
WOOT! Another sword fight! YAY! Krad is save, and so is Daisuke for now...and Dark is still strapped to a rock...wow...that's got to suck for Dark... How boring to be strapped to a rock for 3 chapters...Hmm...I think I'll have to change that...Krad might be extremely powerful, but Verruckt is still stronger...Damn it, he might need a little help. Itching to see the Great Phantom Thief back in action? Again I apologize for not haveing uploaded in 3 days! I'm sorry! bow bow bow bow I've been flipping out about SAT's and crap like that ...and now I've finally gotten a chance to upload! I can assure you all though, I stared this story...and I promise to finish it! Till next chapter, blows kisses to you all I LOVE YOU ALL!! .