1The Darkened Sanctum
II: "Some Are Predestined..."
"Ryu!"
"Uhnn..." Resting his hand against his head, Ryu slowly slid into a seated position. "What happened?"
"First you're laughing your head off, then you're kissing the floor. What is with you today? You're freaking me out!" Bosch pulled Ryu upright by the back of the jacket and let go only after he was steady, "Don't become schizophrenic on me before we finish our job!"
"Huh? Oh, no... no I won't..."
"Listen, buddy, take it easy. How about from here I lead, you follow? That way I can kill all those evil doors for you."
"Uh... No... I'll be okay." Ryu shook his head, then headed in through the door, staring down at his feet. Walking across the raised path, he looked up at the central platform and let out a gasp, staring up. The room was a sea of rocks, skeletons scattered and chained to the pyres. Weapons, discarded, littered free ground, but above, just in front of Ryu, was the great beast he had dreamed of.
It was pinned to the wall, just as in the vision, its flesh all melded to its bones. The great tail lied across the ground, severed, and the wings had those holes, but no new blood seemed to come from any wound. There was no doubt; this thing had been dead for a very long time, judging not just by its visual condition but by the smell.
"Woah..." Bosch walked in behind Ryu, staring up, "They don't have records of a genic this big! Think it's an experiment or something?"
Ryu stared up at the hanging corpse. How was he able to picture it before, so vividly and alive, without ever having seen it? It hung its head down now, and he was able to see into the dark, gaping holes where the skin on its skull had been eaten away.
"What, you scared?" Bosch teasingly nudged Ryu, "It's clearly dead, it won't bite. Come on, enough sightseeing."
"Right..." Following along slowly behind Bosch, Ryu kept his eyes fixed on the pinned beast, almost half-expecting it to start following. Reaching the doors, he looked back ahead and hurried to catch up.
They wound up in a small, laboratory-style hallway, white and clean with sliding doors. This was general storage for genics; a genic was a human-created creature, and the last known non-genic creature, a dog named Nununza, had died when Ryu and Bosch were little. Nowadays, all were manufactured, from little rodents to huge patrol beasts. They were helpful as long as they didn't go feral, but somehow...
As they headed down the hallway, Ryu paused by a door.
"Hey... looks like something happened in here."
"Hm?" Bosch backed up, peering into the room. It was a small room filled with desks and computers, but somebody (or something) had gone through and trashed the place. Broken bottles and needles lied across the floor near an overturned cart; somebody had quite the fight to get away, as there were faint spots of blood scattered about the floor. "Yes, it does. Keep walking."
"But... shouldn't we...?"
"It's not our job. Come on."
"..." Ryu continued past, heading through a door. Something odd was forming around him, a series of events, he noticed, that usually never happened. This was all leading somewhere, but no matter how hard he thought...
Winding out of the storage, they made it to the lift station. Bosch left Ryu to fill out the unwieldy paperwork (they had to sign in, and confirm the cargo was aboard even though they didn't get to see it) and impatiently waited aboard the engine, sighing a bit.
"You better hurry, Mister Mascara!"
"Here!" Ryu finished signing the paper and handed it to the man in charge of the station, then suddenly ran up to the lift as it started leaving and jumped on. Climbing up onto the platform, he found a sturdy section of railing and tried to relax a bit by leaning on it. Bosch was doing much the same thing, on the other side, both of them clearly not too excited about the job. "Now, isn't this an odd turn of events: we made it on time, even though we-"
"Yes, yes I know! Still!" Bosch huffed, "Making ME walk..."
In the dark of the cavern, along an old footpath that ran from station to station, a pair of big feet suddenly plodded past. The one-eyed creature, with a cloth draped over its head, had a rider- a woman in blue with a mask concealing the top half of her face, her tail bobbing about as they headed down the trail. Farther up ahead, she saw the lift as they came into view, and readied a gun, held tightly in her hand.
"...and let me tell you: that is NO way to treat someone of my status!" Bosch had been complaining the entire time, wearing exaggerated expressions and waving a hand about when he felt it was needed. "Then don't get me started on THIS: Guard duty? Me? Pssht."
Ryu sighed a bit, and then looked over his shoulder at the cavern walls. The tracks ran straight down the narrow tunnel, open to the darkness below. He caught glimpse of something moving in the shadows of the footpath, then slowly straightened up, facing that way.
"Hmm?" Bosch glanced over where he was looking, "See something?"
"...I think...AH!" Ryu quickly dropped to the surface of the platform, a few sparks flying above- the sound of the gunshot was still ringing in his ear, the bullet having just missed his head. The sound of more shots could be heard pinging against the metal lift, as well as the sound of those monstrous feet plodding against the rocky path. "Trinity!"
"God damn it, attack THIS freight, will you?" Bosch quickly regained his stance, taking a hold of a gun mounted on the railing, aiming, and taking fire. He was, unfortunately, missing terrible as the creature and its rider sped up ahead, "That's right! Run away, you cowards! Bahahah!"
"BOSCH!" Ryu suddenly pointed ahead at the tracks.
The blue-dressed woman had suddenly appeared on the tracks, a massive bazooka on her shoulder. She aimed straight ahead, as if to hit the train as it speeded closer and closer. Just as the two passengers were starting to panic, she fired and blew the track away in a huge cloud of glowing smoke. With a loud careen, the train had activated its safety breaks, but not in time- with a loud, sickening crack of metal, the entire vehicle fell off the railing and into the darkness, disappearing entirely. As the smoke cleared, the woman was entirely gone, but so was most of the tracks she had been standing on.
Hanging onto the edge of the suspended tracks, swinging a bit, Bosch managed to catch hold with his free hand and dragged himself up. Holding his head, he looked around, and when finding the condition the tracks were in (not to mention the rather missing cargo AND transport) he suddenly shouted, "Ryu! Ryu, where are you?"
A loud 'thud' finally echoed from below, the sound of the lift smashing against a surface below. Bosch winced at this noise, figuring that if Ryu wasn't up here... he was somewhere down there, all hope lost.
"Well... so much for the resume..."
Prying himself out from under a sheet of metal that had been ripped from the lift itself, Ryu climbed out, wincing something terrible, holding a large cut across his arm. The dust was still thick from being upturned, billowing in the air and choking him. As he slowly shuffled forward, he lost his balance and fell to the ground, a pulse suddenly running through his body.
You live...
The vision of the beast- the dragon clad in dull-gold scales with glimmering teeth and flaming red eyes filled his mind.
I'll choose...
The dragon had changed its stance, now on its feet, gaping maw letting out a blast of sound straight at him.
I'll choose you!
"Uhnn..." Ryu winced while lying on the ground, curling tighter to himself. It felt as if somebody had taken him into a very tight squeeze, his hole body being constricted. Soon, an intense heat followed, causing him to sweat as he lied across the ground. His heart was racing; one pulse after one pulse after another... At the height of the heat, and the compression, he was tempted to let out a yell but was quickly cut off by yet another vision.
Standing on a plane of white light, the blue figure had his back to the young man, the image shaking and quivering. The rich voice of this figure filled his hearing, speaking with clear intent: "There you are... the thousand-year world destroyer! Use your power wisely, young dragon... Find your fate before it finds you...!"
"AH!" Ryu suddenly shot upright, panting, his face still coated in the dust across the ledge he had fallen on. Around him, the lift had crashed, pieces of it burning and letting off foul smoke. Most of the dust had cleared by now, suggesting he had been lying there for a good amount of time. He slowly moved his hand from his arm, expecting the large gash- with a bit of shock, he found the cut to still exist on his sleeve, but not on his arm. An odd warmth, and a slightly pink scar were the only evidence left, leaving him a bit scared. Looking around, he slowly got upright, dusted himself off, then walked to some of the debris.
As far as he could tell everything was destroyed- he did manage to find the cargo the freight was lifting, or, rather, the container it was in. The top had broken off, and whatever had been inside was gone.
"That's no good... ugh... better find it... I wonder... Bosch?"
His voice echoed vainly.
"Bosch? Are you down here?"
Ryu's echo was the only response.
"...How far did I fall?" Sighing, he headed across the ledge, coming across a metal doorway that had fallen in. The metal walls were coated in rust, but with no other options, he headed in. As soon as he had entered, however, he caught glimpse of the great beast, without the rider, walking across the room- more than that, he had a young girl in his arm and was carting her away. "Hey! HEY!"
The Gigantis proceeded to clamber for the door, the girl hanging limply in its grasp. Ryu suddenly ran around the pile of crates to the creature, catching its attention as he shouted at it again. Suddenly swinging a fist at the man, the creature kept the girl held steady, but missed terribly.
"Let her go!" Ryu drew his sword, moving back in front of the creature who merely swung at him again. Getting back upright, he gave it a final chance- its hand swung down, meaning to pound the sense out of Ryu, but it was caught.
Gritting his teeth and staring directly at the creature's single eye, Ryu had caught and was effortlessly holding the hand above his head. He was unable to notice a faint, warm red glow rising about around him, nor was paying attention to how furious he had gotten in such a short time. He spoke, through his teeth, "You'll be sorry if you don't."
The beast simply moved to pull its hand away, but then suddenly screamed with pain as Ryu shot past, blade whisking through the air and through bone. The creature drew up the arm that once held the girl, its hand no longer intact, blood pouring from the wound. Ryu rolled to the side, young girl in hand- he carefully lied her down across the floor as the beast came charging. Simply turning and standing, he faced the beast, unmoving, as his eyes became a blood-red.
Metal shrieked through the air in one effortless blow, the body of the Gigantis coming to a halt, and falling onto its side. Furthermore, its head landed a few feet away, the eye glazed over, suggesting that it was a little more than dead. Panting, Ryu slowly put his blade away, his eyes fading back to their normal, gentle blue. Getting down on his knees before the young girl, he carefully gazed her over.
Her face was held in an extremely soft expression; her hair, blonde, was cut short in the back but combed down over the left side of her face. A red, circular pattern was tattooed on her forehead, a symbol Ryu hadn't seen before. A ragged, white, very thin cotton dress had been put on her, barely in one piece. Her right arm had a brown guard across it, starting just below her elbow and ending on the back of her hand, a large, circular band around this. She had another one around her left foot, an ankle guard under that. Very thin, with bare feet, her pale skin had blue markings that gracefully curved about her narrow figure. But the most astonishing were the blood-red appendages lying underneath her, which suspiciously looked like a pair of upside down wings, though featherless. She lied still, though breathing.
"You..." Ryu slowly reached to touch her hand, "You okay?"
"..." The girl slowly opened her eyes, both a dark brown. She blinked once, a dull sparkle appearing within them. With a loud yelp, she suddenly wrapped her arms around Ryu, clinging to his jacket, her whole body trembling in fear.
"Woah!" Slightly startled, Ryu moved his arm behind the girl and patted her shoulder a bit, "Don't worry, I got him."
She slowly released her grip, staring up at him, still looking a bit frightened.
"Can you stand?"
She nodded.
He got up, then pulled her into an upright position, dusting her off, careful of the extra appendages that he didn't think much of. After getting her as clean as he could, he looked at her with a kind, bright smile, "What's your name?"
"N..." Her voice wavered, the noise barely being warbled out. The girl's throat was still sore from what they had did, but now was the first time she realized the full effect of the 'secondary operation', "Ni... na..."
"Nina? Your voice... you can't...?"
She slowly shook her head no, looking ready to cry.
"I'm Ryu. I'm not quite sure if... well... if you were, we fell a long way down. A LONG way down... Come on. Let's figure out where we are, huh? I don't plan on leaving you here by a longshot."
Nina simply gazed up at him, silent.
"Come on... I'll walk you out of here." He extended his hand, trying to look as friendly as he could. When her skinny hand took hold of his, he smiled brightly, "Thatta girl. Let's get out of this dreary place, eh?"
Both began walking, Nina staying just one step behind Ryu. Her wings bobbed slightly with each step, faint, red sparkles drifting off behind her. Nervous, she was biting her lip, keeping a tight hold on that warm, gloved hand, trying not to get too far behind. Though all those she had known before him had been horrible and terrifying, she somehow knew that this one... this one was a kindred soul.
"Looks like an old storage facility... they've turned it into a trash chute." Ryu kept an eye out, scanning the large room, as he stepped up to a door. Using his free hand, he opened it, then lead little Nina inside. "I think I know where we are, we should be able to get out of here pretty quickly."
Nina simply nodded, closely shuffling along. She clung a bit closer when a spider dropped from the ceiling, only a little one, the little creature scurrying away in another direction. She looked back ahead as he opened another door, both of them walking through. There was silence in this room, but still nervous, Nina pulled herself closer to her savior.
"Doesn't look like-"
The click of a gun was heard, the barrel of it pointing straight at Ryu's head who had frozen to a halt.
"Hello."
"It's you!" He looked out of the corner of his eye at the woman from before- she still had her mask on, the eyes purposely colored red. "What do you want?"
"The girl. Don't worry, she's in good hands."
"Why should I give her to you, huh? You'll take her somewhere and cut her open!"
This made Nina yelp a bit.
"She's been cut up far too much already. I'm serious now. Hand the kid over or say goodbye to your gray matter. Really, is this hard to do?"
"...What are you going to do with her?"
"Why does it matter to YOU? You'll simply return her like unwanted merchandise, freak."
"What ARE you talking about?" Ryu suddenly stared straight at the woman, who didn't flinch at the movement, "I'm going to get her out of here!"
"Hmm." The woman flicked her tail back and forth, then eased out of the stance, letting her gun down. "It seems that we're both trying to do the exact same thing. Wouldn't make sense, now, to blow you up, eh? She's far too attached to you- too traumatic."
"What is it you want?"
"Let's work together."
"Yeah right, like I'm going to work with a faceless terrorist!"
"Faceless?" Lin suddenly pulled her mask off, her bright blue eyes piercing Ryu's sight, "I may be a terrorist but I'm far from faceless. Now seriously. Let's get all of us out together, what do you say?"
"..." Ryu stared uneasily at Lin for a moment in silence, then looked down at Nina, who in turned stared up with those deep brown eyes. Letting out a sigh, he moved his glance back to Lin, "But don't consider me a friend yet, criminal."
"Nope, don't plan on it. Now do you have a title you happen to go by or are you just 'freak'?"
"Ryu 1/8192."
"Lin. Glad to meet you." She gave a devious grin, putting her gun in its holster, "Alright, goody two-shoes, let's get this locomotive moving! Three doors down and up a few flights will take us to the LowSector lift station and we'll see how things go from there. This way."
She strode past Ryu, tail gracefully following in light swishes behind her, somewhat annoying him. He, in turn, sighed and brought Nina along as they walked through the door and back into the previous room, following Lin through another door.
What a day, he thought, and somehow he knew it was only planning on getting worse.