Chapter Sixteen: The Traitor
"When did they find her?" Garland asked Bohen as the two of them watched the horizon.
"About an hour after the battle," Bohen replied. "She was unharmed and completely calm" He finished.
"I wonder what the reason for taking her in the first place was." Garland remarked.
"If only I knew, everything that has happened since the arrival of the strangers has continuously shocked me." Bohen replied.
"The strangers are very strong; I would hope that they are the prophesized warriors that we have been waiting for." Garland finished.
"As do I." The older man replied.
.ooo.
Elsewhere, three figures walked silently along a barren pathway.
"My whole life, I have prayed for a day when I could help save my people." Lin thought to herself. "Soon, I'll be done watching from the side as others risk their lives." She continued.
"Look." Kuwabara announced as he pointed off into the distance.
Lin saw the small point off in the distance. "Siegfried." She spoke out loud.
.ooo.
The human made his way down the steps. It had been over twenty-four hours since he had heard from Thorn, he was beginning to wonder if things had gone according to plan. "Surely, my masters' scheme has worked." He thought. "If not, then I shall much to fear."
"Sir." Spoke one of the servants.
Siegfried turned to face him. "Yes?"
"Messengers from Linbrook have arrived."
"Excellent, I will tend to them personally." He replied.
.ooo.
Lin and her two quest watched as the door opened. An older man with a thin face and combed back hair looked down at them.
"Quickly, what news do you bring?" He asked.
"Siegfried?" Asked a female voice from under the cover of a hood.
"Yes, I am him." He replied.
"You..." She began. Kuwabara noticed something odd about her demeanor, suddenly, as if she seemed nervous.
"What are you getting at?" The older man asked, frustrated.
"You have been found guilty by your kind, you must be punished!" She exclaimed as she pulled back her hood and reached into her cloak.
"A girl?" He exclaimed.
Click--- BANG!
A shot went off and Siegfried was knocked to the floor, flood flowing from a large wound on his chest.
Lin wiped blood off of her face and threw the gun she was holding away.
"Why?" Kuwabara asked her as he walked up beside the girl. Hiei remained silent.
"This man is a traitor to my people, to his own kind." She began. "He helped orchestrate the capture and defeat of Garland, he aided in what was nothing less then killing two people- who's only crime was wanting to be free. I could never forgive him." She paused. "And I didn't want blood on the hands of someone like you, Kuwabara." She finished.
"How can you say that, after what you've been through- this should have been our burden." He replied.
"But it isn't, I had to stand up for myself for once in my life, you're world isn't as bloody as this one- you don't need the guilt of killing one of your own." She finished. "Even if this changes the way you feel about me, I have no regrets." Lin added.
Kuwabara hesitated, but tried to think of something to say in return.
"Foolish girl!" Siegfried exclaimed as blood ran down his chin. The three of them watched him in disbelief as he spoke.
"I am no less a traitor then anyone in this world. I chose to serve the demons because I know the truth about this world." He paused just to cough up blood. "Long before any of us were born, things were different. They did not ruin the earth- ahhh." He gasped his vision went dark. "We have come full circle." Were his last words.
Hiei looked down at him and then turned to Lin. "Do you know what he was speaking of?" He asked her.
"No." she replied.
"I thought as much, yet I think I know who will." Hiei replied.
With that, the three figures entered further into the large dwelling and cleared out the servants.
Kuwabara noticed a large painting of a figure that was wearing a cape and top hat, but his face was painted up like a skull, along with the rest of his body. "Creepy." He remarked.
Hiei was going through a large leather-bound book when Kuwabara approached him. "Read this to me." He instructed the human simply.
Kuwabara took the volume and looked at it for a moment, squinting at the print and then proceeded.
-'Whence is that knocking? How is't with me, when every noise appals me? What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes.'- Kuwabara paused briefly and cleared his throat.
-'Will all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas in incarnadine, Making the green one red.'- At which point, Hiei reclaimed the book.
"Do you know that you just read out loud in English?" He asked as he placed the book back on the shelf.
"What?" Kuwabara asked in confusion.
Hiei smiled strangely. "I thought so, then the Jagan has indeed worked." He replied. "You just read an excerpt from Shakespeare's Macbeth." He added.
"How?!" Kuwabara asked in shock.
"Languages are all different from one another, but the basic meanings of our individual thoughts are the same." He paused. "We haven't been speaking Japanese with these people- we've been speaking what seems to be a mixture of German and English." Hiei finished.
"How can we?" Kuwabara asked.
"My Jagan Eye has augmented us with the ability to understand it- I extended this to you because under the circumstances- I need you to be able to fully understand the situation." Hiei answered.
A noise came from behind a closed door.
"Get the girl and bring her inside, I'll go check this out." Hiei instructed Kuwabara.
.ooo.
Kuwabara appeared over Lin's shoulder. She seemed to be deep in thought.
"We need to come inside for a moment, something's wrong." Kuwabara spoke.
She suddenly snapped back to attention and looked up at him. "Do you think badly of me?" She asked him, somberly.
Kuwabara held out his hand to her and she accepted it. Once on her feet, she looked him in the eyes, waiting for his answer.
"No." He replied.
She looked away. "I didn't feel any remorse when I did it, I'm afraid of what this means." She paused to wipe her eyes, but tears were now flowing down her cheeks. "I've killed someone and now I'm like them." She whimpered as she tried to hold back tears.
Kuwabara took hold of her as she tried to restrain her emotions- without success. "I'm so weak!"
"Don't say that." Kuwabara spoke as he held her. "You're very strong, stronger than most of the people in this place. You've survived this agony for years while I've just witnessed it for less then a week." She looked up at him for a moment and saw a strange glimmer in his eyes, the look was very sincere.
"You're still the same person you were yesterday, still the girl I know and..." He paused.
Lin's face reddened slightly. "Why did he stop?" She thought to herself.
Something powerful had just struck Kuwabara in his mind, he hadn't picked up on it at first, but he could sense it in himself now. Lin was a beautiful young woman, with a strong will and great courage.
Kuwabara thought about his realization. What did he feel for her, was he falling in love with her? "But, I love someone else, back in my world." He silently thought. "What can I do?" He asked himself. "This is the ultimate test of my devotion." He thought.
He had never given much time to romantic thought when he was younger- he dad briefly been attracted to Botan, but she failed to return his gestures. Then, he saw a sad lonely girl on the videotape that he had watched over three years ago.
"Yukina." He thought. The Ice Spirit had captivated him from the moment he saw her. As silly as it may have seemed to anyone else, he had devoted himself to her the moment he saw her. Her horrible sadness has pulled at his heart and his sense of justice. He trusted love and justice- and in the end, prevailed! He admitted though, that Yukina didn't quite seem to understand his feeling for her- though she had more recently appeared to be grasping what he was trying to impart to her in his words and actions- but it would take time to completely win her over.
Here was another girl, who seemed to have strong feelings for him- he could sense them in her now- surprised that he hadn't picked up on them sooner. "Lin." He murmured softly as he looked into her eyes. "I..." He began to speak, but his throat went dry.
"Yes?" She asked eagerly.
He looked her in the eyes and forced back the urge to panic. "I think that..."
A gunshot sounded and the two of them almost leapt five feet into the air.
"Hiei!" They exclaimed simultaneously.
The door swung outwards. "I asked you to bring her inside," Hiei replied darkly as he stepped forwards, rather stiffly. "No matter, we are done here." He finished, but not bothering to look them in the eyes.
"What happened?" Asked Kuwabara.
Hiei let out a protracted sigh and looked up at the sky. He then looked at his left hand- that had been clutching his side- and noticed the blood on it.
"Just a minor scuffle with one of the guards who hadn't cleared out of the house," He paused and glanced at his hand again and then looked over at the two confused humans staring at him. He gave wicked smile and a strange red tint twinkled in his eyes for a moment. "Don't worry, most of this isn't mine."
.ooo.
"What do you mean they failed?!" Marth screamed.
"Exactly that." Thorn replied dully.
"This is a disaster!" He fumed. "One of the Four Generals has been killed and another permanently maimed!" Marth glared as he spoke, pausing briefly to gather his thoughts. "Whys is it that those two have done nothing but show us what unbelievable fuck-ups they are?"
Marth began to walk towards the door. "I've had enough, I'm to finish off that worthless Ansul myself!"
"Enough!" Thorn exclaimed as he vanished and appeared between Marth and the door. "Fate has punished him much more cruelly then you could." He began. "Regardless of his failure, he is one of us- an Elite Class- and elites do not harm one another." He finished.
"Spare me your sentimental garbage!" Marth replied. "We have no room for failures in this world and you know it." He continued.
"All I know," Thorn began. "Is that I will not allow you to harm him." Thorn replied as he looked his comrade in the eyes.
Marth glared. "Would you be willing to kill me?" He asked.
Thorn held his ground, but did not answer.
Marth laughed. "I knew it, you're weak! Just like the humans and the screw- ups!" Marth replied. "You're letting them get to you- you're starting to think and act like them."
"ENOUGH!"
"Lord-" Thorn began.
"-Darkon?" Marth finished.
"I have given this matter much thought and I have decided that we shall wait for them to come to us, this way- their plan will become clear to me." The voice paused. "I have survived and endured for over nine hundred years, these rebels come and go- there were countless individuals who apposed my dominion- and they are no more!"
The darkness began to wither away as a red light shined inside its depths. "I have slept and I have awakened and the world will be sorry!" The voice exclaimed. "The time has come for the Dark Lord to scourge this world with his true form and might!"
The two demons watched as a blinding red light engulfed them.
When the light reseeded, both Demon bowed down. "My Lord Darkon." She spoke in reverence to him.
A towering figure looked down at them and smiled. "The time for deception has ended- we shall prevail by the might of our true power." Darkon explained to them as he took his seat in his massive throne. "The end is near." He finished.
.ooo.
"Brother..." Ansul whispered weekly into the darkness. "You are gone, and you've taken half of my heart with you." He spoke.
"How could they be so cruel as to tear you from me as they did?" He stood up and looked in the mirror. His body was bandaged heavily and covering the area where his left arm had once met up with shoulder. "I am incomplete now, broken." He remarked. He walked over to his window and watched the procession taking place in the courtyard.
Thorn was handed a torch, which he used to light the funeral pyre that he brother- his twin- was laid out on.
"With this consuming fire, I commit the vessel of our fallen warrior to the skies, so that he may be complete in the next life." Thorn spoke to the gathered soldiers and servants.
Ansul watched him as he approached the pyre. "We usher you to your final resting place with the flame that you wielded so greatly in life, and we commit your soul to the welcoming embrace of far night." He continued. He then lit the fire and another soldier blew into a horn and played a slow forlorn melody.
"It is not an end, only the beginning of something better." Thorn spoke. Another soldier, dressed in black began singing in a deep voice- the words only understandable to a true demon.
"Though you have left us for the great fields of the world beyond, we pay honor to your efforts and your endeavors." Thorn spoke to the mass of demons who watched the fire grow rapidly.
"Find everlasting peace, you're work is done." Thorn finished as he turned to speak to his comrades. "Densil was a trusted ally and a brother in arms to me. His death will be greatly mourned by all- as he was one of he heralds of our world." He paused briefly. "He worked hard to help push back the encroachment of the vile humans who oppressed and mistreated us for so long. He died with honor- as a true warrior! His death will not be in vain!!!" He cried out.
The crowd roared in approval, cheering on their leader and calling out in their native language. Many renewed their pledges of loyalty to Darkon and to their own people. "For the Honor!" They all shouted in unison.
Ansul looked away and failed to stop the tears the streamed down his face. He screamed out in rage and sadness. "From this day forward, I can live only for revenge." He spoke as he held up his hand. "This, I promice!"
.ooo.
The Forest Elder looked up at the massive trees that surrounded him, nodding silently as he took in the ancient wisdom that he felt from them.
"Yes, the earth and trees are eager, eager for change." He remarked as he held up his hand and the foliage before him parted in response. "A great soothing rain will bring a new day, but only the two champions of the forgotten light will be able to make it so." He spoke to the forest.
His green eyes mirrored the lush grass and leaves around him. "Will this secluded ingress of nature retake all that once was?" He asked the trees. "Only time will tell." He finished.
-End of Chapter Sixteen-
I really liked this chapter I hope you all enjoyed reading it. This is a major turning point for me, and I feel that it has set the stage for the finale. This is probably the darkest chapter I have written. I felt that it was necessary to take this story in a direction that would lend it some finality.
A bit of info with a nod to Shakespeare:
The First 4 chapters were essentially the equivalent of the 1st Act of this epic. They were lighter and more humorous and not as heavy and angst-ridden then the latter installments. Chapters 5 through 9 composed the 2nd Act. They gave the story purpose and a sturdy long-term objective and culminated with the defeat of the Fire and Ice Brothers. Chapters 10 to 15 were the 3rd Act. They represent the last of the story arching episodes.
I have a clear image of the rest of this story, and I hope that you will join me for the rest of this ride. With great hope, I welcome the remaining Acts.
Thanks go to Zinic for his beta reading and advice. Without which, this story would not be nearly as good. Also, many thanks to KuwabaraLover. She truly is my greatest fan and I would not have it any other way. Thank you. Also, thanks to Draith, Kazima Kuwabara, ElfRanger, Purple Chaos, and everyone else whoe has taken the time to offer their advice and support for this.
Thank you all, so much!
-Bojack