Strongest
Chapter 11: Death Throne Pram
Written By Illuminet
Disclaimer: The cast of character from Makai Kingdom : Chronicles Of The Sacred Tome do not belong to me, and are the rightful property of N.I.S (Nippon Ichi Software) America.
"..."-Indicate Speech
'...'-Indicate Thought
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Pram's Netherworld, Outskirts of White Fairy Mountain, Hidden Grove
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'What the...? Who's this guy?'
Zetta just stared blankly. The Prinnies in the Dark Gear XX vehicles started laughing. The old Corn guy himself tried to bite back his own laughter, the trick he saw Drake pull off both entertaining and bizarre. The said spectacle of a man flushed deep red, before transforming back to an equally flushed Drake.
"Uh...oops...you saw nothing! Ahem...let me start that over again."
Drake said softly in his embarrassed state. The Prinnies would not stop laughing though, almost tipping over themselves in their machines. It was to be expected considering the all too serious nature on board the Yoshitsuna. The Prinnies needed a good laugh, and they planned to tell the entire crew when they got back, assuming they survived. The old Corn was able to subdue himself mimicking those Prinnies motion by motion in hysterics, but it was hard since he too had been experiencing a tense month of trying to help Drake's army evolve and strengthen. Zetta was just confused, until he remembered Drake was a shape shifter. He'd forgotten that since there was so little interaction between himself and Drake. Baal was becoming annoyed. Drake was getting pissed.
"STOP LAUGHING!"
The Lion Overlord roared, the fiery aura surrounding himself once more. He tore off his farming clothing, to reveal that he wore all his royal clothing beneath(which wasn't a lot to begin with). He lept high into the air.
"Wait, King Drake! You'll give away your position!"
The old Corn warned, but Drake was too angry to listen to reason. He was lucky that Pram and her soldiers were too preoccupied by Zetta's Prinny army to take notice. Drake dive bombed down to Zetta and the Prinnies. The Overlord evaded the descending attack by teleporting out of harms way, while the two nearest Prinnies in their Dark Gear XX machines were flattened like pancakes under the impressive body slam and exploded in a red blaze. The other two Prinnies were about to attack Drake as his aura disappeared, but the Lion Overlord confined some Carrots and Pumpkins to distract and occupy them. He now looked for his main target of battle at the moment, having gained courage through his provoked rage. Zetta appeared in front of him.
"Good, you didn't run away Zetta. I guess it's time to take care of you once and for all. We were destined to fight, so I guess it would only make sense that I deal with you before taking down Pram. Let's go! Let us confront one another honorably as fate had ordained!"
Drake said, making an intricately designed hammer called Golden Time appear in his hands. As it's name sake, the hammer was completely covered in gold and was quite formidable despite the artistic design of it. Zetta's hand came up, summoning the large Genesis to his open palm for use. Drake struck first as he rushed toward the disturbingly quiet and patient Zetta. Drake swung the mallet overhead with ease, Zetta guarding the blow with the flat of his blade. Drake tried to push Zetta off balance with the more superior weight and muscle mass of his own body, but the Overlord was as unmoving as a mountain.
'Honorably, he says...what a load of bullshit. Guess this body of mine can humor him for a little bit if nothing else. I wonder if my anger theory would work on the real Drake like it does with this dream one, though? I'd cut off my hair to see that be proven true! And I love my hair!'
Zetta amused himself with the thought as his body pushed a surprised Drake away. Even if that theory was proven true, he didn't have to worry about cutting his beloved red hair because he didn't have his body. Drake regained balance as he tried to strike Zetta again, going in with a spinning whirl attack that was able to shove Zetta's sword away and allow the Lion Overlord to trip Zetta's feet out from under him. Drake tried to close in for the attack by rising after the now airborne Overlord, but before he could hammer Zetta into the ground, he was soundly struck in the chest with a kick that sent him down. Drake gasped sharply in pain as he hit the ground hard on his back.
'Dammit...so close to fulfilling my own goal, only to be foiled by Zetta? How did he know I was going to be at this very area? This is MY Netherworld! I'm the only one who knows that these hidden areas exist, not Pram...and no other Overlord should either...so how? How did Zetta find this area when Pram could not?'
Drake was thinking awfully hard that his head hurt. Zetta came spiraling down at him, sword ready for the kill. The Lion Overlord disappeared in another puff of smoke, much to the Overlord's annoyance. Zetta's head began moving around, trying to pinpoint Drake's location. His large ears picked up the feint sound of something to his right and turned his sights there, seeing an oddly golden colored Nether worm peep up from the ground. The Overlord swept his blade across the ground in a powerful swirling motion, nearing cutting Drake in two. The Lion Overlord tried to be cunning as he shape shifted again, using the smoke screen generated to blind Zetta momentarily to finally get a hit in. Zetta had expected a tactic like this to be used at some point and already alert to the chance it might be used. Even as the smoke surrounded him, the Overlord spun his sword around like a propeller to dispel it, and Drake was left open for a crippling strike to the ribs from Zetta's empty fist that sent the Lion Overlord skidding across the ground on his shoulder. The Overlord was already advancing on Drake, who remained motionless. Zetta brought his blade up, ready to cleave off Drake's head, but the Lion Overlord reacted at the last possible moment.
"Gotcha!"
Drake reeled up quickly, brining his mallet upward. Zetta guarded once more, but was sent high into the air with Drake trailing after him. In a tremendous show of strength, Drake smashed the Golden Time at the defending Overlord with enough force to send him orbiting across Pram's Netherworld just above the planet's gravitational pull. This made Zetta seem like a passing meteorite/shooting star as he rocketed from one side to the other. Drake turned, preparing to smash Zetta back into the ground. The Overlord would have none of this, however, and just when Drake was preparing to swat Zetta out of the air, Zetta attacks with the flat of his sword, a dazed Drake being drilled into the ground by the force of his landing. Zetta descended just as quickly, grabbing the Lion Overlord by the front of his mantle and pulling him roughly from the ground. Drake shape shifted again to escape, turning into a little golden fly.
'Screw this. Better run and live to fight another day.'
Drake thought to himself as he escaped from the smoke and deciding to use the tactic that had allowed him to live for so long already. Drake landed on the side of the old Corn's head.
"Hey, friend, we better retreat for the time being and regroup. We'll meet at the hiding spot that we went to three times before this one."
Drake whispered into the small openings in the side of the old Corn's head, his ears. The old Corn was wise enough not to speak even though he had been surprised by the sudden command that seem to come out of no where. He only glanced briefly at the remaining Vegetable troops that were now being slaughter by the eating abilities and skills of the Dark Gear XX machines used by Zetta's Prinnies. The old Corn walked carefully through the smoke screen Drake left behind and made his escape. Unknown to him however, Zetta's arm had come through the fog expertly to trap the golden fly in his fist before Drake could escape with the old Corn. Zetta let the remaining smoke fade as he felt Drake try and futilely escape his grasp. Zetta's palm opened as he jumped back slightly when Drake transformed back to normal in an attempt to surprise the Overlord again. Drake already used it a couple of times before, and Zetta was no longer surprised, lashing out into the smoke and striking Drake in the nose with his fist. The Lion Overlord whaled in surprise and hurt because of his sensitive nose. Drake hit the ground and tried to slink away, but it was no use. Whatever form he took, Zetta was easily trapping him time and time again, warring out Drake's nerves and making him more and more afraid.
'What the hell is going on! No one has ever tried to stop me from fleeing, not even Zetta...why now does he stop me? After all this time...why does it have to be now?'
Drake was becoming frantic. It was so easy to note the change in attitudes Zetta had displayed to all the Overlords he encountered thus far, and as moronic as Drake was, even he had quickly caught on to the differences in behaviors. Behaviors no one ever saw in Zetta for as long as they knew him. Behavior no one knew to be the doing of another being entirely. Baal decided to end this game, feeling Zetta's mind to no longer be entertained and instead becoming impatient just as his own after the forty ninth time Drake had been cornered in the hidden grove. He made Zetta's arm raise up to use one more decisive blow as the other arm grasped around Drake's cape to lift him in a standing position.
"Wait Zetta! Just wait! You win, okay! I'm sorry I tried to take your Netherworld before. Really, I am. I'll go away again...even farther than Seedle's Netherworld, okay? Just please spare my life!"
Drake pleaded, on the verge of tears as he stared at the giant weapon in Zetta's raised hand. The Lion Overlord was sent into the world of unconsciousness as he was struck hard right in between the eyes by a hilt smash. He went limp, dangling along his toes as he was still being held up by Zetta's hand. The Overlord turned to see the Prinnies grind the last Vegetable into messy pieces. Zetta threw Drake at them, the Lion Overlord's large body smacking the ground just a little ways ahead of the Dark Gear XX machines.
'Letting an Overlord get eaten is a bit dark even for me...wait, what am I saying? I'm the most evil person out there in the universe! Nothing is too dark and evil for me to handle!'
Zetta thought to himself arrogantly. The Dark Gear XX machines, however, did no such thing and took Drake away instead, back to the Yoshitsuna. Why they were was unknown to Zetta. To Baal, however, Drake could be made to talk through interrogation. Zetta's memories were so badly scattered that Baal could not use the Overlord's mind to navigate this particular universe correctly with the Yoshitsuna. Zetta rarely ever left his Netherworld anyway, and whenever he did, it was usually by teleportation, which was not a good navigation tool to pinpoint where a Netherworld was and could only be done by Overlords who were familiar with their own universe, or else they could send themselves to places they would not like to go and end up lost. A dilemma Baal would like to avoid at all costs. Capturing an Overlord familiar to the universe being explored was the most ideal solution and was the reason Baal had originally wanted Seedle to be captured in the first place so a map could be built quickly and he could meet with Zetta's soul that much quicker. Now he had that chance instead of using the detection equipment to seek out every planet one by one.
'Wait a minute, why the hell aren't they gonna...?'
Zetta was interrupted as a blast of cold air blew through the grove. His body turned, Seeing an avalanche consume some ground troop Prinnies who were chasing after some of Pram's soldier up the mountain. Even from as far away as the grove was from the mountain, Zetta could feel the effects of the mighty cold spell cast.
'Is this...Pram's power? Damn, she really is strong!'
Zetta pondered, seeing Pram shoot up into the sky and allowing him to see her for the first time in a while. She sent an Omega Ice spell crashing down from a portal ripped into the sky that took out the FX-7 Skydiver planes. Regardless of her power, it was still not enough to match his, so Zetta had only been bothered for a couple of seconds before his calmness returned.
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Pram's Netherworld, White Fairy Mountain, Back side of Overlord's Castle
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Zetta began flying toward her location, but then swerved and sped across the field to go to the back end of White Fairy Mountain to escape detection while Prinnies kept Pram and the others occupied at the front side. Zetta had thought his body was going to attack Pram from her blind side, but instead, once reaching the back of the castle, his body simply stood stock still as if to wait.
'Dammit...why the hell are we waiting again now? Pram is so close...all I'd need to do is fly over this castle and I'd be there and ready to cleave her head off. Stupid body, you were doing so well until now. Move! Let's get this over with!'
The Overlord's ranting did not make Baal move the body in the slightest. He had made the decision to torment Pram for the revival of Salome the Traitor and knew just how to go about doing it, and right now the plan required patience.
'Those who assist in hindering the plan by allowing one of Zetta's weaknesses to return shall pay dearly for their interferences.'
Baal affirmed to himself. The deep rage of his and Zetta's were mingling, only making it that much easier to control Zetta's body.
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Pram's Netherworld, White Fairy Mountain, Front side of Overlord's Castle
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'All the Vegetable's have gone...is the old man fighting with just Prinnies now then? Damn, maybe he has started growing a brain after all, saving the tougher army for last. My armies could hold off those Vegetables decently, but these Prinnies are seriously starting to get the upper hand on them. So damn organized...guess I have no reason to say you can't teach a Prinny new tricks anymore. Their no match for me, but still freaking annoying!'
Pram shot some more large scale ice spells to halt the Prinnies in their tracks, and after a while, it seemed to pay off as the Prinnies were starting to retreat little by little. Unfortunately, she had assumed too early, and more Prinnies were being confined from the sky.
"Gah! There's just no end to them!"
The Former Oracle growled out in frustration. She blasted them with another wide radius Omega Ice spell. Everything became deathly quiet as Pram waited for anymore Prinnies to come down, yet they never did, and Pram's army began cheering loudly. Pram gave a sigh of relief as she descended towards the mountain about thirty feet away from her castle, glad that the army of Drake's was held back once more.
"Are you okay, Lady Pram?"
One of the Medics asked, coming forth to inspect Pram of injuries, but Pram waved him off with her hand.
"I'm fine. Looks like we were able to hold off Drake's army once again."
Pram declared. A Vampire came forth soon after.
"Your father...err, I mean King Drake, seems to have expanded the power of his army significantly, Lady Pram. I don't think any of us have ever combated such a powerful Prinny force until this day."
He said. He had corrected himself since he knew that Pram did not like to be reminded of her relation to King Drake. Everyone nodded in agreement of his last statement. Pram was already too well aware.
"I know. He has to be employing some kind of help, but who?"
Pram put a finger to her chin in thought. Someone had to be a pretty patient person to train all those Prinnies not to do anything random and go in a smooth working order of attack.
'There is one Overlord that comes to mind who might hate me enough or even more than the old man does, but I've settled things with him anyway. Besides...he has never recruited Prinnies before and probably won't start anytime soon. Does that mean my old man took enough time to train those Prinnies by himself while using the Vegetables as cannon fodder? No way in hell could he have done that, let alone have thought about it...dammit, who other than those two hate me enough to do this then?...!'
Before Pram could think on it anymore, a black blur smashed into the top part of her castle before tearing through the inside and zipping back outside, making it collapse from within.
"My Castle...!"
Pram took to the air and rushed back toward the rapidly falling structure that had once been her grand white marble and brick Castle.
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Pram's Netherworld, Remains of Overlord's Castle
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Even though it had only been a short distance to fly, the castle was already completely destroyed as clouds of dust billowed from the remains. Pram landed swiftly, gazing dejectedly at what was the pinnacle of her first great achievement. The castle was a reminder that she had overthrown her father and made way for her own path to follow, his Netherworld now being her's and she as an Overlord. If this had been Drake's work...she'd show him no mercy. Her army came by soon after.
"This is horrible..."
A Saber Kitty said. The dust began to clear, and Pram saw the remains of her throne at the center of the fallen castle structure. It had been damaged too, but not in the maddening wave that the black blur consumed the rest of the castle. It was cut crudely to resemble what looked like a doghouse. Carved all around the surface was the word -Plaything-. Pram walked closer to it, finding more carved words in the sides of broken bricks that scattered around the damaged throne.
"Life isn't...that...easy...you should start from...the very beginning."
Pram was able to piece the words together after a few brief moments of looking over them. This made her eyes opened in surprise.
"Life isn't that easy, you should start from the very beginning."
Pram repeated it to herself normally now and realized that those had been the words she had said to Zetta when he first wanted a new Overlord's Castle for his Netherworld after the previous one had been destroyed, but only got a doghouse instead as wished by herself which had made him go ballistic. He had only grumbled incoherently before calming down when she spoke those words. Pram made the connection now, realizing that Drake may not have had a hand in the destruction of her castle after all.
"Zetta! What the hell is the meaning of this? Get your scrawny book body out here and face me! There had better be a damn good explanation for this, too!"
Pram shouted out, looking around for Zetta to appear at any moment. He was not one to remain in hiding after all, it just wasn't in his nature. Calm, slow, and rhythmic footsteps began sounding from behind the remains of the tall tower that once fitted at the center of the castle, which now was on it's side near the edge of the back of the mountain. The person who walked out was one Pram never thought she'd see again, as it had been a prediction from the one and only Trenia the Oracle. Zetta's strides were steady, but he did not walk in quite the same overconfident manner that Pram remembered, and his face was guarded of emotions as burning white eyes locked with astonished dark black eyes. He stopped walking when he was about ten feet away from her location.
"Zetta...how?"
Pram asked, but received no answer.
:ToBeContinued:
Note: Sorry for the late update, but I didn't have access to the internet for some time. I know this chapter isn't very good, just like the last one, and the next one will probably suck too. But after the whole Pram scenario is taken care of, the real interesting part(and one of the high points of the story, finally...) starts to occur...though that is only my gut feeling, so it might be interesting to some and not quite so much to others.