Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering or any other product mentioned in this fanfic.
When Arrathir reached Charles' apartment, night was falling. After climbing several flights of stairs, Arrathir finally found Charles' door. When he rapped on the door, a young Japanese man answered.
"Hai?" he said.
Arrathir relied on the same phrase he'd used before on the phone, "Wainscot-san onegaishimasu?"
"Hai," said the man "Charles-kun!" he called out.
Charles came to the door, dressed in the same clothes Arrathir had last seen him in.
"Hey, Arrathir," he said "Oh, this is my roommate, Kouji. Kouji, Arrathir."
"Nice to meet you," said Kouji, stepping aside to let Arrathir in.
"Kouji and I tutor each other to learn the other's language," said Charles as he showed Arrathir around the small four-room flat. "He's a student at the University of Tokyo."
"And what do you do for a living?"
"Well, I work the few odd jobs," said Charles "But we've been strapped for cash lately so that's why I was at the convention; selling some of my cards."
"Does he," said Arrathir, referring to Kouji as the latter left the room "Know what happened?"
"Kouji's my best friend," said Charles "We've known each other for several years. I told him all about it and he knows how to keep a secret."
Charles suddenly noticed Arrathir's ears.
"What's with the ears?" he asked "When I saw you at the convention, I thought you were wearing them as a costume or something."
"They're real," said Arrathir "Chikuro never told me he was a half-demon in his past life. I'm slowly turning into his past form as his powers awaken."
"You're a han'yō?"
"All the keepers were," said Arrathir.
"So, that means I'm also a half-demon?"
"I'm afraid so," said Arrathir.
"What kind of demon?"
Chikuro…
I don't remember.
What?
Look, being dead for so long, I haven't retained all of my memories. I have bits and pieces, but I can't remember names very well. All I remember about the Keepers was the kind of demon the Keeper of White Mana was. As the Keepers awaken, I'm sure my memories will return.
You said each Keeper was awakened with something having to do with their colour, right? Blue's the colour of knowledge, so give me all you remember about the Keeper of Blue Mana. I might help Charles awaken his Keeper.
Why don't I tell him myself? He's looking at you weird.
Arrathir snapped out of his daze to see Charles looking at him questioningly.
"Sorry," said Arrathir "Just chatting with Chikuro. He's coming out now."
"Nice to see you again, Charles," said Chikuro, appearing in spirit form beside Arrathir. "I'm going to tell you everything I remember about your past self, but first, are you sure you are ready for this? Sharing your body with an ancient spirit is not easy."
"Well, you've already told em about him," said Charles "So if he really exists, I want to awaken him."
"Very well," said Chikuro "The Keeper of Blue Mana was my ally during my attempted conquest of the Multiverse. He pretended to be on the side of the other Keepers who wanted to stop me, but in reality he was a spy."
"Makes sense," said Charles "What else?"
"Eventually, he thought my methods of conquest were too brutal and violent for his taste, so I betrayed and killed him."
Charles was stunned. Here was this ancient spirit telling him he had killed his past self with as little concern as if he were talking about the weather. He was suddenly flooded with memories he'd never seen before but he somehow knew were his own. He clutched his head in pain as images flooded him.
Charles stepped out of the portal into Chikuro's chambers. The Keeper of Black Mana was gazing into another portal that showed his zombie attacking a small fishing village. The defenceless villagers ran in terror, but their village was surrounded by the undead legions. They tried to fight back in vain. Chikuro cackled in glee as a zombie tore a crying infant from its mother's arms and tore its heart out to feast upon it. The mother, crazed with grief, threw herself at the zombie who casually disembowelled her before returning to its meal.
"You're sick, you know that?" said Charles.
Chikuro turned, the portal closing behind him.
"If we are to conquer the Multiverse, you think no blood will be split?"
"But why attack a defenceless village?" said Charles "Those people were no warriors. It was pointless."
"No, it wasn't," said Chikuro "We must show our strength to those who would oppose us, leaving them in a state of terror that makes the ripe for conquest!"
"Up until now, I was with you, Chikuro," said Charles "But now, you're going too far! I agreed to join you only if this didn't turn into a mass extermination of races!"
"Enough!" said Chikuro "What of the other Keepers? The attack on Shal'garr should have crippled their forces. What is their next move?"
"The Keepers are travelling to Anosh to regroup and rebuild their forces," said Charles "If we were to strike there now, we could catch them unprepared and defenceless."
"Anosh?" said Chikuro "That's strange because my orc spies told me the Keepers were at Mount Navash."
"The orcs could have been misled," said Charles.
"Orcs are scum," said Chikuro "But they know the price of such information and how I am willing to pay for it. What I find even more disturbing is how, despite repeated attacks in the north, the defences at Shal'garr were prepared for our attack. It was almost as if they were expecting us. Tell me, how long have you been spying for the Keepers?"
"What are you talking about?" asked Charles "The defences were prepared because they knew we would eventually move against the city."
"Liar," said Chikuro "You've been feeding the Keepers information; that's how they knew. Since it is apparent you are no longer my ally, consider yourself my enemy!"
Chikuro gathered his mana and shot his spell at Charles who deflected it with a simple counterspell. As he prepared to counter attack, he found he was unable to gather any mana, no matter how hard he tried.
"Having trouble?" asked Chikuro "I remembered that mana binding spell you showed me and improved on it to make it powerful enough to stop you from summoning."
"Then I will have to defeat you hand to hand!" said Charles charging with his staff held high.
"You attack me without being able to summon? You are more foolish than I thought," said Chikuro.
Charles was thrown backwards by Chikuro's spell. He hit the wall and slid down, his staff falling from his limp hands.
"Does it hurt?" asked Chikuro "I'll bet almost every bone in your body is shattered."
"You're insane," said Charles, coughing up a mouthful of blood "Your plan will never work, not with the Keepers opposing you."
"Those fools can't stop me," said Chikuro "My power grows every day. Soon, even the combined strength of the Keepers will be no match for me!"
"If you're going to kill me," said Charles "Just do it."
"As you wish," said Chikuro. Nonchalantly. Raising his staff, he gathered his mana for the killing blow. "Farewell, old friend."
The spell hit Charles, throwing his body into the air where it remained suspended as Chikuro absorbed his life essence. When it was over, the lifeless body fell to the ground like a broken puppet.
"I remember," said Charles, raising his head "I remember everything."
"You've accessed the Keeper's memories?" said Chikuro "Then the awakening is nearly complete."
"Why is my forehead hurting?" asked Charles.
"Look in the mirror."
Charles ran off to the bathroom to look at himself.
"HOLY SHIT!" he yelled, running back. On his forehead was the distinct outline of a droplet of water.
The symbol of blue mana…
Suddenly, Charles' eyes glazed over and he appeared to be staring vaguely into thin air.
What happened?
He's entered his Soul Corridor. Now he will awaken the spirit.
Charles found himself in a dark hallway that seemed to stretch on forever into the darkness. In front of him was an iron door. Engraved into the door was a symbol that resembled a large droplet of water. The door had a mysterious look to it, as if it held secrets yearning to be discovered. Charles placed his hand on the knob and suddenly felt a great sense of relief. He turned the knob and pushed the door open. Walking in, he gasped in surprise.He had just entered what looked like the world's largest library. Row upon row of bookcases stretched out and upwards towards an invisible ceiling. The shelve were crammed with ancient, dusty books, many of which looking as though they had not been opened in centuries.
"Hello?" he called out in the dusty silence.
With a loud rattle, a ladder mounted on rails appeared out of the gloom. It stopped beside Charles and its occupant descended, his arms full of books.
"Be right with you," he said, setting the pile of books down on a table. As he turned, dusting his hands, Charles was astonished to find himself looking at a near-identical copy of himself.
"Well, I was wondered when I'd see you in my Soul Room," said the other Charles.
"You're…you're…" said Charles, at a loss for words.
"The Keeper of Blue Mana," said the other Charles "But call me Chiburuu."
"Wow," said Charles "It's an honour to meet you."
"The pleasure's all mine," said Chiburuu "After all, it was you who chose to accept me into your soul."
"How much longer?" asked Arrathir. They had placed Charles' comatose body on the couch as they waited for the Keeper of Blue Mana to appear.
"Depends," said Chikuro "I can't really gauge since, technically this will be the first Keeper to awaken."
They both suddenly felt a massive surge of mana coursing through Charles' body. The droplet on his forehead glowed brightly and his eyes snapped open.
"Chiburuu," said Chikuro "Welcome back."
"I told you it would never work," said Chiburuu "By the looks of things, I was right. So, which one killed you?"
"The Keeper of White Mana," said Chikuro.
"I always knew that he was the only one of us who could take you on," said Chiburuu "I trust you've learned your lesson, or are you back for another attempt?"
"Not this time," said Chikuro "Being dead for so long really sucks. We're awakening the Keepers."
"Yes, yes, I know," said Chiburuu "My host told me all about it."
"We still need to get Erik to accept his Keeper though," said Chikuro.
"Well, we have much work to do then," said Chiburuu, rubbing his hands together.
"Glad to have you back," said Chikuro.
Arrathir suddenly let out a gasp of pain. He felt an intense pain in his rear end, as his spine seemed to extend, pushing outwards into a long tail that protruded from the bottom of his trenchcoat. Arrathir looked at it in astonishment as it flicked at his command. He didn't even know how he was moving it. Some unconscious part of his mind seemed to be controlling his tail.
"The second stage of your transformation," said Chikuro "This will be amusing to explain."
"Are you kidding?" said Arrathir "I'm doomed! The ears were bad enough, but now a tail?"
"Relax," said Chikuro "You can just wear it like a belt or something."
As Arrathir tried to get over the shock of now having a tail, Chikuro went over to Chiburuu.
"You never really told me if you were spying on me for the Keepers," he said "Were you?"
"No," said Chiburuu "But I was firmly opposed to your methods. There were other ways we could have gone about it. However, that's all in the past now. Now we must focus on bringing back the Keepers."
"Well, we may have found the Keeper of Red Mana," said Chikuro "Arrathir has a date with her tomorrow."
"It's not a date!" shouted Arrathir.
To be continued…
Author's Note: Fina-fucking-ly! After 22 chapters, the second Keeper is awakened! On another note, I'm going to the midnight sale of "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" tonight. Yes, I know, I'm a geek.
Khell: A goblin horde would cause a lot of damage, but I think Numa's going to stay more low-key than Anima. As for the names ending in 'a,' it's a coincidence.
KamiofYugi91: You have NO idea how paranoid the White Keeper is.
Armongo: Aki is not a replacement for Eva. Though Arrathir doesn't realize it, he just wants to use her to get Eva back.
Technomagus: How many times have I done that so far? Five? Six? Anyways, Arrathir's pretty messed up in the head right now, so he may appear a bit OOC (Out of character).
ACS Dude: I got both your e-mails but haven't had time to reply yet. I know Arrathir seems a little insensitive, but I try, OK? I'm starting to get a bit annoyed with the nitpicking this story has been getting, such as the "You called Charles Erik." I'm not perfect. I know it. If I make a mistake, I don't need ten people pointing it out to me. I have worked damn hard on this story and I dare anyone to write something as successful as this fic (not bragging here). Continuous pointing out of small, insignificant mistakes and such really do NOT encourage me to write. Gameplay mistakes I don't mind people pointing out, mostly because they help improve my understanding of the game. OK, rant over.
YM: Ach! Hans, run!