Chapter Thirty-Nine: The Chalice of Life

BIG FAT CLUE for the reason for the title in the last chapter!

AXM

"WAH!" Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God… Kiyoshi's face that had been looking down where I had fallen had been gulped up by the darkness; now below me there was a sliver of fiery light coming through a crack in the floor I knew I was about to crash onto. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed that I wouldn't kamikaze crash onto stone.

CRASH!

I had to jinx it. My feet crumpled under me and I slammed onto a chilled stone floor face first. I just need to start carrying around a parachute… Scratches skidded across my arms and legs; God knows what my face looked like. I forced myself up to a sitting position and grimaced at the shocking stab of pain in my side. The crack in the floor widened and a flame of light flared up. It took a second to realize that I was going to fall through the steadily crumbling stone. No, no, no, no! Close back up! Oh please! I couldn't run: all I could do was wait to fall yet again, hopefully onto something softer. The stone continued to crack and crumble like the embers of a fire. I hate rocks. I slipped through the dissipating floor and into the fiery light.

Lair

Ronin cradled Yuri in his arms and gently cooed something in her ear. He was completely laden with weapons: his saber tucked snugly into its sheath at his waist, daggers were tucked up his sleeves and strapped on his arms, and a pair of switchblade gauntlets on his thin hands. "I think you overdid it a little," Yuri snickered, "The gauntlets are a little overkill…"

Ronin chuckled and thrust his fist up triumphantly. "They're not just gauntlets." He replied; a short blade swung out of the gauntlet and sharply glistened silver. A thin coat of a viscous liquid covered the knife's keen edge. "Bleeding Heart toxin." Ronin grinned.

"What? So I'm not going to fight her?"

"What do you mean?

"It looks like you don't really need my help…"

"Ha! Don't worry: I'll need your special… talents to ensure her death is a slow one."

Labrynth

"Holy shit!" Ryou shouted as he looked down the crumbling section of floor that had swallowed up Komori just a few seconds ago. Kiyoshi leaned over slightly, his mouth agape. "She really isn't the brightest crayon in the box, is she?" Kish giggled.

"Come on!" Kiyoshi snatched Kish by the arm and tried to drag him into the void. Behind them there was a quiet shuffle and a grunt. "I'll not be beaten so easily." Carden growled. "Not again…" Kiyoshi complained under his breath. Kish whimpered slightly and shrunk back from Carden.

Lair

The ceiling began to crumble and sent off brown clouds of dust and thundered dangerously. "She must be here." Ronin stated sourly.

"How should we greet her?" Yuri asked as she pulled out a dagger and stroked it like a pet.

"Properly."

The ceiling caved in and in a whirl of dust and limestone I feel a good fifteen feet down onto the slippery obsidian floor. I rubbed my sore arms and legs while coughing up dust. It was a little surprising; this lair was completely different from the other one: Several torches ignited with enchanted flames placed about the walls provided bright sun-like light, there were several pieces of furniture, and it was unusually humid. I pushed myself up with a painful grimace and glared at the two misty shadows behind the curtain of dust. As if pulled away, the dust hastily settled onto the floor; I could see Ronin staring down at me as if I were a helpless ant and he the maniacal two-year-old with a magnifying glass. I struggled to my feet and, ignoring the immense pain, I ran.

This turned out to be a really stupid thing to do. As soon as I started, I stopped: as far as I could see, there was no way out except the accidental hole in the ceiling.

"I suppose no one taught you that it's impolite to drop in without notice?" Yuri snickered. I looked both of them over and nearly fainted when I saw all of their weapons. Time for bravado. I put on my poker face to make it seem like I wasn't afraid of them, but truthfully, I was scared shitless.

"Judging by how you're dressed, I'd come to the conclusion that you were expecting me." I remarked snidely, holding my head higher and puffing up my shoulders. Ronin wasn't fooled quite so easily. His eyes narrowed as his eyes drifted to the swiftly pulsing orb hung around my neck.

"Tut-tut. You're not in any place to make rude remarks… Why…why don't you have a seat?" Ronin motioned to a baleful-looking chair off in the far corner. This seemed too suspicious. "Do you think I'm an idiot? What kind of person asks their enemy to 'take a seat'?" I snorted.

"Take a seat." Ronin repeated harshly. I sighed: what choice did I have? It was either refuse and fight, or let him talk for a while and then fight. I wanted to buy all the time that I could for Kiyoshi, Ryou, and Kish to get here. With great constraint, I lowered myself into the hard oak chair. Closer up it was a little prettier, but it gave me the creeps just looking at its satanic carvings in the armrests. Ronin and Yuri seated themselves in a tall recliner across from the chair I was forced into. Yuri eased herself onto his lap without any shame, which brought back the horrid images of Ryou and Lettuce; I forced my eyes away from the sight with a shudder. Ronin cleared his throat.

"So, if you wanted me to come and chat with you, what's the point in being loaded with weapons?" I pointed out. Ronin closed his arms around Yuri and sneered.

"It seems there has been a slight change in plan. Here's what I'm offering: You give me one little itsy bitsy thing, and I'll let you and your little horde of freedom fighters out of here unharmed, no strings attached."

I threw a glance at my watch: this wasn't taking nearly long enough. I need to stall…

"Uh…you know, I like what you've done with the place. Gee, there's not even any spiderwebs or anything…" I said. Yuri smiled brightly.

"You like it? I convinced Ronny to let me decorate it. Of course he insisted we use the old furniture--."

"Silence!" Ronin demanded above Yuri's jabbering.

"…Ronny?" I started to laugh.

"Stop being circumlocutious!"

"Circum..lo…"

"Stop avoiding the subject, you IMBECILE!"

I grinned mischievously: Ronin was one of those people that you just have to mess with sometimes. "Okay, Ronny--."

"That's not my name!" Ronin's face started to turn a plum colour.

"Oh, sorry. Ronin, what is it you want, then?" I teased. He took a breath and clutched the sides of his chair before speaking.

"I want the orb."

"What orb?"

"The orb that hangs from your filthy throat." Ronin strained to speak calmly.

I picked up the orb and looked at it. "This orb?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because."

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Well, I can't hand it over without a good reason." I crossed my arms at my chest and looked away. Come on, Kiyoshi, I can't keep this up forever…

Labrynth

"Take that, you stupid bird!" Kish threw down a massive clump of lightning from his palms and knocked Carden into the wall, sending dust and debris into the air. Kiyoshi, Ryou, and Kish paused and waited to see if he would arise: he didn't. Ryou slumped onto the floor and sighed. "God, I thought he'd never die." Kiyoshi stared at him. "You have no idea how weird that sounded."

Kiyoshi grabbed the back of Ryou's shirt and hoisted him up. "Hey--!"

"C'mon, we have to go help Komori!"

Lair

"If you prefer, I could go ahead and kill you and just take it from you." Ronin growled.

"Naw, that's okay."

"Then give it to me!"

"Tell me why and I might." I bantered, secretly glancing at my watch. Why does he want the orb? All it does is glow green.

Ronin stared at me for a minute with his piercing blood-red eyes. He gently slid Yuri off his lap and got up from his chair, coming towards me. He snapped his slender fingers and to my utter surprise, several thick vines twisted from the ground and bound my arms and legs to the chair. "W-what?" Ronin flashed his bright teeth at me and draped his arm over the back of the chair. "Oh? You didn't know you were in a cursed chair? Perhaps I should've mentioned that. Now, are you a bit more willing to cooperate with my terms?"

"Just tell me why you want the orb. It's not like I can reach up and grab it or anything." I struggled to free my arms from their bonds.

"True," Ronin began to pace, "I suppose I will, then." He reached for the orb and held it as delicately as if it were a robin's egg. For a short, rare second, a happy grin painted across Ronin's face. It faded after just a second, but in that one second, it made me think of him more like a person. More like an actual living thing than an opposing force that I had to get rid of. "This orb is known as the Chalice of Life. I've been hunting it for countless years; this Earth takeover is just on the side." Yeah, just keep talking.

"It provides life to whoever commands it. It becomes a piece of them and mocks their life. Once their life is over, the Chalice will revive the owner."

"But, that can't be right: I found the orb on the neck of a dead creature. Why didn't the creature come back if the orb is supposed to revive its owner?"

Ronin chuckled and patted my head with pity. "Probably because the creature wasn't the owner of the Chalice. By the way, it was a griffin. I had Carden destroy it, but the imbecile didn't retrieve the Chalice. Your friends should have destroyed him by now…Hm, I suppose he destroyed them."

"You… you killed it." I whispered quietly. He killed it. He killed that beautiful griffin, who hadn't done anything except wear a chain around his neck.

"Slow on the uptake, are we? Now, do you accept my generous offer, or…the alternative?"

"I have no need for it. But I don't trust that you'll keep your promise." I squinted at him through my suspicious gaze. I was growing desperate. If Ronin gets his hands on the Chalice of Life he'll be impossible to kill…if that's possible. Kiyoshi, where are you?

"GAH!" a blob of movement fell from the ceiling and crashed to the floor in a heap. Ronin whipped around and glared angrily at the heap.

"God, Kiyoshi! Just drag us into the void, why don't you?" Kish screamed as he pushed Ryou off him. Kiyoshi stood without a word and stared back at Ronin. He shook his head. "Of all the things, Ronin. I knew you were a habitual murderer, but a thief!" Kiyoshi gasped falsely and strode to Ronin, who was now gripping the Chalice in his palm, but still let it hang from my neck. "Finders keepers, Kiyoshi." Ronin replied.

Kiyoshi gritted his teeth. "It doesn't belong to you, Ronin."

"Really? Well, then, observe!" Ronin cackled and removed the chain from my neck and held it up triumphantly. My neck felt naked and cold without the chain's weight. Ronin snapped his fingers again and the vines withered away. "There's no further use to keep you tied. Yuri, what should I do with these idiots?" Ronin called to Yuri.

"I don't know, Ronin. Just get it over with; you're starting to scare me a little." She replied.

"Ronin, wait! The Chalice won't--!" Kiyoshi started; Ronin put his hand up to silence him.

"Now, time to embrace immortality!" Ronin grinned and slowly lowered the chain around his neck.

Kiyoshi sighed. "Oy."