Ug. My smiley faces didn't work. All you see is little dots. (talking about last chapter) Curse you, fan Take note that the rest of the story takes place one month after the events of last chapter.
:One Month Later:
Bobby Pendragon opened his eyes. His eyes gazed around the large room, and he picked himself off the floor. He stared at the young girl lying on the bed. Her black hair was sprawled everywhere, and her cheeks were extremely red.
Something feels different, thought Bobby. Something…that I can't place. He thought about this for a few minutes, and it hit him. Saint Azarus had said a few weeks ago that changes would be occurring, turning him into the perfect fighter. The only thing that hadn't changed was Bobby's love for the girl.
"I swear, Saangi, that I will heal you." Bobby whispered, kissing her cheek. "Azarus will help." Bobby opened the door, and stepped into the hallway.
"Bobby," came a haunting voice. Saint Azarus had appeared next to him. "Are you ready?"
"Ready as I'll ever be." he replied coolly. He followed Saint Azarus down a long hallway lit with small torches.
What the hell does he want? Bobby wondered. I could be out there plotting my revenge on Spader for betraying me…
Yes. If you were wondering, Bobby is just a little bit under the influence. Not under the influence of drugs…of Saint Azarus. (crowd nods.) Back to the story!
Saint Azarus opened a door, leading into a room with a humongous twisting spiral staircase. A sudden wave of cold air hit Bobby's face, and he shivered.
"What's up with the cold?" Bobby asked.
"Shut up and follow." Azarus barked. "Don't ask questions until we arrive at the final room. I'm trying to think of something important." Bobby shut his mouth, and followed the demon.
At the end of the hallway was a large set of double doors. Strange markings littered the door, and Bobby was mystified.
"This door is the reason why this room is kept as cold as it is." explained Azarus. "Now, what I was looking for should be around here somewhere…" he felt around the wall, and pulled out a small chunk of brick. The brick was hollow, and Azarus pulled out a four golden keys. He placed one key in each of the four locks that Bobby hadn't noticed before. The door opened, and Bobby was met with a blast of intense heat.
"Whoa…" Bobby said. "What the hell is up with this place?"
"This is the temple of fire," explained Azarus. "This is where your final test will take place." As Azarus and Bobby walked into the room, a humongous burst of fire exploded from the center of the room, like a geyser.
"This room keeps getting weirder and weirder…" Bobby whined.
Azarus chuckled. "This geyser is essential to the test, Bobby." he said. "I need your help. I'm looking for a treasure."
"What's your point?" Bobby asked, crossing his arms.
"Don't mouth off to me, Bobby." Azarus said.
"Yes, master." Bobby replied quickly, remembering what had happened the last time he got Azarus mad…
Bobby began to sweat as the demon flooded endless attacks on him.
"Stop, dammit!" Bobby yelled angrily. "Can't you stop for a minute?" Azarus chuckled.
"I won't." He came at Bobby harder with the sword, leaving a sea of cuts on his chest. Blood stained his shirt. Bobby, still panting, picked up the sword from the ground, and charged at the demon.
"Die, bitch!" Bobby yelled. Bobby ran towards the demon, and pushed him to the ground before Azarus knew what was going on. Bobby pinned him to the ground with his right foot, and pointed the blade of the sword at Azarus's face. "You die now." Bobby said, placing the blade on his neck.
"No one…calls me…a bitch." Azarus replied, and leapt off the ground, throwing Bobby against the wall. He charged towards the boy, sword pointed at his heart. Bobby stayed still as he met his fate…
As Azarus came too close, Bobby jumped off of the wall, ramming his sword and head into Azarus's chest. Blood of both fighters dripped to the ground.
"Damn it!" Azarus yelled. "We're done training, Bobby. Just so you know, I was going to heal Saangi tonight. But now, since you did that to me, I'll make her condition worse." he laughed like a maniac.
Ever since that had occurred, Saangi had slept. Bobby lowered his head in shame.
I will do anything to heal you, Saangi…
"What item do you need retrieved?" Bobby asked.
"I'm not telling," Azarus replied. "You just need to find it."
"Fine," Bobby accepted. "I'll do it."
"Good." Azarus said. "Now go. Down. Down into the geyser." Bobby walked closer to the geyser, staring as the flames erupted once again. As soon as the flames disappeared, Bobby jumped down. Intense heat caused him to begin to sweat.
"Remember, Bobby!" called Saint Azarus. "The geyser erupts ever twenty seconds for twenty seconds!" Bobby nodded, and stared around the small space he was in.
"Somehow," he mumbled. "I don't think humans were meant to be in here." He grinned weakly, and thought about how much time he had wasted thinking. He came up with a rough estimate of twenty seconds. Suddenly, the geyser began to erupt.
"Right on time," he said. As the flames erupted from the ground, Bobby noticed a small blink of light.
Could that be what Azarus is looking for? he wondered. He ran towards the center, and found a small golden key. He bent down to pick it up. Bobby pulled and pulled and pulled, but the key wouldn't come free.
"What the hell?" he yelled. He yanked harder as a rumbling sound filled his ears. "Oh no…" The ground started to heat up, and the flames erupted all around Bobby. They burned his clothes, his hair, and his skin. "AHHH!" he screamed. He pulled the key as hard as he could, and yanked it out. He quickly jumped out of the geyser, and passed out.
When Bobby awoke, he was lying on the ground in the same room.
"Good, your awake." It was the voice of Saint Azarus. "I need you awake for this, Bobby. Follow me." Azarus lead Bobby through another door, which he unlocked with the key Bobby retrieved.
"Azarus?" Bobby asked. The Saint turned his head. "How did I wake up? It's not like normal humans can survive being burned like that."
"It's partially your Traveler powers, Bobby. The rest will be explained later." Bobby nodded, and followed Azarus up the winding staircase. Bobby and Azarus finally arrived at the top of the staircase a few minutes later. They walked inside. Inside was a room full of people all wearing black hooded cloaks. On the hood were two letters.
SD.
"Who are they?" Bobby asked the Saint.
"These, Bobby, are my soldiers for an upcoming battle."
"I want a cloak." Bobby demanded. "I want to be able to trick that bastard Spader in battle." Azarus laughed.
"The time will come, Bobby." he said. "For now, come with me." He led Bobby deeper into the room. On the wall was an array of demonic looking weapons. Azarus pulled one down from the wall. Bobby noticed that there was only a hilt to the sword. "This is the Sword of the Darkness." Azarus explained. "It is a powerful sword. Only a few people who wielded it out of the thousands that tried have survived to tell the tale. This sword is essential to us winning against Raux."
"Understood." Bobby said. Azarus placed the sword in Bobby's hands.
As soon as the metal touched the skin, a white hot pain shot through Bobby's body. An orange aura covered his arm, and created an entanglement of lines across his arm. A tattoo, created of circles and strange marks, led all the way down to his wrist, where two letters formed on the top of his hand, in pencil thin writing.
SD.
An amazing feeling of power shot through Bobby's body, and he grinned. He flicked his wrist, revealing the long blade of the lightweight sword.
"Excellent," Azarus said. "The transformation is complete. Now, the war can finally begin."
Dun dun DUN! Sorry its short, but hopefully the next chapter will be longer, with Spader included in it. I'm thinking of having the rest of the story be in Spader's POV….tell me what you think of the idea. Now comes the time to thank my reviewers. Many thanks to Inu.Rox, and PotatoPuff, and welcomes back to beliver07747, and Shadowlover101! And welcome to the group to Ruthie! Heh, well expect an update sometime this weekend…only thirteen more days of school left! Hah. And sorry this took so long by the way. I started a Tales of Symphonia fan fiction called Kidnap. So if any of you have played Tales, check it out if you want. Reviews are appreciated! Till next chapter!