Ch. 6: Ordeal
Cagalli was constantly training to improve her magic. She refused to eat for the whole morning just so she could try to strengthen her power. Chief Durandal couldn't stop her either, no matter what he said. She was perfectly insistent to train, clouded by the thought of revenge. She would never rest until she had achieved power like no other ever knew of.
Her magic was already greater by a decent sum, so she began to practice with the abandoned sword. One man agreed to teach her how to wield it properly and they dueled for some time. Eventually, she was able to pass his guard and hit him with a killing blow, but her magic prevented the blade from sinking in.
I'm not finished yet, but I've already taken a great step. Soon, Sage Clyne's murderer's head will be mine.
"Enough already Cagalli!" She spun around to see Durandal standing behind her with a grim look on his face. "Stop thinking about killing and training already! Can't you see we are struggling to simply survive? You've been taking all this time selfishly, thinking about your own pride while we've been sitting around trying to even make food!"
Cagalli was stung by his words and grew furious. "And what will happen while we plant crops and begin to live again? Do you expect us to live defenselessly our entire lives Chief? No more talk of peace, talk of revenge, of justice! Those bandits took away everything important to us! How can you possibly expect us to live like nothing ever happened? People have died here for nothing; some were even stolen from us by them! I'm fighting for all of them, to rescue and promote justice! And you just tell me to back off and let them do what they want? I'm not fighting for myself! Anyone who thinks I am is a fool!"
And without warning, she vanished. "Cagalli!" Durandal called.
No answer was granted. She was gone; taking the path of death. Durandal cursed, yelling into the air. "You fool! You know very well that we don't have the power to defeat such a group! And you think you can take them by yourself? You'll only get yourself killed! Get back here Cagalli and help the people who need it!"
No matter how much more he said, he didn't hear anything reply. He looked into the forest, thinking about Cagalli's words. "She has only become a replica of a fool. She won't survive this trial in her life."
The board was halfway filled with stones and Kira was starting to sweat. Lacus had 2 of his stones and he had none yet. She's very good. I didn't expect this to happen. Even so, I haven't lost yet!
He took another stone and placed it beside one of Lacus' white stones, capturing it. He took it off the board and waited.
Lacus was still perfectly calm. She knew that she was leading, having most of the board under her control. Even so, she didn't smile even once. She was determined to win, no matter what.
After about a minute, she took out a stone and placed it in the lower left. Lacus took note of how Kira gasped at the move. She knew why as well.
It was getting tougher every move, and Kira knew he would have to turn things around, but Lacus was too powerful, and he knew he couldn't beat her. Still he didn't give up. He placed a stone in the upper left, making Lacus gasp in surprise. Kira knew it was a risky move, considering how Lacus controlled the upper left quite well, but it was his only chance.
Lacus didn't stumble and played on the right of Kira's stone. Then she realized it was a mistake.
Kira took the opportunity to widen his upper right by playing near the upper center. That should even things out, he thought.
Lacus started sweating as she played her next move, putting his black stone in the upper left in a death situation. If she had ignored it first, Kira would likely have lost since his move gave him less territory than his last one.
Kira knew he had regained his control and continued to play out as well as he could, until the game was even again. It became harder to find any points to lead the game, and neither player resigned. Everything was at stake for Lacus, but only something was at stake for Kira.
Lacus then wondered why Kira would do this just to keep her. What was so special about her that caught his eye? She couldn't help but ask herself that question. It didn't seem to affect her game-play, since she was still keeping them even.
Kira was unsure why he was still playing. He never wanted Lacus to leave, so why did he agree to the challenge? Maybe because I wanted to teach her something. Who knows? Well, I should know; I'm the one who started this.
Then he realized. It was freedom. He was allowing her the choices she wanted without any idea of the consequences. That is freedom, and that's what I want for her. That means I cannot lose! His eyes turned demonic as before and he saw the board in a different way. He then played another stone in a pincer.
Lacus saw that and wondered what he was doing. She ignored it, knowing she could get it later and widened her center. But to her surprise, Kira kept at it, playing his next move diagonally, creating a barrier that cut white off from the corner. She knew she could only make it smaller by about 3 points and decided to ignore it completely. She then played below center, creating a small square of territory. She was sure she had it, until Kira played just inside it to the left. She cut him off by playing to the side, but Kira kept trying to get it out and managed to connect a stone.
Now Lacus would have to block Kira's incoming snake of stones, or cut off his invading single stone and let the snake have it's way. Either way, it would end up consequential. Finally, she allowed it through by setting up a new wall, and Kira had to connect, or he would lose the stone.
But Kira didn't connect. Instead, he played upward, cutting through the center and decreasing her territory. He knew Lacus would attempt to block if she wanted lots of points, and she did, playing to the right of his stone and protecting the right side. Kira did not dare get too greedy and began to play it safe, placing his next stone below his last move to create a small wall.
Lacus then played below, cutting off the stones and securing the center. She saw Kira's eyes widen slightly and knew his balance was off. The rest of the game was played naturally, and over an hour later, it was over at last.
"Time to count up the points," Kira noted.
Lacus began to shift the stones around and placed her prisoners in Kira's area and Kira did the same. The rearrangements were done and they began to count up the points. The 3 other men watched carefully, and Shinn gasped.
"What is it?" Athrun asked.
Shinn pointed at the board. "Wow, unbelievable."
Dearka showed his surprise as well. Both players also widened their eyes in disbelief. The game was a tie, 54 points to 54 points (remember you people who know "Go" that the Komi rule was not introduced until the modern day version).
Kira was the first to speak. "Well, well, it seems we are both evenly matched. Good game child."
Lacus said nothing. She only began to cry. No, why? Why couldn't I win and escape from these fiends. What do I do now?
"Just what are you crying about?" Dearka stepped up to Lacus. "Be happy that you didn't lose already! If you had, things might have gone worse for you anyway!"
"Dearka, restrain yourself!" Kira turned to him, demonic eyed and angry. When he saw him back down for the 3rd time, he looked back at Lacus. "I'm sorry yet again. So now you understand that he is very impulsive about everything. Then again, we all are."
Lacus looked up and noticed the sincerity of his face. I don't understand, she thought, why do they all act like such normal people? They're bandits; murderers!
As if he read her mind, Kira spoke. "Don't be surprised. People always have their honor to uphold, including people like us. We don't take advantage of what is not needed. It would hurt our conscious."
"But still, why did you grant me freedom like this, Lacus asked, why didn't you give it to everyone else you captured?"
Kira turned his head.
"That's something we would all like to know as well," Shinn interrupted. Athrun and Dearka also nodded and Lacus grew very surprised and confused.
Finally, Kira spoke. "You're exceptional to me. That's all."
The prison tower was filled with more screams than ever, but individually. One man yelped out as he felt his body being pulled against the bars. A blade of metal pierced through his heart and he screamed loudly. His voice faded as he felt the energy drain out of his body. He crumpled in his own blood as Flay pulled the sword out of him.
That makes 4. It should be more than enough. She held out her hand to the bars and felt for the magic. When she spotted the weak point, she grinned. Instead of blasting the defenseless bars, she set the protected beam above on fire, removing the spell from the bars. They eroded away; Flay knew now they were only enchanted objects. As she stepped out of the cell, she turned to see a few people beg her to release them as well.
Her grin never faded and she pulled them up to their bars before stabbing their bodies and taking their energy one at a time. When the last man collapsed on the ground, prisoners nearby began to scream louder in great fear. Flay knew she could take their power as well, but she no longer wanted to waste her time in there, and her power was already high enough to destroy even trolls with just one blast.
She regenerated the bars on her cell before floating up to the wall and destroying it with a bolt of energy, escaping through the hole. Now to find more hosts. With them, I will be the most powerful being to ever exist!
Her lust for greater power had already corrupted her, and she flew off to find more.
Shinn heard an explosion from above, but it was fairly common from people trying to escape so he didn't go looking.
Lacus and the others didn't hear it and continued to eat. Athrun had finished cooking breakfast and they all sat down without conversation. Athrun decided to start it.
"So anyway, what are our next plans Kira?"
The violet eyed teen turned to him. "Well, I don't think we need to raid anymore villages, but we do need more allies."
"True enough, but we don't know anyone who would defy the emperor. We may as well be the only ones."
"I doubt it, Shinn cut in, otherwise we wouldn't see the ruin that we didn't cause. A few days ago I saw a number of people who were slaughtered in the fields and then I saw a village completely destroyed."
"They could have been from another empire, Dearka argued, don't forget that."
"Well, if they are, we can ask for aid of course."
"Shinn, don't you remember our policy, Kira reminded, we don't seek aid from nations not of us. Otherwise, we might just be playing into their hands and they could tear our nation limb from limb."
Shinn scowled and bit on his bread. Lacus decided to join the quarrel. "Why are you all fighting against the empire?"
No one answered her question, and they just ate in silence. This only made her growl in irritation. "Please tell me. The least you could do is tell me why you keep rebelling against us."
Athrun looked at her sadly. "It's not a tale we like to talk about Ms. After all, it's very tragic."
Lacus turned away. "I'm sorry to hear, but even so, how could it be so tragic that you would have to destroy your own people to atone for-"
"Didn't you just hear Athrun? Shinn shouted out, We won't say a word about it! You have no idea-"
"Shinn, hold your tongue!" Kira yelled.
Shinn only glared at him. "You dare to insult our brethren Kira? You really have too much kindness for just a simple girl that you have to turn down our peoples' lives for her?"
Kira was now furious, but restrained from using magic. "You are going too far Shinn! None of our people would have wanted us to fight among this matter! You have to understand that it's in the past now!
"We have to look to the future for them," he continued with a moderate tone. Shinn only grunted and returned to his plate, eating in silence for the rest of the meal. Lacus looked at him without daring to speak, not knowing what he would do next if she did. None of them spoke again for the rest of breakfast and they only went back into their matters after finishing.
Then Kira stopped Shinn. "Look, I need you to do something for us now. I want you to leave and find any people with our goal in mind and see if we can make an alliance."
Shinn didn't even argue; he just nodded and walked out the door while the others watched him off. Kira took Lacus back up to his room while Athrun and Dearka went to check on the prisoners.
"So how will this battle start?"
Patrick and Rau were conversing in the empty library and Patrick was becoming impatient about how they had to stall.
"I plan to send one group of yours to fight the bandits we were informed about," Rau said,
"Why waste your time with simple bandits my emperor? After all, we do have more important matters considering the empire growing in the west."
"Power can be shattered from within itself General, and I have no intention of having that happen now. From the report the scout troop sent, the village was entirely burnt to the ground by fire alone. It was well planned which shows that these rebels are no ordinary killers and thieves."
Patrick's eyebrows lowered. "I suppose, but even my smallest groups can easily destroy a handful of people. It's not worth it to use them to kill weaklings."
"We will see. I'm not going to take any risks on this one; this empire can not afford any faults General." He watched as Patrick excused himself to his affairs. Then he turned back to a bookshelf. We have not been stable since my father's rule, but I will not reduce my power. This nation has been given to me, and I will use it as I desire.
Lacus sat on the bed while Kira just stood next to her. She was deep in thought about what she had just heard since her game with Kira and breakfast. It was all so strange. These people were nothing but killers, and yet, they don't seem to cause her any more harm than they wished upon others. The reason was unclear, but she needed to know everything, or be lost in her questioning mind.
"Tell me something at least," she asked quietly.
Kira knew this might have happened, but he didn't give her what she wanted. "I won't say anything to you. None of us will. Please understand that."
Lacus gave up. If he wouldn't give her answers, it was likely she would never get them. But there was something she could try for.
"You know so much about magic."
Kira turned in surprise. "And what do you mean by that?"
"Will you teach me anything?" Lacus was looking up to him, both mentally and physically. If she could learn anything from him about magic, it was possible for her to escape.
Kira thought it over and sat down. "What you would learn from me is something that you wouldn't bear to learn, because our magic is different."
"But it was the same as mine before. I was told you only get dark magic if you commit murder."
Kira sighed. "Well, you were not told everything as it seems. I was born in darkness; I lived in darkness; I was darkness. I was ill fated since I was given the right to live."
Lacus didn't like what she was hearing, but she listened. Kira continued. "My power has never changed; only growing stronger over time. Eventually, I became a beast of magic. I could never tell you how."
"But even so, I have learnt how to strengthen magic through many means, and not just through murder or darkness. Light has its own power to give likewise, not just darkness. Through moral and determination, will and virtue, can you gain the greatest of power the light can offer."
Kira took Lacus' hand and she let him do as he wanted. He traced the palm of it gently and Lacus felt the partially ticklish sensation. He finished with a frown. "It seems you don't have what is needed for your strength. All you have are hate and despair, and neither can move you forward."
The words could only make Lacus grow worse. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She knew she had all that was needed, so why was he saying something so ridiculous?
"You are wavering in your decision, he continued, which means you must focus on what you want. That is all you must do, but it can be a hard choice. There are so many options to choose from, and you can't take so many. Your greatest power can only come from your greatest needs. This is all you need to become stronger."
Kira got up and walked to the door before turning back. "I must warn you that the wrong decisions can also affect your power. If you choose such sins then you will never become stronger." He walked out, leaving Lacus to ponder what he said.
Dearka and Athrun then walked toward him. "What is it?" Kira asked.
"We believe that someone escaped," Athrun answered, leading Kira to the tower. Kira pushed Athrun aside to open the door himself and saw a sight he never thought would happen.
8 bodies limp in 3 cells total, 3 men, 4 women, and one girl with pink hair. Kira grew fearful thinking it was Lacus, but he remembered she was back in his room, safe and sound. He looked above the cell with the girl and saw a scorched beam above the melted bars where the magic held together. That magic was gone.
Kira turned to his acquaintances. "So it seems someone was desperate enough to kill innocents here to make it out himself."
"I think it's a her Kira, Dearka corrected, I brought in a girl with red hair and put her in that cell. I suppose she was the one who caused this."
Athrun and Kira both looked at him in surprise. "A girl? Athrun asked, I didn't expect something like that."
"It doesn't matter now, said Kira, what does matter is that someone has gotten away and we have to find her before our location is leaked throughout the empire."
All 3 of them nodded and ran out the door. Dearka and Kira reached the front door before Athrun was stopped. "You stay here Athrun, Kira ordered, we need someone to guard the house while we are gone." Then he and Dearka ran out of the house without waiting for an answer.
That's the end here. Sorry I didn't put the details of the "Go" game up, but that would take a very long time to do and I don't have much of it right now. And if you are wondering what Komi is, Komi is a modern day rule in "Go" that gives 5 ½ points of territory to white before the game starts since black has the advantage of going first every game. This also breaks ties in a game with the ½ point so white will always win a tie game. So this chapter was not exactly a work of art, but the next will start raking in the real problems and major steps. I also had to rush because I have an important notice and I don't like to leave note chapters (they get annoying for me). I won't be updating for awhile since I'm going on vacation for a few days so, just don't expect any updates for awhile. I decided to give Flay a better part in the story so I made this idea up on the go. Well, have a good day, and I'm going to try and have this story catch up to Undying Semesters before I update it again.