Lian's Peculiar Journey: Starlight Paladins
Chapter 31
THE CHILD OF SORROWS, SERES
"HYAH! HYAH!" Zhin kicked his steed as he and his motley crue made their way down the empty streets of Andilicia. They appeared to be in such a haste and constantly looking over their shoulders as each one rode their own horse- swift stallions of speed and power.
"We're almost out of the city!" Sarah pointed towards the large gates that led to the outside world, "Do you think the enforcers will chase us even in the countryside?"
"Absolutely." Lex responded, "We have power all throughout the realm, especially the rural parts." He murmured. He turned back to see if they were being chased, but all he received was the sound of men and horses with no owner to be seen.
"Lucky for us, the Outer Tribunal always purchases the finest horses."
"Eh, it's not my first time outrunning the law." Sha Lin murmured as he raced in front of Sarah and Moji to a position left of Zhin.
"So, where we going, you guys?" he asked.
Lian, who was immediately behind Zhin, sighed.
"We should be making our way straight to Seris, shouldn't we?" she turned back to Sarah for affirmation.
"Yes." Sarah answered, "It is best to leave this place lest that last child is here. Perhaps she is tending to Serica as we speak, so it's best we beat them to Seris before they are ready."
"Sounds like a plan!" Sha Lin raised his fist, "I call dibs on the first hit!"
"No way, pipsqueak!" Lian scoffed, "You have to get to the back of the line on that queue! I called dibs a long time ago and my Power Khan has been inching to plaster Seris' walls with her face!"
"Ok Princess." Zhin rolled his eyes, "We all have a bone to pick with that wench, so leave enough for the rest of us, eh?"
The Paladins' thunderous charge scared the gate guards, who only stared and held their pikes in shock as the riders came closer and closer.
"Posse coming through!" Lex suddenly took the lead and brought out his badge, "Posse coming through!"
One of the guards lifted a lamp and saw the badge and the man holding it, then pointed to the other guards and gave orders while pointing at the small barricade that had been erected to block traffic. Those guards started to dismantle the small wicker fence as well as directing the two visitors that were trying to enter towards the side of the archway.
"Where would be without you, Lex?" Sarah smiled as she saw what an ease it was escaping the city.
"Probably nowhere good…" Moji, who was hiding in the woman's coat, mumbled.
The guards stepped aside and let the galloping horses through, giving a salute to the Enforcer and his Posse.
"That was easy." Lian sighed and wiped her brow, "Reaching Seris, however, will be another story. Sure, we can reach it before daybreak, but we have the Magistrate Army to worry about then."
"Did you suddenly become chicken?" Zhin smirked, "I thought you were a princess and high royalty to the government."
"I wouldn't be calling anyone out on becoming chicken, Zhin." Lex gave a hearty laugh as he slowed his horse to match their position, "But the archer here has a point. Even my authority may be meaningless to the Magistratus Militarum."
"Well lucky for you, Cop Man, we shouldn't have to worry too much." Sha Lin interjected, "I for one know exactly where to sneak past the grunts of the army. It's all connected to Seris' last residence in Seris. Man, I still can't get over how she's named after that cursed town."
"Shut up and continue." Lian grunted.
"Seris owns an old manor in the Newer addition of Seris." Sha Lin informed them, "That part is actually less difficult to enter than Old Seris, you really just need permission from a higher government official or a valid settler's license… and guess who has one?" the archer reached into his knapsack and pulled out a silver tablet with various engravings and stamps.
"This is how I could meet Seris so easily, she practically gave me one."
"But would cop man over here count as a higher government official?" Zhin asked him while pointed at their enforcer friend.
"I am one of the Sherriff Officers of the Law." Lex interrupted, "I oversee the execution of the Law in all of the Magistrate's outer territories. Only the Head Council Commissioners of the Outer Tribunal is above me in duty and rank."
"Then that must be a high rank." Lian added, "Seeing that Seris is in the Outer Provinces."
"But it is part of the Military protection. Perhaps I could say that there is a criminal in there, but what's stopping them from going in there and fetching them themselves?" Lex pondered, "Regardless, only time will tell."
"I can always sneak us in." Sha Lin held up his settler's decree.
The Paladins shared a laugh, finally lining themselves up in an orderly fashion so they could all see each other.
Their horses snorted loudly as they made their way down the dirt road.
"We're almost there, gang." Sarah spoke up, "All the marbles are on the table now. How does everyone feel."
"Hyped!" Sha Lin was the first to respond.
"My search for Justice is coming to an end!" Lex added, "Resplendent!"
"I couldn't feel any better!" Moji squeaked, "I'm glad we can finally finish this as friends!"
"Fire fills my blood and I'm ready to end this pain to everyone here!" Lian looked at Sarah, "Let's do this!"
"The steel of the sword is about to strike." Zhin finished, "My spirit is ready to cleave through this challenge." He gave a smile and let his long black hair flow in the wind. His gaze turned to the sky and his senses tuned into nature and the night.
It was at that moment he turned but saw there was nothing there.
"Something wrong, Zhin?" Lian, who just got out of her own enlightened experience with the night sky, turned to her ally as she noticed his vigilance.
"Nothing…" the swordsman mumbled.
00000000
It was still night when the Paladins rode into a very small town that only spanned four blocks all nestled into the same dirt road they had been travelling on for about three hours. The only major buildings there was a large inn, a store, a clinic, and a feed silo.
"We should rest." Lex informed his allies as he started to slow down, "The Enforcers of Hadea will take hours to mobilize a large enough search party to scour the lands, rest assured on that fact."
"Finally, my ass is becoming sore from this saddle." Zhin grumbled as he made his way off his horse and towards one of the inns but stopped and looked at their surroundings.
The small rural town was ominously quiet. The only lights that were shining apart those from the heavens were two streetlights and light coming from the windows of the inn lobby. The air was crisp and clean and was moved about by a slight breeze coming from the east.
"I can almost make out the lights of the city." Sarah peered over the horizon and saw a faint glow.
The Paladins all dismounted and took their positions in front of the inn.
"I'm so sleepy…" Moji mumbled as she started to climb up Sarah's leg.
"Must be Serica's stand again." Zhin gave out a small chuckle.
A chuckle that quickly died down when a certain horse came out from the alleyway next to the inn.
A horse with a certain rider on it.
"Ha… Ha… Ha…." Laborious panting came from her trembling body.
Serica's body.
She was glaring at them with such fury and rage that the whites of her eyes could be seen in the darkness.
"It's you!" the Paladins pointed at Serica as she weakly raised her upper body.
"I'm going to kill you all!" the woman screeched, but was stopped when another woman stepped in and touched her right leg.
"Hyah!" the woman, covered by a dark cloak, slapped the horse in the thigh and made it take off down the road.
"Oh no you don't!" Lex pointed at the fleeing villain and called out The Law.
"Lex! Watch out!" Lian turned to see the newcomer reach into her cloak and pull out a pistol.
"EVERYONE DIES IN THEIR NIGHTMARES!" Serica yelled from her horse, and her stand came out. However, this action had a price as the beating of her heart suddenly increased and her vision became blurred. Her breathing became raspy wheezing, but she still kept her wits about her.
"Sister! No!" the woman yelled and saw Power Khan appear from Lian.
"THE LAW!" Lex ordered his stand to fire before he felt the force of sleep overcome him.
The Law aimed its arm cannon and fired.
Then nothing but the wind. The quiet and gentle wind
"We should rest." Lex informed his allies as he started to slow down, "The Enforcers of Hadea will take hours to mobilize a large enough search party to scour the lands, rest assured on that fact."
"Finally, my ass is becoming sore from this saddle." Zhin grumbled as he made his way off his horse and towards one of the inns but stopped and looked at their surroundings.
The small rural town was ominously quiet. The only lights that were shining apart those from the heavens were two streetlights and light coming from the windows of the inn lobby. The air was crisp and clean and was moved about by a slight breeze coming from the east.
"I can almost make out the lights of the city." Sarah peered over the horizon and saw a faint glow.
The Paladins all dismounted and took their positions in front of the inn.
"I'm so sleepy…" Moji mumbled as she started to climb up Sarah's leg.
"Must be Serica's stand again." Zhin gave out a small chuckle, but that was stopped when he heard the whinnies and stomps of a horse.
That very horse suddenly stormed out from the nearby alley and made its way down the road with no concern for the Paladins.
"Wait a minute…" Lian took out Power Khan and used it to see the rider of the horse, "Say! That looks a lot like… SERICA!" she pointed.
"What?!" her allies spoke in shock.
"Are you serious!?" Lex asked, "She's getting away! I can't possibly hit her with The Law!"
"But I can!" Sha Lin laughed and pulled out The Bow, "Take this!" he drew an arrow and fired it.
The arrow careened through the air and aimed straight towards the rider, expertly maneuvering and making barrel rolls as it traveled.
It was now that the cloaked woman appeared from the darkness of the alley and looked at the Paladins, who were completely oblivious to her presence.
All except Moji, whose sensitive ears picked up her footsteps.
"HEY!" she squeaked and called out her stand. Po Li erupted from the dirt below the woman and took her away in a dirt slide.
"What the?!" Sha Lin lost focus of his arrow when the interruption occurred, and it made a sharp turn and struck a post.
"Who was that!?" Zhin turned and with his allies saw as the woman slowly picked herself up and then expertly jumped before a stone boulder version of Po Li struck her.
"Moji, stand down!" Sarah took control of the situation and pointed at the recovering woman, "Who are you? Identify yourself!"
The woman stood up straight and looked at her.
"Aunt Sarah?" she asked, a hint of remorse in her voice. She reached for the hood of her dark cloak and removed it.
It was young woman, a little older looking than Serica, with dirty blonde hair that bordered on light brown. Her face was eerily identical to Seris' from what Sarah could recollect, with the only difference being that her cheeks were fuller. She was shorter than Serica and her figure was much more reserved. She was covered with dark robes, gray and black, like a toga, that ended as a skirt across her pelvis. She had dark leather pants that complimented some dark brown boots which were studded with diamonds at their points.
Compared to Serica, this woman was much more distant and reserved to the point where she avoided to look at the Paladins with her light gray eyes.
"This must be the last daughter of Seris." Zhin stepped forward and immediately took out Thousand Hands, "Surrender now or you will face your sister's fate!" he pointed at her with his hand as his swordsman stand stood close by and did the same with its blade.
"I cannot give up." The woman responded as she held her hands close to her heart.
It was at this moment Sarah noticed that her hands were covered with the same chains and gemstones that once covered her sister.
"Sereno and Serica are counting on me." She continued, "I cannot let you hurt them!"
"Well Sereno is dead, so you lost that chance!" Lex responded, causing the young woman to change.
"No…" the woman shook her head and became visibly distressed, "You're lying! You couldn't kill him!"
"To be fair, he tried to kill us first." Sha Lin shrugged his shoulders.
"What is your name!?" Lian had enough of the conversation.
"My name... is… Seres…." The woman wept, "And I won't let you get away with this!" she screeched so horribly that the Paladins were taken back.
"SERENO!" she cried aloud.
"Just shut her up already!" Zhin scowled as he covered his ears.
Seres wept.
And she wept with such sorrow that Sarah became hesitant in proceeding with violence.
"Seres. Please." She looked into her niece's soul and saw that it was beyond a sickly purple-indigo, the colors of extreme grief and agony.
"Please just listen to me."
"You lie! He's not dead!" Seres glared at them as she started to glow.
"I saw him disappear into the Void. I myself destroyed him!" Lian responded.
"Lian!" Sarah chastised her.
"SHOW US YOUR STAND OR I'LL FORCE IT OUT OF YOU!" the princess continued her anger and brought out Power Khan.
"RAH!" Power Khan shot out and gave a clean uppercut to the woman.
However, she was unfazed.
"What the-"
A purple glow was around Seres as she stood up, revealing the most shocking sight.
Her stand. It was unlike anything they had seen before.
It was not a humanoid, an animal, or even a moving object.
It was a heart.
A black heart or some organ that was directly set over her chest. It had long vine like appendages that wrapped around her body like veins. These veins were gray in color and appeared more like wires than vines.
"This is my stand…" Seres mumbled as she opened her cloak to reveal more of these veins running across her body.
A shine appeared from the stand and for a few moments her adversaries were blinded.
"I need to get away from here…" Seres murmured as she started to pull out her pistol from her cloak, "But they must pay for her crimes…" she glared at Lian and aimed straight at her head.
KAPOW!
KAPOW!
KAPOW!
A gun fired, but it was not Seres'.
"Zhin!"
Zhin's ears immediately perked up and he and his allies' sights returned.
"Yamina!"
The Paladins stood in shock as Yamina had her smoking revolver aimed directly at Seres' back.
"Ah… Ah…." Blood trickled down Seres' mouth as she fell to her knees, "Who…" she turned to see the obviously shaken desert woman staring at her.
"Y-Y-Y-You tried to kill my friends…" Yamina spoke as she lowered her revolver according to the enemy's movements.
"Yamina! What are you doing here!?" Zhin ran to her side and guarded her from the dying young woman.
"Finally… You will see the true power of my Stand…" Seres' hoarsely spoke as blood filled her lungs.
The heart stand on her chest started to beat wildly, streaks of white light racing across the 'veins' that ran across her body.
But interestingly, these white streaks were going towards the heart instead of away from it.
"I will return to you all… I always will." She panted, "That is the nature of:
SAD!."
Seres looked at Yamina as the color from her eyes started to fade.
"You killed me…" she told her, "And thus my stand SAD! Is complete…"
From the heart sprouted a valve which immediately shot out a small black ball.
"THOUSAND HANDS!" Zhin saw that it was heading straight towards them and called out his stand.
The swordsman stand drew out its sword and swiped at the sphere, but the most shocking thing happened.
The stand's sword merely went through the item.
Even when Zhin tried to catch it with his hand it merely phased through.
Phased through and struck Yamani square in the chest.
"WHAT THE!?" the rest of the Paladins gasped in shock as the black sphere burrowed in her chest.
"Ah.. Ah…." Yamina groaned as she felt a pain in her chest, and unbeknownst to her that black sphere shot out metallic vines that burrowed and wrapped across her body.
"YAMINA!" Zhin yelled in horror as he ran to her side.
Seres smiled.
"SAD!..."
A shining light.
"What is your name!?" Lian had enough of the conversation and called out Power Kha to threaten her.
"My name.. is… Seres…." Seres wept, but stopped it before it became uncontrollable, "And I won't let you get away with the death of my brother…" she lowly spoke.
"Ms. Sarah?" Moji interrupted the scene and pointed behind the daughter of Seris, "Who is that behind her?"
The Paladins took this time to notice two figures behind Seres.
One was tall and lean, immediately recognized as a camel.
The other, however, sent a chill down their spines.
"YAMINA!" Zhin cried out.
Poor Yamina had the expression of deep melancholy and depression, but what horrified him the most was the large black flower that had sprouted on her chest and had metallic vines wrapped around her.
"This is my stand…. SAD!." Seres informed them as she showed them her heart shaped stand once again, "With it… we will never forget what you did…."
"What did you do to Yamina!?" Lian pointed at the woman as she started to walk away, "You're not escaping!"
Seres saw that Power Khan was ready to attack and turned to shoot the camel behind her.
The beast panicked and charged, toppling Zhin and making the Paladins scatter. This action in and of itself gave Seres the opportunity to escape from all but one of the Paladins.
"READY OR NOT!" Sha Lin jumped to the side with The Bow and aimed it.
Seres saw this action and ran into the alleyway.
"Zhin!" Lex called to his ally, "The stand user-" he saw that the swordsman was not even paying attention.
Zhin was holding Yamina's right hand as she lay there weeping to herself. She was muttering nothings to herself as her eyes lost their luster and color. The only life these eyes had were the tears welling up in them, which eventually streamed down and made mud in the dirt road underneath her.
"Yamina, what are you doing here…" he spoke to himself with such anger that he bared his teeth.
"Zhin…" Sarah walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder, which he immediately buffed away with his body.
"You told me you weren't going to follow after me." The swordsman continued and clenched her hand, "You promised me!"
"Zhin! She's going to be alright!" Lex did a quick check on her pulse and turned to him, "Listen to me-"
"Don't you tell me that when there's this thing on her!" Zhin erupted and grabbed Lex by his cape. He pushed the black man away forcefully and took out his stand.
"I'm going to carve that bitch's face into pieces!"
"ZYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!" Thousand Hands attacked the flower and vines with expert precision in order not to damage Yamina's body, but every pierce and slash met with the blade deflecting with no visible damage to the thing.
"Is this a stand?" Sha Lin asked his allies as he inspected the item.
"Yes." Sarah inspected the phenomenon through the Pyre, and saw that this item was not part of Yamina nor a physical object.
"We have to go get that Seres girl!" Lian alerted them as she caught sight of Seres standing in the alleyway fumbling with something.
"We can go get her!" Sha Lin grabbed her hand and started to take her to the alley.
"I'll be here with Zhin and Yamina." Sarah told Lex.
"I'll guard you as well!" Moji stood in front of her.
Lex nodded and made his way trailing behind Lian and Sha Lin.
Sarah sighed and turned to Zhin, who was slowing down his efforts on attacking the stand once he noticed the attempt was futile.
"I will…." The swordsman panted and fell to his knees, "Yamina…"
"Why is the world so gray…?" Yamina spoke as she stared blankly down the road, "All I feel… all I see… is pain."
"Yamina, don't say things like that…" Zhin told her as he placed his hand over her head.
"What's wrong with her, Ms. Sarah?" Moji asked, quite saddened by the state of the young woman.
"She's sad, Moji." Sarah saw Yamina's soul through the pyre and saw that it was a sickly mix of purple, gray, and deep blue, "Very sad. Zhin… let me see something…"
Zhin was hesitant at first but removed his hands from Yamina's head and nodded.
Sarah usurped this place and took a deep breath. Her hands gained a surge of Pyre energy which made them glow.
Immediately Sarah began to slowly see something.
What Yamina was seeing.
Yamina's weeping intensified as her mind wandered and the constricting nature of the alien stand that infected her took its toll. Even though she could not see what was causing such pain, she could very well feel it in her body, soul, and mind.
What she saw physically was a world without color. The heavens were not the deep indigo blue they once were, and the many twinkling stars had lost their luster.
Life, to her, appeared to be like an old noir film- expressionless, grainy, and without vibrance.
But it was what her mind's eye was seeing that was really sapping her.
Both she and Sarah were seeing many of the past events of her life playing like a highlight reel, but all these past events were depressing or morbid moments.
She remembered of her pet parakeets being devoured by an alley cat when she was a young girl, how she wept at the foot of that cage as she held feathers and skin in her hands.
Then her memories brought her to the destruction of her first home to a fire.
Sarah became saddened at all the memories that Yamina was reminded of.
Yamina cried when she remembered the death of her first dog.
"What's going on with her, Sarah…?" Zhin asked her.
"This stand is making her relive all the most painful events in her memory over and over again." Sarah answered him with pain in her tone, "This must be the secret to Seres' stand…"
"That means Mr. Lex and Ms. Lian should be careful!" Moji gulped.
"Zhin…"
Zhin's ears perked when he heard and saw Yamina move. A first, and he was extremely overjoyed at the fact that the young woman had gained enough ability to sit up.
"Sarah." Yamina turned to Sarah, a distant expression in her eyes, "Zhin…"
For just a moment, a sparkle of color returned.
"Yamina, are you alright?" Zhin held her shoulders.
"It's… The world is so gray…" Yamina spoke plainly and with none of the sincere and joyful attitude she once held, "So cold, so barren… Perhaps it would just be better to return to a better time…"
"What are you saying?" Zhin shook his head, "Don't listen to that plant, you hear me?"
"All I see is sadness… This is what that woman showed me." Yamina continued, "But…"
"That was her stand, Yamina." Sarah interrupted her, "You probably won't understand it since you can't see it, but it's a spirit that is affecting you! You need to tell us everything!"
Yamina sighed and turned to see Moji.
She saw her injured ear and wept, for she was reminded of how her sister was once injured near fatally when they were playing.
"I just want to go back!" she cried out, "I want to go back like that woman! I never want to live this life!"
"What do you mean!?" Zhin was becoming frustrated and picked her up in his arms, "Yamina, I'm here for you-"
"Get back here!" Sha Lin yelled, and the three Paladins saw that their allies and Seres had appeared back on the road but a good distance away after coming out from another alley way.
"Take this!" Seres pulled out a long gun from her coat and unleashed its payload on them.
"RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH!" Power Khan appeared and protected Lian, but Sha Lin and Lex had to dive for cover.
The mere sight of Seres incensed Zhin, who set down Yamina and let her stand on her own accord.
"I'm going to end this!" he yelled and ran towards Seres.
Seres turned to see the man and his stand running straight towards her and was about to turn the rifle, but heard the unfortunate click of the magazine.
"I'm GOING TO CUT YOU IN HALF!" Zhin roared and made his stand flying in front of him.
"SAD!..." Seres gulped
At the last second, Zhin crouched, catching the woman off guard.
Zhin looked back at Yamina and saw that she was looking at him, but with her lack of emotion he could not tell what she was thinking.
But this was no time to worry about that, this was the time to put the steel of the sword to the fire.
"Time to die…" the swordsman muttered under his breath
Thousand Hand spun in place and removed its armor, then in less than a blink of an eye was already a good distance past Seres.
"By the gods…" Lian gasped, as even with Power Khan's fast and precise eyesight she could barely keep up with the movement Thousand Hands just committed.
"By the gods is right…" Sha Lin gulped when he saw a glowing red streak across Seres' midsection, completely bypassing the heart and veins of her stand.
"Aaaaaah….. ah….." Seres moaned as she lost all feeling of her lower body.
Sarah covered Moji's eyes as quickly as she could.
Yamina stood in absolute shock.
Seres' legs fell forward, leaving her upper body to collapse to the ground.
"ZYAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Thousand Hands returned and struck SAD! as it lay over Seres' body.
"I'm going to destroy your wicked stand!" yelled Zhin, but then started to notice something.
Just like the flower and vines on Yamina, this stand too seemed to be indestructible.
"RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH RAH!" Power Khan suddenly joined in and also tried to damage SAD!, but it was not use.
Seres smiled as blood trailed down her mouth.
Once again the white pulses of light raced down the veins and into the heart.
Yamina looked at this and stretched out her hand to the bewilderment of Sarah and Moji.
"Zhin!"
"SAD!..."
A flash of light.
Yamina saw as the world was suddenly overlayed with a purplish color scheme for as far as she could see, then it happened.
Just as she had seen before.
Seres, who had been cleaved in two, was now being put back together as her legs stood straight back up and her upper body set itself back into place.
Zhin rose up from his crouch and walked in reverse back towards her.
Sha Lin, Lian, and Lex also started to walk back into reverse from whence they came.
Seres turned back to see Yamina staring at her as she also started to reverse walk back into the alleyway.
Yamina, however, stayed in place, even when Zhin reached the place where he originally was and outstretched his arms when he was carrying her.
Then the purple scheme faded.
"Get back here!" Sha Lin yelled, and the three Paladins saw that their allies and Seres had appeared back on the road but a good distance away after coming out from another alley way.
"Huh?" Zhin looked at his arms and then looked at Yamina who was standing next to him, "Yamina… How- when did you." He was confused.
The desert woman was about to answer when the melancholy returned.
The memories stronger than ever.
Thank you for all my readers who have waited since my pause!
Please review! Stay tuned for the next part!