December 30, 2021
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Dust II: Elysian Kingdom
Chapter 17 — Falls on Me
After Dust and Sanjin had secured their triumph over Toru, albeit only temporarily, they immediately made sure that Corbin was unharmed. Sanjin carefully untied the boy's hands from behind the jail cell's bars while Dust checked his vital signs. Everything turned up fine; it would just be awhile until he awoke.
Of course, Dust took it upon himself to carry his young sidekick out of the abandoned church all the way back to Aurora Palace, feeling mostly responsible for what had happened to him. Sanjin grabbed hold of the still-dormant Blade of Baelrah along with the knocked-out Toru, planning to hopefully interrogate him for valuable information when he finally came to. Exiting the building, the Moonblood commander bravely led the group towards their home with Fidget following behind Dust, still somewhat melancholy.
Tears flowed freely from Colleen's deep blue eyes when she noticed her brother nestled in Dust's arms as the group showed up at the entrance of the village at last. The girl wrapped her arms around them both and sobbed into her brother's chest, but Dust quickly assured her that he had suffered no injuries and was simply unconscious, much to her relief. She joined Dust and Fidget in bringing Corbin to the palace's infirmary where Ginger could monitor him, while Sanjin hauled the ex-warden downstairs to the basement.
Everyone could breathe a sigh of relief, at least for the moment.
Down below the palace's ground floor was a small, damp room illuminated by a lone flameless light. There wasn't much but a single jail cell separating the room in half with its bars, and two pairs of shackles attached to the back wall. With Elder Gray Eyes holding Baelrah and watching from the other side, Sanjin placed the ex-warden down onto the cell's floor, lifting his hands up to lock them into the iron cuffs, doing the same with his ankles. They certainly had not planned on using the dungeon anytime soon, but it was what needed to be done. Regaining consciousness, Toru hazily opened his eyes.
"Welcome to your new home," Sanjin greeted sarcastically.
Staying silent, Toru looked up and around to analyze his situation within the darkened area, subtly pulling on the chains above his head to test their strength, clearly avoiding eye contact with either the Elder or Sanjin.
"Hmph, how ironic," he finally spoke up, his voice a bit raspy. "Keeping me here is no different than what we did to your soldiers and sympathizers. I guess these things go both ways."
Sanjin instantly thrust one of his hands at his captive's throat with a blazing fury in his eyes. "I could kill you right now if you really want to make it even." With his neck forced upward, Toru chose not to respond.
"Calm yourself, Sanjin," the Elder advised. "There's nothing he can do to us now. Please proceed with the interrogation."
"..Of course," the Moonblood warrior said with reservation as he forcefully retracted his arm and stepped back.
"Let me save you the trouble," Toru interjected, his head hanging low. "You can say or do whatever you want to me, but I have sworn an oath to never reveal anything about my master or his plans; you'll get absolutely nothing out of me."
The Elder sighed as Sanjin grit his teeth and formed fists with both of his hands. Holding in his anger, the soldier turned his back and hesitantly retorted, "Fine by me. The faster you rot away in here, the better."
With that, he walked past Elder Gray Eyes in silence, making way for the stairwell. When Sanjin was gone, The Elder focused his gaze on Toru, who had not moved a muscle.
"I'm not exactly sure what your master is after," he began, "but we will find him, and he will be stopped. The gods will not withhold their judgment of him."
Following a short pause, Toru scoffed at the Elder's words. "Still clinging to those false gods of yours, huh? Just know this—when our goal is realized, your faith might as well have never existed."
Nothing more was said between them.
When the brief interrogation of Toru yielded no substantial results, Elder Gray Eyes and Sanjin returned back upstairs to meet with Dust, Fidget, Ahrah, and Ginger yet again. They were all sitting in the second floor meeting room, with Ginger joining the former trio after she made sure Corbin was comfortable in the infirmary as Colleen stayed with him.
"Ah, good to see you're all here," the Elder greeted as he walked into the curtained room with Sanjin right behind him.
Dust immediately stood up from his seat, clearly eager to hear what had happened. "You're done already?! What did you find out?"
"Absolutely nothing. The damn lackey is sworn to secrecy," Sanjin informed, making Dust visibly disappointed. The two of them joined the group at the cushion seats, the Elder placing Baelrah on the table where Ahrah and Evah also rested.
"That's three now," Ginger observed under her breath. Fidget leaned on the edge of the table, focusing on the newest spear-like Blade.
"Indeed. Two remain to be revealed, and we have no leads. However, I hope we can use this downtime to our advantage," Elder Gray Eyes began. "Mithrarin, would you quickly summarize what happened out there for us, if you please?"
Dust held his head down with a hint of unease, before looking back up at the table. "It was rough. Before fighting Toru and recovering Baelrah, we came face-to-face with a man named Lazarus; the mastermind behind everything."
That last statement clouded the room in a menacing aura. Ginger gasped as even Elder Gray Eyes himself was shocked to hear that they had an encounter with their elusive enemy. Sanjin grit his teeth and looked down to the side, not wanting to remember what he'd seen and learned back there.
"..So, you've finally seen him with your own eyes," the Elder added.
"Not just that. We were all rendered powerless at the mercy of his horrid abilities; no doubt a product of pure corruption. It was almost unbearable, like being constricted by a swirling swarm of vines."
"It was the worst thing I've ever felt…" Fidget lamented, folding her arms and shivering.
"Unfortunate how you had to experience that; I cannot imagine," the Elder consoled.
"I'm just grateful we made it out alive," Dust admitted. "In addition, Lazarus knew of both Cassius and General Gaius. I was momentarily surprised, but I assumed that's because Toru must've fed him a great deal of information. He somehow knew Toru was the perfect target for corruption."
"Still, that's quite interesting. Do you think you could give us a physical description of this 'Lazarus'? Anything to help us possibly locate him."
Dust nodded. "He was a taller than average adult bat, with pale white hair, dark purple body fur, a white patch over his face similar to a Nimbat… He wore all black, and glared at us with bright yellow eyes. His wings were also torn in random places; perhaps the result of a debilitating conflict at some point in his life."
"That's very helpful, Mithrarin; thank you. We can mention these features when gathering information," Elder Gray Eyes concluded, then turned to his second-in-command. "Sanjin, if you would, begin with questioning all our active soldiers to find out if they have sighted anyone matching this description, then move on to the villagers."
"Of course, sir," Sanjin saluted before exiting the room.
The Elder focused back to the table. "As for the Blades of Elysium… Ahrah, have you had any luck communicating with Evah, and do you sense Baelrah here now?"
The sentient sword gave his insights. "I have no trouble sensing that they're here with us. However, they both remain dormant, as they have been since we first freed them of the corruption."
"There's no mistaking it then. We will definitely need an enormous concentration of lunar magic to awaken their souls yet again." Trailing off that last response, the Elder noticed that Dust was holding his fist up to his chin in a dissociative state, clearly deep in thought. "Is everything alright, Mithrarin?"
Dust's ears perked up as everyone turned to him, bringing him back to reality. "Oh, y-yeah.. I'm just overthinking things a bit."
Sensing his anxious feelings, Ginger spoke up with a suggestion. "Hey, why don't you and Fidget go for a walk to get some fresh air? You definitely deserve to relax a bit after everything that's happened so far…"
"A good idea for sure," the Elder commended.
"Yeah, c'mon Dust, let's go for a walk! Well, you'll be the one walking, I'll just be, uh, flying, next to you, like.. yeah you get it." Ginger giggled at Fidget's demeanor.
"Haha, you're right; it wouldn't hurt."
"I will stay here then," Ahrah declared. "They may not be awakened, but I wish to spend some time with my brother and sister as much as I can, and pray their voices return to us post-haste."
"No problem, Ahrah. We'll be back before long," Dust said as he got up from his seat. Fidget perched on his shoulder and Ginger waved goodbye to them.
"See you soon!"
It had been much too long since Dust had the chance to observe the forested area around Aurora Village, especially without an immediate goal or threat distracting him from absorbing all of its tranquility. He and Fidget had already made their way outside of the palace and began their worry-free walk through the trees. The Nimbat knew the area like the back of her paw, so she thought it would be a nice sentimental trip down memory lane to discreetly direct Dust back to the very same glade where she first discovered him.
On the way there, the two were able to have a pleasant conversation for the first time in ages. "So do you stay at Aurora Palace all the time?" Dust wondered.
"Pretty much, I love living there with everyone!" Fidget exclaimed, to which Dust smiled. "But I do go back home every once in a while to visit the family. I'm basically a celebrity now too!"
"Oh really? I'm glad to hear that! How is it since they don't have to watch after Ahrah anymore?"
"They said it was kinda lonely at first, especially since I wasn't there either, but they quickly grew to enjoy not having that responsibility, haha."
"Sounds like laziness is an essential Nimbat trait," Dust teased.
"Hey!" Fidget retorted, playfully punching his shoulder.
"Kidding, haha, I'm kidding!"
"Yeah well, just cuz it's true doesn't mean you have to say it…" Before Dust could form another reply, Fidget's keen senses picked up a sound in the trees. "Did you hear that?"
"Huh?" Dust turned to her, confused. "Is something there?"
"I dunno, but I definitely heard leaves rustling."
"It was probably just the breeze, Fidget. That happens all the time."
"Yeah but this was like.. a sudden movement," she elaborated, focusing down the path. She cautiously flew a bit farther, before hearing the rustling once more. "There it is again!"
This time, Fidget began flying as fast as she could through the forest towards where she sensed the noise. Dust sighed in annoyance, running after her. Whatever made the sound must've started jumping through the trees to avoid getting caught, with Fidget following the rustling with stunning persistence. Dust was just shocked that his sidekick could fly faster than he could run.
Eventually, the group approached a clearing. With the Nimbat still ahead of him, Dust stepped on an inconspicuous pile of leaves on the path, activating the hidden trap that had been laid underneath them. A looped piece of rope tightened around the hero's ankle and pulled upwards, immediately hoisting his whole body into the air and leaving him to hang down from a nearby tree branch.
"Fidget, help!"
"What happened?! I missed it!" Fidget shouted as she turned back, looking around frantically.
"..Up here."
She finally focused skyward to see Dust hanging upside down by his leg. "Wow, an ankle rope trap… That is so cliché."
"Yet very effective," an unknown voice spoke from beyond the clearing.
"Who are you?! Show yourself!" Fidget called out confidently.
After a pause, a figure dropped down from one of the trees into the open area. The source of the rustling turned out to be a shorter-than-average teenage girl, having off-white fur, downward drooping ears, a short but bushy tail, and light green hair with four jade streaks in the right fringe. She wore a hooded, shawl-like crop top emblazoned with a foreign symbol that hung over her shoulders and clasped over her chest, with a black bra and decorative choker underneath. Her pants had designs on the sides and ended below the knees, bandages covering both her lower arms and legs down to her ankles.
Most notably, however, was the weapon she held backwards in her left hand: a fairly lengthy sword resembling a katana, with protrusions and runes that were all too familiar.
"What are you doing with that blade?!" Dust yelled to her without hesitation.
"So many questions, ugh! ..My name is Cordera," the girl began after a sigh, "I hail from the Kojose ninja clan, and I've been spying on you from the shadows pretty much whenever you've been in the area."
"The Kojose clan?" Dust asked, remembering when Elder Gray Eyes mentioned that name back before they first left for Hotel Clarity.
"The one and only! Oh, and if you must know, this katana was a gift from my father, Dangodo. He had it forged especially for me to wield, and entrusted me with defeating you in honorable combat!"
The name Dangodo was also mentioned by the Elder; he was the clan's current ruler, and supposedly his close friend. Obviously Cordera's statement about the newly revealed Blade of Elysium was a false memory brought upon by corruption, just as was the case with Nadia.
Dust struggled to get out of the girl's trap. "Fidget, get me down quick so we can fight her!"
"No no, this just won't do. Our battle has to take place in a suitable arena, and if I win, it'll prove that you're a weakling who is unfit to defend our kingdom from threats!"
"What the HECK are you saying?!" Fidget butt in, throwing her arms in the air.
Cordera sighed again. "My father would've loved to become sovereign of Falana. He's proud of our clan, and the camp we call home, but he'd always dreamed of ruling an entire kingdom. Your dumb Elder just had to take over first!"
"Woah woah, hold on there, bucko. Elder Gray Eyes said that there were no objections when he decided to become the sovereign!"
"Pfft, yeah right," the girl replied, dismissing Fidget's argument. "My father would never give up an opportunity like that so easily! Anywho, I'll be waiting inside the tallest temple at the Kojose clan camp, a bit south from here. Come fight me if you think you can handle it!"
"Hey wait a-" Dust started as Cordera instantly threw something onto the ground that caused a burst of smoke to surround where she was standing, and when it cleared, she was gone. Dust grunted in disappointment. "..Damn. Fidget, would you get me down, please?"
"Yeeeah, let's see what I can do," the Nimbat said as she flew over to the rope around Dust's ankle and tried to untie the knot. After a bit, the rope loosened enough to let the hero fall straight to the ground.
"Ngh! There wasn't an easier way to do it?!"
"Hey, you think these stubby little arms could've lowered you down nice and easy?!"
"It's okay, I'll live," Dust accepted. "Now let's go! We gotta tell the Elder and Ahrah about this!"
Fidget was saddened by how her plans turned out. "Fiiine. Ugh, so much for that relaxing walk. I was gonna take you back to where we first met and everything…"
"Aww, that's where you were leading me?" Dust realized. "Alright, I promise we'll go back there once all of this is over. Okay?"
"..You better keep that promise, doofus."
[Hooboy, what a year this was lol. I originally planned to have two chapters done since I had a ton of free time after leaving my job earlier this year, but I guess the inspiration just wasn't in me :( However, I knew I wanted to get at least one chapter done, since if I didn't then this would've been the only year since I started without a new one, and I definitely wouldn't be happy about that, so here it is c: Unfortunately, getting art done in general has also been slow, so I won't make promises about that for next year haha but there will for sure be at least one new chapter in 2022 :P Anyways, hope you enjoy~]
