Disclaimer: I do not own Magic: The Gathering, only my own characters.
CHAPTER 5-Seek and Destroy
Chihowaido surveyed the village ahead. Composed of thatched roof cottages, it looked perfectly innocent, just sitting there on the open plain, but the evil of the ghells lay within, waiting like a coiled serpent for the opportunity to strike.
He looked back at his platoon of knights; they looked nervous. All of them were hardened warriors who had seen the evil of the ghells in many battles; they knew the danger they were facing. Even with the Keeper of White Mana at their side, they were on edge, ready for any eventuality.
As they entered the village, the citizens parted before them in fear and awe. Chihowaido paid they no heed. He led his troops to the center of the village, the crowd following them.
Upon reaching their destination, Chihowaido called for a halt. One of the knights stepped forwards and pulled out a scroll. Unfurling it, he began reading in a loud, booming voice.
"Citizens of Noomah!" he read "There is a ghell living among you! By order of Chihowaido, Keeper of White Mana, you are to bring them forth so the Keeper may bring his justice upon them! Should you refuse of cooperate, we will ransack this village until they are found! Anyone found to be sheltering the ghell shall suffer the wrath of the Keeper!"
A hubbub erupted among the villagers, growing to a deafening roar, until Chihowaido threw his hand up, his mana exploding in a loud bang. The crowd grew silent at the awesome display of the Keeper's power.
"I shall only ask once," said Chihowaido in a low voice "Where is the ghell?"
The crowd parted and two men dragging a young boy appeared. They threw him at the Keeper's feet before retreating back into the crowd. The child cowered in fear before Chihowaido. The Keeper stared at the boy: he couldn't be older than ten, but he was already tainted with the evil of the ghell. Chihowaido glared at him with intense fury.
"Ghell!" he spat "You are not worthy of being in my presence, let alone being alive!"
A scream of anguish went up from the crowd and a woman broke through the front row. Throwing herself upon the boy, she wept bitterly while begging for mercy.
"Not my child!" she wailed "Mercy, Keeper! I beg of you! Take my life if you must, but spare my boy!"
"Move aside, woman," said Chihowaido "This ghell is no longer your child. He is now an enemy of the Multiverse and must be destroyed for our safety."
"He's only a boy!" said the mother "He did not choose this path! He can do no harm!"
"We are at war with the Keeper of Black Mana," said Chihowaido "He is drawing all ghells to him. It is only a matter of time before this one joins him. We cannot allow the black Keeper to gain more allies. Take her away," he added to the knights.
Two knights stepped forwards and pried the mother's hands from her child. They dragged her away kicking and screaming at the men to release her.
"Now," said Chihowaido, turning back to the boy and drawing his sword "As Keeper of White Mana, bringer of justice, I find you guilty of being a threat to the Multiverse and a traitor to the Alliance. For these crimes, you are condemned to be Cleansed!" His sword began shining brightly, the white light enveloping the Keeper and the boy. The onlookers had to shield their eyes and turn away from the blinding light as the child's screams filled the air. When the light faded, only Chihowaido remained; the child had vanished.
The villagers stared in horror and anger at Chihowaido's cruelty. Many of them looked as though they wished to tear the Keeper to bits, but their fear kept them from doing so.
"Raze the village," Chihowaido told his soldiers "It has been tainted by the ghell's evil."
Chihowaido flew across the plains back to his castle, the scent of blood and smoke thick in his nostrils.
Chihowaido opened his eyes. It was night and the pale moonlight filtered through his window, casting a rectangle of light upon the floor. The Aven was lying spread eagle on his bed, his wings tangled with the bed sheets. Freeing himself, the Keeper stood up and walked over to the window.
His bedroom in Lu Chao's small fortress overlooked the rolling golden plains that surrounded the fortress on all sides. In fact, the entire planet seemed to be nothing more than one huge plain. He'd been hiding out on this plane ever since he'd split from the Keepers. It had been a week by this plane's time, but according to Lu Chao, only a day had passed on Dominaria. During this time, he'd been training in view of his next encounter with Chikuro. He'd re-worked his strategy, something he's been meaning to do ever since he awoke but couldn't since his host had kept him locked up.
As he breathed in the cool night air, his mind wandered back to his dream. Ever since he'd taken control of his host's body, memories kept coming back to him; memories of the War of the Keepers. These memories fuelled his hatred of the black Keeper from the horrors he saw in them and strengthened his resolve to stop Chikuro before he returned to his old ways. Chikuro had claimed to be reformed, but Chihowaido knew this was merely a ruse to get the other Keepers off-guard. He might have fooled them, but Chihowaido wasn't falling for it. Ghells never change. They were practically, genetically programmed to be evil.
He sighed. The problem of the Keeper of Black Mana weighed heavily on his mind. Taking a swig of water from the pitcher by his bed, he sat down to think things over.
Lu Chao had informed him the other Keepers of Mana were still alive, and that Chiruu had awakened. Who would have thought Arrathir's girlfriend would have turned out to be a Keeper of Mana? The fact that Chikuro had not made his move yet puzzled him. He was certain that as soon as all the Keepers had awakened, Chikuro would drop the act. Perhaps he was waiting for Chihowaido to return in order to kill all the Keepers in one clean sweep.
There would be time to think things over in the morning. For now, he needed rest. Getting back in bed, the white Keeper soon drifted off to sleep.
"Is there any way to stop Chihowaido?" Charles asked Lu Chao.
The Planeswalker and the two Keepers were seated around the fire, taking a quick breakfast.
"It would be possible, yet improbable," said Lu Chao "Chihowaido is in an imbalance. Being kept sealed up for so long, especially while Erik was aware of his presence must have taken toll on his mind."
"You're saying he's gone mad?" asked Charles.
"Put yourself in his shoes," said Lu Chao "He sacrificed himself for the greater good, only to learn that it was in vain and that the evil he was trying to destroy is back."
"I don't get it," said Khell "He's seen how Chikuro's changed, so why is he still hell-bent on killing him?"
"We've been over this," said Charles "He can't think of Chikuro in any other way than a villain ready to finish what he started. Also, he's got a natural animosity towards him since their colors are enemies."
"Even if Chihowaido were to be defeated, I doubt it would help our present situation," said Lu Chao.
"Why?" asked Khell.
"He's lost all chance of his host ever accepting him. He has shattered the last bond of trust that attached him to his host," said Chiburuu.
"As long as the two halves are not a whole, they will fail," said Lu Chao.
"Just like the Keepers," said Chiburuu "United we stand; divided we fall."
"So, how did you get started in Magic?" asked Arrathir.
Eva looked up from the stream where she was washing her face. The two Keepers had traveled aimlessly through the valley during the morning. By lunch, they had reached the edge of the valley where the ground began to slope upwards towards the high peaks of the mountains that surrounded the valley. They'd decided to take a rest by the stream that ran down from the mountains.
"My father," said Eva "He was a fairly successful Magic player. Never made it to the pro leagues, but he still managed to make a name for himself in the Magic community."
"What did he run?" asked Arrathir.
"Merfolks," said Eva "I inherited my passion for the game from him."
"I suppose he must have expected a lot from you, eh?" asked Arrathir.
"He never pushed me into the game," said Eva "I picked it up on my own, building decks out of spare cards. Eventually, he began to notice this and started teaching me more about the game."
"So were you trying to recreate his long-lost dream of going pro at the PTQ?" asked Arrathir.
"I've been trying to go pro since I was fifteen," said Eva "Unfortunately, I was a lot more impatient and irritable back then, teen hormones and whatnot."
"More irritable and impatient?" said Arrathir "I find that hard to believe."
"Hey!" said Eva, playfully slugging his shoulder.
"Does it hurt talking about them, your parents?" asked Arrathir.
"Yes," said Eva "They loved me very much and I miss them terribly. Maybe when this whole mess is over, we could travel back in time to warn them about the Slivers or something."
"I've thought of that," said Arrathir "Using time travel to save my mother, but I've realized that altering the past is wrong; after all, we don't fully understand it."
"You did it, when I died," said Eva.
"Everything happens for a reason," said Arrathir "If you hadn't died, I wouldn't have met Charles."
"So you're saying my parents were meant t die?" asked Eva.
"I don't know!" yelled Arrathir "The point is: we can't undo what has been done. Chiburuu would never accept! The only reason he sent me back was because Charles had a crush on you!"
"So now its Charles' fault for having feeling towards me?" yelled Eva, jumping up and pointing an accusatory finger at Arrathir.
"When did I ever say it was Charles' fault?" asked Arrathir.
"You say we shouldn't alter the past for our own purposes," yelled Eva "Apparently, this doesn't apply to you!"
"Eva!" said Arrathir "Don't you think Charles would save your parents if he could? Hell, why doesn't he just send me back so I can tell my past self everything that's going to happen during the Awakening and exactly who the Keepers of Mana are? If he did that, it would radically alter the future since my past self would try to make what I told him happen and probably wouldn't make the same decisions as I did! Changing the past can have radical repercussions on the future. It's the butterfly effect! What if, by trying to save your parents, we end up making the Awakening fail?"
"So in other words, you don't give a shit about my parents!" yelled Eva. She charged at Arrathir, ready to knock him into next week. The black Keeper decided this would be an excellent time to run away.
"Where are you, Arrathir?" asked Eva in a singsong voice "You can't hide. I can sense your mana!"
Arrathir, who was currently hiding behind a large boulder, knew she was right. His flight from Eva had led them into the mountains surrounding the valley. Peeking around the boulder, he saw the coast was clear. Scanning the area, he saw a nearby cave. It would do. Dashing across the open terrain, he expected a Fireball to hit him at any moment, but he made it safely to the cave.
As he rushed in, his foot caught on a rock and he fell in a clatter of stones and a string of expletives. As he picked himself up, a low growl echoed through the cavern and Arrathir saw a shape moving in the gloom that filled the rear of the cave. Two golden eyes appeared in the darkness, staring piercingly at Arrathir. As they came closer, the body of an enormous dragon appeared.
Its body was a deep blue, almost black. A small frill surrounded its head, going from the jaw line to the two horns, which were slightly curved towards the back of the head. Its pointed muzzle was slightly open, revealing its sharp teeth. Two leathery wings lay folded on the creature's back, awaiting flight. The dragon snorted at Arrathir, extremely irritated at the intruder.
Arrathir was now faced with an interesting choice: run outside and face Eva's wrath, or stay here and face the dragon's.
I think I'll take my chances with the dragon.
However, the dragon made the choice for Arrathir and the black Keeper bolted from the cave like a bat out of Hell, a tongue of flames on his tail.
"Gotcha!" said Eva, appearing out of nowhere and tackling Arrathir to the ground.
"As much as I'd love to continue this conversation," said Arrathir "We've got a bigger problem!" He pointed to the mouth of the cave, from which the dragon was emerging.
"Holy…" said Eva, getting off Arrathir and staring in awe at the dragon.
"I've got this," said Arrathir, charging up a Terror spell.
"Wait, no!" said Eva, batting Arrathir's arm away as he released the spell. The Terror whizzed past the dragon's head and impacted with a boulder behind it, shattering the rock and showering the Keepers with fragments of rock. "You can't just kill it!" yelled Eva "Look at that power, that majesty!"
"Eva, that power and majesty wants to make us it lunch!" said Arrathir "We've got no choice! Its not like we can ask it not to eat us or anything!"
"I could try," said Eva.
"Eh?"
"I'm the Keeper of Red Mana," said Eva "Since I have an affinity to red creatures, maybe I can communicate with it through its mana."
Arrathir just stared at Eva with a 'what the…' look on his face. Rolling her eyes, Eva nervously approached the dragon, trying not to look at the sharp teeth and claws; knowing the dragon could attack at any second. As she approached, the dragon roared in challenge and spread its wings. Reaching out with her mind, Eva brushed against the dragon's consciousness. She felt great anger; hatred towards the intruders.
(We mean you no harm, elder)
The anger faded slightly and some curiosity crept in. Who were these beings that could speak to them?
(Forgive us, elder. We did not mean to intrude. We are mere travelers in these parts and will be on our way. You have nothing to fear of us)
The dragon seemed to calm down. It folded its wings and stared intently at Eva. Turning to Arrathir, she gave him a thumbs-up and a smile. Turning back to the dragon, she resumed her mind-link with the creature, but unfortunately, she pumped a bit too much mana through her link, causing the dragon to roar in pain and begin thrashing about. Eva jumped backwards as the dragon's tail flailed wildly about, narrowly missing her head.
"Nice," commented Arrathir "So tell me, Doctor Dolittle, what do we do now?"
"Two options," said Eva "Run or run faster."
"I like option two," said Arrathir. The two Keepers took off, the dragon's enraged roars following them.
To be continued…
Author's note: Yeah, between Eva or the dragon, I think I would have chosen the dragon.
On a different topic, a lot of people have been complaining that Twilight doesn't seem to measure up to MTGvsYGO or The Awakening. Everybody seems to think it is going too slowly. Well, I've got some news for you, I'm the author so what I say goes. Not happy with that? Tough! Seriously, I'm tired of putting time and effort into this and really trying to make this a successful sequel to The Awakening only to have people bitch about how there's no plot development, they want more action, the chapters are too short, ect…Write your own goddamn fanfic if you think you're so smart! I am not going to go into fanservice and have tons of duels just so you guys can have some action. That would totally distort my vision of the story all for the satisfaction of my readers. Learn to appreciate character development without plot, OK?
I am trying my best to keep my characters grounded in reality. It would be very easy for me to just have a shitload of enemies attack them, only to have the Keepers break out an arsenal of cool spells and pwn them all. The reason the past few chapters seem so 'boring' is because I'm trying to imagine what the characters would do in these situations, all while keeping in mind that they are involved in something which, quite frankly, they do not even begin to understand a iota of.
OK, Rant over.
Until next time…