Chapter Eight – Matches in a House Fire
The words were ringing in Oberon's head, crashing hard like waves against the rock-solid resolve that he had sworn for his beloved Imperial Forces and the royal house of Avalon. They came each time he watched a strike delivered, or when the reeling figure of his general was being tossed about like a loose parcel in a rocking boat. Even though he had been watching this battle, the upset situation in which the colossus Flute was being maimed by the human with the distinctly inhuman eyes, his mind was dwelling harshly on the words that had been spoken to him by Kibitzer, the Prince's closest advisor and personal mentor. They still burned in his ears and forced him to remain stayed while one of his own, a loyal and trusted member of his command, was being dominated by this surprisingly powerful human. While it was well within his power to stop the fight, he knew, more than anyone, that such a thing was impossible, for Flute himself would have suffered and his pride would have never recovered. And, regardless of how painful it was to watch, the words would not allow him to interfere.
"On Earth, in the shadows of the great Silver light, the Dracos Speculum rests. The one who makes use of it will know the past, be the present and control the future. They will possess a power that cannot be judged by common thought. But beware, great commander, that an Earth dragon guards the Speculum. A careless moment will find you in the eyes of this dragon, and you will suffer the power of the Speculum. Not even you can escape the power of the Dracos Speculum. Find it, and you may save our Queen."
The prospect had merit. It was seductive enough to rationalize sending the High Commander of the entire Avalon forces to this small planet and to face the power that had defied the Golden Queen, yet it was so elusive that Oberon had only one lead to its location, and that was the young girl named Zhi. Her grandfather was connected with the Speculum and was the surest way to gain that power.
Yet now, another had appeared. He was jaded and rough, but was powerful enough to effortlessly command Flute, a soldier he had known for many, many years. In the boy, Oberon had seen a glimmer of malleability and wished to exploit that for his own uses, though his genuine interest in the boy and the promises of advancement to the Avalon forces was not baseless. Oberon wanted him. Any human that could do the things he was doing was worth interest. But, the commander was no fool. He knew what he was looking at and regarded accordingly. His careless moment would not come now. Standing among his closest aides – his silent but infallible wife, Titania; the masterly assassin known to play on his appetites, Puck; and his meek, gifted courtesan, Andromeda, Oberon was ready to let Flute come to his end, if only to satisfy the colossus's need to fester his pride and go to the end without faltering, without once letting his revered strength weaken.
Because it was his wish, Oberon would let Flute fall.
Staggering, suffering from tremendous injuries and bellowing his breaths beneath his great armor, Flute glared upon the human that had consistently aroused him, forcing him to feel the humiliation and hate that came along with his great pride. Although he physically felt little drain on his strength, it was obvious that that strength, from the very beginning, was inadequate to defeat the boy. But, he would not offer that acquittal and stood tall once more, clenching his great fists and glaring down upon the human and his eerie, glowing eyes. "Nothing is over yet. You have proved to be a most elusive opponent, human, but my strength remains unwavering and your human body will soon falter and fail. Time, it seems, is not on your side," he warned gravely. Seeing no change on the expression of Kage, he snarled again and began to formulate a new form of attack, one that would drain him of his strength and allow Flute to overpower him by sheer endurance.
Kage, staring at Flute through his exotic eyes, replied with silence, but remained the center of everyone's attention. Still lying on the ground, propped halfway up on her elbows, Zhi had been watching the battle with wide, bewildered eyes. From the moment that Kage had revealed his Ryuugan, she had understood why it was that he was able to effortlessly evade and attack the great colossus when not one of her village's fighters, including her, could make headway against him. In the fight, he had seemed relaxed, moving easily ahead of Flute's attacks and evading the strikes with only the strain of his body as drag. Despite the fact that he had seemingly been toying with the large general, she could tell that although his kicks were beautiful and powerful, utilizing enough force to jar the colossus around, the sheer nature of the beast didn't allow them to do much damage and, as he had boasted once more, Kage's disadvantage was that the colossus has a seemingly unending supply of strength. While Kage was indeed a very powerful fighter, his body did not have the capability to critically injure the armored body of Flute. All he did now was tire himself and infuriate Flute, which led to a very probably ending of defeat.
Knowing this, Zhi struggled to gather her strength once more to stand, but found she could barely move, as her aching muscles, still weakened from the atrophy, coupled with injury, left her unable to help. But as the reality of his eyes still lingered with her, all she could do was stare at him once more and whisper, under her breath and full of heart-wrenching passion, his name, "Kage."
"Yah, you got a point, Koi-head. If I keep playing around with you, eventually I'm gonna get pooped and you're gonna get lucky. But, you've bought me enough time to make a plan and we can end this now. Ready to get your ass painted by my foot?" Kage asked with his familiar smile returning, accented deeply by the glowing Ryuugan eyes.
Flute, seething anew, flexed beneath his armor and felt the veins in his forehead pulsing. "Bought you time! You think you're just using me? I've suffered your insolence long enough! Die!" he howled and lunged once more, proceeding on the only line he knew.
Kage, confident that he could save Zhi after this, decided that he would forgo the stalling and end Flute's misconceptions. As Flute neared, Kage didn't move. In his heart, he felt the same fear that had been weakening him, telling him that despite his great power and ability, he would fail and the ones he cared about would suffer for it. Yet, he was going to try and defy that fear, to move beyond it and conquer it. If he could, perhaps he would be able to return to Tokyo and be with her. Yes, he wanted that. He would defeat Flute and everything would be fine. He knew it. He felt it. And when Flute came upon him, his great fist reared back to crush him and end this run, Kage's own hand lifted between them, bringing with it the essence of the power that had been granted upon him by the Ryuugan.
Flute's entire body shook, sending a quiver of pain and energy through the lengths of his arms and rattled his armor over his skin. He hadn't even seen the thing which had struck him but knew, instantly, that his entire momentum was halted and that he was frozen before the human, posed like a dumb statue waiting for time to tear him down to gravel. His breath, shaking and lingering his throat, his fists shaking in the air, Flute slowly let his eyes fall down on the boy and drain, for he was different, and his form showed all of the ferocity of the most dangerous animal. Kage's hand still possessed a wisp of energy at his fingers, trailing outwards like a vapor, but meandering and not bound by the gravity that seduced it. It had only been the first, but Kage's devious grin and twitching muscles proved that it would not be the end Flute wanted. Both sets of eyes locked, but only Kage's truly embellished the moment. "Strings of the Broken Puppet," he said deeply, his voice echoing deafly through Flute's ears. Suddenly, Kage was a flurry of motion, his arms whipping about with trails of vapor-like energy, and his body twisting and moving to allow every critical point of the colossus to be assaulted. Not once did his hands touch the armored colossus, yet the damage was very real. Great wounds, surging with Mercury-like blood, opened up on Flute's body, with sprays of the same leaking from his lurching throat and gasping mouth. Not even Oberon and the others could believe the assault, for it decimated the colossus, causing him to twitch like a namesake of Kage's move – to lurch about like a marionette in distress.
With the last great move, Kage's right hand thrust forward and stopped just before touching the breastplate of Flute's armor, sending a massive pulse of energy into him and causing the breastplate, the ornate pride of Flute's armor, to shatter completely. That same shock caused the back of his armor to also burst away, sending a spray of solid and liquid metal into the hall and a gurgling gasp from the general's lips. It was the ending blow and they all knew it. Momentarily, Flute lingered on his feet and stared into the air, his eyes barren and diffused, yet his stubborn body refused to fall in the wake of his awesome power, but all knew that it was over for him. Kage, unlike the pure soldiers of the world, had no reservations about killing an enemy. It was the part of him that never waned.
"I just ruptured a critical focal point of your energy. The Ryuugan let me see it, and the threads of energy all around I used to break it," Kage said suddenly, making Flute look down to him weakly and waver through his knees. Kage, having wiped any pleasure from his face, simply stared back with objective eyes, unable to offer pity or sympathy in either regard. Between them, Flute suddenly saw a startling understanding and he choked out a gasp, as if trying to ask him if he truly, truly knew what his eyes were showing. Kage's face showed a hint of sympathy, for his eyes were softer and consoled the dying giant. "Consider it a favor, that I denied you the decision. Though I wonder, who is it you'd follow? What does a true soldier do in your situation?" he continued, speaking in a voice that only allowed the two the benefit of the conversation. Flute, staring helplessly into his Ryuugan, appeared as if tears would follow blood, the pathetic expression on his face crippling his entire character and betraying the torment that was within him. He didn't know how the human knew, but in some bizarre way, he was grateful to him. Flute furiously lamented his own hate, while his body was slowly dying and his precious strength was slipping from his clenched hands, yet he felt peaceful, relieved of some great burden.
In the last moments of his life, Flute lurched forward into Kage, barely keeping his own weight aloft. The spectators assumed a final effort to attack, yet Flute merely lingered a moment, his lips parting with final words directed to his champion, then simply slumped to the side and hit the ground with a deep, clanging thud. General Flute was dead. His conqueror stood motionless above the body, staring forward to the thousands of mournful reflections and the air that seemed to separate them both from the rest. Flute had uttered nothing but hate to him, yet he had done him a great service in the end and let the matter rest on a field of honor. Kage understood it, but was still forced to give that moment after in respect to the colossal, honorable General.
Only a moment later, great tentacles of black electricity snaked up his legs and coiled around him, making his entire body burn in pain and contract. The unexpected attack let out a groaning scream from him, for in letting his mind wander from the situation at hand, he had completely neglected to remember that a far more fearsome beast had been waiting, watching the battle with the sole intention of addressing the victor. Flute had been defeated, but Oberon had always been the true task. Though the burst of energy had been short, it left Kage sapped of strength and he fell to his hands and knees next to the body of Flute, his eyes widened in both pain and self-admonishment. Oberon, taking a few steps down from his perch, slowly admired his outstretched hand, marveling how easy it was to simply flood the hero with a dose of pain and watch as his valiant efforts become a distant memory. So pleased with the results was he that, in a moment of slight sadism, he smiled and craned his fingers once more, causing another surge of black energy to grow up from the ground beneath the human and inflame his senses once more. This time, due to a certain expectation, Kage did not cry out, but rather tucked into himself with a grunt, as if trying to hold his body together in that dawn of pain. He was overwhelmed, but bore it with pressed eyes and clenched teeth.
Soon after the energy relented and Kage was heaving in deep breaths, his forehead pressed against the floor, Oberon lowered his hand and smiled, though now a polite formality like the serpent gives the mouse after a strike. "Most impressive. It seems you are a dragon after all, my boy. To think a human could defeat General Flute. I must thank you for appeasing him. Falling short of his end would have surely shattered his soul," he said, knowing just how important it had been for Flute to perish on his feet. Kage did not answer, or rather, could not answer, for his body was still trying to align itself after the intense pain. The others watched eagerly, feeling a pride at being under the banner of this apt commander, yet one of them was not joined in. Andromeda, feeling hollow and tormented by fate, looked away even as it was a great insult, pressing her fragile eyes closed and trying to keep out the horrid sounds of Kage's struggling breaths. These things were indeed deplorable to her.
While none of the others stirred in their worship, Oberon's cherished moments were interrupted by a frantic call from a weakly standing figure, set opposed to Kage but still facing Oberon as an enemy. "Stop it! Don't hurt him anymore! I'm the one you want!" Zhi cried and struggled to stay standing, her feet jarring her body in an attempt to stay under her weight.
Oberon, almost forgetting she was part of this, slowly looked to her and tilted his head at the amused expression on her face. "My my, what splendid passion. You must feel a great devotion to this boy; grateful to him for trying to save you," he said sadistically. Zhi's face showed her determination, her resolve to help him that had helped her. It didn't matter that her body was rebelling and her legs felt weak. Her heart was pounding in her ears, and it seemed to sap the strength from her entire body, for as desperately as she wished for her legs to lock and her body to stop spinning, her heart would not cease and her eyes would not cry. Her heart was being selfish, trying to consume her, and she remained standing, waiting for the rest of her body to catch up.
Oberon, eyeing her idly, suddenly formulated something in the back of his mind. It clicked, like a floodgate, and sent warmth throughout his mind. He had an idea. Surely, it was the most desperate of moments that offered hope to the direst situations and he felt that this situation, like all others, could be resolved amiably to his cause. "Poor child. I truly wonder how it is for such a pure heart to love, for nothing could as compelling in all your world. However, I am afraid that you are mistaken in one, most important regard," he cooed, raising his hand once more into the air, but this time towards her. Zhi's chest seized in fear and she rose up her arms in that celebrated pose of defense, fully knowing that it would not save her from the attack. Oberon, lustfully watching her, began to claw his fingers out, speaking in a tone that flicked the words out over his tongue and made him appear coiled. "You are not the one I want," he corrected for her, watching as the black energy began to creep up her legs.
Zhi, feeling the invasion prickling up her legs and body, closed her eyes and whimpered, unable to deny it any longer that, truly, she was going to be put through a lot of pain. Inwardly and after some thought, she didn't lament the fact that she hadn't really helped Kage all that much, or that she hadn't been able to avenge Xue against Flute, but rather only stumbled on the realization that this feeling she had been cradling inside of her, inside the fierce beating of her heart, would quickly be extinguished and that, despite her absolute desire to explore that feeling, both she and Kage would soon be reduced to prisoners or worse – unable to nurse her flowering heart or quell her unnumbered fears. She also thought of her grandfather, wishing that she had gotten a chance to see him again. The love she felt for him had kept her fresh for so long, yet it would be ruthlessly halted by the ones that sought him. Yes, her grandfather was the one that Oberon truly wanted, yet she was satisfied that she had never divulged the information that would have led them to him. He would be safe, at least. In that, she felt peace. In all reality, she had lived a sweet, but short life. Her summers in the meadows, picking flowers with her grandfather; swimming naked in the river with Xue when their only cares were of twilight and scuffed knees; learning art, medicine and cooking from the women of her village as allowances into their legacies – all of this was warm in her mind and she accepted the impending doom. What else was a good life but a peaceful resignation at death?
Then, there was Kage. She only knew him a matter of hours, yet in him, she had explored her girl's heart and found at least the visible tip of love, touching her with a passion that had soothed her injured soul. She really didn't know if it was love, the thing she felt for him, but she did know that it had consumed her enough to validate the name, and she would be accepting of her demise by feeling that she had, in the deepest coffers of her heart, touched love. Oberon had speculated, but could never understand the joy she had felt knowing how he had tried to help her. Just thinking about the way he fought for her made her flush slightly, her hands reaching out in a blind attempt to feel his touch before her end. A smile came about her, for endings were moments of vanity. Regardless of how selfish it was she sighed softly near the crackle of energy at her head, telling herself that, through his actions and the way he protected her, saved her and sacrificed himself for her, he had loved her as well. It was blissful to begin dreaming right before the grip of sleep takes, and Zhi wanted to dream sweetly of a lover until darkness swept her away.
Yet, just as she had accepted a sort of ad hoc peace, a howling rage caught her ears and her eyes shuttered open – just in time to see Kage rush upon Oberon.