Following the longest chapter in my story is the second shortest chapter, although it could count as the shortest because the prologue doesn't count. Hehe. Anyway, this is just focusing on Tsau. Have fun!
Chapter 24: The Obvious and Ambiguous
"Hey, are you there? Hello-oo. Want me to come over again? Maybe you can cook for me, haha. Anyway, what have you been up to lately?"
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"This business is hard, my boy. The job that you decided to take with my Falcons is a difficult one. It's a tough game, Tsau. Just remember one thing…the day you bring your morals to work is the day you don't come home. Inside, we're all hurting. But you have to persist…grow older…wiser…then you can begin setting real goals. We all walk a higher path, son. Just try to see that."
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The chain-mechanical table was cold. The air was cool, but felt damp at the same time. But he felt numb. His body wouldn't move. The back of his head was probably bruised due to someone striking him there. Trying to open his eyes, blurs of light could only be seen, and he could feel his body being locked down to the helm of a…table-like object. And he did not have his coat or shirt on, but only his pants and boots. All of his equipment was gone.
"Benjamin Franklin," said a voice. It echoed faintly in Tsau's mind. Trying to regain his conscience, Tsau opened his eyes all the way and looked towards the ceiling. "He's learning to utilize electricity as a power source, you know. The British-Americans are becoming quite a prosperous people, don't you think? Electricity is a very beautiful source of power, Tsau. I know that you can appreciate art. I appreciate yours. You execute your murders so flawlessly," the man then chuckled. "Assassination is truly an art of its own."
The chains began to move with a chugging sound and the table started turning perpendicular to the ground. Tsau regained his vision and looked at the room around him. It was in Blackwell's mansion, inside of an office somewhere. There were neither desks nor chairs, however, and it seemed that this room was made exclusively for the table Tsau was rested on. Through the walls, he could hear the piano in the background playing.
"Are you awake, my Dark Sunrise?" Nesirus asked.
Tsau's eyes set on Nesirus and Zhao. Blackwell must've been in a different room, but he didn't care. The figure standing beside the two immediately caught his eye. The dark figure stood with his back turned and arms crossed. The Necromortalis.
"Shall we proceed?" it asked in a twisted voice.
Nesirus shook his head. "Not against Tsau's friends…I mean, 'colleagues.' Take out the trade routes on the north end of Southern America."
The Necromortalis uncrossed his arms and walked through the walls, leaving the scene.
"How did you manage to get it to work for you?" Tsau asked him. "I always thought the Necromortalis was a rogue entity."
Nesirus smiled. "If there's one thing I know in my short lifetime, it's that anything can be brought to reason."
"Excluding you, right?" Tsau asked with a smirk.
"Do you want to know something about this long quest you have decided to take, Tsau?" Nesirus asked, ignoring his comment.
"What's that?"
Nesirus paced around the room. "Everything. It was all a setup from the beginning, Tsau. With some minor turbulence, of course."
"What do you mean?"
"Let me explain. You just listen," Drak began. "I was not born, or raised at all. Everything you remember up to age 22, I remember, as well. Your relationship with Izzi, your murderous appetite, everything. I was 'born' in a facility. One day, I just woke up, and I was you, without knowing so. I wondered why I woke in such an odd facility, where the walls were completely white, where everyone dressed accordingly like inmates, where the only thing I could remember was that I was somebody, but nobody at the same time. Then the doors opened. Two men came in and tried to drag me away. I ended up killing both of them, single-handedly. Like a rookie who has killed for the first time, I stared into the face of death with a sudden shock, but oddly, it didn't feel too bad, as if I was used to it. Who was I?
"I stepped out into the hallway, murdering every single guard and person dressed like me, and they even looked like me. I then made it into the room of the man…my father. He was quite impressed that I had made it that far…that I had murdered every single one of my brothers. Then, he told me that I was created. Tsau…I was created by the Executives based on your very moves, actions, attitudes, and personalities, but I was an 'imperfect copy,' my father told me. The other duplicates of you were completely well-behaved, as in they would do as they were told. He told me I was inferior to the real person, meaning you, and that I was a mistake by having all of the weaker bits of your persona. He didn't appreciate me, and treated me as if I was an object, but he underestimated one thing about me. I learned faster than any other of my copies, I had the ability to love, to hate, to kill. I murdered my creator. My name, itself, is an anagram of yours. Drak Nesirus becomes Dark Sunrise. Dark Sunrise is Tsau Nu Tua."
"How did the Executives create you?" Tsau asked. "And why would they try to create someone else exactly like me?"
"They have access to some…surreal tools," Nesirus smirked. "You're the perfect killer, Tsau. It was written for you to be that way."
"It was written…" Tsau said in disbelief. "No one writes my destiny."
He chuckled. "Weren't you listening to me? The Executives had almost everything planned out! They choose several children to walk a dangerous path, and the strongest that come out, they'll study. From the moment that you came into the spotlight as an assassin, they began studying you. You were successful. They wanted you by their side as their most valuable asset, but you were hard to reach."
"And what does this have to do with the Necromortalis?" Tsau said in a deep tone.
"You recall murdering each servant of the Angel of Death?" Drak asked. Tsau's eyes hinted at the possible memory. "Of course you do. They were always near you, Tsau."
"And just…who are these Executives?"
Nesirus continued to explain. "They're a symbol. A symbol for complete control. They can tell the outcome of every battle…of every choice a political leader makes. The men behind that symbol of Executives are formed into a committee called the Tablet of Wisdom. I don't know, and I don't care how many they are, but I just know that they represent and comprise the Executives.
"They know everything, they see everything. They've been watching over you for quite some time, but they've been watching me, as well. I left the facility a few years later…in flames. For many years all I could think about was you…a sort of obsession, but I soon found out that I just really hated the Executives. But…there is one thing that could not have been predicted. Something none of the Executives could have guessed. You submitted yourself to the cause of the Angel of Death, and they knew that the Necromortalis was an asset they were still trying to acquire. This saved you from being within their grasp."
"Why the hell should I care who the Executives are?" Tsau said. "They seem to be doing quite well with the world at the moment."
"You should know, Tsau, you are still working for them unofficially," Nesirus stated.
"How so?"
Nesirus laughed a bit. "As of right now, the Executives want me dead, and since I have control of the Necromortalis, who better to send than the last servant of the Angel? Who better to send than a man who wants his complete salvation? They sent you here to kill all of us. You've already killed the Atrocity, the Predatory, and the Psychosis; some of the top soldiers that they desired in the past. They want you to kill me, to kill Zhao, and to kill Blackwell. You've certainly been doing a good job so far, Tsau."
Tsau's mind spun in disbelief. These words that were being spoken to him sent him in a state of speechlessness.
"People like us…" Tsau spoke. He remembered the words of the Psychosis, and his place in the world. "We…aren't meant to be used like tools."
"The Executives have done a fine example with you," Nesirus countered.
"Let me talk to him
for awhile," Zhao stated. Nesirus looked at him, then walked out
of the room.
"Tsau," Zhao then said, stepping forward to
talk. "I understand what you are going throu—"
"—Don't," Tsau cut him off. "I don't need your false sympathy."
"Did you actually think that I sent you off to be killed?" Zhao asked. "I could never have done that. I never wanted your death…because you weren't ready to join me, so I let you go. I ordered my soldier to set you free. You were not meant for this kind of life, and it hurts me to this day that I see you murder."
Tsau had a bitter face. "It's what you always wanted."
"I didn't want you to become a tool, Tsau. You see, we're at square one again. The empire is under the command of the Executives. You say that you don't want to be controlled, then we are the answer," Zhao explained. "In this world, there is no good…no evil…there are only men who fight men. The door swings both ways, and you should know this by now."
"So what is the real purpose of having me here?"
"This is place for soldiers, Tsau," Zhao said. "My goals now reach beyond the empire. I envision a world where people like us will always have a place. We don't belong in society, we belong in battle. We are born to live, but we're bred to kill. Jack Sparrow, Barbossa, and all of the other pirates are tipping past their era. The world cannot spare any more time on them, but there's always a place for someone like you in the world."
"You preach to me as if I'm a child," Tsau said.
Zhao unhooked Tsau from being locked. "I'll give you a choice. If you plan to join us, you can forget everything that happened in the past. We can spare your colleagues. We can do anything, so long as our ultimate goal is to eliminate the Executives. The onus of liberation is still mine, Tsau."
"And if I don't?" Tsau asked.
"Then we'll let you go back to your friends, provided that we'll engage in battle, with the Necromortalis. The situation has already been explained to Jack. Did you honestly think we captured him so easily? Jack came to us."
Tsau stood there and looked at his former mentor for a long hard moment. "I need that chest."
"Is that all you ever think about?" Zhao said. He then rolled his eyes. "Nesirus is planning to destroy the Necromortalis after its purpose has been fulfilled. You can do it."
"Just like that?" Tsau said.
"You can't trust me, Tsau," Zhao replied. "I know that you won't. But you have no other choice but to believe me. I'll let you go for now, and give you a day to think about it."
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"Tsau…I feel what you're feeling, you know? I always thought I was fighting for my country, my empire…but why are they the enemy? Tzu Tang Chuan is a crooked emperor. I hear he's in some business with Europeans. It doesn't matter. I know that I'm not alive unless I'm in battle…so I guess I'll just find my own reason to fight. You think I'm crazy, huh? Heh."
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"Tsau? You still there? Why do you keep staring into space like that?! That's weird. Is your father still teaching kung-fu or what? Anyway…times are changing, aren't they? Everything is feeling like it's spinning out of control. Everyone is changing. But you…I know that you won't, change, right Tsau? It's okay. I won't either."
"Tsau, do you love me?"
"I said, do you love the sea?"
Ooh, what is up with that???? I'm sure you're wondering what is going on through his mind right now. Next chap will be up soon!