Chapter 6: Zombies, Dragons and Children
Though it took nearly three hours to reach, Sho finally arrived at Glast Heim. He looked at the overgrowth of plants around what used to be an architectural wonder. In the stagnant water below the bridges were small animals that fed on anything that dropped below. Sho stepped over the cracking bridge, moved around the dry bushes and arrived at the main gate. There he noticed the trots of hooves on the concrete and knew immediately who it was, an old foe who had since defeated Sho; The Abysmal Knight.
Sho jumped the gate and stood face to face with the darkened warrior. Both of their eyes met and each knew what today came to. One of them was going to die here and soon and Sho had no intention on failing his mission this early on. He drew the blade from his pocket and extended his free hand in challenge formation, waving his fingers to a fro.
"Well bitch? Come on and try me!" He dared, taking a stance.
The ebon horse that Abysmal rode on reared into the air, stomping hard as it began to charge towards Sho. Abysmal lifted his heavy blade and held it steady, ready to lop Sho's mind free from his skull. Sho snickered and vanished in an instant, just as the Knight neared him. The horse slid against the concrete, trying to stop its momentum. Sho reappeared behind the horsemen and clapped his hands.
"Still pretty swift aren't you? Too bad your retarded horse is the only thing competent in that team hehe." Sho taunted, brining his hand in front of him.
The abysmal knight lowered his eyes in a silent rage and turned the horse to Sho's position. Another charge came from the horse, this time faster than the last. A grin snuck up on Sho's face in an instant as he jumped over the knight, revealing a hole in the ground where he stood. The knight again tried to stop, but the ground seemed to turn to liquid, pulling both the horse and its rider down.
Sho laughed and watched as they both sunk in slowly into the manhole he created. Shortly after, they could move no more with only their heads sticking above the ground. Sho stepped towards the two, blade in hand and the evil smirk on his face. He knelt down and smacked the horse one good time, causing it to neigh in rage.
"Ah, shut the hell up. It's going to be over pretty soon for you and your pitiful owner.
The knight looked up at Sho, closing its eyes.
"Though thou may stab me, thou will never slay the abyss…" He spoke, his words heavy in rasp and bitterness.
Sho raised a brow and got a bit closer.
"Holy shit, you do talk! After all those year, I always thought you were a mute. Eh, well let's make it so huh?" He asked, placing the knife into the Horse's head with no resistance at all.
He turned his attention to the abysmal knight, slitting his throat completely across with little effort, but he was not finished. He traced the line completely around, taking the knights head off with ease. Grabbing the hair under the helmet, Sho lifted the head in his clutches as the black blood drained onto the white concrete. With a trail of blood behind him, Sho headed to the entrance of Glast heim, making his way towards the underground prison system.
In Alberta, a warp portal sprung to life at the edge of the docks. Salamander and a high priestess stepped from within the glowing confines of the portal. Salamander took out the map again and pointed out where Alexander should have been living. A quick survey of the area helped gain his bearings. He turned to the high priestess and nodded.
"This way Yumi, I do believe he is near." Salamander told while making his way north.
"Yes doctor." She replied, placing her hands in front of her and following behind.
Out of all of the homes in front of Salamander, one had a particular aura about it, a sad, hateful aura that screamed out to them. As they approached the home, The Advent symbol on Salamander's neck began to glow intensely, proving his information to be correct. Without even bothering to knock, Salamander turned the knob to the door but got no sort of movement from it. He reached into his jacket and pulled a green bottle from its confines. The cap pooped open and he drizzled a little of the contents onto the knob, causing it to sizzle intensely. The knob vanished in a matter of seconds leaving nothing but the old hinges to keep the door from moving.
Salamander opened the door and stepped inside, noting how the room looked untouched. There were photos of Alexander and his son around the area, but something was odd. Each of the pictures seemed to be a progression of sorts as in each other following, his son looked sicklier. Salamander lifted the last photo, the boy's face was pale, his eyes were dark and his frame was thin. He placed the photo down and shook his head.
"Grimbane's disease, must have been a very slow and painful death for the child."
"Indeed it was….." A low voice came from the room behind the two intruders. "He died screaming out for me, wanting me to end the pain and suffering."
Salamander stepped to the room and opened, the rotting smell of flesh taking his nose by surprise, yet something he'd grown used to. Yumi turned her head and ran outside holding her hand over her mouth. She stumbled outside, releasing the contents of her stomach onto the street much to the onlooker's displeasure. Salamander stepped inside, looking at the husk of an Advent descendent, in front of him was a dead child who had a toy locked in his hand.
"Have you been in here this entire time…Alexander?" Salamander asked, looking at Alexander's malnourished body.
"I haven't had the will to leave. I can't bear to send him off to the next world, he's all I have left." Alex said, looking up with baggy eyes and a pasty complexion.
"For Valkyrie's sake man, you're holding a dead child in a room, he's far beyond rotted and you're sitting here feeling sorry for yourself. I find it hard to believe you are an Advent descendant."
Alexander quickly turned violent, reaching for the rusty sword beside his leg. He turned and thrust for Salamander's face, only to miss and fall forward.
"Geez, you can't even use the blade properly, let alone stand for yourself. This is pathetic, Sho is going to be pissed at this waste of time. You may as well go back to crying over your dead child you disgusting waste of semen." Salamander said while heading for the exit. "To think I thought you could help the Advents destroy the royal family.
"What do you know!? Huh!? Do you know what it's like?! To lose your wife to war? To lose your son to disease?! Do you!? I think not you bastard!" He looked down at the floor, tears tried to fall, but his body had no moisture to give from his days of malnourishment.
"Hmm, you're right, I have no idea what that's like, but seeing you in this pitiful state makes me glad I don't know. How about you clean yourself up, stand, and use some of that anger to do what your ancestors what have done." He said, not bothering to even dignify Alex with a look.
"….Why would I help you destroy the royal family? There is no reason in the world for me to do such, regardless of who my family may or may not be. Besides….I have long forgotten my ways as a paladin. My heart can no longer hear the gospel of the angels, it is filled with the darkness of despair and sadness."
An evil grin skittered onto Salamander's face as he turned only enough to show his face.
"Well then…What if I said I could bring your son back to you Alexander? Would that pique your interest?" He asked, his giddiness poking through his voice.
Alex's eyes opened as far as they could. He stared at Salamander with hope and desperation.
"H-How!? How can you do so!?" He begged to know.
"Well it's actually quite simple, you've kept the body which at an alchemic stand point is good for…Human alchemy. You see, I can easily fix his body, even cure the disease so he can grow up to be just like daddy. Yumi there can open a portal to bring his soul back from where ever the hell it resides and all I'd need is a simple soul linker, some blue gemstones and the alchemy guild's philosopher stone. Simple, yea?" He bragged on, sending Alex's hopes to new heights.
"This must be a trick...Human alchemy is looked down on, there's no way you could be in the guild." He replied, trying to stand.
Salamander smirked and reached into his bag.
"You are indeed correct, I was banished and executed. As far as the world knows, I am dead, but of course, the world is wrong. I also assure you, this is no trick. For your service to The Advents, I can repay it with the life of your child. So, are you in or out Crosshound?" He asked while pulling a yellow fruit from his bag.
Alex's eyes watered slightly as they widened. He looked at the fruit and smiled wide.
"T-The Yggdrasil berry! The fruit of the gods themselves! I-I will do it! I will do whatever The Advents wish of me! Just please bring my son back to me!" Alex yelled out, bowing his head down.
Salamander threw the fruit behind him. It hit Alex on the head and rolled beside him. He grabbed the fruit and wasted no time digging into its flesh with his teeth. Bite by bite, the fruit vanished from his hands, leaving a sticky residue on his palms and face. Almost instantly, Alex began to change. His body began restoring itself. His hair that was once brittle and dingy restored back to its black flowing self. He stood for the first time in a while, his muscles regenerating back to their original glory from days of old. He stretched, filling his lungs with the fresh air of outside mixed with the sour taint of his son's rotted corpse.
"I feel…Re-energized! I am ready to serve The Advents now. Just tell me what I need to do!" He said, bowing again.
Salamander was already outside, waiting beside a portal that Yumi crafted. He held his hand out in an inviting gesture for Alexander to approach.
"First, it's time to get you suited up for duty. There's someone I want you to meet Ohoho!" He laughed as he stepped into the portal.
Alex looked at his son's dead body one last time and smiled, hoping he'd return to him soon. He closed the door and walked into the portal slowly, being followed by Yumi right after.
Just outside the underground prison's entrance, Sho stood there, wiping blood from his face and hands. The blood was of various colors and viscosity, meaning it wasn't his. He lifted the Abysmal head he held onto and looked it in its half closed eyes. With a laugh he swung the head around and threw it into the prison's dark hallway. The sound of groaning, gurgling and clanking caught his ear as the living dead, past prisoners who were cursed during their sentence, stumbled from the darkness. Most of them barely had their limbs intact while others could only move at a crawl. They approached the thrown head and began to grasp and groan for it.
Sho stepped in, revealing himself to all of the undead that stopped suddenly to watch him. He grinned and slid backwards, leaving another exploding clone of himself. They ran for it, tripping over them elves to take a bite out of the clone. The first set of rotted teeth sank into the clone, ripping it open and exposing a black, powdery substance inside. The clone slumped over and exploded with more force than the first he made back in the tomb. He stepped through the dust to observe the damage. Limbs and bodies everywhere, check. One of the heads below him moved slightly, its eye twitching in the socket. Sho looked down and shook his head.
"Stop staring." He said before crushing the head underneath his shoe.
A few more steps and Sho stopped, feeling immense energy coming from a single cell down the hallway. It was almost as though evil energy was calling out to him, just past the old rusted electric chair. Sho deposited his hands into his pants pocket and casually strolled down the hall until he reached the cell. He looked inside, nothing but pure darkness and a burning smell. The clip of sight made another return, lighting the cell up in an instant.
Sitting on the broken cot was a dark skinned man with torn clothes and black hair pulled into a puffy afro like ponytail. He looked up at Sho, one eye glowing red and energy spheres appearing around him.
"Aha, you must be Kuroi, one of Kursis' descendents. Tell me, do you know about The Advents? I was hoping to come and invite you to the beginning of the new world order my friend, how does that sound?" Sho asked while folding his arms, not one ounce of fear on his body.
Kuroi stood and took a few steps to the edge of the cell. He nudged his head forward, showing Sho the mass of monsters approaching his direction.
"Hmm, seems you generate ill will. They seem to like the way you smell, maybe you've done something to them while they were alive eh?" He asked, still not showing much concern.
Kuroi grabbed the iron bars and pulled them apart as though they were made of wax. One foot came from inside and from that point, the wave of Zombies, Injustice and Rybios were about to wish they'd stayed away. Kuroi's spiritual energy reached a high, causing the area to distort from the immense power he generated. Five spirit spheres appeared around his head and he took a stance. With one stomp, the ground nearly split open and the oncoming onslaught of monsters crumpled to their knees. Kuroi extended one hand out, keeping his palm flat as ten more spheres appeared around him. They all gathered into a single point in his fist.
Sho watched everything that Kuroi did, he felt in his body the same amount of energy building. Without realizing it, he had generated his own set of spirit spheres that floated around his body. Kuroi looked back and held his hand out to those spheres as well, absorbing them into the collection he had brewing already. The mass of spirit energy began to spark and turn black with a red aura about them. He finally took a step forward and released the bundle of hurt and sorrow from his hand. The mass of spirit spheres collided with a Rybio that tried to stand, its body was instantly turned into nonexistent matter as the blast from the spheres radiated outward, destroying every one of the monsters.
Sho watched until the light died down and clapped his hands. He stood beside Kuroi and looked at the now charred hallway.
"Well now, I can see I was in my right mind when I decided to get you personally. I hope you considered my offer while you were unleashing mass death upon these fools. My ultimate goal is to take down the royal family." He said without looking at Kuroi.
Suddenly Kuroi turned to Sho with hatred in his eyes, he knew well enough of the royal family for they were the reason he was placed in Glast heim to rot away. He bit down hard and clenched his fist.
"I'm in…" Was all he said or even had to say.
Sho placed his branded hand onto Kuroi, the Advent symbol appeared on his shoulder and gave the same glow. Just as he prepared to leave, he stopped, feeling something tug at his hand.
"What the hell? Do you feel that?" He asked, looking around for the source.
Kuroi nodded, pointing below them at the cracked ground. Sho knelt down and placed his hand against the rock. The feeling was stronger now. It was something too powerful to ignore.
"Well then, think you can make us an express way down?" He asked, standing back up.
Kuroi lifted his hand and brought it down into the ground with great power and precision. The ground split open, dropping the two to the next floor where a closed off cell awaited. In the corner of the cell was a black crystal that began to jump around the moment they entered the cell. Sho raised his hand, a test of sorts to see how it would react. The crystal leapt into the air, making its way into Sho's palm.
"Well well, what do we have here? Just what the hell is this thing?" He asked aloud, examining it.
"Summon stone…" Kuroi said while heading to the other corner, preparing something.
Sho had a hunch that this is what the original leader of The Advents meant when he said 'Chaos'. With a new ally and the potential summon in his possession, it was time for the last addition to The Advents. Sho looked over to Kuroi and smirked, seeing a warp portal beside him.
"If that leads to Payon, I'm so gonna promote you." He said, taking a step into the portal with Kuroi following after.
The lush green scenery of Payon complimented the ancient looking buildings. Salamander and Yumi were already in town, sitting just outside the weapons shop. The other portal opened near the item shop, releasing Sho and Kuroi into the small public. The people around them began to feel ill from their combined intent. A couple of the children cried and one of the old men there fell to his knees. Sho only watched what happened, shrugged it off and began to scout for Salamander.
From the corner of his eye, Salamander spotted Sho and gave a sharp whistle to grain his attention. Sho turned and made his way with Kuroi. They stood face to face with the other members, their now combined aura causing animals to disperse. Sho folded his arms, wondering where Alexander was. Just as he began to ask, the sound of metal clanging caught his attention. From inside the weapons shop, Alexander stepped free with black and red armor. His hair was cut shorter and he sported a black spear in one hand and a sword breaking blade in the other.
"Sir! I give to you, Alexander Crosshound! Dark Guard of The Advents!" Salamander presented with a clap.
"Dark guard huh? Where'd that come from?" Sho asked with a smug smile.
"He's been linked, a soul transfer from a dying bloody knight. He now posses the dark arts and the defensive potential of a Royal guard. Not to mention, I fortified his armor myself. If something can get through it, it's not from this planet. So what do you think Sho?" Salamander guaranteed.
"Hehehe I like it, I like it a whole lot Sal." He replied.
Sho couldn't help but to laugh. Things were looking up and he liked the feeling of being surrounded by people with the same goal. He imagined it was how the first leader felt.
"Well then, this dark fellow here is Kuroi and from what I've witnessed, he's going to be extremely useful. I take it she's the help from the church you mentioned." He said, making a motion towards Yumi.
Salamander nodded.
"Indeed, Yumi Morgan, High priestess of Lighthalzen's church." Salamander introduced.
She bowed and looked at Sho.
"Um…I hope to be of some help to you, sir." She said almost quietly.
Sho lifted his hand up, the symbol shined again. The symbol then appeared on Yumi's chest and Alexander's right arm, even through his armor. With his arm lowered, Sho's grin was even wider. His hair began to change again with black streaks forming around the edges of his hair. The sky began to darken slightly with clouds as a light rain started.
Salamander smirked and looked towards the direction of Mjolnir.
"Now then, we must gather the White Dragon, Azulong. Shall we be going then?" He asked while standing and dusting his pants off. "Time for the Advents to be complete!"
Yumi nodded quickly and opened a portal that each of them stepped in before her. She followed after and the portal closed.
From behind one of the trees, one of the Hound members stood, fear labeled all over his face. He pulled the walkie talkie free from its pouch and fidgeted with the button for a while. Finally it clicked on and he began stammering with this words.
"Eh…Uh...S-sir! I've spotted S-Sho in Payon…He…He's changed. Nothing in the description is accurate any more…He even…Even has h-help now, he's calling them The Advents! God, I can still feel that energy around me. S-sir something is wrong here! I don't think we should be in-involved with this p-project any longer!" He voiced his opinion shakily.
"You what? It almost sounded like one of my men developed a pussy and is now telling me he's afraid of some low life and his rag tag group of fuck ups! Now I suggest you get your balls out and reattach them and keep up with Sho, otherwise when I see you I'm going to feed you to Abel! Understand!?" Wolfe's voice came in on the speaker.
"B-But sir, they've entered a portal. I believe they're heading to Mjolnir. They said something about t-the white dragon A-azulong!" The scared Hound replied.
"Then I suggest you get your ass to Mjolnir and do your fucking job! On the double!" Wolfe yelled before ending communication.
From behind Wolfe, Jinzo stood with his hand tight around the sheath.
"Did he say 'White dragon'?" He asked with a low toned voice.
Wolfe turned and sighed.
"Guess you were listening huh? Yea he did, so what of it?" Wolfe asked, maneuvering around Jinzo.
"I'm going with you! If it's who I believe it is, then your men will be in grave danger if he so much as comes in contact with Sho and the so called Advents. "Jinzo warned. "Even if you say no, I will be accompanying you and your men on this trip."
Wolfe growled and walked out, knowing Jinzo was well behind him.
"Fine, but you get in our way I promise you, you will be marked as a target. "
Jinzo just nodded and followed in silence, his mind processing everything to come in the upcoming events.
Up atop Mjolnir, a man in an all white kimono trimmed away at a banzai tree. His cuts were precise and careful. The tree slowly began to shape up the way he had the other forty he had perched on self made shelves. His last cut came about, but something drew his hand too far in and his cut was ruined. He lowered his eyes and looked up at the gathering storm clouds, quirking his brow.