Finding What's Important
Chapter 7: Captive

I awoke within a pitch black room.

I doubted whether I was awake or not; I couldn't see any part of me moving to verify I was indeed roused from my sleep. I tested flexing one of my fingers, but I was dismayed at the fact that it felt as though my hands were tightly bound with something rough.

Blinking just to see if I was dreaming or not, I finally came to the conclusion I was not. At once, my mind began to analyze the scene around me.

It seems to be a… a stone room? It's so cold in here…

A shiver erupted and traveled down my spine.

Click

My ears caught the sound before my brain actually noticed it. Head snapping up, I still could see nothing but pure, shadowy black. Ominous dark whispering suddenly started up, reverberating from wall to wall, the echoes mixing and colliding with each other. The words entered my ears, and I could not process what they were saying fast enough before they were gone.

Click

That sound again.

What is it? I was beginning to get scared. Imagine yourself in a pitch black room, with your hands tied with some kind of rope, unable to move and hearing scary, mysterious whispers.

I tried to open my mouth to say something, to scream, anything, but it was only then I realized my mouth was sealed with a strip of adhesive tape. In bewilderment, I thought,

What the… what is going on here? Panicking, I began to squirm around furiously, a pathetic attempt to loosen my bonds.

Damn it… these ropes are too tight…

"So, you're awake now, aren't you?" My head turned to where I though the voice came from, yet the words bounced off the walls. A light from nowhere clicked on.

In the harsh illumination of the light, I saw none other than Demtatrin Rizhet.

Angrily, I tried to shout at him to let me go, but all that came out was muffled gibberish. I squirmed around again, tugging at my bonds. Rizhet loosed a relentless chuckle, shaking his head slightly.

… I'm pretty sure he was mocking me.

Stepping over to me, he cupped my chin in one hand, forcefully tilting my head up to face him. I averted my eyes; a weak attempt to stay away from his soul-piercing gaze.

A rocketing pain shot through my heart, and my eyes widened in pain. Again and again, more pangs of pain speared through. It hurt so much, I doubled over; it felt like… heartache. Memories from long ago began to surface from the covering my mind had forced them under. They began to flash past my eyes, as if they had somewhere special to be. I started to taste something salty and coppery in my mouth; it didn't take too long for me to realize it was blood. I felt the stickiness of the tape on my mouth wear away, and I shook my head furiously, gaining enough momentum to fling the tape off, and Rizhet's hand.

Now having a free place to run from, crimson dripped down the corner of my mouth. I coughed and choked. Blood splashed on the cold, gray, stone floor in little droplets, creating a sick painting-like image; with I as the unwilling painter. I fell over on my side, doubling over in mind-shattering pain. As much as I wanted to fall unconscious, just black out, I could not. My mind had betrayed me, forcing me to stay awake through this horrible torment. My eyes were open in shock, with tears threatening to spill from them.

I started feeling the ropes around my wrists loosen and fall off completely; I was then faintly aware Rizhet was behind me, untying the bonds. I heard him whispering something to himself, something that sounded much like "she will be mine", but nothing more as the blessed darkness draped over my vision once more.

"What the hell do you mean she's missing?!" A furious Tori shouted crossly at Seiji, berating him angrily with her tone of voice. Seiji backed away a little, raising his hands in defeat.

"I don't know! She just disappeared! All I saw was that Sora started glowing weirdly for a moment, but then she was gone!" Seiji desperately tried telling Tori the truth, trying to avoid her wrath. Tori sat down heavily onto a chair, also breathing heavily. Face-palming, she slowly began to calm down, and then reviewed over everything Seiji had just told her.

"Okay… so… Sora asked if anyone was in the Ant Tunnel with her… which you replied to as no… and then she got angry and started glowing." Seiji nodded nervously.

"And then… she said something like 'clairvoyance', then she disappeared?" Seiji nodded again.

Tori sighed deeply, as though a great burden was placed on her back.

"Where do you think we'll find her, then?" Tori asked, calmed down considerably. But before Seiji got a chance to answer, Oreos barged into the room, holding Seiji's "Illumancy" book.

"Look here, Seiji, I think I've found something in your book that'll help you find your girlfriend," Oreos said breathlessly. Seiji turned deep red, and hissed,

"She's not my girlfriend." Oreos snickered, but kept his composure, mumbling "yet" under his breath. Seiji pretended not to hear. Opening the book to a certain page, he pointed to a passage on a page.

"Look, it says 'Scrying', kinda like what Sora used, except she said 'Clairvoyance' instead. Read this part about what it does." Silently and quickly, Seiji complied, scanning through the passage swiftly but thoroughly. His eyes brightened up as soon as he was finished reading the passage.

"Um… listen, guys… I'm gonna have to ask you guys to leave, so I can concentrate on this." Oreos and Tori shot each other a look, but complied, leaving through the door and closing it behind them.

Turning back to the book, Seiji closed his eyes, and imagined a picture of Sora's face in his mind.

"Scrying," he whispered, trying hard to keep the image of Sora in his mind, and to not let it drift off to anything else.

"I ask a favor of those of light to grant me this power of scrying, to see and find Sora Tenshi, the necromancer," he muttered under his breath. Seiji was suddenly aware of a shining light hovering by his face, and was surprised to see a strange portal thing drifting by his head.

He almost reached out to touch it, but his hand faltered as Sora's pale face appeared in the midst of it. His blood ran cold when he saw what unfolded before him with malicious humor.

Sora sat on the floor, eyes closed limply. She began to stir, eyes fluttering as she awoke. Looking around, her eyes were only met with black darker than the midnight. A thin piece of tape covered her mouth, and her arms were tied roughly behind her. Briefly beginning to struggle, she was soon faced with the fact she could not get loose.

There was an odd clicking sound reverberating throughout this strange drab-gray brick room. And then the whispering started, echoing all over the room eerily.

Sora was becoming visibly afraid; anyone could have realized it, as her eyes were darting back and forth nervously. There was an abrupt clicking sound, followed by more. And then…

A light flicked on, dimly illuminating the chamber. Able to see who was standing there now, Seiji saw the wicked Demtatrin Rizhet. He kneeled down and cupped her face in his hand, and he could feel the coldness of her glare upon Rizhet. He saw Sora's eyes widen in sudden, spasming pain, and the tape covering her mouth slipped off, yet revealing a lone trickle of red running down the edge of her mouth. She was leaning over and coughing blood all over the cold stone floor, whereas all Rizhet did was watch on, a wickedly humorous glint surfacing over his eyes.

Even though Seiji watched on, he felt a pain spear through his heart as he watched this act of horror continue on, before Sora finally fainted, Rizhet carrying her deeper into the darkness.

Seiji's eyes snapped open, and unbeknownst to him, were glowing a violent dark blue. Benevolent as he was before, all he felt was pure rage now, and that rage was coursing through his veins, fueling his heart to drive him towards Sora. Two glistening, ivory-white angel's wings burst forth from his back, spraying droplets of blood everywhere around him. His pupils contracted, growing smaller and smaller until his eyes were pure, gleaming blue.

"Aurora Blade!" he whispered, and a globe of untainted, lustrous white fell into his hand. He closed his hand into a fist, forcing the globe to elongate, growing longer and longer before it shaped into the most graceful-yet-deadliest blades of all.

A lengthy, arched razor-sharp blade grew from a majestic stone hilt, the edged parts of the blade tinted with soft blue. Upon the hilt was a beautiful ice-blue gem, and closer to the bottom the stone handle crossed, holding a round, blue gem between it. Growing from the hilt's top was a white-stone angel wing, curving down slowly until it touched the hilt bottom.

Brandishing the sword in front of him, he sliced an exit into the back of the sauna, and rushed out from there. If anyone was there to see this, they would have seen a burst of white, and that would be all. But today, no one was at Sleepywood. Word had quickly traveled around the island, telling everyone there were strange happenings at the Dungeon.

I know where she is.

He leapt high into the air, as far as being underground would allow him, and with a slight flutter of his imposing wings, he plummeted down towards the Ant Tunnel once again.

Seiji had gotten as far as the legendary Drake's Meal Table, where many a drake spawned to feast on unprepared travelers, jagged claws tearing through flesh while massive jaws bared and snapped. The Cold Eyes, mutated versions of the Evil Eyes, drained of all color and inheriting the bitter cold from the environment around them, devoured the remains of a drake's feast in a flash.

Hovering just above the claws of drakes and bites from Cold Eyes, he continued on, eyes glittering a bitter blue. It was freezing cold here, but he felt unaffected by it, his new snow-white robes gleaming with an edge of gold seemingly absorbing the cold for him.

Soon, however, his attention was brought to a small indent in one of the rocky blue surfaces.

Huh… what's this here?

Raising his hand to the indent, he pushed on it, and was surprised to see it scoot back a little bit. He pushed harder, and it scooted back a little more. Suddenly, it forced itself up again, locking whatever was behind it again. It was like this for Seiji for several minutes, before he got frustrated and blasted the indent with a powerful ray of holy energy. This time, it slid back all the way, and the wall unlocked itself, revealing a dark cave. Seiji was silent.

What is this? Could it be a trap? But even though he had his doubts, he had to go forward. With his robes swishing gently against the stony, icy ground beneath him, he stepped into the cave, the darkness swallowing him up immediately…

… Only to find himself falling, falling down into an endless abyss. His wings flared up by instinct, and there was a distinct glow from his wings that illuminated the cavern he was in. Slowly, he set himself down on a cavern platform, eyeing the place suspiciously. What kind of monster was ahead, possibly waiting to devour his soul?

A roar split the eerie silence of the cavern, rumbling the whole thing and almost throwing Seiji off balance.

There it is.

There were many shadows cast by the glow from his wings, and from a rocky outcropping's shadow, an enormous, twice-the-size-than-any-other Wild Kargo emerged, tossing its giant muzzle and eyes glowing madly. But, unlike any other Kargo, this one was black-furred and purple-eyed. He knew then that this was not a normal Kargo, and instead, it was the feared King Kargo.

Brandishing his blade, he waited for the Kargo to make its first move.

Instead, though, it began to speak, its deep, echoing voice rattling the whole chamber.

"I…" it began, "am the first step towards finding your necromancer. You must defeat me and take the key within my eye." One of its eyes glittered and Seiji could see a golden key embedded in it.

The King Kargo arched its back, giant hackles raised, ready to attack. Massive fangs bared, it snarled, "Begin."

Seiji was quick to move out of the way as it suddenly pounced at him, nearly crushing him. Seiji looked at his Aurora Blade. It was shining tremendously, white light radiating from it. For now, however, Seiji sheathed his blade, and was left only with his hands. The Kargo was confused. A human without his weapon, against such a mighty beast like himself?

Seiji's eyes glowed, a ring of white from the outer parts of his eyes fading into the innermost parts, where his pupils would be. His right hand shot out, and gestured at a large bundle of giant icicle-shaped stalactites. With a swoop of his hand, he tore out the stalactite with telekinetic energy, and flung it at the King Kargo with another wave of his hand. The Kargo jumped out of the way just in time to avoid being speared through the head. Instead, the stalactite embedded itself deeply into the cavern wall. The giant black cat-like monster blinked.

Such power… but I will not be felled so easily. Claws unsheathed, like a cat it leaped at Seiji again, oversized claws slicing into his arm. Seiji bit his lip to avoid crying out in pain.

Damn, he thought, that monster gouged me pretty well.

Seiji's left hand glowed with green energy, healing the arm up instantly. Seiji's eyes shot around the cavern, looking for any other resource he could use for a weapon against the Kargo. He refused to use his sword; he had a feeling he would only need it for the last battle. He saw another bundle of cold, stone stalactites, and he suddenly he had an idea. These kinds of stalactites were tall, almost as thick as an Ellinian tree's trunk. Summoning his telekinetic energy again, he clenched his hand into a fist and brought it sharply upwards.

With a sharp "CRACK" and a groan, the mineral icicle was wrenched from its crook in the cave, and was flung down in front of the King Kargo, the sharp point embedding itself deeply into the floor. Quickly, Seiji wrenched out another one and thrust it into the floor again, and another, and another, and yet another until finally there was a thick ring made of stalactites built up against the King Kargo. It roared, smashing its whole weight against the ring, but to no avail. It was trapped.

Seiji's hand began to glow a bright white, a beautiful white, and flung it down with a force. A large orb of energy seemed to sharpen itself as it fell, and with growing dread, the King realized…

It had lost.

Shiiik

The spear sunk itself deeply into the Kargo's black-furred head, now matted with its own oddly purple blood. With a tremendous "THUD", the Kargo toppled forward and lay there, still and unmoving. Seiji had won. He was tired, though, as the Kargo's giant eye rolled out of its socket and stopped in front of him. Reaching into the eye, however, wasn't as 'gross' as he thought it would be. Instead, it felt like reaching into water, albeit thick water. He felt around the pupil for the key, and tore it out, his hand coming out surprisingly clean.

The golden key shimmered in his hand as he trudged slowly towards a keyhole in the back of the cavern.

Sticking the key in, he turned it clockwise once. Suddenly, golden cracks appeared all over the flattened cave wall, and there was a boom in the cavern, and another boom, roughly rattling weak stalactites. The wall began to fall away, starting from the top. Pieces of rock rained down upon him, and he had to put up a glowing golden-shaded shield to protect himself from getting crushed.

Rocks from outside bounced off his shield, falling onto the ground after their descent. Before him, however, was another darkened chamber. The only lights were from his wings. Surprisingly, wind began to howl through the cave, ruffling his wing feathers and pushing his hair into his eyes. The gusts grew in power, forcing Seiji to hold his ground against the wind. But… suddenly, through the darkness, the shadow began to fade because of a dull light switching on slowly. He looked around, and the cavern he was in was immense, easily twice the size of the previous cavern, and he had fought a King Kargo in there. Instead, though, the rest he saw made his blood run ice-cold.

Sora was bound against a flat, sienna-colored wall, as was the rest of the chamber, unlike the last blue-tinted cave he was in. But, instead of a normal rope bounding her, there was a strange, glowing red energy-chain holding her captive. Behind her, on the wall, was a large scarlet circle with a star in fitted it, each of its five points stretching out farther to touch the ends of the cave. She did not resist her bonds though, and her head hung limply, seemingly unconscious.

"Sora!" he exclaimed, dashing as fast as he could towards Sora. Suddenly there was a flash of midnight black, and Seiji skidded to a stop, still far, far away from Sora. Demtatrin Rizhet appeared in the flash of black, and his eyes glinted insanely.

"I'm… surprised you made it alive past the King Kargo I set back there," he whispered harshly. "But you'll still have to get through me." Seiji gritted his teeth, and spoke up.

"If defeating you is gonna save Sora, then I'll do whatever it takes to take you down." And Rizhet started to laugh. His mocking laughter echoed throughout the cave, and Sora began to stir, eyes blinking and head rising slightly.

"S… Seiji?" she asked tiredly, her eyes glazed over with drowsiness, and her face a sickly pale. Her white bandana had been removed, and her hair hung over her face, matted slightly with blood.

"Sora…" he whispered, and his eyes began to glow madly. Flashing a dark blue, he leapt into the air, beating his wings mightily. Rizhet only watched in amusement as a white blur hurtled at him at the speed of light. Raising his fist, however, he clenched it, and Seiji's attention was drawn towards Sora's sudden cry of pain. He stopped rushing at Rizhet and looked up to Sora, to his horror. A blade of darkness had appeared, and it mercilessly rammed itself into Sora's stomach, where then she coughed up blood, spattering it all over the ground. Tears dripped from Sora's eyes, and Seiji found himself welling up with tears as well.

Blinking them away, he glared at Rizhet. Rizhet smirked.

"Come get me now," he hissed. New anger pouring through his veins, Seiji swiftly teleported behind Rizhet in a flash and delivered a sharp kick to his back, sending him sprawling across the floor. Rizhet got up, wiping a bit of blood from his mouth.

"Smart move, illumancer," he snarled, "but not enough." Reaching from his back, Rizhet pulled from an invisible sheath a sword, immensely large, perhaps larger than Seiji's Aurora Blade. The end of its handle was spiked and sharp, a spherical jewel set in the middle of it. The blade was almost as tall as Rizhet himself. It was almost like it was made of pure darkness.

"I like to call this the Shadow Abyss," Rizhet snickered. "I think you may find it a formidable opponent." And with that said, he dove at Seiji, brandishing the blade at an angle which would have probably cleaved his head off, if it had struck correctly.

Seiji had barely enough time to avoid the slashing arc from the gigantic blade, and teleported to the side. But before his mind could register it, Rizhet had disappeared into a cloak of shadows.

What?! Where did he- Seiji did not get to finish his thought, as suddenly Rizhet shot out of the darkness, swiping the blade at him again. He stepped back, but it was not enough to avoid the score across his stomach. Seiji almost keeled over. It seemed as though the Shadow Abyss truly was made of wicked shadows, because as he looked down at his freely-bleeding wound, a strange cloak of darkness was covering it, flowing into his wound and causing him to drop onto his knees in sudden mind-numbing pain.

Oh, crap.