A/N: KIOKO LOOKIT!!! I SQUISHED A BUG ON MY PAPER PLATE AND NOW IT'S SO SQUISHED IT LOOKS LIKE IT WAS PRACTICALLY DRAWN THERE!!! ISN'T IT FUNNY!?
Kioko: Uuuuuuuh…hilarious…I'm just going to, uh, step over to the telephone, and…make some calls.
XP
"Who—what are they?!" Orzan exclaimed, staring around at all the creatures that were suddenly surrounding us.
"Manifestations." Monigan answered for me.
"Incarnations of a human heart." Said Kagero.
"We are nightmares." Said Deskor.
"We are sins." Said Kukarkin.
"We are the icons of destruction manifested through human folly." Said Gorra.
"We are suffering,", "And agony,", "And fear!" Said the sisters.
"We are Inner Demons." Said Wemlast's deep voice, more terrible than the rest of them, "Born from the human which sits before you, born from her heart, her mind, her soul, we were crafted with our own minds, our own consciousness and, most of us, our own bodies. Forms to take and use to influence the outside world. We have power over reality itself, terrible powers. You think you understand our host, our creator? You think you know her well? Think again. Kaida is strong because we tormented her, we tortured her throughout her childhood, and she rose up to conquer us. But as she changes, so do we. As her desires and her emotions change, so do our own. And now a new being has been born from her heart. Not a demon, but an angel." She told Orzan.
"An…I don't, I don't understand…" Orzan murmured, "You, you created them?" He asked me, his eyes wide.
"Yes, but the way you say it makes it sound like I did it on purpose. Trust me, if I had a choice, none of them would even exist, except for the one." I answered. And, as if on cue, a light burned at the end of the room, and out walked Sabrielle, a battle-ready angel with a blazing sword at her side. All the others seemed to shy away from her, certainly many of them hissed and went back into the Manor just to get away from her. She illuminated the room far more brightly than any flame possibly could, throwing everything into such sharp relief that, for a moment, it was hard to look at her, or anything for that matter, as our eyes had been getting use to the candle light.
Orzan let out a breath of awe, as did the Prince. "Is that…?"
"Yes," I answered him, "That's Sabrielle."
Sabrielle slowly nodded her head once, and her blazing golden eyes stared into Orzan's, as though she were judging him right then and there. She seemed satisfied, and she turned to me, "A storm approaches, and with it comes a ship of dangerous men and women alike." She said.
"Are they hostile?" I asked, frowning. "Will they attack?"
"Well, they would ordinarily. However," There was amusement in her eyes, "They happen to have a prophet who is what he says he is with them, and would know their Empress the moment he sees her." She told me.
My head hit the table a few times, and the others started snickering at my reaction. "Can we just avoid them?" I asked.
"I'm afraid that would not be wise, because the course to do so would be dangerous, and taking such control over the ships would likely spook the sailors more than we need right now." She told me.
"Maybe if I just hid…"
"They would attack."
"D(beep)it! Why do I have to have such hostile followers!?" I exclaimed, pulling on my hair. "What in the world am I suppose to say to them!? 'Sorry can't stay to chat, we're busy high-tailing it to Egypt because I'm afraid of this hooded guy who's after my blood'!?" I asked, feeling the cold pangs of nervous panic building in my stomach.
"Say to them whatever you said to Jemal that made those others so willing to fight for you, even though you didn't ask them to." Farah told me.
"This sect believes in an Empress of battle, which you are, but you are also an Empress of compassion, which is what the Order of the All-Seeing Eye truly sought after. Whatever you may think, Kaida, you are the Empress of these people. They have chosen to follow the very image of you of their own free will, and they will wish even more to follow the real you, if only for the concern you show for them and other human beings. When the prophets first saw you, they saw you as you truly are. A strong powerful woman, worthy of their loyalty and adoration. Over the years that image has been skewed, but it is still you, however different these sects see your image, they are still searching for you." Sabrielle told me.
"I really…I never asked anyone to follow me like this! They, they think of me as a god, but I'm not! I make mistakes! How am I suppose to lead these people when I don't even know what they want from me!?" I exclaimed.
"I don't think it's about what they want from you, Kaida." Said Aizira, "I think it's about what you want from them."
"It's almost as if they knew there would be something that you needed from them, as if they knew about the situation that's erupting, and about your involvement in it long ago." The prince came in, frowning in deep thought.
"But what can I possibly ask of them!?" I exclaimed.
"Nothing." Answered Sabrielle, and I stared at her. "Tell them what's been happening, tell them about their brother order, tell them about Zasalamel. You won't have to ask for anything, just as you didn't need to ask anything of the Order of the All-Seeing Eye. They would be far more proud of their accomplishments if they were to perform them for you of their own free will than because you asked them to do it. To them, you stood for free will, order, compassion, and justice. You will not be able to please everyone, but the vast majority shall follow you simply because that is what they have grown up knowing. You can tell them to choose their own paths, but in the end they will choose yours simply because you gave them that choice." She explained.
I sighed and rubbed my temples, I did not want to do this.
The prince put his hand on my shoulder, "You know, you don't give yourself much credit. You're better at speaking to people than you think. You're always able to get your point across, remember when you talked to Father about the war in India? You really did make an impression on him, and you wouldn't have been able to do that if you were unable to speak out to others." He told me.
"I know, I know, it's just…I don't know what to tell them! Have we even thought about what we're going to do once we get to Egypt?" I asked.
"The King told me to keep the prince safe until everything was smoothed out. You know the dagger was found in your rooms? But somehow the King knows without any shadow of a doubt that it had been planted there, but the fact that the prince was caught with it…the duke has the whole castle abuzz with the scandal, and everyone believes it really was the Prince and his 'consort' who stole the dagger from India. We had to escape, otherwise the duke would have called for a public execution. Since Keilic left to go after Kaida, he somehow worked that up into a scandal as well concocted by the prince, saying that he was killed by Kaida, who ran away to cover her tracks, even though Kaida was long gone before Keilic even knew she was leaving. The King doesn't believe it for one second, thank the gods, but the Duke has power of his own in the court, and it isn't as though Kaida is exactly popular with the king's public officials. It's safe to say you're the last woman that they want as their queen." Orzan explained.
"Yeah, I'll bet the duke is just having a field day with this." I snarled, glowering. And Orzan looked at me in slight surprise.
"Orzan, the dagger was found in Kaida's rooms…because my father gave me a gift to give to the prince and…and I left it there by accident…that gift? That was the Dagger." Keilic confessed, looking down at his hands, ashamed.
Orzan's mouth fell open and he looked at the prince and I, as though hoping that either of us would refute this, but I gritted my teeth, "I don't think he's exactly in league with Zervan, or that he was, but I know that he's hoping to seize the throne from the prince, somehow. How? I'm not sure, if he thinks Keilic is dead, that'll be a problem. Or maybe he's just trying to take revenge, I don't know, but if you think about it, it fits, doesn't it? How do you think he knew what the Dagger was when no one else in Persia had any idea what sort of treasure it was that was stolen from India?" I asked.
"I thought that was somewhat suspicious…" Orzan said, a deep frown on his face.
"But how are we going to prove it?" Asked Farah, crossing her arms over her chest and looking just as angry as any of us, "I'm sure that if Keilic 'comes back to life' and claims his father planted the dagger on him, he's going to have a hard time proving it, and this man would likely say that Keilic's fallen under Kaida's spell or what-not." She said, glowering.
"We could try explaining the situation to the Egyptians and ask for their help…" Keilic said.
"And they would care…why?" I asked in false cheerfulness. "I think we're pretty much on our own here…unless, of course, you count the cultists. But what sort of power would they have over Persia or anywhere else?" I asked.
"You would be surprised." Orzan said, glowering slightly, "I've heard of these cults, Kaida, and I'm afraid to say that what I've heard, isn't good. They have good friends in high places, most of them are nomadic, they like to travel, but others…Let's just say that if you're in one of these cults, you don't go telling people, but they do know and that gives you a sort of immunity, because those who do know are not going to want to get on your bad side. They make powerful assassins, and would create an even more great and terrible army if brought together. I think it's safe to say that when we reach Egypt, one of these sects is going to be in a very high place and will likely be sitting right next to the king." He said.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Are you saying that the queen of Egypt is one of my followers!?" I exclaimed.
"It's rumored that only women from these cults becomes queen, because of the strength and skills they are taught as children. It's only rumors, but if there's someone in court that other people shy away from and respect well, you can bet he or she's one of your followers." Orzan told me.
"Graaaaaaate. Fan-freak'n-tastic…" I grumbled. "I guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth, though. Still…" I sighed, rubbing at my temples.
"You'll do fine. When the time comes, I'm sure you'll know what to do. And if not," The prince grinned, "You can always try again." He said, making me laugh.
XD
Unfortunately when the time did come…they attacked.
Fire from an unknown source was shot upon both ships, and the smaller one, the one that we'd sailed in, caught fire first, and was burning far too swiftly.
"Kassima's in there!!!" I cried, as, in desperation, I had already shifted Bano from one ship to the other with my sands, not caring about the fact that it seriously spooked the sailors.
I scrambled down to the lower decks, my heart racing. The bottom was filling up with water, and Kassima was trapped on top of one of the crates, the pile of which was now burning, and she was crying, paralyzed in fear and unable to move. I scrambled up the pile and grabbed her, running back the way I had come. The path, however, was blocked, we were trapped.
For one heart-stopping moment, I thought we were going to die. But Sabrielle came just in time to pluck us from danger and burst through to the upper level, allowing us a safe way through to the deck.
The ship was sinking, and the other was going to follow it if I didn't do something swiftly. I teleported over to the other ship and stuffed Kassima into Aizira's arms, I then ran to the bow in order to see what was coming.
There was just one, but it was big, it was huge, and it was most definitely of the same kind that had taken the prince and I captive before we reached Babylon. Not the same one, no, there was a difference, a very big difference painted on the side of it in burning red. It was the mirrored kanji symbol for destruction, the middle character on my back that Sacrosanct had put there. How appropriate! I stared at it with growing rage as it came up so that we were side-by-side, hooks grabbing the only remaining ship and pulling it close to a net. This ship may be bigger than the one we sailed in, but it was still easy pray for a gigantic thing like that.
I took one of the chains the hooks were attached too and practically flew up it. I was mad, no, I was pissed! I seriously did not see any reason why we should be attacked like this!!! Whether or not I was the Empress of Time!!! Just what kind of image were these people following!?
Whatever it was, it was a seriously messed up one, one, obviously, made to suite whichever prophet of theirs started this particular sect. Or maybe it's just these people like killing and I was their reason for it.
A roar came to my ears which confirmed this assumption, a roar of words that were repeated like a chant throughout the ship of the men and woman, all dressed in similar outfits to the ones that the sand monsters had worn. Woman were like blade-dancers, in those different outfits, all with the destruction symbol at the right side of their forehead, while men wore the raider outfits that had that symbol on the backs of them. Some didn't even have shirts on, revealing that it was also tattooed there as well, like a brand.
It's like they were all different religions that worshiped the same 'god', taking the parts of their god they liked and focusing on that while completely ignoring the overall whole! Over here there's Baptist, here there's Methodist, here there's Mormons, and over there are Jews! Now, not saying those religions just left out stuff about their god that they didn't like or anything, but the fact was that I WASN'T A FREAK'N GOD!!! I MEAN, WHAT THE CRAP!?!? Seriously!!! If I were a god I would have gotten rid of the voices in my head FIRST THING!!! But, what do you know, THEY'RE STILL THERE!!!
And the words they were saying? Well, let's just say their chant went something like this,
When blood runs gold and false gods dieShe'll rise through fire with an angel's cry
The sky shall turn a perpetual black
Seeking her pray, there's fire in her track
This was worse than the 'coming to create paradise' bit! I was the Empress of Time, not Battle for gods' sakes!!! Bunch of loons!
It'd been far too long since I'd had a good fight, and at least my skills weren't rusty. But these were no amateurs that I was matching blades with, and fending them off three at a time was difficult enough. Thankfully the prince came to my side, and in his hand he held the water sword and another blade that he must have picked up somewhere.
"Your blood shall please the Empress!" Hissed a blade-dancer woman, attempting to jump on top of me, only to be kicked right out of the air with a high roundhouse.
"Wouldn't count on that one b(beep)!" I snarled, plunging my blade through the shoulder of one of the big burly men after dodging his attack. I felt a knife catch me from behind, but the moment it was gone I rewound time upon the wound itself, making it disappear and turning around to send the shocked and confused cultist over board. Over on our ship, some of the cultist had slid down. But Orzan, Aizira, Alzik, Keilic, and Farah were all making short work of them. The prince and I were having it out with the ones up top.
It felt almost like the old days on the Island of time, only here there were more, they seemed more skilled, though easier to kill when we got a hit in.
I really didn't care anymore. I was sick of it, I was fed up, I was angry! We'd do better to just slaughter the whole lot of them than bother getting them to join the Order of the All-Seeing Eye. I wondered, as I unleashed the daggertail upon them, just how many had they killed, sacrificed, in my name. It made me sick with fury. These people knew nothing about me!!! How dare they even claim to follow my image!? It was completely and utterly ridiculous!!!
And then I heard a sound that caused my blood to freeze.
"MOMMY!!!"
"KASSIMA!!!" The prince and I screamed at once. We saw her, held tightly in the arms of a cultist, and after screaming a hand went over both mouth and nose, and I watched in my mind as she fell into a forced slumber and was taken below deck.
With a cry of rage and fury, the prince grabbed one of the ropes and swung himself towards the cultist that had Kassima, but he was too late, and the next thing I knew, a woman in form-fitting black armor appeared. She was not Shahdee, the hair was different as well as the facial structure, but her outfit was very similar to Shahdee's, and she bore the same kind of double blades that both Shahdee and Kaileena used. She blocked the prince's attack, and then threw something in his face, then she kicked him back and he stumbled, falling, amongst the other cultists.
"NO!" I snarled, slashing a furious path towards them with both blades and daggertail.
"Take the Proven alive and kill the useless ones!" She called.
"YOU B(BEEP)!!!" I cried, calling back my daggertail so that I could lock blades with her properly. She blocked my attack and kicked me back. A large space was made around us, apparently the two of us were to fight, though if I won, I didn't know that it would make much difference.
"You're strong, you will make an excellent addition to our Order!" She said, smirking at me and moving into the battle field.
"Like hell I will!" I growled.
"You won't have a choice. A talent like yours cannot be wasted upon simpletons like these." She said, using her sword to indicate the prince, unconscious and being held by two of the raider-like men. "You will serve the Empress of Time, you should be honored. But first, Prove your rank!" She said, crossing her blades before her, and moving so swiftly at me I almost thought that she, too, possessed the power to slow down time.
"I serve no one!" I declared, and our blades locked.
She wasn't Shahdee, but she fought almost exactly like the woman, and she was as strong as Shahdee had been when I'd last faced her, with, possibly, even more skill. But she wasn't as hard to wound, and she did not bleed out sand whose wound closed up before much more left it. Still, it was harder to actually hit her than Shahdee.
But hit her I did. She was still far from being my equal.
I had her on her stomach, one boot pinning her to the deck, and my swords on either side of her neck. A position I had Orzan in before he admitted defeat, and defeat her I had. "Order your men to let us go, or you die here and now." I told her with a hiss. But she laughed, she laughed! I couldn't believe it! What was she on about!? "You think I'm joking!?" I snarled at her.
"Oh no, no, no. I am fully aware that you do not hesitate to kill, which is part of what makes you such a desirable member. But you seem to be under the mistaken impression that this battle was meant to decide whether or not you go or stay. You stay whether or not you kill me, and I suggest you don't. If you'll take a look over to your right, you'll see your ship hanging in our net. Your comrades are on that ship, and your consort is in the clutches of my men. If you kill me, he dies too, as does the rest of your crewmates." She told me, laughing as I stared at the ship, and at the men who had the prince, both of which held their blades close to his neck as though to emphasize the woman's point.
With a snarling hiss, I pulled my blades from her, making sure I nicked her neck at least a little as I did so, and I stepped back. "Mark my words, b(beep), you will die." I snarled.
But she looked at me amused, smirking through the line of blood that marked the slash I had given her across the face. That would scar, and if I knew how to curse a scar, I would have done it right then and there. "I look forward to the day when you think you can get away with it without loosing your consort!" She said laughing. And the next moment the same stuff that was used to knock out the prince was thrown into my own face. And though I tried to keep my breath, it didn't seem to matter. It sank into my skin,
And all I knew was blackness.
XD
Kaida: WHAT THE CRAP!!! I WON AND YET WE'RE STILL BEING TAKEN CAPTIVE!?!? THAT'S IT, THEY ARE SO COMING FACE TO FACE WITH MY SAND FORM!
Kage (IE: Dark Prince): I'd like a crack at them myself as well.
Prince: THEY TOOK KASSIMA!!!
Kage: Oh BOO HOO!!! Good gods, we're better off without that little rat making you all soft.
Kaida: (Twitch, twitch)
Kage: Er…um…I was joking?
Kaida: Die. (Attacks him in sand form)
Kage: GAH! That's not fair!
Kioko: Huh, is he technically in 'sand form' like this or is he just in a copy body of the prince's?
Rhea: Uh, both?
Kioko: Riiiiiiight.
Rhea: That's the power of a purely text-based conversation!
Kioko: Lovely, so who's doing the FAQ today?
Rhea: Well, they're all busy, so I guess I'll do it.
Q: How come you named the Dark Prince 'Kage'?
A: I wanted to name him? Also I did it in honor of DarkxPrince's story 'Darkness Within'! XD
Q: So are these cultists just everywhere? Are they in Persia too?
A: Well they all started in Egypt actually, so we're gonna find a lot of them close to there especially.
Q: So what's with that song they were singing?
A: Oh, you'll find out.
Q: Why'd they take Kassima!?
A: Because they're mean!
Q: What's Kaida going to do when she wakes up?
A: You'll find out.
Kaida: I'll tell you what I'm going to do, I'm going to transform into my Sand Form, and I'm going to KILL THEM ALL!!!
Kage: Sounds good to me!
Q: Is the Duke in league with Zervan?
A: Maybe.
Q: What's the Duke's name.
A: Uuuuuuh…haven't come up with a name yet, because I'm lazy, my reviewers can give me suggestions though!
Rhea: Well, that's all for now! See you all again on Wednesday! Ja!