HA! You thought I was dead, didn't you?! NO WAY! I'm just in the middle of a battle with the evils of College har har
Also, this chapter was Inspired by Higurashi. Crazy laughs for the win!!
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The evil felt proud of its accomplishments, and soon all his plans will come to fruition. All it needed was the boy and a good source of darkness, and soon, the world will be his again.
Within the twisted forms of the darkness, the evil clutched in his "hand" someone who was once its holder. It had met this person as a young boy, driven to the brink of insanity by his past, driven by jealousy and anger at another person who the darkness itself was against: A boy who somehow channeled his powers through the earth and multiplied it … He and his followers, as well as some … unknown force had defeated this evil.
Thankfully, Giygas knew his end would come, just as the Apple of Enlightenment had told. The young boy he controlled wouldn't believe it, but Giygas knew too well that the Apple's predictions were seldom off.
Giygas had done the unthinkable. He had split himself into two.
Through sheer force and great will, Giygas managed to rip out a piece of his immortality and planted it far into the future, where he was certain he would meet the young boy again. He planted his seed within a heart of an unusual creature, the only one that would be able to stand against time itself.
The Dragon.
Giygas couldn't have planned it better: He would use the dragon as a catalyst and seal his power away. The Magypsies, those fools, would lock away the power of the dragon and use his form as a shield to protect from the oncoming destruction that ended the other world. He would lie and wait, waiting for the time he would be awakened again. While the life forms lived on the back of the dragon, its heart would still beat, keeping the darkness alive.
And then he came back.
Pokey Minch … King Porky.
He saw his opportune moment again and seized it.
Without hesitation, Giygas reached out from the heart and tapped into the mind of the child, deformed both physically and mentally by the passage of time. He would make sure that he would cause harm and despair to the child which could release him. He would masquerade as hope for the child, but underneath that hope is disappointment.
As soon as that child pulled the needle, he had released Giygas, giving birth to a new seed of evil.
Giygas looked at the capsule that he clutched in his 'hands'. Pokey served him well these past few centuries, but now he was nothing more than a useless shell of himself.
'Even with your immortality' … the form hissed, 'I could end your life right now.'
The capsule gave no answer.
'Your life has been filled with jealousy, grief and pain …' Giygas said as he enveloped the capsule in darkness, 'Your reward for serving me shall be death.'
Although he could not hear it, Giygas was sure that inside the capsule, the Evil King Porky would be laughing to the point of tears, happy he would finally see the end.
--
Lucas clutched his father's hand tightly. Something about this place kept making his heart jump. He didn't know if it was the darkness, if it had to do something with the fact that he and Claus were separated, or if it was something deeper than he just couldn't understand. Lucas kept close to Flint, who just stared ahead at the sight before him.
"This is where I found him." Flint said in a daze.
Lucas blinked at Flint. "What?"
"Your brother … This is where I found him all those months ago, when he was still …"
Both Lucas and Flint fell silent as memories flooded their minds.
Lucas looked up to his father. "We still haven't figured out."
Flint shook his head and looked at Lucas. "What was that?"
"Claus. We never found out why he is alive …" Lucas looked at the ground, "I mean, I'm happy about it … It's just that … I feel as if something is going on that made his coming back a taboo."
Flint stared upward. He could not see the ceiling of the mines, all he could see was pitch black.
"Dad … do you think Mom is alive?" Lucas whispered, "Or do you think that's just wishful thinking?"
Flint sighed. "Honestly, after going through this journey … I'm not sure just what to say anymore."
Lucas felt his heart sink.
"But what I do know is …" Flint continued, "Your brother is alive, and as a Father, I am happy. These 4 months that we had with him were some of the best ones I've had in a long time. Lucas, when we find Claus, I want you to promise me one thing, no matter if we find your mother or not."
Lucas looked at his father and smiled. "We won't go on any journeys ever again."
"No … It's not that." Flint said as he kneeled down to Lucas and patted his shoulder. "I want you to promise me, as brothers, you two will never be apart."
Lucas was quite confused at this request, but nodded anyway. "I promise, Dad."
Flint smiled. "Good."
--
Kana wondered through the mines, still running as visions of darkness clouded her head. She could not see or hear anything, all she could do was feel her way through the labyrinth before anything happened to the boys. For Flint's sake, they needed to be alive.
Kana felt her foot slip off the edge of a cliff. She found herself falling over, looking into the bottomless pit of darkness …
She felt a hand grab her arm tightly, her body landing against the face of the cliff. Kana shook her head violently until the visions of darkness were finally cleared. She looked up and saw that Kumatora was grasping her arm tightly.
"Duster, I could use a little help here!!" Kumatora yelled at the theif.
Shortly after, Duster appeared in view, and Kana reached for him with her free arm. Together, both Kumatora and Duster pulled her up from the cliff, and let her rest on the ground. Kumatora cringed in pain as she held her leg.
"Duster … Kumatora …" Kana whispered in a silent voice, "How did you two …?"
Boney barked and rested his head in Kana's lap. 'We were looking for you!' he said, 'It was hard, but somehow I was able to track you down – my nose is getting better!'
"It must be something about this place ..." Kumatora said through her teeth, "but that's just a guess …"
Duster helped Kumatora up and slung her arm over his shoulder. "We have to keep moving, you guys. Something in my gut is telling me that we need to get to Lucas as soon as possible."
"That something is telling me the same thing …" Kana said as she stood up. "We may already be too late.
Kumatora and Duster looked at each other in concern. They didn't want to admit it, but after traveling with her, after fighting with her, after she saved Duster from being corrupted by a ghost, it was hard not to trust her.
Ignoring the pain in his arm, Duster finally managed to get the princess onto his back. He breathed through his teeth as searing pain tortured his mind, but he set that aside, looking towards what was more important.
"Boney, if you could track down Kana … Do you think …"
'Say no more, Duster.' Boney barked. 'I'll do my best in tracking down master and the kids!'
Boney pointed his nose at the ground. The lack of smells made Boney's job easier as he sorted through the different scents that filled the halls. Finally, he had spotted Flint's – that strong cowboy smell he had learned to live with.
Boney shot off in a direction, with Kana, Duster and Kumatora following close behind.
--
Claus was in deep, deep trouble.
He had let Polly lead him away from Lucas, and now was heading towards an unknown area. As he marched through, his heart kept telling him to turn back, that there was something here he did not need to see. But his mind kept persuading him to keep on going, to let Polly lead him. What's the worse that they'll see.
Polly stopped, letting Claus walk on. Claus then stood when he felt Polly stopped, and turned back to her.
"Is anything wrong, Polly?" Claus asked.
"Oh no, everything's fine." Polly said, "No need to worry about me."
Claus looked around the cavern. Still nothing but darkness. "So, where are we?"
"Tell me, Claus." Polly said, "What do you know of … King P?"
That name rang a bell, but his mind just could not pin point where he had heard that before.
"I never told you much about my father, did I …?" Polly said, "He was a scientist … his main goal in life was to reanimate life, to bring back living things from the dead …"
Polly laid her head on his shoulder, almost purring, "You see, dear Claus, he had a daughter … the Daughter died of a terrible illness, and he stricken with grief … he and a group of scientists teamed up … and with extensive research and experimenting … you know what they did …?"
Claus shook his head: he was actually afraid to hear the answer.
"They found a corpse of a small boy, who's tragic life ended when he fell off a cliff."
A cliff …?
"Then what happened? What about the girl?"
Polly went back to her sunny self, skipping a couple steps back from Claus. "You're looking at her!" She said with a smile.
Claus stood there, too shocked to move.
"Yes Claus. Their experiments with the boy went so well … that my Father went and did it again with me. We have something in common."
Claus gulped. "W-what …"
"You know, don't you?"
"Huh?"
Polly's eyes turned into blood-red slits. An evil smiled crept on her face as she started to laugh hysterically. Then, as suddenly as she started, her laughing abruptly stopped, but the smile was still on her face, scaring Claus to no end.
"You know the truth, that you're supposed to be dead. You and I Claus, we're both inhuman! We're sins against natures, you and I, both born from he who holds all the darkness!!"
Claus stepped back from Polly, unaware of the form behind him.
"Claus, you've returned to your grave!! As have I!!" Her voice went into frenzy as she dropped to her knees. "Come!! Play with me Claus! Let us march towards hell as the tabooed sins of nature we are!!"
Claus moved back further. He felt his heel hit something soft, and he slowly turned around. Behind him was the metallic skeletal frame, parts of the body still had skin attached. He studied it intently, and found he was staring at himself, or at least, a dead corpse of himself.
"What is this?!" Claus said with a sickened tone, "Polly, what's going on?!'
"He's back … he's back …" Polly stammered, laughing with a crazed delight. "Master Giygas, have I done well?? Can I finally return home?! Can I finally die?!"
'Yes … my servant …' a loud, booming voice roared, 'You have done quite excellent …'
Before Claus's eyes, Polly's neck started to bleed. The red river fell from her neck, staining her pink dress. Before Claus knew anything, her head fell right off, her smile still on her face, her eyes thanking whatever had given her death …
Claus backed up from the head of Polly, who was smiling up at him. He tried his best to fight off the nausea that threatened to come. All he wanted now was to get out of here, to find Lucas and to go home.
Claus felt his knee being wrapped in darkness. Claus struggled, but in vain: his leg was lopped right off, the blood staining his trousers a deep shade of red. Claus let out a cry of pain. He looked everywhere, but could not find the source of the darkness. He felt so helpless now, and worst of all, he was frightened. Poor Claus, for the first time in ages, felt absolute terror and despair.
"S … Someone! Anyone!! Help me!!" Claus cried out in the darkness.
'Young child … it is far too late to call out for help.' The voice whispered as the darkness lifted Claus's struggling body up. 'But please, do continue. All I need now are his cries of horror …'
Claus screamed as the darkness stuck his way right through his body. The Darkness searched around until finally, it pulled out what it had needed: His seed. Planting this seed in this boy's body was the best idea he could have thought of: Doing so would have revived this boy from the dead and lead his nourishment here, but it would allow the seed to thrive in such a body twisted with horrible sins.
Claus's eyes faded, becoming emotionless. His breathing was shallow as was his heartbeat. The darkness dropped the legless boy on the ground, giving no second thought.
'Your mother was a fool to think she could stop me.' Giygas said darkly.
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OO