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CHAPTER 20: FATHER AND SON, PART I

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"Too bad for you two," Arcanus was saying, "but I think your boyish adventure will have to come to an abrupt end, right now. You have two choices: surrender, or suffer."

"Spare us," retorted Tyrell. "There's no way we're going back now."

Arcanus turned towards Myalkni and raised an eyebrow. "And you, " he said, "you're going along with this lunacy?"

Myalkni didn't want to say a word to this man who happened to be his father.

Instead, Tyrell spoke. "Amiti is done with you, whether you like it or not," he said. "We're leaving, and we won't let you take us back alive."

"Let the boy speak for himself," Arcanus said. "You must know, my son, that resisting me isn't worth your life, don't you? You've known that for a while now, haven't you."

Myalkni drew in a breath. "I've decided now that serving your wretched ambitions isn't worth living for either," he spat.

"What's so wretched about wanting to establish peace for the world?"

"You really want peace badly, don't you? So that's why you set Eastern Morgal aflame, right?" Myalkni asked sarcastically.

"It was on it's way to exploding on it's own before I intervened. I needed it to trigger at the right time, control it so I could use it to further my plans," Arcanus reasoned. "Doesn't it say something about the way people are, that they were willing to do those horrible things in the first place?"

"You know I don't deny people are horrible creatures," Myalkni said.

Tyrell stared at him in shock.

"And that's exactly the reason they need to be ruled," Arcanus argued. "Someone has to force them to direct their energies usefully, rather than idiotically fighting amongst themselves all the time."

"So, of course that must be you," Myalkni scoffed, "because you alone, in this world of horrible people, are worthy to rule over everyone else, right?"

"The Tuaparang is, because only we know how, what to do" Arcanus corrected him. "We'll have one sky for us all to share, forgetting all our petty squabbles forever."

"Or is it one sky with a Tuaparang ship flying in it, for us all to slave under?" Myalkni sneered. "Sure, most people are horrible, but how can you say that you're any different?"

"Well mustn't there be something powerful to maintain and enforce the peace?" argued Arcanus.

"Your 'peace' is just an excuse," Myalkni leveled. "It's not peace, it's just submission by force, fear and brainwashing."

"You're so cynical," Arcanus lamented. "If you had only ever given me a chance, you would've seen. Things could've turned out so much better between us."

Myalkni shook his head in disbelief. "That's about the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."

"This is just a waste of time," Tyrell said. "You won't let us pass, so we'll just have to defeat you."

"Oh, you can try that if you want, boy," Arcanus said, letting out an amused chuckle.

Tyrell drew his Levatine and charged at him.

Arcanus stood still.

You don't think I'm a bit of threat, Tyrell thought.That angered him. With one hand, he swung his blade at Arcanus, but Arcanus jumped back, easily evading it. Then, with his free hand, he unleashed a burst of flames upon his foe.

Arcanus quickly recovered from the blast and healed himself. "I didn't see that coming," he said. "I must admit, for such an oaf, you're a little less stupid than you let on."

Tyrell then thrust his hand upward, calling forth a jet of magma from the volcano's pit and hurling it upon Arcanus.

Arcanus made a quick sweeping motion with his left hand. A gust of frost came upon the lava, and the jet solidified into a spray of small rocks and blew them backward. They fell back into the pit, lifeless.

"Alright, then," Arcanus said. "I think it's my turn now."

-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-

Nowell's hair was drenched with sweat, and her garments were sticking to her skin. She had never been in a place this hot before. "Of all the places they could've picked for their stupid hideout," she carped, "did it have to be this infernal volcano?"

For once in her life, Nowell missed home. She wondered if was it really true that Arcanus was the same person as Alex. If he was, Nowell wondered what about this place could have possibly appealed to him. After all, Alex was a native of snowy old Imil just like herself.

"We don't know for sure that this is their hideout," cautioned Matthew. "All we know is that this is where the Echo Gem says Karis is."

"And where Rief probably is as well," Nowell added.

"Yeah," Matthew said, as he used his psynergy to move a pillar into the lava to jump onto.

It took awhile, and a lot of jumping, for them to reach the stone pathway on the other side safely. Well, Nowell thought, this place does have the advantage of inaccessibility. Not many people could ever get inside, even fewer would ever want to, and even those who could and wanted to probably wouldn't be able to get around … but wait a minute…

"Matthew," Nowell asked, "didn't you say earlier that you thought you'd been here before?"

"I'm pretty sure this is the same place where I went to get the Umbra Knuckles for Sveta," he replied. "It seems exactly the same, in fact. And yet…"

"And yet what?"

"Well, there's two problems," Matthew said. "When we came the first time, the entrance was hidden. We needed Himi's psynergy to open it."

"But when we arrived this time, the entrance was really obvious," noted Nowell.

"After Himi Revealed it, it became permanently visible to the naked eye," explained Matthew.

"So couldn't they have just gotten in after that?" Nowell wondered. "What's the problem, then?"

"That gets us to the second problem," Matthew said. "This is a pretty small cave, as I remembered. We had explored all of it, I thought."

"How deep are we right now?"

"We've almost gotten to the dead end," Matthew said, "and we haven't seen a single sign of the Tuaparang."

"Well, there is another way to get into the mountain," Nowell said, "so maybe there are other chambers in here you don't know about."

"What do you mean? What other entrance is there?"

"There's the crater at the top of the mountain," Nowell replied "They could've flown in, with their airship."

"Crap… I didn't realize that," Matthew said. "This mountain is huge. There could be a whole complex of chambers in the center of the mountain, but we'd never know because we could never reach them..."

"So what do we do then," demanded Nowell, frustrated. "Are you sure there's no part of this place you haven't explored."

"I'm pretty sure… but I suppose I couldn't know for sure," Matthew said.

"If the entrance was hidden, then couldn't there be another path that is concealed?" Nowell reasoned hopefully.

"Maybe you're right. Actually, now that you mention it, there was a certain strange part of the wall…" Matthew thought aloud. "It seemed to have an artificial design on it, and in the center was what looked like a huge key hole."

"Where was it?"

"It was just around here, actually," Matthew answered.

"Let's see if we can find it."

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Panting, Tyrell jumped back to his feet and regained his balance. There were cuts up and down his arms, and he could feel a persistent pain in his chest. Myalkni had faired little better. He was lying on the ground with gashes running down his legs, and his left arm seemed to be broken. Both of them had drained most of their psynergy.

"If you ever had any hope of defeating me, it must be gone now," Arcanus said. "You don't have to die here like this. The Tuaparang could make good use of adepts as strong as yourselves. My threats before don't have to mean anything. Surrender now, do as I say, and the other prisoners will never have to know that I let you off easy."

"Don't ever do a single thing he says!" Myalkni yelled to Tyrell. "You have no idea what he can do to you!"

"Don't worry," Tyrell growled. "I won't."

"You must sense by now that the battle is lost," Arcanus reasoned. "Why not save yourself and make the best of it?"

"I could never betray myself like that," Tyrell answered, "and I won't betray Amiti either."

"What is this notion of 'betraying'?" Arcanus asked. "It's all nonsense. Relations between people are truly only ruled by each person's interests. These notions of 'betrayal' and 'obligations' are just illusions invented by society to control individuals."

"And what if I don't want you controlling me either?" Tyrell protested.

"You should realize that you're now stuck choosing between letting me control you or losing your life. If you're sensible, you'll choose to keep your life. After all, freedom can be eventually regained. It's a hard choice I know, but it's all the result of your idiotic choice to run head-first into a rather obvious trap," said Arcanus. "Look at where you've gotten with all your absurd notions, sacrificing yourself for others who would never do the same. If not for such idiocy, you wouldn't be here having to make this choice at all."

Myalkni cringed.

"Okay, maybe I was stupid in the way I did it, and maybe it was against my own interests," Tyrell conceded, "but I couldn't just ignore my duty to rescue a friend in need. What would I be, then?"

"You'd be just another person," Arcanus said. "And there's nothing wrong with that, for it's what we all are. People like you try to be better than everyone else with all your self-righteous morals, convincing yourself of things like justice and love, but they're all just arrogant illusions."

"That's not what it's about at all!" said Tyrell.

"Oh, but it is," Arcanus preached. "Bonds between people are really nothing more than temporary alliances for mutual benefit. If there is no longer benefit, they terminate. Nobody should care what this says about us as people, because anyone's existence is meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

"But, of course, society controls us by teaching us these heart-warming notions of identity, love and honor and all that nonsense. People loveto believe they're caring, honorable, special individuals rather than the self-interested, mechanical and rather unimportant beings they really are."

"And when did you become an expert on how people are?" Tyrell asked.

"I've seen a lot of the world," Arcanus replied. "And I realized, at some point, that all these notions of obligation, of bonds, of identity, all these illusions… were restraining. And once I stopped deluding myself, I realized they hadn't ever truly existed."

"How did they possibly restrain you?" Tyrell demanded.

"I had do the same thing every single day as a temple boy in Imil, I had to marry a girl I didn't care the least for, I had to obey parents who saw me as nothing more than an heir to continue their bloodline... Once I realized their ridiculous notions about life were all fake, I was able to free myself. Now they no longer weigh me down, and yes, I can say for sure they don't exist, as I never again suffered from these illusions."

"Well, I think that's just sad," said Tyrell flatly. "Emotions and bonds and all that stuff… that's what make us each who we are! People shouldn't just throw their selves away by pretending they don't exist."

"I think it's sadder that people like you delude themselves," Arcanus retorted. "You don't need them to help make you 'who you are', because 'who you are' shouldn't matter at all. If you're not a narcissist, you'd know there's no 'self' to throw away. But most people are narcissists, it seems."

"I think it's you who's deluding yourself," Tyrell shot back. "People don't convince themselves these things exist, it's youwho's convincing yourself that they don't!"

"No," Arcanus said. "It is definitely you who lies to yourself. I can prove it to you."

"That's ridiculous," Tyrell said. "How could you ever prove what I feel?"

"Look at Myalkni," Arcanus said. "He's come to understand the truth, even if he doesn't realize it. He even told me so once, that he saw the logic that emotions didn't really exist."

Tyrell looked at Myalkni. "Amiti, you never said that to him, did you?"

"I did," Myalkni said quietly, staring down at the ground.

"But it was just a lie, right? Just to make him happy? You don't really believe that, do you?" Tyrell demanded.

"I… don't know what I believe," he said painfully. "I feel… I feel things, I think… but I don't know. Lately, I feel like I don't know anything for sure anymore."

"Oh, but you DO know," Arcanus proclaimed. "You know deep down what is really important. You threw the chains on him at that lake in East Morgal. Deep in your heart, you knew that whatever bond you had with Tyrell was really nothing compared to your own survival."

"That's not true!" Myalkni cried out. "That's not… how it happened…"

"Isn't it?" Arcanus taunted. "Look me in the eyes, I dare you, and tell me it's not."

"I…" Myalkni started. But he couldn't continue. He wanted to say that he knew that what Arcanus was saying was wrong and yet… he couldn't find any to prove it false.

"And you'd do it again, I'd bet," Arcanus said.

"No he wouldn't," Tyrell yelled. "He's learned now, he's learned that was a mistake, he told me so!"

Tyrell believes so strongly in me, Myalkni thought painfully. Even after all that happened.

"Watch," Arcanus said playfully, turning to face his son. "Myalkni, I'll forgive you for trying to escape if you help me recapture Tyrell. Just cut his legs with your blade, that's all I ask of you. Otherwise, you're both dead."

Myalkni fingered his sword's hilt as he lay wounded on the ground, then clenched his fist on it, gritting his teeth.

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It didn't take very long for Matthew and Nowell to locate part of the wall with the odd pattern that Matthew remembered. It really did look suspicious, Nowell thought. It looked like a huge door of sorts, heavily decorated. And then there was this huge 'keyhole' of sorts about halfway up.

"This definitely didn't form naturally," Nowell said.

"But if that's a keyhole, who has a key that big?" Matthew wondered.

"Maybe it's not for a key, maybe it's for… I don't know, a sword maybe?"

"We actually tried that last time," Matthew said. "None of our swords fit."

"It wouldn't hurt to try again, would it?"

Matthew pulled the Sol Blade from its sheath. "I didn't have this one yet back then though," he noted. "I found it at the Apollo Sanctum."

He flicked his sword around a little and then stuck it into the hole.

The blade glowed white and vibrated in Matthew's hands, as light raced through the lines of the wall's pattern. He took a step back in shock.

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"Watch- his hand is already upon his sword's hilt. Soon, he will surely implement my orders," Arcanus asserted triumphantly. "Digest the lesson, Tyrell. Myalkni knows better than to resist in the name of senseless illusions. You came to rescue him, but he will forsake you yet again now that you're not able to help him anymore. He has learned to respect power and knows that right now, you are worthless to him. The question is, why haven't you realized the truth yet, Tyrell?"

Myalkni couldn't let that stand. He found the strength to get up from the ground and ripped his blade from its sheath. "No, you're wrong!" he screamed, as he charged at his father.

Mild surprise registered on Arcanus' face as he quickly blocked Myalkni's swipe at his flank.

Myalkni frantically backpedaled to avoid his father's riposte. Think, he told himself, I can't be reckless here. I don't have much energy left. If he had to choose between living death and final death, he had to make sure to spend well his last minutes of life. He wanted to put up a good fight.

He quickly advanced and then jumped forward for a second, breaking his rhythm as if he were going to attack, but stopped himself short. Arcanus quickly retreated to avoid Myalkni's fake attack. If I do that again, he'll think it's a fake and won't move, Myalkni realized. He charged again, and made another fake stride. Surely enough, Arcanus was unfazed.

Now's my chance! Myalkni quickly flew at Arcanus, making an undercut to his foe's right side. At the last minute, though, he spun his wrist clockwise, and his blade cut into Arcanus' upper left arm.

"Proud of yourself, my son?" Arcanus asked, smiling as the blood poured down his arm.

Myalkni smiled, pleased with himself. He would waste no time though. As Arcanus spoke, Myalkni drove his blade straight toward his heart. When Arcanus moved to deflect the blade, he switched to the arm. Before Myalkni could reach his target, though, Arcanus had made a clean cut on his forearm and gotten away.

He's read my mind, Myalkni realized, as he healed his arm. Crap!

But then… if Arcanus could see everything coming, how had he gotten that earlier hit? It was probably a sign that Arcanus was tiring, he decided. The psynergy for mind reading required energy, so Arcanus wouldn't use it once he started to tire, Myalkni reasoned to himself.

Myalkni knew he had to take advantage of this while he could. At the same time, he knew he couldn't think too much; otherwise he might be detected. He just had to attack as thoughtlessly and randomly as he could, he decided, and land as many blows as possible before Arcanus had time to heal himself. Then, maybe, there might even be a chance he could defeat his father.

He threw himself forward again.

"You're a clever, swift fighter," Arcanus observed. "Just like your father."

Screw you, Myalkni screamed silently as he lunged, his rapier seeking home in Arcanus' flank. I hope you die so you never speak again!

Arcanus flicked the blade away, and swiped at Myalkni's head. Myalkni quickly parried, but as he did so, he was hit with a large chunk of ice.

As Myalkni stumbled backward, Arcanus came upon him. "The only problem is that I'm smarter and faster," he said as he swung down his blade at Myalkni's shoulder. Myalkni quickly thrust his blade up to parry, but instead he felt Arcanus' blade slice into his already wounded left-arm. He cried out in pain.

"You think you're still smarter and faster, but you're actually just an old man," Myalkni taunted, trying to draw attention away from his arm. "You're aging, you're barely keeping up with me right now, and you know it."

"Come at me then," Arcanus said. "Prove yourself to me."

Myalkni saw that Arcanus was holding his blade rather high. He's leaving his lower half open, Myalkni thought. He had to end this now. He flew forward and slashed at Arcanus' leg, hoping to debilitate him.

Arcanus picked up his foot and stepped on the blade.

Myalkni panicked, and sent forth of blast of water at Arcanus. Only after he released the psynergy did he realize how stupid this was. He watched with horror as the water froze in mid-air and flew back at him. Arcanus steered the ice chunk into his son's leg.

Myalkni felt something snap in his right leg. Suddenly he could no longer support himself, and he fell to the ground. He tried to get up again, only to collapse. He tried to heal himself, but his psynergy was too drained.

This would be the end, Myalkni thought, but of course Arcanus won't finish me. He'll just punish me horribly. He somehow knew, no matter what, Arcanus would never kill him.

He looked up to see Arcanus lifting up his foot. Myalkni shut his eyes, and gritted his teeth as Arcanus' boot crashed down onto his sword arm, dislocating his bone.

-~:|~~|:-:|~~|:~-

"Well," said Nowell, "it seems our impasse is no more."

Matthew began to turn the sword, as he would a key, but he stopped himself. He looked back at Nowell. "I'm not so sure about this," he told her. "That it was a sword from the Apollo Sanctum that opened this door, in this place where we found the Umbra Knuckles… it makes me think that this chamber might bear something… of that sort."

"What do you mean?" Nowell asked impatiently.

"I'm afraid that maybe… Arcanus was planning to make us open this door, because he knows I have the Sol Blade," Matthew said. "And it's just like what happened in Belinsk. We could be helping the Tuaparang do something horrible..."

"So we should just turn around now? We got all this way, and we'll just say 'no, we're too afraid, let's NOT rescue them'?" Nowell exclaimed. "That's ridiculous!"

Matthew sighed.

"Besides," Nowell argued, "right now, all four of them, Rief, Karis, Amiti and Tyrell… they're all under Arcanus' control! He can make them do anything he wants! Doesn't that help his plans too?"

"I guess you're right about that," Matthew agreed. "But still… what if this is all his plan, for us two to be here? It's a lot like what happened before…"

Nowell walked over and grabbed the sword from Matthew's hands.

"What are you doing?!" Matthew cried.

"I'm saving my brother, before Arcanus tortures and brainwashes him anymore!" Nowell shot back.

She yanked the sword's hilt in a circle, and the doors creaked open. "You coming?"

"I think maybe we should take a moment to think about this," Matthew said. "We can't just let our emotions decide everything."

A loud bubbling sound came from behind them. They turned around to see the rocks they had hopped over sinking into the lava.

"Well now we have nowhere to go but forward," Nowell growled. "Let's go."

Matthew sighed again, and followed Nowell into the chamber.

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Author's notes:

1. Sorry that this chapter took me so long to publish… I've been pretty busy and this was actually one of the hardest (probably the hardest) chapters to write.

2. Please let me know what you thought of this pretty major chapter with a review :).

3. There's also a poll about favorite characters on my userpage, if you feel like it.

4. I've been definitely having a problem of accidental name-switching as I write this. Some of the switches are forgivable. For example, there's Amiti/Myalkni used in the context the other should be used in, and the same deal with Arcanus/Alex… but then, I've noticed, here and there, "Garet" has shown up in place of Tyrell. Embarrassing :(.

5. For the title of the next chapter, I might settle on "Father and son Part II"… or it might be "Verity". Just saying is all… :).

Next Chapter: Father and Son Part II