Warning: This chapter contains spoilers that have not yet been written for 'Texts'. But like anyone will actually care.
Koutei rubbed his temples. "...wow," was all he could say.
"Yeah, wow," Alit pulled out the book from within his jacket. "Here he is, if you want to talk to him."
"Sure, but no names, right?" Koutei got up and found a pen on the dining table.
"Right," Alit held out the book to him and Koutei took it. He clicked the pen and scrawled out,
Hey there.
Who is this?
I'm a friend of... well, the person who rescued you. You don't want him to tell you his name so I really don't know what else to call you.
Alit leaned over and wrote,
I told him about your situation. He's a good guy.
If you say so. Besides, even if he's really a jerk, he can't be worse than that sorcerer.
Koutei snorted and wrote,
I'll take that as a compliment. How could you tell I wasn't... my friend?
Handwriting.
Oh, that makes sense. How have you been aside from being a book?
Not very well until your friend found me. I've been worrying about my family, about what he did to them. I worry they had to spend their life as his prisoners until the day they died.
Actually, after my friend told me about the situation, I was thinking. They may not be dead. Well, at least there's a chance they are alive.
...what?!
"What?" Alit echoed.
Koutei put up his hand. "Read what I write and I'll manage to explain it to both of you at once."
Well, if he can extend his life, why couldn't he do the same to others?
So he really can live forever?
Forever is a strong word since it's kinda impossible to actually live forever, but yeah, as long as his "magic" remains strong.
So if he wanted to... he could make them live virtually forever too?
It'd be risky for him, but from my impression of the situation, he wanted your wife and kids as HIS wife and kids, which is messed up on a whole different level. Seriously, who even DOES that?! But I digress. If he really wanted them, then he would want to keep them around, right? I mean, it's just a theory. I don't want to give you false hope if I'm wrong-
False hope is a lot better than no hope at all. Thank you.
No problem!
Koutei looked up at Alit who was frowning thoughtfully. "Wow... I hadn't thought of that!"
Koutei grinned, "Well, I think of a lot of things you don't." He blocked the punch Alit threw at him. Alit grinned and wrote,
So what were your family like?
Well, my oldest son, the one who's definitely dead, was an energetic boy and had a naturally competitive nature. He loved to play with his two siblings and watched over them when my wife and I were out of the house or if they were away from us. He loved to exercise and helped out around the farm a lot more than both my wife and I expected him too. He was always ready to play any sort of athletic game and was always ready for a competition... I hate that he is dead. If my other two are still alive, I don't know if they'll be able to ever act completely normal again. Things were... iffy after he had to leave for a while. He wasn't at home when the man attacked so I don't want to think what he thought when he came home, if he did.
My daughter loved to swim. My wife actually made her a toy dolphin since she loved them so much. She used to swim in the ocean by our village and the dolphins would sometimes swim with her. They were very friendly. She liked to play with dolls and liked to play games with her brothers.
My youngest son liked to climb trees and play ball with his siblings. He would prank his sister and brother daily, occasionally my wife and me as well. His brother would help him with some of his pranks and tell him off if they were too cruel. He liked to make jokes and laughed about the most trivial of things.
Alit and Koutei read the paragraphs and looked at each other. "Reading this... just makes it more real than it already was," Koutei whispered.
"Yeah... how could that bastard do this?!" Alit growled.
Koutei glanced over at Alit with hate in his eyes. "Alit, when you track that guy down., don't kill him if you can, capture him. I want to have a few cracks at him!"
"I'll try," Alit promised then wrote,
They sound amazing. I swear if they're alive I will get them back. I also want that bastard to pay.
Thank you. When and if you find my family, tell them what happened to me and tell them I love them since my two kids can't read much. And break his nose for me.
Alit grinned and scrawled out,
Will do!
Koutei shook his head slightly. "This sorcerer guy is just messed up. He seriously hurt this man, taking him away from his family like that for so long..."
"I know, you see why I wanted to help him now?" Alit asked.
"Oh yeah," Koutei muttered, "I saw the second you explained the entire situation."
Alit started to reply then his baria lapis started glowing. "Damn, meeting time. I'll see you later, Koutei!" he handed the book to the blond boy, "Hey, can you watch him for me?"
"You can count on me, I'll keep him safe to the best of my ability," Koutei promised. Alit grinned and waved goodbye to his friend as he dissolved into an overlay network.
... (^0^) ...
"And the next order of business is the cursed book Alit found," Dumon announced, "Alit? Mind telling us what you know?" he waited a moment, "Alit?"
Misael glared at the red barian who was slumped on a crystal chair. "WAKE UP YOU INSUFFERABLE IMBECILE!"
Alit yelped and flailed his arms before falling on the floor. "Wha- huh?"
"The cursed book?" Dumon prompted, "That's what we're discussing."
"Oh!" Alit scrambled back up on his chair, "So everyone knows the basics, right? The evil human sorcerer turned him into a book and we're trying to fix him?" the other emperors nodded, "Good! So I left him with Koutei for now, you know, get them acquainted since we all know he's more reliable than me at times-"
"Try a lot more and all the time," Misael rolled his eyes.
"Hey! Actually, that's kinda true but still!" Alit protested, "Anyway, Merag, Gilag and I got the energy signature of the man who was sealed into the book. How's that going, by the way?"
"We scanned the earth and found out that he's alive and found out where he lives," Merag said.
"Really?! Sweet!" Alit cheered.
"Yeah, and we looked in on his living quarters. He's basically living in a mansion on a private island. It's basically your standard evil lair," Merag said dismissively.
"What are we waiting for? Let's go get this bastard!" Alit cried.
"Hold up, Alit," Dumon interjected, "I'm working on modifying a sphere cube so you can inject the energy inside into your baria lapis. This will let you remain in your true form on earth for three hours. You can go after I'm finished, which will be in a few hours."
"Great! I'll go tell Koutei and get the book guy!" Alit cheered. He opened an overlay network and arrived in Koutei's house. He looked around and was alarmed at how disorganized it was. And it wasn't because he hadn't noticed it was messy. Actually, when he was here a few hours ago, it was clean and tidy as usual. But now there were pots and pans strewn all around the room and the table and a few chairs were overturned. The drawers were open and there were a few knives, forks, and pencils in the wall. Alit got a sick feeling in his stomach. He looked around a little more and found a large hole in the wall that looked like someone had shot a cannon at it. Or like that rock back in the woods...
F*ck.
"KOUTEI!" Alit yelled in fear and ran into the living room. He saw more signs of destruction and had a feeling the sorcerer had come calling. How he knew the book was here, Alit hadn't the faintest idea. He was short of breath and his heart raced in his chest. If that sorcerer had done anything to his best friend...
"KOUTEI! KOUTEI!" Alit screamed. He glanced around frantically and saw the blond ex-prince lying on the floor unmoving with bruises and cuts oozing blood that glimmered slightly. "KOUTEI!" Alit ran to his friend's side and shook him by the shoulders. "WAKE UP! WAKE UP! KOUTEI! CAN YOU HEAR ME?! KOUTEI!"
Koutei stirred slightly and Alit let out a choked sob of relief. "Koutei!"
The ex-prince's eyes flickered open and he moaned. "...A- Alit?"
"You're okay! Hold on, I'll get a pillow!" Alit grabbed a pillow that had been thrown from the couch and put it under Koutei's blond head.
"Alit... this man... he took the book guy. I tried to stop him... I tried but..." Koutei muttered.
"It's okay! This guy's dangerous! I'm just glad he didn't turn you into anything!" Alit cried.
"He... tried..." Koutei gave a weak laugh, "But... remember how Don Thousand accidentally blasted me and changed my DNA to be half barian? That... basically means I'm always... in barian form even if I have none and can't use most barian powers."
"So since you weren't human and honestly only appear human even though half of your internal organs are those of a barian's, he couldn't transform you!" Alit exclaimed.
"Yeah... I'm sorry... I... failed..." Koutei murmured.
"Shut up! You didn't fail! You did the best you could, but he can manipulate energy while you can't, much," Alit soothed.
"I... managed to mess... him up pretty bad..." Koutei mumbled, his eyes flickering shut.
"Hey, hey! Listen to my voice! Stay awake for just a little while longer!" Alit pleaded, "I'm going to bring you to Barian World and get you to a baria crystal. Just stay awake!"
"All... right... Alit..." Koutei muttered. Alit gingerly picked his friend up and opened an overlay network back to Barian World and dissolved into it. When he materialized, Dumon looked up.
"Alit, why are you back so soon-" he broke off as he saw Koutei's state, "Get him into a baria crystal then tell me what happened." Dumon ordered, all business. Alit nodded and summoned over a baria crystal then placed Koutei inside with tears in his eyes.
Alit noticed Dumon staring at him in anticipation. Taking a deep breath, he blurted out, "That sorcerer bastard broke in, beat up Koutei, and took the book guy. He couldn't turn Koutei into anything because he's not completely human."
Dumon looked startled, "How did he know the book was there?"
"Not a clue," Alit said glumly, "But we know where he lives, right?"
"Yes, but we have to change our plans now," Dumon sighed, "He will be on guard since he expects someone to come after him. We can't all go and storm him, it will have to be a stealth mission so we can have the slightest advantage. I have the modified sphere cube ready. I wanted to wait and develop more so we could all go but now only one or two of us should go if we want the best chance of success, at least at retrieving the book."
"I'll go. It's my friend that bastard kidnapped and my other friend he beat up. I won't let him get away with it," Alit swore.
Dumon nodded and handed him what looked like a sphere cube except the surrounding gem around the red ball of energy was clear instead of black. "Right before you leave push this into the gem on your chest."
"Do what now?" Alit asked.
"It will absorb into into your gem, don't worry," Dumon sighed.
"All right," Alit replied.
"Come on, I'll show you a map of the place," Dumon said, gesturing for Alit to follow him.
... (^0^) ...
Far away, a man wearing a green suit with white-blond hair and looking as if he had just gone through a meat grinder then fell into a lion pit who was in incredible pain scowled and furiously scrawled in a book,
Long time no see.
Y- YOU?! Damn it, what did you do to the person watching over me?!
The better question is what the fuck was that blond ponce's deal?!
Sounds like someone kicked your sorry ass.
He did not, you worthless swine!
I hope he broke your damn nose!
Shut up!
He did, didn't he?
You shut the fuck up, you pathetic insect!
Yeah, he did. Note to self, thank him. Mind telling me what happened? I want a good mental image of him wrecking your shit.
Why not, but only because I want you to revel in my majesty and cower in fear at my power and brilliance!
Fuck you, you son of a bitch!
Shut your damn mouth!
Well, I can't since I don't HAVE one anymore! Who's fault is that, you fucking bastard?!
Shut up! Anyway, when I transformed you into your current form, which is much better than your original I might add-
FUCK YOU!
-I also added a sort of tracking mechanism. For a little while, I lost track of where you were but then you went back on my radar. So I stormed your hiding place and found that stupid blond ponce sitting with you at his side. He jumped up and demanded who I was. I told him I was simply someone taking back what was his. He seemed to realize I meant you and got violent. I tried to transform him, but it failed. During that time he was throwing whatever he could get his hands on at me. When I tried to summon you to me, he snatched you out of the air and we got into a mano-a-mano fight.
He totally messed you up, more than you already are.
SHUT UP! I'll admit, he was handy with his fists-
And pounded you until you screamed for your female dog of a mother.
Shut your hole!
Again, don't have one anymore, you bastard!
AS I WAS SAYING, eventually I used my magic to overpower him then I beat him senseless.
Bet he took it like a man, unlike you.
SHUT UP, YOU PITIFUL WORM! I tried to transform him into the worthless dog he was, but I couldn't! Now let me repeat before I force you to reveal all your conversations, and that won't be pleasant for you, what is his deal?! Why can't I transform him?!
I honestly have no damned clue. I'm just glad you didn't ruin someone else's life, you piece of pig crap! Because honestly, a piece of horse excrement is quite a few steps above you.
Fine, we'll do this the hard way.
The man aimed his staff at the book and a beam of sickly green light shot at it. After a few moments, the pages were filled with writing. The man grabbed the book and quickly scanned through the pages, taking notes on a separate sheet of paper. Eventually he threw down the book in disgust and shot it with another beam of light. This time, the writing disappeared to be replaced with another, more recent message.
AHHH! FUCK! FUCK YOU, THAT HURT!
I warned you. You should've told me everything.
Yeah? Well guess what? I'm not a willing sellout. So go fuck yourself!
I think I'll do that to my wife, thank you very much.
YOU STAY AWAY FROM MY WIFE, YOU BASTARD!
I believe she is MY wife.
YOU GO TO HELL! GO STRAIGHT TO HELL, YOU FUCKING BASTARD! LEAVE HER ALONE!
I don't think so, she's my wife so she does what her husband wishes.
That is messed up on a whole different level! Don't you dare treat her that way! YOU HEAR ME?! IF YOU TOUCH HER, YOU'RE DEAD! I WILL RIP YOU LIMB FROM LIMB AND MAKE YOU CHOKE ON YOUR OWN KIDNEYS!
Well, I believe that's a little unrealistic, now isn't it? Although, I'll remember that if I touch her, I'd better watch out in the future for a bad paper cut.
YOU SICK SON OF A BITCH! LET ME OUT! TURN ME BACK! LET ME OUT OF HERE!
Ah, you're reduced to begging. It seems my job is done.
I'M NOT FUCKING BEGGING! I'M SCREAMING! LET ME OUT! LET ME OUT, YOU BASTARD! LET ME-
The man smirked and closed the book shut, leaving the poor soul to scream his heart out to nothing but nothingness.