Disclaimer: PoM and ToS do not belong to me.
"Chaos can be heard pulsing within this weapon."
Private was not feeling well.
In addition to the splitting headache, which had only increased since their quest begun, he was now hearing voices. Stranger still, said voices seemed to be coming from the very weapons they had been collecting. They repeated the same things over and over again.
Join us...
We are one with you...
Embrace our dark power...
Phrases like these had been on repeat in his head ever since they were given Nebilim. He was starting to believe himself insane, especially when the others showed no signs of being able to hear the weapons. Maybe it was those dark powers the Baboon mentioned overwhelming them. Yeah, that had to be it. Because otherwise...
Well, he wouldn't think about that.
He glanced nervously to Rico, who carried the weapons. He had been pretty subtle about staying away from the maniac penguins. He would make it up to Rico later; right now, he was too scared about what would happen otherwise. His masquerade seemed to fool almost everyone, the exception being...
"Private!"
The young bird turned to flash a smile at his leader, the only one who seemed unconvinced. "Yes, sir?"
"You're distracted." Skipper frowned dejectedly. "Tell me what's wrong." Yet another opportunity to get them to stop collecting the Devil's Arms. But he wasn't going to take it. He could imagine the disappointed faces of his friends and comrades now. He didn't want to be a burden on them.
So, he put on his best smile and shook his head. "Nothing's wrong, sir. Just a headache." Skipper frowned. He knew the Skipper could see through his lies. He had always been able to, from day one. Although sweet, sometimes it was hard to be around a person like that. Now was one of those rare times.
"Alright..." Skipper responded, not prying. For that, Private was grateful for. They were interrupted by a cry from Kowalski. Skipper acted quickly, jumping in front of the penguin. "What is it, man?"
"A Devil's Arm is nearby!" He squealed. Private's hopes shot up for a moment. Maybe he wasn't the only one... "See? Nebilim's key is reacting to the other Arms." Scratch that.
Skipper put his wing to his beak in thought. "Hmm... intriguing. You know the routine! Split up!" Everyone separated as they had earlier. Private walked alongside Skipper. Don't get me wrong, he did look up to his leader. He just didn't want anyone to see him as a burden. They traveled across the park together.
Suddenly, Private's head began pounding. Though the weapons were with Rico, and thus nowhere near, he could hear a new voice whispering in his ear. They were close. Private put his wings to his temples, trying to rub the pain away. It didn't work.
"Private? You all right?" Oh yeah, he'd almost forgotten about Skipper. Putting on another fake grin, he nodded and headed in the direction that made his head pound worse. That was where the weapon was.
He knew Skipper was following him; he hadn't responded to his question. Odds are he'd get yelled at, maybe even punished, for insubordination. But right now, his attention was focused on the Devil's Arm he knew was just up ahead.
Arriving at a clearing, Private stopped. The pounding... was almost unbearable now. Either it or Rico was close, he was sure of it. The youngest of the penguins took a good look around, noticing Skipper catch up to him. "What are we looking at?"
"I don't know." Private confessed. Silence.
All of a sudden, the pounding of his head increased. A pain spread through his entire body. It took all his willpower not to scream out or fall to the ground. Even then, he knew he was shaking. Skipper noticed, too. "Private? You okay?"
The boy looked up seeing something caught in the branches of the tree. The Devil's Arm. It spoke to him, like the others had.
You are one with the darkness...join us...
"There it is!" He cried, trying not to focus on it's words. Skipper looked up and noticed it, too. He put both wings to the ground, one over the other, and launched Private high enough into the air to break the branch holding it. It fell to the ground, and the two ran over. Skipper was the one to pick it up.
It was an ax. A purple one, at that. But it was the spookiest of the arms yet. The handle was short, just barely big enough for one hand to grab it. It seemed to look like a head, with a crack in the blade being it's mouth... which seemed to open and close, as the weapon wasn't hinged properly. Each of the cracks were lined with spikes, making it look even more disturbingly like the head of a monster. When Private held it, he felt something pulse inside of it.
It scared him. Some different kind of force acted within this weapon. Not just darkness... chaos. Some kind of chaos pounded within the weapon, within his head. And he couldn't get it to stop. Quickly, he handed the weapon to Skipper, who marveled at the chaos instead of being creeped out by it.
"Whoa... this is one strange weapon. Don't you think so?" Skipper asked. Private nodded.
"Yeah... strange..." Skipper stared at him funny, but the soldier was saved from answering anymore questions by a shout.
"You found it!" The two looked as the other penguins and the lemurs approached. "I cannot wait to be using it's power to expand my kingdom!" He shouted, embracing the weapon.
"Weirdo." Skipper muttered. From behind, another being emerged. The baboon. "What are you doing here? I thought these things made you sick."
"I'm feeling a bit better." The baboon replied. "But I forgot to tell ya'll something. A part of the legend I overlooked." Everyone raised their eyes, curious. Private did too. "Every hundred or so years, the Devil's Arms choose a new lord of darkness to take over for Nebilim. There are signs. Headaches, pain when you're near the weapons, but most importantly... hearing the voices of the weapons. Have any of you been suffering anything like that?" All of them shook their heads, including Private. He gulped.
"Well, I'm heading back. You should to. The next arm is unpinpointable. I believe it's in the possession of someone. Until we figure it out, you should get some rest. After all, it's been a long day." She stared past them, to Private, though none of the others seemed to notice. Then, she turned around, and left.
Skipper snorted. "How strange. Well, at least none of us hear the voices," He turned to Private. "Right, soldier?"
"Affirmative, sir."
Nearby, Rico collected the Devil's Arm Diablos, putting it with the others. Private looked down to the ground. Thoughts spun around in his head. He tried to digest the information given to him by the female baboon who set them on this task.
No.
It couldn't be. He couldn't be the next lord of darkness. He didn't want to be. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. But as the weapons whispered in his ears...
Give into our power...
...It was pretty hard not to admit something was wrong.
...Poor Private...
NOTE: Diablos, Fafnir, and a few of the other weapons were found in treasure chests. So, I have to be a little creative with those ones.
Next Chapter is Kowalski's. I'll see you all then. Bye!