VII. Destiny
"Well?" Dark asked, looking at the prince as if he was expecting a truthful answer
"If you're thinking about going with him, it's out of the question. The monster activity is much higher than the last time" the king blurted and Yami was now filled with anger, getting sick of being protected all the time.
"You don't understand anything, father! I hate being stuck in this castle, I hate being the prince. All I want is to be free in this miserable cage" Yami said angrily while Mahad stares sadly
"An old friend once told me: 'As long as the bird is in its cage, no matter how much your happiness it gets with the owner, the owner will never known what its like to be free' " Dark quoted and the king sighed at this
"… I guess I could... under two conditions…" the king said
"Which is?" Yami questioned
"One, Mahad must come with you!" he replied and both Dark and Mahad reeled in shock
"Are you sure about this, your majesty?" Dark asked suspiciously
"Don't worry, I still have the guards and I can take care of myself" the king replied
"And the other condition?" Mahad wondered
"By the way, what's your name before I say the other condition" the king said asking the guest
"His name is Dark, father" Yami replied
"Okay, the second condition is … Dark must defeat me. If he wins, Yami can go but if he lose, he can't leave" the king smirked and Dark frowns at this condition
"? My lord, that's insane" Mahad said in exasperation
"Dark, are you sure about this?" Yami asked worriedly
"…'Birds are meant to be free not to stay in cages and die without knowing what true freedom is' so I accept the his majesty's conditions besides I need to warm-up my magic anyway" Dark replied coldly
"Let's go to the ballroom, there's much space in it" the king said as he left the throne room. Dark and the others followed as well.
- - -
"Prepare yourself!" the king said as he unsheathes his sword. Dark noticed its blade is pure white except that there was a hint of black color at its edges and there was a crystal in the hilt of the sword
"That sword… does that mean who I think he is..." Dark said in his thoughts
"I can't believe father is going to use 'that' sword" Yami said in dismay
Mahad rolled his eyes as he saw this. "Oooh boy, things are going to be messy"
"Let's go, Berselius!" the king commanded and to Dark's surprise…he heard someone talking in his head
"Yes my lord" Berselius said
"Berselius? Would you care to explain what's going on?" Dark asked curiously
"… Berselius is my father's sword. It has the power of light and darkness" Yami replied with a worried tone
"If my history is correct, you must be a Swordian Master… yes I heard about it…they're half-warriors and half-magicians but I thought their existence were ceased since the end of the magical war" Dark explained coldly and at the same time he was frowning as well
"True but I was the only one left" the king said grimly. "Enough lecture, let's begin"
"Fine with me but I warn you, the spells of Swordian Masters need to charge to do a spell and I won't let you do that" Dark declared and he removed the lock. In an instant, the Valkyria Staff appeared in his right hand
"Now that's more like it and we'll see if you can!" the king said in excitement. "Missile Sword" he shouted and swung the sword on the floor and a projectile blue wave appeared on the floor heading straight for Dark
"Hmm… I suggest you do better than that" Dark said and he laid down the bladed part of the staff and successfully defended the attack
"Fire!" Dark chanted and the green crystal orbs began to glow red. He swung the staff towards the king. His majesty chuckles and leapt out of the way then he began to charge his sword
"Gotta stop him before he cast a spell" Dark gritted as he was about to cast another spell but it was too late
"Fire Wall!" the king chanted and a wall of flame appeared out of nowhere and Dark got hit on his left arm
"Ow…. That hurts!" he growled while the king smirks. "I forgot to tell you: As long as 'Fire Wall' is in place, your attacks will be meaningless and you can't lay a finger on me"
"Great" Dark said in an annoying tone. "At least I can still cast my spells but… I have no idea how fast he can cast it though"
"Look out below! Holy Lance!" the king shouted and several white spears appeared from above nearly piercing his opponent but…
"Aero!" Dark chanted quickly as he slid down from the Holy Lance Spell
"Crud! Protect" he gritted and a blue shield appeared a round his body
"I don't know what you're doing but you're delaying the inevitable" the king said and began to charge again. As usual Dark has to stop it but due to the Fire Wall spell that he cast he can't do anything let alone his spells would work
"Holy Wrath!" he chanted and suddenly Dark was trapped in the middle of a circle then four white lightning bolts appeared and begun to whirl hitting him all over his body
"Arrrrrrrgh!" Dark howled in pain as the electricity from the spell began to cackle and disappeared, giving him a backlash as well
"Dark!" Yami shouted, panicking while Mahad looks worried
"Not yet! Cure" Dark chanted as white light began to heal his wounds
"Quake" he added and suddenly the ballroom floor shook violently that the Fire Wall the king cast vanished and interrupted his spells. Yami and Mahad on the other hand have to hold on one of the columns.
"N-n-n-n-n-n-no w-w-w-w-way, Berselius help me stop this s-s-s-s-spell" the king stammered as he turned his blade upside down while Dark is gathering energy from the staff
"Roger that!" Berselius said and the hilt of the sword began to glow then the king hit the blade on the ground sending a powerful shockwave stopping the shaking
"Uh oh...not good" Dark mumbled as his Aero spell begun to fade. "I never thought this would happen… the Aero spell is only temporary levitation and next is going to be my Protect Spell"
"Crescent Wave" the king sad and he swung his sword that a strong crescent shaped wind appeared, hitting Dark but suddenly he gets no damage only a little
"Wrong move my dear sire for you see my Protect Spell allows me to defend all your physical and minor technique attacks temporarily" Dark smirked and the king frowned
"Not yet!" the king said and began to charge his spell again
"No you don't! Ultima!" Dark blurted and suddenly the whole field went black
"What the hell! Since when did you cast that?" the king asked, getting shocked
"Simple, when I cast the Quake magic, I knew that I can interrupt your attacks and spells but I never thought that your Fire Wall will vanished though…plus I can gather the necessary energy to cast the forbidden spell" Dark explained smugly
"Forbidden magic? I wonder why it was called 'forbidden" Mahad wondered and then he got his answer when balls of white light appeared around the king and it explode
"Arrrrgh! Too powerful" the king howled in pain and got hurled in the wall
"Now that's what I call a real hit" Dark smirked
"Your majesty, are you alright?" Berselius asked in a worried tone as the king gets up. He was panting heavily and it seems that he got a lot of damage
"I'm fine don't worry!" the king replied, gasping for breath. "Heal" he chanted and a blue circle appeared around him healing himself in the process
"Hmmm… "Dark said grimly as he saw the king getting up
"Not bad at all but I'm not finished yet" the king chuckles and Dark has a bad feeling about this
"Phoenix!" the king shouted and suddenly he was glowing with a flaming aura and became a phoenix himself. Dark stared in awe as the flaming bird appeared in front of him
"Dear Lord! That's his ultimate technique" Yami gasped
"It's been a long time since he use 'that'" Mahad smirked
"... I have only one chance but this is going to be a bit risky" Dark mumbled and concentrated all his energy as the king began to launch his fiery attack on him
"... You may be strong but... I like birds that are free..." Dark said gravely and suddenly the green crystal orbs began to glow fiery red
"Fire Slash!" he shouted and swung the staff releasing the fire but at the same time the 'Phoenix' launches down as well and it ended up in a...
KA-BOOM
There was explosion everywhere and both the prince and the guardian have to cover their faces from the smoke. Dark and the king got hurled and hit on the wall at the same time, feeling a lot of pain all over their body. Both of them tried to get up real bad but they kept falling. Yami and Mahad kept watching which one will get up and wonders what will decide their fate. Finally, Dark gets up and the king finally faints due to the attack they delivered together.
"Man, that was too powerful...if I didn't do the Fire Slash attack I would have been a goner" Dark said as he panted heavily
"Father, are you alright?" Yami asked worried as he rushed to his father's side
"Oh God, I never thought both of our attacks will affect us this much" he wailed as he gets up slowly
"I won, your majesty, honor your promise" Dark said as he walked towards him
"Yes, you're right and as promised I allow my son and Mahad to go with you in your journey" the king said and smiles
"I guess I should heal you then" Dark sighs and the Valkyria Staff began to glow white
"Cure!" Dark chanted and white particles appeared at the king's body. His wounds began to close and his strength was fully restored but one thing that puzzles him
"I thought the healing magic of yours is for battle" the king said in surprise
"Heh, then you should know it can heal afterwounds as well" Dark merely chuckles
"One thing I have to ask you: why did you do this?" Yami asked curiously
"...I only doing this because I hate arguments over family issues and ...let's just say a bird told me a message" Dark replied coldly
"...Thank you" Yami said
"Please as if I'm helping you...anyway you should change clothes, I wouldn't suggest that royal outfit and I better buy supplies from the city. I'll meet you guys at the castle gate ans by the way, I'll charge the money to you your highness" Dark said , rolling his eyes with annoyment, leaving the ballroom
"Fine and we'll be ready by then" Mahad said and they left the ballroom as well
- - -
Outside the castle, Dark was buying some potions, antidotes, tents and food from the store. He was thinking his reaction back there and the spirit of the the Valkyria Key was bugging him and I mean bugging him a lot (A/N: I'll shorten Magician Valkyria's name to Valkyria okey )
"You really have to react coldly towards everyone, why can't you give them a break for once? They seem friendly you know"Valkyria said in his head
"Oh shut up as if it matters" Dark replied cooly also in his head
"IT DOES MATTER, YUGI and I can't believe you lied from telling your name"she said , frowning at his actions
"Then you should know why I did that" Dark said sternly
"I know...suit yourself but if anything happenes to you I'm not gonna bail you out" Valkyria sighs and and returns to her slumber
spiritfire: Well that was a tad bit easy and next chapter will be their journey to Alexandria castle where they meet the Final Fantasy IX characters
TBC
spiritfire: Hmm I wonder what should I do
Bakua: Hey authoress would youmind wash my favorite shirt, that elf peed on it?
spiritfire: Ask Anzu I'm busy
Bakura lefts the authoress room and wents to Anzu's room
Bakura: Hey Anzu could you wash my shirt?
Anzu: No way
Smeagol: Precious is nice
Anzu: (He's like the uglier version of himself)