Chapter 19: The Edge
"The battle's in your hands now, but I would lay my armor down, if you said you'd rather love than fight."
- Taylor Swift
-Faction 1: The Marble Palace-
Lillian threw a glass vase against the wall, the deep red flowers scattering the stark white table below. She let out a frustrated groan, her fingers massaging her temples. "I can't believe we let them all reunite!" Magnus shrugged his shoulders, the man tired of listening to her continuous ranting.
"Lilian," he said with a yawn, "they are harmless. They aren't even sure of how they jumped between factions together." He waved off her worry. Lillian narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head out of annoyance. "Do you not see the problem here? He will slip from the grasp we have on his mind!" Magnus had forgotten about that small bit of information.
Suddenly more interested, Magnus gave his full attention to his cousin. "True. We can't afford to lose Yamato at this point." A dark smirk tugged at the corner of his lips, "but what about the hold Linus had on the assassins… He may be gone, but won't his pull on them still be there?"
Lillian nodded slowly, ways of how to grasp that hold rushing through her mind. "Yes… Magnus, that's genius." Magnus gave a victorious smirk, "Besides, those two are more deadly than our little Yamato ever will be."
The cousins were silent, Magnus joining Lillian in her pacing as they tried to devise a plan. "There must be a difference between the assassins and Yamato," Lillian said, twisting her lips confused. Magnus pondered on her statement, "True. Lanus always said he could control their bodies with pain, less of their minds."
Lillian chuckled darkly, "perfect… Then they wouldn't mind watching while we made them slit their friend's throats one by one." Magnus joined in, chuckling at the idea of forcing the notorious killers onto the others.
A dark swirl of fog formed in the middle of the white tiled room. Appearing from the fog was an angered Myotismon. "You let him escape!" The statement was less of a question, his voice booming and echoing off of the walls.
Lillian shook her head quickly, putting her hands up defensively. "N-No, Lord Myotismon. We didn't know…" Mytoismon lifted his hand, silencing her. Magnus kept his mouth shut, not wanting to get involved more than he already was.
"Because you let him slip off, they are all together again. Do you two know what this means?" His voice was calm now, but laced with darkness. The cousins shook their heads, unsure of what he meant. Frustrated, Mytoismon took a deep breath.
"They are stronger when together. Their abilities somehow amplify the ones around them. I'm not sure if they are aware of this, but if they find out… Everything we've worked for will be a waste." Mytosimon walked closer to Lillian and Magnus, holding their gazes with his own. "Now, I suspect you two have used your free time coming up with a plan and not wasting it?"
Magnus nodded slowly, "yes, my lord. We, uh, well we remember Lanus saying he had some hold over the assassins…" he looked to Lillian for reassurance, "and we seem to have lost the hold we had on Yamato's mind. Well, some of it. Maybe the distance between the factions is to blame."
Myotismon nodded slowly, a smile tugging at his lips at the mention of Lanus' power over the assassins. "Ah, yes. Lanus tapped into the darkness within the assassins, a skill I'm not sure any of you two would possess. He could pull at their bodies and will them to do as he pleased." Myotismon was smiling darkly now, "I'm sure we could work something out."
Lillian shifted her gaze to the ground. If her brother, Lanus, could pull the darkness, maybe she could. "Maybe… Maybe I can pull the darkness." Myotismon eyed her, chuckling. "Oh? Did you wish to give it a try?" She nodded, avoiding his gaze.
"You'll have to go to them to see if you are successful. Ever been to faction 3?" Lillian shook her head, "shame. It's quite humbling when you know faction 1 is the place they would all rather live. The faction is a bit shaken up, but dress down and you should fit in. No one there will recognize you two but the Jumper and the brothers." Magnus let the idea of Jumping set in.
"But Lord Myotismon, none of us can Jump." Myotismon rolled his eyes, "I can Jump. And I know how to Jump with multiple people… Shall we?" He smirked with his hands extended towards the cousins.
The two exchanged glances. Shrugging her shoulders, Lillian reached out, accepting Myotismon's hand. Magnus hesitated, but gripped his hand after Lillian. "Excellent. Shall we?" Myotismon let out a dark laugh as he plunged him and the cousins into a spinning darkness.
-Faction 3: Dark Palace-
Marla stared down at the corpses of the slaughter Darklings from the balcony. She felt her chest rise and fall, a deep hatred beginning to burn in her. She had not originally planned to join Lord Myotismon, but his offer was hard to resist.
Marla was from one of the richest parts of faction 3. Her father had been a successful arms dealer, supplying the armies with weapons that were smuggled between factions. That is how she had gotten to know Taichi, Kari, and Joe. Tai would Jump with weapons from the other two factions, keeping her fathers business alive. But along with his business, her father had died too.
-Flashback-
Marla just arrived back to her home, her dad usually up and about lively talking to the servants around the house. But tonight it was silent. No candles burned to light her way through the dark, cold halls. Her golden armor was too loud and echoed obnoxiously.
"Dad?" She called out with no answer. Her heart began to pick up its pace. Her father's office door was opened. He never left it open. It was the only space he kept secret and to himself. Oh no… She thought to herself.
The woman knew her dad had a few targets on his back for being a successful businessman, but she never speculated that anything would happen. Hurrying down the hall, Marla would turn the corner just in time to see a cloaked figure leaning over her father's body.
The figure looked up, crimson eyes shining in the dark room. Marla grabbed her sword from her side, but was too late. The figure stood, a black suit hidden under the royal blue hood. As Marla readied herself to swing, the assassin had already slipped out of the window.
-End of Flashback-
Myotismon had come to her later that night, offering her revenge against the assassin that had ended her father's life. Marla's rage for revenger burned even more as she watched the assassin and the man she had fallen for cut through her army of Darklings without blinking an eye. She sensed the darkness the girl harbored within her, and would do whatever she could to protect others from falling to Sora's knife.
Marla was shaken from her thoughts as a cloud of dark fog signaled Myotismon's return from faction 1. "My Lord," Marla greeted, nodding her head as she descended the stairs to meet him. "What happened here, Marla?" Myotismon asked, the cousins sticking out like sore thumbs in their stark white clothing.
"After you left, the assassin cut through your army. Quite the killing machine," Marla rolled her eyes, kicking the decapitated head of a darkling. Myotismon chuckled, "Let her believe she can take them down easily. She'll soon see. They'll all see." The cousins moved to walk around the bodies.
"One person did this?" Magnus asked, pointing to the bodies that decorated the floor. "She had a little help, but ultimately yes. One of the assassins." Marla said. Lillian smiled excitedly, "Oh this will be fun. Myotismon? Please point us to where we can change. I'd like to meet Lanus' pride and joy."
-Faction 3: Mel's Goods-
The room was silent. Takeru had just finished updating the group on what was happening in faction 1. "We were in the midst of planning a rebellion, but it seems like bigger problems are arising…" Matt nodded, a bit ashamed that he had been blinded by the demands of the crown.
"Bigger problems is an understatement," said Joe, he was sitting in one of the chairs around the big wooden table. "Myotismon can summon armies from what Tai and Sora described." The room fell back to silence, tension and nerves coursing through the air.
Izzy sighed, leaning back against the wall near Tai, "Yeah… That adds to our list of problems and shortens our list of resolutions," Izzy said, earning him a nod from Sam. "The only thing we can do now is work together and see where that takes us."
Sam chuckled, "How optimistic. If only it were that easy." The assassin crossed his arms, moving next to his partner. Sora shrugged her shoulders, agreeing with the statement. "I guess… I guess we can just use what we have."
Tai clapped his hands, letting out a deep breath. "Okay enough moping. Let's start by sharing the abilities we somehow obtained when entering this new universe. I, Taichi Kamiya, can Jump to different factions. I can also, for some weird ass reason, see a person's movements before that person completes said movement."
"More attractive by the minutes," Sam said teasingly. "We," the assassin pointed to him and Sora, "don't do the world Jumping, but our senses are amplified. Hence, the assassin jobs." Sora nodded approvingly.
Kari cleared her throat, "I can be persuasive… People listen and always agree with me if I really want them too." Takeru smiled at her, "You don't need special abilities for that! You're so easy to get along with." Kari blushed at his words. "I can control wind. Simple as that." Takeru added.
"I heal? I think?" Joe said, unsure if that's mainly what he was given. "As far as I know, I only Jump." Izzy added to the discussion. Mimi snapped her fingers, a spark forming, "Fire. That's my thing." Yamato chuckled, putting her fire out with a splash of water, "and water is my thing."
Tai nodded to his team, "alright, now let's get to working!"
*Author's note!
First, I ended the chapter like this because I wanted to clear up any confusion over the abilities everyone may have. Other abilities may show up, but who knows! Sorry I haven't been updating regularly, classes have started and I am a bit busy from the load this semester. Second, I know I have some grammatical errors, but I just don't catch them most of the time so sorry about that! I hope this chapter was enjoyable, I'm hoping to involve a bit more action and romance in future chapters! Happy readings. (P.S. I fixed T.K.'s name! I have no idea why I had been spelling it wrong! Thank you for pointing it out!)