Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider franchise (that belongs to Toei and Ishinomori Shotaro), and NO8DO is a fan-made collaboration of panatenshi, PoetessLaureate, and seankeeton deviantart! I only own my OCs, who are the Riders in this story!
When my parents died, a young Moorish physician named Abdel took me in as his apprentice, giving me the nickname "Saree," even though my name was Saraida. He was a physician, but Abdel also practiced alchemy. The experiments we would perform would astound me every time, even if they were not all successes. In time, I grew close to him and soon fell in love with him. However, our happiness together was not to last.
News of Abdel's alchemy soon reached the ears of the Spanish Inquisition. They would soon take him for alchemy was considered heresy, and it was then, I made my choice: I was going to save Abdel from the Inquisition. Little did I know, I wasn't alone in my mission...
The year was 1499, seven years after the fall of Kingdom of Granda fell to unity of Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand. The Spanish Inquisition fell upon the entire country and spread like the Black Plague, reaching to almost every, single corner of the country. The Muslims and the Jews were either exiled from Spain or were taken to prisons to be tortured by the Inquisition.
Once such place was Torre del Oro, or "Golden Tower," in Seville. It was originally a watchtower built by the Berber dynasty of the Almohads, who would ultimately surrender Seville to the Spanish. Now, it served as a prison and a torture chamber for the Berber physician known as Abdel for the crime of alchemy, which many of the Spanish believe to be an act of heresy. Two guards stood by the entrance, their hands tight around their pikes.
Unknown to the two guards, a brown cloaked figure was hiding behind a nearby pillar that held up a house. The one wearing the cloak was a young Spaniard woman in her early twenties with long blond hair that was covered her hood over her head as well as blue eyes. Hanging out of her hood was a necklace that had a golden Cross on it, which would make one assume she was a Catholic. Her name was Saraida or Saree.
Though she was of Catholic descent, her hands were covered in a black ink-like substance that covered her hands. On her hands was the result of Abdel's, her teacher's, last work. Saree remembered Abdel's last words before he was imprisoned by the Inquisition:
"Let them look, but not see."
She understood what he meant now. Closing her eyes and raising her arms to the side, Saree silently chanted the words that Abdel taught her. "In sight of all, watch sight of none!" she spoke.
With those words spoken, the black ink faded away as alchemy transmutation circles with Arabic letters written on them appeared on Saree's hands, and soon her physical appearance soon began to fade away until nothing could be seen by the visible eye. The guards still stood there, not noticing what had happened. Suddenly, the bar that locked the door from the public melted away, which caught the attention of the first guard on the right. When he was about to turn his head, the first guard felt an invisible hit him right in the left cheek. As the guard crouched on the ground from the pain, the door swung wide open by some invisible force. The guard on the right immediately cowered on the ground, moaning, "A ghost!"
"A witch!" the other guard on the left exclaimed before turning to his compatriot. "Pull yourself together princess!"
The two guards entered the Torre del Oro, following the sound of footsteps that went down the stairs. "I can't see anyone!" the first guard called out as he ran down the stairs.
The other one then replied, "Further down! I hear footsteps!"
With that said, the two guards continue to run down the spiral steps of the Torre Del Oro. Unknown to them, the "witch" they were chasing had stopped near an entrance on the right, waiting for the guards to pass. Once they were gone, the invisible being slowly entered the entrance into what appeared to be a prison.
Inside were two inquisitors in their white uniforms, their conical hoods covering their faces, the one on the right holding a small, sharp knife. They stood at the side of a chair, which was occupied by a young man of Berber descent in his early twenties. He had gray eyes and long black hair that went down to his shoulders. He only wore a towel around his waist that went down to his knees, revealing his frail and skinny body with scars all over it from the torture. His wrists were trapped to the chair's arms by metallic bands. The young Berber was Abdel, Saree's teacher who was imprisoned for practicing alchemy.
"The Castilian girl..." the first inquisitor on the left began.
".. you cannot marry her..." the second one on the right and holding the knife continued.
"... so why does she reside alone with you?" the first one finished.
"Does she assist with your spells?"
"Is she your slave?"
Though he was weak, Abdel tried his hardest to stay conscious, speaking, "No, she is..."
However, the first Inquisitor cut him off, shouting, "ANSWER US WARLOCK!"
"S-she..." Abdel began, but his wounds overcame him as he fell into unconsciousness, his body slumping in the chair.
"What did he say?"
The first one swore, stating, "I think he's-"
He never finished that statements as an invisible blade suddenly slashed against his chest, ending the life of the first Inquisitor. The other one had less than a second to respond for the same blade struck him across the chest as well, killing him as well. The two Inquisitors' lifeless bodies dropped to the ground, leaving a now visible Saree with a bloodied Arab sword in her hand a streak of blood across her right cheek. Her eyes widen in horror at what the Inquisitors did to Abdel. 'No!' she mentally screamed as she dropped the sword and rushed over to the young Berber physician.
Reaching into her cloak, Saree pulled out a small bag and poured some powder into her hands before placing it on the chair's metal bands, which melted them away. Once Abdel was freed from the chair, it slumped onto the floor, and Saree hugged Abdel's unconscious body close to her. "I'm not strong enough to be alone," Saree sobbed as she pressed Abdel's face against hers.
"No Saree," she heard Abdel weakly answer. She looked at him to his eyes were open. "You'll be alright... You are more than strong enough."
His words brought her new determination as she picked up the Arab sword that laid on the ground. A dozen guards wearing the Spanish armor came storming in with their pikes, but that did not worry Saree. "Stay with me Abdel. I won't let them take you ever again," she said as she gripped her sword.
The rest of the guards stormed into the chamber, and were about to apprehend Saree and Abdel when a dagger was thrown from the shadows of the chamber and into the chest of one of the guards, ending his life. The guards froze where they were to stare at the shadows of the chamber, where the dagger was thrown from, and Saree did the same. "You are brave, young one," a deep, masculine voice suddenly spoke to Saree, "to stand up for one like him."
"Your love for this man has shown your strength," another male voice stated. "You have certainly faced your fears."
"Now, you must leave," a third voice, this one feminine, spoke. "Let us deal with the Inquisition."
Then, everyone witnessed three people step out of the shadows. One on the left was a young woman of Jewish descent, about 20 with long brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a brown cloak over her body with a hood over her head. The one on the left was a Spanish monk, who was as old as the young woman and had hair brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a simple monk robe over his body. The man in the center was of Berber descent, who in his mid-twenties with tanned skin, short black hair, a small beard, and brown eyes. He wore the typical green robe over his white pants and shirt that was held together by a black sash around his waist.
"Who are you?" one of the guards shouted at the trio that stood in between the guards, and Abdel and Saree.
The young Berber man smiled at that. "My name is Saleh," the man introduced himself. "This is Rebecca and Joseph," he gestured to the Jewish girl and Catholic monk, respectively.
"However, we have another name," Rebecca, the Jewish girl, stated.
To everyone's surprise, a belt appeared around the waist of each one of the strangers. Each belt had a black gem in the center of their silver, hexagonal buckle. The belt straps had different colors; green for Rebecca, silver for Joseph, and gold for Saleh. A sword hung from their respective belts, with a black hilt and silver cross guards, and though their blades were sheathed, Saree would tell from the black scabbards they had a triangular shape. Once the belts appeared, bright flashes of light shot out from the gems and engulfed the three strangers, blinding everyone else in the room. The light died down, and everyone, including Abdel and Saree, eyes widen at what stood before them before instead of three strangers were three armored warriors.
Rebecca wore green armor over her blue bodysuit. She had green gauntlets, and boots as well as green, round shoulder guards and green chest armor with blue highlights on it to show her feminine figure. Rebecca wore a round, green helmet with two blue lines running from the black, T-shaped visor.
As for the young monk, silver armor was worn over Joseph's red bodysuit. He had a silver chest plate, gauntlets, boots, and round shoulder guards. He wore his round shoulder guards and his round helmet had a silver visor with three horizontal strips on it.
The young Berber, Saleh, in the center now wore golden chest armor over the black bodysuit along with golden gauntlets and boots, and small, triangular shoulder guards. His helmet had a golden headpiece that was shaped as a sort of crown with a flat sing prong and a piece of black fabric hung from the back of the helmet onto his shoulders. His wore a single black visor and a silver plate over his mouth and nose.
Saree's eyes widen for the three stood before her were Astral (Rebecca), Crux (Joseph), and Lune (Saleh). The Inquisition had denied their existence to the people, claiming they were only rumors, but here they were, saving her and Abdel from the Inquisition. Though just whispers, Saree knew they were called by many names; protectors, judges, warriors. The names would be discarded, for she knew they all had one common title they would take without any hesitation: Kamen Riders.
Drawing their swords, Lune, Astral, and Crux charged at the Spanish guards, who stood there in fright of the three Riders. Lune's sword struck the nearest guard across the chest, before he twisted his body around to slashed his sword at the side of the next guard. Crux blocked a blow from one of the guards' pikes with his sword before grabbing the said guard and tossing him into the other guards. Astral's blade struck down one guard before she stabbed it into another guard, and when she noticed a guard thrusting his pike at her, Astral ducked it as she then slashed the guard across the stomach. Saree's eyes widen at the skill of these three warriors for they struck down so many guards within so little time.
Once the first five guards' lifeless bodies fell to the ground, the others immediately ran away from the trio, fearing for their lives. With them gone, the three Riders turned to face Abdel and Saree. Sheathing his sword, Lune quickly rushed over to Abdel's side to inspect the extent of his wounds. "He's wounded, but he'll live," Lune told Saree much to her relief. He then turned to face Crux and Astral. "See if you can clear our escape!"
The two nodded as they left the chamber to deal with more guards, while Lune looked at Saree. "Help me get him up," he ordered and the youg Catholic girl nodded as she and Lune helped Abdel stand.
It took a while, but Saree and Lune were able to help Abdel walk up the spiral stairs and out of the entrance of the Torre del Oro. Saree noticed that outside of the Torre del Oro was a white horse wearing golden armor on its body. Carrying Adbel to his horse, Lune then raised him to sit on the saddle before turning to Saree. "Get on," Lune told her and she complied as she sat behind Abdel and took the reigns. "Get out of Seville and escape to coast. We'll guard you along the way. Hurry!"
With that, Lune smacked the horse and it went rushing off into the streets the city, carrying the two to what Lune hoped would be safe. "Saleh!" a voice called for Lune, making the said Rider turn to see Crux and Astral riding on their own armored horses.
As he rode his horse, Crux held out his hand for Lune to grab onto it before swinging onto the back of the saddle. "Follow those two!" Lune ordered, receiving nods from his two fellow Riders. "How many are after us?"
"About thirty," Crux reported as he tried to make his horse run faster. "If we don't get out of Seville, more will be after us!"
Astral nodded in agreement. "Well, let's hurry then!", and with a kick to the side, Astral's horse went speeding off with its owner to catch up with Lune's horse that was carrying Abdel and Saree. Crux soon followed in suit and his horse began catching up as well.
However, Crux and Lune soon heard the neighing of another horse that didn't come from the group, so they both turned their heads to see Spanish soldiers chasing after them on their own horses. "We've got horsemen behind us!" Crux announced to the others.
Lune quickly drew his sword in time to deflect some arrows the horsemen fired at them. "Just keep going!" Lune told him as he deflected more arrows with a swing of his sword. "Get out of the city as fast as you can!"
After hearing those words, Saree looked in front of her to see the gates of the city open for them to escape. She felt even more joy as Lune's horse carried her and Abdel out of the city with the Riders behind, while the Spanish soldiers slowed down at the entrance to the city. However, the horses did not stop nor slow down, which confused the young Catholic girl. Saree turned her head to see Astral was catching up to her on her horse until the said Rider was right next to her. "Where are they taking us?" Saree called out to Astral.
"You'll see!" Astral replied.
Soon, Crux's horse rode up to the other side of Lune's horse. "C'mon," Crux said. "We have a long journey ahead of us."
Saree couldn't help but agree with him for she felt their destination was a long way to go...
Many hours passed as the group walked across the plains of southern Spain and tried to hide from the patrols of Spanish soldiers. As they traveled, Saree watched as the three Riders try to apply treatment to Abdel's wounds, which worked to some degree. During that entire time, Saree noticed none of the Riders ever took off their armor. Most likely it was because they were cautious of more Spanish soldiers.
Now, they decided to rest, so they stopped near a small stream in the middle of a forest. A fire was made and the reigns Lune's horse were tied to a nearby tree to prevent it from running off. Abdel was placed on the ground, while Saree stayed by his side, worried for his safety. As for the Riders, Lune was off of Crux's horse and standing guard, while Crux and Astral were still on their horses. "Are we safe now?" Lune asked Astral and Crux as he walked up to them.
Astral nodded. "Yeah, so far there's no one, but we're going to go on ahead, just in case."
Lune sighed, "Alright then."
The two Riders whipped the reigns on their horses and they went speeding off into the forest for reconnaissance. With them gone, Lune turned his attention back to Saree and Abdel. "How is he?" he asked as he walked over to the fire.
"Much better," Saree answered. "Thank you so much. I don't know what"
Lune let out a sigh of relief. "That's good."
Then, Saree looked at the gem in the center of Lune's belt. From what she could tell, no ordinary gem could possibly emit that kind of power to give one a suit of armor. The only explanation she could come up with was that the gem probably made from alchemy, but she wasn't completely sure. Her train of thought was interrupted when Lune's armor suddenly shattered away, revealing an exhausted Saleh. He still carried his sword in his hand, but his belt was completely gone, like his armor was, much to Saree's surprise.
Despite of her thoughts on Saleh's powers, she pushed those away to focus her main concern on her destination. "Where are we going?" Saree asked.
"To the coast. There's a ship there that'll take you," Saleh replied as he sat down across from Saree. There was an awkward silence between the two before Saleh said, "Listen, I know this may seem strange to you, but believe us, we're trying to help."
"I know you are," Saree said, much to Saleh's surprise. "You are the Kamen Riders."
"You've heard about us?" Saleh inquired with a hint of surprise on his face.
"Yes, but only mere rumors," Saree replied. "I've heard you've saved people from the Inquisition."
Saleh nodded at that before he sat down and as he did, he noticed there was a small trace of curiosity in the young Catholic girl's eyes, but something was preventing her from asking. "Something on your mind?" Saleh asked before giving a small grin as he added, "other than Abdel's safety."
Saree blushed a little at that before she asked, "Well, I was wondering about the gems on your belts. They looked like they were made from alchemy."
A flash of amusement appeared on Saleh's face as he smirked. "Ah so you noticed," Saleh said as he stroked his bearded chine.
"Yes," Saree noticed. "I have been wondering of where did you get your powers? Did you make them yourself or did someone give them to you?"
Saleh was about to answer, but he drew his sword in time to deflect some arrows, cutting them into pieces. Once the broken arrows fell to the ground, Lune turned around to see Spanish soldiers marching towards them. "I have no time for this!" he growled before he transformed into Lune.
Saree wondered how Lune would fight off all of these soldiers and much to her shock, Lune's sword was covered in a golden glow and when he swung across the air, he released a wave of golden energy that struck the group of soldiers, killing them. Her eyes widen at the demonstration of such power. "Looks like they've caught up with us!" Lune snarled before turning to Saree. "Go!"
Saree nodded as she carried Abdel's unconscious body to Lune's horse before using all of her strength to lift him on it. Once she got on, Lune immediately turned to face her. "Take Abdel and head to the coast!" Lune told her. "It should be less than a mile away! I'll catch up with you!"
Saree nodded as she whipped the reigns, making Lune's horse rush off into the distance, leaving Lune to deal with the oncoming Spanish soldiers, who were led by a horseman. Before the soldiers could march any further, two blurs rushed pass them as blades swiftly cut into their ranks, cutting them down. The leader of the soldiers was not spared either as the blades struck him in the back, making his now lifeless body fall to the grass as his horse left him. The blurs stopped in front of Lune, revealing them to be the Riders Crux and Astral on their horses.
Lune noticed out of the corner of his eye was the horse that the leader of the soldiers was prancing about aimlessly. He saw it as an opportunity as he ran towards them horse and jumped on its saddle before taking the reigns.
"What happened?" Lune asked as he turned the horse to face Crux and Astral.
"We've got two dozen more soldiers coming from our flank!" Crux reported.
"We'll hold them off!" Astral told him. "Just keep those two safe!"
Lune nodded as he whipped the reigns on the horse to make it follow Saree and Abdel. Then, Astral and Crux turned their attention back to the soldiers as they gripped their swords, which glowed with green and silver energy, respectively. With one stroke, waves of green and silver energy struck at the oncoming Spanish soldiers, annihilating a number of them. Those that remained continued their march towards the two Riders.
'This may take a while,' Astral thought.
The young Berber physician known as Abdel groaned his eyes fluttered opened. He felt stings of pain all over his body; no doubt from the torture he received from the inquisitors. However, he expected to see the ceiling of the prison instead of a dark, night sky. 'What is this?' he asked himself as he sat up to find himself on some sort of beach with a ship on the waters. 'Where am I?'
"Abdel!" a familiar voice called out to him as he felt someone embrace.
"Saree?" Abdel asked. "What happened? The last thing I remember was talking to you in that prison before I blackened out."
"We escaped," was Saree's response, which made Abdel's eyes widen with both joy and shock. "But I couldn't have done it without the help of those Kamen Riders."
"Kamen Riders?" Abdel repeated.
He then turned to look at the armored form of Lune that stood behind Saree. He looked down at his belts to see the gems and recognized the work done for gems. "I see my father's old gem still work," Abdel weakly smiled.
Saree's eyes widen at those words as she , but Lune simply let out a chuckle, stating, "Your father was pretty good alchemist as well as a good teacher."
"Teacher?" Abdel repeated the last word as he stood up with some from Saree.
"We're his students. He taught the others and I everything there is to know about alchemy, and it was he who entrusted the buckles to us before he died," Lune explained, a hint of sadness in his voice. "Ever since then, we've been fighting the Inquisition."
The young Berber's eyes widen with worry as he immediately exclaimed, "Dead? Was he..." but Lune cut him off.
"He wasn't taken by the Inquisition," Lune assured, placing a hand on his shoulder. "He went peacefully in his sleep and received a proper burial."
Abdel sighed with relief. "That's good news."
Before Saree had the chance to ask, Crux and Astral immediately came running in on their horses, rather urgently. "The Spanish soldiers are coming!" Crux announced.
Lune whipped his head towards him comrades. "Where?"
"From the east, less than a mile away," Astral quickly explained.
Lune turned his head back towards Saree and Abdel. "Listen, there's not much time! You must leave immediately!"
"But where to?" Saree questioned.
"Get on the ship," Lune instructed Saree and Abdel. "It'll take you to the Ottoman Empire. You two will be safe there."
"What about you?" Abdel asked.
"We'll hold them off for as long as we can," Lune replied. "Now go!"
They both nodded hesitantly as they got on the ship and once they did, it immediately floated aloft on the waters. As the boat sailed away from the coast, Lune smiled underneath his mouth guard, knowing that those two would be safe for now. Lune noticed his two fellow Riders walking up to his side, the horses running off, so they wouldn't be caught in the crossfire of the upcoming fight.
"So they've taken the boat?" Astral asked.
Lune nodded. "They'll be long gone from here."
Crux sighed with relief. "That's good then."
Lune was silent as he stared at the ground. "Sorry for doing this to you," Lune apologized, his eyes not leaving the ground. "I gave away our only chance for escape."
"Don't worry," Astral assured.
It was then when Crux walked next to the two, his armored head looking to what was in front of them. "Besides, we have more important things to worry about."
When Crux said those words, Lune and Astral turned their heads in the same direction to see Spanish soldiers approaching near the beach, armed with rifles, and a long range of melee weapons, such as swords and pikes. There was at least a hundred of them, and more would be on the way sooner or later. The only thing standing in their way of retrieving Abdel and Saree were the three Kamen Riders. 'Looks like we're not getting out this one,' Lune mentally sighed.
"Whatever happens," Lune said, tightening his grip on his sword, "it was a honor knowing you two."
"Same here," Astral agreed and Crux nodded.
With that, Lune hefted his sword in front of him, and the other two followed in suit, preparing to fight off against the Spanish soldiers. "CHARGE!" Lune shouted and the trio charged into what they thought would be their final battle...
Five years have passed since that day. Abdel and I now live in Egypt under the rule of the Ottoman Empire, practicing our alchemy. We're both happily married with a child along the way. Although I regret leaving my country, I can still find happiness in my new home. And it was because of those three. Without them, Abdel and I would not have been able to escape.
What happened to those three is unknown. It pains me to write this, but they were most likely killed by the Spanish soldiers. If they were still alive, I would thank them for what they had done for us. A small part of myself still believes they are alive, but I can not be certain. If they are alive, they would still continue on protecting the innocent for that is what they do as warriors... as Kamen Riders...
The torches lit the night of the kingdom of Granada, the last stronghold of the Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula. The city was quiet for everyone was asleep, save for a lone inquisitor walking down the streets. He was coming back from a recent "confession," and was planning to get a good night's rest.
However, as the inquisitors walked towards a nearby alley, he did not notice a pair of hands grabbing him by the shoulders while another covered his mouth to muffle his cries for help. Once pulled into the alley the Inquisitor found himself staring at three triangular swords pointed at his head, and their owners were concealed by the shadows. The only thing the Inquisitor could see of his assailants were three visors; a red, T-shaped visor; a silver visor with three horizontal strips on it; and finally, a black visor.
"Now," The one in the center with the black visor said, "Now, I believe you were about to give us the keys to the prison."
AN: That's Kamen Rider ALC. What did you think? Good, bad, average? Please leave a review to let me know what you thought, and if you have any criticism, please let it be constructive. Also this story is NOT up for adoption by other authors.
Anyway, like I said in the disclaimer, NO8DO is a fan-made collaboration of panatenshi, PoetessLaureate, and seankeeton deviantart. NO8DO is a fan-made comic that takes place in Spain, right on the turn of the 15th century, during the height of the Spanish Inquisition. The plot of it is basically like the creators describe in the summary: "When the Moorish physician Abdel is arrested by the Inquisition for practicing the forbidden art of alchemy, his young Spanish Catholic apprentice, Saraida, must choose between her love for him and her obedience to the Church." When I first saw this comic, I really, really liked it! Though it was short, and the ending was left on a cliffhanger, it was honestly that good! The story was impressive, the art work and designs were just beautiful! Honestly, the first time I read it, there were no words to describe how good it was!
Still, the comic was ended on a cliffhanger, so I thought it would be a real opportunity to use my OCs Kamen Riders I made. Also, since it's now Ramadan, I thought it would be nice to write something. Now, Kamen Rider ALC was planned to be written as an OC Kamen Rider story, but it kept on getting delayed with other projects as well as school, and I didn't really have the inspiration to write it. Fortunately, I've read NO8DO, giving me the inspiration I needed! I decided to start off where the comic left off, so I took a small bit from the end of NO8DO, where Saree gets into the Torre del Oro to save Abdel. The rest I made up.
That's all I for now. I hope you enjoyed it!
Raika out!