Chapter 40: Nakano and Kuroto
324 AD - The Enchanted Forest - Fairy Tale Realm
Nakano and Senko enjoy a day out in the field. Nakano had married a woman a year prior. Only his wife knew who Nakano and Senko really were. They pretended that Senko was their adopted daughter. Senko wore a glamour spell when others were around that made her appear human and a bit younger than she actually was. She planned to have the glamour spell make her look a bit older every year to make it appear as if she was growing. However today, Nakano wanted to give Senko some good news and took her out to spend a day together. Senko lays on his lap lazily while Nakano gently runs his hands through her hair. Senko realizes what's happening and gets up
"What's going on?!" Senko exclaimed "if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were the one pampering me just now"
"What's wrong with that?" Nakano asked
"Everything!" Senko shouted "I came here to help you and you completely turned the tables on me!"
"Do you even know how adorable you are?" Nakano asked "don't fret about it, having you around brightens my mood. That's help enough. Now I brought you out here to tell you something, you're going to have a new little brother or sister"
"You mean… she's…" Senko began
"Yeah, she's pregnant!" Nakano exclaimed
"I can't wait to meet the little guy or girl" Senko said "although… I know our cover is I'm you're adopted daughter, but let's be honest, I act more like your mother… so maybe I should think of the baby as my grandchild"
"Please don't… you'll just confuse the baby… not to mention me"
"Very well" Senko said
325 AD
"Senko, come quick, something is wrong!" Nakano said. Senko had been waiting outside while Nakano's wife gave birth. Senko heard the urgency and fear in Nakano's voice and rushed inside
"What can your daughter do?" the midwife asked, but Senko waved a hand, freezing the woman in place
"I'll unfreeze her when we are done, and she won't remember you calling for me" Senko said "what's the issue?"
"The birth is going very poorly" Nakano said "if we don't do something quick, we're going to lose both of them. I will not lose my wife and child! Please do something, Senko"
"I… I'm not sure what I can do" Senko said "I'm still relearning my magic, I don't know how to save a woman who is dying during child birth or even the child and there's no time to call my mentor"
"You can do something… you can save your wife and child" a familiar voice in Nakano's head said
"I can save them" Nakano said
"You can… no Nakano, don't give into the Darkness" Senko said
"My wife and child are not going to die today" Nakano said "if you can't help them I will"
"Magic always comes with a price" Senko said "and that goes double for Dark Magic, and triple for Dark Magic fueled by the Darkness! You've resisted the Darkness so well these past few years, if you resist just a little longer, we can free you from it. If you give in, you may very well be condemning future generations to having to fight the Darkness"
"If you don't use your magic, your wife and child will surely die. I can guide you through how to save them, my dear" a voice that sounded a lot like Kitsune's said in Nakano's head
"Kitsune?" Senko said
"You can hear her too?" Nakano asked
"I still have part of her essence within me, so yes" Senko said "listen to me, Nakano, resist the Darkness, I realize what I'm asking, but their deaths won't be in vain, we can stop the Darkness, I'm only a year or so away from finishing the spell to destroy the Darkness once and for all… but it won't work if you give in"
"I will listen to you Senko… actually the Kitsune in you" Nakano said "show me, Kitsune" and his hand moves over his wife and he call feel the Dark Magic going through it, healing her and helping her deliver the baby. Senko, realizing that there was nothing (short of using the Dark One's Dagger) she could do to stop him, helps deliver the baby
"It's a boy" Senko said and she hands the baby to Nakano
"Kuroto" Nakano's wife said, naming the baby
"I've got to go" Senko said as she gets up and unfreezes the midwife and walks out
"Listen, Senko" Nakano said, handing the baby to the midwife (his wife still too weak to hold Kuroto) "I'm sorry, please don't leave"
"I'll be back" Senko said "I'm not leaving because I'm mad at you… I need to report to my mentor of what just happened and make a plan from there. Be with your wife and son, you may have just sacrificed everything to save them, you might as well enjoy them" and she teleports away.
Land of the Kitsunes
"This is unexpected and unwelcome news" Sora said
"I'm sorry, I tried to stop him" Senko said
"It's not your fault, Sen" Sora said "if he truly was the Guardian, he would've resisted. His actions today show he is not. If you had forced him to not use his magic, either with the Dagger or other means, it would've been worse. It had to be his choice, and it was… he just chose wrong"
"But isn't using the Darkness for good what the Guardian should do?" Senko said
"Not quite" Senko said "the Guardian will resist the Darkness until he or she manages to turn it to Light, at which then it can be used for good. Nakano tried to use the Darkness as it is. Using Dark Magic, even for good, is still using Dark Magic"
"So what now?" Senko asked
"Keep helping Nakano" Sora said "it's going to much more difficult to resist the Darkness now that he's given in once. It doesn't help the Darkness is taking on the form of Kitsune, the woman he loved… that's going to be tempting"
"But I'm the woman he loved…" Senko said
"In part, yes" Sora said "but you neither look nor sound nor act like her. And you look very young, he's not interested in you like that and never will be. He does love you, just not like that. Don't be jealous… of well… yourself"
"I know" Senko said "and that's why I gave him by blessing to marry his wife… but I do still feel something for him, not romantic love, but rather… a longing for what could've been"
"I know, Sen" Sora said "Remind him that you care for him, that you have a familial love for him. He may not be the Guardian… but I foresee that his son, Kuroto could be. Help Nakano keep the Darkness at bay and raise Kuroto to be the next Guardian"
"Yes, Lady Sora" Senko said and she teleported away
Land of the Enchanted Forest
"This is unexpected and unwelcome news" the Apprentice said
"I know" Senko said "Lady Sora said I should help raise Kuroto as the next Guardian"
"As you should" the Apprentice said "especially as this will set our plans to destroy the Darkness back a long time. The spell we were working on only works if the Dark One hadn't used the Darkness yet… now that he has… well, we can hope a Guardian will arise and turn the Darkness to Light, whether it is Kuroto or someone else. In the meanwhile, keep the Dark One from using the Darkness as much as possible and we can continue working on a spell to destroy the Darkness…
350 AD
As Senko had warned, resisting the Darkness became much more difficult after the first time he gave in. Despite Senko's best efforts he gave in again, and again, and again. His wife had been killed by bandits and he killed then in revenge, finally fully giving into the Darkness and taking on a scaly form. Senko then realized she might as well use the Dagger to restrain him, to stop him from doing harm to others. The Darkness tempted him to take the Sorcerer's Hat in order to free himself from the Dagger, but the Apprentice stopped him.
When Nakano first became the Dark One, Merlin had noticed the Darkness had become unstable and hoped it would be easier to defeat. That was only half true, it is unstable, but that made what power it had over Nakano change quickly and often. Soon, the Darkness would have complete control over Nakano…
"My mentor told me we are running out of time" Senko said to Kuroto "because of the unstableness of the Darkness and your Father's repeated use of it, it will soon consume him completely"
"Meaning?" Kuroto asked
"Meaning that there will be no more Nakano and only the Dark One" Senko said "I'm not sure if even the Dagger will work at that point"
"Would creating a new Dark One reset the Darkness's progress?" Kuroto asked
"I believe so" Senko said "but there's no one that can take it on. I have a bit of the Darkness within me, we don't know how that would react with the rest of the Darkness, it would at best strengthen it. My mentors both wield large amounts of magic that would get corrupted by the Darkness and there's no one else I trust to become the Dark One"
"I'll do it" Kuroto said
"What?" Senko asked, shocked
"I'll do it" Kuroto said "I'll become the Dark One, you trust me, don't you?"
"Yes" Senko said "but you were supposed to become the Guardian"
"I guess I'm not the Guardian then" Kuroto said
"You know what you'll have to do to become the Dark One, right?" Senko asked
"I know" Kuroto said "… but it sounds like my Father is going to die one way or the other right?"
"Yes" Senko said "if we do nothing the Darkness will kill him and his body will be nothing but a vessel for the Darkness"
"Then give me the Dagger" Kuroto said
"I don't have a choice, do I" Senko said
"Everyone has a choice, Sen" Kuroto said "you taught me that, but this is the best… or rather least terrible choice"
"Do it" Senko said and she hands Kuroto the Dark One's Dagger.
"Dark One, I command you to follow me into the barn" Kuroto said
"Kuroto, what are you doing?" Nakano asked "and where did you get that Dagger?"
"I'm sorry Father, I'm doing what I have to do" Kuroto said and he turns to Senko "I'll do this out of your sight, I assume you don't want to see this"
"I don't… but I should be with him in the end" Senko said and she followed them in
"Dark One, I command you lay down and don't move" Kuroto said
"Don't do this, Kuroto, this isn't worth it" Nakano said and Senko kneels at his side as Kuroto stabs his Father with the Dark One's Dagger, transferring the Darkness to him and writing his name on the Dagger.
"Nakano, say something" Senko said, weeping, hoping there was something left of the good man she once knew "don't leave, I'm so sorry, I still haven't done anything for you" Nakano raises his hand, which is no longer scaly, and wipes a way her tears. Then his hand falls to the ground never to rise again, and she weeps all the more.
"Senko, I know you're hurting" Kuroto said, covered in scales "I am too… but, I need you to take the Dagger, I don't trust myself with it" and she takes it from him "it's going to be tough, but we'll get through this. Senko and Kuroto hold a funeral for Nakano
"You know, I did find a spell that could suppress the Darkness" Senko said to Kuroto "it doesn't work on someone who had given so fully into the Darkness as your Father, but it might work on you. I wish I had found it sooner, if I had, your Father would still be with us"
"Do it, Senko" Kuroto said "I trust you"
"Then goodbye, Kuroto" Senko said "I've enjoyed knowing you and I'm sorry I couldn't save your Father. But I promise, I will do everything I can to save you"
"Goodbye?" Kuroto asked "wait, Sen, what are you…?" but Senko sent a blast of magic through the Dark One's Dagger out in every direction, hitting not just Kuroto, but everyone nearby, knocking them out. Senko notices the scales on Kuroto had vanished, showing the Darkness had indeed been suppressed. She then teleports away
Hall of Legends
"Senko did what now?" Simultaneous asked
"She had no choice" Sora said "if she did nothing the Darkness would have complete control and even Merlin isn't sure whether or not the Dagger would be able to control it. Kuroto turned himself into the Dark One, resetting the Darkness's progress. Senko took advantage of the Darkness' unstableness and cast a spell to wipe Kuroto's memory of ever being the Dark One, also removing herself from his memory and the memory of the villagers"
"This seems to have had an unforeseen, but fortunate side effect" the Apprentice said "the Dark One is no longer immortal"
"Why don't we just kill him and be done with it?" Poseidon asked
"The side effect wasn't that fortunate" the Apprentice said "if and when Kuroto dies, the Darkness will be passed onto his first born, or closest living relative if he is childless. The memory spell seems to also carry from person to person. It also mutes the Darkness, it cannot interfere in it's holders life more than the occasional whisper"
"Is Kuroto really a Dark One anymore?" Zeus asked
"No, not really" the Apprentice said "he was a Dark One, briefly, so unfortunately, his soul will be stuck in the Underworld like the other Dark Ones. But when he dies, whoever succeeds him, will not be a true Dark One. Their soul will not be stuck in the Underworld like the others. I believe their name will still be written on the Dagger. Whether or not the Dagger can control them is unknown, I would recommend against trying, it may undo Senko's spell and awaken the Darkness. Kuroto is now a pseudo-Dark One, as will he successors be"
"Similar to Senko?" Sora asked
"Yes and no" the Apprentice said "Senko had a rather unique creation, compared to Kuroto… but like Senko, Kuroto does have a connection to the Darkness, but he isn't a Dark One, nor can he be controlled by it. I'd say Kuroto is more similar to Senko then to Oroku Saki or a pure Dark One, but there are still differences"
"Could the Darkness still completely consume a person like it almost did to Nakano?" Ursula asked
"Yes and no" the Apprentice said "an unfortunate side-effect of the spell, is that while the Darkness cannot control a person, it can make them miserable and feed on their misery in an attempt to consume them. However, if it does end up consuming them, they will simply die, the Darkness will be moved to the next in line and the Darkness's progress will be reset again"
"So this sounds like overall good news" Daimyo said
"Yes" the Apprentice said "short of Kuroto being the Guardian and being able to turn the Darkness to Light, this is the best we could've hope for. There's no current Dark One, the Darkness is dormant, which gives me all the time in the world to develop a spell to destroy the Darkness… or for the Guardian to appear"
Land of the Kitsunes
"You did well, Sen" Sora said "the Original Powers were very pleased with your work"
"Then why do I feel like I failed?" Senko asked
"Because one of the ones you loved is lost, possibly forever, and the other doesn't remember you" Sora said "you may stay here as long as you need to recover"
"I would like to watch over Kuroto and his descendants" Senko said "I'm not going to get too close, just make sure they stay out of trouble. If it looks like the Darkness is going to consume one of them, then I will step in and try to help them keep it at bay"
"If that's what you want" Sora said
The Enchanted Forest
"I'm sorry, Sen" the Apprentice said
"I'm sorry, too" Senko said "how long do you think it will take to find a spell to destroy the Darkness?"
"I'm not sure" the Apprentice said "the spell we found to destroy the Darkness in someone that hadn't given won't work on Kuroto. He gave into the Darkness by killing his Father, even if it was a mercy kill"
"What about Kuroto's successor?" Senko asked
"It might work, but I'm hesitant to try" the Apprentice said "we have to be 100% sure it will work. That spell was meant to destroy the Darkness in the Dark One, but there currently isn't a Dark One. I don't know if it will work on a pseudo-Dark One, it may awaken the Darkness. Whatever spell we try, we have to be 100% sure it will work, we can't risk awakening the Darkness if we fail"
"Then try it on me" Senko said "you told me I was a pseudo-Dark One myself, so can't you test it on me?"
"You're not the exact same" the Apprentice said "you only a connection to the Darkness, Kuroto has the actual Darkness within him"
"But wouldn't it be close enough?" Senko asked
"Perhaps" the Apprentice said "but you might die if something goes wrong"
"That's a risk I'm willing to take" Senko said
"But not a risk Lady Sora is" the Apprentice said "you're very dear to her. I would face her wrath if something happened to you, and she's very protective of those under her care. I'm not sure even the Sorcerer could protect me if something happened to you"
"Why does this all have to be so hard?" Senko asked
"Because magic always comes with a price" the Apprentice said "and today, I'm afraid we all paid the price…"
975 AD - Fairy Tale Realm
A wise and fair king, whose wisdom was only equaled by the love of his people, had gotten old and needed to decide on a successor. He summoned his four sons: DunBroch the Mighty, MacGuffin the Just, Macintosh the Compassionate, and Dingwall the Wise.
"My sons" the king said "I have decided that your four together will rule the kingdom, not one above the other. You will be the four pillars to which the peace of the land will rest upon"
"But Father" DunBroch protested "I'm the oldest, I should rule!"
"Your desire to rule the whole kingdom and not being satisfied with only a portion is exactly why you shouldn't be permitted to rule" the king said "if you are not satisfied with the arrangement, I can always split your portion among your brothers"
"That will not be necessary, Father" DunBroch seethed and the king dismissed them.
A few days later, the king summoned his sons again, this time on his deathbed. He reaffirmed he wanted them to rule together and died.
"Brothers" DunBroch said "swear to me your allegiance and make me king and I will ensure you want for nothing"
"But that's not what Father wanted" Macintosh protested
"It wouldn't be right to ignore what the king wanted" MacGuffin said
"Our four gifts together will make the kingdom prosper even more than it did under Father" Dingwall said. DunBroch shouted in anger and used his ax to destroy the stone carving of him and his brothers, cutting it into two, with him on one piece and his brothers on the remaining. DunBroch then stormed off. His brothers did not hear from DunBroch for some time and when he returned, it was with an army of devoted followers, ready to help him take the throne by force. The brothers used the royal army to fight DunBroch's. DunBroch's army was powerful, as was DunBroch himself, but the battle remained a bitter stalemate.
In frustration, DunBroch went out into the woods and found an ancient ring of stones. DunBroch notices a Will-o-the-Wisp and grabbed it
"I want to have the ability to defeat my brothers" DunBroch whispered to it and let it go and he followed it. He was led to a cottage at the edge of the woods. He went into the cottage and found an elderly woman stirring a cauldron and soon knew exactly what he was looking at: a witch
"You're a witch" DunBroch said to the woman
"What of it?" the Witch asked
"I want you to help me win the war against my brothers" DunBroch said
"I don't fight wars" the Witch replied
"Then I want you to give me the strength of ten men" DunBroch said
"Getting warmer, but still not quite my wheelhouse" the Witch said
"The help me change my Fate" DunBroch said
"That I can do" the Witch said "what do you offer as payment?"
"This" DunBroch said handing the Witch his signet ring
"Magic always comes with a price" the Witch replied, taking the ring and begins adding ingredients to her cauldron
"I've already given you my ring, what more do you want, Witch?" DunBroch asked
"You've paid me financially, for which I am grateful" the Witch said "but have you considered the cost of what you're about to do?"
"I don't have time for your word games, Witch" DunBroch snapped
"I recognize an obsession when I see it" the Witch said "if you go through with this, it will ultimately consume you. So, the potion I've made for you comes with a choice" and she pulls out the potion she just made "it will change your Fate in one of two ways: by granting your dark wish and giving you the strength of ten men or by healing the family bonds you have broken"
"I will do what I must" DunBroch said and he took the potion and left
A few days later, MacGuffin, Macintosh, and Dingwall were summoned to a truce by DunBroch
"Are you ready to be an end to this madness, Brother?" Macintosh asked
"Are you?" DunBroch shot back "because you are my brothers, I am offering you one last chance. Swear loyalty to me, proclaim me the rightful king, and I will make sure you want for nothing. Your followers will be granted full pardons. If you refuse, I will drink this magic potion I have acquired and you all die" and he showed them the potion
"Dealing with magic is foolish, Brother" Dingwall warned
"So you refuse to surrender?" DunBroch said
"We will not be blackmailed" MacGuffin replied
"Fine then" DunBroch said and he drank the potion. Magic swirled around him and was transformed into a bear with the strength of ten men. Somehow, the potion gave DunBroch a choice, mend the bond torn by pride and return to his true form or stay a bear forever. DunBroch choose to accept the shape of the monster. He killed his brothers, then went to command his army, but they only saw a monster and attacked them. He slaughtered members of both his army and his brothers' and the remnants scattered. The bear consumed DunBroch and he became nothing but an animal, his mind lost. The armies broke into four factions, each one backing a different prince's son as the ruler. Unable to agree on who should rule, the kingdom fell and Four Clans took its place, each Clan named after one of the princes. The bear formally known as DunBroch took on a new name: Mordu