With great frustration, I turned back to my original
direction. It felt like a long path to get to Shio. It was startling how easily
I was able to set aside my brother’s revenge to protect Dylan, but my brother
was already dead; Dylan needed me. With every step, I debated and questioned
the decision to trust Divina instead of finding Dylan.
The internal dispute was so great in fact, I nearly
ran right into my death. To die because I wasn’t paying attention would have
been a miserable way to go. It was the scent that stopped me; I knew Ronez’s
scent. Immediately I thought it was Shio, but a sudden gust of wind picked up.
I looked from one end of the hall to the other.
Where did the wind come
from?
It felt like my brother’s magic.
Before I could shake it off and continue, I saw a
small beam of light, only a few steps in front of me. Waist high and no wider
than a finger’s width, the light streamed from one wall to the other. The holes
in the walls from which the light shined were too perfectly round, and the
light was too perfectly focused to be created by nature. I studied the ground
to find similar holes in neat rows, including under myself. After stepping far
enough away that I wasn’t standing above the holes, I tossed my sword across.
The moment the blade crossed the light, metal spikes shot up from the ground.
“Dylan, there are traps! If you can hear me, watch
for traps!”
There wasn’t even the slightest response. He didn’t hear me.
I had to get this over with and find him. I lay on
the stone ground and scooted under the light, easily avoiding the trap. At the
end of the hall was an odd indoor stream, where I found Shio lying unconscious
on the ground with very little physical energy in him. Just as Vretial had
said, it was in Ronez’s body that Shio was walking around in. Shio was a
disgusting, horrible creature and seeing him there made me wish I had hours and
hours to torture him for what he did.
I hesitated for a second, wondering why he was
drained of energy. I hadn’t taught Dylan that kind of spell, but he was the
only one who came in contact with Shio since Shio tried to take him to the
dungeon.
Maybe an accident? No, not this powerful a spell. Perhaps Divina
helped him.
It didn’t matter. I pushed nominal energy into Shio and
converted it into physical energy. He started to wake within moments and when
he opened his eyes, they filled with fear. He knew what was about to happen to
him.
Not enough.
“What are you going to do?” he asked in Chreun, the
main language of Mulo.
His voice made my chest burn; hearing it after so
long, yet distorted with fear. I didn’t want to hear fear in my brother’s voice
or see it in his eyes, but Shio deserved every ounce of fear I could give him.
I picked him up by the front of the shirt and shoved
him into the wall. “I have not decided yet. Something painful and slow, but not
too slow. Maybe I will cut you into pieces and use magic to keep you from
bleeding to death before you can die of pain. You will die of pain because you
are weak.”
“Can you cut your own brother’s body? I can release
this body anytime I want, and then all that damage would be wasted.”
“What makes you think I would let you go? I am far
more powerful than you. You are nothing. I want to burn, freeze, cut, and melt
you. Make you scream in pain for mercy. I can reach into your chest and squish
your heart, but it is too quick a death for you.”
I was almost shaking with anger. I wanted to kill him
in so many ways I couldn’t move for fear of ending him too quick. He had to die
for murder but for me, he would beg for death. He didn’t take an innocent man’s
life; he took Ronez’s. Ronez was my brother for more than two thousand years
and a slimy, disgusting excuse for a man took him away.
“I was just doing my job.”
“Do not anger me more than I am already.” I wasn’t
staring into my brother’s eyes; these eyes were cold and weak. He didn’t look
or feel like my brother. “Perhaps I will start by cutting off body parts. Your
hands and feet. I do not have the patience to start with your fingers, so be
thankful for that. Maybe I should cut off your ears first.”
“Please, just do it. It cannot be any worse than what
Vretial would do to me for being defeated by that little human.”
“Dylan did drain your energy then?”
“Yes. He even had one of those energy shielding
charms so he could not draw in energy. He must have had it stored up. Stupid
human.”
Again my anger started to fade into worry at the
thought of my apprentice unable to use even the magics he knew. “Was he injured
at all?”
“No, I do not think so. He even got the damn charm
off. Next thing I know I am waking up with you standing over me with death in
your eyes. You cannot do anything worse to me than what Vretial would.”
“Vretial could not get nearly as angry as I am.”
It was surely my anger that clouded my vision, for I
didn’t see him move until his boot slammed into my knee. It wasn’t painful
enough to make me drop, but it was surprising enough to cause me let him go.
The instant his hand was free, he pulled out a dagger and tried to stab me. I
was faster. I pulled out my sword in time to block his strike.
Shio was a scavenger and sneak, no match for a
Guardian. I gathered my energy into my fist. I was a little dishonest with
Dylan when I indicated that I needed a storm to draw lightning. In full power,
I could create lightning. Shio dropped his dagger and cowered.
This was the man who killed my brother? He was weak;
Ronez shouldn’t have been killed by such a weak man. But the fact was, my
brother was already gone. In the face of such surrender, I couldn’t bring
myself to strike.
Guardians were created to protect our books and our
people. It was unnatural for us to take life; it was the last resort. Shio was
thoroughly scum, but it was my brother’s body. To destroy it further would be
an act as vile as Shio wearing it.
Sago believed people looked in the Land of the Dead
as they did when they died. Before the Reformation, a person who committed an
act foul enough to be put to death for were scarred with the name of their
crime across their forehead. The idea was that in life or death, everyone would
know them for their sins. Since the end of religion as law, such punishments were
deemed unorthodox, but people still went to great lengths to preserve the
bodies of their loved ones.
In my hesitation, Shio had his chance. Knowing he
could never defeat me, he took off down the hall. Right towards the trap.
“Shio!” I yelled. He turned to look at me, but kept
running. I turned away an instant before I heard the metal scrape and his short
scream. I went to him when I heard the spikes retract.
Ronez and I really hadn’t seen each other as flesh in
years, so it was odd seeing his face and missing him. He used to tell me he
didn’t care too much for his body and that if he were to exchange it, he would
want to be some very hot girl so he could be happy with himself. He said the
worse part about it was that there was another exactly like it. After so many
years we stopped noticing each other’s appearance on the outside, because if we
hadn’t, we wouldn’t have been able to fight so enthusiastically. It was much
easier to physically fight out all our problems than to let them emotionally
break us apart. Still, there was something lonely about looking into his
lifeless face. It wasn’t a goodbye, because he hadn’t just died. I hadn’t
really said goodbye.
“I thought I should let you know that your
apprentice beat the evil girl quite easily. You should go and clean up,”
Divina’s voice interrupted my thoughts.
Maybe I had said it.
* * *
I found an “X” on a door with Dylan’s scent on it, so
I pushed the door open. Lying on the only piece of furniture in the room, a
bed, was the little girl I had seen on Earth and in my vision.
What do Dylan
and Divina expect me to do with her? I don’t baby-sit.
“Sago! Let me go,” she demanded.
I knew why she was repulsively evil; she was a child
with no conscience or innocence, trapped with an underdeveloped brain yet
stripped of all things that make a child able to bear it. Vretial had given her
magic and taken away her mortality, and time took everything else.
“Divina… you’re much more powerful than you let
on, aren’t you?”
I approached the bed slowly, cautious of her power.
“Yes.”
“Can you help me to remove this girl’s
immortality? Do you know how?”
I sat down on the bed and the girl glared at
me.
“What are you waiting for, let me go!”
“Yes, I can, and I do,” Divina’s said, not in my head
but from the doorway.
I looked at her. Unlike with Ronez, I always noticed
Divina’s physical appearance, because she was someone so beautiful it would be
a waste not to. Her power, on the other hand, was even more striking. She
glowed with an ancient, divine power that I had always known was unusual.
Like Ronez, I was a person who needed to figure
everything out. I didn’t particularly enjoy the mystery as he had, but I needed
to know. The exception was people; I never cared to learn everything about them,
so I never tried to figure Divina out. She didn’t want people to figure her
out, and her mystery was part of her charm.
She went over to the little girl and placed one hand
on her forehead and the other on her stomach. The girl started thrashing and I
held her legs down. It reminded me of an exorcism. Divina drew in more energy
and the girl slowly settled down.
“This will remove a lot of her power as well,” Divina
said. The little girl tried to protest but she was already mostly unconscious.
“She won’t need it,” I insisted.
Divina’s hands started to glow. She lifted them
slowly and in their place rose black flame, dark and soft looking. She brought
her hands together and the fire followed. When she separated her hands, the
flame shot through her stomach and out the door. I could tell she didn’t like
it when the flame went through her.
“Your turn.” She sat on a chest next to the bed… the
chest that wasn’t there before.
I put my hand on the girl’s forehead. She looked so
delicate without her immortality. I gathered my energy and focused it on her
memories, her experiences. Anger, hate, pain, time, power, hunger, loss,
self-loathing, loneliness… she knew nothing good or happy. I took her memories
away; erased them entirely. Memories like that didn’t belong in a little girl.
When she would awake, her innocence and conscience would return.
“You’re not sago, or human,” I said to Divina. She
shook her head. “Are you alive?”
“My body is.”
“But you’re more than that. Your body dulls your
power, right? Can you fight Vretial? Do you have a chance of beating him?”
“Of course I do; I just have to find the right way.
My body does hinder my power, but if it’s destroyed, I’ll regain my full
potential. Vretial would try to destroy me, not my body. Are we going to be
different now?”
I sighed. “I’m afraid so.”
“Too bad. I really loved our easy relationship. You
were one of the few who didn’t try figure out my secrets. Ronez didn’t try… but
he still figured it out. That’s why he left.”
It wasn’t really surprising. Divina was divine, but I
never saw her like a god, and it was still hard to do so. She always acted just
a little like a child, and she probably was a child in a god sort of way.
“And then Dylan figured it out,” she said. “Like
Ronez, he wasn’t willing to trust me on blind faith.”
“I spent a lot more time with you than them, so I
learned to trust before I had to deal with faith. After how we met…”
“You will never tell Dylan that, will you?”
“I will if he asks,” I answered. She groaned. “We
have been through a lot. You’ve always had a natural talent for getting out of
dangerous situations. When you defeat Vretial, we need to take this girl with
us. There has to be someone on Anoshii who would adopt her.”
“Things are about to get sticky. Check on your
apprentice,” she said.
I reached out instantly and felt Dylan. He was
talking to Vretial! My apprentice was alone with a dark god.
What does Vretial want with him? What is he
saying? Is he hurting him? He doesn’t seem to be in pain.
I had to be
there, but there was no direction I could walk to get there. “Divina! Can you
get me to him?”
“Yes. Protect Dylan, but I also need you to distract
Vretial,” she said.
I nodded. My vision was filled with a blinding white
light and the room became uncomfortably warm. After a few seconds, the light
and heat evaporated.
Ronez and I didn’t have much time to talk before I felt a sudden pull
of gravity. The dark halls grew darker and Ronez called to me worriedly, but
the darkness consumed everything. I felt great pressure for an unknowable
amount of time before it relented and the darkness evaporated. I found myself
in the room where most of my visions took place… with Vretial standing a few
feet in front of me.
Ronez was nowhere in sight, for which I was thankful.
He already died once.
“Dylan Marcus Carter or Dylan Reyd Toka Yatunus-tai.”
Perhaps I had unknowingly adapted to the high level
of energy swarming the place, because his aura was not so overpowering. Even
after the visions, it was daunting being alone with him, but in the visions, I
was never the center of his attentions. “So you know me. I know you, too.”
“Oh? I suppose you think that I’m Vretial.”
“Well, yes,” I said, not quite startled.
“Good, then you’d be right. Let’s move on. Tell me,
boy, how is it you wish to die?” he asked casually.
That was an easy question to answer. “Old age.”
“You poor child. And you gave that up by accepting
your book. You can’t die of old age, so how do you want to die now?”
I thought about it. I needed to think of something he
wouldn’t be able to do, at least not now. “I… want to die peacefully in my
sleep the night I tell my sixth hundredth son that I am ready.”
He sighed, but smiled patiently. “I’m going to kill
you, and I’m going to do it now. Listen carefully. How do you want to die?”
“Why are you going to kill me?”
“Because you don’t fear me, and you don’t want to. I
want to make everyone content, but you don’t want that either.”
“That’s my choice. I have free will and I have every
right to be upset about whatever I want to be upset about. I may be miserable,
but I am also happy. There are ups and downs in my life. It’s interesting.
Without free will, there is no reason in the world to live. People invent
things and build things to make life easier. If they’re content, there’s no
incentive to do anything. They’d all just lie down and die.”
“If you’re content, you don’t need a reason to live.
I wouldn’t leave the people to themselves; I will keep them going,” he said,
then frowned thoughtfully. “Let me show you what I mean.”
Before I could stop him, not that I could anyway,
everything glazed over.
I felt nothing, not happiness, nor despair, nor fear.
I was just there. Being there was nothing but enough. It was fine, but not good
or bad. I didn’t feel hunger or cold or soreness in my muscles. Nothing looked
interesting or boring and the colors were indistinguishable. Just as quickly as
it had arose, the glaze of nothingness was gone and I was flooded with the fear
and desperation I really felt. He grinned as if he had already won.
“Now, wasn’t that better?”
“No. It wasn’t right or real.”
“That doesn’t matter. You didn’t care. My worlds will
be content. There will be successful communities. No one would feel strong pain
or emotions, like hate or loneliness or desperation. People wouldn’t make
mistakes because their family and jobs would be chosen for them based on logic.
There will be no war. People will follow strict rules that will protect them.
No one will go homeless, thirsty, or starve. The weather will be strictly
controlled, without the radioactivity of the sun and terror of natural
disasters like earthquakes and tornadoes.
“I cannot remove human nature, so when I take Earth,
the beings will be the same. Then they can never shun another for being
different. For the sago, who strive to be the best they can be and favor
individuality, I will strip them of their pride and individualism, and give
them community. I will unite them all under the same form of controlled
government and religion. They will fear me as their one powerful, strict, and
fair god.
“The worlds will be joined and there will be one
language. Colors, smells, and tastes are unnecessary, and only cause greed and
pickiness, so they will be removed. Health will be easy to obtain because
without taste, people will eat what their bodies need, and without pain, they
will exercise.”
I sighed. “It would never work. I shouldn’t have even
bothered thinking that you knew what you were doing.”
He frowned. “It’s not nice to insult a god. And why
is it you don’t think my plan will work?”
“Well, I don’t know enough about the sago to speak
for them, and I know nothing about the other races, but I do know the humans; I
am one. We’re not the most respectful or wise race, but we are stubborn, and we
are violent.
“We have what’s called the seven deadly sins: lust,
gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. This is the definition of a
human. Care and love are in there, too. We are emotion. We are what you want to
take away.
“The Christian religion worships the man they call
the son of God; the man they killed. They celebrate his death because they believe
his death made them better people. You’re not a hero unless you die for others.
The people that humans assigned to help everyone only do things that benefit
themselves, no matter how much it hurts the people depending on them. This is
for one reason; they’re human. You can’t take away what makes a human a human
and still call it a success. Whatever you have left is not human.”
He looked bewildered. “Are you against humans, or for
them? I can’t tell.”
“There are also people like Vivian. There are people
who would work their entire lives to help others. Humans are stubborn and most
work hard their entire lives for freedom, pride, or love. I mean, love is huge.
People live for it, die for it, and sometimes kill for it. They love
themselves, their cats, cars, and each other. Everything we feel, good or bad,
whether it kills us or gives us a reason to live, it’s ours. Our emotions, our
lives, and our right. You can’t take that.”
“Spoken like a true Guardian of Earth.” I turned to
see Ronez standing behind me. “You could be a little more optimistic about
humanity, though.”
“I grew up with and without my mother; I can feel
however I want to about humans.”
“Hello, dead Noquodi. I’m in the middle of something
right now, but as soon as your son and I are done, I will be glad to talk to
you.”
“Well, actually,
you
interrupted
us
.
We
were in the middle of something,” Ronez said.
He had no fear for the dark god; like me. Either our
instincts were fantastic, or we were both idiots. Vretial frowned thoughtfully.
“Oh, you’re right. Please, continue,” he said.
Ronez nodded and turned to me. “I wanted to discuss
your girlfriend, Vivian. She’s not good for you.”
“What? One; she’s not my girlfriend anymore, two;
she’s brilliant, and three; have you seen her? Especially in that red tank
top.”
“She’s annoying. She’s academically intelligent but
that’s it. There’re also prettier girls out there. If you wait, they will find
you. They’ll be drawn to your wise intellect and your---”
“Are you gonna kill me or what?” I interrupted,
looking at Vretial.
“Are you going to accept my way and fear me? What I’m
doing is uniting all of the worlds under my power. There will be no reason for
fighting or pain.”
“I know. You’ll end wars and fear and murder. What
you’re doing isn’t wrong. But it isn’t right.” Vretial wasn’t evil; he just had
a different point of view.
“There is no right or wrong. There are only opinions.
Mine matters more than everyone else’s because I have more power than everyone
else. What would you say if I made you a deal? If I let the other Guardian go
and you give me your soul.”
“You already know what I would say. You’re a god.”
“Quite right; however, I want you to tell me
yourself. And keep in mind the life of your companions.”
Crap.
“What… What does giving up my soul
entail? What would that do to me and what would I have to do?”
“Dylan… your soul is more important than Kiro’s
life,” Ronez said. “If Vretial takes his life, he dies and goes to wherever it
is we go, but if Vretial takes your soul, you’re stuck here as a slave. It is
much worse than death.”
Vretial ignored him. “You’d be just like Tomie and
Krael. You’ll be my servant, still having free will except where I say
otherwise. You can travel the worlds without the books. Because you’ll be my
servant, I’d teach you great magic.”
“Don’t even consider it, Dylan.”
“You’re not very polite, dead Noquodi. You don’t fear
me.”
“I’ve feared ex-girlfriends more than you. Of course,
that’s not saying much; I always did like the strong ones.” There he went,
going on about women again. “More to the point, I’m still Dylan’s father, so,
according to the rules when I was growing up, I own his soul until he’s
married. And I could get a lot of money for that pretty face.”
I groaned.
“I would offer to buy him from you, but you wouldn’t
sell him, and I have nothing to use as currency. So either he gives me his
soul, or I kill him, and you. I’ll destroy you just because you don’t fear me.
However, because I am kind, I will give you a choice. Do you want to go first,
or do you want me to take care of your son first?”
“Leave him alone,” I demanded. “Your stupid servant
already took his life, just leave him alone.”
“Don’t worry; you, your master, and your father will
all be together soon. I will kill you now and send you both to the Land of the
Dead. You’re lucky I’m in such a merciful mood,” he said.
I suddenly noticed something profound and sort of
expected; he was changing. It was so subtle, only enough to keep him from
making a decision.
“Why do you need me to fear you if you will have four
worlds full of people who fear you?”
“Because the point is to unite them under my command.
I won’t leave anyone forgotten. There cannot be balance otherwise. Either you
fear me or you can’t live.”
He was repeating himself. I could stall. I could find
a way to help the others.
“I’m fading, Dylan, I can’t stay for much longer,”
Ronez said.
“Why can’t I go and live on another world?”
“Because I would have to kill you then, when I take
over that world.”
“Then do I at least get a last meal? Or last prayers?
Or a last wish? Do I at least get some famous last words? I have a goodbye
speech in my bag that I wrote a few days ago. It shouldn’t take more than a
half an hour.”
“You enjoy messing with me, don’t you?”
“Absolutely,” I answered.
“You’re not just trying to rid the people of bad
things, you’re getting rid of love and joy. Why don’t you try getting rid of
greed and hate?” Ronez asked.
“You cannot cleanse a people of certain traits like
that. Everything in the universe intertwines inevitably. For example, love for
people and things incite greed and jealousy. Those kinds of combinations even
the gods cannot control. Also…” he trailed off.
His eyes grew dull and he touched his temple for just
a moment in pain. When he let go, there was hate in his eyes. Suddenly, he
raised his right hand, black fire burst from his palm, and I had no chance of
dodging it. I must have had the deer in the headlights look when I froze. Then
Ronez was in front of me. It hit his unreal body and he started to burn from
the inside out. His skin and clothes crackled and glowed red.
“No!” The scream burst from my lips and I found
myself reaching for him. Since I knew for a fact he was not corporeal, I was
startled when my hand met real skin. He slipped down and I held him. It didn’t
matter how I was able to touch him, just that I could. “No,” I moaned. “You
can’t leave yet. I need to get to know you.”
He smiled and brushed his hand against my cheek. “You
do know me. You’re such an extraordinary kid.” He struggled to swallow. “I need
you to do one thing for me.” His voice was weak.
“What?” The fire had reached his chest.
“I need you to tell Kiro… tell him that he’s… very
passionate.” I blinked in surprise and he grinned again, as strained as it was.
“It drives him crazy. I’ll haunt you again, son.”
“Yeah. Later. Drop in any time.” I didn’t know what
else to say. He was my father and I knew him for less than an hour. He still
smiled, but it was probably to cover up the pain as the burn reached his throat.
The burn wasn’t hot to my touch, but his skin dried and flaked like ash. I saw
the warmth in his eyes slowly die and realized that the bond I was afraid to
reestablish had been reopened from the moment we locked eyes. It didn’t leave
an emptiness in me; it felt like he was still here, just away.
He was my father. He was killed by someone as
worthless as Shio, then Divina brought him here to let me meet him, and then
Vretial took him away again. I glared at Vretial, who no longer looked angry.
There was something seriously messed up with this god.
“Anyway, aren’t we falling further and further off
subject?” he asked calmly.
I had no clue what the subject had been. I didn’t
care. I wanted him to be human so I could kill him. I never wanted to really
hurt a person before, but Ronez was my father and Edward’s brother. How could
he kill someone so important?
Vretial sighed. “Grieve over your father later. Are
you going to give me your soul or am I going to have to go through the motions
of killing you?”
Something inside me stirred among the anger…
Something that needed to punish the god for what he did. If no one had arrived
to stop me, I don’t know what I would have tried to do.
“Don’t give him anything,” Edward said, suddenly
standing beside me.
It took a lot to control my sudden relief, but when I
saw his fierce expression, I was glad I had. The anger that radiated from him
made my blood cold.
“Hello, Noquodi. I was wondering when you would join
us. I admit I’m a little disappointed. When will Tiamat be joining us?”