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I woke up slowly, Skyevi’s Sword still in my left hand. I relaxed my death grip on the blade, and looked around to see where I was.
“Where…are we?” I asked sitting up and looking around. We were in a small oasis, the one we’d stopped out just outside of a Mazarain city a few days ago.
“About time you woke up.” Cloud said looking up from where he kneeled, messing with the GPS on his motorcycle. “How the hell does this thing work? This is nothing like any GPS I’ve used.”
“You are more than a bit slow.” I said than asked, “What happened?”
“Ragnarok has half the ports of Mazar taken over now, Trenxi is over here too. They have their strong hold set up in a building in the middle of this desert, apparently they’ve owned it a while without the king of Mazar knowing it’s future purpose. You were shot by Twi-LIGHT soldiers and left for dead when I came looking for you.”
I inwardly noticed I’d already healed asking,
“Did you find anything out about what Trenxi is planning?”
“A little. He plans to take over Mazar completely, not just stealing the relics this time. I suppose he found them too threatening, or something. I don’t really know but I think we should check out their base.”
“Mmm.” I mumbled and stood up. I walked over to my motorcycle and abyss-pack and pulled out my laptop.
So he knows nothing about Zeev…I should probably tell him, but that’d distract him from going after Twi-LIGHT on ten levels.
I sat down cross-legged with my laptop in front of me randomly thinking about the sand in my socks, and how annoying it was. I cursed realizing my access to Exodus’ satellite system had been denied. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was as inconvenient as hell. I rooted around in my backpack looking for the installation disc so I could re-new the data and steal internet but when I moved to an outside pocket I felt something inside I thought I’d lost.
Apparently I’d never unpacked this pocket, since it still had the black Twi-LIGHT uniform and CD-R I’d remembered shoving in there back at Neivila, the first time I’d been at Neivila. I looked at the CD-R, remembering the data that had been on it…all the information I’d stolen off the Twi-LIGHT computer back when I first woke up. The chances were, I’d be able to find all the information I needed on Akiko and Skyevi. I slid it back into the pocket, knowing now wasn’t a good time to be messing with that.
“I’ve got a plan.” I said pulling out the old Twi-LIGHT uniform. “I think I could sneak in with some of the foot soldiers and find Trenxi with these.”
He gave me skeptical look saying,
“That’s risky as hell.”
“Time is something we don’t have, I don’t know what Exodus is planning, but I’m sure they’re going to try re-claiming Ragnarok. If I get t Twi-LIGHT, I can find out then we plan our next move. I also need to know which relics Twi-LIGHT has.”
He sighed saying,
“If you’re sure.”
I found a black baseball cap in my backpack, and stuffed my hair up into that. I was glad I kept my Twi-LIGHT boots as I looked myself over. I knew Twi-LIGHT soldiers had numerous weapons and no code on ground missions as long as they were armed with firearms and simple weaponry. I couldn’t bring the Exodus stun guns, mainly because on the barrel it was in silver capitals “Exodus” so it’d be a dead give away. I only brought Skyevi’s Sword and the six-shot from Rei.
I stood on a sand dune, looking over at the thousands of Twi-LIGHT soldiers marching into the building. My uniform was exactly the same as theirs, so I’d be able to pass. There was an equal amount of male and female fighters, and they weren’t being checked or indexed upon entering. Cloud stood behind me, still skeptical. He got to be the distraction again, and I’d get as close as possible before jointing at the end of the line.
“I’m off.” I said, the bad feeling I’d been getting stronger than ever.
“Be careful.” He said stepping forward and hugging me. I hugged back briefly, my mind popping around numerous distracting thoughts and dashed off saying,
“I will.”
I ran down the sand dunes, and ducked behind a small one equal with only a few rows of Twi-LIGHT soldiers marching to the base to my left. I heard the gunshot, and when the soldiers momentarily were distracted, I jumped into the last line of soldiers, hoping I blended in. I got a few strange looks, but hid my eyes under my hat as we continued into the Twi-LIGHT base.
The entrance hall was large and back, and when the soldiers dissipated, I ducked into an empty hall and looked around, trying to figure out where the hell I was. I jogged down the hall that stretched to my left, not surprised how plain it was, just a simple white hall.
This base wasn’t like the usual Twi-LIGHT base, no surprise, and was left to guess where I was going. I sighed when I reached a dead end after a series of turns and stair cases, but I listened a second and heard voices from the other side of the wall.
“What the hell are we supposed to do with this kid?”
“Trenxi wanted her, and she was easy enough to pluck. He’s supposed to be here soon anyway.”
I leaned against the wall listening, but apparently this wasn’t a normal wall since I tumbled through as a metal panel gave. I landed with a thud in front of two soldiers, one carrying an unconscious girl over his shoulder. I jumped to me feet and drew Skyevi’s katana and ran the first guard through. I stood tensely waiting for the guard carrying the girl to make the first move.
He scowled at me, and placed the girl down less than gently and drew his own sword. It was double-side sword, unlike my katana. I caught site of the girl’s face, but I wasn’t surprised to see it was Kairi.
“What does Trenxi want with her?” I asked blocking his strikes, without doing any backing up, only advancing.
“None of your business, Ragnarok!” He snapped.
I blocked his two-handed strike with one hand on my katana, and pushed his sword aside before swiftly running him through.
I ran over to Kairi, and pulled off the gag around her mouth, and the ropes from her wrists and ankles.
“Kairi! Wake up, it’s me Akhy!” I said loudly, feeling her pulse. It was a little quicker than normal, but nothing more. She probably wasn’t drugged. She opened her eyes slowly and smiled at me muttering,
“I knew you’d come…” I noticed bruises down her arms and legs, inwardly wishing I’d disposed of those soldiers slower so they had time to suffer.
“What happened? Did they hurt you?”
She shook her head weakly saying,
“No, they grabbed me when I went out to look for you, the others were too busy arguing to notice when I left.”
“You should with Rei and Maaya.” I said scolding her slightly.
She smiled a little saying,
“I know. But I knew you’d come and save me.” She muttered and passed out, leaning against my shoulder.
“Good work, Akhy.” I heard a cold and familiar voice ring out from above. I looked up to see Trenxi standing on a platform high above the large spherical room. He smiled at me coldly adding,
“But I’m afraid getting in simply isn’t enough. I set Kairi down gently and stood, pointing my bloody katana at him saying,
“What are you planning here in Mazar?”
“I plan on over throwing their government for the Key of Seventh Heaven. I believe you have three things that belong to me, my dear Akhy.”
“I’m not your anything.” I growled and added, “If you think you’re getting Skyevi’s Sword without a fight you’ve got another thing coming.”
“I never though it’d take anything but, Akhyia. But I’m afraid Skyevi’s Sword is not what I’m after, I’m more interested in the crystal in your pocket. It belongs to me after all.”
“Why don’t you come fight me and find out who it belongs to and fight me?”
He smiled snidely saying,
“I’m afraid I don’t have time to fight you. But I’ve got a friend who would love the idea.” He turned around and called, “Akiko!”
The original cloaked figure emerged behind from behind him. She had a cluster of arrows in the cylinder on her back and a bow in her right hand. Trenxi removed the white hood, and I came face to face with my sister. I froze, completely unprepared for that. She string a arrow to her bow, and took aim. I dodged just in time, tumbling out of the way. She fired again, although I was prepared and sliced the arrow in two. The arrow disappeared with a flash of silver, and returned to her again in mint condition.
“What the hell are you playing at, Trenxi?”
“I leave two to play. What a heart wrenching reunion.” He replied, ducking out of the room.
I felt the pendant around my neck getting hot, as did my sword and the Blood Crystal. The bow Akiko held al omitted a faint glow, as did the arrows and a ring on her finger.
“Akiko!” I called, spotting a ladder that lead to the overpass that surrounded the room attached to the wall.
“It’s me, Akhy!”
She continued to fire, regardless of my words. I tumbled out of the way, and sliced an arrow in two the next instant. I was doing my best to keep as far away from Kairi as I could, so no stray arrows could hit her.
I thudded on my behind, and felt a strong arm wrapping around my neck and jerking me roughly to my feet. I strained as Zeev said arrogantly,
“You thought that battle earlier was it?”
Akiko fired one more arrow, but since I jerked around it hit inches away from my heart. I elbowed Zeev in his side, and ran his thy through right above his knee since it was the most accessible location. He cursed, and let go. I jumped away, and pulled the arrow out of my chest same instant I felt another arrow pierce my back. Luckily, it didn’t hit my heart. I cursed and went to dispose of Zeev, but he held up his hand and I ended up only running his hand though. I withdrew my blade and ducked at the perfect time so the arrow Akiko fired at me from above hit Zeev. He collapsed leaning against the wall, his eyes wide, his breathing heavy and quick. I ran over to the ladder, holding on with my right hand and slicing arrows in two with my left, which is a helluva lot easier said than done since I was right handed.
When I reached the top I sped toward Akiko and grabbed her wrist, knocking the bow from her hand. Before I could say anything, I felt an electric jolt travel through my arm into my head, and I instantly let go. Skyevi’s Sword, my pendant, and the Blood Crystal were burning hot. She grabbed her bow and strung an arrow, but I grabbed the arrow, with less of an impact this time.
The relics are resonating with each other…aren’t they?
She tried jerking it from my grip, but I held tight saying,
“Who the hell are you?”
“Akiko Ragnarok.” She said, managing to get her arrow out of my grip. I held my sword level with her nose asking,
“Who do you think I am?”
She stepped back, and I felt an arm grab my wrist from behind. I held fast to Skyevi’s Sword, and pulled the arrow out of my back and shoved it into Trenxi’s chest. I jerked away as doubled over, cursing. I was trapped, between my archenemy and my sister. Trenxi stood up, and pulled the arrow from his heart saying,
“Haven’t you figured out by now that I’m not human.”
The arrow disappeared, and re-appeared in Akiko’s hand. She aimed it at my heart.
I looked behind me, guessing I was about fifteen-feet above the floor. Trenxi, although weaponless was immortal, and I couldn’t kill Akiko!
I jerked backwards, falling from the overhead panel. I expected broken bones, but instead I hovered in the air for a few seconds before landing smoothly.
“Akhy!” I heard Kairi weekly.
“The Key!” I heard Trenxi yell from above. I looked behind me, Kairi was balanced on her knees, a glowing key on a chain in her hand. Her face was pale, and her hand shook.
Trenxi jumped down, landing squarely on his feet before me.
Is there anybody human left in Twi-LIGHT?
I held my blade side-ways in front of me saying,
“Don’t think you’re getting to her so easily.”
I turned around quickly, and ran toward Kairi and pulled him up onto my left shoulder. I ran toward the door, past the motionless Zeev, and ran though what I hoped would be the exit.
“Akhy…I’m sorry…you’re hurt because of me, you couldn’t dodge because you didn’t want me to be hit by accident.” Kairi muttered, handing on to my neck desperately.
“It’s okay, Kairi.” I said reached into my pocket, and pulling out my cell phone. I flipped it open and held down the 7, to call Cloud’s cell phone. He answered asking,
“What’s up?”
“Meet me at the front ASAP, we’ve got an unexpected change of events. I’ve got Kairi with me.”
“What the hell? How did Kairi get here?”
“She was abducted, tell you more in person. Hurry up.”
“Got it.”
I hung up and shoved the cell phone back in my pocket. We approached a platoon of five guards, but I make quick work of them with my katana. I ran through the large entrance hall, through hundreds of thousands of flustered soldiers. They didn’t know what was going on at first, and those that tried to stop me lost blood and hands. I burst through the front door, jogging only a few seconds before Cloud came speeding forward, and hoisted me and Kairi onto his motorcycle in front of him.
“How in the hell did she end up here?”
“I’ve got no idea.” I said lifting my right leg over the center console so I wasn’t side ways. Kairi had pass out somewhere along the lines, and lay unconscious in my arms.
“Why did Trenxi want her?”
“I’ve got no idea. And I don’t want you to ask another stupid question I obviously don’t know since I don’t want to say ‘I’ve got no idea’ a third consecutive time.”
“What happened in there? You’re covered in blood!”
“The wounds are almost healed.” I paused before adding, “I had to fight Trenxi and…one of his toys.”
“Who did you really fight?”
I sighed saying,
“My sister.”
“Her or a replica?”
“I don’t know. She was able to wield three Skyevi relics though.”
“Which ones?”
“Her bow, arrows, and ring. I think her wedding ring was really a relic all along.”
I felt really tired all of a sudden, and (what’s knew?) dissatisfied. It didn’t help I’d been waking up early and staying up late all week, and sleeping poorly when I did get time to sleep.
I looked down at Kairi, Key of Seventh Heaven still clutched in her hand and said,
“I think Kairi had the Key of Seventh Heaven all along.”
Cloud glanced down at the small key pendant, roughly two inches long, and like the rest of the silver. Cloud didn’t seem surprised, even though it’d been obvious from the beginning Kairi wasn’t a normal child.
I yawned, feeling the pain subside in my injuries. I watched the last remnants of twilight fade as a sad resigned feeling worked itself into my mind.
So Akiko and me are enemies now…
When we reached the oasis, I was ready for bed. Cloud was going to keep watch and wake me up at two, or so he said, since he always let me snooze in to all hours. Although gentlemanly acts bothered me, I hated waking up early so it didn’t bother me too much…
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