The following chapter contains quotes from three songs. Spot them all for cake.
I'll now twist the plot some more.
Chapter 29: Loyalty
When I awoke, it was in a most unexpected territory. With my eyes open, it took but an instant for me to realize where I was and an instant longer for the events of the past hours to flood back into my mind. Osiris had returned? and it had been my fault. If I hadn?t been manipulated? a part of me wished I could have forgotten.
I rolled over and pushed myself up off the ground, only to find myself staring at the robed figure of Divino Ravola. My first reaction was one of fear, but then I remembered where I was, it turned to relief: I was standing in the Temple of Ravola, and I was staring at a harmless statue. The stone was stained with a sort of green sand, and I remembered that this was where I had first encountered the cypress.
The Temple seemed to be exactly as it was last time I had seen it, except for one important detail: there was light. The cavernous chamber was basking in a faint white glow that glittered off the green-dusted walls. I turned in my place to find the source.
Before me stood the figure of a man in a white cape with jeweled shoulder braces, surrounded by something of a holy aura. His back was to me, but I could tell who it was. The fact that Russell was here was of little solace to me. My mind wanted to ask him why he had brought me here, but in light of current events, it seemed irrelevant. Besides, my mouth had other plans. It wanted to release words faster than I could think of them.
?Russ, Osiris is back! It?s all my fault! If I had never been a part of this, it could all be over! I keep getting manipulated into doing more bad ****! I?m so sorry! I shouldn?t even be here anymore, I should-?
?Relax, dude, I know what happened.?
I found comfort in his calmness, and in the familiarity of his voice. If he knew of the catastrophe and was acting so passively about it, he must have something in mind to fix the problem.
?So what?s the plan?? I asked hopefully, allowing myself to catch my breath.
?The plan is of no concern to me,? Russell replied, his voice unfaltering. ?I will be dead before the day is done.?
The calmness that had comforted me moments ago now stabbed at me like hot knives.
?I beg your pardon??
?I?m not destined to see the end of this struggle, Revol,? he said softly. ?My part of it ends today. It has been foreseen.?
The silence that followed was eerie. Even more so because I couldn?t figure out why he was calling me by my false name.
?Foreseen by whom?? I shouted, annoyed by the mere notion.
?By me, slick.?
?Russ, nobody?s going to kill you, I?ll make sure of that.?
?To the contrary, my old friend?? he paused on the word for a moment, as if to emphasize it. ?? You will be the one to kill me.?
?What!? I hissed, incredulous. ?Bullshit! What the hell are you talking about??
He responded with his back still turned to me, staring off in the opposite direction. ?My master has risen, and his will is that I should die on this day. I have not served him as I should have. Only now, on my dying day, do I realize his might. But it is too late. I shall be sacrificed for his uprising, and it will be my honor.?
My head seared with confusion. His master had risen?
?Russell, you imprisoned Osiris! You don?t serve him!?
I thought I heard him chuckle. ?My master foretold your ignorance. Don?t you see? Everything has gone as he foretold. My master is absolute.?
?Stop talking like that! Osiris is not your master, and he can be stopped! You can imprison him again or something!?
At this, Russell actually burst out laughing.
?You?re slow, Revol, you know that?? he scoffed. ?I have not served Osiris in many years, nor will I ever do it again.?
He finally turned to face me, and I saw that he was gripping a white katana in each of his hands. More unsettling, however, was the fact that his eyes glinted black through his radiant aura.
?This can?t be real,? I realized, examining the situation. ?You aren?t Russell! This is just an illusion! A dream!?
?And yet, you hesitate.? His voice continued to carry his words with sinister serenity. ?If you are so sure you?re imagining this, why do you hesitate to kill me? No harm can come from killing a man in a hallucination.?
I couldn?t think of any way to reply. Unfortunately, he filled the silence.
?The dreams are done, Riamtar. Welcome to reality.?
He twirled the swords in his hands. I was starting to get the disheartening sensation that I knew what was going on.
?How is he controlling you?? I demanded with a shaky voice. ?You?re a being of light!?
?Amusing,? he muttered. ?I already told you, you fool: my master is absolute.?
?We can get you purified! Come on, Russ, we need to get out of here!?
?Don?t you get it? We are all but pawns on his chess board. Succumb to his will and you can be on the winning end.?
?I won?t fight you, Russell,? I said, gathering defiance. ?I won?t kill you.?
A malicious smirk spread across his face as he met my glare. ?Then you will die.?
He closed the gap between us with three leaping strides, thrusting both of his blades at my skull. I managed to duck out of the way but was met with a lifting knee to the face, knocking me to the ground.
I rolled backward and kicked to my feet just in time to avoid being impaled by a downward plunge from a katana. I reached to my face and found that blood was oozing from my freshly broken nose.
?Russ, stop this!? I half-pleaded, half-commanded. ?I am not your enemy!?
?Aurorie Ultimun.?
Before I could blink, a gargantuan pulse of white light tore from the tips of his weapons and discharged into me, knocking me backward into the statue of Ravola. All the pain of the recent days crashed down with me and I could barely breathe, yet I managed to stand up with ease, fueled by adrenaline. All of the physical pain in the world could not match the dilemma that faced me now. Even the revival of Osiris seemed unimportant to me as I was faced with my best friend and greatest enemy at the same time.
Russell was standing still now, grinning and staring at me, urging me to attack him. Without a thought, I pulled my black jacket off, leaving me with just a black undershirt and pants.
?I do not do Ravola?s bidding anymore, Russell, and neither should you!? I put as much bravado into the words as I could. ?Stop this!?
Russell very calmly tossed one of his swords at me, but it landed at my feet.
He?s arming me? ?Russ, you?re like my brother,? I managed, fighting to restrain tears.
?All those dreams I let you suffer through, all the while knowing what was happening to you, and you think of me as a brother?? Russell scoffed. ?Pathetic.?
Reluctantly, I knelt down and picked up the katana before standing to face him again. But when I did, I held the blade of the weapon against my own throat.
?If I die now, I cannot kill you. Ravola will be proven wrong. Your master will no longer be absolute.?
?Maybe not,? he shrugged, not flinching at all. ?But it won?t really matter, because some of his greatest opposition will be eliminated.?
This stunned me. ?What are you talking about? Most of the Acolytes are more powerful than me! And my dad certainly is!?
?Exactly. The Riamtar bloodline flows through the only warriors in history to fall under the control of darkness and were then strong enough to remove themselves from it.?
?That isn?t true,? I bragged, glad for any small victory here. ?Your master is wrong if he thinks that. Ekio broke free of the shadows too.?
Russell?s face was deathly calm. ?Ekio who??
Then it dawned on me that I had never really known Ekio?s last name, or indeed even if he had one. The realization that he could be a part of my family made me long to see him again? but I could not think about that right now.
?I?m sure my master will move past his error of judgment if a Riamtar is removed from the equation, so by all means, go ahead and cut your head off,? the Acolyte taunted. ?In fact, let me help you!?
He lunged forward and swung his remaining blade horizontally at my neck, but at the last possible second, I parried the attack. He swung several more times at different angles, but I was now determined to make this fight last long enough for me to figure out how to get out of this without killing either of us. I parried every attack he threw.
But he caught me off guard with a straight kick to my knees, tripping me face-first into the ground. I quickly rolled over and raised my katana to block a swipe from his. I kicked him hard with both feet, and the force of impact sent him reeling backwards long enough for me to stand again.
?Russell, you have to listen to me!?
He swung for my legs, but I parried the blow with ease and reacted by swiftly punching him in the jaw. We both took a few steps away from the other, him spitting some blood from his mouth and me wiping some from my nose.
And yet, when he looked up at me, his did with a smile.
?Good,? he mocked. ?You?re starting to get aggressive. Don?t hold it in, Riamtar. Stand up and fight!?
I deflected another strike, but this time he was too quick for me. He immediately side stepped then crouched and drove his crystal-studded shoulder into my hip. I cried out in agony as the studs pierced my flesh, and instinctively brought the hilt of my sword down on the back of his neck. He began to fall, but I lifted him back up with my free hand around his throat, glaring at him for a moment before I rammed my forehead into his and let him fall from my grip.
I had hoped this would knock him unconscious, but he was quickly back on his feet, ready to continue.
?Russ, don?t do this,? I pleaded, barely noticing any physical pain anymore. ?I can?t do this. You don?t want to die. I hate this!?
?Every reason is a right to hate,? Russell said, his voice strange. ?Death is fine, give me mine!?
He reached out and drove his blade into my right shoulder, sending new arcs of pain through my body. When he pulled the blade away, though, I didn?t feel for the cut. I didn?t care how bad the wound was. I was numb.
?Russell, we don?t have to do this??
He growled back at me, ?Only one of us walks away!?
When he charged at me, I kicked his legs out from under him. He collapsed onto his back, his sword flying out of his hand as he did, and I stood over him, pressing the tip of my weapon against his chest as softly as possible.
?Russell, it can?t end this way??
?It doesn?t have to,? he spat. The words were not spoken in his voice. They came out as a snarling hiss. The voice I had heard in recent nightmares. The voice of the serpent. ?All you?ve got to do is bleed and I?ll let you burn!?
Seeing him controlled like that made me snap.
?I?m sorry, Russ??
Steeling my resolve more than I ever had, I forced my blade into his heart.
The black glint was gone from his eyes immediately as blood began to seep out from the fatal wound. I was too stunned by what I had just done to move. I just stood there, looking down on him, seeing my oldest companion die before my eyes.
?See ya in hell, my friend,? he coughed. His last words were spoken from his heart, I believed, and not from Ravola?s twisted mind. But it did not make me feel any better. And to make matters worse, as he closed his eyes for the last time, seven portals flashed into existence behind me. Tears flowed down my face as I felt myself being observed, holding a sword through my best friend?s chest, by fourteen scrutinizing eyes.
« Last edited by Seos san Nekros on Sep 20th 2007 »[center]
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