Spirit Within 2
The Fifth Night.
The World of Thunder.
Ryo sat within the stone walls of Roshtaria's dungeon, he gazed through
the small window at the stars and sighed heavily. Whatever the reason he
had been placed here he knew that in the end he deserved it, that was the
reason he had allowed it to happen in the first place. Outside the temple
where Ifurita was kept he promised that no one would suffer when they
woke up the demon god. Unfortunately that had all be dashed to pieces not
even an hour later when Makoto was stabbed and Jinnai was murdered. He
had failed and he knew it, unfortunately he also knew that he was the
only being capable of fending off Ifurita. Therefore whatever punishment
they had for him would just have to wait.
Makoto might have had a chance if he hadn't been nearly killed, as far
as he knew at the moment he was dead. The race back to Roshtaria had been
a desperate and hurried one. Alielle and even Shayla had showed support
for him, but he merely pushed them aside and kneeled before Rune Venus
accepting imprisonment for the moment. In a few hours he would be brought
before Rune again and judged, while it was a cowardly act, he would have
to bring up the fact that he was the only defense they had against the
demon god. The battle was fast becoming too important for him to worry
about his own honor any longer. Still, he would fight to the end in
defense of this strange country, even though he knew it would not come to
that.
His mind wandered to Ifurita, he had felt something powerful when he
touched her, something he knew instinctively that he wanted no part of.
Unfortunately he also knew he would have to face her again, idly he
wondered just what she thought of the confrontation with him. Whatever it
was that happened between them she had definitely felt it as well. What
exactly was it that happened between them, he had no memories from her,
no feelings. It was something completely different; whatever it was it
had been absorbed into his subconscious. It was an unknown factor and
that made it all the more dangerous.
The shadow tribe woman sat across from him glaring from her chains on
the wall while remaining silent. He looked at her and smiled as he began
his practice again this time focusing on a new technique that he had
still not attempted from his past, perhaps it would give him the edge he
needed on the next meeting with Ifurita. After a few minutes he stopped
and sat down to rest as he heard footsteps on the ground outside.
"Hello," said a familiar voice, as Shayla appeared in the doorway, she
seemed nervous for some reason.
"Nice to see you again, any news on Makoto?" he asked as he walked to
the door of the prison.
"He's going to be fine, probably a few more days before he can move
around again," said the girl with a disappointed look on her face.
"They can't keep me down here long if they want to keep the fact that
Fatora is gone hidden," he said glancing back at the shadow tribe woman.
"They've been saying a lot about that," admitted Shayla as she leaned
against the bars lazily.
"You've been coming down here a lot Shayla, thanking me again?" he asked
with a small smile.
"Something like that, I'm not really sure how. Maybe you could tell me
how people on your world thank each other?" the girl blushed, it was
obvious what she wanted.
Ryo smiled at her and stepped away from the bars, "We'll talk about it
after I get back. Makoto can't handle Ifurita on his own, they don't have
a choice about releasing me."
"And you do?" the priestess seemed angry with him, but there wasn't much
heat there.
"I'm the only one who can beat her, but I don't think even I can destroy
her," admitted Ryo. "If I can't get Ifurita and Makoto together...I may
just have to handle this myself," he thought privately.
"I can take care of that bimbo anytime!" retorted Shayla angrily.
He smiled at her, his face softening as she said this. "So much alike."
That caught her by surprise and she looked at him oddly. "What are you
talking about?"
"It's nothing, I think I like you Miss Shayla," he said before turning
around and moving back into the shadows of the dungeon.
The fire priestess felt a huge flush in her cheeks as she stood staring
at the darkness in disbelief. "Wha?"
To say Masumiji Fujisawa was drunk would be an understatement, he was
plastered. The others did nothing to stop him either, one of his students
was being accused of treason, while the other was lying almost dead under
the doctor's care a few rooms away. Nanami Jinnai sat with him with an
extremely zoned out on her face, not only because of Makoto's condition.
The boy had been having terrible nightmares in his sleep. Most of the
time when he was awake was spent screaming the demon god's name. Even in
his sleep he muttered it occasionally. Makoto had a high fever and had
lost an extremely large amount of blood before they got him to Roshtaria.
Still, he somehow managed to survive even though Stalumbau said he should
have died hours before they arrived. Still, he was steadily improving
despite his terrible condition, within a week he would be at least
walking around again if the current rate of healing continued.
Diva, queen of the Bugrom stared down at the large black and red bugrom
that stood proudly before her. "We have lost the demon god, Roshtaria
plans to awaken the eye of god, and you say you have a plan?"
The bugrom nodded grunting a few phrases before chuckling in a deep
baritone voice.
Diva looked thoughtful for a moment before a smile appeared on her lips.
"Very well, we shall see if this works; but I warn you, if this fails it
will be then end of the Bugrom Empire."
The creature looked back at her and chuckled to itself before walking
into the crowd of it's kind below it. The creatures swarmed and followed
it out of the hive excitedly. Diva smiled to herself and relaxed on her
throne, Jinnai's designs had worked remarkably well, this new class of
bugrom could turn the tide of the war against Roshtaria. She had been
more than willing to help him...create...more soldiers for his army.
Needless to say after his first defeat at the hands of Makoto and Ryo,
he had seen the need for a better class of bugrom that would be able to
face them in combat. He had been quite surprised at exactly what was
involved, although she couldn't quite be sure if it was an unpleasant
surprise or not. He had not spoken of it since that night.
A small lower class bugrom scurried by her with several small black and
red bugrom in its wake. The smaller creatures scurried over to her
excitedly and she gave a heavy sigh.
A few days Ryo sat meditating for a long time, suddenly a chuckle
escaped his lips, quickly he stood and turned to the shadow tribe woman,
with an audible grunt he pulled her chains from the wall and snapped the
rings on her wrists and feet. "Wha? What are you doing?"
"We're getting out of here, and you're going to lead me to the shadow
tribe base," he said simply.
"Roshtaria could not torture the information out of me, what makes you
think I'll jut give it to you?" snapped the woman as she indicated the
fresh scars along her stomach and face. She had been beaten and tortured
pretty regularly over the past few days, the Roshtarians where getting
more and more desperate to find Fatora and where convinced that she knew.
Ryo had prevented her from killing herself several times over the past
few days, but he also suspected that within another day or two she would
not return from the torture chamber. He smiled at the hatred in her eyes
and helped her to her feet while pushing her arms away from his throat.
"Because with me you have a chance to escape," replied the boy simply.
"I'll take my chances on tracking you down."
"Why are you doing this?" asked the woman in shock.
"I want to piss the Roshtarians off, and also because I think that you
think you can get away," replied the boy with a smirk. He lifted her into
his arms and jumped up into one of the windows. "Also because you're cute
and the Roshtarians are ruining that with all the nasty tortures, but
mostly because I know you'll never talk and that this is my best chance
to find Fatora."
She growled and held onto his neck for her life as he jumped into the
palace gardens sneaking silently from shadow to shadow avoiding the
guards easily.
Makoto Mizuhara sat up in the bed covered in sweat, he screamed yet
again as he violently woke up from the same dream. "Ifurita! Noooo!" The
terrible demon who had sent them to El-Hazard haunted his dreams now each
night. She destroyed entire civilizations leaving only death in her wake.
Yet she did not seem that way when he met her in the high school. There
she seemed almost pleasant, like a long lost love. The look of pure joy
he had received tormented his mind when he saw her face locked in a cold
emotionless daze. Gently he lowered himself from the bed, walking over to
the basin they had on the dresser for him and splashing himself with
water. He gasped and opened the window letting in the cool night air as
he gazed out over Roshtaria. "What the hell happened to me? Where did I
get all of these memories?" He remembered the strange sensation he had
felt when he touched the power key staff. The crackle of energy that had
surged through his body and the visions he had received when the pain
sliced into his back. He wondered if she had a similar experience.
Stalumbau entered the room with a pleasant smile on his face, "I see
you're still not sleeping well."
"Not really," admitted Makoto even though it was not a question.
"Perhaps I have something to help with that," said the man placing a
strange object on the bed and reaching into a small bag he had with him.
"If you don't mind, I'd prefer you didn't. I don't want to be drugged if
that thing shows up again, especially with Ryo gone," said the boy as he
sat down on the bed and inspected the object Stalumbau had brought in
with him.
"If that is what you wish," said the man before noting Makoto's
interest. "That is an artifact I've had for many years."
The boy picked it up in his hands and gasped as a strange blue light
seemed to flow from them into the object, he closed his eyes and felt the
strange new sensation that coursed through his body. "It's almost like
chi, but not the same!" he exclaimed as Stalumbau watched in awe.
"There's a switch, here!"
He pushed it causing the object to spit out a red light while a strange
mechanical sound escaped it.
"Amazing! This must be looked into!" exclaimed the doctor as he lifted
the object up in his hands.
"It kinda felt like an old LD player booting up," said Makoto with a
satisfied smile on his face.
"Exactly as I suspected," replied Stalumbau.
Ifurita sat in the cold underground cavern awaiting further orders. Her
power key staff leaned against the wall as she sat staring at the wall
going over the strange memories in her head. They where of a boy, moments
of joy, love, hardship, even some very difficult to understand battles he
had fought for some strange reason. They where all broken and shattered
leaving only snippets of time in her mind. "Who are you?" she asked out
loud. Numerous attempts to dispose of the unwanted memories had failed;
they could not be deleted. "Why are you doing this to me? What do you
want from me?" a frightened look crossed her features as she held her
head in frustration. "Impossible, I do not feel fear!" somehow the words
did not comfort her in the slightest.
"What?!" screamed Rune in shock as Lanz kneeled before her.
"I'm sorry princess, he is gone," two guards stood behind him with
worried expressions on their faces.
"I knew we could not hold him," she gasped with a resigned sigh.
"I had expected honor alone to do that for us, I apologize highness,"
said the man as he bowed deeper.
"No, it was a wise decision, had he decided to leave under heavier guard
no doubt many men would have died trying to stop him," said the woman as
she hung her head.
"No! I refuse to believe that!" cried Makoto angrily as he stepped
forward. He and Fujisawa where both meeting with the princess when Lanz
had entered with the news. "Ryo would not have killed a single man, not
even if you had the whole army waiting for him!"
"Regardless, he is gone and has taken the shadow tribe woman with him,"
snapped the man as Makoto shrunk back after realizing he should not have
spoken.
"So, now what do we do?" sighed Rune in concern.
"If both princesses are not witnessed at the unsealing..." warned Lanz
carefully.
Both he and Rune Venus turned towards Makoto in unison. The boy blinked
and looked at them nervously. "Uh, what are you looking at?"
Ifurita soared through the air stopping just over a large city, she
looked down at it with an unmoving and uncaring eye as she raised her
staff and pointed it downward. A single blast destroyed more than half
the city. She rotated around throwing energy blasts destroying any
settlements that might have survived as well as homes just outside the
city.
Galus smiled as he stroked the hair of the young boy sitting next to
him. "Excellent work Nahata, with Ifurita in our hands we can take the
Eye of God at our own leisure. We will perfect the technique and then
destroy the house of Roshtaria."
"Thank you my lord," said the boy as he stood and walked into the
hallway. He had never felt so proud as he did at this moment; he had
almost single handedly ensured victory for his master.
Ifurita walked by the boy calmly. "Where are you going?" he asked her in
confusion.
"Roshtaria," she replied simply.
The boy's eyes narrowed. "Why? I didn't order you to destroy that
place,"
"I must go to Roshtaria," she insisted.
"No, we can't have princess Rune dying yet, we may need her if Fatora
alone isn't enough. He could have her kidnapped now, but it wasn't
necessary just yet. After all, he could take her anytime he wished,"
Ifurita turned to face him and got a small twinge of anger on her face.
"Impossible, I cannot feel anger," her mind told her.
Shayla Shayla sat with Fujisawa gulping down wine, the woman was leaning
on his shoulder crying to herself. "Whaaaaahh! Why'd he got to be a
traitor!?"
"I don't understand either!" agreed Fujisawa as he took another drink.
Shayla sat up and sniffled to herself. "I was gonna..."
"What's that?" asked Fujisawa thinking he missed the last part.
"None of your business!" retorted the woman as she snatched the bottle
away and proceeded to chug it down.
"Sister Shayla, I've been looking everywhere for you!" called Alielle as
she tackled the woman onto the ground.
"What the hell? Get offa me!" growled the angry priestess as she pushed
on the younger girl's head and tried to stop her from fondling her chest.
"But I've got really important serious news!" the girl started to nuzzle
into Shayla's chest trying her best to grab as much as she could.
"Get off! Damn it! Where the hell is Ryo when you need him?!" snapped
the angry priestess.
Fujisawa stood staring at the scene for a moment before finally giving
in. "Damn it! What the hell is the important news?"
She stopped her fondling and sat up looking at him in confusion. "Oh
yeah, It's about the countries leaders..."
Rune Venus sat in the throne room with delegates from the allied forces
sitting around her shouting excitedly.
"You must unseal the Eye of God!" was the basic demand. Word had gotten
out quickly once the priestesses had arrived in Roshtaria. Luck was with
her and Makoto was well enough to replace Ryo as the double.
"Very well," she conceded after a long sigh.
Fujisawa sat waiting with Lanz while Rune Venus and Makoto sat nearby as
the ceremony began. He took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and
was about to take one when Lanz coughed into his hand. He sighed and
placed them back in his pocket in disappointment. Afura, Miz, and Shayla
stood on the platform that raised them up the long tower that reached
into the sky.
Nearby Nanami sat with Alielle watching the event with important
dignitaries. "Alielle, just what is that thing?" asked Nanami.
"It's called the stairway to the sky, it's the place where they
communicate, with the Eye of God that is," explained the girl.
"Oh, hey!" Nanami turned her head and saw the perverted girl clinging to
her arm. "I thought you were the one who had the hots for that Shayla
Shayla!"
"Yup! If you can't be with the one you love, you know," replied the girl
as she rubbed her cheek against Nanami's arm.
"Humph, love the one you're with," she finished before turning her
attention back towards the sky.
The three priestesses stood at the top of the tower. Each moved to a
separate panel when two control panels rose out of the ground for each of
them. They stood for a moment before touching the pads as a light
emanated from their hands.
On the outside of the tower four large mechanical arms began to emerge
from hidden panels in the outside walls. They opened up and crackled with
energy as the priestesses unsealed the power. After a moment the eye of
god began to move from it's orbit towards the tower. It was moving at an
amazing speed for such a large object. Slowing down it cast a great
shadow over the crowd below as the moon-sized object came to a halt no
more than a mile above the tower. The eye, or smaller sphere within the
axis of the moon turned as a beam of light erupted from the tower. It
began to glow with a strange dark blue energy as it turned revealing a
pupil like center. As the energy of the weapon began to power up a dark
swirl of clouds formed in almost an instant. Lightening flashed as rail
started to fall without warning.
Below the crowd reacted with surprise at the sudden down pour. The eye
of god blasted with a huge flash of light, and when it was over the sky
was blue once more, never giving any indication that it had been raining
moments before.
"Karai!" said Galus as he stood from his throne deep underground. "You
live?"
"Yes my lord," said the woman as she collapsed in front of him. Her
wounds finally took their toll on her body.
"How did you escape, where you followed?" asked Galus as he kneeled down
and glanced into the shadows.
"No my lord! I escaped with the boy Ryo; he was being tried for treason.
I lost him; he forgot about our illusions and dropped his guard. The
fool," she laughed at this and passed out finally.
"Take her and get her taken care of!" said Galus to one of his men.
"Yes my lord, but is it wise to trust her? She could have been sent back
as a spy," replied the man as he bent down next to her.
"It doesn't matter now, we are almost ready to complete our plans, even
if she is a spy, with Ifurita in our hands it is too late to stop us
now," the leader of the shadow tribe began to laugh in triumph.
However, in the shadows a figure stood waiting, a dark smile crossed its
lips as its eyes took on a red glow. "The time has come to fulfill my
destiny."
TBC...
This is certainly different. I've got another surprise up my sleeve for
next time that I know you're probably not expecting as I finally finish
up this story. I'm not making any promises but it could extend into The
Eight Night if I have a little too much to fill one chapter. I don't
think I will though.
Next time: find out what the Bugrom plans are, and a little about this
new class of Bugrom. Also you'll find out exactly what Ryo's plans are,
[You might be surprised.] Also, another series of very important battles
with Ifurita, you'll find out why it's important in the climax.
The World of Gleaming Light!