The Three Magic Knights
Part 12
The final straw.
Dan watched passively as the scenery passed by below. Umi, Fuu, and
Hikaru stood at the front of the strange winged transport that Mokona had
produced to get them to the Rune God of Water. He had ruined the trip, by
popping the protective bubble and nearly drowning everybody, but the
transport itself was undamaged otherwise.
"Where the hell are we going anyway?" he asked impatiently.
"Puu!" cried Mokona in answer.
"That helps me," muttered the boy as he rolled his eyes.
"Don't worry Mr. Dan, I'm sure Mokona knows where the next Rune God is!"
cried Hikaru excitedly.
"That's what scares me," said Umi as she eyed the creature
distrustingly.
The clouds in front of them split revealing a large crystal structure
that jutted out of a floating island. The girls gasped in shock and Dan
stepped forward. It was an impressive sight to say the least.
"That must be where the next Rune God is hidden!" cried Hikaru
excitedly.
"I agree, I doubt we'll have an easy time of getting it," commented Dan.
The three girls looked at him blankly. It was the first time he had
spoken anything remotely like that to them.
The moment was quickly forgotten though, as the sky grew dark within
seconds. Lightening crashed around them and the strange ship started to
shake unstably under the winds that began to blow. An enormous dark
figure appeared before them in the sky. The image of Zagato was even
larger than the mountain they were trying to get to.
"Who are you?" gasped Hikaru.
The image smirked at them and glared at her. "I am the High Priest
Zagato. I never expected you to make it this far, I commend you Magic
Knights."
Dan felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise up as a power build up
started to form around them. "Oh, shit."
"However, it is now time to end this," said Zagato as he pointed his
fingers at the flying craft.
Dan screamed and jumped up into the air. The girls gasped in shock as
the lightening slammed into him.
Zagato smirked at this. "A brave gesture, but useless!"
Everyone became silent as Dan continued to float in the air. His arms
were crossed over his face and a familiar sound floated through the air.
"He's laughing?" said Fuu in shock as her brain registered what the
sound was.
"Fool, you'll have to do much better than that to get rid of me!" Dan
started to uncross his arms slightly as a visible aura surrounded him.
His eyes were wild and dangerous and his hair seemed to stand straight
up.
Another bolt of power slammed into the craft floating behind him and the
girls started to scream in pain.
Dan never flinched, he continued to stare Zagato in the eyes. He
clenched his single fist in front of him with a stern look on his face
and stared hard as the figure stood imposingly over him. "You think
you're strong enough to beat me do you?" said Zagato humorlessly.
"I know I am," replied Dan. Winds started to form around him and the
aura burned ever brighter. Rocks below started to crumble and the damaged
craft behind him shook dangerously and was blown back with the dazed
girls struggling to get back on their feet and hold on.
Zagato pointed at him again and a bolt of lightening struck down towards
him. Dan swung his arm in a wide arc and caught the energy with his bare
hand sending it flying off in a different direction. Unfortunately for
Umi, Fuu, and Hikaru it happened to be directly in their path.
In the space of a split second Zagato raised his other hand and three
lightening bolts caught Dan in his chest. He could not block all of them
while still dealing with the first one. He screamed in pain as he was
thrown back into the ship again.
Zagato's image smirked again and raised both hands into the sky. "You
are strong aren't you?" Several bolts of lightening converged together
and slammed into the ship seeming to vaporize it in a moment. He watched
as the charred metal remains of the vessel fell into the ground below.
Inside his castle Zagato frowned as the mirror he was using to project
his image began to crack in front of him. He raised his cloak just in
time as the glass shattered from the frame and onto the ground around
him. He stood wordlessly for a moment before walking away from the magic
mirror.
Emerad sat in her protective sphere and stared forward with a look of
shock on her face. She was panting desperately for breath. "What just
happened?"
"You just saved the Magic Knights?" said Zagato as he entered her
sanctuary.
"N...no! I couldn't!" she looked up at him and he realized immediately
that something was wrong.
"Are you all right?" his features softened for a moment.
"I tried to save the Magic Knights from you, but I didn't have enough
power to do it!"
"How can this be? Surely you must be exhausted from your emotional
stress?" Zagato reached out to touch the barrier that held her in place.
"Y...yes, that must be it. You must stop this Zagato! Please!" the girl
pleaded with him with tears in her eyes. "I cannot take it anymore, our
world is crumbling away, and now this! My power is weakening!"
"I cannot," replied the man simply as he stood up and walked away.
In a forest somewhere in Cephiero a familiar looking man stood over the
prone forms of the Magic Knights. Dan opened his eyes and slowly rose to
his elbows. "What the?"
"Well now, glad to see you're awake. That was a close one, I almost
didn't make it in time to save you." Xellos smirked at him as he groggily
shook his head to clear his vision.
"What the hell do you want? I was handling it," muttered Dan darkly.
"You've been out for an hour, don't try and give me that. Face it, you
lost," Xellos stood up and turned to face the girls. "I figured you'd
wake up first, so I'm standing guard to make sure you don't try and take
advantage of this situation."
"Yeah, well..." Dan scratched the back of his head and slumped against a
nearby tree. "So now what?"
"We wait, someone's coming to help. It's just the next stage in the
journey."
Dan nodded and looked at his right fist. "I...lost."
"Don't feel bad, it's not the first time you know," commented Xellos as
he indicated the blade that replaced Dan's left hand.
"You don't count. I'm a self insertist, I'm not supposed to lose to a
character," snapped Dan angrily.
"Hmm, not really a self insertist. A someone else insertist maybe?"
"The rules don't change," grumbled Dan.
"Since when do a set of rules apply?" said the priest casually.
Dan merely watched the trees above him silently for a moment.
Ferio stood at a bar in a small town in Cephiero. The barkeep smiled at
him as he cleaned a glass and kept up conversation with him.
"Hey, what's up with this town? It's like everyone's depressed or
something," commented Ferio as he looked to the bartender for an answer.
"It's just that we've been getting attacked by monsters more and more
lately. It's all we can do to keep them away," said the man dejectedly.
"And there's also...never mind."
"What?" asked Ferio, the man had caught his attention.
"Say, what's that thing on your hip anyway? I've been meaning to ask you
all night," said the bartender as he attempted to change the subject.
Ferio looked down at his side where the Sword of Light rested. He had no
blade in it and the hilt was hanging from a chord of leather from his
hip. "That's just something I picked up on my travels."
"Weird looking," said the man with an unusual interest. Suddenly the man
realized something. "Hey, It looks like a sword with out a blade."
"It has a blade," said Ferio with a knowing smirk.
"Uh, yeah," muttered the man in confusion.
A short time later Ferio was walking down the middle of a road. Several
monster halves faded away behind him as he walked. "This is getting
ridiculous. All these monsters..." The dark sky rumbled over his head and
he frowned as a strange unfamiliar wetness seemed to cover him. He
snorted in disgust as he realized there was another rainstorm. "Man, this
weather is crazy! It was never like this when Princess Emerad was in
charge!"
"Ferio," said a voice from inside his shirt.
"Huh? Who's there? Is that you Xellos?"
"Yes, I need you to come get the Magic Knights, they're in trouble."
"What?" said the boy in confusion.
"Come now boy, you don't really want me to leave your precious Fuu in
the care of Dan do you?"
Ferio stared at the communicator in shock for a moment before he sighed
and closed his eyes. "Tell me where you are and I'm on my way."
Ferio came onto a clearing near a lake; he paused when he noticed Dan
resting against a tree. Xellos was already gone and the boy was simply
staring off into space.
"What the hell are you doing just sitting there while these girls are
hurt?" cried Ferio angrily. He rushed over to Fuu and pulled her into his
arms. "Are you all right? Fuu, speak to me!"
"They'll be fine," replied Dan simply. He didn't move from his spot. "We
just had a little run in with Zagato himself."
That stopped Ferio in his tracks. "What?"
"He's too strong for them, if we were to fight him now. I might survive,
but they would die for sure. Don't think you'll be able to save Emerad
without us kid, that sword ain't gonna be enough."
Ferio glared at him angrily and Dan laughed. "So what? What are you
gonna do, cry about it?"
"No, I'm going to save Emerad," replied the boy sharply.
"Whatever, hey your girlfriend is waking up," Dan noticed Fuu was
beginning to stir in his arms.
She was the first to awaken. "What are you doing here?"
"I got a call and came to help you out," said the boy simply.
At that moment Umi and Hikaru began to stir. Dan snorted and looked over
at them. "It's about time."
"We're all right!" said Hikaru triumphantly.
"Hardly, you girls just got your asses handed to you," said Dan as he
stood up.
"What about you?" grumbled Ferio.
"I wasn't going all out," replied the boy simply. "I'm going to kick
that bastard's ass the next time we meet."
The three girls blinked and stared at him. The grumpy exterior they
usually saw was gone, replaced by a mask of pure anger and rage. Dan was
pissed.
"This might not be good," commented Hikaru.
The other two girls nodded in unison, they had seen some of the spells
Dan could use. In his current state he wouldn't even notice destroying an
entire village if he got into a fight.
"Please calm down Mr. Dan!" said Umi.
"Tell me one good reason why I should?" replied the boy.
"You could hurt someone if you're not careful!" cried Hikaru in her most
pleading voice. The three girls took a step back though when he turned
and looked at them again.
"I'm still waiting for a reason," he said in a deadpan voice.
"That's enough! There's a town near here, we can go there to stock up
and get some rest. Everybody is tired I'm sure," said Ferio sharply. He
put his arm around Fuu protectively causing her to blush slightly.
Dan smirked as the boy instinctively placed himself between the girls
and him. This was going to be an interesting night indeed.
Caldina sat in front of a large group of villagers with a stockpile of
weapons heaped on the floor in front of her. "So, you're trying to tell
me that these weapons are not for a revolt against Lord Zagato?"
The mayor pleaded with her desperately. "No! Please! These weapons are
only for fighting against monsters! I swear it!"
The woman smiled at them. "These lame excuses won't work against me!"
"But..." started the man.
"However, you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."
"What do you mean?" asked the mayor. "Just tell us what you want!"
"Why money of course," said the woman indignantly. Just outside the
building they stood in, a small group of travelers walked by in the rain.
Caldina noticed them and paused. "I've changed my mind, all yall have to
do is kill those strangers that just wandered in to town."
The mayor looked over his shoulder and paused. "I can't kill them, there
nothing more than children!"
"Are you defying me?"
"I must, even if it's to save the lives of the villagers!"
"You're starting to annoy me!" Caldina waved her hand in front of her
face and the man's eyes gazed over. The mayor walked up to the pile of
weapons and picked up a knife, he stabbed himself in the leg and screamed
in pain falling on the ground. She looked at the villagers and addressed
them. "If yall don't want to end up like the mayor here, you'll kill
those strangers."
The villagers reluctantly agreed.
Caldina smirked and turned her head in thought. "Well, aren't I just a
lucky girl! To have those Magic Knights that defeated poor little Askot
walk right into my trap! I'll have them fight against these villagers,
then I'll know their power!"
Ferio walked back into the bar and sat down at a table with the group.
Fuu looked at Mokona; he was still dazed from the lightning attack. "Poor
Sir Mokona, he's still not back to normal yet!"
"He's just a little dazed, he'll be just as irritating in an hour or
so," commented Dan dryly.
Ferio looked at them and sat back in his chair. "It's just like you guys
to find another rune god, how many of them have you found yet?"
"Just two," said Hikaru.
"You'll find them all, I'm sure," said Ferio cheerfully.
"Not if I have any say in the matter," thought Dan to himself.
The bartender walked up with a tray of drinks and put them in front of
the group. Everyone but Ferio got one. "On the house, seeing how you're
friends of Ferio here." The man's hand shook slightly as he placed them
in front of the Magic Knights.
"Why are there only four drinks?" said Dan coolly as he noticed how
nervous the man was. "If Ferio is such a good friend of yours, he should
get one too."
"I was just wondering the same thing," said Ferio as he turned towards
the man. "Probably because they're poisoned."
A large group of villagers armed with swords and spears appeared in the
doorway. They charged into the bar and attacked.
Dan stood up and smiled. "Just what I needed."
The girls dodged around several strikes while Ferio grappled with a man
wielding a sword. He turned to face them. "Don't hurt them! These aren't
Zagato's minions!"
Dan looked over at him with three people lying on the ground around him.
"They should have thought of that sooner." He charged into the crowd that
had yet to engage them and sent several more flying into the walls and
tables with a few well placed punches and kicks. He spun around as
someone charged with a spear in his hands and smirked.
Ferio's eyes went wide as a dark energy started to form around the boy.
"No! Everyone drop your weapons or you'll die!"
The room froze as a red ball of energy formed in Dan's hands aimed at
the villagers who were still standing in the doorway. "You'd better
listen to him."
The room was filled with the sound of metal hitting the floor as the
villagers complied.
Dan snorted in mild disappointment and the ball of energy dissipated as
his aura vanished. "Why did you attack us?"
"Please! Our entire village will be destroyed if we don't kill the four
strangers!" cried the bartender. He turned to look at Ferio. "This wasn't
supposed to involve you!"
"Who would do such a thing?" gasped Umi.
"One of Zagato's minions! Her name is Caldina!"
"You were foolish enough to think she was less dangerous than us were
you?" said Dan with a confident smirk. "If you had made me angry there
wouldn't be a stone left standing in this village."
The girls all looked at him in shock and the villagers cowered back in
fear.
"Where is this Caldina now?" asked Dan.
"Mr. Dan, you aren't thinking of..." said Fuu as she brought her hand up
to her mouth.
"We'll have to deal with her sooner or later, I prefer sooner," said the
boy indignantly.
"There's no way!" gasped the bartender.
"Hey, these guys have been able to handle Zagato's minions with no
problem so far," pointed out Ferio.
"That's fine for you, you can always run if you fail! Our homes are
here!" snapped the bartender angrily.
"You make it sound like we're asking permission," said Dan calmly.
The villagers backed away from him with looks of shock in their eyes.
"Mr. Dan, you can't be thinking of..." said Hikaru.
"Sure I am, would you rather just let them kill us? I'm in no mood to
run away right now, I want to get that bastard back for what he did to
us, and if he's not here..."
The girls nodded grimly and turned to face the villagers. "Unless one of
you has a better idea," said Fuu.
"I do, I'll distract her while you get away," said Ferio sternly.
Unfortunately Dan was already out the door.
"Mr. Dan! Where are you going?" said Fuu as she rushed up next to him.
"To kill this woman of course. If we just leave this minion will only
kill them for failing," he continued on his way without breaking stride.
He stopped in the middle of the town square. "CALDINA! Come on out you
sick bitch!"
From a building on the corner of the square a woman emerged dressed in a
cloak. "That's not a very nice thing to say to a lady." She had pink hair
pulled up into a ponytail and was dressed in a black bikini like outfit.
"Heh, let's see what you've got," said Dan with a smirk.
Caldina narrowed her eyes at him. "What ever happened to all those
villagers?"
"You mean the ones that survived?" said Dan casually.
"You really expect me to believe that you killed them?" said the woman
with a smile appearing on her face.
The boy simply raised his finger and smiled as a small red dot of light
appeared just over his index. Without turning his head he pointed at a
nearby building and sent the ball of light into it. The home exploded in
a ball of fire. Caldina's eyes went wide and she glared at him. "Don't
make the mistake of thinking that I care about these fools."
The woman backed away slowly and started to raise her hand. Dan simply
pointed at her and scowled. "Do you think you can pull off whatever
you're doing before I can finish this?" Another of the small balls of
light appeared there.
"Mr. Dan!" cried a voice from behind him. Caldina watched carefully for
a reaction, the boy kept his focus on her completely.
"He's good," she thought with a sudden chill running down her spine. She
turned and started to run.
Dan smirked and stared at her as she rushed away. "I don't think so
coward, goodbye." The ball of light flew from his finger towards her.
"No!" screamed Hikaru as she rushed forward suddenly.
Dan turned to look at her and blinked. "What the hell are you doing?"
Caldina fell flat on the ground as she felt the heat rushing up on her
back. A searing pain ran down her spine as the blast sailed over her back
she felt the cape burst into flames and screamed in agony. The magic
spell continued on it's path over her and slammed into the building that
had all the stockpiled weapons inside, it also exploded into a great ball
of flames. Dan turned his attention back to the scream and frowned. He
stood for a moment and watched her burn with the others. They all had
horrified looks on their faces as they watched the woman writhe on the
ground, that is, until she vanished in a flash of light.
Dan's expression never changed. "Interesting."
"What just happened?" asked Hikaru as the shock wore off of her face.
"Simple, it was just an illusion," replied the boy emotionlessly.
Several of the villagers rushed up to him with angry and frightened
looks on their faces. "You blew up the general store!"
The boy slowly turned to look at them. "It could have been one of your
houses."
They backed away from him with frightened looks on their faces.
"Um, Mr. Dan...you did know that was an illusion the whole time right?"
said Hikaru timidly.
The boy turned and looked at his three companions and blinked. He stayed
that way for a long moment. "Umm, yeah."
Ferio glared at him, it was a lie and he knew it. He managed to keep
silent and started to walk away from the village.
Caldina gasped in shock at the scene. The male Magic Knight had shown
absolutely no mercy, not to the villagers, and certainly not to her. Her
face had gone pale when she watched herself burn, it had been wise indeed
to send out that illusion instead. She was becoming quite impressed with
Askot for lasting as long as he did against such an opponent. Still, she
would win, her powers relied on something other than strength. He seemed
to be just as susceptible to her illusions as anyone else, she would have
her revenge for her friend, and impress Lord Zagato at the same time.
Somehow, that didn't make her feel much better at the moment. She rushed
away from her hiding place in the shadows and vanished into the woods
surrounding the village.
The next day, the Magic Knights were walking away from the village at a
somewhat cheerful pace. "It was nice to see him again," commented Fuu.
"Well, he did come to our rescue after all, he saved us after Zagato
defeated us. He's a great guy," said Umi in agreement. Dan had never
bothered to tell them that it was Xellos who had saved them. It wasn't
that important and he didn't need them sympathizing with him later when
he had to kill him. Xellos was Carrot's creation, he knew that he wasn't
going anywhere until he was dead. That would be the only way to get rid
of him, none of this making friends crap that shows like this normally
envisioned; Zagato seemed like the kind of guy they would have to kill as
well.
Fuu's communicator came to life and she jumped in fright before pulling
it out of her shirt. "Hey, I see you made it out of that village."
"Yes, the people there were quite upset with Mr. Dan. He destroyed their
weapons and a lot of the villages food." Fuu blushed as she said this.
"At least nobody was killed."
"That's an understatement, I'm glad you're all right."
"Um, thank you..." the girl blushed and smiled to herself as she said
this. Both Hikaru and Umi were standing right next to her with huge
smiles on their faces.
"Call me sometime, not just if you need help either," said Ferio before
he ended his transmission.
"Fuu, you're turning red," said Umi playfully.
"Oh, am I?" said the girl as she tried to brush it off.
"As a beet, quit teasing her and lets get moving huh?" said Dan as he
kicked Makona ahead of the group again. He had been remarkably slow
today, still dazed from the attack the day before.
Caldina sat at a table in a small town a good distance away from the one
where her illusion had perished. Her head rested in her palm as she
thought.
"Well, that was certainly interesting wasn't it young Askot?" said a
familiar voice that sent chills down her spine.
The young boy walked in with the priest at his side. "Compressing a
fireball that way, it was quite impressive. He always did watch too much
Dragonball though," commented Xellos.
"What's a dragon ball?" said Askot with a confused look on his face.
"It doesn't exist here so it's not really important," said the man
cheerfully.
"What do you want?" snapped Caldina carefully. She kept her tone in
check when speaking with the priest.
"Merely to see what you think of him now, he is quite an opponent you
know," said Xellos calmly. "Dangerous and more unstable by the day."
"You're tellin me? He never did anything like that to me!" cried Askot
in shock. Apparently the priest had told him of what had happened,
although she didn't have a clue about how he knew in the first place.
"So you think you're going to give me a potion or something to boost my
power? No thanks," commented the woman.
"I wouldn't think of it, there isn't really much I can do for you my
dear. Illusions aren't really in my area of expertise."
"Do you have a reason for stopping by?" said the woman flatly.
"No, not really. You're rather cute, but not my type," Xellos caught the
implication in her tone and simply brushed her suspicions off.
"Good, I don't like sneaky men," she snorted.
"I reserve my comments on that, but that's beside the point. I'm just
here to warn you away from the male Magic Knight. He's mine, and far to
powerful for you to take on with your illusions. Leave him alone, I doubt
his opponents will survive from here on out. He has gone quite insane."
"That boy is more than nuts, he was ready to blow up that whole village.
Even I would have just roughed the villagers up a bit in the end."
"Indeed," said the priest as he turned away from her and left her alone
with Askot. His thoughts were an entirely different matter. "He is very
unstable mentally. My counterpart put me here as an equalizer, but if he
ever does get home...he'll probably kill him. It's a good thing I have no
intention of allowing that to happen. Cephiero is in for a rather nasty
surprise, an ironic twist indeed." He turned and took a last look at the
shack where Caldina conversed with Askot, after that was done he simply
vanished into the shadows again.
TBC...
Dan is becoming more unglued as time goes on, but something important is
going to happen next time that could change the fate of Cephero. In the
next chapter, Caldina tries her hand against the Magic Knighs once again.
C&C to Carrotglace@juno.com
URL: Http://www.geocities.com/misatira/