Fathers of Power Chapter 7: King
The old geezer with the crooked
smile made to scare or con young girls flicked a rusty bronze coin at the
cleaner. She snatched it from the air, nearly stumbling over the mop and
bucket. “Tamarra again, eh?” the man asked, grinning with more teeth missing
than present. His eyes feasted some more on the girl’s body as she was about to
leave. She was quite pretty – she had short, messy, boyish, frazzled
crème-coloured hair, but it suited her well. She wore a tight skimpy white
blouse and blue shorts that didn’t quite cover her thighs with tears and
threads hanging down. She didn’t have to clean inside the dorms but she quickly
mapped out which rooms could earn her an extra crumb on her income. The rooms
she was paid to clean were those occupied by those spouseless men who could
afford to spend a little to see her slowly bend and wipe and dust every day.
They kept their safe distance though, as the rumour spread through the ship
about the one man who got too excited and had to go for a grab. The stories say
the girl left a knife in his arm, though his version recounts a manly fight he
and a chef got into, a chef no one else ever saw.
She closed the old man’s door and
continued down the corridor of cabins. She made a scoffing flash and annoyed hiss
at a man who whistled at her to come in. His door was open, but she ignored him
as he never paid. She looked over at a door that was always locked. She never
saw anyone come out or go into that room. She got a tad more curious about it
each time she passed. Could someone be
dead inside? The thought thrilled her and she grinned without noticing. There are a thousand on this ship. There
can’t be too bad a chance that one is dead in bed. She rested the bucket of
soapy water and the mop and knocked on the door as she used to do for the first
few days. As usual, no answer. “Well then,” she whispered to herself and took a
deep breath. She nudged the knob, but of course, it was locked. She looked
about. Not too many persons were watching. She took a small needle out of her
bosom and rammed it into the keyhole, making a few nudges until she heard a
click. She opened the door slowly. The room was so black. It seemed the
darkness in there was unnatural. Feeling a strange, nervous excitement, she
closed the door behind her and locked it.
She stood still for a moment as her
eyes forced themselves to adjust to the dark. As her pupils strained and
widened more than they had ever, she made out the outline of a person sitting on
the top bunk of a double bed at the other end of the room. As she inhaled to
say something – she wasn’t even sure what, she witnessed the emergence of a new
darkness. The person sitting there opened their eyes and a darkness that was
beyond real flooded the place, blinding her. That same moment, she felt a firm,
deadly grip about her throat. She struggled to breathe, shaking against the
door in utter fright. Even through the darkness, the girl saw a pair of eyes
before her that were blacker than death. She also saw and almost felt three
back spikes clenched between the knuckles of a steady fist. They were almost
touching her face. After a second, the heavy darkness lifted from the room, and
the black spikes and darkness in the boy’s eyes disappeared. Lex gasped and
jumped back, his hands shaking. He saw the redness about the girl’s neck that
his hand had forced.
As he was meditating with the
spirits for many days in training, tiny amounts of the demons’ essence seeped
from his eyes and blackened the room. On regaining awareness of reality, the
darkness was quickly reabsorbed through his eyes. “Y—y—you alright, girl?” Lex
stammered nervously. The girl still could not speak. Lex stepped to her quickly
and held her neck softly. He could see the girl’s chest bumping with her
thumping heartbeat.
“Wh—wh—you—You are Lex Leo… aren’t
you?” the girl asked, frightening the boy. The girl’s face changed from one of
fright to that of wondrous discovery.
***
The young witch cracked her eyes open to a dreamy brightness – not the
kind of brightness to make her squint or cover her eyes, the type that a mild
sunrise graced country windows with, that made her feel light and airy and gave
a sense of hope to her spirit itself. Her vision focused and her brows
furrowed. She was definitely confused and curious, but somehow there was no
fear in her. She noticed that she was lying in some kind of coffin-shaped
object. Her covering was a glass shield that sealed the top of the strange,
tight bedding. She heard a tiny beeping noise. “Good morning, Clover Bengushi,”
she heard the voice of what sounded like a pretty young woman. She jolted
slightly, then her eyes made a weird shape as she looked up at a green writing
that appeared on the transparent glass before her. Clover Bengushi. Class A citizen. Status: Recovery 100% complete. Awake.
The voice that Clover realized came from within the glass chamber bed thing
read all she saw. The writing then disappeared and the glass faded into the
air.
The girl slowly eased herself up.
She looked down at herself and gasped with a near laugh. She tried to ask
herself some questions, but not even that she found she could do without
stuttering too much. She was in a heavy, gorgeous purple dress that almost
brushed the ground as she found herself spinning it. It was a dress that she
would imagine queens even much grander and richer and nobler than the Magmalian
queen would wear. She looked up at a large window that let in a golden light
that made the place have a blissful feel. The room was large, and there were
two doors there. Though massive the room was, it wasn’t filled with space.
There were dressers and closets and figurines and couches that filled the place
comfily, all brown and green. There was also a bed there with green sheets much
bigger than the three beds she, Kyle and Lex used to sleep on put together. She
tried to shake off the nostalgia. She saw rich green hills when she looked
outside.
She spasmed as she heard a knocking
on one of the doors. What should I do?
Should I hide? Where am I? The knocking sounded again. “C—come in?” She sounded
pretty uncertain. A woman in a long crème dress, not half as fancy as Clover’s,
entered through one of the doors. Her face was bright and welcoming, much like
Star’s when she had first met her. She didn’t even notice that she had
forgotten about her sister for a moment.
“You are awake,” the woman said,
walking up to her. “Welcome, Clover. Welcome to--”
“Where’s my sister?! Where’s
Star?!” she suddenly panicked. Clover pushed the woman out of the way fiercely
and burst through the door behind her – it was like she had sensed Star’s
presence back there.
She reached into a room almost
identical to the one she was just in. There Star was lying in the strange
talking thing – all of a sudden it looked more like a coffin than it did a
jiffy before. Clover gasped and ran over to the lying woman. She looked down at
her. She was finely dressed in a red dress but didn’t seem conscious – there
was no sign of breathing or slight eye movement – nothing. “Star…” Clover
placed her hands down on the glass and writing appeared. Star Bengushi. Class A citizen. Status: Stabilized. Recovery: 37%
Clover flashed her head back over to the woman who stood at the door.
“She is alright. She is healing as
you were. Her condition was far worse, so she will take a while longer to wake.
It is still a miracle that the healing chamber can even help her.” Clover
stared at the woman for a moment and then sighed heavily, everything
registering in her head. She tried to remember how the battle at the shore had
ended, but everything was blurry.
“What happened?” Clover asked.
Clover noticed that the woman became a little distracted. She put her left
index and middle fingers on her temple, then grabbed her wrist.
“Right away, Ma’am,” she said,
still looking at Clover. Clover instantly remembered how Grimstone had called
for the soldiers to fight her and Star. “Yes, the younger one is awake,” she
continued. Clover suddenly became nervous. She felt like a prisoner now.
Of
course! They’ve captured me! She figured. I am an enemy of Notherland! She remembered. She roused her fourth
grade mana suddenly. The woman before her stretched her right hand out to her,
blue mana like Clover’s about her hand.
“Relax, girl,” she told Clover
warningly. “You are protected here.” The woman held on to her wrist again.
“Yes, I will be right there,” she said. “Girl, don’t leave this house!” she
said sternly to Clover. “I will return in a short while.” With that, the woman
shifted away.
Clover looked about, then rushed
back to where Star was. Still 37%?! She
figured it was best she stayed with Star while she healed. “I may as well take
a look around,” she told herself, feeling somewhat intrigued to browse through
whatever mansion or facility she was in.
***
“How would you know my name?” Lex
asked, quickly and nimbly in a jump and a grab reaching up to the top bunk. The
girl laughed, seeming impressed. She made quick movements and reached up there
with him, certainly impressing him.
“Those eyes,” she began with a face
of wondrous excitement, even worship. “I have heard rumours and read writings
of you. You carry that demon don’t you?! You were supposed to fight Trium! You
were the centre of Black War!”
“Keep it down, alright?!” Lex
hushed her in a snap.
“Oh, sorry, sorry, sorry,” she
whispered.
“So what happened, really? Trium
came down like rain so I guess you didn’t get to fight him as you had planned.
But somehow the world survived the attack!”
Lex wondered where to start. He
rested his forehead in his hand. “Should you understand anything, I would have
to tell everything,” Lex said.
“I’m all ears, Lex Leo!” She was
even more excited than Star was when she first met Lex. Lex smiled. He felt a
kind of relief that there was someone there for him to tell his truths and
tales. He had never really spoken to anyone in days – excepting the demons of
course.
“Let me start from a man you think
you know about – the god of magic…”
***
“My father has led this nation down
a path of dishonour and destruction… I have come not to continue that journey,
but to begin a new one!” He raised his fist mightily and the people cheered for
the young prince. Indeed, the people had felt serious oppression under Aragan’s
rule for decades, and they were staring into the face of a brighter future. “Yes,
the rumours are true! Our last king led an attack against all of Libson, and I,
his son, made allies with Hercule and defended the continent!” There was noise
and chattering that made Azar a little nervous, but he continued anyway. “I
have captured and imprisoned my father, as I cannot allow this country, this
continent, to crumble underneath his fists! And henceforth, with King Azar, a
new ear has begun!” The young Magmalian was already sworn in as king, and was
making his grand address to the masses who gathered thickly about the royal
tower. Not even Azar had seen so many gather in one place. As he stood and
looked down on them, he already truly understood the essence of being king, or
so he felt.
“From this day forward, Magma Town
is a relic of our past! We will be known throughout the world as the great
Magma Land, strong defender of Libson!” Azar felt an invigorating thrill
through his veins as his people roared mightily for him. Magmalian flags went
up to the skies, pushed up by the parade of Magmalian soldiers – most of whom
had hatred and devious plans for Azar. “As humble king of Magma Land, without
tyranny our bloodshed, I and Hercule will unite this entire continent under one
banner, that we might be able to stand even against the world’s strongest
nations!” The air cracked with mighty shouts for the new king. Kyle, along with
the heads of state, were standing behind king Azar. Kyle knew that Azar’s
kingship would be well-opposed, but he knew even better the strength of this
king. The higher-ups close to Kyle, most of the older ones who had thick ties
to their old king, mumbled amongst themselves.
“This boy,” Kyle heard one of them
say, “He will either soon learn and repeat his father’s way of a stern fist or
he will fail miserably… It is us elders who will end up having to rule over
this land…”
“Once I am alive, none of those
shadows of that rotten king can overthrow Azar,” Kyle pledged silently.
***
And so Lex spent about three hours
in constant story-telling, keeping the girl’s eyes alight and her mouth
drooling for such adventures, such glory. Lex snickered. He saw how quickly the
girl had become truly obsessed with him. “Lex…” she said beggingly in a
whisper. “When you get off this ship… take me with you,” she said. Lex was a
little surprised.
“You would abandon all your plans
to journey with a stranger?”
“Lex, you will shape the future of
this world! Give me my chance to help you make what will be a history never to
be forgotten!”
“I’m really honoured that you want
to accompany me, but my mission, my training, it’s not a vacation, alright?”
“What?!” The girl looked terribly
offended, frightening Lex . “You know the reason why I am aboard this ship?!
You think this is all a coincidence, Lex?”
“What do you mean?”
“I left Libson, but I am not
running away from anything. I know the entire world is in chaos now. My entire
family was killed, my house destroyed, leaving me nothing! I boarded this ship
not running away, but running toward a destiny that I have found by your side!”
Lex stared at the girl with a new
sense. She stood up like she was about to lead an army into a world-changing
attack. “I am Lash of the Village of Oridon, master of knives and needles!” She
made a quick flash with her hands, and in a moment too quick for Lex to study,
long needles were clutched amongst her fingers, ready to be thrown at deadly
speeds. She laughed when she saw how stunned Lex was. She fixed the needles
back down into the waist of her shorts, where Lex noticed probably a hundred
super-thin needles were hidden. She walked up to Lex and held his face, making
him gasp just a little. He looked into her eyes. They had the sandy colour of
her hair, which was almost identical to Lex’s. Though pretty she was, there
were a number of vague cuts and scars all over her, even on her face. Lex could
see it on her that she had been through a lot, that the Black War had changed
her heart and how she saw the world. He nodded, unable to disobey his spirit.
“Alright.”
She smiled relievedly. “I know you
are strong, Lex… far stronger than I can ever become… But you will find use for
me,” she assured.
***
The Grand Tempest, one of the convoy of vessels heading to Kundo, was
merely a hundred miles from the small island continent. On the boat, Mike and
Zen had built a steady bond. Being as feeble-looking as she was, were it not for
the rough-looking Mike being about her so often, she might have attracted some
troublesome attention. The two couldn’t share cabins, but they saw each other
quite a bit. Mike became increasingly annoyed of the lost look she usually had
on her face though, and her disturbingly short attention span when he was
ranting off in his adventure stories. “Do you worry you won’t see him again?”
he asked out of the blue one time, jerking her attention to him. She glanced over
at him, seemingly dragged from her lostness. They were sitting in one of the
three bars on the ship. This bar was Zen’s favourite place. She wasn’t quite
the drinker, but there, she could forget that she was on the open sea. Board
stairs led her down to the decent-looking place. It was the least popular of
the three bars, but it still wasn’t exactly empty. They were sitting at the
back of the bar, where Mike hated to sit, as it would take so many steps to get
another drink. The drinks were cheap on the ship, and Mike had money he didn’t
quite see the sense in saving, so he had become quite the alcoholic.
The place shook a little. Mike
grabbed on to Zen from across the table as she nearly fell off. “I know I will
see him again,” the girl finally answered. “As long as I stay alive. And I
will.”
“So that’s your reason, eh?”
“Reason?”
“When a person has a solid reason
for surviving, especially in dark times like these, they will earn the ability
to defy death countless times, and will become stronger than fate had planned
for them.”
Zen smiled faintly. “So what is
your reason?”
Mike smirked. “To become the
world’s strongest… I will surpass everyone…”
“Even Lex?” Zen asked, sounding
quite interested in his answer. Mike laughed. Zen wondered what such a laugh
meant.
Earlier
“As for you two,” Azar said,
looking at Mike and Zen. Kyle, Lex, Clover and Star were also in the room with
him, his personal quarters on the Royal Tower. “Whereas masters for the others
are certain and somewhat simple to find, you two are difficult cases.”
“Hey, Azar, I don’t need a master
to teach me,” Mike said. “I have mastered the precepts of my power. All I now
need is equipment to train my body on that I may get even stronger, and men to
kill to feed my spirit.”
“There is somewhere I want you to visit,” Azar said. “There is a Silver Village in Luthor, where history
has it the last settlement of Ionides were. They had survived the Ionide War but died out in a few
centuries.”
“That what’s the point of sending
him there?” Kyle asked.
“Relics of the Ionide race are
preserved there by the people who inhabit the village. They probably even
worship the spirits of the ancient Ionides in shrines they built for them. Who
knows?” Mike’s eyes brightened. “If you go there--”
“I will be a god to them!” Mike
raved excitedly. Azar hissed.
“Not quite that. They might
privilege you to access the ancient writings regarding your powers that they
wouldn’t give to anyone else – once you prove yourself to be an Ionide. I think
those who now live there are descendants of the first Ionide, but their blood
thinned out to nothing over the centuries.”
“Well I’ll definitely check that
place out!”
“And you, Zen…” Zen looked a little
nervous. “I have fairly good reason to believe that on the small island of
Kundo is another like you, a man who defended Kundo during the Black War
singlehandedly.”
“Another… like me?”
“Yes, even stronger too. Based on
my intel, he was born a mind-bender, and his powers are immensely above yours.
I know nothing of his lineage, but it is probable he is of some mixture of
Oga’s and Kizer’s bloodlines or something. If this man really does exist there,
it is the hope that he will make you stronger.” Zen nodded hopefully.
“Well, all that being said, you
must all be wondering how and when we will meet again.” They affirmed his
thought. “Well, for now, I will place on each of you a seal. I have been doing
much research on tracking and summoning techniques. I have the incantation and
method here, Star. I want you to follow it and get a certain invisible mark on
all of you. I have set everything up that the mark will be placed in my name.
While you are off, I will continue to do research on this technique. Hopefully
I will find a way to use this mark to track your locations, possibly even your
progress, and of course to gather you all here if necessary. At best, if I
strike gold in my research, I will be able to communicate with you all over the
great distances, probably in your dreams or something.” They all looked quite
relieved that Azar was putting all this in place. Star was surprised that such
sorcery existed any at all.
Points: 4324
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