Chapter X

The sound of a key being inserted into her cell door instantly made the nausea worse and she almost leaned forward and threw up right then and there, but she did her best to hold it in. She wanted to retain at least a portion of her pride while stuck in that terrible dungeon underneath the Ijirian Citadel. Just a few months before, she had been in the Vault of the Relics on the second floor to the top, and now she was as deep underground as the Citadel went. To her, it was a perfect representation of the direction her life had gone. When they led their attack against Ijiria, she had felt on top of the world. They had successfully infiltrated the Citadel, stolen a relic, and escaped. There were those who died fighting in the halls, but the relic itself got out and she knew from the interrogations that the Ijirians didn’t have it. It was a victory—their only one.

But now, that victory felt pointless. She was alone, with her closest friends all dead, and she knew her own death would be soon approaching. Once they either decided they didn’t need her, or she broke, they would kill her.

But then…at least I’d be free of all this pain…

Arisa Kirisan grit her teeth as the cell door slid open and a figure walked in. In the darkness, she couldn’t make out their features, but she could sense the power radiating from them, and when the torches in the room ignited with fire magic, she found herself looking up at the stern features of Nakoma Taurus, the Master of Fire. She instantly felt a powerful desire to lunge at him and try to kill him, but she couldn’t. She was on her knees, with her arms shackled and chained to the walls on either side of her. Her body was weak from a lack of feeding and she could see her bones much clearer under her skin. She was only permitted undergarments to wear so most of her skin was showing. Her red hair was messy and tangled and she knew it no longer had its old shine. She was a mess, and she felt embarrassed even being seen in the presence of a Master, even if they were her enemies.

“I see you’re awake,” Nakoma murmured as he stared down at her, his crimson eyes boring into her.

As terrified as she was of the pain to come, Arisa refused to look away from him. Instead, she stared right back into those narrow eyes and made sure he knew that she planned to continue to defy him. Her loyalty to her mother—to Abigail Reiner far surpassed any pain they could throw at her. No matter how many times he burned her, she would continue to keep what she knew to herself.

“Of course I’m awake,” she spat, smirking defiantly up at him. “Kinda hard to sleep when I’m chained up like this.” She laughed weakly, her voice raspy and dry from disuse. “So? Get on with it, Master Taurus. Continue wasting your time. I can take it. Hell, I can take more. What’s a little pain when I know my life will be over any time now.”

Nakoma cocked an eyebrow and shook his head. “You’re a stubborn fool. You act so smug when you’re only in here because of your own incompetence. Act as cocky as you like, Kirisan, but had you simply not chosen to fight a Master—and the Master of Darkness, no less—then your friends wouldn’t be dead and you wouldn’t be here.”

Arisa felt a twinge of pain in her stomach, but she refused to let it show in her features. Instead, she kept her grin on her face and spat at his feet. “You’re right, it was my fault,” she whispered. “They’re dead because of me…but if I tell you what I know, more will die. So, it’s in my best interests to keep quiet and accept my punishment for attacking Master Noctis.”

The Master of Fire’s features hardened for a second, before he simply sighed.

“Say what you like, child, but it won’t matter in the long run,” he told her. “You will reveal your secrets eventually. It just depends on what suffering you must endure before you do so. Which is why I’ve chosen to warn you.”

Arisa furrowed her brow in intrigue. “Warn me, huh? And what exactly are you warning me about?”

“Today…is most likely the final time you’ll see me,” he muttered. “Tomorrow, there is another Master taking my place.”

The girl narrowed her eyes, surprised by the sudden announcement. She wondered for a moment if he was lying, but she could both hear in his voice and see in his eyes that he wasn’t. Instead, the man seemed almost annoyed, as if even he wasn’t thrilled with the news.

“And that Master,” he continued, “won't be nearly as kind to you as I’ve been. In fact, if what he said was true, you may endure a suffering the likes of which few have ever known. So, I’m here to offer you a deal.”

Arisa scoffed. “A deal?”

Nakoma stepped forward and kneeled down in front of her so that their faces were only a few feet apart. He then raised his hand and whispered, “Infernas”. She watched the familiar sight of the ball of flame igniting in his gloved palm, its heat causing her to wince at the memory of all the burns she had suffered.

“Yes,” he said. “A deal. Trust me on this, Kirisan, you do not want to be at the mercy of my replacement. So, if you tell me what I want to know, then I will incinerate you so fast that you can die before your brain ever registers the pain. It’ll be far preferable to the slow demise you’re sure to experience otherwise.”

Despite the flame mere inches from her face, Arisa forced back her fear and once again laughed in his face. “Oh really? So your offer is that I give you what you want and I get to die, huh?” She hardened her features and glared at him with as much hatred as he could. “Well then, I guess I can’t wait to see what your replacement is like given all you’ve told me. I can’t say I’m not intrigued so…bring it on, Taurus. Have your other Master do his worst.”

As she finished speaking, Arisa closed her eyes and prepared for the flame to sear the skin of her cheek. But instead, Nakoma simply clicked his tongue, extinguished the flame, and stood up. When she opened her eyes again, he was looking down at her with pity.

“Well then, I suppose it would be a waste of time to do anything to you now,” he said. “It’s clear to me that I can’t get you to talk. In that case, good luck, kid. You’re in for utter hell in the coming days.” He then spun on his heel and proceeded toward the open cell door. However, before walking out into the hall, he turned back and shook his head. “Don’t say I never warned you.”

Then, he vanished into the darkness beyond and the door closed behind him, leaving her alone in the cell once again. Arisa slumped forward, feeling a great relief now that Nakoma was gone, yet she couldn’t help but feel anxious about what was to come. She put on a confident front, but she wasn’t sure how much more pain she could take. If the Master that would replace him was going to be worse, she might not even last longer than a day.

But I can’t break! I can’t give in to their torment! No matter what they do to me…I won’t betray my mother!

***

Ryokumo Caeli followed silently behind the hooded halfling as they made their way through the residential halls of the Citadel. He made no move to initiate conversation with the tiny Master and luckily, Seiras did the same, instead opting to mutter softly to himself. The Master of Wind was disgusted just being in his presence, and he wished he could go anywhere else, but he knew he didn’t have a choice. Reigious had ordered him to assist Seiras in the interrogations and he couldn’t very well defy the crown prince of the country. So, when Seiras had requested that he accompany him to his quarters, Ryokumo begrudgingly did so.

“If we’re to be working together, Caeli, then it is imperative that I give you a demonstration,” Seiras had said. “I want you to understand just what it is I’m going to do to those Children.”

Ryokumo swallowed nervously, unable to fathom what twisted insanity that halfling had conjured up. Mind magic was a dangerous business to begin with and there were very few that ever even attempted learning more than a few spells, let alone making it their affinity. In order to cast spells that interacted with a living creature's very existence, a price must be paid by the user. It was well known that those who took up Mind Magic would quickly lose their own minds and would wind up killing themselves. Others lost control completely and turned to attacking those around them. The handful who didn’t lose their minds were still twisted individuals and only had a small level of control over the magic they supposedly commanded. That’s what made Seiras Ka so valuable—and rare. While he was certainly twisted in comparison to a normal person, he was rather sane when compared to other users of mind magic. At the same time, he truly did command the magic. There had been entire centuries where Ijiria didn’t have a Master of the Mind, and so it was a unique time to live in.

Yet, I can’t help but think it would have been for the best that this magic remained lost, Ryokumo thought. There’s a reason few people can master it. It’s evil by its nature and nobody can truly accept what it does. So…if Seiras has discovered something new…I fear what it could be.

“Ah, here we are,” the halfling muttered as they stopped at one of the numerous doors that lined the corridors. He licked his lips and placed his hand against its surface. “Pateno,” he whispered, followed by the clicking of the door unlocking. Seiras then turned and motioned for Ryokumo to enter. “After you, Caeli.”

The Master of Wind strode forward, anxious to hurry along as he made his way into the private quarters of Seiras Ka. When he entered the main room, he found himself instantly repulsed and a desperate need to turn around and flee struck him. He was quickly greeted by the sickening smell of blood and decay, and the scene before him matched the intensity of the scent. The first thing he saw were the numerous corpses that may have been cats laying discarded on the coffee table, their eyes gouged out and claw marks covering their faces. Blood stained their nails and one look made him wonder if they’d all fought and killed each other. Unfortunately, they weren’t the end of it. Other small animals were laying strewn about in various corners of the room, in similar conditions as the cats. They looked as if they’d been merely cast aside once they’d died and been forgotten about.

“Sorry about the mess,” Seiras rasped as he moved past him. “I didn’t expect visitors today.”

The Master of the Mind walked into the room like there wasn’t anything wrong with the gore-filled scene, and he spoke as if apologizing for a slight amount of dust. Ryokumo knew the halfling was insane, but he still wasn’t prepared to face something like this.

“W-what…” he stuttered, “...happened here? What in the hell have you been doing in this room?!”

Seiras swung off his cloak and set it onto a small coat rack about his height beside the door, revealing his scarred face to Ryokumo once again. He then ran his wrinkled fingers through his greasy hair and chuckled.

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“Did I not mention that I had been experimenting?” he inquired. “These are simply the results of my tests…and I must say…” His bulging blue eyes fixed on Ryokumo and he could see the mad glee in them. “...it turned out better than I expected. I can only imagine what I could do to a more…intelligent mind.”

Ryokumo swallowed back his disgust and stepped toward the cat corpses draped across the small coffee table. He then kneeled down to get a closer look at them. The empty sockets of their eyes almost seemed to bore into his soul and he quickly turned away.

“What happened to them?” he demanded.

Seiras moved to the desk in the opposite corner of the room and climbed up onto his chair, seeming now focused on the piles of paper placed there.

“Their being attacked their being,” he replied darkly, as if that answered the question.

Ryokumo jumped back to his feet, his features contorting in fury as he shouted at the man. “And what the hell does that—?”

“Aniextiam.”

Before Ryokumo could finish his sentence, the world around him suddenly vanished. In the blink of an eye, Seiras’s quarters suddenly morphed into the shore of a beach. It was night so a chill was setting into his body, which was amplified by the cold water splashing against his feet.

What the hell…? He blinked a few times, trying to remember what he had just been doing, but couldn’t recall where he had been. All he knew was that he was standing on a very familiar beach. I’m in Omaruo. But why am I here? I don’t understand.

“Kumo?”

At the sound of the nickname he rarely ever heard anymore, his body went stiff and a shiver shot down his spine. He recognized the voice, but there was something wrong with it. What should have been a pleasant call of his name was instead spat venomously, as if that word were a poison that had no right to be on her tongue.

No…it can’t be.. She’s…dead…

“Look at me, Kumo!” the person shrieked, and when he turned around, his greatest fear was confirmed.

Standing only a mere few yards away was Abigail Reiner. However, he was not looking at the woman as he remembered her. Her body was mutilated with her arms barely hanging from her shoulders. Her left leg was almost completely twisted around and her clothes, while still there, were torn, showing the numerous wounds covering her torso. And yet, as terrifying as that all was, what destroyed him the most was her face. The once beautiful and vibrant features were now twisted in utter rage, covered in blood, and her eyes were wild.

“Abi?” he choked.

“Look at me, Kumo,” she screeched. “Look at what you’ve done to me! You said you would always be there for me! You said I could depend on you! But now…I’m dead! I was killed while you sat by and did nothing!”

“No!” he quickly protested. “I didn’t…! I tried to stop them, Abi! I tried but I just wasn’t strong enough!”

Her laugh was mirthless and, as the noise echoed through his ears, more figures began to appear behind her. They were faces he remembered vividly—ones he refused to forget because he knew that if he did, he could never truly justify what he helped do to them. They were the Children of Reiner he and Nakoma tortured. Each of them looked as mangled as Abi did—like they were all walking corpses.

“Look at what you’ve done to the children I tried to protect!” Abi shouted. “I wanted to give them a happy life and you’ve taken that away from them! “

Ryokumo took an involuntary step back, his body beginning to shake, though whether from cold or fear, he wasn’t certain. “I…” he stuttered. “I didn’t have a choice! If anybody finds out that I helped hide your son, he and I will both die! If I’m not in the Citadel to help him—!”

“Lies!” the woman interrupted furiously. “What have you done to help my son?! You put up a pathetic pocket realm, but you know it’ll only serve to delay Nigreos and Album! But in the end, they will take my Eric and erase him! Why aren’t you there in Omaruo?! Why aren’t you fighting by his side to defend him?!”

Ryokumo frantically shook his head. “Because that wouldn’t do any good! I can’t beat Nigreos by myself, let alone the both of them together! If I instead create enough confusion in Omaruo then maybe they’ll keep Eric alive and bring him here for questioning! If I can make him think that Eric was the one who created the realm…then maybe I have a chance! Once Eric’s in the Citadel, I can protect him myself!”

“But it’s all based on chance!” she hissed. “You don’t know if Nigreos and Album won’t just get rid of him! They may not care!”

The Master of Wind clenched his fists at his side, desperate to make the woman understand that he was doing all he could. “I know Nigreos Noctis better than anybody except Album! He doesn’t want to erase Eric, so if I give him a reason not to, he won’t! I’m certain of this!”

“You…” his old friend breathed. “...are a fool, Ryokumo Caeli! You’re a failure and you always have been! What have you ever done right?! You failed to keep Nigreos from finding me, you failed to stop me from dying, and now you’ll fail to protect my son! You’re worthless!”

That single word caused him more pain than anything she had said up until that point. He knew he had been worthless—that he had been unable to help anybody, and because of that, he lost everything.

As the emotion began to bring him to his knees, the beach suddenly vanished and instead, he found himself crouched in the hallway of a high school. He immediately knew where he was without looking around. It was West Wilham High, the school Eric Reiner attended and the place he had recently visited to erect his pocket realm. He stared blankly at the ground—or more specifically, the body laying on the ground before him. He was a boy around age sixteen dressed in what he guessed must have been the uniform of the school. Much like Abi and the Children, his body was mangled and bleeding, his eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling. For some reason, Ryokumo couldn’t make out his features. They were a blur to him, yet he still knew that this was the body of Eric Reiner.

“Did you honestly think you could fool me?”

At the sharp words, Ryokumo slowly raised his tear-streaked face to see Nigreos Noctis standing a few feet away from the body. He was staring at him with a look of disgust, as if revolted to be in his presence.

“Did you think I wouldn’t find out about your treachery?” Nigreos spat. “Underestimating me was your first mistake. Defying Ijiria was your second.”

Ryokumo grit his teeth, feeling pure hatred starting to spread throughout his body. “Did you do this?” he snarled, jumping to his feet. “Did you kill Eric?!”

“I did,” the other man growled. “Because I had no choice. Of course, the plan was to erase him, but unfortunately, he proved to be a bigger threat than we expected and so, I had to kill him. There was nothing I could have done.”

“But he’s Abi’s son!” he shouted. “He’s her legacy, Nigreos!”

The Master of Darkness clicked his tongue. “Her legacy was one of treason. Her death was inevitable once she started her rebellion and now, her fool of a son has met her same fate.” He then raised his hand toward Ryokumo, darkness swirling around it. “And unfortunately, it seems you’ve chosen the same path. Did you really have to do this to me, old friend? I’ve already been forced to kill both Abi and her son. Must I end your life, too?”

Despite knowing it was hopeless, Ryokumo slowly raised his own fists, wind magic erupting around them. He wouldn’t be able to survive a fight against Nigreos. He was simply just that powerful. But at the very least, Ryokumo hoped to put up as strong of a fight as he could muster, and perhaps he could drag him down to hell with him.

“Old friend?” Ryokumo breathed. “No, Nigreos. We stopped being friends the day you murdered Abi. And now…I’m going to kill you…like I’ve always wanted to.”

Nigreos cocked an eyebrow. “Confident, are you? Well, so be it.

“Devare!”

“Perkari!”

At the shouts of the two men, dark magic and wind magic collided and everything went dark. As the world morphed and reshaped itself once again, Ryokumo suddenly found himself standing in a bedroom, staring out the window at the glowing city lights of Erika far below. He frowned, blinking a few times to clear his hazy sight, before turning and looking over his shoulder. The bedroom seemed familiar to him, yet he couldn’t quite place it. It was certainly luxurious, with a giant bed surrounded by dark red curtains. Expensive looking swords lined the walls, displayed like trophies.

Where am I? he wondered.

“You don’t remember, do you?”

Ryokumo exhaled sharply, spinning on his heel and scanning the room for any sign of the woman who had spoken. Yet, he still found himself alone.

“Who are you?” he called back. “Where am I?”

“You don’t remember? How can you forget me—of all people, Kumo?!”

The furious scream caused his knees to weaken, so he frantically grabbed onto the windowsill to steady himself. The voice sounded like it was echoing in his mind. It was familiar and he knew he should have recognized her voice instantly, yet no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t remember who was talking to him.

“Why?” She sounded like she was crying now. “I thought you said you’d never forget me! Yet now, you’ve been going on like I never existed! Please, Kumo! Remember me! Please don’t forget me! I don’t want to vanish! I don’t want to fade into nothingness! It’s me! It’s ‘ ‘!”

He knew she must have spoken her name, yet he couldn’t hear what she said.

“I’m right in front of you! I’m touching you! Why can’t you just acknowledge me?!”

There was nobody standing in front of him nor was he being touched by anyone. He felt like he was going crazy and her desperate pleas to remember her weren’t helping.

“I’m sorry…” he whispered. “But I don’t know who you are.”

As abruptly as it began, the room vanished and suddenly, Ryokumo’s nose was assaulted by the smell of blood and death. When he opened his eyes, he was crouched on the floor of Seiras Ka’s quarters. All at once, the memories of all three of his interactions came back to him with such force that it took all of his effort to not throw up then and there. He recalled Abi’s fury, Nigreos’s disgust, and the desperate shouts of that unknown woman.

I failed them all! I couldn’t do it! I couldn’t save Abi or Eric or whoever that woman was! Who was she?! Who was talking to me?! I should know! I can feel the emotion in my chest! That woman was important to me, but who was she?!

“Did you enjoy your trip through hell, Caeli?”

At the whispered question, Ryokumo raised his head to where Seiras was still sitting at his desk, eyeing him with excitement. For just a moment, the Master of Wind stared at him in utter bafflement, before finally coming to his senses.

“Condite!” he snarled, raising his hand in the direction of the halfling.

His body was immediately yanked back by ropes of wind, smashing him against the wall and holding his small form nearly seven feet above the ground. Ryokumo jumped to his feet and stalked toward him, forcing his anger down inside, knowing how much trouble he would get in if he lashed out at the Master any further than he already had.

“What the hell did you do to me?!” Ryokumo demanded. “What was that?!”

Yet, despite being stuck to the wall, Seiras only began to laugh as if finding the whole situation amusing. “I said I would give you a demonstration, did I not? And while I was unable to see what you saw, I can tell just from the unsettled expression on your face that it worked.”

While briefly relieved that Seiras hadn’t seen any of those visions, Ryokumo still couldn’t get past the fact that he used it on him at all.

“So you’re saying…that was your new magic?” he breathed.

The halfling nodded. “Aye. That it was. What I did was force your being to attack your being. Your deepest regrets, your greatest fears, everything that you worry about was right there for you to face. Now, I used only a fraction of its power on you, but it clearly was enough to cause the great Master of Wind to shake.”

“That…wasn’t it at its full strength?” Ryokumo uttered.

Seiras shook his head. “It was not. Imagine if it had been though. With enough force, it could drive anybody insane…even to the point that death might feel like the superior option.”

Realizing something as the Master explained himself, Ryokumo glanced over his shoulder and back at the corpses of the cats upon the table.

“Those cats…” he began, “they didn’t kill each other, did they? They clawed their own eyes out.”

“They did,” Seiras answered. “And they are but simple creatures. With as complex of emotions as we have, imagine just how far one can be tortured. Give me a few days and the Children of Reiner will tell each and every one of their little secrets.”

Ryokumo’s eyes went wide as he realized just what those children were in for.

This is horrible. This power…it’s a completely different level of twisted. It's something that would have been better off never having been learned. He clenched his teeth. I’ve done enough to Abi’s Children…and now I’m supposed to help this madman torture them with their own regrets?

I’m not sure I can do that…