‘Good, the real Jason is still in there somewhere,’ Sam let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, his vermillion eyes darted around, searching for the floating black threads. Unfortunately, he could not see even a hint of it and to make things worse, his left arm could barely feel anything. Sam grimaced, wondering whether he was getting used to the pain or was gradually losing his entire arm. Either way, he needed to find a way to incapacitate Jason(?) without killing him.
“Concocting another scheme?” the prince exclaimed after wiping the black tar from his mouth, “You should realize by now that everything you planned will only end in naught.”
“Sorry for being so persistent then,” Sam said defiantly. Shortly after, he saw a grin appear across Jason’s(?) face and as a response, the prince pointed the rapier at him. ‘Is he conjuring those rings again?’ Sam quietly assumed. However, much to his surprise, Jason(?) drew a cross in the air instead of a circle.
“What-?” before Sam could finish his sentence, he felt an invisible force pulling him downward. With his jaw clenched, Sam drove his katana to the ground to prevent himself from falling to his knees. ‘What is this technique?’ He breathed. It felt like an anchor was tied to his body and the worst thing was the pain he thought he had adapted to was amplified by the heavy pressure.
He was not sure if he could remain on his feet until the oppressive sensation came to a sudden stop, followed by Jason(?) coughing violently and cursing, “Damn you, you little brat! You just have to spoil the fun!”
Seeing an opportunity to strike, Sam straightened himself and quickly bolted toward his opponent. He swung his sword, aiming at the prince’s right arm but the latter quickly lifted his rapier, causing both blades to collide.
“Impressive. Even with only one hand, you can still deliver a deadly blow,” Jason(?) complimented.
“Thanks. I can even do this,” said Sam before smashing his forehead against Jason’s(?) nose. Aside from a throbbing headache, he also heard a loud crack accompanied by a scream. The pressure on his katana lightened which meant the prince backed away from him.
‘Why in the world did I do that?’ He mouthed. As his vision gradually returned to normal, he saw Jason(?) grasping his crooked nose.
“That was…pretty good,” the prince responded before snapping his nose back into place, “But to risk your own well-being for the sake of your friends – no wonder the Order took a great interest in you.”
Instead of responding to Jason’s(?) remark, Sam swung his blade, aiming at his foe’s sword arm. However, the prince quickly retracted his hand before the katana could even touch his stained sleeve. “A valiant effort,” Jason(?) commented while at the same time, the tip of his rapier emitted an orange glow.
“Oh no you don’t,” Sam snarled before instinctively bringing his katana down, burying the tip of the rapier into the soil. But he soon found out it was a bad idea as the ground beneath his feet exploded, sending both him and Jason(?) flying in the opposite direction.
“UGH!” cried Sam as he crashed on his back. Thankfully, there were no burning limbs nor a deafening ringing in his ears, though his body still ached from the rough landing. “Damn it, why does he like to blow stuff up? Is he trying to be the second Daniel Nastur or something?” he grumbled. Sitting himself up, Sam turned his gaze forward to a small crater created by the previous explosion. On the other side was Jason(?) who was lying flat on his face. ‘Crap, did I…did I kill him?’ Sam mouthed concerningly, but his worries vanished when he saw the prince’s arms twitching.
With the support of his arms, Jason(?) rose to his feet with a stone debris sticking out of his left cheek. “Did you do it on purpose or was it just pure instinct?” said the prince, unfazed by his injury. He then pulled the small rock out and the black veins instantly covered the gaping hole.
‘That blasted tar thing again,’ Sam murmured. If he continued at this rate, there would be no doubt in his mind that Jason would have the upper hand. ‘How? How do I disarm him?’ he thought until he was struck by a flash of inspiration. “I could use that, but I need to time it right.”
“People might get the wrong idea if you keep talking to yourself,” Jason(?) chided as he picked up his rapier.
“What other people think about me is not my concern,” Sam lashed back before lifting himself off the ground.
“That’s what they always say and the next day, they succumbed to words spoken with cruel intentions and fetid ignorance.” After finishing his sentence, Jason(?) sprinted toward the crater and leaped across it without any hint of hesitation.
Sam could feel his entire body tense up as soon as Jason’s(?) feet reached the other side, but nevertheless, he raised his katana with his plan in mind.
“Good, keep that fighting spirit alive,” said Jason(?) before rushing toward his enemy.
Sam swiftly deflected the incoming rapier; the Opal Sun Prince however exchanged the Core Blade to his right hand and swung his blade, nearly taking out his opponent’s right eye. “Shit!” the prince spouted before taking a few steps back with a frustrated expression.
“Ambidextrous,” Sam calmly whispered. Then he recalled what Tim, the Order’s blacksmith mentioned about Jason’s blade: a sword that can be balanced on one finger. Unfortunately, before he could finish his thought, the prince had regained his composure and was making his approach. Sam quickly positioned his sword in front of his face but Jason’s(?) rapier had already embedded itself into his left shoulder.
“ARGH!” bellowed Sam, causing Jason to snicker.
“If you keep holding back, boy, you will lose more than your arm.”
“Proposal…accepted.”
Jason(?) gasped as the blade of his rapier began steaming before gradually turning bright red. The prince took a closer look at the end of his sword and realized his adversary’s shoulder was as translucent as a veil. “Ah!” Jason hissed as the handle of his weapon became too hot to bear, forcing him to drop it.
“Got you,” said Sam, seizing the opportunity to smack the prince in his right temple with the pommel of his katana. He felt his entire arm rattled from the impact, but more importantly, Jason(?) was still on his feet; his gaze pointed downward.
“I wonder,” the prince began to speak, his voice slightly raspy, “What is it you’re trying to achieve after hitting me in the head?”
“Ugh!” Sam grunted after Jason grabbed his left wrist. His eyes widened as the black tar on the prince’s hand spread unto his own hand, showing no signs of stopping. The veins climbed up to his neck and the only thing he felt was a familiar icy sensation akin to the one he experienced in his nightmare. His eyes darted upward, fixated on the reddened sky which started to melt and swirl around like a vortex.
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‘Is this it? Is this where he will meet his end? Felled by an enemy wearing the face of his friend?’
Just as his eyes were about to close, the sky returned to its clear, blue state and his nose caught a whiff of something sweet in the air. He immediately lowered his gaze and the first thing he saw were rows of pine trees similar to the ones he saw in the Coniferous Forest. More importantly, Jason was nowhere to be found along with the black veins that enveloped his body. Furthermore, the wounds on his body were completely gone – and his left arm was also unscathed.
“An illusion…no, this doesn’t feel like an illusion,” said Sam as he stretched his fingers.
“Not quite,” replied a familiar voice.
Sam spun around and was greeted by the sight of the Opal Sun prince himself. But he noticed something vastly different about him – his smirking face and his tangerine-colored eyes; there were no signs of the sinister black veins. However, Sam could not help himself from being suspicious of the man in front of him.
“You…are you the real Jason or…?” Sam stammered, expecting the prince to burst out laughing or at least, gave him a snide remark.
“Don’t be alarmed, and to answer your question, yes, I am the one and only Jason Helians,” the prince said sternly. “My sister and Theo, did you find them?”
“We did, and they are safe.”
“Then, we are truly in your debt,” the prince retorted. “My only regret is for us to meet in such dire circumstances.”
“Dire circumstances? Well, that is one way to describe it,” said Sam, nodding his head. “So, what is this place anyway? It looked like the Forest of the Bandit Lord but it somehow feels much more…peaceful.”
“This place is one of the realms that exist alongside the Mortal and Phantasmal Realms – the Realm of the Subconscious, the physical manifestation of humanity’s psyche.”
“Humanity’s psyche? How is that even possible?”
“I wish I could tell you, but sadly, we haven’t fully grasped the total understanding of how the Cataclysm affected the fabric of reality. All we know is that this realm, like its two brothers, was created soon after the meteor fall.”
Before Sam could say anything in return, his eyes met with Jason’s intense glare. The prince then crossed his arms together and said, “The real question is how you got here in the first place. There are only two ways you can enter this realm and judging from your expression, I doubt you were sent here voluntarily.”
“I’m not quite sure how to explain it but a few minutes ago, I was…I was fighting you. Well, not you…I mean, the person who, you know? And the next thing I realized, I was here.”
“Hm, interesting,” replied Jason, bobbing his head up and down, “Perhaps your presence here is not a mere coincidence after all.”
“Um, what is that supposed to mean?” Sam asked worriedly. All of sudden, the ground beneath his feet started to tremble, followed by dark clouds appearing out of nowhere, blocking the sunlight from reaching the forest floor. Moreover, he felt a cold breeze brush against the nape of his neck and the sensation lingered until the sky cleared once again.
“It seems we’re running out of time,” Jason sighed, “Come, follow me.”
“Where are we going?”
“Meeting the root of our problems.”
||| THE END OF THE PATH OF THE INFERNO |||
***
||| THE PATH OF THE DELUGE: LUCY |||
Lucy anxiously chewed on the insides of her cheek as she observed Theo tending to her brother. Thankfully, she did not see any serious wounds on his body, but that was the least of her worries. The fight just now – it was undoubtedly the bloodlust taking over and it was definitely getting worse. “Is there really no way to cure him?” Lucy murmured. She had spent a considerable amount of time scrutinizing every available medical journal but each one always said that the condition was incurable.
“Wha-!” Lucy gasped after she felt something grabbing her right shoulder.
“Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” Aria apologized.
“No, no, it’s alright. I was…never mind,” Lucy quickly took a deep breath to calm herself down, “How is he?”
“Your brother is going to be fine. He was just exhausted from his previous battle,” the princess explained. However, the tiny smile on her face soon disappeared, replaced with a concerned expression. “Lucy, what happened earlier…I could tell Rupert wasn’t his usual cheerful self.”
Lucy exhaled; she was really hoping that neither Aria nor Theo would notice her brother’s erratic behavior. With the princess’s scrutinizing gaze, all she could do was tell her the truth. “My family, the Nightingales has this…hereditary illness. It caused an abnormal craving for battle or bloodlust, and if not satiated, he or she will enter a temporary state of frenzy, losing the ability to differentiate between friends and foes.”
“And this illness, how long has it been in your family?”
“Since the dawn of the Cataclysm, or so I was told. My father had it, but it was not as severe as this – it’s not supposed to be as severe as this.”
“Not supposed?”
“Often times the one who is afflicted by this ailment can still control their urge, but from what I read, physical or psychological trauma can amplify the bloodlust.”
“And it is incurable?” Aria added before his right index finger twirled with her hair. “Have you gone to the Archive yet?”
Lucy shook her head right and left and answered, “I didn’t, but I did ask Iris to search for anything related to Rupert’s condition. All she could find so far were the names of those affected by the bloodlust.”
“I see,” the princess muttered, “Then, how about the Grand Library?”
Lucy frowned at Aria, thinking the latter was playing a joke on her. “The Grand Library, you say? Requesting access to that place takes 5 to 10 years. Even then, the Librarians will only give us one hour to settle our affairs. I don’t know about you but that policy of theirs sucks ass, no offense.”
“None was taken,” Aria giggled, “You can’t really blame them though. Most of the books and manuscripts stored there are quite fragile. However, if you are still interested, then I might be able to get you inside. Theoretically.”
“Theoretically?”
“During my assignment at the Grand Library, I was well-acquainted with one of the Librarians, and among her brethren, she is what I would say, more open-minded to visitors.”
Lucy grimaced. She had to admit, it was a pretty good preposition – perhaps too good. “It is a generous offer but such an offer must have a price.”
“No price, I promise,” Aria retorted, “Well, technically you have already paid for it by saving my life. There is, however, one condition.”
“Condition? You’re sounding more and more like Marie,” Lucy sighed, “Sure, let’s hear it then.”
“Recently, there has been this strange tension among the Librarians, so if I were you, I’d be extremely careful about divulging my personal information to those lots. Compared to their leader, the Librarians are quite…superstitious, especially if it involves anything related to the Cataclysm.”
Lucy glowered at the ground, wondering what the princess was alluding to. Then, it hit her. “Sam,” she blurted out and her speculation was confirmed as soon as she saw Aria nodding her head. “Are you telling me the Librarians will treat him with hostility? Like those groups of fledglings who used to pick on him?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“That’s just perfect,” Lucy exhaled, “But, thank you for the heads up. I’ll make sure to keep your advice in mind.”
“OW!!” Rupert’s scream echoed throughout the forest and Lucy could finally loosen up her shoulders. However, the stunts her brother pulled on the Subsumers appeared before his eyes, causing her to ball her fists.
“Um, Lucy?” said Aria, “A-Are you okay?”
“Oh, I’m fine. If you don’t mind, I just need to have a little talk with my brother – alone.”
||| THE END OF THE PATH OF DELUGE |||