Episode 14 Plunge into Darkness

Kunai snores in his sleep as he rolls over unconsciously. He wiggles his nose irritably in his sleep, then sneezes out loud. He opens his eyes wide as he sees a Cold Eye glaring down at him, its cold breath sending shivers down his neck.

Kunai’s eyes widen as he realizes the Cold Eye is in front of him. He screams out loud in surprise as he jumps backward in his sleeping bag, reaching for his Scarab.

A bright flash of flame suddenly erupts in the air next to him, as Ryuu appears and cuts down the Cold Eye with his sword easily. He turns to Kunai angrily, glaring down at him. “Shut the hell up! The Myougun are still after us if you haven’t forgotten!”

Kunai rubs his eyes sleepily, his hair ruffled from his sleep. He stares around at the small cave hidden under a cleft in the cold blue stone deep within the Ant Tunnel. Spouts of steam and geysers of water leap into the air just outside their small hidden chamber.

Ryuu glares outside through the small crack in the wall, watching the geysers leaping into the air, sending streams of foggy moisture into the already damp and clammy air.

Arai sits on a small stone nearby, while Ivy lays in a huddle of blankets, still deep asleep. He smiles at Kunai as he rises, putting on his Scarab.

“Have you two been awake all night?” Kunai asks, staring from Ryuu to Arai.

“Yeah,” Ryuu replies with a small growl. He sheathes his sword once more, placing it in its scabbard. He turns to glare at Kunai haughtily. “The Myougun are still after us, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t make such a great deal of noise this early in the morning. The smallest noise echoes loudly down here, too.”

“I’m sorry,” Kunai replies, suppressing a yawn. “But you seriously should have woken me up. I would’ve taken a shift for you, so you could get some sleep.”

“No good,” Arai replies with a smile.

Kunai turns perplexedly to him. “Huh? What do you mean ‘no good?’ You guys need your sleep and rest too, don’t you?”

“Well yeah,” Ryuu replies, staring with a blank expression at Kunai, “but not as much as you do.”

“What do you mean?” Kunai asks.

“I guess since we’re this close to the Triplicate now, it’d be stupid to not tell you. I would’ve told you sooner, but we had this and that going on, and it just kept driven out of my mind,” Ryuu replies.

Kunai raises an eyebrow, staring at Ryuu, slightly puzzled. “Huh? What are you guys talking about?”

“Well, I need to tell you what Arai told me shortly after we left Haven; what he and Ivy found out when they went to visit the plant’s library,” Ryuu answers. He turns hesitatingly to Arai.

Arai grins, smiles, and speaks up, “You see, Kunai, Ivy and I found out that of the fifteen types of Paradoxes, the Triplicates are the fourteenth most powerful. That you already know. But what we found out inside Haven is that the three Triplicates seem to be immortal to the attacks of those who still possess only one pupil. That is to say—”

“That is to say that only those who haven’t been attacked by a Paradox may hurt the Triplicates,” Kunai finishes automatically.

“Heh. Bright kid, you’ve caught on pretty fast,” Ryuu mutters, his voice still echoing slightly in the cave nonetheless.

“Yes…that’s correct, Kunai,” Arai replies as he gestures around the cave at Ryuu and Ivy, and then himself, “since we all have at least two pupils, it comes down to you as the only one who can kill the Triplicates.”

Ryuu clenches tightly the hilt of his sword, glaring at Kunai, but with a more fatherly expression. “While that may be true, we can still help you. We won’t leave you to kill the Triplicate alone. If what Arai says is completely true, then we can still hurt the Triplicates, just not kill them.”

“I see…” Kunai mutters.

“I know it’s probably ironic almost that it came down to this, after what happened down in the Cursed Sanctuary the last time…but you really are the only one of us who can do this,” Ryuu says. “It’s a hell of a lot of pressure, but I trust you, and I know you can do the job.”

Kunai glances up at Ryuu, grinning. “Thanks, Ryuu.”

Ivy suddenly shifts in her sleep, and then springs to a sitting position on the floor. She stares around at the other three, smiling amusedly to herself. “Wow, I just had the strangest dream…”

Arai glances at Ivy interestedly. “Oh really? What kind of dream?”

“It was a great one!” Ivy cries out loud eagerly. “I dreamt I was…”

Ryuu suddenly turns, gesturing for the others to follow as he steps through the cleft in the wall, back into the cold path just outside the Sanctuary Entrance. “Come on, we’ve got to get going now that everyone’s up.”

Both Kunai and Arai pack up their things right away, scurrying after Ryuu as he lights the way through the dark tunnel with his sword, holding it in attack position just in case.

“…with Kunai again in the Ferris wheel…” Ivy murmurs as the other three disappear through the hole in the wall.

Ryuu walks ahead as the leader as Kunai and Ivy walk just behind him, Arai trailing behind as the rearguard. Kunai shivers in the dense, shadowy fog in the air as they draw closer to the Sanctuary Entrance.

Ryuu quickly surveys the area, his eyes dashing around to every corner of the large, empty hallway. His sword is raised, clutched tightly in both his hands as he walks forward carefully, with caution.

“Strange…it’s a little too empty in here,” Kunai mutters, glancing around. “You’d think some Tauros might show up by now.”

“And what’s with all this fog?” Ivy whispers, shivering as the fog creeps toward her neck.

“The absence of monsters and the fog can mean only one thing…” Ryuu growls, without looking back at the two of them. “The presence of Paradoxes.”

“Draw your weapons, and be prepared for any unexpected strike,” Arai mutters, his voice echoing in the stony, eerie silence. He clenches his Dark Ritual tighter around him, wrapping the collar of his Enigmatic closer around his neck.

Finally, the four of them stop in their tracks as they approach a large, ancient door thrown slightly ajar, marked with many old runes on its surface.

“Ryuu…” Kunai whispers, his breath coming in soft gasps now, “this is it…we’re back here again already.”

Ryuu nods, inclining his head slightly to glance at Kunai. He holds his flaming sword high in the air, illuminating the runes written on the door. “Yeah. Are you scared?”

“Yeah, a little, I admit,” Kunai whispers.

Ryuu turns to Kunai, facing him completely now. “Well, I’ve got one thing to say to you.” Kunai looks up at these words, staring into the face of Ryuu, with many lines mysteriously etched in his face in the glare of the firelight. “Don’t die.”

Kunai opens his mouth slightly in surprise, then closes it and nods. “I won’t.” He then reaches out to push open the door further, but gives a gasp of surprise as a Steely flies into the air, bouncing off the stone wall and just nearly missing his hand.

“Uh oh!” Arai cries brightly, turning to stare into the large, empty hallway behind them. “We’ve got trouble!”

Ryuu draws his sword, raising it into the air and taking a fighting stance. He turns to Kunai, staring at him out of the corner of his eye, “Go in, Kunai. We’ll handle this from here.”

“A-Are you sure?” Kunai whispers, staring up at the approaching assassins, their faces covered with horribly bloodcurdling masks stained with blood.

“GO!” Ryuu yells, as the fog around them begins to materialize into dark, sickly shapes.

“Paradoxes too,” Arai mutters, holding tight to his staff. “They brought the whole party to us.”

Kunai takes one last glance at Ryuu and Arai, before ramming open the Sanctuary door and stepping inside once again into the still, cold, blue air. Ivy quickly follows behind, shivering and wrapping her arms around herself.

She suddenly places a hand on her forehead, a slightly disturbed expression on her face. Kunai turns to her in slight alarm. “Ivy! Are you all right?”

“No, it’s nothing…” Ivy mutters, turning away, “just a little headache.” She hisses faintly to herself in pain, suddenly clutching her arm, where the mark of the Triplicate has suddenly begun glowing brighter.

She suddenly stumbles and falls, tripping over herself. Kunai cries out loud, stepping forward and grabbing her to break her fall. “Ivy! What’s wrong…?”

He places his hand over her forehead worriedly. “She’s all cold…” he murmurs to herself, removing his Gaia cape and wrapping it around Ivy, as the disturbingly chilling fog begins to formulate once again around them.

Kunai suddenly glances around as the fog begins to swirl in the air, slowing taking shape. He gazes forward up at the altar, where the many graves of his family stand eerily silent.

The door suddenly crawls open, unsettlingly unexplained. Kunai turns in alarm, watching the door closely, but failing to see anything. He slowly reaches up and places a hand on his heart, which is beating madly.

“What the hell’s going on…” Kunai mutters nervously, quickly turning his head from side to side. ‘This is really starting to get weird…and I can’t see anything! I have no idea what the hell’s coming…this is bad…’

Near the door, the shadows suddenly take the form of two Humanoid Paradoxes. Kunai takes a step back in alarm, but lunges forward to meet the Paradoxes as they lunge forward as well, their lances drawn as they approach Ivy.

“Get away from her!” Kunai cries out loud, drawing a Steely and sending it flying into one of the Paradox’s wrists, causing it to drop its lance. He dashes in front of Ivy, holding out his arms as he faces the two. “I’ll never let you get her!”

He glances down at Ivy, who is lying on the floor, having slipped into unconsciousness. ‘She must be reacting to the Paradoxes…there are so many of them here…and they must be reacting to her as well. It’s true after all, they’re drawn towards her…then I’ve gotta protect her with all I got. I can’t let them get Ivy…’

The Paradox reaches out its hand, summoning its fallen lance back into its hand. The two of them stumble towards Kunai now, who draws his Steelys.

Kunai leaps into the air as one of them swings its lance, narrowly missing him by inches. Kunai flips over in the air as the other swings its lance as well, ducking to avoid a second blow. He then sends a Steely behind his back, hitting one of the Paradoxes and causing it to trip.

The other swings its lance in retaliation, narrowly missing Kunai again as he parries to the left, blocking the blow with his Scarab. Kunai’s eyes widen suddenly as both Paradoxes freeze, covered in ice.

Kunai turns to glance at the entrance, where Arai is standing cheerfully munching a cookie and leaning on his Dark Ritual. “I thought you might need some help, Kunai,” Arai announces cheerfully.

“Heh,” Kunai replies, smiling slightly. “Thanks for the help.”

Arai winks, giving Kunai the thumbs up. He turns to look behind him at the fierce battle outside. “Ryuu’s gonna catch up soon.”

At that moment, there is a loud rumble, and a large, glowing, golden magic circle appears hovering over the altar inside the sanctuary. Both Arai and Kunai turn in surprise to stare up at it.

Ivy suddenly glows with the same golden light as well, as her lifeless body floats into the air and joins to meet with the circle. The runes on it glow brightly suddenly, and a large dark shape slowly begins to emerge from the circle.

“Behold the Cursed Sanctuary Triplicate!” Ryuu’s voice growls behind the two of them, as he too gazes up at the magic circle.