Episode 21 Missing Pieces

High over the snowy hills of El Nath, the sun gleams weakly underneath a shade of swirling, gray clouds. In the sky, several large shadows temporarily block out the sun, causing several passersby on the avenues of El Nath to stare up into the sky perplexedly.

“Hang tight! We’re about to land!” Arai cries out loud as he, Kunai, and Ivy turn their hang gliders and begin to circle, flying lower and lower towards an empty field nearby town.

Finally, the three of them touch down on the ground, taking off their hang gliders and staring about them. Arai sighs, staring off into the distance as he absentmindedly chews on a cookie. “Well! We’re here in Ossyria at last.”

“Right,” Kunai replies, “now all we’ve gotta do is talk to Alcaster about my eye and buy some fuel so we can head back out and find Ryuu.”

“I hope Ryuu’s okay, and nothing too bad has happened to him,” Ivy mutters worriedly.

“I’m sure Ryuu is fine, wherever he is,” Arai replies cheerfully. He turns and begins walking down a slippery dirt path heading straight into town. Arai waves his arm after Kunai and Ivy, signaling for them to follow.

Kunai and Ivy follow him reluctantly, making their way into town. Ivy stares around town, gazing in awe at the snowy buildings and hills completely covered with snow. She shivers, drawing slightly closer to Kunai. “I’m cold…”

Kunai blushes momentarily, staring at Ivy lost for words as she rests her head on his shoulder.

Arai silently walks slowly forward just ahead of them, his footsteps crunching in the snow. Suddenly he stops just in front of a small cabin, as an old windmill creaks slowly in the soft valley breeze.

Arai walks up to the door, knocking on it three times. He waits for several moments, but no one opens the door. Arai peers nervously at the windows of the cabin, but they are curtained closed.

“Hm…that’s strange, where could Alcaster be? He doesn’t usually leave the house,” Arai mutters to himself.

“Are you guys looking for Alcaster?” a man suddenly asks as he passes by.

“Yes, would you happen to know where he is?” Arai asks, turning to face the man.

The man shrugs, staring at the three of them. “You three don’t come from around here, do you? The Myougun took Alcaster away a long time ago. They say he’s being held captive in Sanctum nowadays.”

“Sanctum…?” Arai cries out in surprise. “Why would they take him there?”

“I dunno, I suppose it’s all the campaigning he did against the Myougun, plus all he knows about those Paradox things. Look, I don’t know personally what the grudge is they have against him, all I know is he’s gone,” the man answers hurriedly.

“I see…” Arai mutters to himself. “This is quite bad.”

The man nods nervously, then proceeds to walk off in the snow, his footsteps a soft crunching as he moves further and further away.

Ivy turns to Kunai and Arai, puzzled. “What’s Sanctum? And what does it mean if he’s been taken there?”

Kunai shrugs, staring at Ivy and glancing quickly at Arai. “I don’t know. All I’ve heard is that…”

“Sanctum is another of the Myougun’s bases that they’ve set up in Ossyria. It is essentially a prison for all that oppose the Myougun or are captured by the Myougun,” Arai finishes.

“But isn’t it located all the way down in Aqua Road?” Kunai asks, turning to Arai.

Arai nods. “Yes, it is. And in the Joukai we’ve heard all sorts of rumors regarding it. None of the Joukai actually managed to venture into Sanctum, nor escape it. We lost four of our best in Sanctum.”

“What kind of rumors?” Ivy asks Arai.

“Horrible ones,” Arai replies seriously, “rumors like there are all types of sea Paradoxes hidden in there. And also a rumor that a huge leviathan guards the sea near Sanctum, consuming all who dare to come near.”

“That’s horrible…” Ivy murmurs to herself.

“Well!” Arai cries out loud suddenly, clapping his hands together. “If we’re gonna go down into Sanctum, then we’d better get going, no use wondering what kind of horrible things await us down there.”

“But what about Ryuu? Aren’t we gonna go save him?” Ivy asks.

Arai shrugs, staring at Ivy silently for a moment. “Ryuu can take care of himself. Besides, the Myougun possess powerful radars down there. We might be able to use them to track him down exactly. It’ll save us a lot of time once we do go looking for him.”

“I see,” Kunai replies, “then I suppose we’d better hurry up and get to Sanctum then.”

Ryuu stares up into the scarred face of his opponent. The robed figure stands in front of him, his face unmasked, revealing a mat of dark, unkempt hair, reaching down to his eyes. His eyes are crimson red, and embedded within the right eye are thirteen pupils black as the night sky.

“What…the hell are you?” Ryuu chokes, taking several steps back as the man stares down at him.

“Uchida Ryuu,” he smirks, taking several steps forward to close the space between them. “I’ve heard so many rumors of you from those that work for me. Hidden between their mutterings of hatred for you, I’ve withdrawn nothing but good rumors of you.”

Ryuu slowly reaches for the sword at his side, grasping the hilt of it and slowly drawing it from its sheathe. The man draws his own sword much quicker, as a host of strange lights engulf him.

Ryuu stares perplexed, in shock as he narrows his eyes, staring at the different lights. “Haste, Booster, Meditation, Invincible, Bless, Rage, Hyper Body, Focus…”

“Heh…have you figured out my true power yet?” the man smirks at the shock on Ryuu’s face. He immediately strikes, forcing Ryuu to immediately raise his sword, just barely blocking the blow.

The man swings again, causing Ryuu to flip and take several steps backwards to avoid the blow. Ryuu clenches his teeth, glaring at the man before him. His sword bursts into a fiery glare immediately, and he swings it violently, sending a shockwave and fire towards the man.

The man simply raises a hand, and a barricade of ice suddenly flies into the air, meeting the burst of flame and canceling each other out.

Ryuu opens his mouth wide in shock, staring at the man before him. “How can one person be so powerful…”

Kunai, Arai, and Ivy stand at the edge of a long, winding snowy path. In the distance, the path can be seen leading back up into El Nath. Before them, the path ends in a long, wide bank, at the foot of a large body of slushy water.

“It looks like when Orbis collapsed the water level rose significantly,” Arai mutters, staring at the pool of slush before them. “And what with the snow down here in the valley, it seems like the water became quite slushy at this side of the water.”

“So Orbis is down there now?” Kunai whispers, staring down into the depths of the water.

Arai nods, equipping one of the three oxygen tanks lying by their sides on his back. He instructs the other two to do the same. Arai places the mask up to his mouth, breathing in the oxygen. “We only have a limited supply of oxygen, so we’ve got to limit the time we spend underwater. At most we’ve got three hours.”

“Right,” Kunai replies, breathing into his mask as well. He slowly leads the way, wading into the midst of the water, shivering in the coldness of it.

Arai and Ivy quickly follow, and the three of them hurriedly dive into the freezing water, glaring into the lightless world below.

Ryuu draws a circle with the tip of his sword in the air, temporarily creating a glowing, light blue magic circle. The shards of light in front of him disappear suddenly as the man shatters the shield with one blow of his sword.

The man then lunges forward, thrusting his sword towards Ryuu. He dodges the blade agilely, but is knocked against the wall, pinned up under the shoulder by the sword.

The man stalks slowly up to Ryuu, his footsteps echoing in the emptiness of the hallway. The man’s glowing, crimson eyes suddenly stray up to a small screen built into the wall alongside the hallway, displaying a dark, swirling current of water.

“Hm…you are lucky at this hour, Ryuu,” the man whispers to Ryuu, but he merely grunts and slowly slips into unconsciousness. The man withdraws his sword from under Ryuu’s shoulder, letting him fall to the ground.

The man then snaps his fingers, and two guards suddenly appear on either side of him with a flash of white smoke in the air. “Guards,” the man mutters, “take him to a prison cell. I’ll deal with him myself later. We’ve got some guests to greet.”

The two guards nod, shouting, “Yes, Master!” at once, and then proceed to lift Ryuu off of the ground. Carrying Ryuu, the two guards then disappear with another puff of smoke, leaving their master behind.

The man then stares into the television screen, relaying images of Kunai, Arai, and Ivy swimming through the dark, swift currents underneath the ocean surface. “Hm…visitors. And they bring the Second Phoneme as well…how convenient.”

Several schools of fish swim by overhead as Kunai momentarily stares up, astonished by the vibrant colors of their scales. He looks down as Arai signals for them to keep moving.

Ahead of Kunai and Ivy, Arai slowly swims forward, diving lower and lower towards the ocean floor. By Kunai’s side, Ivy suddenly gasps out loud, causing the other two to turn towards her.

Ivy points ahead, at the large, gleaming ruins of Orbis, with many large pieces of rubble surrounding it. Many large fishes swim in and out of the empty buildings, while large growths of seaweed, kelp, and coral consumes the entire town, growing around, in, and out of buildings.

Lying toppled over the ruined buildings of Orbis is the remains of a large stone tower, fallen on its side, the uppermost floors of it lying on top of most of the town’s ruins.

“Orbis…” Ivy mutters, staring at the vivid scene on the ocean floor below.

Arai shakes his head, pointing forward, where a large dome is sitting on the floor of the ocean. A small hatch is located at the top of the dome, lying shut tight.

“Arai! Behind you!” Kunai cries, pointing behind him.

Arai turns abruptly, raising his Dark Ritual in surprise as a large school of fishlike Paradox suddenly swim forward, propelling themselves forward with large, dark, claw-like fins.

Arai waves his staff silently, and the fish Paradox sink to the ocean floor suddenly, contained in several large pillars of ice. Arai quickly signals for the two of them to keep moving.

As Kunai, Arai, and Ivy swim toward the hatch at the very top of the dome, Kunai glances behind him as many large bubbles suddenly pop up in the water. He turns as a large, hulking figure passes by swiftly, creating a large rift in the current as it passes through.

Arai reaches forward and quickly pulls Kunai out of the way, directing him towards the hatch on top of the dome, where Ivy is already waiting.

Kunai turns back to the hatch, pulling at the handle of it. “No good,” he murmurs, “it’s not budging.”

Arai shakes his head, raising his Dark Ritual and tapping the surface of the hatch with the butt of his staff. He turns to Ivy and points at her Thorns, signaling for her to do the same. Ivy nods in understanding, and together, the both of them slam the butts of their staffs into the hatch simultaneously, causing it to pop open quickly.

The three of them, Kunai, Arai, and Ivy quickly leap into the wide, brightly lit hallway below, along with a large splash of water. Arai quickly reseals the hatch, slamming it back in place.

Ivy stares around nervously. “So we’re in Sanctum now, right?”

“Right,” Arai mutters, glancing around. “Looks like we’ve entered it all right, I think we’re on the topmost floor…”

“This can’t be where they keep the prisoners,” Kunai adds, staring around at the large, open space. He stares out through the windows in the walls, looking back out into the ocean outside. “This looks more like where the Myougun leaders would call their quarters.”

“You’re right as well, Kunai,” Arai mutters, raising a chocolate chip cookie to his mouth. He bites into it serenely, staring about them. “The prisoners are most likely at the bottom floor of this complex then.”

Arai suddenly narrows his eyes as a soft tapping rises into the air. He turns suddenly and launches his cookie forward, hitting an approaching guard on the forehead.

The guard cries out in surprise, reaching for the gun holstered at his side right away. Kunai lunges forward, throwing a Steely into the air and deflecting it off the guard’s hand.

The guard gives another shout of surprise as Arai dashes forward, a jolt of concentrated electricity flaring in his right hand. He holds up the guard by the collar with his left, while he places his charged right hand dangerously close to the guard’s neck.

“We’re intruders,” Arai says with a serious, yet mischievous grin, “and we need information. Where is the one named Alcaster being kept in this complex?”

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” the guard cries, shivering in Arai’s hands.

Arai shakes his head, furrowing his eyebrows. His eyes quickly flash over to his right hand, where the electrical current is still buzzing noisily. “Do you really want to test my patience?”

“O-Okay! I don’t know where he’s being kept specifically, but all the prisoners are kept in the bottom floor! And only us guards are the only ones with the keys into the prison cells,” the guard mumbles.

“Thank-you!” Arai smiles pleasantly, reaching forward with his right hand and shocking the guard on the side of the neck, letting him fall to the ground unconscious. Arai quickly reaches down and pulls out a set of keys from the guard’s pockets, twirling them in his hands.

“Since we forced the hatch open, I wouldn’t be surprised if an alert was raised. The rest of the guard should be on their way to see what’s wrong soon enough,” Arai says, still smiling in a sickly way. “So we’d better get going.”

Arai quickly leads the way down the hallway, as Kunai and Ivy sprint to keep up with him. As Kunai runs, following Arai, he stares at the back of his heels, thinking for a moment. ‘Arai may have a warm, cheerful exterior, but inside he’s really just like what the rest of the Joukai must’ve been like: mercenaries trained to do their job at all costs.’

“Kill the Joukai member,” the man with the crimson eyes says in a dark, upstairs security room. He watches through television screens as Arai, Kunai, and Ivy sprint down the bright, upstairs hallway towards the elevators at the end of the hallway.

“Leave the other two alive, and bring them to me,” he finishes, replacing the hood over his head once more, shrouding his face again in darkness.

Behind him, a dark-haired man with wavy jet-black hair nods. He strings the Dark Arund lying by his side with an arrow. “Yes, Master,” he replies in a deep, menacing voice.