Episode 32 The Four Return

“If it isn’t the Four of Victoria Island!” Ryuu gasps into the awed silence.

“Yes,” Grendel replies, flexing the ancient arm holding his staff, “we are here.” Beside him stand the spirits of the other three that had once governed Victoria Island together—Dances with Balrog, Athena Pierce, and the Dark Lord.

“We have been monitoring your movements in the living worlds,” the Dark Lord adds in his shady, little-spoken voice.

“But still!” Ayame cries, her voice echoing in the silent hall, “To think that the Four of you would show up here of all places!”

“We’re dead,” Athena Pierce replies, “where else do you expect us to hide?”

“Gr-Grandpa…” Arai murmurs, striding up to the grave figure of Grendel, “is it really you?” Arai stands awed at the spiritual embodiment of his grandfather.

“Yes, Arai,” Grendel answers in a deep, soothing voice, “it really is I.” He ruffles the light-blonde head of Arai, shaking loose crumbs onto the marble floor.

“To think, that we’d see them here,” Ryuu grunts, folding his arms as he observes the scene.

“The time is grave for a joyous meeting though,” Dances with Balrog suddenly interrupts the touching scene. All eyes avert to him as he speaks, including those of Odin and Frigg. “There is trouble afoot in the real world.”

“That’s right,” Ryuu answers, “and that’s what we also came here for. We need advice on our next course of action. So far, we’ve been searching for the Third Phoneme, but now that we’ve found her, we need to plan out our strategy from here on out. We can’t keep running forever.”

“From the way I perceive these circumstances,” Grendel says, “you are faced with separate, yet loosely connected problems: one is the threat from Lord Kimura, who seeks to take the Phoneme from you; the second, the Soul Eaters who wish to release Lilith the beast from her cage here in the Underworld.”

“But what should we do?” Kunai wonders, “We know what our problems our, but the thing is that we don’t have the force to match Lord Kimura and the Soul Eaters.”

“However, you must see that these are two different entities which you must approach accordingly,” Dances with Balrog answers, “the Soul Eaters are immortal beings; they cannot be defeated by brute force alone. The Myougun, on the other hand, is a much more massive enemy, but they are physical beings, mortals; that means that they can be defeated through strength and number alone.”

“The problem is that we don’t have enough people to defeat the Myougun,” Ryuu replies. “It’d be great if we had an entire army at our disposal, but all we have is just the few of us.”

“No,” the Dark Lord retorts, “even as we speak, a rebellion is storming and gathering strength in the Rift World. You must return there to guide them and lead the rebellion. It cannot fall apart due to lack of strong leadership.”

“An army…is gathering in the Rift World?” Yttrius cries, stunned. “But since when have the people there had the courage to stand up to Lord Kimura? What could’ve changed their minds about it all?”

“We do not know for certain,” Athena Pierce answers, “all we know for sure is that a mysterious new leader has risen from their ranks and is organizing this entire rebellion. However, this person cannot handle the army alone. That is where you must come in.”

“I understand,” Ryuu replies. “So we must go back to the Rift World…”

“The portal to the Rift World lies open already,” Odin adds unexpectedly, “You may arrive there by spirit train when you are ready.”

Ryuu turns to face Odin, looking him straight in the eye. “Very well. Thanks, Lord Odin.”

“But what about the Soul Eaters?” Arai questions, looking about the Four. “How can they be defeated?”

“As I have stated,” Dances with Balrog answers, “the Soul Eaters are immortal beings bred by Lilith herself. They will not be destroyed easily in the way mortals die. However, through our long hours of research, we believe we have found their weakness at last.”

“Their weakness?” Ivy murmurs, clutching a trembling hand to her mouth. Kunai, meanwhile, quivers as well, as he shuts his eyes tightly and trembles, his head pounding once more.

“Kunai, are you sure you’re all right?” Ayame murmurs worriedly.

“I-I’m fine,” Kunai stutters, “don’t worry about me.”

“The Soul Eaters are made up of a composite core soul that belongs to them only,” Dances with Balrog continues, “I believe they have showed this form to you numerous times. However, in a method very similar to the Paradoxes, they can devour souls, not only shattering them, but absorbing their special powers as well. They operate in a manner very similar to vampires.”

“When a Soul Eater is struck by a fatal blow,” the Dark Lord continues, “he replaces his own soul, which should then be slain, with a separate soul that he had previously eaten, thus achieving immortality. That is why they must constantly hunt for souls to devour; otherwise, they may become mortal.”

“That being said,” Athena Pierce says, “if they should run out of souls to use as their scapegoats, they may be killed like any ordinary mortal. However, to do that we must forcibly part them with their abundance of souls first.”

“But how can we do that?” Ayame wonders, “If they’re constantly eating new souls, how can we hope that we’ll be lucky enough to meet them just when they run out of gas?”

“We do not expect that kind of luck or miracle to occur,” Grendel answers, “No. We must therefore search for another method to coercively rip their own real souls away from the ones they feed upon. Can you think of any such thing that may allow you to do that?”

Ryuu’s eyes suddenly widen in realization. “Ah! You can’t mean…”

“That is correct,” the Dark Lord replies, “we are referring to the Soul Potions, a commodity invented by the Myougun themselves. By drinking a Soul Potion, you will be able to transform into a Paradox long enough to defeat them.”

“That’s impossible though!” Ryuu cries, “We have absolutely none in our disposal, and even if we did, it’d still be impossible! Each Soul Eater has to be composed of dozens of souls! With one Soul Potion we’ll only be able to stay in Paradox form long enough to strike one soul away, if we’re lucky!”

“That is why it will take extraordinary strength to defeat the Soul Eaters,” Grendel replies. “Thus far, we have been unable to contrive a more sophisticated method to defeating the Soul Eaters. However, even so, you must take the chance.”

“And where the hell are we gonna find such an abundant supply of Soul Potions?” Ryuu growls.

“Unfortunately your long time away from Victoria Island has deprived you of news of its happenings,” Athena Pierce retorts, “for, you see, since you have been gone, Haven has been rebuilt and is now manufacturing Soul Potions, along with Paradoxes.”

“Are you serious?!” Ayame cries, “So, then…”

“To defeat the Soul Eaters, you must break into Haven and raid their supplies of Soul Potions, taking enough to defeat all three,” Dances with Balrog finishes for Ayame.

“Doesn’t seem too hard!” Arai replies cheerfully.

“Easy for you to say,” Ryuu growls irritably, “since you don’t have to lift a finger.”

“Hey!” Arai cries, feigning anger, “For your information, I am plagued with a very debilitating handicap! It’s called death!”

“I wouldn’t mind helping out either,” Yttrius smiles, “but unfortunately, I’m dead.”

“Well,” Ryuu says aloud suddenly, in a decisive tone, “if that’s your counsel, then we’ll take it from here. We’ll start getting ready to leave for the Rift World soon.”

“Hold on,” Grendel interrupts, “there is one more thing you must know before you go.”

“What is it?” Ryuu mutters, hesitating on his way out of the hall.

“Since Lord Kimura has begun moving forward with his plans, all of the portals to each world have been broken open in some form or another,” Grendel replies, “We ask that you please seal them again, at least for the time being. This way, Lilith stands no chance of escaping into each world and wreaking havoc.”

“I understand,” Ryuu answers.

“But how do we do that?” Ayame wonders.

“Unfortunately,” Athena Pierce answers, “we do not know how. Hopefully you may find a way to close each portal so as to prevent the possibility of Lilith roaming about the four worlds.”

“Ahh!” Kunai yells, groaning in pain. He falls to his knees, blood spewing from his reopened wounds. He clutches his head, screaming in protest at the pain.

“His headaches are back!” Ivy cries desperately. “Kunai! What’s wrong?”

Ryuu, Ayame, and Yttrius rush to Kunai’s side, alarmed. Yttrius bends over Kunai, observing him gently. He snaps his fingers, trying to draw Kunai into maintaining consciousness. “Kunai! Listen to me, do you hear me?”

A loud explosion suddenly sounds from outside, rocking the very marble floor of the palace. The entire group stumbles, as Odin and Frigg both leap from their thrones, alarmed.

“What in the world is going on out there?” Odin cries in an uproar.

Arai dashes over to the large, oaken doors thrown open to the sunlight outside. However, as Arai observes the scene outside, the daylight suddenly darkens considerably, giving way to black clouds and fumes of fire dancing about.

“This is bad!” Arai shouts, wobbling about as the floor continues to quake.

“Well? What causes my country to quake so?” Odin shouts, hobbling over to join Arai by the door.

“Ragnarok…” Arai mutters slowly, “is in flames!”

“What?!” Ryuu, Ayame, Yttrius, and Ivy cry simultaneously.

As a fork of lightning flashes across the sky and shakes debris loose from the ceiling, a dark, cloaked figure suddenly appears from out of the darkness, walking steadily towards the hall of Gladsheim.

As this new figure approaches, he glances up, revealing a pair of dark, narrowed eyes. Across his cheek runs a lengthy scar, blood red.

From Ryuu’s shoulder, Otis quivers slightly with a mixture of fear and intimidation from this strange new arrival. He hides, burying his face in the cleft between Ryuu’s jawbone and his neck. “That…that gorilla looks pretty scary!”

“Uncle!” Arai cries in awkward surprise. “What are you doing here?”

“I told you not to call me ‘Uncle’ anymore!” the old man barks as he arrives at the door, flashes and bolts of both lightning and fire illuminating the sky behind him, “You are to call me Azuma!”

Next Time: Episode 33 The Dead Smith and the Flames of Hell

Otis: Yo! Next chapter, lots of dramatic stuff happens!

Arai: Will there be cookies?

Otis: No! Anyway, who’s this new guy calling himself Azuma? Is he friend or foe? And just who do these Soul Eater gorilla guys think they are?! They have no right to blow up stuff!

Episode 33 The Dead Smith and the Flames of Hell coming soon!
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Before anyone asks, no, he is not Arai’s actual ‘uncle.’ The same way if I called a random Chinese guy ‘uncle’ on the street. And yes, Otis finally did a proper preview. XD And what’s with me putting the notes on the bottom this time? Meh. o_O