• Chapter X

    Old Abandoned Omnic Mansion:
    With a disappointed sigh Advent left the conference room. Dilan was right, on one thing. Eve will not be enough to end Geist. But she can subdue him, he had thought. He walked towards his room, staring down at the end of his white and black robe. It had protected him on all of these missions, but will it protect him from what’s to come? His room was white from the floor up to the ceiling. A chandelier dropped from the center. He gazed out one of the four windows. Dusk was beginning to fall. The green clouds from afar had turned black. The blackness ended right in front of the mansion, blending with the blue sky above it. From behind the mansion, though, was red. The color of blood. Or was it the color of passion? Advent had given up on that long ago.
    “Advent,” whispered a strong voice from behind. Dilan.
    “What do you want?” demanded Advent who was still staring outside.
    “I am sorry for disrespecting you.”
    “Whatever.”
    “I am!”
    “I didn’t say you weren’t.”
    “Well,” continued Dilan. He walked closer. “Remember: we still need you to reach our goal if Xilus fails.”
    “That was random.”
    “I am just reminding you.”
    An awkward silence.
    “Listen, Advent. I understand you and Eve are close. But that cannot distract you from your true objective.”
    “Fine. I will keep that in mind.” Advent turned towards his closet. He shuddered at the black robe, still producing black smoke that just evaporated a few millimeters away from the source. “Or else we might end up seeing those again.” He remembered the men and women who wore them. Their bodies were twisted from bones protruding from them.
    “A nightmare that we were never able to get out of.”
    “Yeah.”
    “We’ve lost two of our members in that accident.”
    “We have learned from that, Dilan. No point in remembering it anymore.”
    “If that’s what you think. I’m going to hold down the fort at Mabloru.”
    With a nod, Advent let Dilan go. After a few minutes of rest, he strode to the back of the mansion. Behind the mansion was Uhilinugahn, the “other side” of the country of Rotandum. The sky was red, just as he thought. His cell phone rang. “Hello?”
    “Advent.”
    “Master.”
    “I have a mission for you.”
    “What is it?”
    “Go to Ulcer Falls in Uhilinughan and end an Impulse rebellion that is taking place there.”
    “Ulcer Falls, sir?” gulped Advent. Horrible memories of the war between the Impulse and them filled his mind. If this means protecting my other…
    “Yes Ulcer Falls. Is there a problem with that?”
    “No, sir.” Advent clicked the off button, and walked towards his horse. When will this charade end?
    The horse galloped under him as they moved through the gray sand dunes of Pain’s Pass. The black sun, the second one, hovered over them, cooling them while the desert heat warmed them. The second moon, the yellow one, hovered in the darkness that they left behind. Advent grunted a little when his phone rang again. “Hello?”
    “Advent?”
    “Rina?”
    “Advent!”
    “What do you want?”
    “Just wondering where you are. Cryon and I were going on a mission and we wondered if…”
    “Can’t.”
    “Why?” squealed Rina’s voice from the other side.
    “Impulse rebellion at Uhilinughan.”
    “That sucks.”
    “Yep. Got to go.”
    “Fine, but you better come back!”
    “Whatever,” teased Advent as he hung up. Rina always did care for her peers. Even Dilan. The blue sky was tinted with the blackness of the sun when Advent got off his horse. His phone rang again. Ugh. “Hello?”
    “Advent. Change your hair color.”
    “Why?”
    “The Impulse have some sort of leader. If they recognize you, you are doomed.” Cryon. He must have heard from Rina about Advent’s dangerous mission.
    “Right.” He naturally changed his hair color to light blue. His eyes turned gold. “Try not to attack me when I get back,” he joked. With a chuckle from one of Cryon’s replies he hung up. “Now,” he had said to himself. “Where was I?”
    A creaking sound came from the ground. Advent leaped back, his gold eyes squinted. He summoned a scythe with a dark red, pointed handle and a black blade with white streaks zigzagging. It had roman numerals, numbered from one to twelve, on it. A white body jumped out. With one jerk of his head, Advent stopped time to analyze what he I up against. It had a white body. A pointed chin and the back of its head was pointed with a black crossing taking up its blank face. A spike protruded from its neck. It seemed like it was wearing a white cloak and had spiky fingers protruding from its “sleeves”. An Altair. “What is this thing doing here? A level Alpha troop in a rebellion? How can this be?” asked Advent as he stared at the creature. He stroke at his long blue hair, which threatened to cover one of his eyes. He walked up to it, sliced at it, and jumped back as soon as black pus came spewing out. Time reverted back to normal.
    “Death!” croaked a hollow voice. Ten wraith-like bodies emerged from the orange water of the Ulcer River. The few trees gave birth to Arbol. They creaked around towards Advent.
    “What the hell?” asked Advent. A shot fired. Advent rolled out of the way, letting the ground below him melt. “Ungh. What was that?” A purple humanoid, pulsating as it crept forward, reloaded its crossbow. A Seeker, another level Alpha creature, known for its loyalty. With one pointed finger on the trigger, and the other pointed hand on the bottom, it fired. Flames shot forward. Advent fell backwards, his cloak a little charred from the blast. “Damn!” He pointed the tip of the handle of the scythe to the purple creature, and clicked a button. A thunderous noise sounded, followed by smoke. The Seeker’s neck was hollow. It fell, bleeding black blood from its wound.
    “Surrender!” cried another voice. An Arbol. The reddish trees crept forward, stabbing the sandy floor with their pointy feet. With a smirk, Advent shot one tree down. He threw the scythe at another, which made a collision. Advent zoomed towards the tree, slicing through it with his body. He brushed off dust from his blue hair. A ghostly creature appeared before him. It had a golden body, black fingers, and pointed teeth, all of them yellow. He stopped time briefly, just for movement, and went to the backside of the ghost. Thinking that he had an advantage, Advent continued time. Black spikes came out of the back of the creature, nearly impaling Advent. He rolled backwards, cursing as he hit a rock, and got up. A slithering movement from underground tripped him. The ghost, or the Poltergeist, started to slash and punch Advent. Staggering from these blows, Advent sliced off one of its hands. Black blood burned through his sleeves. He stabbed the Poltergeist, jumped back, and parried a slice from an Arbol. Finishing it off, he continued to the next. One by one they fell. Then more Seekers appeared, making a circle around him. He shot them down, rolling from side to side. Hitting his back on rocks around him. The floor was blackened with the creatures’ blood by the time he was done. Advent dismissed his scythe, cursed at the sight of his ripped robe, and limped to his horse. The slithering feeling came back.
    “Damn!” he muttered as he summoned his weapon again. The ground rumbled as a serpent with red scales flew from below. “Don’t fail me now, Singularity.” How stupid he had felt, talking to his sword. And yet, it seemed to speak back to him. The serpent shifted its cold, obsidian-like eyes to Advent. The two rushed at each other and began their deadly combat.

    “G-Geist?” I cried. I stared at him. He was like a stain of dust on the middle of an immaculate robe.
    “He seems to be incapacitated,” replied Spades, who knelt next to Geist’s cold body.
    “So he’s not dead?” I stared at him even more. One hand was slowly growing back. Another one was missing. The right side of his robe was flatter than the other side, which was slowly lifting on top of the slowly regenerating leg.
    “No.” Even though he was threatening to kill me, Geist had my pity. He was strong. Somebody else was…stronger.
    “There you are!” said a chilling, female voice. The desks and chairs in the room warped, as if being stretched as a girl walked towards us. Towards Geist. She had black and purple hair, which covered half of her face. Her robe was black with purple stripes. One of the Atomicos, thought I. “You two! Get out of the way.”
    “Are you with the Atomicos?” I inquired.
    “What if I am?” Her voice made me flinch. It sounded so calm. So threatening.
    “Then you are an enemy of us!” replied Spades.
    “Yeah,” she replied. “I am. But so is he.” She pointed a finger to Geist. It had long nails, which were colored light purple. “And you’re protecting him! Just get out of the way and we won’t have problems.”
    “No!” I retorted. She summoned a katana that was decorated with black and purple lace. Her black eyes were narrowed.
    “I’m warning you one last time.” Her pink lips curled. Fidgeting, I summoned my sword.
    “No.”
    “So it’s a battle then? Fine!” she replied. She disappeared. Just then, I ran out of breath. Her fingers poked me on the chest. Falling on the floor with a punching sensation on my stomach, I tried to catch my breath. She lifted her sword. Geist was a little more…merciful. A flurry of cards pushed her back.
    “Xilus get up!” commanded Spades. She disappeared again. I got up, looked around, and remembered how to breathe.
    “Where did she go?” I panted.
    “Use your sunglasses.”
    “Huh?” I forgot about the sunglasses. They seemed useless. Just a trinket. A gift.
    “Just use them.”
    “Okay,” I replied as I put them on. A green light scanned my eyes. What the…?
    Xilus Bloodheart, identified. It is a pleasure to serve you, Xilus.
    “Okay, this is weird!”
    “Ask it to find any sign of energy,” said Spades. Confused, I asked the machine in my glasses. It responded with a, “as you wish”, and turned everything in front of me into a grid. Spades was just a bunch of green lines in front of me. Geist was a heap of lines attaching to each other. Another pile of lines hid under the floor. It came towards us.
    “There!” I yelled. At that instant, my vision turned back to normal. I heard an explosion and saw a blur of purple of black zip to a wall. The girl fell off the wall.
    “You guys are resourceful,” remarked the girl. She dematerialized and rematerialized in front of me. Blocking her sword with mine, I threw her off. She ran towards me and I ran towards her. Spades followed me, scythe of cards in hand. She summoned another katana in her left hand. Parrying me and blocking Spades’s scythe, she shot a beam of light to me. I ducked right before the beam burned a tip of my hair. The beam continued to the wall, where it disintegrated, taking some bricks with it.
    “You’re nothing like Geist,” I panted.
    “Yeah, at least I don’t hold back!” she replied. With that she teleported in front of Spades, kicked him to the floor, and teleported to the ceiling. “I can’t just kick you. Your clothing and the power of your badge just won’t let me do that. Another disk won’t do any justice. Maybe I can use this!” she summoned a vortex of darkness that ripped through the center of the floor. Wisps of black mist blew out as a giant silver body emerged from it. Its eyes gleamed scarlet. Its silver torso was ripped by an eye that ran through it. Showing its teeth, the creature raised a hand.
    “Ah!” I cried as I rolled out of the way of its clawed hands.
    “Xilus! Watch out!” cried Spades as a silver foot crashed down on the floor. It sent shockwaves that blew Spades and me across the room.
    “The heck is that?” I gasped. The creature’s muscular body tore through the immaculate floor of the room, leaving a brown scar in its wake. The thing was almost as tall as the room, which was ten times taller than my height, which was six feet and four inches.
    “I think that is a Silver Wyrm.”
    “Is that a special type?”
    “No, but it is not normally seen attacking beings like us. It’s usually harmless.”
    “Well this one isn’t,” I muttered as the wyrm moved another foot towards us. “I don’t see wings.”
    “It should have wings. But it is still a Silver Wyrm.” When it was close enough, the colossus turned to swipe its tail at us. We jumped backwards.
    “That’s it!” I yelled, tired of waiting. I ran towards the monster, jumping over shockwaves and rolling from hands. When I got near, I lifted my sword to stab a foot. The blade rebounded off its scaly skin. The wyrm turned looked down, roared, and lifted a foot. I was helpless; the tremendous roar of the creature threw down to the floor.
    “Xilus!” cried Spades who finally caught up.
    “Too late!” said the girl in the robe. She swung at Spades, who retaliated. Spades kept trying to run forward, but she stopped him. The silver foot fell on top of me.
    You can’t do anything right!
    I woke up in a dark room. Where am I? thought I when I noticed I can’t speak. I looked around the room. It was completely dark except for a monitor at the end. The creature’s face was taking it up. I’m in my mind again? How? I thought I was crushed.
    Don’t you dare think that! We both must live to keep this body stable! It’s necessary to keep him dead!
    Who are you?
    No answer. I decided to sit in front of the monitor. My body was slicing scales off of its face. I wish I can see more, I thought. It was then that I was sucked into the monitor. I awoke a few seconds later on the white floor of the room. Spades and the girl were dueling while the creature and my body exchanged attacks. I was winning. “Spades!” I yelled.
    No answer.
    I called again, but to no avail. I was still in my mind, but in a third person view.
    It is dangerous for you to walk near me! Go somewhere else. I will retire to my original state once I finish this!
    “Who are you?” I inquired.
    I will explain later. Go!
    Not wanting to interfere anymore, I opened the distance between my body and my soul. I roamed through the hallways of the palace until I found Anne.
    “…him. He doesn’t think the same for me!” she cried. Her blonde hair was down to her waist in length. New hair-do, I guessed. She looked up and then turned. “Can you leave for a sec?”
    “What, why?” asked the brunette girl in front of her. Her peppy voice annoyed me a little.
    “Just need to do something.”
    “Okay.” The brunette go up and walked away.
    When she was finally gone and out of sight, Anne opened her mouth. “Xilus?”
    She stared right at my direction. I replied, “You can see me?”
    “Xilus is that really you?”
    “Yeah,” I said. But then I thought, She can’t see me!
    “I can see you.”
    I didn’t answer. I looked into the mirror. A red eyed, pale skinned boy with thin and long red hair which covered half of his face stared back. “I thought I was…”
    Mission accomplished.
    Then what was the point in sending me away?
    Overestimated the wyrm’s strength.
    Ugh. I’ll go right back
    Hurry, I made a copy just to keep away confusion. I can’t keep two forms like this. Not in my current state.
    You’re going to explain to me who you are!
    Soon. Soon.
    “Xilus,” interrupted Anne.
    “Sorry, I’m leaving right now.”
    “Stay.”
    “I can’t. It’s urgent.”
    “I order you to stay.”
    Persistant.
    “Devon and your father are in trouble!” That made her get up from her bed.
    “Why didn’t anyone tell me?”
    “I don’t know.”
    Hurry up.
    “I’m going with you.”
    “Too dangerous.”
    “You’re calling me weak?”
    No, I’m just afraid of your wrath when I announce my leaving!
    “Well?”
    “Fine. Just don’t get in my way.”
    “Gladly,” she replied. We walked quickly to the room. Spades and my fake body fought off the girl. “Wait. Isn’t that…”
    “No. Now come on!”
    When Spades was not looking, I rushed in behind him. The fake body faded out of existence. “Anne?” said Spades as he parried his opponent.
    “Good to see you, Spades,” replied Anne jokingly. She turned into a rhino.
    “What the…?” She rammed the girl in front of her.
    “I don’t have time for this!” yelled Anne as she turned back to normal.
    “Ow!” cried the girl as she rubbed her back side. “Oh so this is your girlfriend?”
    “She’s not my…!” I retorted, but was stopped by a dismissing hand.
    “Save it, kid. I’m done playing. And thanks to you idiots, I lost Geist!” I haven’t noticed Geist was missing until she mentioned it. “Goodbye. Oh and the name’s Eve,” she continued as she dematerialized.
    “Damn she got away!” I yelled. “And so did Geist!”
    “Oh well,” murmured Anne.
    “The king must be in there,” said Spades as he examined a door with giant silver chains binding it.
    “Well open it.”
    “Right.” Spades turned his cards into a key and started to pick at the lock. “This may take a while.”
    As Spades tried different key shapes, Anne pulled at my shoulder.
    “What?” I inquired. She looked at me with watery eyes.
    “So my father has been kidnapped?”
    “Yeah, and so did Devon.”
    “That’s just great!” she yelled sarcastically.
    “Don’t worry. I’m sure he’s fine.”
    “How can you tell?”
    “What would the Atomicos have to gain from hurting him?”
    “Good point. Why do you look so… Grim?”
    “What do you mean?” I asked, smiling a little. Because you’re going to kill me for leaving!
    “You look worried about something.”
    “Nothing at all!”
    “Stop lying,” she threatened. Her violet eyes were fixed on my face. Damn.
    Might as well tell her.
    Since when did you have a say in anything?
    Since I was forced to listen.
    “Xilus?”
    “Hm?”
    “What’s wrong?” asked Anne again.
    With a sigh, I answered. “I’m leaving when Spades and the others are leaving.” I braced myself as if waiting for an attack.
    “What?” she yelled.
    “What happened?” inquired Spades, who was at the chained door.
    “Nothing.” With a nod Spades resumed to pick at the lock. “Damn it, Xilus. You are strange!” she whispered.
    “Don’t worry. I’m not taking the pay.”
    She slapped me.
    “Ouch! Why did you do that?” I howled.
    “You think I’m worried about your pay? What type of person do you think I am?”
    “I think you’re selfish!” I retorted. She flinched, but I did not care. My emotions poured out of me. “I don’t know why the hell you ran off like that before and why you slapped me, but I do know they’re for your selfish needs!”
    “I am not selfish!” she cried. Grabbing me by the arm, Anne dragged me around the out of the room. “You’re selfish!”
    “Me? I’m selfish? Ha!” I sneered. Umm did I want to say that? Of course!
    “Yes! You’re very self-centered! You don’t care about other people’s feelings! You only care about yourself!”
    “When did I not care for other people?” I retorted. Then I remembered. “Geist.”
    “What the heck are you talking about?”
    “What I said to Geist. You heard. Even if you didn’t want to.”
    “What if it was?”
    “Then I’m sorry! I didn’t want to hurt you! I just said what I thought was true!”
    “Then what is true?” she questioned with teary eyes.
    “That I don’t love you!”
    “I was afraid of that.”
    “It’s the truth!”
    “I don’t like the truth!”
    Well too bad! “I don’t know what else to say.”
    “Just shut up! I heard some chains fall, and that must be that door! I’m going to see my father and get you prepared for your departure. After today, don’t ever get near me again!”
    “Fine!”
    “Good!” We stormed off into the white room again, this time on opposite sides.
    “Right, so now shall we go in?” asked Spades. He stood triumphantly in front of the unlocked door. A bright light shined from behind.
    “Yes, let’s,” replied Anne politely. I just grunted. Hmph, fake princess! The light dulled when we got to the other side of the door. Devon and the king sat at the otherside, eyeing the opening like fools. “Father!”
    “Anne!” cried her father, who got to his senses. He got up to hug his daughter.
    “Xilus, Spades!” cried Devon. He got up. “Wow it’s a good thing you came! It’s stuffy in here.”
    “Yes it was. Thank you again.”
    “It was no problem, Your Majesty,” replied Spades.
    “Yeah, no problem,” I grunted, glaring at Anne. She gave a similarly angry look to me. Well?
    Ah, girlfriends. I remember my first encounter with one.
    Shut up.
    Well excuse me!
    “I heard a ruckus outside, Spades. What has happened?” asked the king as we exited the conference room.
    “Geist and another person from his side were in this room. I believe Geist must have trapped you here?” answered Spades wearily.
    “Yes he has, that mongrel.”
    “That other person almost killed Geist. Apparently Geist has been expelled from his group.”
    “Has he? Well.”
    “You know, I don’t Geist would be defeated so easily, even if he was ambushed,” said I, anger suppressed.
    “You think so, Xilus?” inquired Devon.
    “Yeah.”
    “He was probably tired from the battle he had against you. Maybe he battled a fellow member before he was expelled?”
    “I doubt that.”
    “Where is he, by the way?”
    “He escaped somehow.”
    “Where’s Melissa?” inquired Devon, seeming more intrigued by that question more than Geist.
    “She was left in the safeguard of the guards.”
    “The guards? Safeguard?”
    “You know what I mean.”
    “Okay.” With that last statement, and a few words exchanged between Spades and His Majesty, we continued down to the audience room, where Anne separated from us.
    “I just need to fix something,” she had lied.
    “Very well, Anne,” answered His Majesty. As Anne made her hasty escape, I heard a boot slam against the ceramic of the room.
    “Well, well, well. If it isn’t Xilus and his rowdy friend,” chimed the voice, low but young. Luke.
    “Hello, Your Highness,” I replied, half-smiling.
    “Father, I would request that I have a private chat with Xilus and his blonde friend.”
    “Yes, my son,” answered His Majesty. He took his leave, with Spades following. Devon and I were left alone with Luke. Anything could happen.
    “Hey you’re blonde, too!” yelled Devon. Luke gave a dismissive hand.
    “I’m not here to make conflict!” retorted Luke. His blonde hair was ruffled and his clothes included an ivory tunic, with one long sleeve on the right and another short sleeve on the left, and a white hakama, something only commonly found in the Land of the Samurai. “I’m here to speak about what happened in Sypras Manor.”
    “You tried to kill us there!” retorted Devon.
    “You almost killed me!”
    “We had to,” I replied calmly.
    “That is beside the point anyway! Listen, Xilus. You saved my sister. My beloved sister. And I thank you with all of my heart.” Luke kneeled on one knee. He got back up after a few seconds.
    “You’re welcome?”
    “Sorry, I know you have seen me as a cold and ruthless person, but I can be quite the opposite. I only do what is best for my kingdom.”
    “I can see that.”
    “Hey, how about me?” asked Devon.
    “Ah, yes. Thank you for bringing Xilus here. You have brought him into this. If it weren’t for you, my sister would have been doomed.”
    “Right,” replied Devon. He must have expected something more direct.
    “Now Devon, please leave. I have something to say to Xilus.”
    “Fine,” sighed Devon. As soon as he became a speck in between the chaos of guards at the entrance to the subway, Luke continued.
    “Something’s gone wrong with Anne.”
    “Oh, so you’ve noticed too?” I replied. I let my indifference show.
    “I know why it has happened.”
    “Why?”
    “When we were only children, Anne met a boy she had loved with all of her might. But that boy did not think the same way. To make matters worse, he left with his father, a fellow guard, to Mabloru.” He paused so that a servant can pass by. “That boy never returned.”
    “So?”
    “I’ve heard you are leaving.”
    “You are well informed.”
    “I was afraid of that.”
    “Why are you?”
    “Because, Xilus,” he continued, his impatience showing. “She loves you.”

    Advent fell backwards into the dust. His white and black cloak was stained with the red soil of the desert. The black sun was slowly lowering. The heat was beginning to come back into the area. “Why won’t you just die?” he yelled at the Scarlet Wyrm, as that was the creature’s classification. It showed its yellow teeth as a reply, and lunged itself towards him. Advent ducked under the blur of red scales. The creature’s feet stomped on the sand, blowing orange dust over the red topsoil. Advent was blown a few feet behind by the wall of dust. His horse was just a bloodied mess of fat and guts after the wyrm rushed across it once. He had no energy left for stopping time and every joint of his body was aching. He looked up to the blue sky and then back down. The wyrm was gone. “How did it leave without making a noise?” Advent asked himself. He felt a sudden rumble under his feet. Jumping forwards as a red claw ripped through the ground, Advent threw his sword towards the wyrm’s wrist. Finally, a victory. The hand slid off as the creature groaned and cried.
    Advent gave a second strike to the other hand. It slid off just the same. Now he stood in front of the clawless monster. Its teeth bared, the wyrm raised a foot. With a smirk, Advent raised his weapon. His blue hair covered half of his left eye. But that did not stop him from timing his swing, which sliced the creature’s foot in half. Black blood sprayed from its shin, burning the soil around them. The wyrm screamed and growled as it made a thunderous fall to the floor. Advent smiled, spat at the monster, and turned as the remains disintegrated into nothingness. He stared up to the sky, limped across the Ulcer River, and made a phone call to tell the Master his success. I’m going to hate my job after this! he thought to himself jokingly. I’m going to hate it!