Chapter CXCVI: Plot Twist 3 – Kumininaru ~Kyanosa
So, let's review.
Since Mazzic, Shinsei,
and Grimace accidentally knocked out the Spectrum’s
power, Orson suggested they land on a nearby planet to fix the issue. Kyanosa, Kaye, and Josh set out to hurt the Twilighter
viciously, but due to
We now rejoin our story.
The Spectrum was stopped,
virtually powerless, on a strange planet recommended as a landing space by the
magic expert of the uber-powerful demon party for
whom the Spectrum’s inhabitants were
heading. Imagine being in that situation, sitting in a dim room, talking
quietly while waiting for the fight to end and repairs to begin. Imagine that
nothing has happened for at least the last twenty minutes. Now imagine what
you’d do if a tall figure carrying a scythe appeared in the middle of the room
in a flash of green fire. Then imagine what your reaction would be to the fact
that it was carrying the bodies of two of your teammates, ones you knew had just
gone to fight said demon.
No, really, imagine it. If you’re all gonna
gripe about that quiz, I’m just not writing for your characters any more.
A bit awkwardly, the figure tipped his (for the sake of ease, we’ll
refer to it as a male) scythe at Naaro; I say
awkwardly because he was still carrying Josh under that arm, Kaye hanging over
his opposite shoulder. “Mister Karukylis, would you
mind terribly telling me where I might find two unoccupied rooms?”
Naaro stood slowly. “Do I know you?”
“Possibly not, though I do remember your papers. Very
extensive.”
“How do you know my name?”
“You died in a demon realm in the battle against D’Chon,
not long after your victory over the Unsouls.”
“Why do you know so much about me?”
The figure shifted a bit. “If you’ll excuse my rudeness, you have asked
me three questions without giving me an answer to the one I asked first.”
Naaro pointed to a door in the far wall. “There should be some down that
hallway.”
“Thank you.”
The figure turned and walked to the door, with some difficulty turning
the knob and actually going through the door. He knocked on the first door he
passed. Receiving no answer, he against opened the door and walked into the
room, placing Kaye on the bed. He placed a hand on her forehead, causing her
whole body to glow a bright green. After a few seconds of this, he left the
room and closed the door.
Now with a free arm, life got a lot easier. He entered the next empty
room and placed Josh on the bed. He propped his scythe against the closest
wall, and pressed two fingers on Josh’s forehead, gradually closing the
nickel-sized hole there. Once he was sure that there were no other injuries
worth closing, he placed both hands on the boy’s chest and covered his entire
body in a green aura. These tasks completed, he retrieved his scythe, went back
to the main room, pointed a chair at a window, and sat down, watching intently.
Within five minutes, a small gathering of people with nothing else to do
had gathered on the other side of the room, speaking in vague whispers.
Granted, a bevy of strange characters had arrived inexplicably, and he was not
the first to simply materialize in the main lounge. Grimace was, but I expect
you all read that chapter. The issue was that Grimace had not arrived carrying
the bodies of two people who had just gone to fight a super-powered magic
flinging demon.
Since he had been stuck without a quiz result, Lich got the job of
making intros with the new guy. Again showing that grand courage he displayed
when reviving Markior, Lich walked to the figure’s
side and waved slowly. “Hello, I’m Lich. May I ask who you are?”
The figure looked at him and extended hand. “Nice to
meet you, Mister von Kippo. I’ve seen your
files, but I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting you in person.” He turned and
looked at the group. “In fact, it’s nice to finally put faces on most of you.
Mister Yoshi6400, congratulations on your promotion. Mister Grey, stop trying
to read my mind. That defies so very many ethical principles. Mister…um…where
is Mister Death?”
Lich blinked. “Mister Death?”
“Young, pale, carries a staff and a big bead necklace?”
“Oh. He is currently locked in a room down the hall, fighting with two
of our allies. That’s why the power’s out.”
The figure nodded. “That makes sense.” He turned and faced the window
again. “Honestly, who I am shouldn’t really matter. If everything goes as
planned, I shall be out of your hair before long at all. After that, most of
you won’t see me for a while.” He pointed twice over his shoulder, at two
different people. “Though you two have me very worried.”
Lich tilted his head. “You are leaving?”
“I will leave your party as soon as Mister Canopus
is back and healthy.”
Taking this as an acceptable answer, Lich shrugged and rejoined the
group.
A few minutes later, the figure spotted a bright blue light on the
horizon and leaned back in his chair. Before much longer the entire Spectrum was hit with a force wave that
nearly turned the thing on its side, knocking people and furniture all over the
blinking place. A couple ran to the windows, wondering what the heck kind of
spell caused a backlash like that. Once the train and its inhabitants had
settled to a degree, the figure stood up, looked at those nearby and smiled,
saying softly, “That would be my cue.” He disappeared in a flash of green fire.
He rematerialized thirty feet in the air over the center of the crater.
He watching Kyanosa raise his arm, mutter something,
lower his arm, mutter something else, and pitch forward. He waited a few
seconds for any signs of movement, then floated down and gathered Kyanosa’s body, teleporting back to Josh’s room.
Yoshi6400 was waiting for him there, looking over the glowing Josh.
Actually, “waiting” is again improper terminology. 6400 happened to be looking
at Josh. Were he really waiting, he would not have jumped out of his skin when
the figure arrived. Upon regaining the capacity for sensible speech, he pointed
at the prone Josh. “Would you mind explaining this?”
The figure placed Kyanosa on another bed in
the same room and started checking him for serious wounds. “It’s a technique I
picked up. Keeps him from rotting until somebody deals with
him properly.” He took the amulet from Kyanosa
and pocketed it. “Mister Canopus won’t need this any
more.”
6400 shook his head. “No, I mean why is he
here? And why would he need protection against rotting?”
The figure drew himself up and looked at 6400.
“Because Mister Renil is dead, that’s why.” He
disappeared in a flash of green fire.
Appearing in a long, dark hallway, the figure began to walk with
moderate speed, using his scythe as a sort of walking stick. Before he made it
very far, a finger tapped his shoulder. Turning, he saw a woman sporting an
open leather jacket and a black leotard that ended in boots, the tops of which
came nearly to her knees. She had short black hair that came a bit forward just
below her ears, wore a bright green choker, and was more beautiful than you'd
expect from an upper demon. “Hey, boss,
about this Kyanosa Canopus
case?”
The figure sighed and continued his walk. “Go right ahead. I need to
deal with a couple of things, but I want it done before too long. That group’s
getting antsy.”
She jogged to his side and walked next to him. “No, seriously, we need
you to take a look at this.”
He didn’t even look to the side. “Miss Murmur, all of the required
paperwork had been completed. You have the capacity to finish the necessary
procedures.”
“Boss, that’s not the issue.”
“Then what in blazes is?”
“We can’t pick which one to use.”
Now he stopped. “Which what?”
“Which soul.”
“Use Mister Canopus’ own, obviously. The last
thing we need is somebody else’s soul in his body. The big guy’d
have a fit.”
“That’s why there’s a problem. We don’t know which one’s right.”
Silence reigned for a minute. “Which way?”
“First door on the left, at the end of the
hallway.”
The figure opened the metal door and continued down that corridor,
Murmur not far behind. “I don’t see why this is an issue. All three of you and
at least all of your immediate subordinates know how to read souls. You should
be able to tell which is which, especially with Mister Canopus’
general uniqueness. It’s not like people come down the pike everyday with
energy signatures caused by marbles!”
“Right.”
“Again, what is the issue.”
“They both match perfectly.”
The figure stopped at the far door, looking at Murmur. “Both what?”
“Both souls.”
He stopped for a second, then opened the door.
In front of him, in a nice little waiting room, were Kyanosa
and
* * *
Twenty minutes later, the figure reappeared in Kyanosa’s
room. He placed both hands on Kyanosa’s chest,
covering him in the same aura as Josh. He sighed and folded his arms, no longer
carrying his scythe around, then removed the yellow
book from Kyanosa’s metal pant leg. He looked up and
walked out of the room, closing the door behind him, and went to a doorway blocked
by a glowing green wall.
A minute later, the wall disappeared. A mildly battered Shinsei walked through, leading the way for a slightly more
battered Mazzic, the latter of whom was carrying a
limp Grimace over his shoulder. The figure gestured to them both and indicated
toward the main lounge.
“I know you two are busy, but I’d like you to come hear this.”
He walked down the hall, and the
others followed as they really hadn’t planned what they were doing after the
fight anyway.
The figure entered the lounge and stood at one end of the room, arms
behind him. “Excuse me, but if I could have your attention for a brief moment,
everything should make more sense.” He was rewarded with the gaze of everybody
in the room. “Good. As you know, three people went out to fight Mister Orson.
Miss Glenwater is simply taking a short rest and
recovering from her wounds. Unfortunately, Mister Renil
was killed in the fight, and Mister Canopus would
have been killed at well were it not for a slight intervention on my part. I
arrived here while Mister Canopus fought Mister Orson
on his own. In order to defeat the Twilighter, Mister Canopus had to use his Crash power. By using this maneuver,
Mister Orson was killed, but Mister Canopus used the
rest of his energy and died as well.
“My intention was to revive Mister Canopus, as
he made a very harrowing journey earlier to request it. I assume some of you
know about his slight issue with multiple personalities?” He received a few
nods. “Due to a unique and unforeseeable development over a long period of
time, each personality has unfortunately materialized into a separate soul. We
are unable to put both souls back into the same body. As Mister Kyanosa and Mister Canopus are
unable to arrive at a conclusion as to whom will return to life, both plan to
stay dead until an acceptable decision is made.
“To summarize, Mister Renil and Mister Kyanosa are both dead and will remain that way as far as we
can see. As I personally promised to stay a member of
this group until Mister Canopus was again an active
member, I would like to announce my inclusion as a member of your party. Please
feel free to call me should any issues arise or to ask any general questions
you may have.” He held up the yellow book. “I myself have some reading to do.”
Rynn raised her hand. “You wouldn’t by any chance be Death, would you?”
The figure smiled. “Forgive me for my earlier secrecy. No, I am not
Death. My name is Dirk Dareklite. Now, if you’ll
please excuse me.” He sat down in a nearby chair, turned to the stats pages,
and began to read.