Chronicles of Myth Volume One: Twisted Daydreams

Scene Thirteen

We ran toward each other, for some reason I was reminded back to earlier days as I clashed swords with Louis; all my previous enemies, all of my past duels they started to playback in real time in my head, I raised my sword and blocked on instinct and he stepped back to lunge forward in a quick thrust, I stepped backwards and spun to my left to avoid the downward stab from his jumping strike; I glanced off the next three blows with the flat side of my blade and parried each one slowly weathering away at his guard, with a punishing heavy vertical slash; I broke his guard and smashed the floor at his feet leaving a crater, Louis started a vicious torrent of wild slashes, I blocked the myriad of slashes; I could see him start to wear out and with the last parry our swords were locked in a clash, seeing his mask up close I looked into his eyes and saw joy, he looked into my eyes… our expressions said it all: I will win, even it costs me and a leg. In the blink of an eye Louis withdrew his sword and threw me by the collar, I stabbed my blade into the ground to stop myself from crashing into one of the marble supports; I felt my back lightly touch the column before I was smashed into it by a shoulder charge, knocked into a bed of rubble I spring kicked Louis in the stomach as he was to decapitate me with his riot shield, I got on my hands and shot up to my feet, closing the gap between us I smashed my head into his. He staggered back and I slashed down, my attack was blocked by an arm of violet flames that came out his shoulder. The fire changed to a deeper shade and erupted outward, I stepped back as Anguish shielded us from the torrent of flames, “That was too close for comfort Ragnarok, we need to stay on our game”. “This guy isn’t fucking around is he”? “Watch out”!  I stepped back as I watched Louis run toward us, I flourished my tails; he jumped and went into a spin with him and his sword becoming a pinwheel, I jumped back and he staked his sword into the ground I was just standing on, he removed the blade from the ground and went into a tornado swing, before finishing with a helm breaker swing; I caught the helm breaker with my tails, I felt my forehead with my fingers… it was warm, I lowered my hand and saw my blood; my tails collided with a wall of purple fire, I retracted my arms and saw it burn with a pure white hue. “Hand to hand, the only way I can beat him”. I sheathed my sword and put it on the ground, Louis charged forward and I intercepted him with a haymaker to his face; I grabbed his neck and choke slammed him to the ground, I stomped on his chest and he caught my foot, twisting my leg I heard a sickening snap, in retaliation I stabbed him through his armor of flames with a psychowheel in hand and pierced his soft flesh rendering it into chunky confetti. I pressed my psychowheel into his body and blew up his insides stabbing them with slender pins of entropic energy; I clenched my fist around his heart and squeezed it my hand making it burst in his chest. Louis smiled his bloody teeth as he stabbed his sword through my belly, with his offhand he tossed my body into the left most side of the room and smashed me into the of granite with just a simple gesture; I staggered up and saw the purple flames coat his mortal wounds making him good as new… “Hades, let’s end this”. Louis said to himself, I felt the ground rumble and scream in terror as Louis coated his right arm with a torrent of violet flames it hardened into a mass of smoking tendrils forming a claw where his hand should be.  He sheathed his sword in the cover on his back as he tilted his neck slightly to the left; he his left arm glowed white as he adjusted his riot shield to his forearm. I got on all fours and pounced forward, I stabbed the ground with my tails and slingshot myself into a dropkick, on contact the impact made Louis buckle to his knees, I staked four of my tails into the ground and formed scythe blades from the other, I slammed them down on his right arm and my tails shattered on impact; I was thrown backward as Louis swung his shield arm outward, he dashed forward and slammed his fist into me and was drove into the ground, my spine broke on the tile from the initial impact, I rolled out the way as my spine reset itself; in the crouching position I threw myself forward and dolphin dived above Louis, I spun in the air before I drew my sword and wrapped the chains around his neck, I jerked down the handle and smashed him back into the floor cracking his neck; I jumped and smashed my feet into his back, I leapt back away as he rolled over on his stomach, he lifted up his head; I kicked his face sending blood and teeth flying out his mouth. I placed my foot on his and grabbed him by the arm and tore off his gauntlet of fire, it came off like the sleeve of a shirt; I smashed it into his head as it disintegrated into purple specs, he blocked the blow with his riot shield with the polymer giving way to the impact of my hit; he rolled out of the way and stood up one knee at a time. He threw his shield to the ground to hold his sword two handed and I looked around us, the ballroom was a mess, dust flew everywhere as I crossed swords with Louis and from the impact of our blades; the window panes above us shattered and fell on us as raindrops of glass. Louis staked his sword in the ground and lifted his hands, looking at the frame above us; he tore it off its hinges and threw it at me by making the motion with his arms… I slashed downward and sliced the frame in half… bathing in a cascade of sparks; Louis picked up his sword and I rushed forward, I placed the blade at his throat and he held his above my head... Louis stepped backward as I thrust my sword, he ran up a broken column and sprang himself forward driving his sword in front of him, I dropped to my knees and I put my back to the floor to avoid having my head skewered through; I scrambled up and I lunged forward stabbing my blade at his feet. As I struggled to remove my sword Louis punched my stomach, I looked in his eyes and sealed his fate; he sent me flying to the left wall of the room; I crashed out of the room and into a field of white lilies. From where I was the ballroom was nonexistent, the flowers slowly turned into roses as Louis and I faced each other in the field. I started to fade out of reality, our previous ring faded into nothingness; I pressed my hands into the ground and the field was completely covered in crimson roses charged with entropic energy. I slid my feet and the energy around the roses crystalized into razor sharp blades of bloodstone; Louis rushed forward, he leapt through the air and I thrust out my hands to my sides, I clapped them together; I felt his sword about to pierce my scalp, his blood dripped on me as I skewered him in field deep red bloodstone spires, I got on one knee and punched the ground; his prison exploded with him and I drew my sword to stake it in the ground causing a hailstorm of psychowheels to bombard Louis into oblivion. I snapped my fingers and shattered this reality to end this duel, we were back in the ballroom just as we were about kill each other. Louis fell on his knees after taking his next breath, and fell on his face unconscious; his sword hit the ground with a clang, and the duel was over. 

The zipper of my body bag opened as I was transported back to the land of the living, taking a breath of fresh air I sprang up touching my body, feeling ecstatic to be alive once again. I watched as the portal snapped shut and was wiped clean out of this plane of existence, I was left alone once more; “I can live neither with you, nor without you… you mortals are a fickle lot; but that’s why I envy you so much”. I turned my head and saw Death… he was a mild mannered man in his late 20’s, his words echoed with wisdom garnered from over centuries; “No one is above death… not even your friends… but they still try anyways. I have been around since the beginning of all things, and never have I met a group such as yours”. I looked at Death, he was dressed in a snow white suit and his very presence was calm and still like a pond. Despite what he stood for, what he was… he was indeed a human in terms of how feels about the world and its people. He looked at me with compassion, “You will join your family soon enough… I can promise you that much”. He helped me out of my body bag and sat us down on the asphalt; “Well all we can do now is wait, have faith in him… don’t worry he’ll bring them back safe and sound”. I looked at Death and he smiled looking out toward the evening horizon, “I love sunsets… they always remind me of home”. “Where is your home”? I asked him, “Paradise”. He replied. “You’re an angel”?  “No… I am simply a wayward spirit, looking for grace… the paradise I am talking about is neither heaven nor hell. Simply the middle ground between existence and nothingness… I am Death… nothing more, nothing less, you can me Reico”. “I’m Astoria nice to meet you”. “Let’s a have a friendly game to pass the time”. “Like a duel”. “I was thinking a game of poker, but a duel works to”. “I’ve yet seen you fight, to be specific I’ve yet to see Elaine and Nikolai as well”. “Now let’s see what you’re made of”. Reico drew his scythe and I tapped the ground with it as he used it to stand up, “I’m not much of a fighter”. “Then you don’t a chance against me, your vocation calls you to rise to occasion and survive… you can’t fight… then you will die with the rest of your friends”. With a backflip, I landed in a reverse cartwheel to dodge Reico’s slam; I drew my pistol as I landed on my feet, I squeezed the trigger shot him in the face and neck; the bullet went through his eye and blew out the left side of his brain on the asphalt, I looked at his pulsing vein through the hole in his neck… he popped his jaw and his wounds closed up. Reico appeared in front of me as a blur of white and cleaved my body apart, the blade went through my body like a knife through water; the blow that was supposed to kill me triggered my DNA and made it flourish… I kneed him in the groin and I shot out his eyes with both pistols; I placed my hands on shoulders and launched myself up, I pressed the barrels into the top his skull and fired away my remaining rounds; he crumpled into a pool of black blood as I leapt back to a safe distance, I saw his arm snap straight he aimed his revolver; I felt bullet pierce through my gut; Reico stood up and cocked his MP5, he shot out my knees with two three round bursts and I placed six three more bursts into my torso; I could no longer form my guardian as a solid entity only slivers of water. With the remaining ammo in his clip, he shot my head twice and it burst open like a grape; “Our guardians keep us alive… each time we are brought closer to death… but at the same time we grow stronger as people”. I manifested the hydra within me, I burst the water pipes underneath him, sending him flying upward with a claw of water and chewed up Reico with the nine heads of my hydra as I thrust my arms upward; the heads faded out, I showered in the cloudburst of rain and black blood. Reico formed behind me, “You’ve beat me, congratulations”. I fell on my knees breathless, “I have that inside me… why did you wake it up”. “You and your friends have a long time to live out, I don’t want time to be cut short, not even by a second”. Reico tapped his scythe and pointed it at the rubble of my destroyed home, “Let’s give them a home to come back to, shall we”? The ruins of the complex reformed and it was good as new… “Thank you”. “Don’t thank me, just become strong, and stay by your friends… you chose this life without a single indication of the danger it presents every day. All of you have a warrior inside, become your own hero and become a legend; I have seen the beginning and end of all people… and the gifted like us, we have to make ourselves better then who we were the day before, this is how we define survival”. Reico left me in a stream of dust; all there was quiet and the nothing I felt inside. I heard footsteps behind me, I turned and faced Nolan once more he stood in front of me, but this time I was alone; I won’t be scared. I told myself, “So little one… are we ready to die, again”? “Not today”, I mumbled to myself. “Speak up little mouse”, he said messing my hair and giving me a noogie, “Not Today”!