When the darkness of the rainclouds shifted, the dim red light of the morning sun placed its warm palms on Shivam's eyelids, waking him up. Even as he awoke, he thought that he should apologize to Tiyasha for his rudeness last night.
He sat up slowly, looking around, wondering where Tiyasha was sleeping. The fire that they had started last night had burnt itself out, but still a dull grey smoke curled around Shivam, blurring his vision.
And through the blurred vision of his sleep-laden eyes, Shivam found that none of his friends were around him. Arthur, Josh, Tiyasha...all of them seemed to have risen earlier than him.
"Josh? Arthur?" Shivam called, standing up while rubbing his eyes. Where was his Shadowblade? He had placed it beside him before sleeping, in order to be able to remove the armour that was mandatory to wear while holding the sword.
He started walking towards the east, and found that Arthur, Tiyasha, and Josh were standing ahead of him, their backs to him. They were standing in a neat line, as if they were about to be inspected by someone. Odd. What on earth were they doing? "Hey guys! Why weren't you..." Shivam said, walking up to them. But as he saw what was in front of them, his words died out.
A man of a very strong built stood ahead of them, his face hidden beneath a dark hood, a black cloak rippling slightly behind him. Blikrot...it could be no one else. Shivam knew the anger and hatred that burned in those eyes...these were the eyes that Shivam had seen, all that time before, in that mirror in the village where they had almost been caught by the Infernos.
Blikrot stood silently, his arms folded, observing them. He wasn't alone, of course. About ten Infernos stood behind him, Shivam now noticed. Where the hell was his Shadowblade? Why hadn't Arthur alerted him? When had Blikrot arrived? Shivam's head spinned with all these questions as the hopelessness of their situation crashed down on him. They weren't ready yet to face Blikrot....
"Finally, my Foe decides to rise from his sleep and show up, guarded, he thinks, by his friends," Blikrot said. One of the Infernos chuckled nervously. Others remained silent.
Shivam looked around to see if there were any greyhounds. He found none. They had learned from their mistakes...did they know now that he was a Raiser? Did they know that Tiyasha's magic WILL work on them as long as he fought alongside her? Yet...without any animals nearby, he doubted he would be able to contribute much to the battle that would surely ensue now.
He was the 'People's Hope', right? But what would happen if he died, again? Surely there was no eclipse coming, and being ReRaised twice wouldn't be possible. So this was it, then. Either he died today and his story forever ended, or he lived and Heart got rid of Blikrot.
"What are you contemplating, Sailor? Whatever it is, you should have thought about it BEFORE harming my Infernos. Although...I am still uncertain about how you managed to do that..." Blikrot said.
"Leave us alone," Shivam said, although he knew it was pointless. Blikrot would kill them all and take the Shadowblade. And he would try to stop him. Somehow.
"I would have been perfectly happy to leave you alone, Sailor. But you crossed my path, not me. Now the ignoramt people of Heart has begun to call you the "people's hope"...fools, fools...yet I don't blame them. I blame you, for misleading them. For making them support a cause that they do not fully understand. You must fall today, Sailor. I have wasted enough time on you already," Blikrot said, voice cold and smooth, like liquid ice.
"Me and my friends won't fall without a fight, Blikrot," Shivam said. He looked at Josh, Arthur, and Tiyasha. Only Josh looked back at him, terrified.
Blikrot glared at Shivam. Then he threw back his head, and started laughing, hands on his hips. He laughed like a lunatic, bellowed with laughter like a madman. Shivam flinched from that sound, as it shook the earth and oppressed the sky. 'This man has no soul,' Shivam realized with a chill. 'We'll have to fight someone who is already dead inside,' he thought to himself.
"Friends....?" Blikrot said, laughing. "Which friends?" He said, trying and failing to control his laughter. He kept laughing, his entire body shaking. The Infernos behind him fidgeted nervously. They had never seen the emperor laugh like that.
"You may not believe in friendship, Blikrot, but I so. And I feel that it is something you'll never understand," Shivam said, voice firm.
"You're wrong to believe in it. If you want to rule, you cannot believe in anyone. Come on, now, which of you alerted me by the Capture-Painting? Come to me! All of your sins against me are forgiven!" Blikrot declared.
Shivam jerked his head towards Arthur. What? After all that time...he had just betrayed them all? Shivam should never have trusted him. He should have realized what a blunder it was to let Arthur keep that Capture-Painting, for it was a constant threat of getting caught.
Shivam glared at Arthur, and he glared back. "What?" Arthur said.
"Ah...Arthur, Arthur. Come on now. Bring to me the Shadowblade. You have done your work well. All the rest is forgiven," Blikrot said.
"We TRUSTED you! And you betrayed us...just like that?" Shivam screamed, tears coming to his eyes. Lord, how STUPID had he been? Why had he allowed an Inferno to journey with them? "Why? Arthur. Just tell us why."
"Why, you ask? Not trained in the sword, and carrying the Shadowblade proudly all through the day? I AM THE BEST SWORD WIELDER IN HEART! I SHOULD GET THE SHADOWBLADE!" Arthur screamed back.
"So you just betrayed all of us...for the Shadowblade...?" Shivam said, vision blurred by tears. Man, it hurt when someone you trusted backstabbed you casually.
"I DID NOT, OKAY? I HAD ALMOST USED THE CAPTURE-PAINTING LAST NIGHT BUT I DID NOT! I AM NOT A BETRAYER SO GET THAT LOOK OUT OF YOUR FACE!" Arthur screamed, baritone booming.
"What...? But then who...?" Shivam muttered, head spinning.
And then Tiyasha started walking towards Blikrot, holding the misty blade of the most powerful sword in her hands. The sword had reduced to the size of a knife, somehow, and that was why, probably, it had gone unnoticed.