"Hello? Hello? Can you help me? My name is Jak Price. I want to fight some very strong people but I just can't. I can't move. I-I-know what I have to do but I am stuck! I am stuck!"
'Calm down, kid. You have something you really want to do, huh? Something that you most desire. A dream?' A voice called out, speaking to him
"Yes."
'The only thing holding you back, are your own fears. The more you latch onto what is familiar and safe, the more you hold back and the less you enjoy life and live up to your potential. Did the heroes of the past ever let laziness and comfort steal their accomplishments away? Or did they endure greatly so that their story could be known and spoken about for generations to come? If you really believe in yourself, you will try to imagine those people of the future looking up to you and from that you'll know that you must do what you were supposed to do.'
"W-Will you always support me, blue man?"
The voice chuckled then disappeared
"W-Wait! Come back! But I don't want to think about the future."
"Jak! Who were you speaking to?" Starr asked him
"Myself." He lied, adding a nervous laughter
"Anyway, lets fight the Circle!" Starr replied, taking Jak's hand and pulling him towards their headquarters and leaving little to no time for Jak to reconsider.
The meeting of the Circle members.
Arkhon and the other Circle members were in a really large house with a large pool on the outside that was kept covered until it would be used again.
A flag was pinned on the door which was The Circles' logo.
The second most important flag of Lakedaemon.
A circle with wings.
The words 'Wings Of Freedom' were written on the flag.
The Circle members were sat in one of the rooms of the house and were having a discussion.
"So has anyone actually decided how the kids' tournament games will be carried out? What island are we choosing? Anyone here that can actually contribute to this group?" Nimue spoke, sighing at the considerably laid-back attitude of the rest of the group
She smiled when she realized that Klaw II (Firebeard) had an idea.
"Maybe, the large island called Pandora would be nice. Haven't been there since I was a little kid." He spoke
"Pandora.. that's quite a dangerous island you've picked. Are you sure that these kids could handle it? I doubt it. A bunch of them are weak little humans." Nimue spoke
"Good, for it is better to pick a more dangerous island than any ordinary place. These children may be part of the upcoming war against the Sinister Blue. They must grow up into toughened warriors and not be so pampered all the time. I am confident that the survivors of this game will grow up to become mighty warriors! Just like the survivors before them." Arkhon added
"I'm afraid you're right. We cannot coddle them as we have difficult times ahead of us. Anyway, have you seen M. Gravity Flames?" Nimue asked
"Yeah. The brat was drinking too many rainbow potions again. He got into trouble for peeing on the rooftop of someone's house but as a Circle member, he got away with it. Weirdo. If I knew he would do things like that then I wouldn't have even got him to join us." Arkhon said
"This is why you shouldn't have recruited that animal. Any update on the Demon King? He still rests in that coffin in the corner of this room, right?" Klaw II asked
"Of course. I check up on the King whenever I can. I hope he's ready to be awakened once again. I am sure it's been over 200 years." Nimue spoke
Arkhon lifted the coffin lid for the first time and gasped.
"Arkhon! Please don't tell me that something terrible has happened to our beloved King!"
She rushed off to the coffin and Myk and Klaw II walked to the coffin.
Arkhon remained calm.
"The Demon King has a strange mark near his hip. I-I've never seen that mark on him before. Did anything happen to his soul?" Arkhon spoke, getting worried
***
"Are we there yet?"
"We're almost there, Jak!"
"Wow! I can see a large house! It has a flag on it. That has to be them." Jak spoke
They noticed a widely opened window that they could sneak into but Starr felt uneasy and suspected that something was up.
"I can see a coffin in the room! I wonder who's in there?" He whispered
"Shut up! I swear anyone in Lakedaemon could hear your loud whispering! I say, we are walking into a trap." She whispered even louder by accident
"Or maybe they've just left it open." Jak argued
"Oh well. Let's just find out, even if we're caught." Starr mumbled
Jak nodded in agreement, willing to take that risk.
Jak entered the room through the opened window.
They froze in shock to see a tall and beautiful woman approach him.
She wore a thin long white silky dress. She smiled as she bent down to meet Jak's face. Her cleavage was showing as the low cut dress did very little to cover up her chest.
"Oh? I hoped that you were Death Dealer for a moment when you were approaching the house. You have similar energies but..I think you're actually his son isn't that right? What are you doing here all alone? Would you like me to bake you a cake? Or do you prefer sweets?" She asked
"I..I don't know." He spoke
She pulled Jak into a hug and whispered in his ear.
"Oh don't be so afraid, little one. If you could just bring him here, I would be very happy." Nimue replied
"I wanted to fight you to see how strong you are!" Starr spoke, ignoring her nervousness
Nimue chuckled.
"And what about you, boy? Did you want to fight me too?"
"No! I wanna fight Arkhon!" Jak replied
"Arkhon doesn't fight kids. Go home." She said
"I won't." Jak crossed his arms
"You know, a letter of challenge would've been the more polite way to do this." Nimue said
"I know but.."
"You still want to fight me? Oh ok then. Don't say I didn't warn you. Step into this mirror with me. Then our fight will begin."
Starr nodded and decided to enter the mirror that Nimue created using her Ability.
Jak stood there.
It had barely been 2 minutes, when he saw Starr and Nimue walk out of the portal.
"Starr! How did it go?" Jak asked her
Jak was taken back after seeing the defeated look on her face.
"She's so strong! I-I can't believe I was so stupid! S-She let me live."
"What did she do to you?"
"She let me live! Jak. Please don't fight them."
"Starr. You have been humbled now. I will let you escape to safety. I should warn you, Jak and Starr. Arkhon is twice as strong as I am." Nimue warned them
"NO WAY! T-TWICE AS STRONG?" Jak asked
Starr was too afraid to speak.
"I-I am sorry Jak." Starr spoke before leaving
She had seen a frightening world with a purple sky. There were many purple coloured hands and limbs trying to crush her all at once. She had luckily escaped many ordeals including the river of blood where the lazy spirits of the world resided. They enjoyed tearing terrified newcomers apart. There were many terrible spider-like creatures that made many intricate webs and they were so angry at her for accidently destroying one of their works, that they spun her around and around until she cried. They only stopped as the tears of little children were their only weakness. Then she fought Nimue, who was the ruler of this dreadful world who was much stronger than she'd ever imagined someone could be. Defeated and disgraced by all the other creatures, she was humbled and forced to apologize to Nimue for challenging her so nonchalantly.
***
There were continuous loud knocks on Jonny's door.
"Help me! Death Dealer, please!! PLEASE!!!" Starr spoke
Jonny walked up to the door slowly and calmly opened it.
His long black hair was still damp as he had just taken a bath. All he had on was a towel wrapped around his waist, covering the lower part of his body. He shivered, feeling the cold winter air hit his muscled chest. He looked down to see a blue haired young girl desperately calling him for help.
"Calm down, little girl. What's the problem? Why go to the Death Dealer's door? Want me to kill someone for you?"
"No thanks! I really need your help! It's my friend! I don't want to lose him. We were only playing around and Jak..oh my god he's in so much trouble!" Starr spoke
She panicked even more and started to cry, holding onto Jonny's arm.
"My son?! What has he done this time? What kind of danger is he in?" Jonny asked her
"I managed to get away in time but Jak refused to leave. The Circle members have him captured!"
"WHAT?! THE CIRCLE?!! HOW? I am going to get changed and I'll rescue my son. You're a good friend to Jak, little girl."
"But I got s-scared and ran away. I'm a terrible person!"
"No. You're brave for a kid. It's the Circle we're dealing with. Even adults are unable to be on the same level as those freaks. Arkhon, Firebeard, flame-haired brat and psychic bitch are all incredibly powerful demons with powerful abilities. We need to rescue him quickly. Let's go."
***
Jak Price training with his new sword (a flashback).
" 201, 202..203, 204-" Jak counted as he let go of the huge sword, collapsing in exhaustion and letting his heavy eyelids watch the sword fall to the ground, causing part of the ground to crack with it's weight.
Just a week ago, Jak could barely lift the giant sword his dad got him to train with, but now he was making progress.
But something felt wrong.
Every time he used the sword, he felt as if he couldn't let go. Almost like the sword was controlling him. He realized in shock that he'd skipped breakfast for 2 days straight!
"Jak. I've never seen someone work so hard and so intensely like you. Remember to take a break." Starr told him
She watched in amazement as Jak started to sweat from his forehead and chest as a result of swinging the heavy sword. She got him his towel and he wiped his face and chest with it, putting it back in his bag.
After eating some snacks, Jak's eyes lit up as he picked up the sword to practise once again. Starr decided to practise her gymnastics.
"666 swings of my sword? Is this my limit? But Arkhon..he told me that if I meet my limit, I should strive for 'one more'. I..I'll do one more and do 667 swings!"
Jak convinced his brain that he wasn't tired at all. Grinning like his dad did after killing a worthy opponent, he shouted out 'ONE MORE!!!' and managed to reach 667 swings.
Starr noticed something unusual with Jak. "Your eyes..they've actually turned red. How? How did you do that?" She asked him
But Jak was too tired to answer and didn't actually care about what colour his eyes turned. The excitement he felt was new to him. The reward system in his brain was keeping Jak occupied from feeling too much muscle pain.
***
Arkhon vs. Jak
Arkhon rushed off towards Jak. His eyes glowed red as he crept closer and closer to Jak.
Pinning the boy to the wall, Arkhon gave him one look. That look made him intimidated enough to want to take flight, bolting off as he tried to run for his life. However, he thought of what Arkhon did to hurt his parents, especially what he did to his mum. He felt his anger build up.
'If only I could've gotten there quicker!' He thought
Arkhon shivered as he felt a strong beast's eyes glare at him. It was Jak, clutching onto his sword and glaring defiantly at the tall demon in front of him. Jak was extremely angry.
More angry than he'd ever been.
'How unexpected, to feel such malice from a child.'
"Hello little eaglet. I always knew that your sword would one day lead you to me. But it just had to be you that would come to me and not Jonny. How disappointing. You're far too young to be ready to fight me."
"I DON'T CARE IF YOU THINK I AM NOT READY. WE'RE GOING TO FIGHT..AND I AM GOING TO KICK YOUR BUTT!"
"Fine. Don't blame me for what happens to you. We will fight somewhere else. Nimue will bring us there instantly with her Ability." Arkhon replied
"Follow me." Nimue spoke
She brought them to the same world that she brought Starr.
The fight began and Jak started hitting Arkhon as fast as he could but Arkhon was blocking them all with ease.
He found that his physical attacks were no use so he decided to use his sword.
"Ah, the Devil Slayer. What an excellent weapon. Did you know, it was made from a special meteorite?"
Jak ignored him.
'Why did he hurt my mum and dad? Why did he use the shadow-gatherer? Why did he try to enslave her? Why us? Why is he so obsessed with my family?'
Jak's mind was full of these thoughts.
Thoughts which plagued him.
'Blood. We need blood.' Voices whispered
"H-Hello? Who said that?"
"Who said what?" Arkhon asked, not hearing the voices
'Blood is the life, Jak Price. Then, we shall grant you the power.'
"What power?" Jak asked
The voices echoed in his head, causing him to clutch onto the sides of his head.
Arkhon stopped and didn't attack him.
'You must be willing, Jak Price. Don't you seek revenge?'
"I-I dunno."
'He enslaved your mother. Don't you wish to kill him?'
"Stop it! I don't want to kill anyone! Stop it!" He cried
'He raped your father.' The voices continued in unison
"LIAR!!! STOP IT!!!" He cried even louder, yelling and shaking his head in sheer terror
"Jak? Do you want us to stop this fight? Please say something!" Arkhon pleaded, getting concerned
Arkhon gasped, realizing that Jak had stabbed his own hand with the sword, making the blood flow down the tip of the sword.
Jak was like a different person.
"W-Who's energies i-is this? How is this possible? Aren't you just a child?" Arkhon exclaimed
Jak continued increasing the energies that the Devil Slayer had brought out. He let out a deafening roar and within it, a ghastly high pitched scream that sounded like he was struggling to power up. The magical sword helped bring out all the potential energies that Jak had lying dormant within his soul. It was vast! It was too much for Arkhon to even comprehend. Now, he realized that he would have to fight him seriously. One mistake and one of them may even end up losing their life!
Jak had managed to level the rocky ground and blast the surrounding trees far away using his energies. Arkhon feared what would happen if Jak wasn't able to control his newfound power.
"Jak! You're releasing too much energy! You might die if you carry on this way! But my oh my, I am impressed. This will be a glorious fight indeed."
Jak finished powering up and was frowning.
He stared at Arkhon coldly crossing his arms.
Arkhon shivered, not wanting to anger him further.
Arkhon gasped when he realized that the boy was behind him all of a sudden.
"Boo." Jak spoke, punching him as hard as he could on the back.
Arkhon cried out in pain, went flying and crashed into a nearby giant boulder.
TO BE CONTINUED...