"Can't…walk…anymore," Layne complained, panting. "Give me a piggyback ride, Tonidex."
Harold kept walking ahead of the blue-haired mechanic, away from the store they were sent to search by Zyon. Layne wasn't Harold's physically fittest squadmate, but the man had no obligation to be so.
Layne was the best mechanic and pilot any squad could ever hope for. Harold still didn't quite understand the details of how Layne parked their skyjet everytime…in MIDAIR. He also did not understand how such a large piece of metal could fly undetected.
But Harold had no obligation to do so; he was in the squad to shoot stuff, that's all. He trusted Erixon and Layne with the technical stuff.
"Thanks for asking the villagers about the store owner's whereabouts," Harold said, glancing over his shoulder. "You know just how much I LOVE talking to people."
Layne stopped, leaning forward with his hands on his knees. "Fluck your thanks, Tonidex, you can keep it. Carry me if you want to show your gratitude, you bastard."
"Actually…" Harold tapped his squadmate on the head. "We're going separate ways. A 'strategic divergence' of sorts."
Harold looked up, panting, and showed the two middle fingers of his left hand—a disrespectful gesture. "You were the one who dragged me into this, Tonidex! So fluck your flucking 'strategic divergence'!"
"If I didn't bring you along," Harold said with a shrug. "How could I have gone two separate ways all on my own?"
"You've played that joke too many times by now." Layne straightened up, but his head still did not come over Harold's shoulder. "Alright, you flucking witch." He wet his lips, then gulped. "Tell me where I'm going."
"The store was closed," Harold explained. "And the villagers told us about the owner's residence and—"
"I already know that much, Tonidex," Layne said loudly. "I was with you when it all happened! Why the fluck would you tell me something that I already know?"
Harold shrugged. "Felt appropriate."
"Fluck you," Layne said, slightly annoyed. "Just tell me where I have to run off to next, since just like YOU, I also seem to like running VERY much!"
"Who're you telling that to?"
Layne shrugged. "Felt appropriate."
Harold thinned his eyes. "Hmm?" He cleared his throat. "Anyways, you're going to their house, because they'll most likely be there, and I don't wanna talk to anyone if I can."
"So, where the fluck will you go?" Layne asked, pointing all four fingers of one hand at him. "Captain needs no help! Billik has his big-ass sword and we know what Astin can do."
"I'm off to the clinic," Harold said, pointing ahead. "The chances of them being there are slim, that's why."
"So let's just visit their house together, you bumblebrained bastard!" Layne said, flailing his arms. "Or rather you go there by yourself, as you'll make it way faster than me OR with both of us together."
"Let's regroup on Erixon's command," Harold said, waving a finger toward the firefly trailing behind him, already walking off. "Next time we meet, you can have my dinner too, alright?"
Erixon's face reddened with anger. "Tonidex, you bastard!"
###
It felt tight.
As if the walls around Ryuzio were caving in. Or rather, it felt as if his whole body was being strangled, the body that was in so much pain that opening his eyelids was too much of an effort.
But he could smell again, and so he knew he was awake.
Ryuzio's head fell onto his left shoulder as he opened his eyes slightly, the left one throbbing in pain when he did so.
Melga was sobbing, chin tucked, tears dripping to the floor.
Ryuzio breathed in, another effort, turning his head the other way. Strangely enough, he found nobody. Neither any men, nor two of the four large vehicles he saw before…before…
Before he was beaten almost to death by Aksel.
Ryuzio gritted his teeth, biting the rope in his mouth. He clenched his fists to endure the tightness he felt on his wrists, his arms being wrapped around the beam in the middle of the room, hands tied behind. His legs…he could not feel them.
He braced his entire body, tightening it up…so that he could stop his tears.
But just like the beating he received before he was knocked out cold by Aksel, they continued.
Ryuzio did not want to live that again. So he stopped thinking.
But the events of what had happened after he faced Aksel kept replaying in his head, over and over, in a torturous and painful loop.
"No need to cry…"
Tears erupted from Ryuzio's eyes as he tried to push his back into the metal beam he was tied to, an attempt to get away from the one who just spoke those words. He scraped his feet on the ground to get away from the voice, but being tied, he got nowhere.
Aksel came around from the shadow of the truck ahead of Melga. He removed his shirt, looking down creepily at her. "Oh, you're awake too, boy. Too bad you'll have to watch this. I cannot let the leader find out that I captured a beauty like this; he doesn't like this kind of stuff. So, I'll have to enjoy myself before he gets here, now that everyone's finally gone."
Air choked out of Ryuzio's lungs as his eyes widened, seeing Aksel get near Melga, who kept crying hopelessly.
Aksel got to his knees, crawling toward Melga, a devilish grin over his face.
Tears rolled down Ryuzio's eyes. "Stop it, you creep…" he groaned softly, the rope in his mouth muffling his words. "I will kill you if you touch Melga…"
It seemed his voice did not even reach the ears of the bulky man, for Aksel raised his right hand toward Melga.
'Someone…anyone…help…please…'
How did it even end up this way? Ryuzio was feeling so strong when he stood against the "9 million guy." Was it all just in his head? Did the "ranged" punch not hurt Aksel enough?
###
Ryuzio dashed past the beam in the middle of the dimly lit room, fist pulled back, body twitching from both fear and excitement—
Two of the men from the couch left of Aksel grabbed Ryuzio by his arms, pinning him to the beam behind.
"What're you doing here, Ryuzio?" Melga cried with tears rolling down her face. "They will kill you! Run!"
'I'll kill them before they can kill me, Melga!'
"You know the last time was just a fluke, right, boy?" the man who had grabbed his right arm said. "Luck won't always be with you." With that, he punched Ryuzio in the gut.
"NO!" Melga yelled.
'Have to do some—'
The man who had locked his other arm punched him in the face, knocking his head leftward.
"Wanney, Korb!" Dref said loudly.
The two beating Ryuzio stopped, glancing over their shoulders.
Dref stood from his couch, cracking his knuckles. "Save some for me too." He walked up to Ryuzio's face, and then rammed a knee into his gut.
Ryuzio threw up whatever liquid he had in his stomach. 'Ack!'
"Let me do what I forgot last time," Aksel said, climbing to his feet, tossing away his smokestick. "Hey, Dref, pass him to me."
Dref grabbed Ryuzio by his neck and threw him toward the Volant captain.
"Stop it, you monsters!" Melga cried.
Ryuzio flew through the air, eyes open wide as he realized he was about to get punched by Aksel. He knew how hard the man punched, so he tucked his arms together—
Aksel slammed his fist down, punching Ryuzio in his gut, stamping him to the ground below. The impact was so strong that Ryuzio bounced off from the floor, gasping out blood, before settling still on the floor by Aksel's feet.
The men around the room laughed, getting closer.
Tears rolled down Melga's eyes as she begged the Volants to stop their assault.
Aksel lifted Ryuzio off the ground. "Welcome to reality, boy." Aksel's fists started glowing with a soft green hue. He punched Ryuzio repeatedly, Ryuzio throwing up blood and spit with every punch.
Then Aksel grabbed Ryuzio's left arm, lifting him off the ground with the grip on it, yanking the boy behind his back, before throwing him back to Dref.
"Hm?" Aksel said as Ryuzio's shirt tore open and tangled in his hand.
Dref stepped aside, making Ryuzio collide with the beam in the middle of the room and get knocked to the ground.
'Ack!'
Ryuzio's energy was fading, the pain starting to take over his mind and body. But he still felt quite aware, even though his body was broken. Ryuzio propped himself against the beam, his lungs burning as he tried to breathe.
But his ears were working just fine…Melga's cries haunting him.
Dref pulled back his fist.
'I could… Not even…a single punch…?'
The men around the room surrounded Ryuzio from all sides. He was starting to realize that he would never be able to punch Aksel in his face for taking Melga away.
Ryuzio gritted his teeth, embracing his core in anticipation for getting punched by the grey-haired man.
Dref grinned menacingly, throwing his right fist straight at Ryuzio's face—
Ryuzio shut his eyes.
Aksel grabbed Dref's right arm. "Dref!" he shouted, pulling him away from Ryuzio. "Didn't you notice that?"
Ryuzio opened his eyes when the hit never connected.
"Huh?" Dref said, confused. "Notice what?"
Aksel pointed at Ryuzio with a finger. "That."
The men around the room gasped in disbelief as they backed away from Ryuzio, whispering among themselves.
"We're flucked!" Dref said, panicking. "The leader's gonna kill us!"
The men who previously were sitting beside Aksel, gathered around him.
"We beat him so bad!" one of them said. "Leader's definitely not gonna like it!"
"What do we do?" another replied.
"Fools!" Aksel shouted, quieting his men around the room. "You know nothing about what the leader likes or dislikes!"
Dref gulped. "Boss, what do we do then?"
Aksel grinned. "Call the leader, of course. Tell him we found what he wanted." Then he pointed at Ryuzio's right shoulder. "Who knew that it was you who we were looking for all along, boy? The kid with a four-pointed star-shaped birthmark on his right shoulder!"
Ryuzio grimaced in confusion and pain. He glanced at his right shoulder. It was just as it had always been. The red "starmark" he had since birth on the outer side of his right shoulder was still there. It was nothing special. Just something Gran had asked him to hide. Ryuzio didn't find the starmark interesting enough to not. But he didn't care if it showed.
But why did Aksel and his men care about such a stupid thing, so much so that they stopped attacking him for it?
Aksel spread his arms open. "It's time to start the next phase of the leader's plan. We have to save those two big ones, take the rest four!"
The men around the room nodded, shuffling through the crates behind the large vehicles, some getting inside two of the four vehicles carrying cages behind them. Only now Ryuzio could see what was inside those cages.
Bulbous and fleshy cocoon-like things lay inside every cage. Each cocoon was slightly different in appearance, the texture ranging from smooth to rock-like. The vehicles to which no one was walking to had the biggest ones. One of them appeared hairy, and the other one was slimy.
Ryuzio noticed the men closest to Aksel also joining the ones getting into the two vehicles.
"You not coming, Boss?" Dref asked. "It'll be fun!"
Aksel shook his head with a smirk, pointing over his shoulder toward Melga with a thumb. "She needs some fun too, so I'll sacrifice my fun for her."
Dref shrugged with closed eyes, raising both eyebrows. "Well, better clean up afterwards."
Aksel slapped him on the back. "Don't teach me, you fool, I've done it more times than you can count."
With even Dref now running off to the vehicles, Ryuzio noticed Aksel was standing alone, looking around at his men.
'This is my chance!' Ryuzio thought, getting to his feet—
His legs failed him.
'NO!' Ryuzio thought. 'This is my one chance to punch him in the face for all he did to Melga! I have to get up!' He looked up at the distracted Volant captain, raising his shaking fist to the man's face. 'At least…one punch—'
The energy that coated his entire body and had almost became colorless, suddenly bunched up together around the fist he was holding up. The energy bulged, and then it glowed in a fiery red blaze, as if his fist had caught on fire, illuminating the giant room.
Aksel's eyes widened as he returned them to Ryuzio. "What the—"
The fiery energy launched from Ryuzio's clenched fist, maintaining the shape of it, as if his reach was extending.
The energy fist slammed against Aksel's face, punching his nose into his skull, but then immediately bursting into flames and blending with the air, leaving behind only a couple fading wisps of glowing red flames.
Ryuzio's eyes widened as he saw Aksel flying away to the middle couch. 'I…did it…! I DESTROYED Aksel!' He turned to see Melga's reaction—
Melga's eyes were wide open with not a hint of happiness. "Ryu…zio… Why?"
"Heh?" Ryuzio said, jaw loosening.
Melga's head fell.
Ryuzio gulped, turning toward Aksel—
"Little piece of spit!" Aksel said with a bloodied nose, standing in front of Ryuzio. "Know your place!" He picked up Ryuzio by the neck, then punched him on the left side of his face, making him fly away.
The moment Aksel's fist connected with Ryuzio's face, the surging energy inside of him faded, leaving him with just a cold and sore body.
No thought came after that. He was unsure if he'd already hit the floor or if he was about to.
Everything went dark just then.
###
Aksel grinned at Melga. Her eyes were shut tightly against the continuous tears leaking out of them.
'Stop…!'
A pinch of energy brewed up inside of Ryuzio. It was gone in the next moment… Then it returned, fading again shortly.
The ember of energy sparked a couple of times again inside him, before it turned into a heartbeat of energy, thumping continuously. Ryuzio started feeling energetic again, as if the pain was slowly going away—
The cage on the back of the large vehicle just a few steps ahead of Aksel blasted open.
Ryuzio's eyes widened with disbelief as he saw a nightmarish creature walk out of the cage with thumping steps. It was almost twice as large as Aksel, even though it was hunching forward. A single one of its forearms was wider than Aksel's whole torso, and feet big enough to crush Ryuzio with a single stomp.
Aksel turned toward the creature, tucking his chin. "You weren't supposed to wake up now…"
Ryuzio felt a chill running down his spine, the hair on the back of his neck standing up, as the creature turned its head in his direction, eyes glowing yellow as it gave a predatory gaze.
It took a step forward—
Aksel punched the creature in its stomach, the same green glow around his hands from when he beat Ryuzio—
His punch hit the creature's palm. Or rather, the creature had just blocked his attack. Then it grabbed on that hand tightly.
"I'm your master, fool!" Aksel looked panicked for a moment, before he threw his other fist to the creature's face—
The creature grabbed Aksel by both of his arms with its massive three-fingered palms. Then it fully opened out its own arms, stretching them far apart.
The noise of Aksel's whole body getting ripped apart into two down the middle was accompanied by the agony on his face and a scream that lasted but for half a moment—
The creature tossed the mangled body of the "9 million guy" over its head, opening up its gaping mouth below the lifeless husk. Aksel's body flopped around in air, before landing inside the mouth of the predatory creature.
Ryuzio looked away, grimacing, as the creature started chewing. The cracking sounds of bones shattering inside the creature's mouth echoed inside the mostly empty room.
Melga's eyes rolled back into her skull after she threw up to her side from this horrific sight.
Ryuzio's heart raced as he realized what was to come after this. He turned his head toward the creature, breathing heavily—
The creature spat out something from its mouth, and it rolled on the ground, before it stomped forward with its gigantic feet.
Ryuzio's stomach turned as he glanced at the thing dumped from the creature's mouth. He could barely make out the other features, but even in the dim lighting, the horror in those eyes pierced through.
Aksel's head continued rolling into the darkness.
Ryuzio slowly turned his head leftward, only to find the creature pulling apart its arms, just a couple steps away from Melga. His body started shaking from fear as he found the creature closing the gap between itself and Melga. The creature was so close now that Ryuzio could hear it breathe.
Ryuzio's body went numb, cold. He knew he could do nothing even if he tried. In this moment, Ryuzio learned the true meaning of hopelessness.
Ryuzio held his breath as the creature opened its jaws at the fainted woman—
The sound of the gate opening behind Ryuzio's back stopped the creature. Ryuzio did not care who it was, he just did not want Melga to get eaten by the monster. That was all that he cared about.
The creature turned away from Melga, facing the direction of the gate. Then it roared, as if challenging whosoever was behind Ryuzio.
'Who…could it be?'
Sounds of steps echoed inside the mostly empty room, getting louder as they got closer.
"I thought I already told you, Zio," a familiar voice said from behind. "Just because you're down, doesn't mean you can't get up, okay?"
As if he was breathing for the first time, Ryuzio's chest expanded with all the air he could get. His lower jaw started twitching, as if he just got shocked. His nose started to blow bigger and smaller involuntarily.
And his eyes warmed up as they flooded with tears, blurring everything in sight.
The figure stepped from behind and stopped in front of Ryuzio.
It was him.
Ryuzio started crying loudly. "ZYON!" He sobbed even louder, failing to make up words because of the rope in his mouth and the tears that were also getting inside it. "ZAYOUN! ZAION!"
The white-haired man in front of Ryuzio, who faced the monstrous creature without even a hint of hesitation, glanced over his shoulder. And smiled.
"Everything will be fine now, Ryuzio," Zyon said, pointing at his headband with a thumb. "Now that I'm here, neither a god nor a devil can hurt you!" He turned forward, meeting the freezing gaze of the predator who just ate a man almost twice as large as Zyon without even putting any remarkable effort.
And then, Zyon slid his hands in his pockets.
'What're you doing, Zyon,' Ryuzio thought, still crying. 'This is not Aksel. This monster won't just disrespect you. It will kill you—!'
The creature roared loudly, mouth wide open to flaunt its sharp fangs. Then it grabbed Zyon by his shoulders, enveloping them under its massive hands.
'NO! ZYON, RU—"
Zyon raised his chin and stared into the monster's bloodthirsty eyes. "Run."
The creature slowly removed its hands from Zyon's body, quivering as it did so. Its mouth closed shut as it took steps away from Zyon, shrinking in fear.
'Huh? But… But… HOW! WHAT—!"
The creature turned its back against Zyon with haste, dashing straight toward the other entrance—the one straight ahead of Ryuzio. It threw its entire body against the metal gate, breaking it open, then running off into the wilderness of the forest.
Zyon turned left, stepping closer to Melga, then squatting in front of her. He took out one of his hands from his pockets, and touched Melga's forehead with a finger—
The ropes around Melga's body fell loose to the ground.
'What!' Ryuzio said loudly, eyes wide with disbelief. 'Where'd Melga go?'
Zyon got up and came back to Ryuzio. The Volant captain touched every single rope wrapped around Ryuzio's body—
Ryuzio's body fell a bit forward, as if he'd finally been freed from a tight grip. He looked for the ropes that were strangling him till just a moment before as he took a normal breath, and found nothing but black smoke in the air around him.
"Are you alright, Ryuzio?" Zyon asked, placing his hands on the boy's shoulders. "Does it hurt—?"
Ryuzio lunged at the white-haired man, wrapping arms around his neck, legs under his armpits. "I'm so sorry, Zyon! I called you a fraud! I even turned my back on you! I thought I was strong, Zyon! But I couldn't even beat a single one of the guys that took Melga away! Then that thing ate the '9 million guy' and I thought it was going to eat Melga too! I was so scared, Zyon! But then you came and it ran away! I…I…I'm SORRY, ZYON—"
Zyon flicked a finger on his forehead, tapping his head back. "There's nothing to apologize for, Ryuzio."
"Heh?" Ryuzio said, sitting on the ground, looking up deeply into Zyon's blue eyes. "You mean you're not mad at me?"
Zyon laughed. "Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because I…" Ryuzio said, rolling his eyes to the side. "I thought you were too weak and scared to fight that Aksel guy…"
Zyon cocked back his head, looking confused. "Askel? Who?"
"The guy that disrespected you in Melga's restaurant just yesterday!"
"Hm…" Zyon stroked his chin, looking thoughtful. "Did I laugh it off?"
"Yes! And he soaked you with TWO drinks! How could you not remember?"
Zyon laughed. "If I laughed it off, then it wasn't anything serious."
Ryuzio's mouth closed on its own before another word could come out of it.
Zyon climbed to his feet, giving a hand to Ryuzio to get up as well. "Let's go and see how Melga's doing, Zio."
Ryuzio stood on his feet, strangely without too much of a struggle. "You just made Melga go poof! Where is she? How did you do that?"
"She's in that hospital you ran away from," Zyon said, pulling on Ryuzio's ear. "That doctor will kill you the next time you see her."
"I'm sorry!" Ryuzio said, eyes squeezed shut. "I didn't know any better—" Soon as he opened his eyes, he saw the bars of the other big cage bending apart. "Zyon! Behind you!"
Zyon turned lazily. "Another one? It was so weak I didn't even sense it—!" Zyon tucked his chin, moving Ryuzio behind his back. "Careful, Zio. This one is strong."
"Heh?" Ryuzio said, looking at the creature emerging from the cage. "Really?"
The creature slithered out of the cage, wrapping several of its slimy tentacles around its own body.
"But…you can make it run away too, yeah?" Ryuzio asked softly.
The creature blocked the gate ahead, looking away from them.
Zyon glanced over his shoulder. "I wasn't talking about that Etherbeast, Zio." Then he pointed toward the gate. "I was talking about…him!"
'These scary monsters…these are Etherbeasts?' Ryuzio felt sweat forming on his forehead when he remembered that he had said he wasn't scared of any beast—
The slimy Etherbeast unwrapped the tentacles from around its body, growing massive in size.
Then Ryuzio noticed who the Etherbeast was attacking.
A bald man with a thick black beard walked past the Etherbeast after entering from the gate ahead. His shirt had no sleeves, revealing his massive shoulders…the left one having a "starmark" similar to Ryuzio's—except it was black, as opposed to his own red one.
'Who is he—?'
The Etherbeast launched dozens of its blade-like tentacles at the bald man—
The man simply put forward a hand. "Give me your heart."
The limbs of the Etherbeast turned toward itself, ripping seven holes in its body.
'WHAT! But… But… HOW—!"
The Etherbeast collapsed onto the ground, not before handing the man seven bulging blue organs, which he threw to the side without even a second glance.
"It's you," Zyon said with a smile. "I didn't know you were this impatient to meet me, Kalrah."
The man yawned with a hand over his mouth, the other in his pocket. "I'm not here for you, Stormcloud Zyon." He brought down the hand away from his face, pointing forward with a finger. "I'm here for the kid that's hiding behind you."
'Heh? ME! Why!'