We arrived in Iliasburg two days later in the early afternoon. I'd really wanted to travel with more speed, but the forest was poor terrain for lamias to pour it on. The city appeared normal, other than the giant castle/fortress that dominated the skyline. Nevertheless, city life always goes on no matter who is in charge or what is happening.
Alice, Ariana, and Tamamo were in human form. Soldiers were everywhere, but they paid us no mind. Thankfully, for the most part they didn't seem to be bothering the citizenry. Unlike truly human soldiers, they did not seek to take advantage of their power to force the citizens to give them things or do things for them. They simply stood at their posts and kept their eyes open for trouble.
Tamamo excused herself to go get that "bite to eat" that she'd said she was going to get. She returned only five minutes later.
"That was quick," Alice said, smirking. "Found a guy and drained him that quickly?"
"Found nine guys and drained them that quickly," Tamamo said smugly. "I am energized like a mofo, baby!"
"Nine?!" Alice cried in astonishment. "How-? Oh, nine tails. Of course."
Getting to the fortress was no problem at all, or at least within a block of it. I could see guards ahead at the entrance, but something else had halted my companions' progress. I had learned some rudimentary reading magic over the years, so I tried to look closer. As I expected, there was some kind of field here, although I couldn't quite discern what it was.
"Luka," Alice said, getting my attention. "I'm afraid you're going to have to face him alone after all."
"The hell he is!" Ariana said heatedly.
"Ariana, do you know what this field does?" Alice asked.
"I know exactly what it does!" Ariana answered. "It diminishes our magic."
"Specifically, it diminishes dark and holy magic," Alice explained, as much for my benefit as for Ariana's who probably already knew that. "And when I say diminish, I mean we'd have almost no ability to use magic in there."
"We can't even use pleasure attacks," Tamamo added. "What makes our pleasure attacks break down an opponent's resistance so quickly is our innate dark magic behind them that heightens mens' lust."
"I still have my knife," Ariana said, pulling out that wicked looking blade I'd seen her carry fifty years ago.
"Bringing a knife to a magic fight?" Alice responded. "You know better than that, Ariana."
"How can you be so coldly logical about sending your husband in there alone?" Ariana yelled indignantly. She turned to me. "Luka, she may be all right with this, but I'm not. Fifty years ago, I ran into Black Alice's castle with nothing but this knife to rescue you. I won't let you face this maniac alone."
"Ariana," I said quietly, putting my hands on her shoulders. "What you did that day was the bravest thing I've ever seen, and I've done some crazy brave stunts in my time. And against all odds, it worked. But sometimes cold logic is what's needed and this is one of those times. This guy is utterly ruthless. He'll gladly take you as a hostage to force me to surrender. And you're not just a leader in the resistance anymore. You're the Monster Lord. The world can't afford to lose you."
"Do you even have a successor?" Alice asked. "Did your marriage produce any monster children?"
"No," Ariana said dejectedly. "No children of any kind."
"That makes you even more indispensable, Ariana," I said. "If I fail, you're the world's last hope of defeating or at least containing this guy."
"Believe me, you'll only get in his way," Alice said. Tamamo nodded her agreement. Ariana reluctantly backed away. Alice came over to me in her stead.
"Luka, I know I sounded coldly logical there and all," she said, her eyes moist. "But please don't lose in a place like this."
"You always say that!" I said, smiling. "Where would be a good place for me to lose?"
"The beach was nice," she said, laughing. "You looked so comfortable laying there in the sand. You didn't even get a sunburn, what with me standing between you and the sun while you were passed out."
"You know I'll do my best, Alice."
"That's… not the answer I wanted to hear, but I understand. You're not the kind to make promises you might not be able to keep. But I do know this much: you've won a lot of battles, and you've lost your share, but when it mattered the most, when everything was on the line, you always found more reserves of power that you didn't know you had. You need to do that here, Luka. Whatever his name is uses power like yours in ways you never mastered. You have to get even better with your power than you are now, and you have to do it in the heat of battle. Please come back to me, Luka!"
"I love you, Alice," I said, and with one last kiss, I broke the plane of the field and strode towards the entrance. The guards stiffened up as soon as they noticed that I was headed straight for them.
"State your business!" one said when I got close enough. My answer was to make my sword materialize in my hand. They were sealed and I was inside before they could even draw their weapons.
As with an invasion of a real ant hill, the other ants just seem to have a sixth sense. I'd read somewhere that they used chemical pheromones to sound the general alarm. Had they somehow kept this ability despite their human form? In any case, they came rushing down the halls in large groups. In those same large groups they were sealed, one, two, sometimes three at a time. The floor was left crawling with angry ants, continuing to chase me, but unable to keep up.
At some point there must have been a signal to stop contesting me, because I saw a group of soldiers retreat down the hall. Or perhaps they were choosing a better defensive position. The answer to what was going on soon became clear. John had spoken of some soldiers with super powers. Things suddenly got interesting.
Soldiers in red uniforms as opposed to the normal bronze blocked my path. They raised their arms as I approached, firing bolts of energy from their hands. Had this wizard somehow delegated some of his power to some of his soldiers? My shield went up in an instant, preventing any harm. The first group was sealed in seconds.
Then I entered a four way corridor, where I was hit from east and west at the same time by those energy bolt firing soldiers. I still had not mastered shielding my whole body. I cursed my disinterest in practicing my magic over the last ten years as I went down in a hail of energy bolts. My earthpower saved me from serious damage, but they had hurt me. I responded by doing what I did best: I fired back. They all went down.
I entered another room, this one with an insanely high ceiling. Was I in the center of the fortress? Would I find the man behind all this here? Unfortunately, no. Instead, soldiers that could fly swooped down to attack me. Seeking high ground, I took to the air myself using the power of wind, and the dog fight began. They couldn't shoot energy bolts, however. I could. Between my sword and my power, I defeated them, although it took much longer than I'd hoped. My enemy was getting too much time to prepare his defense.
Fortunately, one thing I had mastered over the years was how to not run out of energy. Part of it was conservation. Gabriella, instead of having me learn all kinds of new tricks, taught me how to do the things I knew while wasting less power. The other part was replenishment. I'd once thought my reserves were finite, and that this was a key weakness making me inferior to the likes of Ilias. Gabriella showed me that this was not necessarily true, that through concentration I could replenish my power simply by wishing it so. My power, in other words, could create more power. As long as I didn't expend it all at once. Then I had to wait for it to replenish on its own.
I decided that the element of surprise was lost, so decided to rest and replenish. My battle with whatever he called himself would probably be heavy on the magic. I could not afford to run out in the middle of the fight. I also needed to catch my breath. For all my power, my body was still human. That, Gabriella and Promestein both assured me, was unlikely to ever change, at least not permanently. Temporarily boosting my natural abilities, that was possible, and I had learned how to do it well, at least using tools that I already understood well, such as the spirits.
I was not challenged while I rested. After my short rest, I moved on. If this man wasn't in the center of his fortress, I would just have to roam the place until I found him. There were no further challenges. Maybe he'd decided that he was ready to deal with me himself. I was eager to get a look at the guy and take his measure, despite the knowledge that he dwarfed me in ability.
After what seemed an interminable search, where I feared he was evading me in a fortress he knew and I didn't, I found him. It was a large circular room with a pit in the middle of the floor that glowed. I couldn't even imagine what that was for. He stood at the other end of the pit, a cloak covering his face. I strode into the room without my sword in hand but with spirits still summoned. I'd need to be fast and durable to have a chance. Maybe that would be an advantage. I saw no reason why he would have knowledge of this world's elemental magic.
"So I see my unknown nemesis has arrived," he said in a low, dark voice. "Your power seems similar to mine. Do you also come from another world?"
"I do," I answered. "Now explain to me why you'd come from a modern world just so you can lord it over a late medieval world?"
"Dude!" he yelled, removing his cloak to reveal a slightly overweight, curly-haired young man in a Joker T-shirt and jeans. "I didn't have a choice about coming here! One day I was in my apartment playing video games and the next I was here, and I have no clue how it happened! And then, these motherfuckers tried to rape and eat me! That's when I learned I had power! Why would I not take advantage of that!?"
"I landed in the same situation," I said. "I handled it quite a bit differently. The way I handled it made things better. The way you're doing it is making things worse. Besides, the current Monster Lord wants peace between humans and monsters! She's been working for fifty years towards that goal!"
"Well, the locals down here didn't get the memo!" the man replied hotly. "I was running and fighting for my life from those psychotic monsters! Until I found this city and built what you see here. Someone needs to run this world better than the Monster Lord is, and that someone might as well be me! I have the power!"
"But do you have the wisdom?" I asked. "I have power too. I run very little. But I do fight injustice and oppression. And right now, the primary injustice and oppression in this world is you!"
"Fine!" he yelled. "So it comes to a battle! A contest of magic!"
"Or maybe we could avoid all that and you could just go back to your world," I said, offering one last chance to avoid the inevitable. "As talented as you are with your power, I'm sure you could figure out how to get back."
"I already have!" he laughed. "But I'm not going back there! Back there I'm nobody! Just some guy, with a job! Now granted, I love the modern conveniences, and when I'm done conquering this world I'll bring those conveniences here, for my own benefit but also for the benefit of all mankind. I'm not really a bad guy. I just put on the act so that they'll be scared of me."
"Does that mean I'll find five very much alive Ancestors in your dungeon?"
"First off, I don't have a dungeon, second yeah I killed those bitches! Do you know what they tried to do to me!? They dropped in out of nowhere and hit me with everything they had! They nearly killed me! I only did to them what they would have done to me!"
"Renounce all this!" I yelled. "Stop this mad dream of conquest! You can be somebody here without killing people or forcing them to serve you!"
"Sorry, bud, not gonna happen," he said with finality.
"Can I at least get your actual name before we throw down?" I asked.
"Goddammit! They still aren't getting it right? It's Darth Megatron! Darth and Megatron! How is that hard to remember!"
"Where does Voldemort come in?"
'Oh, that was my first try at establishing a name," he said. "I didn't like it, after trying it on for awhile."
"What's your actual name?" I asked with exasperation.
"It's Daniel," he replied. "What's yours?"
"Luka."
"Luka? Like in the Susanne Vega song? Who names their kid that?"
"There's also a great NBA superstar by that name," I replied defensively.
"Whatever!" he said, and fired a huge bolt of energy at me. My shield went up in an instant. Reflexes still amazing, thank goodness.
I fired back. He didn't even seem to bother with a shield as my blast simply impacted him with no effect. Was he immune to my magic, or did he have a full body shield up? Daniel advanced on me by levitating over the pit, hands out as if to fire at me again. It was misdirection. My reflexes saved me again. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a huge slab of rock coming at me from the left side. I rolled out of the way as it crashed to the ground where I had stood a moment before.
I picked up the shards of rock with my power and flung them back at him all at once. They stopped in front of him and came back at me at double speed. I put my shield back up, to no avail. They passed right through it and impacted me painfully, knocking me down.
"Dude, you didn't know that energy shield only blocks energy?" he laughed. "You're such an amateur!"
I kipped up and tried something I had never tried before. If I was to win, as Alice said, I had to find new reserves of power, new ways of using my power, that I'd never tried before. I picked up two solid rock benches far behind him and brought them forward as quickly as I could. Without even looking, he raised his hands and they exploded in mid air. The debris came together in one huge, fragmented boulder that flew over his head, aimed at me. I tried to halt the boulder. To my surprise, I succeeded, and it fell in between us. He leaped on top of the bolder and looked down at me.
"I see that you've figured that much out, at least," Daniel said. "Maybe this contest won't be settled with our powers that way as I thought. Maybe we have to… do this with light sabers."
Indeed, a light saber appeared in his hand. I materialized my fake Angel Halo.
"Dude, that's not a light saber!" he protested. "At least make this fun for me! It's like Attack of the Clones, I'm Count Dooku, you're Yoda!"
"I've seen the movie," I responded coldly. "This is my sword. Now bring it!"
He leaped off the rock, not at all gracefully, and brought the light saber crashing down towards my head. Please. I deflected the blow with ease. He struck again and again, with no obvious training or skill, but plenty of enthusiasm. Not only did he not have the spirits, apparently his power didn't passively improve his reflexes as it did mine. It wasn't long before I found an easy opening and slashed him across the chest. To my disappointment, not only wasn't he sealed, he didn't seem to be weakened at all! A cut of that severity had been enough to seal Ancestors with one blow! At least with my enhanced, fake Angel Halo. The real one wasn't nearly as powerful.
"Owwwwwwww! What the fuck, dude!?" he yelled, checking himself for blood.
"This isn't a game, Daniel! And quit whining! My sword isn't even lethal! It's designed to weaken you, not kill you!"
"Yeah, you're right," Daniel said, a new coldness in his voice. "It's not a game. I was kinda hoping that as a guy from a world like mine that you'd get it. But you don't. You're some idealistic prick who fancies himself some kind of hero! This may be a fantasy world, but here, the heroes lose!"
His hands exploded in lightning bolts that lanced towards me. Putting up my shield again proved less than effective. It blocked the bolts headed right at me, but others lanced right around the shield and struck me. The earth power may have saved me from being struck dead, but the shock sent me crashing to the ground, nearly immobilized.
"See?" Daniel said, laughing. "I was just fuckin with you this whole time. I could have beaten you whenever I wanted. You never stood a chance. The only thing I want before I kill you is your power. Added to mine, I'll really be a god! I mean, I'm kind of a god now, but I'll be double the god with your power!"
"How are you going to take my power?" I asked, now quite worried. Lots of people had tried to take my power, most of them using one particular method.
"How? What does it matter? How do you think I'm going to…. Oh, dude! That's sick! You weren't thinking…. Oh my God, no way! I'm totally going to do it a straight, bro way. See, like this!"
His hands grasped mine and I immediately felt a powerful pull on my insides. I felt my power being leeched into him. But this was a battle where I didn't need to be able to move in order to fight. This was a test of will. I pulled back, resisting him. Worry began to crease his face as instead of him drawing out my power, I began to draw out his. In this way, at least, I was the stronger. I strengthened my grip so that he couldn't let go as I drew more in. Then I stopped. I nearly retched at the feeling of his power. It was like mine, but it was not mine. It felt like hate. It felt like resentment. It felt like grievance. I couldn't handle it. His worried face changed into one of triumph as he gained the upper hand. As my own power entered him, his reaction was quite the opposite. He loved how it felt. He wanted more. I was going to lose.
That's when I decided on one last gamble. Alice had said, early on in my journey, that she had no idea how a human body could hold such power. She speculated that the rules must be different. But I realized that maybe my body could hold it for the simple reason that it was mine. I could not hold Daniel's because it was not mine. Had I succeeded in drawing too much out, I wouldn't have doubled my power. I would have been overcome. Hoping I wasn't making the ultimate mistake that would doom this world, I not only stopped resisting, I actively started pushing my power into him.
"What are you doing?" Daniel asked with alarm. "Not so fast! It's too much at once!"
"You said you wanted to be a god, Daniel!" I shouted. "Well, be a God!"
With a last huge effort I emptied everything I had into him. He stiffened for a moment, and abruptly fell over. I rose and looked down. His eyes were open, staring at nothing. Was he dead? No, he was breathing. Unconscious? Perhaps. More likely catatonic. I picked him up and threw him over my shoulder, and began to make my way out of the monstrosity he called a fortress.
As I walked through the halls, there was no sign of anyone. Had he lost control of his creations in his current state? I tried to find the magical field he had used to prevent dark or holy magic from being used in this fortress. I couldn't find it. I made it close to the exit when I was greeted by my companions rushing to my aid, apparently because the anti-magic field was no more. Ariana had her knife drawn. When they saw the figure I had, limp and unresponsive over my shoulder, they sagged with relief.
"You did it!" Alice exulted. "You found a way! I knew you'd find a way!"
"You saved us again," Ariana breathed. "And once again, I didn't really do anything."
"You gave us important information," I said, laying Daniel on the ground gently.
"So what do you plan to do with him?" Alice asked me.
"I'm not sure," I admitted. "He seems to be catatonic. I'm not sure how long that'll last, though. I was thinking maybe we should get him back to my world where he can't hurt anyone."
"We don't control where we go right now, Luka," Alice noted. "The… guy is in charge of that."
"Can you take us to my world?" I called into the air. No response. Then I heard a snap. I looked down to see Daniel's head at an impossible angle and Tamamo's tail slowly unwrapping from it.
"I hope I haven't disappointed you, Luka," Tamamo said grimly. "He killed my sisters. If he recovered consciousness he would kill us all. I can see you have no power left in you at the moment. That means even you wouldn't be able to save us. There was no other choice. I've already filled my cup with sins. What's one more?"
Alice reached out and hugged me. "I know how much you hate killing, Luka. It's one thing I love about you. Don't ever change. But she did what had to be done."
"I know," I said sadly. "It just never feels like a true victory when it ends this way. I like the victories where everyone realizes it was all just one big misunderstanding and they become friends afterwards."
"They can't all be Harpy Village," Alice said, releasing me.
Ariana, seeing the opening, rushed in to replace Alice in the hugging department. When she finally let me go, her eyes were glistening with tears.
"You know," she began. "When you first traveled with me so long ago, I didn't really understand the way you looked at me. I knew that you loved someone that looked just like me back in another world, but I didn't really get it. Now, looking at you…. I never thought I'd hold my Luka again. And I guess you're not really my Luka, but… now I truly understand how you felt so long ago. I really wish you weren't just here when there was a crisis. If there's any way, any way at all, that you could ever visit me, just to visit me…. Please do, anytime."
"If it's at all possible, I will," I said. "I was trying so hard to get here anyway, when I thought what I'd done had been undone. We'll just continue to work on the problem back in my world."
"You'd better," Ariana said, laughing. "So I expect you'll be disappearing any time now, since you did what you were sent here to do."
"Yeah, how does this work?" Alice asked. "We'll just appear back In our room any second?"
"I think that's how it works," I said.
"Well, as long as you're still here," Tamamo said. "I have something to say as well. I'm going to do what your Tamamo did. I'm going to guide and watch over Monster Lords as long as I'm alive to do it. There won't be anymore Black Alices if I have anything to say about it. That's my promise to you, Luka. My one small way to start making up for all that I've done."
"I know you'll do your best, Tamamo," I said, smiling, and began to feel myself fading away. "Alice, do you feel that? I think it's happ-"
"-enning."
We were back in our bed. Alice leaped out. "The kids! The Kinghts! Everyone must be so worried! We were gone three days!"
"Alice, there's an envelope in the bed," I said. The envelope had written on its face simply, 'for Alice and Luka.'
I opened it. There was a photograph inside. The photograph was of Justin, with Nero and Neris on his lap, all smiles. I turned the photo over and read the back.
"Sorry for the sudden summons," I read aloud. "I tried to mitigate the panic it might cause as best I could by telling Nero and Neris that you were on an adventure, and that you'd be fine and be back soon. Thank you again for helping me with my little problem."
"Little problem?" Alice asked, sarcasm dripping in her voice. "We'd be fine?! That was one of the most dangerous things I've ever been a part of! And we've taken on two gods!"
"We did good, though," I pointed out. "And you did ask to come along."
"Fine," she conceded. "Let's go out there and see how well Justin prevented a panic."
As we exited our room, Nero and Neris, along with Granberia and Tamamo, were already there. Had they known to anticipate our return? Those questions would wait, however, as Nero and Neris ran towards their parents joyfully.
"Daddy, mommy!" Neris shouted, wrapping her arms around Alice's neck. "You're back from your adventure!"
"Was it fun, dad?" Nero asked. "Did you perform great feats of bravery and daring?"
"Real life adventures aren't much fun, Nero," I said. "There are many moments that are scary, in fact. I go on adventures because I want you and your sister to grow up in a world where there aren't any adventures."
"Aw dad, you want us to be bored?" Nero whined.
"I don't just want you to be bored," I said, tickling him. He giggled, "I want you to experience endless, soul crushing boredom your entire life!"
"What your dad meant to say," Alice interjected. "Is that life involves a ton of amazing adventures where you aren't likely to die in the process. We want you to experience all of life's adventures, while being safe and secure."
"That doesn't sound every exciting," Nero grumped.
"Well then, how does a little baseball sound?" I asked, ruffling his hair. "The great thing about living in a castle full of monsters is that there's always enough for two full teams, no matter what the sport!"
"I'd rather play football," Nero said.
"Fine, but flag football," Alice said sternly. "No roughhousing with big, powerful monsters until you're near their level."
"Yes, mom," Nero grumped. He was getting to that age where he thought he was ready to be a man. Neris, on the other hand, was still daddy and mommy's little girl. I knew how soon that would change. The Monster Lord had never faced a challenge resembling a teenage daughter. But for now, at least, she looked so happy. I thought again about how great it was to be able to experience this with her. Maybe what Ilias and Eden had done had been for the best after all. It hadn't even messed up Ariana's world!
We'd arrived back just before noon in our world's time, and spent the rest of the day fully briefing the Knights, as well as Promestein, since I knew she'd consider this information fascinating, on everything that had transpired. Promestein was indeed utterly fascinated. Granberia seemed to be getting a little hot at my description of the battle with Daniel, which concerned me a little. Alice was also hearing the details of the battle for the first time, and was not nearly as appreciative of the danger I'd been in, with her helpless to assist me. She ordered me to go to the healers immediately to treat my wounds, which she didn't even know I'd had until I mentioned how badly I'd been battered and fried in that fight.
That night, we finally settled into bed, about as tired as I can ever remember being. Alice didn't seem nearly as tired, despite the incredibly long day, as she contentedly read on her tablet as I began drifting off to sleep.
"That's weird," Alice said. "I just got an email from a Justin. Do you think-?"
"Open It up," I said, perking up.
"It's a video attachment," she said. "The message with it says, 'I knew you'd get a kick out of this, so I couldn't help but to share it with you.'"
"Is he sending us cat videos?" I asked.
She hit play. No, definitely not a cat video. In fact, it was the throne room of the Monster Lord's castle. I immediately recognized Ariana, cleaned up and looking as regal as ever. Standing before her were also recognizable faces: Alma Elma, Granberia, Tamamo, and Erubetie.
"With the tragic death of five of the Ancestors," Ariana began. "The world needs new heroes to take up the mantle of justice and coexistence. While you three aren't as powerful as they were, I have it on good authority that you have incredible potential. What's more, I trust you, having served with you all as fellow resistance commanders so long ago. I know that over the last fifty years, you've continued to fight for justice and coexistence, each in your own way. I know that you all waited on the shores of Sentora, ready to lay down your lives to stop He Who Shall Not Be Named from invading that great continent."
"Oh, if only they knew the significance of giving him that name," I said.
"I really hope they don't stick with that," Alice agreed.
"With the guidance of our Goddess Ilias, we will right wrongs, fight evil, and spread our Goddess' message of love!"
Alma Elma, Granberia, and Erubetie roared their agreement. Tamamo kept a respectful silence.
"I am so never getting used to that," Alice said.
"From this day forward, you will be known as… the Four Unbeatable Knights!"
"Um…" Alma Elma interjected. "You do realize that would make our acronym FUK?"
"Oh…" Ariana mumbled, clearly flustered and losing momentum. "Okay, does anyone have any better suggestions?"
"How about the Four Incredible Knights?" Granberia asked.
"The Four Awesome Knights!" Tamamo yelled.
"C'mon, you're getting close," Alice said at the screen. "Any minute now…."
"FiK and FAK?" Alma Elma said. "That's still kinda dumb. Why not…. The Four Fabulous Knights!"
"The Fab Four!" Tamamo exulted. "That's the name! We'll be the Fab Four!"
"Ohhh…. I'm getting a headache," Alice said, as the video came to an end.
"It was amazing though," I said. "I'd encountered the Knights' counterparts my first time there. I'm surprised I didn't think to ask about them. I'm glad to see they're well and still fighting the good fight."
"I guess you're right," Alice said. "I do hope we'll be able to visit someday, just to visit. Ariana's a wonderful person. Reminds me of me."
I laughed appreciatively, and then heard another ding on her tablet. I looked over her shoulder. Another email from Justin? She opened it and read it to me.
"Heard you wanted to be able to visit from time to time," she read. "Given all you've done for me, it's the least I can do. Whenever you want to visit, just click on the link below. Whenever you want to go back, just click your heels and say, 'there's no place like home.'"
Reading that it sounds like she held it together while reading it to me, but she actually had trouble getting through it, breaking down in laughter at the last part. We slept soundly through the night, holding each other. Yes, this was the life. Ten years of incredible happiness. I wanted it to go on forever. Thanks to Eden and Ilias, it might not go on forever, but it would go on a very, very long time. I said a silent prayer of thanks to Eden, for the first time admitting my gratitude to her. She must have heard me, because I felt an invisible kiss on my cheek.