Charles’ Blog

For those who haven’t read Chapter 1.

Please Enjoy

Soul and Maria exchanged glances of worry.

            “Are you OK?” Soul asked dryly.

            Maria slapped the back of his head, causing his helmet to echo, “Well of course he isn’t OK!”

            The stranger collapsed, causing dust to spread all around Soul and Maria. Maria kneeled and turned him over so that he could lie on his back and felt his neck for a pulse.

            Nothing?

            The stranger’s hand gripped Maria’s arm and he opened his eyes. His expression became a smile as his eyes turned completely black.

            “Soul, what the heck is happening?!” she exclaimed, struggling to break free, “I can’t get him off me!!”

            “Just- Just relax, please!” he replied anxiously, adrenaline making his head throb like a sore thumb.

            “What business have you paladins in this World? Why do you gallivant into danger so?” snarled the man in a double-toned voice, “You only bring trouble and destruction to all the Dimensions! You all should be punished!”

            His entire body tensed as a dark aura surrounded him and flowed to his side, revealing a black figure of energy. Maria’s eyes widened and her mouth trembled, panicking as she tried to break free from the human that still held a tight grasp on her wrist. There is only one entity in the universe that had this innate ability of strength and manipulation, and instantaneously its name rang a fearful resonance in their consciences.

            Darkness.

            “Soul, he’s trapped me! I can’t break his grip…” 

            “Just stay right there, I’ll take care of this…” Soul grabbed a scroll in his left hand and the handle of his sword in his right. Swinging both hands up at once, he untied the knot in the scroll with his mouth while aiming his sword at the Darkness.

            “Loyal dogs of Time, How dare you challenge me without even answering my questions? You all come and go and learn the arts of war, but if there’s something they don’t teach you, it’s respect!” it shouted.

            “Shut your mouth!” Soul retorted, flinging the scroll open and wrapping it around his blade. He chanted Winston’s words and the scroll was absorbed by the sword, turning it from lacklustre silver into a resplendent white. 

            “On the contrary, Paladin, I have no mouth with which to speak,”

            The sun, almost completely submerged beneath the horizon, was making way for the moon opposing it.

            Looks like it’s now or never.

            “Maria, look out!” Soul yelled, and swung his sword at the Darkness. It dodged the sidewards slash with a short jump and landed on the surface of Soul’s blade.

            “How repugnant. You still ignore my questions,” it assumed the shape of a human, retaining its ominous black veil, and held out its right hand to form a sword out of Maria’s shadow. Maria quickly became weak and stopped resisting against the grip of the lifeless body as her shadow twisted and turned around the Darkness’ hand, stretching into the shape of a simple sword. She collapsed.

            Soul looked from Maria to the Darkness, “Dirty tricks!”

            “So you agree that two-on-one is fair?” it replied, “No etiquette whatsoever-”

            “Etiquette? You lot roam all the Dimensions, taking them over by brute force, and you want to lecture me on etiquette?” Soul closed his fist tightly and stared directly into the Darkness’ faded eyes, “Then you claim that we bring the pain and sorrow, all the destruction. That we should be punished?! Ridiculous!”

            “Well then, state your business and this might be a little more pleasant for you…” it demanded with a smile.

            “Piss off!” Soul tightened his grip around his sword and raised it over his head, forcing the Darkness to jump out of the way. He turned the sword in front of him and stabbed at the Darkness. It held up its right arm in defence, making it expand into a black wall. Soul sliced, forcing his blade into the shield.

            “You can’t penetrate this, foolish paladin, it’s made of pure energy,” the Darkness chuckled from behind the wall, “Energy can’t be created or destroyed, but can be changed from one form to another…”

            Soul grimaced at the shield, forcing his blade into the energy causing it to swirl and fade.

            “What in the-?” the Darkness gasped. The shield expanded and curved at its sides, surrounding Soul’s blade. Soul continued pushing forwards with all his might, and eventually his eyes caught sight with the Darkness. The energy slowly formed into the Darkness’ hand, grasping the blade just inches from its head.

            “You look shocked, Darkness,” Soul started with a smirk, “What’s the matter?”

            “White Gold… You paladins are more educated than I believed… However-” the Darkness swung its shadow sword at Soul’s head. Soul dodged lithely, jumping back in recoil as his armour grinded the hard ground. Dust flew around Soul and the creature, and for the first time Soul noticed that he couldn’t feel anything.

            They don’t have… emotions? Soul thought as the dust cleared, This will be harder than expected, they must have changed since last time. I’m running out of time, the spell can only last for so much longer.

            “Paladin,” Soul jumped and pivoted in mid-air. The Darkness was right behind him and he wasn’t prepared to defend himself. Soul recognised that it no longer had a right arm. “Paladin, paladin, paladin…” it paused and tapped its foot for a few seconds, “Oh, you stupid paladin. Do you not realise that our kind don’t heal that easy? Just goes to show that-”

            “Enough! I’ll answer your questions!” Soul demanded, held up just centimetres from the Darkness’ sword. “If you will answer mine, and give Maria back her life force,” – his voice lowered – “I will cooperate with you fully,”

            The Darkness smiled again, “Excellent. A parley. Well then, what are you doing here? Make it snappy, or I’ll finish you off then use your girlfriend’s energy to repair the damages that you’ve caused,”

            “She isn’t-”

            “That is none of my concern, answer!”

            “We’re here to investigate what you lot are up to. We are surprised that you’ve escaped the Reverse-Dimension and we don’t plan on returning the Tear Pendent.” Soul cringed as he addressed the Darkness.

            “Interesting… things may be a lot different to what we initially thought. Well, I’ll answer your questions later. You two are a pair of nosy travellers, you know that? No harm whatsoever!” it bellowed, starting to laugh, “You’ve promised to cooperate. Now, I’ll return this woman’s life and take you with me. Any objections?”

            Soul looked down in frustration and shook his head slowly.

            “Excellent.” The Darkness chanted unintelligibly as a dark aura formed around Soul, binding him. “You know, X would probably be interested in hearing your questions,”

            Soul struggled against the tight barrier, “You promised, Darkness! Give her life back!”

            “Ah yes, you are no longer of any harm to me now,” It muttered under its breath and the sword dissipated into swirls of darkness that surrounded Maria’s hollow body. “COMBINE!” it shouted, and the swirls danced viciously around Maria with the appearance of a tornado. One by one, the swirls once again inhabited her body.

            “Well then, paladin, time to show X what I caught,”

            Soul stared at the Darkness in disgust, unable to move a muscle against the aura.

            It assumed its shapeless form and expanded around Soul. In an instant, Maria was isolated with the homunculus next to her.