literature

Keepsake-NNWM: Chapter 1 pt. 3

Deviation Actions

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The lobby was sparse now, most of the con goers fleeing to somewhere safer. Those that remained were either trying to make a break for it with injuries, and those were the people that Yunn was helping out, or they were being attacked. By what, exactly, Jay himself couldn't say exactly, but the other part of him knew very well.

"What is Malevolence?" Minn asked, her eyes darting around the chaos in front of her. The tiled floor was smeared with blood and scraps of fabric, and people's bags and belongings were scattered around the area. Better to live without your things than to have no life to enjoy them with. "Are they terrorists, like Yunn said?"

Jay took a couple steps back, his back meeting the wall. "I don't know what they are," He murmured.  At first he thought they were men- dressed in ski masks, gloves, pants- all in black. The idea that they were a terrorist group seemed the most logic explanation, despite the fact that they had no guns. He wondered how, exactly, they were a threat, until one of them flung out their arms at a Zelda trying to limp away from a distance.

The appendage stretched out impossibly long, the limb becoming smooth and sleek like pulled taffy, and it wrapped around her arm, dragging her across the floor. Well- wrapped wasn't quite the right word. It was as if upon contact, the shadow had melted down over her arm, staining her skin black. She shrieked, tears and pain contorting her face as the man picked her up with his arm, her feet dangling off the floor. She sniffled, mumbling pleas and apologies and questions, why was he doing this, let her go, PLEASE; he replied by cutting into her arm, blood spilling across the floor.

But even then, cutting wasn't the right word. It was as if the shadow coating her wrist had suddenly turned to needles, shooting into her wrist. She screamed, high pitched and full of agony.

The sound was enough to make Jay duck back into the bathroom. It made him sick; it made him want to huddle away with the rest of the kids in the corner, but the same piece of him that made him see what was going on wouldn't let him stay in the facility. Instead, he picked up  his electric baton and Minn's chakrams- they were heavier than they looked- and dashed out to meet Minn again, handing over her props.

"I thought you just said they were Malevolence," she criticized as she took the wheels, her voice strained as she continued to stare at the carnage. "How do you not know—" She looked down at the chakrams and his baton. "Ohh, no." She grabbed Jay's shoulder. "Jay, I know you want to be a brave kid, I know this is scary, but they're going to kill you if you try anything. Don't be stupid; impulsiveness only works if you're me."

Jay took her eyes with his own. "I… I don't know, but he does. It's okay." He said, trying to reassure, but his last sentence came off as a whimper. And just like that, he was no longer in front.

"It's okay," He said again, his voice calmer, his voice no longer his. "I'm going to fix this." He uncapped the cardboard sheath on his baton, looking back at Minn. "Just in case. Your brother is intelligent." He said with a small smile, and started forward to the fight, but stopped himself suddenly. "Do not follow me," He ordered. "Put those down, stay here." And with that, he bolted into the lobby.

Minn was silent for a moment, eyes following the boy she thought, ten seconds ago, was Jay.  A small, sly look grew on her face. "Pfsh," She snorted, grinning something determined, "Like I'm going to leave my brother and watch you get hurt."

"What's going on?" Yunn asked, pulling a boy with a leg injury into the washroom before re-emerging. "Why is he being an idiot?" He watched Jay beat away a shadow monster with his baton, letting the Zelda run back as best as she could, sobbing and clutching her wrist. He cocked an eyebrow. "He's going to get hurt."

Minn cocked her head to the side, watching the brunette fight. "No… No, probably not." She pulled of her wig and handed it to her brother. "Here, watch this for me."

Yunn looked down at the wig, and back up at Minn. "Why?" He demanded immediately, "You're not going out there, Minn, I swear to God that if you do—"

"What're you gonna do, ground me?!" Minn cackled, picking up her chakrams. "I'm going to go introduce myself!" She skipped away from Yunn's attempt at grabbing her sleeve.

"DAMNIT, MINN!" Yunn screamed, and Minn's footing slowed, but it wasn't enough to make her stop running. He started to go after her, but saw the Zelda trip on her dress and collapse, and with a session of double guessing, he ran over to assist the cosplayer.

Jay had just delivered the killing blow to a shadow monster, stabbing the thing clean in its skull. It shrieked, its joints crackling and seizing as if the knife had lit its body on fire, before finally crumbling into charred ruins. Jay's prop shank was working, but there was only so much a dull steak knife could do. It was loose, too- it wasn't going to last long lodged in the dowel. He had to do something, and fast, but things weren't looking so bright then. "Bright…" He murmured, parrying an attack from a nearby shadow man, and something clicked. He perked up. "It's my only chance!"

He backed up, poising his hand over Jay's baton, when he saw Minn running across the lobby to him. "Minn! I told you to stay back!" He scolded, shooing at her with the baton.  Instead of listening, she continued to advance. "Impulsiveness only works if you're me," she called, smiling like a child who'd found a loop in their parents disciplines.  
Jay's half scowled. "I don't have time for this," He muttered. "If you're going to fight, give me your chakrams," He commanded the redhead.

"Sure…?" Upon catching up, Minn handed her chakrams over, eyeing not-Jay with a cocked eyebrow. "Why?"

Instead of answering, he organized the weaponry into one hand and held the other above the three, closing his eyes. "In the name of the light we are protected by, Brightest Eyon, we ask that you grant us strength to defend the helpless." Jay's controller recited, and a ghostly blue light flickered around the objects. A powerful gust blew across the room, sweeping into the palm of Jay's hand. The shadow creatures, previously occupied with tormenting con goers, all turned their heads to Jay, hissing. "Bring us something concrete to back up our courage," He called, compensating for the wind, and the shadow creatures advanced with a new target.  "We have nothing to offer but our loyalty and our service." He passed Minn's chakrams back to her, swinging his baton in the air. "BRING ME VENTI!"

The same light that had enveloped their weapons spilled down from their surface in a shower of cold sparks, revealing their new identities. In the place of the baton was a lance that went up little further than Jay's head, three silver wing-like blades cascading down the side of the grey-blue staff.  A gunmetal bulb was secured to the bottom of the weapon, its surface smooth as glass.

He swung it down just in time to catch an arm of a monster that was about to grab Minn, who was staring at her once-chakrams in jaw-dropped shock. It was still a foam prop to a certain extent, but the scraps of metal that Yunn had implanted were jutting out past the craftsmanship. The metallic bits that were once a dingy anonymous grey had gradated up into milky chrome blades with twirling curls of metal coming off of their bases.  Jay's controller was sure that the weapon would have been gorgeous with the foam taken off…

But otherwise, it was absolutely hideous. Effective, though, he was sure of it. "Boss mode!" The redhead cried, thrusting the chakram into the air. The girl spotted a nearby monster, cackling. "Alright, taffy-ass," she reeled her weapon back, "Get ready to get your ass kicked." She threw the weapon, her expression smug.

Instead of it lodging into the creature's skull, it bounced off the floor and clattered at the monster's feet.
"Uh." Minn mumbled, shuffling back as the monster drew towards her.

"Your skills probably don't lie in long range," Jay's controller commented, running forward to drive his lance into the shadow man. "You shouldn't be out here if you can't hit something. You're going to get hurt." He turned to the redhead, paused, and twirled the lance's butt over the head of a monster who dared to give a full-body lunge.

"I can so! You look like you could use some help anyway," She gestured to the slowly-growing masses of monsters, running a little past way to spin her remaining chakram into the face of an approaching shadow.  

He cocked an eyebrow at Minn, stabbing another monster into the ground. "Does it look like it?" He swung the lance clean through the heads of three shadow men, one after another. "I would like to think I'm faring just fine, thank you."

The redhead looked around. Nine, ten, eleven… And they were all closing in. She grinned back, adrenaline refusing to let her stop smiling. "I know that Jay would," she said, "he doesn't like facing threats. He'd clam up and run away." She locked eyes with Jay's, and his controller knew she was reading much further past that. "But you wouldn't. Would you, Way?" She looked around, trying to find a weak-ish target, and was surprised to still see Yunn running around, carrying away those who couldn't move themselves.

Jay's expression didn't change, but something in his eyes did. "It's good to know that you think better of me than that, but, then again…" He backed up closer to her as the monsters drew in, "You are also the same person who tells Jay I don't exist."
Minn opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again. She glanced away. "Uh, yeah, about that—" Way cut her off, thrusting his lance not two inches beside her and catching a monster's arm on the blade before it got to her.

"You're forgiven," Way replied, slashing to the left to carve the offending monster in half. "For a long time, I had to question my reality as well. But now…" Jay's grip tightened on the Keeper's lance. "Nothing could be clearer. If I can ward him off, Minn, I will explain everything. For now," He locked eyes on the first half of the hissing monsters, "we will divide and conquer."

"What do you mean, 'if'?" Minn called, but Way had already ducked off into the fury. In no less than thirty seconds, he had already taken out ten, and started to chip away closer to Minn's half. He kept a close eye on her, to make sure she wasn't in harm's way. He was sure that while Minn wanted to think of herself as a good fighter, she was only picking off one for every four that Way had killed. Even when she was fighting, he had to cut off the attack of an approaching shadow man to keep her safe, but all that aside, she hadn't gotten herself hurt yet. She'd even picked up her strewn chakram, and was beginning to develop a makeshift style.

But that was just a pleasant coincidence, a Rookie's luck, and it didn't last long. They soon found themselves back to back, surrounded by the hissing creatures.

"There… seems to be more than when we started," Minn chuckled breathlessly. Her fingers trembled against the grip of her weapons, and Way knew she was winded.  He looked at her chakrams and something clicked.

"Alright, we'll try this, then. Throw up your chakram." He commanded her. She gave him a skeptical look, but did as he said anyways. Way reeled Jay's arm back in the opposite direction of the chakram, and swept it forward.

A powerful wind surged through the air, grabbing the chakram and sending it spinning through the crowd of shadows. In one fell swoop, it had taken out at least fifteen at once. He let his arm come full circle. "Catch!" and she did, holding out her hand to slip into the grips like catching a hula hoop.

"That.. That was intense!" She cried. "What are you, Way?! That was so incredible!"

But it had taken a lot out of Jay's body. Way leaned against his lance, counting the remaining shadow men. "I'm an, an Air Keeper. I can control the wind, among other things… and Malevolence is out for me—" He didn't have time to finish his sentence. A black limb had snared Jay's ankle, dragging him across the floor. "Ack!" He leaned forward, digging his lance against his direction of travel to try and get some ground so he could get a better shot at the limb, but his lance was pulled away from him and the weapon-weilding arm was also taken by the shadows.

"Way!" Minn cried, running alongside the sliding Jay as best as she could. "Leave them the hell alone!" She snapped, grabbing for Jay's free hand.

"No, Minn, run! They're still targeting y—" but it was too late. A much larger, more powerful limb snapped against her torso like a rubber band, and it sent her flying fifteen feet away into the opposite wall with a sickening CRACK.

"MINN!" Way tried to arch Jay's neck back to make sure she was alright, but the black tethers made it impossible. He stopped struggling, knowing it was useless to try, and instead chose to cloud his eyes with hatred, to tighten his mouth into a thin line. He wanted to make the wind howl, rip them apart with shrapnel, but Jay's body would only tolerate so much. If he fell unconscious, then Malevolence would get his prize without a fight.

Speaking of the slimy monster…

"Now, now. Is this how you would greet an old friend, my boy?" Jay's body was hoisted ten feet off into the air by his arms, the other constricting appendages sliding back into a colossal black smudge in front of him.

He was faced with the bust of a hunching figure, thousands of arms protruding around the skirt of his mass and scattering the higher it was.  Its shoulders were exaggerated, cresting together to meet with the hallow skull that sat atop them. The eyes were beady and ghostly white, the mouth dripping and sludgy as if he had been drinking molasses. "You are not struggling." He noted, his words crystal clear.

He didn't use his mouth to talk. Way would know if he did- having to get the creature to repeat itself, only to be spewed on by inky sludge… He stored the thought for later, so if he were still around to laugh, he could have a time with that.  "Nobility does not struggle under the hands of the wicked," He said, "for to struggle would be to lose our footing. And you, among anything else, would be the last thing I would ever relent to. You're a monster." The Air Keeper spat- he momentarily considered doing that, too, but his mouth was dry from exhaustion.

"An impudent response. You do not deserve the power Eyon has granted you." The demon rumbled, a deep throated chuckle that reverberated through the lobby. "But we will relieve you of that soon enough. You are a very skilled coward, I will admit that. I am… impressed. I'd presumed you to be dead… until I found the runes."

Way's hardened expression cracked. "The… the runes?" He stumbled on his words, shock shooting through his nerves.

"Yess, Way Dante, the place where you had traversed from." The monster swung Way ever so lightly, a child playing with his food. "After that, it was as simple as following your spirit track… and now we are here. And the spell will finally be complete, and you will be powerless to stop me from getting what I want." He paused. "Did I say powerless? I believe the right word would be, 'dead'."

The Air Keeper let the words sink in, a revelation collecting his composure again. Malevolence didn't know everything… He didn't know that this wasn't Way's body, and that very well would be his saving point. Otherwise, Malevolence wouldn't be here to begin with. "Empty threats from an empty-headed tyrant."

Way felt a tremor shaking through the limb that had him suspended. "Impudent brat. You seem to forget: I am the one who has you in binds, boy."

White hot pain crackled down his arms into his chest. Jay's eyes shot open wide, releasing a cry so agonized that it sounded like a wounded animal. It was a crushing, burning feeling that left him with barely a breath to pant when it subsided.
"Yess… justice is being served quite well, today. I have chased you down for ten years, Way, and I have finally found you. And I will finally receive what has been deserved for so, so long."

It took a long time for Way to respond, and when it did, it took everything he could muster from Jay's body to do so. "And… and it took you that long…? You are the impudent one, Malevolence." He looked up at the creature, a renewed energy burning in his eyes as he spoke. "You can try, Malevolence, but you will never get what you want."

"Watch me."

The shadows around Jay's wrists prickled, and Way knew what was coming. He choked on a cry that never made it past his throat, tears streaking down his face as blood rained down from his arms. Greedy black limbs at the base of Malevolence's trunk crept over, greedily soaking up the liquid.

"Yes… your powers surge within me now, little Keeper." He let the brunette slip from his binds, the body hitting the ground with a dull thud. The same cackle reverberated through the lobby, making the tiles on the ground vibrate against Jay's face. "At last. All of the Keeper's bloods and spirits are mine! Nothing will stop me now!"

Way tried to lift his head, but he was too woozy. He didn't have much left to work with... He was bleeding out, his physical energy drained from air warping and fighting and pain shocking… but mustering up this last reserve would be well worth the look on that smudge's face.

"Excellent, Malevolence. You did a great job. You've won." He managed to prop himself up onto his hands. He couldn't even make out the tiles below, his arms were trembling, he could hardly lift his head, but if he could just catch a glimpse, all of his years of running, hiding, suffering would be well worth it. "There's only one catch with your success, 'boy'…" A smug, teetering smile spread across Jay's face.

"This blood isn't mine."

It was absolutely beautiful. Malevolence's eyes seemed do sink back into his head, tiny pinpricks in a sheet of black. "WHAT." Way wanted to cry out laughing in sheer joy. It was wonderful. For once, he had beaten that thing.

"Ha ha," it came out soft, half asleep. His vision was blurring. "I tricked you… heh." He slumped forward onto the ground, his body unable to take any more exertion. The last thing he saw before he fell was a fluttering black coat, and two hideous looking props clattering to the ground in front of him...

-----

"I OUGHT TO MAIM YOU RIGHT HERE, YOU USELESS RAT—"
"NO!.... You've hurt them enough. Stay the fuck away from them."
"Oh… little human. You amuse me. Why should I listen to you?"
"E-err… because, I, too, am a Keeper!"
"Really."
"OF COURSE! I am offended!"
"Answer honestly, little girl. Are you truly? I may just make your death quick."
"I am… I'm a Fire Keeper."
"Wrong answer."
"GHK--!"
"You humans should learn your place… Oh. Wait just one moment. I may have use for you yet." CRACK. "You will be returning with me, human."
"MINN!" Clatter! "Leave my sister alone!"
"You are her brother?"
"I am. And if you don't let her go, right now, I'm going to kick your ass!"
"I have a better proposal for you. If you are a dedicated, loving brother, you will tell Way to come back to Zaln. And he will come, mark my words. Because you would like to see your sister alive again, would you not, boy?"
"YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF HIS AND YOUR STUPID FEUD!" CLASH, shing, CRACK. Squeeeeak.
"You make Way come back, Boy, or your sister will die. I am a man of my word, if I am a man at all…"
BAM. TWO IN ONE DAY.
I uploaded this one so I could get an extra head start on my word count. Which is cool, because this chapter is full of ACTIONNNN.

Too much, if you ask me. I hate writing fighting scenes; they're so tedious. The dialogue was cool, though. I'm getting some pretty good metaphors going, too.

A question of thought: The way that I right for Way being in control, with the "Way scratched Jay's head" sort of description for actions, does that sit well with you? The intent was supposed to be to bring back to the fact that Way is still harboring in Jay's body, and make a clear image of that. 'Cause writing it originally, I'd start to just picture Way instead of Jay.
But is that just confusing to you guys? You should let me know.

This is 3,518 words. I'm freaking bamfing it today.

LUCKLUCKLUCK.
© 2011 - 2024 kishaz
Comments1
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Nodoca's avatar
I like how you write Ways controling of Jays body. :D
Keep up the good work!