Page 1 of 1

The Resurrection of the True Hero

Posted: Mon Apr 02, 2007 1:34 am
by Phoenix512
So…

Is this the end of me or what? Will I ever regain control of my body or become a forgotten memory to everyone about the good me? The darkness probably makes me infamous in the World. That’s even if it could defeat the power of the Elites or even Marionette. Maybe it won’t be that bad to give up now. All I been doing is fighting. I’m tired of it.


”Do not say that, Kazuma-sama. You still have one more chance to set everything right.”

Suzaku? Is that you? Where are you? All I see is whiteness.

”Sorry, I am not Suzaku. Hold on a bit while I am finishing some adjustments.”

What adjustments? What is she talking about?

It did not take long for Phoenix what the mysterious woman meant by adjustments. He felt disembodied ever since he lost the battle of wills against the Twilight Darkness. Now suddenly he appears to have his body. It took a minute for his eyes to adjust to his new surroundings which were familiar to him. The surroundings around Phoenix consisted of a field of pure whiteness except for a castle that he has been to before in his past. Also, he was able to see the woman who was making the adjustments. The woman seemed familiar to him but at the same time, he never met her in his life until now. The woman was rather beautiful with long raven hair, slender body that was covered in red armor. She looked very graceful and calm like an angel which was complimented with the white angel wings on her back.

”Ah, all the adjustments are now complete. First things first, my name is Miaka. I am an AI created by your guardian, Suzaku. Well the original focus of my programming was to destroy the darkness within your mind for good. Due to recent events, the darkness managed to gain strength and began to overtake your mind permanently. Suzaku foresaw this and prepare to make drastic alternations with my program. Now my primary function is to assist you in overtaking the darkness that has complete control of your mind.”

Phoenix took a moment to digest the information that the AI told him. There were so many things to happen with him in a course of few minutes that most people would probably fall over dead. But for the blademaster, this was not something new to him. His life has been played along by the Elites, Marionette, and the Twilight within him for so long that it was not a surprise that Suzaku would withhold information from him. “So, why did Suzaku didn’t tell me about you or the darkness?” Phoenix said in a concerned tone to Miaka.

”She was afraid that the darkness would overtake you even sooner if you knew about her plans. Also she did not want to be worry about it while you fight. Anyway, my programming will allow you one last chance to purge the darkness from within. Any weapons and armor that you had equipped or had in your possession are usable but any items and your gravity powers are unavailable. I did manage to adjust your body in the fashion of being at half-gravity though. So at least you can fight normally here but you cannot switch your state like you could normally do in the real world.”

Phoenix was beginning to understand his combat capabilities in this place but he did not still understand where he was exactly. It appeared to him that he was within his own mind but he did not understand how this came to be. Even though he had experienced this before when Shinto talked to him in the past, it was still relatively odd that he could experienced this while within the World. Being trapped within a computer game was crazy in itself but experiencing this type of dream within a computer game was even crazier. He continued to listen to what Miaka was saying about his current situation.

”You probably remembered this place. This place was when the darkness began to slowly take over your mind. In a way, this place means a lot to it and perfectly represents his power base. I do not know what to expect there since Suzaku could not allow it to know of her plans. There is one more thing you should know before we head to the castle. If you died in here, the darkness gains complete control of your body and your psyche would be completely destroyed. So basically, you have to win at all costs. This is one battle you cannot absolutely lose.”

Phoenix was quite good with regular and above opponents but his record against quality opponents has not been the best. Usually the result has been that he got his ass kicked many times over. He does not feel bad about since the type of opponents he faced are people that need an entire army of Freedom Fighters to defeat them. His opponent this time is himself. This opponent must be defeated if Phoenix was going to continue on living.

”Are you ready to face your destiny, Kazuma-sama?” Miaka said to her master. “Yeah, I’m ready I’m ever going to be.”

Phoenix and Miaka walked side by side towards the castle. He looked straight ahead with determination. He slowly began to realize that all of his mood swings were caused by the darkness within. It was the first time in a long while that he could think clearly. Phoenix was not about to give up this newly regained clarity or his psyche. He has so many things left undone to die by his own insane mind. This was the ultimate gamble. The truest gamblers live for this moment where their own lives were on the line. Phoenix did not like to gamble but this time, he had to put everything into this task.

The blademaster and the AI arrived at the front doors of the castle. They did not have to say it and thought the same thing. They pushed the doors of the castle in order to enter it. Phoenix drew out his new weapon, the Bloody Pain while Miaka pulled out a doubled bladed axe that had a long handle on it. They entered the castle with great anxiety about the failure of the mission along with not knowing what to expect from their mutual foe.

Posted: Fri Apr 06, 2007 3:32 am
by Phoenix512
Phoenix and Miaka stood in a large room mostly composed of blue crystal floors and walls. There was a long hallway leading to a raised platform which was a couple of feet high. On the center of the platform, there was a throne fit for a very majestic king but this throne was not for a majestic king at all. Phoenix and Miaka approached towards the platform with the throne and noticed something odd about it. It contained a dark aura around it but no one was sitting on it until now. Suddenly five golden rings appeared on the platform, two on the left side of the throne, two on the other side, and one on the throne itself.

The rings revealed two sets of knight like figures on the both sides of the throne while the ring centered on the throne revealed a clone of Phoenix. The clone had the clothes that Phoenix originally wore when he first started in the World but the shirt was blue. The knights on both sides of the throne had the same makeup which consisted of rather flexible armor like rubber foam all around their bodies except for the head area. Their heads was the only thing revealing their genders which each side had a man and a woman. On the throne’s left, the man had a red heart on its chest while the woman had a black spade on her chest. On the throne’s right, the woman had a black club on its chest while the man had a red diamond on his chest.

The clone had his left arm on the armrest of the throne while his left hand was supporting his head. He looked bored for a moment and began to speak to Phoenix and Miaka. “Welcome to my lovely home. I never intend for you to see this but that damned bird of yours and that AI made me to do this. You had your chance and never amounted to anything. At least the bird gave me a wonderful opportunity to finish you off once and for all. I won’t fight you yet and that’s if you survive against my four knights. But at least I’m an honorable man. You will fight them one on one and get full healing after every battle but the AI does not get involve at all.”

Phoenix knew that the odds were stacked against him already but he cannot allow his only ally out of the fight. “Sorry but we are in this as a team. I rather faced all five of you right now than fight without Miaka.”

Quickly, Miaka spoke out. “How about a compromise? I won’t directly interfere in the fights but I want to support him in a different way. I can merge with him. This merging will only allow him to fortify his strength and defense. Nothing else.”

The clone thought about this for a minute before speaking again. “I’ll accept your offer. From what I can tell, you are telling the truth about the merging. Also I doubt he could withstand the power of my knights. So merge and let’s begin the gauntlet.”

Miaka was flashing red for a second and the next moment, she was gone. Now Phoenix was sporting some new dark red metallic armor. Sorry, Kazuma-sama. I could not help you out more but anything more than this would definitely decreased your chances in surviving. That’s ok. Let’s just focus on the mission. And besides, having you with me feels like that I’m with Suzaku.

Just shortly after the merging, Phoenix was blinded for a moment before he found himself in a different room. This room was a jungle. There was no sky to see since it was covered with a deep cover of leaves. The temperature was not like a jungle but the danger was like one. An arrow from above landed a few inches from Phoenix’s right foot. The arrow’s tip was in a shape of a heart.

A figure appeared in front of the blademaster which was the male knight that had the heart crest on his chest. He was holding a bow in his hands which the right hand had a crest of a heart and ace intertwined. The male knight smirked at Phoenix before talking to him. “The name is Heart Ace. My crest tells me to defeat you for the advancement of the World.”

Phoenix decided to take this chance to strike at Heart Ace but the Bloody Pain went through the knight. A mirage. Crap. I need to move now. His instincts were correct. A series of arrows were targeted towards Phoenix which he used a nearby tree to deflect them and used it as cover. He was at a serious disadvantage in this battle as ranged attacks were not his specialty. Also the jungle provided Heart Ace with some major cover so getting close to him would be very hard to do. He needed an ally to make this battle easier but that was not going to happen.

The blademaster decided to take into the trees and search for Heart Ace. Phoenix could not find the archer at first but noticed something else instead. A pink blast of energy went directly towards Phoenix. He had barely any time to move out of the way the blast and was partially caught by it. The impact of the blast made Phoenix fall back to the ground. Before he could stand back up, an arrow strikes him in the back. The arrow itself barely caused any damage but it was poisoned. There was no way for the blademaster to remove the poison since he did not have Rip Teyn.

After the poison took its effect, Phoenix began to hear some laughter. “Ha ha ha ha! I didn’t realize that taking you down would be so easy. I thought you being from the master would be a challenge but I was wrong.”

Heart Ace appeared in front of the poisoned Phoenix but did not have a bow in his hands this time but a staff. He began to whack him with the staff a few times. Heart Ace was basically mocking Phoenix with the beating which Phoenix was going to make him regret that decision. The blademaster noticed a limb directly above the archer/long arm and whispered a Vak Kruz spell at the branch.

Phoenix needed to distract Heart Ace long enough for the limb to fall on him. He needed this chance to defeat him since the pain from the poison and the beating was making him hard to focus. “So, are you always this clever or this pathetic? Poison and sniping are usually signs of being a coward. People who prefer not to see their victims died are cowards. So are you going to look into my eyes and kill me right here and now?” The blademaster said to him with conviction.

Heart Ace took Phoenix’s bait and began to whack him with the staff again. He was so into proving Phoenix wrong that he did not notice the burning limb coming down onto him until it was too late. The flaming limb hit the archer’s head which Phoenix quickly cast La Repth and Rip Saem. The Rip Saem was mostly to offset the poison but he hoped that he did not get into a prolong battle with Heart Ace. He quickly got up and initialized Ani Revolver at the stunned archer. Phoenix directed the attack at the legs which the sword pierced both legs multiple times.

Heart Ace could not stand from his leg wounds which Phoenix wanted in the first place. With him barely able to move, the blademaster continued to attack Heart Ace with the Bloody Pain until his life was no more. “That’s what happens to you when your arrogance takes over you. He should have killed me when he had the chance but he did not. He had the advantages to defeat me while I had nothing. That arrogance was all I needed to gain a quick advantage in the fight and win. Bring on the next knight. Let’s continue the pace.”

Phoenix felt his body being completely refreshed as his wounds and the poison were gone. The clone was keeping up his end of the deal with full restoration after every battle. The blademaster noticed that the jungle was disappearing and being replaced with a grassy valley that contain a small lake. He noticed a woman standing near the shore of the lake. She did not have any weapons but had a crest similar to the one that Heart Ace had. It was a club with a jack interlaced on it. “Well done for beating Heart Ace. The arrogant bastard got what came to him. I don’t expect that I’m anything like him. The name is Club Jack and my crest tells me to defeat you quickly.”

The quickly part of Club Jack’s statement had another meaning as she quickly ran towards Phoenix and punched him multiple times before going back to her previous spot. The blademaster did not have any time to defend against her attacks and realizes that he need a plan and fast.

Posted: Sun Apr 08, 2007 11:35 pm
by Phoenix512
Phoenix was in a bind. Club Jack’s speed allowed her to land multiple blows on the blademaster in a matter of seconds before returning back to her spot. “Are you sure that you aren’t arrogant like your dead comrade, Heart Ace?” He said to the fist fighter. “Of course not. I want to put on a great show for the person I love. I don’t want to end the fight so quickly now.” Club Jack once again disappeared in a flash only to appear next to Phoenix. She delivered another series of blows at his midsection before retreating once again.

What incredible speed. There’s no way I can match her in speed. If I only had my gravity powers, then this would be easy. No use in complaining on what you don’t have. I got an idea.

Phoenix switched out his Fishing Gloves for the Silver Bracer. He cast La Repth on himself and waited for Club Jack to attack again. As the female fist fighter began her attack run, Phoenix cast Rai Rom around himself. He figured that she would get a shock from trying to attack him in the same manner since she could not react fast enough to stop the attack. It was an old tactic from the past which he used the tornado spell as a shield. Sure enough, the tactic does its trick as Club Jack received some nasty voltage from trying to attack Phoenix.

The blademaster took this chance to use Vak Revolver on the fist fighter to score some hits. The fiery spin attack only managed to get two hits off before Club Jack retreated once again. They were both injured by the Rai Rom at least Phoenix finally got some damage on her. She seems surprised that the blademaster was able to hit her even with her huge speed advantage but once again she went on the offensive.

Phoenix cast Rai Rom on himself once again but this time, the fist fighter was prepared for the attack. He did not see her in front of him like the first three times but directly above him. Club Jack kicked Phoenix in the head before landing a few feet in front of him. The kick caused Phoenix to be knocked down on the ground. After the Rai Rom disappeared, Phoenix tried to get back up but only received another kick back to the ground by Club Jack. She proceeded to stomp on Phoenix’s back a few times before grabbing him by the hair. The blademaster was amazed that the woman could pick him up by the hair. Club Jack changed her position on how to hold up Phoenix from the hair to his neck.

“You’re nearly finished. My love will reward me so much for this. I think a watery grave is suitable for you. It was fun.”

Club Jack proceeded to throw Phoenix into the small lake. Taking this chance, he cast La Repth to heal much of his injuries and realized that she sealed her fate. He landed into a waist-deep area of the lake and stood up quickly. Phoenix took an offensive position and readied for Club Jack’s action. She was charging towards the blademaster and did not realize that the water would make her approach known to him. “ANI REVOLVER!”

The spinning darkness attack connected as Club Jack got into range to her flurry of blows on the blademaster. For the final blow on the fist fighter, Phoenix used her as a springboard to clear him of the lake and cast Rai Rom on the fist fighter. The electrical attack caused a fatal amount of damage on Club Jack because of the lake acting as a huge conductor. She screamed horribly in pain before uttering out her final words, “Avenge me my love, Diamond…”

“She could have finished me off easily but to impress someone, she had a lapse in judgment and gave me the one advantage I needed to defeat her. So tragic…” A moment later, the lake and the waterfall was replaced with a barren, open field. Once again, Phoenix’s health and SP was refilled before a giant sword headed towards him. He avoided the sword easily but did not expect to make a return trip. He barely had time to avoid the sword and cut into his right midsection as minor damage.

The sword was caught by a woman who had a spade and queen emblem on her right hand. She was able to hold the huge sword with one hand pretty easily and had it across her shoulders. “Heart Ace and Club Jack were pretty weak. I’ll show you the true meaning of being strong. The name is Spade Queen. My crest tells me to defeat you and take your power for myself.”

Spade Queen charged towards Phoenix and swung her sword to try cut him into two. He blocked the attack with his own sword with both of his hands on the handle. He knew at that point that she was not lying about her strength and could not hang on for long as she continued to push down on her sword. The blademaster cast Vak Kruz at the heavy blade in order to escape this struggle of strength but it had no effect. Spade Queen was surrounded by a magic tolerance field. Without magic, Phoenix was forced to fight her with pure strength which she had the advantage. How will he win this battle?

Posted: Tue Apr 10, 2007 3:04 am
by Phoenix512
Phoenix was in a test of strength against Spade Queen who can easily use her giant sword with one hand. Right now, he was using nearly all of his strength to make sure that he was not slice into two. To make things worse, his magic was useless against her due to a magic tolerance on her. The blademaster was about to falter when he decided to use Vak Revolver towards her. It was risky but there were no other safe options available to him. This revolver attack was not exactly an attack but to escape. Phoenix kept his sword above him to keep the heavy blade’s sword from causing damage on him. The revolver fast motion propelled Phoenix forward into Spade Queen.

They both fell down to the ground which Phoenix got back up and retreated from Spade Queen. During this small intermission, he switched to his Fishing Gloves to increase his defense. He did not have time to plan his next move as she threw her sword at Phoenix again. This time he was ready for the attack as he leaped over the sword and directly attack her with a couple of quick slashes. He did not want to do a weapon attack because he would probably get damage from the return trip of the sword.

Phoenix got some distance away from Spade Queen in order to plan his next attack. Right now, his best bet was going to do quick attacks on her. He cannot match her in power. Also, Phoenix does not want to get into a swordfight with her as he can barely block her attacks. He really began to think that all his opponents so far were design to be beaten by gravity easily. The darkness probably knew that Phoenix could not access his gravity powers within his own mind. So far, Phoenix had been able to hold his own and will continue to do so.

Spade Queen lunged towards Phoenix and swung horizontally at him. He leaped backwards as she continued to swing horizontally at him. Luckily for Phoenix, the field was useful to him as there were no obstacles for her to corner him. But at the same time, he cannot keep avoiding her attacks like this. He drew out the Matoi and threw it at her. Spade Queen blocked the sword easily but Phoenix was not going for damage in the attempt. The main focus was to stop her current plan of attack and allow him to escape.

The blademaster jumped up into the air and initialized Ani Revolver. He targeted her arms in the focused attack. The multiple spins allow him to injure her arms to the point that she could not hold her sword anymore. After the attack, Phoenix decided to walk away from her as in his mind, he had already defeated her. Spade Queen yell at the blademaster as he continued to walk away, “Am I not worthy enough to die by your hands like how you kill Heart Ace after he couldn’t move! I’ll make you regret not killing me now!”

Spade Queen’s body began to glow blue which caught the attention of Phoenix. He turned around as her entire body was just blue. Her blue body began to move towards the sword and impacted it until her body was completely gone. The sword began to surround itself in a blue aura and move on its will. It began to spin towards Phoenix hoping to chop him up into a million pieces. “It’s time to end this pointless struggle of strength. VAK REVOLVER!”

Phoenix’s body began to spin and his sword was engulfed in flames. He headed towards the sword and tried to break his way through. He met up with fierce resistance of the giant sword but he continued to press on the attack. The blademaster noticed that the sword began to crack and activated another Vak Revolver once the previous one was about to cease. The second Vak Revolver managed to completely shatter the sword as the crack spread throughout the entire sword.

Phoenix noticed the many pieces of Spade Queen’s sword were beginning to disappear. “You rather die than to admit that you were weaker than me. You were strong but that strength blinded you from other tactics.” He looked around and saw that the field has not changed but he was beginning to feel refreshed in terms of HP and SP. Before the blademaster had a chance to react, three darts impacted on his body. “What the…”

Those words were the only ones that Phoenix had a chance to say before the darts all exploded at once. “ARGGGH!” The explosions took away most of Phoenix’s HP and left him gasping for breath. “La… Repth. La Repth.” He cast the healing spell twice on himself to get him back nearly at full health. Once the smoke from the explosions cleared, he saw his opponent. Phoenix inferred that his opponent was Diamond King from the diamond and king on his right hand along with the type of opponents he fought so far.

“I guess that my subjects failed to weaken you enough for me to defeat you with that attack. At least you saved me the trouble of killing them for their failures. As you probably figured out by now, the name is Diamond King. My crest tells me to grasp glory for myself.”

Phoenix could not believe the words that came out of Diamond King. “You treat your comrades like they were your personal spear and shield. I cannot understand why Club Jack loved you.” “HAHAHAHAAHA! Comrades? They were nothing more than things that served me. I played that bitch Club Jack’s feelings so she will protect me without a second thought. People are nothing to me but things to use at my will.”

The blademaster felt angry towards Diamond King and began to charge at him. “Kazuma-sama, do not let him anger you. Regain your calm now.” Miaka said to the angry Phoenix as he continued to head towards Diamond King. He stood there as Phoenix was about to thrust his sword into his heart. Diamond King extended out a knife from the top of his right hand and stabbed Phoenix with it. The twin blade smirked for a few seconds to enjoy the gasp that came out of Phoenix before he activated his attack. “Pulsating Knife.”

The embedded knife began to pulsate and cause extensive damage throughout Phoenix’s body. The blademaster yell out in pain as the attack was causing its damage and afterwards it stopped pulsating. He fell to the ground and was motionless. Did Phoenix lost the most important battle in his life?

Posted: Wed Apr 11, 2007 4:04 am
by Phoenix512
Diamond King looked over the fallen Phoenix and began to laugh very loudly. He was filled with absolute joy that he defeated the blademaster with such ease until he noticed that his left hand slightly moved a bit. “This can’t be. Why don’t you die? Be a good subject and die.”

“I don’t even know why I’m still alive. I should be dead but I’m still here.” Suddenly, the red armor that covered Phoenix’s body was disappearing bit by bit. He realized how he survived the deadly attack. I am sorry, Kazuma-sama. I cannot fight with you any longer. There was one ability I regret to inform you. I switched your HP to my HP just now. I had to do this since your anger makes you into a berserker at times. I believe that you can be a great warrior. Just remember this so others will not have to sacrifice themselves because of your anger. Goodbye, Kazuma-sama.

The red armor on Phoenix has completely disappeared now. Miaka was no more. The blademaster slowly got back up and noticed that his HP was still at the same amount before the Pulsating Knife attack. Diamond King was amused by what just happened. “Your AI friend would have been the most perfect subject for me. Sacrificing her life to save me for no reason except for loyalty. You don’t deserve to have subjects. Now die like a good subject.”

“Who said that I was your subject? Miaka didn’t sacrifice her life because of loyalty but because I need guidance. She realizes that I have to survive for them. I never view her as a subject but as a friend and comrade. Now I will show you the power of comrades.” Phoenix switched out the Bloody Pain for the Phoenix Wing. “It may be weak but it means a lot to me.”

“Comrades? They are nothing. They are useless except being cannon fodder for me. It’s time to destroy you for good.” Diamond King extended both of his knives from his palms and ran towards Phoenix. He attacked the blademaster with both knives headed towards his midsection. The blademaster gracefully avoided the attacks with ducks and slight movements of the body as the Diamond King attacked violently at Phoenix. “Ani Slash.” The sword was covered with a darkness aura as he sidestepped towards the twin blade. Then he swung the sword directly at the knife on his right hand. It managed to cut through the knife.

Diamond King retreated away from Phoenix as he was shocked that his weapon was easily destroyed by a relative weak sword in his opinion. He decided to attack him with the darts which this time, the blademaster was avoiding them with ease. “VAK KRUZ!” The fiery attack impacted all around the twin blade and causing a chain reaction with the nearby darts he just fired. Using the smoke as a cover, Phoenix ran up to Diamond King and stabbed his sword into his stomach. Once the smoke cleared, he saw the blademaster rather calm as he was losing blood from the stabbing. “How about some pulsating action of my own? ANI REVOLVER!”

The darkness attack skewered the insides of the twin blade as the blademaster looked sadden at the weakened king. The twin blade was slowly disappearing from Phoenix’s sight and asks him a question. “Why couldn’t I beat you?”

“It’s because you’re not a true king. A king, no a leader should care about the people under their lead not used them for their own purpose. You betrayed your comrades. They actually cared about you especially Club Jack. Even though I was fighting alone, I had the strength of my comrades to carry me through. Your will alone isn’t enough to win. Find something better to fight for instead of personal glory.”

After Phoenix gave that speech, Diamond King completely disappeared. The blademaster found himself back where he originally started, the throne room of his own darkness. The darkness was sitting on the throne and began to clap a few times before speaking, “Well done. I didn’t expect that the AI would die for you towards the end but that was some nice entertainment for the both of us before you finally disappeared for gone. I suppose my soldiers were a little flaw. I need to correct their personality adjustments when I regained control back of your body.”

“What do you mean adjustments? It sounds like that you had control before in the past.” Phoenix asked the darkness as he confused about the recent statement. “Oh yes. You don’t remember do you? Right, most of your memories have been blocked of those ten days. I did gain control and prepare for a revolution but your damned friend Shinto sealed me. Anyway instead of giving a small bit of hope that you could defeat me, I’m going to crush that possibility now.”

The clone extended out his right hand to reveal the Ingrez Rune which began to glow blue. Suddenly Phoenix felt his clothes, body, and all his belongings were heavy. He quickly pummeled to the ground like a ton of bricks. The clone was applying the power of gravity to everything that Phoenix had on him. “At least your damnable friend was somewhat useful to me as I was able to have this fun power. It’s fitting that your friend would be the cause of your death.”

Phoenix was struggling to get up as the clone stood up from sitting on the throne and walked to the small stairs of the platform. He was watching the blademaster trying to get up from the intense gravity but could not do so. “RUE KRUZ!” Phoenix tried to use a spell to hurt the clone but he had a magic tolerance field around him. “Nice try but I figured you would try to do something like that. It’s over for you. Just say the word and I will kill you right now. It’s better than having all your bones crushed by your friend’s power.”

The blademaster was determined not to give up the fight but right now, things were very bleak. Unable to get up or attack him with spells, he needed a miracle to live. How will Phoenix will overcome the darkness within?

Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 3:09 am
by Phoenix512
Phoenix can almost feel all his bones are about to break as the clone continued to put the intense gravity on his body and possessions. He knows that he must somehow stand and fight against the darkness if he was going to live on. But how? Isn’t this his mind? Shouldn’t he be able take control of the situation? It’s his freaking mind. But yet, he was powerless. Shouldn’t he have the power of gravity on his side instead of the darkness? Then the blademaster had a realization.

Why the darkness kept referring the gravity as Shinto’s? Shouldn’t it be my power? I thought Shinto just unlock my power of gravity unless that’s not the case at all. What if gravity wasn’t really my power at all? What if Shinto had the power of gravity all along? Then what Miaka said about my true power really meant something completely different. So what is my true power?

Suddenly at that moment, a fierce wind blew into the entire room. This wind was unique in the way on how it affected the two Phoenixes. The clone Phoenix suffered multiple bruises throughout his body and was forced to cease his concentration of the gravity power. For the other Phoenix, it completely healed him of the pain from the gravity attack and allowed him to stand up. What was that wind?

That was the manifestation of your true power, Kazuma. There isn’t enough time for me to stay here so I’ll make this quick. Take the following items and cleanse yourself of the darkness for once and for all.

In a blinding light, two items appear floating in front of Phoenix. One was a sword completely made of dark energy while the other item was a rune which had two triangles with their tips touching each other and the base of them going up and down. The blademaster grabbed both the rune and the sword. The rune became embedded into Phoenix’s left hand while the sword appeared to have no special characteristics. Thanks Shinto.

“Your friend may have brought gifts to help you but I will still win in the end.” The clone tried to put Phoenix under heavy gravity once again but this time, things did not go his way. The dark sword began to glow brightly and seem to nullify the gravity effect before it took hold on Phoenix. The clone was frustrated with the following developments but instead of running away like every other good villain does, he decides to attack him instead with his own sword.

Phoenix felt strangely calm as he avoided each of the sword strikes instead of blocking or parrying them with the sword. The clone got further and further angry with his double that he put more force into the attacks. Even with the increased speed and power of the strikes, the blademaster was able to continue avoiding the attacks with the same calm as before. The clone then took a massive vertical swing at Phoenix which he avoided by moving to the right side of him. Then Phoenix swung the dark sword at the clone’s right wrist which was still in the motion of swinging. He completely cut off the clone’s right hand and kicked the clone away from himself.

“I’m taking back what you stole from me.” Phoenix grabbed the clone’s right hand and the Ingrez rune symbol disappeared from it. The symbol reappeared on Phoenix’s right hand as the clone’s right hand crumbled into dust. The runes began to resonate with each other as both of them glow purple. Phoenix gave out a smile as he realized that his true power was unlocked for the first time.

The blademaster looked at the clone and began to attack him with quick sword strikes. These were not ordinary sword strikes as he went back and forth like a wind breeze. The clone did not any time to react to any of the attacks as he was slow to react to the previous attack that just happened to him. More sword wounds appeared on the clone and eventually he took a knee to the ground.

“Why can’t I kill you? You’re supposed to be weak. And I’m the strong one. Why? I could have made your name famous in the World. I could have brought justice to the Elites. Don’t purge me. My strength can help you so much.” The clone was begging for Phoenix to spare his life but the blademaster was not going to allow him be in his mind anymore.

“You can never co-exist in my mind. You’re basically the amalgamation of the four warriors that I fought earlier but without the devotion to anyone else. I’m tired of you screwing up my life for the last time. Goodbye for good. WIND BLADE!” Phoenix swung his sword towards the clone as he was 15 feet away from him. The sword strike created a blade of wind that went flying quickly to the clone and cut him in half. The clone was slowly disappearing as he spoke out his last words, “I may be gone in your mind but my legacy will live on forever in the…”

The darkness in Phoenix’s mind was gone for now but he knows that darkness can always come back. He must make sure that it can never be that strong ever again. Even though he had defeated the darkness, Phoenix was still in his own mind. The castle that he was standing in completely faded away and once again, he was standing in complete whiteness. The next moment, the rune symbol on Phoenix’s left hand glowed for a second and a piece of paper appeared in his hand. The blademaster opened up the paper and began to read it.

Kazuma,

I wished that I could tell you all this myself but I can’t at the moment. Your powers as you know by now are wind based. When you were stabbed by Kurai, you weren’t ready for your powers. You were slowly being influenced by the darkness but at the same time, you needed to survive. So I decided to allow you to share my power through the Ingrez Rune but an unexpected side effect happened. The modified Twilight within you didn’t synergized well with the Rune as you experienced pain every time you used the gravity powers or so what I thought.

I later realized that the darkness was the main cause for the pain. It was trying to weaken your mind so it could gain control and also figured out how to use it to its maximum. When you went to the fake Phoenix’s castle, your mind couldn’t take the sudden realization that you were a clone which I had to take temporary control of your body for your survival. Even though I managed to fend off the fake, the darkness took control afterwards as I was too weak to help you. Ten days later, I sealed the darkness and allow you to regain control but at a price. Most of your memories are sealed and still seal even now. I don’t know how to break the seals but I will continue to work on it.

As for the fake Phoenix, it’s a shape-shifter. I don’t know the identity of the person but most likely it’s someone who was involved in your infection of the Twilight.

I wish that I can help you even more but I can’t. You still have more potential to unlock. You must remember what the four soldiers you fought represent and never take on those qualities. Protect your friends and comrades.

By the way, the second rune is the Dagaz rune, the rune of breakthrough.

Take Care,

Shinto


After reading the note, Phoenix began to shed tears. Thank you again, Shinto. I don’t think I could ever make this far without you and Suzaku. I guess it’s time for me to return back to reality or my current reality at the moment. With that final thought, Phoenix bid farewell to the inner depths of his mind.