Chapter 10
The Legendary Golden
Dragon
Kaori
and Xein made their way into the main laboratory just in time to see Akuma make
the final cut that would end Hisoka’s life. Time stopped. No one moved. Shock and horror held them back near the
room entrance, even Kataki was frozen in his place
behind Xein. All they could do was
watch as the dagger slipped from Akuma’s hand and met the floor with a hallow
cry. Then he was gone, Akuma’s
figure dissolved into a sparkling cloud of purple stars, the largest and
brightest light shot toward the sphere holding the other Aura Souls above
Hisoka. Only too soon would it be
time for the Red Aura Soul to join with the others.
Gedeon laughed.
Xein
frowned the demi-god, his hand clenching into a
fist. Then he felt something wet
against his skin and looked down.
There, out of seemingly nowhere, sat a small wolf at his side. With one look, he knew. For as long as he had been searching for
his little sister, he was never able to find her, but this time she had found him. Looking at her eyes, he could feel her
heart speak to him. “I don’t know
what’s happened since we parted last, but I know that man is evil. I’ll help you fight!” Smiling, Xein gently put a hand to the
wolf’s head before turning his attention back to the scene of death ahead of
him.
Kaori
didn’t notice the wolf approach next to her, nor did she notice Kataki slowly
stepping into the room, all fear washed from his face. Something was wrong, Kaori knew,
something very, very wrong. She
couldn’t take her eyes off of the blood dripping from Hisoka’s neck. Maybe he was still alive,
maybe they could still save him.
Although she knew they would have to hurry to rescue Hisoka, she was
ensnared by memories of the past.
Not again… Please, not again…!
The final incantation stripped the demonic
being from the boy…and with it four other fragments flew out into the world,
leaving nothing behind. There
wasn’t even the smallest shard of life left to hold on to. As the spirits were exorcized from his
body, the boy crashed lifelessly onto the dusty, sanctuary floor. The spirits lingered hovering around
their host for a brief moment before scattering wildly throughout the world.
As
she looked upon the broken body of the boy before her, she felt a cold whisper
on the back of her neck:
You, who have taken the life of a god, may
never see the light of heaven before your sins are atoned. May you live for an eternity and never
find the peace heaven brings for what you have done!
Xein looked
to Kaori and saw the pure helplessness and sorrow in her eyes. They tried so hard to reach Hisoka in
time, but it was all for nothing.
Xein turned toward Kaori but decided to leave her with her thoughts, her
most ancient of thoughts…
Four out of five glowing
orbs danced within the central sphere looming above Hisoka—it wouldn’t be long
now. With his throat slashed open,
it would only take a couple minutes to choke on his own blood, but that didn’t
matter. He had stopped breathing
long ago, stopped feeling well before that. All that remained behind was his spirit
and the unquenchable desire to survive, to live.
“I know how you feel,” came a dark voice.
“I felt the same way, but unlike you, I didn’t have a life to lose; and
that must make this all the more difficult for you. I’m sorry.”
Hisoka neither heard nor
felt the words, for they too were not spoken. It was a fragment of his own being
calling out to him—a long lost fragment, so far yet so close.
“We need to end this!”
cried another voice like the wind.
“Together we can set
things straight,” came another like the waves of the
ocean.
“Hisoka, I’ve been with
you the longest and I can say that it will all work out; as long as we have
each other—even if we fade into the darkest night, we will still live on, as one. We
can rest.” These were the words of
pure golden light. “Let’s go,
together.”
And he did.
The gigantic rod flashed
brightly one last time and a shining red star brighter than any of the others
shot out of Hisoka’s body to join the four dancing orbs of light above.
“At last…” Gedeon whispered in thought and awe. All five of the fragmented pieces of the
demi-god Aurien’s soul were collected and ready to be
reforged—only to find obliteration at the other end
of the tunnel. “I will have my
revenge!”
“Revenge for what, Gedeon?” In the
corner of the room flared two yellow eyes out of the darkness. “You can’t even remember, can you? He’s not the only one slowly
disintegrating into nothing.”
Gedeon looked for
the voice that addressed him by name, saw the glowing eyes staring at him and
instantly felt such hatred! He was
unsure whether he could contain it so great was its heat.
“Demon! You dare show your face here?”
“You know what I am and
you know I am still able to go where I please.”
Not at all amused or
interested, Gedeon stepped quickly to the alter where Hisoka still lie bleeding to death. Gedeon’s hands
flew high into the air. “The time
has come! Five severed pieces cry
to be made whole! And when it is
complete, I will be the one to command its power!”
“Gedeon!
Have you forgotten your origins?
Your weak heritage and lack of ability cannot possibly control the pure soul
energy of a god!”
“When I take his energy
into my hands, the winner of the
“You do so and you will
rip this world apart!”
“And said world can die
for all I care! It was his precious
creation, not mine. I was this world’s abandoned child—and it left me to die in
the pits of despair. Why shouldn’t
I have the right to do the same?”
Gedeon reached for
the still sparking rod and ripped it loose from the machine. The energy raced down the length of the
metal rod and surged down his arms, the energy pulsing through his body. “I’ve won!!”
With a single twirl of
the rod, Gedeon held it high above his head, shooting
the godly power up through the heavens as though to tell all of existence that
he was the victor. “I’ve won!” he
said again, grinning from ear to ear as he watched the light shoot out of the
rod and pierce the dark sky above.
But something wasn’t
right. It started as a slight jerk
in his hand and then grew into a consistent vibration. The light expelling out of the rod
flashed as though something was impeding its flow. Then the energy split once, a flash of
lightning streaking far away from the main light piercing the heavens, and
another flew out and smashed into the far right wall of the laboratory. Order was losing to chaos. Finally, when the rod became too chaotic
for Gedeon to hold firmly in his hands, the sphere containing
the five fragmented souls shattered on its own accord, pieces of glass flying
everywhere.
“But why…!?” was all Gedeon could say.
“Everyone get back!”
Marix shouted.
The five orbs that were
held captive within the sphere floated hesitantly in the air as though gaining
their bearings. It was the red
light that was the first to gather the others into one glowing black orb of
sparkling light. From within the
sphere came a bolt of lighting and then another and another until a strange
clawed hand reached out of the storm raging inside; then a foot, and then
another demonic clawed hand, two gigantic dragon wings as black as the night,
followed by the remaining foot and horn-spiked dragon head with soul-piercing
red eyes. As the nightmare dragon
came to life, it raised its open mouth to the heavens and the sound it left
behind made even Gedeon quake with fear.
“What…is this thing…?”
“It’s the empty shell of
the god you tried to bring back to life and failed!”
“I did not fail!”
“This dragon has no mind
for order, only chaos; it will destroy this world and everything in it if we
cannot stop it!”
The Chaos Dragon now the
size of the entire complex rose up into the air and began to fly high into the
sky, throwing balls of flame from its mouth and hurling purple and blue
lightning bolts with its great, muscular arms. Marix was right, Gedeon
thought. This beast will destroy
the world!
“Xein, follow me. We’re going to need your larger wolf
form to fight this thing.”
“How can we win against
a god?”
“It may not be
possible,” Marix said, “but we have to try.”
Marix, followed by Xein,
the wolf, and Kataki close behind, raced out into an impossible battle.
After all this time,
nothing’s changed. I have failed
again. If it weren’t for me, he
would never have died in the first place.
It’s my fault heaven’s cursed me…and I will continue to live every day,
until the end of the world.
Kaori drew closer to
Hisoka’s body on the alter, her eyes welling up with
tears as she looked at his young face.
She reached a shaking hand to his face; it was already so cold, the life
he had gone forever. It wasn’t
right. He should have had the
chance to live, to experience life at its best, to discover who he really
was. But all of that is gone
now. Hisoka is dead…
Everything was
darkness. All the light in his
world had died; and so had his body.
Hisoka was dead.
Where would
he go from here? Where did people
go when they died? Was there even a
place to go? Maybe nothing
happened, maybe this is all there is, nothing but endless, black space. But if there is no afterlife—if I am
dead—then why am I even thinking these thoughts…? Or could it be…?
Hisoka opened
his eyes and could see the world spread out before him, deep blue against the
expanse of space. It was
beautiful. Like a large beach ball
with swirling white clouds and life-giving oceans. That was his home,
that was where this life began…and ended. As he stared out toward the planet he
felt himself drifting slowly backward, some unknown force pulling him
away. And then he saw it, a speck
of gold dust flaked off his arm and began floating away into space. It first started with one tiny light,
but then another followed that one, and then another and another until his
entire body began to glow and disintegrate into stardust.
What’s happening to me? he thought. He
looked at his hands—what was left of them—but could hardly make out his
fingers; they were nothing but sparkling balls of light. Then he looked back toward the peaceful
planet and felt something quake within himself, a fear greater than death, a
sorrow deeper than anything he had ever known… The deep blue planet suddenly exploded,
fragmenting into two dozen large chunks and a billion other tiny pieces. Only the fear and pain of the vanquished
human souls was left to dance red as blood among the fragments of the
planet. Everything was gone. Everyone was dead. There were no survivors.
Hisoka
reached out a fading hand toward the planet, tears glistening like molten gold
from his eyes. He tried to grab a shard
nearest to him—it still had small shoots of grass from a meadow growing on
it—but he had no hands to hold it.
It floated right through where his hands once were and mingled with the
golden dust of his life. All was
lost, everything was gone. Everything.
He felt cold
and tired. Was this the way it was
going to end? He tried to shut the
image of destruction from his mind but it was somehow imprinted upon his eyes. Why torment me? What more could I possibly do? All is lost…there’s nothing more I can
do…
Or was
there…?
The
cold chill spreading throughout his being slowed slightly as he felt something
very warm coming from behind.
He turned his head to look but nothing was there. He was in the vast nothingness of space
and yet he felt the heat warming his anxiety, thawing out his pain and sorrow,
his helplessness. He looked again
and saw a distant star flashing brightly red and orange and white. It looked like any ordinary star except
that he felt somehow relieved, as though comforted by someone very dear. An old friend? A relative? God? He didn’t know what it was but he again
closed his eyes and sighed, his arms and legs fading away into stardust.
But with the
heat and comfort he felt came duty, responsibility, destiny. How could he let his world be destroyed,
his friends be murdered? Their
lives were worth much more, they deserved better than that. He again opened his eyes and saw the
planet quite whole and quite peaceful.
Perhaps what he had seen was a vision? It didn’t matter. All he knew was he had to go back, he
had a job to do and nothing would get in his way. Not even death.
She sank her head down
into her hands over the cold alter.
No one was in the devastated laboratory with her. She was alone, and yet she felt as
though someone had placed a warm hand on her shoulder for comfort. She knew it was only her imagination and
yet something told her not to cry.
She lifted her tear-streaked face and saw him.
Hisoka was no longer
lying on the alter beside her, rather he stood beside her, dressed in golden
light and fire, his deep red hair bleached by the bright light shining from
inside; his eyes were the shade of the purest gold. I must be daydreaming, Kaori thought. She looked back down at the alter where he had just been a moment ago, but her eyes
were not playing tricks on her. The
golden figure at her side was the real Hisoka, not a ghost. But then how…?
Hisoka shook his head
for her not to speak. Instead he
simply pointed at her and then to an area of the room that was clean of
debris—a safe location for her to hide.
He was telling her to stay behind, safe. And then where would he go?
As though sensing her
thoughts, he answered by looking out the great, gaping hole in the wall and
further out to where the Chaos Dragon was battling his friends to the death.
“You have to go—” Kaori
said at last. “Reclaim your soul
once and for all! Hisoka,
please… Save this world!”
The world outside was
changed instantly when the Chaos Dragon awoke. With the opening of its eyes, the sky
turned dusty red. When it spread
its wings in flight, the sun and stars across the globe were hidden deep and
wide by a velvety mask of reddish-black storm clouds. As the dragon opened
its mouth to spit fire down upon the land, the rivers and lakes of the earth
burned fiery hot; many evaporating completely. The bolts of demonic lightning were not
born from the dark clouds over head, but rather from the dragon dancing its
nightmare waltz from ocean to ocean, around and around again. Finally, the dragon came back to the
land of its birth and stopped its dance of destruction. So powerful was the beast that it didn’t
even need to flap its wings to stay afloat in the dying sky above.
With little chance to
engage the dragon in battle, Marix and Xein took turns throwing attack after
attack at the monster, but each attempt failed completely. As Xein received a boost-jump from
Marix, he soared high into the air close enough to reach the dragon,
the beast effortlessly swatted him out of the sky. And that’s all the world was to the
dragon, nothing more than a nuisance, so easy to destroy. Marix, his three broken wings at his
back fluttering in the wind as he jumped, managed to catch Xein in midair
before he crashed to the ground, but both were too late to dodge the dragon’s
follow-up attack. Both were shocked
and burned by both lightning and flame, crashing into deep holes in the earth. The dragon roared with delight.
“Are you alright?”
Kataki said, coming to help Xein stand.
Only a little frazzled
by the attack, Xein accepted Kataki’s out-stretched hand. “I’m fine,” he said, grinning. “I’m just getting started!” Then he turned to find Marix only to
find no one there. “Where did…?”
He was already engaged
in battle high above their heads. A swipe of a magically enhanced sword, a slice from a wind whip
were just a few of the attacks Marix was capable of performing, and all
directed at the Chaos Dragon. One
swipe struck the beast’s neck at the collar bone, which spurted dark purple
blood that trickled down its long neck.
The whip left glowing green marks behind on the dragon’s scaly skin. Accepting all of these attacks with the
most amiable nature, the dragon waited and waited, neither dodging nor
blocking. Marix knew this and he
knew it could only mean something bad.
“How much longer can he
keep doing this?” Kataki said, looking up at Marix. “He’s only going to get himself killed…”
“That may be the only
thing we’re able to do here, kid,” Xein said as he switched back into his
werewolf form and joined Marix on the offence.
Kataki stood
watching. It’s pointless. Why am I even here? The one I’ve hated for so long is
finally dead; I should be happy.
…but I’m not. Why? Why can’t I be happy for once? Why can’t the world just give this one
thing to me? Why must I always be
the one to suffer? Alone.
In a brief moment, the
dragon’s eyes flashed red and as though stretching its back it opened its wings
as far as they would go, and in its mouth formed a ball of fire the size of the
moon itself, bursts of lightning jumping from it’s two
clawed hands at its side.
“If I must suffer, why
not make others suffer with me?” Kataki thought as he followed Xein and Marix
into their final offensive.
The
three came within reach of the dragon just as it let loose its oversized
fireball. They neither had the time
nor the speed to avoid the flaming hell set upon them. But before the attack reached them there
was a mysterious flash of gold light and they could see nothing.
But
when their sight returned, they saw a single figure standing in midair between
themselves and the dragon. The
figure was clothed only in the most brilliant firelight; if they looked upon
him for too long, perhaps they would go blind from the sheer brightness of the
light. The figure had pinkish hair
in the glorious light and solid golden eyes when he turned to glance behind at
the three. He spoke nothing before
speeding off through the sky toward the black dragon.
“Who
is that?” Kataki asked.
Marix
only stared in disbelief. “It can’t
be!”
It
was Xein’s turn for questions.
“What’s going on?” But Marix
never heard the question; he was shocked so greatly.
As
the golden figure reached the height of the dragon’s head, he stopped and
simply stared into the red eyes peering angrily at him. It wasn’t until the dragon lost patience
and tried to swat him away with its hand did the golden figure take his left
hand and sent a beam of light toward the beast, severing its arm at the
shoulder. The dragon roared in
agony as its severed limb fell from the sky, leaving a tiny glowing light in
the air. Next the golden figure
sped forward, this time raising his right arm up, backwards and around in a
sort of softball pitch, throwing yet another laser beam at the dragon. The light hit the dragon deeply in its left
hip but did not sever its leg until another beam from the figure’s left arm
came. As before, another colorful
speck of light could be seen floating around the dragon’s shattered limbs.
How
can it be!? Marix’s head spun. We all saw him die. We all saw his blood stain the
ground. And most of all, he was
without a soul! How could a being
live without a soul in its body?
“You
shouldn’t question miracles when they happen. Just accept it.”
Marix
turned to see Kaori standing next to him.
She had left the safe enclosure where Hisoka told her to stay to watch
as destiny unfolded. She had lived
long enough, she deserved at least that.
“Maybe,”
was all Marix could say.
They
both returned their gaze to the battle in the sky.
The dragon
was visually starting to slow down, its once speedy movements now sluggish and
awkward. Its bolts of purple light
and flames from its mouth grew less frequent as though it tired from the loss
of limb and energy. Still, it was
far from giving up.
Curling into
a little ball with its wings in a protective shield, the dragon formed a
complete, round sphere that appeared like a dark moon in the sky. The golden figure sent wave after wave
of light at the monster, but it only bounced off, ineffective. That’s when the figure shot straight for
the dragon and as he came close enough to reach a hand out and touch the beast,
he used both hands and shoved his way through the two wings, holding on to each
wing as he went. With an acrobatic
flip in the air, the figure ripped the dragon’s two gigantic wings from its
back, completely destroying whatever protective shield it had. The loss of both of its wings shed yet
two other sparkling dots of light.
Now the
dragon raged beyond containment. In
a blast of fury it re-grew its lost arm and leg and reformed its two wings, but
this new form was different than before, its black skin tinged as red as
blood. Its body shape was much
slender than it had once been, large spikes rising out of its back along its
spine. As it opened its mouth, thousands
of sharp, frightening teeth shone in the figure’s light. The dragon’s eyes flared with red fire,
its forked tongue spitting out of its mouth seeking fresh blood.
However, the
dragon was smart. It no longer let
chaos control its movements, rather it craved death
and agony. It realized that the
figure was not going to give it such rewards, so he turned on the world
below. Again, the dragon dashed
toward the horizon, speeding past continent to continent, flying low to the
ground so as to scoop up unsuspecting men, women and children to savagely bite
and rip their heads off, leaving the bodies on the streets for others to
see. First it ravaged the streets
in
But the hell
dragon wasn’t finished there. It
once again rose high into the sky above the golden figure and the others
watching below, and with its wings stretched wide, cast red and black lightning
bolts clear across the globe. The
energy cut deep scars in the land, triggering devastating earthquakes, volcano
eruptions, tsunami waves. This time it was remotely destroying the
world.
A moment later
and the Grand Canyon in the Americas stretched clear from the farthest far
north to as far south as the continent reached. So deep was its carvings into the earth
that half of the land broke off and formed a new, smaller island
continent. Only the dragon’s power
didn’t stop there; he sought to sever the planet in two along that line. More volcanic eruptions and coastal
tsunamis devastated nearly every corner of the earth. City buildings were laid to waste,
leaving only rubble and the fire of death behind. Only a few escaped with their lives from
these hot spots, but most wished that they hadn’t.
As the dragon
raged on, the look on the golden figure’s face was
that of every shade and color of sorrow and pain. It was almost as though he could hear and
feel the cries of every person, every creature of the earth suffering.
With a job
well done, the dragon roared insanely happily before taking a break from the
onslaught. As most of the planet
was in ruins, the beast again turned its attention to the golden figure, who seemed to be paralyzed from some unknown shock; he
simply stood, staring at the ground.
The dragon saw its chance.
He moved into position, dove from the sky and reached a devilish hand
out to scoop up the figure.
But this was
the dragon’s weakness, coming back to wallow in its adversary’s pain and taking
advantage of the situation. Just as
the dragon grinned with self-delight a mere five feet from its enemy, the
figure throw one last beam of light that split through its center, completely
severing its body in half from its head all the way down to its spiky
tail. The two severed halves of its
body exploded in a waft of smoky red gas.
Only a single, tiny red spark of light remained.
And then it
began. The red spark of light
violently hit the figure in the chest hard enough to throw him slightly
backwards. Then a blue light hit
him in the back, a green light in his side, a yellow light directly in his face,
and finally a purple light hit him again in the chest. The golden life force that propelled
Hisoka’s broken body to destroy the Chaos Dragon acted as the adhesive the Aura
Souls needed to rejoin as one.
Whole once
again after so long, golden wings appeared on his back, and with a single burst
of golden light, the figure’s shape changed again: He was the golden dragon of
legend once more. His body grew
large, larger than both the red death dragon and the black Chaos Dragon put
together. Every dragon scale, claw,
and tooth shone with a holy light, his eyes deep blue-green like the ocean. As he opened his eyes and saw the earth
ravaged by his own chaotic soul, tears poured down his face, cooling and
healing the ground below. Then flying high into space, the dragon reached out his hand to
grasp the planet. The
destruction and devastation it had caused must be purified. The dragon shone like a wakening sun in
the sky, sending his warm rays of light and heat to the earth. The broken sky’s life was restored, the
shattered ground mended, the fires of hell quenched. All was restored except for the innocent
lives that had been lost; with all its energy and strength, restoring those
lives was beyond the dragon’s ability and he wept once more.
In less than
ten minutes, the earth was returned to its former glory before the Chaos Dragon’s
onslaught. The golden dragon, his
job finished, reentered the atmosphere, flying rapidly yet still in control
through the sky with his skin set aflame.
Then as though shedding old skin, the form of the dragon melted away and
melded back into Hisoka’s form with golden angel wings on his back. At this point he was still able to keep
control over his wings but slowly began to waver, strength quickly leaving
him. As he came within a couple
hundred feet of the ground, the figure grimaced in pain and the golden wings
shattered about him, each separate feather shed until skeletal wings were left
jutting from his back. A second
later and they too shattered like broken crystal. All energy spent, his decent was now
completely out of control. If he
were to hit the ground at this intense speed, surely there would be nothing
left of his body.
But Marix had been
watching. It took the remainder of Marix’s
strength to catch him before he hit the ground.
“Aurien…!” he said,
still in shock as he held his younger brother protectively in his cursed arms.
The golden light had
almost completely faded from sight and the figure’s skin and hair tone returned
to their normal shade. Although the
splintered soul fragments were once again whole and as strong as ever, the
god’s physical body was gradually returning to its previous state: Hisoka’s
defeated body. Blood began to pour
from a large gash on his neck that hadn’t existed a moment ago. Whatever miracle happened that allowed
the god Aurien to awaken long enough to reclaim his soul was unraveling. The figure in Marix’s arms made a
gurgling sound as blood trickled out of his mouth.
“No, no, no,
no!!” Marix said desperately as he placed both of his hands on the figure’s
neck to stop the bleeding. But it
would not stop; blood kept seeping out between his fingers. Out of desperation, Marix looked around
and shouted, “Someone, please help me!!”
But there wasn’t anything anyone could do. Kaori fell to her knees with Xein by her
side and Kataki carelessly began walking away. There was only one thing left to do.
Marix, with his eyes
closed, cradled Hisoka close to his chest.
A purple color began to glow around Marix’s body.
Then there was a popping
sound as Chibiru materialized out of thin air.
“Stop! You can’t do that!!” she said, grabbing
Marix’s arms.
Marix opened his eyes
and saw the little demon girl stalling him. “There is no other way!”
“You don’t know what
it’ll do to you—or him! Even if it
works, you could spread your curse to him—is that what you want?”
“I can’t let him die
this time. He has a greater destiny
than all of us combined! Sacrifices
must be made. I’m sorry.”
Again Marix closed his
eyes and the purple light around him grew to envelope Hisoka’s failing body. The blood trickling down his neck slowed
but did not stop completely. Marix
didn’t have the strength nor the ability to totally
heal wounds but at least this might be enough to keep Hisoka alive long enough
to get proper treatment...even though he didn’t know what that treatment was.
“We can’t stay here,” he
said to the others. “I don’t know
if my strength will last much longer, so we must hurry.”
Marix, with his dying
brother in his arms, stood and focused his golden eyes on something only he
could see. All the tattoos on his
skin lit with greens and blues and purples as he grimaced against the pain it
caused. But he ignored it. Shifting all of Hisoka’s weight onto one
arm, Marix used his free arm to draw colorful words in a circular formation in
the air. Kaori recognized some of
the runes from when Xein freed her from the underground prison but had little
time to dwell on the thought because as soon as Marix completed the circle, a
dark tunnel opened up and they were all racing through it to who knows where.
Gedeon stood in the
open, gazing at the hole in time-space.
He looked around at his surroundings. Everything had been healed, the ground,
the sky, even the destroyed laboratory hidden in the snow hills of
“I failed,” he said
aloud. But then Gedeon
turned and saw a single man walking away, and on his back he saw something as
though only his demi-god eyes could see.
“Perhaps it’s not over yet!”