14 Tension

Yamada carried Jacara up the stairs, leaping up five at a time. Each step landed with a ting of metal on stone, and then a rushing of air. He slid across the stone of the third ring, with a satisfied puff. "Alright, we can start training now." Yamada said slightly out of breath, dropping Jacara. 'This guy is an absurd freak of nature.' Jacara thought, catching his breath, and stepping away. Yamada raised his visor, inspecting the staff. "Is this made out of Orichalcum?" He asked. Jacara nodded. The staff turned into a long sword, the steel a burnt orange blade, with a golden cross guard and pommel. "Wow! I didn't think that would work!" Yamada said astonished, flourishing the blade with deft precision. 'Are you fucking joking?' Jacara thought glaring at him.

"Give that back to me." Jacara said annoyed. Yamada tossed the sword haphazardly towards Jacara, the long sword instantly reverted back to a bo staff, to his surprise. Jacara leapt back avoiding the staff crashing into the ground. "Wow! Where did you get that weapon?" Yamada asked. 'He's skull must be thicker than his armour.' Jacara thought struggling to grab the staff out. "Alright, let's do our lap." Yamada said jumping up and down, his descent to the ground unnaturally slow. "So half a lap?" Jacara asked. Yamada shook his head. "No a full lap." Jacara nodded in response. "Alright, quarter of the lap, it is then." "What? I said a full lap. Are you deaf?" Yamada raised his voice. Jacara stretched his back and legs. "Travel back to the Keep? Sure thing." He said walking down the stairs.

Yamada grabbed him by the scruff of his cloak, pulling him back. "You said you would tell me about the war, and you wanted to train. So keep true to your word." He said sternly. "Forsaken one, I would reconsider trying to make this one, stay true to his word." A woman said with a soft voice. The two of them looked up to see Lyn approach them. Her rose coloured hair was braided and stuffed into the back of her cuirass. "He's always been weak willed." She said smiling at them. "What'd you say?" Jacara growled. "And would you let me go!?" He yelled flailing about. "Not until you do your lap. You made a proposal and I took it, so stay to your word, and start walking." Yamada said shaking him. "Fine, I'll do the damn lap." He snapped, being released from Yamada's grip.

"May I ask what he proposed?" She asked, looking at Yamada up and down. "He said he would tell me about the war, if I helped him train." Lyn broke out into a laugh, patting Yamada on the back. "This one hasn't trained a day in his life. He's coasted off talent and squandered it." Jacara clenched his fist, lunging at Lyn. She readied herself to counter, when Yamada caught his wrist, locking it behind Jacara's back. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" Jacara yapped, being escorted away. "Apologise to this knight right now." Yamada ordered. "Do you not know who that is?" Jacara asked clutching his wrists, furring his brow. "Ummmm...who are you miss?" Yamada asked scratching the back of his head shyly.

"I'm starting to see why Butcher enjoys teasing you. Then again a lot of Islanders share your innocence, until they meet the right woman." She said with a breathy and sultry voice, placing her hand onto his breast plate. Yamada leapt back, as Jacara looked at him confused. "Are you a damn sword swallower? What's wrong with you?" He called out annoyed. "Unlike you Jacara, Islanders are raised with the belief of loving one person for life. So they don't go sticking their Wyrm's in any cave they find." Lyn said still eyeing Yamada. "Also sounds like he fancies the attention and affection of other men." Jacara said shrugging his shoulders. "I don't!" Yamada exclaimed.

"Come with me Forsaken one, I can tell you what you need to know about the war, I did fight in it after all." She said offering out her hand, like a fair maiden. "What about him?" Yamada asked. She tittered at his dedication, and then sighed. "Very well, I know how to make sure he does his lap." Jacara scoffed rolling his eyes. "Please there's nothing you can do or say, that would make me walk this entire ring." "Yamada would you like to hear the story, of how Jacara soiled-" "I'M GOING!" Jacara yelled cutting her off, his face bright red. Yamada chuckled at his reaction, and then quickly snatched his back pouch.

"Hey what are you doing!? That's mine!" Jacara yelled angrily lunging at him. "You can use so many different types of magic. I'm sure one of your cards would help you cheat. So I'll give these back to you, after your lap." Yamada said. Jacara let out a low growl, his frustration welling up inside of him. This Islander had seen him fight once, and he already knew his weaknesses. "Go on Jacara, unless, you want to tell the story?" Lyn said with a cocky smirk. He grit his teeth, picking up the staff, slinging it over his shoulder. "My knights will make sure he does his lap. Come walk with me." She said offering out her arm to wrap. "Um, you never told me your name." "I'm Grand Knight Lyn Sepharae." She said doing a curtsy.

Yamada hesitantly took her arm over his, and the two of them strolled down the stairs, garnering attention of others. "So, tell me. Why does a young man like yourself, with so much promise, choose to doom himself?" She asked leaning onto him, pulling him in close. "I want to kill someone." Yamada said coldly. Lyn loosened her grip. "Why does a boy from the islands, who doesn't even know about the war, want revenge?" She asked, looking at him, trying to read his expression through the helm. "Because he's a survivor of the Second Sun." Aeris said, floating above them. Lyn didn't try to hold her visible detest for her presence. She wore cuffed silk trousers, and silver silk long sleeved blouse. Floating down like a feather, she glared at Lyn. "I believe you have squires in need of training." She asked ignoring Yamada.

Lyn shoved Yamada aside to his surprise, and scoffed. "Whatever, the Butcher can have fun killing you later." She said walking away. "You address her as Grand Knight Gwyneth or Lady Lockhart, pua kala." Yamada called out with a powerful presence. She stopped turning back scowling at him. "What did you just say to me?" She growled. "You heard me enough to turn around." He said firmly. Aeris covered her mouth to giggle, at his stupid bravery. He stood strong, Lyn could sense an overwhelming presence exuding from him. "Watch yourself, Butcher's boy." She snarled, marching away, with her emerald cape flapping in the wind. "What did you call her?" Aeris asked with a smile across her face. "Nice translation is thorny flower." Yamada said. "And the bad?" She asked cocking an eye brow. "Prickly Cunt." Encara said appearing behind them.

Yamada went red under his helmet. Encara waved his finger and shook his head in disappointment at Yamada. "Shouldn't be using such bad words like that." He bowed his head in shame. "I didn't think anyone spoke Olelo." He said shying away. "Neither can I, but I know a few words." Encara said with a smirk. "What are you doing Yamada?" He asked. "I was trying to find the library, because Lady Lockhart told me to go and learn about the war." Aeris and Encara shared a confused glance, before looking at Yamada. "Why are you calling her Lady Lockhart?" They asked in sync. "Because...she's dressed like a lady and asked-" Aeris opened the gate to wind magic, and Encara clapped his hands together. "You check the top half, I'll check the bottom half, make a signal when you find her." Encara said disappearing with a flash of light. Aeris leapt into the air with a gust of wind flying off. "Me to..." Yamada finished his sentence at a loss for words. He threw his hands up confused, looking around at the massive kingdom. "Where is this library?"

Jacara was a quarter of the way around the third ring, with the staff dragging along behind him, splitting the stone apart. Sweat beads dripped off his heavy clothing, and each wheezing breath hurt his chest to take. Urkse approached from behind, dropping a heavy leather flask in front of him. He frantically popped the cork, and drank the cool water, running down his face. Jacara fell onto his back, panting and huffing, with his eyes closed. His muscles aching and on the verge of seizing. "Not much further to go." Urkse said smiling down at him. "Go." Jacara took a deep breath. "Fuck." He took another. "Your." And another. "Self." He wheezed.

Urkse chuckled, grabbing the staff and laying it flat onto Jacara's chest. He strained trying to role it off, as it dug into his skin. Urkse looked to the sun starting to set, bathing the city in a warm light. "Never thought I'd see the day of you training." He said chuckling. Jacara shoved the staff off with a heavy grunt. "Well you told me to, so here I am. Walking around carrying that absurd weight!" He exclaimed angrily flapping his sweaty clothes for the cool air. "Orichalcum isn't heavy. It's the lightest of the arcane infused metals. You're just weak." Urkse said bending down to pick up the staff. "Did you come here to insult me uncle?" Jacara said furrowing his brow.

"Nothing of the sort. I've come here bearing gifts." He said patting Jacara on the back. "Like what? The water?" Jacara scoffed. Urkse walked with his hands behind his back, with a superior sense of entitlement, that Jacara had never seen him do. "You're finally trying to fix your lack of arcane energy, and it's about time." He said placing a tarot card onto his chest. Jacara's eyes lit up with joy. "Did you create the 21st card?" He asked with pure glee. Urkse nodded with a smug smile. "They don't call me the Artist for no reason." He announced proudly. Jacara wrapped his sweaty arms around Urkse. He tried to resist, pushing him away slipping against his sweaty skin. "Argh! Get off you gross child!"

Jacara broke free, and Urkse looked down at his dripping cloak with disgust, turning around to shake the sweat off. Jacara flipped the card to see a golden suit of plate armour, with long flowing white cape, and golden shafted spear. The card read 'champion' at the bottom. The spear had a long silver arrow tipped head. Jacara placed the card onto his chest, with the enthusiasm of a young child. "Now remember that card is new, and you shouldn't use it in your current-" "CHAMPION!" Jacara yelled. A golden flash of light caught Urkse by surprise, and he shielded his eyes.

Urkse gazed on in awe. Jacara was adorned with a majestic suit of interlocking gold plate armour. He wielded the long golden shafted spear, with his white cape flowing in the wind, the helmet shaped like the head of a Ryū, with two golden antlers shooting out. "This is ama-" Jacara fell face first in the ground, the armour disappearing into dust. "This is why you should let me finish." Urkse said rolling his eyes, and slinging Jacara over his shoulder. He shrugged in disgust feeling the sweat drip onto his ear. "This is why mages shouldn't train like knights." He shuddered.

The sun set and the fire mages began their process of lightning the street lanterns. Yamada finally found his way to the library, at the base of the second ring, with the friendly help of some mages. He gazed in wonder at the three story building, with rows of leather bound books, and dusty wooden tables. Candles and lanterns illuminated the tables and hallways. "Hello?" He called out, his voice echoing out. A man wearing a white loose cloak, buttoned down the middle, emerged from a hallway. His gait made him appear to levitate as he approached Yamada. "A visitor at this time?" He asked with glee. "How may I help you young scholar?" He asked enthused and moving closer to Yamada.

"I'm looking for the history of the war." Yamada asked still looking around the building in awe. "Which war? You'll have to be more specific." The man said clasping his bandaged hands together. Yamada could tell the wrappings were fresh, but he still could not see the man's face under the hood. He scratched his head confused and embarrassed. "The latest one? I didn't know it had a name." Yamada said shying down. "Ah you wish to learn about the crushing of Kal'Nar's expanse." The man said nodding, turning around, gesturing with his finger for Yamada to follow. "Come along Islander."

He cocked an eyebrow at the man. "How did you know I was from Yamata?" "Because only those from the Islands, don't know what happened during Kal'Nar's crushing." The man turned around, pulling his hood back. His bulbous head was covered, in multiple set of bulging black eyes, each one blinking at different times. The man's smile stretched across his cheeks, from ear to ear. Yamada was silent staring at the grotesque man, and then nodded along. "That makes sense. The elders always did tell the same stories." The grotesque man reeled back shaking his head shocked. "Does...Does my appearance not frighten you?" He asked confused, scrunching all his eyes at him. Yamada shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "Not really. I guess it's true, when you experience enough death, you don't fear anything."

"Cecil, stop trying to scare the boy, he clearly isn't afraid." Axilas said leaning over the second floor railing. "Just because he chose to walk the path of a Forsaken one, doesn't mean he's fearless." Cecil said looking up to Axilas. He leapt over the second railing, gently floating down, gracing them like angel from above. "No, because he's seen something scarier than you, and something anyone else has ever seen. This one has seen the bottom of the Maelstrom." Axilas said approaching Yamada. "I didn't see the bottom of the Maelstrom, I passed out and Encara fished me out." Yamada corrected taking a step back.

He could feel a looming presence from Axilas, one of authority and command. Axilas approached with a warm smile across his face, but like a wild animal, Yamada felt death radiating from him. "You said, you experienced death, but tell me. Have you ever faced death?" Axilas asked reaching out his gauntleted hand. Yamada leapt back his suit of armour clanging against Vexgar's breastplate. Before he could spin around, Vexgar wrapped his burly arms around Yamada, lifting and crushing him. Yamada let out a scream of anguish, feeling his bones break and the air escape his lungs. "Tell me what does death look like?" Axilas asked cocking his head to side with maniacal smile across his face.

Yamada gnashed his teeth down, clenching his fists, screaming in agony, trying with all his might to resist Vexgar's grip. With a grunt Vexgar compressed Yamada in his arms, cracking his scale armour, and pushing the air out of his lungs. Yamada went limp in his arms. He awoke staring beneath the Oeo's surface, surrounded in pitch black water. Yamada spun around to see nothing. Axilas approached Yamada, lifting his visor up. "How disappointing, I had hope to tell the Butcher, that her squire put up more of a fight." He said disappointed and sucking his teeth.

Yamada peered into darkness, hesitantly swimming deeper into the void, feeling the cool water on his skin. 'What did I see down here? Why can I only remember the Oeo?' he thought swimming deeper and deeper into the abyss. He finally felt solid ground and began walking up right, the light of the Oeo above him now gone. The water around him had become violent, coursing around his body, pushing and pulling him. His heart pounded against his chest, with each thump shaking his body. He took a step forward suddenly feeling a cataclysmic presence in front of him. A presence that any living thing in this world eventually greeted, Death. With a blinding flash of light Encara appeared in the library, with a scowl, as Cecil scurried into a corner. "Let him go, Axilas. Unless you want to go from Death's Visage, to Death's personal bitch." He snapped, clenching his fists.

The dark abyss lit up with a flash of light. Yamada's eyes bulged, his heart stopped. Before him eight stone serpent heads gazed down at him, with hollow white eyes, large extended frills around its neck, all them baring their fangs. He was nothing but a fleck to one of the serpent's fangs. Each head towered above him like mountain. The giant octopuses, sharks, whales, schools of fish, that once made him seem small, were made insignificant by this eight headed serpent. Axilas scoffed. "Aww, do you care for the boy, Encara? Does he perhaps remind you, of that Islander whore you impregnated?" He said with smirking at him.

"Choose your next words very carefully Axilas. They might be your last." Encara growled, stifling his lips from baring his teeth. "He is a forsaken one, he needs to be killed anyway." Vexgar said squeezing him even tighter. The stone serpents lurched forward. Yamada took a step back raising his fists. "My brother is right, he will eventually turn. What does it matter if we kill him now?" Axilas said, flipping Yamada's visor down. "I ordered you to let him go. Now follow my orders!" Encara snapped. "Make me." Vexgar snarled, squeezing even tighter, cracking even more of the armour. The serpents lunged forward, Yamada raised his arms to block, and covered his eyes.

He bellowed out a hearty chortle. Encara opened his fists ready to clap his hands together. Axilas reached both hands behind his back, one under and the other over his cape, ready to draw his weapon and shield. He cracked a smile ready to fight. Gwyneth burst into the library, wearing her sleek silver armour, her emerald cape fluttered with the rush of air, and her ribbon still strapped over her hair. Before the two of them could react, she had gracefully leapt onto Vexgar's shoulder. She wedged the tip of her long sword into Vexgar's gorget. He felt her cold steel, resting against his left clavicle, ready to be plunged through his heart. "Let him go!" She ordered, her lilac eyes brimming with rage and malice. "I can kill him before your blade reaches my heart." Vexgar claimed. She pushed the blade deeper, piercing his skin and drawing blood. "Unless you want to join Hendrik, and become the second Xenarith child I kill." Her words earned her a furious glare from Axilas and Vexgar.

"Alright, enough of that." Soel said with a tired sigh, as she sauntered in. "Let the boy go Vexgar." She said with the disappointment of an exhausted parent. He obliged and Yamada fell limp on the ground, his armour shattering into dust. "You get off his shoulder, and help your squire." She told Gwyneth. Gwyneth nodded and carried Yamada in her arms outside. "Axilas, you better be trying to scratch an itch on your back, otherwise I would put them by your side again." Soel said raising her eyebrows at him, waiting for him to respond. He slowly obliged and marched off. "Unless you're about to give me an applause Encara, tuck your hands away." She snapped. He quickly tucked his hands into his pockets. "Vexgar, follow me." She said coldly walking outside.

The two of them strolled outside the moon starting to rise over their heads. "As of today, Gwyneth and her squire are off limits." She ordered, without looking at him. Vexgar clenched his fist and snarled. "She killed my brother, with countless others on our side. And you stupid mages expect us Grand Knights to be friends with her!?" He exclaimed. "I didn't say be friends with her. I said they're off limits." She said coldly. She turned around placing her hand onto his plackart. After 20 years the heartless Butcher is finally starting show affection. You and the others have a chance to cut her back." She said tapping his suit. "Then stay out of our way then." Vexgar growled. "I can't do that. He is to be sent off and help find those responsible for attacking the Tundra Prison." She said softly. "Now fall in line." She growled, walking away.

Vexgar snarled drawing his black poleaxe from his cape, raising it silently high above his head, he took a step forward crushing the ground. Soel rolled her eyes turning around, holding her hand out, she opened the gate of earth magic. Vexgar lunged forward with his poleaxe raised high, closing the distance between them instantly. As the emerald vines reached the middle of the diamond gate, Vexgar froze in midair. He strained trying to move his body. She sighed, glaring at him. "Why can't you be more like Gwyneth?"she said letting out an exasperated sigh. Her words made Vexgar loose an enraged roar. "Alright enough of that, you're going to wake the children." She said closing her hand slightly. His gorget fused over his mouth. She lowered him through the ground, so that he was up to her waist.

Soel pet his head like an untamed animal, giving him a warm smile. She begun slow twirling her finger. The armour encasing his limbs started to rotate slowly, contorting and twisting his joints. She stopped, and began to make a fist. His armour crumpled and scrunched like paper. He let out a muffled roar, trying to free himself. She leaned into his ear. "Tell the other knights what I said. And remember one thing Vexgar. No matter how big you get. No matter how strong you get. If you ever attack anyone in the Citadel, that is on our side again. I'll kill you and your brother." She whispered.

Soel walked off towards the Keep. "And if you think I'm joking, let this serve as a warning." She called out without turning around. She made a fist. Vexgar's left gauntlet and vambrace twisted and flattened. Blood, guts and bone sprayed out of the gaps of armour. Vexgar writhed in agony his back arching up, his screams still muffled by the gorget fused over his mouth. Gwyneth carried Yamada back to her chambers, laying him down in the bed. She kneeled over him, her face sullen, rage filled her body. Gwyneth looked up to see the ribbon in her hair. She angrily grabbed it ready to rip it out, when Yamada reached up to grab her arm. She looked down shocked. "Don't...You look really pretty with it." He eked out, before falling asleep. She gave a warm teary smile at Yamada, before it disappeared with a flash of Hendrik's mangled body, over Yamada.