Chapter 9

The gate of Crowfire's manor opened itself as they enter. Crowfire was almost blinded, his eyes are still squinting, his muscles stiffened while each of his wounds fire up, and utters the agonizing pain. Tom and Brimstone felt his dried blood, like colloids all over his jacket, and on his open skin.

It was yet dark, the night fog descended in the atmosphere of the manor lawn. The oval and the tennis court are all filled with gloom but the moonlight penetrates despite the night fog. There are no lights except for the moon. Tom gazed the manor buildings, its arrangements, its glass windows from which the moonlight reflects, the doors of the classrooms inside and its long silent halls. He traveled his eyes around and it caught approaching the basketball gyms. It was exactly the same as Crowfire High School in his world. But he never seen like this gloomy and empty. What terrifies him is the silence that now surrounds it and the pitch black far from what he could see.

"Where are our team mates?" Tom asked out of nowhere.

"Inside our special regalia training hall. It may seem so dark, but inside those buildings are really day-like." Brimstone quickly answered. He added, "Crowfire provided enough we need according to our skills. He'll provide a specialized room for you as his new regalia."

"Um, may I ask you some questions?" Tom said. Brimstone just nodded while nailing an eye on him. He continued, "Where exactly are we? What are we? And why do these guys kill each other?"

"I'm impressed to your curiosity, boy." Brimstone replied. He continued. "This is your next life. All characters that die come to the void, and then, the people in this world call those dead ones and offer them new form of existence. This world is unique. These beings die, but they reincarnate themselves into their young versions and start growing again. As we depart from our previous life, we forget who we are, our memories and become a new being, regalia, or weapons of these beings. As to how they kill, it is because of a strange phenomenon occurred just recently."

"Lion King said I was an Insignia. But I don't get it. I became a sword once but when I broke while fighting, I changed into a pack of arrows." Tom muttered while they are slowly walking.

Brimstone stopped. He looked at Tom straight in the eyes. Tom received his steady gaze but he can't help bulging.

"Insignia. Tell me exactly who are you, Tom." after few moments, Brimstone asked. His eyes never left him. He didn't even blink.

"I-I am Tom Dylan. I have been summoned by him about an hour ago. And I do-don't get what was going around here." Tom stammered. He said, "The rest is vague for me to remember."

"All right, I won't push you. But our master needs you more than anyone he had. You carry much power as an Insignia, most especially in tough times like this." Brimstone started to step forward. Tom followed. He further explained, "Insignias are regalias that evolved after receiving deadly damage in order to protect its master with all of its capacities. For a master, having an Insignia is a great privilege. It carries much power and have the capacity to maximize the powers of his master's other regalias. Masters tend to desperate to have at least once in their reincarnation."

While speaking, Brimstone tilted his head down. He began to feel uneasy to what he heard. He almost cannot process things up. He doesn't know where his feeling had conceived, but for him, everything is suspicious and strange. He doesn't know how to put it, but all of a sudden, these feelings made him off.

Brimstone continued, "You see, he was almost killed by that wild cat. And we don't know if Crowfire will ever be gotten out by this strangling situation. It is a game, you know."

"Future Oracles." Tom out of nowhere spoke out.

Brimstone narrowed his eyes. He had a quick glance on Tom and reverted back his eyes on the way. Tom didn't see him who seemed out of his self.

Crowfire's back twitched. His hands and arms reflexed. They made a sudden stop and let Crowfire fall on his knees. He choked and blood blasted from his mouth. His wounds started to bleed again. Tom felt a warm wet spreading across his white shirt from Crowfire's jacket. Crowfire's eyes cannot stop squinting until his head hanged over his neck. His consciousness was totally gone.

Tom and Brimstone felt heavier as they walk again. It was too hard for them to carry a tall man since they are naturally short boys.

"That's the regalias' special training hall. Crowfire needs medication so we will take him there." Brimstone pointed his finger on the approaching huge building. He paused then spoke out again, "He never had this kind of severe damage. Self-healing won't do."

It was a building behind a four-storey building. Tom felt excited when he saw the facade of the building. It was their volleyball gym.

Brimstone pulled the door of the volleyball gym while Crowfire is still on his nape. Tom followed. Suddenly, worry arose from him. The light from the gym spread across them, almost blinding Tom. He shielded his eyes with his arm.

"Hurry. Crowfire needs medication." Brimstone shouted as blurred silhouettes came approaching towards him.

In few moments, Tom saw those ones clearly. About 5 to 6 boys are now crowding him and Brimstone, wearing white t-shirt and sport shorts.

"Let me carry him for you", a slightly older man came and grabbed Crowfire's arm on Tom's nape. It was Hammer High, his volleyball team captain.

"Thanks for taking him here, Brimstone. What happened to him?" Tom caught on his side. It was Thor, a hand is on his waist facing Brimstone in the brim of the door.

The rest he could hear are loud, blurring whisper-like sentences. His attention to hearing it diverged to what beholds him. There were his high school team mates, inside this hall. He can't believe it. It was their volleyball gym. There are about three boys standing right on the side of the net nailing their eyes on Hammer and Thunder carrying Crowfire towards three boys who were pulling a wheeled stretcher. Those boys were his original cohorts when he entered Crowfire the first time, Weld, Smoke and Toby. The ones pulling the stretcher are the second years, Diode, Wires and Coal.

There was a man, commanding those boys who were pulling the stretcher, having a head band on his head, a much younger version of his coach Emberbright, his grandson, he remembered way back when he was on the magazine book store. They are all speaking with each other, while moving their hands and having that small twitches but none of it was on Tom's intuition. He was just so startled to see everyone again, back in this time, though everything seemed out of his comprehension.

Suddenly, Tom felt a hand landed on his shoulder. He immediately turned and saw Thor smiling behind him.

"Who are you, boy? Are you a regalia from another master?" Thor asked gleefully. He added, "Thanks for bringing our master here on our manor."

"He was our master's new regalia, named Tom Dylan." Brimstone answered.

Hammer and Coal came approaching in their circle.

"You are the one earlier who was Crowfire thought would become a phantom." Hammer immediately butted in. He looked at Thor and Brimstone, "Thunder and I are there earlier, but we were immediately reverted when Crowfire had something in mind."

Tom felt a chill running through his spine. He realized, this man, Hammer was the bow gun earlier. He thought he might be in trouble.

"You see, since our master and us, are now involved in a death game, I can't lay on my trust in you. You might be a hired assassin spy." Hammer narrowed his eyes on Tom. All the ones around clasped his hands and stepped back. All of them gave Tom a sharp gaze. Hammer added, "I can't let my master die in anyway."

"A hired assassin spy? You mean a stray regalia? Man, those other masters are too desperate to get that Psyche's core." Coal said, motioning his hand and pointed to Tom. He said, "Quit spying around you dumb ass."

Tom stepped back. He gripped the edge of his shirt. His hand shook, making the shirt uncover his chest. Hammer's sharp eyes caught darkened lines on Tom's collar bone. He walked closer to him. His eyebrows rose up.

"Show me your name, regalia." Hammer held Tom's Shirt and pulled it over, revealing his name, "TOM."

"I know it might sound strange, but he is already an Insignia." Brimstone blurted out of the blue.

"What?" all of them turned their heads on Brimstone who was holding his waist with both of his hands with his eyes closed.

Hammer's turned his head on Tom very slowly. He said, "Insignia."

"How? Brimstone? How?" Coal grabbed Brimstone's collar and pulled it through his face.

"I don't know. Only Crowfire could answer that. Though Tom said, he was, as what Lion King described him. He didn't know any stuff around here, I guess. Being new in the far shore is quite rough, you know." Brimstone waved his hand in between him and Coal's face.

Tom took a deep breath. Eventually, Hammer moved his head on him, until their noses was an inch close.

"What could you offer for us to believe and trust you, Insignia, if you really are?" he asked. He continued, "You see, you will be confirmed as legitimate ours only when Crowfire's wake up. After all, the story just came from you. And we can't call Lion King here just to confirm for us. You might be his' hired assassin spy."

"Hammer, Hammer, enough with deep suspicions. If he really was a newly called being from the far shore, what we do would be very stressful for him." Thor held Hammer's shoulder.

Hammer stepped back, closed his eyes and crossed his arms. He thought for few moments.

"Alright, for now, as part of countermeasures, we will let him stay on the manor compound, but he can't stay here in regalia training hall." Hammer finally remarked.

Tom gulped when hearing the last sentence from his former team captain, "He will stay outside."