Waiter's Taste

The sound of someone's footfall continued to echo throughout the interior of the castle. Ralphie and Kou had been welcomed to a certain someone directly behind the rooms, which were largely inhabited by webs and filth. Bow personally halted the group's progress.

He was cross-armed and struck a somber expression.

"It's you. You wanted us to enter the castle, didn't you? That's the only reason why you gave us that letter." Spoke Ralphie.

"I did what had to be done. I honor your appearance and your loyalty to our dear Yumiko. However, I must not allow you to disturb the actions taken by Master Muro." Bow added. "There is an important reason to why I must be present in a scene where defender like myself must duty. I cannot allow you to go any further."

"I was afraid this would happen. In honest, I had no intention on harming any of you, but I also had no intention on letting you halt Master Muro's plans."

"I'll give you a selection. You can either leave the castle and let Master Muro work on the first. The second option is in other words far more "fatal." You battle me until one of us is rendered helpless."

The entire space was brimming with will to move forward. It would be intolerable to abandon the task at hand, thus Ralphie and Kou were forced to engage in combat. Forward was the only indication they had of Muro's whereabouts, but they were unaware that his chamber was located far to the east.

Kou immediately became unsure of how to address the situation as Ralphie stood in the hallway with his arms in his pockets and a solemn expression.

He almost started to tremble in his boots as he realized that it would be difficult to continue past Bow. His mind was plagued with fear of dying and losing everything, as if the past were reliving itself in front of him.

He was shaking uncontrollably and was locked in place, perspiring heavily. Up until Ralphie finally summoned the guts to move forward, all he did was cast glances in all directions to see what might happen.

He took the light and opened it, letting the flame flare before his eyes before tossing it around and making it appear as though he was playing with it.

"You decided to fight. You have my utmost welcome. Very well, let this battle unfold and let the outcome of this battle climax onward."

Bow drew his bow forward by reaching behind him. In the beginning, he readied three golden arrows and strung them up, aiming them at the ground and waiting to confront Ralphie with pure silver eyes.

"Go on, Kou. I'll stay behind and finish things with him. You hurry up on ahead and locate Muro."

"Ha?! Hold on! Why am I given the difficult task? You really want to get rid of me *THAT* badly?!"

"Would you rather fight here and potentially die or would you rather take on a job to locate our target's whereabouts? What do you think is more dangerous? You dying in a battle or you having the chance to escape while searching for someone?"

"Your grim words are something that I'll be dreaming about 'till morning! But based on your exclamation, I think that searching is far better than partaking in a fight you can't win. Then again, I knew that this would come eventually joining up with Tim and the others; meaning I have no other options but to help them out if needed."

He ran across the room after wishing Ralphie well, hoping Bow wouldn't notice, but to his astonishment, he didn't. As opposed to what was anticipated, Kou was able to pass him unnoticed, just becoming aware of the menacing eyes latching onto him.

Ralphie then realized why Bow was acting the way he did.

"It seems that I was correct. You let him go because Muro isn't on this side of the castle. This indicates that Yumiko and Tem are likely headed in the right direction."

"You are correct, no doubt. Master Muro's located on the eastern side of the castle all the way at the top of fourth floor inside his chemical lab. I was merely deployed to this location to prevent more than one intruders coming in contact with Master Muro."

Ralphie put his foot up and quickly showed off how spotless his quartz-white shoes were, which sparkled in the light. He started without retreating as the combat got underway.

"I didn't have my chance to fight earlier. So, it is pleasure to do it now. Let's see what you're made out of in actuality. I may be the newest member to the Phoenix Crew, but I intend to support them until the end. I won't fool them now, after what they shared with me."

Bow raised the bow and moved ahead, like a guy who never loses sight of an adversary. The three arrows were pointed in the direction of Ralphie, who was poised to attack, as he dragged the bow forward.

When he pulled back on the string, the three arrows shot forward with remarkable speed, inching ever-closer to Ralphie, who had noticed the wind swirling around them.

The arrows instantly zigzagged ahead in an attempt to disorient him and prevent him from evading. He dropped his sole and slammed it into the marble floor while maintaining a constant focus on the arrows shooting forward.

He placed one leg in front of the other while bending both knees forward. Ralphie pushed himself through the hallway by kicking his toes off the ground. He only needed to shift his feet once to send a trail of wind pulsing through the space and for the flags within, attached to the wall, to wave rapidly.

Bow was taken aback by Ralphie darting through the room at such a breakneck speed, especially since he had already encouraged him to use the Forbidden Technique. Ralphie's trained legs had substantially boosted his speed to the greatest level.

Bow carefully took a step back, making sure to bend his torso backward as he did so, only to see Ralphie in front of him pulling his own foot from the ground to the front into an overhead kick that suddenly swooped forward and almost hit Bow in the jaw.

Ralphie's toes just missed making contact. Only as his soles came inches from striking Bow's face did he realize what had happened. Ralphie quickly stepped on with one foot planted on the ground, then launched himself into a spin by circling his body with the other leg raised. He threw his leg forward like a sword and prepared to slam his sole into Bow's face while in the air.

Ralphie intended to impair Bow's vision in some way so that he could no longer see into the future. But it was all in vain since Bow quickly threw himself to the ground on his back and rolled backward while rigidly keeping the bow in his hands.

He constantly kept the bow drawn and the arrows already made on the string from the light itself ready to fire. "That "super-vision" of yours is definitely eating my nerves." Ralphie said, when he first touched the ground.

Bow, crouched with the right leg kneeling on the floor and the other bent and elevated, pointed the arrow towards Ralphie's head.

He let go of the thread to send the arrow hurtling forward. Since it was made of light, it had the potential to move at the speed of light. However, because Bow restrained it, the arrow went forward at a speed that Ralphie could dodge.

Ralphie bent his knees and bounced in the air, gathering height as if he were about to jump off a spring itself, as soon as he saw the arrow aiming for his head.

A golden light trail was left behind by the arrow as it flashed beneath the tips of his toes. Just as he anticipated, the attack wasn't over when the light trail itself burst into a display of yellow fireworks. Ralphie briefly lost his vision as he was propelled backward into the hallway by the explosion's force.

Ralphie's back hit the floor with the power of its blast, and as a result, he rolled onto his back, which caused him to lose his stability. He attempted to keep the balance and regain it for a time, but without success. By pushing his shoulder into the ground, he was able to reclaim his footing and quickly reverse directions.

He eventually felt the left foot of his leg touch the ground when he threw his weight over his shoulder, which he then used to his advantage. The soles of his shoes slipped in a circular motion as if he was skating on thin ice.

His fingertips made contact with the ground, allowing him to regain balance. He noticed that the bottoms of his shoes began to heat up, making him feel as though he was walking barefoot on a fire, and that the skin on the tips of his fingers was beginning to chafe to the point of burning obscenely.

He was able to stop before his weight struck the wall, but as soon as he did, smoke nearly poured out from under his hand and into the open.

His skin had a fragrance to him that reminded him of frying steak. He got back to his feet and checked his burned foot again while his fingertips were bleeding.

"I wouldn't say your shoes are fit for combat. I suppose you wouldn't have any other types of shoes, since you're supposedly a waiter, cook in addition." Claimed Bow.

"A waiter tends to wear formal attire. These shoes stay on for as long as they are wearable."

"A waiter sure can be a fool. I shall make your demise happen soon." Bow claimed.

Bow indicated that the combat was still ongoing as he reached for his bow and pointed it forward.

To be continued...