Sequence Nine: Memories

The sounds of horrible cries of orcs after being cut into pieces echoes throughout the place.

Cardel and the rest of the people that are protecting the mansion could only watch in awe, as the man named Josh subjugates the rest of the enemies one by one in a precise manner.

“J-just who is that guy?” said Anastasia, who still can’t believe what she is seeing at the moment.

“This is not even a fight anymore… It’s just… carnage.” She added, worried of what is happening in front of her. Lots of thoughts are running on her mind, as she asses every possible scenario that could happen later on.

What if he is not with them? What if there is a third party in this attack that is against them and is just clipping the unnecessary parts to set the stage.

‘What if, he is someone who will eventually turn against us?’ she thought

But all of her what ifs are blown away when a voice of a girl called for the name of the person fighting the orcs.

“Josh?”

She turns to the voice and found Cerise with mixed reactions on her face. She can’t clearly assume if she is worried, scared, or happy to see him as that person who she called as Josh continues on his onslaught to the orcs with movements that even a seasoned knight can’t execute.

“Hey, Cerise right?” Anastasia said, then Cerise’s attention turns to her.

“Do you know that person? Josh if I remember it correctly?” she added.

“Yeah… he’s…” but before she could finish what she is about to say, Stella interrupts the conversation of the two.

“Josh? Is Josh here? Where is he?” Stella said, as she looks for that person who saved her while trying to loosen the hug of Anastasia around her.

“You know the guy lady Stella?” Anastasia asked while assisting her closer to Cerise.

“He’s the one who saved me from Gearfried.” She answered

“Gearfried? But I sent him to fetch you, why would he save you from Gearfried?” She questioned the answer of the girl.

“You see…” Stella explained to her what happened to her and Gearfried with a gloomy look on her face.

“Good thing sir Josh is around the whole time. If not…” she said while she tightens her grip on Anastasia.

Anastasia, feeling the tightening grip of the girl wrapped in her arms concluded that everything she just said is true.

“That geezer…” she started

“I knew I should not trust anyone who works directly under Stella’s father’s command!” she said in an annoyed tone while she clenches her teeth due to anger on the person. She then turns her gaze to some guards resting near them.

“You over there! Find that old man!” she ordered angrily on the guards.

“W-who’s the old man you are referring to my lady?” one of the guards asked in confusion, hesitated to even ask her for the reason.

“Who else? Is there another old man in this premises other than Gearfried?!” she responded, and the guards went running inside the mansion, searching for someone who is, in fact could never be seen.

Dashing forward with his blade, he dodges every attacks of the orcs around him as if he is just playing around with them. Having the skills of an acrobat on dodging attacks and precise slashes on their vital points, he reduced the number of the orcs far more than half of what they originally were.

On the view of those guards who are watching him annihilate those orcs, the feeling of relief is now showing on their faces, the feeling of being saved on the last minute sure is overwhelming, that some of them are now cheering for him.

As if they are now watching a protagonist from a play that is fighting for the helpless and the abused. A man that could stand against the overwhelming foe they recently fought with, that they themselves could not defeat is now being taken care of by someone stronger, that it is ‘just’ for the orcs for almost doing the same to them.

But what they don’t know is that the person posing as Josh is doing such chivalry just to quench his thirst after those long years of imprisonment in that urn.

“Hey Cerise!” a man called and as Cerise turns around to the voice, she found Cardel walking closer to them while he holds his left arm that is battered from the fight he has with the high-orc.

“What is it?” she answered, staring at Cardel’s battered form.

“Can you explain to me what is happening right now?” said Cardel as he points his right thumb to Josh that is fighting the orcs.

“I don’t know what is happening either.” She answered helplessly.

“Man… sure is one long night.” Cardel said, as he slowly lowers his body to the ground and rested himself on the green soil of the mansion.

“Aren’t you suppose to help him?” Cerise asked, wondering why Cardel chooses to lay low, instead of joining the fight with Josh.

“I’m so tired now and the buffs are all worn-out, so no thank you, I’ll rest for now.” He answered as he goofs off and continues on laying down on the ground.

“You’ll definitely be a burden to him if you join in.” Anastasia said with contempt to Cardel.

“Please, even if you mock me, a ‘no’ is a no.” he said as he turns his back to Anastasia provoking her.

Hours had passed since the attack, and the light of the rising sun is now breaking the darkness of the night. The feeling that the assault of the orcs is now over, the surviving soldiers in the front line can now rest assured that they can live for another day, thanks for the savior who pops out in times of their need.

“It’s already morning huh?” said Josh, breathing in the crisp morning air as he bathes on the morning light as it reveals the mound of dead bodies of orcs and his whole figure covered with their blood, making his hair sticky and his white inner shirt now dark-red.

“Why don’t you come out from there? So I can see your ugly face.” he said, speaking to someone on the field.

“So you know that I am watching?” a voice said, echoing throughout the place Josh is standing, as if it came out from every direction.

“So, what is this attack all about? A ‘Welcome back’ gift for me?” Josh said, asking the voice, as he inquires for more details of the attack.

“Sad to say, we are planning to steal the urn you are imprisoned with, but it seems like we are too late.” The voice answered with a displeased tone.

“Aren’t you supposed to be happy that I am back?” he questioned the voice again, wondering why he said it in a displeased manner.

“Ha! You still think we remained under your command after all these years?” the voice said proudly

“We are here to destroy you completely! In these past centuries, we were able to obtain the other urns containing the fragments of your soul with massive amount of power! We don’t need you anymore.” He added as he gives off a demonic laugh to Josh.

“Oh, so is this a rebellion or a coup d’état?” Josh asked, as he scans the place with his eyes, as if he is looking for something.

“And you know, you can’t obtain the power sealed within for some valid reasons.” Josh added with a grin on his face.

“You think we didn’t know that?! We already devised a plan to harness that unlimited power you left.” Said the voice, feeling insulted of what Josh said.

“I see, good for you then. Oh and one last thing, why is this guy named Gearfried involved in this?”

“Ha ha ha! He is not involved in this grand plan, we are just using him! He and the duke are both tools in our disposal.” The voice answered.

But right after the voice answered Josh’s final question, Josh vanished from his sight in a flash.

“Nice hiding spot you have.” He said while appearing behind a man wearing a black robe with the hood covering his head.

“H-how did you managed to find my location?” he said, sweating as he turns around to look at Josh.

“Oh, that talk we have earlier... is just a diversion. The truth is, I am tracing the flow of your mana that you are sending along with that awful voice of yours.” Josh answered, upon finding the location of the voice who is talking to him

“You sure talk a lot for a familiar, are you not?” Josh said, as he stares on the figure in front of him.

“And I am itching to slash you into pieces after that big talk of yours.” He said as he swings the weapon he has in his left hand and slays the demon familiar in his front.

The familiar slowly vanishes along with a black vapor that is coming out of its body as he fades in thin air.

‘Looks like there is a lot of fixing I need to work on my domain.’ He thought as he disappears in his current location and reappears on the mansion’s field where the battle with the orcs occurs.

He is about to return to the group when suddenly his heart skipped another beat yet again, making him kneel on the ground, he pierced the saber he is holding on the ground to serve as a support preventing him from completely collapsing.

“What a weak body this is.” He said, as he holds his chest tightly with his other hand.

“It’s your turn now boy… Be wary to your surroundings, especially to that guys who is watching from the shadows.” He added, and at that instant as if there is a sudden change of souls that occurred and Josh regains control over his body.

“Huh? What exactly happened?” he said, as his eyes are now blurry.

‘Don’t think too much, just have rest now.’ A voice said in his mind.

“I… think I’ll do exactly as you say…” he answered the voice as he immediately collapses on the ground.

“Josh!”

Seeing Josh collapse on the ground, Cerise rushed towards him, worried that he might overdone things. Cardel and Anastasia were also shocked on what they saw but restrained themselves from moving, for Cardel, it is because he is too tired to move and eventually he has some broken bones in his body while Anastasia is holding Stella that is also worn-out on the time being.

***

“Hey…”

‘Someone is calling me.’ Josh thought, as he feels like he is floating on air due to his body being so light at the moment while his eyes are shut and all he can see is total darkness.

“Hey kid, are you listening?”

Josh gently opens his eyes, but to his surprise everything is pitch black! But the disturbing thing about it is that, even if the place is in a total darkness, he can still see his body parts like his hands when he raised it to have a closer look, his clothes and everything are clear and visible to his eyes, only the background of the place is black, and what’s more, he is actually floating!

“What the heck?!” he exclaimed

“This way…”

He heard the same voice as before and to his surprise he is gently gliding down until his feet reaches a flat floor-like surface of the dark place he is in.

“Where am I now?” he asked the voice, wondering where is he in right now. But the voice didn’t answered him as he starts on walking the dark room he’s in.

“I don’t think there is an edge or boundaries in here.” He added.

As Josh walks further, some images pops out on the dark room he is in, moving images. As if they are from someone else’s memory because he can’t recall a single one of them happens to him in the past.

“Are these… somehow ‘his’ memories?” he asked, while scanning the moving images hanging like paintings surrounding the dark room he is currently in, there are so many that most of them are compressed tightly while the rest are starting to form a tunnel-like structure in front of him, like they want him to enter the structure and continue on walking into it.

Josh enters the tunnel-like structure and continues on walking in it until he reaches a certain point of the tunnel and he stops on walking.

“A throne?” he said, as he scans the throne thoroughly.

The throne looks normal, same as those usually seen in a movie, a traditional throne to be exact. But something is odd about it, he feels like something is lurking on the throne as he can see a black shadow behind it and it is somewhat calling him.

He hesitated to go nearer to the throne, but the moment he tries to step backwards, something blocks his path and when he turns around to have a look, he saw hundreds of thousands of dead bodies piled up into multiple mounds that is blocking his way back and every passing second the mounds becomes higher and higher.

Josh’s eyes are filled with terror upon seeing one of the mounds of dead bodies rises up higher from the rest, and as it reaches a certain height the bodies started to roll down like landslide gushing towards Josh

He tries to run away from it desperately but was still caught by it and was engulfed by the avalanche of corpses, crushing his body slowly as the weight increases.

He tries to push his body upwards desperately, to catch some air, but the bodies are still piling up and slowly covering him until he ran out of breath and everything turns black.

Coughing as he catches his breathe, he opens his eyes once again and found himself on the same place facing the throne, yet the bodies are now gone. But now there is a figure wearing a black robe covering his whole body while its face is covered in shadows and is standing next to the throne. Not a single part of him is visible, he just stood there for a few seconds.

After a brief moment, the person reaches his hand to Josh, and to his surprise the hand is not of flesh but rather of bones. The person took a step forward still reaching for him with his hand.

“No… No…” Josh said in a shaking voice while he trembles in fear as the person with a skeleton hand walks away from the throne and closer to him. He thought on running away from the man, but when he turns around to escape, the person is now in front and very close to him.

He stumbles and falls on the ground as he steps back away from the man hitting his lower half of his body on the ground. He still tries to distance his self as he desperately kicks the floor to move backwards but the man is continues of walking closer to him while reaching his hand to Josh. The process continued until Josh’s back hits a dead end at the same time the man in robe stops on taking a step further.

As he turns around, his back is now leaning on the throne. In shock, he gazed on it with horror in his eyes wanting to leave this very place, but the throne gave off a warm and gentle feeling as if it is a mother comforting his child.

He slowly reaches for the throne, but when his hand is about to touch it, he heard a slashing sound and in an instant, his hand that is reaching for the throne is now on the floor and blood is squirting from the wound on his arm.

He screamed in agony as he holds his arm tightly trying to lessen the pain he feels on his arm. His vision again became blurry and he loses his consciousness for the second time.

When he regains his consciousness, he is now facing one of the images he saw earlier, but the frame is so large that it resembles that of a movie screen and is just plain white.

He realized that he is now sitting on the throne with his hands and feet held up tightly with chains along with his body that is fasten with belts on the backrest of the throne while his mouth is tied with a cloth, preventing him from making even the slightest noise. Then the screen started to reveal to him some images that are someone else’s memories.

There he saw a burning village with lots of people running here and there. Then the view switches now he saw a villager running and it seems like he is running away from him, when that villager stumbles on the ground, he was then slashed in his back and died on the spot.

Then he saw another one, a female with an infant in her arms, running desperately but was blocked by some men on her way, begging for mercy for them to spare her life and the child she is holding but was then pierced by the men ruthlessly using their spears, killing the mother and her baby.

Then it changes again for the last time, there he saw heads impaled on long staves with multiple headless body piled up. On top of the mound of bodies a throne is placed, sitting on the throne is a man resting his head on his hand. As he stares at the heads mounted on the staves that are lined in front of him, a grin appeared on his face as his crimson colored eyes that resembles the color of blood can be seen glowing even in a distance.

Josh closes his eyes, not wanting to see more of the disturbing sight, but then was forcefully opened by some hand, wanting him to see the last part of the scene.

When his eyes opened, the man sitting on the throne is now walking towards him, he tries to move away but the chains are placed perfectly.

When the man is close enough, he raised his hand and stretched it forward to grab Josh’s head. As his hand reaches Josh’s head, an unexplainable pain enters Josh’s body but since he is tied up, all he can do is to desperately move, forcing his self to be free even if it is futile.

As soon as the pain starts on flowing into his body, memories that he doesn’t recognizes are also forcing its way into his head, it is so overwhelming, that his brain can’t handle the details anymore.

His eyes shed tears because of the pain at the same time, he feels like his strength is being drained away slowly from him. Until it reached a point that he can no longer retain himself conscious along with his vision that is slowly fading.

Every time he opens his eyes, all the three processes kept on repeating again and again, until he reached the point where he breaks his sanity.

After he did, the event stops. He drops on the ground at the same time his eyes are closing by its self because of fatigue.

‘How long did that thing last? It feels like a day or two.’ He though, guessing the time he spent on repeating those particular events.

“One day…”

Josh, heard a female voice. He wants to search for the bearer of that voice but his body doesn’t listen to him anymore, so he use his eyes instead, but still he couldn’t find it.

“I Promise…”

“We’ll meet each other again.” the voice continues

“My dear.”

Josh’s eyes are slowly closing, but before his eyes completely close, he saw a female figure then his vision turns all black.

***

The light of the morning sun pierces through his eyelids as he gently opens his eyes, and found a girl resting her head on the right side of his bed as she holds his hand.

He loosens the hold of the girl to his hand, gently lifting it to avoid waking her up.

“You’re awake?” the girl said, still having her eyes close

“Somehow…” He answered

“How long am I out?” He asked

“Approximately, around three days.” She answered him, stretching her arms as she sit straight on the chair she is sitting.

“That is a long sleep.” He said as he stares around the grandeur room he is in.

When the two have an eye contact, the girl stands up impulsively upon seeing something strange on him.

“What is it?” he asked, confused on what made her react that way.

“Josh…” she started

“Do you… normally have crimson colored eyes?” she said, pointing the eyes she doesn’t remember him having.

“Do I not?” he said looking at her with a gentle smile.