by David Walker
“No. I'm looking for Obfuscation. You can either tell me something about them, or I can beat you until something useful comes out of your mouth,” Trance replied, showing no sign of fear or intimidation. Shade still did not like Trance, but he admired his bravery. They were both itching for a fight. The spell blade unsheathed a sword that glowed with a fiery heat. He swung it at Trance who blocked it with his Excalibur. Excalibur's liquid energy sizzled as it clashed with the spell blade's flaming sword. Steam puffed through the air as they exchanged attacks.
Stormspiral drove his spear into the ground and held onto it as he spiraled around it. Gale force winds carried his legs into aerial kicks that dropped the spell blades to the right of Trance. Aftershock rushed to the attackers that were to the left of Trance, hacking them down with her ax, which was encircled by whirling, rocky shards. Crescent stood in the rear, focusing energy into her Flame Arc. Distant spell blades blasted rapid-fire rifle shots at Ordered Chaoz.
Having just defeated his opponent, Trance slashed horizontally and an ice shield formed around the arc of his blade, blocking the incoming fire. Crescent threw her Flame Arc at the gunmen. It spun like a boomerang, whizzing by their weapons and melting them before returning back into her hands. Meanwhile, Shade downed the remaining spell blades with sharp, economical swipes of his blade. Ordered Chaoz searched the remains of the spell blades, looking for anything that would lead them to Obfuscation. Shade was awestruck after witnessing the power of his guild mate's relic weapons.
“How do you guys get your weapons to project energy like that?” Shade inquired.
“The noob is having trouble with his weapon, eh?” Trance mocked. Shade angrily shot Trance a rude gesture.
“What's your problem, Trance? You couldn't just keep your big mouth shut, could you? What if we can't find a lead on Obfuscation now?” Aftershock snapped.
“Calm down, we'll find something,” Trance replied. Aftershock turned to Shade.
“You have to make a connection with your weapon in order to unlock its power,” Aftershock answered. Shade probed his Maelstrom's Edge with his spirit senses and could feel its pulse. Its vibration was turbulent like the astral plane. He could not bring himself to connect with it. He felt as if he would have to yield a piece of himself in order to connect with it and he was not prepared to do that.
“I've found something...looks like their coordinates,” Crescent said, unfolding a piece of paper from one of the spell blade's equipment pouches.
“See, I told you,” Trance said. Aftershock shot him a dirty look. She calmed down a bit after looking at her sister's findings. They were most definitely realm coordinates.
“Are you guys ready for another fight? If this is their base, it could be a tough fight,” Aftershock warned.
“We'll wipe the floor with them,” Stormspiral said confidently. The guild entered a rift created by the newly-found coordinates. They appeared in a realm within the astral plane. Aftershock's face lit up with recognition.
“I recognize this place. This realm must be above Ghemeza,” she said. Their eyes were drawn to a bunker with a pale, yellow glow nearby. They readied their weapons and approached the bunker. The spell blades that were inside of the bunker were caught off guard and were easy prey for Ordered Chaoz. Even if they were not caught off guard, they would not have stood a chance.
Without the elemental power of his Maelstrom's Edge, Shade felt like a second-rate member of his guild. He assisted his guildmates with their elemental attacks whenever he could. He cut down the spell blades that Stormspiral launched into the air with his twirling, wind strikes. He slashed through the enemies that were stuck in Aftershock's ground-shifting, seismic attacks. He impaled the terrorists that were seared from Crescent's flaming swipes. His pistol shattered the foes that were frozen in Trance's frost cleaves.
Ordered Chaoz sifted through the wreckage and fallen spirit bodies. Shade found a small device near one of the computer terminals. He browsed through it and found information about Operation Janus and Operation Titan. They were attacks that were scheduled to deploy soon in Ghemeza.
“Hey Aftershock, I think this could be useful,” Shade said, handing the device over to her. She browsed through the information on it.
“This is it!” She exclaimed. “We don't have the location of their base yet, but we can stop these attacks and finally make a difference!” She planted a short, sweet kiss on Shade's lips.
* * *
A few days after his encounter with Obfuscation, Matthew asked Leila out on a date to the Royal Hall Steakhouse, an upscale restaurant. It was the first time that he had to make reservations to eat at a restaurant. Since Matthew joined her guild, they had spent a fair amount of time with each other in the spirit realm. However, Matthew wanted to enjoy a special, tangible date with her in the physical world. It seemed to be a fitting way to celebrate their recent achievements in the guild.
Matthew shaved his head to a short buzz with his electric clippers. After taking a hot shower, he shaved his face around his goatee's edges with a razor. He slowly rubbed his smooth, clean-shaven skin. It was a rare occasion when Matthew put a razor to his face. He donned his gray suit, a collared shirt, and a navy-blue tie. A few puffs of pheromone-infused cologne completed his formal ensemble. He gave himself a vain glance in the mirror and left his apartment to pick up Leila.
Leila was beaming when she stepped out of the Alverez’s home to meet Matthew. Plum-colored lipstick complemented her bright, dimpled smile. Her dark eyes glistened beneath her subtly placed, silver eyeshadow. She wore a beautiful, crimson colored dress embroidered with elegant, floral designs. She radiated an aura of power that led Matthew to understand the strange phenomena that surrounded her the first time that he had laid eyes on her. She carried the spirit realm with her into the physical world. Perhaps, she unknowingly fused the realms together at times.
“You look...gorgeous,” Matthew uttered clumsily.
“Thank you. You look very handsome,” Leila returned, as her eyes moved along his more formal attire. Matthew drove them to the Royal Hall Steakhouse. The immaculate restaurant had a white and gold color scheme. It was furnished with round, draped tables, polished wooden floors, and dazzling chandeliers. Matthew and Leila were seated in an intimate area with smaller tables near a window with a grand view of the city. They were soothed by the soft notes coming from the restaurant's piano player.
“Wow, this place is fancy,” Leila said, marveled at her surroundings.
“It's way too rich for my blood. You're paying for your own meal, right?” Matthew teased. Leila laughed. Matthew smiled and continued, “This is my first time eating here. I heard they have the best steaks in the Republic.” They ordered their food along with a bottle of wine that was recommended by their waiter. After loosening up from a couple of glasses of wine, Leila shifted their conversation topic to the spirit realm. She lifted her glass up for a toast.
“To Ordered Chaoz. May we put an end to Obfuscation's evil,” Leila said.
“To Ordered Chaoz,” Matthew said, lifting up his glass to meet with Leila's with a clink.
“I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the guild before. I should've known that you'd be able to fight,” she said.
“It's cool. I'm just glad I ran into you guys,” Matthew said casually, masking his feelings.
“How did you learn to fight so quickly, anyway?” Leila asked, tilting her head.
“I learned how to fight from a master that I met on the fourth level,” Matthew answered, reflecting on his experience with Amezarak.
“I should've known. Your hand-to-hand fighting is impeccable. It's hard to believe that you've only been awake for a couple of months.”
“Thanks. I wish I could master my Maelstrom's Edge. To be honest, I feel like a scrub compared to you guys.”
“I'm surprised that you haven't been able to so far,” Leila said. Matthew sat silent for a moment.
“I can't bring myself to connect to the Maelstrom. It feels
like...if I were to, I'd allow it to take me over. I'm an all or nothing kind of a guy.”
“I can tell. You seem like a very passionate person. Those Scorpios, eh?”
“Heh,” Matthew chuckled.
“Don't worry about it. I'm just glad you're with us. Thank you for finding that intel on Obfuscation. We're going to be able to save lives because of it,” Leila said, as she affectionately took hold of his hand.
“I couldn't help but notice how serious you were about all of this. I'm impressed by how thorough your research was,” Matthew commended. Leila smiled.
“It's what I'm good at. I have a degree in criminal justice.”
“No kidding?” Matthew said, surprised by her revelation.
“I'm actually trying to get recruited by the Eagles right now,” she added. Matthew was amazed. He never would have guessed that Leila was trying to get into the Unified Republic's covert military arm.
“Wow. No wonder you're so serious about nailing Obfuscation,” Matthew said. Leila smiled faintly and looked out of the window with a sigh. Uh, oh. Did I say something wrong? “Are you alright?” Matthew asked.
“You're so sweet. Yes, I'm alright.” She slumped down in her seat and continued, “My biological father, Hashem Sadir, was Ghemeza's ambassador to the Unified Republics. He worked at the Allied Embassy with my biological mother Ryka Sadir. Carmen and Dom's father, Alejandro, worked there also. The Alverezes were my biological family's closest friends in this country,” Leila said, pausing for a while. She looked down into her lap and sighed. Matthew's face sank. He knew where this conversation was going.
“...My parents were in the Allied Embassy building when it got bombed. Alejandro wasn't there when it happened. He adopted me into the Alverez home after it did,” Leila said, eyes brimming with sorrow. Matthew dropped his silverware, rushed over to her side of the table, and gave her a consoling hug. He held her head tenderly against his chest. She snuggled into his chest and wept.
“I'm sorry Leila,” Matthew said, trying his hardest to properly express sympathy. Consolation was not one of his strong suits. He considered talking about the death of his father, but it seemed inappropriate since he hated his father and Leila seemed to love hers. She dried her eyes and looked up at Matthew. It tore at his heart to see mascara streaked along her cheeks. She slowly caressed his face and kissed him. The kiss seemed to revitalize her, as she suddenly took notice of all the people in the restaurant that were looking at them.
“You should probably get back in your seat, hun; all of these rich folks are staring at us,” she said, managing a smile. Matthew obliged. Leila took a moment to gather her composure.
“These terrorists,” she said with a tightened face, “...they pervert the culture of my people...I won't stop until they're taken out. Even if I have to tear them apart with my bare hands,” she declared, fist clenched on top of the table.
“...We'll get them. Every last one of them,” Matthew said with resolution in his eyes. Leila smiled tenderly at him. After finishing their meal, they ended the night with a passionate kiss.
Chapter 5
Ordered Chaoz focused on combat training as they waited for the scheduled deployment of Operation Janus. Shade was glad to have people to train with. Despite not having access to the power of his Maelstrom's Edge, Shade had a knack for understanding elemental powers. He thought up a number of different element combination attacks for his guildmates to use. He led the guild in elemental training exercises. Trance's refusal to participate frustrated him. Shade learned that his guild mate's ability to use elemental attacks was limited to their spirit's capacity. It drained every time that they used an elemental ability, yet recharged after time spent resting, like their spirit energy and vitality.
Occasionally, Shade spent time in Callisto with Kylie and Garret. Kylie enjoyed the Gambling District and took up crafting in order to fund her gambling pastime. She learned how to craft tonics that were able to recover spirit vitality. Shade gathered the herbs that she needed for crafting materials, and she provided him with a steady supply of tonics in return. She ended up making more coins than most crafters since she did not have to spend coins to commission guilds to gather her crafting materials.
Garret had taken to Callisto's Combat Cards tournaments. Combat Cards was a strategic game where players used their card decks to balance resources, cast spells, and manage minions against one another. Combat Card games were played in arenas where each play had corresponding holographic displays, which served to bring the games to life. Shade provided Garret with some of the exotic materials that he needed to craft some of the more powerful cards. Shade preferred to help Garret and Kylie gathered their crafting materials rather than expose them to the dangers outside of Callisto. It was at this point that he understood why Aftershock had not introduced him to spiritual combat.
Eventually, Shade grew weary of rigorous combat training. He followed Amezarak's example and took up meditation. Meditation calmed his nerves and helped him to reflect on his combat techniques. While in meditation, Shade envisioned a floating castle, suspended high in the air and surrounded by a wide waterfall which arched around the rear and sides of it. The castle had a unique blend of medieval and futuristic architecture and was composed of an aqua-colored, quartz crystal. It glimmered as soft rays of light bounced off of the surrounding waves of water and hit its reflective surfaces. Shade felt that the castle was beautiful and it seemed somewhat familiar.
When he opened his eyes, Shade found himself within the realm of the crystal castle. He appeared on a beached area covered by bent palm trees and murky waters. He noticed that the light which illuminated his spirit body was gone, yet he still had plenty of spirit energy. Which level is this? He looked up and saw that the castle had lost the splendor it had in his vision. Its surfaces were rusty and tarnished, unable to reflect any light. There were several brown griffins flying near the castle. The waterfall area around the castle flowed with blazing lava.
Seeing the castle in this condition made Shade sorrowful, although he did not know why. A rickety, wooden stairway extended out from the castle's barbican down to where Shade was standing. He carefully made his way up the wobbly stairway toward the castle, wary of falling into the fiery liquid beneath it. There were no winds that he could ride if he fell from the stairway. The griffins swooped in to attack him as he approached the castle, but he easily struck them down with well-timed thrusts and swipes of his Maelstrom's Edge. His intense training enabled him to maintain his balance on the stairway while cutting the griffins down.
Shade walked up to the castle and saw a portal in the area where gates would normally have been. A figure walked out of the portal and stood face to face with him. The figure looked exactly like Shade. He even wore a black hoodie and was clad in the military attire that Shade wore when he first entered Callisto. The doppelganger's eyes were harsh and cruel. Startled, Shade jumped back and entered his balanced combat stance. His double mirrored his movements.
“What are you?” Shade asked.
“I don't answer to you. Get out of my realm.”
“What is this place?”
“Leave. Now!” the shadow demanded. Shade had no intention of leaving without answers. What was beyond the portal? He shifted his stance a couple of times and his double continued to mirror his movements. It can read my thoughts.
“Yes, I can. Leave. I won't ask you again,” the doppelganger hissed. Not a chance. Shade dashed at the doppelganger and their battle commenced. None of Shade's strikes could get through its defenses. Likewise, Shade could intuitively stifle its offensive maneuvers. Their fight was reminiscent of a choreographed dance, as the two combatants matched each other's speed, form, and finesse. Shade could not bring himself to unsheathe his Maelstrom's Edge.
Shade was usually very cerebral during his fights. He continuously attempted to anticipate his opponent's movements, based on their combat rhythm, along with the multiple outcomes that he could predict per attack exchange. Thes
e techniques were ineffective against his shadow. Shade cleared his thoughts and began to fight on instinct alone. He was able to hit his double with a series of overhand punches and angled elbow blows to its midsection. Shade advanced his attacks aggressively, in contrast to his typical defensive style.
After getting struck a few times, Shade's doppelganger regrouped and switched stances. Dark energy surrounded its movements. Elemental attacks. Great, not again. The black energy clouded Shade's vision, as his double nailed him in the chest with rapid kicks. Shade felt that his spirit vitality slowly drained when he was exposed to the dark energy. His doppelganger's attacks overwhelmed him, pushing him to the edge of the castle. A burst of cyclonic wind carried the momentum of its spinning butterfly kick, cracking Shade in the face, knocking him clear off the castle's barbican.
Shade rode the vibration of the wind-based attack and it carried him over the lava below. He landed in an area by a translucent, opalescent dome. After taking a moment to recover, he touched the giant dome and realized that he could put his hand through it. He entered the dome and saw the most beautiful garden that he had ever seen. The garden was filled with colorful, exotic flowers that emitted a warm light. An exquisite, two-layered fountain made of pristine, white marble stood in the center of the garden. The fountain's crystalline waters reflected the flower's colorful light.
Everything in the garden pulsed like a heartbeat. Is this realm somewhere in my heart? Ah, that would explain the shadow. Was that...who I really am? Shade pondered the concept for a while, lamenting about the state of the realm, yet he was thankful that there was at least one serene location within it. He plucked a fragrant, reddish-orange tulip from the garden. The inside of it sparkled like a miniature firework. Shade created a rift to the Ordered Chaoz guild hall. He stepped out into the training area where Aftershock was practicing her elemental techniques on the training dummies.