by Arantes
Sonia said nothing; she left with anger on her face. How could he, he’s truly going to kill you Albedo, please come back to us.
“Master Jarvis, say something,” said Dante.
Jarvis had nothing to say, he respected his King’s decision, whatever orders he was given; he would abide by them, just as he did with the King’s father.
“Forgive me. I know this is hard and shocking to all of you, but you must understand, if he’s allowed to live he will grow more powerful. I fear master Jarvis’ seal is too weak to sustain the Reawakening,” said the King.
“We all know he’s nothing like Aleister, so why!?” asked Axil. He had a tone that indicated that he wanted to shout at the King, but his tone was only reflecting his emotion.
“Axil,” said Dante as he put a hand on his shoulder, making sure he knows his limit when talking to the King. He admired the passion in Axil’s eyes.
Axil left the room.
Sonia and Axil are right, the right thing to do is to protect and help Albedo, but I made a promise to my brother, to protect and obey the King no matter what. I must not let my emotions cloud my thoughts. Regardless of the situation, a King must be obeyed at all costs. He raised his head up and looked at the King. “I understand my lord, I will support any decision you make.” Forgive me Albedo, but my loyalty to my King and the promise to my brother will not permit me follow you. A true Black Reaper must be willing to put his King before his needs.
Angelione looked at Dante in surprise. He had thought he had come to the same verdict as Axil and Sonia. Albedo meant a lot to them, and he understood the reason they were against this idea. In fact he himself was skeptical about this idea; it was an idea that daunted him in their last mission after Aleister. So Dante, you too have also decided to follow orders instead of your heart? Last time I followed my heart and let Albedo live, but now it’s out of my hands. “I too, my lord, will follow your order.”
***
Sonia looked back to see Axil calling out for her. She was angry and felt a deep hate towards the King. How could he kill the only man she ever loved?
“Sonia, are you all right?” asked Axil as he caught up to her.
“How could he, Axil? Albedo is our friend, our teammate. I know who he was in the past, but he’s not like that anymore.”
“I wish I knew what to do,” said Axil. He looked at Sonia who looked as if she wanted to be alone; he too wanted to be alone to truly grasp this decision. “Go get some rest alright.”
***
Sonia left her bed in the middle of the night after shifting side to side. There was no way she was going to be able to sleep thinking about Albedo all night. She put on her black cloak and her red mask and headed to the dungeon. She went to the lower level, where Albedo was being held. She didn’t even bother sneaking in as she came down the stairs, she showed her permission slip she had taken from the guard and presented it. After she was clear she walked up to Albedo’s cell.
“What do you think you’re doing, Sonia? I know it’s you behind that mask.”
She recognized that voice, Alan. She took off her mask, “I’m here to set him free,” she replied.
“Why would you want to do that? You know what will happen if he’s out,” said Alan. He looked at her with an adamant look. The girl was in love with him. “Foolish girl, you know what love is, but you have no idea what death is.” This was a warning from him to her. Albedo’s power could not be controlled. “You will never turn the trap off, if his power level rises, he will be electrocuted?”
“So master Jarvis placed a seal in your body too huh. Preventing you from trying to hurt Albedo, can’t say I blame him really,” said Sonia.
“That old fool is as blind as the King!” Damn this seal, not only does it diminish my abilities, it also diminishes my physical strength. I never imagined that his seal was this strong.
Sonia stopped paying mind to Alan and started hitting the steel cell with her pawn, nothing she couldn’t handle. The steel cell was no match for her as it fell apart.
“Miss, you can’t do that!”
The guards rushed in to try and stop her. These royal guards were mere vampires, nothing she couldn’t handle. There were about ten of them, they were not dead, she simply put them to sleep with a powerful blow. One of the guards had sounded the alarm. More guards would be coming.
“Albedo, I’m here to get you out.”
He said nothing.
“Me and you are going to leave this place. We are going far away, where no one can find us, just the two of us.”
Breaking the chains that bound Albedo’s hands and legs was going to be tricky. These weren’t steel, but instead titanium metal, much stronger. There were four chains coming from the wall, two on Albedo’s arms and two on his legs. Another problem she was facing was that her fire wasn’t hot enough to melt titanium, it was too dense. Not even her strength could break it, so she had to resolve to her last idea, pick the lock. It’s been so long since Sonia had picked a lock. She had learned it from Angelione himself. For a Pureblood, lock-picking skills were not really essential. “We have the strength to break almost anything, this skill is useless,” quoting Angelione to Sonia. Angelione explained to her, they may one day have to face titanium metal, and as always, he was right. She took a pin from her hair and started working on the first chain on Albedo’s hand. Now let’s see if I can remember this, she yanked the pin diligently, being careful not to activate the electric. Click! The first one unlocked and she quickly went to work on the second one. Click! His hands were now free and she needed to hurry on the third one.
It was only a matter of time before the King knows of her betrayal. Once he finds out what’s going on, his rage and fury will know no mercy for her. As soon as she inserted the pin inside the next lock, she knew something was wrong. Electricity coursed up her body angrily; trapping her in a stage of numbness. She felt the pain quickening inside of her, touching and grinding against each bone and making them sore. She had only once felt this much agony before, when Aleister deflected Angelione’s lightning towards her. Thousands of volts of pain shocked her body, her hands began to bleed. She screamed along side with Albedo. But Sonia was determined not to stop as she fought the pain and unlocked one of the chains to his leg. At last the pain stopped and her hands began to bleed, her heart racing faster. She breathed heavily.
Albedo, hang on, just bare the pain with me a little longer. I must finish the last one, but I’m so weak. Sonia started working on the last one; the electricity was back once more to torture her body. Her hands were shaking as she twisted the pin inside the lock. Move, move! Her hands found the strength that she needed to unlock the last one.
Sonia took a few seconds to catch her breath; she touched Albedo’s face with her bloody hands. “You see, Albedo, there is nothing I won’t do for you!”
Albedo’s eyes started glowing again, Sonia held him tight. The seal in his body was somehow being eaten away by the Reawakening.
“I promise to protect you.” As she looked into his eyes, she felt a pain on the left side of her stomach. She looked and saw blood dripping; Albedo’s nail had penetrated her as soon as his Reawakening took over his mind, awakening his killer-lust. She touched his face as she fell on the ground, “Albedo, I…” she bled unconsciously. The electricity shock and Albedo’s nails had taken its toll on her.
***
Albedo looked at her as if he had never seen this woman before lying on the floor. He got up and walked in the hallway, to hear the guards coming his way. He was like a walking zombie without a conscious. He shot a fireball at the stairs, creating an explosion. He opened the cell and walked over to Alan. He looked Alvin in the eyes, “There’s evil in your heart.”
“You murdered my brother, and you have become exactly what they say you are,” said Alan.
Albedo grabbed and killed him. He felt the impulse of the killer-lust wanting more blood.
***
King Victor arrived at the dungeon a
long side of Angelione, Dante, and Axil. They had to maneuver around the stairs; bricks of it had been blown up and dust made it hard to breathe and see. They could hear a loud sound of a strange beast coming down the hallway. They made it at the end of the hall to find Albedo with his hand around Alvin’s neck, dead.
“Dante!” Axil pointed his hand towards Sonia from the other cell and he rushed over to help.
Dante quickly used his healing ability to sustain her wound.
“She’s bleeding badly!” said Dante. He was not the greatest healer, but knew a thing or two. “We must take her to a healer who can tend to her wound faster than I can!”
“Take her to the medical room now!” ordered the King.
Dante and Axil quickly rushed her to the medical room.
“Albedo, that’s enough!” shouted the King.
Albedo swung at the King, but met Angelione’s sword. The King was going to have to be careful not to use his ability in this small area; he could destroy the dungeon. Albedo raised his hand towards Angelione but the king quickly grabbed him and took cover. Multiple fireballs flew and exploded in the hallway. When the fireballs had finally stopped, the King looked to see that Albedo was gone. He tried to use his Elder to sense his presence, but the Reawakening was impossible to sense.
“He took the stairs and headed outside!”
The King and Angelione followed. The stairs led them on the side of the castle.
Where is he?
“I see him, he’s heading for the bridge!” said Angelione.
They rushed after him.
“Albedo, stop right now, you’re not going anywhere!” said the King. There was a wind producing around his body now, just like before. It was a good thing I sent the royal guards in the city, just in case we can’t stop him. He also feared if they learned of Albedo’s secret they might leak it.
At the end of the other side of the bridge were the Black Knights, standing firm with their spears in their hands, on top of the castle were more of them, with crossbow aiming at Albedo. All they needed was the signal from the King, and they would intervene. The royal guards weren’t suited for these types of jobs, their jobs were to keep the castle safe and keep order in the city. The Black Knights were better trained for this type of job.
The King and Angelione made it to the bridge, Albedo was within their reach, but the wind was going to be a problem. “Fire!” he unleashed his fireballs against King Victor and Angelione, they dodged it. The fireballs exploded in mid-air behind them as they reached their range.
I guess it comes to this huh. Just like it said, the Kings of Awakenings awaken and kill all who sit on their thrones. Are you going to kill me, Albedo? If so, then I hope you unleashed everything in your arsenal, thought the king.
The wind was getting even stronger; blowing everything in its path. The King could hear the roaring of it, alongside the whirlpool. Forgive me, Albedo, I never meant for all this to happen. He felt it was all his doing, he was the one who, along with Jarvis, had pushed him to his limit; now he was witnessing their misfortune.
“Flare!” Whoosh! The massive flare came at them.
Angelione swung his sword in a circle to deflect the fire as he stepped in front of the King.
“Angelione, I don’t have any other choice. I must use it against him!” The King was referring to his Elder.
“I understand, I will buy you time,” said Angelione. Albedo continued to fire, but Angelione blocked it with his sword.
The King felt discontent the more he thought about hurting Albedo. He wanted to help him but there was nothing in his power that he could do. “I’m sorry I can’t,” he looked at Angelione. If I use the Elder against him, I don’t know if I will be able to hold back my strength against him.
Angelione saw his king was perplexed and said. “It’s all right, I know how you feel.” He remembered when he couldn’t bring himself to kill Albedo.
“Here’s what we’ll do, stay behind me as I get closer to him, then I want you to use your ability on him!”
Angelione looked discomforted, for some reason he hated using his lightning ability.
“I’m going to get closer!” This wind may be strong but the king’s physical strength was not one to be reckoned with.
Angelione followed him as he got closer to Albedo. The King saw that he was getting ready to use his fireballs and rushed towards him. The King managed to grab him, but not after he encountered a couple fireballs that exploded on his chest. The wind continued to try and push the King, but he was strong. The King pinned Albedo to the ground, and Angelione once more asked his brother for forgiveness as he unleashed his lightning on him. The King had gotten out of the way just in time to avoid being caught. Albedo screamed in pain and fell to the ground.
Good, the wind is gone and his Reawakening is also.
“Angelione, are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine.” He hated using this ability; it always brought back pain and suffering to him. His hand was now steaming. I held back a little. “So, what now? Do we… kill him.” he looked at the
King.
This was a hard decision no one wanted to make.
“I…don’t know.” This should have been a simple decision; someone like Albedo had to die. He was the King who brought chaos and fear to this world, him and his brethren ruled with absolute order.
“I’ll kill you all!”
The King looked to see Albedo’s Reawakening had returned, alongside the severe wind, but much more intense this time. The wind blew the King and Angelione away, a few feet from the castle.
Albedo was now heading for the city.
The King got up quickly. “The wind is so strong, how can someone be this powerful!”
He looked at Angelione, “we must go now, but don’t kill him.”
Angelione wondered if he had changed his mind. He wanted Albedo wounded, just enough to bring him down. He grabbed his sword and moved forward, hoping to electrocute Albedo once more, just enough to put him to sleep. He held back his ability the last time, this time he had to give it all he had.
The King looked back at the Black Knights on top of the castle and gave them the signal they were waiting for. They fired their crossbow towards Albedo, but it was futile as his wind shielded him from their attacks. The King had no other choice now; he must use his Elder as he saw Albedo making it half way to the bridge. His wind destroyed the poles on the street and the light bulbs burst into pieces. At the end of the other side of the bridge was more Black Knights; but the King saw someone else with them, it was master Jarvis. He was glad he had finally showed up.
***
Jarvis watched as Albedo’s wind deflected the arrows as if they were leaves being blown away by the wind. It was clear to him that Albedo’s power could not be controlled, but he had not lost hope. He looked back at the Black Knights and told them to be ready if worse comes to worst. Next to him were Dragan and Cecelia.
“Dragan, what’s happening to our son!?” said Cecelia.
“Master Jarvis, I have a request for you, I want you to remove the seal you placed on us,” requested Dragan.
“Nonsense,” said Jarvis. “A long time ago the two of you asked me to seal away your abilities and power. So you could raise your son in peace, I will not remove it so you can fight him.”
“The seal you placed on him is getting weaker, please he’s my son!” pleaded Dragan. Dragan wanted desperately to help his son, without his power there was nothing he could do to help.
“Let me handle it, I can try to drain his energy.” said Jarvis. But that’s very risky. “Victor asked the two of you to go home, we will handle this.”
“He is our son, what would you have us do!” said Dragan with passion in his eyes.
“I know that, and this is why I requested for you two to stay put. Right now the two of you are as strong as a human. My seal not only took away your power and abilities, but also diminished your physical strength and speed. It has been so long since yo
ur body had recognized your true strength that if I removed the seal right now, it will take at least a day for them to return to you.” Albedo was getting closer, and he needed to go. He looked at Dragan and Cecelia and smiled. “A parent should not fight his own son; their job in life is to teach them. The two of you have unconditional love for him, even after finding out what or who he was. I will not have the two of you fight your own son, I watched a father fight his son before, and I will not stand for it again.” With that he left them.
***
Sonia woke up and she knew something wasn’t right. She lay still on a bed at the medical room, with blood pumping into her vessels. She was lucky to be alive. Thanks to the blood and the King’s healers, her skin had regenerated fast. Her body was still in bad shape and it was going to take at least a day for her to fully nurse back to health. She looked by the window to see Dante and Axil standing there staring outside.
“Albedo, where is Albedo?” she said quietly.
“He’s going to be fine, right now you need to rest,” said Dante.
“You’re not supposed to be up, your body is not yet ready,” said Axil.
She could feel the pain in her body still. “What’s going on out there?”
They were skeptical to tell her.
“Tell me what happened!” she shouted at them.
Dante and Axil gave her a hand. They approached to the window; there she could see Albedo, with Jarvis, Angelione and the King chasing after him, heading towards the city.
“Albedo is that really you?” said Sonia.
Dante and Axil wanted to go help but Sonia needed them even more.
“Just leave it to Jarvis and the others. They will find a way to bring him back, I promise you that,” said Dante.
Axil was not so sure there was a comeback for him. His mind was being dominated by the power.
Dante looked at Sonia with disappointment, “What were you thinking Sonia? You’re lucky to be alive. He could have killed you, he’s not himself.”