Desert Dragon

by Michael Rogers

  Klaus: *He opened his eyes and found himself in an underground tunnel, lit by black flamed torches along the cave walls.* "The start of my depression."

  *Klaus spoke to himself and started to walk down the cave, causing the black flames to puff out as he walked by them.*

  --

  *Klaus and several guards covered with imperial robes leant over a well, filled with dancing aurora coloured lights.*

  Guard: "Everything is fine here, Niklauseh." *He spoke as if they had already been speaking for a while.*

  Klaus: "Excellent."

  Guard: "We will see you tomorrow?"

  Klaus: "Of course." *He readied to leave.*

  Guard and Klaus: "Unless if something illogical comes up." *They spoke at the same time and chuckled together, as if it was an inside joke.*

  Klaus: "Shadiatic Palpitate." *He suddenly disappeared into a puff of smoke, leaving behind strings of shadow.*

  Guard: *He watched the smoke strings fade into nothing.* "Niklauseh.. He's the strongest and the coolest Susanoo." *He mumbled to himself and focused his attention back to the well of aurora coloured lights.*

  --

  Klaus: *He continued to walk through the cave, extinguishing the torches he passed.* "People think it's rare to have the darkness elemental affinity.. In retrospect, it is.. But those that have the potential.."

  *Klaus stepped into a hidden sanctum, with pillars and steps made completely out of grey marble.*

  Klaus: *He walked up the stairs with an emotionless face, alerting several old men and a woman dressed in black clothing of his presence.* "Hmm?"

  *Klaus looked up and stared at a bright red glyph which resonated swirls of hot wind.*

  Klaus: "Is this where it's coming from?" *His words caused the five old men to change their meditative positions.*

  Man A: "What-?"

  Klaus: *He looked down, noticing the men stand at each corner of a pentagram-like glyph on the ground.* "These glyphs? A long distant pulse?"

  Man B: *He looked at the man who stood at the opposing side of the glyph.* "Who is this?"

  Leader: "Niklauseh."

  Man C: "Klaus Susanoo?" *He gasped on his breath, as if he had heard of the name before.*

  Klaus: "The secret alliance of Shadiatons... Do you know the corruption?"

  Leader: "No?! How dare you enter this forbidden sanctum!-"

  Klaus: "How dare I?" *He took a step forward and black swords suddenly puffed into his hands.*

  Woman: "Who's he?" *She nudged her head at Klaus while speaking to the closest man next to her.*

  Man B: "He's Nilkauseh.. One of the few Shadiaton Users that has mastered the affinity."

  Woman: "Oh?" *She smirked, as if she was willing to fight him.* "I'm willing to test my Shadiatons on someone strong-"

  Klaus: "The corruption, is it Shadiaton related?" *He cut off the woman in mid-sentence, as if he didn't care what she had to say.*

  Leader: "You have no right to be here! Once you leave this secret alliance, you are never welcome back!"

  Klaus: "Keeping the affinity hidden is pathetic." *He spoke in a carefree manner, causing gasps to be heard in response.* "I don't like to repeat myself, so, please respond?"

  Woman: "ROTTING SWORD" *Swirls of shadow stringed in between her fingers before puffing into black swords.*

  Klaus: "Hoh?" *He glanced to his side, staring at the black swords in the woman's hands.*

  Leader: "Like you, she has excelled in the dark arts too."

  Klaus: "I'm far beyond these stupid squabbles."

  Woman: "Only those that use the affinity knows how it's powered."

  Klaus: "You think yours is stronger than mine?" *He faced the woman, frowning with emotion.*

  Leader: "Sheridan, don't underestimate him!-"

  Sheridan: "Heh-" *She smirked and tightened her grip on the sword, suddenly puffing into a cloud of black smoke.*

  Klaus: "I honestly don't have time for this-" *He frowned and spun around, blocking a striking sword from a swirl of shadows.*

  Sheridan: *She puffed behind the sword, holding it with both hands.* "The power source of Shadiatons is far better than that of Radiatons!"

  Klaus: "Yohoho." *He laughed in a condescending-like manner.*

  Sheridan: "What's so funny?!" *She frowned with gritted teeth.*

  Klaus: "You're so feeble minded, your logic is flawed. They are similar."

  Sheridan: "Shadow's Purge." *She tightly shut her mouth, causing her cheeks to puff up like a balloon.*

  Klaus: "Tcch-" *He quickly swayed to the side, watching Sheridan throw up a stream of black liquid past him.*

  Sheridan: "Heryah!-" *She jumped forward and violently kicked Klaus in the crotch, causing the older men to moan in pain.*

  Klaus: "A-Ah?" *He gasped with hesitant pain and dropped to his knees.*

  Sheridan: *She smirked, flicking her short black hair with red extensions back, allowing her to focus all her attention on to Klaus.* "My drive! My drive to protect the secret alliance from separating!"

  Klaus: *He let go of the swords, causing them to puff into smoke.* "Your drive to protect an alliance? Is that your answer? Please respond."

  Sheridan: "Yes! ROTTING SWORD" *She leant back and bent both elbows, readying to ram the swords simultaneously.*

  Klaus: (Drive...) *He thought to himself with growing sadness, triggering another flashback.*

  --

  *Klaus suddenly puffed into Silver Wind Island and took a step forward, noticing Ordin waiting for him.*

  Klaus: "Ordin?"

  Ordin: "Niklauseh-"

  Klaus: "Where is everyone?" *He spoke with a smile and glanced across the city, watching people walk up and down the different levels.* "They're probably already eating, it's the most logical explanation, please respond."

  Ordin: "Niklauseh.. It's important." *He spoke with seriousness, catching Klaus' attention.*

  Klaus: "Ordin?"

  Ordin: "Something has happened to Sasuke-"

  Klaus: "Sasuke? What-?!" *He took a step closer to Ordin.* "Where is he-?!"

  Ordin: "You need to calm down-"

  Klaus: "My boy! Where is he?!"

  Ordin: "Niklauseh-"

  Klaus: *He suddenly appeared behind Ordin and placed his hand around Ordin's neck, as if he was holding onto something.* "Tell me now."

  Ordin: "Watch yourself, Niklauseh." *He watched the citizens gasp and chatter amongst themselves, as they intensely stared at Klaus.*

  Klaus: "He is my everything!"

  Ordin: "I understand, ever since you lost Asuna to that rare Astragon disorder, he's the only-"

  Klaus: "Don't you!-... Don't ever mention Asuna ever again!"

  Ordin: *He placed his hand over his shoulder, purposely grabbing his sword to Klaus' attention.* "..."

  Klaus: "You may be powerful, Ordin, but you serve us, the Susanoos! And, you're our family friend.. Don't make me want to harm you, please respond."

  Ordin: "... He's in the royal chambers."

  Klaus: *He frowned with emotion and readied to let go of Ordin.* "Now, was that so hard? Logically speaking, this would have avoided if you had told me from the start."

  Ordin: "Suffering builds character.. But don't let it become a part of your personality."

  Klaus: "Shove the morals up your arse, dirty lamp." *He grunted with gritted teeth and suddenly disappeared in a puff of black smoke, causing Ordin to step back.*

  Ordin: *He placed his hand on his neck, feeling charcoal-like burns on his skin.* "Niklauseh.."

  *Klaus suddenly puffed into a large castle-like courtroom, watching crystal clear water from an imperial water fountain, swirl into the air and spiral through clear tubes across the ceiling.*

  Klaus: "Father?!" *He shouted, listening to his voice echo over the sounds of the running water.*

  Grey: *He walked through one of the walls and glanced at Klaus with an emotionless face, stopping in the middle of the courtroom.* "He's in there."

  Klaus: "A hidden royal
room?" *He spoke to himself, watching the wall ripple into a doorway.*

  Grey: "..."

  Klaus: *He focused back to Grey, noticing a purple glyph draw itself underneath him.* "Where are you going?!"

  Grey: "I am the ruler of this city.. I have important things to attend to."

  Klaus: "Important things to attend to? Why are you acting so.. Script-like?! Your grandson?!" *He paused in realisation.* "What's wrong with him?!"

  Grey: "An heir to the city... Is no more-"

  Klaus: "Are you kidding me?"

  Grey: "Goodbye, Niklauseh." *He looked away and disappeared in a flash of purple light.*

  Klaus: *He frowned with gritted teeth and ran towards the rippling doorway-like wall.* "Sasuke?! Sasuke!"

  *Klaus shouted and ran through the wall, causing it to ripple around him.*

  Klaus: *He stepped into a large medieval-like room, noticing Ginger sitting on a large wooden chair next to a queen size bed.* "Ginger?"

  Ginger: *She looked over her shoulder, glancing at Klaus.* "Niklauseh."

  Klaus: "Where-?!" *He stepped to the side and focused on the bed, noticing two small feet under wolf-like fur sheets.* "Sasuke?!"

  Sasuke: "Papa?" *He spoke in a frail voice, alerting Klaus.*

  Klaus: *He unintentionally barged past Ginger almost knocking her off the chair and tightly held Sasuke in his arms.* "What happened?! I was only gone for a few hours?!"

  Sasuke: "I-."

  Klaus: *He placed his hand on Sasuke's forehead.* "You're burning up-"

  Sasuke: "I was.. Getting food before yumyums." *He sounded more hesitant to reveal that than his current condition.*

  Klaus: "Food poisoning?! Please respond-"

  Ginger: "Let him finish, Niklauseh-"

  Klaus: "Silence!"

  Ginger: "..." *She leant back slightly startled.*

  Sasuke: "That feeling.. It stayed inside me."

  Klaus: "The feeling?"

  Sasuke: "Th-The fart?"

  Klaus: *He grunted in recollection.* "Yes."

  Sasuke: "My head-" *He leant back into the pillow and closed his eyes, as he started to squirm with discomfort.*

  Klaus: "Sister.."

  Ginger: "His Neurons.."

  Klaus: "What about them?"

  Ginger: "They're gathering inside his body."

  Klaus: "But he's too young to use Remenistal?"

  Ginger: "Nonetheless, the build up-"

  Klaus: "W-Where is the build up?" *He formed fists, as if he didn't want to know the answer.*

  Ginger: "The brain."

  Klaus: "Tcch-" *He suddenly punched the bed in frustration.* "How? How is this possible! Please respond!"

  Ginger: "We don't know anything about it.. He kept mentioning this aura when he was out with you earlier today."

  Klaus: "He said something about Shadiatons or Radiatons."

  Ginger: "Shadiatons? Radiatons? That doesn't seem logical. You were in your usual spot, correct?"

  Klaus: "A valley away from where the three of us used to fish.."

  Ginger: "Although."

  Klaus: "Hmm?" *He looked to his side, staring at Ginger in a curious-like manner.* "Please respond."

  Ginger: "His symptoms.. To most people, this would seem like a Neuronic disorder, but-"

  Sasuke: "K-Karh-" *He opened and closed his eyes, revealing their unnatural yellow colour.*

  Klaus: *He focused back to Sasuke, gasping with a dropping jaw.* "His eyes? They're yellow?"

  Ginger: "I've heard of rumours about a similar situation happening with the Elementalists."

  Klaus: ".. I see."

  Ginger: "Those eyes-"

  Sasuke: "Karh-gh." *He jumped in and out of consciousness.*

  Ginger: "It's... Corruption."

  Klaus: "Corruption? That's illogical! Sasuke hasn't-"

  Ginger: "I understand this, Niklauseh."

  Klaus: "Shadiatons.. Corruption.. Nobody else in the meadow." *He quickly stood up and started to leave.*

  Ginger: "W-Where are you going?!"

  Klaus: "Finding out what's happening." *He spoke with a growing frown.*

  Ginger: "You should stay here with Sasuke-"

  Klaus: "Sit around and wait for my son to get worse? How illogical is that, Ginger?! I will invest this time to find a source and antibody. There must be something in the research facility."

  Ginger: "Nikl-" *She watched Klaus suddenly disappear in a puff of shadow, causing her to stop trying.*

  --

  Sheridan: "Tssyah!" *She violently rammed both swords towards Klaus' face.*

  Klaus: *He suddenly swayed his arm to the side, causing the black swords in Sheridan's hands to puff away.* "Your drive to keep a petty alliance in order?"

  Sheridan: "Tssch-" *She spun around and flicked her wrist up, causing a wave of darkness to crash on top of Klaus.* "MANIPULATE, DARK STATE"

  Leader: *He watched the darkness crash like thick water around Klaus, causing him to look shocked.* "You did it, Sheridan?"

  Sheridan: *She suddenly crossed her fingers and concentrated.* "Not yet! You guys help me out!"

  *Sheridan's yell caused the men besides the leader to step into the pentagram and cross their fingers, causing the darkness to suddenly thicken with raw power.*

  Klaus: *He bent down, as the darkness swayed around him like water.* (I wasted the entire day looking through the research banks and documents.. I failed to see what Ginger meant, I didn't know.)

  *Klaus' skin started to weep as if he was ageing, due to the constant swirl of darkness.*

  Klaus: (My baby boy's time was almost up, and I-...)

  --

  *Ginger fell asleep on the side of the bed with her hands cupping Sasuke's, talking in her sleep.*

  Sasuke: "A-Ah?" *He slowly regained consciousness, tugging on Ginger's hands unintentionally waking her up.*

  Ginger: "Sasuke?"

  Sasuke: "Yohoho."

  Ginger: *She leant up, ignoring bright red marks on her face caused by sleeping on the sheet's wrinkles.* "What's so funny, Sasuke? Please respond."

  Sasuke: "I... I don't have much longer."

  Ginger: "Wh-...?" *She looked at Sasuke, surprised.* "No-"

  Sasuke: "Yohoho.. I can feel my own aura.. It's changing."

  Ginger: (At his age.. And he knows-)

  Sasuke: "I-.. Karh-" *He wheezed with widening eyes as they flickered an eerie yellow colour.* "I... Had a strange dream."

  Ginger: *She smiled with watering eyes.* "Please respond?"

  Sasuke: "It was a few munths ago.. When mama and papa were at our yewsual spot. I dreamt about catching the red fish."

  Ginger: "At Lake Golden Valley?"

  Sasuke: "Yoha." *He nodded his head.* "We always tried to catch it, but it was too strong."

  Ginger: "A Scoldrant in a lake, brother is a full-fledged Remenistal User, this should have been no problem-"

  Sasuke: "Yoha-" *He shook his head with a weakened frown.* "The fishy drops a rare item if it's caught by a rod."

  Ginger: *She looked up in thought.* "I still do not see a problem with this."

  Sasuke: "Fishy is a Remenistal Using Scoldrant."

  Ginger: "Not many people know this, but every Remenistal has some sort of weakness, be it the Remenistal itself or the Rasticsplash on the User."

  Sasuke: "We thought mama got him one tyme, but..." *He scrunched the sheets with his hands.* "A large sea creature matacereal-lysed in the sky and came cwushing dowhyn."

  Ginger: (Sounds like the Remenistal Whale Divider.)

  Sasuke: *He coughed and wheezed.* "I dreamt we caught it!"

  Ginger: "How is that strange? Please respond."

  Sasuke: "..." *He suddenly looked down with an emotionless face.*

  Ginger: "Sas-?" *She suddenly gasped in terror.* (No! His Neurons! The damage on his body-)

  Sasuke: "I.. Stwange.."

  *Ginger quickly stood up and noticed her hands shake, causing her to place them behind her back out of Sasuke's sight.*

&n
bsp; Sasuke: "I don't... I can't feel my body."

  Ginger: (The tone in his voice has changed?)

  Sasuke: "I.." *He leant back in the pillow and struggled to breathe.*

  Ginger: "Niklauseh! Where are you?! Niklauseh?!"

  --

  Klaus: *He squinted his eyes inside the swirling darkness, watching Sheridan and the men stand around him.* (I wasn't there, when my son needed me the most.. My drive.. My drive to avenge my flesh and blood!)

  *Klaus suddenly screamed and the shadows pulsed around him, causing Sheridan and the men to step back with gasps.*

  Sheridan: "What?"

  Klaus: "Your pitiful drive is nothing compared to mine!"

  Sheridan: "Oh?" *She frowned and tightened her hand, causing a black sword to puff in between her fingers.* "ROTTING SWORD" *She grabbed the sword and spiralled it around her palm.*

  Klaus: *He opened his hand, as if he was holding onto something large.* "Dark Repulsor." *A large black scythe materialised into his hand, causing the older men to gasp.*

  Sheridan: "I'm not afraid of-"

  Klaus: "Ougi."

  --

  Klaus: *He stood by Sasuke's bed, staring at his blue skinned, motionless body.* "I, was too late?"

  *Klaus spoke in denial and gently placed his hand on Sasuke's cheek.*

  Klaus: "What in The Astral Plains have I done to deserve this? It's illogical.. Someone as cheery, filled with hope, dreams and love, to be taken away from this world..."

  *Klaus suddenly frowned with growing rage and triggered a flashback of when they were in the meadow.*

  Klaus: "If this is corruption.. I will find who did this.. I will seek who is responsible.. I will kill them... I will remove whoever stands in my way."

  *Klaus turned around and started to leave the room, walking through the doorway-like wall.*

  Klaus: *He looked down the large imperial corridor and stared at Grey, who watched the water run through the tubes along the ceiling.* "Your grandson has died."

  Grey: "I know." *He spoke in a casual manner, causing Klaus to frown.*

  Klaus: "Ey?" *He looked confused.*

  Grey: "I felt his Neuron fade some time ago-"

  Klaus: "Do you not care?"

  Grey: "And tell me, what will grieving accomplish?"

  Klaus: "Well-..." *He gritted his teeth in thought.* "But-.." *He formed fists, as if he couldn't think of an answer.*

  Grey: "It's unfortunate what happened-"

  Klaus: "Unfortunate?! What if Ginger or myself died?! Would that be unfortunate too?!"