Shadowbane

I had never felt time move this slowly before, and I imagine it's the same for everyone else here. Viktor and I have just been staring at one another as he taps on Vi's shoulder. Every now and then he'll glance at her and grimace, no doubt torn between the fact that I saved her life and one other undeniable fact, he can't let me leave here alive.

For the most part everyone is just silently watching the other side. On our end half of our party knows what is happening and they are looking increasingly worried, especially Greyson. Ishar however looks like he's not reacting at all, but at this point I know him well enough that I can tell he's already primed to shout. If we're lucky, he'll be able to hit Viktor before anyone can react, including him. This might actually be a good chance to kill him... I'm sorry, Vi. It's nothing personal against you, but your dad has to go.

"D-Dad, please don't hurt them. They saved me. She saved me! Rei is the one who found both me and my ring!" Vi said.

Viktor looked at his daughter aghast, but it only lasted a moment. He looked quite enraged after that as he shifted his view between me and Vi several times. Eventually he calmed down and outwardly sighed as he pushed his daughter toward the guard who was on his knees earlier as he thanked Markus.

"Terry, please take my daughter back through the portal to our home. I'll be right behind you after I take care of this."

The guard named 'Terry' looked apprehensive but he did as he was told. He glanced back at our group with a look of pure regret and sadness before he walked over to Vi and picked her up.

"DAD NO! I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!!"

Viktor winced but quickly shifted back to a more serious expression as he began staring at me again. As Vi's screaming faded into the distance, Viktor pinched the brim of his nose and sighed yet again.

"Leave it to you to make things more complicated than they need to be, Rei."

From the day I had revived on Urza up until this very moment, I had done a very good job of controlling my emotions, as I had learned long ago that losing control of them leads to stupid decisions and poor battle performance. But the second he finished speaking I could feel an explosive amount of rage building up inside of me. It must have appeared on my face, because Viktor began to laugh the second he saw it.

"That look. It's been so long since I've last seen it... How nostalgic."

I slowly stood up, causing the man in power armor to enter a combat stance but I completely ignored him and looked at Viktor. "I'm merely going to repeat what your daughter said. We saved her, and all we want to do is leave. I know what you're thinking Viktor, but I also know that you don't spit in the faces of those who do good deeds for your nation. For you."

"Tsk..." Viktor ground his teeth and began pacing back and forth.

I've only seen him struggle like this one other time, and it was when the other faction in Xelba had told him that I was attempting to remove the curses on my friends. They knew I worked for him and because of that they had been looking for a chance to get rid of me for years. He couldn't let that happen, as I was one of his few allies left at the time, and that's why he told them that our punishment was delayed.

I assumed he was doing that to give me time to remove the curses and leave, but a few days later I found out that all of my friends were being sacrificed at the temple. Again, I assumed the other faction was responsible, but Viktor and Ash were the ones I found inside the temple. He had never lied like that before. Not once to any of his enemies, so it really took me by surprise. Technically the existence of Jericho wasn't a lie either. He just never told us about it. And I'll admit, I'm a little impressed that he managed to build something like that without me or the other factions inside of Xelba finding out.

Viktor finally stopped pacing and glared at me. "... Where did you find her?"

"She was inside of a prison cell underground. The cells were filled with mummified and decaying corpses. Her chest cavity had been completely ripped open and she was left there chained up. I couldn't help her until I found her ring among a pile of Demon corpses in the realm of the Abyss."

"........"

His reaction is about what I expected. He's completely horrified at what his daughter went through. Hmm... Didn't the people scanning our faces say her convoy was hit by Demons? So he already knew Demons took her... From his point of view, he probably thought she had died a gruesome death long ago.

Viktor went silent for a while with his face buried in his hands. Eventually he pulled his hands down enough to look at me with his eyes. "... All the more reason that I cannot allow her to go through something like that again."

"I'm not going to hurt her. Viktor, for the love of god, we just want to leave."

Viktor scoffed, "I don't know what you've been doing the past fifty years, or the reason why you never came for me, but I know it's only a matter of time! Rei, I raised you, whether you want to admit that or not. I know what you're capable of and what you'd do to punish me. Don't bother lying. Even after fifty years had passed I was still alert enough around you to send my daughter out of the room."

... He's not entirely wrong. I'd struggle to hurt Vi, she's a sweet girl after all, even if she is a part of this nation. Definitely hypocritical, considering what I want to do to this place, but it is what it is. However, using her as a hostage? I was waiting for her to leave her father's side so I could snatch her up and use her as leverage to force him to let us go, but like he just said, he knew I'd do that.

"Sir, if I may?" Markus walked forward a little. Viktor motioned for him to continue. "I've heard of your feud, but it was a while ago so unfortunately I'm struggling to remember the details. However, regardless of how much you two may hate each other, we really are unrelated to this conflict. We saved your daughter and we haven't done anything to you directly, and I've heard of your admiration for Arkaios, so I beg of you; Please let us leave in peace.

It's pointless Markus. The moment he said that he couldn't risk his daughter going through another traumatic experience, all further discussion became moot.

"If possible I would never harm an agent of Arkaios, but you cannot have a vision like mine without doing things you abhor from time to time."

The man in power armor dashed forward, placing himself in front of Viktor. He quickly put his forearms over his face just as a hail of bullets ripped into the room from behind. I hit the deck as Ishar's shout rang out and hit the man guarding Viktor. Seeing this(and hearing the gunshots stop) I jumped forward and knocked the frozen guard out of the way just as Keith appeared behind Viktor mid-swing. I could see something yellow glowing behind Viktor and yelled out in a panic "STOP KEITH!!" but it was too late. His sword connected with what appeared to be nothing more than a yellow glow, and immediately he was hit with a directed blast that ripped him apart. His body exploded into multiple parts that smashed through the door and fell onto the floor in the hallway.

Shots rang out behind me that I suspected were from Greyson as I reached out to grab Viktor, but the last thing I saw was him grinning right before he warped away. Fucking annoying abilities! This is why I couldn't kill him last time.

I turned around and saw Greyson shooting at a large armored truck behind us through the partly destroyed wall with a rifle, and while it seemed pointless, he had already killed the shooter who was manning the gun on top of the vehicle, giving us a quick breather.

Looking around, I saw that Lindon and Albel had been killed, while Nisha was bleeding out. Her eyes were already glazing over. Markus busted through the wall and slashed through the passenger side door of the vehicle. Thanks to his ability he penetrated the armor, which led to a large gush of blood spewing out toward him. The vehicle quickly fled the scene after that, but Markus was unable to stop it since his ability wasn't ready yet.

I bent down and picked Nisha up at the same time Ishar picked the artifact up. We ran outside toward Markus who was already running toward a large industrial building across the street. As we ran I could hear all sorts of different sounds come to life, and none of them were good. Sirens began to blare as an audio recording played over the loudspeakers informing the townspeople that 'Terrorists' had infiltrated the town and that the citizens should hide until the threat was taken care of.

We were halfway to the building when I realized I hadn't seen Shana since the battle began. "Where is Shana?!"

"She ran through the wall after the first round of firing stopped, right when you charged Viktor! But I don't see her anywhere either!" Greyson yelled from behind us. I looked back and saw that he was losing more and more ground on us as we ran. Shit, I forgot that he can't enhance himself all that much after he uses his ability. It was fine during our escape through the abyss since we ran at a brisk pace, but now we're flooring it so he can't keep up.

Just as I was about to tell Ishar to pick Greyson up I saw several golden lights fly down toward him from the roof of the hotel. I knew there was no time so I held Nisha tightly against me with my right arm as I activated my halo. I maxed the strength on it and in one quick dash forward I scooped up Greyson just before the golden lights hit him. A large explosion occurred behind me but I didn't bother attempting to run through it, as I already knew it was another one of Viktor's abilities. Another annoying ability. While it is devastating, it also serves as a good obstruction thanks to the large energy field it leaves behind in its wake.

I pivoted to the right and kept running forward to get past the energy field, but I was forced to turn left into an alley when a swarm of armored vehicles turned toward us from a road fifty yards ahead. Bullets flew past us and even hit me a few times before I reached the alley. I was unharmed, but my mana reserves had taken a major hit.

One of the trucks stopped at the alley entrance before I could reach the other side, and Greyson immediately shot the man in the gunner seat right through his jaw. I could see him screaming as he reached for his tongue that was now dangling out of his exposed jaw.

"Rei, why not go up onto the roof?!" Greyson asked as he fired at the men climbing out of the armored vehicle.

"Because Viktor will be up there! We can't risk entering his line of sight! Not while I'm carrying you two."

Upon reaching the exit of the alley I stopped around the corner and took a quick glance around. Grocery store, gas station, restaurant... Wait, that's what we need.

I ran to the right across the street, ignoring the honking horns as people suddenly stopped to avoid hitting me. I kept going like that until I reached my destination, a set of stairs that led down toward an artificially lit room full of people climbing onto a train. Strange... People are getting onto the subway, but nobody is getting off? ... Their emergency destinations must be somewhere else so they aren't allowed to exit here. That's the only explanation I can think of.

People began screaming when they saw us, which must have made the engineer panic, as he closed the doors before everyone was on and the train began to move soon after that as well. One of the people left behind stupidly pulled out a handgun which left me no choice but to deal with them. I ran up to them and kicked their shin hard. After they buckled over I kicked them in the head, which caused it to pretty much explode thanks to the level of enhancements I was currently at. The people remaining in the area scattered, allowing me to drop down onto the tracks and run behind the train that just left the station. The people at the back saw me through the windows and began to scream again. Don't worry idiots, I'm not coming for you. Not yet anyway...

I kept running behind the subway until I found what I was looking for. I jumped up onto the walkway and kicked down the nearby door. Inside was a man sitting in front of a wall of monitors who had apparently been asleep. He tried to jump out of his chair, but just like the civilian before, I quickly dispatched of him and ran up the stairs behind him. I ran up the winding steps until I reached yet another door I kicked down, which exited into an underpass that was mostly devoid of vehicles. I could see one approaching from far to the left but that was it.

After a quick scan of the buildings around us, I found one that would hopefully serve as a good hiding spot. I ran across the road and up the hill, jumping over the guardrail once I reached it, and quickly sprinting toward the apartments nearby. Several of the homes on the base level had no lights on, and one of them even had their curtains open, so I could clearly see that nobody was home. Once I reached the home I pried the sliding door open instead of breaking the glass so nobody would hear us. After that I entered the home and set both Greyson and Nisha down, with the latter being placed on the couch.

Nisha, who had been going back and forth between crying and whimpering, was now coughing up more blood.

"Rei, she's..." Greyson said after he closed the sliding door.

... I know. I could tell the second I saw her that she most likely wasn't going to make it, but I had to try.

Greyson and I knelt in front of her and began to channel mana into her soul, telling it to heal. She stopped whimpering but it was obvious that she was too far gone. If anything, she probably stopped whimpering because she was losing all feeling.

"Rei..." Nisha whispered. I looked up and saw her looking at me with half-closed eyes. "Brian would've liked you..... It hit me......... Back in the alien's... Home..."

The scene played out vividly in my head. I remembered hiding her under the alien's bed moments before she thanked me in a strangely endearing way. And now I knew why she did that.

"... I'm sorry I took him from you." I said. Nisha smiled sadly at me for a moment before her eyes closed. She was still breathing, but it looked like she had entered a deep sleep.

And I really meant that. While he did deserve what happened to him, in fact, they all deserved to die back then, I can't deny that it was obviously a mistake in the end... He would've been a valuable part of their team as they served out their sentence for the next couple hundred years. So would that young man named Jason as well.

We continued to heal her for about a little while longer, but we were both forcibly stopped when her soul disappeared.

"Ah... Arkaios must have retrieved her." Normally I'd wonder why he didn't do it sooner, but I think someone said back in Aresa's chateau that any pain they experience is part of their punishment.

Greyson stood up and sat down on a nearby chair. "She stopped breathing a few seconds before he took her soul back. And even before that I could hear everything inside of her moving slower as well, but..." He sighed and rested his forehead on his left palm.

I sat down with my back against the arm of the couch, right next to where Nisha's head currently was.

So aside from Markus, all of Arkaios' crew is dead...

"Rei, what are Viktor's abilities? I doubt we'll have to face him head-on again, but just in case I'd rather not have what happened to Keith, happen to me next."

"... Right, better safe than sorry. Keith was hit with a counterattack. Viktor places the ability on one part of his body and if you hit that part before the ability times out, the damage is reflected back onto you at a much higher magnitude. It's why Keith literally exploded."

"Dear god, that is one hell of a deadly ability to go against if you don't know what it does."

"And you can't just avoid it either. He can control where the light goes until it times out. So if you try avoiding it instead of backing off, like I think Keith did, it doesn't matter. He just moves it in the way of wherever you redirected your attack to." I sighed and leaned back into the couch. "... The next one is the only ability of his that I don't know much about. It's obviously a warp of some kind, but usually those take time to charge up or there's a condition that allows you to use it. Viktor however, doesn't appear to have that limitation. I'm sure he does, I just don't know what the conditions for it are."

Greyson nodded and motioned for me to continue.

"And the one he fired at you is part of his main attack. You couldn't see it, but he has golden lights that circled behind him, and he cast spells through them. Annoyingly, as you've seen, he has a few unique spells tied directly to those lights. They launch out four to six different flares that create devastating explosions, but they also leave behind a massive energy wall that is impossible to pass unless you have strength on the level of the Tengu Lord. The wall is much larger than the explosion is by the way, as I'm sure you saw. It extends in both directions for a hundred or so yards."

"... I see. Anything else? And if not, what are you planning on doing?"

"I don't know if he has more abilities, it's been ages since I last saw him after all. However, I do know that he uses a plethora of different spells when the situation calls for them." A tinge of sorrow hit me when I realized what he was going to say next. "But the way you worded that... are you planning on going your own way?"

Greyson nodded, "I like you guys, I really do, but I... I just feel like I'd be better off alone from here on out."

I looked down, "... That's your choice. I could say that you owe me for getting you out of that prison, but you assisted us quite a bit from there on out. I'd say you more than worked off your debt, not that I ever planned on holding it over your head anyway."

Greyson sat back in his chair and laughed, "To the very end you're much nicer than you need to be! Normally people would be quite pissed at me right now. Hell, I know I would be..."

"From my position, it's much better if everyone escapes instead of worrying about one another. After all, I'm the one who can most easily leave this place. Once you're all free and clear, then I'll be able to leave as well."

"True... Except, doesn't Viktor know about all your abilities?" Greyson asked.

"He does, and I'm sure that once nightfall hits, which looks like it's going to be soon, he's going to blast lights everywhere. And while that is annoying, it won't fully stop me. Viktor knows that too, so he's going to be calling in every troop he can to find us."

Greyson went silent after that. We both sat there for quite a while. I was deciding how to act from there on out when the TV suddenly turned on. We both looked at it and saw a single man reflected there. It was Viktor.

"I must apologize to all of you, my dear citizens. Several vile people have invaded our great nation, and I have sadly allowed this to happen under my very own watch. I swear on my life that I will make it up to you once these terrorists are dealt with."

Viktor then stood up and walked to the left. The camera followed him until he was standing in front of a cell. Inside of the cell I could see a few familiar faces. "But worry not! You will not need to wait for long. As our great defenders have already caught most of them here. There are only a few left now, and that is why I am broadcasting to all of you. Because I hope the terrorists will also see this. They should be informed that I have already captured their allies, and should the three who escaped turn themselves in willingly, I am willing to give them lighter sentences. This offer does not last long. So if they are smart, they will head to this location in the next hour."

Several things were shown on the TV after that. First, it showed the captives, which were Shana, Ishar, Markus, and someone else I recognized but I was more confused than worried when I saw him. Next, it showed a map with directions. There was a red line going from the hotel we stayed at to where the prison was.

"The ninja girl was captured...? Putting the others aside, that part actually surprises me." Greyson said.

Me too, but I'm more concerned with the fact that Seifer was in the cell too. It's already surprising enough that he's here in the same city as us, but he was also counted as a member of our party? This is my first time seeing him since Viseux was attacked. And not only that, but he looked bad. Not wounded, but he almost looked dead. His eyes were completely vacant with dark bags under them, and his overall health made him look like a zombie. I mean shit, if he turned out to actually be a zombie, I wouldn't be surprised in the least. That's how bad he looks right now.

Viktor appeared on the TV again with his arms outstretched. "Now then, I'm sure you don't want anything bad to happen to your friends again, do you? And I also feel like it's time we put an end to this, once and for all. Wouldn't you agree, Terrorist?"

After he finished speaking the broadcast was cut immediately. I and Greyson sat there in silence for a bit, but my mind was far from serene. The same sentence kept repeating in my head over and over. 'Now then, I'm sure you don't want anything bad to happen to your friends again, do you?' 'Again'... The fucker is straight-up taunting me by bringing up what happened to my last group of friends.

"... Well? What are you planning on doing? I already know, but I'll ask just in case." Greyson asked as he stood up.

"The only thing I can do... I'm going to the graveyard."

Greyson quirked an eyebrow at me, clearly not understanding why I had said that since he wasn't there during the Tengu battle. But I didn't elaborate, I was already inside my own head, going over all the things that worked in the Xelba assault, and all the things that didn't. Refining the plan, one part at a time, until I was ready to repeat history.