Chapter 8 Trial of That Other Guy
Brad finds himself
alone in a room... there’s a bed, and a dresser, and a closet door. That’s
pretty much it. He’s sitting alone on the bed, just looking around, when there
is a knock on the door. He doesn’t bother to answer, because, hey, it’s not
even his room.
After a few seconds,
a small girl, easily under ten years old, pushes the door open, and stands
before Brad.
“I thought you’d be
sleeping... we’re all waiting outside to celebrate you’re birthday! They sent
me to wake you up.”
Brad looks down at
the girl...
“It’s not my
birthday...”
But, when he speaks,
it isn’t with his own voice. It sounds old, and raspy... and forced. His mouth
is dry, and now that he’s noticing all the odd things, his body feels slow and
his joints are aching.
The girl stares
sweetly at him...
“You always forget
things. Do you know who I am?” Brad shakes his head, “I’m you’re
great-great-great-granddaughter.”
“You’re my what now? Just how old am I?”
“Oh... I don’t know.
They stopped counting before I was born... I think I heard you were over a
hundred at that point.”
Brad’s eyes widen in
shock... or at least... they get slightly less wrinkly. He tries to stand up,
but his legs don’t seem to work. Eventually, he gives up...
“I have to find Saphir...
and Justin... they’ll be able to find out what’s happening to me. And
Arrowny... he’ll be able to kill whatever’s doing this.”
The girl laughs...
“Come on... you know
those guys are dead.”
Brad can’t believe
her...
“They’re... dead?”
“Yeah! They died years and
years and years and years ago. And... everybody knows that all that stuff about the Dragoon
Warriors was just stories and stuff.”
“Hold it!” Brad
pushes himself up, with great effort, using the bedpost for support. “You’re
telling me that Ryan, Saphir, and Justin are all dead... that I’m the last
Dragoon Warrior alive? It’s... not supposed to be this way. I’m supposed to die
first. How... did they die?”
“Well, you keep
telling everybody that they died fighting a demon... it let you live. But,
everybody knows that’s just another one of your stories.”
“I wasn’t supposed
to outlive them. I would have found some big fight that I didn’t have a chance
of winning to die in...”
The girl shrugs...
“I guess it’s a good
thing that you’re too old and decrepit to even walk out of the house now,
right? Even if all those old stories were true... you could never find a demon
in the shape you’re in.”
“I couldn’t even die
in battle...”
“No... you couldn’t. You’re life, however long it may still be,
will be spent wallowing away in your own filth.”
Brad tilts his head
to the side, and quickly reaches down, feeling with his fingers... sure enough,
Depends...
“GOD DAMN IT!”
Brad fights to keep
standing... but it is proving quite hard...
“So... let me get
this straight. I’m alive... they’re all dead. I’m too OLD to even die in
battle... I’m too old to even take care of myself... and... what?
Everybody in the world thinks that the Dragoon Warriors only did all those
heroic things in my imagination?”
“Pretty
much.”
“WELL THAT JUST
SUCKS!”
At this point,
Brad’s arms give out, and he tumbles to the ground. The girl just shakes her
head...
“How pathetic you’ve
become... you’re a failure at everything you’ve ever tried to do... you
couldn’t even die right.”
“No...”
“What do you mean,
‘no’?”
Pain shoots through
Brad’s arms as he pushes against the ground...
“I mean, NO!”
Slowly, he gets his
knees under him. He forces himself up further...
“If I didn’t die,
there has to be a reason! If I outlived them... IT WAS
FOR A REASON!”
The girl takes a
step back, shocked, as he eventually gets to his feet. He sways on the spot,
but fights the need to reach for the bed post for support.
“If they are dead...
and nobody else in this world even KNOWS of the things they did for humanity...
then I am alive for the sole reason of remembering them. They deserve to be
remembered... and if I can’t even die properly... then the least I can do is to
make sure they are not forgotten... EVER!”
Brad actually feels
himself getting younger... and suddenly, he has his armour on, and the sword is
lying on the ground near him. The pure white Plane of Equality is back... and
the little girl is just looking up at him...
“You have passed
this trial, Brad Haughn of the Dragoon Warriors. The fate I have shown you is
truly a possible one... but for each possible fate that resembles it, there are
a hundred in which you die a glorious death in the heat of battle. Congratulations...”
She vanishes, and
Brad finds himself standing beside Justin and Saphir. He just shakes his
head...
“THAT SUCKED!”
Justin nods...
“Yeah... we’ve
already figured that out.”
“Good... just wanted
to make sure we’re all on the same page here...”
All three of them
turn back toward the platform, upon which rests the Scythe of Saturn. They take
one step forward, and a woman appears in front of them.
“You are all worthy
of approaching the Scythe.”
Her voice is the
same as the one they heard just before the trials started... calm and serene...
Brad grunts at
her...
“It’s a damn good
thing we are, ‘cause if we had to go through more of those trials, I’d have
gone back to killing the good and wholesome things in the world, just on
principle!”
The woman kind of
squints, and shrugs...
“Yeah...
sorry about that. I’m not sure why all the ‘good’ Gods demand that the people who
want to save the world go through those trials... it’d be a lot less time
consuming if they could just walk up and take the Scythe. I mean... it’s not
like Jove is delving into the deep psyche of her minions to see if they’re evil
enough, right?”
“Very true... who
the hell are you?”
Brad’s bluntness
doesn’t surprise Justin or Saphir... and, even the woman doesn’t seem to be
phased. She just shrugs a little bit...
“Years ago... I was
just a little girl. I was Protected by a man known as
Bastian. He killed me, on the orders of the Children, because I was a threat to
the God’s return. See... I was destined to bring the Scythe of Saturn to the
fighter who will defeat Jove. The Children thought that if I was dead, nobody
would be able to get the weapon... and Jove’s rule of the universe would go
unchallenged.”
Saphir shakes his
head, smiling...
“They were wrong... the
old Gods wouldn’t have forced us to pass the trials if there wasn’t somebody
else who could take hold of the Scythe... right?”
“Right! What the Children
didn’t know... is that I am allowed to select a replacement for my destiny. I
can pick one of you three to take the weapon from this place, and give it to
the destined warrior.”
Justin sighs...
“That’s obviously
Arrowny.”
The other two agree.
“Well, yeah.”
“Who
else?”
The girl holds up
her hand for them to be silent.
“There is a catch though...
the warrior who can defeat Jove... and Jove’s General... are
the same person.”
“Wait...” Justin
closes his eyes, trying to work this all out, “Ryan is the only person who can
beat Jove... and he’s the General of Jove... how does that work? He can’t be on
both sides, right?”
“Correct.
Ultimately, it will come down to his own choice. Will
he kill Jove... or will he join with the God...”
“Then we’ve got
nothing to worry about!” Brad steps forward confidently. “If it’s up to Ryan,
he’ll pick the good guys side for sure!”
“It’s not that
simple though... Jove will temp the warrior.”
At this, Brad
actually laughs...
“Tempt him? Please!
What’s Jove got that Ryan wants? Nothing, that’s what!”
“Actually... the
temptation is with the Vessel... Jove will take a human body, as is necessary
for the God to return to Earth... and that body will allow Jove to tempt the
warrior to become the General.”
“That’s stupid! Who
would have that kind of pull over Ryan?”
He turns, laughing,
to Justin and Saphir... who, rather than laughing along, are looking quite troubled...
Brad lowers his head...
“This is another one
of those easy humanity things that I should be getting right away, right?”
Justin nods...
“Yeah... this would
be one of those things...”
Saphir lets out a
large sigh...
“It’s
“Well... damn...”
“You must hurry! I
shall choose one of you to carry the weapon.” The woman looks over them, but
seems to have a hard time deciding. After a few minutes, and a rather large
number of dirty looks from Brad, she just shrugs, and points toward them. “Eenie meenie miney
mo...”
They all glance,
dumbfounded, at one another... after a few short seconds, she stops, with her
finger pointing at Brad.
“You will carry the
Scythe.”
Brad just stares at
her...
“Are you sure that’s
a good idea? I was recently evil, you know!”
She shrugs...
“Whatever... I’ve
been waiting around here for a long time... I don’t really care. Go save the
world already!”
And then she’s gone.
Brad stands there, looking up at the Scythe on the platform...
“I really think she
should have picked one of you guys...”
“I agree!”
“You’ll get no
argument from me...”
His head snaps back
at them...
“Thanks for the
support!”
They just shrug...
Brad takes a step
forward... and, as he reaches the platform, he can finally see the Scythe of
Saturn.
It is white, like
bone... which is not surprising, since it was made from bone. It has a long,
curved blade on the end of a staff, about the same length as Justin’s quarter
staff. It looks like it could be quite the weapon.
He reaches out,
taking hold of it just under the blade.
The
balance is just right... he knows, even though he has never used this Scythe,
that he could easily wield it in battle... he would be the most skilled warrior
in the world... nobody would be able to stop him...
He also
knows, beyond all doubt... that the Scythe of Saturn is not his to use.
Brad
turns toward the others...
“Okay...
we’ve got this thing... now let’s get the hell outta here and get it to Ryan
before he takes Jove’s side, eh?”
They
both nod. Justin pulls a small cube from within one of his pockets. This is the
device which produces the electromagnetic field necessary to alter the
dimensional flux of Saphir’s Warp spell.
Saphir
takes out his FENRIR Card, and touches it to the blade of his Glaive...
“FUah-haneayn
FEaen-bae!”
And...
...
... nothing happens.
He
frantically taps the Card and the Glaive together... and still
nothing... not even a hint of magic...
Justin
shakes his head...
“Figures...”