by Aaron Oster
Roy couldn’t stop staring into her eyes, the slitted pupils almost hypnotizing him. The woman smiled then, a smile containing so much warmth and love that Roy felt his bottom lip begin trembling.
“My son,” his mother said, her voice crashing over him in a warm wave. “Oh, how I’ve missed you.”
She leaned down then, wrapping her slender arms around him and pulling him close. Roy found himself feeling like a child again, both physically, due to the woman’s size, and mentally, due to her presence and the effect she seemed to be having on him.
“I…I…” Roy tried to get out, but found himself choking on the words.
“Hush now,” his mother said. “I know.”
She squeezed him tighter, engulfing him in her warm embrace, and Roy finally lost control of his emotions. He’d never been much of a crier, but now, he hugged his mother, a woman he’d believed dead for his entire life, and wept.
Smooth hands stroked his hair and back, his mother’s presence comforting and reassuring. He flashed back to the dream he’d had, where his mother had been killed, but the gruesome parts of that dream didn’t repeat themselves. All he saw was the beginning, where he held his mother’s hand and knew everything would be okay.
Roy wasn’t sure how long the two of them stood like that, but when his mother eventually pulled back, he saw that she too was crying, streams of actual silver flowing down from the corners of her eyes. However, the smile she wore had not diminished.
She reached out, cupping his cheeks in her hands, and looked him right in the eye.
“You’ve grown into such a handsome young man, and I couldn’t be prouder of all you’ve accomplished in our time apart.”
“You…know what I’ve done?” Roy finally managed to get out.
His mother nodded, thumbs reaching up to wipe away the tears still falling from his eyes.
“Although I was greatly weakened, my power still afforded me the ability to observe you from afar. It pained me so to see you suffer all those years at the hands of those Shah.”
Roy felt a chill creep down his spine as his mother’s warmth turned icy cold in an instant. At that moment, he realized that she wasn’t just his mother but a Martial Artist so powerful that he could not even comprehend her might. How had his father, who was supposedly just a Sovereign, managed to win this woman’s heart?
“Yes, they were less than kind,” Roy said somberly. “But the Shah clan is no more. They’ve been reduced to the bugs they truly are and will never rise to prominence again. Not here, not anywhere.”
The coldness was gone from his mother’s face in an instant, replaced by the soothing warmth from before.
“You are the best parts of both your father and I,” she said. “Had I been in your place, I would have torn them all limb from limb and scattered their remains across the continent. Your father’s temperament is a bit more even…Oh, I do miss him as well,” she sighed, her eyes taking on a faraway dreamy look.
“I’ve never met him,” Roy admitted.
“I know, my dear, I know,” his mother said. “And I’m afraid I must ask you to delay your meeting with him just a little longer.”
Roy was puzzled by this, but his mother released his face, albeit reluctantly, and drifted back a couple of feet. It was only then that Roy remembered that Aika was there too. He found that just like him, she too had been crying. His mother’s power seemed to be affecting this entire area, not only him.
She moved closer as Roy’s mother drifted back, taking his hand in hers and looking up to the floating, otherworldly woman. Roy wanted to ask questions. He had so many, but his mother held up a hand.
“I do not have much time,” his mother said, her voice containing a crushing sadness that Roy could feel down in his very soul. “So, allow me to explain everything that transpired to lead me here and what you must now do to stay alive.”
She looked away from him for a moment, her eyes staring off into the distance as though seeing into the past.
“I am not originally from Safaia but rather a continent on the other side of the world. It is called Garasu. The lands there are quite different than they are in Safaia, war-torn, savage, and brutal. It is a land of blood and death, and I had had enough. So I left. There had been rumors of a land far from Garasu, one where the people were civil and the lands were rich and plentiful.
“I was unfamiliar with the territory when I arrived, the trip having taken me nearly a year. Luckily, I came across a nice woman from a clan called the Heralds, who escorted me back to their homeland. There, I stayed for nearly a month. I had already been planning to move on, but then I met your father.
“Before I’d left Garasu, a romantic entanglement was the very last thing I thought I’d have, but he was so charming and kind, and before I knew it, we were getting married. It was only after I became pregnant with you that I revealed my true nature to your father, as well as my true power. He knew I was from a clan of Beasts from the far side of the world, but I had been restricting my power to blend in better.
“I had been afraid he would turn me away, so I had waited until the healers confirmed you would be born. My fears were unfounded, and your father’s love didn’t diminish in the slightest.
“The year when you were born was the happiest of my life. You were the most perfect and adorable creature I had ever seen. I refused any help in raising or caring for you, insisting I did everything myself.
“However, things began to take a turn around your first birthday, when you unexpectedly entered the Trial of Beginnings and emerged with your White-Belt. At first, your father hailed you as a prodigy, but the nature of my people began to infect you. The savage brutality that ruled my homeland had come along with me and was slowly poisoning my poor baby boy.”
His mother was crying again, and Roy could feel that sorrow deeply. He couldn’t even imagine how much pain she must have been in, seeing him turn into a monster. He’d heard the abbreviated version of the events around his Core’s removal from Azure, but that had been a rushed explanation to bring him up to speed on what was happening to him. Hearing it from his mother’s mouth was quite a different experience, especially when he saw how much it had hurt her.
“When some of the opposing factions in the clan discovered we had a child, they sent assassins after you. That was the last straw. The assassins didn’t stand a chance, of course, but it was the brutality you showed in killing them that made up my mind.
“With help from your father, we subdued you and removed your Core. Your original Path had been power, but your Qi had become so corrupted that by the time it was removed, it had turned the color of blood.
“Removing a Core at such a late stage while keeping you alive and heathy took a great toll on me, reducing my power to barely above Yellow. To safeguard us both, your father sent us away to the Waterwood, where the Martial Artists were known to be weak. But little did I know that my brother had followed me here and was searching for me.
“He discovered my presence in the Waterwood and, believing that you were the source of my lost power, made a deal with some of the locals to kill you. But things didn’t go the way he’d envisioned, and instead of killing you, I was targeted instead.
“It was when that discovery was made that Doragon’s mind fractured, and a good portion of his power bled away.”
“Wait,” Roy said, interrupting her. “Doragon? The same man who grabbed me to drag me back to the Herald clan? The same Doragon who killed Aika’s father? That Doragon?!”
His mother shook her head sadly.
“I have already spoken to Aika of this. He was always a fragile boy, mentally speaking, and my death pushed him over the edge. His mind shattered into fragments, each one with its own personality, goals, drives, and even Paths. It is a sickness not known in Safaia, but one well documented in my homeland.
“Any traumatic event will cause a shift, and both his power and personality will switch along with it. For example, the Doragon who killed Aika’s fathe
r and tried to take you were the same version. The Doragon wandering around now is a different person entirely.
“But, back to the story and where this all connects,” his mother continued.
“As powerful as I was at the time, mere Orange and Yellow-Belts couldn’t truly kill me. I fell into a deep slumber, one that I’m in at this very moment, my body encased in a layer of power and sheltering me from the outside world.”
“The statue is…you?” Roy asked.
His mother nodded sadly.
“I am trapped, too weak to rise on my own and yet too powerful to simply fade away. I have watched the events of this land from afar as I slumbered. I was forced to watch all of the horrors that befell you, forced to watch as the family I’d built was destroyed. Forced to watch my poor brother devolve into a base animal. Now, his personality fractures further with each passing day.
“But there is more. A great danger has risen, an Ancient Cavern Beast of immense power. One that can raze this entire continent down to its foundations, taking all those who reside here along with it. There is a way to stop it, of course, but that will depend largely on you and how far you’re willing to go to stop it.”
“A creature that can destroy the continent?” Roy asked, his brows furrowing.
“Extend your senses,” his mother said. “You have just received your Perfect-Body. Even if they are limited right now, a power such as this should be able to be felt, even from all the way out here.”
Roy looked to Aika for a moment, unsure. His mother was giving him a lot of information, changing topics so quickly he couldn’t see any connection between them. What did her brother have to do with a continent-destroying monster? And what could he of all people do about it?
Aika looked about as unsure as he did, but she gave him a nod.
He’d never tried to sense something as far away as his mother said this creature was, but Roy closed his eyes and spread his senses wide, trying to push them as far as they would go.
10
Contrary to what he might have thought, Roy felt the power almost immediately. It wasn’t clear-cut, like the thrumming presence of Aika’s Core just inches from his own or the dim, flickering presence that he took to be his mother. However, the sheer scale of it was enough to tell him what he needed to know.
It was a dim crimson light that blanketed the landscape for miles on end. He could sense a few others, but they were too indistinct to make out more than impressions. Additionally, the bright red light overshadowed them all, making it difficult to sense anything else.
Roy’s eyes flashed open, and he let out an explosive breath, sweat beading on his brow.
“How far away is that?” Roy asked, finally looking up to meet his mother’s eyes.
“The creature awoke in an area called the Burning Hills. It has now extended its presence to the Windblight and is slowly making its way across.”
The Windblight? Roy thought about it.
It was hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away. He was a Red-Belt, true, but sensing that from all the way in the Waterwood was terrifying.
“What do you want us to do about it?” Roy finally asked. “More importantly, what can we do about it? I’ve never been the best at sensing things, but I know for a fact that no one on Safaia should be strong enough to beat that thing. At least, none of the powerful people I’ve met.”
This was scary, as he thought that despite having met a Scion. He hadn’t fought at his full power, but Roy had gotten enough to know that this creature outclassed Komura the Winged many times over.
“Trust me, there is plenty you can do,” his mother said, a pained expression coming to her face.
Her body seemed to dim for a moment, the light bleeding from her skin before solidifying once more. Roy, worried, took a step forward, but his mother held out a hand to stop him.
“Communicating in this way is extremely taxing,” she said. “We do not have much time left, so allow me to explain what I can. You need to find Doragon and bring him back to himself. As of right now, he is the only one who can help you. But it won’t be easy. I know it is a lot to ask, but I must ask it of you regardless.”
Roy didn’t agree right away though, turning to Aika. He knew that the man had cost her, killing her family. Doragon had stolen something that could never be returned. Roy would not agree to this without Aika’s consent.
Aika seemed less than happy, her lips pulled into a tight line as she stared at his mother.
“Why do we need to find him?” Aika asked.
“Because he is the only one with the knowledge on how to defeat this Ancient Beast. Even if all Seven of your Great Clans band together — which they already have — they cannot hope to match this Beast’s forces, let alone the creature himself. Doragon is your only hope.”
“Why can’t you tell us what we need to know?” Aika asked, crossing her arms.
“Because we do not have the time,” his mother said, her body dimming and solidifying again, as though to prove her point. “Additionally, he will have insights that will greatly help my son’s advancement, ones that I am unable to give at this time. So, Aika, dear. If you will not do this for yourself, will you do this for him?”
Roy was about to interject and tell her that she didn’t need to help the man who’d murdered her father for his sake. But Aika didn’t hesitate for even a second.
“Of course I will,” she said. “If it’s to help Roy, then I’ll go help Doragon, even if I’ll want to kill him the moment I lay eyes on him.”
“Wait,” Roy said, holding up a hand to delay the decision. “Didn’t you say that he was the one who tried to have me killed?” he asked, looking up at his mother. “What makes you think he won’t immediately try and do it again?”
“Because he has since realized the error of his ways,” his mother said. “Trust me, Leroy. He will not harm you, and trust me when I say that the part of him buried deep in his own mind feels the pain and agony of what he did, each and every day.”
Roy exchanged another look with Aika, but he finally had to agree when she nodded to him.
“Fine,” he said. “We’ll go find Doragon.”
“Excellent,” his mother said, giving him a wide smile.
Her body dimmed once again as she extended a hand and darkness coalesced into a stone that seemed to be made of solid ink. There was a symbol engraved on its smooth surface, but one that Roy had never seen before.
“Force this stone down his throat, and it will bring his original mind back into control of his body,” his mother said, placing it in his hand.
It felt light, almost insubstantially so.
“And where exactly will we find him?” Roy asked, looking up from the stone.
“He is in a land of rain and darkness,” his mother replied. “But not to worry, I can send you both there.”
“Wait,” Roy said, holding up a hand. “What about Ferry? We can’t just leave her here.”
She had remained outside the Dungeon after her last advancement had pushed her over the edge, but he wasn’t about to leave her behind.
His mother smiled at that, the same kind smile she had given him when they’d first been reunited.
“Your friend, Ferry, has some things she needs to work out for herself. Trust me when I say that the two of you would be better off apart for the time being.”
Roy, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. Geon hadn’t said so much as a single thing since they’d been sucked into this strange place, which likely meant his mother didn’t want him to overhear for some reason.
“I don’t know how comfortable I feel just ditching her,” Roy said. “I would at least like to say goodbye.”
His mother sighed, her eyes downcast. Then, she gestured in the air and a tree manifested smack in the middle of the darkness surrounding them.
“Your friend advanced again in your time down in the Dungeon,” she said.
As she spoke, Roy saw Ferry — well, her back anyway — as she walked up t
o the tree, then proceeded to carve a series of symbols into the trunk. Even from here, it was easy to see the goodbye note, promising she’d return as soon as she was able.
“I’d wanted to spare you the pain of her leaving,” his mother said as the tree faded. “That poor girl has gone through a lot of changes since meeting you and needs to come to terms with them before she feels comfortable around you again.”
Roy felt a small lump in his throat as he realized that he had just lost another friend. Hermit was technically more of a mentor than an actual friend, but their group had just shrunk once again, leaving him alone with Aika — not that he minded being in Aika’s company. But he’d been with Ferry ever since leaving the Dungeon with Geon in his chest. The fact that they’d split up upon entering the Dungeon was one thing, but traveling who knew how far away from her was quite another.
“It won’t be forever,” his mother said, as though reading his mind. “And friendships such as the one you’ve built won’t fall apart so easily.”
His mother flickered again, and this time, when it stopped, she was slightly translucent, signaling that their time was close to an end.
“You said that you’re asleep,” Roy said, looking around the area. “How can we wake you up?”
“In time, you will know,” his mother said. “But you’re going to have to become stronger. Much stronger. Undoing what was done to me will take a lot of power, but I trust that you will return for me someday.”
Roy felt his throat tighten as his mother’s body began to fade.
“I promise,” Roy said. “I’m going to become strong enough to bring you back.”
His mother leaned forward then, enveloping him in another hug. It felt a lot less substantial this time than it had when they’d first met, but he squeezed her back all the same.
“I will miss you, Leroy. Come back to me soon,” she said, then kissed him on the cheek.
She released him then and spoke to Aika directly.
“Please take care of my son while I’m gone,” she said. “You are a wonderful girl, and I’ve seen what you’ve done for each other since the two of you have met. Never in my wildest dreams did I expect my boy to end up with such a lovely young lady. I don’t know how much this will mean coming from someone you’ve just met, but you have my approval.”
