Rupture: Rise of the Demon King

by Milo Woods

  Seeko’s body kicked Keith off him and scrambled to his feet as Keith recovered. “Kerodesis is free!” Seeko’s mouth said with his voice. “You will all die for what you have wrought!” Kerodesis raised his hands and summoned a sword of orange flame.

  The spark in the white watched on in horror. “I hate this part,” something said from within Seeko’s mind.

  Seeko’s images shattered and he found the anomaly calling for him. An angel stood before him, a tall woman with long black-to-blonde hair, white feathered wings, and golden armor. She wore a silver mask, reminding Seeko of his father.

  “The part where Kerodesis came back after everyone thought you were dead.” The angel’s voice was divine and songlike, instantly captivating Seeko. The voice was also harmonic, as if there were several people talking at once. “Seeko, are you listening?”

  Seeko responded to the angel. “Who are you? You’re different from the girl from earlier.”

  “My name is Anasheri. I, or rather, we, are the Gods of Order.”

  “Plural? Why are you ‘the Gods’?”

  She laughed a wonderful laugh. “Because, like you did, hero, I had multiple people within me.” The masked changed to gold. “Unlike you, though, we learned to coexist.” She spoke differently, like another voice was now the lead voice.

  The mask switched back to silver. “You are in the Tabula Rasa, an area between worlds. You are not completely dead, or Nyeri would have taken you with her. No, your spark was split in two, done by none other than the devious Yoshino.”

  “You know Yoshino?”

  The angel nodded once. “Seeko, I think you can stop him. I think you and the others who will follow will defeat him.”

  “How do you know? Are you a seer?”

  She laughed again. “The Tabula Rasa is timeless. Past, present, and future have no meaning here. But it also shows things that could happen, things that might have happened. The seers use the Tabula Rasa to make their predictions.”

  The spark dimmed. “But how can I stop Yoshino? I’m dead and my friends fight my demon self.”

  She reached out to him. “There are things I want to show you. Take my hand.”

  “How? I don’t have hands to reach out with.” As Seeko thought about hands, and about his body in general, his spark reacted and his body formed around it. “Okay …” Seeko cautiously took her hand.

  An image appeared before Anasheri, and Seeko stared at the image with awe. Before he knew it, he was pulled into the image, lost within.

  / / / / /

  Kerodesis stood before the three people who once called him Seeko. Mori surrounded her burnt hand with water, trying to soothe the pain. Bianca stood at the ready, bow aimed at his chest. Keith drew his blade from the sheath on his back and took a deep breath.

  Once friends, now enemies. Kerodesis smiled and beckoned them on.

  The citadel rumbled, the first strike of the siege of Gemini.

  Bianca fired. Before the arrow connected, Kerodesis became flame. He reappeared behind her, but before he could strike, a pillar sent him sky-high. He recovered while in the air and fired dark orbs at Bianca, but was quickly stopped by the claymore-wielding Keith, who jumped at him. Kerodesis narrowly dodged the lightning-fast swing, so Keith solidified the air under himself and jumped again at Kerodesis. This time Kerodesis had to parry away the blade with his sword of copper flame.

  They landed and Keith pressed the assault. Kerodesis was slowly pushed back by Keith’s quick, heavy swings. However, soon Keith slipped up, overswinging, and Kerodesis backhanded him to his knees. Before he could land the finishing blow, Mori was at him, jabbing with her rapier.

  Mori held back Kerodesis long enough to allow Keith to recover. Then Kerodesis teleported behind her and swung at her back … only to be blocked by a pillar of stone. Bianca moved her hand and the pillar moved with it, slamming into Kerodesis at an awesome speed. The pillar smashed into a nearby crenellation, pinning Kerodesis down.

  The citadel trembled. In the dying light, Mori could see that General Todd’s army had captured the outer city, and already trebuchets were firing on the inner city, their missiles guided by those skilled in wind and earth magic. At the same time, earth magicians were slowly crumbling the gate that stood between the inner and outer cities.

  Kerodesis converted to flame and attacked Bianca. She blocked and parried using bow and earth, but it wasn’t enough and soon Kerodesis launched a fireball into her legs. Bianca slammed into the ground, face-first. Kerodesis approached slowly, but Bianca wasted no time, melding with the ground and disappearing.

  Bianca’s hand grabbed Kerodesis from below. Keith charged at Kerodesis, but before he could connect with the demon, he was fire again. Bianca’s hand sunk back into the stone and Keith hopped backward, avoiding the flame.

  Suddenly, Kerodesis launched an orange torrent of flame right at Keith, for he was too close to dodge.

  But someone else took the blow for Keith: Bianca. She rose instantly from the ground, shielding Keith from the burning blaze. The assault stopped and Bianca fell face-first again, but this time she did not meld into the ground.

  Kerodesis disappeared, and the citadel shook again. He rematerialized a dozen feet away from Keith, laughing hysterically.

  The grip on Keith’s claymore tightened, and he looked from the downed girl to the demon, shaking.

  Then he flung himself at him, berserk.

  / / / / /

  Seeko was, well, shorter than he remembered. He sat on a small cushion, tears in his eyes. He was in a room that looked like a nursery for small children, and after a moment realized that he was a small child.

  Seeko was seeing things from the boy’s point of view, yet did not control the boy. The boy continued to weep, stopping only briefly when a man in white robes entered. The boy looked into the eyes of the stranger. Brown eyes! This man is special. Seeko cried again as the man lifted him high into the air.

  “I want to go home!” he whined. “You aren’t my daddy!”

  The man frowned. “How can you tell?” he asked.

  He pulled Seeko close and held him. He sang, calming the boy. After a moment, Seeko fell asleep in his arms.

  He woke back up instantly, once again on the pillow. Or at least what he thought was instantly, but the window said differently. It’s past my bedtime. Little Seeko yawned and rose.

  The door opened again and a man in all black entered. He had white hair and red eyes, but Seeko did not find this strange. He knew this man.

  “Seeko,” the man said softly, reaching for Seeko’s hand. “Are you ready to go home?” Seeko rubbed an eye with his small fist. The white-haired man smiled. “I’ll take that as a yes.” Seeko grabbed his hand and the man took him out of the room.

  / / / / /

  As Keith rushed toward Kerodesis, a dart of water raced past him, aimed for the demon. The rapid water caught Kerodesis off guard and sent him spinning. Keith rammed into the twirling demon, his large blade drawing blood. If it wasn’t for Mori’s attack, Keith would have sliced the demon in two.

  Kerodesis used his momentum to send an arc of flame into Keith’s back. The water moved again, put out the fire on Keith, and then whipped back toward Kerodesis. It rammed into the demon again, sending him to the ground. Kerodesis shifted to flame after the water soared past and reappeared behind Mori.

  Kerodesis rose his blade up high, but before he could swing down upon Mori, the citadel shook and he lost his balance, falling on his wounded leg. He let out a howl and Mori reacted, becoming water. As the water fell to the ground, Keith burst through it, tackling Kerodesis.

  Kerodesis and Keith struggled for supremacy, rolling and jostling along the floor. Kerodesis’s superior strength won in the end and he ended up on top of Keith. He slammed Keith’s chest into the ground, knocking the air out of him. He proceeded to punch Keith in the face repeatedly, knocking him out after a couple of blows.

  Kerodesis didn’t notice that the water was flowing off Keith an
d reforming into Mori. She stood before him after a moment, kicking him off her defeated friend. Kerodesis teleported away from her, blood dripping from a fist. He smiled.

  “Seeko!” Mori yelled. “It’s just you and me now!”

  They charged at each other.

  / / / / /

  After wandering through the castle, Seeko and the man arrived in a small room deep underground. Several desks littered the room, cluttered with jewelry and strange inventions. A man with black hair sat on a stool, scrutinizing an orange-topaz necklace. He rose hastily as the white-haired man entered, putting down the jewelry.

  “Ah, Yoshino,” the man said. “Just the man I’ve been looking for.”

  “Moses. The boy is ready to leave.”

  “Excellent. We can take him back to Cerris, then.”

  “He wants to go home.”

  “Gemini is his home.”

  Yoshino reached in a pocket and pulled out a handful of pendants. Then he put all but one back.

  “Where did you get those?” Moses asked nervously.

  Yoshino ignored him. “His home is Earth, Moses. I am taking him to Earth.”

  “What? No! I will not test my magic items on a child!”

  The man gestured to the pendant. “The child wants to leave, Moses! Give him what he wants!”

  The other man ran a hand through his black hair. “He is but a boy! He cannot make decisions like that!”

  “He has a mind, correct?” Yoshino shouted. “Then he can make his own choices! Can’t you, Seeko?”

  Seeko nodded and Moses submitted. Yoshino pointed his palm away from them, and a black oval appeared opposite it. Yoshino smiled at Seeko while reaching for his hand.

  Together, they walked into the darkness.

  / / / / /

  The gateway to Inner Gemini collapsed, a tolling sound of defeat to those inside. Irenic white rolled through the gap, crushing all black that stood in the way. A man led them on a white kitsean. The leader looked to the citadel, pointed his blade that way, and charged.

  The two figures still standing atop the citadel did not notice any of this, so engrossed were they in their duel of life and death.

  Mori’s thin rapier kept Kerodesis at bay for a while, but then he slipped under her guard and slashed across her arm. She cried out and hopped backward, whipping water at her foe as she did so. The water slammed across his face and he scowled. He sent fireballs at her, and Mori’s water barely batted them out of the air.

  “Seeko!” Mori cried. “I know you’re in there! Come back to me!”

  “Never!” Kerodesis lashed at her with a cord of orange flame. He followed it up with a black claw that scratched deep across her leg. She bit her tongue and turned to water.

  The water that was Mori flowed forward, picking up speed, then rushed into Kerodesis. He tried to resist, but the flow overwhelmed him, slamming once more into the battlements. Mori reformed twenty feet away from him.

  “Kerodesis is a lie! Seeko, fight him!”

  Kerodesis rose. “Seeko was the lie! I am the truth!” He recalled his blade of copper flame.

  Mori threw down her rapier and water-skin. “Seeko! Please!”

  “Seeko is gone, woman! It is only Kerodesis now!” He approached the girl with a grin.

  “If you are lost, then kill me. Kill me!” She fell to her knees. “Do it, you coward! Demon scum!”

  Now Kerodesis stood a foot before her, burning blade raised high. He stared at her with hatred in his eyes, then brought the sword down. But as it fell, it dissipated.

  Kerodesis looked to her, ashamed. “I … I can’t.”

  Mori’s mouth twitched, a tear rolling down her eye. “But I can,” she said, stifling another tear. Her fist curled around her rapier …

  … and the blade pierced his body. Shock crossed his eyes, and he looked at her. Then he fell.

  / / / / /

  Darkness surrounded Seeko and Yoshino for a moment, then light. Streetlights combated a rainy night. They stood together on the side of a street, the torrent quickly soaking Seeko to the bone. Small, worn-down buildings surrounded them, apartments where many people lived. The lights were on in many of them, inviting warmth to a chilled boy.

  Seeko glanced to the man he held on to, shivering. As he did so, Yoshino’s clothes changed, going from baggy, worn clothing to a sharp black suit.

  “Cold?” he asked.

  Seeko nodded.

  “Let’s get you inside, then. Let’s take you home.”

  They walked to the closest door and Yoshino rang the doorbell. Seeko looked to the window, then back to Yoshino. But when he did, Yoshino was gone. The door opened, then brilliant bright light consumed him.

  / / / / /

  I remember the memory so vividly because I have lived it twice!

  Seeko reappeared in the Tabula Rasa, holding the hand of an angel. “I was that boy!” he thought. He remembered how safe Yoshino made him feel. What a lie that was now.

  He looked to Anasheri. “Why did you show me that?”

  “You were one of his experiments,” she thought back to him. “A piece of his dream. But now he believes you are dead. You hold the advantage. You can stop him.” Another image appeared before Seeko, an image of a crying Mori holding his corpse.

  “Seeko. I have one more thing to show you.”

  And he was torn from his body again.

  / / / / /

  The green spark awakened not in white, but in black. The darkness surrounded the spark, threatening to destroy it. But the spark fought back, bravely standing up to the overwhelming darkness.

  Seeko was the spark, the abyss his mind. Is this another memory? Another imprint?

  Another voice answered: “Seeko.”

  “Kerodesis?”

  “My name is Seeko Dris.”

  Seeko reached out, looking for the voice. Eventually, he found it, a sickly orange spark on the brink of extinguishing. “Kerodesis?” Seeko asked again.

  After a moment, Kerodesis answered, “You were right. I am a demon. Our pasts are shared. You are not the imposter; neither of us are.” Silence, then Kerodesis continued. “I couldn’t kill her when I had the chance. I wanted to, more than anything, but I couldn’t.”

  “I love her,” they both thought simultaneously.

  A moment of lucidity and Seeko understood. “All this time I tried to fight you, tried to defeat you. But I never tried to accept you. Now I know that I am you, and that you are me.”

  Kerodesis stood silent.

  “I must accept the demon within. Only then can I truly master it.”

  He felt Kerodesis accept this.

  “Then we will never be separate again. We are one.”

  The orange spark finally spoke: “We are one.”

  Then the sparks combined, whole again. The spark glowed a vibrant green and Seeko felt life renew within him.

  He opened his eyes.

  36: Return

  August 13, 2014

  The familiar scent of Mori flooded his nose, and he stared at her as she held him tight. She was crying and didn’t notice him wake in her arms. He moved his arms weakly, inviting the sharp pain that surrounded his body. He moaned and stretched out his aching limbs. His voice and movements alerted Mori, and she looked at him in shock. She dropped him, and he slammed his head into the ground.

  He grabbed his head and cried in pain as Mori held up her rapier, a scar now covering her hand where it had been burned.

  “Mori,” he grunted. At that moment, he recognized his flickering spark working to maintain his thrashed body. He tried to sit up but fell back in pain. He saw Mori standing over him with her rapier. “Mori, I need your help.” He held up his hand.

  Mori stepped closer and lowered her blade. “Seeko?”

  He attempted a nod and dropped his arm in exhaustion. She got down beside him, placing her weapon on the ground. Mori looked hard into his eyes, and Seeko broke her focus by cracking a faint smile. She cried again and held him close. />
  “I thought you were dead,” she cried.

  She squeezed him tight, which made him moan in pain again. She pulled him away and looked at the bloodied hero. She pulled water out of her water-skin and poured it onto his wounds. His cuts faded and his aches vanished. He watched her siphon water into him, transfixed on her.

  “Mori,” he called out again.

  She turned her attention back to him. She inched closer, letting her hair fall onto his face.

  “I love you,” he said.

  Tears fell from her eyes onto his forehead. “I love you too.”

  Seeko held up his hands and pulled down her head to kiss her. She returned the kiss and held onto him, never showing any sign of release. Seeko eventually broke their bond and looked into her eyes.

  “I don’t ever want to lose you again,” she said.

  Her warm body moved away from his. After healing most of Seeko’s wounds, she rose and helped Seeko up. Both Keith and Bianca were lying battered on the roof. Mori walked over to Keith and healed his broken and bruised face. Seeko decided to assist Bianca. He flipped her onto her back and viewed her burned body. His first instinct told him to check if she was breathing, which she was, faintly.

  Distant coughs erupted from Keith. Seeko watched as Keith stumbled to his feet and ran over to Bianca. He picked her up and pushed air into her lungs. Mori joined them around her and cared for her burns.

  “C’mon … wake up,” Keith said.

  “I thought you didn’t like her,” Seeko said to him.

  Keith gave him a cold stare. “I may not like her, but I’m not heartless.”

  Seeko watched as they removed the burns from her body, until they stopped and waited. Her body had been healed, scars replacing the burns. She was breathing, but she remained unconscious.

  A loud crash from below the building tipped Seeko off to the war around him. Irenic soldiers were pouring into the citadel. His father’s face entered his mind. He had killed his own father. Physis had known.

  Anger built in Seeko, but instantly dissipated when he heard Bianca’s voice. She moaned on the ground and propped herself up on her elbows. The others rose beside her, and Keith held out a hand to help her up. She took the hand and stumbled to her feet with Keith’s help.