"Da'injin!" Garland hissed. He seemed surprised at his own words. As if they just spilled from his mouth without knowing why.
Mikoto turned to look… then screamed. It was a sound unlike anything Mr. 78 had ever heard. It nearly scared him more than the beast that stood before them. The girl backed away, stumbling over herself, clutching at anyone that was near enough to hold on to… namely.. himself.
The bigger Mage was moving at the same time.. forward… to place himself between the beast and his friends… one thought rang brazen through his mind….
I must not let him hurt the children!
The beast reared and dug at the ground with one huge claw, ruby eyes boring into their souls with the hateful hunger of life that could only be matched by death. Midnight fur struck a sharp contrast against the wings of death flame that stretched in a ghastly arc, blocking the sunlight from the glade. Jagged wolf-fangs were bared into a silent foam-flecked snarl, a warm gust of putrid breath seeping into the air.
And upon the beast's back….
"M-Mr. 299!" The Mage heard himself demand.
Da'injin indeed. So this is what you've become… this… is what you've done to yourself… and to them…
Mr. 78 didn't know how he was certain that this dark being had once been Mr. 299… it looked nothing like him.. except for what was left of the pointed hat and dark robes that attempted to conceal and hold the darkness that flowed within. The world rippled and twisted about him, a sickening blur that marked the lines where the two worlds crossed… that of the living and of the dead. A vortex, drawing in the life of this world to fade to nothingness.
"So here you are…" Mr. 299 spoke lavishly, tilting his head under the brim of his hat. One claw-like hand extended slowly to where Vivi stood.
No…
At once Mr. 78 became the little Mage's shield.
I won't let him take Vivi!
"Tisk.. tisk… jumpy aren't we, 78?" The thing that had once been Mr. 299 said. His voice hadn't changed. If anything.. it seemed.. self-satisfied. Gloating.
"What… is.. um.. going on?" Mr. 78 demanded, his fists tightening upon his staff ever so slightly.
I must keep this slack-minded charade up for only a little while longer.
"Certainly you do not think he means to challenge us, do you, Dezarg?" Mr. 299's eyes narrowed, stroking his mount slowly. The wolf lowered its head, ears flattening against its skull, ready to strike and rend at a single word.
"What is that thing…?" Garland shouted, attempting to squeeze out from behind the big Mage's protection to get a peek.
"C-can it really be… Mr. 299?" Vivi asked softly, a quiver in his voice.
Mikoto was sobbing.
Mr. 78 did not answer. His eyes did not leave the creatures that stood before him. He forced Garland back behind him again.
I doubt he will strike me now.. not after all the effort he's taken with me…
"Why are you doing this?" Vivi's voice was muffled, but angry.
"Why?" The dark one spat, causing Dezarg's wings to flare, stretching wide, head still low. "Because I've gone to too great of a length to break that damned warding stone to let you trifles come along and fix it…"
"Break the stone?" Garland shouted, leaping forward too quickly for the Mage to catch.
Mr. 78 felt it, and pushed it down and away.
Not.. here.. not now…
The boy ran straight into the face of the beast, seemingly unafraid. "What do you mean you broke the stone! I broke the stone! I was right there when it happened!"
I must hold on... Just a little bit longer..
"Ahh.. yes… well… you were quite helpful. And I thank you.." Mr. 299 nodded his head in mock appreciation.
"Dammit.. I was not helpin' you!"
"Of course you didn't know about it, child. That made it all the more fun…" He jeered. "The stone was not likely to allow one of my kind inside this glade.. so I simply sent someone who I could channel like energies through.. to destroy it…"
"C-channel…? What… do you mean…?"
Mr. 299 fixed Garland with a severe glare. "If you do not already understand the inner workings of your spirit, then I have no want to enlighten you, little one. It is really a shame that your Mr. 44 had to interfere when I sent Dezarg to fetch your soul in the forest that day. Your torment here will be a hundred times greater than his was…"
"Then you killed Mr. 44!" The little boy's hand flickered, drawing his little dagger.
He looks so.. tiny... so pathetic…
"Garland.. n-no!" Vivi inched forward, one hand outstretched.
"Killed Mr. 44?" The dark one crossed its arms. "Don't be silly. That would defeat the purpose. I must have them alive in order for them to be useful to me. Your foolish friend was simply at the end of his time. Though I might think the encounter with Dezarg might have done something to speed his death-process…"
Mr. 78 felt it rising again.
Anger.
"Death beasts do have that effect on those in the living world, I'm afraid…" Mr. 299 sneered. "He was an insolent fool to challenge something that was beyond his power."
I cannot be distracted by this feeling..
"You're gonna pay… I'm gonna make you hur--" Garland broke off as Mikoto rushed out, making a quick tackle, pulling the struggling boy back and away.
"Do not throw your life away on an impossible battle Garland!" The girl advised him sharply. "Mr. 44 wouldn't want that!"
"How cute." Mr. 299 scoffed, tightening his grip on the leather halter sheathed across the shadow-wolf's body. With the motion, the creature folded its wings, shifting its weight forward. A battle stance.
The glade was then filled with darkness. More of the spectral beings rose up from the forest at Dezarg's back. Mr. 78 spread his arms for protection, not realizing as he did so.
"W-where… did all these things come from?" Vivi whispered. "They're.. awful… simply.. awful…"
"Da'injin..." Mikoto sobbed. "The death spirits.."
You will not have them…
Then, one of the Da'injin stepped forward, approaching Mr. 299. "Master Na'Valsh…"
Mr. 299 turned, obviously irritated at the interruption of his game. "What is it?"
"The… Fragments…"
"What of them?"
"They… are protecting the Mages in the village. We cannot break through their energies…"
"They are but Fragments!" Mr. 299's voice thundered upon the other, causing all in the glade to shrink back.
What a strange turn of events this is…
"M-Master Na'Valsh … I speak the truth…"
"Very well.. Return to the Village." A low growl rose from the depths of the darkness, eyes shimmering with fearsome rage. He indicated one of the creatures. "You. Make certain they do not leave this glade alive."
The Da'injin turned, and stared directly at Mr. 78. "But, Master…"
He seemed disturbed, and with reason.
"You are not afraid of an Incomplete are you?"
"No Master. Of course not."
"Very well.." In one smooth motion, Mr. 299 turned the great shadow hound in the direction of the Village, wings of death-flames stretching across the glade, life seeping away from all that they touched. With a powerful back-wing, they lifted skyward, not so much as a glance back.
The Da'injin turned to them, apprehensively. Mr. 78 purposefully caught his gaze and locked it, brandishing his staff before him. He did not hold it back any longer… he let the power borne of death-rage come.
The glade darkened as light was ate away in the shadow.
Mr. 299 it was your folly not to finish me off when you had the chance…
"Mr. 78!" Mikoto's voice was high-pitched and frightened. She had a hold of his sleeve tightly.
"U-um… just… s-stay behind m-me… and… when I tell you to run… I-I want all of you to run.. Okay?"
He could not hear if they answered. The world of darkness had already opened within his mind.