Legend Of Dragoon Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Dragoon II ❯ Return of the Healing Light ( Chapter 30 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
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Chapter 30) Return of the Healing Light

Rashe'm opened the door to the house, and light flooded out of it. The light became so extreme, he couldn't see. It encased him just as the darkness had before. Once the light dimmed, he realized that he had been strapped to a chair. His ankles and wrists had been strapped down so that he couldn't move. Even his head was held against the chair. He remained motionless, reorienting his senses, until he realized what was happening. "They're gonna cut my ear off again!" Rashe'm didn't want to experince that again. He had reformed, hadn't he? He hadn't done anything now to deserve getting his ear cut off again. He became frantic. He had to get out, it was imparitive. The uniformed men would soon be there to mutilate him. Rashe'm had to stop for a second. "Again? This happened before?" he thought.

As he began to struggle again, it felt as if the room was shrinking, growing tighter and compressing the air inside, making it hard to breathe. Rashe'm's strength began to leave him, and the door to the compressing room opened. He knew that the five men were coming to punish him for something he had already paid for. Indeed, the five men came in, but they all had the same face, a very familiar face that Rashe'm couldn't identify. He still struggled as much as he could, until it seemed that gravity pulled him down so hard he could barely move. All five men in the room laughed maniacally with a laugh he somehow recognized. One of the men in the back grabbed the knife that Rashe'm had used to pick the lock.

~~~~~

Orrin sat, listening intently to Al's tale. He had never realized so mach happened to his friend. Al continued, "The next mornin' when I woke up, everythin' was still, and..." Al noticed Liza running towards them from the cabins and stopped immediatly. Orrin noticed that Al stopped, and he turned his head to see what was going on. Liza's face was filled with both features of concern and haste. She stopped right before the two, keeling over and putting her hands on her knees, attempting to catch her breath. Al stood up to make sure Liza didn't fall over or hurt herself.

After a few seconds of gasping, Liza was finally able to eke out, "Ra- Rashe'm... in trouble... the white stone... Something has happened. We need to go now." Al bolted for the quarters building, as did Orrin, after standing up, and Liza soon followed them back. When Al arrived at the room, Liza had just entered the long hall, and she shouted for him to wait. Of course, he didn't want to wait, something had happened to his closest friend, but since he figured that Liza knew what was happening, he didn't move.

Liza and Orrin caught up to Al, and Liza instructed what to do as best as she could. "Orrin, get the white stone. Rashe'm has been put under a spell, and I believe the stone can undo the damage. Walk into the room with the stone out ahead of you, so the spell does not afflict you." Orrin did as he was told, taking the white stone out of his pocket and entering the room with it afore. Immediatly, he could tell something was up with the room, because the white stone began glowing softly. Orrin first saw the man asleep on the bed. Instead of asking Liza why he was in the room, he went directly to Rashe'm. He was only a few feet away from him, the stone started to glow brighter, and before he knew it, the same kind of light was coming from somewhere on Rashe'm.

~~~~~

Panic tore at the chair-bound Rashe'm. At the same time, confusion was rendering him nearly senseless. He was having memories of what he was now going through. But that couldn't be possible if he was now experiencing the events. The way the room shrank wasn't helping the panic ebb either. He thrashed in his chair, even though he could barely move. The five men with the same face all gathered towards their victim, snickering. They began to talk amongst themselves, "Aww... poor baby... he doesn't want to take his medicine like a Big Boy..." "I say we gut him too. I'm thinking FISH tonight!" Other taunts continued.

Amid the five men, the one with the knife stood directly before Rashe'm. He held up a hand, and the other five silenced. "Oh Rashe'm..., settle down there, boy. I'm the doctor. I've come to make you aaaaall better." The words sounded almost sweet to Rashe'm, and slowly, he calmed down. "That's a good boy.... almost.... Do you know why you're here, Rashe'm?" The familiarity of the voice panged Rashe'm for a moment, and he shook his head. "You've been a bad boy, Rashe'm. You're very sick, and you were being a bad boy. I know how to make you a good boy again." Despite the sweetness in the voice, Rashe'm began to feel sickened by it. "How?" was all Rashe'm managed to make out. His voice had become higher pitched, and he noticed that the men had become taller. He had become a child again. "How did Mr. Doctor do that?" he thought with a child's mindset.

The man chuckled. "How am I going to make you a good boy? You want to know how?" Child-Rashe'm nodded. "Ok, I'll tell you. First, I'm going to cut off each and every one of your fingers. There's bad blood in them, they're making you a bad boy. And then I'm going to cut off your toes. They're just as bad. And I've got one thing saved for last." Curiosity gripped Child-Rashe'm, "What? What?", almost taking no notice of the gruesome events the man had just described. The room suddenly began to ease, and the man said, "Why, I'm going to kill you."

"Kill me? I thought you were going to make me a good boy!" protested child-Rashe'm. "Oh, I am. You know what they say... The only good boy... is a DEAD BOY!" The man thrust the knife at child-Rashe'm. As the knife inched closer, everything in the room slowed dramatically to a halt. The tip of the knife was against his tiny stomach, and a bead of blood formed. Everything remained still for a few moments, until Rashe'm realized who those faces belonged to. The room exploded in light.

~~~~~

Rashe'm sat bolt upright and screamed, causing Orrin to lose his balance and fall backwards. Liza and Al burst into the room to calm Rashe'm down. Rashe'm sat panting heavily, and the two stood beside him on each side. Liza talked to him first, "Rashe'm? Are you alright? How are you feeling?" At the sound of LIza's non-babying voice, he drastically calmed. "How am I feeling?.... heh... I'm gonna kill that bastard. THAT'S how I feel." Liza was taken back by his statement, "You know what he did?" Rashe'm took one last huff and stood up, "Not quite. I just know that he did SOMETHING...." Orrin got back to his feet and headed to the man on the bed. By the time he got there, the man finally stirred awake. As confusion gripped the man, he did the first thing he thought of, collecting his belongings and bolting.

The first thing Al did after Rashe'm stood and all was sure that he was fine was grabbing and bearhugging his friend. "I love ya too, big guy... now let go. This is awkward..." Al retreated as Rashe'm wished. Orrin was about to place the white stone back in his pocket, but Rashe'm told him to keep it out. "This thing's saved me twice. I at least want a better look at it." Orrin gave him the stone, and the shining returned. As Rashe'm held one it up in his hand, he brought his own shining red stone to compare. "I guess they react to each other, eh?" Orrin had no idea, but Al stated, "That's what legends say. And those two in particular." Rashe'm continued comparing the two stones, and he started to say "Now, I wonder where that as-" when a crewsman barged into the room.

Frantically, he reported, "There's somebody out on the deck. And he's callin' you lot out."