Tsubasa Chronicle Fan Fiction ❯ At the Base of Shall N'Ak ❯ Tel'chak'amel ( Chapter 3 )

Here it is ladies and…gents? Are there any guys reading this? Anyway…thanks again to everyone who not only read, but reviewed. If you left me a review, you should have gotten a reply to it. If not, feel free to berate me for it. ^_^

 

One of my reviewers on FF.net pointed out that the beginning of my last chapter was a little hard to follow. I understand completely if this was the case for anyone else. When I wrote this, it was with a pen and a notebook, and I just wrote it strait through. I didn't really have any regards for chapter breaks. As a story, I think this was the best way to go for this fic, but as a posted chapter fic, I realize it can be a little confusing. Therefore, I am going to post the very end of each chapter at the beginning of the one that follows it. The ending of last chapter is given here in italics, and chapter 3 starts where the italics end.

 

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Kurogane practically growled as he spun to face the guards, leaping to his feet, “What the hell is going on?”

 

Fay whimpered behind him. The guards looked at one another before turning their self-satisfied smirks on Kurogane.

 

“Answer me, damnit!”

 

To his surprise, one of them did, “He is being punished.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?” but they would say no more.

 

He turned to face a panting mage behind him. Whatever the hell just happened, it seemed to be over now. He sighed and, just as he had done before, arranged Fay into a more comfortable position. As he did, Fay spoke, “I'm sorry I ruined your dinner, Ashura-ou. From now on, I'll always smile for you.”

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Kurogane stood and looked down at the mage, though there was no disgust on his face. Instead, his features were drawn with the black lines of anger. At that moment, he heard a familiar sound behind him, and saw the kid stand before him. He turned as two new guards appeared in front of the bars to their cell, some sort of shackles dangling from their hands. The barrier was dropped, and the shackles were tossed inside. Weapons were pointed at all three of the conscious occupants.

 

“You, girl, put these on the large one here.”

 

Sakura looked nervously up at the ninja, and did not move.”

 

“Tell her to do it, or she dies.”

 

Kurogane growled out the words, “Do it, Hime.”

 

Slowly, and very tentatively, Sakura did as she was told. The shackles were nothing more than metal wristlets attached to either end of a metal pole. The metal it was made from was cold and strangely strong; he wouldn't be able to break through it.

 

“Now the boy.”

 

Syaoran allowed her to bind him, whispering reassurances to her the whole time.

 

“Bring the last one.”

 

Sakura picked up the last shackle and handed it to the guard. She was forced to allow him to bind her through the bars.

 

“Now, all of you, back against the wall.”

 

They obeyed, some more reluctantly than others, and the bars were opened. One by one, they were marched out of the cell, each with a weapon trained on his or her back. They left the hallway only to be greeted by more guards. They were marched through the maze of golden hallways until they reached a closed door. They paused long enough for the door to be opened, and when they were pushed through, it was out into the open sky.

 

Kurogane was surprised to find no city outside. There was not even an encampment. The only thing he saw was a tall tower built in the center of a massive pit. Three poles topped with short chains stuck up from the ground. From a fourth pole dangled the meat bun.

 

“Mokona!”

 

“Yay! Now Kuro-daddy can fight our way out of here!”

 

“Che.”

 

They were each placed in front of one of the poles and the chains were attached to hooks in the center of their shackles.

 

“Moko-chan, are you alright?”

 

“Yep! Mokona has been swinging here since we landed! Though Mokona has been a little lonely.”

 

“I'm glad you're alright, Mokona. Where are we? It doesn't look like the world where we first landed.”

 

“Nope! They flew us here from another planet in that big ship-thing!” She indicated the large building (ship?) they had just come out of.

 

“Oh,” Sakura said, though it was clear she had no idea what Mokona was saying.

 

“Is Sakura-chan, Syaoran-kun and Kuro-chu alright? Where's Fay-mommy?”

 

“We are all fine. They left Fay-kun back in the cell.”

 

Kurogane was tired of listening to the meat bun talk, “What the hell are we doing here?”

 

“You are to be witnesses,” the sound came from what Kurogane had thought was a metal statue. It had the body of a man and the giant head of a bird. In its hand, a staff was held upright. The head parted at the beak, and then seemed to disappear into the body. When the head of a man was revealed, Kurogane realized that the statue was nothing more than a strange suit of armor, “to the punishment of your companion.”

 

“You mean Fay-mommy?”

 

“He has been found guilty of evil in the eyes of our god. Bring him!”

 

They all turned their heads. The door opened and Fay was drug out, stumbling, between two guards. The princess and meat bun called out to him, but he made no indication that he heard them. He was frantically looking all around him calling out, “Oniisan! Where is oniisan?!”

 

There was so much pain and fear in Fay's voice. Kurogane pulled uncomfortably on his restraints. He started to feel nauseous and wondered if the rank air of that cell had something to do with it.

 

“Oi, Idiot! Snap out of it!”

 

Fay stumbled and paused, “K-kuro…?”

 

Kurogane didn't get a chance to respond as the guards shoved Fay forward. At a nod from the soldier in the armor, one of them grabbed Fay's arm, pulled out a hand-sized metal object and ran it over his left temple. As they stood him up, Fay blinked. He looked around, noticing the soldiers and his companions as if for the first time. He straitened, “What's going on?”

 

The armored soldier spoke, “It is the word of our god that you are evil. As punishment, you shall spend your days at the base of Shall N'Ak.”

 

As he called out the name, he held out his hand, indicating the tower behind Fay. Kurogane scoffed at such a weak punishment. When Fay turned to look, however, his body went rigid and he took a step back. Kurogane saw more than heard the whisper that escaped his lips, “No…”

 

“Fay-san?”

 

Sakura's worried voice reached out to him. He seemed to swallow his fear before he turned around to face the soldier who had declared his punishment. His face was cold and hard, though Kurogane could still see the fear fighting to regain control in the inner layers of his eye.

 

“I won't go.”

 

“Jaffa, cree!”

 

The two guards reached for his arms, but Fay successfully dodged them. They pulled out their weapons as more soldiers joined them. Fay still showed signs of resisting, and Kurogane wondered briefly if Fay would allow himself to be shot rather than be placed in the stupid pit, but after a glance at the princess, he changed tactics.

 

He turned to the armored soldier, “Please, Soldier-sama, I can't go in there.”

 

He didn't answer. Instead, the mass of soldiers closed in on Fay. They grabbed his arms and began to drag him towards the pit. He dug in his heals and cried out, “Please! D-don't!”

 

His cries fell on deaf ears. He struggled against his captors, trying to pull free. They inched closer to the edge of the pit, and Kurogane could only watch as Fay began to lose hope. Fear and agony were etched on his face as he suddenly dropped to his knees. Through the mass of bodies, Kurogane could still catch glimpses of Fay's heaving form.

 

Suddenly, a blinding blue light burst forth from Fay's body. It surrounded him and the soldiers. When it became too much, Kurogane had to turn away. It finally subsided and he turned back, every person who had just been standing before him was laying on the ground. In the middle of it all lay Fay, a curled-up bundle of white.

 

“O-oi.”

 

Kurogane couldn't quite understand the weightlessness he felt when the mage pushed himself to his feet. Tears were running down his face as he looked at all the dead bodies around him. He stumbled, trying to get away, but before he could gather himself enough to take more than two steps, orange energy spiraled up from the ground, encircling and trapping him.

 

As the arch of energy peaked and then touched itself, Fay cried out in agony. Kurogane looked all around, trying to find the source of the energy. When he turned his head to the left, he saw a tall man with shoulder-length, black hair and long, flowing robes approaching Fay. He held himself with a kind of royal demeanor, and under a pair of ice-cold, emotionless eyes, his lips were curled into a small smile as though he were watching nothing more than a mischievous child. He made Kurogane sick just to look at him, but, though he could hear the princess and meat bun whimpering beside him, he could not look away.

 

“Hello, Fay.”

 

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Mwahahahaha! I'm so evil! Just as we get to the man you've all been waiting for, I end the chapter! This makes the chapter short, but I think it's for the best. Please leave me a review now. I'd love to hear from you guys!