032

 

32.  Eyes of the Abyss

 

Vance, Eden, Cliff, and Azuka stood on a hill overlooking a flat, barren expanse surrounded by nothing but gnarled mountains. Some rock formations looked as if they had been ripped apart, and others cleaved by some unseen force.

 

Vance struggled with an unseen weight that had fallen on his shoulders. "Where are we?"

 

Azuka turned to face her students. "Sagacia. This dimension has a rather colorful history, you see... Somewhere along the line, a technological empire that set up a nation of factories and laboratories on the planet. Taking advantage of Sagacia's abundant natural resources, they sacrificed a great number of animal and human lives in order to try to create cutting-edge bio-weapons. They’d remove body parts from humans and study how they adapted. They'd meld humans and animals together to see if it would enhance their bodies. The list goes on and on."

 

"Who destroyed them?" Vance asked.

 

Azuka smirked. "It was none other than the Dark Zodiacs."

 

"What?!" Eden shouted. "They destroyed the whole planet?!"

 

"Who knows," Azuka replied. "You'd have to ask them. Perhaps if we come across them in Enmetropolis. The reason we know they destroyed the facilities is because of Xarles Klavier Van Kaen."

 

The face of the Dragon instantly returned to Eden – the stitches that lined his entire body, those razor-sharp claws, as well as the rage he had ignited within her.

 

Azuka continued. "He was reported as being on the front lines. To this day, he's still the only Dark Zodiac who's voluntarily revealed his identity in multiple dimensions. For whatever reason, he doesn't mind making himself known – perhaps he even revels in it. There were most likely other Zodiacs who contributed to the destruction, but we never found any more information until you three started stepping on their tails."

 

"They're cowards," Cliff growled. "They've never once had the guts to come at us head on."

 

"Be careful what you wish for, Walden," Azuka said. "Judging from how things have gone, a combined attack from the Zodiacs would leave us decimated."

 

"Well then," Cliff said with a deep breath, "we're going to need to train extra hard then, aren't we?"

 

Vance snorted. "But if this place is deserted, then how are we gonna eat?"

 

"That reminds me," Azuka said. "You three are also prohibited from returning to the Guild for the duration of our stay."

 

Vance groaned yet again; Azuka ignored him. "I'll make nightly trips back to the headquarters, not only to gather food for you all, but also to receive updates from the Seneschal. I will never take any of you with me, no matter how badly you wish to go. I will also bring you extra clothes when I see fit, so we should never have to speak about this issue again."

 

"Wait a minute..." Vance raised his voice as he kicked the rocky terrain. "Aren't you forgetting, you know, beds, or blankets?! Don't tell me we're gonna have to sleep on this hard crap!"

 

"Don't worry. You won't be sleeping that much." Azuka winked, then leapt off the cliff.

 

Cliff sighed. "Here we go..."

 

"What?" Eden looked to Cliff with concerned eyes. "What does that mean?"

 

Cliff shook his head. "I hate it when she gets like this."

 

"Like what?" Eden asked. "What does she get like?"

 

"I respect her like no one else," Cliff said gravely, "But when it comes to training...she can be a real bitch."

 

After a lengthy walk and warm-ups, the group relocated to the bottom of a colossal mountain.

 

"We shouldn't be here for long," Azuka said. "If everything goes as planned, we’ll have this poor excuse for a landmark destroyed in no time."

 

Eden couldn't even see the top of the hulking mass. "You're kidding! There's no way we could do that!"

 

"You're right. You've had poor preparation up until now – no fault of Cliff's, of course. After all, you two have only been using psynergy for a few days."

 

"Hey," Vance said, "it was enough to take out all those zombies."

 

Azuka showed the young man a wan smile. "You don’t even know the most basic laws of psynergy. First, I want you all to visualize your psynergy. Imagine the way it would look to someone who was trying to sense your own aura. Spread it out around your body, and we'll examine it to find your strengths and weaknesses."

 

Azuka watched and silently visualized Vance's aura. She took note of how often he and Cliff clashed, signs of their own inferiority complexes. His psynergy was sharp, yet it lacked depth and intensity, reflecting his own paranoid soul.

 

Meanwhile, Eden's aura expanded outwards. It was almost like an orange egg, encasing her in a perfect shield. Instead of shooting out like a blade, Eden's psynergy flowed around her like a fountain.

 

Beside her, Cliff’s tan aura pulsated – powerful, yet unstable. Just like the man himself, it burst at the seams with vibrance, yet remained awkward and inefficient.

 

Suddenly, the group sensed a spark – a fifth aura had come out of seemingly nowhere. Perched on the side of the mountain, staring down at them with endless black eyes was Averyl.

 

"I found youuuu..." he sang to Vance in a wavering voice.

 

"What the hell are you doing here?" Vance stumbled backwards in surprise. "How did you find me so quickly?"

 

Averyl frowned. "I told you I'd see you again, didn't I? How could you forget so quickly?"

 

Vance let out a sigh. "What do you want?"

 

"You're all training for the Belmarcian tournament," Averyl said in a condescending tone. "Don't try to hide it. It's painfully obvious, you know..."

 

"What's your point?" Azuka fingered her blade.

 

"I am training as well..." Averyl stood tall on a tiny rock outcropping, tilting his pointed boots against the peak. "And I have come to claim my sparring partner..."

 

Eden's eyes widened. "What?!"

 

Azuka dashed up, brandishing her bamboo sword, but Averyl leapt off the cliff, sailed over her head and landed softly next to the three students.

 

"Now, now, Captain." Averyl grinned cheekily. "I would hate to have to throw you again..."

 

Azuka smirked. "I was off-guard then. Want another try?"

 

Averyl winked. "I wouldn't mind killing you three and then taking the boy. You mean nothing to me, after all..."

 

"Why the hell do you want me?" Vance asked.

 

Averyl raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think?"

 

Vance narrowed his eyes. "Answer me."

 

"I will...later." Averyl looked to the others. "Anywho, we'll be leaving now."

 

Azuka looked to Cliff. "Back me up."

 

Averyl chuckled. "I never said I was going to harm him. In fact, keeping him alive is very important to me..."

 

"Why don't you go train with the rest the Zodiacs?!" Eden shouted.

 

"I'd rather not. In fact, I can't bear to be with them for more than a few hours..." He turned to stare at his target. "My dear Vance is so much more interesting."

 

Vance felt a sick feeling spread through his stomach. "So you're not going to kill any of us?"

 

"That depends on you, Vance." Averyl licked his lips.

 

"Funny you say that," Vance said, rolling his eyes. "Do I even have a choice?"

 

Averyl merely gazed at him in response.

 

Vance let out a sigh and turned to give his allies one last wave goodbye. "I'll deal with him. Have fun training, guys."

 

"Wait, Vance!" Eden called out. "Are you sure about this?"

 

"I'll bring him back well before the tournament registration begins, but please don't interrupt us. Things like that make us grumpy. Don't they, Vance?" Averyl patted Vance on the shoulder and led him away from the others. "Thank you for your cooperation. Take care now..."

 

Azuka gritted her teeth, watching as one of her pupils was stolen from her. "I could go after him. But Vance didn't seem to opposed to it. What's going on between the two of them?"

 

"Captain." Cliff placed a hand on Azuka's shoulder. "Averyl saved Vance from death twice. If he wanted to kill him, I’m pretty sure Vance would already be dead now. I have no idea why he’s taking him, but I’m pretty sure it’s not to harm him."

 

"We can't trust that guy," Eden said, curling her hands into fists. "There's no telling what he’ll do to Vance!"

 

"Eden," Cliff said calmly, "You should just concentrate on your training."

 

"Vance is in danger!" Eden shouted. "Cliff, can't you just put yourself aside for one second and think about him?"

 

"I am!" Cliff shouted back. "But Eden, you saw his face. He wasn't scared at all. If anything, he seemed annoyed. To Vance, Averyl isn't an enemy, but a strange friend."

 

"He’s a Dark Zodiac!" Eden pressed, then quickly wilted. "It just...makes me feel so powerless. Averyl does whatever he wants, and there's nothing we can do to stop him. And he acts like he's better than us."

 

"Yeah. Now who does that remind you of?" Cliff wondered, as he watched the two black specks disappear into the darkness.

 

*

 

"Where are we going?" Vance asked.

 

"Somewhere..." Averyl replied as he led Vance around the mountain.

 

"That's it. Screw this!" Vance threw his arms up in frustration. "Happy trails, pal. I'm going back."

 

"As you like," Averyl said with a chuckle.

 

"Idiot." Vance turned around, as Averyl kept moving forward. The teenager took one look back at the barren wasteland, and then turned to face the phantom. "Actually, I guess I'll pick your brain a bit before I go back."

 

A smirk spread on the Zodiac's face, but he said no more as traveled to the other side of the mountain.

 

"Hey," Vance called out after a while, "I'm hungry!"

 

Averyl did not respond.

 

"Do you even have any food?" Vance asked. "Seriously, I'm really hungry. I didn't have lunch yet."

 

Averyl stuck his right hand into the black recesses of his cloak. It came out holding a shiny green apple, which he tossed to Vance. The fruit hit Vance's open palm with a hard smack, and he anxiously bit into it. There was no vegetation around, yet the fruit tasted juicy and ripe.

 

"What do you have in there?" Vance mumbled as he chewed. "Some kind of magical fruit bag?"

 

The Dark Zodiac pulled his left hand out, revealing a smooth, shiny pear. His teeth sunk in deeply and he pulled them out slowly, carefully sucking each last bit of essence from the food. Vance watched him intently as he devoured his apple.

 

"Come on, where did you get these?"

 

"Magic..." Averyl replied softly.

 

Vance muttered and continued walking. They began to curve to the right, moving along the opposite base of the mountain Azuka had picked out. From the foot of the mountain extended a long, wide plateau which cut off sharply before a deep canyon. Vance stared up into the darkened sky, noticing that the monolith of rock and ruin completely blocked out the sun on this side, engulfing them in shadows.

 

"We're here." Averyl stopped at last, gazing fondly on their new surroundings.

 

"Well," Vance said, "what's so special about this spot?"

 

"Nothing much..." Averyl whispered, then abruptly leapt toward Vance.

 

Vance ignited psynergy into his arms and raised them up protectively. As Averyl closed in, he brought his right foot up and slammed it down on the boy's arms.

 

Vance's defenses were immediately shattered, and Averyl's foot connected with his chest. Losing his balance, Vance was sent reeling backwards onto the ground.

 

"So much work to do." Averyl stepped up to Vance's body, shaking his head. "Honestly, was she thinking?"

 

"What the hell's your problem?!" Vance screamed.

 

"Get up, please..." Averyl muttered. "You can't just sit there all day, you know."

 

Vance climbed to his feet. "Can you at least explain what we're doing? Sparring?"

 

"Dancing." Averyl smiled and zoomed toward Vance again. Blocking had proved useless, so Vance tried to dodge this time by rolling to the right. Averyl caught his left leg and lifted him off the ground, then spun the teenager above his head with ease.

 

At last, Vance could sense Averyl's psynergy as he flew through the air. It was a cold, violet aura that felt much like his own.

 

"We'll have to start with basics first," Averyl whispered, then loosened his grip and sent his student flying.

 

Vance cut through the air at a ridiculous speed. He tried to move his body and slow down his momentum, but he was moving far too fast. It was all a blur as he went spinning off the edge of the cliff, plummeting to the valley below.

 

"Holy shit!" Vance screamed, flailing for his life.

 

"That's really going to hurt if you don't do something!" Averyl called down.

 

Vance heeded Averyl's advice and concentrated all his psynergy around his back. Everything was going too quickly for him to try and grab on to the side of the cliff, so he decided his best option was to brace for the impact.

 

A loud crunch echoed out as Vance collided with the ground. The psynergy barrier around his back cracked to pieces instead of his own bones, although the excess impact still knocked the wind out of him.

 

Vance lay still, looking up to the darkened sky. Averyl had just tossed him off a plateau that was over a hundred feet above him, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. He waited for a while in the small crater his body had made, just to see if Averyl would hop down to pick him up. He didn't. He’d thrown Vance down there for a reason.

 

Vance picked himself up reluctantly and stumbled over to the foot of the sheer precipice. "What do you expect me to do now?!"

 

"Jump back up here..." Averyl's voice sounded like a distant spirit. "In a single leap."

 

"What?!" Vance shouted. "Are you completely insane?!"

 

"What do you think?"

 

Vance stared up in fuming silence, realizing that Averyl would never give him a straight answer. After taking a deep breath and gathering his power, he tried to mimic one of the amazing jumps he’d seen Azuka demonstrate before. He hopped up, but could only make it about six feet before he fell back down. Luckily, enough psynergy remained at his feet to cushion his fall. As long as he kept a proportionate amount of psynergy in his legs, he figured he wouldn't have to worry about damage from failed attempts.

 

"Oooooh..." Averyl mused. "Looks like you have a long way to go, Vance."

 

"Shut up!" Vance screamed. "This is nuts! I'll never be able to do it! It's impossible!"

 

"It's not impossible," Averyl called down from his perch atop the canyon. "You can go anywhere you want, as long as you're in the correct place."

 

Vance rolled his eyes. "How long did it take you to think that one up?"

 

"Just think about it in those terms. Your view on the situation will surely change..."

 

"You're outta your mind. I just poured all the psynergy I could into that jump. I'll be down here forever!"

 

"Then give up..." Averyl shrugged. "Whether you fail or not is of no consequence to me. Go ahead, give up. It’d just be a shame. You see, Vance, I’m searching for someone, and I was hoping you’d be willing to help me."

 

"Searching for someone?" Vance cocked an eyebrow. "Who?"

 

"I shouldn’t say any more... Until you complete your training, that is."

 

"You're really an asshole, you know that?" Vance grunted. "Fine. I'll do your stupid training, just to find out who gave you your little 'request'. And then, after I wipe that stupid smile off your face...you’re gonna tell me everything!"

 

Averyl simply grinned.

Next: God of Terror