The Wolf Kronicals- Part 2 (Chapter 6-9)

Chapter 6- Shadow of a Doubt

Disen heard Maliko yelling from across the park. He didn’t hear everything, but did catch glimpses. The words Idiot, Dead, Slaughter, How dare, Have the nerve and Sudden Death was heard quite clearly, but everything else was blurred. He decided to go and see what she was really saying. As he ran towards her, he felt a weird jolt that made him want to turn around suddenly. He turned to see a weird black shadow standing on top of the dungeon. He stopped for a second and wondered what that was. He was about to go back and investigate, but as soon as he blinked, the shadow was gone. “Ooookay… I must have some of that sea water in my brain…” he said to himself and continued running towards Maliko. When he caught up to her, she was still yelling, but started to calm down when she saw Disen. “Oh hey, Disen! How are you?” Maliko said WAY too calmly for Disen’s liking. Something was up… But what was she hiding from him? “Maliko, I know he escaped… Do you want me to help you find him?”
“E-escaped? W-what do you mean?” “Um… I heard you yelling from across the yard…” “Son of a…” “Hehehe! So, do you want help or not?” “………Fine……” Upon hearing this, Disen got very offended. “Fine?! What’s wrong with accepting my help? We’re friends, aren’t we?” “Yes… I suppose… It’s just that…” “Hmmm?” “I didn’t want anyone to know he’s escaped outside of the guards and stuff… Would ruin my rep, ya know?” “Oh… Um… Yeah… I guess…” “So, come on… Lets do it… Lets find him… Before word gets out that a feline actually survived here, you know? I mean, besides Kalila.” “Okay, yeah… Lets go…” He didn’t dare tell her everyone already knew. They searched all day and night for 3 days, Maliko as vigilant as the minute they started and the exhausted Disen following close to his love, showing no true signs of pain, not wanting to bother Maliko with his problems. Finally, they found him, passed out in a dark and dry desert area, temperatures there exceeding 100 degrees on a cool day because of all the volcanoes in the area. No one but the fire demons lived there. She sniffed him and turned to Disen to tell him that Ski was near death with a heat stroke and very near starvation, only to see Disen had passed out, too. Giving top priority to her friend, she called her wolves and asked them to dig until they found some source of water underground. They quickly discovered a small pool underground with very clean, cold and delicious water. She force-fed Disen and Ski water until they woke up. Disen was thrilled to see that he was alive and his love, Maliko, had brought him back to life. Maliko quickly dismissed this, saying she didn’t care about him, but a death of a friend would look bad for her, but gave him a smile and a sly glance that told Disen otherwise. Ski wasn’t at all as pleased to see Maliko as Disen. “Why did you help me?! I was FINE on my own.” “If you were trying to die, you were doing a good job!” “You’re stupid!” “What?!” She stomped on his knee until it cracked in the wrong direction. “Owwwww!!!!!” “Shut up! Now who is stupid?!” “I thought you hated me!” “I do!!!” “Then why did you save me?” “I told you, you’re a magician… A user of magic… could never beat me under normal circumstances! You’re a cheater! I wish to kill you and extract your magic…” “But you cant-” “I can do whatever I want! Either you do what I say, or I will kill you.” Maliko glared down at the exhausted Ski with pure hatred and scorn, and Ski started to get a little scared and despite his determination to stand up to her, he looked down at his feet, knowing she was serious and also knowing that he couldn’t stand up to her in his condition. “By the way…” Maliko started to walk away. “Huh?” Ski looked back up. “How did you get out anyway?” “That kid let me out. The one wearing that hot nurse’s outfit.” Maliko stopped dead in her tracks, not able to comprehend what she had just heard. She turned around slowly, and asked him to repeat himself. He did and Maliko hopped on Orichal and took off as fast as she could, leaving Disen and Ski behind in her dust. Disen, being the kind person he was, helped Ski to his feet and carried him over to the water, where he cooled off. “……Thank you, but…” “Why am I helping you, right?” “Yeah… Aren’t you a wolf demon, too?” “Believe me… Not all of us are as mean as Maliko. Actually, she’s not as mean as she seems…” “Yeah, right…” “She just acts that way to newcomers… Don’t worry, we can be friends if you want. I know how it feels to be lonely.” “Um… Sure… I never really had much friends before.” “Come on. I’ll take you back.” “Um… Alright.” Disen called Aurora over, but following Maliko’s orders, she refused to let Ski ride on her back. Disen pleaded with her, but she refused to disobey her master. It was a long way back, but Disen refused to abandon his new friend, so he picked Ski up onto his back and started to walk. Seeing Disen’s determination to help him, Ski saw that he could trust Disen and opened up his wings, flying them back with lightning speed. As they got near Maliko’s house, Ski folded his wings back and collapsed to the ground. Disen carried him the rest of the way, saving all of his questions until after Ski recovered. Little did he know that Ski was not going to recover so easily. Kalila pounded on the bars of the cell, crying that innocent people would die if she was killed, but Maliko was not about to change her plans. “You have 3 days left to live! Enjoy it before I kill you right now!” “Maliko, please! I was only opening the cell to go in and heal his wounds, but the second I did, he ran away! I didn’t let him go on purpose! Plus, if I die... Who will heal all of the cuts and bruises and broken bones you get, like EVERY day?” “Grrr… Fine! You’ll live… But you are sentenced to 1 week in Fear’s Nightmare first!” “WHAT???!!!! NO! You cant do this to me!” “Hahahahaha!!!! Foolish girl… I do what I please!” Maliko opened the cell and dragged the screaming and crying Kalila into the portal and threw her in. Shutting it with a very heavy boulder, she laughed. “See you in a week, you traitor.” She returned to her bedroom exhausted from the long day. She changed her clothes to a warm nightgown and curled up under the warm fluffy covers and rested her head into her down filled pillows with the doggy paw prints all over them. Speaking of dogs, she thought, I had better thank Orichal and Aurora for such a good job today. She whistled and when her favorite wolves appeared in her bedroom, she petted them. “You guys are great! Now go get some rest.” They licked her good night and laid down at the foot of her bed, cuddled up close to each other, tails wagging softly. Maliko grabbed Luki, her favorite stuffed animal, a brown and black dog with a white stomach and red collar. “Nighty night, Luki…” were her last words before sleep took her over and she drifted into her fantasy slumber land. Little did she know that Luki was not the only one watching her sleep.
The next morning, Maliko awoke to Orichal barking in her ear. “Huh? What is it, Oreo?” Maliko sat up in worry. Orichal licked her cheek so she wouldn’t get too worked up, then turned and laid on his stomach, motioning with his tail for Maliko to climb on his back. Maliko started to change her clothes, but Orichal barked loudly, telling Maliko that there was no time for that. Sensing it was an emergency, Maliko jumped on and Orichal took off. Running straight for the hospital, Orichal burst through the door. Maliko jumped off when Orichal stopped, her nightgown blowing from the wind of the speed he was going. Disen noticed and looked over, blushing very noticeable. Nivea bumped him with her elbow, and he turned his head rapidly. Maliko looked over to the bed where Ski had been resting to see his sheets were all shredded and there was a pool of blood on the floor, leaving a crimson trail right out the door and outside. Maliko followed the trail and noticed that it lead to a portal that didn’t previously exist. “What the heck-?!” Maliko saw the portal and put her hand in. She felt a weird sub-zero temperature air and tried to pull her hand out but it was stuck. After much effort, she finally got it out. After treating the severe frostbite her hand got in the portal, she stood up. “I’m going in. Who’s coming with me?” Disen jumped up. “WHAT?! You can’t! You saw how hard it was pulling your hand out and how cold it was. If you went in, you might now be able to come out!” “Yeah, I guess you’re rig-…” Maliko started to agree, but stopped and stared blindly as her crimson eyes glowed light purple. She looked into Disen’s eyes and spoke in a disturbingly dark voice. “Keep quiet, fool! Maliko must go, for her Master commands it. We cant just let my new prey escape.” “Miko?” Nivea poked her in confusion. “Keep your filthy hands off of me, canine!” Maliko shot back. “What’s wrong with you, Maliko?” “Hehehe… Maliko? Never… My name is Krypt. I am Maliko Wolfen’s Master. I have come out only for the purpose of recruiting anyone who would like to assist me in finding Ski Jetstream.” “You’re evil… What’s the catch…?” “If you refuse, I will kill you. I have very advanced telekinetic powers, and it is very simple to take your lives. See, look!” He pointed to Nivea. She coughed, then coughed louder, falling on the floor on her hands and knees and began to vomit dangerous amounts of blood, her skin turning white. “Okay!!!!!! We get it! We’ll go! Stop!” Disen screamed. “Smart choice, fool.” He put his hand down, releasing his hold on Nivea. She fell to the floor with a threatening crack, unconscious. As Kensuke picked her up, Disen turned to Krypt. “Why do you want Ski so badly?” “I need his magic to become strong enough to destroy my weak side.” “But he doesn’t have magic, he said.” “True, he doesn’t have magic…he knows about! His magic is a surpressed memory that I plan to bring back by means of shock therapy.” “Hey! What did you mean by “Your weak side”? “I mean, Maliko… She is holding my powers down and therefore, she must die…” “WHAT?!” Disen cried. “We are not going to help you hurt Maliko!” “Then you will die…” “I don’t care! I wont help you!” “What?! You… would sacrifice yourself… for… her?” “Oh course I would… I… I lo-.. She is my friend!” “But, you would be hurt…” “So?” “Hmmm… I don’t understand… but fine!” He lifted his hand to take Disen’s life, but Kensuke stepped in front of him. “No! We’ll go!” “Kensuke! What are you-” “I’m explain later…” He whispered. “Hmmm… You’re wise in your choices… I will meet up with you later… I must prepare. Tell Maliko of this plan and I will kill you all.” Maliko’s eyes turned back to normal and she wiped her eyes, which were teary, as she yawned. She was still really sleepy and wanted to get back to bed. “Okay, guys… Goodnight…” Disen grabbed her arm and turned her around. “No… We must find Ski…” “Now?” “Yeah… We don’t want him to die before we get his magic…” “Oh, yeah! Lets go!” As Maliko rushed out of the room, Disen looked around. He saw Maliko running, Kegamin in a hospital bed, Nivea in the bloody bed next to it, Kensuke and Fang, sleeping on the foot of Kegamin’s bed. He rubbed his arm with his hand nervously and wondered that when this was all over if he would ever see any of them again. In about an hour, the group was ready to take off, but knowing that no human could stand the cold, Maliko only asked Disen and her wolves to come with her. She told Kensuke to stay behind to look after Kegamin and Saabel and Bierez to look after Nivea, a task he more that gladly accepted. Setting off, Maliko, Disen, Orichal and Aurora looked back at the place that they had called home for so long for…maybe, the last time. They closed their eyes and took a deep breath, and jumped in.



Chapter 7- The True Enemy

As soon as Maliko’s body touched the cold air of the new world, she couldn’t breathe. The air’s frigid temperature clogged her airways and she started gasping for breath. All of a sudden, the air warmed up and she felt herself sweating. She looked up to see Disen holding up some weird glass dome-looking thing. “Huh? Wha-?” Maliko looked up in confusion. “Don’t worry, Miko. I got you. I can use my fire powers to create a force field in this frozen nightmare.” Disen smiled. Maliko looked around the new dimension. All she saw was pure white snow, and the sky was pitch black. Maliko looked around to see how her wolves were doing and was horrified when she only saw Orichal next to her. “Disen! Where is Aurora?!” Maliko cried. “I don’t know.” “Disen! Stay here with Orichal and keep him warm. I have to go find Aurora!” “But, Miko-!” “Sorry, Disen! I cant stop to talk! Gotta go! Don’t move until I get back, okay?” “………Okay……” Maliko jumped out of the shield of warm fire and took off, calling Aurora’s name every chance she stored up enough warm air to open her mouth. “Aurora?” she called as loud as she could. “Aurora!!! Wher-” she covered her mouth and took a breath. “Where are you?!” But no matter how often she called, she heard no response. She started to panic and began to run, seeing no end in sight. “Auroraaaa!!!” she called as she ran. Suddenly she tripped over a big lump in the snow. She got up and looked back and there lay Aurora in the snow. “Aurora!!!” Maliko looked and noticed that the snow was a dark crimson red and saw that her paw was bleeding badly. ‘She must have cut it on something when she landed.’ she thought to herself. ‘I have to take her back myself.’ As Maliko leaned over to pick her up with the little strength she had left, she heard a small whimper. Aurora looked at Maliko lovingly, but whimpered softly in pain as Maliko kissed her nose softly. “Don’t worry…” she whispered. “It will be okay. Just hold on, okay?” Aurora barked in a very low tone and Maliko knew she couldn’t pick her up with the big gash in her leg and she knew that in the cold, Aurora would not survive until they got back. Taking a deep breath, she did all she could and pulled off her clothes, wrapping Aurora’s wounds and body in it and, shivering from the sub-zero winds, picked her up and started on her way back. About a couple of hundred feet from Disen, Maliko collapsed and passed out, exhausted from the cold. Orichal, smelling the blood, ran out of the shield of fire and found Maliko and Aurora, dragging them both back into the force field. When Disen saw Maliko, he tried his best to stop himself from passing out from the sight of Maliko in her bra and underwear. He giggled to himself, but when he saw their condition, he immediately turned up the heat as much as he could. He hoped they woke up soon… He was running out of energy and that shield wasn’t made to last forever…
Pretty soon, Maliko and Aurora started to wake up. When Maliko got up, she saw Aurora staring at her in the corner, tail wagging rapidly. Maliko walked up to her and petted her head and Aurora jumped on Maliko and licked her cheek over and over again. Maliko laughed hard and stood up. Realizing her clothes were still gone, she squealed and blushed really hard, grabbing them off of the floor and putting them on as fast as she could. “We really… should go…find Ski now…” Disen spoke weakly. “I’m… running out… of energy…” “Okay, Lets go… Wait, What about Aurora? She cant stand the cold!” “Hmmm… I know! Here!” Disen focused his energy into a big red dog collar, which he put around Aurora’s neck. “It’s a Flame Collar. It will keep Aurora warm as long as she wears it.” “Ah! It’s perfect! And it looks good on you, Rura!” Aurora barked in agreement. As soon as Disen lowered the shield, a big gust of freezing wind blew by and froze everyone but Aurora. “Geez… That’s cold… Lets hurry, Miko.” “Okay…” Maliko climbed on Orichal’s back. “Come on, Disen! Get on Aurora‘s back! It will be faster!” “We can do that???” “Yeah! What did you think I was gonna do? Walk? Hahahahaha! Not likely!” “Cool!” Disen climbed on and they took off. After about 15 minutes, they saw a castle in the distance. “Look!” Maliko pointed at the huge towering castle. “Yeah! I see it… I wonder who it belongs to…” “Who cares?! Whoever it is has Ski and Ski is mine! Whoever it is better be expecting all he** to break loose when I get there, because that’s just what’s gonna happen!” Maliko gritted her teeth. “……Hmmm…” Disen started at the castle in wonder. But before Maliko could ask what was up, a huge snowstorm whipped up and blinded everyone with pure white frost. The blizzard was too thick for anyone to see anything. “Disen? Where are you?” “I’m right here!” “Where?” “Here!!!” He poked her from behind and she jumped. “Ah!!!” “Sorry…” “It’s okay…” She took his hand and Disen blushed, not worried because he knew Maliko could not see. “What are you doing?” he asked. “You don’t want anyone to get lost again, right? Well, if we hold hands, we wont. You have Aurora, right?” “Yeah.” “Okay, and I have Orichal. Lets go.” “Okay.” As the wind blew in harder, Disen held on tighter to Maliko’s hand. ‘Wow…’ he thought to himself. ‘Her hands are so soft…’ Maliko and Disen finally found their way to the castle, frostbitten and barely able to move. They were so numb, they could not feel each other’s hands even though the were holding it. They rang the doorbell, hoping whoever it was that answered had a fireplace that they could thaw out in front of. As the door creaked open, a man came to the door and Maliko looked at him in shock. He was as pale as a dead person with equally dead eyes that glowed red from under his long black hair. He had huge demon wings that shot out from both sides. His hair almost completely covered the horns on his head and his small pointed elf-like ears. She also noticed a large lizard like tail that was lined with spikes that swished side to side slowly. As he opened his mouth to speak, the huge fangs covered in blood were revealed. In fact, his entire mouth was covered in blood…as if…he had just finished consuming something extremely bloody and didn’t have time to clean up before answering the door. If this guy was as evil as he looked and they had interrupted his meal, in their condition… They might be his next. Maliko started to get a little worried. Her hands started to shake and realizing she had barely any energy left, Disen spoke for her. “Excuse me…We are looking for… someone named… Ski Jetstream… Can you let us warm up in your… house, please? If we don’t… get our energy back… We might… not make… it…” He ran out of all the energy he had left and collapsed onto the ground alongside Maliko and her wolves. The man picked the four up at the same time and took them to the guest rooms and lay Maliko and Disen in the warm and newly made beds… and placed Orichal and Aurora in front of the fireplace on a nice fluffy rug. Little did they know, Ski lay dying slowly in the bed right next to them…
The next morning, Maliko awoke and looked around. When she realized she wasn’t in her own bed, she cried out softly, but then remembered what had happened the night before and calmed down a little. She looked over and saw that everyone was still asleep. She looked over at Disen and smiled. He had saved her life with that barrier and she had to repay him. She just didn’t know how… That’s when she saw Ski in the bed, blood dripping from his mouth. She jumped out of bed and rushed over to him. Staring him down intensely, she lifted his head with her thumb and smiled. “So… This is where you’ve been hiding… Well, Let’s go… It confuses me how you got through that snowy horror land alone, but whatever.” She started to pick him up when she heard the darkest voice she had ever heard in her life. “Take your filthy hands off of my perfect vessel, you stupid canine.” She turned to see the man that had answered the door yesterday. “Huh?” “You heard me… Unhand that vessel…” “Vessel? I don’t think so! This body belonged to me first. Tough luck, pal…” She continued to pick him up. As soon as she did, a strong ray on dark energy shot Maliko in her back and she dropped Ski onto the floor, falling right next to him, crying in pain. “Arggg… You’ll pay for this!” She jumped up and lunged at him, but a voice in her head stopped her. “No… Don’t touch him… Now is not the time to fight…” “But I jus-” “Keep quiet…” “But, Krypt! I only tried to-” “Shut up!” Maliko whimpered and looked at the floor in anger and defeat, holding back tears. Talking through his weakened vessel, Krypt spoke to the man. “Heh heh… Shadow… Its been a while… Hasn’t it?” “Krypt? Is that you? You’ve finally found refuge in a demon’s soul like you wanted?” “Hmmm… Yes… This girl… Her name is Maliko Wolfen. She is a god among wolves.” “Ah. So… What brings you here?” “I have come for the boy.” “You mean…” “Yes… That boy… He is essential to my plans…” “Oh, I am sorry…I mean no harm to your…plans… but I cant let him go…” “It was not a question. I am taking the boy.” “I don’t think so, Krypt.” “Shadow. Don’t be a fool. I gave you life and I can take it away.” Upon hearing this cold threat, Shadow stood with a rather shocked expression, then looked down at his reptile-like feet, swishing his tail back and forth angrily. When he looked back up, his dead eyes were now glowing a bright red and he whispered a chant. “Ercno Mahdi Danoe, Kanachi Eresn Ragew…” He pointed to Ski and Ski’s body started to glow. “Let the darkness rule in day, Let compassion show no sign. As long as the vessel’s heart still beats, His soul will still be mine!” He cried out and out of Ski’s chest shot a clear rainbow colored sphere. As Shadow continued to chant, the sphere got darker and darker until it was pitch black. “…No…” Krypt growled angrily. “Krypt… What is going on? What is that?” “That…sphere is his soul. And this fool is trying to defy me and take it over. As long as he has control of the soul, he has control of the body.” Maliko gasped softly. As Shadow slowly lowered the dark soul back into Ski’s body, Maliko cried out. “Shadow! Stop this! What do you want with Ski?” “That’s none of your concern, you pathetic demon. Heh, heh… You’re supposed to be a god? Have you not wondered why your friends haven’t woken up yet?” Maliko just remembered. She looked back at Disen, who just needed to catch Maliko’s mere scent to awaken… and her wolves, that usually awake long before Maliko, and waited by her bedside until she did. With a scared soul, but awakening rage, Maliko turned to Shadow. “What did you do to them?” “ The same thing I am about to do to this boy. Shut down their minds, close their hearts and corrupted their souls. Give it up… Your friends belong to me now.” “No…NO!” Without hesitation, Maliko rushed at Shadow only to be knocked back by a wall of dark aura. “Fine. You want to play? Let’s play then.” He put his hand in the air and made a tight fist. “Rise, my entities of darkness…” As soon as he spoke, Disen sat up in his bed. “Disen! Please, tell me you’re okay…?” When he didn’t respond, she called him again. “Disen?” But what she saw, she really didn’t expect and it sent chills colder than the snow outside down her spine. Disen glared at Maliko with the darkest and purest form of hatred that she had ever seen. Never did she think that anyone was capable of making her feel so alone with just a look, especially from Disen, the person that had always looked at her with nothing more that a nervous but overly happy smile, always blushing. Disen’s eyes were no longer the light purple shade that she loved. They were now the darkest of grays, one shade away from pure black and Maliko could see that he wasn’t about to help her. In fact, He looked like he could kill her on the spot. The pitch black rings around his eyes made him look as if he had not slept in years and Maliko began to tremble. She heard a growl and looked over to see Orichal and Aurora had surrounded her and had the same deadly look in their eyes as Disen. She turned to Aurora and saw that the collar that Disen made her started to glow and in less that a second, Aurora’s eyes turned bright red and orange and her entire body lit on fire. Maliko tried to run when Disen lunged at her, but got surrounded and pushed into a corner. “Heh heh… Who’s destiny is in your hands now, Krypt? Take her life, slaves! And bring her soul to me!” Shadow cried. Aurora opened her mouth and shot a huge fireball at Maliko. She did all she could and ducked down, shielding her head with her hands, waiting for her life to end. She quickly felt warm heat, but not hot enough to burn her. She opened her eyes to see herself protected by Disen’s flame barrier, the one that helped her in the snow. She looks over to Disen, and is surprised to see that he has a strained, but happy smile on his face. Maliko took this as an opening and vowing to return her friends to normal no matter what, ran past Disen and dashed for the door. But before she made it out, Shadow grabbed her and held her down. As much as she tried to get loose from his grip, she couldn’t. Shadow got really close to her face and stared her down. He looked deep into her eyes and gasped. Stumbling back a little bit, he spoke. “Hmmm… It seems you and I are not as different as I thought. You got guts… I like that… Take your friends and go. I am done modifying their mental structures, anyway.” “Grrr… I don’t need your help helping my friends! I could have saved them myself!” “…And you wonder why I call you a idiotic canine?” Maliko turned to see Ski standing behind her. “If it were up to you, we would all be dead. Why can’t you just accept help?” “Shut up! I didn’t come because I was worried about you! The second I extract your magic, I am just going to kill you anyway.” “And let me have his empty vessel.” Krypt chimed in from the background. “Oh, yeah. That, too.” Wide eyed, Ski stared at Maliko. “Did you just talk to yourself?” “Huh? No… I was talking to Krypt.” “Who?” “Krypt. My Yami.” Ski looked around. “I don’t see anyone.” “Oh, god… No wonder you want to kill him so fast. How did he survive again?” “Luck.” “Yeah… That has to be it.” “Hey! It was NOT luck!” “Whatever…” “So, how are we supposed to get out of here?” “There is a portal in the back. Take that.” “Um… Thanks?” Ski was reasonably skeptical about Shadow’s help. Shadow looked at Maliko. “Don’t worry. You don’t have to thank me.” “Don’t worry, then! I didn’t plan on it!” “You’re a stubborn little brat, aren’t you?” “Brat?! You know what?! If I’m a brat, then you’re a-” Disen ran up from behind and grabbed Maliko’s mouth. “Lets just get out of here!” He dragged her out the door and they all ran for the back. Once outside, Maliko turned to Disen. “Hey, Disen… Why… did you save me back there?” Disen turned quickly and started into Maliko’s confused eyes. Blushing hard, he giggled nervously. “That’s easy, Miko. It’s because…Um… Well…” “Well what?” “It’s because we’re friends, that’s all.” “Oh, okay. Well, thank you.” She grabbed him and hugged him tightly. “I love you, too.” she whispered in his ear. Upon hearing this, Disen jumped back. “You…You knew!? For how long??? Wait… You do?” “Yes, I’ve always loved you… Let me show you how much…” She held him tightly and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Disen, so happy he was in shock, embraced the kiss and kissed back. Holding her as tight as he could, he never wanted to let go of this moment. All of a sudden, he felt a huge pain in his stomach and fell back. He heard Maliko’s voice as he started to fade and the world darkened. “Disen!” Maliko screamed. Disen shot awake from his daydream and stared at Maliko, who was screaming at him and had punched him in the stomach for zoning out on her. “Huh?” “I said Why did you save me!!!???” “…Because we’re friends… That’s all…” Disen spoke sadly, realizing it was only his fantasy world taking over again and Maliko didn’t really love him at all. Disen’s eyes started to water but wiped the tears away before Maliko saw him. He didn’t want her to think he was a baby and like him less that she already did. “…I love you…” he whispered to her back as she walked away.




Chapter 8- Love is Blind
As everyone jumped into the portal, Shadow grabbed Disen. “What do you want?” Disen freed himself from Shadow’s grip and got one foot in the portal. “You like her… Don’t you?” “What? Who?” “That wolf demon. I saw the way you looked at her.” “So what if I do like Maliko? That’s none of your business!” “I can make her love you back… if you want…” “I said Leave m-… Wait…What?” “You heard me. I happen to specialize in love potions. I can make Maliko love you more than anyone. Just like you want.” “You can?” “Yes.” Disen pulled his foot out of the portal and turned to Shadow. “…What do you want…?” “Nothing much. All I want in return for eternal happiness for you and Maliko is… Maliko’s demon shard.” “You mean the black one around her neck? Her mother gave that to her before she died! I could never take it! She would never let me have it.” “You can just take it when she is sleeping. I promise not to do anything bad with it. They are quite beautiful in the sun and I collect them, that’s all.” “…I don’t know…” “Come on. Think about it. You just do this one little thing and Maliko will love you forever. It’ll be just like your dreams. Don’t you want to live those dreams?” “I…I…Fine! I’ll do it. But you must promise not to use it for anything bad.” “Of course I promise.” Shadow gave Disen his most sincere smile. Disen nodded and jumped into the portal.
As soon as the day was through and the twilight of the moon shone in the sky, Maliko waved goodnight to her friends and went to bed. After about an hour, Disen went up to Maliko’s room to complete phase 1 of his plan. He shook Maliko violently, waking her from her peaceful sleep. “Miko! Miko!! Are you okay?” “Um…sleepy…but yeah… Why?” “You were coughing so hard in your sleep. I think you were choking. You should go drink some water.” “I was? Um… Okay… Orichal, can you get me some water?” Orichal ran off to get some water. Aurora loyally followed to help. ‘Crap’ Disen thought. “Maliko… You look so pale. I think you should go check it out. I think I should hold your necklace for you. It looks pretty tight. I can adjust the strap while you do.” “Um… Alright… Don’t drop it.” “Don’t worry, Miko! I wont.” He smiled, even though deep down his heart was breaking knowing he was about to betray Maliko so harshly. He swore to make up for his lies by being the best lover in the world, taking care of her, and never hurting her. While Maliko was in the bathroom, he gently removed the black demon shard and put it in his pocket. When Maliko came back, Disen made sure not to let her see the shard was gone and jumped up to put it back on her neck. When he was done, he tucked her into bed, saying he wanted to make sure she was safe before he left. He warmed her up some hot chocolate and she soon fell into a deep sleep. Disen kissed her cheek and ran out.
Jumping back into the portal that he made that led him right back to Shadow’s house. Banging on his door, Disen was in tears. “So, you did it?” “Take your stupid shard! I cant believe I lied to Maliko like that!” “It will be worth it, young one…” “Lets just get this over with…” “Here you go.” Shadow gave Disen a small bottle with a blue liquid in it. “There is your love potion. Just make sure no one is around before she drinks it, because she loves the first one she sees forever.” “Okay… Thanks…” Disen ran off as fast as he could.
The next morning, Disen was the first one to Maliko’s house. “Here, Miko. I got you some medicine for your cough.” he handed her the bottle. “Um… Thank you. You’re the best, Disen.” She took a big mouthful and swallowed the whole thing. Much to Disen’s surprise, instead of instead of embracing her new lover, Maliko dazed out, in sort of a hypnotized state. “M-miko?” Disen got really worried and shook her softly, and instead of waking up, she collapsed, cracking her head on the floor. As the blood poured out slowly and Disen tried his best to help her, Shadow appeared in the room. “Heh heh… Looks like my plan worked.” “Shadow! What did you do?” “Nothing. All I did was make a potion that induced comatose. I didn’t make her drink it. You did, with your lies. Now she will never wake up.” Disen’s eyes started to water and he felt a deep hatred and rage boil inside him. He ran at him with all the speed he could summon and managed to scratch his face with his claws. “See, I would have spared your life for helping me, but now… You’re mine!” Shadow grabbed him and held his hand to Disen’s head, speaking some sort of ancient chant, activating the shards power. “Stop! Please! Let me…go…” Disen fell into a deep sleep in Shadow’s arms, helpless in helping Maliko now, who was still bleeding, skin pale and dying. Shadow took his brand new mind slave and Maliko’s almost dead body and warped back to his realm, creating a portal in the shadows. When Maliko’s wolves returned and saw the blood with Maliko’s scent surrounding it, they panicked and barked loudly, summoning all of her friends. When they saw the puddle of blood on the ground, they cried out in shock and fear and went to find Maliko. Little did they know, Maliko’s life was being taken slowly and painfully 2 feet away from Disen, who Shadow was molding into his new mind slave. He upgraded his powers and build unbreakable armor around his clothes. But though Disen’s body sleep in agony, Disen’s soul let him look on in spirit. He walked over to the bed and could see Shadow messing with his body and saw Maliko’s spirit sleeping peacefully. He picked her up and sat in the corner with her in his lap. Tears ran down unto Maliko’s body, as Disen cried and cried, heart shattered as he saw what had become of his Miko. Her skin was pale and she was close to death, hopeless and helpless. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” he kept repeating, holding her tightly in his arms. “It’s okay…” Maliko whispered softly. Disen jumped. “Miko?” “Disen, I know what you did. And I forgive you, no matter why you did it. I know you. And I know that whatever reason you had, it had to be good.” “I thought… Shadow said that you…” “Heh heh… You think he could take me out that easy? My body may be weak, but my spirit isn’t. Disen, no matter what reason you had, I forgive you.” “Miko…Thank you…” He held her tightly. “My spirit is fading and my body may not wake up for a long time, maybe even years… So hang in there when you get back up, okay?” “Okay…” “Try to keep my body as smexy as it is now, so when I get back, I don’t have 10 years of cosmetic surgeries to do, alright?” “Okay…” “Bye, Disen. Remember, wake up at all costs.” “Okay… Bye, Miko…” He started to cry, but didn’t care this time. Maliko wiped his tears. “Don’t cry. I will be fine.” “Okay…” He smiled and Maliko winked in return, her spirit fading away completely. “Maliko…I love you… Please come back alive…” He spoke to himself, half wishing it for himself.



Chapter 9- Shadow’s Deal

As Maliko slept in silence, Shadow was terrorizing DarkSoul. With his new powers and Disen as his loyal slave by his side, he had no problem making slaves of her friends. As he walked into Maliko and Nivea’s anime shrine, Nivea, whose demonic powers helped her to heal, jumped in front of him. Blocking the steel plated door, she cried out.
“I don’t know WHO you think you are, but you cant just come here and do whatever you want!”
Shadow said nothing, but pulled a chain out of his pocket and tossed it at Nivea. Instinctively, she caught it and looked at it.
“Huh?”
she looked down and noticed it was wrapping itself around her legs too tightly and they became numb, turning purple. Nivea fell to the ground and Shadow lifted his hand in the air, using psychic energy to lift her and wrap the chain too tightly around the rest of her body as her held her there.
“Will you join me?” he said calmly, staring into her eyes.
“I’d….never…j-join you!”
Nivea managed to choke out, suffocating from the chains.
“Then die.”
He threw his hand in a harsh motion, sending Nivea flying and slamming her headfirst into the steel door, putting a dent in it and leaving her unconscious. Shadow unwrapped the chain and picked her up, feeling her body was cold as death, though she still lived. He looked her in the face and spoke evilly.
“You dare defy me? You will not live to regret it.” He commanded Kensuke to take her, a task he obediently completed. When she slowly opened her eyes, she saw nothing but pitch black. As she tried to sit up, she banged her head on some type of metal. Actually, she was covered with metal on every side, and air was thin. She felt something on her hand and poked it. It was a… worm. She then realized in horror what had happened. Shadow had trapped her in a metal coffin and left her underground to die. She started to panic and started banging. After about 10 minutes of this, she felt the dirt fall out from under her and he fell to more darkness.
“Huh??? How did that happen??? Who cares! I gotta get out of here!”
She ran until she tripped over an unlit torch. She picked it up and lit it with a match she had in her pocket. When she looked up, she nearly fainted. She was staring down the biggest spider egg sack she had ever seen, about 500 times her size. She screamed and just as she turned to run, the egg sack broke open and billions of tarantulas climbed out and jumped all over her, crawling in her hair and her mouth and munching on her flesh. Nivea felt so terrified she couldn’t move or even breathe and passed out on the ground to be consumed by the arachnids. When she awoke again, she was being tangled upside down in an adult spider’s nest, a spider so huge, it could easily eat her in one gulp. The spider got 2 inches away from her face and spit acid on her eyes. When Nivea took one last blurry look between screaming in pain and saw her bloody body melting away in the reflection of one of the spider’s eyes, she took her last breath before being wrapped up completely. Shadow sat at the edge of Fear’s Nightmare’s portal and laughed to himself at the screams he heard from the nightmare she was living.
“Ah…That sound was always refreshing, Maybe now she will change her mind.”
He reached in and pulled someone out. When he looked, it was little Kalila crying and panting on the ground, shaking from fear.
“….Ooookay…”
“Please…Don’t hurt me. Maliko threw me in there and I was so scared. Please…Help me. I…”
She passed out on the ground. Shadow picked her up and examined her. He put his hand to her head and said to himself
“Run soul check.”
His eyes glowed for a second and he gasped.
“This girl! I…How could she…”
He handed her to Disen.
“Take special care of this girl! You hurt her in ANY way, and I will take your life.”
Disen’s hazy eyes remained uncaring, but glowed as his weak mind processed the command. “Yes…Master…”
He reached in again and pulled Nivea out, whose body twitched in silent fear. No matter what Shadow did, she wouldn’t respond. She was in a death-like state because of her fear, he realized and laughed. Eventually, she calmed down and started to awaken.
“Heh heh Hehehe… Will you join me now?”
She started into his eyes with fear, realizing that if she didn’t… He would send her back. But how could she betray Maliko, her best and most loyal friend? “I…I…cant…”
“So you would face an eternity like that…for Maliko? A lifetime trapped in the Aracnodimension? So be it.”
Shadow lifted her by her neck and prepared to throw her back in when out of nowhere, someone pushed him and Nivea toppled out of his hands as he fell into Fear‘s Nightmare himself. She looked up to thank her savior.
“Disen! I-”
“Don’t thank me! Let’s go! We have to wake Maliko.”
“Okay! Where is my darling Miko?”
“Um…” “O_O YOU FORGOT?!”
“Heh heh… Yeah… Hold on.”
He pulled a thick packet of stapled paper out of his pocket labeled Orichalcos Girl, turned to Page 48 and began to read aloud.
“…and warped back to his realm, creating a portal in the shadows. Oh, yeah! I was asleep. The portal in her room…Okay…Geez. This is NOT my sexiest helpless face…I look dead…Hmmm… Gotta work on that…I should so fire that photographer! Maybe a topless scene will patch it up for all of my fan girls…”
“Miko would kill you if she knew you pulled out the script in the middle of the story!”
“Why? She can just leave this scene on the cutting room floor later!”
“This is LIVE!!!”
“O_O;”
“That’s what I thought! Now remember your lines and lets go!”
“Okay.”
He stuffed the script back into his pocket and they ran towards Maliko’s room. As soon as they got there, they looked around and found the small portal in the darkest corner of the room. They jumped in, ran into Shadow’s house and found Maliko. Nivea shook her violently.
“Wake up! We gotta go help everyone! Come on!”
Disen pushed her over quickly.
“She’s NOT sleeping! She is in a coma…”
“What!? Are you serious?”
“Yeah…”
“Who could have done this to her…”
“Heh heh…Look right next to you.”
Shadow rose up from the ground and laughed. “Shadow! What do you mean?! I know it was you, so you wont trick me!”
“Don’t take my word for it. Ask Dice-boy for yourself. Tell her, Disen…Tell her who put her in this coma.”
“Disen…He’s lying, right? Tell me he is lying!” Nivea cried. When Disen looked down and backed up against the wall, tears running in rivers down his cheeks, Nivea knew the truth.
“Disen…How could you!? I thought you loved her! How could you do this to her!? You’re not good enough to have Miko-kun! I hope she NEVER loves you!” Nivea cried and ran out the room. Hearing those heart crushing words, Disen was in a state of shock. He sat down and buried his head in his hands, wailing in pain. Shadow walked up to him and put his hand on Disen’s head. Disen looked at Shadow in pure anger. “Why did you tell her that!? It wasn’t my fault! You tricked me!” “Hmmm…” Shadow stared at Disen calmly, his eyes never breaking Disen’s angry gaze. Disen felt a cold pulsating in the way Shadow looked at him and looked back at the ground. “How did you get out anyway?” “Easy, My worst nightmare is…myself! And I quite like myself. ^_^” “*Sweat Drop* I just want Miko back…” He shut his eyes tightly and stood up. “Please…Shadow. I know you can bring her back. Please… I will do anything you ask. Just please…” His eyes started to water again. “Just please… Bring her back…” Disen stared intensely at Shadow, begging Shadow with his teary eyes. “…Eh…Sorry, kid. Nothing I can do.” He started to walk away. “Please! I…” “…Fine… You will be my permanent slave. If I am attacked, you take the hits in my place. If my life is in danger, you will live and die for me.” “Alright.” “Lets go. And remember, I took you in as a slave, not a friend! You're nothing more to me than a lab rat...So don't think for a second that I care about your life!” “I understand.” “Now…This journey… You may have to kill your own friends.” Disen didn’t respond. “And Maliko?” “Oh yeah. Okay… But first, I want you to sign this contract saying you belong to me.” “…Okay… Where is the pen?” “Your fingers are the pens.” “You mean…You want me to sign it… in blood, don’t you?” “Yup.” He threw Disen the contract. Disen looked at the contract, bit his thumb with his fang and signed it as fast as he could, before he could change his mind.?
Staring at the contract, his eyes watered. He could never see Maliko again, but he knew that she would be alive, and that was enough for him. She walked up to her and softly touched her cheek, tears splashing on her face as he struggled to keep himself calm. He leaned over and kissed her gently. “Goodbye, Maliko… I love you.” He held her hand, started at her silently. As he leaned over to give her one last hug, Shadow’s chain wrapped itself violently around him and he was forced to let go as Shadow pulled his newest slave towards him. ‘Maliko will wake up now…Calm down.” He snapped his fingers and her eyes opened. “Remember, no talking and no touching. Got it?” “Yes, Master…” Shadow walked out of the room. Maliko climbed out of bed and wiped her eyes. Seeing Disen, she jumped up. “Disen! Are you okay? Were you the one who woke me up?” Remembering Shadow’s deal, he didn’t speak, just stared at her with whimpering eyes, wanting more than anything to embrace her and tell her how he felt and what was going on. But he knew he couldn’t. “Disen…What’s wrong? Please… Speak to me…“ Not able to bear the pain anymore, he just turned and followed Shadow out of the room, leaving Maliko in a confused daze. Getting hungry, Maliko started craving blood due to the smell of the crimson stained room. She walked out and climbed into the portal. When she got back, the dark town was completely deserted. She looked around and saw Nivea trying to wake Ski up from sleep, kicking his immobile body. At that moment, Maliko senses went out of control and she craved blood from earth uncontrollably. She ran to the portal to Earth and to her horror, it was sealed up. Her cravings were certainly not to be toyed with and there was good reason. Ski woke up just in time to see Maliko claw through the boulder that blocked the portal to find food, something even Nivea didn’t know she could do. Nivea jumped up in horror. "We have to find her... She's not exactly well..." She spoke to Ski. "She's...going crazy, isn't she?" "Well, deprived of the blood she craves, I wouldn't be surprised... I mean, look at it this way... After so many years, it's hard to break the routine... She's hungry, she gets bones... Human bones...She's thirsty, she gets blood..." "But doesn't she get that from the Butcher shop and the Crimson Fountain?" "Yeah, and where do you think those bones and blood come from? Humans..." "!!!" And no one ever questioned it, for fear of death... Now, someone just cut her off for such a long time, in that coma and sealing off the portal... How do you think she's supposed to cope? It's always been "She wants it, She gets it" ...Well, now she wants it... And she's doing whatever it takes to get it... Someone's gonna die... I'm guessing everyone on Earth.” “Did she ever go to Earth before?” “Yeah, a couple times. Never killed anyone, though. Except this one time when we were little kids…” “…?” “She gutted the victim, strangled him with his own intestines, and then she threw everything but his blood and bones into the river..." "What did she do with the blood and bones?" "She had that for Lunch! Duh!" "....What did the guy do to deserve such a brutal death?" "Oh! He bumped into Orichal by accident. He was just a small wolf then, only up to Maliko’s knees, and Orichal bit off the man’s arm. He kicked Orichal in the nose and it started to bleed. When Maliko found out, that's what she did to him... Heh, heh...-^_^-" "Isn't that a little unfair?" "... O_O...Tell her that, I dare you!" "...No thanks... Let’s go.” On earth, they followed the trail of dead headless bodies, gut and gore splattered streets and blood stained pavement. Ski stared scared and wide eyed. “This…this is horrible…” “This is… about once or twice a month…” Nivea laughed at Ski’s horrified expression. “Eh, whatcha gonna do…At least she keeps the human population leveled.” They continued to walk for about 3 miles when they saw Maliko sleeping in the middle of the street, gripping a half eaten human arm and snoring peacefully, expression full of satisfied content. “She must be full…” Nivea laughed and picked her up and they stared back on their way back to DarkSoul.