Anari
By the time Kozuna and Nikai disappeared into the distance, shrouded by smoke and flames, I'd begun making my way to Zara's home. With all the soldiers in the city converging on them, slipping away didn't take much effort. Finally, I'd gotten Tyuyo out of the council's headquarters and away from the destruction.
"That thing. It couldn't really have been Nikai, right, Anari?"
Tyuyo looked a little dead inside. Couldn't blame him, but that didn't make confirming his questions any better.
"A-Anari..?"
"It was."
"Well, w-what do we do? Are we abandoning him?"
"Not a chance, Ty. I'm working on a plan. Just gotta get you to safety first."
Nikai will be fine. Kozuna will be fine. They have to be. Shin, too.
I hadn't let go of Tyuyo's hand for a second. Explosions continued going off in the distance; I couldn't help but take a couple of shaky glances at the distant destruction. Nikai's hulking abomination of shadows, as well as the blue flashes of Kozuna's lightning, were still incredibly visible, even from afar.
Still, I kept Tyuyo's gaze forward.
We hurried up the sandy plateau and straight to Zara's home. My chest throbbed as I banged on the door. I took a deep breath, failing to hold my composure as well as I would've liked.
It took a few moments, but the person who opened the door was Yvira. Zara watched from the background, arms folded.
"Anari!? TYUYO!?" Yvira hug-attacked both of us before we could react.
I quickly peeled Yvira off. Her embrace had to wait. Tyuyo needed a warm, safe space more than any of us. I let him head inside first, and then I quietly shut the door behind us. I couldn't help but sigh once more. It felt good to be around people who weren't actively trying to kill us. Or worse.
"So, where have you been? None of us could get in touch with you- I had to file a missing persons report! What's going on? Nikai and Kozuna are all over the news!"
Chatty as usual. But, I'm glad to see her again. There's so much relief in hearing Yvira's voice.
"I'm sure they are." I rubbed my face and plunged down on a couch. "Can't say I missed all the questions, though. It's a long story- I'll give you the gist. We're still in the middle of a crisis. Zara, can you get in contact with Commander Kaiten?"
"Yes, but he's almost definitely preoccupied. I believe he's on his way back to the city, currently. What do you need to contact him for?"
"Can he get his hands on anti-curse rounds?"
"Possibly," Zara shrugged, pulling out her phone. "I can't say for sure."
My lips flattened, and my gaze briefly twisted toward my battered palms. "Get him on the line and headed our way. I'll try to explain as quick as I can."
Damn it all. If only Nikai had kept himself in check that night. Maybe we wouldn't be in this mess.
***
Maybe fifteen or twenty minutes passed during my explanation. The noisy chaos outside only grew louder as time went on.
"It's… hard to believe you guys went through all that," Yvira mumbled, almost biting her nails. "I'm just glad you guys made it out okay."
"'Okay' is a bit of an overstatement, Yvira. Both of our cursed friends are outside trying to kill each other. And they're blowing up The Primary in the process. We need to come up with a plan, fast."
"I'm more shocked at my own shortcoming," Zara muttered, gazing beyond her drapes at the flames in the distance. Her reflection in the sparkling window flashed a disheartening look of betrayal. "How did Shin fool me for so long? How did I never know of his lineage? I'm Zara-goddamn-Ozukashi!"
I'd told Yvira and Zara nearly the entire tale. Everything regarding Shin, his curse, and the council's experiments. I neglected to mention my personal feelings about our Shin situation, though. Yvira's jaw was left practically dropped the whole time, while Zara looked frustrated. Borderline pissed, at best.
Yvira averted her gaze. "He fooled all of us."
"No point in standing on it," I cut in, taking to my feet. "We have a situation outside. That needs our attention more than anything else right now." Even if I can't get Shin outta my head. "What did Kaiten say, Zara?"
Zara paused for a second. "H-he was on his way back with Izanai and Helix, attempting to meet with the Bahsin about the water source situation. Said they shouldn't be far."
"Perfect. We'll need to move quickly."
"We?" Zara scoffed, switching on her TV and the live helicopter feed of the destruction. "Yvira and I are still on suspension, Anari. We can't just go gallivanting into battle."
Aghh, she's right. Would be nice to have their expertise available, though.
"Fine. Can I leave Tyuyo here with you guys, then? My work isn't done yet-"
All of The Primary rumbled as if thunder boomed from the dirt itself. The world shook violently. Furniture lifted off and started flying. Everyone in the room dropped to the floor and grabbed onto whatever they could for whatever good it would do. It felt like Zara's home would collapse.
Felt a tremor just like that on my way, but this was MUCH stronger!
It'd only lasted for a few moments, but the earthquake was enough to make the four of us dash outside. We watched the massive apparition of darkness among the flickering inferno in the distance. It didn't take any of us long to realize that Nikai's shadows had grown significantly. And beyond that, Nikai's transformation was beginning to look different.
"Things are escalating. Fast." I wiped the sweat from my forehead. "Where the hell is Commander Kaiten?"
"Up here! Make some room! We're coming down!"
Huh?
Our wide gazes twisted upward as an attack chopper's blades whirred overhead. We backed ourselves to Zara's front door. At least a dozen more were stationary in the sky. Kaiten knelt at the edge of the doorway, waving. His heli had already begun its descent toward the plateau, and he hopped outside the moment it landed.
"I called the cavalry in! Someone order a ride?"
I saluted the commander and stepped forward. "Reporting for duty, sir!"
Kaiten opened his mouth, but he didn't get another syllable out. Izanai peered out from inside the chopper, yelling, "Everyone load in! We'll need all hands on deck if shit goes any further south!"
Everyone?
"Hold it- Yvira and I are still on suspension-"
"I don't give a shit, Zara. Consider your suspensions lifted for the time being. Get in the damn chopper already! We need to put a stop to this curse wielder!"
Zara groaned in pure frustration. It was very clear she didn't wanna be included. Meanwhile, Yvira kinda looked to me for leadership. All I could do was nod toward the chopper. Orders were orders. Couldn't exactly defy the clan leader himself.
"Stay inside, Ty," I mumbled, boarding the chopper with my allies. "We'll be back soon."
***
The winds picked up immediately, and so did we. As our chopper blades spun, we took to the skies, and Helix flew us in Nikai's direction. All the other choppers followed in formation. I geared up for battle in the background, while Yvira stocked her satchels with medical supplies. Zara merely took a seat further back in the long chopper and folded her legs. She gazed through the glass at the destruction. A bright orange tint illuminated the contours of her face.
"First a failure to communicate with those damn Bahsin, and now this?" Izanai wiped his sweaty face down with an impatient groan. "Getting real sick of this shit."
Kaiten joined Helix in the cockpit, keeping a close eye on Nikai's transformation as we approached. "I warned you it was a bad idea to steal their water source, Izanai."
"We need it more than they do."
"Yes, but there might've been another way to go about it."
"Correct. We should've just marched in and burned their homes to the ground."
Kaiten shook his head. "We can worry about the Bahsin later, Izanai. We have a curse wielder to stop."
Hearing Kaiten's words, something clicked in my brain. Yvira and I turned toward one another immediately and silently.
It sounds like Kaiten hasn't name-dropped Nikai to Izanai. Maybe we can still salvage this situation.
"I'd like to capture them alive if possible. That kind of power could be useful." Izanai loaded a gun of his own. "But if not, be prepared to put that monstrosity down for good."
Yvira approached my side. The two of us stared through the window together with indecision. Craters, flattened homes, charred corpses, wildfires, and clouds of smog and smoke were everywhere. As far as the eye could see. The Primary had become a bloody ground zero for the power of Nikai's curse to run unchecked, and most of the central district had been reduced to ashen sand. I couldn't stop my face from twitching.
Could I bring myself to fire on a childhood friend? To kill him?
My heart began beating like a drum again. My thoughts raced when reality really began to set in.
There's no way Izanai will spare Nikai. His curse isn't anything like Kozuna's. He can't even control it!
"Any more reports of Kozuna?"
"None, Lord Izanai. They stopped coming in a little while ago. He may have been killed by this new curse wielder."
"Figures. Fuckin' weakling," Izanai muttered. "Just take us closer, Helix. And Kaiten? Prepare to give the order."
"Y-yeah…"
My hands trembled, listening to Helix, Izanai, and Kaiten.
Just feels like we knew it was coming to this. But why does it have to come to this? Why can't there be another way?
"We're closing in. Prepare to engage."
Helix's few words echoed in my head, leaving me unable to blink as I watched the choppers begin to circle Nikai and his shadow transformation. Kaiten immediately got on the radio and began issuing orders.
However, Nikai wasn't waiting at all. His transformation lifted its enormous, shadow-and-bone-cloaked arms, releasing a mixture of electrical and icy blasts. Both of which caught my attention, and forced the chopper pilots to take evasive maneuvers. Hell, in one instant, half of our forces were struck by one cursed power or another, leaving them plummeting into the infernal depths below.
We were lucky enough to have Helix as our pilot. I didn't realize just how skilled he was. He actually managed to avoid Nikai's wild burst-blazing senten blasts. Still, the glimmering reflection of burning choppers plummeting to their demise shined in Izanai's eyes.
"Forget the strategy, Kaiten. Let the men know to fire at will. Dig that vermin a wide grave."
Izanai was the only one who wasn't speechless. The rest of us were shocked. How the hell was Nikai shooting ice at us!? Ice! Another form of water in a world where it never rained!
How is this possible!?
"Hold on a second- Zara, look!" Yvira pointed past the window as Zara joined us. "Isn't that the boy from Sand Tower?"
Sand Tower? He was locked up in Sand Tower? With Kozuna!?
I noticed right after Yvira did. Another curse wielder standing on Nikai's shadowy shoulder, and firing icy blasts of his own. Had he somehow lent his power to Nikai? Where had he even come from!? My eyes started twitching, and I felt my skin heating up. Everything was beginning to feel like a crock of shit as the dots connected.
First, there was the setup and capture of my friends and me! Then, there was the subterranean lair where the council conducts inhumane experiments! And NOW there's a curse wielder with the power to create ice!? Why did we even risk our lives treading in Bahsin Territory!? We're on the brink of war now!
There was but one soul with the answer to my newest, burning question. I slowly turned toward Izanai, twitching and hesitating to aim one of my pistols at him. He was definitely hiding something. But I couldn't bring myself to shoot. Not when I heard Kaiten clearing his throat over a staticky radio.
"All units, this is Commander Kaiten. Use everything at your disposal. Blow up the curse wielder."
His commands cut straight to my heart, leaving my mind fuzzy and almost blank. What he'd really said was to blow up Nikai. That was what Yvira and I had heard, at least. Our narrowing gazes met momentarily. I knew that Nikai needed to be stopped, or the entire clan would be left in ruins. I knew it- I understood- but that didn't make processing reality anyeasier. And if I was having trouble, that meant Yvira was definitely struggling more than I was.
After all we went through to try and protect you. All of this death and destruction. All of this mayhem. If you're still in there, what is going through your mind right now, Nikai?