Part Two: The Next Generation

Part Two: The Next Generation

 

 

Two years later;

 

(No More Words �" Ayumi Hamasaki)

 

The desert of the Gold Nation is vast. It’s hard to find shade and shelter from the intense rays of the sun. Clouds barely form in the sky and there are no such things as valleys of trees. Dusk and Dawn were the only two times of day the people were relieved from them. It takes days to travel from village to village and months to cross the desert by foot. Most would cross using sand gliders and camels. Sandstorms are common occurrences, rain is a rarity, and water is scarce.

In this spot they found a watering hole, plants, flowers and trees that have fruits on them. The ground is shaded and a gentle breeze provides cooling air. The sun makes the dirt and sand sparkle like little crystals. Water flows into the watering hole from a small waterfall streaming out the side of a cliff on the far end. Under this cliff is where Argento and his family reside.

The hideout was only minutes away from the Gold Nation’s capital where they would go to get food and supplies. Many times, Argento would take Sephora with him and during these two years he began to fit in with the Orenji clan. They weren’t much different from his clan, the Aka. They just lived in a desert setting instead of a forestry area. In town, he keeps up with the gossips between the two nations as well as the gossip within this nation. His name had become well known and his research was even better known. He heard rumors of another war, but nothing had happened so far. The Murasaki clan is doing a good job at keeping the two nations at bay.

            The world was too calm for Argento’s liking, but that means that many won’t have to go through the things he had been through. He became comfortable with his new life knowing that his friends and daughter will be in it forever. In a dark corner of his heart, he has a feeling of detest towards his daughter who looks like his traitorous wife as she gets older.

In the market, one day, he meets his future second love of his life. Her name is Kiya and she is from the Orenji clan. She has long gorgeous orange hair and green eyes. He has admired her from a far and she has admired him from a far too. She wasn’t used to seeing a single parent that was a man. She approaches Sephora who was trying to reach fruits laying in one of the stands. She hands her the banana she struggled to reach. Argento notices her with his daughter and is elated. He introduces himself to her and her to him. He is surprised to learn that she doesn’t have any children at the age of twenty-seven and she is the family doctor to the leaders of the Orenji clan, the Malik family. Every day after that, they see each other more and more, eventually became romantically involved and within a couple months she was pregnant with her first child. Oddly enough, the lady of the Malik family was also pregnant, but she was a few months ahead of Kiya.

A few months later, it was time for Kiya to deliver the baby for the Malik family. She enters the birthing room ready for a quick, easy and smooth procedure but the birthing room was in a different location. This room had no windows, candles light the room. The mother lies on her back on the table waiting to receive a C-section. Two nuns, a monk, and a priest-each occupy one of the corners in the room. Demonic wards are hanging from the ceilings and plastered on the walls. Prayer beads are around the mother’s neck and a Shaman places his hands over her stomach. Kiya could see that this wasn’t going to be a normal birth.

She and the other nurses prepare for the birth. The mother clutches onto the table as Kiya makes an incision with her knife. As she cuts she notices that there is little liquid coming from the opening. She feels uneasy and is hesitant about continuing, but she must. As she continues some more liquid comes out but as it spills it turns from a clear color to a thick, black substance. Kiya and the other nurses are finding it hard to breathe and are worried about the mother. The father insists they continue so they do. As she finishes making the slit, more and more black gook comes spilling out. The mother is horrified to see this coming out of her.

“It’s a monster! It’s a monster! Don’t let it out!” She screams hysterically.

“Don’t stop, finish delivering this baby!” The father demands.

“But sir, this baby isn’t coming out easily. If we force it, she may die.” Kiya warns.

“Did I ask you to question my judgment? Deliver that baby, now!”

Kiya reaches in and feels for its head, but all she can feel is slime. She removes her hand and examines the body to see something moving from her womb towards her mouth. As the mother screams eventually she begins to choke. Kiya rushes to her head and shines the flashlight into her mouth. In its depths, she sees something white working its way to the surface. The mother regurgitates and the white substance along with more black fluids that were in her throat escapes, lands on the floor and cracks. The mother falls silent. What had escaped her was an egg. On the floor it moves back and forth and finally cracks open completely. Inside is a mutant of some kind, a human baby with the appearance of a snake, a human baby with a spiritual tie to the Orenji spider…a monster.

“Your work here is done. Tell no one of this or face the consequences.” Kiya understands and rushes home.

            Kiya, knowing who Argento really is, is fearful of her own pregnancy. She tells him what happened hoping he would know if she was at risk or not.

“Did she have the mark?”Kiya had to think back.

“I remember seeing a mark on the baby. It was a‘t’.”She thought harder. When she examined her body she did see a mark on her neck.

“It looked like the letter ‘u’, a cursive one maybe?”

“Mu, the Greek letter for Mu was on her neck. The baby had Tau on his.

“Michael had a mark too- Rho I guess you can say if it’s a Greek letter.”

“It would seem that he had placed the curse mark on the mother before she gave birth which lead to her death when she bore the child. As for the child, through that birthing process it must have been born that way or he injected the serum into the fetus.”

“It seems like for women, this Grecian mark is more of a burden than anything.”

“It would seem so; he should have waited until after the baby was born.”

“How do you know?”

“Because I waited, but, the only reason Sephora is alive is because I gave her the mark.”

“Does that mean she can’t have any children?”

“I would hope not but if so…”

 

Fourteen years later;

 

(Beyond Recourse �" Patrick Laird)

 

After decades of peace, war plagues the planet once again. With the genocide of the Bronze Nation by their own leader, the Gold and Silver Nations are no longer in a forced amnesty. Michael Malik of the Orenji clan set off the first attack by summoning his son’s abnormal spiritual guide- the Black Widow Cobra. Wiping out most of the Ao clan, the Silver nation is at a disadvantage. Both nations are trying to recruit the sole survivor of the Murasaki clan- Leon Paladin. Oro, once again starts training his youth and one day he and his team happened to come across their last team member.

In the dense forest that occupies most of the nation, Oro is training two of his youths; Hiro Rospo and Hellina Aktina. While running through their obstacle course route they use for training, Hiro spots something poking out from a bush. He thinks he has spotted a trap and throws his kunai to trigger it. The object in the bush begins to move around. Hiro gets ready to strike again. He sneaks up from the other side of the bush and pulls back a branch to see what is hiding in there. The leaves gently fall of the branch and onto the face of a sleeping boy. He had pulled the kunai out of his leg, holds it in his left hand and rolled over onto his back facing the direction of the attack; he is still sleeping. Hiro slowly approaches him, reaching for the kunai. When he is just about to touch the tip of the blade, the boy’s right hand swiftly grips his wrist and forces the rest of Hiro’s body to flip over the bush causing him to land on his back. The boy finally wakes up and rises from the bushes. He wipes the dirt and leaves off his clothes and cracks his neck and back. Hiro jumps up onto his feet. His dark blue hair is covered in dirt with leaves sticking out in every direction. His deep blue eyes become fierce.

“Is this yours?” The boy asks.

“Who are you? Are you of the Gold Nation? State your name!”

“You never answered my question, so I will take that as a ‘yes’”.

“I didn’t, so what are you going to do about it. You’re in my territory.”

The boy reaches back into the bushes and grabs his shuriken. Opening his eyes, the mark of the dead shows in them, the mark of the Murasaki clan, the purple eyes with yellow ring around the pupils like a solar eclipse shinning upon the sky of dawn. On his neck is the mark of the Great White Wolf.

“Am I now, last time I checked I was welcomed anywhere!” He winds up his arm and throws his shuriken at Hiro. Hiro dodges the attack and sends five kunai flying at the boy. The boy pulls out his single kunai and swats each of them away successfully while catching his shuriken that has returned to him. On a tree branch, Hiro attacks from overhead throwing a smoke bomb to provide cover. The boy sees right through it and positions himself under the tree Hiro attacked from. When he lands, the boy grabs him by the arm and again flips him over.

“Too easy.” He puts his shuriken back in its holster and starts to walk away. Hiro gets back onto his feet.

“Hey, I know you’re not walking away from me! I won’t let you get away that easily!” Hiro charges only to be tripped by the boy’s foot.

“The name’s Lucas Paladin-remember it.” As he turn takes a step his stops midstride. A second later an arrow flies by right in front of him, two inches from his face. From the treetops Hellina and Oro block his path.

“Are you okay, Hiro?”

“I’m…”

“Nothing is wrong with him, Hellina. What I don’t understand is why he’s on the ground with no injuries.” Oro is disappointed. Hiro rises to his feet again and hangs his head.

“And who are you, son? Are you training under another Mentor?” Oro takes a closer look at the boy to see that he is from the Murasaki clan.

“You know who I am, I’m sure. You know the traitor of my clan, the one who looks exactly like me, Leon Paladin-my brother.”

“Lucas Paladin was it, the only other survivor of that massacre.” He nods with his head.

“A Murasaki! No one has seen one in years. You’ve been wandering alone all this time?” Hellina indicates her concern.

“Yes and...”

“What do you intend on doing? Are you with the Silver Nation or the Gold?” Hiro wants to know if he can take him out or not.

“Neither. As long as I am alive there is still a Murasaki clan.” Oro smirks.

“Good answer, but can you really ward off those from both sides, alone?” Oro wonders. “Can you keep fighting every battle that comes your way? That will only get you so far and the minute you rest will be the end of you.” Lucas doesn’t respond.

“Join us. Oro is the best Mentor out there. He takes in anyone. I am from the Kiiro clan, the Gold Nation but Oro has been training me regardless.”

“Yes, I may be leader of the Aka clan, but my heart goes out to any orphan from any nation. Those willing to set aside differences are the one I accept.”

“Yeah, we’re a secret group of ninjas who can turn the tide of this war. From both sides we can those who cannot protect themselves from the ravages of war. With you, we can protect all sides and create unity in an even greater nation- the nation of earth.”

Lucas laughs and replies, “Thanks for the inspirational speech but even without it I would take you up on your offer.” He turns to Oro. “I know who you are too. You trained Argento, the Silver Snake; the only man who rivals my brother. I have to start somewhere so might as well learn from one of the best- Mentor Oro, I will join your team.”

 

One Year Later;

 

(Light Dance �" Jia Peng Fang)

 

Leaving his identity behind, he searches for the one man who rivals his brother. In the deserts of the Gold Nation he wanders. He has heard rumors of sightings. They would say, “He appears from the green and then disappears into the blue.” There weren’t many places in this vast desert the supported greenery. His search leads him to a small forest just outside of the capital of the Gold Nation. In the forest he comes across a small watering hole. No animals are at this watering hole though. The only sign of life are the few birds chirping from the trees above and the bugs silently moving about the area. Walking through the forest, he stumbles across a boulder with vines wrapped around it. Behind it is a nest of snakes, mother, her babies and more eggs. He feels like he is in the right spot. He decides to wait until night to see if anything would happen.

            When the moon is high in the night sky, its light reflects on the water and creates little pools of light through the openings in the trees. He sleeps with one eye open, waiting for any kind of commotion. Finally, he hears a strange noise. It’s coming from a distance and is muffled by another sound. He slowly army crawls towards the sounds. As he gets closer he sees two shadows in the distance. Standing in the water are two people talking; one is male the other is female. The male dives into the water leaving the female who still stands in the water. She turns around and heads towards land. She had something tied to her back. As the figure gets closer to the edge of the water she slows down his walking pace. It seems that he feels a presence. She decides to sit on the water’s edge. Pretending that she doesn’t know someone is watching her, she begins to sing a lullaby, “Bless the child from the earth we love. Bless the vision he has for your soul. Will it come? Lying down by the bay, winter came in May. Beauty of its frailness or is beauty frail? I got to say, you became sun’s rays. I see more than you are or are you more? Bless the angels from heaven above. Bless the devil from haters of God. Will they come? Heaven’s gates opened your way, heavenly applause was gay. I see the living of the dead or is the dead living? May these prayers reach through and guide you to rest in peace, my dear”

Memorized by the lullaby, he failed to notice that as the girl was singing it she walked closer and closer to his location until she spotted him. She had pulled out a blade hidden in her umbrella.

“I thought someone was spying on me. Not many people come here, so I can tell when something’s out of place.”

“I was just passing by; this place is just another stop in my mission.”

“Oh, I see. And where does this journey end?”

“When I defeat the traitor after I find the master.”

“You like to talk in riddles I see. So who are you looking for?”

“The man known as the ‘marked one’, ‘the silver snake’- Argento.”

“Argento, huh. Hmm, what if I told you I know where to find him?”

“Then my journey will begin.”

“Why should I take you to him, what makes you so special?”

“Leon Paladin; murderer of the Murasaki clan, destroyer of the Bronze Nation is my brother.”

“Oh, I see. Revenge then. So be it.” She turns around and walks towards the water. Lucas follows.

“Oh and by the way, my name is Ayesha.” She stops in the water just before a drop off.

“I hope you can hold your breath.” She dives in and he follows. Swimming through the water, Lucas can hardly see where he is going because the water is so dark and murky. In the darkest of depth he begins to see a faint light in the distance. The light became brighter and brighter until they could see its source; in an underwater cavern stood torches that light the hall way to a metal door. As they rose out the water, both had to catch their breath before proceeding. Ayesha squeezes the water out of her orange hair and ties it back, revealing the mark on her neck.

“Is that one of the Grecian curse marks?”

“Yes, everyone in the Midori clan has one.”

“Midori?”

“Yes, all those who wanted to wipe out the Murasaki clan joined this clan, but now with them gone most of the clan dispersed. We were all given a Grecian curse mark. Mine is Zeta.”

“Argento wanted to wipe out the Murasaki?”

“Yes, but your brother took care of that. They were too big of a threat to both nations and would have eventually tried to rule over both. I would say your brother made a good move.”

Lucas ponders her words.

“You still want to train under him?”

Lucas stands up and continues to walk forward and says, “Of course I do, I wouldn’t have come all this way for nothing.”

Ayesha gets up and grabs a torch to light the way. At the door, with her right hand she places her palm on the door and with her left hand she uses her first and middle finger to touch her curse mark. Silver light shines from her right hand to her left and then examines her green eyes. The door opens. At the end of their travel, through maze-like corridors, they arrive at the main base.

 

(Silent Moon- Jia Peng Fang)

 

In the dining hall, the clan sits eating dinner. Lucas thinks there would be more of them but there are only them and five others, but the one person he is here to see is missing.

“Well, this is what is left of the Midori clan; myself, my sister Milan, her boyfriend Malechi, my mother Kiya, and my ‘uncles’ Gris, Weiss and Nero. As you can see, Argento is not here at the moment and my half-sister is God knows where. Everyone this is Lucas Paladin, the only other survivor of the Murasaki clan. He wants father as his mentor.”

“Father?!”

 “Yes, father.”

“The Murasaki clan you say? I’m honored to be in your presence.” Argento says as he steps out of the shadows. Lucas didn’t even feel his presence which caught him off guard.

“Argento, the Silver Snake, I would be honored to be mentored by you. My strength does not rival my brother’s. You are the only one who can accelerate my powers; you the one who can bless those with the Grecian curse mark”.

“You of the Murasaki clan, blessed with the Evil Eye and the mark of the Great White Wolf wants to rely on another power to beat his brother instead of using the gifts you already have?” Lucas admits, “Yes, my brother had obtained the Grecian Mark during our childhood in the Silver Nation. I don’t know how he received it or from whom but with that power, it far exceeds my own.”

“Interesting. It wasn’t I who gave it to him but I can think of one person who might, but I don’t know why. Fine, I will train you because I have a feeling that someone is preparing for a battle, a battle only you, your brother, that person and I can duel out.” He draws his X-blade and separates it so one blade is in each hand.

“Let us begin”.

 

Two years earlier,

 

(Gypsy- Black Violin)

 

In the capital city of the Gold Nation, she walks through the streets to meet him at their secret hiding place.  There are not many quiet places in the city but they have found one place to call their own. It isn’t easy for her to meet him; he is the son of the Orenji clan leader, the one most feared by his own clan.

Ever since his birth, Malechi Malik was treated as a black sheep of the clan. No one would befriend him, no one would make him angry, and no one would acknowledge his existence. Harboring the spirit of the Black Widow Cobra and not knowing how to control it was what drove most people away. He would produce random cobwebs, shed dead skin occasionally and even spit venom at times. His father neglected him due to his lack of control over his own son as well as for causing the death of his wife by his birth. Michael Malik regretted his decision about producing this “monster” that he couldn’t use to his advantage.

The only person that saw the person underneath it all was Milan. Milan had meet Malechi one day while she was in the city running errands with Nero. She had run off when she realized that she had lost her lucky charm, an exoskeleton of a crayfish. Hoping no one had stepped on it since she lost it, she traced back her tracks. Her search lead her to a boy who was hiding under a slide in the park; the park was one of the run-down ones and the slide was built into a hollow structure of a porcupine with two openings were its eyes would be. He was poking at the exoskeleton wondering why it had the form of an animal but it wasn’t.

“It’s the exoskeleton of a crayfish.” Milan told the boy.

“Exoskeleton?”

“Yeah, a crayfish sheds it when its new ‘skin’ comes in.”

Malechi examines it and then pulls off some of the dead skin on his finger.

“Like this?” He holds his dead skin up to show her. Milan notices the scales on his skin and well as the little prickles of hair.

“Yeah, something like that. But why is your skin scales?” The boy stares at his arms and hands.

“Because I am a monster!” He says as he hisses at her, unintentionally.

“You’re not a monster; you’re just different than most- special. Your spirit is expressed more than most.” She takes his hands, “You have a greater connection with your spiritual guide.”

He takes his hands out of hers and folds them into his shirt.

“But, I can’t control it.”

“You will in time. You have plenty of time to master your handle on it. You’re pretty lucky to have one at this age.” Nero finally finds were Milan had gone. Malechi and Milan are startled, but Milan regains composure and states, “Yes you are, I have yet to get mine.

“You see that mark on your neck; you have been blessed with the spiritual power of both the snake and the spider. Two beings are within you, battling for supremacy. It is your duty to keep them at peace.” Malechi touched the mark on his neck.

“Hey, if you’re ever looking for a place to belong, the Midori clan welcomes you!” Milan said gleefully as she picked up the exoskeleton she dropped and holds it out to him as a gift. He untangles his arms from his shirt and takes the exoskeleton.

Nero sees the mark on the boy’s neck and knows who he is. Getting him to join them may be difficult but it may also be easy.

On this day, Milan was going to meet him after not seeing him for weeks. She had been in the Silver Nation looking for her sister. At the time she didn’t know why she was there. Sitting in the abandoned park under the slide she waits. Evening comes and there still is no sign of Malechi. Has something happened to him? She thought. She heads home but on her walk home she overhears a conversation between the bakery shop owner and a customer.

“Did you hear? Our leader has finally taken action since the Murasaki clan was slaughtered by one of their own.”

“Yeah, something went down this morning in the Ao clan territory.”

“Yes. He made the first strike in the war. He used his son to unleash the Black Widow Snake on the Ao clan.”

“So war begins again?”
“I suppose so. Some of their clan members kidnapped one of our officials and held him for ransom, pretty much begging for retaliation. So we did. They were a group of rebels who wanted to crush our clan and nation so we had to make sure we wiped them all out.”

 

(Vivre Pour Vivre- Francis Lai)

 

Milan in shock rushes home to see if everyone else knew what was going on and to ask her mother for assistance in retrieving Malechi from his vicious father. When she approaches the watering hole she notices a body lying on the ground on the edge of the water. Walking closer she sees that it is Malechi. Not wondering how he knew where she lived because she had never shown or told him, she takes him to the hideout with instinct. Inside, she places him on the table in the kitchen and grabs a damp cloth and wets it. She wipes all the sand, dirt, leaves, pollen and anything else from nature off his body. He has small scratches across his torso and a bruise on his leg. Feeling her cleaning his body off, he regains consciousness. He tries to sit up but it is too painful. She places her hand on the back of his head so he can slowly lie down without slamming his head on the table.

With enough energy he speaks, “I thought they had captured you. My father had told me so. I don’t know what came over me. I felt overwhelming rage and blacked out. Next I see myself in an out of body experience. I see myself attacking the Ao clan’s main village. I see the people running away in fear, unarmed, women and children and men crying…running for their lives. I see a massive fire with me at the center of it unable to control myself as it travels along the threads of the cobwebs. I see the city officials trying to fight back but all were thrown into a giant web poisoned with venom; in a hopeless struggle trying to escape. I plow through the town, looking for you, causing destruction everywhere I go. Finally realizing you are not there I begin to calm down. Next thing I know, I am hear with you. Where are we? Did I rescue you?”

Milan washes the cloth in the sink. “Yes, I was in the Silver Nation. I went to the Ao clan to find my sister who had left a week ago to find someone who lives there. No one captured me; I went on my own free will. After a week of searching I returned this morning hoping to meet you at our usual spot. I left a letter for you there which I’m guessing you didn’t receive. On my way home, I overhear what you did and rush home. I find you and we’re in my home now.” She finishes washing out the cloth. “I should have told you in person where I was going, I’m so sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault. My father is manipulative and ruthless and…”She puts her finger over his mouth.

“I’m happy that you wanted me to protect me, thank you.” Malechi stares away, he can feel himself blushing. She bends over to hug him and kisses him on the cheek. “You can stay here if you want, I don’t mind.”

“I just might take you up on that offer.” They gaze into each other’s eyes.

“I don’t know how your father will feel about that.” Kiya walks into the room holding her whip and they separate. She examines the boy and says, “Although you are one of us.” She taps her Grecian curse mark-Epsilon. Milan touches her mark, the mark of Theta. “You remind me of my husband. Actually, you both have similar appearances. You’ll fit right in, Malechi Malik.”

“You know who I am?”

“Of course I do, I delivered you. I was your mother’s family doctor, but we all know how that ended. You’re less of a monster than I thought you would be, though.”

“I’m not a monster!” “He’s not a monster!” They say simultaneously.

“I guess you’re right. The real monster is your father.” She walks away leaving them confused. Kiya was responding to Malechi but looked at Milan.