Arc 1:
Part 4: Dirge of the Black Wolf
**Five years ago**
It was almost sundown in this grassy region. The fields that were normally green during the day were a soft orange that shrouded the tectonic plates lying jagged all around the plains. In the center was the Valley Kingdom. A huge city with walls that wrapped around and stood as tall as some of the buildings within, meters and meters high.
Today was not like any other normal day, however. It was the conclusion of the Kingdom's Guild Draft.
Standing above the Kingdom walls, overlooking the orange valleys from outside, a male with long, shoulder-length orange hair, that resembled flaming wisps, stood holding a red poncho-like cloak to his side. He had yet to put it on, and it seemed brand new.
"I did it, Mother… My friends… Family… Shelly… I made it into a Valley Kingdom Guild!" He said out loud to himself.
At this time, a young male, similar in age, said from behind him. His hair was medium length and had black bangs that hung just over his right eye, obscuring it slightly. The back was spiked in a messy yet fixed manner. He had simple, dirty silver hooped earrings on his lobes, and he wore all black for the most part—minus the white muscle shirt he wore underneath his jacket. The jacket he wore was a charcoal dark gray with the trim of the hood a black fur, and in the back was the logo of an embroidered black wolf head. He made his way next to the other male, admiring the sunset they had both stared as he said to him, "So you gonna throw that on yet or what?"
The orange-haired male simply chuckled, then gave a tired but cheery smile to the other male next to him now, "I'm just being sentimental before I make things official, is all! I see you're wearing that jacket proudly. That makes me glad… I heard other newbies talking bad about that Guild. But I don't believe in a bad Guild, I believe in a bad leader. And it doesn't seem like that Captain of yours is one. He has a good aura about him."
"The Guild doesn't make the mage, the mage makes the…" Refusing to sound corny, he didn't finish his sentence. "You get the point. And yeah, he's just a massive dork. Nothing wrong with that though," the black-haired male said, hands in his jacket pockets all the while.
"I like this side of you! You've changed a lot in the last twenty-four hours!" the orange-haired male replied with a cheerful expression.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Well, when we first met, you refused to make friends. Now look at us!"
"So we're friends now?"
The orange-haired male only smiled widely to that.
"Your positivity is repulsive," the black-haired male added.
There was a short silence between them, and nothing was said for a good ten to fifteen seconds… But right then, both males snickered and then built up a shared, joyous laugh. Not because anything was particularly funny but because they simply felt happy in that moment.
"If nothing else, I just wanna say thank you, Ryo," the black-haired male said kindly.
Ryo blinked, then returned the friendly gesture. "No, thank you, Greed. You and the others. Without you guys, I wouldn't have made it this far."
Greed closed his eyes for a short moment and opened them again. The sunset proceeded to hide deeper into the mountains in the far distance.
"Yeah, yeah, don't mention it. You can pay me back with a meal or something." He smirked.
About this same time, three other males joined them. Each one sporting different attire from other Guilds and each one unique to their own.
"Damn, I didn't know you two were like that. Why don't you get a room or something!" Another male behind them shouted jestingly, laughing toward the end. To which Greed threw a vulgar middle finger up to him in response.
The male had long black hair that was tied up in a ponytail. He wore a black, worn-down headband that had seen better days. Arms up and hands behind his head, his eyes were the color yellow, and his pupils looked like small, black stars within them. And he wore a Green Owl Knights poncho.
He was on the right from another male who had dark, reddish-purple short hair. His eyes were a mesh of both red and blue, like the two colors should have fused to make purple but didn't. He wore a Purple Panther Knights robe.
And on that male's left was a cool-looking male with blond hair and blue-iced tips, spiked up, with a strand of stray hair that fell over his right eye. He wore dangling silver earrings in the shape of swords and was wearing rounded shades with thin rims. His eyes behind them were a blueish-white, and they seemed to match the color contrast of his heavy-looking coat jacket, which was the Silver Shark Knights uniform.
"Nice of you all to join us! And congrats on making your Guilds, Rex, Zeno, Snow!" Ryo said to them all happily.
"Likewise! It was such an honor battling next to you all!" the one in the Purple Panthers robe, Zeno, said. His voice was jagged, but it carried a light, pleasant tone.
"Gotta admit, it was pretty cool. You guys sure know how to fight. I'll give you that. Would have been cooler if we all made it into the same Guild, though, but I guess it couldn't be helped. At least this way, I can move up without you dingbats in the way!" said the male in the Silver Sharks coat jacket, Snow. His voice was cool and friendly with rivalry etched in his tone.
"Look at us! All getting along now, when we were at each other's throats for the most part during this whole Draft! Well… in the beginning, at least," joked the male with the Green Owls poncho, Rex. The manner in which he spoke was a bit annoying, but we welcomed it regardless.
"I think, something more valuable that we passed with along with our respected Guilds was the friendship that we made—one that cannot be unshaken or broken!" Ryo said as he and Greed met with the other three toward the middle of the high wall they all stood upon.
They all gave him odd, contorted looks as he said that.
"Are you guys' cringing?" Ryo asked obliviously.
"Yes."
"Absolutely."
"Utterly."
"I don't think we can be friends anymore." Greed ended.
"Ha!? So, we were friends after all!" Ryo whipped his head back to him and grabbed his shoulders, shaking Greed back and forth as he held a bored look on his face all the while.
Ryo then gave a big smile then threw a fist in the middle of them all. They all looked and did nothing for a few seconds, but then in consecutive motion, Rex joined his fist next, then Zeno, then Snow, and lastly…
Greed inhaled and exhaled deeply, finally putting his fist last into the group.
"Gonna miss you assholes," he said sarcastically.
"Likewise! I'm sure we'll see plenty of each other. Our Guilds might be separate, but we're still part of the same Kingdom, you know?" Zeno replied.
"Oh! Maybe we'll get a chance to fight together in a group mission one of these days! That would be so sick!" Rex bantered on.
"Well, get stronger first so you don't hold the rest of us back, or better yet, kick the can on the battlefield!" Snow jabbed at Rex.
"Speak for yourself! I carried this team on the second round. Did you forget? Must be tough having nothing between those ears except steam for brains!" he countered.
"At least I'm not some whiny-ass-googly-eyed idiot!"
"Watch it, you four-eyed-seaweed-haired twat, I'll end you!"
Zeno remained in the middle of them with a pleasant, yet nervous, expression on his face as they bickered.
Ryo lowered his head and closed his eyes. He didn't want this moment to end. During the whole Kingdom's Guild Draft, it was them five who had each other's backs and passed together into different Guilds. Though they will be separated now because of that, he will never forget them and what they meant to him now.
"Let's not forget this day! I promise to have any one of your backs if you need it whenever you need it. You have my word," he said with his large yellow eyes blazing.
They all felt a surge of inspiration in that moment, and each promised the same thing. This was the pact that made them brothers.
As they finished up and the sun began to disappear into the mountains, Ryo finally put on his red cloak. It had white ends that were shaped like flame cutouts, and the logo on the back was that of a white dragon symbolizing the Guild he was now a part of, the Crimson Dragon Knights.
The five males walked side by side off into the Kingdom to grab one last meal together, bantering the whole way.
"I think I'm gonna get a haircut after this!" Rex said.
"You should. If I didn't know any better, I'd mistake you for a chick… Not that the haircut would help you with that problem…" Snow jabbed.
Ryo laughed and added, "I was actually thinking of letting mine grow out a bit more!"
They continued their banter as it faded out. And it was at this time that Ryo noticed that Greed was not with them. When he turned around, he noticed Greed stopped in place behind the group.
Ryo stopped to look back to him at this moment as the other three males continued on without notice. They seemed to have gotten farther away than they just were a short second ago…
"Greed? You coming—" Ryo asked, startled. His eyes widened as he witnessed Greed's face. "H-Hey…" he uttered. "Is there something the matter, friend? Why do you… look that way?"
When Ryo witnessed his friend, he was smiling demonically with eyes widened and pupils dilated in a crazed manner. That wide, sinister smile and those shark-baring teeth… His face was a haunting sight.
"Greed. Answer. What is the matter?"
Before Ryo knew it, the area around them had completely changed. It was no longer the top of the walls they stood upon. The orange evening skies, the soft breeze… all of it was gone. Everything replaced… with pitch black.
Tell me… do I still not have the right to call you Ryo? Greed finally responded, but with an ethereal, distorted voice. The phrase was familiar… like he had just heard this a moment earlier.
When Ryo blinked, Greed's form had changed and distorted as well, blinking in and out. Ever-changing fade-ins of colors layered all over in what seemed like two dimensions. He had lost all form of normalcy.
"Tell me… Tell me… do I still… Tell me… do I still not… Ryo," he said again. His voice echoed in all directions as if he had multiplied, saying the phrase over and over at different times. Sounding even more distorted than the last—and then the last one… Do I still not have the right to call you Ryo… Like two voices speaking simultaneously. One a higher tone and the other a lower eerie tone. A disturbing sound.
"What is this? What is going on here?" Ryo demanded, not sure, even, if the one in front of him now was Greed or not.
Greed laughed maniacally. He stood there wearing a black tunic and black pants and boots now, like Ryo had blinked, and this was what he was now witnessing. It seemed as if darkness was seeping out of his attire. His black bangs covered the right part of his eye just barely.
Silent for a moment, Ryo thought to himself and realized…
He blinked again, and the pitch-black space they were in was no more. Instead, it was a wide-open space with nothing but a blue sky, some clouds, and an endless vast of calm water, which both he and Greed now stood upon.
He was no longer distorted, looking exactly as he was—shadows seeping out of his clothes. That pleasant, nonchalant smile across his face…
"I was there," he said as sound itself stopped. Like the sound of nothingness after snowfall.
The sky at this moment sped up, changing the time of day to dusk, then into night instantly. There were a multitude of stars in the night sky as they reflected on the still waters they stood upon. It looked as if the whole universe was above and below them all at once.
"Now I remember…" Ryo said, focusing now. He lowered his head but didn't stray his eyes away from the so-called 'Greed' in front of him.
He placed his left hand on his stomach. He knew there was a wound there from earlier, but he could not feel it now, nor was it there at all. His mind visualized the current situation at hand even though all his senses told him he was still reliving the past—that he was physically here.
"Mana Fusion… Balance," he chanted, commanding his aura. He inhaled and exhaled slowly, then said, "Is messing with my memories the way you intend to win since you cannot defeat me in a real battle? You're a shrewd Demon… Even stooping so low as to mimic my dear friend."
He adjusted his previous frantic reaction from earlier, slowing his heartbeat and assessing his situation more clearly now.
The Demon chuckled, "Commendable. You truly are the third strongest knight in the Valley." Shrugging its shoulders and closing its eyes, it resembled Greed more and more—even his mannerisms. Throwing its hands in its pockets, it opened its eyes in the process.
"Though, there is one thing that you are wrong about, Ryo…"
Both their eyes met at a stalemate. Both unwavering. Rivaled. Focused.
"My name may not be Greed, but this body is surely mine. The Greed you know is the true mimic… he… is the true imposter. He is lucky that we share similar features from his original form, minus the black hair..."
Ryo's eyebrow twitched as it said this. He wasn't sure what to make out of that—whether it be true or false. Though Demons did have a shared tendency to lie or share twisted information from the truth. He pocketed this information just in case and focused back on the situation at hand.
"You can be assured; I am not lying. If I was to lie, I'd have it more elaborate than that," it said, changing the topic swiftly, "To any case, you never cease to impress me, Ryo. Even here, you have full control over your mind. It was your subconscious that led you here with me. Not many have such precise control like you do… Be as it may… Even if you win here, can you get back to your body in the real world?"
It pointed to its chest and said, "Normally, you cut off a Demon's head to kill them. But since I am a possession and we are in a dream-state... You must manage to stab me. Here."
"I managed to stab you once. What makes you think I can't do it again?"
"I never said you couldn't..."
Ryo recalled the state he was in. His body was impaled. A shadowed spear struck him from behind, right through his stomach. Bleeding out but could not feel it at all in this moment. And he did not have the bandwidth to dwell on that thought for too long. Yet a thought kept creeping to him, Why was it telling me how to kill it?
He breathed in and exhaled out slowly, easing his mind.
"Calm your soul. Find your balance. Remain your unwavering eyes. And become the light," he whispered to himself the simple, yet reassuring words of this Captain, Ark. A phrase that always got him by, especially in hard times.
At this time, he summoned his two large claymores—Zeus and Hades—to his sides, and his blue flame mana aura found him and engulfed him once more. His eyes burned and glowed bright blue, just as they did before.
"Yes! Let us end this here and now, Ryo! Come slay me! Slay your best friend!" Greed—Demi shouted. Its eyes were wild with swirling darkness. Grin from ear to ear. He gestured to Ryo with open arms, welcoming him to a final battle to the death.
Right then, the two of them dashed forward. The sky changed back into day as the blue hue and the clouds reflected below their nearing as they rippled the water with each step.
CLASH!!
They bounced off each other from the impact. Dancing in the air in a series of close combat that trailed back down to the water. Flashbacks raced through Ryo's mind once more. Old memories of him and Greed, when they met. Their pact that they made. Cherished memories.
Maneuvering to the side, they ran parallel with each other on top of the mirrored vast sky and water that seemed to never end. Their eyes locked on each other as they drew in closer to strike. Ryo, with his left blade, struck down onto Demi. It blocked him with its forearm and made a metal clashing sound as the blade bore down with shocks of lightning all around them, running all the while; its teeth baring even more sinister each time it roared.
Another memory flooded in. It was that of five years ago as they headed to the Valley Kingdom, both of them looking at the massive city before them. Greed, bruised and battered, and Ryo, dingy in common villagers' clothes. Greed's eyes were without life, and Ryo's were that of concern. It had been the first time they met…
You've changed a lot in the last twenty-four hours...
He thought to himself at this time, Where did you come from, Greed? Why did you carry that sad look upon you...
Ryo's battle with Demi had become so intense that all that could be seen were blue and red lights and darkness clashing endlessly.
The look of pain. Loss...
Then, from below them, a large white pentagram formed right under their feet and over the water they stood. It glowed brightly and began to descend with them atop it, fighting still. It became like a platform as it descended deeper into the black nothingness below.
Within what seemed like a hole now, the water from above waterfalled down all around them, disappearing into the darkness they entered. All that remained was them, the pentagram, and the sounds of their clashing as they battled, continuing their chaotic, orchestrated waltz.
Upon the pentagram, a painting faded in as the previous white glow began to disappear, turning into pink rose petals fluttering up and away from under their feet where they battled. The platform they battled now floated in the middle of absolute darkness, and a colorful painting of a girl occupied the suspended platform. She had blonde hair, and her eyes were closed. Her delicate hands cupped just under her chin, and she was wearing a pure white dress, positioned in a leaned-back motion, almost like she was falling backward. The whole time Ryo fought, he couldn't help but notice as her name echoed endlessly in his head, Shelly… Shelly… Shelly! His love interest back in the small village he had been raised in…
***
I'm sorry… he said quietly in his mind as he recalled an agonizing memory… There in the rain, Ryo knelt. His clothes wet. His mood, somber. The Crimson Dragon uniform and logo on his back, soaked and lost all its meaning. In his arms was a girl with blonde hair and a white dress, not only soaked from the rain… but soaked in red.
Blood gushed from her mouth as the puddle they were in began to match Ryo's red uniform. The light in her eyes was fading as she used whatever was left of her energy to turn her head ever so slightly to him, mouthing something inaudible. Three words. Eight letters…
"Shelly… I lo—"
***
Ryo inhaled viciously, long and drawn out. His eyes were wide open as his mind stopped. His body was still fighting off Demi in Greed's form unconsciously. But subconsciously, fighting an internal battle within the dream he was currently in. A dream within a dream.
I can't… I can't let it distract me.
It's not a distraction... it's concentration.
He argued with himself.
The sounds of their battle muffled, fading farther and farther away as the soft voice of a girl engulfed his mind, Ryo.
His inhale was quiet and sharp as his eyes twitched to the sound of the girl he sensed behind him. Her sweet, gentle voice… Ryo.
When he looked, Greed was gone and the girl whom he had held in the rain—the red gone from her mouth—stood there some feet away from him. Ryo was speechless as he tried to utter those same three words—eight letters to her, "Shelly I—". But she interrupted him, holding his large blade on the other end so delicately, directly to her heart. And then her next word, the sole word, became enough to bring him back from his delusions… Win.
STAB!
A pierce through a body echoed. Only darkness filled the space. Ryo had closed his eyes, and the colorful lights from the platform had stopped shining, only revealing the two figures standing inches away from each other atop the endless darkness.
Black claws pierced through Ryo at his center… missing his heart. And two large claymores cross-stabbed into the one in front of him—directly into its heart. It was finally over.
"Ryo… thank you…" Greed said.
Ryo took his time to respond. Catching his breath from the series of memories that flooded him like they were the present.
"Aren't you tired of these games, Demon?" he replied, breathing heavily. Stern, tired.
Not saying anything and simply giving Ryo a familiar smile, there was no malice in his next words, "It's really me this time, you ass… well… almost."
"Greed? How? How can it be you?"
"Hard to explain. And I don't have much time," Greed said as he began to fade away. "This thing you were fighting was definitely not me. Though… Because you defeated it, I feel I've remembered something very dear to me. Something… or rather, someone very important. I feel like an immense weight has been lifted from my shoulders," Greed replied to Ryo gently.
Ryo, frozen in place, only raising his burning blue eyes as they turned back to their natural yellow hue; burning calmer now, finally accepting that this really was Greed in front of him in this moment. Not him physically, but rather, an embodiment of a present memory crucial to Greed's past, speaking subconsciously through the ethers like the stab he had made onto him had linked their minds in some way.
"I have a lot to share with you when all of this is over. So do me a favor. Don't die, okay?" His last words to him before fading away into light, filling the darkness around them like fireflies. The platform they stood upon, the girl with her eyes closed, faded too, meeting Ryo in the middle of it all.
When the fading light reached the bottom of his feet, he fell into the abyss. No shout or yell was heard, and even if he did, no one would have heard it.
As he fell, he thought to himself…
What was that just now? I could tell that was truly him… but why?
He continued to fall into the darkness as his eyes closed and then…
***
**Present**
Atop his barren quarters of the Crimson Dragon's castle, Ryo had been kneeling and mana aura dissipating, turning him back to his original form. Two large swords rested by his sides as his hands let them go, sounding loud clangs as they both hit the floor. His eyes were blank as if he had just woken up from a deep dream that felt unnaturally real.
Across from him, Greed, or rather Demi, knelt there before him as well. The girl with half-pink and half-blue hair, Kiki, lay sleeping on the ground behind it.
"Well that went way different than I had hoped." Demi said to him.
"What do you expect? You told me how to kill you." Ryo breathed out. He looked down at his stomach, and the long, shadowy spear through him was fading. It trailed back to where Demi was kneeling, burning like quiet ashes in the ether. A soothing sound.
Demi chuckled, "Aye. But I thought you'd struggle more than that." It sighed and continued, "Funny thing with possessions is… When the one who possesses dies, they die like a lowly beast. Fading and forever forgotten in the ether. As you know, Ryo, Demons are a species too, just like you filthy humans… When we die, we die just like you—lifeless and bloodied on the ground. Just like how all true life should die." It scoffed. "I shouldn't be complaining, though... I did ask for a painless death."
Slowing his breathing and stabilizing himself, Ryo focused his eyes on Demi before him, continuing to fade and disintegrate into the air.
"A painless death… At least you're consistent, Demon. You're a coward through and through. But I have to thank you because if it weren't for you, I'd have never retrieved my friend's memory. To be quite frank. I didn't even realize he was missing this crucial piece of himself until now. I feel ashamed that I didn't know. I'm a terrible friend… at least you gave me a chance to redeem myself." Ryo said hoarsely, dried blood plastered the side of his mouth. His gaping hole in his stomach became more visible now as the shadow faded still. A puddle of blood growing around his feet.
Demi chuckled softly then said, "You find a way to insult and compliment me even in my last moments… You even talk bad about yourself and then lift yourself up using me as a stepping stool… Though I hate humans, you make it so hard to hate you, Ryoku…" It paused for a moment, then said, "Well, since this is the end for me, I'll leave you with this…"
Ryo slightly perked in interest as he said this, "Syemore knew not the kind of Demon I was. He knew not the deep connection I had with your 'so-called' Greed. No. I made myself known to him. And as a man bent on power, he accepted me without hesitation and possessed this girl, with me,"—it steadied its breathing—"I had my own agenda amidst his grand plans... You see... my true purpose was to die in battle against you."
"What do you mean?"
It chuckled. "There is something greater in the works that you feeble humans cannot fathom. And when it comes to fruition, you will all be helpless sheep."
Ryo said nothing, trying to dissect its words.
"I will leave you with this," it said as its organs began to fade, making it hard for it to speak, "I am alive because the Greed you know traded his true body and memories for the body he has now—which is mine," Demi finished, pausing to heave.
"Why? Why would he do such a thing? Making a deal with a demon?" Ryo asked in disbelief.
"Because he was dying… well… he was already dead. When I arrived, I was on the verge, so we made a trade. And instead of a life for a life, he bargained a life for his memories. A complicated condition that messed up my spell, but he and I shared one thing in that moment... and it was that we had no choice. Unlike this girl,"—looking at Kiki sleeping peacefully on the ground—"She had a choice. And she still chose indecision. Ironic, really... You humans are so stupid."
Demi looked almost ethereal now, its head facing upward amongst the burning ashes of itself that fluttered into the fading thunderclouds that once heavily shrouded them.
"Here's one last thing for you—remember it well…" Its eyes found Ryo's.
"When the time is right, the Lord's Sins will attempt to take his own place.And when that time comes,there will be a new Keeper."
"What does that mean?" Ryo asked, but it was too late.
"Sorry… My time is up… Tell that foolish boy to enjoy that body while it lasts… Sooner or later, he will be hunted by his own brothers and sisters in a fight for who becomes the next. And if he is ready, let's pray you truly know your friend."
Those were its last words before it faded away completely, ashes of dark matter filled the air around Ryo and Kiki, who was still passed out across from him. Even with Ryo's gaping wound exposed, he still managed to get up and fight through the pain anyway as he was not the average human. Trudging over to where Kiki was, he knelt over again and picked her up, carrying her in his arms. The dark thunderclouds around them faded slowly and the sky began to show through once more. It was still daylight as the clouds began to part away, revealing the Valley's blue skies again.
"The Lord's Sins will attempt to take his own place.And when that time comes,there will be a new Keeper." He said under his breath, looking to the sky where the last ashes of Demi had faded toward.
The battle between an Executive of the Blue Phoenix Knights, or rather, the mysterious Demon and the Vice Captain of the Crimson Dragon Knights, concluded with Ryo as the victor.
**Somewhere far away**
Greed:
I opened my eyes, revealing their black hue—my black bangs covering my right eye slightly. As I looked at the girl with platinum white hair in front of me, for some reason, tears streamed down my face without me realizing… Why did I feel this way, and why now, of all times is my mind trying to tell me to remember? Something… No… Someone that I wasn't allowed to remember until now?
I pushed away the feeling, proceeding to wipe the tears off my face.