A Journey Within the Realm
Chapter 17: Inside Kei’s Castle

Here we were… inside Kei’s Castle. It felt kind of odd, like déjà vu. Of course… I was sent here when I was in the Nebulous. As I looked around, I noticed Miki leaning on the wall.

“Are you okay, Miki?” I asked, walking over.

I checked her face. Wow… pale as Nori. Her eyes were dull as fish eyes.

“You don’t look well,” I said.

Miki turned towards me.

“Huh? Why are you looking at me, Randy?” Miki asked, dazed.

“Miki? How many fingers am I holding up?” I asked, holding two fingers up.

“Uhh… four?” Miki asked.

“That’s not good…,” I replied.

Kuri flew over to us. However, instead of staying a float in the air, she landed on my left shoulder.

“Whew… I wonder why I’m so tired,” Kuri said, turning towards Miki, “Anyway… when did you start not feeling well, Miki?”

“Huh? When? Between Solada’s death and entering the castle,” Miki answered, still dazed.

“What? That’s when I started feeling tired,” Kuri replied.

I looked at Kuri. Her face wasn’t as pale as Miki’s, but was very flushed in a shade of pink. Apparently, Kuri’s was also building a sweat. I could feel wetness on my shoulder where Kuri was sitting.

“Are you okay, Kuri?” I asked.

“Yeh… I just have to rest for a while,” Kuri answered, closing her eyes.

“Kuri?” I called.

Kuri’s head dropped onto my neck.

“Kuri?” I called again.

“Zzzzz…,” Kuri snored.

Huh? She’s asleep. She must have been tired. I decided to let her stay on my shoulder asleep.

“Miki? Can you walk on you own?” I asked.

She shook her head no.

“Can you walk at all?” I asked.

“Can I lean on you?” Miki asked.

“Sure. Lean on my right side so you don’t squash Kuri,” I replied.

I grabbed Miki’s right arm and held her with my left side. Slowly, I carried her further into the castle. As we walked, Kuri woke up suddenly.

“Randy! Please stop,” Kuri exclaimed.

“What’s wrong, Kuri?” I asked as I stopped walking.

“Please quickly get me on the floor,” Kuri yelled in a panic.

I used my right hand and took Kuri to the ground. There, she threw up before falling to the ground tired.

“Kuri? You okay?” I asked.

“Does that look like something someone who’s well would do?” Kuri asked.

“Point taken,” I replied, picking up Kuri and placing her back on my shoulder, “Get some rest, Kuri.”

“Hey… Randy?” Nori called, “Something is odd with Miwa.”

I turned towards Nori and Miwa. Miwa’s eyes looked spaced out. She looked as tired as Kuri five minutes ago. Just then, I remembered Miki’s eyes were as dull as a dead fish’s.

“Kuri… can you look at me?” I asked.

Kuri opened her eyes and looked at me. Not good… her eyes were the same as Miki’s.

“Thanks, Kuri. Go back to sleep,” I said.

Five minutes apart from going from tired to sick. The gates were five minutes apart. I knew it! Those pricks were not just DNA sample collectors! Those pricks released poison into their bodies! How long would the poison take before it kills!?! I took another look at Miki. Her condition is going downhill and fast. I calculated that it had been 50 minutes since Miki had been pricked. Miki became sick five minutes ago. That was also when Kuri became tired. 45 Minutes to become sick and 40 minutes to become tired. I have to keep an eye out for everyone, but most importantly, Miki. We continued into the castle. After another five minutes Miwa became sick , Tazu became tired, and Miki became even more pale. After Miwa threw up in a pot, we continued moving within the castle. However, three minutes later, Miki suddenly dropped face first to the floor. I picked her up and sat her up against the wall.

“Miki,” I exclaimed in a panic.

“Randy… I don’t think I can continue anymore…,” Miki answered slowly, “Before I go… I want to tell you… that you were my… first… true… love…”

Miki closed her eyes. Just then, her head dropped.

“Miki?” I asked, getting on my knees, “Miki!!!”

I could not believe what I was seeing! Miki just died!! I started to cry.

“Miki…,” I sobbed, “I’m so sorry…”

Rin walked up to me and placed her hand on my left shoulder.

“That was a hour after she was pricked,” Rin said, “That means each of us are counting the minutes. I’m sorry to tell you this bluntly, but Kuri’s next.”

I quickly got on my feet. Rin’s right! Five minutes apart, ending an hour after being pricked! That means Kuri has only five minutes! I picked up Kuri from my shoulder and check on her. She was as pale as Miki was five minutes ago. I fell to my knees again.

“Do you guys mind waiting five minutes before continuing?” I asked, “Kuri was Miki’s friend.”

Rin turned towards our teammates. Kyoko had already thrown up in another pot, but she nodded in agreement. Along with Kyoko, everyone nodded too. I placed Kuri on Miki’s lap. Kuri woke up and looked up at me.

“Thank you, Randy…,” Kuri said, “I had fun with you… sorry I couldn’t come with… but I think… I should… be… with… Miki…”

And with that… Kuri was gone.

“Kuri…,” I said, “Thank you for being my friend. I’m sorry…”

I got up and looked at Nori. After Kyoko got pricked, Nori was pricked five mintinues later. Sure enough… Nori was tired. Rin was holding up Miwa.

“I’m sorry, Randy,” Rin said, “but I don’t think anyone can go any further. This is the spot where we die. Go… take Shina and kill Kei for us.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” I replied, “You guys may leave me, but I will not! I’m going to stay with you guys to the very end.”

“Thank you, Randy,” Rin smiled.

As we sat, every five minutes, someone passed away. 25 minutes, a total of 90 minutes, later and everyone except Shina and myself were dead. I got up and walked over to Miki to start sending my prayers to each of my friends and teammates. However, when I grabbed Miki’s hand, a white light entered my body. For only a second, I felt odd. After I finished Miki’s prayer, I went to each of my friends and did the same prayer. Each time, a white light entered my body. And with each white light, I felt odd. Once I was finished, I looked at Shina.

“Ready, Shina?” I asked.

“A better question is are you?” Shina replied.

“I’m more than ready,” I answered, “I was sent here to defeat Kei and I intend to do just that! I made a promise to everyone and I will make sure I keep it!”

“Then, let’s go,” Shina replied.

I nodded. The two of us walked thoughout the castle. In a hour, we had finally reached the Throne Room. The Overlord Kei, sat on her throne. In her right hand, she held the Exit Book. I carefully entered the room.

“So, we finally meet, Kei,” I said, walking closer.

“Well, well, well… if it isn’t the Light Mage, Randy Nelson,” Kei replied, “Where are all your teammates?”

“You should know,” I answered, annoyed, “You and your poison gates.”

Kei just laughed.

“That’s too bad,” Kei laughed.

“I agree,” I said, smirking, “And how are your shadow commanders doing?”

Kei stopped laughing and glared at me. Good… I struck a nerve.

“Let’s stop the small talk and do what I came here to do,” I said.

“Which is?” Kei asked with a smirk.

“To kill you,” I replied.

Kei laughed, “I love your spunk! Let’s make a deal. You may not know this, but although I’m an evil overlord, I like a fair fight.”

“’A fair fight?’” I asked, “What do you mean?”

“I hate pulling tricks during a battle and I hate it when others do the same,” Kei explained, “Sportmanship is my only nice quality. So, here’s the deal… if you win, you get the Exit Book. However, if I win, I get that Kitsune friend of yours. We will battle one on one. I will place the book on my throne and you can have that Kitsune protect it. Deal?”

“What do you think, Shina?” I asked.

“I believe in you, Randy,” Shina answered, “And the people of this realm would agree that Kei plays fair during one on one battles. So, make the deal.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

Shina nodded. I turned towards Kei.

“Before I agree to the terms, I have one question,” I said.

“Go on,” Kei replied.

“What are the rules?” I asked.

“There is only one rule… the two of us can only use what our abilities allow. It’s an anything goes battle to the death,” Kei answered.

“That does sound fair…,” I said, “Very well… I agree to the terms.”

“Good,” Kei replied, getting up from the throne and placing the Exit Book down on the seat, “Please have your Kitsune sit on the throne.”

“Go on, Shina,” I said.

“Good luck, Randy,” Shina replied, walking over to the throne and getting up.

“Good,” Kei said, “Now you see the two marks on both ends of the room? Those are our starting positions. The challenger gets to pick first.”

“Wow…,” I said, “You are into the whole sportmanship and fair play. Okay, I pick the right side from the entrance.”

“Then, I will take the left,” Kei replied.

Kei and I took our positions.

“Ready?” Kei asked.

I nodded.

“Then, Kitsune… press that button on the right arm of my throne,” Kei ordered.

Shina looked at the button with a questionable stare.

“What is the button for?” I asked.

“It’s the starter button,” Kei answered, pointing up at the center of the ceiling, “You see that ceiling light? After the Kitsune presses the button, the light turns from red to yellow to green. When it hits green, it will strike a bell to start the battle.”

“Oh. Okay…,” I replied, “Shina, press the button.”

Shina nodded before pressing the button. The light on the ceiling turned on. I got into my ready stance and waited for the bell. Once the light turned green and the bell rang, we went at each other. Kei was the first to get a hit, knocking me backwards. She had quite a strong punch.

“Is that all you have?” Kei asked, “Sad…”

“I’m not finish yet,” I replied, pointing my finger at her, “Lightning Beam!”

A bolt of lightning shot out of my finger towards Kei. Kei quickly dodged, and the bolt hit the wall behind her. Kei kept dodging as I kept attacking. Before long Kei stood in front of me, smiling.

“Say good-bye, Light Mage,” Kei said, placing her palm on my chest, “Dark Palm!”

Her hand started glowing black. Then, suddenly, shot a dark beam at me, sending me all the way against the wall. That hit drained most of my strength. As I slumped in a sitting position, my eyesight began to blur. As I approached darkness, I heard a familiar voice.

“Randy! Get up,” the voice exclaimed, “The battle is not over yet!”

“Miki?” I asked, quietly.

“That’s right, Randy,” Miki answered, “I’m inside your soul. When you touched me after I died, my soul and power was absorbed into yours. I’m also not alone.”

“What do you mean?” I asked in a whisper.

“Hiya, Randy,” an another voice said.

“Kuri?” I asked, whispering.

“Yep. Everyone else is here too,” Kuri replied.

“That’s right, Randy,” Nori said.

“We’re all here,” Miwa added.

“And we’re here to help,” Rin added.

“We will give you all our knowledge of our powers,” Tazu added.

“Use our powers and defeat Kei,” Kyoko ordered.

“We believe in you, Randy,” Everyone exclaimed.

“Good luck, Randy,” Miki added.

After they were done talking, I felt my strength returning ten folds. I got up and dusted myself off.

“So… you aren’t dead yet?” Kei asked, amused.

“Not in the least,” I replied, “In fact, I’m stonger than ever before!”

“Let me test that theory,” Kei said, smiling.

Kei began running towards me. I just smiled. Within seconds, Kei stopped running.

“Your eyes! They’re red,” Kei said, smiling, “You’re turning to your evil side as my Shadow Vampire Commander had warned you could. Now, I can control you!”

I started laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Kei asked, confused.

“The only reason why I became evil during that battle was because I absorbed power from a dark cloud while completely drained of my blood,” I explained, “These red eyes are completely different. Watch!”

Once I said that, I disappeared and reappeared behind Kei. Then, I quickly changed into Kyoko’s form and bit Kei’s neck.

“Yeowch,” Kei yelled,turning around, “What, the hell, just happened?”

“You see… when you killed my friends, I somehow absorbed their souls and powers,” I explained, smiling, “Those red eyes were my ghost friend’s powers and I bit you with my vampire friend’s powers. Now, get ready! The battle has just begun!”

I disappeared again and reappeared behind her once more. Kei quickly turned around and tried to attack. However, while I was invisible, I transformed into Kuri’s form. I flew repeatly around Kei, shooting my electric attacks as I went. As soon as I saw Kei was stunned, I transformed into Tazu’s form and wrapped my tail around Kei. As I tightened my tails grip, I rammed Kei into the wall a few times, before throwing her across the room. Then, I transformed into Rin’s form and threw some explosive potions at Kei. I quickly transformed into Miwa’s form and shot a beam of light thoughout the whole room. Once I was done, I transformed into Miki’s form and sliced Kei repeatly with a magicial sword. As soon as I saw Kei was on her last legs, I transformed back to myself and looked down at Kei, lying helplessly on the floor.

“How was that possible?” Kei groaned, “How could you do that? We had the same ability to gain powers from our partners. How could you be more powerful then me!?!”

“It’s simple, Kei,” I started to explain, “I found real partners, real friends, real teammates. You, Kei, created your partners… your so-called Shadow Commanders. On top of that, they either died by my hand or your own. When my real friends died, I absorbed real souls and real powers. You would not be able to do that, because you used your own powers to create those Shadow Creatures. Do you understand now?”

Kei smiled, “Yes… You know, now I understand how all my Commanders lost to you. I’m glad I had a chance to battle you. To see your skills, your way of thinking, your power. I never imagined the only male Light Mage would defeat me so quickly. You won, Randy Nelson. Now, kill me and take the book.”

I pointed my palm at her and said my last spell in battle.

“Holy Palm,” I exclaimed.

After releasing the spell, a holy light came out of my palm and engulfed Kei. Within seconds, Kei was no more. I walked over to the throne and picked up the book I had long searched for. However, even with the book in hand, I could not feel happiness. My friends were dead. I fell to my knees and started crying. I cried so much that the tears dripped onto the floor. I listened as I cried. Drip, drip. I counted seven dripping sounds before they stopped. Suddenly, a bright light appeared on the wall in front of me. I looked up at it and wiped the tears out of my eyes. A portal had appeared. A very white and bright portal. As I got up, someone was stepping from it. When I saw who it was, I blinked a few times and slapped myself once before I was certain that I wasn’t dreaming.

“Miki?” I asked, choked up.

“Randy?” Miki asked, surprised.

“You’re alive,” I yelled, hugging her.

“I’m not the only one,” Miki added, smiling.

“Huh?” I asked, confused.

“Come on through the portal,” Miki called out.

After Miki said that, everyone who had died came through the portal, alive and well.

“How is this possible?” I asked.

“When you cried for us, our souls were released back into our bodies, curing the poison inside them,” Miki answered.

“I’m so happy,” I exclaimed.

“Did you kill Kei?” Rin asked.

“Yes I did and I also got the Exit Book,” I replied, holding up the book.

“That’s fantastic,” Everyone cheered.

Suddenly, the whole castle started to shake.

“The Undershadows is collasping,” I exclaimed, “Without Kei to control it, it’s falling apart!”

“We have to get to the portal,” Miki yelled.

“Let’s go,” I commanded, running out of the room, “Follow me!”

The nine of us ran for our lives, dodging falling bricks and getting through blocked paths. Once we escaped the castle, the Undershadows started to shake even more. We kept on running through the seven gates of death, until we reached the exit.

“Everyone, go,” I exclaimed, “I want to make sure everyone’s through before I enter!”

One by one, everyone went through the portal. Once everyone was through, I jumped in. After I was through, the portal disappeared and the five orbs shattered. I got up and dusted myself off.

“Is everyone okay?” I asked.

“Yeh… is the book okay?” Miki asked.

I held the book up to show that it was okay.

“You have done well, Randy,” a voice said.

I turned towards the voice.

“Elder Leiko,” I exclaimed, “How did you know we would be here at this time?”

“I’m the Elder, Randy,” Leiko answered, “I know all and see all. There’s nothing in this realm I don’t know.”

Leiko laughed. I couldn’t help but smile.

“I see that you have the Exit Book,” Leiko said, smiling, “I take it you will leaving soon.”

“That’s right,” I replied.

“However, before you go, will you stay for one more night?” Leiko asked, “The whole realm is coming here as we speak to celebrate your success in battle. There is also something special that will happen on this night, the night Kei was killed. Right here on this spot.”

“I will be honored to stay for one more night,” I answered.

“Then, rest for tonight,” Leiko said, “It has been a long day.”

Everyone agreed and set up camp. We rested until sunset. When we were finished packing up, people from every city, including some of Nori’s kind, started arriving with all kinds of food and drinks. Once nightfall appeared, everything and everyone was ready to have fun. Everyone in this realm partied throughout the night. After a while, another portal opened. However, instead of a dark portal, it was another white portal. Suddenly, men from every magic being came out, confused at first, but overjoyed. I walked over to where Rin and Elder Leiko were sitting.

“Leiko… why are the men of this realm appearing now?” I asked.

“There’s a old document stating that on the night of Kei’s death, everything that she did will be undone,” Leiko answered.

“Does that means deaths too?” I asked.

Leiko nodded. I looked around for Nori. Once I spotted her, I walked over.

“Randy,” Nori yelled, hugging me, “My mom is back from the dead!”

“I’m so happy for you Nori,” I said, smiling.

“Thank you so much, Randy,” Nori replied, smiling.

I went to each of my teammates and talked to them one by one. Tazu, Kyoko, Kuri, and Miwa were just happy that Kei’s rule was finally over. Shina was having fun with other Kitsunes. However, I had a hard time trying to locate Miki. After trying to replace her with my eyes and failing, I used my elf ears and listened for her. Through the sounds of the party, I heard a familiar song. It was Miki, singing. I followed her voice to the place she was sitting. Miki was staring at the moon, singing far from the party. I walked over to Miki and sat down next to her. I waited until she was done singing before I spoke.

“Why aren’t you at the party?” I asked.

“I didn’t want to be with all those elf men from the portal,” Miki answered.

“Why not?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t be any fun around them. I only love you,” Miki replied.

“I know that, Miki,” I said, “That’s why I want to ask you something.”

“What is it?” Miki asked, looking at me.

“Would you like to come with me to the nagical world?” I asked.

Miki’s eyes went huge.

“Is this for real!?!” Miki asked.

“Yes… I love you Miki. Come home with me,” I answered.

Miki hugged me tightly.

“I’m so happy,” Miki exclaimed.

“We will use the Exit Book together after we say our good-byes tomorrow morning,” I said.

The two of us went back to the party and had fun for the rest of the night.