Inquisitors; Rulers Of Past

End of Pride 4

"NOOO!" Barry woke up, sitting up straight. He felt the arms try to pull him back down but he wasn't going to let his feeble body give in. He needed to save her. He needed to fight.

"He's awake!" a voice said, but it didn't register as anyone he knew. All he knew was that Candy was in danger, and he needed to save her.

"Where's the syringe?"

"We tried that already."

"Use it again!"

Barry felt a jab to his arm, but then, he released his grip from one of the arms and bit his elbow.

"Dammit!" another voice said. All of a sudden, sharp tendrils pulled him down. Barry struggled, biting at the strings.

"Calm down!" a stern voice said. Barry then realized that he wasn't in the dome. And he wasn't in a hospital either.

"When...Where am I?" Barry asked. He looked around him. There were two other guys, one middle aged, the other younger. The man in front of him was in his late sixties. Or was it his early seventies?

"We are the Ragnarok Society." The old man said, "And more or less your saviors. Your welcome."

"Where's Candy?"

"She's safe, don't worry." The man said.

"Um... boss. Should we really tell him who we are?" One of the other guys asked

"Don't worry," the old man said, "He won't tell on us." He looked at him and sighed, "We will leave you for now." Barry looked at him, and watched as the part of his arm he'd had beaten began to heal. The old man walked out of the room, followed by one of the other attendants.

"Damn," the other guy said, "you are one ferocious guy." He checked his vitals and jotted them down on a pad before walking away. Barry sat up, the tendrils that held him down now gone. He took a deep breath and sighed.

"Well, I'll be damned."

Barry turned to the doorway. The man wore a sleeveless white kurta and black trousers. Though the mask concealed part of his face, the dark blue hair was enough for him.

"Luke?"

Luke Dark smiled, throwing him some clothes.

"Really?" Barry asked, "All black?"

"Hey," Luke said, "You're the Inquisitor here."

"Yeah, but I do like white you know."

The two stood at the balcony, watching the large expanse of clouds.

"I am so confused right now.

"Well, you almost died." Luke began, "The barrier fluctuated, allowing the Shield agents to escape, but before anyone could reenter, it closed."

"Then how did we get out?" Barry asked.

"Oh that?" Luke chuckled, "We broke in."

"You?"

"Oh no, not me. Our leader did. We did send someone to go in, but then her signal was still active. The fluctuations in the barrier allowed a little bit of the signal to reach us so we just came in, dealt with the threat and left."

"Yeah, thanks a bunch."

"Yeah. But why the hell did you leave?" Luke asked.

Barry turned to him, confused. "How did..."

"When the person I entrusted to protect my sister leaves, yeah it is sure to raise questions."

"She's in good hands."

"Personally, I'd rather have preferred you dating my sister than Kyler. But then it's her choice."

Barry looked away and sighed. The two stood in silence, watching the rising sun. In the far distance they could see flocks of birds, flying off to escape the incoming winter.

"After Garm died, I felt messed up. It wasn't that I wanted to quit, it was just that... I felt, like a burden. The guy died for me, Luke. If I wasn't there, he would have, at least, lived a little longer. So I decided to walk away from all of it. But the more I run. The more I felt drawn back." Barry paused, "To be honest I had already made my decision to return a while back. But when I saw Candy, and how proud she was, it kinda made me angry. Because the more I looked at her, the more... it reminded me of myself."

Luke didn't bother looking at him. He reached for his face, removing his mask to reveal a nasty burn. It had healed, but then it was still grotesque to look at. Deep down, Barry wanted to puke, but then, this wasn't the first time he had seen it. To be frank, the first time he'd seen his burns, they were much more terrifying.

"Pride. Somethings never change." Luke sighed, "Barry, everyone's got some sense of pride in them. Pride is a part of us all. Part of every man. It's what makes us human. To break out of our pride means to break down our very selves. Wanting to be in the right, trying to hide our wrongs, trying to stand alone, it's all pride."

"Then what do I do now?" Barry asked. Luke smiled.

"You already know the answer. And besides, the First wouldn't allow you to stay here that long. You know, being an inquisitor and all that."

"Yeah, sure." Barry said. He took one last look at the horizon. "Would I ever see you again?"

"Highly unlikely. But I would see you." Luke said, putting on his mask, concealing his mask.

The two friends hugged, and Barry left Luke all alone, to watch the horizon he had seen a hundred times over.

Candy woke up, confused. She tried to sit up but her body angrily pulled her down. The attendant beside her smiled. "Relax, Candy." He said, "You need to take it easy."

"What happened?" Candy asked. "We were..."

"You were rescued by the First. Apparently he happened to be in the area. Lucky you."

"What about..."

"The inquisitor? I think he left a while ago. You should have seen him when he woke up, boy. He was moving around. Had to take Mr. Tason to...."

Candy was not listening, she could only hear her thoughts as the memories of what conspired in the dome came back to her. She clenched her fist.

Barry was right. She was weak.