Heroes

Chapter 27: Briar, Blythe, and Finnegan Reunite and Trouble Begins at the Church

    Briar was being dragged along by her long-lost, presumed dead, older twin sister, Blythe. Her feet bounced across the cobblestone streets. They turned the corner and stopped at a café. Inside, a man with messy, vibrant red hair, a matching mustache, and black eyes sat at a table, sipping on an espresso. He was tall and somewhat muscular and splotches of soot were scattered around his face. He wore a bright, lime-green t-shirt, sand-colored pants bunched up by medium-length, white lace-up boots, and also he wore a red tool belt carrying two wrenches and grey glasses. "There he is," Blythe said.

      Looking at him, Briar asked, "That's our dad? For real?"

       "For real," Blythe chuckled. "I'm not pulling an Annie situation."

         They walked in and weeded through the crowd. Their father, Finnegan Donegal, was reading a book, a translated version of Genzaburo Yoshino's classic, How Do You Live? which is one of my favorite books too. He sipped his espresso again, adjusted his glasses, and looked up. His eyes slightly widened. "Briar...? Blythe, did you really?" Finnegan inquired, instantly recognizing his long-lost daughter.

         Briar wasn't crying, but she looked emotional either way. She nodded slowly. Finnegan jumped up and hugged her and Blythe tightly. Becoming emotional himself, Finnegan whispered in relief, "I thought I lost you. Thank God that you're safe."

         "Yeah," Briar began. "I never thought I'd ever get to meet you guys either."

            Briar pulled away and she and Blythe sat at the table with Finnegan. They talked about each other and were trying to catch up after 18 years apart. Finnegan said he owned a repair shop and was primarily an engineer and handyman, Blythe said she was a student of Psychology at Monter University and was planning to become a therapist, and Briar talked about going to school at RU for engineering and science because she wanted to be a scientist. They laughed and enjoyed a lunch of quiches, French onion soup, and mocktails.

Meantime, we had reached the Beníe Church. I stood at the doors, catching my breath. Arianna, Hinata, Lou, Mom, Pascal, Maddie, Rue, Dahlia, Sagira, Espinho, Suzume, Shiro, and Zay stood behind me. I got up, and we walked inside. It was dark as the building was so old that it had no electricity for any lightbulbs or anything of that sort. Something caught Zay's attention. Candles were strewn across the floor like wind or someone had thrown them around after they stopped burning. "What happened here?" he inquired, holding his shotgun over his shoulder.

We looked around. Pews were overturned, crosses were turned upside down or cut in half, and a tapestry depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was slashed and torn. Was this a cult attack? Someone who opposed the Christian religion of this church? Was it...him? No, it couldn't be, could it? He only struck during the night and remotely he wouldn't be able to get the gem. We looked around for the Balance Gem. Eventually, Dahlia saw glowing out of the corner of her eye. It was a sand-colored glow coming from over an overturned pew. Dahlia got on her knees, let her eyes glow green, and used vines to move the pew away. There was the Balance Gem. It was sand-colored and looked like it was made up of tiny grains of sand. There were three swirls in the middle of it, bearing resemblance to a zen garden. Standing up and waving her clutched hand, Dahlia called out, "I got it, guys!"

I smiled. Everyone else did too. We only needed five more. I'll admit that it felt too easy and that the state the church was in made us feel uneasy, but for one, we were too focused on preventing the end of the world, and for two, the Mieux Region did have some unruly protesters that bordered on cultists that would try to get people to convert to their ways. Fortunately, one group was arrested the prior night and taken to the capital. We assumed the church was left in that state by those protesters. Dahlia sighed in relief and was about to bring the gem to me when WHAM! Something struck her in the back of her neck and she fell to the ground in pain. She was lying face-first on the ground. The back of her neck gushed with blood. The gem had fallen out of her hand and a black mass swirled around it. The gem levitated and the black mass swirled into a human-like silhouette whose clawed hand held the Balance Gem with a tight clutch. "My, My, you and your troop are annoyingly persistent," a familiar, sickening, male voice rang out. "It's a shame. I'd rather not be out in this grime-covered world in the daytime, but, it seems I have no choice."

My eyes widened. Kage Kuragari was right in front of us, looming over Dahlia's body and he stared at us with a menacing glance. Everyone else was spooked and stepped back. I, however, was too stunned and fear-ridden to move. Kuragari laughed at our fear, almost getting a sick kick out of it. "At least I managed to do some remodeling to this filthy place. It is much more my style," he sneered.

I stepped forward and remarked, "Yeah, I don't care about the remodeling of your care home, Gramps. Give the gem back, and refrain from hurting my friends."

            "Look at who you're talking to," Kuragari badgered. "You think you're a match for me?"

              I was afraid, very afraid. This towering, powerful, ruthless demon looked as crazed as the most insanity-ridden serial killer and the most rabid animal combined. He smirked as he looked down at Dahlia who was trying to get up. Without hesitation, Kuragari lifted his foot and stamped on the bloody gash on Dahlia's neck. It was a violent stomp that caused Dahlia to scream like she was being murdered. Our eyes widened with horror. "Stop! Don't hurt her, you vile lunatic!" I yelled.

            I rushed at him as my body was engulfed in bright, red flames. Kuragari, distracted by his sadism, didn't notice when I pushed him into a pew. A wooden shard stabbed him in the back and he groaned in pain. Kuragari stood up in shock. No one but Suzume could even get a blow at him, and even Suzume was unsuccessful for a long time until she crushed him along with herself so many years ago. Kuragari's eyes narrowed in anger. The flames from my body ceased and I wobbled with exhaustion. Kuragari growled and lifted me by my neck, squeezing so tight I thought I'd be impaled by his claws. Lou gripped his nail-ridden baseball bat and growled. He ran at Kuragari, holding his bat over his head. Lou looked furious as he roared, "Let her go, you psychopath! Get your filthy hands off her!"

I could only watch as Lou ran to him. I could only watch in fear. Kuragari scoffed and threw me into the west wall of the church, the ground cracking and crumbling as I was dazed and shocked. Lou swung the bat at Kuragari's forehead, using a pew as a boost to the tall demon's skull. There were 5 inches between Kuragari's forehead and Lou's bat, but quickly, and I'm talking at the speed of light here, Kuragari shifted behind Lou. Lou started to fall and Kuragari caught him by the back of his basketball jersey. "How disappointing," Kuragari taunted. "For someone so athletic, you have really let me down. I was expecting and yearning for a challenge today. How pitiful."

                We watched in horror as Kuragari threw Lou into the ceiling, only to slice his stomach open with his claws as he came crashing down. I wanted to go run and cradle my love. I wanted to stick it to that insane, pretentious demon. I wanted to, but I couldn't. My body felt numb. The only thing I could do was lay back and pray for a miracle. We couldn't let him take the gem. Not now. Not after all we've been through to get to Nouvelle. But, Dahlia, Lou, and I were out of commission for now. Could the rest of my friends and family overpower Kuragari?

                Could I bounce back?

((Ruh Roh))