A True Hero

20 - Who We Are

Groaning. That was all I heard as I stood in front of the NSF training room. My heart hammered against my rib cage and my breath in quick gasps as I gripped my sword handle. I wasn't sure if Nicolette was even in the room yet; for all I knew, Yamikage was still in there alone and injured from trying to steal the Bushido Katanas. I wanted the latter to be the case, but I knew that if what the Captain had said was true, the monster Nicolette wouldn't waste a second taking down her target. Darkness had a way of changing a person and making them unrecognizable; even their actions and personalities shifted. Darkness creates monsters. NME is darkness.

His monsters don't stop and think before they kill. They mercilessly destroy and maul without a second thought. After the job is done, it doesn't satisfy their thirst for blood. They have to continue on to the next murder. On and on the cycle goes, and the murderer never escapes. They are stuck forever in NME's trap. I knew this truth too well. As long as she succumbed to NME's temptations, Nicolette's plight would never cease. I had to put aside my petty suspicions, true as they may be, against Yamikage for the better good. The better good of saving his life. The better good of curing Nicolette.

"Hello? Yamikage?" I finally called out. My voice echoed around the metal walls and rebounded onto the shut doors in front of me. A few lights flickered above me, then they darkened. Only one light was still on now. It was a few feet away in an intersection between this corridor and another one, and no one was coming down either hall to help. "What's going on? Open up!" No answer.

I reached out in front of me and touched the brass door handle. A low growling came from the room as if warning me to stop.

"Yamikage?" I asked, slightly scared. I tried pushing on the handle, and to my surprise, it creaked inward. I pushed the door open all of the way and saw the room was pitch black. The growling became louder and sounded like it came from directly above me. The dim light from the hall only lit a few feet into the training room, and the brown cement floor was covered in white scratch marks from long claws.

"Yamikage? Where are you?" I said, raising my voice. I drew my sword, making sure that the sound of metal on leather echoed around the chamber. The first step in saving Yamikage was warning Nicolette; letting her know I was armed and just as dangerous as she was the first step in disarming her. It worked on most monsters. Either they became afraid and gave up their fight, or they took it as a challenge on their territory and became a hundred times more dangerous. Unfortunately, though I was expecting it, Nicolette took the latter approach, for the growling intensified and a glowing red eye appeared several feet in front of me like a head was turned to the side, watching me.

Strange, I thought. The growling is coming from above me, but the eyes are over there. Unless that eye isn't hers...

"Yamikage, is that you?" I hissed into the darkness. The eye widened as if trying to tell me, "Shut it! She knows where I am now!" but the growling suddenly stopped. I whipped around to the doors, but just as I did so, they slammed in my face. The darkness overtook us and silence ensued.

Fear instantly took hold of my unguarded mind and I dropped to my knees. Memories that happened in darkness years ago resurfaced from the depths of my brain, and never before had I been so unprepared...

"So weak," a nasally voice growled. I was floating in darkness. I tried to reach out around me to grab hold of something for stability, but there was nothing. "So sad. You disappointed me. Do you know why?"

I knew I should try to please him. If I was smart, I would try to minimize my punishment by appealing to him and telling him what he wanted to hear. That's what all of the others do. But I was foolish. Instead of sucking up to him, I rebelliously held my tongue. I knew he hated rebellion. I wanted to make him madder.