The Dougen Awakens

“You’re crazy!” Agatha yelled out, able to get the cloth down to her neck. “Oh, I know! I know! I know! I know! But…It's all in the name of science! We must perfect the effects of mana, so that we stand on top of all future wars! This is so very exciting. Oh man, where do I start? Agh! I don’t know. I guess let me explain to you children what this is. The black looking substance coming from the bottom of this pool is extracted antimatter. It will enter into your body and should boost your senses and abilities tremendously. Of course, you will also be subject to being our puppets. Just a little added bonus I threw in there, but darkness will consume your body and you will be born anew! Gentlemen, please if you will do so, drop them in the water.”

“No! Sto…” Agatha and Akari were thrown into the water before she could finish the sentence. The blackness grabbed at them and dragged them to the floor of the pool. It entered into both their bodies until they both were just black figures, consumed by this unknown substance. However, it started to expand bigger than what the pool could hold. The glass began to break and shatter.

“What?! Hold on! I’m shutting it down! I’ll have to boost the defense before we try again.”

The guards yelled out and ran, not awaiting Reto to attempt this again. “Wait! Where are you going? I need you back here!” he shouted out towards them.

Before anybody could make a move, the antimatter burst through the barrier and killed everyone in the room. Reto was pierced endlessly with a frown on his face, not because of his death, but because his invention failed. Sirens began to sound throughout the castle. More guards showed up, but were killed instantly by the antimatter. Parts of the castle exploded seconds later and everyone remaining inside was consumed by the antimatter. Black goo began to shape into swords next to every one of them. Eyes ran down the blade of each. Flames surrounded the castle as it began to burn to the ground.

An old man with ragged and ripped clothes appeared before Agatha and Akari. In his right hand, a silver sword wrapped with a green flame. 2 small silver blades stuck out of both sides at the bottom. He jumped to the water with his sword plunged at the top and chanted, “Eidolon Phantom!”

Tiny green spirits entered the water and on the boy and girl, consuming the antimatter. The old man chanted again, “Earth’s Cover.”

The ground shook. Rocks formed around the pool of water sealing it off. Green light illuminated the whole room. Agatha and Akari released from the antimatter and fell to the ground unconscious.

The king came rushing into the room swallowed almost fully in antimatter, but still coherent. “Wh-What did you do?! You’ve ruined all my work! You stupid burdens! I should’ve killed you kids a long time ago!” He held the Dougen sword in hand and rushed towards the old man who instantly sliced his head off. He picked up the sword and the kids and blasted the wall open…“Flame Cut.”

The man darted off as the flames extended to the village. Villagers screamed and ran, abandoning their homes. The black figures from the castle attacked the remaining citizens…

Agatha woke up in a cabin in the mountains deep up in a forest. A crackling fire warmed her. To her left, her brother slept. She whispered, “Akari…Akari.”

???: “He’s okay.”

Agatha jumped frightened at the strange voice. “Wh-What happened? A-Are you the man who helped us?”

???: “Yes, that would be me. How are you feeling?”

“I think I’m okay. Why isn’t my brother awake?” she responded in a threatening tone.

???: “No need to worry. My name is Akuma Kashi. I’m not here to harm, but to help.”

Agatha: “Why would you do that? Why would you help two useless children? Nobody cares about us.”

Akuma: “A man a long time ago saved me and showed me there is more to the world than what I took it for.”

He picked up a cup of tea and began to drink. “My failures kept me isolated from what I could’ve become. The world kept moving and I stayed behind until he made me understand the real reason I wallowed alone.”

Agatha, curious now, questioned, “What was that reason?”

Akuma: “The simple answer, myself. Haunted by my past and memories kept me from dreaming for goals that I wanted in life. My lack of hard work and dedication stopped my own self from continuing forward, until he finally made me realize that the world doesn’t stop moving nor does it care what I think. It’s on me to change that for myself. Anyways, I haven’t seen him in a long time, but I’m sure he looks the exact same. After all, his eyes show more than anyone could say in a lifetime.”

Agatha, still concerned about her brother, looked over at him. “Thanks for saving us. Will he be alright?”

“I can’t say. For some reason, his mind wouldn’t respond to my spirits, but his functions still seem to work fine.”

Akuma looked back at Agatha. “I’m sorry, but once he wakes, you both have to leave. I cannot tend to you two forever. There are many people like you in this world. Trapped. Lonely. Unable to escape from others, let alone themselves. That is my dream. Helping those who cannot help themselves.” He turned around to walk through the door. “I wish you both the best of luck in this cruel world. If you ever see a young man with blue hair and blue eyes, tell him I said hello. I’m sure he will help you both one day.”

The door shut and the room filled with silence. The fire continued crackling until day arrived.

Agatha: “Hmm. Stop it kitty. I don’t want to pet you right now.”

Akari: “Sister? Agatha? Agathaaaa. Agatha!”

Agatha yelled, “Ahh! What? Brother? Are you okay?”

Akari: “Yeah. My head hurts, but I’m okay.”

Agatha: “What do you mean? Your head hurts?”

Akari: “I’m not sure. It just keeps pounding and there are some voices, but it’s…comfortable. I feel like I can see more clearly and the pain from all those years seemed to have just…disappeared.”

Agatha looked at her brother with worry. ‘He seems fine, but he…seems different too. I don’t know what to say or think, but having him back is all that matters.’

“We have to go brother. I have to say goodbye to someone first though. Stay here,” she told him.

“Okay!”

Agatha walked through the door to an empty room. In the center was a half gold, half black sword with white lines running down it and chaplet holes running down the side. “The…Dougen?”

She walked towards the sword and grabbed it with her right arm. A mix of gold and black mana lines appeared all over her body along with gold and black mana shooting out of the sword. ‘So this is what happens when your mana comes into contact with swords? It’s increased significantly. More than any training I could’ve done by myself in that cell…Thanks, old man. I’ll train even harder than I did with my mana in the cell.’

Agatha turned back through the door to leave with her brother. “Let’s go, Akari…Huh?” Agatha entered the room to find Akari missing from the bed and the sheets on the floor. “Akari!” She ran outside looking for her brother. “Akari!”

Akari: “I’m right here, sister. Look. This man was selling dead rabbits, so I killed him as payment. I didn’t have enough money, so I figured this would help me get the rabbits instead. Now we have food for today!”

Agatha stood with her mouth open, unable to speak.

Akari: “I also needed a sword, so I guess I’ve stolen from him. That isn’t right is it? Oh well, I guess I will hand some of these rabbits to others in the mountains to make up for it. Let’s go, Agatha.”

She walked behind him and raised her sword high enough to strike down on her brother. She began to cry. ‘I-I-I c-an’t. I-I’m sorry.’

He turned around and smiled at his sister. “Oh! That’s a cool sword! I’m lucky to have a sister like you. You’re strong. You will protect me, right? I’m not sure if this sword is that good, but it was good enough to kill him. But…Now I feel bad. Should I feel bad? I’m not sure.”

He reached out to hug her. Agatha just continued to cry, but then hugged him and looked down with fearsome resolve as tears ran down her face. “Yes. I’ll do anything to protect you.” She thought, ‘Even if that means turning the world against me. I’ll make sure he lives. I’ll become strong enough to where nobody can make us feel fear again! I’ll make sure he isn’t hurt, but also that he can’t hurt others.’

The Dougen sword lit up. Magic incantations encircled the girl in a box to where she couldn’t move. The incantations moved around spinning around her, shielding off viewers from the outside. A white light lit up the sky shining down on her body. The sword picked itself up off the ground and moved in the direction of Agatha. With its sharp blade, it tattooed her chest with a symbol of a phoenix. The light slowly faded along with the incantations and she fell to her knees on the hard ground panting. ‘Wh-What just happened?! What was that?’

Akari completely ignored what had just happened while Agatha struggled to process it.

Akari: Oh! How did you do that?! “Sister! You have a new tattoo. That’s really cool. I couldn’t see you for a moment, so I got worried, but you’re okay. Come on. Let’s go give some of these bunnies to people.”

The two walked side by side down the mountain covered in blood abandoning sanity to achieve their own goals. Abandoning what the old man had tried to teach her in that small interaction. “I don’t know what’s going on. Sorry, Akuma…I cannot leave him behind. Maybe someday I can be like you, but for now I have to do what I have to do. I’m sure you're right. Someone will come save us someday…hopefully.”