Revenge In the Key of C

As the warm and bubbling water melted the day’s stress away, Agon and Mars began to talk about their future. It was still hard for Mars to believe that he had truly disbanded from the team he practically grew up with, and Agon couldn’t believe that he had the courage to tell him to do it. The whole experience, though scary, proved to be a fruitful one, helping the two of them grow, each in their own special way. As they continued to soak, a rumble formed and began to slosh the water around. Agon and Mars opened their eyes and looked at each other.

“What the heck was that?” Mars said, looking around while keeping his left arm firm on the post.

“I have no idea…”

A pile of screams was heard from inside the bathhouse. A muffled voice shouted out.

“You cannot come in here and wreck my establishment like thi-GHK!”

“That sounded like Bossa Ojah!” Mars started to pull himself up out of the water with his left arm, quickly getting dressed. Agon leapt out of the water and proceeded to do the same.“Come on, we gotta go investigate-!” Suddenly, a girl’s voice was heard. She was singing; her voice swinging back and forth between an arrangement of notes. Mars shot up straight, his eyes nearly popping out of his skull.

“Mars, what is it-” Agon said. He turned around and put a finger over his lips. “Shhh.” The voice got closer and closer to their door. And as it did, a trail of sand slipped through from the bottom crack. Agon and Mars looked at each other in fear.

‘That’s-” Agon started. But before he could finish his statement, a burst of sand knocked the door down, and with it, Agon and Mars. They closed their eyes tight until they felt the blast of sand come to an end. As they opened them, they gazed upon an almond-haired girl with a sadistic smile. It was Carine.

“Evening, boys.” She cooed.

“Carine!” Agon yelled. “What are you doing here?!?”

“Looking for the buddy duo of traitors.”

“I thought you had a performance tonight.” Mars interrogated.

“Oh, I did. Went really well, too. But after the show, I heard from Kiche that a pup chewed off his leash. And I decided…what if I did a little ENCORE…?!?” She sang a high-pitched note and summoned a wall of sand from behind Agon and Mars. As she changed the note, so did the shape of the sand; from a flat wall to an array of needles, all pointing directly over their heads. They didn’t move an inch.

“Agh…not good.” Mars struggled.

“Mars…I really wanna give you the benefit of the doubt here, but I just can’t. After that stunt you pulled, you should’ve known I would hunt you down. What made you think coming HERE, a town surrounded by nothing but sand, would be a good idea?”

“H-heh…honestly, I was hoping that you’d be too busy patching up your man to come and find us.”

“Jealousy is bad for your heart, you know.”

“True…But I'm starting to think you’re no good for it, either. LIMBO STEP!” Mars touched his left foot to the ground and made the world tilt. Carine lost her balance as he pressed his toe further down. The wall of needles began to shudder and lose its shape, returning to normal sand. Agon and Mars coughed and sputtered as they tried to get the sand out of their mouths. They got up on their feet and ran out the back way of the bathhouse. Carine growled and chased after them. Agon and Mars ran through the right wing, pushing over the townspeople. Mars made a point to politely excuse himself while knocking people over so he wouldn’t activate his death magic any further. As they ran towards the main entrance, a wave of sand hurdled over the frame, with Carine riding on top. The sand spilled over their feet.

“No!” Mars yelled. “This is bad!”

“What do you mean? Let’s just run!”

“No, Agon, don’t move!” He stopped in his tracks before he got ready to take his first step.

“She’s got us trapped. If we move just an inch, then she’ll use her magic to morph the sand and stab us right here.”

She smirked at his explanation. “Glad you know how this works. Now, I had the intention of taking both of you back to Caldivere…but Mars, I’m afraid, is a repeat offender. So he takes priority.”

“What are you gonna do with him?!?” Agon barked.

“Something that might just happen to you if you don’t SHUT IT.” She growled.

Agon gritted his teeth. “Oh yeah? Shut this! HEARTBURN!”

“Agon no, don’t!”

It was too late. Agon had taken his fist and slammed it into his chest. But he felt no fire rising within him. He was instead met with a voice in his head.

“T.A./H.A. SKILL DEACTIVATED. ALL ABILITIES ARE UNAVAILABLE.”

A look of dread painted his face. “N-no…no, no. NO…DEFIBRILATE!!!” He tried once more. The message repeated.

“T.A./H.A. SKILL DEACTIVATED. ALL ABILITIES ARE UNAVAILABLE.”

“Is it over yet?” Carine groaned and sang another note, commanding all the sand around them to morph into a cage that enveloped Mars completely.

“MARS!!!” Agon, now free from the sand trap, ran over to bang his fist on the sand cage, but no matter how hard he knocked on it, the sand did not lose its form. Carine sang a high note and lifted the cage into the air. “Ah, there we are. I believe that takes care of things. Buh-bye, Agon. Remember, you’re on our list too. So take this as a little warning. Don’t ever come back to Caldivere.” She said sternly and sang a string of notes. She rode the sand out of Myeknir while carrying Mars with her.

“Get back here!” Agon yelled, but he was too uncertain to chase after them

“If I follow her in that desert, she’ll have the advantage…but if I don’t follow them now…!”

He growled to himself in frustration as he watched the two of them disappear into the deep night.