Blind Phoenix

Beginning

“I’m not even sure what to do at this point…” said Liam. “First you kill another fighter and now you destroy one of our arenas. I’m still dealing with Yuig’s lawyers. He had a family too, and they aren’t exactly happy about his death. This will only give you and me further trouble.”

            Looking down, Byur responded, “I’m sorry…I couldn’t control myself. I guess that’s not an excuse, though.”

            Liam sighed, “No it’s not. What am I going to do with you now? Kal will take a pay cut, but that won’t be enough for you.”

            Nico took a step forward, saying “I’ll tell him, if it matters.”

            “Very well” said Liam.

            “Your punishment will be…”

            Byur looked into Nico’s direction awaiting a response.

            “Well, actually, it’s not really a negative thing in my eyes! You are to take part in the battle against Tenno. Finally, this lazy organization has decided it’s time to attack.”

            Liam looked at Nico, seemingly insulted by his comments, but he soon looked calm again.

            “R-really?!” said Byur. “Then what are we waiting for? I don’t need any rest, let’s go right now.”

            “No way, bruv. You and Kal still need to rest; the both of you need to be at full strength. If you’re up for it you can train all you want, just be as close to 100% as possible. We have three days until then, and today is Tuesday.”

            Kal then said, light-heartedly, “I thought I was only taking a pay cut!”

            “Do you want to help or not, bruv?” said Nico.

            “Of course, of course. I’ll train myself to my breaking point these next two days. I will heal my body via meditation on the final one. I recommend Byur does the same.”

            Maria replied, “He still hasn’t learned mediation, though. We’ll need to teach him that first.”

            “Well, little miss, it won’t be a problem. It will only take up to an hour, and with how anxious I’m sure we all are, that won’t feel like much time at all.”

            Lynn responded, “Hmm, sounds like a good idea…we can start today, actually. Nico, you come too, the faster we teach Byur how to do this, the better.”

            “Aw come on, I’m seeing a movie with my friends, can’t we do this tomorrow?” Said Nico jokingly

            Byur attempted to speak, but Lynn beat him to it, “Just do it and then go! Jeez, a movies not going to disappear even if you’re late.”

            “Was just a joke, I swear! I’m the most experienced here anyway, so we’ll teach him in no time. The concept is easy, too. I’m sure someone like you can understand it with no difficulty, Byur.”

            “Thanks guys…it feels surreal now. I’m not sure how I’m going to confront Tenno when I see him, but, I can guarantee he won’t walk away unbothered this time. I just have one problem with us going after him right now, none of us are anywhere near as strong as he is. We wouldn’t even be able to touch him, or even run away if he showed up.”

            Nico straightened his tie and said, “I have a secret weapon. Lynn, Maria and I can take on any of the other’s that show up. Hell, I’m on par with their second strongest guy. My technique only has one chance to work, naturally, or else that would mean life is actually merciful!”

            Liam stepped forward, saying, “What exactly is this new move you’ve thought up of?”

            “Nothin really flashy or creative, just very effective. I call it the ‘Black Containment Barrier’. It’s quite powerful.”

            Liam raised an eyebrow and said, “What exactly does it do? It sounds like something that will keep him at bay and nothing more.”

            “Well, I just made the name up… just now, so it’s not exactly the most appropriate name.”

            “What does it do?” said Byur.

            Nico gave a devilish smile before speaking, “It kills the bastard!”

            “I was…expecting a more in depth description, Nico…”

            “Ahah, yeah, well, here then. I’ll tell you as best as I can. First of all, every single living creature in this world that has energy actually has two lives, in a way. In times of danger, you can ‘sacrifice’ this life to unleash the strongest ability you possibly can perform. But, if you don’t use a technique like this that doesn’t mean you can die twice. A more sensible way of describing this is…you can use these techniques only twice until your entire body obliterates into nothingness. Even after using it once, you won’t ever feel the same after the fights over. You partially lose feeling of your body and your heart will feel uneasy until the day you die.

            The Black Containment Barrier is one of these moves. It will encase Tenno inside a black sphere of energy and completely tear him apart. It will kill every single cell in his body, even if he were to have regenerative powers it would not help him in the slightest.”

            Lynn’s eyes faintly widened, “W-wait, doesn’t that mean you’re going to suffer for the rest of your life if you go through with it? Why? We can find another way, there’s no need for measures as extreme as that…please listen to me, for your sake.”

            Nico put both his hand son his sister’s shoulders and gave her a smile of brotherly love. He then began to mess her hair up playfully, “Listen, Lynn, I could have all my limbs cut off and if wouldn’t bother me one bit as long as I knew it was for a cause I think is worthy. Some numbness and a wacky heart won’t kill me.”

            Lynn seemed to tear up, but it was not clear to anyone watching. She pouted and said, “Fine…but who knows, maybe Tenno will become weak if we defeat his comrades. They could be connected, or something! Use it as a last resort, please.”

            “And what if it doesn’t work?” said a figure standing in the shadows.

            Everyone looked towards the direction of the voice. Walking out of the shadows was James, the young man Byur had fought with in the first bout of the beginner’s tournament. He had somehow grown in the few days he had not been seen, both in height and in mass.

            Nico raised an eyebrow and gave a concerned smile, “James, it’s you! Haven’t seen you in a while. Are you alright there, bruv?”

            James’ expression was serious and it did not change upon Nico’s words, “No, I’m not. Do you have a backup in case this doesn’t work? Anything could happen.”

            “There’s nothing we can do besides this, friend,” said Nico, “You may not feel it here, but this world is slowly decaying.”

            “So we’re just charging head on, I suppose. You should know that I’m not coming, though.”

            The tone in James’s voice made all of them uneasy, so Nico implored him to tell them what had caused him to act in such a way and why he was so against participating.

            James then responded, “Nico, I…come here for a second, I need to tell you something.”

            Nico shrugged and walked with James to an uninhabited part of the room. James leaned in and whispered something to him, and Nico gave an extremely surprised expression with his glasses nearly falling off. Shortly after, a grave look formed on his face. He looked down onto the floor and forced a smile, the kind you make when you expected something and are horrified to know your expectation was correct. Nico offered his hand to James, and James seemed to be holding back tears while he firmly gripped his friend’s hand. In an instant, James was gone and Nico returned to the group.

            “Nico?” said Maria with a worried tone.

            The man in his favorite black suit gave a smile that appeared to be authentic this time, “It’s nothin’, you guys. Not anything you have to worry about anyway. It’s something that I should keep to myself, better if only I know.”

            Liam furrowed his brow, “Is it something of consequence? It had to be, given the reactions you two were giving to each other. Don’t leave us in the dark. I have no doubt it concerns all of us here.”

            “Sir, I would request that you respect my decision. It’s best this way, trust me.” Said Nico

            Byur then responded to Liam, “If Nico thinks it’s best, I say we go with it, nothing wrong with not having our curiosity sated.”

            “It isn’t about curiosity, it’s for our own safety and to assure he’s making the correct choice…but I suppose I will let it go.”

            Nico took a small bow and said, “Thank you, Liam. You’ve always been good to us.”

            The old man averted his gaze from the group to hide his slight embarrassment, “Damn well better let me enter the afterlife with no regrets, you hear?”

            “Of course, of course.” said Nico with a hearty laugh. “I think it’s time we take our bruv Byur to your training room again, sis.”

            Everyone but Nico, Liam and Byur was still very skeptical about the correctness of choosing to keep what James said a secret. However, with the event already passing, everyone had already made their choice, like it or not.

In a close by neighborhood inside of a large, well-kept apartment, James was speaking with a mysterious person. There was little light in the room, but some seeped through the blinds covering the windows. The room itself was a mess. The only items not on the floor were a closet and a lamp. You could barely make out the color of the brown carpet.

“I’ve completed the task” said James to a young man standing in front of him.

            The young man replied, “I see…do you think there’s any chance everything will go smoothly?”

            “I don’t know. There is nothing I can predict, but maybe by some stroke of luck, our plan might succeed.”

            The young man closed his eyes and put his hands over them, “Damn it, that’s not the answer I was looking for at all. I guess I’m not going to blame you for being honest. Thank you, for everything.”

            James sat on the ground and took a deep breath, “I know you’re nervous, but I am too. You probably already figured that out, though. Come, you know what we have to do.”

            The young man stood up and puffed out his chest, “Yes…let’s prepare ourselves, we need to be as useful as possible. In our situation, failure means more than just death. The outcome of all of this…will determine the fate of this planet and everything around it.”