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Chapter Nineteen: Friend or Foe? Brother vs. Brother

Koza shook his head.

“Adrian…No…” he said quietly. “What have they done to you…That damn ARK organization…” Koza’s rage was rising.

“If you won’t attack, then I shall start!” Adrian said as he ran forward. Koza looked up and jumped to the side at the last minute. Adrian’s sword slammed down onto the ground, creating a large pillar of sand.

Koza stumbled a bit, trying to keep his balance. It had been a while since he’d actually fought a serious battle. He drew his rapier and took a fighting stance.

“Ah, I see you’ve held onto my rapier. Glad to see I wasn’t forgotten,” Koza said with a crooked smile. “Allow me to break that toothpick in half!” Adrian yelled as he raised his sword Dystopia high and charged again. Koza reluctantly charged at Adrian. He didn’t want to, but if he didn’t defend himself, there was no way he’d survive for long playing defense alone.

Adrian swung his sword down hard. Koza jumped out of the way and struck at Adrian’s shoulder. It made a clean hit, and caused Adrian to falter. Koza used this opportunity and tackled Adrian to the ground. Dystopia flew off and stuck in the sand. The glowing around Adrian’s body faded slightly.

“Not bad Koza. I can see you haven’t lost your touch,” Adrian said.

“Snap out of it Adrian! That’s the shard talking, not you!” Koza yelled. Adrian gave a crooked smile and knocked Koza off before standing up. He walked over and grabbed the sword, causing his body to glow once again. Koza regained his balance quickly and started to assess the situation.

“Ok, think Koza. That sword weighs more than I do, so if I get hit it’s game over. That Black Cat Jewel is what’s powering it, and what’s controlling Adrian. If I can destroy that thing, then I should be able to snap him out of it,” Koza thought to himself. Adrian raised the sword and dashed forward. Koza shook his head and tried to dodge again. As Adrian swung the sword, it clipped Koza’s right arm, leaving a semi-deep slash mark. Koza ignored the pain and ran at Adrian again. Adrian raised his sword up again and was about to bring it down, when Koza suddenly jumped up at it.

“What the…?” Adrian said confused.

“Just a wake up call!” Koza yelled. When he was close enough, he drove the rapier directly into the center of the Black Cat Jewel. A large crackling sound was heard as the shard began to shatter. A large amount of dark energy leapt from the shard, down the rapier, and onto Koza, with shocked him and sent him flying back. Adrian gritted his teeth together as his body surged with dark energy. The Black Cat Jewel sparked for a moment, the exploded into a cloud of purple haze. Adrian flew back as well, dropping the sword with a large thump. The intensity of the blast had cracked the shards around Adrian’s neck.
Koza stumbled up and saw Adrian laying on the ground. He walked awkwardly over and kneeled down next to him.

“Adrian…” he asked softly. “How do you feel?”

“Ugh…” Adrian managed to say. He coughed once and looked up. “Koza…Thank you…I wasn’t myself. You saved me from doing something I would never forgive myself for.” As he spoke, the shards around his neck began to crack more.

“Adrian! Your Element Shards!” Koza said worriedly. “If those break, then…”

“I’ll die,” Adrian finished. “It doesn’t matter. ARK shouldn’t have tried to cheat death. Koza, please, take this…” Adrian held up the shard he had used to create the portal to the Spirit World. “If you use go back and use it in the general area where we came in, it should spit you back out in the cave,” Adrian explained. Adrian’s body started to fade and become transparent as the shards he worse broke apart.

“Adrian!” Koza said in a worried tone. “Please! Don’t go! There has to be a way! You can come back with me!” Adrian shook his head slowly.

“Koza, it was wonderful to see you again…Please, take care of yourself, and Tera as well…Goodbye, my brother…” As he finished speaking, his body completely faded away. Koza pounded his fist down on the spot where his body had been. The door at Koza’s end of the field reopened. Koza looked back and stood up.

“Goodbye Adrian…” he said softly before running out the door and heading down the staircase. Koza arrived at what he hoped was where he came in at, and held the shard out in front of him. A portal started to form in the air. Koza waited until it was large enough, then dove through it. Before he made it through all the way, the wound he had suffered on his arm sparked with dark energy and pulsed. The portal closed behind Koza, and all was silent once again.




Next Chapter: Infection - A Costly Escape