Bacorium Legacy (84 page)

“I'm sorry,” Luca said. “I can't let you all follow me to your deaths.”

“Don't do this!” Brand called out to him. “You can't face him alone!”

“Get out of here,” he said. “Go while you still can.” In a quieter voice, he added, “Blood will be spilt today. I won't have it be yours.”

He turned, and crossed the balcony to the bedroom. As he walked, he heard Brand and Gordon calling after him. Just before he closed the door, he heard a cry from Wiosna. The balcony door was closed, and Luca's only companion was silence.

The bedroom was empty, though Luca still crossed it with careful steps. He stopped at the door, drew his sword, and very carefully opened it. As soon as the door was open a crack, he pushed it and stepped back, his blade at the ready. After a few moments, when no guards came charging in, he cautiously proceeded into the hallway.

He had no idea where Emila or Zinoro might be, so searching could be difficult. As Emila was Zinoro's prisoner, the first and most logical place to check would be the dungeons. There didn't seem to be many people in the palace, but he still proceeded with caution.

Luca wandered through the hallways. Many of the doors he passed were open and empty, but a few were locked. The first locked door he came across, he rammed with his shoulder until it swung open. It was a bedroom that had been lived in recently, and after checking a few letters within, it turned out it was Dreevius'.

He did the same thing with the next room, which turned out to belong to Serpos. This time he searched a bit more thoroughly, and discovered what he was searching for. A smoky orb, identical to the one Serpos had used to control the dragon in the battle before. Luca wrapped the orb in a cloth and stuffed it in his bag.

Leaving the bedrooms, Luca found himself on a long stairway. He followed this down, taking note of the similarity between this palace and the other two he had been in. If his reasoning was right, he felt like he knew right where the dungeons would be.

He passed through the many halls of the Acarian palace, seeing dust over the furniture and murals on the wall with cracking paint. It astounded him that Zinoro could live in such a dead, empty place. Throughout it, he encountered absolutely no opposition. With the exception of the two guards outside, and the army camped on the circle outside the city gates, Luca wondered if there was anyone in this city at all.

He found the stairway that he was sure would lead into the dungeons. He followed this down, and as he went, the damaged paintings and dust vanished, and were replaced by cold stone. He was on the right track, at least.

Luca felt a chill run down his spine as he walked down those stairs. The air was much cooler in the dungeon, and something told him it had little to do with the stone walls. He placed his hand on his recently sheathed sword, and was ready to draw it at any sign of danger,

The stairs ended, and Luca found himself in a long hallway, the end of which was invisible through the thick darkness. With no other choice, he used his magick to create an illuminating orb to follow behind him. He then made his way through the long, narrow hallway.

It seemed to stretch on for eternity, and the farther Luca went, the colder the air seemed to get. A feeling of claustrophobia began to grow on him. He was beginning to feel that this wasn't a dungeon at all, but something else. Something dark and terrible and forbidden.

And then, almost abruptly, it ended. He was faced with a large, stone door with a keyhole in its centre. As Luca approached this door, he could feel a dark, powerful mana resonating from it. It was no ordinary door - he doubted that ramming his shoulder against it would force this one open.

Something told him that Zinoro's darkest secrets were hidden on the other side of that door. He had a fair understanding of magickally enhanced objects, and he knew that trying to force it open could unleash nasty magick traps on him. Glancing at the keyhole in the centre, he knew that he would have to find the unique key that had been made in tandem with it. And he knew that Zinoro - if he was as paranoid as Luca suspected - likely kept it on his person.

Turning around, Luca followed the dark hallway back the way he had come. If Zinoro understood anything about him, he would know that Luca would come to Acarienthia to save Emila. Imprisoning her on the other side of that door would be perfect for him - Emila would have no way to escape from it, and Luca would have to confront Zinoro himself if he wanted to get her out.

Luca released the floating orb and climbed the stairs back up to the palace halls. To find Emila, he would have to first find Zinoro. So he made his way in the direction of the place he most expected Zinoro to be.

Several minutes later, Luca pushed open the large double doors and stepped into the throne room. It was a large and open chamber, with pillars lining the sides of the frayed and bleached carpet. Large stain glass windows once stood high along the walls, though only a few were still intact. What little light that could penetrate the thick grey clouds flowed in through the broken windows. At the far end stood the throne itself, a large and impressive chair, covered in ash and dust.

Sitting on that throne was Emila, her eyes closed and her head tilted to the side.

“Emila!” he exclaimed without thinking. He ran towards her, dashing past the pillars and beams of light. He was nearly there, when a flash of movement caught his eye. At the last pillar before the throne, on the left-hand side, a figure emerged into view.

Luca's father's killer was not dressed the same was he had been on that fateful day. He was shirtless, and wore no shoes - only a pair of black slacks. His long hair was unbound, and his single eye glowed red. Arms crossed, he watched Luca with an unreadable expression as he stopped his dash to the throne.

“Hello, son of Lodin,” Zinoro said. “I've been waiting for you to show up for a while now.”

Luca looked over him, taking in his undressed form. His hands clenched in anger. “Have you - touched her?”

Zinoro cocked the eyebrow of his sole eye, then glanced at Emila. He chuckled, and said to Luca, “I'm not into that sort of thing.”

He wasn't sure if he could believe him or not, but that wasn't important right now. Luca stood his ground, glaring at Zinoro. He noticed Zinoro was unarmed. Why would he not have his Rixeor Fragment with him?

“I knew you would come here sooner or later,” Zinoro said to him. “I understand you well, boy. I know you would want to avenge your poor dead father. But really, it surprised me that you took so long to get here. You've been really busy in the past few months, haven't you? You were at Allma Temple during my attack, you were at Serenite when Trunda fled, and Serpos told me all about his fight with you in the Siren Valley. He said you had an interesting power - Teleportation. One of the ten Lost Spells. That explains how you escaped on the day we first met. One minute you were in front of me, then I turned my back and you were gone.”

“Serpos said that, did he?” Luca said, with a smirk of his own. “I wonder what he would say about me now.”

Zinoro frowned. “So you killed him, then?”

“I did. I killed Serpos, just like I killed your other acolytes. Just as I've come to kill you.”

“You're confident, at least. I'll give you that if nothing else. I guess that Serpos failed to catch Verra, then.”

Luca kept silent on that regard. Zinoro moved from the pillar, and began to pace back and forth across the hall. Luca watched him warily.

“You've changed quite a bit since I last saw you,” Zinoro said. “In - some ways. I sense a much greater power in you now. And yet in others ways you're still the same person you were then.”

“You killed so many people in that attack,” Luca accused him. “Innocent people!”

“Is that right?” Zinoro said, a flash of anger in his expression. “Innocent, were they? I'll bet they were. The people of Acaria were innocent, as well. Innocent even as the plague filled their kingdom, killing their crops, drying their water, and poisoning their lungs. They reached out to the good kingdoms of the Alliance for aid, and were answered with silence. Well, I say that they were guilty. They were all guilty.”

Zinoro cleared his throat, visibly calming himself. “You would come here and call me a monster for starting a war? For causing the deaths of innocent people? The Alliance invaded the kingdom of Freidu and wiped out every single person there - all because of the actions of the few who ruled it. You would demonise me for causing deaths while conveniently forgetting the horrors wrought by the men you work for?”

“They didn't murder people for the sake of bringing them back from the dead.”

“Hmm, perhaps not,” Zinoro muttered, continuing to pace across the hall. “I suppose nothing I can say will stop you from thinking I am the villain. I did kill your daddy, after all. I can understand why you would hate the man who did that.”

“And you will pay for that.”

“So you keep saying,” he said. He stopped walking, and began to laugh. “I'm quite amused by you, son of Lodin. Emila knew you would come after her. She begged me to spare you, and to spare the people of Sono. But mostly you. And she was right - that you would come - but now that you're here you seem to care more about killing me than saving her. You haven't even asked if she's still alive!”

Luca glanced at Emila, confused. “She's alive. She hasn't disappeared.”

“You think the laws of this world are so simple, don't you?” Zinoro asked. “Someone dies, they vanish. Nice and easy. You know nothing of this world, or the next. You may soon, however, if I send you to it.”

Something was bothering Luca. “I don't understand why she even came here in the first place. If she knew I would follow her, and come here and face you - what made her think she could convince you?”

Zinoro turned to Luca, his eye wide in amusement. “So she hasn't told you, has she?”

“Told me what?”

“And I thought you two were so close,” Zinoro muttered. He strode over to the throne, walking up the steps and standing beside Emila. Cupping her chin, he turned her head and looked at her face. “My eyes were not always red. Back in the days before I had my powers, when I was a young man like you, my eyes were green. The same shade of green that every member of my family has had - a common eye colour for Acarians, actually.” Zinoro let go of Emila's chin, and turned back to Luca. “Tell me, if I still had my green eyes, would you be able to see the resemblance?”

Luca felt cold. “No - that can't be true.”

“Emila thought she could stop the war all by herself, by appealing to the conscience of her dear older brother,” Zinoro said. “But she was wrong. Nothing can stop it now. The only thing that has been delaying it has been your arrival.”

“She can't have your blood... she would have told me...”

“Ah, but she didn't!” Zinoro exclaimed, stepping down from the throne and approaching Luca. “She was hiding from me, it would seem.”

“You attacked her town, you killed her family!”

“
Our
family. The mother we shared.”
 

Luca's fists were clenched so hard the knuckles were cracking. “You monster.”

“Judge me all you want, if it makes you feel better. Your anger is understandable, as your closest companion has been lying to you since you've met her.” Zinoro turned around and went back up to the throne. “Would it make you feel better to hear it from her?”

Zinoro gathered his mana and Emila gasped, opening her eyes immediately. She saw Luca and a look of shock and worry struck her. “Luca...?”

He stepped forth. “Emila, are you alright?”

Her lips trembled, but she nodded her head. “I'm fine. You - you shouldn't have come after me...”

“I couldn't just abandon you.”

Zinoro smiled, “I told him the truth about you, but he doesn't seem to want to believe me. It would probably make him feel better if he heard it from you. Go ahead, Emila. Tell him. Be honest for once.”

Emila looked like she was about to cry. Shamefully, she blinked back tears, and nodded.

“But why didn't you tell me?”

“I - I couldn't...” Emila sobbed. “I was so ashamed. The people who killed my family, who killed
your
family - I-I couldn't be - one of them...”
 

“Very sad,” said Zinoro. “But I think you should go back beyond the wall of sleep now.”

“Luca, get out of here! Run away from-!”

Zinoro snapped his fingers, and Emila's cry was cut short. Her eyes closed, and her head rolled forward.

“Emila!”

“Don't worry about her,” Zinoro told Luca. “I won't harm her. Our mother made one final request of me before I killed her, and I intend to honour it. So no matter what, Emila will not die by my hand.”

“You intend to honour it?” Luca scoffed. “You?”

“Despite what you believe, I am a very honourable man,” Zinoro said. “Far more honourable than Zaow or your father, in any case. I keep every promise I make. On the day that Gordon told me my father's fate, I swore that I would kill the men responsible for it and return Acaria to its former glory. And I shall do that, by any means necessary.”

“You're mad!” Luca shouted. “Can you think of nothing but your quest for revenge? Everything you say comes back to this petty, childish desire to get back at the people who wronged you!”

Zinoro stopped, looking surprised for the very first time. “Yes - perhaps that is true. Perhaps my desire for justice has become the only thing I have... But that is not going to stop me from pursuing it. I have dipped into a dark place to get the power I have, and I can tell, even as I am now, that it has changed me. I cannot turn back now, precisely because of how far I have come - because of the very lengths that I have gone to. I could not stop even if I wanted to.”

Luca knew what it was he spoke of. “Ekkei?”

“The demon has given me powers not seen in many years. Three of the ten Lost Spells are mine, at least in some form. The revenants, the teleportation - but of course there was a terrible price that needed payed for these gifts. I tried to escape that price through a loophole, but I could not. Ekkei got what she wanted, as she always does.”