Games of War
November 17th, 2006 by Salem
Chapter 49 – Selene and Salem were slowly making their way around a very surreal scene. Rook, Pawn and the other Blade Animals had somehow been copied and made into game pieces. Salem tried to run onto the large chessboard floor to grab Pawn, but she was thrown back when a red wall of light pushed her away. “I’ve taken all precautions to ensure a fair and just game!” said a male voice above them. “Who are you and what have you done to the Blade Animals?” yelled Salem. “They are just fine!” replied the voice. Both Salem and Selene looked around but they could not find the source of the voice. It was bouncing off the round walls and high dome ceiling. “What happens to them is completely up to you!” continued the voice, “Agree to play along, or I will be forced to hurt them and you.” At this, all of the single color copies’ eyes turned a dark purple and smiled in a murderous way before turning their heads to look at the originals on the black side or at the twins. “Play along with you? To what end?” asked Selene. “I thought it would be obvious to you,” said the voice, “A friendly game of chess.” “Easy for you to call it a game!” yelled Salem, “From what I see, we are the only ones who have lives to lose.” “You are right,” said the voice, “It does look that way. As soon as you take your place on your side, I will show you what I will put up for you to win other than your lives.” The twins look at each other, and then they take their place behind the side with the Blade Animals and black copies. As soon as they found their spots, parts of the floor they were standing on opened and clamped around their feet. They were trapped, unable to move from their spot.
The twins did not have to wait long for their captor to show himself. He walked down the grand stairway that led up to the living quarters. The man was dressed like a typical pirate captain except for the KingBlade around the top of his head. “Greetings, Legendary Gemini Twin HexBlade Masters,” said the man as he approached them from the other side of the large checkered platform, “I am Captain Crellis.” He takes a good look at the two women at the other side, “You two look very young for women who are over four thousand years old.” “What is the meaning of this?!” yelled Salem. “What have you done to the Blade Animals?” asked Selene. “This is just a little trick I can do with my KaleidoscopeBlade. We can’t have a friendly game of chess with only one of each piece,” said Crellis as he steps up to his side. The floor under him opens as clamps emerged and clamped around his feet, locking him down as well. “You see, Ladies. I am willing to bet my life on this game as well. So here are the terms,” said Crellis, “I will bet my life, The KingBlade, and this book my Master wants from your secret library.” Captain Crellis puts his hand in a small bag that was at his side and pulls out a small black hardbound book with paper sticking out from two pages. It was obviously a marker, holding a place of the information in the book that the Mysterious Master needed. The twins could not see what book Crellis had taken from their private library. They themselves had not been in their own library for about a thousand years. “As for your side of the wager, Not only will your lives be on the line but you will put up the SaintBlade. The real SaintBlade, not that poor copy that was here before.” “Is that all?” asked Selene. “And the secret that Terra gave you,” said Captain Crellis. “That secret? We have told almost everyone about it. Even your spy should have told you!” yelled Salem. “Not the wish you have to reinforce in the name of the Caretakers. I’m talking about the thing she gave you. A thing Stanza couldn’t see with his SoothsayersBlade,” said Crellis. The twins looked at each other. “You weren’t supposed to tell them that!” yelled Stanza as he stepped out from behind a stone pillar, “They were never to know about me!” “So that’s how your Master’s been doing it,” said Salem. “He’s been predicting what had been happening all this time,” said Selene. “Relax, Stanza,” said Crellis, “They’re not going to be alive much longer.” Crellis puts the book back in his bag and pulls out a very short black staff, “My KaleidoscopeBlade has made it so the winner will be freed and the loser of this game will be instantly killed.”
“What makes you think that you will win?” asked Salem. “I am Captain Crellis. I know everything. My greatest natural gifts are strategy and mathematics. This game is both,” said Crellis with a smug look on his face, “I’ve never been defeated.” “The Mysterious Master is waiting!” yelled Stanza, “Lady Slambrawn has killed the Caretaker and the SunBlade is on it’s way to the island! We need to get going!” the twins had heard what Stanza said but chose not to react to it. They knew, to let emotion take them now will mean their deaths. The focus has to be on the game. Captain Crellis takes off the bag and hands it to Stanza. “First, I think we need to get the game board in the right place,” said Crellis. The KingBlade on his head began to glow yellow and the large platform began to turn. “Hey!” yelled Salem. “To make this more interesting, I’ll be black,” said Captain Crellis, “This should give you a little obstacle in the game.” The platform comes to a stop with the black side, the side the Blade Animals are on, in front of Crellis. The white side was in front of the twins. “Before we begin,” said Captain Crellis, “please show your bets.” “Pawn, SaintBlade,” ordered Salem. Pawn did not do anything but look sadly at Salem. “So you have the SaintBlade in that obnoxious void,” said Crellis. “It will only allow the SaintBlade to exit,” said Salem. “Pawn,” called Captain Crellis with the KingBlade glowing purple, “Be a good boy, and give the twins the SaintBlade.” Pawn opened the ThievesBlade’s void and the SaintBlade flew out of it to be caught by Salem. “Great! Now take it from them and let’s get out of here!” yelled Stanza. “But they haven’t lost yet,” said Captain Crellis. “Lost? You mean you’re actually going to go through with this?” yelled Stanza. “Where is the other item?” asked Crellis. “What item?” asked Selene. “What the Caretaker gave you!” snapped Crellis. She didn’t give us anything else,” said Salem. “We will find out at the end of the game then,” said Captain Crellis, “White moves first.” Salem and Selene looked at each other then Salem turned and yelled, “King’s Pawn, ThievesBlade’s void!” The Pawn that was standing in front of the white King copy opened his mouth and the ThievesBlade’s void opened just as it would if the real Pawn were doing it. The black copies were beginning to be pulled in. Suddenly, the white Pawn exploded. Pieces of stone and dust flew everywhere and the ThievesBlade’s void closed. “We’re playing by the strict rules of Chess. Any illegal moves will result in a lost piece and turn. Lucky for you, this was only a starting move and I being a deep believer of the game will give you your piece back as well as your turn,” said Captain Crellis as he looked through his KaleidoscopeBlade and created a new white Pawn, “I trust you two will not be making the same mistake again. OH, and I almost forgot, you will be taking turns in moving your pieces. Only trouble is, you will not be allowed to talk to each other or use any fancy signals.” A wall comes up between the twins. “Again, just to make the game interesting,” said Crellis, “I believe it was your turn Salem.”
Electro Arian took her VoltBlades, two black sais, and placed them inside one of the control panels of the TidusBlade. Power quickly returns to the bridge and the screen lights up to show the dock and sea outside. “Silent Arian,” called Trance Arian, “Lock all doors and passages leading to the main bridge.” “Trance Arian, most of the crew is in the engine room,” said Spike Arian. “That won’t matter,” said Trance Arian, “They won’t be able to stop us unless they can get to the bridge.” “I found the panel with the automated repair control,” said Katana Arian. Trance Arian goes over to take a look at the panel, “Yes, that is what we need.” Trance Arian turns to Force Arian, “Take your place at the security control and lock out all panels except for the bridge.” Trance Arian turns back to Katana Arian, “Deactivate all automated repair, now.” In the main engine room of the TidusBlade, James and John were overseeing the efforts to get the main engine up and running by the time the twins return from the temple. “What?!” yelled Engineering Chief Lara Koror, James’ 31 year old baby sister. “What’s wrong Lara?” asked James. “Not only has the main engine been damaged more than ever before, but the auto repair sequence has stopped,” said Lara. They walked over to the engineering control panel to see why it has shut down and to reactivate it again. “Well that’s odd. It was simply turned off,” said Lara. “Maybe some one accidentally turned it off,” suggested James. Lara begins to restart the auto repair sequence. The panel gave an unauthorized message. “What do you mean?!” yelled Lara, “Why is this happening on my first week at Chief?” “Let me try,” said James, “You may not have been completely cleared through the system yet.” James turn six dials clearing his sister’s six digit authorization number and putting his own. Then James tries to restart the repair sequence. The panel gave an “Unauthorized” message again and shut down so no further attempts can be made. “What’s going on here?!” yelled James as he pulled out his ComBlade and called Ajax. On the bridge, a tone was coming from the unconscious Ajax. Trance Arian pulls out the small mirror that was making the noise and pushes the small bump on it that was flashing green. “Ajax, what is going on up there?” said James as he appeared in the small mirror, “Who are you?!” “I am Arian, and I am holding your Blade and everyone inside hostage,” said Trance Arian. “What?!” yelled James into his ComBlade, “What do you hope to gain?!” The blonde woman on the other side just turned off her ComBlade without further explanation. “Close and lock down all hatches, exits, and the Mirror Blade in the main cargo hold,” ordered Trance Arian.
“What should we do?” said a voice in Selene’s head. “We have an advantage,” thought Selene to herself, “He has no idea of our condition and ability to communicate like this.” “So you want to play and have him think he has an advantage over us?” thought Salem to herself. “Yes sister. Only it is not much of an advantage,” thought Selene, “We are still evenly matched. No matter what he does, it is a game where either of us can win.” “But he will be playing thinking we have to guess what the other will do,” thought Salem. “This is true,” thought Selene, “Make the first move, sister.” “King’s Pawn to King four,” ordered Salem. The white Pawn walked two spaces forward. “Excellent!” yelled Captain Crellis, “And so the game begins. Queen’s Bishop Pawn to Queen’s Bishop five.” The real Pawn, who was standing in front of the real King, watches the black pawn, which was in front of the fake Bishop, walk two spaces forward. “Now it’s your turn Selene,” reminded Crellis. “Queen’s Bishop Pawn to Queen’s Bishop three,” ordered Selene. The white pawn in front of the Bishop on the white Queen’s side moved one space forward. “Good, good. So far, by the book,” said Captain Crellis, “I guess you’ll have to go by the book in order to know what your sister is going to do next. Queen’s Pawn to Queen five.” The black fake Pawn in front of the real Queen moved forward two spaces. A lump in Salem’s throat grew as she mentally contemplated with her sister about her next move. “He thinks we are making our moves based on a basic strategy chess book. You have to do it. It’s not the real Pawn anyway,” thought Selene. “Pawn from King four to Queen five,” ordered Salem. The white Pawn in front of the White King opened the ThievesBlade’s void and sucked in the black Pawn before taking the black Pawn’s place on the white square. This move shocked the twins. “As so goes the first piece,” said Captain Crellis, “Had that been the real Pawn, I would have made the void take him in. It doesn’t matter if he has a soul. I changed the properties of the Blades. But now, it’s my turn. Queen to Queen five!” The real Queen, a black cat who is the master of the VentriloquistBlade, jumped forward and attacked the Pawn copy. The fake Pawn squeaked and squealed as Queen grabbing it by the neck and bit down until it snapped, killing it. The Pawn copy exploded in stone and dust just as before. Queen took her place on the white square where the white Pawn was before. The real Pawn was shocked at the demise of his look-a-likes.
Dark and ColdRaptor enter the engine room where James and John were talking to Lieutenant Henry and a large group of security officers. “I hear that we are being held hostage,” said Dark. “We’re going to correct that now,” said James, “Check every passage and every door. If you can’t get through, find a way around it. If there is none, then cut your way through! We must regain control of the bridge!” The security teams followed Harke and John out of the engine room as Legs came up to James and Dark, “David has reawakened and he’s doing fine,” “We just tazed him,” said Dark, “It would have been better if the right target had been tazed.” “What a day I’m having,” said James, “My long lost son gets phased!” “Tazed,” corrected Dark. “Whatever. My Blade’s main engine gets bashed in by a spy who gets away and suddenly, we are under siege,” said James, “And on top of it all, one of the suns have exploded.” “Like that hasn’t happened to me before,” said Dark. “How did power get restored to the bridge?” asked Legs. “I’m not sure about that,” answered James. “More Blades are the only answer for this,” said Dark, “Is there any secret way to the bridge?” “Only secret passage in the TidusBlade leads from my office to the stable,” said James. Dark looks at James for a while with her yellow cat like eyes. “What?” asked James. Dark looks deeper into James’ eyes. James felt as if Dark was sizing him up for her next dinner. “Wait,” James hits himself on the head, “We can access the bridge through my office! We got to get!” “Wait,” said Dark, “It’ll be better if it was just the two of us. I can take out that blonde in the bridge. You lead the way.” James and Dark ran to the stables.
“Your turn Selene,” reminded Crellis. Selene shakes her head and orders, “Queen’s Pawn to Queen four. The white Pawn in front of the white Queen moved two spaces to stand in front of the real Queen. “I must say that the book can have you do the most riskiest things with your pieces,” said Captain Crellis, “But I’m not falling for it, even though you will be killing the real thing, I’m no fool to lose my best piece. King’s Knight to King’s Bishop six.” The black fake knight takes to the air from the perch he was on and flew over the fake Pawn that was in front of him. The black square that was in front of a black Pawn on the King’s Bishop square opened and a new perch raised up as the original sank down. The fake Knight landed on the new perch. Salem did not hesitate and ordered, “King’s Knight to King’s Bishop three.” The same thing happened with their white Knight. “Still sticking to the book,” said Crellis, “Queen’s Bishop to King’s Knight four.” The black fake Bishop became a blur as he moved from his white square to a new white square, threatening to take the twins’ newly moved Knight. “Let’s see if you’ll stick with the book now,” said Captain Crellis. Selene ordered, “King’s Bishop to King two.” The white Bishop on the King’s right side jumps to take the square in front of the fake white King. “I guess you have no choice but to stick with the book,” said Crellis with a smile, “King’s Pawn to King six.” Pawn gave a frightened squeak. “You heard me,” said Captain Crellis as the KingBlade begins to glow purple again. Pawn moves up one square. Salem called out, “King’s Rook Pawn to King’s Rook three.” “Oh no, you are not going to take my Bishop,” said Crellis, “Bishop from King’s Knight four to King’s Rook five!” The fake Bishop moved back by one white square taking it out of harms way. Selene, “Castle the King!” The King took the King’s Knight one square and Rook took to the air to land on a new perch on the King’s Bishop one square. “Now that is a smart move,” said Captain Crellis, “And still by the book. Queen’s Knight to Queen’s Bishop six!” The real Knight leaves his perch to land on a new one on a white square. Of all of the Blade Animals that were on the board, Pawn was the most unsure of what was happening. He did not want to be playing this game at all. All of his copies made him feel very uncomfortable and the man giving him his orders had a potential to put him in harm’s way.
Salem called “Queen’s Bishop to King three.” The white Bishop quickly moved from his black square to a new black square on the King’s row. “I love this! War is just so expensive and you lose people who want you to be king. If I had it my way, all disputes between countries would be decided by a game of chess. In fact, that is what the Master has promised me. So welcome to the first world battle to change all of Colloquy. But then you won’t be around to see it,” said Crellis, “Pawn from Queen’s Bishop five to Queen four.” The black Pawn copy opened his ThievesBlade’s void and pulls in the white Pawn to take it’s place on the black square. Selene, “Pawn from Queen’s Bishop three to Queen four!” The white Pawn did the same thing to the black Pawn as the black Pawn did to the one before and the white Pawn took it’s place on the black square. “King’s Bishop to Queen’s Knight four,” ordered Captain Crellis. The real Bishop ran so fast, it looked as if he simply vanished from his black square and magically appeared on the new square. Salem, “Queen’s Rook Pawn to Queen’s Rook three.” The white Pawn moved into striking position to the real Bishop. “Whoa!” exclaimed Crellis whose eyes almost fell out of his head. Panic hit him and he stuttered a little as he yelped out, “Bishop from Queen’s Knight four to Queen’s Knight five, NO! Queen’s Rook five!” Bishop moved back a black square. Crellis gave out a large exhale and then began to laugh. “You surprised me. Not only did you make a move not in the book but you threatened one of your precious Blade Animals,” said Captain Crellis through his laughter, “You made me panic. Oh dear Salem. You diverted from the book, and for what? To scare me? What will your sister do now?”
The twins remained quiet to keep from being accused of cheating and losing a turn and a piece. Maybe this was a plan of his to have them do. They were not going to fall for it. But unknown to Crellis, they were in a flurry of discussion about his reaction to the move Selene made Salem do. Selene wanted to know if he would panic again. Selene called out, “Queen’s Knight to Queen’s Bishop three,” moving one of their Knights in striking position to kill the real Queen. “I see a trend,” said Captain Crellis, “First, the sister on the left makes a move off the book and puts one of your Blade Animals in danger, and now the sister on the right makes a move off the book, not that it matters to stay on it anymore anyway now, and places another Blade Animal in danger.” Crellis looks over the large game board. “I should just leave Queen where she is to see if you would actually take her,” said Captain Crellis, “But that would be making an idiot of myself. Queen from Queen five to Queen six.” Queen moved back one square. Salem, “Knight from Queen’s Bishop three to Queen’s Knight five.” “What?!” yelped Crellis, “Are you crazy bitches trying to kill my Queen?! Queen from Queen six to King seven!” “He panicked again,” thought Selene. “He does not want the Blade Animals hurt any more than we do.” thought Salem. “No, we are only shocking him with our unexpected moves. He is only protecting Queen as a good player. No Chess Master in their right mind will ever give up their queen,” thought Selene. “Knight from King’s Bishop three to King five,” ordered Selene. The white Knight landed on the new perch that appeared in the black square just in front of the real Pawn. Pawn was even more shocked at the twins’ moves, and now he felt that he was about to meet the fate of his copies.
“Now you are playing it safe. You didn’t leave much for your sister to work with,” said Captain Crellis, “Bishop from King’s Rook five to King two!” The black Bishop copy runs to the white Bishop and makes circles around it until the centrifugal force tore the white Bishop apart in a spray of stone and dust, and then took the white Bishop’s place. Salem, “Queen to King two!” A meow sound came from behind the fake Bishop causing it to turn quickly. This continued until the black Bishop was made to turn so fast, it met the same fate as the white copy. The white Queen took the white square that the Bishop was on. “Now that was unexpected,” said Captain Crellis, “It would make sense if I was playing a single opponent. But I know for sure that playing two people will lead them to a disagreement even though they are playing for a common goal. Could it be true that twins think alike? I think it’s best to be careful. Castle the King!” The King took the King’s Knight eight square and the black Rook copy took to the air to land on a new perch on the King’s Bishop eight square. Selene, “Queen’s Rook to Queen’s Bishop one” “Hmm. It just amazes me how you two can work together without any contact between each other except for the game board. I’m sure I’ll figure it out by the end of the game. But for now, I’ll just make a simple move. Queen’s Rook to Queen’s Bishop eight” “He made the same move,” thought Salem as the real Rook moved to his new square. “He is just using his turn to see what we would do next. The same reason why I moved our Rook,” thought Selene, “Let us go through with the plan, sister.” Salem, “Bishop from King three to King’s Knight five!” The white Bishop ran two squares to the new space it was ordered to. “Now we are just wasting moves. Very well,” said Crellis, “Bishop from Queen’s Rook five to Queen’s Knight six.”
The GullBlade stands on one of the large wings of the YeagerBlade, oblivious to what is going on in the sky. Christina looks up, transfixed on the horrific beauty happening before her. Jarody, Zealot and Detective Lagan, who were also waiting on the dock next to the YeagerBlade, were also frozen where they were, watching as a third blast of energy exploded from the smaller of the two suns. Jarody smiles when he looks back down to see the frowns of panicked people running from the town and start jumping onto every boat at the dock. Captain Koror has sent security officers to barricade people from trying to board the YeagerBlade. The TidusBlade was too far away from them to see what was happening there. “I knew this was going to happen, but I never thought it would look like this,” said Zealot. Kasey jumped out of the YeagerBlade and ran to one of the four lines that were securing her Blade to the dock. “What are you doing?” asked Lagan. “I’m getting us to safety!” yelled back Kasey as she began to untie the line, “Quick! Get in!” Zealot grabbed Kasey’s arm and pulled her away from the line. “Have you forgotten why we’re here?” yelled the lizard man, “We have to wait for the twins and see where the SunBlade falls so we can save this world!” “But I’m scared!” said the frightened girl in the rabbit costume. “We are here to assure your safety,” said Christina. Then an arrow flew threw Christina’s thick hair and passed under her ear to fly over Kasey and Zealot’s head to stop, locked in the middle of the security line. The Blade Masters turned to see a blonde woman standing over several dead security guards holding a large black bow and a quiver full of black metallic arrows. Zealot did not hesitate to jump over Christina’s head and use his SabreBlade to attack the archer. SNAP! Cracked a sound as a black metal whip wraps around Zealot’s SabreBlade and pulled him out of the air to land hard on the ground. “GullBlade!” called Christina as she ran to help Zealot. Lagan grabs Kasey and pulls her into the YeagerBlade. “No one gets a drop on me!” yelled Jarody as he pulls out his curved blade dagger. SNAP! The blonde with the metallic whip knocks the small weapon from Jarody’s hand and moves aside to allow another Blonde with metal wings and two swords attack. Jarody moves out of the way with a slight step to the right and begins to simply walk to where his Blade had landed.
Zealot stands up before Christina gets to him and he uses his SabreBlade in whip mode to stop a new attack from the blonde archer who was about to shoot Jarody in the back. The tip of the SabreBlade’s eternity chain knocks the arrow out of the woman’s hand. The blonde with the wings flies past Zealot and slashes his arm to stop his attack on the archer. Christina gets to Zealot and turns to the flying blonde who takes to the sky. “Oh no you do not!” yelled Christina, “GullBlade, angel mode!” The GullBlade opens it’s five point harness and attaches to Christina complete with breast plate. Christina leaves the ground to fly after the blonde. “Wait one second here,” said Jarody as he picks up his dagger, “Do these look-a-like women look familiar to you?” Lagan jumps back out of the YeagerBlade and fires her musket. The blonde archer shoots the speeding musket ball out of the air with an arrow with frightening ease. “Yes, these women look like that dead woman back at the Raptor’s valley,” said Lagan as she reloads. Sky Arian turns around and dives down to Christina who blocks the first attack with her double swords. The two women fight in midair. Four swords clashing and a flurry of blonde and platinum white hair connected to silver and black wings twisting in the air. Jarody extended the blade on his dagger and transformed into his true form as Death, “This time when we kill you!” Death just stops in mid sentence and turns to face the direction of the Blade Temple. Archer Arian fired an arrow through Death’s back but the black metal arrow just penetrates Death’s black cloak and out the other side missing Death’s skeletal frame. “Stop standing there and fight!” yelled Zealot as Whip Arian’s metal whip wraps around his thick neck. “I’m being summoned. There are some beings who are about to die over there,” said Death just before vanishing in a puff of black smoke leaving Zealot, Lagan and Christina with the three Arians.
“Is your game plan to try and prolong your loss?” asked Captain Crellis, “I would stall too if I knew I were going to lose my Blades and life.” Selene looks intensely at Crellis and orders, “Bishop from King’s Knight five to King’s Bishop six.” The white Bishop starts running around the black copy of Knight. The owl tried to fly away but is sucked in by the circular rush of air and gets twisted apart in dust and stone feathers. The white Bishop takes it’s place on the black square. Captain Crellis was visibly taken by surprise. He did not expect that to happen. “Ha, so you were able to get a move by me. No big deal,” lied the pirate, “One piece for another. King’s Knight Pawn to King’s Bishop six!” A Black Pawn opens it’s ThievesBlade’s void and sucks in the twin’s white Bishop. The Pawn was in position to do the same with the twins Knight forcing Salem to quickly order, “Knight from King five to Queen’s Bishop four. “You know where that puts us?” thought Selene. “I don’t blame you. I would have done the same. I see that the Knight you just moved has you in the position to take my last Bishop. The real Bishop. And you know what? I am not going to move him,” said Crellis with an evil smile on his face, “You tested me too many times in this game. So here is my test. I already know what you are going to do. And to make sure you understand my intentions. Rook from King’s Bishop 8 to Queen 8.” The black Rook copy moves from one perch to a new one on a new black square. “I made my move,” said Captain Crellis with his arms wide open, “are you going to take my last Bishop? This means killing the real Bishop if you had forgotten. Or are you going to show mercy and waste this move?” “Selene,” thought Salem, “Please do not do it. That is Bishop! The real Bishop! I know what could happen, but I do not want to chance it.” “If we do not do this move, then he will have us. He will use the Blade Animals as shields to prevent us from winning this game,” thought Selene, “We have to make this move, sister.” “There are too many questions. No one has ever used the KingBlade like this. What if we are wrong?” Selene looks at Bishop and gives the move order.