The First Descent into The Labyrinth (10)

The battle had ended, the sand once more tasting the blood of Cyrus' enemies. Yet, this time instead of the yellow greenish hues of the sandcrawlers what lay on the ground was a deep red of his fellow man.

Standing amidst the gore, Cyrus' rational mind had gone silent as he stood and took in all that surrounded him. Imran was wiping his glaive clean with a grim look on his face, if one looked closely they could see him breathing heavier than one might expect a sitting man. Minerva looked quite normal at first glance, a rigid expression that betrayed little. Yet, with his keen eye and experiences of his other half he knew the small tells she gave off quite well… her gripping the pommel of her sabre, her taut muscles, and defensive posture all betrayed her frosty exterior.

The only ones who were more 'normal' were Cornelius and his group, who were chanting in tongues that Cyrus did not understand but he could guess it was some kind of send off ritual for the departed souls. Not only that, but it was their group that had not partook in any direct killing having either not directly participated or had knocked their foes unconscious.

Taking a deep breath, Cyrus contemplated what he must do next while starting up a spell his other half had theorized not too long ago. Manipulating the familiar death essence, he created a thin film of it around his body that ate away at all the foreign matter that now caked his face. Turning him from the picturesque of a red blood-soaked man back into his normal visage, smell and sight begone.

"In truth this spell is far harder than one would expect, to cause the essence to be both thin and strong. So that it covers a wide area with minimal will usage while also still able to turn to dust all the filth. Not to mention the careful control required to stop it from eating away at any more than you wish for it to" thought Cyrus, clearly intellectualizing his internal conflicts away through distraction.

Walking forth he first went to Imran who was wiping a long fully cleaned blade and picked him up from the ground by his shoulder, then carefully cleaned him off the same way he had done for himself. So distracted was Imran that he barely noticed his body being covered by what could very well be a spell to turn him to nothingness, had it not been Cyrus casting it of course.

"If the Academy sought to recreate life as it is in the wasteland, they were extremely accurate" started Cyrus as he was cleaning off Imran.

Light returned to Imran's eyes as he looked upon who was speaking to him, an enigmatic entity who he had allied with by chance.

"Unlike in the Empire where order reigns supreme, where the Judicars arrest criminals and fiends to be judged by the Arbiters…there is a clear system in place to deal with the worst of human life. Out here, however, the only justice you will receive is through your own hand, with your own blade. Else, you will be cut down and used for the perversion of others. Such is life out here, fragile and fleeting even more so than normal" ended Cyrus as he began to walk towards Minerva next.

"All of it is like this?" asked Imran in confusion and in reference to the men they had 'met'.

"All of it. Where there is no order there is chaos, and where there is chaos the rule of the land is not of the Emperor's decree or Imperial Law but whoever has the mightier fist to force the other into submission" replied Cyrus.

"What a terrible place to be" muttered Imran to himself as Cyrus fully walked away, with him being confident in the stout Imran to pull himself together.

"A terrible place, but one that shows human nature to its full extent. The order that the Empire brings crushes that nature and rebuilds it in a more productive way. To what extent that productivity is, well, that I will find out in the future" thought Cyrus as he approached Minerva.

"What is it, I have no need for a heartwarming speech meant for cowards and fools" spat she, far more frigid than ever before.

"She really does remind me of my other half, but instead of it being her nature it seems to be a way of protecting herself. Withdrawing within, hiding the emotions and not allowing others in her heart. Quite a simple thing to deduce once I take into account my own times of weakness, where the feeling of wanting to run from that which causes the negative reaction appears. I wonder if I should tell this to my other half, but it seems then they might become bored of Minerva once they solve the puzzle…forgoing a chance to become more in touch with human traits…" pondered Cyrus as he waited out Minerva's silence.

Finally growing annoyed at the presence of Cyrus, who was keen on waiting out her frosty outburst, Minerva looked at him with a glare and said

"What do you want, just standing there in silence. Have I smitten you so?"

Finally having a way in through the layers of ice, Cyrus said

"I do not believe so, if that is your aim then I can only say you need to try harder."

As expected, Minerva began to boil in a low and well controlled fury after hearing that.

"Hot is still better than cold" thought Cyrus, as he carefully considered his next words.

"What has you so bothered Minerva, besides killing a few humans?" asked Cyrus with dark humor.

In response Minerva scoffed and said,

"What humans? Lustful beasts that think with their cocks more than their brains, considering women to be an object to be used and abused at their pleasure"

"Did Mundus give you a second gift? One of extreme hearing?" asked Cyrus incredulously, as Minerva was quite far away when he was negotiating with the leader of the fallen.

"Of course not, but did you forget that I participated in the fight? Who knows how competent a warrior they were, as all they could do was ogle at my body and use what was left of their wit to spew forth crude remarks. Typical disgusting men, all beasts in disguise." loathed Minerva.

"I do agree they were quite terrible, as that was why we came into conflict in the first place. They were willing to let us go by so long as we offered you to them" explained Cyrus, hurrying his words as he noticed an icy hell surrounding Minerva once more, "Of course that would never be allowed, how could I let my friend be turned into a sacrificial lamb. Thus, their corpses are one with the sand now."

"I do not remember being friends with you, smiling fool" spat Minerva in reply.

"Perhaps you prefer the me of yesterday, more direct and never caring enough to hide how they feel. Perhaps I cannot hold myself to the same standard. Yet, I believe to have a few redeeming qualities that more than make up for my flaws" said Cyrus, fighting the influence of his other half that was trying to stop his next action.

Drawing his sword slowly, and with some difficulty, he reversed it with the pommel facing Minerva. He grabbed her hand with even more difficulty and put the sword in her hand, placing the tip of the blade over his heart.

"Calm down my counterpart, I know what I am doing" thought Cyrus as one of his hands threatened to thrust the sword into the sand.

"I am capable of some basic level of mutual trust right now, quite a surprise for those who may only know my masked self for sure. So do not take what I say next too lightly as I say it with a literal blade to my heart: Whatever your past may be, locking it away and bottling it is not the way to go. I know you are close to Imran, but I also know not even he knows everything that you hide within. I will not delve deep though, as that is not in my nature, nor will I arrogantly say leave everything to me as our relationship is not so close yet" said Cyrus as he slowly reached within his cloak, pulling out a small bottle. Activating a small amount of death essence, he loosened the seal and tossed it in the sand behind him.

"Your situation is akin to the bottle behind me, a sealed explosion waiting to happen. When the seal that you place on yourself slips…the result is not pleasant to say the least" ended Cyrus as an explosion rang out behind him, throwing sand all around.

"What happened during our duel not too long ago was a clear indicator of what is to come. My masked self would perhaps say he would be most displeased in loosing a valuable ally of which many benefits can be earned together, while I do not wish to see a possible future close friend be destroyed before my eyes" continued Cyrus.

As he was speaking, Minerva's hand on the blade trembled ever so slightly even causing it to start to pierce through Cyrus clothes…which caused no small amount of sweat to form on his back but he did not let it show on his face.

"I can only hope that bridging the gap between me and Imran is not as hard as this" thought Cyrus as he landed his finishing blow.

"It is human to err, it is human to fear and to want to avoid that which hurts us. I speak from experience, yet I push onwards even with my flaws as apparent as they are. If you continue on your path, however, you will either continue to self-destruct until your demise or lose that which makes you human. Today we killed that which had lost their humanity, being fully ruled by greed and lust. What happens to you then, when ruled by wrath instead?" finished Cyrus as he reached for the pommel of the sword that was in Minerva's hand. Slowly uncurling her fingers that seemed to be glued to it, he freed them one by one and removed the tip of the blade from his chest…which was pierced into it by quite a bit by now.

Healing himself easily with a quick spell, he let loose a bright smile towards Minerva and said

"Nothing like a good heart to heart, or perhaps blade to heart in this case"

Minerva looked at him for a moment, varying powerful emotions colliding with each other in her mind, before sighing in defeat. "No matter which personality you adopt, it seems that the common thread between the two of you is your insanity. Also the intense curiosity that seems to know no bounds, even getting involved with someone like me."

Cyrus laughed lightly at that before correcting Minerva on one thing, "I am sure you have much to offer, just that you need to pick up the pieces that is yourself one by one. Also while I will not deny my intense curiosity, my most ardent desire in my interactions with both you and Imran is my wish to have allies I can have at my side. Even though it is hard to do so, this being my first attempt in my life, I understand the power that having a trusted few in one's life can have as I have seen it firsthand in my travels. While it may be a childish and foolish desire, mostly born out of idolization of the one who raised me, I dare say it is proving to be an interesting endeavor so far. That said, I think I have picked at your brain enough for one day, although I am sure my other half will do so with reckless abandon come morning. Apologies in advance!"

Ended Cyrus on a high note, his last words carrying a tone of playfulness, as he half left and half escaped from Minerva.

With his two companions settled at last, he walked away from the field of battle and called everyone together.

"Another battle has been won but let us not let our guard down. The Academy is a place of learning at the end of the day, and I am sure our professors will be more than willing to teach us such a lesson should we make an obvious mistake" said Cyrus once everyone had gathered.

Scanning the crowd, seeing his two companions who now were at ease having come to terms with their recent endeavors…as should Cornelius and his group as they seemed to have a strong head on their shoulders when it came to such things thought Cyrus, yet upon inspecting Cornelius he saw that there was a strange look on his face.

Prompting him to speak, Cornelius finally let forth what was on his mind.

"I will not fault you for acting in the moment as you did, for even I understand that humans are flawed and we falter in the most dire of times. Yet, is it not unbecoming of us as a civilized folk to just leave the bodies of our fellow man out in the field?" asked Cornelius.

"What fellow man, beasts are beasts and men are men. Do not be confused" said Minerva, her frost reforming through her cold anger.

"Indeed benefactress, the two are different but what lay on the ground behind us are not the former but instead the latter. While they may have made the wrong decisions in life, in death all is washed away as their souls return to the great cycle once again" said Cornelius.

Stopping Minerva before she started to draw her sword on Cornelius, not wanting to throw any progress he made with her out the window thanks to the intervention of another, Cyrus interrupted the two.

"Personal belief aside, the most pressing matter is what the situation necessitates. There could be more enemies about, so wasting time could result in even more conflicts. While fighting itself is not a deep wrong or anything, I would prefer to avoid conflicts that bring us no gain. Minerva, could you fill up my water skins please. Imran, help anyone who needs cleaning up with your sand manipulation. Lastly, anyone with spare will and the Vita knowhow to do so please replenish everyone's stamina to the best of your ability" ordered Cyrus, ending the conflict between the two parties.

He then began walking towards the battlefield, his back turned to his companions with his face darkening ever so slightly.

Picking up on this, Cornelius caught up with Cyrus wondering what he was up to.

"Brother, have you decided to bury the dead?" asked he.

"No, we will move the moment Minerva and Imran complete their tasks. I have a battlefield to clean up, but not in the sense that you are thinking of" replied Cyrus, his voice and stone steady and serious.

Cornelius considered the hidden meaning in Cyrus' words, before his eyes widened in shock for perhaps the first time in a long time as he quickly asked,

"You cannot mean…to murder the foes I knocked unconscious?"

Sighing at the expected reaction, Cyrus said plainly

"Murder, quite a strong word to attach to my actions. While within my deepest of hearts I wish for men to be able to understand one another, to not have to resort to evil in order to get by or to partake in it for the sick pleasure it brings to the wicked few…this is not the time nor the place to begin my naïve experimentation. Here, even as a fake construct, we find ourselves in the wasteland. A place where naïve sensibilities gets one killed, where one must do what is required to ensure survival. While I will not go out of my way to harm others for my own benefit, becoming much like these former men before us… I will not let those who have tried to kill me and my companions walk the earth for a day longer than necessary. The horrors that I have experienced, of good men and women being destroyed by men like this…in a land of chaos like this the only solution is a swift death for agents of evil."

Ending his short speech, leaving Cornelius behind as he struggled to contain himself, Cyrus drew his blade and reaped the lives of the few living humans on the ground.

Walking back past Cornelius, who was shaking at this point, he said

"I respect your view on human life, but know that there is a time and place for such beliefs. If you wish to be humbled, I suggest you venture out to the real wasteland and see how far your beliefs take you."

Whilst he walked back to his group, preparing to give the order to continue moving, he thought "Alas, in the Empire perhaps such people could be rehabilitated through one way or another, where there is enough resources in place to do so. Although even right now, as evidenced by the prisoners I executed in the Arcane Exam, there are some people that even the Empire deems to be unredeemable, unusable. I really would like to study how such people came to be, what they experienced and what beliefs they have that led them down such a path of no return."

Breaking from his thoughts, he returned to the group that had just finished resting and drinking. When Cornelius finally rejoined them, no doubt having sorted through his thoughts and beliefs…although which way he fell there was no way to currently know… Either way, the two groups combined set forth on their journey through this odd Labyrinth once more, ready for whatever the final night of their journey would bring.