Chapter 4 - The Dual Bladed Ninja's Last Stand

Zhōng was sitting in the corner of his cell when a monk came to deliver food to him. "Confess and I'll give you more." he offered to him.

"Not hungry, does that count?" grunted Zhōng. He was even more beaten as blood dripped from his mouth. The monk dropped half a portion in his bowl for that comment and left. He crawled over to it and tested it to see if it was edible. "Have they ever eaten this?" he asked himself after analyzing the mush in his bowl. He returned to his corner as his stomach grumbled, wondering if what he was doing was the right thing.

The monk soon entered Princess Zhen's cell to give her the portions. "Confess, your majesty," he said.

Princess Zhen was hugging her knees and was rolled in a ball in the corner. She looked up to look at him, her body was bruised from intense waxes and solid punches. "I told you everything." she whimpered.

"Father believes you are still hiding something." said the monk, giving her a full portion before leaving. She looked at the food as it jiggled and was discolored, it made her feel sick than hungry. Her door opened again, as Father Shí Huà entered with a stool.

"Your majesty," he stated as he sat on the stool.

"Let me go, I told you everything." pleaded Princess Zhen.

"Unfortunately, you refuse to tell him about it. Even if you tell everyone but him, it's still a secret and a lie. You confessed to us, but you hadn't confessed to the rest of the world." explained Father Shí Huà.

"I'll tell everyone, I promise, just let me out." pleaded Princess Zhen.

"Can you tell him?" asked Father Shí Huà. She knew who he was talking about but the image of what he looked like still made her fear him. "You can't, can you? You're afraid that he'll be angry with you. If he'll see you as an indentured servant and no longer a friend. And you're running out of time to tell." he stated as he got up to leave. "If he dies without you telling him, well consider being trapped here forever." The door shut behind him leaving her to ponder on what he said.

Father Shí Huà soon went and entered Zhōng's cell to see the former prince look to be in a daze. "You know you could make this all go away, all you had to do is confess." said Father Shí Huà.

"Keep saying that, I will never do it." grunted Zhōng.

Father Shí Huà looked down at the bowl of mush as he observed the dark room. "If you confess to me, I'll make sure you'll be mended and eat proper food than this." he offered.

Zhōng chuckled as he slowly shook his head. "You know if I die, you won't be able to keep your promise to the empress. You're desperate to find the hidden layers of me." he said.

"And you are willing to accept this is where you'll die? Leaving your family worried and your ally starving. Are you that cold?" asked Father Shí Huà.

"I know and I do and you are afraid of what comes next." stated Zhōng.

"I shall tell them to drop you into a wax pot tomorrow, I'll have the princess watch if you like." declared Father Shí Huà before leaving his cell.

"Princess is still here? What are you planning, father?" thought Zhōnghe needed to get her out of here. Hours passed before Zhōng began trying, his strength in his legs was gone as pain shot through his entire body. Bracing himself on the wall he struggled to pick up the Ninja Sword. "I know you can hear me," he began to speak. "So give me your strength one more time, and I'll give you someone who I believe is worthy." he promised.

Two monks were on patrol as they walked past the prison doors. Suddenly, a black arm punched through one of the doors, startling the monks. A black mech crawled out and stood up and looked at them. "What is that?" asked a monk.

"He's too drained to do this." stated the second as the black mech warmed up one of his cannons.

Princess Zhen heard explosions and monks shouting before another explosion was heard. "Help! I'm here! Mother! Captain!" she cried as she banged on the door. She assumed it was her mother that came to rescue her. Her door suddenly ripped open as she saw the black mech. She wasn't expecting it to be only one, let alone it was him. The light of the open chamber captured more of the damage done to him. It reached and grabbed her by surprise.

"Hang on," stated Zhōng as he fired more rounds at the fleeing monks. They ran up the spiral staircase that led into the chapel. "Looks like our way out is through there."

"There's no way you can fit without deactivating." stated Princess Zhen but the eyes of Zhōng said he had a plan.

The monks pointed weapons at the door leading down, it was quiet since the alarm was sounded. They felt something vibrating and was getting worse, as it got closer, things fell over and the monks started to lose their balance. A mech arm burst through the floor and pulled the remains of it up. The Ninja Mech had Princess Zhen tightly around its chest as the right arm dig and fired at defenseless monks. When they recover, it was too late as he was able to defeat most of them.

When the fight was over, Zhōng paused to catch his breath. He spitted out blood due to his health and the strain he must endure, he knew the next part would be dangerous. "Princess I need you to trust me one more time, I need you to close your eyes and hang on tight." he stated.

Princess Zhen looked up at him, blood and drool flowing down from his mouth as he panted. His face looked tired and his body looked weak, the once-mighty Dual Bladed Ninja was a weak desperate boy. "Okay, I will." said Princess Zhen, she clung tightly and closed her eyes.

Zhōng burst through the chapel's door and was surrounded by monks with mech weapons pulled and pointed at him. They fired at will towards them, Zhōng had Princess Zhen covered from the blast. However, his strength was up and he struggled to fire back. "Must keep going," grunted Zhōng as he fired more shots that went wild.

"Zhōng! Save me!" cried Princess Zhen. Her eyes were still closed and she hugged tighter as the bullets rain down on them. Her cry was what Zhōng needed, he refocused and fired back, landing his shots. The monks didn't ease up as they were determined to stop them, however so was Zhōng. He fired his remaining rockets down onto the ground, causing massive smoke to build as he and Princess Zhen took off. They were flying away and out of range before suddenly the engines shut off and they crashed into the lake.

Princess Zhen woke up and opened her eyes to see she was on the shore of the lake. On the other side was a burning fortress, the rockets must have hit ammunition supplies buried before they took off. She looked around to see Zhōng leaning on a tree breathing heavily. His left knee was bent and up as his right arm lay on top. His watch was gone from his wrist as his eyes lay closed till she approached him. "This isn't over for you." he warned her.

"Thank you, for saving me." said Princess Zhen, a feeling of loss sank into her heart after she said it.

"Don't thank me yet," declared Zhōng. He reached for the Ninja Sword and offered it out to her. "Promise me, you'll fight with the strong to protect the weak, you'll join the caller or stay out of the conflict, and you'll be honorable and loyal to this empire I love."

"Zhōng, I don't think…" began Princess Zhen before she saw his eyes. They were dancing like blue fire and were growing smaller and smaller. "I promise, I won't lose." she stated as she grabbed the Ninja Sword.

"I know you won't," stated Zhōng. "As my father declared me, I declare you, Princess Zhen, daughter of Empress Wēi, princess of the Ninja Empire to be my successor." He let go of the blade and his body went still as he took his last breath.

Princess Zhen began crying with the Ninja Sword in hand, she lost her close friend and was given a blade that he demonstrated its power to save her. "I'm sorry, this shouldn't have happened." She apologized as she believed he was still alive.

"Captain! Over here!" shouted a soldier close by.

Princess Zhen turned around and saw ten lanterns heading her way. She drew her new blade as they got close and was prepared to fight. "Stay back!" she shouted with tears still in her eyes.

"Princess! It's me!" shouted Captain Howin as they ran to her. Lord Tyron and eight other soldiers came with him as they approached her.

"Captain?" questioned Princess Zhen, lowering the sword in realization when they were close.

Captain Howin was relieved to see she was safe but it didn't last long. "How did you get that?" asked Lord Tyron, recognizing the Ninja Sword.

Princess Zhen stepped to a side as lay lifeless behind her was Zhōng's body. "Oh my…" gasped Lord Tyron. All their mouths dropped looking at the beaten up, broken, and burned body of the former prince.

"He didn't deserve this." declared Princess Zhen with tears still flowing.

"No, but he did what he promised to do years ago, to protect this empire till his last breath." said Captain Howin, he bent down to one knee and bowed his head. The others soon followed his example and all of them including Lord Tyron bowed to the fallen prince.

"We can't stay here any longer, captain." stated Lord Tyron after a minute.

"You're right, get a stretcher, we'll make sure he gets buried the proper way. It's the least this empire has to give him." declared Captain Howin. Princess Zhen watched them pick up his body and took him away, she stuck with Lord Tyron when they retreated away from the lake.