Salvation
Chapter eight
Divided

Shadow and his group were to be shown to the “headman‘s” tent by a different guide. If it were not for the fact that this man was needed to show them to the leader of this circus, Shadow probably would have snapped his neck the instant his eyes fell on the lifeless corpses. But he kept his cool, with much discomfort. Even at times, he found himself breathing hard with anguish in trying to compose himself.

They passed by more dust covered cloth homes, most weather beaten and showing their time here. The dirt-covered ground gave off more dust then the tents themselves. Every time a man was to pass them, the dirt from off the ground would come up, and now hung over the earth like fog.

This man was a bit cleaner then the others, in fact, as they approached what appeared to be their leader’s dwelling, every man was cleaner and most were dressed in Magitek Armor.

Two soldiers pulled back the flaps to the tent allowing Shadow passage. But for a reason, they were reluctant in letting Setzer, Locke and Gogo in. But their guide gave a little nod, ordering the others to let them pass. The inside of the tent was cooler then the blazing heat of the miniature wasteland this camp was located in. The cloth was held up by what looked to be marble poles, very thick for just poles.

Everything in this dwelling seemed excessively decorated, but that wasn't what disturbed the ninja and his friends. When they came to what appeared to be the throne, the decapitated heads of the dead guards from Figaro were mounted, like trophies, on the wall behind the chair.

At this, Locke cringed. “Cefka comes to mind.”

Setzer glanced over at the thief almost as soon as he opened his mouth to speak. Mostly because he knew what he was going to say. “Don’t remind me kid.”

“This cannot be the same man sir. Cefka is as dead as the heads that sit mounted on this wall.” Gogo outstretched a hand, practically touching the cement before them.

“Eloquently put my friend.” Shadow laughed a bit, despite the obvious circumstances. Then, with a quick sigh, said brazenly, “Is your king going to grace his guests with his presence, or would you rather I get my pet to fetch him?” The ninja stroked Interceptor’s sleek fur.

The dog gave a little bark in response, then began to growl at the same time the guards in the room genuflected.

A flap from the back of the cloth tent was slowly pulled back, revealing a man dressed in the usual armor. Though his outfit was not suited for a leader, his façade suggested otherwise. “Ah, ninja, you have come back to us? I see the experiment went according to plan?” He gave a quick glance at his men, who followed him until he sat on his throne.

One guard spoke up, “But the experiment failed sir. We got rid of the body. This must be a different man who seeks you. Perhaps he wishes to join our cause?”

Shadow laugh, but without humor. “Join your cause? What cause? Destroying towns for no reason?” The ninja approached the leader, showing no fear or respect for this man, who was forever labeled a slaughterer in Shadow’s eyes. “Why would I join up?”

The leader smiled. “You came here so you can tell me why. There is no other reason.” His smile faded when his eyes locked with Shadow’s. “They tell me you were the one who was the first to be tested. But that is not true seeing we have killed that man.”

This was becoming clear to Shadow, but more confusing for his group. As they watched the ninja pull of his glove and show his hand to this man, their faces reflected sheer bewilderment. How Rally found me, this feeling of death, this symbol on my hand....it all seems to make perfect sense in this mystifying way... It’s like he’s speaking in a language only I understand.

The ninja, despite his emotions at this time, allowed the leader to grab his hand. He turned it over in his own, his fingers touching the scar on Shadow’s flesh. His face reflecting amazement; Shadow’s reflecting many questions. “But...how?”

Shadow jerked away. “You left me to die. But someone found me and you took his life instead!”

The man only stared with an impassive gaze. “We implanted you with a Magirock. As we tried with many others. But the tests never worked. All the subjects died on us.” He looked up at Shadow. “But you--you survived. You lived through this. I’m afraid though, it was believed you would die from the symptoms you showed. So I had my men kill you and drag your body back to where we found you...”

“By the floating continent.” The ninja could only utter that sentence before stopping to soak in the information just received. It seemed like a fantasy story. It couldn't be real. Shadow wasn’t sure if was just another of his dreams. “You found me there...”

“You used me as your lab rat!”

“Whoa, slow down. Why would you use the Magirock? It’s useless. There is no more magic in this world.” Setzer shook his head, believing, like Shadow, that this was simply a dream.

“No,” The man began. “We were trying to bring back magic to the world. Through these seemingly dormant rock.”

“Dormant?” Shadow scoffed. “It’s dead. It's not going to wake up with some awesome power, no matter how many examinations you perform.”

He laughed, almost as if the ninja had asked a question so simple. “No, we have come close to unraveling its power. There is something inside these stones. Despite that known fact that it has been two years since their use. But it’s there; the power is there. Waiting for someone to receive it.”

“That does not explain--”

“The destructions of the towns?” He rose in this throne, walking slowly around the group of four. “We needed a testing ground to see if the magic worked. There were others inserted with the rocks, not just you ninja. The ones that lived, though briefly, were sent in Magitek Armor to test their power on certain towns.” He paused, making sure his newcomers were following his every word.

“I had nothing against those towns. I just picked Nikeah and since South Figaro was close to it, I chose that town as well. You can’t perform just one experiment. I might have done it again, to other towns, if the results weren’t overwhelming, especially in casualties. No one, not even I, expected what had happened. But you can’t change that.”

Locke tilted his head in the direction of the door, almost as if he could see the cloud of smoke that still lingered around Nikeah, in constant reminder of what once was. “You say you did a test on them. How?”

He shrugged. “Simple. We sent the men with the Magirock in them to the towns and forced them to cast a random spell. There is magic inside those stones, the rubble of those towns are our proof. But it only seems to surface when it is inside a body of flesh and bone instead of armor like was originally planned.”

He sighed, strutting around the four and then stopping his steady pace in front of Shadow. “Those men died instantly along with many of my men. Some others went insane when it was injected in them. The rest just...died.” He chuckled slightly. “I must thank you though; you have supplied us with many lab rats.”

“What that hell do you mean?” Locke barked. “We never gave you men.”

“Not voluntarily, no. But the King of Figaro has.”

Setzer gritted his teeth, “He knew about this?”

“He knew a camp that was threatening his kingdom was settling south from him. So he sent guards over. When they didn't come back, he came down personally. When he found out what I did with them... Let’s just say I never had any interference again. Except for today, a year later. He sent more, but I believe you know this already.” He stood, gazing into Shadow’s cold, dark eyes. “I could have taken Edgar, experimented on him...”

“What stopped you?” The ninja stared, hard, back into the soulless eyes of this leader.

He suddenly smiled. “He wasn’t special like you.” Then his laughter filled the air. “I guess I wasn’t interested in him. If the King of Figaro were to vanish suddenly, I would draw unwanted attention to myself. But it looks like I’m a tad late to stop that now.”

“No wonder why Edgar has flipped.” Locke shook his head with regret, not just for Edgar, but for all the dead. “This is...unreal.” He looked over at Shadow, who was merely staring into the leader’s eyes.

“No,” The ninja’s voice came, “It’s real. Ghastly sincere, but nevertheless real.” He closed his eyes. “But why am I alive?”

“Like I said, you are special, different. You have something the others lacked.”

Is that what Rally saw? Or was it what I feared? If I have the power to save the world, then maybe I should us it instead of discarding it. “We are injected with the crystals? Is it in me?”

The man nodded quickly then grabbed Shadow’s hand, almost pleadingly. “It seems to have taken with you.” He noticed Shadow’s expression and let go of his hand. “You ought to be lucky. Your head isn’t mounted on my wall.” When the ninja made a face, he laughed. “Well, what else was I going to do with their heads?”

“You sick bastard. What possessed you with this crazy idea? You killed thousands and for what? One sole survivor? He doesn’t even want to join with you! He’s one of us!” Setzer boomed.

“You’re taking this a bit personally aren't you?” Shadow was now glancing at the gambler, but not with anger, with gratitude. The thought that he was accepted for once by people who he never would have imaged, forced him to smile, revealing a line of white teeth.

Setzer smiled back, but stood silent. The ninja grabbed his hand. “How do I get it out?” Shadow demanded, turning back to the barbarian before him. He began to scratch at the strange half moon mark on his flesh.

A smirk came in the corner of this leader’s lips. It was clear he enjoyed watching the ninja claw at his own hand. “You don’t; you can’t. Unless you want to chop off your hand, but by now, it’s power has already spread in your blood so it would be pointless to remove it.”

Shadow glared up at him, almost knocking him back with anger. He grabbed the man’s collar and thrust him up against the cement wall, knocking some “trophies” down from off their places. “You got it in me, now remove it.” He growled.

The man only blinked, practically paralyzed with fear. He did not expect Shadow to do that. “I can’t. Even if I wanted to. Like I told you, you are the only one who lived so why would I have tried to remove them when I believed you were dead like the rest?”

The ninja loosened his grip around the same time the guards standing around pulled him back, pressing him flat against the ground, swords and spears in his back. “I wouldn't try that again--Shadow is it?” With the ninja’s arms safely restricted, the man lifted Shadow’s chin with his finger. “Well, the rest are free to go if they want to, you will stay with me. I have much to do with you, yes?”

When the guard’s raised Shadow to his feet, Interceptor began to bark and bite the men restraining him. And in one case, ripping the flesh from one of the soldiers. “Fuckin’ dog!” The guard kicked Interceptor to the ground, but the dog rose to its feet and lunged at the men again. The one solider grabbed a sword ready to chop the dog’s head off when Shadow called out to his pet, “Interceptor, stop!”

The dog stop, though reluctant, but obeyed his master like he always did. Locke grabbed Interceptor by the collar so as to stop him from charging again. Shadow sighed in relief at seeing his pet saved.

“Who says he’s going with you?” Setzer drew three cards into the slits of his fingers and readied them to slice the guards’ hands off. But a dagger in Shadow’s throat caused him to lower his hand.

The leader smiled and pointed to the men holding Shadow. “You know where to take him.” Then he nodded to more guards. “Escort Shadow’s friends to the exit.”

Locke tried desperately to break free from the men who grabbed him and hold on to Interceptor at the same time. When Setzer attempted to aid Locke, guards grabbed him and Gogo.

As Shadow and his group where forced in separate directions, Setzer called out to the ninja, “Hold on! We’ll come back for you!” His voiced filled with promise and strained to cry out above the commotion around them.