Act 1: Groundskeeper: Chapter 12

When I got back, I immediately knew something was off. There were signs of a scuffle via blood on the rocks, but Den was sitting by the coals, looking down at them as they cooled. He was perfectly fine, with not a single scratch on him. Including the giant gash he had on his leg.

“Den?” I asked warily.

“Yes?” He said without looking up at me.

“Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” He said, finally looking up at me.

Something was off. I didn’t know exactly what, but I had an idea of how to figure it out. “Was the fish any good?” I asked. “I made it with my Parability.”

“Yeah, it was very delicious. What’s your Parability again? I’m afraid it’s slipped my mind.”

“Well, that’s the funny thing,” I said, smirking. “I don’t have one.”

As his face paled, I realized that this would be the only moment of surprise I would have. I dashed over and, before he could react, I grabbed the longsword off his back to face him.

“Now,” I said. “ Who are you and what have you done with Den?”

He snarled, an expression that looked heavily out of place on Den’s face. “You’re quite intelligent, aren’t you?”

“I’ll ask again, who are you and what have you done with Den?”

“You saw through my disguise quite easily and quickly.” He said, smiling. “But Den wasn’t as skilled. He never realized that I wasn’t you, and he perished thinking you betrayed him.”

A flash of savage glee that came over Den’s face made me realize who it was.

“Knife guy.” I said, my voice full of hatred.

He laughed, a coarse whinny laugh; it sounded like a noise that a donkey would make. “Is that what you think of me as? I am Agent 8210, but you may be so honored to call me Lale!” He spoke all of this proudly, as if announcing the entrance of royalty.

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“I cut off your arm.”

“Indeed, you did, and I must say, it hurt quite a bit.” He said, rubbing his- no, Den’s left arm. “But in the end, it was nothing but a minor inconvenience.”

“Show me your true form.”

“If you wish so, I shall oblige, madam.” His smile widened as Den’s form molded into that of the freckled, blue-eyed, and blonde-haired boy from before. He wasn’t missing an arm; it was as if I had never cut it off in the first place. “I shall offer you a challenge that I offer all who are wise enough to see through my shifts.” He said. “Fight me one-on-one in a duel to the death. It will be a fair fight without Parabilities.”

Lale,” I said, staring him down as I readied myself. “I am Agent 2222. You WILL call me Twin. I will kill you to avenge the deaths of Wren and Den.”

“She calls herself Wren now? I guess Blaine is truly gone.”

I looked at him, a confused expression on my face.

“Never mind that, let us begin.”

Lale then drew two knives from his belt, one in each hand, and charged at me. I met his cross slash with Den’s longsword in a defensive position and then pushed back against him in an attempt to disarm him, but he expected that. He fell back as I pushed against one of his knives, and used it as an opportunity to slash at me with his other, drawing blood from a long, deep slash across my abdomen. It hurt a lot, but it wasn’t fatal, as long as I finished this fight up quick and Lucifer got me and the one remaining person out of here. I fell back to recover and plan my next move, but he was relentless. He followed me, continuing his nonstop onslaught of aggressive attacks. He wasn’t staying in one spot long enough for me to get a good hit on him. Then an idea came to me. I would have to make him stay in one spot. I dropped my guard over my right shoulder and hoped he would take the bait, and take the bait he did. He plunged one of his knives into my right shoulder, and I grunted in pain as my vision flashed red. When he did this, I took Den’s longsword and swung it, hitting his legs hard. Instead of cutting through flash and blood like I expected, I hit metal, shattering Den’s longsword. Most of the shards flew into my legs, sending me to the ground, screaming in pain.

“You liar!” I said, screaming through gritted teeth. “You said a fair fight!”

“A fair fight… I didn’t say that? No. Wait. Yes, you're right, I said a fair fight. You have my deepest-” He was interrupted by a disturbing sight that has lingered in my mind ever since.

A hand, wisping black smoke, had impaled his throat from back to front. As the hand pulled out, Lale, who was gurgling blood, fell to the ground and died nearly instantly. When he fell, he revealed the assailant behind him. Behind Lale, with a hand covered in blood, being puppeted by black smoke of the same kind that the monster that killed my last squad was made out of, was the mangled face and corpse of none other than Wren.

my last squad was made out of, was the mangled face and corpse of none other than Wren.