Unexpected Visitors

Zenzo sleeps peacefully with Priyanna and Spindellia at his side. A couple of hours before sunrise, he has a dream unlike any other.

Zenzo's Dream

Zenzo is in a dark castle with a candle in his hand. A dark, damp corridor beckons him, with many doors around him. He looks around, and it is silent. The smell of fresh blood is all around him.

What the hell is this?! And why am I not scared?!

He begins walking down the hall.

Is this a nightmare? Are these the ones Jewel has? This dream isn't scary. It's disturbing, yes, but not terrifying.

He passes by a door and hears a yell that makes him feel like someone smacked his ear with a palm. He covers his ear, flinching as he turns to yell back, "Shut the hell up!"

He peeks through the bars on the door and sees a man holding his head. The man is murmuring something that Zenzo can't understand.

"E" Is the only word Zenzo can make out. He looks at his surroundings and sees no windows or light. Just darkness, and the only light in the room comes from Zenzo's candle.

He asks, "Hey buddy, you alright? Do you need some help?"

The man continues to mutter, "E....e....ey...."

Zenzo looks down at the door knob.

"I'll help you out."

When he looks up, the man is grabbing the bars with his eyes scratched out, bleeding from their sockets.

"EYES! SO MANY EYES!" He screams at the top of his lungs.

Zenzo's heart nearly flings out of his chest as he backs away to another door. He hears another person behind him. When he turns around to look, he sees another man banging his head against the wall.

"Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head." The man repeats with each bang as blood gushes from his head.

"Hey man, stop! You'll kill yourself!"

Zenzo tries to open the door, but it won't budge. His eyes meet the man, and he points to the wall. Zenzo looks at the wall inside the cell and sees nothing. He looks down the hall and notices the door at the end is missing. When he turns to walk down the hall, he sees the man with missing eyes also pointing down the hall.

They want me to walk down there. I don't want to, but what choice do I have? This situation doesn't feel like a dream I can wake up from.

He walks down the hall and sees a woman who has bitten out her tongue and is whispering inaudible chants in one of the cells.

He looks forward with wide eyes.

Eyes forward, eyes forward, eyes forward ahead.

He walks past another cell and hears, "EYES FORWARD!" being yelled into his ear, causing him to run.

"Holy shit!"

He runs until he reaches a hooded figure at the end of the hall. The figure let out a laugh that made the hairs on his body stand on end, followed by making those same hairs retreat.

"Welcome to my domain, Zenzo." The voice speaks.

Zenzo stares at the figure. Though he has not met the entity before, he knows all too well who it is.

"Felelem Konungur."

He growls, one that resembles as pleasant a purr from a monster can be.

"Come with me. Your cell awaits."

Zenzo doesn't budge an inch.

"You killed my family. I'm going to kill you."

The hooded figure places his hands on his shoulders from behind.

"How? At your current power, you do as much damage as I do to myself when I sneeze."

Zenzo pulls away from Felelem and turns to swing, but a petrifying roar stops him in his tracks.

"Come. I shall give you a painful end. But an end, nonetheless. It will be such an exquisite death, unlike these other souls here."

Zenzo grits his teeth.

"Who are these people?!"

Even though Zenzo can't see in the hood, he can feel Felelem's malicious smile emanating from under the robe.

"This is everyone you forgot to save when you lost your memory. Their souls belong to me now."

"WHAT?!" Zenzo yells, taking a step back.

"Oh yes. These are all people you once knew. People who looked up to you. Loved you. Took care of you. All stuck here for eternity."

"In my mind?!" Zenzo says, taking a step back.

"Don't run from the truth. Your mind, yes, but my domain."

A deep voice echoes throughout the castle.

"Wrong. This is my domain."

A taller, naked, and more toned version of Zenzo walks past him with red hair and purple tips. The second he passes him, the entire castle turns to pristine condition and is well-illuminated. The people who were being tortured were healed and returned to normal. The sun appears in the sky, leaving no area for the dark to hide.

"Leonidas. I thought you were sleeping."

"Normally, I am until someone tries to enter my domain. And two have tried now."

"And one was successful."

Leonidas grins.

"But you will not stay. And when I get out of here, I will beat you throughout Infrangilmundo until you die, and then I'll visit you in hell and beat you through every planet that resides there."

Felelem lets out a malicious cackle that makes Zenzo's flesh want to run.

"Empty threats from a man who does not have enough power."

Leonidas raises his hand, and Felelem is flung to him, allowing him to grab his neck.

"Not enough? Did you forget the battle we had? You had an army of ten million. I am an army of one."

Zenzo's eyes widened when he heard him speak. Leonidas pulls Felelem closer, unaffected by the malice pouring out from his hood.

"I've gotten stronger since then."

Felelem cackles, and maggots fly from his hood onto the floor.

"It shall not save you. You boast about being an army of one. And what did that get you? Your memories are lost, a weak and pathetic version of you walks Infrangilmundo, and your entire family is killed. Along with the souls of your kingdom lost to me. Even when I lose, I win."

Leonidas squeezes his throat, and the castle they are in shatters like broken glass.

Felelem Konungur laughs, seeing that he has angered Leonidas.

"Zenzo. We will talk soon. Until then, continue your path and get stronger. And you, Felelem. I will destroy you in here and never let you back in. We may have resulted in a stalemate last time, but things have changed. I have a new weapon."

"You bluff."

Leonidas lets out a chilling chortle, and they disappear from their spot. Zenzo looks down and realizes he's floating. He begins to fall, but as he does, he sees Leonidas slamming Felelem through the moon, shattering it, before punching him through another planet.

This power...is inside me?! Army of...One?!

He continues to fall, seeing Felelem fly through Infrangilmundo at light speed. His eyes shut before he hits the ground.

Back In His Room

He falls from the ceiling into his bed. His heart thumps.

I get that I was in my mind. But how the hell did I get out of bed?!

Priyanna wraps her arms around his chest.

"Where did you go, my lord? I missed your warmth."

He looks at her and says, "I wish I knew."

Spindellia lies in his arm.

"Did you see him?"

Zenzo stares at the ceiling.

"Which him?"

"Ah. I see." She says, wiping her eyes. "You saw both, didn't you?"

He looks down at her and asks, "How do you know?"

"You used to tell me things. That Felelem would frequently try to invade your mind to force fear upon you. You'd go into this trance-like state and start floating."

His eyes wander around the room before he looks down at her.

"Is that what happened now?"

"I don't know. I was asleep, but if you fell from the ceiling, I'm pretty sure."

"Oh. So this is a recurring thing."

"Not really. You tend to get it solved quickly. There isn't much that Leonidas lets linger. Including women like us." She states with a faint smile.

"I don't know the things he's done. But I won't be like him."

She rolls over, facing away from him.

"That's what you say. You talk as if you are two different people. You may be nicer, but you are still the same person. I guarantee he has the same cold personality. Which means this is who you are on the inside." She wipes her tears before they leave her eyes.

Zenzo pulls his arm to turn her towards him.

"If this is what you believe. Why are you here?"

Spindellia looks at his chest to avoid looking into his eyes.

"Because I'll be your weapon like her, and we'll kill the one who made you resent me."

Zenzo raises an eyebrow, confused at how he could ever resent someone like her.

"Resent?"

"Yes. You hated that I didn't have a superpower. To you, it made me less than ideal for a partner, especially since you were hell-bent on killing the King of Fear. I was the one you relied on the most for a long time. I was... A maid here for years. But without power, you didn't see a future with me, despite all I tried to do otherwise. But I could compete enough for you to train with. That gained me another year."

He shakes his head.

"I'm sorry. For everything he—I did. I will do better from now on."

She smiles at him.

"I know. At least until he returns. Hopefully, by then, you will love me enough not to abandon me this time. I've accepted marriage is out of the equation. I don't think Leonidas could ever love anyone more than himself. But you. You love freely. I think that's the biggest difference between you two. This part of you gives me hope you'll keep me around this time. It makes me want to develop a power worthy of serving you."

"Wait. So when we fought?"

"That was all my natural abilities as a spider queen."

"You are incredible. I heard from someone that to make a power, you need imagination, determination, and aspiration. But Spindellia. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do. Having you here to fill in the blanks of my memory is enough. I get bits and pieces of who I am. That alone makes me happy."

She raises and kisses him.

"And this is exactly why I will work hard to make a power immune to yours. Or at least one that is beneficial when you use yours."

He kisses her again.

"I'm sure whatever you come up with will benefit all of us."

She kisses his chest.

"Do you mind if we go again, love?"

"Sure, but let's not disturb her."

Priyanna sits up.

"Too late. Round two." She says with a smile, wiping her eyes.

Later that day, Zenzo walks through his home, looking at what he owns. For some reason, he can't shake the feeling that the mansion is a bit off. Spindellia holds his hand.

"You feel it too, love?"

"Yes. It feels like someone lives here besides us."

He looks around at the pictures on the walls.

"I painted these, didn't I?"

"You did. Do you still paint?"

"I do," He says with his eyes scrolling through the many paintings of mythical creatures. "Only I mainly paint people now."

She pulls his hand down the hallway to the study. When she closes the door, she smiles, pointing at a particular picture. The portrait is of Leonidas and Spindellia together, holding each other, looking into each other's eyes, and a smile on their faces.

"That hasn't changed, love." She says with a smile. "This was the only one you painted of us because you said you'd never paint a more perfect picture."

He examines every microscopic detail on the canvas, and his heart warms.

"And you say that Leonidas is cold? This picture seems filled with love."

She stares at the details with adoration. Reminiscing about the time they were in this exact pose.

"It was. But somehow, it faded away quickly for you. For me, it was an eternal pain that I could never shake. Leonidas is a person who has to experience everything at least once. A spider queen was right up his alley..."

"So while I'm scared to do most things..."

"He's afraid of nothing."

"Oh..."

"You know, he placed your home in the sky."

Zenzo looks out the window, exhaling.

"I was afraid of that."

He looks around and sees various trophies from all his conquests. Different heads of creatures, weapons, armor, jewels, and treasures fill the study.

"These are all the items you've acquired on your journey to conquer the world."

"That doesn't sound very hero-like."

"It wasn't, but you wanted to do it just to do it. There were no evil intentions behind it. Only to say you did it."

He places his hand over his heart, exhaling as his eyes close.

"Thank goodness."

A massive bookshelf takes up an entire wall behind him. In the center of the bookshelf is a portrait of Jimba. He walks over to it with Spindellia holding his hand. She hugs his arm, taking a deep breath.

"Being around you again brings a spark to my heart. I think I know what I want my power to be."

"Good. I think I want to force myself to be fearless. If Leonidas and I are the same, I want to unlock that fearlessness he has."

She looks up to him.

"Do you want me to help?"

He smiles at the picture of Jimba before looking at her.

"I'd love that."

She pulls his hand.

"Follow me, love."

Spindellia pulls his hand until they reach the front door.

"What are we doing?" He says, getting a bad feeling about what's to come.

She turns and kisses him. When Spindellia pulls away, she says, "What you asked me to do with you when I finally got over my fear of being up here."

Zenzo turns to walk away.

"I think I'm going to go find Xan and Jewel."

She turns him back around, pulling his hand with a laugh.

"Oh no, love. Trust me. Like you did back then."

Her hand rubs over his chest and feels his heart stampeding like race horses.

"Trust me."

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. She feels his heartbeat steadying and gives him one more kiss to reassure him. He opens his eyes when they break, and she pulls him outside to the porch. Her spider legs extend from her back as she turns to pick him up. When Zenzo is in her arms, she crawls under the house and places a thick web at the bottom of the house. She crawls over and places another thick web before slowly descending into the clouds.

Zenzo feels lunch from yesterday working its way up to his throat when he looks down. Her spider legs stick to the web and connect the two web strings she created with a seat-like plank of webbing. She turns to place him in the seat and then sits in his lap.

"Do you know what this is?"

Trembling while trying to keep his head up, he answers, "I have no idea. And I'm afraid to ask."

She smiles.

"A swing, love."

"Oh. My. God. Please, no."

"You loved this back then, and it'll help you face your fears."

"Leonidas and I have a lot to talk about next time I see him."

Spindellia moves her feet to start the swing, and he loses his breath, getting the feeling he's falling. His heart jumps up to his throat, and he finds it hard to breathe. Her eyes sink to the clouds.

"I wouldn't bother talking to him. The only thing he listens to is power. That and new experiences. I was able to stay around long because I gave him many new experiences. Other women never lasted the night. There's a reason why he took on Felelem alone. He said anyone else around him would only slow him down."

"My god, it sounds like I am a dick."

Spindellia chuckles.

"You are. But you are one everyone can't help but admire. You should ask Xander all the things he's keeping from you."

He looks at the clouds as they swing in the sky.

"He'll tell me when he's ready."

She pulls her head back to lay her head beside his.

"I wish you could stay this version of you forever."

His eyes drop when he thinks about how long he's wanted to change who he is.

Am I better the way I am? She speaks as if Leonidas is the worst. But I need his power to save the world, there's no doubt about it. Being a one-man army is incomprehensibly strong. But will I lose who I am if I become that? I don't have the luxury to think about that. I have to do what I have to do.

Spindellia smiles, staring at the birds in the sky.

"It's weird. You used to know everything about me. The only person who knew anything about me. And now I'm here teaching it all to you again."

Zenzo wraps his arms around her.

"Does it make you upset?"

"No. But it makes me happy you care to ask. I'll teach you as many times as it takes."

A flock of pterodactyls fly past them, giving them a gust of wind to propel their swing. They swing and enjoy a peaceful morning in each other's company.

At the same time, Jewel is in one of the many guest rooms hanging from the ceiling. Her sweat hits the ground as she performs crunches upside down while she trains.

Six hundred ninety-three. Six hundred ninety-four. Six hundred ninety-five. If Zen is strong enough to have a fucking mansion in the sky, I need to do everything I can to catch up. Zen said that if I use aura while training, it will increase my physical capabilities.

She starts to release a pink smoke-like aura as she continues to do her crunches. Her pace picks up while her form remains perfect.

I feel much lighter when I use aura to train. Is this how we should be fighting? How much faster and stronger can we get if we incorporate this into everyday life? Can we replace breathing with aura circulation?! Oh, I can't wait to cook! I want to see what I can make while using Aura! Would that even change anything? I don't know, but this is so exciting!

Her face lights up, thinking of the many ways to improve her life. Xander walks in with a towel over his shoulder.

"I knew this is what you'd be doing." He says, looking up at her.

"And I figured you'd be doing the same." She says, doing another crunch.

Xander falls to his hands and pushes up, doing a handstand. He then removes all fingers except for his thumbs and begins doing handstand pushups— thumb-stand pushups, if you will. Jewel grins when she looks down.

"That's the Xan I know. Hates losing like hell!"

Xander removes a thumb, continuing to do pushups on one thumb as his body gives off a golden aura. Alternating to his other thumb to resume, he says, "I'm not losing again until I die. Twice now, we failed to protect Zen."

"I feel the same way. Fuck being a burden." She says, dropping down beside him directly on her hands to do handstand pushups.

"Agreed." He says, turning his body toward her on the handstand.

They begin doing partner pushups while on their handstands, tapping each other's palms, before switching arms and repeating the process. When they finish exercising, they stretch to relieve some tension. Jewel raises her leg to do a split on the wall. Xander, with his legs wide, touches his nose to the floor. After twenty minutes of stretching, they rise. Xander looks over at Jewel with a grin.

"Hey, wanna spar?"

Jewel smirks.

"You remember how it went last time. We got a bit carried away."

"Two sore losers shouldn't spar often. But we could use the practice."

"True. But not here. Zen would never forgive us if we made his mansion fall out of the sky."

Xander pulls her closer by her hakama.

"No. We'll train here. That's part of it. Doing it in controlled settings, not destroying things. We could've easily beaten Spindellia, but we were too worried about hurting each other. We'll practice in a place where we can't afford to make mistakes."

Jewel grins, pulling her head back to look up at Xander. With his head raised high, he looks down at her. They release their aura, filling the guest room with gold and pink auras. Xander gives her a nod that says Ladies first. Jewel swings with her right fist. Xander catches it with his left hand, sending a right palm to her abdomen. She deflects with her left fist in a scoop motion, attacking the hand holding her right hand.

Xander lets go, dodging the attack by stepping to her left. She elbows to the left, and he catches it with his right fist. From there, she grabs his shoulder and swings her body into the air, attacking with her right fist in mid-air. Xander ducks low and rolls forward, dodging the attack. She continues her assault, giving him a sidekick, which sends him flying. Xander sees the wall and curls his feet forward and up to do a backflip and land on the wall softly.

Jewel is right behind him with a fist ready to swing. He does a handspring off her shoulders, landing on his feet. A pulled punch blows her top off. He scoffs as he steps back so she can dress herself. Jewel has wraps around her body, so she doesn't bother picking up the top, opting to continue with a spinning kick. Xander dashes backward at the last second, but her kick cuts through his pants. He slides back and comes to a halt. He looks down, sees his underwear, and shrugs. Ripping off his pants, he beckoned for them to continue with four fingers pulled in twice.

Jewel dashes and jumps in the air, dropping a heel. Xander does a spin kick to intercept the attack. They collide, and the furniture in the room jumps off the ground before slamming back to the floor. The excess force of Xander's kick overpowers Jewel, sending her flipping back to a corner of the room. She catches her balance and goes prone with her eyes glowing pink. In the blink of an eye, she attacks him with a right fist.

Xander folds his body backward to dodge the attack, watching her fly over him in slow motion. Seeing an opening, he delivers a fist to her abdomen, landing the first clean punch of the series.

Jewel flies up to the ceiling, twisting her body to make sure she doesn't hit the chandelier. Xander jumps from the ground to the ceiling to swing and misses because she drops to the ground when he comes up. He turns to place his feet on the ceiling, squatting down before pushing off to dart at Jewel. She does an upward sidekick that connects with his fist, and it shakes the mansion when they clash.

Meanwhile, Zenzo sees Priyanna off at the front door. She hugs him.

"I will miss you, my lord. Please let me know if you need any help."

Zenzo scratches his head.

"How did you know I was in trouble the first time?"

Spindellia taps the back of his neck.

"She put a piece of her chitin on your neck, love."

Priyanna smiles.

"It seems you will be in good hands for the time being."

Zenzo smiles at Priyanna.

"Yeah. Be safe on the way back."

"As you wish, my lord."

Priyanna vanishes from her spot, and gusts of wind pass by the house.

"Damn, you girls are fast."

Spindellia lays her head on his shoulder.

"You always admired that about me. It's good to see some good things haven't changed."

Zenzo smiles as they head back into the house. He heads through the halls, searching for Jewel and Xander.

"I wonder which room they decided to sleep in."

Spindellia pulls his arm.

"If you're looking for your friends, they are this way. I can feel their presence."

"Wow. You are useful."

These words make her feel like a schoolgirl, making her heart warm enough to melt a polar ice cap. She pulls him to the guest room, and they hear all types of commotion coming from the room. When he opens the door, he sees Xander and Jewel dashing all around the room, attacking each other. He stares as they drop to the center of the room and trade blows faster than his eyes can track. He rubs his forehead and closes the door.

"Are you alright, love?"

"Yes. They reminded me I have work to do."

"Would you like to train with me?"

He looks at her with a smile that says You know what?

"I'd love to."

"Come!" She says, pulling his hand.

When they stop, they see a dojo. The dojo has a mat with many paintings of famous warriors of all species.

"This is where your friends should be training. Leonidas made it indestructible. He wanted a place to train freely with me, and he succeeded with flying colors. As usual." She says, bobbing her head.

Zenzo walks in and removes his robe, placing it on a rack. He turns and grabs a mace that is on a rack. He examines it and notices it is in pristine condition.

"Did I ever use this? It looks new."

"It has been used approximately eight hundred forty-seven times. After each session, you'd use your power to make it brand new."

"Clearly, Leonidas has complete mastery over our power if he can use it in such a way."

Spindellia smiles.

"He does. But we will find a way to master our powers as well."

"True. Well. I don't know much about traditional sparring, so we can start whenever."

Spindellia appears beside him, throwing a punch. Zenzo raises his mace to block, but stops. Spindellia hits him in the cheek, knocking him into the wall and shaking the mansion. She runs over to help him up.

"What are you doing, love? You stopped!"

"I don't want to use my weapon if you aren't using one."

She exhales with a smile.

"I am a weapon. I promise you won't kill me unless you use your power."

"But don't I have to use my power to train?"

"If that's the area you want to work on, yes."

"No. I want to work on my physical capabilities. If Leonidas can fight without using our power, I can too."

Her eyes wander.

"I don't know how to tell you this, love. But he lives and breathes your power. There's never a time he's not using it. This is why he's a one-man army. Your power is what's keeping your home afloat as we speak."

"What?!"

"Oh yes. He rewired his brain to think of everything as a catalyst."

Zenzo's eyes drop.

"Everything, huh...?"

"Don't worry about me, love. I'm here to help with whatever you need. I can't do much else until I get a power."

Zenzo sits on his knees.

"I don't want to hit you. I can't control my strength yet."

She folds her arms while placing a hand on her chin.

"Maybe we can go into town! There were always people down there who never liked you. I'm sure they'll pick a fight if we go down there!"

He closes his eyes, shaking his head.

"I don't like the idea of that. If it happens naturally, sure, but after what we did to Priyanna, I don't like the idea of fishing for conflict."

She closes her eyes, thinking of what she can do, understanding he's worried about hurting others. She opens her eyes, raising a finger.

"Perhaps. We can go into town and search for bounties. Bounties have everything from human criminals to powerful mythical creatures! And if they have a bounty, that means they've done something bad! Meaning dead or alive is perfectly acceptable! Does that ease your kind heart, love?"

He reaches over and hugs her. It was one of those hugs you give when someone truly gets you.

"Yes. Thank you."

Spindellia kisses him.

"You are so unlike Leonidas, it's baffling. But I love every bit of it."

Elsewhere in a dark cellar, a creature sits in the dark, holding its head. It is shuddering. Unable to shake the feeling that it will die. Its eyes are shut tight to avoid seeing any more horrors. Its ears are closed to avoid hearing the evil voice. Its nose has become blind to the scent of blood and death that it has lived in for centuries. Blind to the smell of garbage and putrid filth. An evil voice speaks to it while it tries to block out the sound.

Obey me, my minion. Take your army to Held Qytet and destroy the one named Zenzo Leonidas.

"No! Get out of my head! I don't want to fight! I want to live in isolation to atone for my sins!"

Obey me, servant. Obey your master.

"NO! I won't!"

Let me show you what happens if you refuse.

Visions and images of torture and dismemberment flash rapidly in the mind of the creature, poisoning it. Making it afraid. Dominating its ability to resist. Quickly crushing any thought that allowed it to believe that it could escape. Any thought that made it believe it could survive. Any thought that made it believe that it was anything other than a pawn for its master.

Make him suffer, make it painful, make him fear living. Make him fear. Death. And when you have completed your mission, you will have the greatest reward possible. Anything you desire. But if you fail. Your soul is forfeit.

A husk now sits in the darkness. Its pupils are dilated and lifeless. Barely opening its mouth, it replies, "Yes. Master."