Download App
28.28% A Psychic's Scarlet Dream / Chapter 52: Chapter 27: Secrets Of The Ghosts (Part 2)

Chapter 52: Chapter 27: Secrets Of The Ghosts (Part 2)

Barry: "Spectres are artificially created ghosts made to kill vampires. They are weapons designed specifically for the current war."

Ro: "I … see. If that's case, then they are creating ghosts who can …"

He goes silent. So,

Ethan: "become demons while still being under their control."

Ethan finishes his sentence for him.

Sneha: "The Spectres can turn into demons and become ridiculously powerful, but because they were created artificially, the ghosts would have probably used some methods to make sure they follow the commands given to them even after they have become demons. Is that what you are saying?"

Barry nods with a matter-of-fact look on his face as he already knows what she would say next.

Sneha: "Isn't this just a speculation then? Unless you know for sure that they are planning to control them after they turn into Demons, there is no way to confirm this, is there?"

Barry: "And what if I tell you I already have proof that they are trying to control the Spectres in that way."

Other three look at Barry with different looks of surprise. Ro is surprised on seeing how much information he actually has.

Sneha is surprised on hearing that there is proof that ghosts may possess something that can control demons.

Ethan is surprised that he is revealing everything to them.

Ethan: "Well, what's the proof?"

Barry: "Take a guess."

He says while folding his arms and sighing as if to tease the others.

Sneha: "What the heck?"

Ro: "Just say it already, man."

It works in aggravating them.

Barry: "Come on, try to think for …"

But,

Ethan: "Angels."

Ethan cuts in with his guess.

Sneha: "Huh?"

Ro: "Huh?"

Ethan: "That's my guess. You did mention they could also become Angels, right? What if they are trying to use the army to do all the dirty work, so the citizens can actually remain in better mental states? By strengthening themselves, a lot of the citizens who have never committed any crimes and truly believe they have never done anything wrong, they may end up becoming Angels."

Ro: "Are you serious!?"

Ro stands from the shock of hearing that.

Barry: "Yeah, he is right on the money."

Barry says while nodding.

Sneha: "S … so, by pitting everyone who is targeting the ghosts against their army, they are trying to distract us from what they are really trying to do behind the scenes. And what they are trying to do is – create Angels."

Barry: "Yeah, that's how it is. Those angels will be able to cancel out the power of the demons and internal conflict can be avoided to a certain extent."

Ethan: "But it won't completely stop the conflict, which maybe the reason for the political problems you mentioned earlier."

Barry: "Yeah, that could be one of the reasons of the conflict. I am sure that won't be the only reason for it though."

As Barry says that, the full-picture starts to become clearer to Ethan.

Ethan: "Barry, if Dyne does come here, do you have some way to know it the moment he enters the island or something like that."

Barry: "If you are trying to measure how powerful I am, I refuse to disclose that information. You aren't a very trustworthy person after all."

Ethan: "I'll take that as a yes."

Barry: "U-uh? Why?"

Ethan: "That agitation confirms it's a yes."

Barry: "Huh!"

Barry sighs with his shoulders dropping a little.

Barry: "You pulled a fast one, huh?"

One of the few things Ethan has going for him is the ability to see the psychic energy surrounding Barry. If Barry was only acting, Ethan would be seeing a slightly agitated movement in the energy, but that's not the case. 'Okay, that's the actual proof it's a yes,' Ethan says in his mind as up until then, everything was a bluff.

Ethan: "Yeah, I actually did."

Deciding to let him think that Barry made some kind of expression that gave him away will let Ethan use this trick again because he won't bother trying to keep the energy around him in his control when he lies as he would be too busy keeping his expressions under control.

Having done all that, he comes back to the topic.

Ethan: "So you would know it whenever he comes here, huh? If what I am thinking is right, he might not be alone."

Barry: "Yeah, there's a fair chance he would bring another person along with him."

Ethan smiles and says,

Ethan: "Yeah, I guess."

*******************************

As the two dogs, Jack and Jill, had not been willing to let the four of them in the forest, they decided they would call it a ceasefire and take rest at the beach. Barry and Sneha, probably even Ro could easily handle those dogs and anything else the forest may throw at them, but they decided to not let the chance to rest slip by.

And so, they talked with each other. They discussed things even though they were not allies. They decided to share some information with each other regardless. Was this because Ethan and Barry had come to some sort of understanding earlier? Was it because they found some hidden profit by having this conversation? Or did they just didn't consider each other true enemies?

No matter what it was, many hours have passed now and the morning sun is rising. This is the time they have to start to do what they need to do. The dogs won't come in their way as soon as the sun rises is something both Barry and Ethan knew of. So they would now be free to enter the forest and start to work towards their goals.

And so, on the beach right now, only Ethan and Sneha are remaining.

Sneha: "Do you really think it was a good idea letting them go in the forest first?"

Ethan: "I do."

Sneha: "Any specific reason for you thinking that?"

Ethan: "Actually, there is."

Sneha: "And what's that?"

Ethan: "I noticed something last night while we were talking to them. The fact that every person on this island has a different arsenal of abilities is pretty confusing, right?"

Sneha: "It is, though I don't know if saying 'different arsenal' is right. I mean, Barry's abilities are basically like a mix of Ro's and Kais'."

Ethan: "I suppose, but you know what I mean. Anyway, my point is – maybe we should shift our perspective a little."

Sneha: "Okay?"

Ethan: "Let's say – you and I are like the Aural faction here."

Sneha: "Are we?"

Ethan: "You are an Aural and I do have good relations to other Aurals. Besides, what other group is on better terms with them than us."

Sneha sighs and nods.

Sneha: "That's fair. What about it?"

Ethan: "Well, Barry and Ro are definitely the Vampire faction. I am pretty sure Kais and Sona can be put in the same faction for being the ones who are the most unstable elements of us all."

Sneha: "That would be a weird faction."

Ethan: "Yeah, I know. But anyway, the dragon and the girl can be considered a different faction too, couldn't they?"

Sneha: "Okay, so you are basically trying to look at it from the perspective of where our interests align in this upcoming war, right? And it somehow seems to be that every side has two members."

Ethan: "Yeah, and I don't understand why, but I think 'god' wanted it to end this way. He is a big reason why we are in this position after all."

Sneha nods in understanding. The two of them know very well that Ozyllus was not as noble of a soul as the records claim him to be. They also know his soul is still trying to mess with the real world. So they are able to come up with such a theory.

Sneha: "So how exactly does it all tie up?"

Ethan: "Not sure about that, but if this is indeed not-a-coincidence, then two representatives of Ghost Nation will be sent here."

Sneha: "And … what about it? You are wondering who the second one will be?"

Ethan: "Yeah, that's exactly what I am wondering."

Sneha: "Well, that is an interesting question. And you let them go in first so we could wait for those two to arrive here, is that it?"

Ethan: "Yeah, precisely. The dragon and consequently, the whole island is gonna die in three days. I doubt the Ghost Nation can afford to wait any longer before sending them."

Sneha turns to look at the sky. No indication of anyone coming can be seen so far.

Sneha: "I don't know if you are right about that or not, I mean for all we know, they may actually not even know that the island is going to get destroyed."

There comes no reply. So, she continues,

Sneha: "There is something I wanted to ask you, Ethan."

Ethan: "What's that?"

Sneha: "The first time that girl sees the dragon out of the tomb, the island will be in its final days, what's up with that prophecy? How'd you do it?"

Ethan: "Well, I would like to tell you, but I can't risk anyone finding out about that. Sorry about this."

She sighs as she keeps looking at the sky and smiles.

Sneha: "Well, it's fine. Not like I actually expected any answers in the first place."

Hearing that, Ethan also sighs and also turns to the sky. In his thoughts, he gives Sneha the answer. He tells her that there is no reason for the island to get destroyed. So why would it be destroyed? Even the dragon doesn't know why it would happen. All that Ozyllus told him is that it will happen. But Ethan knows the reason for it. In his mind, he tells Sneha that the only reason the island would be destroyed will be because of the girl. It will be because she thinks the island would end that it would end. That's how powerful she truly is.

The dragon may have created her, but someone else has done some modifications on her, and now because of that, she can vaguely understand the value of names, she can vaguely remember pointless things that the dragon programmed her brain to forget after a while. Those modifications are why she is now so powerful that if she thinks about something strongly, it would happen. In other words, Ethan Kales never did any prophesying about any destruction, he is the one who set up the said destruction.

After all, he is not someone who warns people of tragedies. He is the one who causes them.

*******************************


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Zyanide100 Zyanide100

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Stay healthy!

Chapter 53: Chapter 28: The Reason (Part 1)

I ran. I was still running. I would continue to run. I could never stop running. If I did, I would have been swallowed. I would have died. I would have kept dying. I would have continued to die every day until I was completely dead.

No, I couldn't take that. I would have had an instant death than lived a life that would become death itself. So, I had to run. In order to protect myself, I had to run. There's no other way then.

Kais: "I … I have … already lost everything … everything except myself. This might be … selfish … but I don't care … because I don't want to die."

Barry: "And you think wanting to not die is enough?"

I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to think about anything he said. And yet, his voices rang in my head so loud I couldn't ignore it. Why was that torture happening to me?

Barry: "Look around you, look at the corpses, Kais."

He said as he spread his arms; his arms that were covered in the blood; the blood that was all around us.

Barry: "Do you think any of these people wanted to die?"

I was running, running so fast I couldn't even see the road. So why – why couldn't I shake him off?

Barry: "Do you think all of them came to me telling me to kill them or something?"

It was a nightmare, right? It would be over as soon as I woke up, wouldn't it? Yeah, the moment I woke up, I would see Barry's smiling face. The smiling face – his smiling face –

Barry: "Hey!"

I remembered seeing his smile every day. The expression of happiness rarely left his face. He was so … so amazing. That smile – I used to envy that. Not anymore though, I didn't want to see that face anymore. I didn't want to see that face anymore. Because the only smile of his I remembered then – is the one covered in blood.

Kais: "Go away!"

I don't know how loud my voice was. But it didn't matter. It didn't matter. Nothing mattered anymore.

Barry: "Well, if that's what you want,"

I fell. My feet came to a halt automatically. No, I had to have kept running.

Barry: "then make me go away."

Kais: "H-huh?"

Barry: "You have everything you need for it, don't you?"

I looked up. I looked up from the ground I had fallen to. No, was it really ground I had fallen to? Looked nothing like that. All it looked like was a sea of blood.

Barry: "Do it for yourself."

As I stared at the sky, my vision was blocked by the face of the brother I had known for so long. His face covered in blood, his voice cold, and with a smile on his face, he looked at me.

Kais: "S-s-stay away!"

Barry: "Make me stay away. If you want something, take it for yourself."

I couldn't even move. I didn't know why but no matter how much I wanted to, I just couldn't move my limbs. Why … why was this happening?

Barry: "Come on. Do it."

Kais: "No!"

I couldn't do it. I wanted to … so badly, but I just couldn't do it.

Barry: "You were always given everything you ever needed."

Kais: "No!"

I wasn't. There were so many things I needed that I wasn't given.

Barry: "Our parents left us before you even knew what family means. You didn't lose anything by that, did you?"

Kais: "Shut up!"

You were wrong. I could see with my own eyes how parents cared for their children. I could clearly see how all the kids around me got the love I never did. You got it too, even if not forever. But I didn't.

Barry: "You were also given psychic abilities. That made your life a breeze, didn't it?"

Kais: "I-It didn't."

Barry: "It did. You could accomplish anything with your abilities. Everyone else had to work hard for it. But you could do anything because of your abilities."

Kais: "You are wrong!"

You were wrong. You were wrong. I didn't use my abilities for things that you told me not to. I always stuck to the rules you laid out for me.

Barry: "I am wrong, huh?"

Kais: "You are. I also worked hard. I worked hard knowing I didn't have to."

It's not easy to suppress the urge to use those abilities every single time. But I did. I did suppress it every time. I never used it to cheat it in any way.

Barry: "You worked hard, you say? Oh yeah, you worked hard, didn't you? It would have been so easy knowing you could make up for anything you ended up lacking in by your abilities."

What the heck did that mean? You were just spouting non-sense.

Barry: "It would have been so easy for you, wouldn't it? While everyone in the world tries to do their best trying to achieve their goals without knowing the end result, you knew you could make up for anything with your abilities. The only reason you worked hard was to satisfy yourself. It was so you can say those lines you are saying right now."

Kais: "Shut up! You are wrong! You are … just wrong about EVERYTHING."

Barry: "Is that so?"

Kais: "Yeah, it is. And who are you to talk anyway. You were far superior to me in every way. You didn't even have a big brother to tell you to not use your abilities. You would have exploited your abilities all you wanted."

Barry: "Ha! Ha! Ha! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!"

Kais: "Stop … laughing."

He didn't stop laughing. I sat there looking at him as he laughed like a maniac. He laughed so loud that it echoed throughout the place, that everyone around could hear it. But, they didn't hear it, because they couldn't hear it, because the only things around me and Barry were corpses.

Barry: "HA! HA! Ha! Ha!"

As I barely kept myself up, as I barely stopped my legs from completely going numb, the sound of Barry's loud laughs kept piercing me. They weren't piercing my ears as much as they were piercing my soul.

Kais: "S-SHUT UP!!!"

I shouted at the top of my lungs. I couldn't help it. I just couldn't take it anymore. The brother I had known for so long was dying. This man – whoever he was, he wasn't my brother. And I felt like every laugh from him was killing my brother.

Barry: "Tell me, why are you crying like that?"

And only then I realized – I had been crying. I had been crying for some reason. But why was that?

Barry: "Why are you crying, Kais?"

Kais: "I … don't know."

*******************************

12 years in the future, in the Vampire Kingdom's courtroom, four people are gathered.

Reid: "What's up with this war between you and the ghosts?"

Knowing that he was touching the heart of the matter, Ro had prepared himself for a cold stare from Reid.

Valdis: "Well, that really is the most important query you have, isn't it?"

Valdis looked him in the eyes as she said so.

Barry: "Well, in simple words, it is a political conflict between the two for the balance of power."

Ro: "What balance of power?"

Barry: "Vermillion, the Vampire Kingdom, the Ghost Nation, Aurals, Spirit-users and Dragons. These are the six supernatural factions the world seems to be divided in."

Ro: "Okay, and?"

Barry: "Well, let's see, it was about a thousand years ago that a different factions had risen. It was the faction led by Ozyllus."

Ro fell silent as Barry continued to explain.

Barry: "He didn't per se oppose any factions but he did demand to be left as an uninvolved faction in their struggles for power. And well, apart from the minor conflicts that happened throughout the history, he was left alone. The biggest reason for that was that he was just so powerful. But there was another reason why no one attacked him."

Ro's curiosity kept on rising and he questioned further.

Ro: "And what was that?"

Barry: "Well, it was the Ghost Nation. They were a faction waging a war against everyone else. Every other faction except that of Ozyllus' formed an alliance to take them down."

It surprised Ro to know they were that big of a threat but the real shocking news was yet to come.

Barry: "They all lost."

Ro: "What!"

Barry: "The Ghost Nation defeated all of them."

Ro glanced at Valdis and Reid. While Valdis had a discomforted expression on her face, Reid was barely holding in his anger. It was clear that this was indeed the truth and neither of them is very proud of this piece of history.

Ro: "But …"

So, he decided to ask the question that he couldn't have predicted the answer to.

Ro: "How could they be that strong?"

Barry: "It was because of their king."

Who was their king? – Ro wondered. And the answer soon came.

Barry: "Their king, someone you may have heard about in all the legends of that era, was the demon Abyss."

Ro's eyes widen in shock. Reid clicked his tongue making it clear just how much that name annoyed him. Valdis kept a calm expression but disdain was slightly visible on her face as well.

Barry: "The only reason we hear about the legendary battle between Ozyllus and Abyss is because no one could stop Abyss and finally Ozyllus had to step in himself."

Ro: "Okay, wait! I get what you are saying, but how does it all tie up to now?"

Unable to hold his excitement, Ro looks at Barry with a questioning gaze.

Ro: "Abyss has long been defeated, hasn't he?"

Barry: "Yeah, but the thing is – a demon as powerful as Abyss should have had no reason to become the ruler of ghosts. This is what led to a large amount of theories on how ghosts and demons can be connected."

Ghosts and demons can be connected. It is a terrifying thought in every way. Ro and a lot of other people involved with supernaturals didn't know about the existence of ghosts but all of them know about the existence of demons. And no one wants to mess with them.

Barry: "Back when I got into a fight with a ghost, I found out how they are connected."

Ro: "Huh?"

And suddenly Barry cuts down all the hope of 'this is just a theory' excuse.

Barry: "And not only that, but they are also connected to Angels. And they are trying to raise both to empower themselves. That's when we decided we would put a stop to them."

It makes sense. They need to be stopped at once or a repeat of thousand years ago may happen.

Barry: "But they are capable of fending our whole army off. And since Vampires are not very friendly creatures for those that have blood in them, Vermillion and the dragons have formed an alliance with the Ghost Nation – what we call The Dragon Alliance."

The pieces of puzzle fell into place as Barry's explanation ended.

Barry: "That is what brings us here. We need to stop the ghosts, no, the entire Dragon Alliance at all costs or a tragedy like the past may strike again. And this time there would be no Ozyllus to stop them."

After remaining silent for a while, Ro finally sighed and then said,

Ro: "I understand now why Vermillion's upper echelon kept sending us after Kais even when he kept refusing again and again. They wanted him on their side and you want him to join the Vampire Kingdom. He is the one you want taking the place of Ozyllus, isn't he?"

Barry: "Precisely, he is the only one who can do it. His potential as a psychic far surpassed anyone else in the world. But because of incidents like the one 12 years ago, it might be very difficult for me to convince him of joining the war alone."

Ro got an urge to ask about the 'incident 12 years ago' but decided to save it for later so they could focus on the topic at hand.

Ro: "That's why you brought me here."

Barry: "Yeah, you are not on the best terms with him either but your position is much better than mine."

Ro: "I see. But it's not just about convincing him, is it? He is capable of taking Ozyllus' place but he is not yet strong enough to do it, right?"

Barry: "Right. We also need him to get stronger. This is why; we need to give him a lot of time."

Reid: "And to buy that time, we'll fight them."

Their attention turns towards Reid.

Reid: "Aurals have scattered throughout the world and spirit-users have decided to not take part in any wars. So they are left with the three factions that form The Dragon Alliance. And we'll have to fight those three factions. It obviously is not going to be a walk in the park but don't have a choice."

He turns to Ro with a resolved gaze and asked,

Reid: "We won't be able to completely defeat them. The most we can do is delaying them."

Ro: "And you need Kais to become stronger, start wanting to defeat the Dragon Alliance and then join the war."

As Ro came to understand everything, he felt a heavy burden on his shoulders all of a sudden. His job – to convince Kais to join the war from their side – was tantamount to saving the world at this point. If he failed, everything may fall apart.

Barry: "But that isn't all."

Ro: "What? What more is there …?"

He realized mid-sentence the answer to his question.

Ro: "Ethan Kales. How does he fit into all of this?"

*******************************


CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Zyanide100 Zyanide100

Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments below.

Stay healthy!

Load failed, please RETRY

Weekly Power Status

Batch unlock chapters

Table of Contents

Display Options

Background

Font

Size

Chapter comments

Write a review Reading Status: C52
Fail to post. Please try again
  • Writing Quality
  • Stability of Updates
  • Story Development
  • Character Design
  • World Background

The total score 0.0

Review posted successfully! Read more reviews
Vote with Power Stone
Rank 200+ Power Ranking
Stone 0 Power Stone
Report inappropriate content
error Tip

Report abuse

Paragraph comments

Login

tip Paragraph comment

Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.

Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.

GOT IT