Arcanum 0: Ikki - Mirror of the Fool
Arcanum 0: Ikki - Mirror of the Fool
After Ikki had crossed the gate, he wasn't aware of the Cosmo of his brothers anymore; not even Athena's presence could be felt.
When he turned around, the gate had disappeared. Ikki growled like a caged animal. So Gaia wanted to separate them? It would do her no good! He was used to fight alone.
All through his life he had never been able to rely on anyone. His earliest memories were those of the aftermath of the bombing that laid waste to the town he had grown up in with his family. During the ordeals he had to endure when he was turned into the Phoenix Saint, he had all but forgotten how he had to carry his little brother over endless plains of debris, the only soul left alive beside him.
If it hadn't been for Virgo Gold Saint Shaka, who had evoked his ancient memories of this trip through his personal hell, he surely would have kept this forgotten, but the cold and impassionate keeper of the sixth temple had tried to break him not only in body, but also in spirit.
Yet he had persevered, as he always had.
In the ancient Egyptian myth it was said that the Phoenix returned every 500 years from Arabia to bury his father. In the sacrificial fire, he burned himself and returned newly living.
Ikki laughed humourlessly. He had also returned, but had his father not been dead already, he certainly would have helped him to pass the final gate.
It still puzzled him that the Phoenix Cloth bore more resemblance to the Chinese fenghuang which allegedly symbolized the advent of a wise and just ruler while he had only experienced injustice.
The Phoenix Saint looked around. The landscape around him was infuriatingly peaceful. He stood on a high plain that opened onto a vast, fertile, green grassland strewn with colourful flowers. A clear sea lay next to the meadow and stretched out until it met a high mountain range at the horizon. The sky above was of a bright blue, mirrored in the perfectly still lake.
Ikki felt the sudden impulse to launch one of his attacks to disturb the threatening quiet of this annoying spring landscape.
"How many more times do you wish to die?" a familiar voice asked him.
Ikki whirled around, only to face Shun.
"Shun?!" Ikki asked incredulously. His little brother was stark naked and held a white rose in his hand. "You are not Shun!" the Phoenix Saint growled.
"And you should not be the Phoenix."
"What are you talking about?"
"You have died too many times already."
"How dare you take my brother's form? Who are you?"
"Maybe I'm your conscience. Maybe I'm what you have lost."
"Don't talk in riddles!" Ikki spat.
"Or else? Would you attack me? Would you hurt me? Would you kill me?"
"Why not? You are not my brother."
"So you kill what you fear rather than face it?"
"I face what I fear before I kill it!"
"Ah, but wouldn't it be better not to kill it than fear your face? Or would you prefer to be killed before you face your fears?"
A mirror appeared in front of Ikki and soulless eyes stared back at him.
"Your fate led you through an abyss of guilt..."
"Shut up! I don't want to hear any more of this nonsense!"
"Is it nonsense? It is what defines you. Like the snake sheds skins, the Phoenix sheds lives - his own and those of others."
The image in the mirror changed, and a neverending row of dead persons walked past Ikki. Desperately, he tried to smash the mirror with the Phoenix Gen Ma Ken.
"Nothing in the Realm of the Fool can hurt you but you yourself," the image of Shun cautioned him.
Blindly, Ikki struck again, but this time he hit his mirror image.
Again he stumbled over the horrible, desolate plain, clutching the tiny form of his little brother in his arms, desperate to leave the ruins behind.
"This was the first time a piece of you died," Shun told him, "even though you didn't know it then. It was when Pandora managed to infuse Hades' soul into your little brother's body. When you later learned what happened, you drowned in a sea of guilt."
"Leave me alone!"
The scenery changed. Ikki was hung upside down in the punishment chamber where Tatsumi beat him half dead.
"This was the second time. You managed to take your brother's place on Death Queen Island, but when Tatsumi told you that the dangers Shun would fear at Andromeda Island weren't less, another part of you died for fear for your brother and again you felt responsible."
"Please... Let me go!" Ikki didn't want to beg, but he knew what had to come now, and he didn't want to face it another time. Not again... Please, not again! But the demon in the image of his beloved little brother knew no mercy, and in the next instant Ikki was back at Death Queen Island, his Master once more beating him up mercilessly.
"No, no again," he moaned like a mortally wounded animal. "Haven't I lived through this often enough?" He knew what would come next, it was burned forever into his memory. The image of fair Esmeralda, struck down by her father's own hand. Then she would die in his, Ikki's, arms - and there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing... The despicable feeling of utter helplessness, and then the raging hate that let his Cosmo explode and erased all remnants of sanity.
"This was the third time a part of you died," the voice of his brother and yet not his brother enumerated mercilessly.
"Does it please you to torture me?" Ikki cried out in anger.
"No one tortures you but you yourself. You have to accept the occurrences and let go of your guilt. Have you ever wondered why you felt so protective of your little brother?"
"Because he is the only person really dear to me, and he needs my protection."
"Does he? Does he really? He is a Saint of Athena, too."
"And what do you suggest? Do you think you know me better than I know myself?"
"I do. It was because he is all that you have lost - Purity and innocence. Even after all of his ordeals he managed to cling to an innocence that was taken away from you far too soon."
"The chicken can't return into its egg once it's hatched."
"But there is still the chance to reconcile you with your deeds."
"Who says that I want to?"
"I'm the Fool. I know of many things. I can see into your heart without prejudice. I do not judge, I pass no sentence. I simply go... and look... and see..."
"I'm in no mood for such mystical nonsense," Ikki shouted angrily.
"Your refusal to listen is a refusal to begin anew."
"How should listening to your bullshit help me with a new beginning?"
"Is it all ...bullshit?" The Shun simile gazed at Ikki out of ennerving blue-green eyes.
"What else should it be?"
"Maybe the truth?"
"Never!"
"Do you accuse me to lie?"
Ikki stared perplexed at the apparition. Well... If he thought about it... He couldn't say it was really untrue. But still... "I don't want to hear anymore about it," he said gruffly. "I don't want to be reminded of these memories!"
"Because they are painful for you? The only way to overcome pain is to accept it."
"I refuse to accept! Why didn't I do anything? I should have protected Shun... I should have saved Esmeralda..."
"You should?! Who says that you should have done it?"
"I do!"
"As was to be suspected." The Fool nodded sagely. "So you prefer to be in pain to punish yourself for the things you have not done."
"I don't need to be insulted by some demon who takes the form of my brother!"
"So the truth does insult you? Isn't it more an insult to your intelligence that you deny the truth?"
"Why do you always twist the my words around as you please?"
"Because you don't listen if I say them straight." He smiled at the Phoenix, a smile that was oh so painfully Shun's. "But it's not my place to tell you, it's your place to understand."
"So what do you expect of me?!" Ikki demanded in utter desperation.
"Expect? Nothing. Wish? Everything. The Fool seeks no punishment to give, but release."
"How can you give me release by making me remember?"
"Only by remembering you will understand. See your guilt, recognize its futility. See your pain, release it and acknowledge the happiness it sours. See your hate and understand that it only puts chains around your heart."
"You can easily talk - you never had to live through the hells I have seen!"
"Ah, now there is even another fetter that chains you to the pain: self-pity."
"How dare you!" Ikki looked as if he wanted to strike the simile of Shun.
"Because I hold the mirror, I'm entitled to. And of course there is no one else who would dare."
"What do you hope to gain by tormenting me this way?!"
"I am The Fool, I seek no gain, nor do I need it. It's all your pain, as you do feed it."
"I don't have to take this any longer..."
"You feel so cool, yet try in vain and you're defeated. My counsel's plain and you should heed it."
Ikki refused to answer the mocking voice. He only wanted to get out of here. He needed time - time to think... Some of the words of the demon had struck something deep within him.
He wished to return to the volcano on the island of Canon in the Mediterranean Sea to heal himself once more - but the life-giving fumes of the ancient volcano only cured the body, not the soul.
The Fool looked at Ikki, and a faint smile touched the corners of his mouth.
"Go back to your friends now. Whatever you do is solely your own decision. Know that the Fool never leaves anyone with answers, but leads the way to new beginnings."
The shimmering gate appeared anew in front of Ikki and he staggered through.
[SIZE=5]* * *[/SIZE]
The Phoenix Saint was only gone for a very short time until he reappeared from the gate.
"Ikki! What happened?" Shun hurried to his brother's side, but Ikki seemed to stare straight through him as if he were made of glass. His eyes held a profound sadness that almost made Shun cry in sympathy.
"Did you do this to him?" Seiya demanded of the ancient Goddess who stood some steps aside from them.
Gaia smiled. "I didn't have to do anything. He did it all to himself. He will need some time to regain his mettle. So who is the one who will dare to face the Magician?"
Seiya, Hyoga and Shiryu exchanged glances. Shun was still so much in worry about his big brother that he hadn't listened to Gaia's words.
"I'll do it," Shiryu volunteered. "The teachings of my Old Master should help me to overcome anyone who dabbles in Magick."
"So be it." Gaia pointed at the Gate. "The Magician awaits you, Shiryu of the Dragon."
