Hero Dyes - Blue
Power Struggle

Son of the Sage, Yosin: Well, that was unexpected. Apparently my father didn’t know the Count was a female. I can understand why if her soul was directing sages towards her. I guess she never took her mask off until now, for whatever reason. Then again, my father hasn’t done this quest in so long that a lot has changed. The stories he would tell were now fiction, as the truth of each story was worse. Lord Magnus being an orc wasn’t much of a surprise for me. I knew he wasn’t human, that much was clear. Everything after that has been new ground for me and my father. Now, we face off against Count Masque. As my father stated before, she has evolved into something more than just a simple trickster. Also, what an introduction that was.

“Nice to meet you, Knight of the Twin Swords.” She greeted our hero. Bridget wasn’t moved by this. Maybe she was confused. It was hard to tell since she was glaring at the Count with such hatred in her heart.

“Bridget, come here for a moment.” My father said as he kept his eye on Masque. It took her a moment but she finally stepped backwards to align herself with my father.

“Here, take these. I was going to save them as winning tokens but, I have faith in you.” He told her as he dug out three hair clips from his pocket. I raised a questioning eyebrow as I have never seen them before. In her distraction of admiring them my father gave me a weird look, as if to keep my mouth shut and not to question anything I was about to hear.

“The first three tyrants are the toughest, but I believe you’ll do well. So, take all three as a symbol of-”

“You don’t believe in me, old man.” She commented, glaring at my father as if trying to figure out what his deal was. My father sighed as she knew he was lying. He clinched the hair clips in his hand and stared deep into her eyes.

“I have nothing to return to once this is over. More importantly, my son has nothing to return to once we slay all the tyrants. These were my wife’s hair clips. She had them made in support of our cause. I let her down many times yet she continued to remind me that we’ll succeed one day. She had three made as a reminder of what I need to have. Courage, endurance, and compassion. I’ve lost all three, but you haven’t. No matter how much I doubt you, I’m proven wrong by your actions… Please, wear these in honor of my wife, and prove me wrong again.” I had to hand it to him, my father knew how to manipulate a person with his words. Bridget wasn’t the wiser to see through his lie, at least to me she wasn't. Starting off with an awful lie then covering it up with a better lie normally seals the deal. Also, he used the truth. He doesn’t believe in her, but that doesn’t matter at this point. She needs to believe in herself.

“Maybe you should start off with that next time… Sorry about your mother, Yosin.” She commented as she took the hair clips and quickly placed them in her hair.

“Now, what kind of powers do they give me?” My father was baffled as she saw right through his second lie. This was very impressive. My father could only pause for a moment before smirking as he simply shrugged.

“Honestly speaking, I don’t know. They produce different powers according to the user.” Bridget rolled her eyes as a reply to his answer. She huffed with annoyance as she mentally prepared herself for her fight.

“We need to have a long talk after I’m done killing her. I’m tired of you treating me like I’m some pathetic fool.”

“You are one, thus my heavy hand when it comes to guiding you. Your only saving grace are your swords, so fight smart if you lose them.” I believe she ignored every word he spoke as she started walking off in the middle of his sentence.

“Finally! Do you know how rude it is to greet someone and not receive a greeting back!!” Masque yelled as her anger was filtering through her white covered face.

“Save your talk for someone else! I’m here to end your life, so prepare to die!!” Bridget shouts back and draws her swords from their sheath. Instantly a power surge pulsated from her body as if something within her activated. Masque was intrigued by this and began grinning evilly.

“What is this? What power has awakened within you? I must test this out myself!!” She yelled with excitement as she positioned her feet into an awkward fighting stance. Bridget burst forward in a full sprint as she yelled a battle cry. She slowed down her pace as she heard Masque say something that frightened her.

“Mimic!” Suddenly Masque placed a mask on her face and transformed into Bridget. The only differences were their body size and the scale of some of their features, as well as their faces. It was clear that Masque was indeed a woman. She was more busty yet skinner than Bridget, and of course taller. She charged at Bridget which closed the gap between them quickly. They both performed the same slashing attacks and clashed their swords together. Their blades were locked as Masque’s height over Bridget could be seen better now that they were closer to each other. Bridget was struggling as she grit her teeth and fought back with everything she had to prevent Masque’s swords from slamming down upon her. Speaking of which, Bridget was also struggling because Masque had copied her twin swords detail for detail. Her eyes were widened with fear as she couldn’t believe she was fighting against swords that looked exactly like her own.

“Your tricks won’t work, Masque!” Bridget tried to taunt as she continued to strain under the Count’s force. Masque was grinning with delight as she just locked eyes with her and said nothing. Finally Masque broke the hold and managed to maneuver her way to land a powerful kick to Bridget's chest. She yelled in pain and stumbled back but quickly got herself ready to defend herself. She eased her stance a bit as Masque didn’t attack again. Instead, she started laughing with a crazed and sinister look in her eyes.

“Come on, Bridget! Show me the power of your swords! Give me everything you got!!” She shouts and holds her swords above her head, pointing them to the ceiling. The symbols on the swords started to glow. The sword on her right glowed an orange color while the symbols on her left sword glowed light blue. It was like she was charging them as the brightness increased until the blades themselves were blue and orange. She brought her swords back to her side and slowly worked her feet into her fighting stance, then waited for Bridget to do the same.

“Father… What did she just do?” I asked in confusion as my heart was pounding from fear. I kept my eyes on Bridget who was more than stunned by this display of power. It was like she didn’t know what Masque just did either.

“Father… Why isn’t Bridget doing the same thing?”

“Because she doesn’t know how to.” He quickly replied with frustration. He sighed with annoyance as he cupped his hands together, tightly. As if praying to the goddesses that she somehow wins this battle. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ FɪndNøvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

“She never practiced with her swords. She only learned the skills to wield one sword from Calad. Sure, he taught her advanced hand to hand combat skills, maybe some single sword techniques, but dual wielding with her own swords was something she needed to learn and improve on her own. She never bothered because she swore she would get Excalibur in her hands.” At this point I lost all hope in this battle. I didn’t want to give up so easily like my father. Having said that, if Masque continued the fight using this copying trick, Bridget was going to die in the most humiliating way. Death by her own two swords.

“Come on already!! Get serious and show me the power of your swords!!” She repeated herself, causing Bridget to flinch a bit as she slightly shook her head no out of fear. This was painful to watch. She wasn’t ready to fight a tyrant like this, nor did she have half an army to hide behind. She was weak because she didn’t believe in herself, nor in the tools she was given.

“Don’t tell me you can’t use them to their full potential!” Masque shouts with disappointment rising. She growled with annoyance as she gripped her glowing swords tightly.

“Ha!” Bridget finally uttered, loudly as she stabbed her two swords into the floor.

“Do you think I’m that stupid, clown?” She mocked, causing all of us to drop our jaws as if she was insane.

“If I fight with all my might, using the full power of my two swords, you’ll not only try to use that power against me, but also inform the other tyrants of my abilities.” Bridget comments as she crosses her arms in protest. Masque just stared for a moment before she eased her footing out of her fighting stance and smirked.

“What makes you say such things?” The Count asked. Bridget leaned on one hip as she prepared her speech.

“Lord Magnus was defeated because we prepared an army to fight him off. When we met the Foresters they mentioned that some of your puppets have been seen coming through the forest. They also mentioned that your puppets help with their trade deliveries, which means eventually they report back to you. Now, I don’t know how far your reach is when it comes to this bee-hive mind control thing with the mask, but you must have seen the army we gathered. You were prepared to fight an army by collecting souls and turning people into your puppets, hoping we wouldn’t reach you and instead, die by the horde of puppets you collected. Twice you sent puppets to kill me and realized that didn’t work either. Honestly, you were afraid of my arrival. You fear me, Queen of the Puppets. I strike fear into your heart, because Magnus is dead. You never tried to take over his land, but this time you attempted and failed. It had been so long since we Dye Heroes tried to vanquish all of you. Now that we have shown up again you were frightened. Even now, you tremble within your body. You are afraid, face it.” I was speechless as her words seemed so true and courageous within her heart. She pieced things together on her own. She paid attention to the details that were dealt to her and gathered a theory that fits our current situation. What was more impressive, was that she was right. Masque proved this by starting off with a light laugh.

“So, you’re not so stupid after all. To be honest, everything you said was true. The only thing wrong with your picture, is that it revolves around you… Sweetie, no one in the kingdom of Geminis is afraid of you. The one that I fear the most, is him.” The Count informed her and slowly lifted her finger. She pointed it at my father as her expression changed to a wicked and evil glare.

“Out of all the sages I’ve ever had the misfortune of going against, he was the worst. His drive to quickly kill off his heroes was cruel and heartless. His detachment from them was admirable yet twisted at the same time. The power that man carries within his bones is enough to wipe out an entire kingdom within an hour. If there is anyone I fear within this room, it is that man. You are simply a snowflake I can blow away or melt with the touch of my finger. You are nothing, little girl.” I could see Bridget trying to keep her brave face but the sweat on her forehead gave her up. She was frightened once again, yet she didn’t let it completely consume her like before.

“Are you going to talk me to death, or are we going to end this?” Bridget boasted as she reached for her swords. Masque quickly snapped her fingers and Bridget’s swords vanished before she could grab the hilts. Her eyes widened as she looked all around for her weapons.

“Not so fast, Bridget. We’re going to play a game.” Masque started off as she crossed her arms and grinned.

“I call it, Power Struggle!” She nearly shouts and snapped her fingers again. Several puppets started to enter the room from different doors and stood around the large ballroom in random places. Each of them had different color masks as well as different designs. They looked very similar to the ones Gil had on his cart, just more elaborate and flashy.

“This game is like Russian roulette, only with magic! You see, each mask has a different power stored within them. You can take one off of the person and use its power to fight me. Of course, you can change out one mask for another by pulling them off a different puppet and switching it with the one you were currently wearing. Now, here are the ground rules and some things you should know.” She paused for a moment as she walked over to one of the puppets. She pulled the mask off and instantly their body burst into purple and red mist, dissolving within seconds.

“Once you remove a mask, the person it was attached to dies. Also, you can only wear one mask at a time. I will only allow a set number of puppets to be present within the ballroom. Depending on how long our fight lasts will determine when more puppets will filter in. Lastly, when the new wave of puppets come in, the old puppets leave the room no matter how many were left… Did you understand all of that, or was there something you missed?” Bridget’s eye twitched as she looked all around her. She knew she had to kill some of these innocent lives in order to fight against Masque and win this battle. The look on her face wasn’t too reassuring that she was okay with this.

“You’re sick and twisted.” Bridget comments, then sighs and shakes her head no.

“I understand the rules, I’m ready to play your game.” She adds. Masque simply laughed evilly as she wagged her finger no, as if she wasn’t done with pulling out surprises.

“Oh you poor thing. You’re not ready yet.” She suddenly snapped her fingers and a burst of wind roared from her. It ate her clothes and left her wearing nothing but her undergarments. The same thing happened to Bridget. She gasped as she felt the rush of magical-wind eat through her armor, chainmail, and clothes within seconds. She motioned to hide her body with her arms but fought against it out of bravery. She was wearing her undergarments at least so she wasn’t completely revealed.

“Now we’re ready. There is nothing but the power you pick, and the skills you have to use such power. No armor, no swords, no tricks. Magic for magic, soul for soul. Are you ready to die, Bridget?” I was wondering the same thing. Bridget wasn’t that strong when it came to heavy hitting. Her form and techniques were amazing, but she lacked the power behind them to be effective. Hopefully this psychopathic game plays in her favor. I had a feeling it wasn’t going to be her end. Maybe I’m dumb for placing my hope in this hero. Then again, I thought that was the purpose of the sages, to give hope and strengthen their Champions through tough times like this. Unless you were my father, who wanted her dead but didn’t have the heart to end her himself. I, for one, will not let her die so easily. I’ll protect her if I have to. I’ll shine that light upon her and show her the true power of a sage. The only hurdle I have to get over is my father. He’ll stop me from helping… At least, he’ll try… I won’t let him. I believe in Bridget, even if it is foolish. I believe in this Dye Hero. I don’t know why, but I do…

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