Hero Dyes - Blue

Bridget: My heart was beating chaotically. From the moment we entered the town I was on edge. I felt like the armor I wore was what attracted unwanted attention. After all, it displayed the Black Crow crest. Everyone knew that crest mean those knights belonged to Magnus. I gagged as some of their heads whirled completely around just to stare at us. Could they even see through those things on their face? Why the smile? Why do the masks smile like that? Different color smile lines but all of them were smiling. The biggest lie I’ve ever seen if you ask me. They were zombies, undead, slaves even. There was a difference between the masks that attacked us and the ones that were currently eying us. A man called to us who wasn’t wearing a mask. How did he manage to escape the clutches of the Count is beyond me. He was tall, short hair in the front but a good amount of length in the back, reaching down to his shoulder blades. The tips of his hair were black, like ink-black. The rest of it faded into a pure white color, almost silver looking. His purple eyes weren’t too trusting as they seemed to shift about when we drew near.

The old sage pinned him against the wall and started his interrogation. I listened as I kept my focus on the mask-wearing town folks. Having said that, I fixed my attention back on the ‘mask-seller’ as he mentioned something that gripped my heart even more than walking out among the villagers.

“You see, I’m Count Masque’s soul…” He stopped for a moment to let that sink it. Trust me, I needed a moment to actually process this. Going off of look the sage gave him, I assumed he was confused by this news as well.

“What do you mean by this?” Yohan asked as the man finished adjusting his shirt and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Wow, I didn’t think this would be a shock to you, Golden Sage.” He started off. Obviously this man knew who Yohan was. Apparently the same thing could not be said about the old sage.

“I would think the other sages would have left this important detail behind for you to use to your advantage.” He continued, almost as if he was stalling it would seem. Maybe it was my lack of trust in this man. I couldn’t even tell how old he was. I’m sure he was around Yohan’s age in reality, but looked to be a bit older than Yosin.

“Anyways, my name is Gil, short for Gilgamesh. Honestly I can’t remember anything beyond that. I just know it was a name passed down to me. Either way, I am the soul that was used to create Count Masque.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say create?” Yosin asked before any of us could. Gil simply nodded his head yes.

“I can’t really explain more, as I myself don’t know how this happened. All I know is that I was separated from the Count in an attempt to replace me with something else. Another, maybe stronger, soul perhaps. Either way, the masks do not work on me. Every time one of his puppets tried to put one on they fell off. Not to mention they lack the desire to kill me. I’m assuming I’m still a part of Count Masque in some way. I know he can’t kill me either, as he has tried and failed. I’ve also tried ending his life, nothing came of it. We bled and bled until our bodies couldn’t move anymore. The bleeding would stop and our wounds would heal. Then we went back to it again. Still, nothing came of it.” He explained as we soaked in this information. I couldn’t help but distrust every word he spoke. The sage on the other hand took his story as complete truth. Maybe he knew something I didn’t.

“It is very odd that no other sage has mentioned this.” The old man stated as he placed his fist to his chin and pondered some more.

“May I ask, why do you have a cart full of masks?” Yosin asked, to which Gil just looked at the cart and sighed as he shook his head.

“On one side of this cart, you have my mistakes and tragic story. On the other side here, you have the mistakes and tragic end of others.” I huffed as this man was full of riddles. I was about to voice my irritation but the sage gasped as he recognized one of the masks.

“These are the fallen Dye Heroes that Count Masque has killed.” The old man explained. Gil confirmed this with a nod. He looked at some of them and shook his head lightly.

“Masque has the ability to steal the essence of a person before he kills them. I don’t know what else to call it without sounding too cliche. In other words, he takes their greatest attribute, their power, and turns it into a mask. Once he strips them of their power he kills them. He keeps them in a vault as his trophies. At first, I went into the vault to steal some. I hoped I could use them against him but the same thing happened as before, nothing. So, I went back and stole as many as I could, hoping to find a worthy enough hero to use them.” All three of us walked around the cart, examining the different faces and masks. Some of them Yohan seemed to remember, or at least knew about. As for Yosin, he was just as lost and confused as I was.

“What about this side? You said these were your mistakes.” Yosin asked as Gil sighed while leaning against the wall. He stared at the masks as his eyes began to water. His face displayed deep anger the more he stared.

“If you noticed, most of them look like females. Those were my wives, lovers, concubines, escorts, whatever you may call them. They were of interest to me, until Masque took control of my body and killed them, reminding me that he is still connected to me. Then again, I can’t put the blame of all these masks on him. I discovered I could do the same thing he can through trial and error. First it was only when I was aggravated. Then it became other extreme emotions. Sadness, jealousy, envy, rage, even overwhelming joy believe it or not. I soon learned how to control it, once again, trial and error. Once I had the handle of this power I didn’t know what good it would be used for. I tried going on my own crusade, naming myself a vigilante. I started to hate this power as it always resulted in death. Not to mention the horde of faces I was compiling. Eventually I started selling them. I evolved my power by giving the masks I created different details, some looking more animal-like than others. I was also able to manipulate the essence I extracted, making the power within the mask function differently. I learned how to create elemental powers, flying powers, teleporting powers, and so on and so forth.” The man’s depressed look evaporated and a boastful smile began to present itself the more he talked. He had achieved a higher form of this power, but at the cost of how many souls? As he said, he can’t form a mask without killing people.

“I don’t know who is more twisted, you or Count Masque.” The old sage commented. Finally, something we agreed upon. This man wasn’t a hero. He was evil, just like the tyrant. Gil glared at Yohan as he blinked a few times. It was like he was expecting the old man to understand him. At first I thought he would, but the end result of his speech proved different.

“Do you want my help or not?” Gil asked as he crossed his arms. Yohan smirked and shook his head.

“We never asked to be helped, Gilgamish.” Gil continued to stare at Yohan, not liking his reply of course. He then shrugged and walked to his cart to leave.

“Very well. I’ll let Masque’s puppets know that you’re here. I’m sure you’ll do fine navigating through an entire town of puppets on your own. You’ll all be dead before you reach the Count… Well, everyone except for the old man. He can’t die. So, bye now!”

“Wait!!” Yohan nearly ran after the man as he gritted his teeth and balled up his fists.

“Please, by all means, help us reach Count Masque so we can defeat him.”

“Maybe we’ll even find a way to free you from his gasp.” Yosin added to Yohan’s plea. His father didn’t approve of this, yet it sparked much interest within Gil.

“Do you mean it? You’ll try and free me from that tyrant?” Gil asked to confirm our motives. Yosin gave his father a look, to which he finally gave in and huffed as he shook his head in protest.

“Yes, we’ll do it. We’ll try to find a way to free you from Count Masque.” With that said Gil reached out his arm and smiled from ear to ear.

“Shake on it!” He nearly shouted. Yohan grumbled and shook his arm to seal the pact between them. Once that was done he quickly raced to his cart and began pushing it.

“Follow me! We’ll be there in no time! To Count Masque’s palace we go!” He exclaimed, as if this was going to be a wonderful stroll through a summer field of flowers. I hung back with Yosin as Yohan walked next to Gil and spoke some more with him. We pretty much walked around many different back alleys that avoided the puppets. I could tell we were getting closer to our goal. The palace was huge and very much noticeable. At least Magnus’s castle blended in with the other building structures. This palace however was completely separated from the town. I had to admit, fear was slithering up my spine the more I walked towards my fate. Was I really meant to do this? Am I really equipped with everything I need to defeat such a horrid tyrant? If only I had Excalibur with me. I’ll have to do my best with these two swords. I just hope they’ll be enough to do the job. After all, I can’t just stop and run now. I have to face my nightmares. I have to be brave…