"One fragment walks, the rest remain dormant."
The words echoed like a nightmare. The voice wasn't Kurai's; it was calm, almost polite, but twisted underneath. The kind of voice you'd hear when you wake up sweating in the middle of the night due to a nightmare.
Cael broke the silence, "What the hell just happened?" As he rubbed his eyes in disbelief
They all turned their heads back at what should be Darion's "lifeless" wounded body, and began to try to wake him up. His body was still warm, and his heart was still beating, which was quite weird since the darkband was known for absorbing the very life essence of those who dared wear it.
At the same time, they were conflicted on whether or not even to try waking what could not be Darion anymore, because they just watched their friend get swapped out with Kurai, the embodiment of darkness.
Rex crouched and shook him by the shoulder. "Darion! Wake up, man!" Silas called his name, too, while Cael and Tarin hung back, ready in case something went wrong.
Lucien stepped forward, the Lightband at his temple glowing brighter and brighter. Light gathered in his palm as he pressed it against the torn fabric of Darion's shirt. The glow seeped into him, knitting skin, sealing wounds.
"There we go, that should do it," Lucien commented.
He then turned to Rex and said, "He will be alright, I don't feel Kurai's energy coming from his body anymore."
Soon after, Darion's eyes slowly opened, and everyone began to put up their guard.
"Damn, what the hell happened?" Darion said, yawning.
"That's what I just said." Cael replied
"Where am I? Where's my shirt? Why am I here? Why are you guys here? What the hell is going on?" Darion replied quickly after as he slowly began processing what was going on and began to remember.
He touched his forehead and felt a soft cloth tighten around it. And memories of the recent events began flooding back as his eyes widened in fear and he slowly looked towards Lucien.
"Don't freak out, but um, you-"
"You're wearing the legendary darkband, Darion. You're the first darkband user now, and now you have an ancient deity living inside your body, congrats." Cael yelled over Lucien.
Darion stared. "...What?"
Memories trickled back, visions, whispers, Kurai's voice. He touched his forehead one more time and felt the cloth rest on it.
His friends' expressions hit harder than the words. Rex, Cael, Silas, Tarin, Lucien—they all looked worried. But also… different. Like they were staring at someone else.
Tarin said, "Could it be Kurai pretending to be Darion? Maybe it's a sort of trap of his."
Silas followed up with "Probably, for all we know, Darion could be gone, and that monster is all that's left of him."
Lucien then turned to him and said, "Nah, I don't sense his energy coming from Darion anymore, but he's definitely still in the darkband. It's the Darion we all know."
He then turned over to Darion and said ominously, "Tell me, is he talking to you right now?"
Darion hesitated, then sighed. "Yeah. He won't shut up. He has just been ranting random nonsense in my head. Oh, and he somehow knows how to speak English, which is pretty weird considering he predates… y'know, language."
Lucien folded his arms. "He's got centuries of memories thanks to all the idiots who tried the Darkband and got absorbed. He absorbed all of their memories."
Lucien offered a hand, and Darion grabbed it, pulling himself up. He stretched, wincing. Then it hit him.
"WAIT. That means I'm actually a Band user now, right? Do I get powers?!" This was Darion's attempt to find a positive in the situation.
"Probably," Lucien said flatly. "But don't expect Kurai's full arsenal. What you've got is just a fragment, his leftover will, not the real deal."
Darion's grin faltered. "So, a trial version. Great."
Cael crossed his arms. "What the hell possessed you to put that thing on? You could've died instantly!"
"I didn't choose it, okay? I was making a delivery near the temple when I started seeing some weird stuff. Whispers followed me all day. Next thing I know, I was up at 3 am, then bam, the darkband was on my head, and Mr Kurai is now stuck in my head."
Lucien nodded slowly. "But there's usually heavy security around the temple, but you're saying you never saw any? Not any guards, or any doors, or caution tape?"
Darion scratched his head. "No? I don't remember seeing anything; in fact, the temple was wide open, anyone could have easily walked in and worn the band for themselves."
Lucien replied, confusion evident in his voice. "But that's impossible. There's usually a decent amount of security around it, along with backup procedures in case something fails. Are you saying it was that exposed? Because that would mean someone set this up for you, knowing you'd be able to wear it."
Tarin tilted his head towards Lucien. "And you… held back in that fight? Against Kurai?"
Lucien smirked. "Wanted to see if the legend matched the hype. Honestly? Didn't need to go all out, probably due to-" Lucien suddenly cut off mid-sentence.
Rex suddenly frowned and pointed past Darion. "Uh… was that stone tablet always there?"
"What tablet?" Darion turned around and witnessed, buried in the rubble, a massive stone monolith that stood, etched with glowing words:
Where the Shielding broke and the World was sown, A fractured peace on a fractured throne. From the great light lost and the dark that stayed, A fragile life on a wound was laid.
The deepest night holds the deepest fear, A shard of pure shadow, drawing near. Seek the Fragment that holds the Void, the heart of the beast that offers death.
Oh, Hand that wields the Fire and the Stone, the paradox is now made known. Find the fragment of the dark, the Soul of dark, lest the world be cast back to lie.
The glow dimmed, leaving heavy silence in the air.
As the group read it and began to try to decrypt what it meant.
Soon, Lucien had a sudden realization, as if he instantly understood what it meant.
"Wait, could it be...the prophecy of the fragments is real?"