Coin Flip Chronicles Side Story: The Ancient Keep

Dark clouds loomed overhead, occasionally illuminating the gargantuan castle with bursts of forked lightning. Thunder roared over the sound of the wind and the rain for a few moments. Many puddles had formed around the castle, and the moat was overflowing. Trees were bent sideways in the gale-force winds, almost being torn up from the very earth itself.

The castle itself was resisting the storm fairly well; it had been constructed eons ago out of mighty stone blocks. Whilst the castle was still intact, the shutters on the windows were not faring as well. The ferocious winds were smashing them open against the castle's interior walls, except in the case where the shutters had been already forced from the windows.

Inside the tallest room of the highest tower, of course, a young blonde woman sat on a bed. She was listening to the wind rattle at her window; it was managing to survive the onslaught of the storm, but she wasn't sure for how long. From her seat, she could not see anything outside the window; the rain was obscuring the outside world. However, just for a moment, she thought she caught a glimpse of a fierce glow.

Braving the fierce storm, a lone woman approached. She was wearing a duster that whipped violently back and forth in the wind. Her long purple was much the same. She carried a sword on her back. She took a glance at the castle that stood before.

'What's up with this bloody weather?' Rin muttered. She had no one to keep her any company, so her voice was the only entertainment she was able to provide for herself. 'This whole setup couldn't be any more typical...'

Rin continued to grumble as she walked forward, taking one step at a time due to the wind. When a sound that didn't quite seem natural roared out over the sound of the storm, Rin stopped for a moment. Before she could assume the foetal position, however, she sharply reminded herself what her aim there was. 'Besides, it was only thunder, right...?'

Despite having the castle in sight, it took Rin quite an extensive length of time to finally arrive. The torrential downpour had turned the the grounds around the castle practically to marsh, almost resulting in Rin losing her boots several times.

After having crossed the marsh, Rin found a new obstacle before her. The castle's drawbridge had been raised, and the portcullis lowered. Rin just sighed, and reached into her pocket for a scrap of paper. Unfortunately, the rain had soaked through her duster's pockets and all the ink had ran.

Rin cursed rather loudly, but her voice was lost in the din of the storm. She cast aside the now useless piece of paper and examined the castle's wall. It was quite a feat, as the rain was coming down heavily, and looking up with a clear view was practically impossible. Rin quickly abandoned the plan, and unsheathed her sword.

The sword was a katana; the only one of its kind in the known world. Rin had grown accustomed to wearing it on her back; she had owned it ever since her youth and carrying it at her side had not been an option then.

As she unsheathed the blade, the very rain seemed to split as it came down on the edge of the blade. Rin primed her sword, and took a deep breath. She summoned up all of her might, and swung the sword in a diagonal arc.

Another unique thing about the katana was the power contained within; it was a dark power, but it increased Rin's abilities by an exponential amount. Naturally, there was a great risk to using it too much, but Rin made a concentrated effort to never rely on that power.

The result of Rin's attack resulted in both the portcullis and drawbridge being sliced in half. Fortunately for Rin, they debris created a path through the moat to the castle's entrance; admittedly it wasn't exactly over, but Rin didn't have the time to concern herself with that.

Inside the castle, torches flickered to life as Rin approached them. 'Neat,' she said, nodding approvingly. She could sense some faint mystical power, but she was well aware that she was stepping of pressure-sensitive plates on the floor as she entered the castle. Whilst lit torches were easy enough to deal with, Rin knew that she would have to watch out for any traps.

Rin's fears were quickly founded when the ground seemed to rush up past her. She didn't have enough time to react, so she ended up landing awkwardly on her leg. Her ankle twisted as a result, but Rin continued to soldier on.

The depths of the castle were surprisingly warm, Rin discovered after recovering from the shock of her fall. It was an unnatural warmth, but it felt somehow familiar and comfortable at the same time. No light penetrated depths, so Rin stumbled along with her left hand on the wall. She felt certain that she had gone back on herself a couple of times, but the corridors quickly twisted to new areas.

Rin soon discovered a door, with light filtering out from the cracks. When Rin tried to open it, the door resisted. Rin gave a second and third attempt, using more strength each time, but to no avail. Her fourth attempt had her slashing the door open with her katana; the blade was unnaturally sharp, and never needed any care. This tended to shock the people that Rin met who were knowledgeable about blades.

The door quickly gave way to the might of her katana. Rin was blinded for a moment as the light filtered into the hall. It took a couple of moments for her eyes to adjust. Once they did, Rin found herself staring at an empty room. Only a single fireplace stood in it, with a fire blazing away merrily.

'The heat couldn't be coming from just that...' Rin muttered to herself. Regardless, she felt herself drawn to the fire. As she approached it, it seemed to change colours; from red, to yellow, to orange, even unusual colours like blue and purple.

Rin's body moved against her will, and she found her hand reaching to touch the fire. Whilst her body was out of control, her mind was screaming at her to stop. There was something about the fire that wasn't quite... natural.

When Rin's hand was mere millimetres away from the flames, she could feel it beginning to burn. She tried to urge her hand back, but to no avail. Rin's hand continued to edge closer and closer to the flames.

Suddenly, the flames guttered out. Rin quickly withdrew her hand and examined it; there had been no damage. Afterwards, she eyes the fireplace suspiciously; there were no ashes where the fire had been burning, nor any burn marks.

'I have a feeling I don't want to come up against whatever was responsible for that,' Rin said to herself. She quickly examined the room for any hints about her location, but was unable to find anything.

Rin returned to wondering the pitch-dark corridors, still blind from the darkness. Several times she thought she heard other creatures stirring in the depths of the darkness, but Rin wasn't fazed by rodents. She even accidentally trod on one and apologised to it, but it only scurried off in response.

Rin thought about attempting to follow the rat, but that was one particular skill she didn't quite possess. Instead, she continued wandering through the corridors, her hand upon the left wall.

Hours passed, and Rin felt like she had made absolutely no progress. She was growing weary now, and thought about taking a rest in the next room she discovered. Suddenly, as if in response to Rin's desire, a door seemed to materialise beneath her left hand.

Rin couldn't be bothered to take things cautiously; she was soaked through, tired and hungry. When she entered the room, she discovered a luxuriant four-poster bed, a dresser with a beautiful mirror edged with gemstones and a regal wooden wardrobe.

'This seems like a strange place for the royal bedchamber,' Rin muttered. Still, she had finally found somewhere to rest. Rin gave half a thought about entering the room, and then reached up to the locket she wore.

'Huh, heads,' Rin said after flipping her coin. Regardless of the risk, Rin entered the bedroom and locked the door behind her. Further investigation revealed that one of the other doors in the room led to an outdoor hot spring; or rather, a hot spring that had the appearance of being outdoors. In contrast to the horrendous weather Rin had experienced outside the castle, the air around the hot spring was actually pleasant. Stars shimmered in the night sky, and a crescent moon shone amidst them.

That same warmth that pervaded the castle's depths could be felt there as well. Rin was a bit dubious about using the hot spring, but a coin flip quickly but her worries to rest. She shed her clothes there and then, and jumped into the water with zero grace whatsoever.

'I've always wanted to do that,' Rin muttered to herself. She could already hear Amity for chiding her for such behaviour, but Amity was there at the moment. Rin sat down in the hot spring, allowing the water to wash over her weary body.

All her aches seemed to fade away instantly; her weariness disappeared as well. Rin just leant back and closed her eyes.

When she opened them a few moments later, she discovered that her clothes had been cleaned, dried, folded and placed neatly within her reach. Rin never put much stock in ghosts, but she was glad that whatever it was haunting the castle was actually fairly nice.

After all, she was wide open to attack; despite her katana's remarkable properties, Rin carefully ensured to never submerge it. Besides, she thought the healing properties of the spring would vanish if she even dared to put her katana in the hot spring; one of its traits was its ability to repel magic.

Of course, Rin was the only magic user in the world at the moment, so that little fact was fairly useless. However, there were still ancient weapons that seemed to retain some of their old enchantments, and one of Rin's previous enemies had developed a force similar to magic, but not quite the same.

Rin's thoughts quickly turned to Amity; the two had been practically inseparable from their first meeting, and they had formed quite a relationship. Rin was always there for Amity; the same was true the other way around as well. The adventures the pair had shared were numerous, and their bond only ever grew stronger.

Rin had thought about asking Amity for her hand in marriage after they helped a queen who also had a relationship with another woman. The queen and her wife were beloved by the people of that particular city, and they had only come together thanks to the help of Rin and Amity and the sacrifice of many good soldiers.

That wedding had been the first time that Rin had worn a dress in her adult years; it had also been the case for Amity. The two could barely keep their eyes off each other. Just recalling Amity from back then made Rin want to-

'Guh! Snap out of it, me!' Rin chided herself. Getting lost in thought in an enemy castle was an unwise decision; although freely using their bedroom and hot spring hadn't exactly been too intelligent either.

Rin suddenly noticed that her katana wasn't with her pile of clothes. Her locket was still there, and her duster as well. Rin valued those three items above all else; she had no issue with walking around wearing nothing but a duster, her locket and the katana at her back.

Rin didn't even begin to panic. She could tell that everything around her wasn't exactly real. She concentrated hard for a couple of seconds, and felt a disturbance in the mystical forces around her. She then reached over and produced her katana as if from nowhere.

'Hiding something like this when it can render that kind of trickery null.' Rin just tutted, and gathered up her clothes. They had become eerily warm, but Rin wasn't too bothered.

'Well, g'night,' Rin said to no one in particular. She jumped into the bed; it felt like lying on a cloud. Well, maybe not quite the same, as clouds tended to be fairly moist, and this bed was definitely dry. It still felt pretty damn nice to Rin, however, and she was able to drift off almost instantly.

Rin woke with a start. Something was sat at the foot of her bed. After Rin rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she saw that it was Amity with her back to her.

'Yeah, this isn't going to be that easy,' Rin said to the phantom.

Amity, or rather her phantom, did not respond.

'You're a pretty crappy fake, you know? Man, if you had been more like the real Amity, I could have made a serious mistake and then-'

Suddenly, Amity's phantom whipped around. There was no flesh on her skull, only hair. Deep dark voids stared into Rin's eyes, and bones seemed to clack together. 'I am no copy,' the phantom said in a male voice that in no shape or form fit Amity, 'I am a vision of things to come. Tremble before the fate which wall befall your friend! You cannot stop the tides of destiny.'

'I beg to differ,' Rin said. She kicked out with all of her might. Her right foot found its target; soft and squishy. In that very moment, Rin truly awoke. She had been sleeping on a hard stone floor, yet she did not feel in the least bit weary.

'Aargh...' the quivering mess before Rin groaned. 'I'm never going to have kids, now!'

'Well, try not to mess around with me in the future, all right? Now, why don't you explain what just happened to me?'

'Why?! You're perfectly unharmed! What's the point of doing so- ah!' The pitiful man found the tip of Rin's katana pressed against his neck.

'I'm sure there are some of us who require a better understanding of all those events I did... or did not experience.'

'W-w-well...' the man managed to pull himself up into a sitting position, but he still was holding his crotch. 'There were illusions; with a hint of truth. The room never really existed; the hot spring was actually a poison swamp and the bed was of nails. I believe that accursed sword prevented any harm from befalling you.'

'Ah. I suppose that dream was you messing around with my head, right?'

'You are wrong on that account. I tried to enter you mind, but there are... things... in there. I was thwarted instantly.'

'So who was in my head, then?'

'There is another being in this castle, one whose power far exceed mine own. Mayhaps he was the one that intended to drag you into the pits of despair?'

'Mayhaps? Did you just change the way you were talking... well, whatever. Now, tell me where you're keeping Amity.'

'I can't do that- ARGH!' The man screamed as Rin swung her foot and brought it to a stop mere inches from his wounded area. He was rather forthcoming with the information after that.

'Thanks for that,' Rin said politely. 'Oh, you may want to find some ice for that, 'k?' Rin then left him.

'It's split!' the man wailed a couple of minutes later.

The man's information turned out to be quite reliable, and Rin found herself faced with a huge pair of oak doors. Intricate patterns traced their way down the doors, and the hinges and other metal parts seemed to glow golden. Rin placed her hand upon the door and pushed.

Nothing happened.

Rin unsheathed her katana and slashed through the doors.

The doors were far more willing after that.

Beyond was a staircase that ascended into darkness. Rin immediately started climbing the stairs. She quickly discovered that it was a spiral staircase.

Rin climbed for what felt like an age, growing increasingly dizzy as she went around and around. The staircase was too dimly lit for Rin to actually tell whether she was making any progress or not, so all she could do was keep going.

Suddenly, the image of Amity's phantom appeared in her mind. She hadn't been too worried about the “vision of things to come”, but now a sense of foreboding washed over her.

Rin shook her head, and tried to peer through the darkness. It was futile; she couldn't tell how far she was up the stairs. Unable to tell whether she was actually making any progress or not, Rin took a quick breather. She sat upon the stairs, and thought carefully about her next move.

It didn't take Rin too long before she reached for her coin, which she flipped. However, there wasn't enough light to actually see the result; fortunately, Rin was able to feel that it had landed on tails. She returned the coin to the locket, then unsheathed her katana. With a single slash, the spell that had been hiding the world in shadow was undone. Rin could now see the top of the staircase, so she promptly made her way up.

At the top of the staircase was a bare stone landing. Aside from a couple of windows, nothing could be seen on the stone walls, and there was nothing to cover the floor either. At the end of the landing was a huge pair of oak doors, seemingly impossible to open with human hands.

When Rin stepped towards them, they slowly slung open, hinges screaming in agony. They revealed a bedroom on the other side; unlike the landing, the bedroom was well-decorated. The centrepiece was a huge four-poster bed, with an assortment of dressing tables and cabinets lining one wall. There was an ornate mirror, with a wooden chair.

Upon the bed, Rin could see the familiar shape of Amity. She was sleeping deeply, but definitely unhurt. Rin immediately rushed over to her, and tried to shake her awake.

'It's futile, my dear,' a voice said from the shadows. It echoed all over the bedchamber, making the owner sound like he was everywhere at once. 'I have cast a spell over her that will force her to sleep for all eternity. There is nothing you can do to prevent me from taking her life essence to fully revive myself.'

'A sleeping spell?' Rin asked. 'Ye gods, I never dreamt I would run into such a cliché...'

'What? How dare you mock my power! I may not possess my full strength just yet, but you stand no hope of escaping this place alive!'

'You know, people tend to escape with their lives fully intact whenever the bad guy says that.'

'Bad guy? You would view me as evil? How pretentious! I merely seek to restore my former power, so I can unite all the nations of this world for an era of unprecedented peace.'

'Wait a minute. Right, let me sum things up. You, a disgraced-'

'I have not been disgraced! I merely angered that bastard of a king...'

'A disgraced sorcerer, or mage, or whatever, seeks to restore his power using the life force of an innocent person. I'm not okay with this at all.'

'Hey, if I had known you would have caused such a fuss, I would have picked the second person who came along and suited my needs... but I've started the ceremony, and there's no way to prevent the loss of that girl.'

'And I bet your “unprecedented peace” would be achieved through a dictatorship, right? Since who would listen to someone who fell out with a king?'

'It's the only way to ensure I can achieve peace!'

'One last thing. Amity here looks perfectly healthy. I don't think you've managed to drain any life force from her at all.'

'...It's a slow process. Now, if you would kindly leave, I can continue working towards a grand peace for the world!'

'Sorry, but as a mercenary, peace is not an appeasing prospect for me.'

'You were hired for this mission?'

'Ah, no. I came on this mission because Amity here happens to be the person closest to me. Now, I'm going to wake her up.' Rin climbed on to the bed next to Amity, and leaned in towards her.

'Err... please stop that, miss... although, I guess I don't mind, hehe...'

Rin just ignored the sorcerer, and kissed Amity's lips. It was a gentle touch, but one that immediately woke Amity up. She immediately returned the kiss, and the pair of them spent quite a while enjoying each other's lips.

'I can't believe I actually just broke a curse on you with a kiss,' Rin complained.

'A curse? Oh, right, yeah... Well, if you complain, you won't get to kiss me again,' Amity said.

'In that case, I apologise. Still, what a damn cliché... next I'm going to have to slay a dragon or something...'

Suddenly, a plume of fire burst through the bedchamber's wall, leaving a charred hole. The sorcerer had the misfortune to be caught in the blast, and collapsed to the ground as a blackened husk of a human. Outside the hole, a jet black dragon was staring at Rin and Amity. It had yellow eyes, and slit-like pupils. Its ebon wings beat against the air in a steady rhythm, whilst its tail whipped back and forth. The dragon bared its teeth at Rin and Amity, before letting loose another fireball.

Rin and Amity dived from the bed, which immediately turned to ash upon being hit by the dragon's breath. 'Why the bloody hell did I have to say slay a dragon?' Rin cried. 'Why not pet a kitten or eat a luscious meal? I mean, come on! That's an honest-to-goodness dragon!'

'Maybe we should save our complaints for later,' Amity suggested. She drew the short sword that she carried around on her hip and stood before the dragon. 'That's really big, isn't it?'

'Yeah, but we can handle it,' Rin said, stepping up beside Amity with her katana drawn. The dragon reached a scaly arm into the bedchamber, and attempted to swipe at Rin and Amity with bone-white claws. Amity dived backwards, whereas Rin leapt over the attack. Rin had managed to land on the dragon's army, but didn't anticipate crashing into the wall as the dragon continued its attack. The impact had been enough to draw blood from Rin's head, but she remained conscious.

'Rin! You're bleeding!' Amity cried.

'I noticed!' Rin called back, wiping blood from her left eye. That was futile however, as the wound was bleeding quite heavily.

'Damn you!' Amity cried, charging at the dragon. Rin had to dive onto Amity to prevent her from meeting a fiery end.

'Amity! What's that healing spell again? I've lost my list!'

'What? Oh, right... it's rememdium!'

'Rememdium!' Rin repeated, holding her hand over the wound on her head. The pain she was feeling subsided, and the blood stopped flowing as the wound closed up.

'Should you be using your magic like that? What if you get worn out too quickly?'

'Quit worrying, Amity. I should be able to beat this thing with my katana, which means I can save my magic for healing.'

'I just hope you're ri- AAAAH!' Amity was cut off mid-sentence as the dragon wrapped its claws around her. The dragon then lifted Amity effortlessly out of the bedchamber, and held her before its snout.

Images of the phantom Amity Rin had encountered earlier flashed through her mind. 'Amity, I'm coming!' Rin called. She charged towards the smouldering hole in the bedchamber, and leapt out towards the dragon. Rin had grossly misjudged the distance between the dragon and the tower and found herself plummeting down from quite an alarming height.

The dragon's tail was flicking back and forth, which allowed Rin to grab it. She clung on with her all her might as the dragon's tail whipped back and forth. The nuisance on its tail had meant that the dragon had lost interest in Amity for the time being.

Just as Rin thought she had got a decent grip on the tail, the dragon slammed her against its own back. All Rin saw was a rush of jet-black scales followed by a solid impact. Rin was dazed for a couple of seconds, but she managed to regain enough senses to plunge her katana into the dragon's body. Thanks to the katana's mysterious power, the blade easily pierced the dragon's scales.

The dragon roared in pain, and started to fly in circles around the castle. Amity was still firmly in its grip, and Rin was on its back clinging on for dear life. The dragon's flight was erratic, and it twisted and turned several times. Still, Rin tenaciously remained on the dragon's back.

'Amity, throw me your sword!' Rin called.

'I can't!' Amity shouted back. 'It's got my arms pinned!'

Suddenly, the dragon came to a halt, hovering high above the castle. As Rin peered upwards, she caught a glimpse of the dragon's eye. She swore that it had a look of maliciousness.

'Oh, crap,' Rin uttered, before the dragon nosedived towards the ground at breakneck speed. At the last second, the dragon twisted in the air, and crashed into the ground.

'RIN!' Amity screamed, immediately drawing the dragon's attention again. 'Oh...'

A jet of fire burst forth from the dragon's maw. Amity could feel the intense heat surrounding her, with the bright light proving to be blinding. Amity closed her eyes, awaiting her inevitable end.

'Hey, it turns out dragon's breath must have magical properties,' Rin said.

Amity opened her eyes to find Rin balancing on the dragon's arm. 'What? What the hell happened?' Amity asked.

'I'm not sure... I may have defied all sense, but I don't think you should complain about that.'

'Okay then... you know what, I'll just get you out of there and we'll slay this dragon together.' Rin slashed through the dragon's arm, her katana slicing through scale, flesh and dragonbone as easily as a knife through butter.

'There's no way a normal person with a normal sword could ever pull off something like that. Still, I would have never fallen in love with a normal person.'

It had taken the dragon a few moments to process what had just happened, but when it did, it roared in pain. The dragon's roar was deafening; enough to immobilise Rin due to her fear of loud sounds. The dragon's arm was gushing with black blood, that had steam running off it. The blood itself burnt everything it came into contact with.

'Rin! Rin, get it together!' Amity yelled. Rin had crouched down and covered her ears, so Amity crouched next to her and tried to shake her from her stupor. 'Dammit, Rin! Pull it together, or we're going to die here! Rin, we need to move-'

Amity couldn't finish her sentence before the dragon swiped at the pair of them with its intact arm. Rin was too low to be hit by the attack, but Amity took the full force of the blow. She was sent flying through the air, crashing into the castle. The impact left her unconscious, with blood running down from her mouth.

'Amity?' Rin said, barely recovered from cowering at the noise. She turned to see the state Amity was in. Immediately Rin retrieved her katana, and stood before the black dragon. 'Hey, lizard-breath! I will not tolerate anyone hurting my friends! I will kill you!'

Rin charged at the dragon, but it just ignored her. Instead, it moved towards Amity, its prey finally subdued. It reached out to grab Amity. Rin slashed at the dragon's leg, inflicting a wound that caused it to stumble. Now Rin had the dragon's full attention.

Several fireballs smashed into the ground around Rin, surrounding her with a fearsome inferno. It was clear that the dragon had not been missing on purpose, providing Rin with no chance to escape. The dragon let our an almighty roar.

Rin did not cower this time. Instead, she focused all her energy on saving Amity, pushing back her primordial fear. She had a tight grip on her katana, and determination in her eyes. The dragon let another stream of fire burst forth, covering Rin in dragonflame. A second passed before Rin appeared from the smoke, completely unharmed. Having grown tired of having fire spit at her, Rin charged forward.

'I'm going to save Amity!' Rin screamed. She reached the dragon, and brought her sword forward in an upward slash. Something had increased Rin's power dramatically; her slash tore through the entire dragon's front, sending a shower of black blood everywhere. The dragon gave one final roar of pain, before collapsing backwards and remaining perfectly still.

Rin had lost track of herself for a moment, and was surprised to see the dragon dead before her. She examined her hand for a moment, and caught a glimpse of the dark power from within the katana escaping into the air. 'Dammit, I lost control...' Rin muttered. She didn't have time to worry however; Amity was in a pretty bad state.

'...sorry, Rin...' Amity rasped as Rin knelt beside her.

'Don't overexert yourself, Amity. I should be able to fix you right up... er...'

'The word you're looking for is rememdium.'

'Oh, yeah.' Rin cast the spell, and all of Amity's injuries were healed. However, Rin was left feeling drained.

'Hahahahahahaha! I never thought someone powerful enough to slay that damn dragon would ever visit my keep!' A familiar voice cried. It was the sorcerer from the bedchamber, who was still scorched.

'Huh, so you're still alive, then... well, I don't think you'll be much of a problem, though,' Rin said, stumbling forward as she unsheathed her katana yet again.

'You fail to understand, my dear. Absorbing the dragon's life essence will make me unimaginably more powerful than that from a normal human! And you've saved me the effort of a troublesome fight.' The sorcerer placed his hand upon the dragon's corpse, which collapsed into ash shortly afterwards. The sorcerer cast aside his cloak, revealing that his skin had taken on a black-scale like appearance, and his eyes had turned yellow with black slits for pupils.

'You're not going to start spitting fire as well, are you?' Rin asked.

'You mean to challenge me? You can barely stand, you fool! I intend to take advantage of this opportunity to remove the only one who could defeat me!' The sorcerer raised his hand, and began to mutter a chant. Suddenly, a blade burst forth from his chest, splattering red blood on the ground in front of him.

'It seems I'm perfectly capable of defeating you as well,' Amity said, peering round from behind the sorcerer. She retrieved her blade from the sorcerer's chest, and flicked the blood of off it. The sorcerer wordlessly fell to the ground, his life at an end.

Rin returned her katana to its sheath, and leaned against a wall. 'Thanks Amity... I guess I'll have to repay that once we get home.'

Amity just grinned at Rin. 'There's a pretty nice bed in the castle, you know...'