Chapter 9

“Trap,” he said.

His knees felt weak as memories flooded him. He couldn’t hold his own weight for very long before collapsing onto the floor. Yui stood up and rushed to his side as Calvin laid on his side, tears wetting the floorboards of his room. She put her hand underneath him and grabbed his wrist to hoist him up before he let out a huge sigh and a sob.

“Trap…” he breathed.

“What-?!” Yui said. “What’s wrong?”

“Trap…” Calvin said. “He’s here.”

“What did you say?” Yui asked as she brought him to his feet.

“Trap,” he said.

He waddled a little as his body wavered heavily and unsteady. His legs felt like popsicle sticks trying to support the weight of a boulder as tears ran down his face. Yui did her best to hold him up, her hands nearly beneath the pit of his arms as he could not stand on his own. Calvin shook as he attempted to stand, Yui doing her best to slow him down.

“What-?” she asked.

“My dog,” he said. “My favorite…dog.”

“That old mountain cur that died all those years ago?” Yui asked. “What–what made you think of him?”

“You can bring him back,” Calvin said. “You can bring him back, like he was all those years ago.”

“What?” Yui asked, shaking her head in confusion.

“Yeah!” Calvin nodded. “You…you can bring Trap back! I know it!”

“Calvin…” Yui shook her head. “I don’t…I don’t know what that…that has to do with…with anything!”

“Just listen!” Calvin said, grabbing her shoulders. “You can bring Trap back! The stars…the stars told me you could!”

Yui again shook her head, more confused than anything.

“But…” she said. “But why…?”

“Because…!” Calvin said. “Because I loved him.”

He let go of Yui and took in a deep breath, trying to calm himself.

“What does love have to do with this?” Yui asked. “How would-?”

“Because you and Nathan have different powers…” Calvin said. “Based on the reason each of you was resurrected. I killed Nathan because I hated him while I brought you back because I loved you. Nathan…Nathan had a bone to pick with me once he died…he was hateful that he had to die while you…you were resurrected with the purpose of love.”

“Is…?” Yui asked. “Is that what the star people told you?”

“Exactly!” Calvin said. “And your power…it’s even greater than Nathan’s because of that…that you were brought back with love’s intent. And Trap…”

He then turned to his night stand where a picture stood. It had a much younger Calvin hugging a dog with light brown fur and a black jaw. He was somewhat long and lanky and had large black eyes.

As the young man stared at the photo he was reminded of happier days when life seemed full of joy and hope. Everyday with Trap felt like a new adventure. He could run with him and do nearly anything, the world feeling like it was fresh every morning he went out to play with him. Tears filled his eyes.

“He was my first love,” Calvin said. “And you…you were my second.”

He then turned back to the young woman as his breath felt heavy in his throat, his eyes pleading

“Calvin…” Yui said. “I don’t…I mean…do you really think that would help us?”

“I’m positive!” Calvin said. “If you bring him back with…with the purpose of love then…then he may help us with defeating Nathan’s army!”

She looked down at the picture of Trap and Calvin, sighing.

“I-I-” she said. “I don’t know–like I said I can only paint things I’ve–”

“Then paint from the picture!” Calvin said.

He picked it up and pointed to the dog on it.

“Paint Trap so he can come back!” he said. “You can do it! Please!”

“Calvin-!” Yui said. “I don’t know how to tell you this but–but your dog’s dead! If I were to do that…I think I’d need to paint him rising from his grave.”

“Then do it!” Calvin said, more tears stinging his eyes. “Paint him coming back up! His grave’s right out there!”

“But-” Yui said. “But I-”

“Please,” Calvin said, sobbing. “I need to see my dog again. I just need to. I know…I know that buried in my heart is a wound that never healed…it was just hidden…it was where Trap was ripped away from me. The scar in my heart is still there…and the stars want to put an end to that pain. So please…Yui…please…Trap might be the very weapon that can defeat Nathan.”

She glanced to the right, obviously mulling it over in her head. Calvin studied her expression to find that he had in fact gotten through to her. But she was reluctant to give in.

“O-Okay,” Yui said. “If the star people told you so…then I think it’s worth a shot. Your old dog just might be the key to their defeat. But if so…give me the knife of choice.”

“What?” Calvin asked. “Why?”

“Because I’ll need its power,” she said. “Painting something like that is…is hard for me because I can’t draw it purely from memory or eyesight. I’ll need extra power…power over life and death that only the knife can guarantee me. So…please.”

He nodded before unsheathing the blade and handing it to Yui. However, just as she did so, Yui gestured for him to stop. She stared blankly at him, almost afraid to touch it as she stared out the window.

“Calvin…” she said. “The stars…they’re telling me that…you’ll no longer have control over me if you hand it to me.”

He froze in place.

“H-How-?” he said.

“Apparently,” Yui said as she stared out the window. “The stars…they say that once you give the knife to me…you can’t control my thoughts or feelings anymore.”

Calvin grinded his teeth together, mashing his molars hard in frustration.

What if Yui leaves me? He thought. What if she decides that I’m not worth having around and abandons me…even though I went out of my way to get her back?

“I-I-” he said. “I don’t know…how do you know that?”

“I remember that the knife does give you some influence on whatever it created but…” Yui said as she turned back to him. “I didn’t know it could control whoever was resurrected by the dead with its power…and once you relinquish control of it to another person…that control over them is gone.”

“Well…!” Calvin said as he tried to give an excuse. “How about…?! How about I use it to stop Nathan?! I could just make him stop whatever he’s doing and call his creatures off!”

“Doesn’t work like that,” Yui said as she shook her head. “Only the one intended to be resurrected can be manipulated. Not the sacrifice himself.”

He sighed in exasperation.

“Well that makes this a whole lot more difficult,” Calvin said.

He glared down at the knife, angry that it had not been as simple as he once thought.

If I give it away… Calvin thought. Yui might leave me again…just like she did when she chose Nathan as her boyfriend over me. I can’t risk that.

He then remembered what Yui said about how Calvin had been selfish, wishing for her to be his for his own happiness and not her’s.

If I don’t give it over now…Calvin thought. It’ll prove her unequivocally right. She’ll never forgive me for not stopping Nathan’s reign of evil and think of me as her jailer. I-I can’t let that happen. Not for the world’s sake…but for Yui’s.

“Take it,” Calvin said. “It’s more trouble than it’s worth.”

She scooped it in her hand before wincing in pain. Yui screamed before dropping the weapon as though it were a hot pot of water. It hit the floor with a dull thud as Calvin raced over to her. He held her hands in a firm grasp as Yui bit back more yelps of pain.

“What happened?” Calvin asked.

“That thing is cursed!” she said.

“Cursed?” Calvin asked.

Yui sighed before withdrawing her hands from his grasp and breathed in a deep sigh, waving her hands in the air as though to cool them off.

“Like I said before…” she said. “The knife’s been tainted by the serpent’s influence. When he fell from the heavens and took the knife with him…it changed the nature of the knife.”

“But I could use it!” Calvin said. “Why can’t you?!”

“I guess because I’ve never committed evil in my life before,” Yui said. “And the knife in its current state feeds off the dark and decrepit desires of mankind. So we reject one another on a fundamental level.”

Calvin sighed in frustration.

“So that means you can’t bring back Trap?” Calvin asked.

“No,” Yui said. “I can. I’ll just have to change it.”

“What?” Calvin asked.

She sat back down, picked up her brush and dipped it into the gold paint on her pallet. With supernatural speed and efficiency, Yui began painting the handle of the knife. She didn’t get much further than the pommel before she began giving orders to him.

“Hold the knife up to me,” Yui said.

Calvin just stayed motionless, confused as to what she would do. Yui then turned and almost glared at him. She pointed to the weapon on the floor.

“Pick it up and hold it!” she ordered.

“But-” Calvin said.

“I’ll paint the knife exactly the same but without the snake insignia on it,” Yui said. “It marks the black serpent’s influence on the freewill of man’s choice. Without it…we might be able to use it to defeat Nathan. And if I have it on me while I’m painting…I might be able to overcome my specialty as a realist painter.”

He hurriedly picked the weapon up and held it up to Yui. She started painting furiously as Calvin grasped it aloft. As she did, Calvin’s heart soared with anticipation at the thought of being reunited with Trap.