Calfrun: A Tale of Two Squids

[Calefrun]

PART ONE: THE DECISION

Zento Calfrun awoke feeling ill. He was beneath the tree that he had been hiding behind while spying on Cha Cha and Sarah, and his mouth still tasted of the poisoned taco he had accidentally eaten. He vaguely recalled seeing a Perverted looking Fat Guy at some point either as he lost consciousness or fought to regain it, but he pushed the memory aside. He already felt sick enough as it was.

Glancing around the tree to where the others had been, Zento saw that there was now another man alongside the shore of Lake Awesome, facing off against Johnny and Cha Cha. What interested him more, however, was that there was now present what looked like a reflection of himself, leaning against a tree at the edge of the woods directly between Zento and the others. But something was wrong with this figure. This guy had a bloodthirsty look in his eyes, and his teeth were jagged. His clothes were slightly different too, as he was missing Zento's favorite jacket. At present, the odd doppelganger was intently watching the group by the lake, looking akin to an animal preparing to attack.

“So...” Zento said as he got up and stepped out from behind the tree, “this is a little awkward, but... who the hell are you?” The clone whipped around to face Zento, and a devilish grin appeared on his face.

“Ah, there you are.” As the slightly demonic-looking boy spoke, Zento could hear his own voice, but layered with several other voices he didn't recognize. “You may call me... Otoza Andrarl. I was created from you at the moment when that,” he gestured at the remains of the Zento's taco, which had been laced with concentrated fail, “entered your system. As my way of thanking you for creating me- unwittingly though it may have been, I will allow you to live.” He looked back to the three gathered by the lake (the stranger had left after having been abruptly punched in the face by Johnny) and added, “Your friends will not receive the same courtesy.” Zento drew his rapier.

“If you think that I'm going to just let you do that, then you're even more of a stereotypical villain than you look.” As soon as the last syllable left the fifteen-year-old's mouth, Andrarl charged at him at such a speed that Zento barely had time to react, despite his own superhuman speed. The clone stabbed at Calfrun with a sword that looked identical to the latter's magical blade, and Zento dodged the attack, though he lost a bit of his jacket to his foe's blade. Before he had time to counterattack, he felt a fist strike his abdomen with enough force to send him flying backwards through several trees until he finally collided with one that didn't break. Otoza chuckled a bit, then turned his attention back to the group. At that moment, Johnny used some sort of darkness magic, and the three of them suddenly disappeared.

“Well,” the clone said, seemingly unfazed by this new development, “I suppose your friends survive this day. I'll just move on to destroying villages, slaughtering innocents, and generally doing all of the things that a 'stereotypical villain' does. I suggest that you run along home to Ausum Land and warn your king that you accidentally created a monster bent on destruction. You'll probably be imprisoned and/or executed for it, but at least they'll be ready for me by the time I get there. Might make things more fun.” With that, he disappeared, likely sprinting out of the woods to begin his killing spree.

Zetno stood up and brushed off the leaves and bits of bark that covered his clothing. “Ouch...” he muttered, and he walked over to where Johnny, Cha Cha, and Sarah had been. There was a small remnant of the darkness near the lake, and he was willing to bet that if he acted quickly he could figure out how to use it to follow the others. Cha Cha was his leader, after all, and what did he really care if a bunch of weaklings got themselves brutally murdered? Even if it was all... his... fault...... With a sigh, Zento turned away from the lake. He had some work to do.

[Calefrun]

PART TWO: THE ILLUSIVE SQUID

It didn't take long for Zento to find his way out of the woods, and as he stepped into the open field beyond he noticed a cloud of black smoke rising from somewhere in the distance. This could mean one of two things. Either his clone had already found some civilization to ravage, or some completely unrelated catastrophe was occurring. Given that this was Awesome Land, either possibility was equally plausible. Still, it was the only thing he had to go on, so Zento decided to head towards the source of the smoke.

After running for a few minutes he came across the ruins of a town, freshly destroyed. Corpses of the townsfolk were scattered about in bloody heaps, and the fires were still warm. Jeez, Zento thought, this guy is thorough! Looking around, he couldn't see a single building that was still standing. Great. Now where do I-

“STOP RIGHT THERE, CRIMINAL SCUM!” Zento whirled around towards where the voice came from, and had he not seen all of the things that he saw while hunting the Time Keeper, he probably would have assumed that he was still unconscious, and that the taco was giving him some kind up fizzed up fever dreams. Standing atop a toppled wall was the strangest creature he had ever seen. From the neck down, it had the body of a man, dressed in a fancy suit. Instead of a man's head, however, there was a squid. A pink squid. A pink squid with a happy face that was probably drawn onto it with a marker. The... thing was pointing a pair of pistols at the boy, but they looked more like toys that would shoot foam darts than actual weapons.

“Wut,” was all he could think to say at the time.

“Oh, don't you play dumb with me. I saw you destroy this town, and kill all of its inhabitants! Of course, you didn't have that jacket earlier and it looks like you've had some work done on your teeth within the past ten minutes, but it was definitely you, and I swear by my tentacles that you SHALL TASTE JUSTICE!!” The creature jumped off the wall and landed a few feet from Zento.

“Look,” Zento put his hands up, certain that he could avoid whatever came out of the guns but wanting to avoid a conflict with the squid thing, “I know this will probably be tough to believe, but I'm having a pretty difficult time dealing with the fact that I'm talking to a squid-man, so please just bear with me. That wasn't me that wrecked this place. It was my evil clone, and I'm trying to hunt him down to stop him form killing more people.”

“Oh, okay then.” The squidman put down his weapons. “You can call me Squidamillion, friend. Squidamillion Squidicus, soon to become one of the Nine Squid Lords of the City Under the Sea in Esteroceana. From that point on, I shall be referred to by my formal title of the Illusive Squid.”

“I... I didn't understand half of what you just said, but I'm happy that you're so easily convinced. Also, no offense, but you don't look particularly elusive to me.”

Squidamillion's tentacles started flapping around in what Zento assumed was anger, despite the smiling face that he was quickly beginning to find very disturbing.“IT'S ILLUSIVE, YOU PLEBE. Like, shadowy and mysterious, and I can assure you that I am VERY mysterious! That name I gave you? It's not my real name. This dashing and dapper gentlesquid you see before you? Not even HALF as handsome as my true form!” He appeared to calm himself, as his tentacles ceased their erratic motion. “At any rate, I trust your story, Squidman. You seem like a pretty cool guy.”

Zento didn't respond for a few minutes. This squid was making him feel all kinds of confused, horrified, and generally uncomfortable, and he really wished he could just skip to his epic battle against Otoza. “Look,” he finally said, “my name is Zento Calfrun, not Squidman. YOU are the Squidman. Anyway, I need to get on with that whole clone hunt thing, so if you'll excuse me I really need to get going.”

“Alright let's go!” Squidamillion did a squiddy little happy dance as he said this.

“Nononononononononono!” Zento felt a panic creeping on. “Sorry, but this is my clone and my problem. I... appreciate the offer, but I've got to take care of this myself.”

“Awwww, fine.” Squidamillion pointed down one of the nearby streets. “He went thatta way.”

Normally, Zento would have pointed out that if this “Squidicus” guy had known all along which way Andrarl had gone, he should have known that Zento hadn't destroyed the town, and if he had been interested in dispensing justice he could have followed the clone instead of getting in Zento's way. At this point, though, Zento really just wanted to get away from this squid abomination, so he just mumbled “thanks” and started walking in the direction Squidamillion had indicated.

“Okay, see ya later, Squidman!” the supposedly Illusive Squid called as he started waving with both hands.

I hope not, Zento thought, more than anything else in the world, I hope not.

[Calefrun]

PART THREE: THE BEATDOWN

Following the road that the wannabe Illusive Squid had indicated, Zento eventually came across another town, destroyed like the last. He kept walking, hoping to find some clue as to where he should go next. As before, there was not a single building left standing, nor did there appear to be any survivors. There was no sign of the clone, either. Zento was about to move on to the next town, when he heard a voice from his right.

“Well it's about time you found me.” Zento whipped his head in the direction of the voice, and saw Otoza perched atop the remains of a wall several feet away. “Honestly, I've been waiting here for minutes.” The clone jumped down, and the wall crumbled behind him. Drawing his sword, he said, “I had been planning on letting you live, but if you're going to follow me, I might as well take care of this now.”

Without saying a word, Zento drew his own weapon and charged at Andrarl. He stabbed at Otoza, and the clone parried and counterattacked. Zento avoided the attack and ducked under the punch that came his way, only to get kicked in the face. The blow flipped him onto his back, and Otoza moved in and brought his sword down towards Zento's abdomen. He rolled out of the way of the attack, then sprang up and opened up into his jacket pocket.

Zento removed a small bag from within his pocket. The bag contained a small amount of dew, collected from the summit of Mount Ausum, and this was all he had left. Still, he had to do something, or else his clone would make quick work of him. He opened the bag and drank the contents, and immediately felt a familiar rush of power. He attacked Otoza again, moving twice as fast as before. The two fenced for a few minutes without either gaining any ground, but finally it began to look like Zento was gaining an advantage. They continued to fight, and at last Zento managed to stab his clone in the left shoulder.

At that moment, Otoza jumped backwards and flashed an evil grin at the other boy, despite the blood trailing down his arm. He reached into his pants' pocket, and pulled out his own bag. He held it out so that Zento could clearly see its contents.

“Is that...” Zento trailed off, not wanting to believe what he saw.

“Black cherry-flavor cream soda.” Andrarl finished, and he began to laugh maniacally.

“What the hell, man? That's nasty!” Zento exclaimed in shock and disgust. When Otoza poured the contents of the bag into his mouth, Zento had to fight back a wave of nausea. Before his brain could even register that anything else had occurred, he found himself on his back again, this time cut in several places. Otoza stood over him, prepared to land the finishing blow, and this time Zento knew that he couldn't move quickly enough to avoid that attack.

“Farewell,” the clone said with a smirk. But then a gunshot sounded, and Otoza disappeared. Zento turned his head towards the source of the sound, and saw none other than Squidamillion Squidacus, the soon-to-be-Illusive Squid. The squid was striking a dramatic pose with one of his guns pointed towards where Otoza had just been, his body turned parallel to the direction of his arm, and his squid head turned over his shoulder.

“I guess you could say...” Squidamillion said over-dramatically, “it got chopped.”

[Calefrun]

PART FOUR: THE REVEAL

Otoza reappeared a split-second later a short distance from his previous location, looking somewhat annoyed.

"What the hell are you doing here?!?" Zento and his clone exclaimed simultaneously.

Squidacus scratched his tentacles for a moment, apparently deep in thought. Finally, he answered, "Yes." Without wasting any time, the squidman charged at Otoza, rapidly firing both of his ridiculous-looking revolvers in rapid succession. The clone easily danced around every shot, and when Squidamillion ran out of ammo he took his chance to attack. Even with his dew-heightened senses, Zento could barely keep track of his doppleganger as Otoza raced towards the Squid. Unbelievably, Squidamillion dove out of the way, colliding with a ruined building as Otoza rushed past him.

The Squid picked himself up and scolded his opponent, "You're fast, I'll give you that, but you have no control. You know, I think they make a pill for tha-"

"I'LL SHOW YOU CONTROL!" Otoza appeared directly infront of Squidamillion and grabbed him by the throat, slamming him against the building remains. He tried to thrust his blade into the Squid's stomach, but it was instead embedded into the wall when the upper half of Squidamillion's body suddenly disappeared. The lower half quickly waddled to the side a few feet.

"Okay, first of all," Squidamillion said, despite his lack of a head or torso, "RUDE." Otoza simply stared at the talking legs and pelvis with a look of confusion and discomfort on his face. "And second of all..." The aforementioned head and torso suddenly reappeared, along with a pair of arms and a fist which was swiftly delivered straight into the clone's gut. And... the other fist, too. That one wasn't punching, though. Instead, the Squid followed up his jab with a quick poke to the nose. "Boop."

Otoza let out a rage-filled screech. "DAAAAAMN YOOOUU!!" He kicked Squidamillion in the chest, sending him flying backwards a couple hundred feet. The Squid crashed through several collapsed structures before finally being stopped by a pile of rubble. Zento chased after him, catching up almost immediately after he landed.

"...You aight, Squid?" the Teenager asked, his face bearing an expression which vaguely resembled one of concern. Probably wasn't, though. He was too hardcore and edgy for that.

Squidamillion coughed, and some blood spurted from the tips of his tentacles. "Pfft," he chuckled, "that freakin' hurt, dude." He tried to pick himself up, but his arms lacked the energy to support his weight and he fell back down with a thud. He sighed, which seemed a little odd considering he still had that drawn-on looking smaile on his "face." "I supose it can't be helped, then."

Without warning, his body suddenly began to glow with a blinding light.

Zento jumped a few paces back and turned his head. "Uhh..." he muttered, "You... you aight, Squid?" The glow went away as abruptly as it had appeared, and Zento looked back at the figue lying before him. Instead of the squid-headed man that had been there moments before, there was now a young man with silver hair, tied back in a ponytail which had small pink tentacles mixed in like large strands of hair. He appeared to be around the age of twenty, was sporting a balbo beard, and wore a long, black coat and blue denim pants. And he looked very familiar.

"CALE?!?" Zento exclaimed. Despite not having seen his cousin in years, he could easily recognize that the man before him was, in fact, none other than Cale Efrun. Even though, he distinctly recalled Cale being only two years older than him. And also not a Squid. "Hey Cale how come you look older than 17 and are also a Squid." Cale tossed him a platic baggie, which looked very similar to the ones in which he kept his dew. The contents of this bag were green, but were a fine power, rather than a liquid. He eyed the strange substance suspiciously, supposing some serious shit was about to go down. "What's this?"

"I dunno," Cale Efrun, the Nearly Illusive Squid replied, "probably not drugs." He retrieved an identical bag from within his coat, as well as a canteen. He emptied the powder into the palm of his right hand, then poured some water on top of it. It began to emit a fizzing sound, then started to glow, then finally turn to liquid.

Zento stared in disbelief. "That... That's Mount Ausum dew! Where did you... How... why...?"

With a "Ye," Cale tossed the canteen to his cousin, cupped his left hand with his right to catch the liquid, then drank it. Zento did the same, and immediately felt a surge of energy more powerful than he had ever experienced before. He could feel his muscles bulge, and his alread-spiky hair begin to stand even more on end. He looked at Cale, and saw that his cousin was going through a similar change.

"IF YOU TWO ARE ALMOST DONE WITH YOUR LITTLE TEA PARTY, I'VE GOT OTHER ISH TO DO TODAY!" Otoza burst through a wall right next to Zento and slashed at him. He was able to easily block the attack, however, though the force of the impact set him sailing a few meters. The clone followed through with his attack, but Zento sidestepped him and stabbed. Otoza deflected the blow and tried to slash Zento's chest, but was blocked. A bullet suddenly ripped through his shoulder and he howled with pain. He turned to see Cale standing, smoke still coming from the barrel of one of his guns.

Otoza leaped at Cale, trying to get in close before the Squid could fire another shot. He closed the gap, but when he made his attack Cale was no longer holding a pair of pistols, but twin katanas. In one motion, Cale blocked Otoza's strike and put a sword through his chest.

"It will take much more than that to kill me," the clone spat, smirking as blood poured from his mouth. Schwing! The smirk was wiped from his face when his head was wiped from his neck.

Zento shook his sword in an attempt to fling some of his doppleganger's blood from his blade. "That good enough?" No sooner had he delivered his one-liner, however, than he felt the burst of energy fade and he collapsed to the ground.

"That was fast," Cale noted as he pushed Otoza's body off of his sword, allowing it to fall as well. He kneeled down and examined his cousin. Sighing, he said to himself, "Yep, definitely in a coma. Guess I'll have to carry him back." He started to move, but could feel his own power begining to fade. "...After a quick nap." He allowed himself to fall over, and drifted off to sleep in between Zento and Zento's newly-headless clone.

[Calefrun]

PART FIVE: THE LAST ONE

Soft... whatever Zento was lying on, it was soft. This was the first thing that he noticed when we woke up, and for several seconds he continued to simply lie there and appreciate how comfortable he was. But as the post-sleep haziness slowly wore off, a somewhat concerning thought entered the teenager's mind. Where am I?

His eyes shot open, and he quickly began surveying his surroundings. He was in a bedroom, one with dark, wooden walls, an old-looking ceiling fan, and a hardwood floor covered by a colorful rug. Though he wasn't sure why, something about this room seemed extremely familiar to him. Scanning for exits, Zento spotted two doors, one to his left and the other his right (though he assumed that one of them probably led to a closet), and a window through which bright sunlight shone into the room. He also noticed that the room was only sparsely furnished, containing only a bed and a small dresser, indicating that this was probably a spare room used for guests rather than permanent inhabitants.

Ah! Running the palm of a hand across the sheet covering the bed's mattress, he realized that this was the soft thing that he had felt. He chuckled quietly, finding amusement in the fact that this had not occurred to him sooner. Of course, it had been a century since the last time he had slept on an actual mattress (though he had only aged ten years since then), with the exception of the the time when he had just completed his training, and had spent a day at the home of his aunt and uncle.

Zento's eyes widened as he realized why this room seemed so familiar to him. This is Uncle Kyle's house... Cale's house! He jumped out of the bed, immediately noticing that his jacket and sword were missing. After a hasty search of the dresser, he located the missing items within, and donned them as he left the room.

The hallway outside had walls and flooring that matched that of the room, and as the boy made his way for the stairs, he recalled his previous visit to this place. Shortly before all that business with the Time Keeper, he had learned that his uncle's family had moved to Awesome Land. Zento certainly wasn't the sentimental sort, but they were his only living relatives, so he had decided to pay them a brief visit. They were an... interesting lot. Uncle Kyle and Cale, who was two years older than Zento, were both incredibly easygoing, and he wasn't sure if either of them even knew how to be angry. His Aunt and his younger cousin, Kaine, were the responsible members of the family, and he imagined that without them, the other two wouldn't know what to do with themselves.

While making his way down the stairs, Zento considered his options. He could go talk to his relatives, let them know he was all right, and thank them for their hospitality. On the other hand, he doubted Uncle Kyle would really mind if he just... left. Once he reached the foyer, he started for the front door. Eehh, they're probably busy with other stuff anyway, he thought. I'll just-

“Zento, my boy!” a booming voice called from behind him.

He froze. Dammitdammitdammitdammit Turning around, he saw his uncle standing in the doorway into the kitchen. Kyle was a large, muscular man, standing at least seven feet tall, with a thick, black beard covering an intimidating face which belied his relaxed nature.

“Ah...” Zento muttered, “Uncle Kyle. I guess I should uh... thank you for taking care of me...”

The large man chortled. “Nonsense! That's what family's for! Though I must admit, after five months we were beginning to wonder if you were ever going to wake up!”

Zento froze and his eyes widened. “F-five months?!? What??”

“Yep! I mean, I know teenagers are lazy- Cale will sleep into the afternoon if I let him- but I think your sleeping habits are just a little ridiculous! Ohoho!”

“Wait, how am I even alive? Shouldn't I have been in a hospital if I was asleep for that long?”

“Weeell when your squiddy friend showed up at our doorstep with you in tow, we happened to have the guest room available, so we figured you could just sleep in there for a while!”

Before Zento could protest the non-answer, Cale appeared behind his father. Except this wasn't twenty-one year old Squid Cale, it was the eighteen year old human Cale that should have been there.

“Oh, hey,” Zento's older cousin said, “you're awake. Cool.” He stepped in front of his father and approached Zento, then started speaking excitedly. “Hey, so, I don't know how long you're planning on sticking around, but would you mind teaching me a thing or two about sword fighting? I've learned a little bit from old Orca here in the village, but I bet you could teach me a whole lot more!”

Before Zento could deny his request, Kyle cut in, “Hey now, he just woke up, and you've got chores to do! I'm sure your cousin would be happy to beat the snot out of you later!”

“Fine,” Cale grumbled and trudged back into the kitchen.

“Look,” Zento said, “I really appreciate the hospitality, but I doubt my superiors are going to be too happy about me being gone for so long, so I really should get going...”

Kyle let out a heavy sigh, catching his nephew off guard. “You know, it's strange that Cale would think that I wouldn't recognize my own son- even if he's a few years older and has a squid for a head. Your mother- my sister- and I came to Awesome Land so that we could have families that wouldn't have to be involved in the madness of that other world. But I guess there are some things you just can't escape from.”

Zento raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“Listen. I don't know why there are two Cales. Or why one of them is older and has unlocked his Squid powers. What I do know is that something serious must be happening. He asked me to tell you once you woke up to meet him in Dynasty City in three weeks. You're welcome to stay with us until that time comes.”

“I...” he paused. He needed to get back to Ausum Land, but... he also wanted answers. “Alright,” he finally said, “I'll wait for a bit then go see what Squidamillion Squidicus is up to.”

And so, for the next three weeks, Zento stayed with his Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. During this time he helped Kyle and Cale manage the family's butcher shop, and gave his older cousin daily swordplay lessons. It was a strange experience for him, as he had never really experienced living with a family before. He often found them annoying, but couldn't help but think that he almost wouldn't mind staying with them, if that were possible. On the day that he was supposed to meet up with the Squid, he left his relatives' house and started running. After about 3.14159 seconds, he arrived in Dynasty City.

He took a moment to run around the city in search of his future-Squid-cousin, and quickly found him sitting in a corner of an old-style bar called the “Hopefully A Guy In Golden Armor Won't Destroy This Place in a Few Days Tavern,” conspicuously sipping a beverage. The Squidman was continuously making loud slurping noises, even when his cup was sitting on the table. Not that it mattered where his cup was, as he was in his Squid-head form, and as far as Zento could tell he didn't have an actual mouth. He was also using a child's sippy cup, and to top it off there was a large neon sign over his head that read, Look here, Zento Calfrun! It is I, your time-traveling squid cousin, Cale Efrun the Illusive Squid! There were very few other patrons in the bar, and they all looked incredibly uncomfortable.

Zento groaned, wondering why he hadn't just ignored his uncle and returned to Ausum Land, then took a seat across from Cale. For a few moments, the two sat in silence (save for the continued slurping noises), until finally Zento said sarcastically, “So uh... I can see why they call you 'illusive.' This is all very... discreet.” Cale only responded by making his slurping noises sound happier. “Sooo... time-traveler, huh? I guess that would explain the age difference.” Cale slurped his agreement.

Quickly losing patience, Zento slammed his palms on the table and stood up. “Are you going to explain why the hell you wanted me to come here? I have other shit to do, you know.” Cale stopped slurping. He placed his cup on top of his head, ensuring that it was balanced, then launched into exposition.

“Okay, so it turns out that your mom and my dad aren't actually human, they're both dirty squids. And they're not from this world, so technically they're aliens too. Anyway, our granddad was the lord of the Thundersquids, a position also known as the 'Illusive Squid.' Which that I now am. 'Cept dear old grandpa, was apparently a dick. Like, a HUGE dick. Horsedick, even. So massive of a dick that his kids decided to run away to a whole 'nother world and never tell their kids about any of this ever. 'Cept it turns out that there are these things out in the ocean where the Squids live. Giant, ancient fishing machines called Shrimpers. They were originally created to just hunt shrimp, but then they were like 'nah to fiz with that' and started killing errybody. Now, for a long time it didn't really matter because they were in a far away ocean destroying some other civilization that nobody gave a shit about. 'Cept now they're coming for the Squids. And some other people that live in the water. And a whole buncha time loops ago, they wiped out everything except for one squid, and so she found me and sent me into the past to fix things, and since then it's just been a cycle of me getting sent back in time to save the world and then sending myself back in time to save the world. Pretty confusing. Anyway, I kinda forgot where I was going with this, but I need your help to stop the Shrimpers, aight?”

Without saying anything, Zento turned around and started for the door. He was just about to grab the handle when he sensed something approaching his back at an alarming speed. He tried to turn and draw his sword, but whatever it was was too fast, and a massive force collided with his chest. Before he could react, his attacker grabbed his arms and threw him into the air so that, after doing several frontflips, he landed back in his chair across from Cale. Dazed and confused, he looked towards his assailant and saw... himself. The boy watched as a nineteen-year-old version of Zento Calfrun, dressed from the neck down in a ninja outfit, walked over to the table and folded his arms.

“Was I really this weak just three years ago?” he grumbled. “That's... kinda embarrassing, honestly.”

The younger Calfrun growled, “Alright, Squid. What exactly is it you need me to do?”

The Squid squeed in delight, then reached under the table and retrieved a pair of swords and a brown sack. “These are the Blades of Andraxton. Stupid name, I know, but what can ya do, amirite? And this,” he gestured towards the bag and Zento took a look inside, finding it filled with the green powder that they used during the fight against Andrarl. “This is powdered Dew extract. Very powerful stuff. The Squid scientists figured out how to synthesize it after I went back in time and gave them some that my future self had given me. Fuck if I know where it came from originally. The swords were sealed atop Mount Ausum much like your own, and I was going to make you go get them, but then I realized that that would involve writing another part to this story, so I just went and got them myself. Aaaaaaaaaanyway, there's going to be a festival here in a few days. Sort of a “spur of the moment” type event. Present me is gonna be there, and I need you to give me/him this stuff. Keep an eye on him, and once I manage to unlock the full power of the swords- you'll know when it happens- give him this,” he slid a sealed envelope across the table, “and use this,” he slid a device that resembled a cell phone across the table, “to open a portal to Cardinalos- the other world. Selamat pagi?”

Zento sighed and stood up, placed the last two items in his pocket, slung the sack over his shoulder, and picked up the swords with his free hand. Wordlessly, he walked to the door and opened it. As he departed, Cale waved and called out, “Spalone babaguuscooties!”