View Single Post
Old 06-14-2005, 12:32 AM   #18
 
Zerlina's Avatar
Zerlina
Chocobo Jockey
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Canada
Age: 35
Posts: 293
Her mind was flooded with choices, none of which she could make. Her decision torn between her two friends, she simply ran to where the fight had come to what might be a violent finale.

“Stop! Malice, stop!” she yelled, coming up behind him and pulling his arms back so that he could not use them.

Realizing that Magus might retaliate, Glenn followed suit and held down his friend.

“I’m so sorry!” she cried, keeping a tight grip on his arms so that he could not free himself. Internally, she thanked the eidolons for the melancholy injuries he had taken in.

“What are you doing?!” The Theiran yelled, trying to free himself. He twisted about, knowing that he still held his daggers, but thirsting for revenge.

“Back off, Slash!” Magus warned, ready to attack Glenn.

“Janus, you know not what you do!”

There was a loud bang as Magus’ fist met the side of the knight’s face.

“Magus, stop it!” Titania yelled, still trying to restrain the struggling Malice.

Angered and confused, Magus turned toward the girl and nearly caught her in a spell once more. Titania, realizing that she had turned Malice into an open target, pulled him quickly to the side and dodged the attack.

“Glenn, what should I do?” she screamed

The knight was too busy to answer. With all his strength, he jumped on his friend, attempting to bring him down. His efforts were in vain, and no sooner had he tried to stop the fight was he his with a dark spell.

“Janus! Janus!” he yelled, trying to calm down the angered man.

“Leave this to me, Glenn!” Malice yelled, struggling furiously to escape.

“Please, calm down!” Titania cried, her mind telling her to avoid Malice’s senseless daggers, her soul telling her to restrain him, and her heart telling her to keep him away from harm.

“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled, confused “Boiz is right there! Don’t you know what he’s done?”

“That’s not him!”

“I know it was him! We all know he did it! Now let go of me before I have to do something I don’t want to!”

What he said did no good, because she was sure his threats were empty.

“I can’t let you kill him! Malice, it’s not him! Listen to me, it’s not him!”

“What lies has he told you?” the Theiran yelled, finally freeing himself of her grip.

“Your daggers!” she screamed, clutching her hands, which ran with blood.

He shook his head, but was already approaching his enemy “I didn’t mean to! But I can’t deal with this right now. He’s here!
Glenn! Leave him to me!”

The knight did not hear him. His armour making a loud bang, he landed on his back, Magus having sent a swift spell at him.

“Janus, thou art mistaken!”

“Ha!” he replied “Stop talking in such poetic tones, and accept your doom!”

“Haven’t you taken enough life?” Malice’s fist met the back of Magus’ head and pushed him forward; before he could land, the wind caught his injured body and tossed him further.

Rising to his feet once more, the mage shot his opponent a condescending look “You challenge me on the circumstance of death!?” he laughed.

“Let’s finish this!” Around the Theiran, the air began to rise. Swirling forward in a horizontal whirlwind, the sudden burst of air hit Magus with such great force that he could hardly stay grounded. Struggling to make his way through the obstacle, the mage began to form his own dark spell. Spinning through the center of the vortex, the sudden pulse of dark energy moved through the wind, until suddenly both powers fell.

Stumbling for an immediate lack of energy, Malice hit the ground. “W-what sorcery is this?” he cried

Unknown to him, Magus had fallen to the same fate, and he clutched his head in pain “Are you afraid to fight fair?” he yelled, thinking his opponent had caused the effect.

The two struggled, but in less than a few moments, each fell unwillingly into a forced unconciousness.

“Glenn, are you alright?” Titania asked, as she let herself rest on the ground, clearly exhausted.

“I shall manage.” The knight muttered, “And you?”

“I’m fine.” She replied “Just a little bit of a cut.”

Raising his head, he stared at her hands “Luck seems to have been on your side. It is not deep. The pain is probably from the shock.”

“Right. I’ll heal it later.” She nodded “What will we do with these two. It is inevitable that they should awake.”

“We may only hope that they will see clearly when they rise.”

“And what about us? What if we start seeing each other as enemies?”

Glenn thought hard for a moment and stared at the unmoving bodies of his friends.

“We will separate them so that when they awake they do not see each other. If they are still under the illusion, we will be able to tell. If not, they can travel together once more.”

Titania nodded, and the two made their way to their respective friends.

“Meet back in this clearing soon if possible.” Glenn said.

With pain and effort, both managed to take the injured to separate spots in the wood.

*


“…what... ?” came the first word at sunrise.

Head pounding, Malice sat up and looked around. He found himself near the edge of a cliff, submerged in endless woodland- above him the forest rose high and the birds chirped; below him the ground was hard and dry. Between the miniature valleys of the cracked earth, ants crawled in and out of their homes like tiny armies, each with the same thought in their mind- protecting their queen and home. Malice watched the creatures for a while, until the sound of the chirping morning herald called his attention.

His weight resting heavily on the ground, he could not mustre the energy to stand. It was such a dominating feeling that had overcome him only a few hours before, that still it lingered over him like a hazy opressor. Obligated to remain where he was for lack of will to do otherwise, Malice turned to gaze upon the east where the sun rose. There he saw a solitary figure only a few metres from him, sitting and keeping some kind of guard. She did not face him and yet he knew who it was.

“What’s going on?” the Theiran asked.

“Last night you had a fight.” Titania answered, dryly, her voice falling quickly in the cold morning air.

His eyes turned down as he thought, Malice searched through the universe of memory which resided in his mind. Straining to find some thread of what had happened the night before, he was silent for some time.

“That's right, I fought...with Boiz…”

“No.” Titania corrected “With Magus.”

Malice shook his head “No. I was in the forest with him, and he had a…scythe?”

The memory shot through his mind like lightning, and he brought his hand up to his temple as if in pain.

“Something happened to you two yesterday. You were fighting each other."

“But I saw him.” Malice insisted, and rose.

“It was some kind of illusion.” She said “Only an illusion.”

“Then how…” he looked at his own injuries.

“Glenn and I had to break you two up.” She muttered, coldly.

Malice was quiet as he came up behind her, his memory slowly being lured out of hiding.

“Your hands?”

“They’re alright.” She answered, “Like Glenn said, it was just the shock that made it seem so painful.”

He shook his head “I didn’t mean to. I’m very sorry.”

“Don't worry about it." she shrugged "How is your arm?”

“It does not pain me so much anymore. Now it's simply a bother."

“That's good. It bled for quite a while last night, and didn't settle down until a few hours ago. You’re very lucky to be alive.”

He looked at the two bandages, one on his arm the other on his shoulder.

“Thank you.” He said, but his voice was hollow and it was clear his mind wandered.

There was silence, until finally Titania turned to face him.

“I’m sorry I’m not much to talk to. I’m just about ready to fall asleep.” She laughed “I couldn't rest last night for obvious reasons, and now it’s still impossible, because I’m not sure if you’re a figment that will throw me off a cliff in my sleep.”

“How can I prove I’m not?” he asked, smirking as he sat down once more.

“Don’t throw me off a cliff in my sleep.” She answered, her wit having dulled from lack of rest.

He smiled as she yawned, clearly amused by her inarticulate speech.

“How about we rest here for another few minutes?” he questioned, “I need to think some things through, and you can take a quick nap.”

She nodded “Don’t run off, though. You don’t know what strange condition you might fall under."

He smiled and turned away “Just go to sleep. I’ll wake you up when we have to leave.”

She gave him a thankful expression but then shook her head.

“I don’t need to sleep…”

“I have to think things through, you might as well…” He turned once more to look at her; she was out cold.

Malice smiled and turned to look off the cliff which he sat upon. To his disappointment, there was no way to see what lay ahead of them- the entire forest was flowing with fog.
__________________

Last edited by Zerlina; 06-15-2005 at 05:11 PM.
Zerlina is offline