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The Story of Palis A continuing story of worlds trapped in war, where their only hope are Heroes from other worlds.

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Old 06-05-2005, 03:38 PM   #1
 
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Chapter 3: In The Clouds

They had somehow made it all the way back to Falgon within the night. Belial had summoned a great beast to take them there as fast as they could get there. The city they had only been to a few weeks before was now thriving once again and greeted them with open arms. Sleeping didn’t come easy to most of them. Malice and Magus paced back and forth both thinking of the loss of Nichi but unable to say anything about it. Titania had managed to fall asleep but could be heard talking in her sleep, a nightmare had her as well thinking of Nichi. Even Osirus and Belial were in morn of Nichi.

Brain wondered who this person was. Brain sat on top of the town’s water tower playing cards by himself and listening to music from his computer. The man known as Glenn sat at the base of the tower sleeping, holding his sword near.

Brain thought about the happenings of the day and then dug through his backpack in search of food. He pulled out a health bar and started chewing on it. The stars never came in so clear in Japan. He watched as shooting stars came and went. This place was a paradise; he didn’t even need his gas mask to breathe the outside air.

As the sun rose group gathered around the base of the water tower.

“Good morning all, though I doubt this is a very good morning for most of you.” Brain said as he climbed down from the tower.

Malice lightly shook his head. “Well we were not meant to loose the battle. It would seem we are in a seriously bad situation. Does anyone have any ideas what we can do next?”

Everyone just sort of looked at each other with a blank look on their faces.

“I have an idea.” A voice said from behind.

A short man with a long orange beard and long whit hair said coming towards them.

“Hello my name is Gregory Highwind.” He smiled “But most people just call me Captain.”

Malice looked at the man inquisitively. “Your idea is?”

Smiling again very widely Captain went on to say. “Well ye know of the great Galmon Crater do you not?”

Malice looked puzzled. “You mean the legend of the crater created by a giant ship that landed in the mountains but disappeared just leaving behind the giant Crater?”

“Well I says it isn’t no legend m’boy it’s real we just need us a way to get in, and me thinks that boy right there can do it.” Captain said pointing at Brain.

“How exactly are we to get there? It’s supposed to be on the southeast continent that no one has set foot on because of the reefs around it.” Malice said sternly.

“We isn’t taking no boat m’boy we is taking an airship! Me own airship.” Captain said grinning.

“What the hell is and airship, I mean I get the idea from the words but is that even possible?” Malice said looking very confused now.

“They are real! In my world they are everywhere we use them for travel all over the planet.” Titania said.

“We have them in my world as well, though I doubt that they are like the one the good Captain is speaking of.” Brain said.

“Me ship will be ready in the morning I’ll show you to your rooms” Captain said smiling.

“One second what do you have to gain by helping us?” Belial said taunting.

“I get to see the greatest city in all existence.” Captain said with a boy’s enthusiasm

A few hundred feet outside the gate of town in the valley was an awe inspiring machine flying only a few feet from the ground. Six giant propellers held it in the air and on large one in the rear would propel it. The occasional puff of smoke rose from centers large black stack. The entire ship ran in the length of 500 feet long and had 20 cannons to a side.

All silent with amazement they followed the captain onto the ship each taking to their rooms for but a moment before exploring the ship.

“It will take one month and 20 days to get to the crater once we leave.” The Captain said as he left to his room. “Make sure ye bring your fighting spirit the skies are not the safest place I have known.

A new adventure started and they left behind the place they had grown to know as a home. The people of Falgon and the other cities could be seen from the airship on boats heading to the surrounding islands to escape the flood of demons on their way.

Sleep came easy that night.
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Old 06-05-2005, 08:14 PM   #2
 
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It was dawn when they first heard it- a ringing that was almost like the chiming of silver bells.

Pulling himself out from under his moth-eaten covers, Malice made his way up to the deck, expecting to see the source of the noise that had so gently roused him from his sleep. Swallowing a tired yawn, he pushed open the outer door and was instantly presented with a serene orange sky and the thrilling feel of fresh air. His vision hazy from the shock, he searched for the noise but found no bells or chimes. Giving up, he decided to return to his cabin; he stopped before he could go inside. Finding that the lure of the sky was far too seductive, he turned and made his way along the deck, taking in the sights of the world below.

“Have you ever been up this high before?”

Malice jumped, thinking he had been alone. Placing a hand on his dagger, he turned in the direction of the voice.

“Oh…” he said, relaxing as soon as he saw who it was “No, Titania, but I’ve never really tried.”

She leaned over the creaky deck and he could not see her expression.

“Some of the others are up already…I know at least Magus and Brain are.” She told him, dryly.

“Brain…he’s sure got a lot of energy.” Malice leaned on the deck, too “I think he’ll really be able to help us out…but at the same time, he’s really young and I don’t think he knows how to control himself.”

“Just ask Osirus.” Titania laughed.

“Poor guy. Wouldn’t wish that one on anybody.” Malice muttered, sympathetically “…so what are you doing up here this early?”

“What are you doing up here this early?”

“I asked first.”

“Fine.” Titania conceded, “I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“Nothing.” She replied.

Malice shook his head “I don’t believe that.”

“Fine…you win.” She sighed, “I was thinking about what we’re all doing here.”

“I know what you mean” Malice said “Gracia’s still standing and we’re going to some crater. But you really have to think of it logi-”

“No, that’s not what I mean.” She interrupted, still staring downward at the sky.

“Then …what do you mean?”

“I mean what we’re all here for.” She said “Why are we here. Why am I here? Why are Magus, Brain and Glenn here? How come I’m not home, they’re not in their own world?”

“You still want to go home, then?”

“No.” she answered, “And you don’t have to hide it from me either.”

“Hide what?” he questioned, and she shuffled a bit.

“Hide the fact that no one ever goes home from here. I know already. And I know why you didn’t tell me in the first place.”

“…I just didn’t think you could handle it then.” Malice said, defensively.

She seemed not to have heard, and it made him uneasy. After what seemed like forever, she sighed and once more tried her best to make him understand.

“Did you know that when I was born, they told my mother not to bother even naming me, because I was hopeless.”

“Titania-”

“…my mother… she cried and cried until her voice was sore from sobbing…”

He turned to look at her.

“Then one day she found me and I wasn’t moving. She ran to find my father in his workshop, and when they returned they found me with my arm outstretched like this” she extended her hand as if reaching for a cloud “I wanted something on the window sill. And when they looked they saw that it was a-”

“Feather.”

Titania turned to look at Malice

“…how did you know?”

He shook his head “I guessed.”

Tilting her chin, she studied his face, once more trying to find some kind of explanation or reasoning in his eyes. There was none that she could find.

“You’re lucky you have blue eyes” she said, turning back to look off the deck “Where I’m from they say that those who are blessed with them will eternally bring with them the ocean of home.”

“The ocean?” he asked, and no sooner had he spoken did images of calm cliffs and waters flash through his mind like lightning.

“My home. It was next to the ocean.”

The images repeated themselves like persistent memories.

“…the cliffs were red at dawn…”

Suddenly, he was back on the shores of the sea, feeling the warmth of the sun on his face

“…and as children we used to run barefoot through the shallow water…”

Eyes closed, he could hear the echoing of giddy laughter, and feel the sand move beneath his feet.

“…mother helped on the fishing boats, and used to send our dinner home with the young boys…”

Instantly, the sour stench of freshly caught trout, infected his mind.

“…then at night the moon would rise above the water, and I’d go out into the sea to try and catch its reflection…”

The water rose around him, black and starry from the night. No matter how far he ran, his goal was always out of reach, pulling itself further and further into the horizon. It seemed to elude him at every turn and sprint, letting its beams ripple and shimmer in the water but never touch him.

“That’s what they named me for, you know?”

“What?” Malice asked, suddenly snapping out of whatever vision had possessed him.

“Titania. It’s the name of the moon where I’m from.
Legend says that there was once a maiden named Titania who used to wander at night with a lantern, trying to guide the ships to the shore. Back then, the darkness was impossible, because there was nothing in the sky.
When she became older, Titania fell in love with a sailor, but was discouraged when she found that she could only protect him from the shore, and that he would not bring her with him out to sea. She cried to Siren, the goddess of the ocean, asking to always be able to watch over her love. Taking pity on the maiden, but not having the power to change the sailor’s mind, Siren brought Titania into the sky where she could shine her lantern for all to see, and always be able to guide the ships to safety.
That’s how our moon was named.
They say that Phoenix was of the sun, and that the two kept each other alive. That’s what I was trying to tell you earlier- Phoenix kept me alive when I was a baby. He didn’t let me die.”

For a while Malice did not react, but after some time he nodded, letting her know she could continue.

“That’s what I meant when I said I was thinking of why I’m here. Why am I alive and why is Nichi stone? Why are you here instead of dead on the battlefield? That general could have killed you if he wanted, but he didn’t- why was he there instead of someone else? Is this the result of coincidence? Or is it fate?” She turned once more to look out to the sky “My mother told me that because I was kept alive it meant I would serve some sort of purpose. I spent so long wondering about my purpose… searching for it. Do you think that my purpose is here? Will I finally catch the moon? Or will it always just be out of reach?”

“…we all have our own moons to chase.” Malice said, after some time. “And they always seem so far away…”

Surprised at his answer, she turned to look at him.

“…we follow the moon and run deeper into water, until we can’t breath anymore.” He continued “And just when we’re about to drown we realize- the moon wasn’t ever in the water. It was in the sky the whole time. If only we had thought before we ran, maybe we would have realized that it was right in front of us, just waiting for us to look at it and realize the truth...”

“The truth?”

“That we can reach for it all we want, but unless it reaches back we’ll never touch it, and never know what it really means.”

Titania smiled “Maybe it was reaching for us the whole time we were in the water, and we just didn’t see it.”

The air fell cold and the sound of the airships propellers buzzed through the air as words ran out but thoughts did not.

Breaking the silence, Titania turned to look at her friend.

“Malice…”

“Hey!” came a voice from around the side of the airship “You should all be careful.”

It was The Captain.

“The winds are pretty calm right now, but things are going to get turbulent up ahead. I’m trying to warn everyone. Do you know where the others are?”

“No.” Malice replied.

“I do. I’ll take you to them.” Titania said, and left without saying another word.

Sighing, Malice leaned over the deck once more, his blue eyes reflecting in them the red glow of the sunset.

Those memories…they weren’t mine… he thought, remembering the odd images that had flashed through his mind.

Unsure, he went to follow The Captain and Titania, deciding that the company of the others would distract him from his thoughts. As he left, the moon dwindled behind the sunlit clouds, making its last appearance of the day before disappearing into the blue twilight.
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Old 06-06-2005, 04:16 PM   #3
 
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**************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, In The Sky

Magus stared out over the railing towards the clouds. Brain walked up next to him. "So, Magus... what're you doing here?"

Magus just glanced at Brain. "You wouldn't understand... say, what world are you from anyway?"

"I'm from Earth. I'm from a place called Japan. Why?" he asked.

Magus gasped, the wheels in his head turning faster than they usually did. If he's from my Earth, I would know. I've met everyone everywhen there looking for Schala. This means he's from an alternate Earth. Not mine. Another one. This could mean that all worlds spring from the same source. A few things change and bam, it's a completely different world. If only it were possible to return home... "So... Earth... alright, then. I was just curious. I just-" The black wind blew, catching Magus off guard. He looked up to the sky, wondering what was happening where...

**************************************
Earth, The Year 3,000 BC, The Ocean Palace Ruins

Doreen woke up from a long sleep. She lifted her head and looked around, rather groggy. She racked her brain trying to remember what had happened. Her brothers had been sent to the Guru so that he could save everyone from some sort of monster that was being summoned. She noticed an odd, pulsating portal in the room. She cautiously wandered in...

***************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, Airship Cabin

Glenn was woken by a pair of screams that permeated his mind.

Big Sis! She's coming here, Mune!

Oh no, oh no! She'll beat us up if she finds out that we left Earth to come here with Glenn!

Yeah, and if she finds out that the prince and the Prophet are the same guy she's gonna flip out!

"What art thou frightened by now?" asked Glenn sleepily.

Glenn, Glenn, Glenn! Our big sister is here! She's gonna hurt us bad if she finds out that we're here!

You have to hide us!

"Masa! Mune! Quiet thyselves and allow me to rest!"

****************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, Gracia Castle

Aikia was fighting back demons as hard as she could when a giant shapeshifter appeared.

"WhERe iS HE? wHEre dId hE go? WheRe Is mAgUS?!"

Aikia caught her breath for a minute. "Magus? He's taken to the sky. You can't catch him."

The constantly morphing monster cackled with delight. "I BeG tO DiFFEr!" It began to mutate wings and fly off after the airship. "YoU'Re mINe, jANUs!"

**************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, In The Sky

Magus recovered from his shock. "It's gotta be that shapeshifting Lavos Spawn... Brain, could you go get Glenn for me? I have something really important to tell him."

Brain nodded and ran off. Magus looked out to the horizon. He fingered the crystal in his pocket. "The Lavos Spawn is as good as dead. After what it did to Schala..." He trailed off.

((Nobody TOUCH Doreen. She'll show up when she's supposed to so she can berate Masa and Mune.))
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Old 06-08-2005, 01:34 AM   #4
 
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Brain found and sent Glenn to talk with Magus about whatever he needed. Brain sat down in his room leaving the door open in hopes that someone would come in and talk to him. He really didn’t know what was going on and while he managed to be strong so far, but things were starting to get to him a little. He pulled out five compression cubes from his backpack and decompressed them. One was a full wardrobe of cloths, one full of food. One was a satellite launch pack. One was filled with drinks and a machine to refill them, the other was filled with two small SMG guns and a larger anti tank type gun, plenty of ammo and a machine to refill them. He also had to force swords and two powered swords.

As he was loading on of the SMG’s the girl he had been introduced to as Titania walked in. “Whoa were did you get all this?” She said looking around the room that was now almost like a room that had been lived in.

Brain smiled. “Its part of my job to carry around all this equipment, in my world I am a covert operative for the military. I carry all this so if I ever find myself in a bad situation I can survive for over a year.”

Titania looked puzzled as to what exactly he had just said. “What’s a covert operative?”

Brain thought about this for a moment. “I’m a spy for the most part, and I am adept in doing a lot of damage with only a little equipment. I am a one man army.”

Titania looked at Brain inquisitively. “What do you fight against in your world?”

Brain thought about the last couple of days fighting. “Other humans, evil people that try to disrupt the world by killing innocent people, that is who I fight, that and giant machines that have been given the will and power to think for themselves.”

Titania closed her eyes and tried to vision what he must be talking about. “So when you arrived here where you scared?”

Brain shook his head. “I was excited. If felt great to be here and to actually fight for once. I haven’t ever gotten the chance to see if I am any good as a fighter; no wars have broken out around where I lived recently.” He looked out his window. “I am a little worried now but at the same time I am very happy to be here.”

Titania smiled a little. “I was really scared when I first got here. The others have been nice to me but so far non of them have really opened up to me, it seems most of them are too toughened by war to be able to open up well.” She let out a short sigh. “I’ve been here a month and I still feel like I don’t now the people I have been traveling with.”

Brain looked at Titania with a soft smile on his face. “I’ve never been close to anyone in my life; my parents gave me to the military when I was only 6 months old. I have been nothing more then a tool of war since I was born. I wasn’t aloud to have friends, and I didn’t really feel like I had family either. I was a living breathing weapon that was only as valuable as how much damage I could inflict.” Smiling a little bit more he went on to say. “I was even up for sale to other countries. To be free of that is a blessing that his has given to me.”

Titania couldn’t grasp what she had just been told. Rather then saying anything she just tiered up and grabbed onto Brains back hugging him from behind. She stayed like that for a moment before Brain turned and sat her down on the bed.

“Don’t cry for me. I had purpose in my life at least. So now with a free and clean slate I get to decide what I fight for.” Brain smiled. “Thanks for the hug though, it’s the first one I have ever gotten.”

Titania dried her eyes and smile with her head cocked to the side.

Just then Malice came in the room as well. “I heard crying is everything ok?”

Titania nodded still drying her eyes. “Brain was just telling me about his world and how sad it is.”

Malice nodded. “Well just to let the two of you know the captain says we are in for some rough winds.” He walked out of the room.

Waiting until Malice was out of listening range Brain asked. “So he seems kind of cool and well tough, not really a talker is he?”

Titania shook her head. “He doesn’t really seem to be the type to open up.”

Brain shrugged. “I don’t know why I am opening up, it’s completely against my nature yet I feel like I don’t need to be so strict on myself seeing as I’m not in my world anymore.”

Brain turned on his computer and put on some music. Titania and Brain just sat in the room staring out the window humming along with the song for a long time.
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Old 06-09-2005, 12:23 AM   #5
 
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When at last the song was over, the sound of the propeller once again became dominant, reminding them of the quest and all that had to be done.

“He’s interesting.” Titania said, looking at Brain’s computer “What’s his name?”

The boy laughed “That’s my computer. It only talks because it’s programmed to.”

“Oh…” she said, confused but not willing to admit it.

“It does a lot of things. So long as I have batteries.”

“Batteries?”

“Things that power it up.”

“Oh. Like magic!”

“No.”

“Oh.”

She shuffled a bit.

“Do you have anything like this where you’re from?” Brain asked, after some time.

“No…we make our own music.”

Deciding not to bring up the fact that his music was all recorded previously, he smiled “Oh? How’s that?”

“Well…we have these things called instruments…”

Brain nodded, pretending he didn’t know what they were.

“They’re little devices that have strings you can pluck, or that you blow into to produce a sound.”

He smiled “Do you play an instrument?”

“Yes.” Titania said, removing an object from her apron; its once polished silver had become scratched and tarnished in places “This is called a flute.”

”Play something!”

“No…” Titania answered “It’s enchanted. Playing a song will cause something to happen.”

“Like what?”

“To tell you the truth, I’m not really sure.”

“Why’s that?”

“Erm…because…” she tried to think of something better than because I’m a miserable failure “…umm…it’s…not to be used until really necessary.”

“Oh.” Brain said, sounding a little disappointed “Your world is so fascinating. There’s magic there?”

“Yes.” Titania answered “But I think your world sounds more exciting. Where I come from, everything is very strict, and traditional. Maybe you know how it’s like, because you were sold to your mili…tary?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Titania seemed proud of herself “Sold to your military. With us it’s different. You’re trapped in another way. There’s so much tradition and so many old ceremonies that you feel you’re about to drown in them. You have absolutely no say in your life. Not in anything.”

“Anything at all?”

“Nope. Everything you’ll do until you die is decided from the time you’re born. What you’ll study, your livelihood, your entire future. The truth is, I was really glad to come here. It got me out of a lot of trouble and granted me the opportunity to be free.”

“Then we’re sort of the same that way.”

Titania nodded “Freedom was something I used to fantasize about. I’d go out to the edge of town and see the fields far away. I’d wonder what it would be like to be there. Sometimes, I’d stand for hours, arguing with myself- should I leave or should I stay? I never did leave. I never felt what it was like out there- if I could go back I would. I just…I was always in love with the idea of being free, but then when I’d think about how safe my home was, and how it was all I knew, I could never make the leap.”

Brain nodded “What was your home called?”

“Madain Sari.” She answered “It was beautiful.”

“I’m sure it was.” Brain commented “Do you want to go back?”

“No.” Titania shook her head “I haven’t told the others, but my home is gone. It was destroyed in the storm that brought me here.”

“How do you know?”

“The eidolons told me.” She said, forgetting that he would not know who the guardians were “One night I was asleep and Phoenix spoke to me in my dreams. He said not to weep for the people of my homeland, for now they wandered somewhere far away, in a land of mist and fog. He said that soon the day would come when they would be born again, and when that happened it would be to satisfy the need of the planet. He calmed me down, consoled me, and he taught me a song that he said was brought to our land long ago. He tells me it’s a key. That’s all that he will say.”

“Can I hear it? Maybe I will know.”

Titania looked unsure, but she saw that Brain would not let her out of it.

“A-alright, but don’t laugh at me…” she pleaded.

“I won’t.”

She swallowed and took a breath.

“Lonley is the wanderer
Who walks along the lark
Looking for the bloody tower
Looking in the dark

For paradise is lain before him
By the riverbed
And though his foes are slain below him
He is torn instead

For ages doomed to wander
Wander, wander with the lark
Wander for his paradise
That’s looming in the dark

‘Oh please my dear
Take heed my love
The end is close at hand
The world has now begun to move
Though we don’t understand

The world is yours
Your child, your love
Its life can be anew
If you can find the paradise
That’s searching now for you’

And so he wandered
All his life,
His gaze turned up ahead
He would have found his paradise
If only it weren’t dead

For on the road below him
Where his foe had once stood strong
The doomed lark lay there dying
His paradise was gone”


The last notes echoed through the halls and dissipated. Titania looked down, coming out of the trance that the song had put her in.

“…I don’t see how that will help us.” She said, trying to avoid looking at Brain for fear of his reaction “It’s very vague. I don’t know who or what the lark is…or the bloody tower…or why on earth the paradise disappeared.”

“Hey, was someone singing in here?” Malice asked, appearing in the doorway.

Titania nodded “Yes. But weren’t you out warning the others about the winds?”

“Oh…uh…right. I was.” He answered “…but now I’m back.”

Titania laughed “Sure. So what do you think of the song?”

“Very pretty.” He said, leaning on the doorway “Very sad. I wonder what Phoenix meant when he said it was a key.”

”I said that a long time ago!”

“So?”

“So you should have been warning the others, not eavesdropping. What if they get hurt in the wind?”

Malice shook his head “I had stuff to do here still. Besides, nothing will happen to them. I know the wind.”

“Eh?” Brain asked, confused.

“I’m Theiran.” Malice answered, non-chalantly

“Eh?”

“That means I know the elements. Particularly the wind.”

“Oh.”

“So… what’s going on in here?” Malice asked, looking at the various weapons in a confused manner.

“They’re like magic, but not!” Titania said, excitedly, clearly proud of herself.

“How’s that?” Malice asked, sitting down with them and looking at the objects suspiciously.

“They’re from my world.” Brain explained “Where I’m from there’s no magic, so we make devices to help us instead.”

“No magic? So…then what do you do if you’re in battle? Just use swords?”

“No. We use those things.” He pointed to some of his guns.

“How does that work?”

“You point and shoot.”

“Shoot?”

“It fires metal at whoever you’re aiming at.”

Titania squirmed a little “That sounds really…terrible…”

“And like it requires no skill.” Malice added, with a clear pride in his own techniques.

“Well, it’s fast, and effective.” Brain said, picking up one of the objects and pretending to aim at the wall.

Titania immediately moved, unsure if he was trying to shoot her or not.

“Relax!” the Earth boy said “It only hits whatever’s on the end of this tube here.”

“Can you…please put it away?” Titania asked “I know that those are common in your world, but not here…and not where I’m from.”

“Fine…” Brain muttered, putting his weapon away.

“We probably have those here in Palis.” Malice told Titania “Somewhere far away, most likely. Either that, or we had them at one point and thought they were useless.”

“They’re not useless at all.” Brain argued.

“Well, we have magic here, so we don’t need little machines to do our work for us. We take care of things ourselves.” Malice replied, and it was clear that his mood was not in its best condition.

“We use our own bodies, too.” Brain said, with a relaxed tone that made Malice’s colour go even further downhill “And that’s all we use. We don’t need odd powers to get rid of each other.”

“Right, of course not. You just point and shoot.”

“If you saw what war was like where I’m from, you wouldn’t make it sound so easy.”

“Well if you knew what it was like to fight down in the mud, using your mind and body all at once, you wouldn’t make battle here sound so easy.”

“I never said it was!”

“You guys…” Titania started, but she was cut off.

“You implied it.”

“I did not! How can you know what I’m thinking or implying?”

“I can hear. That’s how.”

“What the hell is going on down here?” Belial muttered, making his appearance in the doorway.

“Better not come in. It’s crowded already.” Brain said, putting his guns away.

Belial merely smirked “Captain says we’re approaching the area where the shrine is located. There’s nowhere to land the ship, though, so he’ll have to dump it somewhere outside the Rorrim Mountains. We can go through a cavern to get in.”

“When are we going to arrive?” Malice asked, calmly.

“We’ll land in about 20 minutes.” Said Belial.

“Alright, then. Everyone should get ready. We’ll depart as soon as possible.” Malice looked at Brain “Bring only what you yourself can carry, and what won’t slow us down or draw attention.”

Clearly irritated, Malice left; Titania followed him.

“So, really…what was happening?” Belial asked, looking clearly amused.

“Nothing. What’s that guy’s problem?”

“Talk to him in another half hour. He’ll probably treat you like his best friend.” The demon laughed “Then the next half hour he’ll try to kill you.”

“That bad, huh?”

“No. Just lately.” Belial answered, “So, uh…what are those things you’ve got lying around?”
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*

“Malice, is something wrong?” Titania asked, following him up a flight of stairs.

“Nothing... and everything!” He replied, sighing, “I know I was a little harsh with that kid.”

“Kid? I think he’s older than me…”

“Doesn’t matter. I know I was harsh with him, but it’s just everything that’s going on here. I feel trapped in this thing, and with all this stress…it’s impossible!”

“I know things got hard on you after Nichi…anyways, I know things are hard for you. But why don’t you spread some of the pressure? We can’t do everything, but I know we can help. Just let us.”

Malice shook his head “There’s only so much you can do. And besides, if we have more than one person making the decisions, we’ll never get anywhere. Brain will want to fight without thinking, you’ll want to stay put, Belial will want to destroy the damn airship, and Magus…well I don’t know. He’ll want to do something unproductive.”

Titania nodded, not arguing with anything.

“At least before I just did what I was told. It was tough, but I did a good job of it. Now I feel like if I make one wrong move, everyone will suffer.”

“No one will blame you if you make a mistake. Messing up is something everyone does.”

Malice shook his head “Everyone says they don’t blame you, but really they do.”

I won’t blame you.”

He laughed “You won’t say you blame me. But how can you help it? Even I would blame me.”

Titania shook her head and laid a hand on his shoulder “We’re all behind you. We don’t want to see you fail. We only want to help.”

Malice stopped walking and sat down on the stairs, burying his face in his hands “I know that you all want to help, but there are things which I have to do alone. I can’t depend on you always.”

“And we can’t always depend on you.” She sat down next to him “Malice, I know you have more responsibility than you used to- and you definitely have more to worry about than me. But that doesn’t mean that the rest of us don’t feel what you’re feeling. I can only speak for myself, but I think that we all know that anything we do can be critical for ourselves or someone else.”

“I know you mean what you say.” Malice said “But I don’t think you fully understand.”

“So explain, and let me understand.”

“I’m trying to. But I don’t think anyone can really know until they’ve tried these shoes.”

Titania stared down at Malice’s feet.

“I don’t think they’ll fit.” She said, and smiled at him.

Malice forced a laugh when he saw how much she wanted to cheer him up, but still did not feel right.

“Thanks for talking with me…” he said, deciding it was the effort that counted.

Titania smiled, but could tell she had not improved his mood at all “Talking… I guess that’s all I can do to help?”

Malice nodded “I have to face these things alone. I know you don’t understand, but it’s true. I can’t let you all-“

“You don’t have to protect us.”

Malice looked at her, and then down the hallway to where some of the others still slept.

“I do have to. I can’t just decide I won’t. It’s not something I could do.”

“Well then let us protect you too. You shouldn’t have to take all of our pain. I know the others…well maybe not Belial…would give anything to keep you safe.”

“You would?”

“Yeah. I would- I mean, we would.”

He smiled.

Realizing she was caught, she shrugged and decided she might as well give an explanation “Up until just now you’re the only one who actually cared about what happened to me. When I came here, you knew and cared about what I was going through, when all the others just thought to leave me alone and let me figure out the world for myself. I still remember when you followed me into town. And then during the trip to Gracia, you helped me so much. I wouldn’t have been able to do all I could if you hadn’t been there for me. I just feel like I owe you something.”

“You don’t owe me anything.” Malice shook his head.

“I do.” She persisted, and then got an idea “Here…”

A bit awkwardly, she unfastened a necklace which had become so much a part of her that the others hadn’t noticed it. Hanging off the silvery chain was a small coin, plated on one side with a glossy red material. Etched into it was the shape of a bird amidst a flame.

“This is an eidolon pendant. They say that when you wear it, the guardian whose image it bears will protect you.”

“So that’s Phoenix, then?” Malice asked.

“Right. You’re quick to pick up on these things!” Titania remarked, and stared at the object in her palm, suddenly realizing that she’d had that pendant since she was a baby.

“You don’t have to give it to me…” he said, noticing that she was slow to part with the object.

“No, no. You need it more than me. Phoenix has already saved me twice. Now it’s your turn.”

Silently, Malice lowered his head and let her place the chain over it, so that it fell and rested on his neck.

“It suits you.” Titania said.

“But now you seem like you’re missing something.” Malice commented.

She stared downward, trying to see where her necklace used to sit.

“It’s fine.” She said “It’s better that my collar looks bare than you go wandering unprotected. At least this way, even when you have to deal with things yourself, Phoenix can help you.”

“Thanks.” Malice said, fingering the necklace “It means a lot.”

Titania smiled “You really mean that?”

“I do.” He said “It’s good to know I’m not as alone as I thought.”

“You want to be even less alone?” she asked

Malice nodded.

“You should probably apologize to Brain then. Or at least coax an apology out of him!”

“Naw.” Malice said, “Tough guys like me don’t apologize. I’ll just be nicer to him later and it’ll be over.”

“Are you sure?” asked Titania, laughing at the title her friend had given himself.

“I’m sure!” Malice answered, with a bit of a smile “Leave this one to me.”

Titania had a bit of a smirk on her face “I suppose that I could…but just this once...only because you’re my friend and I don’t particularly hate you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” Malice laughed.

“So you’re feeling better?”

“I’m feeling better.”

“Next time don’t take it out on others, ok? It’s not their fault that you have so many troubles”

“Alright.” Malice answered, finding that she had the irritating ability of saying things which would normally make him angry, in a way that was impossible to argue with.

“I’m going to make sure Belial hasn’t unmade Brain, or the other way around.
I think that Magus and Glenn are up on the top of the deck, maybe you should go tell them about where we’re going.”

“Ok. We’ll meet outside in 15 minutes, alright? Make sure the others are there. And none of those shooting things.”

“I’ll try my best.” Titania answered as she descended the stairs.

Looking upward at the outer door, Malice rose to his feet and made his way to the deck, deciding he would pay Magus and Glenn a visit.
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Old 06-09-2005, 02:06 AM   #7
 
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Belial sat down on a chair backwards and looked over the strange weapons that Brain was messing with. “You seem to carry some interesting equipment my friend, I have seen similar in the past but nothing quite like this.” Belial picked up one of the pistols and began to do the western gunplay moves with it.

Really glad that none of the guns were loaded Brain just smiled and nodded. “So I am told you’re a demon right?”

“Right.”

“Doesn’t that make you the enemy?”

Belial smiled. “No not right now, I’m not one of the ones trying to destroy the planet you see?”

“I see.”

“Osirus and I are both neutral demons we only play on the will of humans, the ones we are against are directly taking over the humans instead.” Belial said as Osirus entered the room as well.

Osirus looked at Belial and then at Brain. “I like this one, he’s got a real fighters spirit along with a true and honest heart. He’ll suffer the most if he gets close to someone that dies, this will be most interesting.” Osirus said as he opened his book and left the room.

Brain just shrugged and went back to looking over this equipment. “He seems interesting, very morbid and very strait forwards.”

Belial nodded and was about to speak as Titania entered the room looking at Belial and Brain in surprise that neither of them had an angry look on their face. “Better rest up guys we’ll be heading into the ruins soon.”

As Titania started to leave the room Brain spoke up and asked. “So what exactly are we going into these ruins for?”

“Well we think there may be clues to a power that may help us in the war against the demons.” Titania said.

“What kind of power?” Brain said scratching his chin.

Titania didn’t know what to say “It’s a suggestion that was passed between the captain, Magus and Malice. I wasn’t really given the full details, but this is supposed to be the resting spot of a book that will help us find the power.”

Brain grabbed the case that seemed to have nothing in it. Just gave a head motion towards the deck. The others were already out on the deck looking around the area. Brain started pulling legs out of the box and then opening the side and top. Five small tubes sat inside and a long barrel stuck out of the top. He clicked a few things and then walked back and motioned for everyone else to stay back as well. Several seconds later with a small puff of smoke the tubes started to fire out of the barrel. Souring high into the sky and disappearing. Brain just smiled.

“What in the hell was that?” Magus said pulling himself back to his feat after being scarred back by the first hissing sounds.

“That my friend is a satellite system. Let’s see how I can put this. I shot 5 small things into the sky so far that they can see the entire planet, the send me information to this and tell me were we are in the world and how big the world is. It’s just a really nice map.

Everyone just looked at Brain like he was nuts and went on to deciding who would go into the ruins and who would protect the airship.

Malice spoke up first. “I think it would be best if Magus, Glenn, Titania and I went into the ruins and that Brain, Belial and Osirus protect the ship for now.”

“Yes sir!” Brian said with some charisma. “We’ll do out best sir!”

Belial and Osirus just nodded and sat down and started talking about things only demons would think to talk about.

Malice didn’t know if he should be insulted by the response that Brian gave or not. Asking Brain to talk with him for a moment in private they went down into Malice’s cabin.

“Yes sir?” Brain said confused why he was down there.

Malice looked him in the eyes. “Are you playing with me kid? What is with the whole sir thing?”

Brain didn’t know what to say. “Well I took it that you were the leader of these people, you’re the one who has it together and seems to be worried most about protecting everyone so I thought it was only right to treat you as my superior and call you sir.”

Malice nodded. “Well you don’t have to call me sir; I’m not use to it. If you remember the statue that was near us when you first met us, that was our old leader, I just took over. I have to say I’m not use to it yet.”

Brain nodded and walked out of the room back to his. “I’ll take good care of the ship while your gone Malice take good care of the others while you do whatever it is your doing.” Brain said as he entered the room.

Belial and Osirus helped the others get off the ship while this was going on and Malice came up and joined the others on the land, he was very happy to be back on solid ground.

“We should be back by tomorrow. If you don’t see us by then please come and find us.” Malice said waving to the Captain and the three staying onboard.
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The ominous airship rose before them, dark and malevolent against the pale morning sky. Its propellers still fanning slowly in the wind, it seemed to the group to be the last, faint sign of civilization. Though they had traveled before, Gracia had become the familiar to them, and just as it had been difficult for each to leave their home, it was painful to leave the final sign of the city they had spent months fighting for.

“Come on, everyone. The sooner we leave, the sooner we’ll be back.” Malice said, being the first to turn away from the ship and walk toward the caverns; his steps were slightly shaky for he was unused to the unmoving ground. Obediently, the others followed, none of them saying a word.

Amidst an eerie silence, they marked their way through the dampened grass, nervously anticipating whatever darkness lurked within the cave ahead.

“We’re going in there?” Titania asked, after some time.

Malice nodded, “That’s the only way into the forest.”

“Forest?” Magus questioned “You mean, the cave’s not all we have to get through?”

“Right.”

“Then what makes you think we’ll be back in a day?”

“Nothing.” Malice answered “It’s just I think that Osirus, Belial and Brain will do better in a group with each other, rather than with us.”

No one argued with him, and soon all that could be heard was the swishing of armour and the gentle pat of footsteps. When at last they came to the entrance of the cave, Malice stopped and turned to his friends.

“There’s no turning back after this.” He said “If anyone wants to stay on the airship, say so now.”

As was expected, there were no protests.

Taking a deep breath, Malice began to enter the cave.

“Wait!” cried Titania.

Thinking she wanted to quit, Malice stepped outside once more and turned to look at her.

“…there’s something written on that rock there…” she said, pointing to the side of the cave.

Taking the initiative, Magus moved toward the inscription and looked hard at it.

“…it’s no use. I can’t read it.” He said “Glenn, do you want to try?”

The knight obliged, but found the same results as Magus- it was illegible.

“Titania?” he asked. She shook her head.

Giving up on the others, Malice moved toward the inscription and began to speak aloud, recognizing that the language was Theiran.

“Beware traveller
For evil lies beyond what you may perceive”


He stared at the others, realizing the weight of the text.

“Though fog may veil a stealthy warrior
In the end it only can deceive

And those who know
Of where the noble truth doth lie
Will find illusion is their light and woe
And so, gentle warrior, look not unto thy side
For there is nought a rusted blade what can defeat this foe”


“…what the croak dost thine poem mean?” Glenn asked after some time.

“I’d think out of all of us, you’d be the one to understand it the most.” Titania muttered, plainly.

“So no one understands it?” Malice inquired, and was met with no response.

“Whose bright idea was it to write a warning in verse in the first place?” Magus said, after pondering.

“One who fears that their instructions will be understood by the unworthy.” Glenn guessed.

“Or maybe someone who thinks any clear warning will be erased…” Malice added.

“This doesn’t sound like a friendly place.” Titania spoke up “Are you sure it will be alright for us to go inside?”

“You can always turn back.” Magus stated.

She shook her head “I’m not scared.” She argued, defensively “I’m just not sure if you’re all alright with it.”

“Come on.” Said Malice “Whatever’s in there can’t be worse than what we had to fight in Gracia.”

The others nodded in agreement, and then slowly followed their leader into the darkness of the caves. No sooner had they entered did the air turn stale and cold, and the smell of rotting flesh infect them.

When they had been traveling for some time and the doorway moved out of sight, they realized the first of their troubles: the cave was blindingly dark.

“I wonder if this is how it feels to be dead.” Magus said “To have your eyes open and not know what lies in front of you.”

“Stop it. This place is creepy enough.” Titania muttered.

“She’s right.” Malice said “Do you think it would be possible to get any light in here?” He would have turned to the others, but didn’t know where they were.

“I could start a fire, but I’ve got nothing to hold it. I’d be wasting all my power here if I had to keep the thing going for so long.”

“It’s too bad Belial isn’t here.” Someone said, but it was unclear whom.

“…Oh great!” Titania interrupted, coughing “I think there’s some kind of fog here.”

“How can you tell? You can’t see a thing.”

“I can feel it when I breathe. Can’t you guys?”

There was no answer.

“…is that a no?”

Silence.

“…hello?”

Arms outstretched, she felt around to see where the others were, but was met with nothing.

*

“Malice, come over this way!” said either Glenn or Magus.

“No.” the leader answered “The ground is sloping up in the direction I’m going. I think this is the way out.”

“It’s not.” Came the argument “Follow my voice, I’m pretty sure the exit is this way.”

Sighing, Malice followed “You’d better be damn sure of yourself. If we get lost, there’s no way we’ll find our way out.” Finding that he could no longer distinguish the direction that the others were going in, he called out “Say something!”

The only answer was his echo.

*

Along the corridors and tunnels of the caves, the four wandered separately, each having followed the sound of their friends and each having ended up alone.

“Ow!” came an effeminate exclamation “Who just bumped into me?”

“Titania, is that you?”

“Yes. Who’s that?”

“Glenn.”

“Glenn? Where’s Malice and Magus?”

“I regret to admit that I don’t know.”

“Why did you all leave me alone?”

“I assure you I did not. It was you and the others who exited my presence.”

“…I guess we must have all just wandered off.”

“Yes, that does sound quite possible…” he agreed “Do you think you would be able to produce any kind of illumination?”

“I could try.” She said, and felt along the floor for something that could be set aflame. Finding a long object, she picked it up and after a few attempts managed a spell. Slowly, the cave flickered with an eerie light before revealing the images of Glenn, Titania, and a bouncing white flame- a bouncing white flame that was lit on an aging bone.


“Ack!” the mage cried and nearly dropped the thing “…Glenn…do you want to take it?”

He nodded and seized the object, his gauntlets clinking as he did so.

“It’s amazing how quickly we got lost.” Titania said, wiping her hand on her apron.

“Indeed.” Glenn agreed “It seemed we were speaking only a few moments before.

Before she could answer, there came a voice from around the corner. It was Magus.

“Hey, is that light I see?” he asked.

Slowly he approached the others, and then stared at the flame “Interesting torch.”

“Magus- is Malice with you?” Titania asked, ignoring his comment.

“No. I thought he was with all of you.”

The two shook their heads.

“Malice?” Titania yelled, and was met with no answer but her own echo.

“He can’t have gotten far.” Magus muttered “We were just speaking to each other...”

*

“Glenn? Magus? Titania?” Malice yelled, hearing his name being called, but not knowing where it was coming from.

“We’re right here.” A masculine voice commented.

Once again, Malice’s name was called from somewhere far away. He could tell whose it was.

“…is Titania here?”

“I’m right here.”

His name was called again.

Not liking what was going on, Malice tensed up “Where are you?”

“Beside you.”

“Give me your hand.”

“Pardon?”

“There’s a gap in the ground up ahead. I’ll need to lead you all one by one. Give me your hand.”

There was no answer, and as was expected, his palm was left empty.

“Malice!” his name bounced off the walls again.

“I’m coming!” he yelled back, and began following the voices of the others.

After some time, he saw ahead of him a white light.

“Is that you guys?”

“Indeed.” Answered Glenn.

“…that’s funny…because you were all just over there.” He pointed back to where he’d come from.

“No. We’ve been here for the last ten minutes. Maybe you heard us talking” Magus said.

“Maybe…” Malice said “But I really felt like I was walking with you guys.”

Titania shrugged “Like Magus said. Maybe you just heard us talking.”

Malice nodded, conceding to what seemed obvious “Alright. Well…let’s stick together from now on. I think it’s easy to get lost in here.”

“Not only that, I’m not getting a good feeling from this place.” Magus added "There's an evil here which I think is aware of our prescence. Malice, are you sure your route is the only way out?"

"This is my first time here, too."

Magus shook his head "Since that bone was lit, the evil has died down a little, but I can still feel it close by." He turned to his Theiran companion "You show us the way out, but I'll walk with you- we should try to avoid the areas where the feeling is very strong."

"I could feel something before, too. Maybe that means it's very powerful." Titania said "I'm pretty sure I can't do what Magus can."

"Perhaps it was simply the cave that caused thy fear." Glenn mused.

"I wasn't scared." She said "I only felt like something wasn't right."

"I know what you mean." Malice agreed "...come on. I think I know which direction is the way out.”

That said, Magus joined the front and the two began to lead the way through the cave.
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Old 06-09-2005, 11:44 PM   #9
 
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*

Past the dismal labyrinth of the cavern, over the pitfalls and stones, up and out through the light of the
tunnel, there lay a forest.

As the afternoon sun rose to an intense climax, a flock of blackened crows called and flew up from out of a tree, shaking branches and causing many leaves to flutter to the ground. Slowly, a gentle fog rolled along the deceptively peaceful grounds of the wood, as if to warn the creatures that lived there of the new presence.

How harmless it all looked- shallow meadows, fields of beautiful white flowers, mountains, and calm trees. It was glorious and calming, yet not completely settling; something was wrong. Something felt too perfect.
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Old 06-11-2005, 01:00 AM   #10
 
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Brain sat down on the deck of the boat and thought about how safe the others may be. Belial and Osirus had gone into one of the cabins and were playing poker, Brain had refused to join in. Captain was sound asleep in his cabin and they sat at around two hundred feet in the air.

Brain had a strange feeling about what was going on here, like something was out of place; he knew everyone had gone to their cabins or into the caves. Yet there across the boat from him stood a man in black armor tapping a gigantic sword on his shoulder.

That’s all the man did for the longest time. Brain watched him for several hours before the man finally turned towards Brain. The figure looked a lot like someone he had seen before. As it got closer he started to realize it was the man he had seen in the town he landed in. Only last time he had seen this person they were in the form of a statue.

The figure sat down next to him and smiled. Putting down his sword the figure started to gesture for Brain to copy what he did. It started to make symbols with its hands. Brain copied them but the first few times only got a puff of smoke out of it. The fifth time nothing happened but then the Figure started speaking.

“It’s been a little while since I could speak. Thank you for taking the time to learn the curse seal.” The man said while smiling. “How is everyone?”

“It would seem that they are much better of then you my friend, who are you by the way?” Brain said looking over the exquisite armor that the man was wearing.

“Oh they must not have told you, I’m Nichi. I use to be part of all this but it seems you were chosen to go on in the fight and not me.” Nichi said

“What do you mean by that?” Brain said looking rather confused.

“Well to make it a short story we are somehow connected in existence. However only one of us can exists in the same universe at the same time. Having the fate of you coming to this world, I in turn had to leave this world.” Nichi said “You were chosen to stay here because you’re the one who’s got the highest chance of success for the war.”

Brain thought for a moment about this. “So in a theory I am you? I just look different?”

“I guess that’s what could be said.” Nichi said looking over Brain. “We need to do something about this equipment that you use. It doesn’t suit you or this world.” With a snap of his fingers all of Brains equipment other then his wrist computer disappeared.

Looking a little unset Brain looked at his body. “How exactly am I supposed to be helpful in a world of Magic and Demons without any weapons to fight?”

Nichi sighed “Well for one your plenty strong if you just listened to your body enough to unlock its power. Secondly I’m going to give you a weapon, it may change form once in your hands though.” Nichi handed over his giant sword to Brain which turned solid once touching Brains hands. It however did not change as Nichi thought it would.

“So I’m supposed to fight with a sword that I can barley…. Wait a second how is this thing so light?” Brain said looking down at the huge weapon.

Not really sure what to say Nichi just shrugged. “Well maybe your stronger then you thought.”

Brain stood up and started playing around with the sword. “This is actually pretty cool I can fight well with this thing for its size.”

Nichi sighed as he noticed his time was falling short. “One more thing I’m giving you. This is very important so listen up.”

Brain sat back down next to Nichi and listened closely. “Ok?”

Nichi looked at Brain and then pulled up Brains hair from the back of his neck. “There is a mark here; do you know what it is?” Nichi said looking at it still. Brain shook his head no. “Well I had one when I was alive to, though I never figured out how to use it or even what it was until I died.”

Brain looked uneasy. He put his hand on the back of his neck and sure enough he could feel a slight raise in the skin. “So what is it?”

“Well when I was born in my village there was a great demon that had recently been killed. Fearing its return they locked his spirit in my body.” Nichi said. “So part of locking it to me leads to it either being passed down to my children or to the one closest to being like me.”

Brain shook his head. “So I’m carrying the spirit of a demon in me?”

“Exactly, and he is your slave. He needs you to be a live for him to be alive. Which means you can steal his strength once you figure out how to talk to him.” Nichi went on to say. “Lucky for you, you may have a chance of tapping this power, being that I’m dead I can’t.”

Brain just thought of his genetic transmutations. “I was genetically altered when I was born, I am supposed to have the power to turn into a humanoid like creature, I haven’t ever been able to do it because of my age but can I still do it?” Brain asked hoping the answer was no.

“Well I don’t really know, all I can say is you are human now, when you lived in the other world you were mostly filled with nano machines, they aren’t there anymore.” Nichi said.

“How do you know so much, I mean I would think you’d only know about this universe?” Brain said looking a little puzzled.

“When your dead all the universes are one, and all of time is one.” Nichi said looking up at the sky.

“I see, so I have to learn a lot more about myself to be able to help save this world don’t I?” Brain said thinking about how the others might be doing in the cave. “Will I see you again if I need help?”

“I’ll be around; I am bound to your spirit as well, just like the demon.” Nichi said “I need to go now, tell the others nothing of this but take good care of them.” With that Nichi vanished.

Brain sat for a little thinking about how to talk to part of him that was not normally open to talk to. So he just went to sleep focusing on the idea of talking within.
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Old 06-12-2005, 12:37 AM   #11
 
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(( I’m on a writing roll! Poor FFnut…))

As a warm fire crackled in the hearth and the strong scent of cigarettes clouded the air, Belial leaned back and placed his feet on a chair. Around the small room was scattered cards, empty bottles and gray and white ash.

“Full house.”

“Dammit!” exclaimed Osirus “…you’re cheating. I know it.”

Belial merely smirked and shuffled the deck.

“It’s that little pixie, isn’t it? She’s telling you what my cards are.”

“Who, Ensayne? I think she’s asleep.”

“That thing never sleeps. She’s watching. I know it.”

“Are you going to keep making excuses for being a pansy, or are you going to play?”

Osirus took a sip of some kind of liquor and wiped his mouth.

“Fine. Deal. Two drops of three.”

“One drop of two.” Belial interjected.

“Don’t push it.”

After about two hours and a lot of cursing, the game moved onto its last leg. Osirus, having not won a single game, was by this time surrounded by several empty liquor bottles.

“Hey, watch it. We might not be able to stock up for a while.” Came a voice from the doorway. It was Brain.

“What do you know? You just got here.” Osirus said, his face flushed from the alcohol.

“I know that there’s someone out there who gave his life so you could continue on, and you shouldn’t screw it up.” He answered.

“What? You mean that ninja guy?”

“Nichi.” Belial corrected.

“Right. Nichi.” Osirus said.

“Exactly. He gave a hell of a lot, so you’d better respect the chance he’s given us.”

“Look whose telling us what to do all of a sudden.” Osirus laughed, “Come on, Belial. Let’s show him who he’s really talking to.”

“No.”

“What?”

“No.” Belial repeated, “He’s just a kid. I have better people to save my energy for.”

Defeated and tired, Osirus spat into an ash tray “Fine, whatever. Are we continuing this game or not?”

“Yeah.” Belial said and looked at Brain “Like losing at poker?”

“Not really.” He replied “But I’ll join anyways.”

Irritated, Osirus kicked a chair from under the table, to indicate where the boy should sit.

“So two drops of three?” Brain asked.

“Sure.”
*

It had taken all day, but the group had finally made their way out of the cave. As dusk dwindled above the forest, their eyes basked in what was the first natural light to be seen for many hours.

“Alright.” Malice said “We’re all here?”

“Indeed.” Replied Glenn.

“Good. I think we’d better make camp. Magus, you come with me and get some firewood. Titania, you can get the water, and Glenn…you can go get water too.”

“I can carry it myself.” She said, plainly.

I know Malice thought, but shook his head “Doesn’t matter. Glenn’s going. We’ll meet back here in twenty minutes and then set camp.”

The group split into two, one going east to the sound of a river, and the other going north into the woods.

“So…what are we going to use to hold the water?” Titania asked as they reached their destination.

Silence.

“…perhaps we could…” Glenn began after a while “…I’m afraid I haven't an idea.”

“We really should have thought of this before hand.”

Should have.”

“How about we sit and figure this out?” she asked, her feet sore.

“That sounds a valid idea, m’lady.” He answered and waited for her to sit before doing the same.

“I’d much rather stay here.” She laughed, “I don’t like fighting. And besides, I love the water.”

“And I.” He agreed, “There were many times I found safety in the belly of a river.”

“You…what…?” she asked, as she removed her shoes and let her feet hang over the edge of the bank.

“I found safety in the water. Has Janus not spoken of mine past?”

“Janus? Oh- Magus. No…he hasn’t.”

“I um…was once creature of amphibious nature…”

"...what?"

"A frog, m'lady."

“Oh…is that why you always croak?”

“Indeed.”

There was an awkward silence.

“I beg thy forgiveness, but mine feet are sore as well.” He said, sitting on the river-bank and placing his feet in the water.

“Oh, you don’t even need to apologize.” Titania laughed “Just do what you like. There doesn’t seem to be any kind of code of conduct here anyways.”

“How so?”

“Well everyone’s killing each other, and here we are in the middle of nowhere. I doubt that manners are on the priority list of this world.”

Glenn laughed, “I suppose not.”

“…so how do you like it here?”

“I’ve seen places that were much stranger.”

“Well how do you like the group, then?”

“I find them reasonable.”

“You don’t find them a little…cold?”

“Cold?”

“You know…unapproachable?”

“It will do thee good to remember that they are all warriors in their own right. Not becoming close to each other is a tactic of war.”

“How?”

“Perhaps this sounds morbid, but what if someone were to die?”

“Oh…that’s a terrible reason not to know people!"

“Perhaps yon mind advises against it now, but how didst thou feel when thy comrade had turn'd to stone."

“I felt sad.”

“And how well was thy acquaintance with him?”

“I had only known him for about a month, and I was always in the infirmary, so no…not very well…”

“And yet thy heart still felt sadness?”

“It did.”

“Imagine if there had been more effort to know- if there were friendship .”

“But that’s just it. I regret that I never really got to be his friend. I would put off talking to him, and then suddenly it was too late to.”

“…so thy tears were shed for regret?"

“Yes...I think...”

“…and now it is thy belief that the others are impossible to approach?"

“I do. Most of them I hardly speak to. With Malice I feel like we’re being friendly, but he’s always hiding. It’s like we’re speaking to each other, smiling and laughing, and yet at the same time he’s not being his complete honest self.”

“Would it be imposing to ask if he was not the only one to hide. Did thee choose to show thy 'honest self?'"

“I think so…but it’s hard to tell. I’ve changed so much since I’ve come here that I’m not sure who I really am anymore.”

“That surprises me quite a bit.” Glenn contemplated “I regard thy airs as joyous ones most of the time."

“I do act like I am. But I have to. So many times during the war we felt as if we were about to lose. I would pretend I didn’t know, and wash the blood from my hands so that the others would not know of how many injured men were in the infirmary. I feel like none of us want each other to know of what’s going on. I, myself, indulge them. But in truth, I feel like I’m always on the brink of defeat.”

“Thy feelings are not the only of their kind, m’lady.” Glenn said, moving his feet about in the river “I myself find I’m often disheartened in war. But that is the way it is and those who attempt to change it are fools. Besides, sometimes it’s better not to know all that is happening. Though we pretend to be brave, most of us would much rather live and die in ignorance.”

Titania smiled “…why can’t the others speak so honestly? Both you and Brain…you’re so open- like real people. You listen and speak like friends.”

“I find that sometimes the most popular tactics of war are the most ill-advised.” Glenn replied, “…I prefer to know who I am traveling with. Besides, it would be fairly draining to be constantly with people, who are less interesting to speak with than small bundles of twigs.”

Titania laughed, “I suppose so.”

“Suppose so?” Glenn grinned “I think you should be absolutely certain!”

“Fine. I’m absolutely certain.” She said, a smile on her face.

“Now, see? Was it so daunting a task to find someone with whom thy speech could be free? How silly!”

Titania faked offense, and splashed some water in his face, like she used to do to her friends at home.

“There, that makes it official.” She said.

“Pardon?” he questioned, drying off.

“It's a Madain Sari custom.” She laughed “That means we will be friends. And be honest. Agreed?”

“Hmm…agreed.” He answered “And as thy words were ‘completely honest,’ I believe I should speak up.”

“Go ahead.”

“The truth is… I’m a very vengeful person.” He replied and splashed a handful of water at her face, making her stumble and accidentally fall backward into the river.

“Eeek!”

SPLASH
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Old 06-12-2005, 12:38 AM   #12
 
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*

“It will do us well to hurry- half of an hour has already passed.” Malice urged his companion forward.

“I don’t think we’re going in the right direction.” Magus said, “We’ve been walking for far longer than we should have been. Maybe we should call the others.”

“No. I do them to try and follow us and then get lost.” Malice answered, “Come, let’s mark our footprints and then try to find where we got off-track.”

Arms full of firewood, they turned and changed directions.

“…how long do you think it will take us to reach the old shrine?” Magus asked.

“No longer than three days if we’re lucky and don’t keep getting lost.” Malice answered.

His companion nodded and they continued down their path.

“Stop!” Magus yelled.

“What is it?”

“There’s something not right here..”

“Are you sure it’s not just your imagination?”

“I’m absolutely sure.”

They placed their firewood down and tensed up, ready to fight.

Above them, the canopy shifted. Uneasily, Malice looked upward to find nothing but empty trees and darkness.

“It must have le-”

No sooner had the warrior begun to speak did he suddenly feel a pull from above. Thinking quickly, Magus grabbed onto the legs of his targeted comrade, and tried to keep him on the ground. Bowing to the might of the wind, the leaves flew about and swirled through the air. Managing to subdue his attacker with the elements, Malice pulled himself back to the ground and nearly landed on his friend.

“What the hell is going on?” he exclaimed as he looked around “There’s nothing here but trees!”

“Come on.” Magus insisted, “Let’s just get out of here and try to find the others. If something happens to us, they’re not going to last.”

Malice nodded in agreement and the two picked up their firewood. Their pace greatly heightened, they made their way back to the meeting place.

*

“I suppose that makes thee just as vengeful.” Glenn said, as he wrung out his drenched hair.

“Sometimes the bitterest people are the ones you least expect.” Titania replied.

“I shall do my best to remember that.”

“…Hmm…” she said, looking at him “I think if you braid your hair it dries nicer.”

“I assure thee that’s the least of mine worries.” Glenn mumbled, “If the others don’t arrive soon, we shall freeze to death.”

“Oh, right.” Titania agreed “I wonder where they are- it must have been an hour by now.”

“An hour and a half.” Came a reply from the woods; fatigued, Malice and Magus came to the clearing.

“Malice, you’re bleeding!” Titania said, running up to him.

“We were attacked in the forest by something invisible.” He answered

Magus dumped his pile of wood on the ground and set it ablaze.

“This forest doesn’t seem too safe. We should retrieve what we need as soon as possible and get back to the airship.” He said, his face aglow with the orange fire.

Seeming to not have heard him, Titania looked at Malice’s bleeding shoulder“…come and sit down.”

“I’ll be fine.” He muttered, but allowed himself to be led to a spot near the fire.

“I can’t repair the wound, but I can try to numb the pain for you.” She said as she placed a hand on the gash.

Malice flinched but said nothing, being content to let her heal him.

“…what happened to you two?” Magus asked, after a silence.

“We were attacked…” Titania answered.

“…by invisible water beasts…” Glenn added on.

“…with fangs…”

“…that were invisible.”

They laughed.

“So did you get the supplies?” Magus asked, a little confused.

“We had nothing to carry it in.” Titania said, removing her hand from Malice’s shoulder, and adjusting his vest so that it covered it once more “We thought we could go back tomorrow and see what all four of us could figure out.”

“That’s a good idea.” Malice said “For now, let’s just stay here and cook what we can without water.”

That said, Magus removed from under his cape a small supply bag, and from that took out some meat. With care, he pierced the objects with sticks and passed them around.


For a while they ate, and conversed. Malice, speaking very little, and Glenn speaking quite a lot.

“…how’s your shoulder?” Titania asked, after some time.

“Better.” He replied, “How’s your clothes?”

“Still soaked.” she muttered “Glenn?”

“Drenched, m’lady.”

Magus smirked “I guess that makes me the best off for tonight. I’ll keep first watch, then.”

There was no argument from the group who began to settle down for the night. Leaving her spot, Titania moved to sit beside Malice, allowing for Magus and Glenn to speak to each other.

“So what really happened?” he asked as she took another look at his wound.

“He splashed me in the eyes and I fell. Then I pulled him in.”

“Sounds like he deserved it.”

Titania laughed and ripped the hem of her dress. Dutifully, she wrapped it around the wound.

“It’s still bleeding, so that means it must be deep. Don’t take this bandage off, alright?”

“I won’t.” he said, watching her as she tied the object.

“Please don’t do this again. You’re scaring me.”

“Hey, I couldn’t help it.” He said, “It’s not my fault I was ambushed.”

“I’m serious. Be more careful next time. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. Since when do you have to look out for me?

She smiled and shrugged.

“We all have to look out for each other. If we don’t, then we might as well travel by ourselves.” She said as she adjusted the bandage.

Malice merely smiled and let her finish wrapping his shoulder.
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Old 06-12-2005, 11:17 AM   #13
 
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(("Poor FFnut", huh?))

*****************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, Chimera Woods

Magus sighed. "Now what do we do, oh great Sir Ribbit?"

Glenn sat next to Magus and plunged the Masamune into the ground. "Art thee suggesting we leaveth them behind?"

Magus shook his head. "No, I mean about Schala. About the Lavos Spawn. They're not going to leave me alone, I can tell you that much."

Glenn shrugged. "We may deal with them when the time cometh."

A feeling of evil began to blow around Magus. Everything started to turn dark, very dark. Soon he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. A few minutes later the darkness parted and Magus saw...

Glenn saw Magus stumble away and draw his scythe. The knight pulled his blade out of the ground.

"How'd you get here?" the dark mage asked.

Glenn shook his head. "What... what dost thou mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Slash. How the hell did you get here? Where's Glenn?"

Glenn shook his head. "Magus... I am not Slash..."

"Bullshit. I worked with you for ten years, Slash, I think I'd be able to tell you apart from a human." Magus bolted back towards the camp with these words.

Magus dodged through the woods, coming back to the clearing where Titania and Malice were. They looked up, startled by Magus's sudden entrance. "What's wrong?" asked Malice, standing up.

Magus blasted a spell at Malice, knocking him back a few feet. "What the hell did you do with my friends?"

Titania rushed over to Malice's side, trying to heal the damage the spell had done, only to be met by a spell herself.

Magus walked over and leaned over Malice. "What's wrong? Need that wench over there to heal you? Why not do it yourself? Or have you finally realized that you're inept at magic?"

Malice's feet caught Magus in the chest and he sprawled backwards. Malice stood up, hatred in his eyes. "You're dead, you murderer."

Magus pushed himself off the ground, brushing himself off. “Oh, come on," he said, gesturing to the girl. "I’ve seen that mage get out of worse problems than this one.”

Glenn scrambled into the clearing to find Magus and Malice squaring off with each other. Magus whirled around. “And you too? Fine then. I’ll finish you all off later.” Magus ran off into the forest, Malice quickly running after him.

Glenn picked up Titania. Using the little water magic in him, he managed to cast a curing spell to help her back on her feet.

Titania looked at the man. “What… why would Magus do something like that?”

Glenn shook his head. “Something may have happened to him. He believed I was… one of his enemies from our world. And he attacketh you two as well…”

Titania shook her head. “He called Magus… a murderer…? Did he really think I was dead?”

Glenn shrugged. “Doubtful. Whatever hath affected Magus could also be affecting Malice. Malice could thinketh he’s someone else too. We’d best follow them both, lest someone truly be hurt.”

The two of them took off after their friends who were suddenly enemies.

((Heh, and the evil magic of Phantasm rears its ugly head. Magus thinks that Malice, Titania, and Glenn are three of his old allies who he turned on and who hate him. In his mind, Malice is Ozzie, the leader of the three and basically a magician who can construct impregnable barriers around himself or others – although the rest of his magic is pretty weak. Titania is Flea, a magician who, despite having characteristics that ONLY females should have, is a man. Glenn is Slash, a swordsman who’s actually quite decent at swordplay. Malice also sees Magus as Boiz, so it’s easy to see why he wants Magus dead.))
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Old 06-12-2005, 09:51 PM   #14
 
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((I think you're referring to Boiz, not Dacono. I have nothing to do with Dacono))

Malice stood in the forest clearing, staring down one of the most dangerous of the Theirian mages. Last time he'd met with Boiz, he'd underestimated his foe, and he'd suffered for it. And now, with his hands resting uneasily on his sheaths, he looked up at Boiz, waiting for him to make the first move.

Malice's mind spasmed, and reality shifted. In front of him stood Magus, looking back at him holding his head in equal pain. Suddenly, the delusion left and the bloodthirsty eyes of Boiz stared back at him.

"You traitors, I'll make you taste my scythe," said Boiz in an unparalleled fury. He lunged forward.

It was not the scythe that caught Malice offguard, but the comment. He was knocked sprawling by what seemed to be a flaming sword. His rubbed his eyes to clear his daydream, but low and behold, in front of him stood the insane form of his nemesis and once friend.

"What is this insanity you speak of? What Scythe carry you. May you be vanquished by the skies," stated Malice, his adrenaline pumping.

"You call me on my insanity?" Boiz repeated, a strange tone in his voice. "What say you magician, embrace my darkened fury."

Boiz lunged forward again, his sword erupting and spewing embers. Malice easily dodged, rising above his foe and striking him hard on the back with a swift kick. Boiz sprawled forward, but caught himself and vaulted upward. He turned to face Malice.

The eyes! They did not possess the furious lust that usually guided them. Instead they were determined, eyes of a warrior who has just watched a loved one die.

Boiz lunged one more time, and Malice parried the blow, holding his daggers in an X to hold the sword at bey. The two stood weapons locked and stared into eachothers eyes, staring eachother down. Malices mind shrieked, and he closed his eyes to get a grip on the pulsating pain. He opened his eyes, and he saw no sword, but instead the scythe his foe had spoke of. The pain repulsed through his head, and when he opened his eyes again, he stared into the crimson fury of Boiz.

Malice backed off, focusing the wind into his palm and pushing his enemy backward. Boiz flew back against a tree, where he slumped. He shot no fire back. Malice grabbed his head as the pain shot through it one more time, threatening to tear his mind from his body. As he did, Boiz got up, and taking advantage of the situation, he let loose an elemental blast. This blast hit Malice with immense force, and yet he felt no passion from the flames. Instead he felt cold, as if he had just been attacked by an opposing element. Shaking his head, he slowly got up.

"Wha.. What is going on?"

((FFNut, if you keep this fight going, I have some crazy dagger idea's to try out. be prepared to get pwned :P ))
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Old 06-13-2005, 05:24 PM   #15
 
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((Bah, you're right, I meant Boiz. Glad to see your writer's block's gone, though. I was starting to miss the way you did fight sequences.))

*****************************
Palis, The Year 0 Aikia, Chimera Woods

Ozzie stumbled up, slowly. Magus chuckled. "What's wrong? Where're your world-famous barriers?"

Ozzie flew forward, and for a second Magus thought he saw daggers in his hands. He blinked and Ozzie's claws slammed into him, knocking him back.

Magus spit blood before standing up. "Well, looks like you've got some skill after all. But just because I've known you since I was a kid doesn't mean that I have any pity for the likes of you."

Ozzie laughed. "Then try this one!" Magus was blasted backwards by a powerful gust of wind. He struggled to get up, only to be met by another blow from Ozzie.

The scythe twirled. "I always wanted to try this one out." Magus hurled the scythe with incredible precision, catching Ozzie's arm. Blood spurted out of the wound as the scythe curved in midair and came back to Magus's hand.

"Gah!" screamed Malice.

Magus shook his head. Malice? What the...

Ozzie was clutching his wound. "You... you're going to suffer for that one..."

Magus gripped his scythe. "Y'know, if I didn't know that you were entirely incompetent, I might actually be afraid right now." He stared into Ozzie's blue eyes and... Blue eyes? Ozzie's eyes aren't blue!

The beady brown eyes focused in on Magus's. "Die." Ozzie's voice was a snarl.

The two daggers were at the front of Ozzie's lunge. Magus was caught off his guard by the claws while trying to figure out where the blades had come from and how they had vanished so quickly.

Ozzie spit in Magus's face while he laid on the ground. "I thought you said I was the incompetent one." He raised his claws for a final blow and brought them down.

A quick blast of lightning jolted the Mystic back and Magus hopped back on his feet. Wiping the saliva off his face, he spoke. "I was just trying to give you a chance by holding back my full power. But if you insist..."
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