The 12 Realms Story (All Characters Slots Taken)

[Ekki]

Chapter #31

Gravity: Covius

Finally, I arrived to Covius, Gravity's main city. It's really huge, I could see it from a long distance away. I stayed next to the visitors' entrance, staring, amused by it. I wondered why would the Gravity elementals fear a lonely traveler. I mean, I can't just take the city down by myself.

After a while sitting on a bench, shocked, I stood up and got closer. A Gravity elemental was guarding it. But not any Gravity elemental, this one was two times as tall as me, and I'm already a tall guy.
He looked at me as if a dwarf was the one going to enter.

Once in, I was surprised again. It was like a rock forest, but much higher than what I could imagine, lots of people walking here and there. I recovered and kept on walking. Where should I go? Where should I start?

When I was going to start walking around, some guards caught me. "Come here, stranger." was the only thing they said.

I was taken to an old building near the door, which looked like a guardhouse. Inside, I could see that it was sort of a testing facility, much more modern than what had appeared on the outside. The walls were covered by Gravity propaganda, and all the guys there were being asked questions and given tasks. I guess they want to know if I am a spy.

"Why are you here?!" The one who was asking me questions... Was Tremor. "We must talk somewhere else, please" He looked at a door behind him.

"Tremor? What are you doing here?" I was surprised, why would an Earth elemental be helping to expose spies in Covius?

He took me to the door, and once we were inside, he spoke. "I'm not Tremor, and I can't tell you my real name."

"How I should call you then? Or what do you do at least?"

"I'm a soldier of Gravity, and the rest is classified information. Why are you here? Wouldn't an outcast of fire try to avoid civilization?" I was surprised that he knew about me being an outcast, but I decided not to ask him too many questions. After all, he could be helpful.

"Well, to make the long story short, I'm apparently having magical visions similar to Time elementals. I can't really explain, but I was told to go here."

"Are you sure you haven't hit your head or something?"

"Nope, dead serious."

"Good. I'll try to see if we can work something out then. Maybe we can find you a job and you can start over and settle down."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that if I were you." 'Tremor' turned in shock as a stream of water flew at him and materialized into a pink-haired girl. She swung her fists at him, turning to reveal wristblades of unmelting ice. I was shocked, and fired a flame blast at her. However, she simply laughed and punched the ground. I was slightly puzzled until I realized that the entire floor was coated in water.

"Holy Flashes!" I rolled aside expecting a tower of ice, but instead the entire room lit up with electricity and I writhed in pain. I turned to see Tremor pinned on the ground by ice shackles, yelling for help.

"Save your breath. No one will hear either of you right now." My nerves felt dead, and icy chains began to encase me as well. "I wish I didn't have to do it this wa- OW!"

The poor girl had tripped on a bucket and landed on the ice herself. She massaged her foot in pain before standing back up.

"Krathos, you can't settle down."

"Well, why should I trust you?! You just attacked my only friend out of nowhere and imprisoned us!" The girl looked away with an expression that made it feel like I'd hit her really hard.

"I know... but I need to tell you something. You're being tracked by something dangerous, and they're just using you as a pawn." What?! The only person who could've been following me at this point was her.

"What do you mean?!" But I was cut off by Tremor, who had somehow managed to concentrate all the ice onto one point of his body thus making a club-like weapon. He stood up.

"I think we should arrest you for assaulting a high-level soldier."

"Wrong. This room has been silenced, and no one will hear us." She pinned him to the wall with an icicle and turned back to me. "My name's Marisa - and I'm just as much as an outcast as you are. I don't know why, but I've gotten an... odd power, and it tells me that someone's trying to use you for revenge."

"Yeah, I've had some pretty odd things happening to me too. Do you mean someone's causing these things so that they can absorb my powers or something? Also, why would a perfectly ordinary Aquassain be exiled?" Aquassains are Water's assassins, and are really valuable for War. But again, I used to be valuable for Fire too.

"Well, I'm not too sure, but your real goal is to keep travelling - I can tell you that."

"What about being exiled?"

"I guess you could say I hate being experimented on like a guinea pest. But Krathos, you really can't stop or settle down. You'll be in much bigger trouble if you do."

"Okay Marisa, and what about you?"

"Well... to be honest I was tracking you for a while because you happened to leave my village around the same time you escaped."

"What?! So you're a stalker?!"

"N-n-no! I just was... kinda nervous." She blushed deep red. I guess she was really telling the truth.

"So, will you accompany me on your journey?" I asked her. "It'd be nice to have a travelling companion."

"Of course." She replied. "I'll just meet you at the front gate, and we can go."

"Tremor, you?" I looked at Tremor - the ice had already been released and he was panting.

"I guess I'll go too - maybe I could learn something. Haven't been anyplace besides Earth for a while though."

"Great! Let's go then. See you at the front gate." Marisa tried to telep- oof... she tripped over that same bucket again.

"Argh, don't worry." She managed to teleport this time and we were left in an empty room. Tremor sighed. "Well, this will be interesting." I then realised why a Gravity soldier that was sneaking in the lands of Earth would ever go with us in a journey. But again, extra help is never too much. I just have to keep an eye on both of my new 'friends'...

Tremor's Point of View:
That Aquassain makes me suspicious. She's clearly a novice based on just age and tactics, but she's already mastered her powers. I think Gravity would be very interested to find out what I learn from this journey.

[Glitch]

Quick question:  Are oldtrees, bloodshadow, and I doing anything?

[918273645]

Quick question:  Are oldtrees, bloodshadow, and I doing anything?

After asking OT if he wanted to write a chapter so it didn't look like I conned his presence, he replied this message:

You might have missed the memo. I am too busy to participate with the story anymore. However I trust the interpretations that have been made about Old Trees.

I'm kinda hoping you will stumble upon me with BS. RIght now, I'm just standing in a forest with nothing to do.

[Flayne]

Chapter 32
The New Allies, A Meal, and A Pep Talk Part 3

I was sitting on a rock around the campfire, watching Condor, perched on a branch, as he ate the remains of a rat.
the night was getting rather chilly, despite the campfire a meter away from me.
I heard Emeraldtiger suddenly hiss, I saw his face contorted as though he was in pain or mentally suffering, I could even see his eyes moving inside their closed lids.

I turned my gaze towards Zblader and saw he was in a similar state, but rather than in pain, it seemed as though he was
concentrated on some kind of thought, I noticed his mouth was moving slightly, as though he was speaking muted words.

Suddenly Zblader stood up and made some wild movements with his body, I was surprised by the sudden movement and stood up myself, nervous, not knowing what to expect. Then he pointed at something, and I could see his mouth muttering muted words. I came to the conclusion he was engaged in some kind of conversation with someone In his mind.

I noticed that Nepycros was on his feet as well.
"Okay, spill it. There's something wrong with you!"
yelled Nepycros.

Zblader didn´t reply but continued his muted conversation. I return my gaze to Emeraldtiger who was now in a crouched
position, mentally focused. I then saw some glowing objects coming out from between his knuckles, they looked like blades or claws, glowing a brilliant hue of aqua blue.

I yelled at Nepycros "Stay alert, something weird is going on, we don´t know what to expect"

"Obviously its weird! but yeah, judging from Emeraldtiger, this could get serious, we should step back"
replied Nepycros.

I looked at Nepycros and he nodded. We started to back off from both of them, until my mind felt strange, as though there was a presence in it.

Flayne...

This time, I immediately tried to communicate with it in my mind and closed my eyes "What do you want!?"

FLAYNE!!!

Again I was startled by the force of the shout. I heard maniacal laughter emanating from everywhere in the darkness of my
mind.

"Don´t think you´ve escaped me Flayne, I´ll have you, I´ll take back what you stole from me, you´ll see!"

"What are you talking about!? I´ve stolen nothing!"

"STOP PLAYING WITH ME FOOL!!! You think you can cheat Death!? DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHO I AM!?"

"Who are you!?"

"I am the Ambassador of Fear, I am the Arbiter of Destruction, I am the one who will end you and everything else.
my Apotheosis is near, but because of you, it is being delayed! but worry not, I´ll have you soon enough!"

"What? stop talking in riddles, who are you!?"

"I´LL HAVE YOU!!!"   

The intensity of the shout broke the link and left me alone. I finally open my eyes to see Nepycros yelling something at me, it sounded muffled but the sound started to become louder and clear.

"...ARE...YOU DOING!? HE´S COMING RIGHT AT YOU!!"

I didn´t know what he was talking about until I focused my gaze and saw him fending off Emeraldtiger, who seemed to be
fighting his way towards me. I then turned my gaze and saw Zblader charging right at me like a madman, with his sword held in the air. I didn´t know what this was about. I was so confused and mentally exhausted. I was going to run but it was too late,

he was already 10 feet away. I hopelessly lift my arm to defend myself from the blow, then I saw Condor diving right down
towards me at the same time, in that instant, something completely unexpected took place.

As Condor dove down, I saw him morphing into a strange shape. He spread his wings and started to take the form of some
kind of weapon. The weapon fell towards me and I caught it just as Zblader was about to strike me. Our blades clashed.
I saw the surprised look on Zblader´s face, only to be surprised myself when I place my eyes on the blade I held.

It had a large gap in the center that went all the way to the cross guard, forming two identical blades on either side.
The blades had a golden-beige colour and had an iridescent glow, Its cross guard had a metallic silver colour, with metallic
green strips of metal, curling their way around the blades and to their tips. The blade was rather big and heavy. Strangely It also had the smell of Arsenic coming from the blades.

Zblader regained his concentration and swung his blade towards my side, I parried each of his blows, only being defensive.
Then I saw his eyes become cold and suddenly his blows became faster and stronger. I was being pushed back into a tree,
bearly parrying his blows, he was an excellent swordsman, perhaps having long years of experience.
This had to stop, otherwise, I would die at his blade, just like that guard I saw in the village.

Then, I suddenly gave in to his strength. I thought "Well, at least I lived for a full day, and got to see new things"
I saw his sword point, heading straight for my neck. This was it, my life would end and I would be at peace.
As I pondered those last thoughts, something interfered with my mind. I could feel some kind of presence, I recognized it
easily. It was the same presence that I felt in my mind only minutes ago.

YOU FOOL!!!

A sudden burst of energy came writhing through my mind and body, I could feel power through my veins.

"Don´t you realize, that if you die, I can´t take back whats mine to fulfill my destiny!?"

"What!?"

"Idiot! you think you can just give up and destroy my only chance? Not while I´m here, your going to fight back whether you like it or NOT!!!"

"So your helping me!?"

"Yes, only for my benefit. Don´t forget, no one will end you!"

"What do you mean!?"

"I´LL END YOU!!!"

Again, the mental shout broke the connection. I opened my eyes to see my blade clashed with Zblader´s, I regained my focus, pushed his sword back and powerfully kicked him in his chest, sending him flying 15 feet away.

I regained my posture, surprised by the sudden strength and power I had, I turn my gaze and see EmeraldTiger only 6 feet in the air above me, ready to strike me with those glowing claws.

Then a massive shadow flew right between me and Emeraldtiger, causing Emeraldtiger to lose his balance in the air and fall.

ENOUGH!!!
yelled Nepycros as he materialized from the shadow.

"What´s happening here!? Why has everyone gone mad!? In case you all haven´t noticed, Its PISSING ME OFF!!!"

We all regained our calm and stood face to face, Me and Nepycros facing Emeraldtiger and Zblader.

Nepycros interrogated them both,
"Spill it! whats gotten into you two!? Why did you try and kill Flayne!?"

Emeraldtiger and Zblader looked at each other, they both nodded as though confirming something.

Then Zblader said "Our marks have told us that Flayne isn´t to be trusted, and must be put down"

Me and Nepycros were very confused at what he said.
Zblader noted that.
"The things me and Emeraldtiger have been mentally talking to this entire time, those are called marks, you and Flayne must have one aswell. My mark Lyra has told me that Flayne isn´t to be trusted and must be stopped..."

"But why? has he done something?"
asked Nepycros

"Not yet, but in time you´ll see" said Zblader


Nepycros examined me as though he wasn´t sure by what they said.
"I really am getting bored of this but I concure that its illogical to just judge and kill someone due to an event that hasn´t
occured, especially if one isn´t a hundred percent sure"

"Well I actually know a way to take care of that, its Time magic, such things allow for one to see the events of time, future or past"

"Oh C´mon, as if you´d go through such lengths to prove me wrong"
snorted Nepycros

"Its not to prove you wrong, but more like to prove my point, that is to say that there is a possiblility to look to the future"

I decided I was also getting annoyed of this situation.
"If you really are uncomfortable with my presence, then perhaps I should leave, go my own way"

They all looked at me thoughtfully for a while.
Emeraldtiger broke the silence.
"You know what? Nepycros is right, we can´t just judge someone from what hasn´t even occured, that would be brash"

"Heh, you think?" snorted Nepycros

"I reckon we owe Flayne an apology, I guess there´s too much adrenaline in me, to be honest, I couldn´t really control myself. Its weird"

Emeraldtiger approached me.
"Im sorry that I tried to harm you, I shouldn´t have taken what Laureth´al said too seriously."

"I guess I´m sorry too Flayne, it was a bit drastic of me to just charge you like that, although I still don´t understand why Lyra would report such a thing"
Zblader turned around and went to his original position at camp.

I said nothing but rather nodded at the both of them. As we returned to camp
I silently thanked Nepycros for his help.

"Don´t thank me, I just find it rather annoying and illogical when everyone goes crazy without explanation"
he grinned and continued to the camp.

I honestly found Nepycros strange but interesting at the same time. I was mentally and physically exhausted to even remember
what just happened tonight, I noticed that I was still tensing my hand, as though I was still holding the blade, but I looked at my hand to see it was tensing but holding nothing. Then I look at my shoulder to see Condor perched on it.
"I think I really am crazy"
I shook my head and continued to camp.



to be continued...




 

[ZephyrPhantom]

Chapter 33

The New Allies, A Meal, and A Pep Talk Part 4
That Bird is Smart!

 

"Lyra, what by the Sons of the Flame are you thinking?!" I yelled at her in my mind again, this time making sure I appeared to be taking a nap. "Just because this old friend of yours is striking out at us doesn't mean we kill his new host!"

Damnit Blade, don't you realize we could've gone insane if we left Mythias to continue his assault against us? I don't even know how he's here!

 "Well then don't kill him! Maybe he could be of use to us."

Well, we know something now. Flayne, or at least a past incarnation of Flayne, had done something to him.  Apparently now he's going to tortue us, Emeraldtiger, Laureth'al, and Flayne as revenge.  Also he grows as a threat in the future if we don't do something now.

"So how do we deal with that?" I asked. "We can't just kill Flayne, he doesn't even have his memory back yet."

I guess we'll do this the hard way - force him out. She glanced worriedly at the projection of Laureth'al, who had been badly injured by assault almost as if it was a real fight.  Cuts and scrapes were all over her, and she was breathing heavily.

Argh, she's asleep.  I'll just do it myself.  She shimmered, and a strange armor manifested around her. She seemed to grow taller and her face matured slighty, her only trace of the original Lyra being the sharp green eyes.


"How the heck did you do that?" I was suprised. Metamorphisis of the entire body is supposed to be a very strong magic that only lasts temporarily. 

Heh, just a trick I learned a long time ago. It's draining, but I can make it last indefinitley if I need too.  She dashed at Flayne. I'll be back. I blinked, and found that I was now peering into Flayne's mind. Lyra had just appeared to have jumped through his mind barrier, which was beggining to reform already.


She stood up, only to be greeted with a bunch of rocks being thrown at her, but she quickly sliced them apart with a sword that appeared to come from out of nowhere.


When the dust cleared, we found ourselves standing face to face with a strange purple figure.


Hey hey, who are you guys? he snapped. I don't think you should be here after attacking my poor friend Flayne like that.

You're that strange bird, Condor, aren't you? Lyra replied.

"Oi." They both turned to look at me. "So exactly why are you here?"

Because someone's sneaking around in Flayne's mind and needs to get out. Besides you. He added with a grimance. I'm guessing you came here to look for the same thing, neh?
 
"Alright then. I'm Zblader and this is Lyra. Sorry for attacking Flayne like that earlier."

It's okaye, my friend. I would've probably done the same thing. Nowe, will you help me?

Sure. Lyra spoke up.  Sorry for attacking you so recklessly before. Would you care to lead the way?

That's perfectly fine with me. He grinned, and walked off. We followed.

"You think we can trust hi-" I was cut of by Condor.

I heard that!

Ergh, fine. So, why did you join up with Flayne?

Well, to be honest I'm missing a lot of memories too. I do know I had a better body than this ugly piece of imagination though.  I couldn't help but laugh at the way he said this. Condor laughed along with me, but Lyra seemed to be concentrating for a second. She interrupted me.

Heh, I didn't even need a Mindgate. He's telling the truth.

Let's goe then! We walked off into the deep realm of Flayne's mind, hoping to find Mythos and get to the bottom of this.


OOC- Condor speaks with a slight accent, which is why there may be an occasional "e" when he talks.

[Bloodshadow]

Keep in mind that a chapter is still being written in the SD chat.

[ZephyrPhantom]

Keep in mind that a chapter is still being written in the SD chat.

I only reserved because I had the chapter planned already. I just needed to type it.

[Bloodshadow]

Chapter 34

Into Another World

The Realm of Death was exactly how I envisioned it to be. A barren desert of gray sand, with bleached bones scattered everywhere and tombstones jutting out of random places. The sky is a shade of dark purple, and an indigo sun bathed me with eerily cold rays. Chilling wind howled in my ears. How was that even possible? There were no rocks for the wind to blow against.

"Cheerful place, isn't it?" I said to my skeleton companion glumly. Although there is a macabre beauty to it, Nadir commented.

"Tell me about it," the skeleton said. "All those dead trees really get on my nerves."

I raised an eyebrow. "Dead trees?" I asked. "I don't see any dead trees around."

"What? Are you blind?" Gl1tch moved his right arm in an exaggerated motion. "They're everywhere! How can you possibly not see them?!"

"All I see is gray sand and bones," I said. "You're an undead, so would you care to explain to me why I am seeing different things?"

"How should I know!" The skeleton tried to glare at me despite the lack of eyeballs. "It's not like I've been dead before! All I know is that there are dead trees around us and somehow you can't see them!"

"Fair enough," I shrugged. "As long as your imaginary trees don't start attacking us."

The howling wind around us seemed to be getting stronger. It was starting to sound like wailing and screaming. Wait, scratch that. It was wailing and screaming, sounding like the wind. The sound was getting closer and closer.

"Okay, please don't tell me you can't hear that either," Gl1tch moved closer to me, the bones in his body rattling with apprehension.

"I heard that," I said. "You shouldn't be surprised to find vengeful spirits in the Realm of Death. Prepare to defend yourself." Then I glanced at the skeleton, and saw that he was using his left arm as a weapon again. I resisted the urge to facepalm. "On second thought, maybe it will be best if you let me handle this."

Suddenly, the wind started to blow violently around us, sending bones and sand into the air. The bones began to assemble themselves into skeletons, except most of them were not quite humanoid. Some had too many arms, some were using their ribs as spider-like legs, and some were simply disturbing. The bones were emanating an eerie purple glow, and tortured screams gurgled out from each skeleton creatures in a cacophony of malice and hate. Three of the bone horrors took the initiative and lunged toward me.

"What did you say about dead trees not attacking us?!" Gl1tch screamed. But I had no time to deal with the skeleton's hallucinations. I drew my sword, the Morning Glory, and thrust it into the nearest skeletal abomination. The thing had no mouth, but that didn't stop it from releasing a blood-curdling cry that sent chills down my spine. Poor thing, I probably did it a favor by ending its tortured existence.

Gl1tch was screeching incoherently, flailing his arm-sword and stabbing at anything that wasn't an Angel in white robes. But the bone creatures didn't even pay attention to him. I suppose that was to be expected, since these tortured souls would be much more willing to devour a living being than a fellow undead. I slashed and hacked with my Morning Glory, its luminous blade dancing like a silver needle knitting cloth.

Eventually I lost sight of Gl1tch. All I could see around me were twisted skeletal monstrosities, covered in purple phosphorescence and assailing me with their baleful screams. This is no good; I have to use a stronger attack. I began to gather Light elemental energy into my left hand. "Holy Nova!"

Brilliant white light burst from me, outwards in all directions. The bone horrors screamed in even higher pitches, as the light tore into them and purified their deathly pestilence. But when the light faded, more than half of the skeletal monsters were still standing. What in the name of Heaven -- ?

This is the Realm of Death. Do you really expect your Light elemental spells to work as well here? Nadir sounded exasperated.

What, do you expect me to use Darkness then? I don't even know any Darkness spells!

Fool. Looks like I must help you again. Sometimes my alter ego's stupidity astounds me.

I felt a sharp pain on my neck, just like last time. Dark tendrils seeped out from the black tattoo on my neck. I gritted my teeth as the pain gradually spread toward the rest of my body. Heavens, why does this hurt so much?

Let go of your Light elemental energies, you imbecile!

Oh, right. Light and Darkness are polar opposites; no wonder this hurts so much. With a conscious effort of will, I let go of the Light energies that constantly permeated my body. Immediately, the pain lessened, then disappeared. I felt another kind of power suffusing me, a power that is deep, dark, mysterious, and strangely empty. Is this the power of Darkness?

Individual feathers on my wings began to turn from a pristine white to an inky black. Flecks of darkness appeared in the otherwise white aura around me. Ebony streaks appeared in my silvery white hair, and the black tendrils of my tattoo had spread to my chest and both of my arms. I looked down at my weapon, to see that parts of the blade had blackened as well.

Now, unleash your Holy Nova again.

I tried to say "Holy Nova" again, but what came out instead was "Dark Weave". Streaks of pitch black energy burst from me in all directions, piercing the skeletal abominations once again. This time there were no screams, as the energies in the bone creatures were sucked away from their bodies, absorbed into the darkness, and returned to me. I felt nauseated and energized at the same time. In my entire life, I had never ruthlessly tore the life from another being like this. There was no hope for the salvation of these creatures now; their chances of purification were gone as soon as I forsake Light in favor of Darkness.

"Gasp..." I suddenly heard a hoarse, choked cry behind me. "Stop... Please..."

I turned around sharply, streams of darkness still radiating from my body. My eyes widened. I saw the tendrils of darkness digging themselves into Gl1tch's ribcage, draining what little energy he had from him. He only lived because he was so far away, and I didn't even specifically make him a target. I felt horror and panic rising within me. Stop! Why won't the spell stop?!

Hmph, why even bother? The skeleton is of no use to us now. He already fulfilled his part of the bargain, and I doubt that he is capable of further assisting us find Death magic. He is only dead weight, and we are simply better off without him.

Are you crazy?! He's our friend! And we agreed to revive him along with Selene!

"Friend?" Don't make me laugh. Remember what our "friends" did to our beloved? Would you like to feel the bitter pain of betrayal again? I don't think so.

But... He helped us! At least we shouldn't kill him!

With an effort of will, I shut out Nadir's cold, snide voice laced with bitter hatred. I forcibly activated my Light magic again, and screamed as pain tore through my entire body. I turned the purifying energies of Light onto myself, negating my own Darkness. The dark spots in my aura disappeared, the blackness my wings, hair, and weapon faded, and my black tattoo shrank back to its original form. When I saw that Gl1tch was no longer being mutilated by my uncontrollable magic, I sank to my knees in relief.

"Wha... What was that...?" Gl1tch wheezed. "Why..."

"Sorry... I couldn't control it..." I looked at the skeleton, regret tearing my heart asunder. "Please forgive me..."

"It's... It's nothing," Gl1tch said shakily, though he sounded more frightened than reassuring. After a while, he asked: "Was that Darkness you used? How?"

"Well... Remember when you said that a Light Elemental like me shouldn't be playing with Death magic?" I slowly stood up, walked toward the skeleton, and offered him a hand. "I'm not exactly a Light Elemental anymore. I'm a Fallen, an exile of Light."

"I... I guess I shouldn't pry," Gl1tch said. "Come on, let's go. What happened just now, you can apologize by reviving me. As long as the dead trees don't start attacking us again."

I silently chuckled. He was back to his old self. "Okay, let's go."

Nepycros has the rough draft of his next chapter ready. He'll post it in the SD chat for reviewing.

Also, look in the SD chat history if you wanna know what the dead trees business is about.

[918273645]

Chapter # 35

Waiting

I wait for him for a long time. He's not coming. says Claire.

"How do you know?" I retort mentally.

I cannot sense his presence here.

"You can do that?"

How else would I have predictedthe Otyugh?

"But you didn't know what the Otyugh was, did you?"

No, I didn't. she confessed. But OldTrees has something special about him. I can't put my finger on it.

"Great. I have a multiple personality who can sense people's aura." I think to myself.

Shut up, 918. I had forgetten that we shared a mind, thus she could hear my thoughts.

I sit down and start a fire with matches I found in my knapsack. "Oty," I adressed my pet, "Go fetch some food." The creature obeys and a short while later, he finds 2 Horned Frogs and a Cocatrice.

He eats the frogs after I cook them, and I start in on my Cockatrice. Belly full, I fall into a deep slumber.

Waiting for interuption, come on down.

[Glitch]

Chapter # 36

Death

Noise.

I do not like this place.

The rivers of souls slowly listing across the land, the moaning voices of ghosts slowly resonating from the ground, and the trees, oh the trees, growing at grotesque angles bending towards the sun that never rose.

I rubbed the inside of my ribs where he'd sucked the light out of my soul.

Which strangely gave me comfort.  It meant I had a soul.

But I couldn't help feeling distraught, unarmed and in a strange land.  I can't believe I had to call this home.

I can't believe...

home...

Focusing in on the here and now again, I saw Zenith walking straight through a tree.

Upon attempting the stunt, I tripped and fell.

I started to wonder if we were seeing the same things.

And that's when I noticed it.

He was... fading.

"Where's your foot?"  I asked.

"On my leg?"  He answered.

"No, look!  It's disappearing!"

"Are the /trees/ eating it?" He laughed.

But it was a hollow laugh.  And his voice was fading.

He was fading.

He was...

God dammit, why couldn't I think!  I felt tired, exhausted, my memory was faded, fading.

FADING!

"Somethings wrong.  Somethings horribly wrong."

"What?!" asked Zenith, now gone below the knee.

God.  I remembered this.  I'd seen this before.  Before what?  Before...?

Man I'm sleepy.

I'm...

I'm...

I...

And with that, the skeleton collapsed onto the ground.  And the man who had now faded to but a forehead looked at him with the same concern.  Before fading completely, and falling as well.

Silence.

[Flayne]

Chapter # 37

Confusion

I Didn´t understand...What went wrong?
Why was my calling stolen? Its just wrong according to nature...
He was supposed to cease to exist...Or at least be gone with his spirit.
The Death summoning should not have gone wrong...
It was all wrong...

I actually found myself helping him, the fool...
I felt like a tool at that moment.

But it was only a matter of time, when my Destiny was to be fulfilled.
And I´d take back all that was mine.

I thought for now, I had to make sure he didn´t do anything stupid.
Otherwise all would be lost.
And my vengeance would never come to reality.

I would find my justice, and destroy all those that tried to stop me from having my justice.
Of course that marked my first objective, to take control of his body.
They didn´t realize the true horror that awaited them.

Then in that moment I sensed something else dwelling in this place.

"Who the hell could that be?"

I concentrated, searched the darkness of this mind.

"Impossible, how did a physical body enter here? I understand the Marks but a Physical entity from the living world? Thats a new trick I haven´t heard of."

I pushed that thought aside, and began concentrating even more.

I heard explosions and roaring flames.
Then the rest of my senses on the area became clear.

I saw three figures facing what seemed to be an Entropy Mark, according to its energy type.
They were on a lower mental plane of this mind.
I watched for a while until a point where the Entropy mark disappeared and the three people were leaving, though I noticed that the weird one didn´t leave.
I suspected he was looking for me. But judging from my location, I was confident he couldn´t find me for a long time.

I would have my revenge soon enough, I just had to figure out how to control this body.
As a mark, I couldn´t use the power I once had when I was alive with my own body.
I was only a spiritual and mental entity that resided in one´s mind; with nothing to channel my own power to my own self, except to lend it to this body.
I was far weaker in this state, being a mark.
I had no choice. But once I gained control of his body,
I would have the same power I once had, perhaps even greater.
But to achieve such a thing, besides not letting this body die, I had something else to achieve first...

I needed his memory, I didn´t know why Flayne had lost his memory.
His memory was the key to my plan, to achieve full control of his body.

But it seemed as though he had just simply forgotten everything.
I doubted it. But with such an irregular event, me turning into a mark because of some kind of
spiritual interruption, anything was possible.
But I wouldn´t give up. My search for his memories would never end.

They had to be somewhere...


 

[ZephyrPhantom]

Chapter 37

The New Allies, A Meal, and A Pep Talk Part 5
Nearing Resolution

A moment ago we were walking. The next thing we knew, we were running as the words "Acid Rain" flashed through our minds and acidic blood rained down on our current mental location. "Damnit." Condor cursed and pulled us into what appeared to be a cave. Slowly but surely, the rain slowly cleared away. Condor immediatlly ran out but rolled to the side a blast of pink energy flew at him.

You're going to shut up and die silently. He snapped, and then chanted Pact of Negation! I turned around only to find Lyra was gone, so I ran out to find her gone. Mythias attempted to trigger another spell, but he only got pink sparks.
"What have you done?!" He screamed in such a manner that Condor and I covered our ears.

Oh, what have Ie done? Condor replied, holding up his hands. They too were covered in pink sparks No more magic for you so long as I don't cast anything. Lyra suddenly appeared behind Mythis and silently whispered Solar Slash, cutting through him as he screeched in pain again. He whirled around and kicked her in the stomach, and she flew backwards. When she got up, a look of clear rage was on her face.

Dance of Light she whispered next, and she split up into two identical copies of herself, both wielding swords of Light.  One copy threw her sword at Mythias, while the other charged and whispered Ray Sonic, teleporting... not exactly, more sliding straight up to Mythias and slashing him rapidly.  The copy that had thrown the sword disappeared in a burst of flames after whispering Soleam Ring.  Lyra jumped up, and quickly landed again with a 360 slash.  Mythias screamed one more, and began to fade away.

"Hmph.... I'll get you back Lyra, yet." he snapped, as he disappeared.

"Was that it?" I asked.

I think so... Lyra closed her eyes. Wa-

No. Lyra opened her eyes and we stared at Condor.  Something ise still not right here. I think I neede to do a little more investigating." He looked at us with concern "You twoe look tired. Get some sleep.

"Are you sure?" I asked, but he held up his hand.

I don't need sleep. You do, and if I need any help, I'll call you and Laureth'al, friend.

"Alright then." I opened my eyes to find myself staring at the campfire again. Flayne and Emeraldtiger were sound asleep. I noticed that Condor was staring at Flayne intensely from a nearby tree. He gave a slight nod.

Hey. I heard Lyra, and turned to her silouhette. She was pointing as Nepycros, who wasn't sleeping, but was rather hidden behind some bushes a few feet away.  He seemed to be bending over something.
"So what? I'm pretty sure he's just sharpening a knife or eating a Horned Frog leg for a midnight snack."
You're an idiot. Look closer. I looked closer, and saw to my suprise, that the object he was holding was Lucien's axe.

I got up...
Just a warning Z. Lyra's voice tightened, as if aware of my rising anger. Calm down, and don't blow a Steam Engine over the fact he has Lucien's axe. Try to be tactful.
...and walked closer.
"Just what in heaven are you doing, Nepycros?"