A/N (Aroihkin's Notes) 12.08.2004 (revamp 01.15.2005):

Alternative Universe, potential slash pairing ahead--haven't really decided on that point just yet. Since I've, you know, -never- written a romance in my life. Tannusen's blatant man-whoring hardly counts.

This story picks up after you defeat Lord Galcian, and when a lot of people head for the Dark Rift to level up on Elcian. I've never done that, though I did fight him for kicks once, and if it doesn't make total sense for the characters to do, well, consider this mocking what some of us players make them go do. It did give me an idea, anyway. Or at least an idea of the means to do my idea--uh--you get the idea. Or something. I also made them fight Ramirez both optional times in this story, even though they weren't -supposed- to.

It also always made me blink how Elcian was so HUGE in the Rift, but normal sized on the deck of your ship, so in this story he's perhaps a tad taller than the humans. Not as large as going halfway would be, but, intimidating anyway. He's likely to be in the story a few times, so, it's significant.

My first chapters of any story are always much shorter than the chapters afterwards, this one isn't an exception.

05.02.2010: All scene-dividers have been eaten, again, on all of my stories. I give up. Please just go read this story on arowrites dot net where it hasn't been made incoherent; I am unable to keep up with this site's stupidity.

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Chapter One
A Dark Discovery

The giant Black Looper seemed to be gravely assessing his options.

A glance was shot at Fina...

Another was aimed at Aika...

Finally, Elcian stared unblinkingly at Vyse, and the pirate gulped.

"What do you suppose he's -doing-?" he whispered aside to his companions, not taking his eyes off of the huge monster. They'd fought a long battle so far, and had come to a standstill for the moment; neither side seemingly wanting to do more than stare at the other. Elcian was absolutely massive for a Looper, and Aika was--quite frankly--wary that it would just bite Vyse's head off. She'd said as much upon spotting him, of course. Leave it to Aika to cook up some silly notion or other, but they'd decided to press onward into the Rift anyway.

Of course, that silly notion was looking more and more possible as the fight wore on...

Where the giant had come from was anyone's guess, it certainly hadn't been in their path when they'd gone through from the other side! Unless it had been hiding in a different chamber, perhaps. Vyse wasn't going to even consider that he knew the whole place, no, not by a long shot!

But the Blue Rogue himself had an idea, one he was absolutely certain (in that same head of his... chomp, chomp?) that needed investigation at the least. Now that he knew the Dark Rift could be navigated, that giant black stone needed to be looked at... -before- they faced Ramirez.

Ryu-kan had come along to look at it as well, at his request. Maybe... he could make a weapon of some sort from it? Assuming they could chip any off, if the weapon smith thought it was worth it to begin with. Because, well, quite frankly... the Silvite they were going to face had handed their asses to them twice now. Once in Nasrad and once on their own base... and at this point, Vyse would take all the help he could get.

They had rushed here with that idea in mind, and here is where they had met Elcian. So far, the giant Looper was--if not quite swabbing the deck of the Delphinus with them--then certainly coming close. All three of them were tired, bruised, and swiftly approaching exhaustion under the tide of the Looper's extensive arsenal of spells and attacks.

"I don't know, do you think we...?" Aika questioned, bringing Vyse out of his thoughts and biting her bottom lip. She edged closer to the Captain, daring to look away from the Looper and eye her companions in speculation. Well, fine, but... it wasn't -staring at her- like it was him!

Shiver.

Vyse watched her out of the corner of his eye, though, his expression startlingly grim. They didn't have time for -real- caution, without knowing what Ramirez would do if left untroubled. But at the same time, it would sort of defeat the entire purpose of this side-trip to get their butts kicked by a Looper!

"You think we should charge?" he interpreted, thinking about it, "Fina, maybe if--"

--But at that moment, Elcian suddenly and without any warning spun upwards. Up, up, off of the deck of the Delphinus and... he was gone in an eyeblink. The tension of the situation vanished just as quickly, and Vyse's shoulders slumped as he quickly sheathed his blades.

"Damnit! Elcian -got away-!" Aika shouted in frustration, waving her boomerang wildly upwards and causing anyone in her area to, well, move. Fast. All of her caution had apparently dissolved the instant the thing was gone. Typical Aika.

"Yeah..." Vyse agreed solemnly, before immediately cheering up as the atmosphere lightened, "hey, that was still some great practice, though, wasn't it?"

Fina nodded in agreement, smiling at him as Cupil chirped and spun overhead, but Aika was having none of it.

"Practice?" Aika sputtered, disbelieving, as she lowered her weapon and gaped at him.

"-Practice-?! Vy-yse! He could have had -treasure-!" and now she advanced on him, causing Vyse to back up in alarm until he was out of space against the rail. The young Captain grinned sheepishly and raised both open hands in surrender, thankful that his cutlasses were already stowed back on his belt.

Thump, the redhead bopped him on the top of the head with one balled fist anyway.

"Geeze, Vyse, you gotta learn what's important in life!"

And Fina giggled quietly behind one hand.

"Well, maybe we can find him again later?" he said, rubbing the top of his head, "I still want to try and find that black rock again, anyway..."

Vyse had told the others, after Gilder had reminded him to prepare before charging in after Ramirez, about his ideas for the massive stone. Gut instinct, maybe, or perhaps just foolishness--but whichever it was, it hadn't led them wrong yet. No one could deny that the boulder had that odd -feeling- to it, though. Like it wasn't just an ordinary boulder... though that wasn't to say that anything was ever -normal-, per se, inside of the Dark Rift.

"Right, lets go!" the Captain added after a moment's thought, trying to sound cheerful instead of just nervous and tired as he led them off of the deck and back to the bridge.


It wasn't all that long before they found the massive chamber again...

Well, it was hard to tell -how- long it had been, exactly, but it hadn't -felt- like much time to Vyse. Not from his position at the wheel, staring intently through the Delphinus' giant windows.

And there, glowing eerily in the very center, was their target. Aika cheered enthusiastically behind him and immediately ran out of the bridge--words shouted over her shoulder that she was off to get Ryu-kan. Fina slowly approached the wheel... coming to a halt a few feet from Vyse to nervously watch his maneuvering.

If they were going to look at the rock up close enough to tell if it was of any help, they were going to have to get significantly closer to it than he'd dared go before. The chamber's eerie lack of wind eased his mind, now. At least this way they wouldn't get blown into it...

Curious he may be, but eager to have it punch holes in his ship he was not. Who knew how sharp it was, or what the glowing mass would do to the Valuan metal? The air pirate chewed lightly on his tongue as he inched the wheel left here... right there... and called out engine speeds.

("It's already on it's first notch." "Can you... um... do a half notch?" "...I'll try...")

"Lawrence, take the wheel?" Vyse asked after a tense, long maneuvering of the ship to get as close to the giant stone as he could without wrecking into it. "Just keep the ship here...?"

"..." the Helmsman in question silently pushed off of the wall he'd been leaning against, watching the proceedings, and took the wheel from the pirate. He didn't say a word, and to be honest, Vyse didn't expect him to. Smiling cheerfully at the Mercenary, Vyse gave him a thumbs-up.

"Thanks!" and off he went for the deck, Fina trailing apprehensively behind him.

"Where's Aika, anyway?" Vyse asked a scant second later, pausing at the bottom of the stairs with one boot on the first step and his hand on the rail. The Silvite, pausing also, opened her mouth to reply... but was cut off.

"We're up here, Vyse! Get your butt in gear!" Aika shouted from above, and Vyse's mouth opened momentarily in a silent "Oh." before he grinned.

"Well then, we better get up there before she comes after us!" he remarked loudly, much to Fina's amusement, before they climbed the stairs. Aika was in fact waiting for them, her fists planted on her hips and the elderly sword smith standing hunched next to her. She rolled her eyes at Vyse's comment, and made a face at him as they all left the ship proper, filing out onto the deck.


The trio had to pause and stare for a moment, even as Ryu-kan (apparently totally unfazed) brushed past them.

"It's... -huge-!" Vyse finally exclaimed, gaping, ever Mr. Obvious. That much had been evident through the windows of the ship, but, something about being out in the open air with it made it seem even bigger.

Still, Vyse had at least managed to get the Delphinus along side of it, close enough to touch over the rail. Before the others could stop him, the Captain himself--overcome by that gut instinct of his--approached. One foot in front of the other, even as Aika opened her mouth to protest. He was quickly at the rail, and, grasping the metal with one hand... he reached out...

It was barely a graze of his finger-tips, a mere whisper of contact, and something seemed to catch him in it's grasp. Examining, curious, potentially dangerous and potentially helpful. Neutrality, above all.

Vyse felt the tinniest burst of hope at that the second feeling, maybe it would help them after all! Maybe it would... something seemed to be moving up his arm, invisible, and he couldn't move to stop it. It felt... wet, warm. Like blood, but it didn't quite scare him, and didn't quite creep him out.

"Please, will you help us?" he started, "We have to defeat..."

((Who is your enemy?))

It wasn't words, it wasn't anything Vyse could readily describe. The presence like thick, warm liquid moved off of his arm and up his shoulder. Within moments he could never describe, it had pooled inside his mind. Somehow, even this still didn't quite alarm him... instead he found himself standing, teetering, on the edge of that reaction.

((Ramirez)) he felt his subconscious reply in kind, not knowing how, ((Ramirez is my enemy.))

((Why?))

That foreign, calming warmth spread out slightly, coating his mind in it's existence. It didn't want to harm him. Not certain how he knew this, the Pirate moved his hand over the jagged stone without meaning to, curiosity evident to the others in his expression.

It felt almost spongy to him, rather than sharp like he'd expected, although it didn't have any give to it. Unbeknownst to him, his fingertips were now bleeding slowly, cut minorly against the rock despite it's soft feel.

((He wants to destroy everything)) his mind seemed to reply, distracted, but accompanied in a pulse of blurry images and emotions, ((everything I love.))

((Why?))

((I...)) at this question, even Vyse's subconscious had to pause for a moment, and then--((I suppose he doesn't even know.))

The memories of the conversations with Doc, the room they had found on the Silver Shrine that had been Ramirez's. Fina's explanations of the things found inside. Bursts of Pirate Isle, of learning to sail. Dreaming about what lay beyond the sunset, of friends and adventure and treasure... it all poured fourth much too fast for him to pick out individual memories. The emotions attached to each seemed to remain intact, however, and he knew the presence understood it all. Especially including his doubts about his enemy, who had apparently been so much like him at one time. No, Ramirez -didn't- know, that was as clear to him as the lens strapped over his eye.

((He doesn't know.)) the Pirate's mind repeated, with more force this time, for a lack of anything else to say after the throb of information had settled back down. If long gaps of silence were awkward in conversations out loud, it was even worse in a conversation between minds. Without the ripples on the surface...

Vyse felt sleepy, almost lethargic.

It seemed to hit all at once, and his eyes sagged shut. The pirate dropped backwards... seemingly as slow as though he fell through water... to impact with the deck of the Delphinus.

Still, he didn't feel any discomfort. It was almost like he was... detached, unfastened from his body and yet still inside his head.

((He doesn't know.)) Vyse repeated yet again, weakly this time. His clouding brown eyes slid back open as Fina and Aika rushed to his sides, and Aika's mouth was moving rapidly, like she was shouting. But he couldn't hear her words, and Fina's hands were clutched to her chest in obvious concern as she came to kneel beside him, lifting his head in her hands.

It was very odd, not being able to feel her hands under his skull. Not even the pressure of her fingers seemed to register, though he knew they must be there. Something about it all seemed absurd, all of a sudden, and he would have giggled (alarmingly, probably) if his body had been responding at all.

((He will.)) the presence replied after seemingly forever and a half, and then it... -clenched- around his mind. This, he definitely felt.

Vyse's world exploded into fiery red and white light as his consciousness slipped away, spiraling, screaming without a voice.

--and when he opened his eyes and lifted his head, he was greeted with a most strange point of view... it was as though a glass lens covered one eye. Immediately overcome with confusion, he quickly closed his eyes and allowed his head to drop back onto the... it felt like a pillow? beneath it.

"Oh, thank the moons you're awake!" a familiar voice exclaimed from beside him, and he again snapped his eyes open, this time looking for the source of the sound.

"...Fina?"

"You just rest, Vyse, I'll go tell the others!" she smiled down at him with pure happiness shining in her green eyes. She clasped her hands together as was her habit, before turning in the flutter of a veil and running from the room...

Wait, what?!

Lifting one hand, he took in the color of his sleeve, the lack of a glove. Both hands suddenly darted to his face as he sat up, feeling sharp but unfamiliar features, the silky-smooth line of scar-tissue beneath one eye, the lens strapped firmly over the other...

Oh Moons, no! How?

How had this happened? How was this even possible?

What form of cruel fate was THIS?! It was a joke, right? Some sort of sick joke?

Ramirez groaned in sudden anguish, hands falling away. Even that sound was vibrated through strange vocal chords, and came out sounding alien to his ears. There was no way this was possible, no way at all. His already grief-stricken mind tried to understand what had happened...

...and balked formidably.

Eyes rolling upwards, the new Captain of the Delphinus and Hero-Legend of Arcadia fell back onto the cot once more, this time in a dead faint.

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Skies of Arcadia Legends © someone else.
All here that is not found in the game... is mine.
Never steal if you value your spleen.

Reviews are lovely, reviews make the Aro happy, and a happy Aro is more inspired to write.

However, they are not absolutely required, and flames will result in a very annoyed Aro. I'm not forcing you to read my stuff, you must realize. So I've no sympathy for you if you read it, hate it, and yet can't keep your pointer off the review button.

Constructive criticism is awesome, mind, but I can tell thinly-veiled sarcasm when I see it.

And yeah, I know, Black Moon, over done, yadda yadda yadda. I said I wouldn't do anything with it unless I thought of something nice and unique to the fandom, so, "nyaaaaaaaaaa" to you too. ;)

Chapter revamped 01.15.2005.
3 Myaku and I-chan for the concrit.
I knew it needed revamping, but, I needed a poke or two to actually go -do- it. :3

I might still touch up a spot or two, but, it has some polish to it now, at least.